eyesing

Bjork - Volta tour frocks

As is typical of a January in Sydney, I've been to about a jillion gigs. That's cos all the northern hemisphere artist get the eff out of their home countries to bask in the south side sunshine. I've yapped on before about how much I love Bjork and I've been lucky enough to see Bjork twice this month, on the Sydney Opera House forecourt and at the Melbourne Big Day Out, plus I saw her in August at the Paleo festival in Switzerland. Anyway, as is typical of Iceland's most famous person, the visual representation of her Volta album has been fabulous all the way from the cover art to the art direction for the Volta tour. She joined forces with with German-born, Antwerp-trained designer, Bernard Willhelm months before the tour started to create the amazing array of dresses, headdresses and capes and knitted hand thingies. Bjork described the tour as "my most hooligan, warrior-woman tour. I've done tours with symphony orchestras and choirs, inside opera houses, that are very delicate. This is the opposite, an outdoor pagan thing," and as you can see, Willhelm fulfilled that brief magically with Bjork and her 10-piece female brass band dressed in hyper-coloured battle outfits and daubed in war paint.

Paleo Festival
Nyon Switzerland
August 2007

We were front row for this. She performed just after The Arcade Fire and before she came on my boyfriend was all, "She won't be as good as they were" and of course he was completely blown away by the end.

Sydney Opera House forecourt
Tuesday 22 January 2008

This performance was part of the Sydney Festival. They'd been trying to get her out for years and she agreed to do a concert for them on the condition that she could sing by the water... cue fantastic harbourside location.

Melbourne Big Day Out
Monday 28 January 2008

She was great but our position about 100m away wasn't. Anyway, still fabulous and what a frock.

Coachella Festival
Indio, California
April 2007

What Bjork had to say "Coachella was probably a hooligan show because we were playing really late and it's hard at a festival to play a lot of calm songs because people have been there a long time and the concentration is different so you end up playing a lot of hooligan songs."

You can also she her brass band in the background. Bjork told Dazed & Confused that she decided to get an all-girl brass band after she realised that otherwise she would be on tour with all men. She also said wanted 10 brass-playing girls from Iceland that there are only 13 in the country! Poor little things who missed out.

Deer Lake Park
Vancouver
May 2007

Glastonbury Festival
June 2007

Guadalajara
Mexico
December 2007

I admit these may be from concerts other than the one in Mexico (bad blogger)... anyway, you can see three variations on the same ikat print dress.

Amsterdam
July 2007

Dazed & Confused
Bjork did a beautiful shoot for Dazed in Iceland with her brass band, wearing some of her tour outfits. Check it out here.

And check out this Bjork interview on Later with Jools Holland where she talks about working with Bernard Willhelm, the origins of the name "Volta" and writing "Declare "Independence."

More information
bjork.com
Bernard Willhelm
Courier Mail interview
The Age interview
Dazed & Confused interview and photo shoot
The Australian interview

Prada wallpaper by James Jean

Holy mother of scroll bars, those them tweeny images down there below are really w i i i i i i i d e... that's because they're of the wallpaper for the Prada stores in Beverly Hills and SoHo Epicenter stores and in real life they measure 5.2m x 60m (17 x 200 feet).

Yes, I know it's really skinny but if you click on image you'll see...

They're the handiwork of James Jean, who is majorly in with Miuccia Prada and is responsible for the wallpaper that was on show for the Spring/Summer 2008 catwalk show, appears in the ad campaign and is part of Prada's new 'Trembled Blossoms' animated film which will screen during NY Fashion Week .

Fashion Week Daily story about Trembled Blossoms

His website is short on biographical details but full of fantastical images that would thrill an indie fairy... plus James keeps a blog and makes comics and so on. Check it...

More information:
jamesjean.com
ProcessRecess blog
Fashion Week Daily story about 'Trembled Blossoms'

Lilly McElroy throws herself at men

Literally...

Lily meets them in bars and asks them if she can throw herself at them.

Could be an interesting tactic for if you're single.

Here's what she told The Year in Pictures blog

"I started the project by placing an ad on Craig's list looking for men who would meet me at bars blind date style and let me literally throw myself at them. This worked fairly well, but limited the # of photos I could take. Now , I go to bars with a friend/photographer and approach men who are physically larger than I am. I ask them if I can literally throw myself at them. If they say yes, I have myself photographed doing it and buy them a drink afterwards. If it seems like they want to hang out, I'll have a drink as well. Sometimes we talk about the project and sometimes we just chat. I don't have a specific set up for the photos. I just want them to look as much like snap shots or party pics as possible."

