Wet dreams now has a new meaning as two photographers and fiveartists set their sights on exploring the liquid landscape that covers the majority of the planet we live on.

For humans water has a timeless fascination. Covering 2/3 the surface of our planet, water nourishes, cools, cleans, entertains, and inspires us. And no wonder, as is commonly known, 96% of our bodies is comprised of water, we are literally made of the stuff. In our embryonic state we develop while floating in a sort of inland sea, sporting the gills that suggest our own distant evolution from the enveloping oceans. As a subject for artists, water is an endlessly fluid metaphor presenting an ever-changing surface of reflection, complex color, and translucent mystery. Its’ varied nature can be seen as a mirror to our own mercurial moods. Rain can be soothing or pelting, a stream can murmur gently or roar with destructive force. Water is the only element that we know well in all its’ different states frozen, liquid, and gas, but it is the liquid state flowing, turbulent, or still that most attracts us. In Slippery When Wet, 5 painters and 2 photographers explore this liquid realm bringing the stillness of art and a variety of sensibilities to bear on the the restless motion of this most common yet still elusive element.

The exhibition is being shown at Metaphor Contemporary Art. There’s two months left for this exhibition so make sure to get there if you’re in the New York area, it’s definitely worth a visit.

Timeline: 2009-09-18 To 2009-11-22 Opening Reception on 2009-09-18 from 18:00 to 21:00

Artists: Suzan Batu, Susan Homer, Joanne Mattera, Nancy Manter, Andrew Mockler, Don Muchow, Peter Schroth

Website http://www.metaphorcontemporaryart.com/Ex_SlipWet.html

Price: Free Venue Hours: 12:00 To 6:00 Closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Holidays

Directions: Between Hoyt and Bond St. Subway: A/C/G to Hoyt-Schermerhorn, F/G to Bergen Street 382 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217

Phone: 718-254-9126

The two winners get:

250 7 x 5″ Greeting Cards (Half-Fold); 10 pt Cover with matte or gloss coating

Full Color Outside and Blank Inside (4/0)

Creative Fluff will even PAY for your shipping and handling charges wherever you are in the world.

The way the contest works is simple!
We want to hit 100 subscribers  by September 4th.  Once we hit 100, we’re going to give away two sets of custom greeting cards to 2 random individuals.

Just sign up for our RSS feed and you’re automatically entered!

Somewhere between found art, Picasso, and industrial design is where Object Factory’s newest US based installation takes place.

Object Factory: The Art of Industrial Ceramics is the first major U.S. museum exhibition to survey contemporary innovation in industrial ceramic production and the renaissance of ceramics in art and design today. The exhibition explores how artists and designers are reviving interest in ceramics through collaborations with industry that enhance and sometimes subvert the industrial process. Object Factory presents works created for leading manufacturers as well as artworks by independent artists and designers. Both non-functional and functional works are highlighted, as are important technological advances in ceramic material that allow for its use in electronic appliances, cutting implements, and other surprising products.

Object Factory has more than some 200 works by over fifty artists, designers, and industry manufacturers. This large collection features work by some of the greatest American, European, and Russian designers. The exhibit runs from May 6 to September 13th and it can be found at the Museum of Arts and Design

By train: A, B, C, D or No. 1 to Columbus Circle at 59th Street; N, R, Q or W to 57th Street and 7th Avenue F to 57th Street and 6th Avenue By bus: M5, M7, M10, M20, M30 and M104 to Columbus Circle at 59th Street or 57th Street and 8th Avenue

Museum Hours Tue. – Sun. 11:00 am to 6:00 pm Thurs. 11:00 am to 9:00 pm Closed Mon. and Major Holidays

SUMMER HOURS: Due to popular demand, the Museum will be open on Tuesdays from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm throughout the summer.

An icon in the history of fashion photography, the works in this collection span his career of capturing cultural changes with the same vitality of the time, breaking the mold of what was a more reserved world of simply showing clothes. The Richard Avedon exhibition runs until September 6th [more information here], but while its appearance is an unusual occurrence in a formal exhibition setting, fashion seems to have spread beyond the ICP.

“The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of art is also exploring fashion, offering a look at the changing silhouettes and beauty ideals in relation to the changing times and culture of the times as shown in fashion photography, videos, and the fashions on display. The exhibition is surprising for what is traditionally expected from The Met, and is definitely a must-see exhibition before it ends on August 9th for those interested in fashion as a whole. [More information about the exhibition at the met here.]

