sundance

My So-Called Awkward Moments

Let’s travel back to a time when teen torment and shame didn’t take place on social networks like Twitter and Facebook and My(so-called)space. Ah yes — the apathetic/angsty 90s.

MY SO-CALLED LIFE premieres on Sundance Channel on Monday at 11p, and we’ve collected a few of the painfully awesome scenes that make the show so great.

Episode Recap – Gemma Kahng – “I was misty-eyed!”

I think the interesting case here with Gemma wasn’t necessarily so much what she was going to learn from ME, but what she had hopefully also learned from her own past experiences. Gemma is by far the most mature and most successful of all the designers featured on ALL ON THE LINE, which can be an advantage and a disadvantage. Yes, she had the experience and know-how of making it happen again but the disadvantage laid in trying to make that happen in a very fickle and unforgiving industry. An industry she was trying so hard to impress once again.

There’s no denying that the fashion industry is always chasing what’s new and what’s next and not necessarily looking for what’s yesterday or once upon a time. She would need to jump that very hurdle and start being seen as relevant, welcomed and most of all, important again in the eyes of the fashion world. This would be my biggest challenge yet.

Norman Mailer’s “jungle gym” apartment

The New York Times has a great photo gallery of Norman Mailer’s stunning and highly personal Brooklyn Heights apartment on its website. Norman Mailer, who passed away in 2007, tackled his fear of heights (stemming from his vertigo problem) when he drastically remodeled his apartment over forty years ago “by designing a space that resembled [...]

Earth week activism: students protest coal fired power in their underwear

College kids running around campus in various states of undress… doesn’t sound that unusual, huh? If you see such a thing this week, though, it may be an activism event. PACT Underwear, a company that makes its products from organic cotton, and donates 10% of its sales to a variety of environmental non-profits, has released its “Beyond Coal” line of underwear… and students are protesting coal power on campus in the fashionable undergarments… and nothing else.

Ventriloquy gets a hand in new doc

Mel Gibson in The Beaver isn’t the only dysfunctional person with his hand up a puppet these days. The new documentary Dumbstruck has five of them—and they’re all rather likable despite the way they tend to mess up their human relations in favor of bonding with the playthings that have become their lifeline and livelihood.

The ventriloquists are extremely varied—from entry level to hugely successful—but they all seem to follow a certain pattern: they have all had loneliness issues. They find comfort in their puppets, even if they have constant one-upmanship debates with them. And they usually have to deal with disapproval from relatives who’d way prefer that they settle down with actual humans.

Make your film for free at MoCA

Levi’s Film Workshop from Levi's Film Workshop on Vimeo.

As far as brand sponsorship of art-related events goes, some collaborations fare better than others (see Lizzie Widdicomb’s scathing New Yorker review of the brand-forward Van Cleef & Arpels exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt), but I have to hand it to Levi’s for hosting a legit, non-advertisey addition to MoCA’s “Art in the Street‘” exhibition.

Vimeo of the Week: Drawingmachine by Eske Rex

Drawingmachine by Eske Rex from Core77 on Vimeo.

There’s something very simple and relaxing about the above Core 77 film. Shown last week at the Milan furniture show, Salone Milan 2011, the Drawingmachine by Danish designer Eske Rex. Utilizing two pendulums, the machine creates large-scale graphic drawings. Not only are the results stunning, but so is the machine itself and its sounds and movements. I want a drawing. More info from Danish Crafts here:

Naked News: Surgeon who touted semen as anti-depressant resigns

• Head of surgeon’s group resigns over “semen is a handy anti-depressant” controversy.
  
  
• An online dating study — like, so totally scientific — finds that Nirvana fans and Kanye fans are most likely to go all the way.
  
  
• Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon pose nude in pregnancy shot…together.
  
  

Visit to MAD Magazine headquarters

While growing up, MAD Magazine was one of my favorite things to read. I loved its take on pop culture events and topical sense of humor, and I particularly admired the hilarious illustrations in each issue. For better or for worse, all those hours lying on the floor of my bedroom consuming the latest Spy [...]

Bring on the A-List. Tonight at 10p.

Deciding to work with Gemma Kahng was a no-brainer. She was, in my mind, a creative fashion force that may have dimmed over the last decade or so, but had the potential to shine bright again. This wasn’t just an assumption; it was a fact.

