Israel’s Design Answer to the Fruit Bowl: The Fruiton by Tom Pol

By Ziva Haller Rubenstein of Designist Dream



Yes, that's right. A fruiton. What a name!? I was so excited to see this in a Tel Aviv design store last week. Loved the design, the name made me smile and then there's the concept. This isn't your beat-up old post-college futon. The Fruiton is made by Israeli Design studio Tom Pol because "every fruit deserves its individual space." So not only do your apples get to recline in regal style atop an Israeli design home accessory, they also get some r&r. Which, when you think about it, kind of makes sense, after all, why should all your fruit have to duke it out for prime positioning in your typical conical-shaped fruit bowl? Why not grant each fruit - or vegetable just to be PC - get its own chance to showcase its natural beauty or seduce you with its tasty intimations...



So, I may be reading way too much into this but the Fruiton is for fun fruit and voyeuristic veggie loving design fans who like their centerpieces as conversation starters. For Tom Pol, their design is about, "the pleasure of a shape, the confidence that emerges from quality and the comfort of something functional." And it doesn't get more functional than a futon.

{Crossposted from Designist Dream}

Epicurious - Shows off ModernTribe.com

Epicurious, the recipe/food lover site, has put up a Passover Guide with seven special seder plates. Three of the plates are from ModernTribe.com: Our Moon Crater Seder Plate, the Scroll Seder Plate, and the Song of the Red Sea Seder Plate. See the slideshow here.

Also in the Passover Guide is a menu for a Sephardic Seder. I may try this one myself:

• Dried Fruit and Almond Haroseth
• Smoked Fish with Fennel and Arugula Salad
• Spinach and Mint Soup
• For appetizers: Sauvignon Blanc
• Pot Roast with Orange and Dates
• Spiced Carrot and Zucchini Quinoa
• For entrées: Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon
• Walnut and Almond Cake with Orange-Pomegranate Compote

Pink Stinks Even in Israel: Skinboard Stickers

Designistdream.com has been covering office space Israeli style. Ziva pointed us to the Israeli design firm Dean's Presents and their Skinboards: designer stickers for keyboards. The site says Skinboards fit 95% of PC keyboards. I'm hoping Mac keyboards fit into their definition 'cause I like the idea.

I'm wondering about how all our Hebrew schools and bi-linguals here in the USA would enjoy having both the English and Hebrew letters share the keys. And in such stylishly funky ways! I'd add this item to the bar and bat mitzvah gift lists. I'm checking to see if Skinboards have made their way to the USA yet. The skin pictured here is one of my favorites. They call this Urban Graffity (that's how they spell it, with a "y"). The design reminds me of one of my little girl's t-shirts that has a cute-ed up skull and the declaration "Pink Stinks."

Dotan Bahat and the Alpha Men

Part-human part-animal creatures have a long mythical tradition. Egyptian Anubis has a head of a Jackal and body of a man. Homer's Harpies have the head and breasts of a woman but the body of a bird. And winged cherubs precede those found in our own Tenach (Hebrew Bible or Old Testament).

Dotan Bahat creates modern-day hybrids in a series he calls Alpha Men. The alpha male is the dominant one in a group of males. Dotan explains,

Alpha Men is a tongue-in-cheek comment on masculinity; each character
represents a symbolic male role - men in various roles of power - and its
animal head either compliments or contradicts its bearer’s designated role.

Dotan's artistic study of masculinity is inspired by his personal experience in the Israeli infantry. There he witnessed and experienced the jarring halt of adolescence and rapid maturation Israel's compulsory army service requires.

The doom ushering Crow General, the sensitive brute Gorilla Wrestler, and the ever-changing Chameleon Politician are just some of the alpha personas Dotan sees men donning today.

We have prints of Dotan's artwork for sale on ModernTribe.com.

You can see more of Dotan's work on his website.

Yael Naim and Ayelet Rose Gottlieb Rock

Sophie Milman's beautiful punim graces the cover of American Jewish Life's March issue. The jazz singer is one of the women featured in Women Who Rock, a profile of several contemporary music artists all of whom are women, beautiful, talented and Jewish.

Inspired by the article and panicked over the realization I hadn't bought any new music in over a year (I've long held that new music will stave off middle age), I went on a quest to find women Jewish artists doing Jewish-themed work to add to my own collection. I've listened to more than a dozen artists over the weekend. Here are two that I love. For your reference, my taste is more jazz than folk, more electronic than acoustic, more soulful than upbeat, more alternative than pop.

Yael Naim: Eclectic is the only way to describe Yael Naim's eponymous album. The first track Paris, is sung in Hebrew but styled as French torch song, ending with a sultry "Shalom Paris." Track two Too Long is trip-hop down-beat evoking a 90's favorite of mine: Portishead. Much of the album is Fiona Apple-ish folk sung in Hebrew and English. She does a cover of Brittany Spear's Toxic. And then her hit New Soul comes along and is solidly pop. (Side note: New Soul is the music for the MacBook Air commercials.) No matter the style, her music is fresh and lovely. Listen to samples of her music here. You can buy the album right now on iTunes and the album will be released in the US in March.

Ayelet Rose Gottlieb. Her album Mayim Rabim is based on ten segments of Song of Songs, those passionate love poems comprising one of the five scrolls of the Hebrew Bible. Just because the subject matter is traditional and religious, don't let that scare you away. This music is new, powerful, and exciting. Global Rhythm Magazine sums her album up perfectly, "avant-garde yet surprisingly accessible". Gottlieb's music is intellectually challenging, yet still a delight to listen to and easy to enjoy. American Jewish Life also profiles Gottlieb. Her album can be downloaded from iTunes or bought from Tzadik Records.