We’re big fans of under-butt with side-tit coming up a close second. One of the search terms for traffic to our blog is actually side-tit and we’re on the first page if you Google it. Therefore we jumped with joy at news of INSA’s Girls on Bikes which features front-tit, back-butt, side-tit, mesh-tit AND under-butt all on bikes in front of INSA’s work. Following his recent exhibition in Hong Kong(we actually saw some of his work on the street when we were there last week) this show sees return to 18 Hewitt Street where you’ll also find one of his wall murals.
The event opens tonight and runs until the 20th of November.
Obviously it won’t actually look animated although it might depending on who the drink sponsor is.
I recently had the pleasure of test shooting with Mila Nestrova a Hackney Wick based photographer just graduated from the London College of Fashion Masters Photography Course.
She uses the truly fascinating medium of light painting, a technique that I’ve been interested in since Rachel Freire introduced me to the work of Aurora Crowley. The technique is quite straight forward – all the images are shot on a long exposure and the daubs and splatters you see are created by literally painting with light. Static garment details are higlighted with UV light with movement and energy created by the graffiti-like swirls of all kinds of light from lazers to simple torches.
Designers used in the below shoot include club-kid favorites Pam Hogg, Kokon To Zai, Bernhard Wilhelm, Andrew Logan, Craig Lawrence, Jeremy Scott and Manish Aurora. The effect achieved by using club lighting in a fashion shoot lends a whole other neon lit dimension we only usually get to see in basement bars and clubs of the afterhours.
We sell swimsuits, you wear swimsuits when you’re swimming, you might one day go swimming in this building in one of our swimsuits and put all the Speedo freaks to shame therefore this is a relevant blog post. I also set up BITCHY in a warehouse right beside the development site for the Olympics so it’s of great personal interest.
I’m sure this has all been written up in the Metro but we live in a .5 mile radius bubble(we never have occasion to take the undeground) so when things happen like Volcanoes erupting etc we generally don’t hear about it until someone abroad calls us and tells us they’ve been stuck in an airport in the arse end of nowhere. Luckily we did actually hear about the riots because the riots were in our .5 mile radius. Well actually that’s half true, Kath didn’t hear about it because she was in a Volkswagen van in a valley somewhere in the misty rain in Ireland and all her mates in Australia thought she’d been burned along with all those books – hang on that was that Salaman Rushdie? I dunno, I only do fashion.
So yeah, back to the question, if you were in the market for a swimming pool you could potentially get Zaha Hadid Architects to build you one of these.
The concept is inspired by the fluid geometry of water in motion, an undulating roof sweeping up from the ground as a wave. Grandiose architecture quite often serves to make man feel insignificant. Acts of nature such as massive waves and bodies of water are similarly humbling. Pretty amazing that they’ve managed seamlessly connect a manmade object to the natural world.
You forgot to kiss my soul
2001
Neon
45 1/2 x 55 5/16 in. (115.5 x 140.5 cm)
To be totally honest, prior to this exhibition I wasn’t familiar with Tracey Emin’s actual work. I’d seen her at times outrageous behaviour in interviews which I thought was pretty badass, knew she was fond of a drink or two, heard about her unmade bed and all the dudes she’s slept with but for some reason her work has so far passed me by. Maybe it’s because if an artist needs to make so much noise then I just assumed that the work wouldn’t actually back it up.
Having unintentionally dissed Tracey I couldn’t turn down an invitation to review her current exhibition at the Hayward. The exhibition titled “Love is What You Want” is the first major London survey of her work. The large-scale exhibition includes many unseen pieces as well as a series of outdoor sculptures created for the Hayward.
Tracey Emin
Hotel International
1993
Appliquéd blanket
257.2 x 240 cm
copyright the artist
Private Collection, courtesy of the artist and Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York
The impressively curated show opens with the big guns a double story room of her infamous quilts onto which are sewn details of love affairs and thoughts relating to same. This intial room was swiftly followed by a black room with statements such as “You Forgot to kiss my soul” realised in seedy sex-club-neon signage, clearly uttered in bitter irony through Tracey’s cheeky grin. The Alton Towers momentum is maintained throughout simply becuase Tracey’s just a really really interesting person. It was some of the smaller details that got my attention such as her little nineties curly bob, hoopy earrings and pinstripe suits to the glass case containing a mementos from the “The Shop” in 1993, a disused butchers on Bethnal Green Road from which she launched herself onto the British art scene.
