Get Your Motor Running!
Posted by: Saxon Henry on: July 9, 2009
A Japanese toy designer took a discarded tin can and hammered it into the shape of a U.S. Army jeep in 1945. Crudely painted by hand, and powered by nothing more than an elastic band, the inches-long jeep by Matsuz Kosuge spawned a miniature automotive industry. This and other examples of buriki, as they are called, are being featured in an exhibition at the Japan Society Gallery opening today (through August 16).
“Replicating the automotive styling of Detroit’s ‘golden age’ down to the tiniest fin, these pint-sized vehicles helped repurpose Japan’s manufacturing sector from munitions to peacetime production,” says Joe Earle, Director, Japan Society Gallery. “They also salved a pent-up thirst for glamour and beauty in the then impoverished country, as well as in the newly affluent United States.”
The 70 tin-toy vehicles on view range from small, rudimentary examples made in the fledgling phase of Japan’s postwar toy industry–beginning with a bottle-green Cadillac sedan stamped “Made in Occupied Japan”–to later, elaborate models made for the high-end American market. The latter often sport a combination of battery-powered lights, electric (as opposed to friction or clockwork) motors, remote controls, chrome trim, and retractable parts.
Not all of the featured automotive models are sedans: convertibles, station wagons, delivery wagons, buses, trailers, and racing cars are included, as are the “show” cars that so captured the imagination of the American public in the 1950s and 1960s. A handful of jets, helicopters, and speedboats are featured to help provide a sense of the variety of products created by the tin-toy industry in Japan during these years, as well.
Among the “concept” or “show” cars on view are a 10-inch-long Pontiac Club de Mer, modeled after a prototype inspired by contemporary aircraft construction; the Firebird II Turbine car, designed by GM’s chief designer Harley Earl in 1956; and the 1955 Ford Lincoln Futura, which never made it into production, but achieved immortality as the model for the Batmobile in the Batman television series of the 1960s.
Many of the featured tin toys retain their original packaging, including one 1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner convertible whose cardboard box, on view in the exhibition, touts, “amazing pushbutton automatic top-forward-reverse and steering.” Also on view is a blowup of a 1951 board game depicting Japanese children riding every type of American conveyance, including a Jeep and a Cadillac sedan and boxes depicting prosperous families, blessed with ample leisure time, speeding through America’s “great outdoors.”
Early manufacturers of buriki (derived from “blik,” Dutch for “tin toy”) often had to rely on photographs to style their models, for few American cars and automotive reference materials could be found in Japan in the post-war years. Says Joe Earle: “In those early years, more than half of the metal toys made in Japan went overseas–helping to pay for vital imports such as rice as well as meeting a severe shortage of toys in the U.S.”
A 96-page, fully illustrated catalogue by Earle, who is also the curator, provides an historical and cultural context for Japanese tin-toy vehicles and documents the 70 works in the exhibition. Published by Japan Society and distributed by Yale University Press. Buriki: Japanese Tin Toys from the Golden Age of the American Automobile, The Yoku Tanaka Collection will be available at the Japan Society Shop and in bookstores nationwide.
Are you born to be wild? See the raciest of the buriki on exhibit and get a hit of Steppenwolf on Design Commotion’s home page.
Back to the Future
Posted by: Saxon Henry on: May 28, 2009
by Saxon Henry
For those who claim there’s nothing new under the sun, a perusal of the youngest participants in this year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) proves that a new generation brings with it fresh ideas. In this particular case, it was college sophomores from Philadelphia University who took to material experimentation, and an emotionalization of materials and design like experienced pros.
Aodh O'Donnell, the winner, in his Armadillo Chair.
The project began when Grace Jeffers, the corporate muse for Wilsonart®, approached professor Josh Owen, whose students would be required to create artifacts reflecting the culture of the corporation using the company’s laminate. After Jeffers lectured the students about the history of laminate, Owen and teaching partner Jason Lempieri guided over twenty students through a month of material experimentation. Once they understood the peculiarities of the laminate—after heating it, bending it, twisting it, freezing it and painting it, they made maquettes of designs they wanted to explore, continuing to fine tune their ideas until they were satisfied that what they’d created was structurally sound (each chair had to support a 400-pound person) and aesthetically on-point.