[Images via http://www.icp.org/site/c.dnJGKJNsFqG/b.5079531/k.9571/Avedon_Fashion.htm and http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId={EB2C67EF-1CCB-4EB2-9329-A955A7EDFBC2}&HomePageLink=special_c3b]

Isao Takezawa

The first of which is the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, otherwise known as ICFF (http://www.icff.com/page/home.asp). Going from May 16, 2009 – May 19, 2009, the show will present a great number of wonderful designs from around the world. While, it does last 4 days, it is unfortunate that only one day is available to the general public, and that is Tuesday the 19th. Among the designers is a group of RISD students, with such beautifully unique pieces as featured in a recent Fast Company article (which you can find here).

Another exciting event is the National Stationery Show (http://www.nationalstationeryshow.com/), beginning the 17th, another trade show, but without an opening to the general public. But if you are able to register with the needed requirements, it is yet another show that I would recommend, just from my sheer obsession with stationery goods.

Those who don’t qualify for the trade shows, Tuesday’s furniture show for the general public may be the only opportunity to get into one of these events, but in any case it promises to be a great show (with a high likelihood of being extremely crowded).

[Image from http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/cliff-kuang/design-innovation/kids-are-alright-risd-exhibition-icff]

León Ferrari (Argentine, b. 1920) and Mira Schendel (Brazilian, b. Switzerland, 1919–1988) are considered among the most significant artists working in Latin America during the second half of the twentieth century. Their works address language as a major visual subject matter: the visual body of language, the embodiment of voices as words and gestures, and language as a metaphor of the worldly aspect of human existence through the eloquence of naming and writing. They produced their works in the neighboring countries of Argentina and Brazil throughout the 1960s and 1980s, when the question of language was particularly central to Western culture due to the central role taken by post-structuralism, semiotics, and the philosophy of language. Although their drawings, sculptures, and paintings are contemporary with the birth of Conceptualism, they are distinctively different, and have not yet been exhibited in their entirety in the United States.

I highly suggest if you’re in the tri-state area to come drop by NYC and come to the MoMA for this exhibit.  You’ll notice if you’ve been keeping track of Creative Fluff’s design events that last week we had posted about Sun Kwak’s tape mosiac exhibition.  The MoMA seems to have great and innovate things going on so you should see it while the movement lasts!

What is a wish?

A wish is a person’s desire for something to happen, a subjective thought connected deeply to a person’s psyche and emotions. Our intention is to tap into these desires and see what the world truly wishes for. Puddle is an interactive installation that allows the exploration of literally thousands of people’s wishes that are submitted anonymously. The installation will be on display at the Imagine RIT Creativity Festival. The Festival is on May 2, 2009, on the Rochester Institute of Technology campus.

What can you do?

Submit a wish! Just go to ritPuddle.com

Where to get more information?

Check out each step team Puddle makes at their blog.

One of the most interesting exhibitions to date seems to take focus on one of the most mundane items in our everyday lives: tape.  Korean-born artist Sun K. Kwak has taken simple black masking tape (not duct tape which binds the universe together) and covered what is near three miles of white walls in it.  The creative Kwak has then shaped and molded the tape into vast, flowing murals that guide you through the Brooklyn Museum.  Below is a shot of the beautiful imagery she’s managed to create using the black masking tape.

If you’re in the New York/New Jersey area or you’re looking for a reason to visit the Big Apple you should make sure to stop by the Brooklyn museum and see this event before the wonderful tape-art is taken down.

*Location, dates, times, and directions taken from www.brooklynmuseum.org

A fun new exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, that opened last week, offers a look at the versatility and creative opportunities that come with working with felt. The exhibition, “Fashioning Felt”, includes the work of over 20 designers spanning products, furniture, fashion, and even architecture.

If you were wondering how to bring more felt into your life, this is without a doubt the exhibition for you!

But in all seriousness, the exhibition offers the opportunity to see how felt-making techniques are transformed into surprising results. Like the exquisite felt necklace with coral beads by Brigit Daamen, a necklace that shows both the durability and fragility of felt… or the very surprising Felt Rocks by Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen that will give your pet rock some competition.

The exhibition can be found at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, in New York City:

2 East 91st Street
New York, NY 10128

More information is offered on the Cooper-Hewitt’s website for the exhibition: http://exhibitions.cooperhewitt.org/Fashioning-Felt/

[Images from http://exhibitions.cooperhewitt.org/Fashioning-Felt/]

We want to see your awesome work!

…And we want everyone else to see it too. That’s why we’re introducing The Fluffery: a gallery for you to show off your work, so you can get exposure. And another plus is if it all goes smoothly, this may lead to contests down the road…possibly with prizes (”definitely with prizes” ~ Megalongcat).

So here are the directions…not that they’re needed:

1. Click on The Fluffery button!

2. Click on “Submit” (…you’re getting closer…oh the suspense!)

3. Fill out the form and click Submit.

If you have work that you want to share you can start submitting your work to The Fluffery now.