blog team
ABOUT LEON DE RAAFF
SHUGGIE OTIS - INSPIRATION INFORMATION (1974)
A musical visionary, a brilliant album and a message that sums up the blogosphere in 2 words. To inform and inspire in my humble opinion is what blogging is about.
To entertain you say? Chances are you have clicked on Shuggie and are listening to this tune as we speak.
Ask yourself this: Am I not entertained?
Besides working for Modefabriek in the creative department, Leon is moonlighting as a dj/producer called LEYO , hosting monthly BOOGIEMAN parties, writing for
MISCELLANEOUS , and recently started writing for AJANAKU.
Urban Beekeeping
Extraordinary creatures: by law of physics it should be impossible for bees to fly, yet they do. Another thing they do is pollinate a whopping 67% of all plants and a byproduct of this process is liquid gold which makes Winnie the Pooh behave like a certified crack head.
Bees in cartoons are usually portrayed as friendly creatures and they are: Bees pose no threat to us humans, as they are only interested in pollen. In fact, the declining global population of bees is a serious threat: If those 67% of plants are no longer pollinated, imagine what that would do to our environment. No plants means no seeds and no fruit means no food for birds and mammals in our surroundings and that makes a pretty boring concrete jungle if you ask me. Take it a step further and within four years we might be facing extinction, according a quote (falsely) attributed to Einstein.
Enter the world of urban beekeeping:
New York, Paris and Gent have preceded Amsterdam as beekeeping cities (Amsterdam actually already tried in 2004 with contemporary art piece ‘de Bijentafel’ by Frank Mandersloot, to no avail): Now there is a colony of 20.000 bees on the roof of the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam. The city hosts a variety of city gardens and with the growing trend of urban gardening on balconies, it should provide an excellent harvest ground for the honeybees.
BEECOSYSTEM
At last years Dutch Design Week I encountered the Beecosystem concept by Michele Liu. It combines tangible objects for the real world like modular honeycomb shaped planters with an online community and interactive map of where to find other- and place your planter, which in todays Facebook age makes total sense.
URBAN BEEHIVE
The Microbial Home Project by Philips consists of various concepts to challenge conventional design solutions regarding energy, cleaning, food preservation, lighting and human waste. One of these concepts is the Urban Beehive. It looks like a futuristic ant farm and even comes with a device to release smoke into the hive to calm the bees down so you access your private stash of honey.
More information on how to be an urban beekeeper can be found here.
Have your COTTONCAKE & eat it too.
Forget Parisian conceptstore juggernauts like Colette and Merci: The likes of the Frozen Fountain, Sprmrkt, Friday Next and OPTIONS! make sure Amsterdam is well stocked. Recently a new shop was added to this stellar line up of unconventional shops and an addition it certainly is: COTTONCAKE.
One with a knack for fashion and interior design, the other going mad over a perfect cappuccino: Both founders abandoned their academic backgrounds to persue their dream, a dream put in their own words:
“COTTONCAKE is our dream coming true. A dream that arose from a passion for traveling and discovering. For cappuccinos with perfect froth. For edgy, renewing brands. For fine, organic food. For the softest fabrics. For detail. For art. For Berlin, Melbourne, London and New York.”
Not only are the food products used sustainably produced and organic where possible, most of the food comes from local suppliers: Bread from BROOD, Olive oils from Foodelicious, Evermore Tea, meat from the local butcher and Two for Joy coffee beans roasted in Amsterdam. Not local per se, but wonderful nonetheless are the botanically brewed beverages by Fentimans from the UK. Just across the pond innit?
With fashion brands like MinkPink, One Teaspoon, by Zoe, Le Regard Mechant, mbyM, Beck Söndergaard, books by Taschen and accessories by P.A.P Sweden, Third Drawer Down, Made by Lennebelle and Mimi et Toi, there is no shortage of things to feast your eyes on, while your nose tries to convince you to stop waisting time and go straight for that slice of freshly baked walnut banana bread.
