Photo By Gail
Outdoor dining during the Covid 19 pandemic has really saved New York City, not only economically but morale-wise. I love how the little temporary dining areas that restaurants have built curbside make it seem like there’s street fair going on all the time! This Pink Tent and Picket Fence was spotted on Bleecker Street in the West Village.
Photos By Gail
This Red Bead Necklace was crafted from Bakelite (beads and chain links) cellulose acetate, with a metal clasp, and attributed to an unknown American designer. In the twentieth century, plastic manufacturing transformed the American jewelry industry and allowed for the production of fashionable yet affordable pieces. This chain link and cube necklace represents a style that was especially popular during the Depression era and the early 1940s.
Photographed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.
I was at a flea market downtown when I became enchanted by this Hot Pink, Lucite Mannequin Hand that was being used as a display for rings by a fun jewelry vendor. Luckily, the vendor (IG @dollybabyofficial) let me remove the rings so that I could photograph the hand for the blog — what a sweetheart.
You can buy one of these hands in a less-vibrant pink color for about $13 at This Link.
OK!
All Photos By Gail
In NYC, you will come across amazing discoveries every few feet if you just keep your eyes open. I was walking to the train from a fun visit to the newly-reopened Metropolitan Museum of Art when this unique, wrought iron sculptural door caught my eye. And how could it not: It looks like a medieval Dragon is struggling to burst forth from behind a cage onto the sidewalk! Very Scary!
While I did not want to trespass onto private property, I did sneak a bit closer so that I could get a good detail shot of the Dragon’s head. It is super cool! I have no clue who the artist is but what an awesome thing to have designed to make this building stand out. I wonder if Game of Thrones fans live there?
They’ve also kept the design cohesive by adding these spider-web-like guards to the first floor windows. This place is officially ready for Halloween all year long. Well done!
These Architectural Features are Part of a Five-Story, Three-Unit Building (According to Street Easy, Although I Suspect it’s a Private Home) Located at 52 East 81st Street between Madison and Park, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Photos By Gail
This set of French Doors was originally installed in the Sedgwick S. Brinsmaid House, one of the earliest examples of Prairie-school architecture in Iowa. The horizontally oriented building, with its stucco-and-wood surface, pierced details, and abundance of geometric leaded glass, relates closely to works by Frank Lloyd Wright. A contemporary of Wright, Arthur Heun began his architectural career in Chicago and was an important member of the Chicago Architectural Club, where he exhibited a design for this house in 1902.
Sash windows, chandeliers, and lanterns were designed en suite with the doors; the distinctive element is the chevron pattern, its angles echoing the broadly projecting gables of the house.
Photographed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.
All Photos By Gail
Going shopping in your closet: it is a thing. I have not had to buy a gift for anyone since the beginning of Covid life since I keep finding new shit I forgot I owned hiding inside bags in my closet. Just being serious.
Case in point: I was looking for something to re-gift for a friend’s upcoming Birthday when I discovered these awesome Flying Pig String Lights hiding at the bottom of a bag of old tights, of all places. I have a vague memory of receiving them from my sister for Christmas several years ago, and I can guess that the only reason they were not put up in the Chickpad immediately is that I already had a set of Pig String Lights (recently retired to storage) hanging over the exact book shelf where these now reside.
I love these little guys.
Photos By Gail
Would you like to relax and stretch out on a long, fluffy sofa the color of a giant egglant? Who wouldn’t? The Campana brothers are famed Brazilian furniture designers. Most celebrated for their design of the Vermelha chair — an iconic piece handmade from a huge length of rope, wrapped and woven to create the chair’s nest-like structure. As you can see by their Bolotas Sofa, in a vibrant shade of Aubergine, Umberto and Fernando Campana continue to create brightly colored, whimsical statement pieces for the home.
The Bolotas collection (2015) was initially inspired by stone walls, but the name came from the first prototype that appeared to be soft and round like an acorn (‘bolotas’ means acorn in Portuguese). Each piece is covered with sustainable leather, prepared with an environmentally-friendly tanning process. The brothers decided to use natural skins to bring comfort to the design: pillows of sheepskin for the armchair and the sofa carefully arranged on a stainless steel structure with feet made from Brazilian Ipe wood, which is naturally fire, bug and water-resistant. The Aubergine color was created in a series of eight pieces and sells for about $25,000 at auction.
Photographed in the Friedman Benda Booth at the 2019 Salon Art + Design.
All Photos By Gail
Here at The ‘Gig, were are all about Sweet Rides for Kids. Example: check out this Pink Primo Ride On Push Scooter, which is its full actual name. How cool is thing thing? Could you just die? I am dead already.
The scooter also comes in sunny, lemon yellow and pistachio green, but who gives a shit. Â Pink is always our color choice. Designed by Elisha Ruesch in 2019, this powder-coated iron scooter is patterned after a vintage Italian model and will give the recipient their first taste of a classic. Like a high-quality car, the Primo Ride-On Push Scooter is crafted from sheets of solid metal, and welded by hand from a minimum of pieces.
The Primo Ride-On Push Scooter is for kids over age one, who are also under 45 pounds. Available from the MoMa Design Store in Soho for just $199. Simple assembly required.
All Photos By Gail
LA-based designer Alex Brokamp is inspired by the Maya Angelou quote “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” When designing new pieces, his goal is to instill a meaningful connection between object and consumer that searches for a balance between physical and emotional attraction to an object.
Installation View at ICFF 2019
Brokamp’s commitment to combining technology, spatial awareness, and innovation has been a common theme throughout his work. The Collate Table Collection is no exception. The coffee and side tables in this collection are made using cutting-edge fabrication techniques and are inspired by process art; so the pieces celebrate the manner in which something is made being equally important as the outcome.
The Collate Tables are crafted from aluminum plates that have patterns cut into them using CNC (computer numerical control) toolpaths. The cellular shape of the tabletop allows thetoolpaths to create a playful pattern on the surface. This millwork not only gives insights into the high-tech fabrication process, but also creates an interesting dialogue and engaging experience for anyone looking at and walking around them.
The table treats the aluminum plate as the canvas and the toolpaths act as the brushstrokes. The finish on these aluminum tables can be anodized in several different color options as well.
Photographed in May 2019 at the ICFF at Javits Center, NYC.
All Photos By Gail
Eileen Gray (1879 – 1976) wrote that “Art is not just the expression of abstract relationships. It must also encapsulate the most tangible relations, the most intimate needs of subjective life.
Consistent with these aims, this freestanding Lacquered Wood Screen (1922) which functions both as a movable wall to divide a space, and as an abstract modern sculpture composed of solids and voids. Working in Paris after World War I, Gray popularized and perfected the meticulous art of lacquered furnishings, which struck a chord with the contemporary taste for exotic materials, especially those used in Japanese decorative arts.
Photographed in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.