More information:
lillymcelroy.com
The Year in Pictures blog post about Lilly

Phoebe Washburn

My maternal grandmother was to magazines, newspapers, string, aluminum foil, fabric remnants, pencils, button, bits, bobs, bric and brac what Warren Buffet is to money ie a hoarder. She grew up during the Depression so no scrap of random whatever needed to fear the rubbish bin in her house. Instead, said item would be carefully folded and stored in a drawer/cupboard/under the couch along with the other random whatevers, just in case a time came when an odd shaped piece of brown paper/string/single pink button would be needed.

No wonder I thought of dear Nanny when I saw the work of Phoebe Washburn. She creates "room-size architectural sculptures... built from the scavenged bits of the urban world in which she lives."

Washburn has only ever sold one work to a private collector (I can her my mother, who bears the legacy of Nanny-induced fear of clutter, breathe a big sigh of relief). In the main, her sculptures are commissioned by galleries as temporary installations.

Also... Washburn and her work also remind me of one of my heros, Rosalie Gascoigne.

Anyway, check it...

Phoebe Washburn in her Brooklyn studio
Adam Friedburg for W magazine

True, False and Slightly Better
2003
Mixed media
Installation at Rice University Art Gallery

Heavy Has Debt
2004
Mixed media
Installation at Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell College.

Photo by Daniel Strong

Nothing is Cutie
2004
Installation at LFL Gallery

Thanks to Thomas

It Has No Secret Surprise
2005

Ramp Project
Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania
April 20 - August 5, 2007

More information
Phoebe Washburn, W magazine, Feb 08
ICA: Ramp Project, University of Pennsylvania
Hammer Museum, UCLA
Zach Feuer Gallery
Rice University

Kerry Taylor Auctions - ebay for haute couture

As outlined in previous posts (here and here), my bout of back-to-work depression triggered an intense period of ebaying. Currently I am expecting the delivery of five exciting parcels:

Claude Montana pant suit
This suit made me feel a little bit scared... even the word suit makes me scared.. but I had to have cos sometimes scared is good, you know? Boyfriend is almost guaranteed to hate.

Thierry Mugler dress
Shitty photo but this is gorgeous... can't wait.

Lanvin silk shirtdress
I like this dress. My boyfriend, rather unkindly pointed out that it bears a certain similarity to the Aaahh!!! Real Monsters cartoon (see below). Unfortunately I can see what he's saying.

Thierry Mugler cats eye sunglasses
Wayfarers are so over. I feel quite confident about his purchase, also because Chloe Sevigny, pioneer of the Wayfarer trend (actually I think my friend Jo was onto that trend before Chloe) has included a pair of cats eye shades in her Linda Farrow range, as reported by susie bubble here.

Salvatore Ferragamo lace-ups
Cute. They're a narrow fit... my feet are kind of wide... my fingers crossed.

Oh the hypocrisy of sniffing at people who buy "it bags" when I am such a label whore!

Anyway, if I was financially able I would lift up my sartorial anchor and take my designer vintage treasure hunt to the high seas... and start shopping at places like Decades in LA and the costume and textile specialist, Kerry Taylor Auctions in London. Take a look at the tasty lots in their next sale...

A Pierre Cardin pink satin crescent bag
Probably 1970s, the ivory satin interior stamped in gold `Pierre Cardin, Paris, hand made', with black cord shoulder strap, 25cm, 10in

Low Estimate: £ 200
High Estimate: £ 300

A Pierre Balmain degradé chiffon evening gown
circa 1970, with sample/catwalk label stamped Pierre Balmain Geneviève, and also with subsidiary labels `411-Aurora' and Barbara 411', the pale peach chiffon becoming a warmer tangerine at the hem, brocaded with gold spots overall, with pendant chiffon trains to each shoulder edged in ostrich plumes, bust 86cm, 34in, waist 61cm, 24in

Low Estimate: £ 700
High Estimate: £ 1000

Claude Montana His 'n Hers leather ensembles
Early 1980s, labelled, comprising black bomber jackets with scarlet leather lapels, piping and zippered gussets to the arms, the back panels with elaborate cutwork mesh enclosing a red ball with the initials `CM; pair of matching male trousers; a tight black leather pencil skirt with zippered back slit; a man's black and red knitted sweater and matching scarf; a pair of Maud Frizon black and red stilletoes with ankle straps, size 36; a pair of Mikli for Montana black and red abstract sunglasses, ladies jacket approx 102cm, 40in, skirt waist 66cm 26in; male sweater and jacket chest 127cm, 50in, male trouser waist 91cm, 36in, (9) This ensemble was exhibited at the Musée des Arts de la Mode, Summer 2006 as part of their major menswear exhibition.

