Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Farewell to Florence Knoll Bassett, Sweden's affinity for erotica, how germs communicate and more

Pioneer of Office Design, Florence Knoll Bassett Dies at 101 Anyone familiar with open floor plans, straight lines and simplicity within their office knows the work of Florence Knoll Bassett. The acclaimed architect and designer reimagined corporate workspaces through her system of “total design,” which removed heavier drapes and desks and championed sleek, modern additions. As the design director of Knoll Associates, for more than 20 years, …

Ulysse Nardin’s Erotic, Oceanic “Classico Manara” Collection

Italian cartoonist Milo Manara partners with the luxury watch brand for a 10-piece line

There’s a torrid history of erotica in watch design. From graphic automatons on dials to hidden (or obvious) hyper-sexual imagery, the time-telling industry has toyed with sexual iconography for centuries. Last year, at Richemont‘s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie Genève (SIHH), acclaimed watchmaker Ulysse Nardin unveiled an orgiastic Jaquemart repeater—or a timepiece featuring a mechanical animation that chimes. It was NSFW to say the least. This year, at SIHH, …

Why We Fixate on the Time Artists Spend on Their Work

Collectors, viewers and members of the press have long been fascinated with how long artists spend on each piece they create. Whether related to our obsession with the myth of the artist’s struggle, how we put a monetary value on a piece, or beyond, “it’s easier to value intensive physical labor over conceptual rigor when an artist’s thought process can feel so intangible and impossible to …