blog team
BLOG ARCHIVE FOR February 2012
KDA = 3,2,1,!
For the past year or so, Knuckle Duster Agency have been juggling the fashion-meets-music-meets-party nightlife in Amsterdam like a fashion-chola-circus-dj-goddess-posse! For those who aren’t entirely sure of what to make of this (let alone how to visualize it), I’ll put it to you plain and simple: KDA are taking over the town in style, rhythm, and fun, baby! After a successful series of parties (with tunes that guarantee to get those hips shaking), they are launching a brand new party night, and are determined to bring back the element of surprise, and most importantly: fun! 3,2,1,!
The first edition of 3,2,1,! will be held at:
Club Home (Amsterdam) – March 9 – Euro 8 – 23.00 hrs
and what can be revealed (without giving away too much of the surprise) is:
DJs:
Orwell
Lisa Schaduw
Valentijn
JeanPaul Paula
Host:
Gianni Bab
Photography:
Sheeza Hoo
Interview with Mr. Hare, shoe designer
Marc Hare makes beautiful shoes and I love the way he presents his brand; in a personal way, openly communicating his inspirations and the context of his work. Unfortunately I don’t see that very often. Mr. Hare, the brand, is available throughout the world at respectable stockists like Oki-Ni, Dover Street Market, Liberty, Colette, Mr. Porter and Luis Via Roma. Get to know Mr. Hare, the person, even better through the interview I’ve had with him.
Art as it is meant to be in all its rawness. Art for everyone.
A visit in February to the RAW art fair (The RAW expo is open until 4 March!) was for me a total new Rotterdam experience. I was very happy to discover the ‘talk of the town’ area Katendrecht; the former red light & seaman district and China town with it’s illustrious history. This area, also called De Kaap has become a safe but still very exciting and adventurous area. The peninsula is separated by a brand new connecting bridge, from Hotel New York and the cruise terminals at Rotterdam Kop van Zuid, where simultaneously, the Art and Object Rotterdam Fair took place. You can also find the new Dutch photography museum here, at the Las Palmas building.
The venue of the RAW art fair were the industrial and rough FENIX hangars, a huge space (10.000m2) and very RAW! The ground floor of the exhibition was dedicated to established and emerging international galleries, whereas the first floor was offered to artists, to show their autonomously work. Amongst the participating artist are renowned names as Armando, Atelier Van Lieshout and Pjotr Müller, but also young and promising talents as Tinkebell., Frank Bruggeman and Birgit Verwer. This floor was very dark, and the sparse theatrical lighting over the individual objects gave a very fairytale and mystic atmosphere. Focus was on photography, street-art and sculptures. Alongside the art presentations, there were events, theatre and music performances, DJ’s and parties. And very good food. All created an informal, young, fresh atmosphere.
Beside the major art fairs, there was a side program including museum and gallery tours, openings, art initiative and studio visits and parties.
Rotterdam is offering a lot on contemporary art, so good to put this annual event on your agenda for February next year. Or visit inspiring Katendrecht before 4March and discover The RAW Art expo yourself.
EP!C MOONWALK
Moon Spoon Saloon could be best described as <3 0MFGL0L EP!C <3 + <3. Or, to put it differently: it’s the fashion brand of a digital hipster generation. For those who do not immediately understand what is meant by this term, check out this Tumblr, this Tumblr or this Tumblr. After Facebook and Twitter, where the persona and/ or branding of a specific person stands at the forefront, an anonymous Tumblr seems to be the next best thing for those at the frontiers of contemporary culture. The current trend on Tumblr can be described as spiritual atmospheres mixed with hysterical bright colored futuristic GIF animations. And that is exactly how Moon Spoons fashion looks like. Most noticeable are the fully printed and hysterically high, spacy, platform shoes. They are featured on Moon Spoons own Tumblr/ website in between inspiration images, past or present collections and videos of art performances. However there is loads to discover, it’s a not a very consumer friendly page. It means that whoever wants to know what exactly is the brands design and where it is for sale, should go find that out on their own. In a time where news and information are available instantly, it might be an inspiring challenge. It proves that how ‘t0tally rad’ or ‘ep!c crazy’ Moon Spoons platforms may look like on the surface, they sure walk to the exact beat of the zeitgeist.
Dutch Invasion
When walking through Cologne’s so famous and vibrant district “Belgisches Viertel” in the beginning of this week, my attention got caught by an overwhelming, let’s even call it an overloaded, wallpaper. I stopped and looked through the big window when a guy inside just covered the last piece of a white wall with this catchy pattern. Scrutinizing concentratedly, I recognized one square next to the other, each showing stereotypes such as women in twinsets and nuns in their typical robe. Obviously showing interest, the guy informed me that this is part of the exhibition Exactitudes displaying the same-named long-term photo project by photographer Ari Versluis and profiler Ellie Uyttenbroek.
Since 2004, they have systematically documented social groups and their appearance. Each of their series is strictly structured and shows twelve similar persons, visually reminding of the works of Bernd and Hilla Becher. Some of the groups belong to subcultures, others don’t, yet they all share a characteristic dress code and usually the same poses.
Questioning the connection between fashion and art, Exactitudes epitomes that the two disciplines are indeed linked to each other. Not only in theory by some professionals, but also in everyday life: by us choosing for a certain appearance and Ari and Ellie documenting it and bringing it into gallery and museum spaces. Furthermore, the show is a reflection on society mirroring an image that sometimes causes a smirk but can also create a dispirited feeling.
Starting on the 3rd of February, the exhibition is showcased at Gallery Ruttkowski;68. Until the 18th of March.
Louis Vuitton Bag Charms
For the release of Louis Vuitton’s new elegant Hot Air Balloon Bag Charm, Part of a Bigger Plan has created and produced a short animation to be shown on Louis Vuitton’s new web platform, New Now. The film follows the little collectable Bag Charm on an adventurous journey. A miniature version of the monogram trunk is suspended from the hot air balloon. The balloon is seen wandering through an unknown and ancient world in search of its home. Watch the video at Louis Vuitton’s New Now web platform.
