Ed Carpenter, ‘Radius,’ Ann Arbor Justice Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan; installed May 2013. Photo courtesy of Ed Carpenter & Curtis Pittman.ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) – A new sculpture is in place at the Ann Arbor Justice Center, and it’s already raising eyebrows.
Portland, Oregon-based artist Ed Carpenter completed installing “Radius” last weekend, according to AnnArbor.com. The piece is 40 by 20 by 12 feet and made of dichroic glass, aluminum, stainless steel and LED lights.
The $150,000 work of art got mixed reviews from residents heading into the center last week and at least one employee said she didn’t even notice it.
But Amy McCuiston, a University of Michigan employee, told AnnArbor.com that she likes the art, which gives off blue, green, yellow and purple glows.
“I like it a lot,” she said. “I like the different colors. It’s peaceful. I think it’s very soothing, too, because most people when they’re coming in are nervous.”
Not everyone shared that enthusiasm.
“It’s way too much. Why would you spend that kind of money?” asked Art Bolzman. He said he’d prefer something less costly.
The Ann Arbor City Council approved the “Radius” project about a year ago in an 8-2 vote, with the dissenters saying there were better uses for the money and better places for the city’s public art. The City Council is considering changes to the way projects are funded.
“It’s not unusual for public artworks to attract their fair share of negative criticism, but in time, they almost always become a source of pride for the communities where they are installed,” said Auction Central News Editor-in-Chief Catherine Saunders-Watson. “The most widely publicized case of this type involved the monumental Picasso sculpture in Chicago’s Daley Plaza. When it was installed in 1967, the comments were beyond harsh. One of the city aldermen suggested replacing it with a statue of a baseball player, and a well-known Chicago newspaper columnist said it had a ‘long stupid face’ and looked like an insect. But over time it became an iconic symbol of Chicago, and now it’s one of the most admired public sculptures on earth — a fantastic and probably priceless art treasure. I can’t imagine the people of Chicago would part with it for any sum of money.”
The artist specializes in large-scale public installations ranging from architectural sculpture to infrastructure design. His work also can be seen at the Portland Justice Center, Michigan State University, Rockefeller Center in New York, Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix and Orlando City Hall.
Lighting in the piece’s center illuminates glass and anodized aluminum.
“Like ripples from a stone tossed into a pond, ‘Radius’ emanates outward through the Justice Center lobby, a reminder of the interconnectedness of the public with the agencies serving them, and suggesting a network of cause and effect in the public realm,” the artist’s statement reads.
Project specifications include the following details:
Image courtesy of Premiere Props. EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Premiere Props has added a collection of items from the Star Trek franchise that will go up for auction along with over 1,000 Hollywood costumes and props at their Hollywood Extravaganza X. The auction will take place on Saturday, June 15, beginning at 11 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
In addition to the Star Trek collection, Premiere Props will be auctioning off over 1,000 Hollywood costumes and props including lost footage from The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, John Wayne’s neckerchief from El Dorado, Ann-Margret’s costume from Tommy, a wax figure from The Nutty Professor, plus costumes from Cher, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj and David Lee Roth, among other memorabilia at the auction company’s Hollywood Extravaganza X.
Items include:
I Love Lucy – Ricky Ricardo’s (Desi Arnaz) iconic straw hat and two vases from the original set;
Tonight Show With Johnny Carson – rare 16 MM Kinescope of an early lost episode;
The King and I – Tuptim’s (Rita Moreno) elaborate headpiece;
El Dorado – Cole Thornton’s (John Wayne) neckerchief that he wears throughout the film;
The Glenn Miller Story – Glenn Miller’s (Jimmy Stewart) jacket;
Star Wars – a piece of Chewbaca’s fur from his hero worn iconic wooly body suit;
Mildred Pierce – Mildred’s (Joan Crawford) screen worn apron from her Oscar winner role;
Superman Returns – the powerful piece of Kryptonite that the evil Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) uses on Superman;
The Dark Knight Rises – an iconic mask worn by Bane (Tom Hardy);
The Ten Commandments – Baka’s (Vincent Price) screen work opulent sandals
Tommy – Ann-Margret’s knit body suit from her “Smash the Mirror-Champagne” number;
The Big Lebowski – Bunny Lebowski’s (Tara Reid) toe;
The Nutty Professor – Life-like standee of Professor Julius Kelp (Jerry Lewis) dressed in his screen worn hero tweed costume—shirt, vest, jacket, pants, shoes and glasses—that also includes a set of his prosthetic buck teeth;
Lady Gaga – her outrageous black “Perfume Bottle” dress that she wore for the premiere in London of her perfume Fame and one of her most outlandish and magnificent outfits, the famous laser-cut crystal dress that she wore in Chicago to promote her new perfume;
Justin Bieber – custom gold stylized Laurel wreath crown especially made for Justin Bieber after he was named “Pop Crown Prince”;
Amy Winehouse – one of her shirts that was given to grieving fans by her father when they were standing outside of her house on the night of her death;
Nicki Minaj – costumes from her award-winning Pepsi commercial in 2012 including her “planet” shoulder jacket and hat, as well as all of the Minaj Dancers costumes and her dress from her and David Guetta’s Turn Me On video;
Cher – leather laced shoulder strapped form-fitting body suit from her New Attitude workout videos;
Mary Todd Lincoln – a shawl the First Lady wore during her years at the White House.
