Showing posts with label Sweden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sweden. Show all posts

Monday, August 12, 2013

Stuck at the Met

The Gotlands Museum in Sweden

We’re all familiar with the colorful freeform encrustations that grow on the walls, pipes, and any street furniture in close proximity to museums these days. I always smile at these organic accretions of discarded admission stickers. Their lively messiness provides the perfect counterpoint to the curated seriousness of the very institutions from which they originate.

So, in some way, I was kind of looking forward to seeing what the Met would roll out to replace their iconic and much-loved colored metal tabs which were recently retired after 42 years. Because if ever there was a high-profile occasion for an elegant or interesting design solution, this was surely it. Right?

The other day was my first visit to the museum since the changeover to paper admission stickers. At the exit, there used to be elegant acrylic receptacles filled with colored metal tabs. Now there are very ordinary stanchioned-mounted boards, the kind you might find at a convention informing you which plenary session is to take place in which ballroom. They are positioned to accept the exiting museumgoer’s blue and white rectangular sticker. That’s right, the stickers are, according to a guard I queried, always blue on white.

Too bad the Met, of all places, passed on the opportunity to create what might have been an interesting, or even inspired admissions interface. Instead they seem to have opted for the Staples method (just push the “easy button” and hop on the aesthetic blandwagon).

But let’s wait a while, there’s no telling what might become of those boring little stickers …

Board at the Met




The Sinebrychoff Taidemuseo, Helsinki

I was very excited to recognize the portraits on some the stickers as the ones photographed by Finnish artist Jorma Puranen!




Results of a Flickr search



Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Hybrid Footwear Alert

I’ve always enjoyed a good shoe hybrid, so I definitely got a kick 
out of spotting these spectator/wedge/slides for men in Stockholm. 

They are available in black and brown. 


I'm not quite sure what these boots are mated with. A shower curtain?
Clear PVC pipe? The rain/riding boots are at the Acne
flagship store in Stockholm.



Other shoe hybrids I’ve had on file ...

Work boot/pump


Sneaker/clog



Teva heels



Spectator/platform/espadrilles by Prada




Nike/wooden shoes (okay, this was for a design exhibit)



High-heel high-tops

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Faces on the Train

I saw these portraits last week in Stockholm.



I loved their quick brushiness.


And their enormous size was wonderful too.


They are actually quite large …



and run between ads along the subway wall.






Here are a few more shots from the Stockholm metro.







Dogs are allowed!


Tuesday, August 14, 2012

I am Curious (Yellow Ochre)

Produce porn from Sweden (of course). Photos are from the market in Stockholm, a farm on the island of Gotland, and various points along the rest of the food chain.

It’s peak season for chanterelles and berries!

















On Gotland, wild strawberries, and an egg run to the local farm.







A hand-drawn sign for char.


These prepared salads were spotted in a mall.

A dramatic backdrop for flowering dill.

This salad tasted as perfect as it looked.




No, I was not visiting Martha. This was the real deal. On Gotland, our friend Karin prepared strawberry/yogurt smoothies with mint garnish every morning, and served raspberry muffins for a fika in the afternoon.

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