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NEW YORK (Reuters) - With toys, games, small furniture, books and play areas, a new exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art casts a sharp focus on 20th century design for children.
"Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900-2000," which opens on July 29 and runs through November 5, looks at the symbiotic relationship between children and the artists who designed for them.
"We're showing the two-way, very dynamic relationship between new concepts of childhood and children and new ways of thinking about design process and creativity," said Juliet Kichin, curator in MoMA's architecture and design department.
Both children and artists share traits of openness and even disobedience, making them natural and empathetic collaborators.
Kichin said working for children "gave the avant-garde unique freedom and creativity."
More than 500 objects from 20 countries, many from MOMA's own collections, are included in the exhibit. Some items have never been seen before in the United States, including Scottish designer Jessie Marion King's 1912-13 dollhouse made of painted wood and leather and her "Frog Prince" nursery panel.
UTOPIAN DREAMS AND DARK REALITY
The exhibit's first point of reference is Ellen Key's 1900 book "Century of the Child." The Swedish design reformer and social theorist looked at the 20th century as a period of intensified focus and progressive thinking about the crucial importance of the rights, development, and well-being of children.
The exhibit looks back 100 years, examining individual and collective visions for children ranging from utopian dreams to dark realities.
Kindergarten materials based on the theories of Friedrich Froebel recognize the widening influence of the 19th century kindergarten movement. Clay and wood play bricks painted by children at Francesco Randone's free art school in Rome and the educational materials conceived by Maria Montessori reflect a shift in educational methods and avant-garde artistic experimentation.
The exhibit includes children's books collected by Alfred H. Barr on a 1927-28 trip to the Soviet Union, before he was appointed MoMA'S founding director.
"When Barr was thinking about the development of modernist art and design he went on this life-changing visit to the Soviet Union and chose to buy children's books," Kichin said.
Familiar objects such as Lego building bricks, Erno Rubik's Cube, Etch-a-Sketch and Slinky are part of the exhibit, along with furniture by Alvar Aalto, a chair by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen, school desks by Arne Jacobsen and Jean Prouve and playground equipment by Isamu Noguchi.
Kichin and O'Connor said they particularly enjoyed the painted wood series personifying childhood misdeeds done in 1930 by Minka Podhajska and lent by the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague.
"The collection includes the child who can't sit still and the one who eats too much, another who thinks too much; and the one, wearing glasses, who reads too much," O'Connor said.
Another section focuses on the Cold War race to outer space.
"One of the amazing things that design can do is take you on a journey," Kichin said. "And with children, they're halfway there already, and design helps propel them that bit further."
Idealized posters of Soviet youth by El Lissitzky and Aleksandr Rodchenko are included. A U.S. Farm Security Administration Depression era photo by Ben Shahn shows "Children of Destitute Mountaineer, Arkansas, 1935."
Shomei Tomatsu's 1961 photo, "Girl Who Had Experienced the Atom Bomb Explosion While Still in her Mother's Womb," shows the horrors of war, along with children's drawings of their villages being bombed during the Spanish Civil War.
A different nightmare ensnared Bauhaus-trained artist, kindergarten teacher and art therapist Friedl Dicker, who was gassed at Auschwitz-Birkenau with 36 of her young students. Two of her works and a collage by Ruth Guttmannova, created at Theresienstadt concentration camp before her deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau, are part of the show.
(Reporting By Ellen Freilich; editing by Patricia Reaney and Kenneth Barry)
Source: uk.reuters.com
"I can do it!": Watch viral video of three-year-old's remarkably nimble climb up door frame that has sparked global TV interest - Daily Mirror
Leicestershire toddler Sofya Dickson is certainly going up in the world – a clip of her climbing up the inside of a door frame in her home has gone viral.
While most three-year-olds would get a telling off for climbing over the furniture, the little girl from Loughborough has attracted praise from all over the world, with TV stations from as far away as the US being impressed with her nimble skills.
Proud dad Peter said: "It's a little bit bizarre and I'm getting phone calls from America and it's all very strange to be honest.
"I had a lot of comments saying you should take her to the local rock climbing centre, so I might give them a call and see if they would let a three-year-old through the door."
Whether they let her through or not, it certainly appears as if Sofya could climb up it.
Source: www.mirror.co.uk
Jilted husband saws furniture in two and daubs ‘Kev’s half’ on cushions in bitter revenge against wife - Daily Mail
- Bitter Kevin Fiore, 56, trashed home and wrote offensive messages on walls
- Hacked sofa and dressing table in half, causing a total of 5,184 damage
- Bankrupt builder given two-year supervision order instead of jail term
By Helen Lawson
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A spurned husband exacted revenge on his former wife during divorce proceedings by sawing their furniture into pieces and labelling half of them as his.
Kevin Fiore, 56, caused 5,184 of damage to the 130,000 house in Werrington, Staffordshire, which he shared with wife Katrina.
The father-of-two, who had been married to the 39-year-old for three years after meeting 14 years ago, hacked the sofa in half and wrote 'Kev's half' on the cushions.
Spurned: Kevin Fiore reacted to his divorce with ex-wife Katrina Fiore, right, by ransacking their home
A wardrobe, dressing table and two sets of drawers faced the wrath of the jilted man, who also tore down the loft ladder, trashed the bathroom and scrawled offensive messages on the walls.
