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Like a great building, products create their own landscapes as well as an active dialogue with the environments in which we place and use them. Every design or collection should focus on the user, the space, and the other objects around it.

The Montclair, New Jersey based “Little Architecture” is Pico Design’s premier collection of jewelry. Founder Andrea Panico debuted the collection in December 2007, showcasing the inspiration she draws from the work of architects such as Santiago Calatrava and Tadao Ando. Panico is a former designer for West Elm and Director of Product Design Clodagh, but her love of jewelry started with an elective class during her graduate studies in Industrial Design at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

The collection is constructed primarily from sterling silver and scrap wood with accents of semi-precious stones and gold vermeil. The geometry of simple shapes is a common thread throughout the line where suspension bridges morph into necklaces, and cuffs resemble stained glass windows and chain link fences to create what Panico calls “wearable architecture.”

Pico Design has officially launched its ecommerce site, bringing modern accessories to the masses. Shop online and browse beautiful product shots of everything in the collection. This month’s online feature, the Capuchinas Bracelet, is a graphic reference to a stained glass window designed by Luis Barragan and Mathias Goeritz at a Capuchine Chapel in Mexico City. Price points range from $48 to $350.

Visit PicoMeansLittle.com for more information.

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Pleasure, pain, life, and death have produced an unforgettable alternative to the common key fob. By combining opposing words and phrases with hand crafted leather straps and solid brass hardware, Made by Eugene transforms a necessity into something to wear and to flaunt.

Brazilian born, New York based designer Eugene Tsai has worked as a producer, art director and collaborator on many projects including the ‘Video Portraits’ series by Robert Wilson, ‘A journey that wasn’t’ by Pierre Huyghe, and ‘Don’t trust anyone over 30′ with Dan Graham. During a stay in Paris, Tsai started to deconstruct and reconfigure ideas about fashion accessories with handbags. Now in New York, he has continued to explore these ideas with his whimsical accessory line, Made by Eugene.

For this season Made by Eugene offers key chains that double as jewelry, a netted butterfly bag perfect for picnicing, and police whistles and crab claw charms. Eugene aspires to make something romantic out of something utilitarian. Tsai employs poetic phrases stamped into the leather that capture his personal memories of love, loss, and hope, but the sentiment is universal.

Available at Oak NYC and Earnest Sewn.

Visit MadeByEugene.com for more information.

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BLOWOUTS IN BABYLON

Tonight: Stop by In the Mood 7 for a special live performance by Hi-Tek to celebrate the birthday of Ron from Leroy Jenkins. $10 with RSVP to InTheMood7 (at) gmail (dot) com. 11pm-4am at Rehab, 25 Avenue B, Manhattan.

Also Tonight: Check out VP Records and Complex Magazine’s official listening party for K-Salaam and Beatnick’s “Whose World Is This?” with complimentary drinks by Heineken. Email RSVP (at) VPRecords (dot) com to get on the list. 7pm-10pm at The New Era Flagship Store, 9 East 4th Street, Manhattan.
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SAMPLE SALES IN BABYLON: Hit up the Sophomore sale for women’s and men’s samples and vintage items. 12pm-9pm at Circa Now, 238 East 6th Street, Manhattan.

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Os Gemeos (”the twins” in Portuguese), is the pseudonym of identical Brazilian twins Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo who have worked together to create unforgettable works on the streets of Sao Paulo. This weekend they bring their collaborations to their second solo show Too Far Too Close.

Os Gemeos will be transforming Deitch into a fantastical cityscape with houses, doors, and passageways brought to life. Building upon a group of artworks created for the Museum Het Domein in the Netherlands, this show features new paintings, sculpture, and installation bringing all the magical moments of their work together in one tightly knit dream world of an exhibition. Influenced by Brazilian folklore and music culture, the brothers create characters that are reflections of both local customs and the urban sprawl, mimicking the contradictions of the world around them.

The two-man team populate urban and rural sculptural settings with bright yellow figures of common and uncommon people. With a painted hand style and embellishment with jewels, sequins or feathers, they create sensitive and odd portraits of street musicians, grandfathers, rumpled and rough looking children, or awkward teens, alongside mystical creatures of their dream life. The sculpture installation found on the upper deck of the exhibit completes their vision by giving these figures a world of musical instruments and walls covered in painted but functional amplifiers. Guests are invited to join in the band.

Too Far Too Close
Opening Saturday June 28th, 6-9pm
Exhibit June 28th-August 9th
Deitch Projects
18 Wooster Street
Manhattan

Visit Deitch.com for more information.
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BLOWOUTS IN BABYLON

Tonight: Dance to your favorite songs from ‘88-’98 at The Hump with DJ Lindsey, DJ Myles, and guest DJ Rok One. RSVP to TheHumpNYC (at) Gmail (dot) com. 10pm-3am at Blue Owl, 196 2nd Avenue, Manhattan.

Saturday, June 28th: Stop by the opening reception for the collaborative exhibition Un Named Rottens, featuring new works from New York-based artists Beau Velasco, Daniel St. George 2nd, and Jeremiah Maddock. Un Named Rottens will showcase works that look at the primal side of the human psyche and its relation to us in the modern society. The three artists share similar views on how they view the world, as well as a dark, humorous, and, at times, cryptic visual narrative. 6pm-11pm at Factory Fresh, 1053 Flushing Avenue, Bushwick.

Also Saturday: Yours Truly Brand is throwing a Summer release party. The indoor/outdoor event will have food, drinks, a fashion show, and music by DJ Jaclyn, Teddy King, and Ill P. RSVP at Events (at) YoursTrulyBrand (dot) com. 6pm-10pm at Yours Truly Headquarters, 1007 Broadway, Bushwick.

Sunday, June 28th: Check out Radar Magazine’s screening of the documentary JOY DIVISION. A Q&A will follow with Peter Hook of Joy Division and New Order and producer Tom Atencio. Visit RadarSummerSolstice.com to RSVP. Screening 6:30pm at New Museum, 235 Bowery, Manhattan. After party 9pm-12am at The Randolph, 349 Broome Street, Manhattan.

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Last summer in a cramped, rented garage on the outskirts of Queens, NY something incredible was happening. Nicholas Ragbir, an imaginative tinkerer from Trinidad, was working late into the nights creating something nobody had ever seen: enormously powerful stereo PA systems jerry rigged onto ordinary bmx bikes. It wasn’t long before Nick assembled a small crew of like-minded riders. Traveling together as the Legal Intentionz crew they treat the neighborhood to an outrageous impromptu music and dance party on wheels.

Directors Nicolas Randall and Joe Stevens created a visually groundbreaking documentary, Made In Queens, celebrating the beauty these imaginative young people have brought to their adopted home.

For Randall, Made in Queens, which will premier at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, was a great opportunity for visual storytelling, but also presented a unique challenge. “Anybody can point a camera at a bunch of kids. The trick was to bring it to life with a cinematic vocabulary and inventiveness that really befits the subject matter,” Randall said.

“In this age of obsessive video sharing and social networking nearly every action is designed and packaged for public consumption. Especially with young people,” says director Joe Stevens. “The immediate charm of Nick and his crew is that they’re the exact opposite of all that. There is nothing calculated or self-conscious about who they are. They’re just a group of friends doing something to challenge themselves and have some laughs. It’s a story which would have never come from kids who were born here.”

Visit MadeInQueensFilm.com for more information.

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BLOWOUTS IN BABYLON

Wednesday, June 25th: Celebrate summer with Exalt and help increase awareness, commitment towards, and resources for NYC youth. Minimum $20 donation at door. 7pm-10pm at MoCADA, 80 Hanson Place, Fort Greene.

