Jewels

My co-worker and style guru, Nichole Neuman, always has super bad ass jewelry, some of which she's gotten from Surface to Air, a lovely jewelry company that makes me wish I had more money (although some of it is pretty inexpensive!) and today, Nichole suggested I look at this fantastic website for pieces of a similar style. verameat
Here's a taste of what you'll find on it:

The Real Wishlist

If my parents were billionaires I would be giving them this list for Christmas. These things are amazing and even more amazingly expensive.


Top Shop cardigan



Lindsey Thornburg cloak


Lanvin dress


La Dama ring


Nude lace top. Don't care who the designer is.


Jeffery Campbell booties



Philippe Tournaire House rings


Fur pieces(coats/vests/whatever) (faux fur)


Another Lanvin Dress


Another Lanvin Dress


Clogs by a designer whose name escapes me, but I found them on a Parsons aquaintance, Marcus Holmund's amazing blog


Body necklace by Litter SF


BCBG velvet leggings


Balmain jacket


Acne shoes

The Christmas List

This is my actual Christmas list that I sent to my parents. I've also asked for merino wool socks, isotoner leather driving gloves as well as a garlic press. All reasonably priced items that I need or would like to have. Nothing elaborate.
I find that sending online screen grabs of items is a really good system for people that don't necessarily know what you'd like. It also makes it really easy for them, and then you end up actually liking and fitting into what they give you. My sisters seemed to think it was cheating when I did this last year, but the jokes on them because I was super excited to get some of the items I asked for and while they were getting ill fitting sweaters and vanilla scented candles.

Fashion icons

I've always been a lover of fashion. High and low, old and young, ugly and beautiful.
When I went to Parsons as a freshman, I had thought maybe I would go into fashion design, but upon arrival, I realized that the competition within this specific design field is cruel and unusual. If ever I am to be a part of this amazing phenomenon of a business, I would much rather be doing graphic design for them. But nonetheless I am constantly looking at fashion blogs, magazines and such, as well as observing the fashions of those that come to the Walker.

BUT alas, my love has some hate involved. Perhaps it is slight jealousy, although I'm quite confident on my appearance, but I get really tired of seeing beautiful young women dressed in rediculously expensive designer clothing. Exactly how does a 20 year old afford a 600$ pair of heels without a trust fund? Really I'd like to know!

So. I've decided to put together a list of ladies that I find to be amazing and even more inspiring than runway models:







Mind you, a few of these ladies are fashion designers themselves, but I love seeing old women in fantastic clothing. (Especially since I won't probably be able to afford the clothes I want until I'm this age.) I've also thrown in a photo of Miss Ditto because she's got style, class and sexiness with an extra 200 pounds on her.

These are some of my fashion icons.

I See You

I've been working in the Walker design department twice a week on various projects. Some more exciting than others but it's really awesome working in a studio with editors and fellow designers. My internships and freelance jobs up to this point have all been working directly with clients, artists and curators so it's a totally new and really fun experience.

One of the more fun projects I've done is the family (read:children) activity sheet for the Dan Graham exhibition. Today, I got an email with these two images attached of children using the sheet in the galleries. So cute!




images copyright Walker Art Center

Jean-Claude! Rest in peace you fantastic being!

Jean-Claude, the collaborator and long time wife (51 years) of Christo died today at 74. She will be missed. I've always enjoyed hearing interviews with this woman. She was so mesmerizing and charismatic. Her relationship with Claude was ideal, adorable and fantastic. A beacon of greatness. Although their beacon would be wrapped in some warm colored fabric.

Shogun Totally Won

Last night I watched the UFC championship with my boyfriend's parents who had a party for the championship. I've seen UFC a few times and enjoyed it, which I (mostly) did watching it this time except the final fight. It was Lyoto Machida (reigning champion) vs Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Mauricio totally won. It was obvious, and they gave it to the reigning champion!? I never want to watch UFC again because they are liars and unfair but would love to watch Shogun fight again. He's quite easy on the eyes and damn, can he throw some punches and kicks. Here's some shots of him at work:







Here's a video of the two fighters that they showed before the fight. But I couldn't find a video of the actual fight.


Another note worthy fighting crew is the Union Square Spartans. I lived in Union Square for a year and probably saw these guys at least once, but there's always so much happening there. Anyway, they're a group of guys, mostly homeless, that have strict rules and found a loop hole around fighting in public by not hitting each other in the face. Here's some beautiful stills and you can find a plethora of their videos on youtube.

Dan

I saw Dan Graham today at work, and got really excited because A)He's a super adorable old man (much shorter than I imagined) B)He makes some awesome work and an even larger contribution to the art world and what art means today C)I'm currently working for the Walker design dept making a family activity sheet for the upcoming exhibition (opens Oct 31st) and have read more about him than any other artist recently. (AND made a badass vector of one of his pieces.)

MARS and un(der)published JD Salinger

Upon a recent debate of JD Salinger's genius and whether it's fair for an artist/writer to hoard his works to free himself of critique, I was directed to this website that feature a great collection of his hard(and easy) to find writings.

J.D. Salinger's rare writings


Another thing I've been pointed to is this directory of images of Mars. Here's a brief sampling for you to witness the greatness of this unknown territory.












On a personal note, I am so defeated trying to find a job. I keep applying to appease the parents but know that there's just nothing available. For now, the Walker is my savior and I'm focusing on enjoying the recession and free entertainment such as this Salinger website and all the Coen Brothers films I can see for free at work. I might suggest this letting go mentality to those in my position. I mean is eating rice for a week straight really all that bad?

Love,
Abi