"Birth of the Cool"  

It's an interesting exhibit...
It's an interesting exhibit to be sure. i saw it in LA as well as in Oakland. For those well-versed in Eames and similar mid century furniture icons, there won't be anything new. But it did tie together most of my personal interests into one tidy show.
Case Study Houses/Arts & Architecture mag/Shulman photographs, West Coast/Pacific Jazz and William Claxton photography, Alvin Lustig etc etc. Throw in some Maynard G. Krebs and "Holy Barbarians" beatnik shtick, and some "hard edge" abstract minimalism and it's like the curators have been following me around for the last 25 years.
More of a smorgasbord sampler of related mid-century california modernism rather than a definitive show. People new to all of this may well be blown away, but many of us will just be pleased to see our favorites included.
The related book is nice as well, even if it's not the definitive source.

It's definitely worth seeing...
if you're close. Probably wouldn't make a MAJOR ROADTRIP for it though. It came through St. Louis a few months ago at Eames' Alma Mater...although I thought it looked like the students did it.

dudedah are you in st....
dudedah are you in st. louis? im just outside in alton, il but i work in stl

not to steer the thread off course..but
I am smitten with this non-mid century home in your area. And at a price far less than a studio apartment woud cost in my zip code!! Alton, Illinois?
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/801-Rozier_Alton_IL_620...

CALIFORNIA
MILES DAVIS:little connection to Ca.EAMES:inextricable link to Ca...I wish the exhibit was more eamsian or at least a nod to Girard.One thing no leg splint, hell, it was made in Venice Ca...

Miles Davis is considered to ...
Miles Davis is considered to be the originator of the "cool jazz" sound which was also known as "west coast jazz" and widely (and snidely) almost 100% associated with California, the Pacific Jazz label, and other artists like Dave Brubeck, Cal Tjader, Chet Baker etc.
Since west coast cool jazz and the Pacific Jazz label (and William Claxton's photos) are a large portion of the exhibit....the title makes sense in the context of the theme.
BTW....the Miles Davis lp "birth of the cool", although recorded in 1949-50, wasn't released until 1957 at which point the "cool jazz/west coast jazz" terms were well in use.
The Davis album was named "birth of the cool" to cash in on this "movement". In any case, other people who played on THAT LP such as Kai Winding, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, and J.J. Johnson were major forces in the west coast sound. So Davis is only part of the picture, really.

yes thanks
I know I am being too literal but the art /furniture/ ceramics all produced by cal artists/desiners.The real danger with this exhibit focus is falling into it being largely about Eames and it fell into that trap.One funny thing,a child pulled the (rather shabby condition) tropi cal chair off its stand.

I didn't feel that it was...
I didn't feel that it was "all about Eames", and most of the musicians were based in LA or the Bay Area, so...
I'll agree that they didn't really have any barriers or protection for the exhibits. i saw plenty of morons handling the furniture like they were in someone's living room. After a few thousand people do that something bad is bound to happen.
The exhibit did look better in LA than the somewhat shabby set up they had in Oakland. But maybe that's just the difference between Newport Beach and Oaktown.
Just sayin'...

.
if only the music was playing in an ambient way, not just on head sets.Did anyone notice the small abstract study Ray Eames did on board it was freshly chipping... no plexi box surround...

I think
of the furniture... focus was on Eames.I wish the beat scene had been covered in more depth...

Birth-o-cool wheels.
Anyone can ride for miles and miles on Miles!
http://www.retrotogo.com/2009/03/western-edition-miles-davis-quintet-ann...

That's actually
pretty cool

Those skateboards are a bit...
Those skateboards are a bit ridiculous in my opinion. I mean, the artwork is well done, but how many skateboarders do YOU know who listen to Miles Davis, or even to jazz? The moron element is pretty high amongst any adults who still ride a skateboard.
These look like some attempt to attract collector types who would hang them on the wall and never actually ride them.
Why not just hang some original Miles LP covers? that would be much cooler.
Of course i expect I'll hear now from the hordes of design addict readers who ride skateboards. If that's you...then my apologies...you're obviously the exception to the rule.

So you are saying Zaha Hadid and Dillon Lin are morons.
See the feature article on the Oslo Opera House, in the December 2008 issue of Wired.
The moron element is pretty high amongst any adults who still operate on stereotypes. The "cowabunga dude" stereotype died in the late 80's. Get with it man.

Yes, I've only met thousands...
Yes, I've only met thousands of them in my lifetime.
Just because something is a "stereotype" doesn't mean there isn't some truth to it. We could stereotype professional wrestlers a certain way. I'm sure you could find a few wrestlers who don't fit the mold, but most probably would.
Having not met the people in question I can't answer. Perhaps you found the two adult skateboarders out of every 1,000 who aren't in some state of arrested teenage development.
I'm sure they have Miles Davis skateboards on their walls.
P.S...people still read Wired? talk about getting with it!