The Artist Date is a once-weekly, festive, solo expedition to explore something that interests you. The Artist Date need not be overtly “artistic” — think mischief more than mastery. Artist Dates fire up the imagination. They spark whimsy. They encourage play. Since art is about the play of ideas, they feed our creative work by replenishing our inner well of images and inspiration. When choosing an Artist Date, it is good to ask yourself, “what sounds fun?” — and then allow yourself to try it.

I did  go on Artist Dates over the last month (I just didn’t call it that way) and saw all kinds of art over the last Month; for example I saw beautiful paintings and mixed media pieces in an art gallery nearby. [I visited that gallery because my mum had a discourse there. Seeing the art was not the purpose of my visit but a beautiful ‘extra.’] And last weekend my beloved and I went for a bike-ride and visited an outdoor art festival, but it wasn’t very inspiring to me. I saw all kinds of not-so-wonderful (amateur) art and although there were some ‘nice’ pieces, ‘nice’ was the best I could make of it. Nothing inspired me really, no breathtaking pieces, no paintings or images that made me want to run home and start creating… Hanna’s post made me think I should plan special art dates to exhibitions of which I suspect will bring more inspiration.

For one, I would love to visit the exhibition that I received an invitation from last week, at The Fueled Collective the beautiful headquarters office of Fueled, an award winning app design and development company. There’s one problem though: The Fueled Collective is based in New York City! It would be nice to fly over there and go see it for myself but instead I’ll take an on-line tour through (part of) the exhibition – and I take you with me!

First, here’s a photo of (one side of the) Fueled Collective office. Not the average workspace, is it?!

{photo credit: SoAM Studio}

The Fueled collective is a shared working space in Manhattan that’s home to over 30 of the most exciting startups in NYC. At the collective, we share a love of plush leather couches, impeccably designed conference rooms, year round ice cream, and ping pong tournaments…not to mention, amazing views of lower Manhattan and a killer snack bar! (text copied from their website)

Now on to the exhibition by the young artist Evon Desmond Yee (b.1990, Oakland, CA.)

(Yee with his Kaleidogram photo credit: SoAM Studio}

Yee turned one of the meeting rooms at the Soho-based Fueled Collective into a twisted, dystopian version of an Apple Store. On first blush, it looks like a place where you’d buy an iPhone: it has all the same furniture and style, but with the strangest and most fascinating objects for sale. The exhibit is a stinging commentary on how we’re all addicted to gadgets, tech, and startup culture.

{photo credit: SoAM Studio}

I was drawn to this book (sure I was. You know I love “the real thing”: paper books!)

{photo credit: SoAM Studio}

This piece is called Timeline and I found more info (and a photo) about the content on Lee’s website

The next sculpture is also exhibited at the Fuel Collective: iPhossil

Here’s a detail photo

{photos of iPhossil taken from Lee's website)

I don’t own an iPhone or any other Apple device (my cellphone is from the stone age… it does not take pictures, texting means pushing the buttons a number of times to get the right letter but at least I can be reached. You now: phone calls!) But I think it would be pretty cool to carry this iFlip in my bag!

{photo credit: SoAM Studio}

Off all the ‘art’ in this exhibition (and there’s much more than I show here on my blog) I most like the Nocuous Rift because it makes you “view the world as you’ve almost always seen it before!”

{photo credit: SoAM Studio}

Now do I find the art by Evan Desmond Yee “beautiful”??? No… I don’t. But I like the fact that a young artist comments (in a critical way) on the world around him in a creative way. I like it when art makes you think twice, when images ‘scratch’ and sculptures make you feel uncomfortable…

The exhibit will be up until mid-September, so if you find yourself in NYC for some reason you can stop by at Fueled Collective,  568 Broadway, New York.