Can’t stop thinking about these ripped clothes by Adam Andrascik, which reminds me a bit of a cleaner-edged Hussein Chalayan S/S 2003, one of my favorites.

A handrail removed from the wall, turned on its side and mounted: the subtlest disruption of space and function, the interrupted periphery, and totally brilliant. By Nate Page in the stairwell at the Armory Center for the Arts until June. (Photos by Joshua White.)

Jean-Pierre Raynaud’s la Maison de La Celle-Saint-Cloud, closed in 1988, via Enclave/Frieze:

“A catalogue of the paradigms of modernity stands before the viewer’s eyes: the grid and apparently endless Cartesian space; the perspective that is its correlate; repetition; mass-production and the collapse of the original; and alienation through loss of the individual.”

Yes: modular plaster block casts from Jurrijn Huffenreuter via Mocoloco:

“The imperfections of the mold parts remain visible in the finished product. This makes it a clear, readable product, showing the moment of creation. If the creator would like to make an object again he only has to stack the blocks around the object to recreate the mold.”

I’ve been swooning over the work of Mushimegane Books for months, without realizing it. Vessels with feet at OEN. ALSO: These bowls.

From my studio visit with designer Heather Levine, now up on Sight Unseen:

“I smash my own pieces all the time.”

Nicolas de Staël: Still life with hammer, Livres (1955?) via wikipaintings.

Stainless steel beanbags from  ”Stable Inhabitants of a Changing World” series by Cheryl Ekstrom via Trove.

Gorgeous textured coats from Julia Björkeheim.

These vessels by Ruth Duckworth, via Take Sunset/fvsarts/(Mud)Bucket/Kunstforum. ALSO: Realtor tour of her home.

William J. O’Brien via Marianne Boesky/Renaissance Society.

For the last gasp of winter, moved by these little shaggy patches on sweaters by Erna Einarsdóttir via fashionising.

From “removals of questionable relevance” by Michelle Leftheris. ALSO: Graffiti removal.

Polyester resin pieces by Thomas Rentmeister.

Jujumade‘s awesome new bag line: those ceramic details are breaking my heart. ALSO: Beads that look like little biscuits.

Handmade skewed chisel woodworking tools by Paolo del Toro, who not only carves the wood but also tempers the steel for the blades:

“I have a little bald patch on my arm from testing if the edge is honed well.”

Woven containers by Maya Bekto for Wool Fabrique.

These sleeves by Atifa Rasooli S/S 2013.

Woven room by Wies Preijde via iweartights.

Ron Nagle via Harris Lieberman/Gallerie Pierre Marie Giraud.

A.K. and I made some mugs. ALSO: A bunch of bowls for a soup party!

Toma Stenko amazing from Central Saint Martins F/W 2013 via Style.com.

The amazingly talented Leslie Williamson is coming out with a sequel to Handcrafted Modern! ABOVE: Sneak peeks of Alvar Aalto’s Helsinki studio; support the book here.

My studio visit with the amazing Bari Ziperstein is now up on Sight Unseen!

Stools made from discarded Christmas trees, by Fabien Cappello.

“I Lost You in the Desert,” a series of painted rocks by Pascal Grandmaison. ALSO: Does anyone know where I can get charcoal bread?

Clamp trays by Lina Huring and amazing little rolly bowl.

Studies of crumbled blue paper. Top: Dan Bradica. Bottom: Ívar Valgardsson.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2005) by Marie Jager at Pepin Moore. ALSO: Sunscreen.

Watercolor on paper and colored pencil on paper by Neil Gall at Aurel Scheibler.

Freaking amazing rugs by Jonathan Josefsson.

Amazing stringy scribble laser-cut pieces by Elvira ‘t Hart via HDR.

Sandcastles by Calvin Seibert via Colossal.

Instant classics: Bags by Otaat (oh my god backpack), maker of the perfect leather party hat.

Especially the top pair, in allover cork. From Reality Studio S/S 2013 via It Fashion.

