Tag Archives: mirror

Design and Innovation

Eye On Design: Niki de Saint Phalle Snake Chair and Mirror

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le miroir and fauteuil noir photo by gail worley
All Photos By Gail

Niki de Saint Phalle (1930 – 2002) might be best known for her brightly-colored sculptures of voluptuous, dancing women, which she called Les Nana, but she had a rich career that spanned a variety of  mediums.  In addition to painting, film-making, and illustration of children’s books, she created unique sculptural furniture, including a series incorporating figures of snakes or serpents, to which this wall Mirror (Le Miroir) and Black Armchair (Fauteuil Noir), both circa 1980, belong.

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Design and Innovation

Eye On Design: Dan Graham, Three Models, Three Sizes, Three Price Ranges

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dan graham three models photo by gail worley
Ovoid, 2020 (All Photos By Gail)

Often described as a hybrid between art, architecture, design and landscape architecture, Dan Graham’s freestanding partitions and pavilions — made from two-way mirror glass — sometimes create a kaleidoscopic, psychedelic experience. If you’ve never seen his work in person and missed his Hedge Two-Way Mirror Walk About, which was installed at the Met Roof Garden back in 2014, a new exhibit at 303 Gallery  entitled Three Models, Three Sizes, Three Price Ranges offers a fun introduction to the full scope of his oeuvre.

neo baroque walkway photo by gail worley
New-Baroque Walkway (2020)

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Design and Innovation

Pink Thing of The Day: Pink Retro Rotary Dial Desk Telephone

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Pink Rotary Dial Telephone
All Photos By Gail

Do you recognize this object? Do you know how works? How old are you? Don’t answer that. It’s hard to believe that this totally rad Pink Rotary Dial Desk Telephone was once the height of cool and contemporary consumer design. Now, it’s just a sculpture, or a piece pop culture ephemera.

Pink Phone with Pink Mirror

Maybe you’ve seen one used as a prop in an old movie you enjoy for its nostalgic pull.

Pink Rotary Dial Telephone

It is beautiful though, ins’t it? Sure it is.

Photographed at ICFF at Javits Center, NYC, in May of 2018

Design and Innovation

Eye On Design: Dressing Table and Mirror By Norman Bel Geddes

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Dressing Table and Mirror Norman Bel Geddes
Photo By Gail

This Vanity (1928) stands as a harbinger in the evolution of an American modern style. Norman Bel Geddes (1893 -1988) conceived of it only a year after founding the first industrial design firm in the United States. His prior experience on theater and film sets lent a dramatic flair to his consumer products, including  this dressing table and mirror, made of enameled and chrome-plated steel, which was part of a larger suite of metal bedroom furniture.

Designed a the height of the Roaring Twenties, it echoes the sleek modernity of Manhattan skyscrapers, a favored motif among Art Deco designers, with its sequence of setbacks from drawers to mirror top. The industrial materials emphasize the design’s mechanical production, while the polished enamel and elegant trim and drawer pulls suggest something of the luxurious finishes found in handmade Art Deco furniture.

Seen in the Mirror: A reflection of the painting, I Saw The Figure Five in Gold By Charles Demuth.

Photographed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

Design and Innovation

Whale Shaped Mirror

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Whale Mirror
Walden By Malorie Pangilinan (All Photos By Gail)

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) design student Malorie Pangilinan created this Whale-shaped mirror, taking her inspiration from Kawaii; the quality of cuteness in the context of Japanese culture.

Blue Whale Mirror
Mirror, Rear View

It sure is cute!

Photographed in May 2016 at the ICFF Trade Show at Javits Center in NYC.