Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis - I'm So Sorry

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis are my favourite, favourite, favourite band!! Got that - favourite!! I have seen them a couple of times including Gaz's Rockin Blues 30th Anniversary gig last year at St Moritz in Soho and also at Southbound Festival and think they're great. Here is their fantastic new song - I'm So Sorry



And one of their old songs, still a favourite of mine - Going Up The Country


Cecil Beaton

I jotted this quote down as soon as I read it a couple of months ago and I find myself constantly reading back over it. Words of wisdom.

"Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary" Cecil Beaton.




Gloria Swanson


Marlene Dietrich

Man Ray

Chateau De Groussay

Gwili Andre

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Dr. Martens



I had a dream the other night that I was wearing Dr. Martens laced up tight, now I can't get them out of my head. I am NOT a marketer's wet dream!!! But...I do love these clips, think it's a sign...I need to get these!!

 


The Raveonettes cover The Stone Roses "I Wanna Be Adored" for

 

Behind the scenes Dr. Martens S11 Photoshoot xxx

Currently inspired by...John Cassavetes

Gena Rowlands

John Cassavetes





Rosemary's Baby



 

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Melancholia

Lars Von Trier's new film Melancholia looks interesting. I'm not sure what to make of it from the preview, looks like it's got a great cast and being a huge fan of Kirsten Dunst I will have to see it soon and report back!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Ball-Nogues Studio

I was shown this website a couple of weeks ago to present to my class of final year textile students to show them examples of artists working with space and architecture and the idea of habitable / inhabitable space and the work blew my mind. 

Ball Nogues Studio is run by Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues. The guys set up the studio to "explore the nexus of art, architecture, and industrial design". Their work has been exhibited at many major institutions around the world and I would like to share some of my favorite images of their artwork.

The amount of planning, consideration, funding as well as the pure creative talent that it put into each projects is overwhelming and inspiring.
Ball-Nogues Studio, Hong Kong Biennale, 2009

Ball-Nogues Studio, Hong Kong Biennale, 2009




Ball-Nogues Studio, Hong Kong Biennale, 2009,
"This hanging architecturally scaled structure is comprised of 10,000 items of clothing manufactured by American Apparel – operator of the largest garment factory in the United States. Each garment serves the dual role of building component and individual article of clothing. Over the course of the Biennale, the installation will be dismantled and the T-shirts, muscles shirts, spaghetti tank tops, baby dresses, bikinis and g-strings comprising it will be dispersed to visitors. At a time when most US garment production has moved offshore, Built to Wear invites viewers to contemplate the relocation of manufacturing from the developed world to emerging economic powers like China while reconsidering notions of material lifecycle in architecturally scaled structures. By using a coveted consumer good – the garment - as its basic building block the project expands and critiques notions of “green’ architecture while activating public space through consumption."




Ball-Nogues, Feathered Edge,Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, 2009



Ball-Nogues, Feathered Edge,Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, 2009



Ball-Nogues, Feathered Edge,Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, 2009



Ball-Nogues, Feathered Edge,Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, 2009, "Feathered Edge is comprised of 3604 individual lengths of twine, totaling 21 miles, that have been dyed, cut, and then suspended from mesh scrims installed on the walls and ceiling of the gallery. With the aid of the “Insta-llator 1 with the Variable-Information Atomizing Module,” a machine designed and manufactured by Ball-Nogues Studio especially for this installation, the strings were precisely saturated with solvent-based inks, created by a chemist for the project, using four digitally controlled airbrushes and then cut to varying lengths. Using specialized parametric software developed with a software programmer, we generated a map that was printed onto the scrim to establish the proper locations and lengths of the twine in the space. Each piece was attached to the mesh scrim, and then knotted by hand in a technique similar to that used to make latch-hook rugs." 




Tiffany & Company Gehry Jewellery Launch, Beverly Hills, 2006



Tiffany & Company Gehry Jewellery Launch, Beverly Hills, 2006



 Ball-Nogues Studio, Tiffany & Company Gehry Jewellery Launch, 2006, "Ball-Nogues devised walls, furniture, and bars for the event. One wall structure, half a block long to form an elegant backdrop, curved like the human body and was constructed from 4000 layers of corrugated cardboard sandwiched together. "Peep show" type display windows, inspired by Marcel Duchamp's Étant Donnés, punctuated the wall, framing tightly cropped compositions of live, naked models wearing the Gehry designed jewelry. In addition to creating walls, twenty-four voluptuous ottomans, no two alike, invited the 600 guests to explore playful new ways of sitting."



Ball-Nogues Studio, Liquid Sky, PS1 Contemporary Arts Centre, Queens, NY, 2007



Ball-Nogues Studio, Liquid Sky, PS1 Contemporary Arts Centre, Queens, NY, 2007



Ball-Nogues Studio, Liquid Sky, PS1 Contemporary Arts Centre, Queens, NY, 2007



Ball-Nogues Studio, Liquid Sky, PS1 Contemporary Arts Centre, Queens, NY, 2007, "Ball-Nogues's exuberant project, Liquid Sky, combines the zest of a joyful event space with rigorous research into new materials and digital fabrication," states Barry Bergdoll, Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art. Low-tech assembly is joined with experiment in the latest cutting and fabrication techniques gleaned from the sailing industry."

Singapore Sling anyone?

May I introduce to you the Singapore Sling (this is at the top of my wish list).
Singapore Sling - She’s a woman of exotic beauty that men clamor to be near US $250




62' Meteor - Black Patent - In honor of a classic car with great lines US $350


Poison Ivy - In honor of Poison Ivy, of The Cramps. We salute your style, music & attitude! Grrrrr! US$410


Hot Rod Motor Tote  - For the gal on the go who likes to be prepared for where ever her car takes her, a tote that suits as a secret overnight bag. US$410


To tempt yourself and see more of these lustworthy bags go to Revamp Productions

L'Amour Fou

I saw this great documentary called L'Amour Fou last week as part of the Alliance Francaise French Film Festival.

It is a quirky film about Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge's life together, the fashion empire they built, the houses they bought and the beautiful artworks they acquired throughout their lifetime together. Featuring paintings by Picasso, ancient Egyptian statues, eighteenth-century bronze Chinese zodiac sculptures and Henri Matisse’s famous painting ‘Cuckoos’ on a blue and pink carpet, their collection was, as Cocteau put it, their self-portrait.

Say no more, I would recommend seeing it! For further information on the Francaise French Film Festival go here

 

Peoples Revolution

I have just finished Season One of Kell on Earth - WOW! Kelly Cutrone is my hero, I want to be her! No wait,  I want to move to New York and work for Peoples Revolution. Yes.

No, really, what she has achieved and how she runs her business is motivating for me, working in the fashion industry. I love that she has 0 glamor, she glosses nothing. She is a single mother running a rather successful PR company in New York. Kell On Earth is her reality TV series about how she runs her business, a behind the scenes look at how fashion shows are produced and how fashion gets into mags.

I can't wait to read her book entitled "If you have to cry, go outside and other things your mother never told you".

Check out this little interview with Kelly about her book.
 

Silent My Song

I can't stop listening to Lykke Li. I am in love with her whole album. My favourite song is easily Silent My Song. It's haunting horn sounds remind me of War of The Worlds...beautifully cool. However no film clip for this song so check out Get Some - the clip is AMAZING...and the song is great too!