Jun 1

Tom Sachs: Galactic Vision

Inside Mission Control for the Artist’s Voyage to Mars

Preparations for lift-off at artist Tom Sachs’ cavernous Chinatown studio ahead of SPACE PROGRAM: MARS—a month-long installation at New York’s Park Avenue Armory recreating a mission to the Red Planet—are captured in this series from photographer Coke O’Neal. From simple materials like glue, screws, plywood and paper, Sachs and his team have created an eclectic array of space-themed sculptures through his signature bricolage technique, blurring art and life in a mix of wit and compulsive attention to detail. Making a name for himself with works like “Hermés Value Meal,” which revamps the iconic McDonalds meal in signature Hermés packaging, Sachs’ first SPACE PROGRAM back in 2007 recreated a mission to the moon from Los Angeles’ Gagosian gallery, with performers wearing lab coats designed by Prada and moon boots courtesy of Nike. This year’s Mars mission is an immersive, grand-scale affair in the 55,000-square-foot hall of the Armory where audiences may participate in the odyssey and enter a handmade, life-sized space capsule. Access to the studio is granted only to select visitors, who are cataloged through a required check-in process that includes creating hand-made photo IDs with a “Please Destroy After Use” disclaimer. “It’s like something from a childhood dream, where every inch is like a living sculpture,” recalls O’Neal of the exhibit, where even a trip to the bathroom presents an unexpected surprise: “A vintage tube shortwave radio glows and plays the static hum of a Russian radio station as you go.”

SPACE PROGRAM: MARS is at the Park Avenue Armory, New York, until June 17.

Jun 1

Li Family: Culinary Heritage

Beijing’s Exclusive Restaurant Preserves the Secrets of China’s Imperial Cuisine

The sumptuous dishes and austere traditional interiors of the Li Family Restaurant in Beijing are captured by photographer Eric Gregory Powell. Famed for serving the most orthodox Imperial Palace cuisine found anywhere in China, the feted institution has a clientele ranging from heads of state and ambassadors to celebrities like Bill Gates, Mick Jagger, the Clintons and action star Jackie Chan. Located in a modest house on a narrow alley minutes away from China’s political heartland in the Zhongnanhai area of Beijing’s Xicheng district, the restaurant requires a minimum of four days notice for bookings due to the length of time many of its specialties take to prepare. The Li family preserved Qing dynasty recipes dating back hundreds of years from the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution, after Li Shanlin, grandson of Empress Dowager Cixi’s personal cook, memorized 300 of them before they were destroyed by the Red Guards. The recipes stayed secret until 1984, when Shanlin’s daughter Li Li won the China-wide National Banquet Competition and the family opened a one-table restaurant in their home. The cooking so inspired Pujie, younger brother of the last emperor, Puyi, that he penned a poem in calligraphy that now hangs on the wall: “Your food transports me back to the Imperial Palace.” Even with outposts now in Shanghai, Tianjin and Tokyo, the recipes for house rarities like steamed snow frog oil served in a thimbleful of egg custard remain tightly guarded by the clan. “Our chefs are told nothing about the complicated balancing of ingredients or sauces,” says Li Aiyin, who runs the Beijing eatery.