The chairs also had to reflect the student’s perceptions of Wilsonart’s place in American history and his or her aesthetic bent. “Our job as teachers was to help them find consistency in their thinking,” says Lempieri. “A good design professor’s task is to ask the right questions that inspire students to reach into themselves and discover what’s innately theirs.” The students were also charged with constructing the chairs themselves.
Wilsonart normally brings one product from each year’s competition to the fair, but the designs were so outstanding this year that the company brought the winner and five runners up to ICFF. “The breadth of creativity, depth of context and high caliber of craft were among the top I’ve seen,” explains Jeffers. “Remember, these are sophomores in college and the results were stunning!”
The Armadillo Chair made from Wilsonart chips
Aodh O’Donnell, who was the winner of the competition with his Armadillo Chair, used the company’s sample chips to clad a buxom seat. “I wanted to use the shingle effect of the chip to achieve texture,” he says. “You usually only see the product on a flat surface and I wanted to draw attention to it in a different way.” His “celebration” of the chip struck me as important in one other aspect: he used something that most people would toss into the trash once they’ve finished with it.
Jeffrey Steel took the chip to task as well, creating his Array Chair, which glorifies the chip chain. “I have always been drawn to math in my education,” he says. “I played with the chip chain, tossing it to see what patterns emerged, and created a chair that reads like an accidental pattern but is really very well studied.”
Jeffrey Steel's Array Chair
As Steel points out, it appears that the chips are floating, but they are anchored strongly in order to achieve the strength that was required. “Watching the progress of the chair emerging as I built it was an amazing experience,” says Steel. “When it was finished, I just sat and stared at it for a while because it was the manifestation of all I had hoped it would be and more.”
Julianne Magliaro's Imperial Chair
Julianne Magliaro was in attendance with her Imperial Chair, the inspiration for which came from two sources—one ancient and one modern. “I was inspired by the Qing Dynasty’s Imperial Rector’s Chair for its proportions and I created the lattice work by mapping all of the distributors of Wilsonart products. Margliaro’s original maquette was an interplay of colors celebrating stained glass, but Owen and Lempieri encouraged her to dig deeper to make her design more dynamic. Their advice was dead-on, as the resulting white/black interplay, interrupted by only one solid shape in red, stands up to the most sophisticated designs to come out of the most prestigious design houses.
Geoff Quinter's Diner Chair
Geoff Quinter’s Diner Chair exemplifies 50’s era Americana. “I love the aesthetics of the simple Formica table of that period and the streamline appeal of the diner stool,” he says. “I took those visceral images and bent them into a chair that recalls both, which are iconic pieces of Americana.”
Dan Worthers' Xpress Chair
Dan Worthers created the Xpress Chair to represent Wilsonart’s dynamic manufacturing process. “It’s a very big chair because I wanted to illustrate how much they’ve grown,” he says. “I considered the colors carefully, selecting the three that the company first produced.” Worthers was inspired to embrace every facet of this process of experimentation equally: “My heart is in being the generalist in industrial design—it’s all about the exploration!”
Alyward Omoding was not in attendance, but his Makuu “Pride” Chair was, which Lempieri explained was a celebration of the student’s African heritage. “It pushes the limits of the material and uses it to create an intricate surface of woven construction,” Omoding wrote in his statement about his product. “The chair creates a carpet-like texture that transforms into a chair.”
Alyward Omoding's Makuu "Pride" Chair
Seeing young college students taking this project so seriously is a heartening forecast for the future of design. What struck me about the chairs in person is that I could envision each one of them ensconced in the home of a limited edition or one-off furniture collector or in a furniture gallery—fully at ease among experimental pieces by Marc Newson, Ron Arad and the Campana Brothers.
This article was originally written for The Curated Object. Students from Virginia Tech were sporting their prototypical designs at the show. More on DesignCommotion.
