The melting snow and subsequent muck and dirt that’s left behind has me wishing for something beautiful, and Dutch Ink (a group of four guys from brand and communication school Vega) from Durban, South Africa, have just the thing. Their work, which draws inspiration from British street artist Paul Curtis, uses reverse graffiti to present various scenes on grimy city walls. By using stencils and stiff metal brushes, the group selectively cleans to leave behind a mural that fades over time. Beautiful.
I saw this simple, yet toasted and cheesy sandwich on Simple Bites today (on a post that also features Coco-Banana pancakes and a One Bowl Gingerbread) and am wishing I had a stove and a skillet by my desk. Click here to see the full recipe for this quick croque monsiuer.
Not only is Anais Mitchell gracing the ReadyMade stage at SXSW in less than two weeks, she also releases her folk opera, Hadestown, today with help from Justin Vernon as Orpheus, Ani DiFranco as Persephone, Ben Knox Miller as Hermes, Greg Brown as Hades, and the Haden Triplets as the Fates. And as far as album operas go, this one doesn’t give off an overly gimmicky vibe, but surrounds the listener with good, down-home folk that happens to tell a haunting tale.
Anais’ riff on Orpheus (set in a post-apocalyptic society), though rooted in mythology, takes on a very familiar tone: Every artist has the desire to make something so beautiful that they inspire the impossible—in this case, bringing back the dead Eurydice. First developed as a stage production in Vermont, Anais and her friends hammered out the details, wrote new drafts, and debated between poetry and story clarity before she went into the studio to lay it all down. Give it a listen here, and enjoy.
SXSW info below, and for more of the history behind Hadestown, click here.
This year’s music line-up includes:
12:15p Anais Mitchell / 1:00p Sarah Jaffe / 1:30p Birds & Batteries / 2:30p Everest /
3:30p Matt Morris / 4:30p Carney Where: Beauty Bar @ Palm Door, 401 Sabine Street @ East 4th Street When: Saturday, March 20th, Noon – 5:00p. RSVP to attend: events@readymademag.com
Please put SXSW in subject line. Space is limited. RSVP does not guarantee entry. SXSW badges welcome.
A few weeks ago I wrote about my recent visit to Detroit. During that trip, my traveling companions and I were also able to get out to Bloomfield HIlls, about 30 minutes outside the city, to visit the Cranbrook Academy of Art. I’ve visited Cranbrook several times over the years and it’s always impressive. But this visit was particularly intriguing as we were able to pin down the director of the amazingly influential school, Reed Kroloff, and coax him into giving us a full-blown tour of the grounds.
The shot above is of the spot where Kroloff likes to begin any tour he gives because it is so illustrative of Eliel Saarinen’s unique take on architecture and design. Saarinen (the Finnish architect responsible for the design of most of the school) was known for combining the the urbane Art Deco style with a more earthy Arts and Crafts aesthetic. It was this Arts and Crafts influence that undoubtedly led to the architect’s obsession with creating near perfect symmetry and then tweaking it slightly as a tip of the hat to nature. Saarinen is famous for saying “Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context—a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan.” [Read more →]
When it’s gray and rainy as it’s been here in the Midwest the past few days, I get an enormous urge to spend my day in the kitchen baking. This past weekend I made granola and cornbread, but at the moment, there is a bunch of almost too ripe bananas on my counter just asking to be turned into this delicious sounding cake. Here’s a description of the Banana Cake with Dark Chocolate and Walnuts from Bella Eats:
This cake, while not the prettiest kid on the block, certainly has the possibility of being the most popular with its stellar personality. So dense, so moist, the banana-scented crumb is perfectly balanced with dark chocolate and toasty walnuts.
I like the thought of a cake with a stellar personality!
Sending mail, in my opinion, is almost better than getting it. Unexpected packages can brighten even the dimmest of days, and with the series 13 Ounces or Less from Giver’s Log, you can get inspiration for charming tidbits that fall within USPS guidelines. For even more ideas, check out their flickr group…the bouncy balls below are my favorite.
I am very, very happy to have on my desk a copy of a spiral-bound book about tiny house plans that crawls with black-and-white-drawings and pulses with loopy DIY energy. It’s called Humble Homes, Simple Shacks, Cozy Cottages, Ramshackle Retreats, Funky Forts, and Whatever the Heck Else We Could Squeeze In Here, and it’s the brain-child of Derek Diedricksen of Stoughton, Massachusetts. The book the kind of creative outburst that makes me inordinately glad to be sharing the world with it, and I’ll no doubt be blogging some goodies from its pages soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this Youtube video of Derek giving a guided tour of one of his Humble Homes creations, the Hickshaw (”a rickshaw for HICKS,” get it?). Derek blogs at Relaxshacks.com, where you can obtain your very own copy of Humble Homes for a mere $15.95.