String face Katrien Van Hecke dress on sale at No. 6.

Drawings on handmade rag paper by Alyssa Phoebus Mumtaz.

Heading to Sri Lanka in a week to meet up with A.R. and cannot wait. (Apparently Sri Lanka is known for rainbows.) Perfect timing, my latest guide for The Etsy Blog, about wanderlust:

“It’s already dark when you arrive, dazed from the layover all swollen feet and fuzzy teeth, carrying what’s left of the place you’re leaving and one overnight bag. The air is different here — hotter and stickier and less careful — and everyone but you is wearing sandals, and no one knows your name.”

Lead pencil on paper by Laurent Le Deunff.

Clothes made of paper from the “Utoption” collection by Nadine Goepfert and Lisa Haag:

“We developed two almost identical collections distinguished only in their materiality. In the ”slow“ collection we focused on the use of high quality [materials] to insure a certain durability. The second collection is based around fast fashion and the mentality of a disposable society. It is entirely made of paper . . . Both collections deal with the value and the actual worth of a garment.”

ALSO: Plastic bag with paint in it.

Paintings by Clare Grill: Wonderment (2011), Mop (2012), Bone (2012).

Awesome things by Rah and Rah: shale fingers, hook, mortars and pestles.

Nora MacLeod sweater at Pour Porter.

Details of handwoven jacquard by the amazing Christy Matson, who recently discovered that there isn’t a hand-operated jacquard loom within 350 miles of Los Angeles. To help her bring a loom to the city, donate here.

To celebrate Mimi and Brian’s move out West (hooray!), I wrote a guide to my favorite secret spots in LA, including the Time Tunnels, the house Joan Didion lived in when she wrote The White Album, and that billboard on Santa Monica Blvd. with the digital counter tallying the number of “Smoking Deaths This Year”:

“The numbers tick upward, of course, an argument for the reliability of human frailty, of never learning better, a marker of fatal mistakes. Except! For this once a year when at midnight the billboard resets to zero, and you can stand out on the balcony with M. in the warm Los Angeles winter and suck in the stuff that might kill you, and revel in a few too brief seconds of nothing you’ve done being nothing you shouldn’t have done, and the mistakes still ahead, still uncounted.”

Check out the whole field trip, part of the “Brook&Lyn now in LA” project, also featuring my beloved Jujumade and Stop it Right Now.

Per Oyvind Ruud via Luxe Pauvre:

“For me a creative process either starts from a philosophical or aesthetic point of view.”

Handmade jackets by XXY, from Zurich:

“In regards to content: transsexuality, queer culture, unisex, transformation, multifunctionality, variability.”

Overwhelming feelings of love for everyone who came to Creatures of Comfort last Saturday — photographs of the installation by Brook&Lyn, also on Sight Unseen (thanks, Jill!):

“Perhaps it’s inevitable that we would all want to touch and feel and hold the objects we covet from afar, and to make tangible the narrative we create every day. But maybe it’s just as simple as this: “It’s kind of lonely being a blogger. And this was a reason to get to know people. It’s kind of a scary thing: You think, ok, I admire their work, but will I actually get along with them?”

The answer is a resounding yes. I’m a huge fan of all the artists/designers/makers in this show, who took a chance on someone from across the vast internet and so generously trusted me with their work, and I’ll be eternally grateful.

I mean, I’m BEAMING.

Uncomfortable Objects. Finding Oneself Outside (2012) by Mariana Castillo Deball at Documenta 13 via Contemporary Art Daily.

Leather box by Welcome Companions from Welcome Projects that could be a clutch or a purse or a holder of important things, and perfect at all of it.

Wood inlaid with veneer, aluminum, and mother-of-pearl by Riccardo Beretta.

George Sowden interior designs via Creatures of Comfort.

“We’re Revolting” pop-up installation opens at Creatures of Comfort this Saturday, Oct. 20!