Thursday, June 26th: Stop by the one year anniversary of Gaby and Angelo’s Coochfrito party and listen to Dante Ross, DJ Smoke, and DJ Iron Lung spin. 10pm at Rewind, 137 Essex Street, Manhattan.
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ON A SIDE NOTE

Check out Mishka’s new collection, A Summer In Abandon, consisting of pieces perfect for the dog days of summer. While the clothes are made for the boys, the lookbook (shot by Ellen Stag) shows how us ladies can rock the gingham separates and graphic tees. Visit MishkaNYC.com to check it out.

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Friday, June 27th: Freak Out! Worship Worthy and G-Train Entertainment to bring you sets from DJ Gravy, DJ Iron Lung, DJ Synapse, Jasmine Solano, and a special live performance by 77 Klash. $5 after 10 pm at Galapagos, 70 North 6th Street, Williamsburg.

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Carefree Memories of Youth Gone By (2008), Take Shelter from the Winter (2008)

For a dose of the cuddly and macabre, the newly opened Joshua Liner Gallery presents Seasons of Change, an exhibition of new work by the New York-born, San Francisco-based artist Jeremy Fish.

Fish creates a unique urban folklore replete with grinning skulls, body parts, and hat-wearing worms, all carefully depicted with a clean, voluptuous line. The artist pulls inspiration from a grab bag of folk and pop-culture sources, including Balinese fairy tales, Goth jewelry, children’s book illustration, tattoo and biker culture, Mexican muertos, tramp art and other craft traditions. Across all is an exaggerated depiction of innocence and its loss that tells a personal tale of physical and emotional transformation.

Through quirky symbolism, Fish builds a coded narrative that is both grim and gentle. The four seasons are evoked to represent the phases of life, as well as motivations and moods. Objects, animals, architecture, and the human body merge into dynamic hybrids. In works with hand-carved frames, for example, painted images of human hearts sprout wings, worms, personalized cityscapes, plumbing, and umbrellas, all superimposed on a silkscreened ribcage and ringed in carved skulls—it’s a “dance of death” viewed through the lens of Richard Scarry or Dr Seuss. The beautifully carved frames and sculpture were created in Indonesia from Fish’s designs by the Balinese artist Nyoman Sedayatana.

Reception Saturday, June 21st 6pm-9pm
Exhibit through July 26th
Joshua Liner Gallery
548 West 28th St, Suite 334
Manhattan

For more information visit JoshuaLinerGallery.com

To view some of Fish’s past work visit : www.superfishalsf.com

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Simple summer dresses beckon bold statement jewelry, and Satu and Celeste Greenberg have created their own opinionated accessories to add some glamour to your outfit.

The sisters started Tuleste Market by renting clothing and costume jewelry to designers before embarking on their creations of plated brass and copper less than a year ago. The vintage-inspired line includes chunky bracelets, deco-esque earrings, and hefty necklaces, some of which can be connected to create longer pieces that double as belts. The versatile jewelry will accent any woman’s mood. “Our aunt on Long Island will want a piece, and a girl in the city will wear the same piece a completely different way,” states Celeste.

Tuleste Market also carries vintage clothes from across the map, but a cross-country trip on Highway 10 was a particularly fruitful excursion. The southwest yielded great finds for the pair, who mentioned that Texan women “get rid of some great things” and New Orleans is “the spot for sequins”. For Summer 2008, the duo have reworked some of their most precious items to create clothing inspired by their favorite onesies and hooded raincoats.

Tuleste Market is available at Albertine, Intermix, and Shopbop.

Visit TulesteMarket.com for more information.
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BLOWOUTS IN BABYLON

Saturday, June 21st: Stop by Dante’s Fried Chicken at the Yard for musical guest Theophilus London, $5 tapas plates, drink specials, and complementary desserts all afternoon. RSVP to KFCRIP (at) Gmail (dot) com. 1pm-9pm at The Yard, 388-400 Carroll Street, Brooklyn.

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