The Czech Center New York presents a selection of artifacts from the Home Art collection in Prague.

Svícen – Klecící žena kov                                                              Tulipány kov

Home Art is a phenomenon that arose in the second half of the 20th century in communist Czechoslovakia. Home Art was made by people with no art education and with ambition not reaching beyond the intent of creating a piece of art simply for their and their family’s joy. These artifacts decorated the interiors of Communist era housing projects, countryside cottages, offices and workrooms, pubs and military dormitories. Artistry, craftsmanship, and a peculiar design inspiration is much in evidence as one tours this collection which serves as a kind of document of the personal and widely felt response to the social and economic constraints of that era.

Dekorace chemlon                                                     Hodiny prekližka, drevo, budík

Home Art, especially at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, complemented the “atomic style”, for which the name “Brussels style“ is used in Czechoslovakia after the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair, where Czech designs won 27 gold medals.

Svícen kov                                                                          Ferda Mravenec kov

While bursts of Czech Home Art activity can be seen in the mid 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, the 1960s was the time when it reached its peak.  By the fall of the communist regime in 1989, this modern folklore has more or less disappeared.

Cert kov                                                                                              Palmy kov

What these Home Art pieces may lack in formal aesthetic, they more than make up for in sheer creativity and whimsy, and it is in this light as artifacts that they are best appreciated as they represent important historical and social evidence belonging to a bygone era.

Pantofle chemlon                                                                Prostírání chemlon

Exhibition
Home Art
At the Czech Center New York
From June 16 to September 15 2011

Not all digital watches are the same, especially not this one: Michael Young's PXR-6. By mixing simple utility and good design, Michael Young has unveiled one of the most stylish no-nonsense digital watches of our time.

Unhappy with what was out there, Michael wanted to make available something modern that would adjust to user's moods and appeal to both sexes. The PXR-6's functions are simple, displays date & time, designed to be attached with quick velcro bracelets. The time and date are set in a black background, encased in your choice of polished/brushed stainless steel, black or gold setting.

Available through Charles & Marie

Denis Guidone is the winner of the international design competition Adamo Eva.

'Ora Unica' wishes to be a provocative clock; its aesthetical principle is inaccuracy. Lack of discipline, a childish and irrational gesture to define time, which is precision and rationality. The hour and minute hands are represented by a single line drawn on two circular faces, which turn one inside the other. Both faces together resemble a graphical gesture, a doodle that changes as time passes.

The jury was composed by Alessandro Mendini, Arnaldo Pomodoo, James Wines, Ed Carpenter, Carmelo Strano and Philippe Samyn.

The variations are a popular exercise in all forms of art, visual as much as musical. In the field of design, the clocks by George Nelson and the designers from his studio are one of the rare examples of a line of products that seems infinite.

Some brilliant hunters in our Forum decided to gather a maximum documentation about them. As passion doesn't have any limits, they overflowed this initial subject by digging out clocks created by other talented designers.

The contents is so rich that it was divided into different threads... and the quest is not over.

Part 1: Nelson eye clock 1

Part 2: More about Nelson Clocks 2

Part 3: More about Nelson clocks 3

Part 4: Still more about Nelson Clocks 4

Part 5: Still more about Nelson Clocks 5

Part 6: Even still more about Nelson Clocks 6

What will be the next subject of research? Jens H. Quistgaard's pepper mills? It would be a beautiful homage to this great designer who recently disappeared.