LIKEARCHITECTS

November 10, 2014

As we anticipate temperatures dropping this week, we're reminiscing about LIKEarchitects' fun summer installation in Portugal. Three playLAND structures were created using brightly colored beach tubes as modular building elements. A stage, a tower, and a tunnel encouraged creativity, performance, and exploration. LIKEarchitects has created various installations from functional objects, including traffic cones, lawn chairs, milk crates, and pool noodles. We love the way they can turn the everyday into something new, exciting, and experimental. Check out the full range of their work on their website.

PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD!

November 5, 2014

Image from josiahjones.co.uk — Image from josiahjones.co.uk

Do you follow @kinderMODERN on Instagram? Recently, our Creative Director has been sharing some fun shots of her son's bento lunches and we can't get over the huge response from our followers!

We love when design and food come together to make something fun and interesting, like these magnetized geometric trays by Josiah Jones. They fit together in any number of ways to create the perfect presentation for all kinds of creative meals. Jones used these trays as part of a project examining the lives of creatives. He asked 20 designers what their ideal lunch would be and then photographed these meals in his trays. Explore the full project on his website.

As our regular readers will know, we're inspired by the ways in which children experience our world. If you haven't seen the NYT's short video, Small Plates, in which 6 second graders are treated to a tasting menu at Daniel, one of New York City's top restaurants, check it out here. Their wonder and joy at this special experience is a delight to behold.

Have lunch with us on Instagram! @kinderMODERN #kinderBENTO

#SAVEKEMISTRYGALLERY

November 3, 2014

Looking to support a good cause? Check out the Kickstarter campaign to save London's iconic graphic design gallery, Kemistry Gallery. Located in Shoreditch, Kemistry faces closure as its current location is slated for redevelopment. Founded in 2004 by Graham McCallum and Richard Churchill, Kemistry supports and exhibits the work of new talent and established designers, exploring an often overlooked, but essential, area of design. Kemistry hopes to raise £15,000 to supplement a grant by the Arts Council England for a pop-up exhibition in February 2015. This exhibition, entitled Kemistry Gallery: 10 years 60 works, will highlight Kemistry's work to date and feature a cafe, bar, and series of talks by design masters. Not only will your donation help finance this cool exhibition, but it will ensure the continued success of Kemistry Gallery, and their singular representation of this important art form, in a new home for many years to come.

Making a donation? Be sure to spread the work on social media! #SaveKemistryGallery

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

October 31, 2014

We hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween this year! If you're looking to extend the celebration through the weekend, be sure to check out Obake Family Day at the Japan Society on Sunday, November 2, 2014. This celebration explores the art and artifacts of Japanese mythology and the creepy ghosts and fantastical creatures that inhabit it. Activities include the Garden of Unearthly Delights, an exhibition combining art and technology with works by Manabu Ikeda, Hisashi Tenmyouya, and the collective teamLab; anime phantom mask making with cartoonist Katie Skelly; traditional kamishibai paper-theater storytelling; calligraphy practice; and a spooky haunted house!

The Japan Society is located at 333 East 47th St. in New York City. The Obake Family Day events will run from 11am-4pm on November 2, 2014. Ticked are $15 for adults and $8 for children ages 3-12.

COOL HUNTING // HALLOWEEN MASKS

October 29, 2014

Image from etsy.com — Image from etsy.com

We're a little obsessed with CoolHunting.com and the amazing things they find from all over the world. This week the website brought to our attention the delightful, handmade masks carefully crafted by a Latvian woman named Jevengia Kilupe. These papier-mâché, brightly painted masks, adorned with fur and feathers, range from sweet to comical to creepy and have been used in traditional Latvian celebrations for hundreds of years. The 80 year old Kilupe has been making the masks since the '90's and is considered a master of this ancient and traditional Latvian art form. Check out her Etsy shop to see more of her work and get inspired for Halloween.

Have an arty mask you love? We want to see it! Show us on Twitter or Instagram! @kinderMODERN

MICHAEL & GEORGE

October 27, 2014

The HB Lamp from UK design studio Michael & George is a bright idea! This made-to-order floor lamp is crafted from cedar and hand-blown glass, with a long black cord that can be arranged in all kinds of creative “sketches.” Available in traditional yellow or a range of customizable colors, we love the large-scale whimsy of this remarkable piece. Their classroom inspired line, also including a birch plywood “Geometry Clock” and brass “Measure Mirror,” would add a smart dash of fun and play to any residential or commercial space.

