As I make way for some good ol’ fashion spring cleaning (which means a great excuse to do some spring shopping), one of the best places to shop for refresher pieces and gifts is at the MoMA Design Store — especially with Mother’s Day around the corner! The modern design and book store, an extension to Museum’s educational mission, has launched their NEW Spring 2014 goodies, bringing a little art and creativity into our lives. The MoMA team has always prided themselves in bringing unique items to the market that are both artistic and functional, not just a print of artwork plastered on an everyday item to like a mug or a notebook. Instead, find beautiful, satirical, fun, pieces of “artworks,” that can be incorporated into our daily lives. Here are some of the highlights:
Banality Teacups & Saucers, Jeff Koons ($840) – In celebration of their 150 years anniversary, Bernard (a French manufacturer of high-end luxury porcelain), created this limited-edition collection of bearing reproductions of Koon’s 1988 Banality series of sculptures; a commentary on American society is it’s need for glamours commodities.
Maurizio Cattelan Tableware Line ($20-$38) – Seletti, Italian houseware company known for making popular products with a high level of creativity and artistry, has collaborated with provocateur, satirical artist and fellow Italian Maurizio Cattelan. The arresting collection features images from the Cattelan and photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari’s image-only magazine Toilet Paper.
Lumio Book Lamp ($160) – Born through designer Max Gunawan’s fascination with origami and it’s potential for functionality, Lumio is disguised as another one of your elegant, hardcover bound books in lasercut wood. Like most books when opened, you can find yourself illuminated, but in this case you are literally lit by 500 lumen from a high-performing LED. This beautifully designed sculptural light is compact, minimalist, hard-wearing and water-resistant so it can easily be found bedside, backyard or on the go. The cover is embedded with magnets to allow for 180 degree expansion and it comes with a leather strap so it can be suspended when fully open.
Silver Flash Labware Bud Vases ($50 set of 3) – Chemist John Norton uses a patented silver-flash technique to coat the interior of lab glassware with a thin layer of silver sealing it with a water-resistant resin, giving the trio of bud vases a look reminiscent of 17th-century mercury glass. These budding new vases look great collectively, individually but especially with any colorful arrangement of floral snippets.
IPA Craft Beer Glasses ($25) – Spiegelau has collaborated with Dog Fish Head and Sierra Nevada, the two leading IPA brewers in the United States, to create an ergonomic glass that enhances the nuances of hoppy IPAs. These handsome glasses proved to be superior in savoring the aromatic profiles of IPAs during a series of blind taste-tests. Whether or not one is a beer connoisseur, everyone can enjoy the look of the glass and the explosion of taste the design has to offer.
Ranger Station Bar Stool ($395) – The stool gets it’s namesake from a bar and restaurant in Colorado called New Belgium Ranger Station for which it was originally designed. Sophisticated and practical with features such as a front-opening shelf for storage and a double pronged hook, the stool can act as casual seating at the bar, kitchen island, or drafting table or as a small table.
All-In-One Kitchen Tool Set ($40) – Designer Bin Akenobo has taken 8 essential kitchen tools that we can never seem to find in the abyss that is our “kitchen utensils drawer” and conveniently bottled them into one; literally. The set includes a funnel, a lemon juicer, a spice grater, an egg masher, a cheese grater, a lid grip for loosening stubborn jar tops, an egg separator, and a 1 1/4 measuring cup. Clever, convenient and great for cooks with limited storage space.
Bottle Cleaners ($12) – This set of edamame-shaped scrub sponges is as simple alternative to a stubborn bottle brush. To use, drop them into a water bottle, baby bottle, or carafe with a dab of soap and water and shake vigorously to release stubborn remnants from hard-to-reach crevices.
3doodler ($99) – Bring whatever designs you can imagine to life with the first 3D printing pen. This innovative tool allows the user to create 3D designs by extruding a stream of malleable plastic that stays suspended in space as it cools. Use it freestyle or trace shapes from templates to make larger complex structures. The pen includes two packs of mixed-color ABS strands.
KII USB Connector ($40) – The “KII” to always having a charged iPhone or iPod is found, where else, but on your key chain. Compact and light weight, you can easily keep the connector with you wherever you go, just clip it with the rest of your keys, enabling you to power-up on any USB-compatible device.
Starry Night Umbrella ($ 48) – Rainy days can be dreary and gloomy but they don’t have to be a total wash from your perspective. With the dazzling image of Vincent Van Gogh’s masterpiece The Starry Night, 1889 on the inside of your umbrella, each rain drop will seem like nothing more than a shooting star.
Thank You Bag ($35) – Artist Lauren DiCioccio creates a environmentally conscious, re-usuable, embroidered bag from an iconic New York staple in our day-to-day lives: the “Thank You,” shopping bag. An homage to an impermanent, throw-away object, Dicioccio’s bag is a “still life” with real life uses.