Red Bull Music Academy
Red Bull is known for their involvement in (extreme) sports, ranging from skateboarding to iceskating (not the fancy kind) & air races to their own Formula 1 team. What many people don’t know is Red Bull’s deep involvement in the music scene. The company has been contributing to the music scene for nearly 15 years: whereas companies like Pepsi throw wads of cash at the likes of Michael Jackson, Madonna and most recently signed a multi million dollar endorsement deal with Nicki Minaj, Red Bull takes an entirely different and unique approach: the Red Bull Music Academy.
The Red Bull Music Academy is a world-travelling series of music workshops and festivals and invites 60 music enthusiasts worldwide to a new city each year to come together for two weeks worth of recording sessions, lectures by musical luminaries, and unforgettable late night jams. Cities like Madrid, Berlin, London, Capetown and São Paulo. The lucky ones that are selected for 2012′s Academy will be shipped to no other than New York.
I had the good fortune to participate myself in the Academy of ’08 in Barcelona where I had the opportunity to collaborate with Jamie Woon amongst others. Other former participants include Flying Lotus, Aloe Blacc, Hudson Mohawke, Dorian Concept, Black Coffee, Jesse Boykins III and Katy B (who now stars in a Olympics commercial with Marc Ronson for Coca Cola ironically). The long list of lecturers include illustrious names like Erykah Badu, Nile Rodgers, ?uestlove, A-Trak, Biz Markie, Tony Allen, Gilles Peterson, Leroy Burgess, Busy P & Leon Ware to name but a few.
Over the years Red Bull has collected a vast amount of lecture videos which can all be seen on the website, as well as an even bigger collection of radioshows which actually deserves its own website: Red Bull Music Academy Radio.
As a former participant I was delighted to find that after London, Los Angeles, Auckland and Capetown, Red Bull has now opened a permanent studio in Amsterdam. If you have an idea, a sample of your own music and a proper motivation as to why you want to record/produce in the Red Bull Studio, all you have to do is apply via the website (dutch only).
Ilse Elzinga presents Vitil
Modefabriek received an invitation from up and coming designer Ilse Elzinga to collaborate on her new brand ‘Vitil’, which is an exquisite example of young, Dutch design: Bold statements, playfully mocking both the economical crisis and the age old adagio ‘sex sells’, in combination with bright neon colors, which are all over the runway this season.
Being a versatile designer, everything around the brand, from collection to business cards is designed by Ilse.
Unfortunately Modefabriek being a tradeshow organizer and not a fashion brand, we have no choice but to turn down this opportunity.
Ilse Elzinga, we sincerely hope you will find the right partner to produce your collection. When that day comes, don’t hesitate to apply for Modefabriek!
Infographics
Most of us have seen the graphic visualization of U.S. debt that has been floating around on the web. As shocking as it is, I wasn’t as impressed with the sheer volume of cash we’re talking about as I was by the clever manner it was explained: Infographics.
Infographics are perfect to transform elusive data into information we can understand. Starting off with something as simple as a piechart, infographics have evolved into works of art, as can be seen in the work of Chad Hagen.
His infographics are actually not visualing any information at all; it is art imitating life.
Forget the info, indulge in graphics!
PROEF
Recently I have been visiting Proef (literally: taste); a small restaurant located at the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam. Not only because it is conveniently located; they serve some mean desserts and there is a nice garden to enjoy it in.
Proef only serves what is available in season and they don’t just serve it; they serve it well. With an ever-changing menu, chances are you won’t have the same dish twice.
Organic and delicious are the keywords at this inner city farm where herbs are homegrown and farm Lindenhoff in Baambrugge supplies meat, cheeses and fresh organic vegetables. I haven’t tried any cocktails yet, but if they are as good as the food; you are in for a treat.
Proef is a concept by Marije Vogelzang, a Design Academy graduate and considered an authority in the field of eating design. Her book EAT LOVE has won the award for Best Designed Cookbook of the Netherlands AND is shortlisted to become The Best Designed Cookbook in the world.