I’m still pinching myself that these amazing artists and designers were willing to be involved, and to create one-of-a-kind and exclusive pieces. It’s caused some serious soul-searching, as someone who spends a lot of time looking at images, how intense and satisfying it is to touch these dimensional objects, the weight of things and how they fit in your hand, and how incredibly made they are: each one a little lifetime, of beating hearts and scrutiny and utter gorgeous perfection. Come check out the show.

OPENING RECEPTION: 5-8 p.m., Oct. 20

WHERE: Creatures of Comfort LA, 7971 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

WHEN: October 20 to November 10, 2012.

WHO:

• Jack Craig // Broken board tables
• Jonathan Cross // Geodesic salt- and soda-fired pottery
• Ilana Kohn // Marbled silk shawls and scarves
• Kirsten Perry // Oddball lockets
• Julie Hung // Stackable ceramic bangles
• David Neale // Handmade combs and bracelets
• Haruhi Okubo // Freeform tapestry pieces
• Doug Johnston // Coiled rope hanging lights and sculptural baskets
• Mimi Jung // Pom pom eyeballs and weavings
• Morie Nishimura // Brass folding mirrors
• Joanna Williams // Loopy, textured rugs
• Brent Paul Pearson // Kaleidoscope glasses
• Elyse Graham // Dipped resin geodes

(With sticker sheet illustrated by the multi-talented Building Block, of one piece by every artist.)

Jason Rens via new store Table of Contents, which looks pretty freakin’ sweet.

Paper cutouts by Edward Jeffrey Kriksciun at Nationale Fine Arts.

Amazing new Brook&Lyn collection, with lookbook styled by Stop it Right Now.

Hussein Chalayan A/W12 via Vogue UK and Stella McCartney S/S13 via Büro 24/7.

Megan Francis Sullivan phototransfers on canvas at freymond-guth.

The Well Polished Floor Sculpture (2010) by Ger Van Elk via Potz!Blitz!Szpilman!/whishful thinking.

Blue Sail (1964-1965), a blue chiffon sheet blown by a fan, by Hans Haacke:

“Of all the conceptualist artists working today, Haacke is the one who best understands how art bullies the viewer.”

“What’s appealing about Haacke is he knows exactly what he’s doing and doesn’t think he should be doing anything else. He never tries to tart his work up with irony or sarcasm or coyness or metaphors or jokes. “Art-making is just another part of the consciouness industry,” he said in an interview in 1994. His way of assessing art? Based on how intelligent it is, as with any other form of opinion-mongering.”

ALSO: Welle (The Wave) (1964) via grupa o.k.

Amazing, gorgeous things at new shop Mercado, curated by the supremely talented Kneeland Co, including woven, handmade chairs by Pacific Wonder Land.

The “Vary” couch by Nina Bruun. ALSO: Solar eclipse wall light.

Hats from Peter Jensen S/S13, inspired by the sculpture of Barbara Hepworth. ALSO: Holey shoes.

Drawings by Ronan Bouroullec from the “ERB” series at the Wrong Shop.

From a three-week residency at the island Sylt, Germany by Strijdom van der Merwe.

Cast concrete pieces by Ned Smyth via Salomon Contemporary.

My studio visit with the amazing designers of Building Block is now up on Sight Unseen!

“Maybe it’s not someone else’s perfect but it’s our perfect.”

Daily collages by Tom Moglu via Claire Cottrell.

Photographs of paper by Michael Pfisterer. ALSO: Gorgeous, gorgeous “Collection of Mathematical Models.”

The canons of perfect page design: J. A. Van de Graaf, Raúl Rosarivo, Jan Tschichold, Villard de Honnecourt via Present&Correct via Retinart:

“Not the ok book, nor the pretty good book, but the perfect book.”

Marble print on column dresses, yes. By Jessie Hands via thisispaper/StyleBistro. UPDATE: This dress from Chalayan SS13.

Enamel on masonite and wood by Sven Lukin via Gary Snyder/theeyestheysee.

Went to the ForYourArt planter pop-up over the weekend with K., N. and R. and, like, totally scored. Top two by Shoshi Kanokohata, large piece by Kathleen Ryan, and tray by Kye Potter and Julia Dzwonkoski.

