PS1 MOMA

Posted: May 31st, 2008 | Author: Team | Filed under: Art | Comments Off

If you haven’t been to PS1 MOMA in a long time, you’re missing out.

If you haven’t been to PS1 MOMA…ever, you’re definitely missing out.

I stopped in the other day to catch Danish-Icelandic artist, Olafur Eliasson’s exhibit: Take Your Time, before it closes on June 30th.

The response from many of the other attendees reminded me of children in a science museum; they were adults in awe and wonderment bearing innocent smiles and elation which one rarely finds in association with contemporary art.

Take Your Time (2008): People were lying underneath this large, circular mirror that was rotating on an axis attached to the ceiling. The apparent effect is calmness and ‘destabilizing viewers’ perception of space as they pass underneath it.’

Colour Spectrum (2003): A large, hexagonal kaleidoscope comprised of color-coated glass. The size and beauty upon viewing this offers a prismatic perception of the world.

Beauty (1993): Walking into a dark room, not sure where to step, you see in front of you a lightly lit up curtain of misty water that produces a blanketed rainbow effect. Some guests walked through the curtain and a few others danced.

There were three rooms which produced different lighting shades and shapes. Sitting in the rooms, guests would stare and watch their environment change around them slowly and elegantly.

I have never seen so many people mesmerized at a show of contemporary art as much as I had at this exhibit and they were doing exactly what the title told them to do “TAKE YOUR TIME”. I plan to go back with friends and also check out MOMA’s presentation of Olafur’s work as well, which is exhibiting simultaneously.

A few other exhibits coming up which I saw them installing:

ARCTIC HYSTERIA: NEW ART FROM FINLAND

OPENING JUNE 1, 2008 – SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

Live perfomances by PINK TWINS (www.pinktwins.com) and KEMIALLISET YSTAVAT (www.kemiallsetystavat.com)

Also, an installation in their outdoor courtyard was being installed. The winner of the ninth annual MOMA/ PS1 Young Architects Program: WORK Architecture Company from New York will be creating an landscape in the outdoor courtyard starting JUNE 20th and serve as an interactive environment for the 2008 Warm-Up summer music series. ‘Constructed from large cardboard tubes, its top surface will be a working farm, blooming with a variety of vegetables and plants. The installation will be a living structure made from inexpensive and sustainable materials recyclable after its use at PS1. ‘

www.ps1.org

www.moma.org

Twitter This

David Byrne is a badass

Posted: May 29th, 2008 | Author: Jauretsi | Filed under: Music | Comments Off

(Photographed at home by Chris Buck)

I love it when I trip into an entire universe by accident. Turns out that David Byrne has his own website (DavidByrne.com). He’s embraced New Media quite beautifully which is no surprise considering he’s always been such a forward-thinking inspiration. Sections include the colorful palettes of his mind — Journal, Radio, Music, Art/Books, Film/Theater, Sound/Video, Performances/Talks, and of course, Stuff to Buy.

Check out David Byrne Radio podcast to learn what music he’s feelin’ now. Below is his current playlist.
J

Electric Feel………………………………..MGMT
Pluto…………………………………………..Clare & The Reasons
Chasing Pavements…………………….Adele
Blind Mary…………………………………Gnarls Barkley
16 Military Wives………………………The Decemberists
Made In The Dark……………………..Hot Chip
A&E…………………………………….Goldfrapp
Shake A Fist………………………………Hot Chip
Go Go Gadget Flow (Explicit)………Lupe Fiasco
The Boom Boom Bap………………….Scritti Politti
Apologize…………………………………..OneRepublic
The Way It Is……………………………..Nicole Atkins
Ridin’…………………………………………Chamillionaire Feat. Krayzie Bone
Neptune City……………………………..Nicole Atkins
Killalady…………………………………….Justine Electra
Do you love me?………………………..Amanda Jenssen
I Feel…………………………………………..Cat Power
Gimme More (Main Version)……….Britney Spears
Me Llaman Calle…………………………..Manu Chao
A&E……………………………………………….Goldfrapp
Buy You A Drank (Shawty Snappin’)………T-Pain
Anyone Who Had A Heart………………Shelby Lynne
L.E.S. Artistes………………………………….Santogold
Casimir Pulaski Day………………………..Sufjan Stevens
Ready For The Floor ………………………Hot Chip
Didn’t I…………………………………………….Darondo
How Deep Is Your Love…………………..The Bird And The Bee
Wish…………………………………………………Ellen Allien
Run [I'm A Natural Disaster]……………Gnarls Barkley
Be Mine…………………………………………….Robyn
Give It To Me [Explicit] …………………..Timbaland
Academia………………………………………….Sia
Tambourine [Explicit]……………………..Eve
Someone Great………………………………..LCD Soundsystem
Mein Herz Brennt……………………………Rammstein
Overpowered…………………………………..Róisín Murphy
Switchblade Kitty…………………………….The Lady Tigra
Ch Ching (Cheque 1-2 Remix)………….Lady Sovereign
Cook For You………………………………….Clare & The Reasons
Time To Pretend……………………………..MGMT
Henri……………………………………………….The Heavy Circles
Paris, Tokyo (Explicit)……………………..Lupe Fiasco
The Night Starts Here………………………Stars

Twitter This

Headbands

Posted: May 29th, 2008 | Author: Jauretsi | Filed under: Designers, Product | Comments Off

Susannah Lipsey- Part 2.

