ReadyMade: Instructions for everyday life

Archive for September, 2009

A (Revelatory) Walk in the Park

Posted by Andrew Wagner to Art and Craft and Design and Environment and Uncategorized on 30 September 2009, with 2 comments so far.

The Pappajohn Sculpture Garden officially opened last weekend in downtown Des Moines. What’s been two city blocks of chain link fence for nearly two years is now rolling green hills populated by some pretty impressive sculptures by some big name artists including Deborah Butterfield, Richard Serra, Louise Bourgeois, Mark Di Suvero (his T8 sculpture is seen below), and Willem De Kooning amongst many others.

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There’s been some grumbling about the new park since apparently (before my time in Des Moines) it was just a great open playing field with lots of picnics and soccer games going on. But all in all, the park has been a welcome addition and has definitely made my walk to and from the office imminently more enjoyable.

Last night the experience got even better. I left the office around 9:00. It was a beautiful early fall night. The park, I have to say, looked pretty dashing in the moonlight. And then I noticed something different. Against the gently curving concrete wall that frames Mark Di Suvero’s contribution to the scenery there were some strange shadows that appeared to be cast by sitting chairs.

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Posted in Art, Craft, Design, Environment, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Love (These) Letters

Posted by Alexa Fornoff to Art and Design and Uncategorized on 30 September 2009, with no comments so far.

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The Daily Drop Cap is exactly what it sounds like: every day, typographer Jessica Hische unleashes her handcrafted capital-letter-of-choice on the world. And she is nice enough to let you use it, too.

Posted in Art, Design, Uncategorized | No Comments »

A Hutch for Your Hooch

Posted by Katherine Sharpe to Design on 30 September 2009, with 1 comment so far.

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Apartment Therapy Chicago’s post about turning vintage furniture into a bar reminds me of our October/November “I Made This” project: a rolling home bar made from a vintage steamer trunk.

Apparently we’re not the only ones thinking about a modern twist on the old bottle of somethin’ in the office desk drawer.

Posted in Design | 1 Comment »

Applique Your Way Now Available On Amazon!

Posted by Amy Palanjian to Craft on 30 September 2009, with no comments so far.

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I’m a huge fan of Katye Terry and the style of her projects, so I’m thrilled that her new book, Applique Your Way, is available to purchase. I met Katye about a year ago and she showed me snaps of some of the displays she’d done for Anthropologie, and took me through projects from her first book, Complete Embellishing: Techniques and Projects. Since I’m hoping to improve my nearly nonexistent applique skills, I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

6a00e54ecd94e588330120a5a14541970b-800wiCheck out her blog for more of her projects, including this quilt square which just made my heart skip a beat. Apparently in the mix of fabric is some that features old journal entries that she scanned and printed on fabric. So cool!

Posted in Craft | No Comments »

The Weekly Forecast: 10.01-10.07

Posted by Alexa Fornoff to Art and Events and Music and Places on 30 September 2009, with no comments so far.

Welcome to the Wednesday feature here at the ReadyMade blog. Each week, I will provide a list of upcoming events, releases and happenings for the following Thursday through Wednesday. If you have (or know of) an event that you would like to be included, please shoot me an email, and I will do my best to make it happen.

DesignSantaFe08Design Santa Fe
Thursday, October 1 through Saturday, October 3
Santa Fe, New Mexico
RM’s fearless leader Andrew Wagner is taking on Design Santa Fe as part of a four-person panel titled “Beauty Collaboration Design.” The three-day conference also boasts seven home tour projects, including the Co-op House featuring the work of student, interior and furniture designers.  Click here for the rest of the schedule and tickets.

waterwomanatmalibuWater Woman Festival
Thursday, October 1 through Sunday, October 4
Joshua Tree, California
An event for interactive and eco art, the Water Woman Festival aims to build functional art and living spaces that will last at least 200 years. It fuses permaculture, green technology and sustainable living to explore new ways of living, and then empowers the attendees to bring those ideas back home to their own communities.