Star Trek items to be offered in Premiere Props’ June 15 auction include:
Star Trek – Roddenberry Variety – 12/12/79 – From the offices of Gene Roddenberry, an original Variety trade paper from Dec.12, 1979, with Roddenberry’s original mailing address label attached, announcing the release of Star Trek – The Motion Picture.
Star Trek – Roddenberry Variety – 8/6/79 – From the offices of Gene Roddenberry, an original Variety trade paper from Aug. 6, 1979 with Roddenberry’s original mailing address label attached, announcing the first excellent box office returns for Star Trek – The Motion Picture.
Star Trek – The Next Generation – access panel – An access panel off the Enterprise screen used from the series Star Trek – The Next Generation.
Star Trek – The Next Generation – Data uniform – Lt. Cmdr. Data’s (Brent Spiner) uniform screen used in Season 1 and 2 of Star Trek – The Next Generation.
Star Trek – Insurrection – Cmdr. Ricker Dress uniform – From Star Trek – Insurrection. Commander Ricker’s (Jonathan Frakes) hero screen worn uniform from the opening wedding scene.
Star Trek – Insurrection – Data Red “Invisible” Suit – Lt. Cmdr. Data (Brent Spiner) full “invisible” red suit from Star Trek – Insurrection including helmet, body suit, gloves, belt and boots.
Star Trek – The Next Generation – door bell panel – From the middle seasons of Star Trek – The Next Generation, a screen-used set piece door bell panel from the Enterprise.
Star Trek – The Motion Picture – panel set piece – From the original Star Trek – The Motion Picture a screen-used “universal panel” from the Enterprise set.
Star Trek – Voyager – PAD set piece – From the USS Voyager set, a screen-used PAD set piece.
Star Trek – Voyager – PAD 497-8 set piece – From the USS Voyager set, a PAD 497-8 screen-used set piece.
Star Trek – The Next Generation – access panel set piece – From Star Trek – The Next Generation an access panel set piece from the Enterprise’s standing set.
Star Trek – The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine – Numerous body and face prosthetics and, alien lenses, custom made by The Bodytech Emporium.
“Hollywood Extravaganza X offers collectors a really wide variety of costumes and props classic Hollywood, in addition to costumes from musical icons, plus a shawl from one of our first ladies,” says Dan Levin, vice president of Premiere Props. “We always try to include something for everyone, so that everyone is able to own a little piece of Hollywood history.”
For more information, visit http://www.premiereprops.com or www.hollywoodliveauctions.com or call 310-322-PROP or toll-free at 888-761-PROP.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at LiveAuctioneers.com.
Antique teddy bear left behind over a year ago at Bristol Airport in England. So far no one has claimed the bear. Image courtesy of Bristol Airport.
LONDON (AFP) – Staff at Bristol Airport in southwest England have appealed for help to find the owners of an antique teddy bear left in the departure lounge last year with a photograph dated 1918.
The black-and-white picture shows two young girls and what appears to be the bear. On the back is a handwritten note to “our darling Daddie” from “your loving little daughter and Sonia.”
The note is signed Dora – possibly one of the girls – and Glyn, who staff believe is the name of the bear.
The teddy, which has lost one eye, is currently being kept on the desk of the airport’s spokeswoman, Jacqui Mills.
Some experts believe the teddy may be a British-made Farnell bear from the early 1900s, while others say it might be either French or German.
After 14 months of inquiries yielded no clues as to the bear’s owner, the airport is now appealing for help from the public.
“We have tried unsuccessfully to locate his family, but drawn a blank. We would love to reunite him with his family, can you help?” the airport said in a statement.
Anyone with information as to the bear’s rightful owners can contact Bristol Airport by emailing yourairport@bristolairport.com.
