This week we’re sharing our Stockholm Travel Guide, highlighting weekend food and shopping pop-ups, and introducing you to our cool new friend: artist, Minjae Kim.
TOAST Brooklyn
Much-loved English clothing and homewares brand, TOAST, is the newest shop to open on Brooklyn’s greatest block for shopping at 367 Atlantic Avenue. TOAST aspires to a slower, more thoughtful way of life and to that end, they’re bringing some of its circular craft programs to the US (including the 2024 New Makers program with Catskill-based basket weaver Amy Krone). Stop by for womenswear, menswear, and home…plus don’t miss out on the in-house repair specialist offering free mending on TOAST pieces. Open 11a-6p daily.
As far as major European cities go, Stockholm is about as north as it gets – and that distance really shapes a unique perspective making this city a must-visit. This Nordic metropolis is much more than Abba, Ikea, and herring – and we’re excited to take you on our tour of Sweden’s capital.
Say hello to Summer’s hottest new thing: coolstuff’s international travel guides!! Over the next few months we’ll be bringing you our picks of all the coolest things to eat, see, and do in 5 cities across Europe. So far we’ve covered Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Stockholm - stay up to date and read all of our travel guides here!
Visionary Projects: It’s Time to Slow Down
One of our favorite ways to cool off during the now-annual NYC heat waves is gallery hopping all of the newest shows. For the impending “heat dome” this weekend, might we recommend stopping by Visionary Projects’ newest exhibition, “It’s Time to Slow Down,” in partnership with Anderson Contemporary? This newly opened show in the heart of FiDi features 42 artists emphasizing the importance of mindful interaction and consumption. Each piece commands the viewer to pause, think, reflect, and honor the simple pleasures of daily life. Oh, and all of this is inside a unique public green space at 180 Maiden Lane. Stop by and take it all in now with fun events through August 13th.
Best Pizza in Williamsburg is hosting Mexico-based cookbook author Chef Rick Martinez this Tuesday, June 25th, for a FUN Backyard Pizza Party as part of his week of fun events celebrating pride in the city. Happening from 5:30-8p, the party will feature a special Mexican-inspired Pollo Tinga Pizza with spicy tomato sauce, slow-cooked chicken tinga, cilantro, and red onion. Stop by 800 Grand Street, Brooklyn to get a taste!
The heat is here and we’re ready to treat every day like we’re lounging in a European square. If you’re like us, you’ll like Summer Mondays at Cafe Altro Paradiso where BODY Vodka martinis and spritzes are flowing for $12 alongside caviar and afternoon snacks. Stop by on Mondays in June from 2-5p to get in on the fun!
Renegade Craft Fair is popping up in Boerum Hill this Saturday and Sunday for an amazing weekend full of over 150 artists, designers, and makers. The market is free to visit over at Zero Space at 345 Butler Street. Be sure you don’t miss Coolstuff faves like Squids Ceramics (Saturday only!), Even Keel soaps, and Sunday Studio. Check out the full list of this weekend's vendors here and stop by from 11a-5p both days.
Ask us a question, recommendation, or well…anything in the comments section of the newsletter & we’ll reply within 24 hours. This is your chance for personalized NYC recommendations - from a date night spot in the West Village to the coolest shops in Cobble Hill - we’ve got you covered! All you have to do is click the comment icon at the top or bottom of this week’s newsletter to get your questions over to us :)
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Meet Minjae, an artist, designer, and furniture maker whose playful works toe the line between functional pieces and fine art. We caught up with Minjae during his recent residency at the Ace Hotel Brooklyn to hear about his latest work and how it all started in an art-filled childhood.
How did you get your start as an artist & designer?
My background is actually in architecture. Growing up, I wanted to be a painter like my mother, MyoungAe Lee, but in my teens she persuaded me otherwise and nudged me towards architecture. Moms just love architects. I went on to study architecture in college, while also exploring other mediums and taking painting courses. I continued with this and came to New York almost 10 years ago to get my master's degree in architecture, and after graduation worked at Studio Giancarlo Valle.
Over the years of studying architecture I also learned how to make furniture and kept it as my passion on the side. Whenever I found time between my architecture projects at school or work, I would work on small furniture projects. I liked the satisfaction of carrying a project to completion on my own, while giving me another creative outlet whenever I had little ideas. During the pandemic my day job was cut short and it gave me the extra time to really develop my own language. Eventually, I was able to produce enough work from my backyard and basement to get my own solo show at Marta in Los Angeles in 2021.
Tell us about your Ace Hotel artist residency!
Nana and Noah from Fort Makers reached out sometime last year and told me there was an opportunity to do a residency at Ace Hotel Brooklyn. At first, I wasn’t sure it made sense to do a residency in the city I already lived in, but I came to realize that the added hotel space would provide an opportunity to invite my parents living in Korea to New York for a month and have them interact with my work in a way that they hadn’t been able to previously. Splitting my living and working into a hotel environment, while also having my parents in town was a huge challenge, but was rewarding, in the way that it gave me the feeling that I was living my life to the fullest.
Initially, when I moved into the hotel, I had the idea of making a chess set during the residency. I knew I wanted to make work that related to the crises in the world and chess seemed like an appropriate translation of that, which was also suited for a hotel lobby. I had already begun exploring mold-making and was practicing resin casting at my studio, so I knew I could create the clay positives in a hotel room, without making too much of a mess.
What’s your favorite part about the New York creative community?
I came to the U.S. from Korea in my teens and spent most of my twenties here, which perpetually places me between the two cultures. I often identify myself as an outsider wherever I go, but New York seems to numb that sensation because there are so many of us like that here. Delving into one's identity all the time can be quite distracting and New York is a good antidote for that.
What's the main inspiration for your pieces?
There seems to be more than enough pain and anger to go around in the world and I've been looking for a medium to channel that without removing myself too much from the furniture and object work I've been doing over the years. As cliche as it is, they say chess is a miniature of the world we live in and among other similar typologies it seems to be the most expressive and figurative of emotions that we live with. I was drawn to the scale of the game and also found it to be emblematic of the social hierarchies that we live with in so many ways.
Do you have a favorite series of work that you've created?
The work that I enjoy the most to this day is probably the sculpted chairs. It's such a simple formula, but the end results are virtually infinite. I hope I never stop making them.
Follow along:
www.minjae.kim
@mnjaekim
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This week’s contributors:
Anna & Garrett Albury