This reminds us that with the right touch, even the historical can be relevant, young, frersh, demonstrating that the value of craftsmanship is timeless. We see how Tyler Hays founded the BDDW, the company of handcrafted homeware-created pieces in blue-and-white to integrate with the antique delftware in the same color scheme from the collection of the Musée des Arts décoratifs and Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave d’Alena’s colorful tablecloth, and hand-blocked wallpaper utilized as the backdrop for the Chinoiserie table. The result is a mix of high and low, elegant and humble, and illuminates royal imagery with that of racial and social injustice in Lugo’s voice. It is beyond just aesthetic ‘eclecticism,’ it is about conversations of narratives, about the political content of design. The way in which this so perfectly pairs with precious silver-gilt 18 th century flatware and Saint-Louis crystal glassware is the magic of contemporary taste. Roberto Lugo, the Philadelphia-based potter and social activist, created for this project colorful dinner plates in his graffiti style and decorated with his hip-hop signature portraits of young people of color. The book illustrates the entire process, including images of the artisans in their studios preparing the pieces. Schulak and Stark then mixed and matched, integrated the old with the new, and added beautiful food and magnificent flowers, creating the most stunning tables. They commissioned artists and craftspeople with the mission to reinterpret those vintage pieces in their own way, and to propose a new anf fresh creative way to created something similar. They paired historical table wares-mostly elaborate 18 th century style pieces that they took on loan from museums, private collections, and friends, and from their own homes, with contemporary pieces made bespoke for the production of this book. The formula of the book is simple: mixing high and low, historical and current, and integrating the table within home interiors. Dining in style, we learn, can and should be a part of contemporary lifestyle, because it has the power to bring more beauty into our lives. With some creative thinking, we can all breathe new life into the dining room. Here, they celebrate the art of the dining-table-demonstrating how even in the age of disposable tableware and casual dining, it is still possible to enjoy meals glamorously at home. Schulak and Stark met when he designed her daughter’s wedding and she then designed the interior of his home, and the two have since forged a friendship and collaboration which then formed the basis for this enticing volume. The production is so ambitious that it brings to mind the mega-productions for events in which Stark made his name internationally. And, like everything he touches, there is a great deal of innovation, beauty, and accomplishment. It is grand, elaborate, complex, and fascinating. It is a coffee table book entitled At the Artisan’s Table, in which he collaborated with Detroit-based designer Jane Schulak. When David told me that he has a new book coming out this fall, I was intrigued. I consult it whenever I entertain, because it always helps me to present the table with a fresh and different look, dinner after dinner, year after year. Years ago, when I first met David Stark-the influential event designer and producer-he gifted me his book Napkins with a Twist and what a gift! In this brilliant little book, he teaches the magical art of napkin folds, including how-to guides.
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