LONDON – A striking new portrait of Kevin Spacey as Richard III will be one of several new works by Jonathan Yeo to be included in a major display of the artist’s work at the National Portrait Gallery this September.
The large painting shows Spacey in role as Shakespeare’s notorious king, among his most acclaimed roles, during his tenure as artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre. Painted during the run of Sam Mendes’s 2011 Old Vic production, the oil-on-canvas work draws on the great tradition of the theater portrait. Believed to be the actor’s first ever portrait, Spacey is shown in full costume having been painted by Yeo both in his studio and on stage. Yeo saw him play the role both with and without an audience, and sketched and took photos of him working backstage. Dominating the canvas, Spacey wears a rakishly tilted crown and peers directly at the viewer.
“When Kevin came to London to take over the Old Vic, critics were lining up to predict that he’d only last a few months before jumping straight on a plane back to Hollywood. The fact he has stuck at it for 10 years, revitalizing the international reputation of British theatrer, made him an obvious choice for inclusion in my first display at the National Portrait Gallery,” said Yeo
“We decided to put him in character as Shakespeare’s notorious villain, partly as a nod to the tradition of theatrical portraits of the past, and partly as a celebration of what may go down as his most memorable stage role. The main dilemma with painting a great actor in a role is knowing how much you are portraying the man and how much the character he is playing. In the end I tried to leave it to the viewers to decide for themselves,” added Yeo.
It’s been Richard III’s year, from being unearthed in a Leicester Council parking lot to being on display at the National Portrait Gallery. That isn’t a bad showing for someone who’s been dead for six centuries.
“Jonathan Yeo Portraits” (Sept. 11 through Jan. 5), the National Portrait Gallery’s first display dedicated to the artist’s work, will include innovative portraits—all produced from life—of some of today’s leading cultural, media and political figures, many of whom sat for portraits for the first time with Yeo.
The display will present an overview of the artist’s work to date, beginning with the drawings he made of the party leaders on the 2001 campaign trail, and including private studies of his family and portraits of well known figures such as media mogul Rupert Murdoch, model Erin O’Connor, artist Grayson Perry and actress Sienna Miller.
A Tuskegee Airman is pictured on this ‘KEEP US FLYING / BUY WAR BONDS’ poster released in 1943 by the U.S. Government Printing Office. Swann Galleris Inc. image.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A new exhibit created by a University of Pennsylvania professor and host of a popular public television show examines how wartime propaganda has been used to motivate oppressed populations to risk their lives for homelands that considered them second-class citizens.
“Black Bodies in Propaganda: The Art of the War Poster,” opened Sunday and continues until March 2 at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Lectures, film screenings and other programming will be rolled out over the course of the exhibit’s run.
The exhibit’s 33 posters, dating from the American Civil War to both World Wars and the African independence movements, are part of the personal collection of Tukufu Zuberi, Penn professor of sociology and African studies and a host of the Public Broadcasting Service series History Detectives.
Zuberi began his collection in 2005 and owns 48 posters in all. There are five he’s seeking to complete his collection, but he’s not divulging any specifics.
“Oh, I don’t want to go there,” he said with a laugh. “If I say anything, then there’s going to be someone out there with more money and I won’t be able to buy anything again.”
The collection includes posters with affirming messages and images of courageous black soldiers to stir in its intended audience a sense of national belonging and patriotic pride. Also implied was a promise that blacks who served their country in war would return home to America or Europe with the rights and freedoms that their white counterparts enjoyed.
That promise, as history shows, was not kept.
“They go and they fight and they’re victorious, and when all is said and done, they return home,” Zuberi said. “And it’s ‘Go back to your second-class citizen status, democracy is not here for you, you are not civilized and you are not ready for it.”
Conversely, the collection also includes negative posters that used hateful stereotypes to portray Africans and African-Americans as threats to white society. Zuberi’s favorite piece, perhaps surprisingly, is one of the most offensive in his collection.
Made in 1942 by Italian illustrator Gino Boccasile, The Two-Dollar Venus features a caricature of a black U.S. soldier as a brutish character with a buffoonish grin, his arm around the statue of Venus de Milo with “$2” scrawled across the torso.
“It’s beautiful in itself. It has a very ugly, derogatory tone, but it’s done very well,” Zuberi said. “This is saying to the Italian people: ‘If the U.S. comes here, they’re going to bring these people; they’re going to take a priceless cultural icon and put a price on it.’”
The exhibit also includes highly stylized posters made in China during the U.S. civil rights era and in Russia during the African independence movements expressing support of oppressed blacks against American and European aggressors.