Mix Master Hennes Dishes on Design
Posted by: Saxon Henry on: May 11, 2009
Hennes in front of his Lincoln Road office
by Saxon Henry
Miami Beach-based realtor Gary Hennes has a genius for eclecticism that makes any interior space he occupies standout. His home on the beach is a light-filled space full of treasures that he has collected over the years with an eye to quality and a knack for snagging pieces for a steal. “I love beautiful objects,” he says. “I’ve always loved form.”
At his own admission, Hennes gets it honest, as his mother made an art of making an eclectic home “read” like a highly sophisticated environment where grown-ups lived and kids learned the discipline of nesting in style. “For mom, everything was about presentation, even when she cooked,” he explains. This penchant for packaging had its foibles. “More than once, I came home from school and the whole house was rearranged!” he quips.
The lessons in eclecticism began when his mother inherited cherished family heirlooms, which the late mid-century-style home they occupied didn’t welcome easily. A young Hennes watched as she made everything relate seamlessly. “I don’t think your eye plays tricks on you when you see environments that work and those that don’t work,” he says. “You have to trust your sense of style and let it guide you.”
The stylish environment he has created in his own home is all the more surprising given his ability to ferret out items with pedigree at a fraction of the weighty cost many collectors plunk down for vintage furniture. “I definitely like what most people would call ‘the find,’” he explains, “but creating successful interiors is as much about editing as it is about what is contained in each space.”
A Conference Room
Recently, Hennes turned his attention to his office by incorporating a walled-off double-height volume adjacent to the original one-story space and adding architecturally interesting detailing. Then he brought vintage finds into the spaces to lend the rooms cosmopolitan warmth. For those who think any renovation is highly costly, he accomplished the update on a reasonable budget.
Hennes sees the office as an extension of his residence, and he notes that since he spends more time at work than at home, he saw the importance of making the intimately-scaled space as personable as possible. “This was an opportunity for me to be expressive,” he says. “I’m a good observer and I enjoy using the ideas I’ve gleaned in my own spaces.” His advice for someone wanting to collect: “Have fun with the hunt. The satisfaction is in finding things that speak to you.” Don’t be afraid to experiment, either, he says. “I sometimes see interiors I’ve created a couple of years after the fact and I think, ‘OMG’!” This is normal, he believes, as perspectives shift over time and a sense of style is an ever-evolving process.
Patience is also a crowning virtue when searching for good-looking furnishings. “For the evolving person, collecting and nesting are ongoing pursuits,” he explains. “These activities are never finished until the day you die.” Lastly, use your instincts when you see a piece of furniture, an accessory or a piece of art that speaks to you. “I’ve brought things home that I had no idea where they would fit,” he remarks. “It’s why I have a garage, which is where things go until I know exactly where they go!”
When it comes to favorite designers, he prefers to emulate people who have lived design rather than those who have studied it. “I live in a glass house so everything is seen from the outside,” he says. “As soon as I pull my car into the driveway, my home and everything in it welcomes me. That, to me, is the sign of a well designed, highly personal space.”
The Wildly Uncomfortable Sofa!
One classic Hennes anecdote is a good one to take away in terms of thinking through purchases before you put the money on the table, even if the price is a steal. “When the owners were selling off the contents of the Revere Hotel because Gianni Versace was demolishing it to make room for his pool,” he explains. “I bought the sectional sofa that had been in the lobby. It was white vinyl and filled with soot. I don’t know how many bottles of Windex I went through trying to get it clean!” Had he taken the time to “kick the tires,” so to speak, that sectional might have been someone else’s prize. “That was one hell of an uncomfortable sofa!”
In the world according to Hennes, this is all in a life’s work. “I live to learn,” he says. “If you love where you’re living, changing your spaces an infinite number of times isn’t unsettling, it’s incredibly satisfying. As a matter of fact, talking about this is making me want to go home and rearrange my furniture tonight!”
See other images of Hennes’ office here.
Las Tias has a fan in Ugly Betty?
