Real Art in Geneva

It would be a shame to enjoy only man-made objects in this beautiful city. It is always humbling to realize something amazingly beautiful and great exists in this world.

Highly recommended:
Lake Leman- enjoy while walking along Quai du Mont Blanc
Lunch at Monument Brunswick
A walk in la Perle du Lac

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Show me what you’ve got

With all due respect to the premier contemporary art gallery, Gagosian, it seemed like an unadventurous statement to display only one sculpture by John Chamberlain in their booth at Art Geneve.
I would much appreciate the naïveté to believe it is the sense of discovery and trust in creativity pushing the envelope that really expands the horizon of art and broadens human mind.

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Craftsmanship

We are living in the world where a lot of people are so well informed about art that even the weirdest materials or the simplest form would not surprise them. Or at least they are sophisticated enough to pretend as if they were not surprised.
I admire people who can bring their ideas into tangible object. They bring about certain feelings in the viewers’ mind. They make something from nothing. Even a simple stroke deserves a certain degree of respect.
However, it is not easy to find a work of art that really hits me to say, “it is really well-made!” these days. There seem to be a lot of words, but not much of craftsmanship. Maybe what we need in today’s world is a true skill (no offense to anyone in the art or in the crafts!) that gives a form to an idea and that is so prevailing that the feeling is just naturally transmitted to the people who appreciate the work.

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Are we living in the shadow of our past?

It was an interesting coincidence that I encountered Art Geneve right after Gallery Seoul (they even make a rhyme).
It seems now internationally accepted that design galleries are participating art fairs which used to be dominated by more fine art-focused galleries. One of these new risers at Art Geneve was teo jakob. The booth was large and beautifully arranged with new designs and reproduction of old ones. Their catalogue was filled with modern day classics; Eames, Henningsen, Noguchi…to name a few. As amazing as they look, however, mass-produced reproduction of 50-year old designs look a bit sad probably because they lack a history of themselves (not the history of the archetype but the one of each piece). They also left me with a question: are we living on the great debt to the past? Of course these designs still have a strong appeal to the current taste (in other words, that’s why they are “classics”). But would would be the next Eames? Can we only find out after 50 years?

For more information of teo jakob, please check out their website: http://www.teojakob.ch

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Flea market at Plainpalais in Geneva

If you have a chance to spend a weekend in Geneva, check out the flea market held in Plainpalais.
There are rows and rows of vendors selling books, cloths, pottery, furniture (mostly ambiguous “brown furniture”) and, etc. It is an interesting display of what’s viewed “vintage” in Geneva. There are some real deals, but as always real things are not easy to get-in terms of luck and price.
The market opens 9:00am – 3:00pm on Saturdays and Wednesdays. Be there, look around and get it when you see it!

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Todd Merrill at Gallery Seoul 12

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Todd Merrill at Gallery Seoul 12

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What was happening in the other part of the world in the 50’s?

Well, for me this is my part of the world, in a way.
This is a concert held in 1984. The original song was written and sung in the 50’s. The first 30 seconds of the video shows the parade scene of Korea, probably between 1945-55, right after Korean War.
People were suffering from the war but as the song sounds -energetic and positive- there was a certain amount of hope, at least the government tried to promote that. Maybe this mentality still appeals to the people.

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“Blue Chip” Mid-Century Furniture

“Blue Chip” Mid-Century Furniture

Interesting article on mid-century furniture in CNBC.

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Why Mid-Century?

 
(Photo: Playboy Magazine, 1961. Thanks to http://www.home-designing.com/2010/10/mid-century-modern-classic-chairs)

Why there are so many enthusiasts about the Mid-century (roughly from 1920’s-1970’s) decorative arts?  Big auctions houses are raising millions of dollars at their 20th ceutury design sales (Sotheby’s March sale, for example, reached 3.3 million with 244 lots and Christie’s 1.4 million with the half the number of lots). “Mad Men era” has become a “professional” jargon in the ebay.

There must be so many experts who can explain historical and aesthetic reasons for this hype. What I would like to add is more of psychological one: nostalgia. Mind is a strange mechanism. Sometimes you recall the past in a rose color regardless what actually happened or what you actually felt at the moment. Mid-century for most western countries, in particular the US, was the time when things were getting better. There were jobs to do, factories were running, economy was booming and men even conquered the moon. For many who are living in the 21st century, this seems like a story of “good old days.” If you can’t have those “good old days” for real, wouldn’t you want to have something that embody the energy, hope and dreams of the time? 

A remaining question is what will be the next “Blue chip” items after the current mid-century designs are becoming classic and entering the realm of “antiques.”  

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