ECKER ARCHITEKTEN

October 23, 2014

Here at kinder MODERN we believe that good design = smart and happy kids. Today we're inspired by Kindergarten Kunterbunt near Frankfurt, Germany. This primary school designed by German firm Ecker Architekten consists of sleek grey walls and strong design lines, accented with pops of bright yellow and unexpected elements of play, like a spiral staircase and over-sized lamps. The simple minimalism of the school creates a versatile canvas for imagination and learning, without being too juvenile or too severe. The school stands alone as a shining example of modern architecture, but also converses seamlessly with the 13th century walled city and adjacent 14th century knight's residence, echoing the palette and permanence of these medieval structures.

Check out Ecker Architekten's website to learn more about their work and see their other amazing school and community projects, including Kindergarten Dandelion Clock, a special education kindergarten combining indoor and outdoor play and therapy, and the Forum at Eckenberg Academy, a functional, multi-purpose campus center that embraces natural light with a distinctive and futuristic honeycomb roof.

Where's your favorite design-forward school? Tell us on Twitter! @kinderMODERN

FRIEZE LONDON

October 20, 2014

Frieze London wrapped up this weekend and our favorite exhibition was definitely Carsten Holler's "Gartenkinder." Represented by Gagosian Gallery, this installation was all about play, featuring a giant game of Scrabble and an even larger die, an eerily realistic soft octopus and over-sized mushroom, and an unpredictable bouncing Perplexity Ball. We also loved the 2014 fair's dedication to performance art, with daily ballets and performance artists scattered throughout the fair, and thought-provoking pieces, such as "Does this soup taste ambivalent?" by the United Brothers (soup made with ingredients from the Fukushima nuclear disaster sight). Tell us all about your Frieze London faves on Twitter! @kinderMODERN

MONSTRUM

October 16, 2014

We'll travel the world looking for an amazing playground, and we currently can't get enough of MONSTRUM, the award-winning Danish playground design firm headed by former theater set designers Ole Barslund Nielsen and Christian Jensen. Using giant scale and provocative figures, Nielsen and Jensen create multi-age play structures that both inspire and challenge developing minds and bodies. Each playground is handmade, primarily of sustainable wood and stainless steel, in their Copenhagen studio. The designers are experts in playground safety, but also well-versed in child development, a combination of knowledge allowing for structures that encourage safe risk-taking and facilitate the important leaps in learning gained through that risk. MONSTRUM also values narrative, and each playground engenders a unique imaginative environment. Kristinebergs Slottspark in Stockholm tells a forest story, with a massive owl king and queen overseeing the children as they navigate a forest floor littered with interactive "acorns;" while the Watchtower in Klelund Dyrehave is a 45 foot high, almost foreboding, take on the traditional secret hide-out. Check out their website to see the full range of MONSTRUM's incredible work.

SUPERCUTE

October 14, 2014

The Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California is celebrating the 40th birthday of Hello Kitty with Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kittycurated by Christine Yano, the first US museum retrospective on the cultural phenomenon of Hello Kitty. The exhibit includes vintage merchandise from the Sanrio archive in Japan, contemporary artworks featuring Hello Kitty, and Hello Kitty pop fashion worn by superstars Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. The museum will also be an integral part of the first Hello Kitty Con, October 30-November 2, 2014 in downtown Los Angeles at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.

Hello! is on display through December 31, 2014 and is a ticketed exhibition ($20 for adults, $10 for kids ages 6-17). The JANM is located at 100 North Central Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The museum is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11am-5pm; Thursdays 12pm-8pm.

Lucky enough to check out the exhibit? Tell us all about it on Twitter! @kinderMODERN

FLASH FLOCK!!

October 13, 2014

Did you catch artist Tina Trachtenburg's "flash flock" this weekend in Washington Square Park? Her soft sculpture pigeons can be found making appearances around the city on fine days. Trachtenburg, a passionate advocate for animal rights, creates her realistic pigeons out of felt, yarn, and recycled clothing, and then installs her flocks in public places to raise awareness for the rights of NYC's winged, less popular, residents. Check her out on motherpigeon.com and be sure to follow her on Twitter @motherpiegon and Instagram @flashflock for updates and photos of her installations and the pigeon making process.

