Bowerbird Collections | Sibella Court

Here's the review I wrote for Athenaeum about the book 'Life of a Bowerbird' by Sibella Court.
The Bowerbird is a very stylish bird with a great sense for colours, texture and shapes...
But the book is about the phenomenon of collections, how to start, how to display and how simple a collection can be with great visual impact. My review starts with one of the most beautiful museum rooms I know: the Enlightenment Room in the British Museum in London. Stunning and moving..

Seikatsu Kogei - Living Crafts

Recently I bought the book "New Standard Crafts" by Kazumi Tsuji. This book has been put together because of an exhibition about Seikatsu Kogei, living crafts. Japanese are very good with crafts, and crafts are highly valued in Japanese society. So even before opening the book I knew it would interest me. I would say it's a silent book. Silent in its book design and silent in it s content.
'Things' we need for our daily lives, like buttons, haircombs, cups, spoons, chairs etc need to be made to last long and must be made to be utilised properly. Those things make our lives good, clear our minds and make us ready for our daily tasks. When you look at things in this way, you can see their beauty. You can also see immediately when they crappy, unpractical, unnecessary, of no value at all.
The images in the book are of such simple beauty, it struck me straight away.
They made me think of those items in my house that I value highly. My ceramic bowls, my bamboo comb, my wooden chairs, my hand knitted scarves, the handmade wooden table; really well designed and crafted.
The idea of Sekatsu Kogei suits my idea of design very much. For a sustainable angle at design you need to have things that have longevity and beauty. Besides that, the designers, makers and crafters are part of the product as well. In mass production their role is totally evaporated. Price, materials and the process of making have lost their value in mass production. That must change. Seikatsu Kogei is a way of revaluing things and makers. It's an ongoing process!

The Alpine Review

Read the review (in Dutch) I wrote on the website of Athenaeum Booksellers about the great new magazine The Alpine Review.... which observes the things that matter.

Our Garden Birds

Since I've been working with my good work-friend Peter Graatsma on a trend lecture about identity according to birds, birds are everywhere. Funny to see how your focus in work can also focus everything you see. The fun, the beauty, the dangers that threaten them, the colours, what's written about them... endless inspiration. Peter gave me this lovely book by artist Matt Sewell.


Let me quote what he wrote about one of my favourite birds; the Blackbird:
"A healthy addition to any garden and a resident in most. Just by listening to the Blackbird's call, you can tell what's going on out there: whatever is happening he likes to sing about it. Danger, happiness and general comings and goings are all reported on, and of course he welcomes the sun every morning. The Blackbird sings with compassion, clarity and heart..... "

Rutger Kopland 1934-2012

The much appreciated poet passed away earlier this week. His poems have a lyrical atmosphere. Looking at nature and reflecting on nature are important in his work. Here's a poem  translated by  James Brockway:

A GARDEN IN THE EVENING

Things are happening here and I am the only
one who knows

I shall name them and also say why

there's an old garden seat standing under the apple-tree
there's an old football lying in the grass
there are old sounds coming out of the house
there is an old light in the sky

this is happening here: a garden in the evening

and what you don't hear and don't see- the places
where we dug holes
and filled them up again, weeping

I teel you this because I do not want to be alone
before I am

The Language of Birds

From 'The Poetry of Birds', an anthology edited by Simon Armitage and Tim Dee a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge:

The Language of Birds

Do you ask what the birds say? The Sparrow, the Dove,
The Linnet and Thrush say, 'I love and I love!'
In the winter they're silent- the wind is so strong;
What it says I don't know, but it sings a loud song.
But green leaves, and blossoms, and sunny warm weather,
And singing, and loving- all comes back together.
But the lark is so brimful of gladness and love,
The green fields below him, the blue sky above,
That he sings, and he sings; and forever sings he-
'I love my Love, and my Love loves me!'

Green

Still lives in green. For I can't wait for spring.
With great ceramics from Scorlewald, a few of my favourite books, postcards from Scottish painters, recycled glass and Farrow&Ball wall paint.

David Grossman

The Israeli writer David Grossman is of of my favourite authors. His work is so delicate, full of ideas and beautiful stories, I read his novels and essays over and over again. From the first book I ever read The Yellow Wind to his latest masterpiece To the End of the Land. Humanity plays an important rol in his work, more important than the political situation in his country. Although he has a lot to say about that, it's never on the foreground in his novels. I 'm lucky to know him personally, and it's always a great pleasure to meet him and talk.

