Fall Modernism Week...

I met up with Julie as we gleefully returned to Palm Springs for Modernism Week – October.

While smaller in scope than the 11-day festival held annually each February (which we will be attending), the Fall happening offers more than 50 events during 4-days, including several free and low-cost programs. After the Friends of the Library Architecture Book Sale, we grabbed coffees at Koffi, had a delicious lunch at Taqueria Tlaquepaque, and then headed to the Palm Springs Art Museum.
I have admired Gerald Clarke's Continuum Basket: Pivat (Tobacco) before. What is truly amazing is that it is constructed of aluminum beer and soda cans mounted on a satellite dish. WOW. "Drawing inspiration from his Cahuilla heritage and the desert and mountain environment of his homeland, Mr. Clarke combines common objects and materials to express traditional ideas in surprising forms. In this work, he has arranged 1,884 crushed aluminum cans on a satellite dish to create symbols representing tobacco flowers and bats, inspired by the traditional motifs featured on two historic Cahuilla baskets in the museum's permanent collection."
According to the accompanying text, "Continuum Basket addresses the disengagement with and destruction of our native habitat-from littering to the construction of track housing-while the selection of beer and soda cans symbolically confronts the disproportionately high rates of alcoholism and diabetes in Native communities." Interesting.
Rat Catcher of Hamelin IV was a tad disturbing when I read more about it. Artist Mark Bradford finds inspiration in places where he lives and works. This collage is derived from a series of billboards gathered in Leimert Park, where Bradford maintains his studio.
"In 2010, a serial killer was apprehended in his neighborhood. After the arrest, the Los Angeles Police Department found photographs of African American women and posted them on billboards with the stated purpose of discovering additional victims. Bradford was astonished that the privacy of the women in his neighborhood could be violated and set about to collect the images. His layered canvas simultaneously obscures and reveals the narrative that led to the political and personal assault that the billboards represent."



We came to town today, ultimately, to tour Frey House II, a home recognized as an outstanding example of modernist architecture. Architects, scholars, and students from around the world come to Palm Springs to study and appreciate Albert Frey’s work. His unique understanding of function, form, practicality, and love for the desert landscape combine to provide us this extraordinary legacy.
Albert Frey is one of the main architects that helped shape the overall design of Palm Springs we have come to love today. He was born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1903. He personified the same qualities found in his buildings: elegant, simple, streamlined, and clever. Even his wardrobe demonstrated a sensual notion of esthetic frugality. He wore shirts, trousers, and socks in a strictly limited palette of white, powder blue, salmon, pale yellow, and beige. For Frey, Modernism was not merely a stylistic issue, but a philosophical way of life.


Reportedly, he was somewhat of a desert eccentric: a vegetarian and yoga enthusiast who liked to sunbathe in the nude, necessitating that this bell, down by the carport, to be rung when visitors were approaching. I love that!
The architect’s 800-square-foot personal home — his second in the desert, where he lived until he died — is recognized for numerous design feats. Arguably, the most visually striking is the massive boulder jutting through the glass wall at the rear of the house; it serves as a divider between the shared living and sleeping areas. The most awe-inspiring, though, is the intentionality of Frey’s site selection and the subsequent sun study that he conducted prior to breaking ground.
Frey began his search for a lot in 1958 and took five years to find it. He chose this site at the base of Mount San Jacinto, 220 feet above Palm Springs, largely because of the natural outcrop that he incorporated into the design. Once he’d settled on the location, Frey took another 12 months to track the movement of the sun using a 10-foot pole; this helped him determine the best sightline for each window and position for each gathering space.
The build finally began in 1963 with the construction of a retaining wall. Made of poured concrete and concrete block, it extends from the house to create a front patio that cradles one of the most picturesque pools in Palm Springs. To address the natural slope of the lot, the single-story home splits into two levels separated by a few stairs. The lower level houses the galley kitchen and combined living and sleeping areas; the upper level includes the bathroom and a multipurpose dining/drafting table. Built-in furnishings make the most of modest quarters — there is plenty of added storage, including a safe concealed behind his bed, and unique personal touches like a pencil sharpener below the drafting board and a built-in turntable by the sofa. In 1967, he added a 300-square-foot addition off the kitchen to serve as a guest room (where you see me reclining below).
Franklin Jones was our incredible, and informative host. He brought Albert Frey to life. So dang cool.



Frey observed the valley from this perch for 34 years. In March 1995, at age 91, he sat down at his home with Jennifer Golub, co-author of the monograph Albert Frey House 1 + 2. Golub was taken with how little had changed in the home since its fabrication in the ’60s. It had the same brittlebush-yellow curtains, the same built-in furniture, and the same Swiss cowbell hanging at the entrance. “You haven’t even acquired anything,” Golub told Frey. “Would you do anything differently if you were to make the house today?”

“I really haven’t thought about it,” the architect replied. “It’s pretty much the way I like it.” And decades later, Frey would be pleased to know that it still is, now under the care of the Palm Springs Art Museum.



This has to be my most favorite spot in all of Palm Springs. I can just picture Albert admiring all that was laid out before him.

Our final stop was at The Shag Store for some souvenir shopping. Unbeknownst to us (but not to the 100+ people waiting in line), there was a book launch happening.

Nancy Sinatra arrived as we stood with our faces pressed against the store's window front. Her book, Nancy Sinatra: One For Your Dreams is described as "the ultimate pictorial retrospective is a visual journey through Nancy’s life and career, highlighting her international hits; her collaborations with Lee Hazlewood, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra; her movies and TV appearances; her family life; and her work as an activist on behalf of Vietnam veterans."
Even ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons was there as he has covered Nancy's most famous hit, These Boots Were Made For Walking. Though we didn't make it into the party, hanging about in the fringes wasn't too bad either.

I am always happy in Palm Springs and my expectations are always exceeded each time I go. Oh by the way, it was 100°! What a Saturday.

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