When you can't find your way, get lost

Old maps already bare a mysterious beauty unaltered, but with a total reinterpretation, Matthew Cusick breathes new life into them. The pictures above are a few of my favorites from his Map Works and Constellations collections. Each one is masterfully crafted from maps and little else, worlds away from any collage you made in grade school.

And speaking of grade school, below are a few pages torn from Cusick's "Defacements" collection, in which he tears pages from old schoolbooks and strips them of everything but a page number, an illustration and a few well-chosen words. These instantly captivated me as they are so simple and simultaneously complex- they had me laughing and they had me thinking. Full of double entendres, some seem to carry a message about a deep societal issue and a (somewhat childish) joke. 

In an interview with Live Fast Mag, Cusick said of these pages, "The voice behind the Defacements is that of a smart-ass 5^th grader who is possessed by an oracle, acting like a shaman, and trying to be a poet."

All images from mattcusick.com, click here to see the rest of his work.

Energy Shift

An assortment of photos from blurry nights out and about. 

Barcelona, Palm Beach and Miami.

Crossing paths with Alley Cats

Tuesday is the new Saturday

New York Bloody City

An indispensable disposable.

From the moment I first heard French composer Yann Tiersen planned to make his way not only to the states, but to Miami, and not only to Miami, but to Grand Central, my thirst for some frolic-worthy folk music became insatiable. Many others must have felt this way too, as the Wednesday night show sold out. Babble filled the air as music lovers of all shapes and sizes discussed (what else?) music and awaited the somewhat reclusive and infinitely talented Frenchman to take the stage.
While Tiersen's most well-known work is the Amélie soundtrack, on which he plays a countless variety of instruments, from piano and violin to accordion and harpsichord, his newest release, Dust Lane, is heavy on the electric guitar. The whimsy that pervades the majority of his previous work isn't found on Dust Lane- it's morbid. But, Tiersen and his men strategically provided glimpses of hope throughout the dark set, with a fiery violin solo midway through, along with a jig that tickled everyone's French folk fancy. And although Tiersen never got his banjo on, his masterful use of violin and mandolin (and guitar), along with his talented accompaniment, had the audience frozen in an almost two hour spell of mass hypnosis.

Let's just lie here a bit.

From Mies van der Roe we can learn a valuable lesson: keep it simple. And, if it's not too arrogant for me to do so, I'd like to add a few pennies dimes of my own: keep it real, and a little bit weird.. oh yeah, and comfortable. Okay, it may seem like I'm starting to ramble- but really, all I need is a place to sprawl, something to entertain my eyes, and somewhere to rest my coffee. 
Famous for structures such as the Barcelona Pavillion and Villa Tugendhat, Mies was the pioneer of minimalist and modern architecture and design. He created spaces incorporating only the bare necessities, the "skin and bones" of the structure, if you will, in the form of natural elements like stone, wood, glass and metal. Large panes of glass formed entire walls, causing the natural world outdoors to become a part of the design of the interior. Additionally, the furniture he designed for such spaces acted not to obstruct one's view of the vista outside or the stone walls and steel pillars within, but to enhance these elements and produce an effect of total harmony between the inside and outside worlds. 
Now, while Mies may have the laid the groundwork for modern designers in years to come, and while I totally appreciate his mantra of "less is more," the phrase which he is famous for coining, I like to be a little more comfortable than that. For instance, maybe throw a few more pillows on that couch. And, why not instill the sense that something unexpected might lurk around the corner? You know, a funky statue of some whimsical creature might work nicely, or a bookshelf stuffed full of literary gems containing adventures known and unknown.  
On that note, I think I may have stumbled upon a little apple of knowledge applicable not only to my own personal preferences regarding design and decor, but to the act of existing in this complicated world: always keep it real, simple, and a little bit weird.


images: Barcelona Pavillion, Oracle Fox, The Selby, Tugendhat House