Andy and Edie

 
The Mister and I are Andy and Edie for the day. What are you all dressing up as? Happy Halloween. 
It's amazing what you can find on the interwebs. 

Eating Design?

 
I've become so enamored with Marije Vogelzang and her work ever since Sight Unseen ran this little interview with her. The funny thing was that I was already familiar with her work but because I saw a project here, and a project there, I really didn't really comprehend her oeuvre. Seeing them all together made little fireworks go off in that brain of mine. Her work expresses all the elements I'm so passionate about. Food, how people view it, eat it, share it, where they eat it, and with whom but all along a narrative while designing every element of the experience.

The photo above and below broke food in to color blocks and applied qualifiers according to those colors for a pop-up cafe. The purpose was to get you to think differently about the food you were eating. 
   
What's more fun than chocolate? Chocolate walls? Go ahead and lick them. Chocolate cups? Chocolate Mustaches? Chocolate Tattoos? Love! 
   
Marshmallows made with real rain. Iceberg marshmallows or global warming in your cup?
   
Sugar-spoon to stir your coffee? 
   
And this last one everyone at the table including the servers are enveloped in a white tablecloth at once equalizing everyone and connecting everyone. I find this particular dinner especially interesting. How would you act and eat if you were suddenly connected to your neighbor? Would you share more easily? Smile more easily? I've personally found sitting down at the table is very much an equalizer anyway. Marjie also provided scissors so that everyone could customize their opening so they didn't feel trapped in the design... so smart!

What do think of her work? Would you be interested in attending a food event that challenges your current thoughts on food and design? I would be really interested in hearing your thoughts!


Also while researching Marije Vogelzang and her work I came across First Person Magazine as they interviewd her for their upcoming issue Radical Foods. I haven't personally checked it out but I'm very intrigued. And if you are in the Bay Area please come to the dinner they have arranged. I'm going as are some friends of mine. 


 *all photos are via Marije Vogelzang

Huntington Gardens

 
The Mister and I went to visit my Belle Mere for her birthday and took her to Huntington Gardens. This was partially because I enjoy taking her to places she wouldn't venture on her own and partially selfish as I had never been either even though I lived literally around the corner for years. My Grandmother would ask me every time she spoke to me "Have you gone to Huntington Gardens?" To which I replied "No, Grandma" with an eye roll thrown in for good measure. I figured it was some silly little Japanese garden that looked the same as all the Japanese gardens I've ever seen. Wow, was I wrong. Sorry Grandma. 

The property is so immense that it will have to be a place that I continue to visit as it is just too much to take in on one visit. Not to mention all the exhibits at the separate structures on the property that we didn't get to. I was particularly drawn to the desert plants, and cacti. They were so incredible I felt transported to another world. If you live in the Los Angeles area I highly recommend going don't wait like I did. That last photo at the end I included just so you could gather the scale of these prickly beasts. Extraordinary!

Breaks, Projects, Work...

 
Well the Universe may be expanding but I felt the need to contract for a bit. When you are on the interwebs sooooo much and constantly coming across all this amazingly talented work but find yourself lacking the time to attack it yourself... one just needs to take a couple steps back. There are only so many hours in a day you know. 

Then last night the Mister says... "Umm... When are you going to blog again?" (Can I just add that he was almost always against this blogging thing so it's a little funny coming from him) And quite frankly I was missing the sharing but was finding it hard to fit it into my schedule again. Work has been constant crunch time. And well little Buddy takes quite a bit of time too. So here I am again pouring out my heart to you and sharing snippets of a new project. It's a small project but I'll share the whole of it soon. I missed you and I hope you missed me too. xo

The Universe is expanding....

6df Galaxy Survey fly through from ICRAR on Vimeo.

Of course we've known that since the 1920's but a couple of smart fellows (Astrophysicists) independently realized that it was expanding at an ever increasing rate (And won the Nobel prize for their efforts) and that it has to do with dark energy. I heard all of this on my way to yoga this morning and it captured my imagination like science and nature so often did for me when I was a kid. It was really lovely to float along in that child like wonder this am so I thought I'd share it with you too. I looked to see if I could find a visualization of this expansion thinking I might find a diagram or a photograph but I found this amazing animation instead.