The words “modern” and “store” connote “s**t I can’t afford,” but the newest offerings from the Museum of Modern Art’s gift shop are within reach! Seriously. And they’re also the best way of injecting some super-class into your pad.
OK fine — a lot of the “new” stuff from the MoMA store isn’t technically new. In fact, our favourite find — a handsome $US35 German computer brush (demoed on an iPhone above), was originally designed in 1992. But that’s part of what makes these things so killer — a lot of the time, the only way to see them would be at the MoMA, behind glass. And if you try to touch them, you’ll likely be arrested, or at least asked to never return to the museum.
But now you can add these things, representing some of the most clever achievements in the history of design, to your home, like buying a stick of deodorant or bag of socks. So we rounded up our favourites.
In order of appearance, above:
The Ntzwerk Bowl can be crumpled and stomped on, because it’s made of injection-molded thermoplastic. $US45 for the big guy, $US15 for small. Nothing should ever break.
The Cuboluce light box makes a gorgeous little side lamp. Nobody will have a side lamp like yours. It was originally designed in 1972 by Franco Bettonica and Mario Melocchi, and will cost you $US150 2012 dollars.
The plastic decanter is wonderful for anyone who both enjoys wine and tends to drop shatter-prone things onto the ground, and a $US12 set of three WineSkins will further pad your bubbly.
We wish we’d been able to include the Cubic Ice Cube Tray by Adrian and Jeremy Wright in our frosty Battlemodo, because it’s stellar looking, makes geometrically perfect cubes, and is only 20 bucks.
The Telescoping Basting Brush was another neat kitchen tool — baste that bird from a safe distance! $US14.
The store also carries some handsome musical gadgets, including the Geneva XS, which folds into itself like luggage, and a rare digital foray from Braun.
Nobody gets letters anymore, but the $US12 Birdie Paper Knife designed by Yohei Oki would be a wonderful way of opening them, balancing itself perfectly when not in use. And looking like a bird.
And for the lay-deez, you might want to wrap the Silk Origami scarf by Keiko Kuroishi around your lovely neck. Why? Because it was cut with lasers. Laser couture is here.
Everything you see above will be in MoMA’s stores this August and for the vast majority of you not in New York, available online.