My latest post for The Etsy Blog! On fiber arts and repetition and meditation and:

“. . . the anxiety that this will be ugly, so freakin’ ugly, but you will love it because you made it and lose your critical faculties to sentiment.”

Rocks: Now that I’ve seen it, I can’t unsee it. (Thanks, N!) From Fabrics Interseason and Cosmic Wonder Light Source. ALSO: Naoya Hatekeyama’s “Blast” series via Siong Chin.

Rope tied around urethane foam, by John Chamberlain via arttattler/Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt.

Hats by Ewa Kulasek for SCHA, at Farfetch and Yoox:

“I believe in intuition and inspiration as important factors in creative process (it may be belief to some and mathematics to others), and I believe in concentration.”

Remember these? My interview with the mysterious science fiction writer behind Future Eyes is now up on Sight Unseen:

“It reminds you that the world responds to your imagination, which is the essence of change.”

Graduate textile collection by Jessica Leclare via Trendland.

Amazing hammered copper and brass spoons by Yumi Nakamura at Cibone via Spoon and Tamago. (Thanks, M.!)

Pomegranate (2006) by Ori Gersht; Bodegón con paquetes, Homenaje a Sánchez Cotán (1966) by Claudio Bravo via Mutual Art; Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber (1602) by Juan Sánchez Cotán.

ALSO: Recipe for Spanish curtido with pickled melon, using all the ingredients in the painting.

Paintings by Jacqueline Humphries via Modern Art.

Tom Burr folding screens via Nick Woodworking:

“They are always desperately self aware in their surroundings and most importantly out of place.”

Manual Lawn Mower Assembly Kit (2011) , Some Assembly Required – Starter Kit (2011) and Some Assembly Required – Bed Frame Included (2009) by Michael Johansson. EARLIER: Roxy Paine’s assembly kit of brushstrokes.

Reminded of this awesome S/S 2009 Calvin Klein Collection by the seriously excellent Pinterest boards of Uni Corrêa. Images via Fashiontography/Magaseen. Negative review after my heart:

“Too often, though, form trumped function, and the clothes looked boxy and square . . . Fall’s Calvin collection showed Costa in better form: intellectual, yes, but not at the expense of sex appeal. This season, he didn’t quite hit the mark.”

An exploration of a form and the shadow it casts, by Jacob Robert Whibley.

Bronze liquid forms from Ether Atelier.

Untitled (Future Object No. 1) (2011) and Suzuki Nightmares (2011) by Travis Stearns.

Round or square hinged brass mirrors by Morie Nishimura via Dezeen.

Kreten Objects, made of cast concrete in rubber-coated lycra, by Isaac Friedman-Heiman via Sight Unseen.

Sculptures by Tillman Kaiser via Wilkinson/Honor Fraser:

“That evokes a kind of funny fatalism and melancholy.”

The most moving paintings I’ve seen in ages: The sea in black-and-white by Werner Knaupp via Whim & Wanderlust.

Graphic Thought Facility mobile for the Design Museum via Samantha Wittwer.

Knit PVC pipe furniture by Kwangho Lee at Johnson Trading Gallery. ALSO: Enameled cabinet.

UFO hand-embroidered gauze scarf by Kapital at Project No. 8.

Perfect bronze singing bowls from Rose Bowl this morning with M. and B. ALSO: Shapes.

Jumpsuit, tie-dyed in yesterday’s class at Ooga Booga with Shabd!

Top: Harry Bertoia necklace ca. 1940 via modern silver. Bottom: Rochas F/W 2012 via WWD.

Smashed wood, repaired with resin, from the “Broken Board” series by Jack Craig.

I had a fever when I wrote this, so don’t judge me too harshly. Latest storyboard for the Etsy Blog, a myth about a human heart that would never know sadness:

“It’s a small consolation to the transcribers of our myths that the gods seem at least as befuddled by us as we are befuddled by them.”