The world’s 16 most famous art cars come together in one exhibit Honoring the 35th anniversary of the project, an exhibit at the BMW Museum in Munich brings together the complete set of 17 BMW Art Cars (with the exception of Olafur Eliasson’s ice sculpture) for the first time. Seeing them in one place makes for a study of the car as canvas, highlighting both similarities in the artist’s approaches (the majority are splashed with bright colors) as well as each distinct style. While assembling all the cars is an impressive single-subject show, and many of the big names—Calder, Hockney, Lichtenstein—are familiar, there’s plenty of opportunity for discovery with some of the lesser-known works, like the shimmering surface of Matazo Kayama’s 1990 535i that welcomes visitors to the exhibit. On a recent visit there as a guest of BMW, I also picked up a few insights that speak to the rich history of the brand initiative. As a whole, the show speaks to the savvy pairing of culture and sport, supporting the automaker’s values of performance and the joy of driving as they introduce fine art to race car driving. A classic Warhol story, that he took all of 23 minutes to paint his 1979 M1 because he said the design of the car is so great, underlines his accompanying statement that he “tried to portray a sense of speed. When a car is going really fast all the lines and colours become a blur.” The short film on the making of this car and its race is worth checking out on the BMW Art Car microsite . Similarly, Kayama said of his car (pictured above), “it was the attractive basic shape of the car which made my work at all possible in the first place.” The show runs through 30 September 2011 at the BMW Museum in Munich. See more art cars—from Rauschenberg to Stella to Holzer and more—in the gallery below . Take our reader survey and enter to win a CH Edition Jambox!

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Welcome Home BMW Art Cars

Milan’s newest furniture brand launches their utility-driven first collection With strong roots in the Milanese tradition of furniture-making, the new design firm Col

Lo-fi animated music boxes handmade in Switzerland Kathrin Kiener practically grew up her uncle’s timber yard, sweeping floors and in the process falling in love with all things wood—so much so that she founded Kiener Toys . Today, the 30-year-strong Swiss company handcrafts clever wooden toys; from mobiles to dolls that wobble, each charming and sturdily-constructed plaything can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. We particularly like the Musikw

Colorful geometric mobiles by an iconic ’50s glass studio Happy chic designer Jonathan Adler teamed up with legendary mid-century glass studio Higgins to produce a series of multicolored mobiles that both showcase Higgins’ iconic glass-making technique and reflect Adler’s signature playful aesthetic and bold use of color. Based in the Chicago suburb of Riverside, IL, Higgins Studio was founded in 1948 by husband-and-wife team Michael and Frances Higgins. At a time when glass-creating techniques had largely moved away from fusing in favor of blowing, the two pioneered a rediscovery of the fusing method, which involves layering pieces of glass over a design in order to create a “glass sandwich” of sorts. Mobiles have always been a staple of the Higgins collection, along with an array of various decor items such as lamps, paperweights and mirrors, to name a few. For Adler, the collaboration seemed only natural, saying “I’ve always seen Higgins Studio as a kindred spirit—their work celebrates craft and color and optimism. I’ve loved their stuff for years and I am thrilled and honored that they have created a Higgins for Jonathan Adler range. As we speak, I am looking at the Higgins mobile hanging in the corner of my office and I am smiling.” The Higgins for Jonathan Adler mobiles, crafted with handmade enamel-fused glass and strung together with piano wire, are available in blue ($495) and pink ($895) from Jonathan Adler .

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Higgins for Jonathan Adler

Man on a Guinness World Record mission hand-draws his black marker collection to date Inspired by a Guinness Book of World Records entry for the largest collection of cigarette rolling papers, Toronto-based artist Allister Lee of Studio B.I.B decided it was time to set a goal for himself and started collecting black markers. To “mark” the 500th acquisition in this graffiti-culture obsession, and midpoint to his overall goal (and hopefully Guinness record!), he’s released a hand-drawn print that shows the complete historical and international spectrum of the 500 pens in his collection to date. The Studio B.I.B 500 poster, printed on 80-lb. gloss poster and an unlimited edition, measures 32″ x 42″. It sells for $40 in NYC at the Reed Space , in San Francisco through Equal Distribution and online at Studio B.I.B.