A group of archival videos demonstrate how the same kinds of messages were communicated on film, including a 1945 Ronald Reagan-narrated recruitment short using the Tuskegee Airmen to claim American racial harmony and a 1944 Frank Capra-produced short that extols black war heroes without making mention of the entrenched segregation in the U.S. and its military.
A 1939 film shows Africans under European colonial rule as wholly benevolent relationships that brought the indigenous peoples “a fuller life, free from fear.”
“It’s a contradictory message given the reality that existed,” Zuberi said, “but it’s a very powerful message.”
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-06-02-13 0213GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
A Tuskegee Airman is pictured on this ‘KEEP US FLYING / BUY WAR BONDS’ poster released in 1943 by the U.S. Government Printing Office. Swann Galleris Inc. image.
Gold medallion found by Mark Rubenstein while hunting pythons in the Everglades
MIAMI (PRWeb) – Walker Metalsmiths, a western New York State jewelry firm, is using its resources and expertise to try to solve a mystery.
The story of Mark Rubenstein’s remarkable discovery of a partially melted gold cross medallion in the Everglades brings together the 2013 Python Challenge snake hunt, two tragic airline crashes, and a small but mysterious treasure. The jewelry looks like a Celtic cross pendant, but consultation with Celtic jewelry expert Stephen Walker tends to point in a different direction.
While hunting the Everglades in February for invasive Burmese pythons, Mark Rubinstein spotted a jeweled gold cross set with antique rose-cut diamonds and sapphires. The condition of the piece and the location of the find strongly suggest that the antique medallion came to rest in the swamp as the result of a fatal plane crash. In the late afternoon Rubinstein caught a glimpse of a bright, out-of-place, bit of sparkle. With fellow snake hunters Joseph Post and Gregg Jobes, he stopped and pawed through the grass and dirt until they unearthed a jeweled gold pendant about the size of a penny.
The location of the find turns out to be about 300 yards from the May 11, 1996 crash site of ValuJet Flight 592 and directly in the debris field of crashed Eastern Airlines Flight 401 that went down in 1972. The ValuJet crash killed all 110 passengers and crew. Seventy five people survived the Eastern crash, but 101 perished.
Realizing that the treasure they had found in the swamp was almost certainly the property of one of the deceased, the friends decided to try to try to identify the owner with the goal of returning it to a family member or heir. Rubinstein says, “I would like, strongly, to get it back to the rightful heirs. It would be some really good karma for all involved, or to put it simply, the right thing to do.”
Jeweler Bob Moorman of Carroll’s Jewelers in Coral Springs, FL identified the materials as high-karat gold, 18K or better, with rose-cut diamonds and sapphires. “Rose cut” is an antique style that was predominantly used from the 17th to the 19th century, which would make the piece 100 to 400 years old.
When a picture of the pendant and its story came to light on the Orchid internet jeweler’s forum, Stephen Walker became involved. Since Walker recently wrote a book on the Celtic jewelry of the 19th and 20th centuries, his initial involvement was to comment on how the pendant may or may not be a “Celtic” cross. Although it looks like a Celtic cross is probably part of an Eastern or Greek Orthodox tradition. The cross in a circle as a cultural icon of the Irish, Scots and other Celts was a familiar form for monumental sculpture, carved in stone, in medieval times. In the past 150 years is has come to be used as a symbol in jewelry. This particular piece, however, differs in style and choice of materials from what we generally see in antique Celtic crosses. Precious gemstones, such as diamonds and sapphires are rarely used in Celtic jewelry until much more recently. The few older pieces made in gold were usually 9 carat, while this piece is a higher carat. The stones used in 19th century Celtic jewelry were generally semiprecious materials like agates, amethyst, citrine and bloodstone.
Walker put Rubinstein’s photo and story on Walker Metalsmiths’ Facebook page, which quickly went viral. He then issued a news release, which brought the story to an even wider audience.
When an alert California man saw the story online about the pendant, he recognized it as nearly identical to a piece in his own collection. He sent Walker a picture with all four of the letter/symbols between the arms of the cross clearly visible. The letters appear to be Greek or Slavonic. This shows that the piece is part of a traditional combination of symbols an not one-of-a-kind. The California piece was purchased over 40 years ago from an antique dealer and nothing specific is known about its origin.
The overall design is very much like a Saint Benedict’s medal, but the characters are different. Scholars who have looked at the design tend to think the letters are more likely to be Greek than Slavonic but several characters are unconventional. They may be Epsilon, Pi, Omega, Phi. The Greek “M”, mu, looks like a lower case omega when flipped upside down.
