By the time this blog is written, another seemingly irrelevant blog has raised some criticism at twitter. The Daily System from Pottery Barn looks dizzy and complicated not to mention it is also expensive. The point here is not about its design or price, but to use it as an example of uncluttering the house seems lack of logic. Unclutterring can hardly be achieved by adding another system on top of what has existed: The wall-attached daily system, by uncluterring items from drawers or tables, makes a declaration of modern clutter on the kitchen wall. As furniturlgirl (Alison Heath) on twitter has said: Products do not make for an uncluttered home. Uncluttering does. True, buying an antique furniture is still buying product, not uncluttering. But there is a big difference. Although cupboards or chair tables do not have the modern sleekness or fresh summer colors, they possess the virtues of what Pottery Barn lacks: the enduring value and permanence symbolism. By choosing enduring furniture, we are essentially committed to filter what can fit in and what cannot and make small adjustment around things stable and treasured, thus limiting ourself from impetuous shopping for "uncluttering" system. [read more...]
Tag: Wallace Nutting
Visiting Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
Even though weekend is the prime time for museums, the visitors at Wadsworth are sparse, which allows something that I could never find at Met: the opportunity of examining the works without obstruction and interference. Geo sat at a bench lost in a painting of George Inness while I stood on the carpet of the same pattern as in the painting of the Ellsworths' and checked the same chair as depicted. In those quiet moments, arts and objects become tangible and personal. On the other hand, I hope that such a world-class museum receive much more people of the nation and the world. Changes can be made now. Wadsworth's current collection is not searchable (not even some highlights that I mentioned can be found from their website), nor is there any blogs or other social networking tools used by the museum that I am aware of. With the megabus' round trip costs only $28 and takes just over two and half hours from New York, the museum can serve as a retreat for art lovers of the Big Apple who are tired to elbow-to-elbowtour groups within the city museums. [Read More...]
Wallace Nutting At Auction
Wallace Nutting's greatest legacy is his recognition of the values of colonial architecture and his devoted efforts in restoring and preserving these properties. Period rooms, as a way of preservation, came to the museums at the expense of losing its geographical and cultural context. What Nutting had done, by buying the properties and furnishing them with proper furniture, a widely adopted practice nowadays, was unconventional and unprecedented in his times. [read more....]
Urban Art & Antiques 