What the iPad should have been.

Most analysts have argued that the ipad is just a larger version of the ipod touch/iphone and I would agree.  That said, why isn’t the ipad just a screen/interface that you tether to your iphone/ipod–essentially a small monitor and mouse combined.  The answer of course is economic–the old package deal.  I want to see was a touchscreen interface device that could plug into any number of emerging mobile devices.  That will require a unilateral protocol that apple willl probably never implement , but given some time this infant industry may evolve one.

Exhibition Opening of: REINVENTING RITUAL

“Flat-Pack” Exhibition Design Becomes an Eco-Functionalist solution for the First International Exhibition to Survey Ritual as a Focus in 21st Century Art and Design.Reddish Menorah

On view at The Jewish Museum from September 13, 2009 to February 7, 2010

About the Exhibition Design

For the design of this installation Incorporated introduced the notion of “exhibition as ritual.” Formal elements of ritual, like repetition, order, and symmetry have been mobilized in the organization of the exhibition to reinforce the curatorial mission.

“Exhibitions, like ritual, make claims on the body, and can operate on a number of different emotional and intellectual levels simultaneously. The exhibition design takes full advantage of this.”
- Daniel Belasco, Exhibit Curator, The JM

Another major element of the exhibition design is the system of tables, bases, and panels that were designed to display the range of art and design objects included in the exhibition. Raw plywood is cut and slotted so the pieces smoothly join together as tables, bases and panels. The plywood boards are held together by gravity; there is no glue or nails to affix them. After the exhibition closes in New York, all the cases and panels can be popped apart, stacked, and shipped to San Francisco Jewish Museum, where they will be reinstalled.

Call it eco-functionalism: the old modernist ideals of rationality stripped of ornament, combined with the postmodernist values of environmentalism and sustainability.

Finally, the Piano Nobile (2nd floor) of the Warburg Mansion have been beautifully restored for this exhibition. •

About the Exhibition

New York, NY — Artists and designers’ rising interest in ritual since the 1990s inspires Reinventing Ritual: Contemporary Art and Design for Jewish Life, the first international exhibition to survey this phenomenon.

Reinventing Ritual features nearly sixty innovative works, created between 1999 and 2009 by leading artists in diverse media.  Visitors will see outstanding examples of industrial design, architecture, installation art, video, drawing, metalwork, jewelry, ceramics, comics, sculpture, and textiles, revealing the intersections of creative freedom and Jewish life.

A mix of emerging artists and accomplished leaders in the field, most of whom are American and Israeli, with a smaller number of Europeans and South Americans, are represented.  Among the 58 artists are Oreet Ashery, Jonathan Adler, Helène Aylon, Deborah Grant, Sigalit Landau, Virgil Marti, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Karim Rashid, Galya Rosenfeld, Lella Vignelli, and Allan Wexler.

All incorporate an active experimentation with contemporary Jewish life and culture into their work.  Following its New York City showing, Reinventing Ritual travels to the Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, where it can be seen from April 22 through September 28, 2010.•

Concrete Canvas

Concrete canvas is the coolest item introduced to the market as of late.   Check out http://www.concretecanvas.co.uk/.


This structural material uses the simple, “just add water” approach.  The possibilities for architectural designs are endless.  We are currently exploring draped furniture and dimensional wall panels.  Currently, it is only available in the UK, but Material Connexion in New York may pick it up.  It is relatively affordable at around $4 per square foot. According to the manufacturer:

“The cloth comes in rolls for orders from 1m lengths to orders of over 5km. The cloth width is 1.1m wide and available in three standard thicknesses (CC4, [4mm], CC8, [8mm] and CC13 [13mm]). The material pricing is heavily volume dependant. For a relatively small order under 80sqm, Concrete Cloth costs £32.0/sqm for CC4, £37.10/sqm for CC8 and £41.15/sqm for CC13 ex. works. For larger orders, the pricing drops significantly. CC8 is £21.44, CC8 is £24.95 and CC13 is £28.34 respectively in orders of over 2500sqm. ”

We are ordering our first sample to start exploring and hope to have some progress photos soon.