The one thing that really strikes you is the gruesome honesty. Some of the glass display cases(used Tampons anyone? letters to her aborted child?) reminded me of those jars with pickled brains in the Natural History Museum only this person is very much alive which is what makes it so arresting. We all have an incessant barrage of thoughts difference being ours reside bubble-wrapped, firmly on the inside. Tracey’s are realised in cold stark, flouro, high definition filling the walls, floors and glass cases of the Hayward Gallery.
Tracey Emin
I’ve got it all
2000
Inkjet print
10.5 x 9 cm
copyright the artist
The Saatchi Gallery, London
There’s something kind of bossy about the title of the exhibition “Love is What You Want” – you can help feeling that this is something she’s persuaded herself to believe becuase you never sense that love is what she got. There’s a real sense of melancholy from a girl who’s tried to find it(through her numerous lovers which amounted in little more than casual sex), been close to it (pregnancy), lost it(abortions) and never really found it.
The exhbition runs from the 18th of May until the 29th of August at London’s Hayward Gallery.
Now stop making excuses, get out to an Art Gallery and do some thinking, if you visit one show this year make this it- love it or hate it you won’t be disappointed.
Tracey will also be answering qustions on Facebook every Tuesday at Text Tracey Tuesdays so if you fancy asking the women herself then you can.
3D seems to be huge at the moment, with TV’s, Games, Computers and all sorts bringing out versions of this new technology. Fashion is also embracing the trend with the likes of Burberry streaming shows in 3D and Ralph Lauren going as far as 4D! Fashion editorial is also taking it on, with the trade mark blue and red shadows and free glasses appearing more and more often (Dazed&Confused for example) in magazines. I have to say my only experience of 3D (with glasses) was a recent nuts magazine laying around guys friends flat, amusing but not really artistic! I still have to see a movie in 3D too! I do actually like 3D ready images like the ones shown above with out glasses as well tho, it kind of makes them look a bit mystical!
I remember having a lecture about Nagi Noda a couple of years ago and I recently came accross her work again. I think its so cool, completely original and so creative! She also does lots of other work including book covers, music video’s, art and design. My favourite is definitely the afro dog, second to last picture…maybe thats because I secretly wish I had afro hair! Hope you enjoy!
Gareth Pugh debuted at Pitti Imagine #79 with a fashion film created with Ruth Hobgen and projected onto the ceiling of a 14th Century church.
The collection was inspired by religious iconography and Florentine opulence. It reminds me of Baroque and Renaissance frescoed ceilings and sculpture in the churches of Italy. Everything from the perspective and writhing physical forms to the gold and cornflower blue colour palettes directly reference artworks of the 16th and 17th century. The inflated billows and folds of undulating fabric are regularly found in images of female saints and madonnas of this era. Even the lighting nods towards the technique of using strong contrast of light and dark(chiaro scuro) by artists like Caravaggio
Contemporary inspiration is apparent in sequences of images reminiscent of digital prints. Gold shines in rays like the light of god shining through clouds as was often seen in paintings of this era. Altogether a very clever and considered work of art.
Much like the frescoed ceilings I imagine this is best viewed in situ, watching the projected film from below. We can more than make do with it projected on our Macs.
A detail of perspective from the Sistine Ceiling by the Renaissance painter Michelangelo
St Theresa in Ecstasy by Baroque Scultpor Bernini.
The Taking of Christ by Carvaggio – one of my favorite paintings of all time.
I could go on about all of this at great length but I won’t.
Ok art wanky over. Back to sticking studs on things.
We don’t know how it happened but somewhere between putting the carrot out for Rudolph and kissing under the mistletoe Christmas turned into some awful retail cliche. Sitting at the top of the cliche hierarchy is the sequin beret, it harks back to my previous life as a fashion buyer where every Christmas I’d have to place quantity on the aforementioned offender(don’t make me even mention those words again).
So now that we have our own labels and website we wanted to do something a little bit different, a bit more creative for Christmas. We’re surrounded by so many talented people in East London so it seems only fitting to collaborate with them on various projects.