Walker has fielded several calls and emails from the public, but a positive identification remains elusive. Walker says, “We will follow up on any plausible leads, but our best hope is showing the picture and telling the story far and wide until someone with a direct personal memory sees it”
Walker Metalsmiths is a family-run, craftsman-based, Celtic jewelry company with locations in Andover, NY and Fairport, NY. Contact information is available online at www.walkermetalsmiths.com.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Snake hunters Joe Post, Gregg Jobes and Mark J. Rubinstein, who found a mysterious gold jewel in the Everglades while participating in the 2013 Python Challenge.
The industrial salvaged timbers with original patina adorn the ceiling and frame the loft area of the restaurant.
FARMINGTON, N.Y. (PRWeb) – An upscale supermarket that opened in May in Rochester, New York, features timbers, doors, and trim crafted of reclaimed heart pine by New Energy Works Timberframers fine woodworking group, NEWwoodworks. The antique pine, also known as southern yellow pine, was salvaged by Pioneer Millworks during deconstruction of the Union Underwear Inc. cotton mill and factory in Alabama.
Beginning with raw industrial salvaged timbers, Pioneer Millworks milled board stock which NEWwoodworks crafted into custom pieces for the supermarket. “Heart pine in its higher grades is a quality wood with great durability and density, and a bit of antique resin that requires patience and skill. It achieves a wonderful look that adds a unique flavor to any project,” said Rob D’Alessandro, General Manager of NEWwoodworks. “We enjoy the challenge of turning the bones of an old building into handcrafted pieces for commercial spaces and homes.”
Heart pine doors in the restaurant celebrate crisp grain patterns and rich color tones complimented by wrought iron accents. Timbers with original patina bring warmth to the ceiling and reclaimed, natural edge walnut planks join with more heart pine in custom benches in the reception area.
“Reclaimed heart pine is said to be the species our country was built on. Factories and mills, such as Union Underwear, were largely constructed using these pine timbers,” explains Jennifer Young, Manager of Pioneer Millworks. “It is a highly desired species due to its dense grain patterns, deep patina, character, and of course, history.”
The Union Underwear Inc. mill was built in 1921 as the Fayette Cotton Mill. It was erected adjacent to the Brown Lumber Company. Logs were transported by rail to the lumber mill, sawn into hefty timbers (many as large as 9in x 15in x 26ft), then used in the construction of the cotton mill next door. In 2003 the mill was shut down sitting dormant until it was carefully deconstructed in 2013.
“Old wood isn’t just about sustainability and beauty. It’s about carrying a piece of history forward. For example, when our team was at the factory they met a gentleman who had worked in the mill for nearly 40 years. He shared stories and old photographs with us from a time when the mill was running at full capacity,” continued Young. “His story and the deconstruction of the mill was so interesting we had to share it all in a blog post.”
Fulfilling the fine woodworking needs for the supermarket utilized all of Pioneer Millworks inventory of the heart pine from the Union Underwear mill, but the company continues to offer heart pine from several other historic sources. Numerous yellow pine timbers from the Union Underwear mill are still available.
Pioneer Millworks is the leader in the reclaimed wood industry. To date, they’ve rescued nearly 22 million board feet of old wood from rot and landfills, giving it new life as flooring, millwork, cabinetry, and more. All manufactured in the USA from New York and Oregon — in a manner that’s healthy for customers, employees, and the environment. Pioneer Millworks is FSC certified and Green America approved. All of their products are LEED point eligible.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
The industrial salvaged timbers with original patina adorn the ceiling and frame the loft area of the restaurant.Hefty antique timbers, many as large as 9″ x 15″ x 26′, were reclaimed and re-purposed by Pioneer Millworks into board stock, flooring, paneling, and more.The Union Underwear Inc. mill was built in 1921 as the Fayette Cotton Mill. Pioneer Millworks salvaged Heart Pine timbers during deconstruction.Handcrafted by NEWwoodworks of reclaimed heart pine, doors in the Rochester NY restaurant celebrate crisp grain patterns and rich color tones complimented by wrought iron accents.
‘The Surrender of General Burgoyne’ by John Trumbull (1756–1843). The central figure in the painting is American Gen. Horatio Gates. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y. (AP) – The history of the world changed on a grassy knoll on a hill overlooking the upper Hudson River, although it would be some time before anyone would realize the significance of what happened there in October 1777, according to National Park Service Ranger Joe Craig.
