Special event: Design Within Reach in San Francisco is hosting a presentation about Paul Rand on June 10th. Rand was a leading force in modern graphic design, helping to define form, function, and corporate identity with his logos for IBM, UPS, ABC, Morningstar, Westinghouse and many others. The special event will feature design pros Bob Aufuldish, Eric Heiman, Stewart McKee, and moderator Michael Carabetta (Chronicle Books). 6-8PM. RSVP to sfassistants@dwr.com. Spy Vibers in New York can visit the Paul Rand exhibit at the Museum of the City through September 7th, 2015. Below: Rand's seminal text on graphic design, Thoughts on Design, reprinted last year by Chronicle. Enjoy!
Selected Spy Vibe posts: Fantomas Design, Jeremy Duns on Bond, John Buss interview, Diana Rigg eBook, Avengers Season 5 Titles, Saint Volvo, Mod Tales Interview, Agente Secreto Comics, Danger Man Comics 2, Danger Man Comics, John Drake Comics, Der Mann Von UNCLE, Golden Margaret Nolan, Man From UNCLE Rocksteady, Pussy Galore Calypso, Cynthia Lennon R.I.P., Edward Mann Fashion, Leonard Nimoy Tribute, Shatner at 84, Bob Morane series, New Saint Publications, The Saint Complete box set, Gerry Anderson Box Sets, Music For Spies, Thai Bond Design, Bond vs Modernism, Popular Skullture, Art of Modesty, Avengers Blu-ray update, Tokyo Beat 1964, Polaroid Spy, Feraud Mod Fashion, Green Hornet Manga, No 6 Festival, Avengers Interview: Michael Richardson, Ian Fleming: Wicked Grin, Jane Bond Hong Kong Records, Ryan Heshka Interview, Comics Week: Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E., Comics Week: Archie, Comics Week: Robots, Comics Week: Cold War Atomic, Comics Week: SPYMAN, Comics Week: Jimmy Olsen, Shakespeare Spies: Diana Rigg, Shakespeare Spies I, Rodney Marshall Avengers Interview, Richard Sala: Super-Enigmatix, Cold War Archie, Playboy Bunny Interview, The 10th Victim Japanese and Kindle, U.N.C.L.E. Japanese Books, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton.
Warehouse find: Made in Japan: Transistor Radios of the 1950s and 1960s. It's fascinating to see how design often reflects a time period or trends in popular culture. That was the premise of this cool coffee table book published by Chronicle back in 1993. Transistor radios were not only cutting-edge gadgetry for young moderns, their aesthetics, like table-top radios in the 1930s and 1940s, were modeled to appeal to kids during the atomic, jet, and space ages. The book was designed by award-winning firm Erbe Design and has been long out-of-print and collectible. Bud's Art Books just found thirteen original copies in their warehouse and they can be picked up for only $11.95 each (copies may have slight damage to corners and covers). From their site: "Before the boom-box, the Walkman, or the compact disc
player, there was the transistor radio. For many in the fifties and sixties,
the transistor radio was an indispensable part of daily life--for catching a
ball game, grooving to Top-40 tunes, or listening to late night radio under the
covers after "lights-out." In order to attract the American consumer,
Japanese designers borrowed motifs from automobiles, coffee shops, graphics,
fine art, and other elements of American culture. Here is that story, plus a wonderful
illustrated look at all the coolest designs. Here they trace m the history of the transistor radio from
its American invention to its Japanese mass production and its subsequent
stylistic developments. Made in Japan celebrates the pocket-sized radio as a
popular cultural icon and as an art form in its own right; the
"hipster" radio, for example mimicked the fashion style of the day,
while radios with names like the Comet, Satellite, Skymaster, and Mercury
reflected the burgeoning American obsession with space travel." 108 pages. Images below from Erbe Design. Enjoy! Don't miss Spy Vibe's recent post: Pussy Galore Calypso.
