The More You Keep

.
Barbara (habitat), a photograph from "Parameters," a series on agoraphobia by the excellent Brooklyn-based photographer Corinne May Botz.* Read Penelope Green's terrific article on Botz, "Accumulation and its Discontents," and see a slideshow at nytimes.com.**

*You may know her from such books as The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, which deserves its own post or entire blog.

**Also check out Botz' website, and the blog for her new project, which is called "The Secret Life of Objects"

Why Don't You Make Me A Sketch

.

A video on the classic Gastrotypographicalassemblage and other work by long-time CBS design director Lou Dorfsman, who was recently celebrated in a month-long exhibition at Kemistry Gallery in London.

Creativity is essentially a lonely art.
It is in reality the ability to reach inside yourself ...and drag forth from your very soul an idea
–Lou Dorfsman (1918–2008)

See also:
Steven Heller's obituary of Lou Dorfsman at The New York Times; Michael Bierut at Design Observer on The Four Lessons of Lou Dorfsman.

[via Man Made Lakes, the blog of Seattle-based artist and designer Jesse Brown]

Your Weekly Mr. Littlejeans

.
Dearest Reader:

The honest truth is that my main computer is in the shop with a bum ticker and I don't have any new photos of Mr. Littlejeans (a/k/a Scruncho, Fang, Mr. Science*, Munchy, Bobo, Jinx, Jynx, Oscar**) to show you this week. Please accept this invitation to peruse the archives in the category of CATS, which also serves as a catch-all for posts about tiny animals of all kinds.

With the utmost respect, I remain, ever your obt svt, &c., with warmth and kindest personal regards,

Strath Shepard


*Not a doctor
**Mr. Littlejeans' real first name, from when he lived in the Bronx

Image of the Day

.
Bella Foster: Megan Pflug (Watercolor on Paper).
A solo show of Bella's work, Interior, opens tomorrow at Art Since The Summer Of '69, 195 Chrystie Street no.303 (Stanton/Rivington), NYC, and runs through December 19.

Opening reception tonight, 6–9PM.

Visit artsince69.com for info and images and go to bellafoster.com for more.

Uneasy Anticipation

.

Chanel Spring/Summer 2011 details in a short video by Karl Lagerfeld. I like the shots of water, sunlight through trees, and other natural textures between shots of somewhat eerily still people in a big house.

Guest Cat

.
Remember Gus? She now lives with my mom in Seattle and is loving life in the big city.

Best Foot Forward

.
I'm planning to pair these with something right above the knee for a night out.

Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star in cream,
$45 at converse.com

...But if you happen to be in the market for something a little dressier for your upcoming holiday festivities, the sale at Bergdorf Goodman started today. And lest you hesitate only because sandals are impractical in winter, pull out your tights and traveling boots and remember that it will be spring before you know it!

Balmain chain mesh strappy sandal,
$557 (originally $1,395) at Bergdorf Goodman.

Balmain lace-up chiffon bootie,
$429 (originally $1,075) at Bergdorf Goodman.

Elizabeth and James beaded T-strap sandal,
$284 (originally $425) at Bergdorf Goodman.

More here.

Image of the Day

.
Robert Mapplethorpe: Iris, 1982 via mapplethorpe.org. Robert Mapplethorpe was born on November 4th, 1946 in Floral Park, Queens.

Maria Callas & Mick Jagger

.

In honor of Patti Smith (today is notable for her in that it was Robert Mapplethorpe's birthday, and also the day her husband, Fred Sonic Smith, died), The Stranger posted this video of her appearance on an early-'80s show I had completely forgotten about, Kids Are People Too.

1. I remain in total awe of Patti Smith.

2. Not to bring the room down or anything, but damn, mainstream society has become so conservative that with a few notable exceptions, it seems almost inconceivable that a kids' show today would have Patti Smith as a guest.

Catch A Star

.

Ethan Murrow: Will Be Snaring Meteorites - And Be Devoid of Rivals, 2010 (Graphite on paper, 48 x 48 inches) – a piece from Murrow's second solo exhibition at Winston Wachter Fine Art in Seattle. From the press release:

Murrow collaborates with friends and family, donning costumes and enacting fantastical stories before creating films that capture the tales of his unusual characters. Photo stills and on-set photography are then used to transform his story into a series of expressive drawings.

Will Be Snaring Meteorites opens tonight and will remain on view through January 6. More info and images at winstonwachter.com

Bookshelf Adjustment

.

New Ryan McGinley book coming out later this month:
Life Adjustment Center, published by Dashwood Books in association with the exhibition running through December 11 at Ratio 3 in San Francisco:

Image of the Day

.
We went out for a quick trip on the boat Saturday afternoon and saw this Sea Lion hanging out on a buoy between Everett and Mukilteo.

He seemed kind of happy to see us and overall very content with his position.

Breaking Glass

.
Glasser (aka Cameron Mesirow, pictured) is performing at the Crocodile this coming Sunday night, November 6th, with Beat Connection. Here's her new video, for "Mirrorage":


Get info and tickets for the Crocodile show here, and more tour dates at glassermusic.com

Glasser's latest release Ring is out now on True Panther Sounds, with album cover design by frequent collaborator and PS favorite Tauba Auerbach.

Form and Function

.

Left: the undeployed Hövding. Right: the deployed Hövding – kind of a cool hat, no?

Biking around the city is great and everything, but wearing a helmet sucks and always will suck. With that in mind, Swedish industrial designers Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin have come up with an innovative new solution: the Hövding is a simple, unintrusive, unisex collar – almost like a scarf – with a folded airbag tucked inside. When some jerk in a town car ignores the bike lane and crashes into you, built-in sensors in the Hövding recognize the abnormal flailing of your body and instantly deploy the airbag. Here's the Hövding in action:



The Hövding was just introduced this week and so far is only available in Sweden, but global expansion seems imminent. More info and images at hovding.com

[ via Grist.org ]

12:25 PM

.

No Age "Sorts" from Everything In Between (Sub Pop, 2010)

[Photo: That's me, building a miniature structure for some Fischer-Price Adventure People, Sequim Bay, WA ca.1979]