“You had an enormous change that probably they didn’t figure out at the time, but the shock waves eventually went out from there,” said Craig, who works at Saratoga National Historical Park, also known as the Saratoga Battlefield.
The shock was caused by British Gen. John Burgoyne’s surrender to American forces after two battles fought at Saratoga in September and October 1777. On Oct. 17, 10 days after the second battle, Burgoyne handed his sword to his counterpart, Gen. Horatio Gates, in a field atop a hill just south of the present-day village of Schuylerville, 30 miles north of Albany.
The American victory over the world’s mightiest army would eventually convince France to ally itself with the rebellious Colonies, which sorely needed French troops, ships and money to defeat the British. Many historians consider the outcome at Saratoga to be the turning point of the American Revolution.
A ceremony was held Saturday at the sword surrender site to officially unveil a bronze sculpture that will be the centerpiece of a memorial when the property becomes part of the historical park’s holdings. The 19-acre site is being donated to the park service by the Open Space Institute, which bought it in 2006 from the family that had owned it since the Revolutionary War.
The sculpture protrudes from a 6-foot-by-4-foot flat surface and is a bas-relief version of John Trumbull’s 1821 painting, Surrender of General Burgoyne, which hangs in the U.S. Capitol.
The name of the new site is a bit of a misnomer because Gates only held the sword for a few moments before handing it back to Burgoyne, a common practice among generals of the era, Craig said. The rest of the British army wasn’t allowed the same courtesy. Several thousand redcoats laid down their weapons at a riverside fort in what is now a park in Schuylerville.
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
AP-WF-05-31-13 1526GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
‘The Surrender of General Burgoyne’ by John Trumbull (1756–1843). The central figure in the painting is American Gen. Horatio Gates. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Pair of Isamu Noguchi table lamps Model 9, Knoll Associates, USA, 1947; cherry, fiberglass-reinforced polyvinyl, 7.25 dia x 16 h inches. Literature: Knoll: A Modernist Universe, Lutz, pg. 111. Entered in Wright’s June 6, 2013 auction with a presale estimate of $5,000-$7,000. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Wright.
NEW YORK (AP) – The round, white, paper light shades sold at Ikea for $5 are a familiar item in contemporary interior design. But these inexpensive lanterns are knockoffs of light sculptures created by the renowned artist Isamu Noguchi in the early 1950s.
The Noguchi lamps — called akari, the Japanese word for light — were inspired by traditional Japanese lanterns used in ancestor worship. Over the decades, the akari became classics of mid-20th century modern home decor.
Noguchi’s original designs are still handmade in Japan; they come in a variety of colors and dozens of geometric designs — including the widely imitated white sphere — and range in price from $100 to $1,000. And they pop up in some pretty cool places, from painter Georgia O’Keeffe’s home in New Mexico to Tony Stark’s bedroom in “Iron Man 3.”
The story of how the late Noguchi came to create akari is rooted in the recovery of Japan’s post-World War II economy and the cross-cultural currents that influenced his spare, bold, modernist aesthetics.
Noguchi’s mother was American; his father Japanese. They never married. Born in 1904, Noguchi spent years in both countries during his youth. After World War II, he was greatly admired by the art and design community in Japan, and at some point met the mayor of the town of Gifu, where local industry centered around making lanterns for ancestry worship, using paper from mulberry trees.
“The mayor asked Noguchi, ‘Can you help us resurrect our lantern business?'” said Jenny Dixon, director of the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, N.Y. “That’s how the akari were first produced. They were exported as an economic product and were well-received by the design community.”
She added that Noguchi “papered them sculpturally. He didn’t call them lanterns or lamps; he called them light sculptures.”
Noguchi’s concept “stood in sharp contrast to 1950s contemporary, modern, efficient lighting trends,” said Peter Barna, provost of Pratt Institute, the art and design college in Brooklyn, N.Y. Popular lighting options of the day included track lights, adjustable desk lamps and “pole lamps with conical shades,” added Barna, a former president of an international lighting design firm.
Noguchi’s designs were radically different, “a sculptor’s memory of the soft magic of material and light,” said Barna.
Eventually, Noguchi developed a relationship with one family of lantern makers. The same family still produces his designs today. “They’re all handmade, each one, individually, from molds. They’re not mass-produced,” Dixon said. “We’re now working with the third generation there, filling our orders. … Our biggest challenge is meeting the demand.”
Depending on which lamp is ordered, “you might hit the jackpot and get a lamp right away or you can wait three to six months.” She added: “We lose a lot of business” from customers who don’t want to wait.