JULIE BLACKMON

October 10, 2014

Thin Mints, 2014 by Julie Blackmon. Image from julieblackmon.com — *Thin Mints*, 2014 by Julie Blackmon. Image from julieblackmon.com

We're intrigued by Julie Blackmon's darkly satiric photographs of parenthood in her new book Homegrown, a mature follow-up to her 2008 debut collection, Domestic Vacations. Both projects were inspired by the vibrant, often chaotic, scenes of daily Dutch life depicted by 17th century painter Jan Steen. While Domestic Vacations focuses on children and their place in the home,Homegrown asks questions about the confusing nature of parenthood. In an interview with New York Magazine, Blackmon said of the comedic element to her work, "It’s way too hard to do something serious … I just wouldn’t have any fun with that, unless I threw in some little horrible detail in the background. That’s always what I’m aiming for — but not in a simple way. It’s a funny way that makes you recognize something that you’re kind of creeped out or you’re kind of charmed by — and all these things come together to make you laugh. At least, those are the things that make me laugh."

Julie Blackmon: Free Range is now on display at the Robert Mann Gallery in New York City (525 W. 26th St, between 10th & 11th Avenues) through October 18, 2014, Monday-Friday 10am-6pm. Homegrown, with a forward by poet Billy Collins and including a conversation with Reese Witherspoon, is available in bookstores.

ARCHTOBER 2014

October 9, 2014

Image from archtober.org — Image from archtober.org

Did you know October is Archtober? The fourth annual month-long architecture and design festival is in full swing, celebrating our city's buildings, both old and new, throughout the five boroughs. Check out the Archtober website for an extensive calendar of events, including exhibitions, roundtable discussions, tours, and more. We love the "Building of the Day," educating the NYC community with daily tours of the incredible, functional structures that make up this eclectic city. Today's building is a repurposed pencil factory in Greenpoint, Brooklyn that houses Kickstarter's sustainable, multi-functional offices, which include a central courtyard made from the building's original steel trusses, a 40 foot high theater, and a 1600 square foot gallery for exhibitions of local artists.

Which Building of the Day is your favorite? Tell us via Twitter @kinderMODERN

DEVORAH SPERBER

October 6, 2014

Devorah Sperber's Thread Spool Works combines innovative materiality with a scientific examination of the ways in which our brains process images, all while reinterpreting iconic pieces of classic and pop art. Sperber uses stainless-steel ball chains and multi-colored spools of thread to create upside-down, low resolution reproductions of familiar images. Viewers are invited to first experience the piece with the naked eye and then through a clear acrylic sphere. The sphere inverts the image and condenses the spool "pixels" into a known, recognizable image. Sperber says of her work, "This shift in perception functions as a dramatic mechanism to present the idea that there is no one truth or reality, emphasizing subjective reality vs. an absolute truth. As a visual artist, I cannot think of a topic more stimulating and yet so basic, than the act of seeing--how the human brain makes sense of the visual world." We particularly like Woodstock, 2010; Superman, 2010; and her most famous work, After the Mona Lisa 1, 2005, an incredible rendition of the enigmatic Mona Lisa based on the study of facial recognition.

Be sure to check out Sperber's website to view her full catalog of works, including those in other mediums--beads, chenille stems, map tacks, and more. Join our conversation on Twitter and tell us about your favorite @kinderMODERN.

@LARGE

October 3, 2014

@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz engages with the complicated history of the infamous prison to explore the relationship between art and activism. In seven different mixed media installations over four locations throughout, Weiwei explores the stories, including his own, of those who have been imprisoned for speaking publicly about their beliefs. We like the large scale of"With Wind," which uses a giant hand-made dragon kite, a symbol of power, to explore the loss of power and voice activists experience when imprisoned or exiled, and "Trace," a series of portraits of Weiwei's professed "heroes of our time" made entirely of one of our favorite unusual mediums, Lego building blocks.

@Large is on view through April 26, 2015 at Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, CA and tickets are availablethree months in advance. If you visit, be sure to tell us about your experience on Twitter or Instagram @kinderMODERN