CasaSugar

Which Hotel Features These Artists?

CasaSugar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:00:24 -0700

Yesterday, as part of a subversive campaign to take back advertising locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, the Public Art Campaign had local artists, including Mint and Serf, seen here, paint over ads. Mint and Serf also painted their work in a hotel recently. Can you tell me the name of the hotel?

Let's Go Trend Hunting: Wordy Furniture and Graffitied Home Finds

CasaSugar — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 07:00:03 -0700

This month, at Paris's trade interior design show Maison & Objet, UK designer Andrew Martin, who's known for his Union Jack motif furniture, showed off some other, bold prints, including this chair upholstered in designer Martin Waller’s new God Bless America fabric.

Martin and Waller aren't the first (or the last) designers to jump on the typography and graffiti bandwagon. There are a lot of really great interior design finds out there right now that display words, graffiti, or a combination of both. So, let's go Trend Hunting!

Here's how it works. First, join my group Trend Hunting. Then, when you track down a cool graffiti or typography product, bookmark it and tag it with the phrase Wordy Home Finds, and then save it in the Trend Hunting group. You can read this post for full directions on how to start your Trend Hunting mission, and here's a detailed explanation of bookmarks from GeekSugar.

Source

Roundup: Alternative Graffiti

CasaSugar — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:00:43 -0700

Graffiti, the process of scratching, scrawling, painting, or marking images or letters in any manner on property, has existed since the Roman Empire, and has evolved into much more than simple scratch marks. Some people think of it as vandalism (defacing property), others as art, and for others it's a movement of its own. You can see from a recent CitizenSugar poll about British graffiti artist Banksy, the consensus is largely divided. If you have the chance to check out the film Beautiful Losers, which is in theaters now, you'll see that for some, graffiti is truly an art medium. While some graffiti is often reviled by authorities, other work is heralded for encouraging creativity and for the sense of community it builds. To see a few examples of these, check out this slideshow. Source

View Slideshow ›

In the News: Sofa Studies

CasaSugar — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:30:38 -0700

Faced with renovating a crumbly brick townhouse in Manhattan's East Village, and building a home for her children that they could participate, ex Kate Spade partner Pamela Bell abandoned the tendency to create a "trophy home" and invited her daughter's 7th grade class to graffiti her John Derian muslin sofa with fabric markers. The result is an example of ideal imperfection, the kind that's engaging because of its flaws, that wins you over because it can't be reproduced. Bell's home is full of furnishings with this laissez-faire attitude towards design — spray-painted bittersweet from the farmers market for a chandelier, a pile of suitcases for a side table, walls embellished with Marimekko stickers, and a chalkboard-covered fridge — and it's all the better for it. Read more about it in The New York Times' "When Perfect Is Not the Goal."
Source

Cool Idea: Green Graffiti

CasaSugar — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:45:24 -0700

I'm so grateful to Inhabitat for bringing me news of eco-minded street artist Edina Tokodi. This Brooklyn artist makes site-specific moss installations that sometimes appear in the shape of animals, and other times in fuzzy outcrops of green on streetlights and other urban objects.

In her artist's statement, she says:

I think that our distance from nature is already a cliché. City dwellers often have no relationship with animals or greenery. As a public artist I feel a sense of duty to draw attention to deficiencies in our everyday life. As a cultivator of eco-urban sensitivity, I usually go back to the sites to visit my “plants” or “moss”, sometimes to repair them a bit, but nothing more generally as they tend to get enough water from the air, condensation, and rain - especially in certain seasons. I also like to let them live by themselves. From the moment I put them on the street they start to have their own life. For me, the reaction of life on the street is also very important. I am curious about how people receive them, if they just leave them alone, or if they want to, take care of them or dismantle them. This is what makes my work similar to graffiti, although I am searching for a deeper social meaning and a dialogue with memories of the animals and gardens of my past in a small town in Central Europe. I believe that if everyone had a garden of their own to cultivate, we would have a much more balanced relation to our territories. Of course, a garden can be many things.

View 7 Photos ›

Source

Love It or Hate It? Graffiti Sofa

CasaSugar — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 06:03:17 -0700

Designer Teruhiro Yanagihara's new “Graffiti” products explore the concept of “dirty” with products including this sofa. When people touch it or scratch it they leave their marks on the surface of the sofa. If you get tired of your friends tagging your sofa, you can erase the marks by ironing the cloth.

Source

Midday Muse: Gorgeous Graffiti

CasaSugar — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:44:38 -0700

I love graffiti when it's well done, like this beautiful little bird that was painted on a plywood fence along an inner city construction site.

Link Time!

CasaSugar — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:00:00 -0800

Reverse graffiti revives grim city walls. - ReadyMade
Go on safari in a home in the heart of Williamsburg. - AT:NY
Drains clogged? Here are two ways to fix 'em. - DIY Life
Nicole shares the things that inspire her. - Making It Lovely
Lamps with . . . hair? - ShelterPop
A design tribute to Twin Peaks! - Shelterrific

Love It or Hate It? Chalkboard Graffiti Storage Bench

CasaSugar — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:15:22 -0800

I think I'm over the chalkboard trend. This Chalkboard Graffiti Storage Bench (out of stock), which is made of erasable washable vinyl and comes with white chalk, has just gone too far. I guess in a way this product is innovative, but since when does leaving notes and jotting reminders for yourself have to come at the expense of aesthetics? I don't see anything attractive about this bench, and vinyl is certainly not my textile of choice. I'd much prefer a beautiful Suzani bench and a traditional notepad instead. Take a look at all of these benches and tell me if you'd prefer this rec-room seating.

Love It or Hate It? Wedding Graffiti

CasaSugar — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:00:28 -0700

Instead of wasting paper on placecards, menus, or programs, the company Wonderful Graffiti suggests these wall stickers as an option. I think it's a lovely way to make your wedding more eco chic. What do you think?