Each lamp has bamboo ribbing and standard wiring, and can accommodate incandescent or compact fluorescent bulbs (45 watts for small lamps, 75 watts for large). Designs range from spheres, discs and cylinders to triangles, boxes, trapezoids, and other geometric shapes and combinations. Most shades are white, but some are decorated in orange, green or black; a few bear abstract designs.
There are hanging lamps, as well as table lamps and floor lamps with metal legs or small black circular bases. Many appear breathtakingly elegant; others have a whimsical, futuristic look.
A large selection of akari can be seen at the Noguchi Museum, located in the studio where he worked for decades in Long Island City, an industrial neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. A few lamps are displayed amid Noguchi’s sculptures, but the best place to see them is in the cafe and gift shop, where they line bookshelves, hang over the cash register, and decorate a small area where visitors can relax, using a Noguchi coffee table to put their snacks on.
Danielle Berman, the production designer for “Iron Man 3,” chose a tall Noguchi lamp in a stacked box design to illuminate Tony Stark’s bedroom. “It was such a modernist home,” she explained. “It had a lot of very round, organic lines. I immediately thought of that lamp because it was such a geometric contrast.”
Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., is a superhero billionaire. Berman said she imagined his girlfriend, “the Gwyneth Paltrow character, putting the lights around Tony’s house when she redecorated. She’s a lover of design and art.” Berman has also used Noguchi lamps on many other sets, from the TV show “House” to the first film in the “Hangover” series.
Noguchi’s “understanding of space,” she said, is “very organic. He uses all these natural materials. It’s the simplicity, yet it’s very complex. You light it and the paper gives this beautiful glow. It’s a beautiful element to have on any set. I try to use them whenever I can.”
Fans of the 20th century modernist painter Georgia O’Keeffe will find Noguchi’s classic white sphere lantern on a tour of her home and studio in Abiquiu, N.M. Noguchi “sent Miss O’Keeffe several lanterns as gifts with his sister,” explained Judy Lopez, director of Abiquiu Historic Properties for the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. “She decided to place this large one in her dining room.”
The lamp hangs from a wooden ceiling in the inviting, white-walled space, over a simple table and chairs.
Cheap imitations of Noguchi lamps — especially the white sphere — have become so ubiquitous that they’re almost a cliche of outdoor party decor and a somewhat bohemian style.
But why spend hundreds on an original when you can get a knockoff for a fraction of the price? Aside from the difference in workmanship and materials, Berman points out that “the knockoffs aren’t quite his designs.” Dixon also notes, “Noguchi made these lamps so that people could buy them and live with his sculpture. It was the idea that you, too, the every man, for $100, a modest amount of money, could own an artwork by a prominent person.”
One downside: The paper is vulnerable to damp climates, though it does well in dry locations like O’Keeffe’s.
And what if you don’t live in a home defined by modernist aesthetics? Would a Noguchi lamp work with flowered curtains, an overstuffed sofa and patterned wallpaper?
Berman thinks “antiques and modernist pieces can work well together.” But whether you mix the lamp in with a jumble of interesting objects or set it off as a special piece, she said, consider its shape. In a room with lots of square and rectangular lines, go for a rounded lamp; in a room with curves in furniture and decor, go for a linear lamp.
Barna agreed that the lamps can work with any style, but noted they “were conceived as sculptures that delicately stand as warm friends in an interior space. They glow, so will probably be the dominant focus in any space they are in.”
Pair of Isamu Noguchi table lamps Model 9, Knoll Associates, USA, 1947; cherry, fiberglass-reinforced polyvinyl, 7.25 dia x 16 h inches. Literature: Knoll: A Modernist Universe, Lutz, pg. 111. Entered in Wright’s June 6, 2013 auction with a presale estimate of $5,000-$7,000. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Wright.
The Nabi Yahya Mosque in Sebastia, shown in a 1920s photo, stands on the site identified since Byzantine times as the place where John the Baptist’s head was buried. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
SEBASTIA, West Bank (AP) – The ancient town of Sebastia is one of the major archaeological sites of the Holy Land, with its overlapping layers of history dating back nearly 3,000 years. But today the hilltop capital of biblical kings, later ruled by Roman conquerors, Crusaders and Ottomans, is marred with weeds, graffiti and garbage.
Caught between conflicting Israeli and Palestinian jurisdictions, the site has been largely neglected by both sides for the past two decades. Beyond the decay, unauthorized diggers and thieves have taken advantage of the lack of oversight to make off with priceless artifacts.