He likes to introduce himself sometimes as Blake, sometimes as Sarazin, or maybe even Robert if you’re lucky. Any way you know him though, Robert Sarazin Blake’s music remains the same. He’s been strumming his guitar since his first festival at the ripe age of 15, and more than a decade later, he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
I had the opportunity to see him this past weekend, and whether Blake was all by his lonesome or playing with a ragtag bunch of friends on stage, you couldn’t help but keep your eyes locked on him. At one point, in front of a crowd of more than 1,000, he stepped away from the mic and let loose. Even in the balcony, I could hear him perfectly. Blake proved that his troubadour sound is at home just as much in a fancy theater as it is snug around a campfire.
And if you’re in the greater Midwest region these next few weeks, check out Blake’s tour dates here (he’s in Des Moines tonight at Vaudeville Mews). He’ll be tromping through venues with The Heligoats, an eccentric pop band with a whole lot of heart.
So, over on Twitter the other day, @messymagazine* asked me if we had any ideas about how to reuse old skate decks. I tossed the question out to our followers, and the wonderful stream of ideas that came back was enough to inspire me to put together a post. Consider this the first of what I hope will be many “How To Reuse…” columns.
*(That’d be Messy Magazine, an independent art/literary/DIY/music/photography/etc zine outta Cleveland, OH)
How To Reuse Skate Decks
A skate deck is the “board” part of a skateboard. According to Wikipedia,
“Most decks are constructed with a seven to nine-ply cross-laminated layup of Canadian maple. Other materials used in deck construction, such as fiberglass, bamboo, resin, Kevlar, carbon fiber, aluminum, and plastic, lighten the board or increase its strength or rigidity. Some decks made from maple ply are dyed to create various different coloured ply. Modern decks vary in size, but most are 7 to 10.5 inches wide. Wider decks can be used for greater stability when transition or ramp skating. Skateboard decks are usually between 28 and 33 inches long.”
Decks are flattish but not completely flat, and most have a kicktail that turns up at each end of the board.
So how do you reuse these often lovingly decorated objects? Here’s one idea. Read past the fold for many more.
1. A glass-topped coffee table provides a clear view to the decorated skateboards that make up its base. From the “Skate Furniture” gallery at Skateboardpark.com.
Jillian Mayer’s work will make you look twice, maybe even three times. Her series Getting to Know You Better (painted on boards from an old dance floor) is a modern take on the old-timey fair cutouts (you know, where you’d stick your head in a hole and get your photo taken as a muscle builder).
From her site:
Flashes of neon and the glow of my 1980s television set were the essential mentors in my early years.
Growing up I was over saturated with cartoons and sitcoms. I had much difficulty separating the dilemmas of real life with those from scripts of mock families crafted for my weekly entertainment.
Sadly, my real life fell short of these fictional/animated adventures.
Think eating in is, by definition, not glamorous? Well Marc of No Recipes and RM’s Feast food blog proved that is not the case—at least when he’s involved. It’s nearly impossible not to salivate over the shots of the foods that he ate last week as part of his Week of Eating In. I am inspired by his lunch time pizza and the quick lamb roast with mint sauce, and possibly even more so by the reality that even someone with a very full schedule can pull this off. Sure, he does admit to skipping a meal here and there but he more than made up for it!
For four days, moviegoers, music-players, and filmmakers flocked to Columbia, Missouri, for True/False Film Festival. Thousands of us laughed, cried, drank, mused, and barely slept just so we wouldn’t miss a beat. I’ve split up the event into four non-scientific categories (film, music, art, and partay) for easier perusal.
Film
Inside the Missouri Theater before the closing night film, Last Train Home.
Only two of the eight T/F venues actually screen films year round, and the others run the gamut of a rarely seen Odd Fellows Temple to a university lecture hall. But the amazing thing is that all of them felt as if they did this kind of thing every day. The staff kept film rolling, snacks on the ready, and lights dim. For me, my favorite films of the weekend bashed straight through my usual go-to genre. While I usually enjoy lighter premises, Restrepo won out as the top showing for me. It follows a platoon in one of the most dangerous war zones (Korengal Valley, Afghanistan), and though it left me feeling very raw, it was also refreshing to witness someone’s story of war that didn’t rely on partisan politics.
The Mirror, about a small Italian town that doesn’t get sunlight for 83 days of the year because of a pesky mountain peak, had me rooting for the innovative—and optimistic—mayor and his giant mirror project.