Selected Spy Vibe posts: Pussy Galore Calypso,
Cynthia Lennon R.I.P., Edward Mann Fashion, Leonard Nimoy Tribute, Shatner at 84, Bob Morane series, New Saint Publications, The Saint Complete box set, Gerry Anderson Box Sets, Music For Spies, Thai Bond Design, Brian Clemens RIP, Bond vs Modernism, Imitation Game, New Avengers Books, Ringo Does Goldfinger, Sixties Beat Wear, Popular Skullture, Art of Modesty, Avengers Blu-ray update, Tokyo Beat 1964, Polaroid Spy, Feraud Mod Fashion, Flint Scores!, Bond Danish, New Richard Sala Book, New 007 Comics, Designing Bond Books, Green Hornet Manga, Margaret Nolan Art, No 6 Festival, Barbarella Returns, Designer: Gene Winfield, Avengers Interview: Michael Richardson, Ian Fleming: Wicked Grin, Jane Bond Hong Kong Records, Ryan Heshka Interview, Comics Week: Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E., Comics Week: Archie, Comics Week: Robots, Comics Week: Cold War Atomic, Comics Week: SPYMAN, Comics Week: Jimmy Olsen, Rare Avengers Scripts, Man From Uncle UK Comics, Thunderbirds Comics, Shakespeare Spies: Diana Rigg, Shakespeare Spies I, Rodney Marshall Avengers Interview, Avengers Book: Bowler Hats & Kinky Boots, George Lois Design & Mad Men, Richard Sala: Super-Enigmatix, Cold War Archie, Playboy Bunny Interview, The 10th Victim Japanese and Kindle, U.N.C.L.E. Japanese Books, The Saint books return, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton.
Yoko Ono's work is often whimsical and philosophical, offering ideas of global peace to inspire us and, sometimes, emotional rawness to invite the brave to face tough realities head on. Her work can also offer simple gestures of innocence and magic, as in the new book, An Invisible Flower, coming out this month from Chronicle Books. I had the pleasure to make a re-mix for Yoko Ono a couple of years back, a project that developed into an experimental film, The Sun is Down. Spy Vibe celebrates pioneer artists who worked in unusual areas in the 1960s and who continue to challenge us to 'think different'. I hope readers will check out her current work. See below for two additional books about Yoko scheduled for publication this year.
From Amazon: "Yoko Ono created An Invisible Flower when she was just nineteen years old, at the very start of her artistic career. Recently rediscovered in her archive by her son, Sean Lennon, who also provides a foreword, this jewel of a book tells the heartwarming story of the invisible beauty we all know is there—and of the one man, "Smelty John", who catches sight of it. Written years before Ono met John Lennon, An Invisible Flower offers a glimpse into the early process of a brilliant conceptual artist and, it will transpire, presages the love of her life. Simple pastel drawings complement the book's affirming message, and a new afterword by Ono makes this small treasure even more special."
When Yoko announced the book on her website, she added this comment: It just made me choke up re-reading “An Invisible Flower.” I thought of the drawing of two people on horseback John made in 1952 (the same year I made “An Invisible Flower”). The two people on horseback look very, very much like John and Yoko. And the date, 18th February, was my 19th birthday. It seems like we both knew in 1952 that we would fall in love with each other in 15 years time… yoko"
In addition, there are two books about Yoko coming out in the next year. Reconsidering Yoko Ono by Lisa Carver is due in October from Backbeat Books. From Amazon: "John Lennon once described her as "the world's most famous unknown artist: everybody knows her name, but nobody knows what she does." Many people are aware of her art, and her music has always split crowds, from her caterwauling earliest work to her later dance numbers, but how many people have looked at Yoko Ono's decades-spanning career and varied work in total and asked the simple question, "Is it any good?" From her earliest work with the Fluxus group and especially her relationship with John Cage, through her enigmatic pop happenings (where she met John Lennon), her experimental films, cryptic books, conceptual art, and her long recording career that has vacillated between avant-garde noise and proto-new wave, earning the admiration of other artists while generally confusing the public at large who often sees her only in the role of the widow Lennon, Reaching Out with No Hands is the first serious, critical, wide-ranging look at Yoko Ono the artist and musician. A must-read for art and music fans interested in going beyond the stereotyped observations of Yoko as a Lennon hanger-on or inconsequential avant noisemaker."
And Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies by Nell Beram and Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky is due in January 2013 from Amulet Books. From Amazon: "This lyrical biography explores the life and art of Yoko Ono, from her childhood haiku to her avant-garde visual art and experimental music. An outcast throughout most of her life, and misunderstood by every group she was supposed to belong to, Yoko always followed her own unique vision to create art that was ahead of its time and would later be celebrated. Her focus remained on being an artist, even when the rest of world saw her only as the wife of John Lennon. Yoko Ono’s moving story will inspire any young adult who has ever felt like an outsider, or who is developing or questioning ideas about being an artist, to follow their dreams and find beauty in all that surrounds them.
In related news, The Beatles Yellow Submarine Blu-ray is available for order in Spy Vibe's secure Amazon Associates Store. Also, consider supporting a new documentary film about the Fluxus art movement (includes interviews with Yoko!). Info at our post here.
MATT MARANIAN: OUR MAN IN BRATTLEBORO
agent Matt’s incredible talent for spaces, furniture, and style is celebrated in his two books PAD and PAD PARTIES, and in his home and vintage clothing shop in Vermont. Matt is also the co-author of L.A. BIZARRO!. Matt and I struck up a friendship over Italian film soundtracks and Japanese bands. In the first weeks of creating Spy Vibe, I had a brief chat with Matt about some aspects of Spy Vibe culture:
SV: When I think of the Spy Vibe, and most of my images come from films, it is a kind of Lounge culture for the Space Age. When did the Lounge aesthetic first emerge?
MM: Well I'd guess we'd first have to establish a definition of "Lounge Culture," because that term is pretty vague. If we’re talking about sipping alcoholic drinks and listening to music while sitting around on stylish furniture in some kind of sophisticated setting, it seems to me that there has been some form or another of that for hundreds if not thousands of years. I'm sure plenty of pharaohs did that. Every decade of the twentieth century had its version.
SV: How did this style evolve or change in the Space Age culture of the 60s?
MM: I can only make some semi-informed guesses, but I'd say it had less to do with the influence of the space age and more to do with the influence of the birth control pill. Playboy magazine was probably an important factor too. The lounge became a tool for seduction, which went a long way in shaping that scene; there was sex to be had without the risk of pregnancy. Cocktails were a way to impair a woman's judgment, and an environment that engages the senses—seductive lighting, sensuous furniture, a good sound system, and whatever—helped create the mood. And mood has power, it's the same reason why churches burn incense and light candles; it's a different kind of seduction, but seduction nonetheless. So with regard to all the elements that compose what we're calling lounge culture—music, design, fashion, and the rest—it was basically all about sex.
SV: What did the James Bond films bring to the table that was different?
MM: In my estimation, what James Bond did was put a face on an ambiguous concept. Like Playboy magazine, there was now a directive. It got very specific. It became a fantasy.
SV: Story-wise, I wonder if it’s a shift from Private Detective heroes to Spy heroes? Cramped offices to ultra-modern pads?
MM: That's a great distinction, and again, it's the advent of the birth control pill at work here. Where are you going to most effectively seduce a woman, in a cramped office, or an ultra-modern pad?
SV: We’re both fans of Our Man Flint (1966), In Like Flint (1967), and Barbarella (1968). Why do you think they stand out from other films of that time?
MM: Because they were tongue-in-cheek and probably had the more to do with sex and half-naked women than the other movies of that ilk; Jane Fonda gets naked in the first five minutes of Barbarella!
SV: When movies like Austin Powers try to recreate that period, they seem to miss the boat slightly. What are the missing ingredients?