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Studio B.I.B 500

Some celebrities aren’t just pretty faces. A few of them are also touched with that Yankee prowess for tinkering and invention. In this weekly series, we introduce you to the Patents of the Rich and Famous. And maybe you learn a little bit about how patent literature works along the way. Inventor: Marc Jacobs Known For:  Jacobs is a designer. He designs couture garments for his Marc Jacobs line, he designs almost-affordable mainstream clothing for his Marc by Marc Jacobs line. He designs shoes, purses and handbags. He designs “Marc by Marc Jacobs for Marc Jacobs” (trying saying that ten times, fast) accessories. He holds many patents for his creations — most of them design patents. But he also holds a non-design patent for this more intricate piece. Invented Apparatus: ” Ring with hidden internal compartments ” It’s a ring outfitted with compartments for hiding things. The present invention relates to a ring and, more particularly, to a ring having a plurality of hidden internal compartments for concealing small articles. The ring contains outer and inner parts, which rotate opposite one another. The inside ring contains nooks for storage, which are only accessible by removing the ring and rotating the parts until proper alignment is reached, revealing the secret compartments. Rationale Behind Invention: Rings with secret compartments existed long before this designer came along. But Jacobs decided that he had to conceive of his own because the old models weren’t suitable; the compartments weren’t secret enough. Jacob wanted to create a ring that would safely hold tiny, precious items: Such rings are not suitable for secret storage of valuables, such as small diamonds or other small articles, first, because an inspection of the ring easily reveals the presence of the hidden compartment, and second, the hidden compartment can easily be opened even while the ring is being worn. Jacob created designer jewelry that doubled as a safe for valuables. According to a Los Angeles Times article , Jacobs created the design, which he called a Rattle Ring, to hold loose gems so celebrities like Debbie Harry could carry around their extra ice. Off-Label Uses: It’s hard to believe that the wealthy didn’t store other rocks in the ring’s hidden compartments. Future Directions: If Jacobs expects people to store their most valuable wares, we bet his customers would appreciate a little more security. Instead of allowing access to the secret compartments with a simple rotation, Jacobs should add some sort of security system. Maybe a retina eye-scan or fingerprint identification system. Or maybe just a simple combination lock. Peruse more Celebrity Inventions .

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Celebrity Invention: Designer Marc Jacobs’ Secret Stash Ring

Up your home game on scaled-down ping-pong tables from the pros Borrowing its name 60 years ago from veritable German sports store Jooss and its Landau location, Joola is now synonymous with ping pong and standard for multiple world championship competitions. The brand also caters to amateurs as well, offering a variety of recreational tables that will fit anywhere from a Tokyo apartment or frat house. Joola’s Midsize and Mini tables are great for practicing your moves or holding your own mini-tournaments. If you are tight on space but still want to perfect your drop shot, the Midsize—at almost six-feet-long—offers enough surface to seriously challenge your opponent. Measuring just three feet, the Mini makes a winning choice for table tennis-obsessed urbanites or children who are just starting out. Both the tables are regulation height and fold up for easy storage. They each sell from Joola for $220 (Midsize) or $100 (Mini).

