Copy
Aug 6 2020
Surface
Design Dispatch
Beirut art spaces survey damage, NASA’s beloved worm logo, and “cottagecore.”
FIRST THIS
“We need to shift gears and align our practices to what is genuinely going to move the needle.”
HERE’S THE LATEST

notification-Transparent_2x

After an Explosion Rocks Beirut, Art Spaces Survey the Damage

On the evening of Tuesday, August 4, a devastating explosion sent shockwaves rippling through Beirut. Officials suspect that the explosion resulted when a fire broke out at a warehouse that was unsafely storing 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate, a chemical component used in fertilizers and bombs. Though the extent of the damage is still being assessed, early reports are staggering: at least 135 people died, 5,000 are injured, and 300,000 have been displaced as entire neighborhoods near the Lebanese capital’s waterfront have been reduced to rubble. The calamity follows months of political unrest and an ongoing economic crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Many of Beirut’s leading art and cultural institutions weathered severe damage. The Sursock Museum, a major contemporary art museum located a mile from the blast, posted harrowing scenes to Instagram that show rubble-strewn galleries with collapsed ceilings and paintings barely left hanging on the walls. Major art galleries including Marfa Gallery, Galerie Tanit, and Opera Gallery were reportedly completely destroyed. Gaia Foudolian, the director of Letitia Gallery, died in the explosion, as did the French architect Jean-Marc Bonfils. A spokesperson for ARTLAB, a gallery dedicated to emerging artists, told Artnet News that “the gallery has been gravely damaged and I doubt that it’s worth reopening given the current conditions.”

As the country continues to search for hundreds of missing people and treat thousands of injuries, the Lebanese prime minister Hassan Diab declared three days of mourning for the victims while President Michel Aoun has released 100 billion Lebanese pounds in emergency allocations from the country’s 2020 budget. Several charity organizations are accepting donations: Lebanese Red Cross, Impact Lebanon, and Baytna Baytak have all mobilized on the ground to treat the wounded and shelter the displaced.

notification-Transparent_2x

What Else Is Happening?

Check-Circle_2x The Dallas Art Fair cancels its 2020 edition amid rising coronavirus cases in Texas.
Check-Circle_2x People are obsessed with NASA’s long-dormant “worm” logo decades after its release.
Check-Circle_2x An experiential art center by Pace Gallery prepares to launch in Miami this December.
Check-Circle_2xJames Powers, the Brooklyn gallerist who nurtured emerging Black artists, dies at 80.
Check-Circle_2x Lichen, the coolest new furniture store in Brooklyn, is helping democratize design.
Check-Circle_2x Thomas J Price brings a statue of a Black “everywoman” to an East London art walk.
Check-Circle_2x Notre-Dame’s organ, the biggest instrument in France, undergoes a four-year restoration.


Have a news story our readers need to see? Submit it here.

PARTNER WITH US

Reach the design world every morning. Find out more about advertising in the Design Dispatch.

DESIGN

notification-Transparent_2x

ICYMI: Rockwell Group Is Rethinking the NYC Dining Experience

Earlier this summer, Rockwell Group teamed up with the New York City Hospitality Alliance to create DineOut NYC, an adaptable and modular dining system for outdoor use that helps restaurants impacted by Covid-19. The program launched at six eateries across the five boroughs, including the renowned Melba’s Restaurant in Harlem, that deployed the prototypes on otherwise vacant parking spaces and sidewalks.

After garnering widespread interest, the group has expanded DineOut NYC to encompass communal outdoor dining areas that will pop up in the neighborhoods hardest hit by Covid-19. The first dining area, which opened in late July, brings 120 seats along Mott Street between Mosco and Worth Streets in Chinatown, with a second location to follow in Queens. Further, the group has launched a nonprofit, a partner project of the Fund for the City of New York, to facilitate donations that will help support the construction of additional outdoor dining spaces. So far, Moët Hennessy, Resy, and American Express have signed on as founding partners.

“Restaurants have never been more important to the vitality of our city,” says David Rockwell, founder of Rockwell Group. “What happens on our sidewalks and streets, we are learning, is critical to how we pull through this. It’s a moment for us to rethink the value of urban space.”

ITINERARY

itinerary-Transparent_2x

Fold, Stack, Turn

When: Until Sept. 3

Where: Adams and Ollman Gallery, Portland, OR

What: Artists who perform simple gestures—folding fabric, turning the body, linking leather, or stacking found objects—to create complex meanings star in this group exhibition. Pictured is a still from a 97-second video work by Stefanie Victor, in which she haptically wills an image into being by rolling chalk with her hands over the soft surface of a pillow, transforming the everyday object into an evocative painting of the night sky.

THE LIST

notification-Transparent_2x

Member Spotlight: Layer

Founded by award-winning British designer and entrepreneur Benjamin Hubert, Layer focuses on experience-driven design for both the physical and digital worlds. Led by Hubert and a growing creative team, Layer is partnering with forward-thinking brands including Nike, Samsung, BMW, Maggie’s Centres, Fritz Hansen, and Herman Miller to create products that will help define the way we live, work, and communicate in the future.

Surface Says: We admire Layer’s use of new technologies and materials when designing wearables, furnishings, and housewares. They are always rethinking how design and technology interact with the human body.

AND FINALLY

notification-Transparent_2x

Today’s Attractive Distractions

The soothing, escapist aesthetics of “cottagecore” are gaining momentum.

Christian Spencer captures sunlight passing through hummingbirds’ wings.

Turn-of-the-century ventilation systems were once used to combat disease.

Adam Nathaniel Furman’s vibrant new rugs evoke lazy summer holidays.

               


View in Browser

Copyright © 2020, All rights reserved.

Surface Media
601 W 26th Street, Suite 1507  New York, NY 10001  

Unsubscribe from all future emails