Posted by: Saxon Henry on: May 2, 2009
Vera Pilo's hand fans at Las Tias
by Saxon Henry
After a five-week hiatus, Ugly Betty returned to prime time Thursday night, which is great news for fans of the show. While on a trip to Miami recently, a producer of the sitcom stopped in at Las Tias, one of the city’s preeminent upscale resale shops that holds everything from vintage Biedermeier and Le Corbusier furniture to retro Lucite lamps, furniture and accessories. What was it that caught the producer’s eye? A large, colorful selection of hand fans designed by French artisan Vera Pilo, which co-owner (with Anne Samuel and Carmen Santamarina) Esther Percal discovered while shopping at Au Bon Marché in Paris. Might we see one of the show’s characters batting eyelids above a scintilatingly waving fan soon?
Heaven Scent
Posted by: Saxon Henry on: April 29, 2009
YeYe's Pandora Votive
by Saxon Henry
The path from industrial engineer to perfumer may not seem a likely one on the surface, but for YeYe Fragrances’ co-founder Ernesto Sanchez-Bujanda, the mathematical aspects of his education as an engineer are perfectly aligned with his ability to create sensual home fragrances. When he speaks of base notes, heart notes and top notes—the stages of evaporation, and the nine essential oils that intermingle to create each fragrance, the analytical side of creating olfactory delights emerges.
What may be less obvious to the untrained nose is Sanchez-Bujanda’s commitment to quality. “I only use essential oils, even though they are one-thousand percent more expensive than synthetics,” he explains, adding that even some essential oils are better than others. “The trick is to know from what part of the world to find the best sandalwood and from where to order the finest jasmine, for example. I only buy vanilla from Madagascar because of its quality.”
Ernesto Sanchez-Bujanda
Sanchez-Bujanda, a native of Venezuela, moved to New York City at the age of twenty-one to become a makeup artist. Tiring of the frenetic pace, he moved to Miami Beach in 2005 to open a high-end perfumery that sold hard-to-find European lines. “My life-partner, Ryan York, inspired me to take the next step,” he explains. “We decided to create home fragrances first.”
There are two YeYe collections: basic and complex. Basic fragrances include White Garden, Bosque Imperial and Orrant. The complex scents are Opulence, Phantom and Paradox. Within each collection, there are candles, diffusers and votives, called Pandora. The complex collection also includes natural resin-crystal potpourri.
York, who is vice president of YeYe, designed the packaging—elegantly detailed eggplant and earthy brown canisters, and playfully wrapped votives in chartreuse. “We wanted the diffusers to have an old apothecary feel to them, but one that has a clean touch of the modern,” says Sanchez-Bujanda. Bamboo sticks for the diffusers and the seal on the diffusers themselves are artfully wrapped in leather cord, and rectangular plates that hold the potpourri are handmade in Thailand from palm wood. A diffuser will last from three to four months, depending upon the temperature, and candles will burn for about sixty hours. The natural wax candles range in price from $45 to $55 and the diffusers from $78 to $94. A pound of the potpourri sells for $54, the palm-wood trays run $30 and the votives, which are available in all six fragrances, cost $15.
For a full list of retailers, visit the Design Commotion blog.
The Condo Whisperers
Posted by: Saxon Henry on: April 21, 2009
The Innovative Line by Tui Lifestyle
by Saxon Henry
So many empty condos, so little time! This caveat served as designer Tui Pranich’s cue to opportunity. His business partner Jason Atkins was looking for a furnished apartment to rent and the offerings were so dire that they made haste and founded Tui Lifestyle. “We can furnish a condo in 72 hours,” says Pranich. “Our packages include everything from custom designed furniture to lamps, picture frames and ironing boards.” Packages range from $14,999 to $50,000.
Sam Robin's Ready to Wear
The rampant rise of condos was also Sam Robin’s inspiration for her Ready to Wear line of furniture, created with Francesco Caracciolo di Marano. “We knew that we could combine great style and affordability,” says Robin, who can supply pieces in this line, which cost between $200 and $5,000, in about three months.
