Icon: Bird in Space by Constantin Brancusi

From the 1920s to the 1940s Constantin Brancusi was preoccupied by the theme of a bird in flight. He concentrated not on the physical attributes of the bird but on its movement. In “Bird in Space” wings and feathers are eliminated, the swell of the body is elongated, and the head and beak are reduced to a slanted oval plane. Balanced on a slender conical footing, the figure’s upward thrust is unfettered. Brancusi’s inspired abstraction realizes his stated intent to capture “the essence of flight.” This particular conception of “Bird in Space” is the first in a series of seven sculptures carved from marble and nine cast in bronze, all of which were painstakingly smoothed and polished.

“Bird in Space” has broken the world auction record for a sculpture in 2005 by fetching $27,456,000 at Christie’s New York to an anonymous buyer.

Bird in Space by Constantin Brancusi

Maxalto Makes a Cameo in Bond Film, Quantum of Solace

In its silver screen debut, Maxalto furnishings take center stage in several scenes in the new James Bond film “Quantum of Solace”.
Highlights of the featured furniture include the Talamo bed from the AC collection and the Max writing desk from the Simplice collection, in addition to a selection of night tables, armchairs and dressers.

Maxalto Collection, Spotted in New Bond Film, Quantum of Solace

Wallpaper* and Eyestorm Photo Exhibit at St Martins Lane

Wallpaper*, is selling limited edition prints from their archives. A pop-up gallery at the stylish St Martins Lane Hotel will showcase ten works by some of the world’s most acclaimed photographers in a free exhibition open to the public.
The eight photographers whose signed and numbered prints will be on display are Jonathan de Villiers, Mauricio Alejo, Jonathan Frantini, Christopher Griffith, Stefan Ruiz, Daniel Stier, Benedict Redgrove and Joël Tettamanti.

Exhibition: Wallpaper* Selects and Eyestorm, Limited Edition Prints, at St Martins Lane Hotel December 10th – 19th, London, UK

Christophe Pillet Designs Louis XIII Cognac Set

Remy Martin has collaborated with Christophe Pillet to launch a limited edition design for Louis XIII cognac. Pillet is well known as a furniture designer and has worked with Philippe Starck and brands like Zanotta, Cappellini, Tacchini and Pallucco.
Louis XIII is made from 1200 different “eaux de vie” (fermented and distilled grape juice from Grande Champagne region in Cognac) aged anywhere between 40-100 years. Pillet has designed a contemporary set to accompany Louis XIII that pays homage to the heritage and artistry of this fine cognac.

Louis XIII, limited edition, by Christophe Pillet, for Remy Martin

Wallpaper* City Guides add New Destinations

Wallpaper* City Guides have added 10 new destinations: Delhi, Hamburg, Kuala Lumpur, Kyoto, Marseille, Montreal, Moscow, Reykjavik, Seoul, and Venice. The guides present a tightly edited, discreetly packaged list of the best a location has to offer the design conscious traveller.

Whether you are staying for 48 hours or five days, visiting for business or a vacation, the editors have done the hard work for you, from finding the best restaurants, bars and hotels (including which rooms to request) to the most extraordinary stores and sites, and the most enticing architecture and design. Wallpaper* City Guides enable you to come away from your trip, however brief, with a real taste of the city’s landscape and the satisfaction you’ve seen all that you should.

Wallpaper* City Guide, Published by Phaidon. Buy them here: Amazon

William Eggleston: Democratic Camera Photographs and Video

William Eggleston’s great achievement in photography can be described in a straightforward way: he captures everyday moments and transforms them into indelible images. William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008 presents a comprehensive selection from nearly fifty years of image-making.

Born in 1939 in Sumner, Mississippi, a small town in the Delta region, Eggleston showed an early interest in cameras and audio technology. While studying at various colleges in the South, he purchased his first camera and came across a copy of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s book The Decisive Moment (1952). In the early 1960s, Eggleston married and moved to Memphis, where he has lived ever since. He first worked in black-and-white, but by the end of the decade began photographing primarily in color. Internationally acclaimed and widely traveled, Eggleston has spent the past four decades photographing all around the world, conveying intuitive responses to fleeting configurations of cultural signs and moods as specific expressions of local color. Psychologically complex and casually refined, bordering on kitsch and never conventionally beautiful, these photographs speak principally to the expanse of Eggleston’s imagination and have had a pervasive influence on all aspects of visual culture. By not censoring, rarely editing, and always photographing, Eggleston convinces us of the idea of the democratic camera.

Exhibition: William Eggleston: Democratic Camera Photographs and Video, 1961—2008, Whitney Museum, November 7 – January 25, 2009

The Eggleston Artistic Trust is dedicated to the representation and preservation of the work of William Eggleston. 

Recommended reading: William Eggleston’s Guide

Icon: Easter Island Moai Kavakava Sold for $614,500

The modern home is the perfect venue for displaying tribal art. A recent auction of the collection of Frieda and Milton Rosenthal, at Sotheby’s yielded a very rare and significant sculpture.

This Wooden figure from Easter Island (one of the most remote islands in Polynesia, some 2000 miles from the nearest landmass) representing emaciated, sometimes almost skeletal, men locally called Moai Kavakava are named after moai for the monumental monolithic human figures found on Easter Island and the word kavakava meaning “ribs”. Little is known about their cultural context.

Moai Kavakava are said to represent spirits or ghosts (Aku Aku) as well as deceased ancestors. German Expressionist Max Ernst, was inspired by these figures and their rituals and they can also be found in the collections of the French surrealist André Breton.

Moai Kava Kava, Sold at auction, $ 614,500 USD, at Sotheby’s New York, USA

Alila Villas Uluwatu and Hotel in Bali

While Designing Alila Villas Uluwatu, the architects wanted to create more than the usual stereotypical ideas of Bali, creating a design that worked with the dry Balinese Savannah vegetation and gently sloping site, not against it. The 14.4 hectare development offers three-bedroom contemporary Balinese villas for sale, as well as a hotel for those on holiday in Bali.

Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia, by WOHA
via: Contemporist

Collages by Alejandro Chavetta

We love these images that recall the work of the influential photographer and designer, Lazlo Moholy-Nagy in the 1920′s.

Collages, by Alejandro Chavetta

Field of Light at Eden Project by Bruce Munro

Bruce Munro’s iconic Field of Light sculpture is now installed at the Eden Project in Cornwall. The piece can now be seen on the sloping grass roof of the visitors centre, called the Link building, between the famous Rainforest and Mediterranean Biomes, and will remain there until Spring 2009. The sculpture first came to widespread public attention when a scaled-down version was exhibited in the Pirelli Garden at the V&A in 2004.
Bruce Munro and five assistants worked over three days to install Field of Light at the Eden Project. It is made of 6,000 acrylic stems, through which fibre optic cables run, each crowned with a clear glass sphere.

Field of Light, by Bruce Munro, through Spring 2009, at the Eden Project, Cornwall, UK
via: dezeen