You see, Gemma had already tasted the success I try so hard to help the designers attain each week.

I met Gemma Kahng back in the early 1990′s when I was just starting out as an assistant for Polly Mellen at Allure magazine. Gemma was one of those names that were always tossed out whenever Mrs. Mellen was conceptualizing her shoots and needed clothing called in. This was commonly heard at her run-throughs: “What about those incredibly chic suits from Gemma, Joe?”

Obedient, I would head up to Gemma’s headquarters at 550 7th Ave — a landmark garment district building that houses the showrooms of only A-list designers, among them Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan and Oscar de la Renta. Gemma’s vast showroom there would have plenty of staff buzzing about and racks and racks of her new collections. She was the game back then.

In those days, Gemma was everywhere. I remember seeing her clothes make the cover of Vogue worn by supermodel Christy Turlington and a year later, it would be a butt-exposing jumpsuit worn by Madonna in the pages of Vanity Fair. And her clothes would fill the floorspace of every major department store from Bergdorf Goodman to Bloomingdale’s. To say Gemma was successful back then is selling her short.

Then one day it all just disappeared.

Earth Week music: Gulf Coast musicians mark BP oil spill anniversary

As I noted in a post last year, musicians in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast have worked as hard as anyone to keep last year’s Deepwater Horizon explosion, and the subsequent oil spill, in the public mind. This week, as we celebrate Earth Day, and mark the one year anniversary of the disaster in the Gulf, musicians will again go to work to memorialize those killed in the explosion, and to raise awareness of the ongoing struggle with oil and dispersant pollution faced by coastal residents.

A Q&A with Meera Sethi

I stumbled upon the work of artist Meera Sethi at Bombay Electric in Mumbai. I love her use of colors and her modern take on Indian garments. The Toronto-based Sethi answered some questions for me while she traveled India and as I returned from my third trip to that nation.

Your Firangi Rang Birangi series of paintings really caught my eye. Can you describe them to me?

The Firangi Rang Barangi — Hindi for “colorful foreigner” — works are a series of acrylic, pencil, and ink paintings on paper that foreground themes of femininity and hybridity through dress. In them I combine Eastern and Western textiles, garments, and jewelry in order to reimagine identity across borders.

These paintings make use of bold colors and patterns, layering cultural history with personal style. While the surface of these works draws us in, the bodies that they adorn are barely revealed — an inversion that suggests the role of sartorial expression in creating a sense of self, particularly one rooted in a diasporic, transnational experience.

The difficulties of photographing Japan

It’s been more than one month since the 9.0 earthquake hit Japan, and the nuclear implications only seem to grow more harrowing by the day. Photographs documenting the disaster abound, and among the most striking are those by AP photographer David Guttenfelder, who lives in Japan with his family. He was away on an assignment when the earthquake hit but rushed back on the next flight he could get, not only to be with his family but to photograph the wreckage awaiting him at home.

Jimmyjane’s new toy, the FORM 4

Jimmyjane just released it’s third and final toy in the “Pleasure to the People” series (a collaboration between designer Yves Behar and Jimmyjane founder Ethan Imboden): first there was the Rabbit-ish FORM 2 (that won an IDEA Award), then the flexible FORM 3, and now finally the stout FORM 4.

Music video starring exploding cakes

To wake you up this Monday morning, Miles Jay and Derek Blais directed this official new music video for Autoerotique’s the electropop goodness “Turn Up the Volume” starring exploding cakes. Get those fist pumps in the air!

More boys please

As you can see, we have FFF have boys on the brain. Meet the talented stylist Tom Van Dorpe, the adorable model Marcel Castenmiller, and menswear designer Pierre-Henri Mattout. Read FULL FRONTAL FASHION editor Kelley Culp’s recap of Tuesday’s episode of ALL ON THE LINE featuring the brand Between the Sheets. And just in case [...]

