MAD Inspiration for the New Year

The newly opened (September 2008) Museum of Art and Design (formerly the American Craft Museum) in Columbus Circle, Manhattan, currently shows how many established and emerging artists are pushing the envelope by creating new objects out of everyday articles made for other functions. While concept is surely king of the "Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary," execution is surely the queen. Each artist's exquisite handling elevates the craft to fit in perfectly in the museum gallery space. The exhibit features a chair made from high heeled shoes, sculptures from sanding the sides of books' fore edges (Nicholas Galanin), necklaces constructed from safety pins (Tamiko Kawata "Black Orpheus Fabricated") and handgun triggers (Boris Bally "Brave #2"), and a sculpture from tons of mini clear buttons that collectively resembles a gorgeous coral reef (Tara Donovan's "Bluff"), to name just a few.

Some other highlights that I found inspirational:
- Susie MacMurray dress constructed with inside-out latex kitchen gloves
- Yuken Teruya's meticulous and delicate papercut trees that drop from commercial shopping bags. Light shines down through the remaining hole in the bag from where the tree was cut to create a quiet shadow on the 3D tree.
- Jill Townsley's spoon tower constructed from over 9,000 plastic spoons and 3,000 rubber bands, which will naturally deconstruct over time as the rubber bands lose their elasticity.

- A story narrated through just familiar/easily understood icons and symbols (couldn't find the artist's name)