MM: Earnestness. Austin Powers is satire, and was designed exclusively for laughs.
SV: The styles of Kubrick’s 2001 (1968) and A Clockwork Orange (1971) seems so integral to one’s experience. Do you see changes in design between those years?
MM: The vision of the future got more ambitious. And the promise of a new decade always has an impact on design.
SV: The early 90s saw a rebirth of 50s and 60s style. It has continued as graphic design, animation, illustration, and pop-surrealist painting embrace the retro modern/futuristic look of the period. What was it like for you writing PAD (Chronicle Books, 2000) amidst that wave? Did you have a sense that you were part of a larger tribe?
MM: I never considered PAD to be an accessory to that scene. More or less, PAD spoke to a reinvention and repurposing of the past, and not so much a recreation or celebration of it. PAD was more about digging through dumpsters than mixing martinis. I never really identified with that whole lounge thing; I went to one of those exotica events in Los Angeles once and felt like a fish out of water. Everyone looked adorable, but I couldn't get out of there fast enough. So writing PAD never had me feeling like I was part of the lounge tribe, for sure, in fact a lot of those lounge people hated PAD because they assumed the book had something to do exclusively with the clichés of bachelor pad style, which it really didn't much at all, and they just couldn't see beyond that. So to a lot of them, PAD was a tacky disaster. Some people are extremely myopic, what can you do?
SV: What is your list of Essentials for those wanting to explore the 1960s Spy Vibe?
MM: All the movies you've mentioned for sure. And the music collections of that era released by the German label Crippled Dick Hot Wax, as well as Scamp Records and Rhino Records. They all do a great job capturing the period and that sensibility in music. The French and Italian films especially; spy is best when it's European, spy has to be a little exotic. An all-American spy is not that romantic.
SV: Your ultimate Evil Lair- what would it be and why?
MM: I think it would have to be vehicular, so I could get around; an amphibious vehicle that flies too—and with lots of bells and whistles. And it would have to have white auto upholstery, because I have a thing about white auto upholstery. ***
Thanks to Matt for taking some time during the pre-launch of the new edition of his book, L.A. Bizarro! (due July 2009!). You can learn more about Matt and his projects on his website.
new cover design for the july '09 release
From Amazon:
PAD (Chronicle Books/2000) You have a futon left over from college, some dingy end tables that Aunt Miller left you, and an apartment whose carpeting dates back to the Me Decade. The decorating magazines and TV shows never seem to talk to you. So what? With some attitude, know-how, and a lot of your own style, your place can be transformed into a fabulous Shangri-La, a swanky venue fit for living and entertaining well. Pad: The Guide to Ultra-Living is filled to bursting with hip, affordable projects for every room in the house and shows how to use basics like lighting, plants, mirrors, and paint to enhance even problem areas. Numerous testimonials from real people with real living spaces demonstrate how a little spunk and individuality can overcome the limitations of the average urban dwelling. Offering a complete lifestyle package, Pad has instructions for building your own home bar, ideas for party themes and recipes--and even collateral hangover cures! This total living guide will have your place all spruced up--and the envy of guests--in no time.
PAD PARTIES (Chronicle Books/2003) The highly anticipated follow-up to Pad, the definitive guide to extreme domestic décor, Pad Parties is the irreverent manual that will make any party an over-the-top entertainment sensation. Filled with deceptively simple and funky recipes for drinks, exotic garnishes, and appetizers, Pad Parties also includes ideas for enhancing the partyscape with music, ambient oddities, and creative homemade projects. Readers will learn how to transform a forlorn thrift store painting into an arty liquor larder and infuse their soirees with a gentle touch of surreal perversity by screening classroom safety films and Liberace variety shows. Concocted late in the night by a team on the leading edge of party style, the secrets to a happening scene are all here. With full-color photographs and illustrations, this is the perfect party guide for people with the distinctive and demanding sense of style that says, "That hideous vase would make a great swag lamp."