A Q&A with Moleskine

I love my Moleskine notebooks. So much so that I tracked down Marco Beghin, President of Moleskine America, to ask him about the iconic notebook brand. Here’s what I found out:

What is the history of the Moleskine brand?
Moleskine® was created as a brand in 1997, bringing back to life the legendary notebook used by artists and thinkers over the past two centuries: among them Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Bruce Chatwin. A trusted and handy travel companion, the nameless black notebook held invaluable sketches, notes, stories, and ideas that would one day become famous paintings or the pages of beloved books. Today, the name Moleskine encompasses a family of nomadic objects: notebooks, diaries, journals, bags, writing instruments and reading accessories, dedicated to our mobile identity. Indispensable companions to the creative professions and the imagination of our times: they are intimately tied to the digital world.

Spike Jonze Presents: Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma

Over at Opening Ceremony’s blog, Spike Jonze posted this video he recorded of famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma accompanying this kid, Lil Buck smoothily dancing at a “bring the arts to schools” event. Natalie Portman doesn’t have anything on this dancer. Finger snaps to whoever had these two artists’ names in their Rolodex. [Via]

FILM – looking back at BYE BYE BIRDIE

With Tina Fey’s new book “Bossypants” and Tad Friend’s profile of Anna Faris in The New Yorker, there’s been a lot of talk about women in showbiz – at least a lot more talk than usual. Whether you’re a fan of these two comediennes or not, all the buzz they’re generating got me in the mood for a good old-fashioned, feel-good chick flick. Luckily, BYE BYE BIRDIE was on TV (I said old-fashioned). It may be a musical comedy, but it still counts. In fact, of some of the funniest gags are the songs themselves. Paul Lynde is hilarious is his earnest ode to Ed Sullivan, and the heartfelt teenage proclamations of love are ingeniously insipid, like when Kim coos to her beau, “Huuugo, I will go wherever youuu go.”

Filling potholes with yarn

I’ve previously shared (here, here, here, and here) yarn and knit based forms of street art by different artists. Here’s one more for the roster: Juliana Santacruz Herrera does a civic duty by filling in potholes and gaps in the streets of Paris with colorful strands of yarn. [Via]

Top 10 most underrated sex acts

After more than a decade in the sex writing biz, we have seen our share of sexual gimmicks come and go. Today, we would like to highlight ten perennially under-praised sex acts. Think of it as under-doggie-style! (See yesterday’s post for the Top 10 Most Overrated Sexual Acts).

1. Using lube. It’s not a crutch, it’s not “insulting” or “slutty” or “presumptuous” to keep some in your nightstand, and it makes sex better for everyone. What’s not to love?
   
   
2. Manual sex. A.k.a. “hand jobs,” though we think that calling it that undermines all the heavy lifting they’re capable of doing in the bedroom. And look, Ma, no STDs!
   
   

Your favorite albums as books

UK designer Christophe Gowans re-imagined popular and classic music albums as book covers in instantly familiar and well-worn styles of past novels. The Purple Rain version speaks to my geek passion for Science Fiction novels (Favorite: the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons). These have also been compiled into a book. [Via]

Peter Zumthor will design the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion

For the last decade the Serpentine Gallery in London has commissioned a different architect each year to design an outdoor event space for their annual summer pavilion, a three month-long symposium on architecture. The practice of designing, building and removing the pavilion – all of which happens within the space of six months – is an architectural experiment in itself and is always greatly anticipated. This year the Serpentine Gallery has enlisted the services of Swiss architect Peter Zumthor who designed a walled-in garden, currently under construction in Kensington Gardens.

Green tech finds (4/14/11)

Lots of solar news this week… from a new efficiency record, to solar company corporate responsibility rankings, to a DIY solar cooker.

• Solar powered washing machines: They’re just one part of a test to see if people are ready for the smart grid in Breda, The Netherlands. (via Crisp Green)
  
  
• ENERGY STAR certification for senior facilities: Living and care facilities for elders are now among new commercial building types eligible for ENERGY STAR certification (via Earth Techling)
  
  

Depeche Mode remixed

Depeche Mode, the U2 of electronic music, is releasing a remix album this summer. And I am freaking out!

The 4-disc set will feature remixes of tracks from all their albums, spanning 81-11. Included will be new and old remixes. The band’s releases have also become a wonderful study on package and graphic design. By the looks of the above image, this release continues on that tradition. Here’s to a summer of Depeche Mode blaring from speakers in gay clubs across the world. More info below: