The Strong and the Museum of Play


The Strong’s Toy Hall of Fame inducts new members every year to it’s hallowed collection, which houses almost every toy imaginable, from the Easy Bake Oven to the utilitarian cardboard box. Luddites and video gamers alike will be pleased to know that the collection honors both the original Atari Video Game System and a simple wooden stick as great examples of toys from ages past. Courtesy, the Strong, Rochester, New York.

Possibly the least boring museum on the planet!

Any kid who rolls his eyes at the suggestion of a trip to the museum might think twice when it comes to the Museum of Play! Located in Rochester, NY, The Museum of Play is just one of several affiliated “play partners” overseen by the Strong, a non-profit, “highly interactive, collections-based educational institution devoted to the study and exploration of play”. Continue reading →

“A Revolution in Wood: The Bresler Collection” now on view at the Renwick Gallery

Mark Sfirri, Rejects from the Bat Factory, 1996, mahogany, curly maple, cherry, zebrawood, cocobolo, lacewood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur and Charles Bresler in honor of Kenneth R. Trapp, curator-in-charge of the Renwick Gallery (1995-2003)

Fleur Bresler approaches a tall, shelved wall in her home where a fraction of her collection is housed, “This is not a museum. Almost every item we have can be picked up, can be touched… can be moved and can be felt.” She reaches over and lovingly handles one of the countless wood objects for which she has now become known. The grain and lustre of the piece looks as though it was simply made to be handled. Bresler jokes, “My husband says I must cease and desist… so I’ve started buying very small pieces. It takes him longer to find them.” Continue reading →

Cabinet

Issue 37 (Spring 2010), with a themed section on “Bubbles” Cover image: "Tursiops truncatus meets Bulla bulla. Photo Barry Bland." D. Graham Burnett writes about dolphins and bubbles in his text from this same issue, "Two Bubbles, and a Third"

A couple who collects coffee cup lids.

Beau Brummell and the history of the cravat.

Deep sea shrimp that produce bubbles with their claws that interfere with submarines.

Favorite recipes of famous artists.

The politics of banana farms and the United Fruit company. Continue reading →