Alyce Santoro gives the phrase “wearable art” new meaning–how about wearable music? Sonic Fabric–created by Alyce––is a textile made from audio cassette tape. For a fascinating story of origin, involving sailing and Tibetan flags, click here. Once woven, the tape can still be “played.”

In 2003 I was commissioned to make a dress for Jon Fishman, percussionist for the band
Phish, which he wore and played on stage during a concert in Las Vegas.

Sonic Fabric has been made into dresses, and now ties:

Sonic Fabric items can be purchased here.

I had the chance to visit Alyce in West Texas, on the top of a mountain, near Marfa. There, she works in her solar-powered studio, a retrofitted camper. She’s in the process of fundraising now–for more information, click here.

From the Cooper-Hewitt’s website:

Known primarily as an abstract painter and colorist, Sonia Delaunay applied her talents and theories to all areas of visual expression, including graphics, interiors, theater and film, fashion and textiles. A trademark of Delaunay’s work is the sense of movement and rhythm created by the simultaneous contrasts of certain colors. This exhibition will focus on fashion designs from her own Atelier Simultané in Paris during the 1920s, as well as textiles designed for the Metz & Co. department store in Amsterdam in the 1930s. On view will be examples of designs, textiles, garments and photographs from the Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, the Musée de l’Impression sur Etoffes in Mulhouse, the Bibliotheque Nationale de France and private collections around Europe and the United States.

From the Jewish Museum’s website:

Maira Kalman (b. 1949 Tel Aviv, lives New York) is the author of twelve children’s books including Ooh-la-la (Max in Love). Among her adult classics are The Elements of Style, an illustrated edition of Strunk and White’s timeless grammar, and The Principles of Uncertainty, a picture book of essays based on a yearlong online column for The New York Times. She has just completed a second online epic for The Times titled And the Pursuit of Happiness. Kalman’s best known work, created with fellow illustrator Rick Meyerowitz, is New Yorkistan: a cartoon map of the city designated by tribes, such as Pashmina, Irant, and Irate. When it ran on the cover of The New Yorker in December 2001, it sanctioned a first burst of laughter in the aftermath of 9/11. A relatively more secret aspect of her identity is as the “M” in M&Co, the revolutionary design firm founded by her late husband, Tibor Kalman, with whom she was a constant collaborator. The firm’s famous 10-One-4 watch is based on one of her doodles. She has collaborated on projects with the fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, the choreographer Mark Morris, and the composer Nico Muhly.

Did I mention that these shows are across the street from one another?

[images from here and here and here]

gallery hanahou
20% of sales from the upcoming 20/10 vision show will be donated.
(i have a print in this show, along with some of my favorite designers)
611 Broadway #730 New York, NY
jan 21st – feb 19th

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health ceramics
january 15-17: heath will donate 25% of sales from their sausalito, LA & online stores to architecture for humanity’s earthquake reconstruction efforts in haiti.

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claudia pearson
25% of sales from her two new valentine prints will be donated to yele haiti.

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[photo credit: Rob Bennett for the New York Times]          

Eileen Gray entered the design world with lacquer—literally. Born in 1878 in southeastern Ireland, Gray wandered into a lacquer repair shop in London, in 1905. By 1921, she had opened her own store in France. She became known for her lacquer work, and was popularly linked to the De Stijl movement as well.Her portrait [above] was taken by Bernice Abbott, in 1926, which was, itself, an accomplishment.  

Furniture: 

More information can be found on various sites, including this one.

Architecture: 

[top: Gray's own house, in southern France ; bottom: storage cupboards are built into ceiling recess] 

photos courtesy of www.tangle.com and bonluxat.com 

• Rural Studio : Famous school out of Auburn University, founded by “Sambo” Mockbee.
• The Design Center (University of Detroit, Mercy): “We focus on the social, cultural, and political aspects of urban community design and architecture.”
• Dirt Studio grew out of “a concern for marginalized communities and an obsession with urban regeneration.”