Archive for the ‘Literature’ Category

‘Imperial Bedrooms’ By Bret Easton Ellis

Monday, August 9th, 2010

In his latest novel, Imperial Bedrooms, novelist Bret Easton Ellis revisits the beautiful, drugged-out, morally vacuous creatures of his bestselling debut, Less Than Zero.

Now Julian, Rip, Clay, Blair and Trent are 25 years older, but it seems, no wiser. Namely moved from New York to Los Angeles but still locked in a Dantesque limbo, they flit back and forth behind their sunglasses and tinted SUVs.

At a recent lecture on London’s Southbank-Easton Ellis commented that his debut, written when he was just 19, would have been a very different prospect if the characters all had mobile phones.

In the new novel he gets to incorporate our era’s new technology, with internet viral videos of supposed executions and death-threats-by-text-message.

Easton Ellis reads an extract from the opening of Imperial Bedrooms here.

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Find the original blog post here on NOWNESS.

Monograph: ‘Complete Works’ by Vincent Van Duysen

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

For more than two decades,  Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen has created a series of exquisite buildings and residences, from the Low Countries to New York, with profoundly elemental spaces enriched by a refined palette of materials. The results are sublime, rich, minimal yet tactile.

This is the complete monograph of Van Duysen’s work, including his domestic architecture, office and commercial spaces, as well as furniture and decorative objects for such leading international manufacturers as Tribù, B&B Italia, Poliform and Swarovski.

Van Duysen celebrates the essence of form, the elegance of proportion and the refinement of hidden details. His is an architecture for connoisseurs, and this comprehensive publication reveals why he has become such a celebrated figure. Over thirty projects are presented in detail, each with a project profile, many accompanied by specially commissioned photographs, along with a complete project chronology.

Collected together in a large-scale format, the book includes an introduction by noted architecture critic Marc Dubois and tributes by architects David Adjaye, Alberto Campo Baeza and Michael Gabellini, fashion designer Ann Demeulemeester and furniture designer Patricia Urquiola, all of whom provide fascinating insights into Van Duysen’s inspirational output.

We want a copy right now.

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Click here for the original Daily Icon blog post.

‘New Architecture in Japan’ by Naomi Pollock and Yuki & Edmund Sumner

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

With a comprehensive overview of more than 100 projects built or designed in Japan over the past 10 years, ‘New Architecture in Japan’ is an informative and beautifully illustrated book.

Photographer Edmund Sumner manages to capture not only the power of architectural space, but he always allows a glimpse of the surrounding urban landscape by including neon signs, pylons, high voltage power lines and pedestrians into the images. Critical essays by Yuki Sumner and Naomi Pollock contextualize the work, and each project is described in detail with the required drawings.

Included in the book are museums, private houses, schools, shops, hospitals, airports and chapels. It features  cutting-edge, emerging young practices – such as Sou Fijimoto and Junya Ishigami – as well as established, internationally known architects – among them Toyo Ito, Tadao Ando, Kengo Kuma and SANAA.

This illuminating survey is essential not just for architects and designers but also for anyone fascinated by Japan’s unique – and increasing – influence on architecture worldwide.

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Click here for the full Daily Icon blog post.

Sixteen Years in the Making: ‘Supreme Book’

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

A 4 fave Supreme digs through its 16-years-worth of archives and delivers the Supreme Book to the masses.

Hypebeast tells us the brand and retailer’s upcoming publication is to be distributed by Rizzoli and will include contributions from some notable names including Glenn O’Brien and Aaron Bondaroff. The book surveys many of the brand’s products over the years including projects with Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, Damien Hirst, Public Enemy and Lou Reed, among others. There’s also an interview involving Kaws and James Jebbia.

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For the full Por Homme blog post click here

Thirty Days NY, New York City

Friday, April 16th, 2010

L.A. bookstore Family brings their indie spirit to the East Coast with a month-long extravaganza of art, music and literature

Set in a 4,200-square-foot pop-up space in NYC’s TriBeCa neighborhood, Thirty Days NY features a host of daily activities from some of the creative community’s finest. A rotating cast of artists such as Matthew Thurber and Sumi Ink Club will be on location, conducting classes and letting visitors observe them at work. There will also be an exhibit of artists from the Los Angeles area by the King Kong gallery, with works from Ed Templeton, Geoff McFetridge and Rodarte.

All events are free and will be running through 7 May 2010.

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For the full blog post see: http://www.coolhunting.com/culture/thirty-days-ny