OK & marmol-radziner prefab

Opening Reception Thursday July 31 from 5 to 8 pm at the M-R offices 12210 Nebraska Ave. , Los Angeles, California 90025

Presenting their new "Rincon" prefab housing unit, my friend at Marmol Radziner asked me to stage it to give a more "lived in look".

All the accessories except the soft goods are from my store OK. With the invaluable help of my preparator genius Francesco Luparello and Ron Radziner's better half, Robin Cottle, I like to think we captured the essence of the modern high-dig prefab lifestyle.

KAKI-GORI SHAVED ICE

Although the weather is horrible in Japan in the summer, a few of the summer foods make the trip almost worthwhile. Luckily Fukuda Ricca was serving one of the treats -Kaki-Gori or, shaved ice - at an opening at the new Tortoise shop in Venice last Friday.

A culinary expert, she just finished a book on Kaki-Gori. Available toppings were Azuki (red bean), Macha (green tea), Lentil, Strawberry, Fig, Plum, Yellow Peach, Blueberry Wasambom Sugar and Shirata (a kind of mochi).

They were served in ceramics bowls by a pottery being featured that night (will post more about that later). But almost more interesting is Ricca-san's collection of anonymous design plastic spoons that she collects from all over the world. She was telling me of her interest in how the humble disposable spoon varies throughout the world (at Tortoise you could choose a spoon from Japan, Hong Kong, Italy, France, U.S., Korea and elsewhere). She beleives that the flavor of what you are eating is affected by the shape of the spoon.

Super Normal - Jasper Morrison

Both super and normal. On show last month at Centre Pompidou, a vitrine of white ceramic pieces that look like prototypes.

The beauty of work by Jasper Morrison is that it often looks more prototypical than like finished work. More beautiful for what is absent than for what is present.