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Joola

A Parisian artist channels her passion for natural history and evoking the past with a series of unearthly collages by Isabelle Doal An archaeologist-turned-anthropologist-turned-artist, Parisian Gaelle Faure uses collage to tell her own version of history. She forages flea markets for antiques and second-hand items, such as old photographs, dolls, dried butterflies and other hidden treasures, which she combines with anonymous letters, postcards and diary entries from old journals in order to give the past new life. Formerly specializing in funeral rituals, Faure’s interest in evoking memories by resurrecting forgotten stories seems a natural fit for the curious creative. The daughter of sculptors, Faure discovered a passion for uncovering the past through her grandfather, a scientist who used to collect skulls, bones and old academic medical books. Through a combination of thoughtfully-positioned artifacts placed in frames, her anachronistic microcosms reflect her overall sense of humor. For example she illustrates the literal translation of “rack your brain” which in French translates to “to dig one’s head” with a series of headless images culled from a 20th century magazines. Faure is currently working on the re-construction of an old photo album, which she found in a flea market. The photographs are taken from the album, scanned and scrambled into a humorous picture, to create what she calls “a poetic omelet.” Her interest in found objects also extends to furniture like lamps and chairs, which she customizes and sells upon request.

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Gaelle Faure

A backstage look at the Mulleavy sisters’ sculptural exhibition with MoCA curator Rebecca Morse Since launching their label Rodarte in 2005, sisters Laura and Kate Mulleavy have proven themselves to be rare birds within the fashion industry, producing work that blurs the line between fine art and fashion design. There are very few designers today who are able to comfortably inhabit both realms—and to such critical acclaim. In 2009 Rodarte won the CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year award and became the first fashion house to receive a United States Artists grant, the following year the sisters were honored with a National Arts Award in the young artist category. Now they find themselves the focus of MoCA ‘s latest exhibition “Rodarte: States of Matter”—a show featuring more than 20 pieces from the Mulleavys’ various collections, including tutus the pair created for the film Black Swan. Further conflating art and fashion, MoCA and Rodarte enlisted Alexandre de Betak to help conceive the show. Best known for his work designing elaborate runway show sets, de Betak added heightened drama to the installation, showing the garments as sculptural objects freed from clothing’s traditionally reliant relationship to the human form. ” Rodarte: States of Matter ” runs from 4 March 2011 through June 5 2011 at MoCA’s Pacific Design Center. We recently caught up with the show’s organizer, Associate Curator Rebecca Morse as she readies the show for its debut. Are the dresses in the show presented on bodies? There aren’t traditional mannequins. We had made forms from a cord plastic material that are then hanging from a wire in the ceiling. So the bodies are filled out a little bit. The forms are also cut to mimic the shape of the dress or the tutu, so there is a bit of a hardness behind the fabric, but there’s not a traditional mannequin. How were you able to accomplish showing motion without bodies? The tutus are the ones that are in motion. They are hung from wire—everything is hung from wire, but that wire’s hung to a motor. They’re spinning at one revolution per minute. How many ballet costumes from Black Swan are in the show? The only costumes from Black Swan are tutus, and there are three black ones downstairs, and three white ones upstairs. And one of the white ones upstairs has a blood stain in it. Ballet costumes are very sculptural by nature. Was the show’s theme influenced by your knowledge that Laura and Kate Mulleavy were already collaborating on ballet costumes for Black Swan? I think it sort of simultaneously occurred. In the exhibition the tutus are sandwiched chronologically between the black dresses and the white ones. And so I think what happens is you see their method of working, which in part leads to the tutus, and then what they do after that. So I think the sculptural component, I think it’s very easy to see in the tutus because they’re made with layers of tulle and they literally stick out, but their other work as well—you can see their attention to details in so far as the materials they use and the way they’re layered over each other. So we’re talking about those too in terms of having sculptural components—really looking at them as three-dimensional objects. How deliberate was the color scheme? Very. The idea was to have it be these monochromatic vignettes. You have the black, the white, and then there are two dresses from the [Fall] 2008 collection and those are white and red, and so those two dresses are hung actually with the white tutu with the red blood stain on it. Laura and Kate’s influences vary so wildly from collection to collection—from Japanese horror films to California condors. Are any of these original references visually demonstrated in the show’s presentation? I think definitely, because the black collection is based on the California condor—they talk about the narrative influence on that work—and so it’s really interesting to see those garments hung with the Black Swan tutus, because there’s some feathers used in the black dresses that are then used again in the tutus. So it does double back, and their interest in Japanese anime and their overall interest in film as a source—I think it was interesting that they were then asked to do the costumes for Black Swan, the film. Is this MOCA’s first collaboration with Alexandre de Betak? Yes. He’s worked with [the Mulleavys] for quite some time so they have a very good relationship. He’s done some museum exhibitions before, but he’s generally a runway set designer and producer. It was great to get his input on this installation. It’s very different from our usual way of showing work. It’s very dramatic and narrative. Does sound accompany the show? In the end we decided not to have any sound. But the lights have a sequence that [de Betak] took from Swan Lake—the aural cue for timing that. I don’t know how one-to-one it is, but he did use that as a way of coming up with the patterning and beats for the lights. Images by Autumn de Wilde

