Money Is No Object

http://www.dwr.com/product/artichoke-lamp-small-copper.do?sortby=ourPicks&page=2

This first item I chose to analyze came from Designs Within Reach. As per all of my other posts, I feel the need to negatively barrage some aspect of this website, and so I chose to disagree with the name. With a name such as "Designs Within Reach", one would think, as they justly should, that everything on this website would be exactly that: WITHIN REACH. As I perused the pages of unique designs that tingled the creative core in me, I began to notice the prices...SO INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE! I am no expert in linguistics, but that combination of words triggers quite a few key words in me: affordable, wholesale, practical. However, this site's content does not correlate with those keywords, ans feels like more of a pretentious art gallery discreetly dressed in a verbal disguise that misleads its users. The blog assignment is "money is no object", however, so I guess the use of this site as an example is appropriate in that respect, but regardless, I strongly disagree with the name.

Now, as for the particular piece of -expensive- furniture I chose, Poul Henningsen's Artichoke Lamp, the concept is astounding; the feathered, copper-stained glass gives this piece of work its modernist characteristic. Furthermore, the copper color gives the impression that the lighting it gives off is very soft and comforting. While it is a very modern-looking piece of furniture, I feel this label does not constrict it only to kitschy, all-modern housing arrangements; even if you were able to afford this absurdly expensive, perhaps even over-priced lamp, I think it would fit appropriately into almost any living arrangement.



http://www.bizarrebytes.com/straight-line-designs-bizarre-furniture/pine-beetle-cabinet-1/

This aesthetically-pleasing chest-of-drawers was found as a result of Google-ing "straight line designs", and is located on Bizarre Bytes, a pop culture and art-based blog. I've always been attached artistically to simplicity: pieces that don't take much concentration or analyzation to appreciate the work of the artist. Having said that, I want to extrapolate my self-indulged theory on simplicity: simple designs do not necessarily garner ease in conception. For example, this furniture design I have chosen obviously took a craft man's keen eye and steady hand to ensure the seemingly perfect, computer-calculated dimensions, and that can stand alone in an argument of the artistic merit of this piece. Going beyond this, however, is the noisily-designed face of the furniture. It looks like a print of some sort of water-smoothed rocks, and while I don't find especial artistic ability in the use of prints, the designer used his or her own personal judgement in choosing that particular design, and in my opinion, to good effect. Artstic ability isn't always measured in exceptional talent or creativity, but also in personal experience and taste and the artist's way of conveying those characteristics to their audience.



http://www.dwr.com/product/fog-linen-napkin.do?sortby=ourPicks

I had failed to notice that we needed to analyze a kitchen object, and I spent far too much time on the other analyses to bring myself to delete them, so I'll just have three examples.

I chose this kitchen towel by Japanese designer Yumiko Sekine partly for my interest in the actual towel, but mostly for its unique price in relevance to the rest of the site: a mere $14. Sekine used a raw Lithuanian linen, a misleading combination of words that one would think spell out a pricey expenditure. The neutral gray and white peppered color signifies the artist's intention of universal attribution to nearly any kitchen roster imaginable. The deep gray color personally entices me; I love neutral and natural colors. The most attention-provoking aspect of this towel would of course have to be the overtly obvious labeling printed on the piece. Printed in an ordinary font, the towel is labeled "napkin" and features the issue number of the product, the dimensions of the towel and the material used. While the print eventually fades away over time, the idea is innovative and nearly never seen in household item design.