“You can learn the history of the whole region (by) staying here because all the powers that crossed the region since the time of the Egyptians were passing through,” said Carla Benelli, an art historian who has been working on restoration projects in parts of the site, financed in part by the Italian government. “From this point of view, it’s really very important.”
But the site needs basic maintenance, protection and cleaning, she said. “There is no one who is doing this here in Sebastia. It will not last forever in this way.”
The ancient greatness of Sebastia—located in the northern West Bank just outside the city of Nablus—remains visible. It served as the capital of the biblical Kingdom of Israel under the name of Samaria in the eighth and ninth centuries B.C. Alexander the great, King Herod and Medieval Islamic rulers have all left their marks. According to tradition, the town is also the burial place of John the Baptist, revered by both Christians and Muslims.
The remains extend from the present-day Palestinian village of Sebastia and up a nearby hill to the site of the ancient capital of Samaria at the top—around a square kilometer that includes a Crusader cathedral, an ancient Roman city boasting a forum, a colonnaded street and a temple to Augustus, and the remains of the palace of Omri, the ninth century ruler of the Kingdom of Israel.
Therein lies the problem: Most of the ruins lie in areas under full Israeli control, with some in areas under Palestinian civilian control, but shared security responsibilities under the 1990s peace deals that divvied up the West Bank into zones of authority. The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank, captured by Israel from Jordan in 1967, as part of a future state.
The situation deteriorated greatly with the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in late 2000. Although the fighting has ended, care for the site has since dropped away because of security fears. Visits by Israeli citizens need to be coordinated with the Israeli military.
Israel’s Civil Administration—the military body that oversees civilian affairs in areas of Israeli control in the West Bank—said that conservation and development works were carried out by Israeli authorities at the site in the 1990s. But they were halted “due to the change in the security situation,” it said in an email to The Associated Press.
Technically, the Israeli-controlled part of the archaeological zone, centered on the hill, is under the authority of Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority. But there’s little sign of a park, with no staff visible, and there’s no fence around the site, leaving it open for people to enter. The parts under Palestinian control, centered on the village and up to the foot of the hill, have also had little supervision or care.
“Sebastia, the archaeological site, is abandoned without any control from 2000. It’s 13 years,” said Osama Hamdan, a Palestinian architect who has coordinated the restoration works of Crusader-era buildings with Benelli.
“In this period really Sebastia is suffering a lot because a lot of illegal excavations have happened in this area. A lot of destruction of cultural heritage in this area has happened,” he said. Statues, vases, coins and glasses have all been taken by looters, he said.
Weeds grow freely among the archaeological ruins, sticking out from the ancient stones. Plastic bottles and food bags are littered at the bottom of the staircase that leads to a Crusader cathedral—also site of a mosque—where the tomb of John the Baptist is said to be located in the village of Sebastia. Finely decorated stone Roman tombs in the center of the village are smashed and abandoned.
At a Byzantine church dedicated to John the Baptist, located in the Israeli-controlled part, graffiti hailing the Hamas militant group is spray-painted on a column. The Islamic expression of faith—“There is no god but God” —is written in Arabic over the entrance.
Hamadan Taha, assistant deputy minister in charge of antiquities in the Palestinian Authority, acknowledged that looting is “a major problem” and said the Palestinians are making efforts to combat it by working with local officials to raise awareness.
Sebastia “has a great potential to be developed as tourist attraction,” he said.
With the help of international donors, the Palestinian Tourism and Antiquities Ministry has built an “interpretation center” near the Roman forum at the foot of the hill which Taha said will provide services to visitors. It is expected to open in the coming months.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is trying to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, has identified tourism as a key area for Palestinian economic development.
Israel’s Civil Authority said it has been trying to coordinate efforts at the site with the Palestinians, a claim that Taha said was untrue.
Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority, which calls Sebastia the “Shomron National Park” on its website, declined comment.
Two major archaeological digs were conducted in Sebastia in the early 20th century, when the site was controlled by the Ottomans and later British authorities. In addition, smaller excavations were conducted in the 1960s by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, when the site was under Jordanian rule.
“It’s beautiful, it’s a fantastic place. And the landscape is marvelous” said Axel Wernhoff, a Swedish diplomat visiting the site for the fifth time in a recent tour by a group of foreign visitors accompanied by Benelli. The group touted the archaeological remains, stopping occasionally to admire the views of the valleys below with their olive and fruit groves.
Hafez Kaye, a local shop and restaurant owner, said that after a difficult decade, business has begun to pick up over the past three years.
“Slowly, slowly it’s coming back. From the year 2010 until now we are receiving groups again and we hope to come as before.”
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