advent calendar: wish list item three

the museum of modern art (MoMA), in new york, currently has a series of workshops based on the bauhaus, an art movement of the early 20th century founded by architect walter gropius. an all encompassing school of art - the ideology being that all art should be seamlessly integrated with everyday life - it heavily influenced what we now know as industrial design. the schools output can be thought of as almost didactic in nature. the artists', which included mies van der rohe, wassily kandinsky, paul klee, and piet mondrian among others, created output ranging from works of architecture, to furniture, to paintings and beyond.

while reading the list of workshops offered at the MoMA(even though im not in new york, nor plan to be in the near future), i caught sight of the 'bauhaus bags: design your own tote' lab and was immediately intrigued. the idea of painting your own tote design may seem lacklustre, but on further thought one can see the immediate connection with the bauhaus movement. the tote bag itself is a simple design, a square carryall made of simple canvas but that's the very idea behind bauhaus:

take those everyday objects in your life and create art...
make them something above and beyond a stairwell, or a telephone...
create something in which the user can find joy and ease interacting with...

so for these reasons, my wish list item #3 is none other than a personalized tote. i dont think i like anything more than personalized and carefully thought out gifts, made from the heart and id love to find a bauhaus inspired tote bag under the christmas tree this year. what other personalized gift ideas do you have?

check out the MoMA video accompanying the workshops below: