Museum of Arts and Design‘s mission is to honor the relationship between materials and maker, with processes ranging from the artisanal to the digital. Exhibitions, such as the current
Playing with Fire: 50 Years of Contemporary Glass, blur distinctions between art, design
and craft. Shown above, Tastes Like Applebees, 2007, Matt Eskuche. Flameworked glass,
twine, steel, clothespins. (Photograph by David Behl.) On exhibit through April 7.

A friend lives in this cool Brooklyn loft. She decorates in a wonderfully minimalist style and I bet she can’t pass Roche Bobois without salespeople waving hello. In contrast, I’m on a first-name basis at the Stickley store. I’m jealous of Ms. Minimalist’s space as it always has a restorative zen-like appeal to me. So when I can’t visit my friend and need to reset my senses from all the dark wood and overstuffed/overpropped places I hang in, I head to The Museum of Arts and Design at Columbus Circle. The clean lines of the building’s architecture, the open and quiet exhibit spaces, and beautifully curated and installed exhibits recharge me creatively and spiritually.

The Art of Scent 1889-2012 is on display through February 24.

I was wowed by the design of the current exhibition, The Art of Scent 1889-2012. As shown in the photograph above, this open space is minimal, futuristic, even daunting when you first approach the exhibit. My initial reaction was that I didn’t know what to make of it until I followed others and placed my head into one of twelve carved wall spaces. Fragrance softly wafts up to your nose, and written descriptions of the scents light up next to the space. The museum states that it purposely created a space devoid of all visual indicators, such as logos and marketing materials, so that visitors would concentrate on smell only. That would explain the almost-totally white room one encounters. [Read more…]