ATammaro_lattice-cuffAnthony Tammaro at Wexler Gallery
Friday, October 2 through Saturday, October 31
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jewelry designer Anthony Tammaro is taking over the second floor of the Wexler Gallery to showcase his innovative baubles. He was a Weekend Warrior on the blog in July, and is now opening a show in conjunction with DesignPhiladelphia 2009. He sure does now how to keep busy.

leflash_atlantaLe Flash Atlanta 2009
Friday, October 2
Atlanta, Georgia
The opening event of Atlanta Celebrates Photography, Le Flash, takes over Castleberry Hill District from dusk until midnight on Friday. Featuring lights, performances and art, Le Flash has over 50 site-specific installations to illuminate dark lots, forgotten buildings, galleries and streets. And a dozen dancers flowing among the crowd (from Lauri Stallings of gloATL) set the tone for the rest of the evening. Light it up.

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Posted in Art, Events, Music, Places | No Comments »

Seeing Red: The BIOS Keg-Cup Canopy

Posted by Katherine Sharpe to Environment and Materials on 30 September 2009, with no comments so far.

As some of you know, I have a thing about plastic, so I couldn’t help but notice this item.

The three-designer team of Jess Austin, Chris Chalmers and Charles Lee, who work together as the San Francisco-based BIOS Design Colletive, put together a temporary pavilion made of 2,000 (used) plastic keg cups.

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Volunteers put the pavilion together with laser-cut polypropylene clips that attached the cups to a mesh of steel cables, according to the rules of a simple “game” the designers had invented. The installation was part of the AIASF’s Architecture in the City Festival.

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I can’t help but wonder whether the cups rustle pleasantly in the breeze.

Plenty more pics at the BIOS Flickr page.

Posted in Environment, Materials | No Comments »

Behind the Scenes: Snapshots from a Photo Shoot and a Brief Aside on Hand Modeling

Posted by Andrew Wagner to Design and Food + Entertaining and Uncategorized and Work on 29 September 2009, with no comments so far.

We are now about three weeks from our close for our December/January issue. This is usually when things start to get fun. The text and images are starting to pour in and photo shoots are happening on what seems to be a daily basis (below, creative director Stephen Perfetto maps out a shot while our intern, Claire Grossheim and deputy editor Amy Palanjian look on).

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It’s also when things can get a little hairy (haven’t used that word since the 8th grade by the way but I’m gonna go with it) as we’re juggling a few things at a time: Getting October/November out there and starting to hear feedback, heavy into production for December/January, heavy into planning/assigning/executing for February/March, plus everything else going on. I’ve worked on a “nearly monthly” magazine before and can’t even imagine what putting out a weekly (or a daily!) would be like so I’m not complaining, just saying, that’s all.

Yesterday found many of us down the street from ReadyMade DSM HQ at photographer Kathryn Gamble’s studio.

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Posted in Design, Food + Entertaining, Uncategorized, Work | No Comments »

Happiness Does Come in the Mail

Posted by Alexa Fornoff to Art and Design and Uncategorized on 29 September 2009, with 1 comment so far.

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The Lumberyard, a twice-yearly letterpress magazine published by brother-sister duo Eric Woods (of Firecracker Press in St. Louis) and Jen Woods (of Sarabande Books in Louisville), is not quite comic book, not quite literary journal. But it is quite right. They’ve rounded up a group of poets, writers and designers for Issue 4, so hand out $11 and you, too, can enjoy the oh-so-lovely pages that await.

And check out their About Us section—doesn’t it just make you smile?

Posted in Art, Design, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Knitting, Quilting, and Crocheting as Rocket Science…

Posted by Andrew Wagner to Uncategorized on 29 September 2009, with no comments so far.

Following in the footsteps of the infamous knitting crew, Knitta Please; artist Marianne Jorgensen and her pink tank cozy;

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and crotchet artist Jennifer Marsh and her knit, crocheted, and quilted gas station in Syracuse, New York

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comes the Dream Rocket.

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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Charge Ahead With a Solar Handbag

Posted by Katherine Sharpe to Environment and Technology on 29 September 2009, with 6 comments so far.

Occasional ReadyMade project builder Jeff Crystal of Voltaic Systems has posted instructions, developed by Mark Farina, for converting a thrift-store designer knockoff handbag (or any purse you wish) into a solar bag. Installing one of more of Voltaic’s 1.3-watt solar panels yields a bag that’s capable of charging a battery pack, cell phone, GPS, iPod, or digital camera with the energy of the sun.

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Full instructions here. Image by Mark Farina.

Posted in Environment, Technology | 6 Comments »

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