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Rodarte: States of Matter

A Canadian artist’s technical take on the fantasy world In a slick demonstration of hybrid creativity, Toronto-based artist Alex McLeod fuses his mastery of computer-generated imagery with a background in painting to create fantasy landscapes where fluid, hyperreal topography gel with glossy colors and a tactile sheen. Using a number of different graphics and 3D programs, McLeod builds ethereal sculptures that are then rendered and printed using the typical digital photography methods. His latest works—on view at the upcoming Pulse NY art fair—project an intense scenery of gooey forms in candy colors, floating fortresses and otherworldly geometric shapes. As the eye settles, it becomes clear that there are no people in the pieces. McLeod purposely omits any sign of life in his emotional landscapes, toying with the notion that a stillness emerges in the aftermath of cataclysmic events. This tension between the enticing visual elements and the underlying darker elements give the work a challenging context despite its playful appearance. From the wiry mountains and powerful contrasting colors in “Blackyellow” to the dazzling candy rainbow of “Daylight Mystery,” the consummate attention to detail and wildly imaginative environments leave the audience with an astounding amount to take in, but breaking down the work from this exciting young talent is all part of entertaining experience. McLeod’s work will be on view at the Angell Gallery at Pulse NY from 3-6 March 2011.

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Alex McLeod

Laser Peg’s newest toy lets you construct your favorite creepy crawly from LED lights Adding a “World of Bugs” to their repertoire of lighted construction sets, Laser Pegs continues to entice children with their LED-powered educational toys. With one peg grounded to a power source (either batteries or an AC/DC power adapter), kids seven years and up can create a host of insects using the kit’s supply of low voltage connectors. While kids are encouraged to use their imagination, the “World of Bugs” kit comes with a set of “factoids” for building accurate renditions. An award winning toy company, Laser Pegs teaches important lessons on electric currents and construction for a cognitive learning experience that will spawn the next generation of D.I.Y. developers. ” World of Bugs ” will sell for $60 beginning May 2011 from Laser Pegs , where you can find a wide assortment of other models and kits.

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World of Bugs

Dror unveils his innovative multi-use space truss geometry Designer Dror Benshetrit took the stage at Design Indaba ‘s opening day to unveil a project he spent the last four years working on: QuaDror . A versatile structural support system, QuaDror is a fresh take on space truss geometry that offers innumerable solutions for use and eliminates redundancy in structure. “Mass is one of the worst in terms of energy waste,” Dror told Cool Hunting. A hinge without a revolution joint, the QuaDror is extremely strong and energy efficient, but the real beauty about QuaDror is its flexibility. The robust nature of the design allows it to hold up to 86 QuaDrors on top of each other. When stacked the unit can serve as a sound barrier or temporary wall; when collapsed, the QuaDror is completely flat. Dror explained that while you can fit 1,750 pieces in one shipping container, that fact isn’t even relevant because “there is no reason why you can’t just produce them locally”—a brilliant aspect when finding immediate solutions for disaster relief, which is another viable option for the form’s purpose.