Last month I wrote about a girl named Susannah as she was preparing for the Marfa Film Festival (Read here). Anyway, in the pic she had on a cute little headband which I discovered she hand crafts herself. Here’s more on the headbands.
J

Starworks: Tell me about your inspiration for making these headpieces? How did they come about?

Susannah Lipsey: I have always loved wearing hats and headbands and a close friend of mine starting working with a lot of feathers in her jewelry line, Highway Child. I loved the ethereal feel of feathers, lace, flowers, etc in the hair so I started experimenting with them and wearing them to parties for fun. People responded well so I started selling them to friends and was inspired to take it to the next level and start Windy Freda.

SW: Is there a specific concept with the materials you choose to use?

SL: The idea is add something natural and beautiful to one’s everyday look. I love the idea of a tshirt and jeans with crazy feather wings all over the head or an elegant dress with a thin lace accented headband. Anything that uses something of a vintage organic feeling, it doesn’t matter the decade the inspiration is pulled from. I love to experiment with things that accent the hair and face.

SW: Where can somebody buy these bands?

SL: Directly from the website WindyFreda.com. Will announce stores soon on my website.

Twitter This

Bowery Issue: Part2

Posted: May 29th, 2008 | Author: Jauretsi | Filed under: Art, Music, SW Designers | Comments Off

This is Part 2 to a post that our Sharon wrote regarding the John Varvatos store now located inside the old CBGB’s. (Read old post Varvatos + CBGB here).

(Varvatos cleans up CBGB’s bathroom)

Well, I finally went to the store myself to see it. I’m not mad at it. I know everyone is freaking out about the take-over, but the truth of the matter is, nobody I know in the industry has even BEEN to CB’s in 10 years! If anything, the Varvatos store is bringing people back (there is an adjacent Music Photo Gallery next to the store too). On top of that, John kept ALL THE WALLS. He basically bought the space, and turned it into the CBGB’s museum — and of course is selling clothes, because, well, that’s his business.

(Preserved walls inside the store)

The first thing that occurred to me was my hometown of Miami Beach growing up. I remember standing on the corner of 5th Street and Collins Ave in 1992 when a wrecking ball was knocking down Muhammad Ali’s famous “Fifth Street Gym”. All the locals shook their heads in shame as this historical treasure (with word-of-mouth folklore) was being destroyed before our eyes so that a parking garage could go up. This was the place that Cassius clay BECAME Muhammad Ali! The Sonny Liston history, the Beatles visit, and the political hotbed for Ali. All the legendary fighters and stories that crawled through those walls are now gone.

(Cassius Clay and The Beatles, Fifth Street Gym, Miami Beach, February 1964)

Let me say that I WISH some streetwear store had bought that gym, and preserved all those walls, and threw some racks of clothes up. I would pay good money to see it today. I remember sneaking into that gym to see the colorful posters, old fight pictures, and yellowed clippings of battles. There was a 50’s vintage sign at the door (which remained hung until the 90’s) that read “No Deadbeats” (referring to pay the .25 cent fee to train there). I can’t even discuss the mass invasion Miami Beach endured after that, but alas, gentrification is an old and stale topic that’s hard to win. It was truly the death of a fabled FIGHT factory.

But back to CBGB’s — the death of the fabled MUSIC factory — Frankly, Varvatos took over the carcass of an old building. I know that sounds harsh, but it’s not like he shut down a venue that was currently churning out credible musical movements.

(Opening Night of the John Varvatos store. CBGB’s preserved wall of flyers)

Being a Bowery resident myself (of 8 years), I too am increasingly worried about the skyrocketing rent in our neighborhood. I think people like Rebecca (protester outside the store) mean well but I disagree with her argument that it would be better if a Starbucks took over CBGB’s rather than the Varvatos store (with her logic being that a local musician can afford a $4 coffee, versus $800 pair of pants).

(Protester Rebecca Moore)

Isn’t the issue at hand about “increased rent”? That means the “price-point” of the product is irrelevant! Both Starbucks or Varvatos would be paying the same high rent anyway — and that’s what ultimately pushes artists out of the neighborhood. So you’d prefer a crappy $4 coffee than going into a retail store that bronzed the whole space and preserved it as a CBGB shrine? Don’t hate the player. Hate the game.

My point is, instead of complaining in front of the store, perhaps there is a way we can all sit down in 1 table and discuss initiatives to help music on the Bowery. If we’re all fighting the same fight, then why don’t we actually sit together and talk it out? Trust me, it sucks losing the historical treasure entirely! It just means we all need to be smarter with saving the next gentrification casualty in the neighborhood.

(Looking in Mirror. Fifth Street Gym in Miami, October, 1970)