I left this next film not really knowing if I liked it or not, but the fact that The Red Chapel brought us into North Korea and allowed the audience access to a country that is notoriously shut off made me sway to the “yes” side. The director, along with two Danish-Korean comedians, enter the country under the premise of performing a Danish cultural exchange. Devilish manipulation, breakdowns, and a rather disturbing anti-American march round out the film and leave you to rant and rave about what you just saw to anyone that will listen.
(Clockwise, top left) Director Lixin Fan and festival Co-Conspirator David Wilson take part in a Q&A during the closing night; the ever-helpful guidebook; (inexpensive) merch; Andy, Kyle, Kalei, and Tim enjoying the closing night reception’s free food and booze; tearing tickets in the Missouri Theater.
In case you hadn’t noticed, this week we welcome three new blogs and six new bloggers to ReadyMade. Lily Kane and Erin Loechner are covering design at our blog Design Binder; Carmela Ciuraru and Melissa Goldstein are all over culture at Media Diet; and Helen Jupiter and Keith Mulvihill are writing about travel and places at Escape Hatch.
Also later this week, Megan Jeyifo of Urban Casita is going to be making her debut on our home ‘n’ garden blog, Inside, Out.
So as you can see, we’ve been pretty busy around these parts. Now that we’ve got our eight-count-’em-eight blogs in place, we’re looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and getting down to the business of bringing you all the DIY ideas, decorating tips, design news, small-spaces hints, book/music/art notes, craft projects, fashion and style news, armchair travel destinations, real travel destinations, ‘how did you get that f*&%ing awesome job’ interviews, and visual and mental candy that we can.
As always, the ReadyMade blogs are a work in progress; if you have feedback or there’s something that you’d like to see here, feel free to leave a comment or email me.
Dr. NakaMats, mimicking a very realistic life-sized cutout.
One of the most charmingly fun films of True/False Film Festival, which had its fair share of the larger impact hit-you-in-the-gut-and-make-you-think type of flicks, has to be The Invention of Dr. NakaMats. Director Kaspar Astrup Schröder, along with composer Silas Hite, were at the sneak peek to take it all in with the audience.
To set the scene, here’s a short list of the Doctor’s quirks and inventions:
He is certain he will live to 144; he concocted a magical potion for lovers called Love Jet (”I’ve tested more than 10,000 women. Of course, I’m not doing the sex. I’m checking meters.”); his biggest (and most lucrative) invention is the floppy disk; he developed the Cereberex chair for taking power naps during the day (he sleeps for only four hours); and for more than 35 years he has photographed every meal he eats, which lead to an elixir that combines 55 different ingredients to prolong life until the ripe old age of—you guessed it—144.
“I still have doubts if his inventions were actually real,” Kaspar says of the more than 3,000 patents Dr. NakaMats has under his belt. “It’s more like ticking off something and then not renewing the patent after the one-year deadline. It’s more about the total number for him.”
Even though the subject of the script is somewhat of a rockstar in Japan, how exactly did a Danish filmmaker find out about him, you ask? “I read a small article in the newspaper called something like ‘World Record Holder for Number of Patents Gets Ideas Under Water,” Kaspar says. And when he contacted Dr. NakaMats about the film, “he was very eager to put his ego on display…”
Alexa Fornoff is the assistant editor of ReadyMade, and she blogs here about art and happenings. She enjoys reading—a lot—and is currently making her way through the Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions. When her nose isn't buried between pages, she likes to eat good food and drink good drinks. Contact Alexa | Read posts by Alexa
Amy Palanjian is originally from a mile-wide town in south Jersey. When she's not creating color-coded spreadsheets, watching out for excessive garnish on food shoots and keeping the ship afloat as ReadyMade's deputy editor in Des Moines, she quilts, bakes granola and blogs about people who make things at her appropriately titled blog, Things We Make. She blogs daily about food. Contact Amy | Read posts by Amy
Katherine Sharpe is the online editor of ReadyMade. She lives in Brooklyn, where she mostly makes food and to-do lists, but she's interested in bigger, headier creations: think Buckminster Fuller-esque architectural utopianism. She blogs daily or almost-daily about furniture, design, buildings, awesome jobs, and books. Contact Katherine | Read posts by Katherine
Andrew Wagner, ReadyMade's editor-in-chief, has long been driven by his curiosity about how people and places mutually affect one another. After founding Dodge City Journal, and helping to found Limn and Dwell, he saw American Craft through a major redesign. His interests include architecture, design, art, music, baseball, and the ineffable yogurt/granola combination. He tries his best to post on Tuesdays about architecture, design, and cities. Contact Andrew | Read posts by Andrew
