If you’ve been to Cambodia, it’s a must-have. If you haven’t, it will persuade you to get there. And soon. I’ve tried for years to describe to people what it is about Angkor that puts it smack dab at the top of my favorite places list. McDermott’s book communicates visually what I have not been able to communicate verbally.

Through the use of special black-and-white film that is sensitive to infrared light, McDermott’s collection of photographs of the temples of Angkor is not just dramatic, but ethereal.

He puts it best himself. “It is the intangible spirit of a place that is most elusive when one is trying to create a visual portrait,” explains McDermott.

Not only do McDermott’s photographs capture Angkor’s physical beauty, but also that indefinable spirit that is so difficult to put into words.

For additional details, visit asiaphotos.net.

Eye Candy

For decorative arts devotees, nothing is better than finding lots of fine furnishings and art all under one roof. Better if the roof covers all periods and styles as well as (clearly marked) reproductions and contemporary craft.  Look no further than midtown Manhattan where you’ll find Center44 (222 East 44th Street), a few blocks west of the United Nations.

Into Africa (made from recycled Texaco oil drums found in Africa) $1250

Proprietors Paul Plumadore and Jim Tindell are the kind of people who make the business of buying and selling antiques pure pleasure. They’ve invited 75 dealers to display furnishings in room-like settings and the results create sparks of brilliance. Mod, see-through lucite chairs rub up against a 300-year-old walnut chest-of-drawers. Fornasetti plates (by Rosenthal) rest on a metal table fashioned from discarded oil drums. The decorative mix, from old Ethiopian crosses to Italian modern (Gio Ponti chairs) reflect the way we live now.

Striped Italian chair, circa 1940

Paul, a former dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, designed the look of the Center while Jim handles sales southern style–friendly and gracious (chalk it up to Alabama where he was born).  Shoppers include a-list designers Bunny Williams, Kelly Wearsler, Amy Lau and Albert Hadley to name (drop!) a few regulars.  The atmosphere invites meandering (and so does the shop layout). Introduce yourself to Paul and Jim before you begin. They can help, but you’re free to browse. Most of the individual dealers leave it up to Paul and Jim to handle sales. Don’t be surprised if a few hours pass before you come up for air. And prices? Affordable. Visit and tell us what you find. Center44 earns four acanthus leaves * * * *  (And the super-groovy hanging lights throughout the block-long showroom are among the best we’ve seen anywhere in NYC.)

Engraved brasses on an English walnut chest-of-drawers, circa 1700

Can you identify?

On a recent visit, we found a claw-foot bathtub transformed into a sofa; chandeliers made of wooden and plastic hangers; tables made of Scrabble letter tiles and paper cutters, and polished floors made of salvaged wood by Brooklyn-based designers Nightwood.

The design firm iCrave created the assemblage and the vibe is upscale downtown chic. And it’s happening all over the country, but my guess is that the recycle aesthetic was born in Brooklyn and other communities where young, creatives nest. Another look we love is by textile designer Lori Weitzner who created wallpaper from recycled newspaper woven together. Doesn’t Lori’s wallpaper look like grass cloth?  Bonus-you can still read some of the words.

Creating decorative arts from things others have discarded seems right now. Show us your best recycle design.

Scrabble letter-tile table at the Collective, a restaurant/bar 1 Little West 12th

license-plate bird sculpture at the Collective

Paper-cutter table at the Collective

Double-fun sofa at the Collective

Kid-friendly furniture at the Collective

Chandeliers made from recycled plastic and wooden hangers and super-sized cups

detail of plastic-hangers chandelier

detail of wooden-hangers chandelier

pill-bottle chandelier at the Collective

paper-cup chandelier at the new resturant, the Collective, in the Meatpacking district

Wallpaper for news hounds by textile designer Lori Weitzner

Funky floors by Brooklyn design team Nightwood at the Collective

First, I want to show you the coolest thing I saw OUTSIDE the showrooms. It’s art displayed in the window of an antiquarian book shop in the St. Germaine area, near our hotel.

Sculpture by Danielle Marie Chanut, mother of shop owner, Valerie Chanut, Librairie F. Chanut, 41, rue Mazarine, 75006 Paris. Phone: 01-43-54-04-70. Price: E1,500+; Photos: Julie Maris Semel

I passed the shop on my way to the cash machine and had to get more info on what I saw in the window. What appeared to be a vintage shrine constructed of seashells (my passion—both the shells and  the vintage shell art made from them) actually turned out to be a new sculpture not only utilizing old shells but old books (my other and equal interest). My first thought was: Desecration! My second was: Way cool.

The shop is Librairie F. CHANUT, 41, rue Mazazine. Owner Valerie Chanut oversees the voluptuous leather-bound and gilt-edged antiquarian books (most are in French, but she has a fair number of illustrated children’s books in English). Her mother, Danielle Marie Chanut, is the artist. Because French culture has more antiquarian books than buyers (so I rationalize), it’s okay for Madame Chanut to put surfeit pages to creative use in her sculptures. At least this way, they get the attention they deserve. Beautifully marbleized end papers are scrolled into columns; illustrated pages become architecture. Some of her sculptures include entire books, cached away in a special niche—sort of an updated, arty version of a medieval book casket—for these literary gems.

This is another of Madame Chanut's pieces displayed at the shop.