When the condo market went schizophrenic, trendsetting designer Jorge Rosso of Studio Rosso Ubarri created Home Therapy. “So many people were asking me how to achieve high design on a minimal budget that I started a service for people who have good things that simply need editing or who need design advice,” he says. A full day of therapy will cost you $1,200.
See other design stories by Saxon Henry.
Design’s La Dolce Vita
Posted by: Saxon Henry on: April 17, 2009
Giulio Cappellini
by Saxon Henry
DesignCommotion wanted to know how Giulio Cappellini, who is in charge of the artistic direction for Cappellini, manages to stay on the leading edge of contemporary Italian design. Here’s what he had to say:
DC: Your very name is synonymous with avant-garde Italian design: what is it about you that you believe has set you apart in the design world?
GC: The continuous desire to innovate, risk and search for new and interesting creative people in the world. I have always had this coherent approach whilst thinking that there are always more new things to do in the design sector.
DC: As you scout and nourish new design talent, what do you look for in the beginning that proves there’s a kernel of genius in the person’s designs?
GC: It is important to understand if there are signs of research, of great personal and original innovation in a young designer, and if they are ready to question themselves, as making a product is something serious.
DC: You have said that one of your responsibilities is to make designers dream. How do you foster this level of synergy with the designers with whom you collaborate?
GC: It is important to find a perfect feeling between myself and the designer. You can discuss, try and work for a long period of time on a project with the aim of creating a good product only if you have the right harmony.
DC: Why do you think Miami has become a U.S. epicenter for Italian design?
GC: I think that Miami is a contemporary city, open to different cultures and therefore completely open to new stimulus in art and design.
DC: How have you seen Italian design change over the course of your career?
GC: From the 1950s to the 1980s, Italian design has been characterized by strong stylistic and functional innovation. It seems that in the last few years many companies have concentrated more on presenting lifestyle than extraordinary products, something that I think should be the true vocation of a brand.
DC: You have said that you work to nurture long-sellers rather than bestsellers when you work with designers. Who do you think is your newest long seller?
GC: Most definitely the Mr. Bugatti chairs by François Azambourg and the Lotus seating collection by Jasper Morrison because they are complex, innovative and honest products.
DC: What do you love most about what you do?
GC: What I most like is to think that there is always so much yet to do in design. It is not true that everything has already been done.
The Lotus Chair
DC: If you could change anything about your profession, what would it be?
GC: I would try and make products that are closer to the public’s requirements, and that can also make them dream.
DC: What is the most exciting thing you’ve done in your work during the past several years?
GC: Definitely having had the possibility to meet and collaborate with fantastic people such as Achille Castiglioni, Shiro Kuramata, Jasper Morrison and many others. Exchanging ideas with these people has given me the possibility to really grow from a cultural point of view.
DC: When you were a child, were there signs that you would be involved in some type of design? How did your creativity show itself at an early age?
GC: I have always been curious and I have always liked playing with forms and colors, being attracted most of all by simplicity, in a sophisticated and not banal way. My dream has always been to create fascinating and innovative objects.
Saxon Henry is now Miami’s Interior Decorating Examiner
Classicism Personified
Posted by: Saxon Henry on: April 9, 2009
by Saxon Henry
In her introduction to THAD HAYES: The Tailored Interior, Evelyn Lauder says of Hayes’ skill, “Thad Hayes can make a home fit into its own skin, not into his skin.” A perusal of the 21 interiors in the book proves Hayes’ long-standing client’s point, as the string of residences and retreats range from a pied-à-terre at the Pierre Hotel in New York to the Lauder’s Georgian vacation home in Palm Beach and a Tudor Revival in Texas.