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QuaDror

Dror unveils his innovative multi-use space truss geometry Designer Dror Benshetrit took the stage at Design Indaba ‘s opening day to unveil a project he spent the last four years working on: QuaDror . A versatile structural support system, QuaDror is a fresh take on space truss geometry that offers innumerable solutions for use and eliminates redundancy in structure. “Mass is one of the worst in terms of energy waste,” Dror told Cool Hunting. A hinge without a revolution joint, the QuaDror is extremely strong and energy efficient, but the real beauty about QuaDror is its flexibility. The robust nature of the design allows it to hold up to 86 QuaDrors on top of each other. When stacked the unit can serve as a sound barrier or temporary wall; when collapsed, the QuaDror is completely flat. Dror explained that while you can fit 1,750 pieces in one shipping container, that fact isn’t even relevant because “there is no reason why you can’t just produce them locally”—a brilliant aspect when finding immediate solutions for disaster relief, which is another viable option for the form’s purpose.

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QuaDror

Some celebrities aren’t just pretty faces. A few of them are also touched with that Yankee prowess for tinkering and invention. In this weekly series, we introduce you to the Patents of the Rich and Famous. And maybe you learn a little bit about how patent literature works along the way. Inventor: Lawrence Welk Known For: Some of you might remember Lawrence Welk as the face of his variety show, The Lawrence Welk Show , which ran for almost 30 years. Having started his career as a musician, Welk often performed with the show’s guests, and reserved one number for his own accordion solo. Since his show went off-air almost thirty years ago, our younger readers likely recognize Welk (or the idea of Welk) from Fred Armisen’s impersonation in this Saturday Night Live parody of his variety show. Along with maintaining an old-school–but popular–variety show, Welk extended his brand, patenting various Welk-themed paraphernalia. Invented Apparatus: ” Ashtray ” Welk patented the design for this kitschy accordion shaped ashtray. Rationale Behind Invention: Like any good showman, Welk understood the necessity to monetize his brand. Along with his ashtray, Welk also holds design patents for an accordion-themed lunch box and a Welk-themed menu card with a rooster singing “authorized to serve the famous Lawrence Welk.” Off-Label Uses: Can you play the keys? If so, tiny-handed Eunice (Kristen Wiig) should play Welk’s ashtray during her next SNL appearance. Future Directions: If the ashtray does not yet have working keys, it should. Peruse more Celebrity Inventions .

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Celebrity Invention: Lawrence Welk’s Accordian-Shaped Ashtray

See Mini’s LED-lit concept car’s hinged doors and drawer trunk in our video Making a good thing better is hard enough, but making a small thing smaller may be even trickier. Mini invited us to see how they did both when yesterday in Milan they unveiled their new concept car Rocketman, a forward-thinking ride with features that suggest not just a future of more compact cars, but one that boldly uses materials, lighting and other features. Lit entirely with LEDs, the all-glass roof (also embedded with LEDs) makes for a glittering look, accented by the carbon-fiber body, which also lends fuel-efficiency. It’s diminutive size, measuring just over three meters and a three-seater, is geared for urban markets and perhaps most impressively saves space with a drawer-style trunk that can be left open for toting snowboards or other bulky items. Hinged doors make squeezing into tight parking spaces easy and allow passengers to get in the reat seat without too much trouble. We caught up with BMW design head Adrian van Hooydonk at dinner and learned all about the Rocketman’s spirit animal, his predictions for car design’s future and more. Is there a danger of being too cute with Mini? The lines are more crisp and taut on this concept, because we feel that a Mini should always be like a friend, let’s say. But if it becomes too cute, than maybe people will see it like a toy, a teddy bear. Of course we like to appeal to young customers, but Mini traditionally is a car that appealed to people of all ages, cross-gender and all around the world. The elements in this car, we believe are elements that could do that: keep Mini exciting, interesting fun, endearing, but also something to be reckoned with, also serious. Almost like a British bulldog—a small dog, but people take it seriously. What are the challenges of designing small? On a big car, it’s easy to make things move, do a door opening or a trunk. On a small car, it’s much, much harder. But exactly what Mini stands for, right from the very beginning, is being clever in a small space. And this car is full of ideas for a small space. The way the trunk opens, the original Mini had that too. In a tight parking spot, if a car is parked behind your Mini, you can still open this trunk and put your stuff in. Or the side doors, they have a double hinge that allows you to open the door, even when there’s another car parked right next to you. How much less room does the door need? I would say one-third, if you have to put a number to it. The Mini has quite a long door, because it’s a four-seater but a two-door car. If you open it with one hinge, you hit the other door and then you have to sort of squeeze in. With the Rocketman, we solved both issues. You can crawl in the back because the door’s quite long, but you don’t have to squeeze in through a narrow opening because of the double hinge. That’s actually why we called the car Rocketman. On the one hand, Rocketman sounds like a brave little guy—and Mini is that, a brave little guy. But this car to us is so full of ideas, that we thought it’s rocket science by Mini. That’s why we call it Rocketman. How did you treat the interiors for this car? Of course we are dealing with a small car, but as a designer you can do a lot to give the feeling or the sensation of more space. We did this in the Rocketman in the sense that there is no dashboard like we know it today. The dashboard takes up a lot of space. In the old Mini there was only a steering wheel and one big dial, and that’s what we’ve done in this Rocketman as well. But the steering wheel and the big round center dial have grown together into a structure. And then the rest of the dashboard is gone, you don’t need it. Continue reading… The lighting is another feature which I believe can do a lot to create a very nice atmosphere, even in a small space. We’ve played with that a lot in the car, and we believe that the light or the light color in the future is going to play a bigger role in the whole color and material set up of the car. Right now the light is treated very separately from the materials that we use in the car, and in this concept we made it an integral part. We thought about it from the beginning, it could light up in red or blue or some other colors. You could customize to your mood, which is something that Mini offers today. There’s just one or two LEDs in the Mini interiors today so you can change the color seamlessly from orange to blue. But in this car now, there’s big surfaces of light. And the roof of course is transparent which is another element that increases your sensation of spaciousness. What other examples of industrial design inspired the car? We’re constantly not just looking at other fields of design, like industrial design, furniture design or fashion design, we also have a part of our team—actually a large part of our team located in California—called Design Works. And this design consultancy, we do industrial design for other companies as well. We are actually in touch with other industries, like aircraft industry, or boating. We design airplane interiors or boats exteriors and interiors. And you always learn, so as a designer you become more creative the more you work on different types of products, or design problems. LED light is something that is coming anyway, also in furniture, also in housing. It is simply very small, it uses less energy. It led to a whole creative outburst, because now we can position these lights in places where in the past a lightbulb would have to go in and there wouldn’t be the space. Without LED we couldn’t have done this roof or the illumination of the door panels, or the tail lamps where the air can pass through. It wouldn’t be possible. What about the headlights? In the headlamps, the way we use LED is we would like to make the light in a way that is soft and homogenous. We don’t like to see the dots actually, because we think it’s a little bit too bright, a little bit too cold. And we want to have the light be somewhat soft and warm. What are the features you think are most likely to go to market? When you’ve just presented a concept car that’s meant to go very far in the future, then that’s probably the toughest question to ask. But, the lighting ideas for sure. I would say things like the hinges, or the way the trunk works. This would be possible to put in production. Also a lot of the surface features, the design the ideas, the form ideas we’ve put in the car, both in the interior and the exterior. I can see a lot of potential in using those because that is not necessarily technically difficult. That’s just a matter of seeing how it was received—judging by tonight that was good but let’s see if the broader audience in Geneva sees the car. And this was also deliberate. If people see this car as part of what could be Mini, then we have just broadened our palette. We’ve just given ourselves more room to play. Because Mini has such a strong history, such a strong heritage in one car. Of course everything gravitates towards this one original car. Does it look like that car or does it not? I think this concept car will help us widen the palette a little bit, which I think is necessary to develop the brand into the future.

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Mini Rocketman