We’ve always had a passion for illustration and we believe in creative freedom so we loosely briefed Crabwolf, made up of five up and coming illustrators, to create a Christmas illustration based around several of our brands. See the results for yourself on our homepage.
I don’t visit art exhibitions to get fashion inspiration but things I see find their way into designs I work on. Roger Hiorn’s Seizure has been simmering away for a while and it’s starting to bubble.
In chilly November 2009 I made a trip down to a grim boarded up housing estate in Elephant and Castle, South London to behold the spectacle that saw him nominated for the Turner Prize that year. Using a chemical solution he covered the entire interior of a small council flat in blue crystals. I’ve always been a magpie – yes I know it’s a jewellery designer cliche – so this was kind of like Narnia and reignited my crystal obsession.
Taken on my visit to Artist Pierro Gareffa’s exhibition, Hackney Wicked 2009.
Amazing crystal pieces by designer Lauren Tennenbaum of Indecorous Taste..
House of Dangerkat “Opulence” featuring the Rainbow collection by Nova Dando
The Rainbow Collection by Nova Dando
Looked at this girls work in a previous project in uni..stylist, designer, DJ, director, Nova has no limits! She has worked with the likes of M.I.A, La Roux, New Young Pony Club and the Klaxons. Her work is truly inspirational, a truly individual style, i love her!! Check out her website for more great vids and pics!
We spent the whole Summer partying pretty hard – I’m Irish and Bitchy Kath’s Aussie so it’s going to be dangerous. There’s something a lot more depressing about coming home in the wee hours when it’s freezing and raining so I’ve made a decision that over the course of the winter I’m going to do some more cultural things, see more exhibitions and not write-off my only day of rest(we’ll see how that goes wish me luck).
Ping – I receive an e-mail from The Book Club inviting me to Any Willsher’s Private View as well as whole host of interesting events they have coming up over the next few weeks. Couldn’t have arrived at a better time – I’m bored and in need of visual inspiration that’s not on a computer screen.
Andy’s story is rather Rock n Roll fairytale…..growing up in Bedford and was strongly influenced by the Goth bands of the late 80’s. He started his career taking pictures in a local venue where a lot of those acts performed. Whilst working in a West End bank he took a holiday to follow a band called “The Hollow Men” and decided that music photography was the right direction for him. Around the same time he started printing his own pics, sending them to the music press and after having a few shots published was beckoned to the altar of NME whom he continues to shoot for now.
This exhibition celebrates 20 years in music and photography. The exhibition runs from Friday until 31st of November at The Book Club, 100 Leonard St, EC2A 4RH.
Stumbled across this exhibition in London about a month back. There is something about using birds in this way that I really love and appreciate. I love the elegance but vulnerability of these birds and their positions. The effect is much better in the actual gallery but I hope these images will do!
I feel like every second blog is about press at the moment which is necessary as we are getting a huge amount of support from the UK and International press about what we’re doing but at the same time it clogs up my random ramblings about cool stuff. I’ve always been into Art and Illustration and like to paint when I have time. Actually I’m going to be selling some of my work on the website closer to Christmas – need to get back into it.
I’m genearlly in awe of people who can turn a really simple concept into something very cool. I sit on the “overcomplicate it, do it the wrong way round, turn it upside down” side of the table masticating(yeah ok could v said chewing but great word yeah.) till my jaw aches. Sandrine Etrade Boulet’s cleverly nailed simplicity. Kind of reminds me of street sculpturist Liesbeth Busshce I wrote about a few months back
I’m a city girl, I need to live somewhere hectic, vibrant and usually dangerous in a “myself are your father aren’t happy with you walking home at night in your new place love” kind of area – reasons why I’ve lived in Dalston, Brixton and Hackney Wick, guess I’m not content playing it safe. There’s also a big side of me that would like to run to the hills and make pottery, draw pictures surrounded by dogs and horses so the below hotel appeals to that side.
Imagine going on holidays in a UFO in the middle of a forest!
Fittingly called Tree Hotel It’s located just outside the small Swedish village of Harads 60KM south of the arctic circle. There treehouses are designed by 6 separate architect and situated high above the forest floor. Snow, cold, fur, silence and isolation – beats Benidorm any day.