Whether the designer is creating a backdrop for a contemporary art collector in New York City or Leonard Lauder’s collection of art deco posters in Palm Beach, his dexterity in working across styles and periods is apparent. His own Greenwich Village townhouse is among my favorites, as the interiors have a breathless quality to them. This is owed in part, perhaps, to the fact that Hayes had modernist architect Mies van der Rohe in mind when he introduced certain elements, or possibly to his affection for Japanese architecture. “I wanted our house to embrace and fulfill all the romantic notions we have around the idea of ‘home’: the welcoming of friends, cooking, children’s chatter, sitting around a hearth,” Hayes explains. “That was really my expectation.”
For his client’s interiors, he envisions environments that are equally personal, and it’s likely a result of his attentiveness during a project, as described in the introduction by critic Charles Gandee in which he quotes Hayes as saying, “I don’t delegate. I direct everything. I’m in every meeting with every client; I go to every job site. I go to the upholsterer. I know every pillow fabric…every detail.” This attention to detail leads to rooms that reflect “repose, clarity, and restraint,” says one client, but Hayes’ restraint is anything but spare.
One of the strengths of the beautifully photographed book is that it shows the designer’s dexterity and range: a New Jersey Craftsman, a modernist summerhouse in the Hamptons and a gentile home in Baton Rouge were given identities that shrug off any evidence of having been “designed.” In the acknowledgements, Hayes himself writes, “In my line of work it is easy to begin believing one is laboring for one’s art.” Hayes’ art has such a delicately powerful quality to it that even the natural light seems to tiptoe into the rooms, unwilling to allow its harshness to interrupt the quiet beauty that has been achieved.
Adjustable Assets
Posted by: Saxon Henry on: April 3, 2009
THE E.1027 Table
by Saxon Henry
In 1972, Eileen Gray’s popularity as a furniture designer resurfaced after a thirty-five year hiatus when Yves Saint-Laurent bought her four-panel lacquer screen Le Destin at a Paris auction for over thirty-six thousand dollars. Her response: “C’est absurde.” Were she still alive, she might find the frequency with which her furniture designs are knocked-off even more absurd. Writing for the London Times, Lucia Van der Post, who has followed the marketability of Gray’s work since the 1970s, dubs her one of the most plagiarized designers in the world.
Of her frequently copied designs, one of the most reproduced is her E.1027 adjustable table. Peter Adam—Gray’s friend and author of the biography “Eileen Gray: Architect/Designer”—compiled a Catalogue Raisonné of her furniture, listing only six known originals, half of which are in private collections and half in museums.
Though I found that none claim to have originals, a plethora of Internet sites and retail design shops sell the “Eileen Gray E.1027 Table,” and by naming it so create the illusion that the designer authorized their product. An E-Bay ad lists one that was produced in Italy for $239. Design Within Reach has a replica for $398, while ClassiCon’s “licensed, numbered and signed” version sells for $896. Of these, only ClassiCon’s table is as close to an original as you will get without forking out thousands of dollars (when or, more likely, if one were to be sold at auction). That’s because the late designer personally authorized Londoner Zeev Aram to reproduce three of her designs—among them the E.1027—in the early 1970s, and Aram markets the table through his Aram Designs and ClassiCon, a German company.
Why are there so many renditions of this iconic table? Terence Riley, the former Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art—where one resides in the permanent collection—says it’s due to its smart design. “It is light weight and can be moved about the room,” he explains. “The height can be raised and lowered so that it serves many functions. It is said that one of Gray’s sisters liked to have breakfast in bed and the table was designed so that the raised position cleared a mattress.”
According to Riley, MoMA chose the E.1027 for its collection because the original chromed metal tables with either glass or enameled tops were so progressive. “In its day, it would have appeared quite daring compared to the staid, dark wood furniture that was popular,” he explains.
Penelope Rowlands, author of Eileen Gray: Compact Design Portfolio, states that Gray’s designs remain surprisingly fresh, though they were designed decades ago: the E.1027 table, which was designed in 1927, is a keen example. Though the name seems somewhat mechanical, its origins are highly personal. The table shares its moniker with a seaside retreat in Roquebrune-Cap Martin, France (near Monaco), which architecture critic and editor Jean Badovici commissioned Gray to design (they were lovers when the home was built). E stands for Eileen; 10 represents J, the tenth letter of the alphabet; 2 equals B and 7 is for G. “The table and the house were designed at the same time, and there is a strong relationship between the two,” says Riley. “In her best work, she is not only a craftsman, conceiving and making objects, but an architect designing the total environment.”
