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Official sign of the holidays…
…at least at our place.
Those of you who know us might be aware that our place is full of mid-century furniture, artwork, and general kitsch. We were mad men before Mad Men made it stylish again. I call it über-cool. My mom calls it “tacky,” but of course she is sadly mistaken.
Anyway, the first sign of the holiday season hit here today when we moved out the lobby furniture to make way for the yearly arrival of our 1962-era aluminum Christmas tree (which I will happily admit is tacky)…
…complete with blue balls and the motorized Color Wheel that puts out absolutely no discernible light, yet makes an annoying constant whacka-whacka-whacka sound.
Festive!!
Anywho… just wanted to wish everyone a great and survivable holiday season. In the commercial business, this is usually a madhouse time of year… we hope to get through it without becoming too Grinchy.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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15 Replies
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That….. is…… AWESOME!!!!
Happy Holidays to you too Todd!
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” Winner, Best Documentary, LA Reel Film Festival.
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Not only are vintage sluminum trees like that going for mad cheddar on Ebay these days to nostalgic boomers… they make a heck of a good back-up yagi for pulling in OTA HDTV signals!:-) Where do you connect the balun, though?
In my mind’s ear, I can hear Der Bingle and the Andrews Sisters singing “Mele Kalikimaka” already! Congrats on your atomic-era style sense from a fellow admirer of “googie”, “Atomic” and “Modern/contemporary”.
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Todd
“Those of you who know us might be aware that our place is full of mid-century furniture, artwork, and general kitsch. We were mad men before Mad Men made it stylish again. I call it über-cool. My mom calls it “tacky,”Tacky? I think not.
Well, your in good company. We are putting up the aluminum tree this weekend! We have one of the few California Contemporary style houses in the area, and the whole thing is done in MCM. Been collecting it for 30 years, so we have been lucky to get a lot of great pieces before prices went through the roof. The look on peoples faces when they first walk in the door are priceless, since MCM isn’t really the local style, and not what they are expecting. The two most common words we hear is either “Wow”, or “interesting”.
Great logo, great lobby. I like the Noguchi table. Classy. Gotta be a George Nelson clock in there somewhere that’s just not showing up in the photo.Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
Thanks Scott…
Yeah, I’m a nut for Mid-Century Modern, too… have been for years and years. Not just the office, but my house is pretty much like walking onto the set of “Bewitched.” I’ve had my share of the “are you nuts?” looks too, but I like it. That era had some truly stunning stunning design.
Fortunately, as you said, it used to be cheap before everyone jumped on the bandwagon… and I could never afford most of the stuff now. Years ago I bought my near-mint-condition Eames lounge chair at Goodwill for $20. My desk is exactly the same Herman Miller desk that Don Draper sits at… ten years ago it cost me a hundred bucks (I recently saw one at auction starting at $7K). Someone actually gave me two Arne Jacobsen chairs they were literally throwing away because they “looked old and didn’t match the rest of the office.” They’re probably kicking themselves now if they’ve learned what they are worth. I probably have three or four dozen other stories like that. With a few exceptions, the days of those bargains are over, though. Although I’m still on the lookout for the perfect Danish Modern bed, one of those with the attached floating nightstands.
Just FYI, the coffee table isn’t legit. I built that one. I really wanted one (and they are still sold), but a real Isamu Noguchi table is too big for our small lobby, so I cobbled together a 3/4 scale replica of one.
This is probably boring the pants off of every one else, but Scott is a kindred spirit (as is Mark), so indulge me.
Oh, yes, no Nelson clock in that photo. It’s in an upstairs edit suite under the Sputnik chandelier.
Happy Holidays to all, from Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Price.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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I work in a postcard quality New England village – we have 4 white steeple churches and a mix of Victorian and Colonial houses along Main Street. So Woodbury around this time of year is straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
Speaking of which, if you are ever in Stockbridge Mass, visit the eponymous museum there with Rockwell’s original paintings which are much larger than the Saturday Evening Post covers we all are familiar with.
As for our office itself, we indulge in holiday themed candy sent by our vendors. We used to have holiday parties for the staff and local friends such as the mayor – but nowadays we just assume employees will celebrate with their families and friends.
Happy Holidays.
Mike Cohen
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I was at an art gallery/school a month or two back, looking at a show, their library was open, all art and design books, and I was able to thumb thru a pictorial catalog of all the Noguchi works… the table is one of the tamest things he made, and one of the earlier things. You look at it it and think “Scandinavian”, but no. A lot of the rest of his work, the scultputres and location installations stuff, is pretty scary, rougher, and larger-scaled.
Me, I have always wanted a good copy of a Calder, and a worthy place to hang it, I am partial to the mobile; “Blue Comb”. I always hear Donald Fagan’s IGY or “New Frontier” in my head when I see it. Thought often about cutting my own out of brass and aluminum but I lack the fine brazing skill. My folks owned a lot of Danish Modern when I was kid growing up; it was popular for young newlyweds because it was cheap and light yet durable. They accented it with one of those ball lamps on a long chain, the ball made by drizzling a thin thread of acrylic around and around a balloon-like form like cotton candy, about an inch deep. I bet that lamp would hit four figures today in good condition, mostly because they were pretty fragile and most didn’t survive the decade. I remember that it caught dust like crazy, and if a housefly or moth got trapped in the little air spaces, you’d have a very hard time with the vacuum getting it out again, without breaking off some of the plastic filaments.
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Oh My God! Is your white balance off or is your office really that yellow? 😉 Floor, ceiling, walls, and logo. Wow! I bet it’s hard to have a gloomy day there.
Cory
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Cory Petkovsek
Corporate Video -
Hhahaha… no, Cory… I think the balance was a bit off. It’s not quite that yellow, and only the lobby walls. My own office happens to be dark dark purple. The art director would probably say it’s “eggplant” or something like that. But then, I’m moody.
And yeah, plenty of gloomy days here… but try to make them sparse.
Back to Mike’s observations about Norman Rockwell… I was recently looking through the collections that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have (both huge Rockwell aficionados and collectors). I never really thought much of Rockwell as an artiste, per se… just not what I usually think of as “fine art” (although I know it is, just not my taste). But as an illustrator… my God, just stunning… you’ll never find a better illustrator than Rockwell was. I sometimes think it is harder to find a great illustrator than it is a great pure artist, and his illustration work was just amazing. They don’t make ’em like that anymore.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Todd,
We might not have the super cool tree, but we do have the lamp.
You’ll shoot your eye out kid! Ho Ho Hooooooooooooooo
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” Winner, Best Documentary, LA Reel Film Festival.
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It’s official, Walter. You’re my hero. (But the lamp is supposed to be in the front window where the whole neighborhood can admire it. And keep Ralphie away from it at all costs.)
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