(photo from De Papieren Man)

From an interview for The Paris Review in 2007 with Jonathan Shainin there's this extract from their long conversation:

S: Yet in Death as a Way of Life you say: "I don't belong to those who believe that the Holocaust was a specifically Jewish event."
G: I don't think one can separate the Jewishness from the Shoah, but it's an event that's relevant for all humanity. Every human being should ask himself several questions regarding the Shoah. One of them is - in the face of such total arbitrariness- how can I maintain my uniqueness as a human being? What in me can not be eradicated? In Be My Knife I call this idea the luz, the kernel. Luz is a word from the Talmud. It's the smallest bone in your backbone, which can not be eradicated. All your essence is preserved in it, and from that you will be recreated in resurrection. Sometimes I do a little exercise: I ask people to close their eyes and for one minute to think what would be their luz. The pupil of the eye of their personality. I get interesting answers.
S: What is your luz?
G: I guess it has to do with the urge to create.

What a great thinker David Grossman is. A very moving contribution to questioning what's important regarding humanity. Of all times, from the Talmud to the Twenty-First century.

Options, Fair+Fair, Maison NL

Three new great shops have opened recently in Amsterdam. Despite the economic crisis we face, a good idea, a strong concept and sustainable products seem to have the future. These people certainly have followed their heart. All three shops sell items you want to have, you need and will love forever. That's  the retail concept of the 21st century! Nothing cheap or bad quality, but wonderful kitchen stuff, lovely textiles (at Options also my flock of lambs), desirable desktop items and good books and magazines. I like!
Options
Fair+Fair
Maison NL

Community Garden

Yesterday, just a few minutes to browse through the other favourite bookshop Architectura & Natura- besides Athenaeum where I work- I bought The Thrifty Forager by Alys Fowler. A well-designed book about city gardening, foraging in parks and how to recognize what to pick and what not. Her subtitle is living off your local landscape. The reason for me to buy it is not to be thrifty, but to become more aware of the vast potential of that local landscape. Leaving though all the possibilities described in the book, it thrilled me. Today I applied officially, on behalf of some fellow tenants, to use the 'garden' next to our building as a community garden. At the moment you can hardly call it a garden. It's full of boring bushes, and the soil is filled to the brim with shingles. Even planting a small bulb is impossible. How great would it be to grow our own veggies, strawberries and apples. It could be a lovely place, for it's quite secluded and has many sun hours. So we've asked to remove the shingles, replace it with pure soil and give it it a go. So that we can be part of the worldwide development of community gardening, urban green, city veggies and sustainable use of precious space. Hopefully we'll have a reply soon in order to start in the next spring.

Textiles

I added a great new book to my library: Textiles-The Whole Story by Beverly Gordon, professor Design Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Uses, meanings, significance is the subtitle. It goes from the early beginning of fabric to the contemporary period and tells about textiles in human consciousness, survival, social meaning, power, communication and spirit. An in-depth survey, and lavishly illustrated. Textiles can tell a lot about human development, and as such is highly important to understand ourselves and our lives. A joy to read and see!

Exchange

In Amsterdam a new hotel cum shop cum restaurant will be opened on the 3rd of December. Hotel rooms will be dressed; not decorated. In the Stock restaurant breakfast will be served all day. And in the Options shop a great mix of fashion, fabrics, food items, toys, books, magazines, music and more will be on the shelves. Ina Matt are the interior architects, AMFI students have come up with the ideas for the rooms. At Inside Design an installation was made to introduce the atmosphere. The fabric used for cushions and specially woven in Tilburg's Textile Museum is gorgeous.I'm glad to be involved through Athenaeum Bookshop where I work as well; we will cooperate on the books and magazines. I'm looking forward to this place!

favourite books

Here are two of my favourite books at the moment. '6 Billion Others' by Yann Arthus Bertrand is about everyone else on earth. Questions about life, death, love, fear, care, happiness, ideas. Questions we could ask ourselves and the people around us. To get to know each other better. For real understanding. It's remarkable that many questions are answered similarly, whether the person lives in Mali, Israel or The USA. Other answers are striking, for life experiences are not the same everywhere. Reading and browsing the book shows and inspires with a deep love for humanity.

The other book is 'How To Be An Explorer Of The World' by Keri Smith. She is amazing. A book that can really be used. Over and over. To give ideas,to ask yourself silly questions and make you see the world around you with different eyes.

I use both books when working with my current masterstudents at the Design Academy Eindhoven | Man&Humanity , for I believe both books can make us more conscious. About the world we live in, and what we do to the world. In a positive way and that's what's needed. Fresh, funny, deeply moving and beautiful!