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Jack Lenor Larsen’s
LongHouse
By Molly Chappellet
Foreword by Edward Albee
Afterword by Francis H. Cabot
Chronicle Books, $50
chroniclebooks.com
SOMETIMES BOOKS SEEM TO
sing: Everything is exactly
right.
Jack Lenor Larsen’s Long-
House,
written and photo-
graphed by Molly Chappellet,
is such a creature. I say “crea-
ture” because the book seems
to breathe with its protagonist’s
own inventiveness, style and
sheer passion for creating and
living with beauty—as seen in
the art, craft, architecture and
sublime gardens that comprise
LongHouse Reserve.
Larsen’s 13,000-square-foot
LongHouse sits on 16 acres in
East Hampton,
n y ,
and features
works by Wharton Esherick,
Dale Chihuly, Yoko Ono and
Willem de Kooning. It was
opened to the public in 1992,
as a sort of model for the con-
temporary, artful life.
The metaphor of weaving is
invoked in the book—appro-
priate given Larsen’s stature as
one of the world’s great textile
designers. And it is true that life
and art are in constant interplay
in Larsen’s world. Yet some-
times, as in Chappellet’s image
of Sol LeW itt’s stately
Irregular
Progression, High
#7, where the
sculpture is softly scrimmed by
trees, the shadows of their
branches embracing the work,
it’s as though distinctions be-
tween art and nature, the man-
made and earth-given, become
meaningless. Everything is alive
and vital, creating magical,
previously unimagined relation-
ships. This is a sensuous envi-
ronment, and the cover, the
creature’s very skin—handmade
tuashi
(mulberry paper), fold-
dyed in
sums
ink—hints at the
wonders of LongHouse.
It is also a luminous environ-
ment; the play of light varies
inside and out. Buckminster
F uller’s
Fly’s Eye Dome,
sited
outdoors, glows from within,
Jack Lenor Larsen
planned LongHouse to
be a rich sensory experi-
ence of life inextricably
linked with art.
against a dark green canopy,
otherworldly and marvelous.
In his superb foreword,
Edward Albee contextualizes
LongHouse as a redemptive
experience in an increasingly
McMansionized East End of
Long Island. Larsen contributes
his own text—intelligent, wist-
ful and keenly observant.
Speaking of the future of Long-
House, one that “searches for
the optimum while avoiding the
maximum,” he quotes George
Balanchine: “Don’t be reverent;
be relevant!”
LongHouse
is the ultimate
twofer: inspiring the former,
achieving the latter.
-MELISSA HARRIS
Melissa Harris is the editor of
Aperture
magazine.
NY /New York
Museum of Arts and Design
Think Again:
New Latin American Jewelry
to Jan. 9
madmuseum.org
Organized by the Otro Diseno
Foundation, this show features
jewelry makers representing
some 23 Latin-American countries.
OR / Portland
Museum of Contemporary Craft
Object Focus: The Book
to Feb. 26
museumofcontemporarycraft.org
Exploring the book as an object
that defies the boundaries of art,
craft and design.
PA / Reading
Reading Public Museum
Tiffany Lamps: Articles of
Utility, Objects o f Art
to Jan. 23
readingpublicmuseum.org
A celebration of Louis Comfort
Tiffany’s groundbreaking contri-
butions to decorative lighting.
RI / Providence
Museum of Art,
Rhode Island School of Design
Lynda Benglis
to Jan. 9
risdmuseum.org
This exhibition spans 40 years
of the artist’s work, ranging from
wax paintings, poured latex and
polyurethane foam sculptures to
videos and installations.
TX / Houston
Houston Center
for Contemporary Craft
CrafiTexas 2010
to Dec. 30
crafthouston.org
A juried exhibition showcasing
the best in Texas-made contem-
porary craft.
W A / Tacoma
Museum of Glass
Glimmering Gone
to Sept.
6
museumofglass.org
The first joint exhibition from
teaching collaborators Beth
Lipman and Ingalena Klenell.
014 american craft dec/jann
Book photos Mark LaF avor (3)
