Showcasing art on a video has traditionally been under-represented at art fairs and exhibitions, for obvious reasons really – busy collectors do not have the time to stand around watching a video of an artist’s work at a fair, where the volume is barely audible anyway. Condensing the beauty of art onto a screen has often been dismissed as not doing the art do it the justice it deserves. Whilst the pitfalls of video art are relatively obvious, Edward Winkleman thinks otherwise.

The New York based art dealer has launched ‘Moving Image’, an art fair wholly dedicated to contemporary video as a constructive method for artists to seek recognition. The idea behind the Moving Image fair was ignited by a comment Mr Winkleman once heard from an art critic from New York, saying that, “he never watches videos at art fairs – he just doesn’t have time.”

Determined to change the art critic’s mind and demonstrate the unique advantages of viewing art work on contemporary video, Tinkleman and his business partner Murat Orozobekov set up Moving Image. This unique exhibition was conceived to provide dealers with a unique viewing experience showcasing a vibrant program of time-based work from today’s best new artists from around the globe.

The art fair, which opened in New York at the beginning of March to coincide with Armony Week, included the historical works of David Wojnarowicz and Hannah Wilke, depicted the adverse use of heroine in New York City in the early 1980s. The video has been described as being “closer to masterful cinema than to experimental video.”

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The word ‘bling’ may not have made it into the Oxford English Dictionary yet, but since it was first used by rapper Lil Wayne and the group Cash Money in his song  “Bling Bling” in the late 1990s, the word has become a widely used term to describe the excessively ornate and flashy. Although another explanation behind where the term ‘bling’ originated was from the sound something shiny makes, for example when someone smiles in a toothpaste commercial and their teeth make the little bell sound ‘bling’!

Either way ‘bling’ has made it big time and has evolved from being a merit of exceptional jewelled and shiny jewellery and accessories to a feature of some seriously expensive technology. Take a look at five of the best bling gadgets.

Tinie Tempah’s Gold Mobiles

This shiny and rare metallic element found in the veins of quartz has long been associated with opulence and luxury. When the British rapper Tinie Tempah won two Brit Awards earlier this year, he was rewarded with two 22 carat gold-plated Blackberry Smartphones as a thank you for the artist’s musical accomplishments.

Swarovski DJ Headphones

DJs, like rappers, seem to have an unswerving penchant for the bling, and can get away with being dripped from head to toe in bling-encrusted items without anyone turning a blind eye. Therefore if a DJ graced his DJ box wearing a set of Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones saturated with a swarm of Swarovski crystals, nobody would look twice – despite their £1,799.99 pricetaeg.

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In celebration of an artist whose influence has been as great as his reputation.

Until Monday 16 May 2011, an exhibition of ceramics is being held at the Musee National Fernand Leger. The exhibition is in celebration of the ceramics Fernand Leger created during the last years of his life.

Fernand Leger was a French sculptor, painter and filmmaker of the late 19^th and early 20^th century. The French artist became most famous for his role in the development of Cubism, which he managed to craft into a more populist style, and in doing so, became regarded as being a forerunner of Pop Art.

Despite the artist’s multi-faceted artistic career, where his involvement in painting, printmaking and film making, saw that Leger was involved in the Tubism, Cubism and Modernism movements, the High in Colour exhibition focuses solely on the ceramics Leger created during the latter years of his life.

A visit to the Musee National Fernand Leger is an experience in itself. Located in Chernin du Val de Pome near the town of Biot, the museum is covered in stunning stained glass mosaic, created by H. Melano of Biot. This beautiful museum was originally founded by Fernande Leger as a ceramics studio in 1950, which in 1957 became the Leger Museum. In 1967 it was opened as a national museum in the presence of Pablo Picasso, George Braque and Marc Chagall. Its location is obviously deliberate, given Biot’s notoriety for its bubble-filled glasswork and its poetry.

Leger himself had a passion for mosaic, and from 1946 – 1949, he worked on a mosaic for the façade of the church of Assy, produced tapestries and windows for the church at Ardincourt and the University of Caracas.

The exhibition is open Wednesday to Monday, 10.00 – 17.00 (18.00 from 2 May 2011).

For more information on the Musee Nacional Fernand Leger and the ‘High in Colour’ exhibition visit the website.

Architecture, interior design and fashion this year, looks set to see an infusion of pastels, minimalism and Elizabethan influences, with a strong emphasis on the beautification of renewable forms of energy. Take a look at some of the popular trends emerging from the world of design this year.

Minimalism

Many experts are predicting a return to minimalism this year. Interior designs will see simple, geometric furniture, free of ‘fussiness’ and clutter. There is also an emphasis on minimalist collections in the spring 2011 fashion trends. Dubbed as being fashion ‘make-under’, unadorned fabrics, pared-down silhouettes, and untainted shapes and shades have seized the catwalk this season.

Honeysuckle

The annual and seasonal colour planner of graphic design, architecture, fashion and make-up, Pantone, has predicted that ‘honeysuckle’ is going to be the colour of 2011. The emphasis on ‘honeysuckle’ this year is to imitate a colour that is “bright without being bold: reflecting a brighter outlook on the future, but not an ebullient one.”

Pantone has also predicted that there will be a leaning towards pale pastels contrasting with richer colours of iron and brick in the world of interior design in 2011, whilst architecturally, there will be an emphasis on darker irons and stone colours.

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Who says China’s new found prosperity comes at the sacrifice of the economy of the west? On the contrary, China’s boom in wealth is resulting in many small to medium sized architectural practices in the United States securing lucrative design projects commissioned by wealthy Chinese developers. These architectural projects, which range from luxury villa housing complexes mimicking the likes of Palm Springs, to quarter of a mile high skyscrapers, are productive, not only because they help to fill the financial uncertainty crafted by a limp American economy, but also because they give architects the opportunity to rouse a certain creativity usually left dormant in an architect’s mind.

Stuart Silk is one such architect who has reaped the benefits of China’s increasing prosperity. Stuart Silk owns a smallish architecture firm in Seattle, and was approached by a developer in Shanghai to design a community of villas bearing extremely hefty price tags. The developer had seen a picture of a house Mr Silk had designed in Palm Springs and liked it so much that he offered the Seattle-based architect the job. There was no meetings with the developer and no discussions of style or budget – unprecedented in the world of architecture and design.

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