Fiore, a bankrupt builder who now lives with his daughter from another relationship, pleaded guilty to criminal damage and walked away from Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court with a two-year supervision order as the judge called his antics 'mean and unpleasant'.
Judge Mark Eades told him: 'This was a piece of revenge upon your ex-partner.
'It was mean and unpleasant but, at the end of the day, it was only property, and the value falls firmly in the magistrates’ court bracket.
'Therefore I’m going to be mindful of the magistrates’ court guidelines.'
The court heard how Mrs Fiore had walked out on her husband, with whom she has a son, in March last year.
Rampage: The Fiore family home in Werrington, Staffordshire, which received 5,200 worth damage
Fiona Cortese, prosecuting, said: 'On September 10 Mrs Fiore received a text message that said "There's nothing left, it's all trashed".
'As a result, Mrs Fiore went to the address and found various things had been damaged.'
Fiore sent an apologetic text to his wife the next day.
He was arrested and told police he had 'lost it' and that everything had gone wrong.
The court was told that Fiore had tried to sell the house but an estate agent said the garage, utility room and loft conversion would have to be demolished first because they were built without planning permission.
Colin Drew, defending, said his client was depressed and was being financially supported by his grown-up daughter.
He said: 'His total bankruptcy is approximately 62,000. He was a self-employed builder.
'He is out of work at the moment. He is signed off by his doctor because he has been suffering from depression.'
Mrs Fiores was not awarded compensation by the court because of her ex-husband's financial situation.
Close: Katrina Fiore, 39, at home with her and Kevin's 11-year-old son Brandon
After the sentencing, Mrs Fiore, who met her ex-husband at age 16 when he was painting the solicitor’s office where she worked, revealed the moment she discovered her house had been ransacked.
She said: ‘I told him I wanted a divorce but he refused to accept it.
‘He texted me telling me he'd trashed the house and I went round there with our son and just cried when I saw what he'd done.
‘We had a lovely expensive cream leather sofa which he'd sawn in half and scrawled 'Kev's Half' in black marker on the cushions.
‘I just cried when I walked round the house. ‘I am shocked that the judge let him walk free.
‘He deserved to be jailed for what he did to me and my family, I can't stand to look at him now.
‘I want him out of my life for good but I have to see him in court to discuss access to our son.’
She also spoke about her ‘deeply unhappy’ marriage to the builder.
Mrs Fiore said: ‘We were together for 14 years but got married four years ago in July 2008. I decided to call it a day because we'd simply grown apart.
‘We had nothing in common anymore and I didn't enjoy his company. He didn't do anything wrong really but I just didn't want to be with him anymore.’
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Furniture and your bedroom layout: how to get the most out of them - yorkshirepost
Advertorial Feature
Of all the rooms in your home, the bedroom is arguably the most personal. The furniture you put in this room can have a dramatic effect on the atmosphere of the space, so the process of choosing the right furniture for that space does merit some thought – and some research.
As your bedroom is primarily a room in which you sleep, most people tend to select their décor and furniture with a view to making it a relaxing area, and one in which it is easy to fall asleep . While the use of colour is often thought of in terms of wall paint or wallpaper, the furniture you choose also has a big role to play in terms of colour. Organic shades such as those offered by wood or wood effect furniture can help to generate a sense of calm, something that metallic items may not do so well.
Firstly, let’s look at the centre piece of any bedroom – the bed. It is arguably the one piece of furniture that deserves most thought and most investment. A good bed frame and a good mattress can mean the difference between good quality sleep, and sleepless nights. The subject of mattresses is a topic that deserves an article of its own, but suffice to say that you should test out a potential mattress before you buy it – and once again, of all the pieces of furniture you invest in, this aspect does deserve a good portion of your furnishings budget.
If you get the visual appeal of your bed frame right, together with a high quality, comfortable mattress, you may well have the recipe for years of good quality sleep. There are a range of bed specialists in the UK, among whom companies like Dreams beds rank very highly. When choosing your bed try to think about the layout of your room. If any new bed is very large, will it limit space in the room? If you have an irregularly shaped room, ensuring your bed actually fits in the allotted space is very important; make measurements before you go to the bed store.
Once you have your bed sorted, you can turn your attention to other items in your bedroom. Bedside tables, while not essential, offer a great place to store things like alarm clocks, lamps and reading material. If you don’t have a great deal of space in your bedroom, you may wish to forgo the bedside table and use the space for other more useful furniture.
A chest of drawers may well be considered more useful, since it serves a variety of functions. First and foremost it is a great way to separate your various belongings and keep them out of sight. The second role of such an item might be to achieve a visual balance in the bedroom; a large room with only a bed in can look sparse and a little uninviting.
If you have harsh corners in your room, you may use your furniture to lessen them. For example, rounded tables or plant pots can take the eye away from harsh lines and corners. Additionally, a centre-piece rug may work well to detract attention from these corners.
Take time to think about how your furniture will look in your bedroom. The internet is a great resource for getting ideas, and will help you create a room that helps you relax and enjoy this most personal of spaces.
Source: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
He paid for the house she lived in and she thought It was all hers we wrong again then she uses her child To get back at Kevin got wot u deserved NOTHING
- Bronson, Stoke, 24/7/2012 19:33
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