Miami-based interior designer Anna Suarez-Burgos, who is always searching for original and licensed furnishings for clients, says, “Anyone who values the integrity of original designs should be willing to pay the price for authorized copies, no matter how cheap the knock-offs are.” Aram agrees for an important reason: “Authorized versions cost more because royalties are paid to the estate of the designer, thus encouraging design innovation by rewarding design innovation.”
So how would you tell the difference between an authorized E.1027 and a knock-off? “The quality of the authorized versions is superior and truer to the original designs,” says Aram. “Most of the pieces sold through official dealers (especially the tubular steel furniture) have numbers and/or Eileen Gray’s signature imprinted somewhere on the frame.” If there is no signature or number, ask an expert for an opinion or educate yourself before buying; check the provenance of the piece and go to a museum to see an original if possible. And always ask for a certificate of authenticity.
“Prior to my collaboration with Eileen Gray, her designs were only really known to design academics,” remarks Aram. “Being instrumental in making her designs available around the world to the extent that she is almost a household name has been the most satisfying and worthwhile challenge of my career.” A less worthwhile challenge for Aram is protecting his product from those who reproduce it without the designer’s consent.
Give Peace a Chance (Reverb)
Posted by: Saxon Henry on: March 27, 2009
Then...
by Saxon Henry
Forty years ago from May 26th to June 2nd, John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged their infamous bed-in at The Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal. The peaceful protest instantly grabbed worldwide media interest, not surprising since John and Yoko spoke to over 150 journalists every day during the weeklong bed-in. In the US, 350 radio stations carried reports that relayed the actions of the peaceniks, determined as they were to beam their protests against the war in Vietnam to every corner of the world.
In hindsight, one of the highlights of the event was John Lennon’s June 1st composition of Give Peace A Chance (original video shot in the suite). He wrote the song off-the-cuff, converting the suite into a recording studio under the direction of André Perry. Some 50 people—including Tommy Smothers, Dr. Timothy and Petula Clark—contributed to the recording of the song, which was immediately broadcast worldwide.
Then...
For the duration of the event, John had all the furniture removed from the suite and placed in the hall because he wanted to make room for visitors, media and his entourage (not recommended for your stay in the suite). He took the mattress from the bedroom and placed it on the floor in the living room, and taped posters to the walls with messages of peace. Once he had composed Give Peace A Chance, he had the lyrics written and posted on the walls near the bed so others could sing along during the recording. He also posted two boards with “Hair Peace” and “Bed Peace” in the windows behind the bed for all to see.
Now...
The hotel records show that thousands of guests have stayed in what is now called the John Lennon Suite over the years. Though it has been refurbished several times since 1969 and the furnishings from that era are long gone, some guests report that there remains a palpable mystical aura in the room. The suite’s updated décor includes memorabilia—press articles, framed gold records of Give Peace A Chance with music and lyrics, and color and black and white photographs of the couple taken during the event.
The urbane feel of the hotel’s interiors seems to contradict the fact that one of the world’s most famous protests took place in the locale in1969. Lest we all forget that we are still struggling in conflicts overseas, Yoko has collaborated with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts to stage the exhibition “Imagine: John & Yoko’s Pacifist Anthem,” which will be on view from April 2 to June 21 (2009), and will hold various documents, works of arts, records, sound-reels and photographs that relate to the bed-in.
Now...
The hotel has an Imagine Package through June 21, which includes a one-night stay; one CD featuring Give Peace a Chance; breakfast in bed for two or buffet breakfast in Le Montréalais restaurant and a copy of the lyrics of Give Peace a Chance.
Given the war-weary context we endure these days, maybe remembering John’s and Yoko’s urgent message for peace will be as beneficial as a good night’s sleep in a luxury hotel suite. Imagine that…
