Functional Art at Park Life in SF’s Inner Richmond
Author:Shoshana BergerPark Life , a small boutique of homewares, accessories, books, and “Beautiful Loser ” art (the work of Boony Doon, CA-based artist, filmmaker, and music impresario Thomas Campbell is on view through March 27th) is the hidden gem of San Francisco’s Inner Richmond District. The store stands out in a largely Asian neighborhood that’s famous for its BBQ pork buns.
What I love about Park Life is cofounders Jamie Alexander’s and Derek Song’s eye for surprising objets. They stock high-design brands like Areaware, alongside artist-made limited editions, taking delight in trompe l’oeil, like candlestick bud vases and playful drollery like balloon-dog book ends.
I recently bought a Harry Allen -designed resin model of a Tonka-style truck for friends-who-have-everything. It was intended to be a bowl, but they display it on a shelf instead.
Shoshana got her magazine chops at Wired in the pre-Facebook era, then went on to write for The New York Times, Spin, Salon, The San Francisco Chronicle, Business 2.0, Travel and Leisure, and Sunset. In 1999, she became an editorial director for Young & Rubicam’s Brand Futures division. She cofounded ReadyMade magazine in 2001 and served as its Editor-in-Chief for nine years. She is the coauthor of ReadyMade: How to Make Almost Everything (Crown, 2005), which was featured in the 2007 Cooper-Hewitt Design Triennial. She has lectured and taught workshops at Stanford, the Dallas Museum of Art, IDEO, Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, and in Clay Felker’s magazine program at UC Berkeley.