I totally remember those glasses... someone famous wore them in the 80s. Anyone know who and where?

Low Estimate: £ 1800
High Estimate: £ 2500

Jean Dessès chiné rose print taffeta cocktail dress
Circa 1959, detached label, with corsetted inner bodice, with inner and outer taffeta skirts and layers of tulle petticoats, the overskirt draped and caught in place with a massive bow to one side, matching belt, bust 96cm, 38in, waist 71cm, 28in.

Low Estimate: £ 600
High Estimate: £ 900

Gorgeous. I want.

Pierre Balmain couture ombre brown chiffon cocktail dress
Early 1970s, unlabelled, the beige silk crepe under-dress with overlay of chiffon dyed in graduated tones, goffered pleats to the waist, with belt, bust 92cm, 36in, waist 72cm, 28in, (2)

Low Estimate: £ 100
High Estimate: £ 150

Gianni Versace tiger-beaded sheath
Circa 1994, couture labelled and size 40, the empire-line bodice adorned with strands of tiger-effect beading over tiger-printed silk, textural gold embroidery highlighted with topaz pastes and brilliants, with graduated black and gold beaded fringes, broad jewelled straps, the skirt a simple black silk jersey sheath, bust 86cm, 34in

Low Estimate: £ 2000
High Estimate: £ 3000

If I won this I'd hold a 90s theme party and go as Donatella Versace.

More information:
Kerry Taylor Auctions
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters

Jasper Joffe's Beauty Show

Most art openings involve warm white wine on an empty stomach, fantastic people watching (there's the young hipster art crowd, the formerly young and formerly hip but now just odd gang, some arty lesbians and the suits who actually have enough money to buy the art). Imagine what it's going to be like at the opening for Jasper Joffe's Beauty Show. style.com reports:

Joffe plans to create a Jim Crow-like social experiment in which he'll categorize people according to one of the few sets of superficial criteria still unabashedly employed to block access into privileged positions: their looks. At the gallery's opening tonight, Joffe will play the part of bouncer and separate the pretty from the ugly. But instead of banishing the less beautiful, he will kindly corral them into a separate room, where they will be welcome to wallow in their corporeal commonality, while the lookers mingle and mix in another off-limits area. Dressing up and slimming down won't help aspiring pretty people, because as part of Joffe's process, he's been vetting photos sent by invitees before the opening of the show. He's already made up an RSVP list, and like any good clipboard Nazi, he will hear no excuses and grant no exceptions. After the opening, Joffe's flaunting of an attitude that he dubs "Fashism" will continue with one room in his show devoted to shots of seventies and eighties-era Vogue models, and another dedicated to portraits of the physically unfortunate and morally monstrous, including Hitler and Himmler.

Can you freaking imagine? What if you got sent into the ugly room? And the pretty room would be pretty darned awkward too... Fark. It just sounds like it would be so horrible no one would go... Actually, it will probably be rammed. Apparently Joffe "is interested whether the contents of the room will affect the reception of the paintings." I'm more interested in how it will affect the people attending the opening.

The press release on the V22 website is pretty hilarious. Here's an excerpt.

V22 Ashwin Street is pleased to announce Jasper Joffe's Beauty Show, an exhibition which puts the ass back into aesthetics and pubic hair back into fashion.
Joffe loves old Vogues from the 70s and 80s. The models are less stick thin. These mags are full of beautiful pictures of beautiful women, who are now of course old and botoxed. Joffe looks in some vintage Homes and Garden magazines and sees an ad for a shower company which shows most of a naked lady, he is nostalgic for the early innocent years of masturbation. In the good old days you still sometimes saw untopiarized bushes.

All very tongue in cheek... Anway, here are a couple of the aforement Vogue model paintings.

Carrie

More information
jasperjoffe.com
The Times article
V22 Gallery, London
style.com/stylefile story

Hair Wars 2

I've written about Hair Wars, the superfabulous extreme hair show from Detroit, before... Check out this interesting interview with Hair Wars creator, Hump the Grinder on style.com

Hump, aka DJ David Humphries talks about touring Hair Wars, the hair culture in Detroit and the music and dancing that happens at a Hair Wars show. He sounds like quite a character. I'm with Maya Singer, I want a Hair Wars reality show!

Christian Dior shirt

Me oh my!

What print! What a fabric! What a shirt!

It reminds me of those bathmats...

Oh how I lament the popularity of polyester in the 60s and 70s... There were so many great prints in that period but poly is just too vile to wear.

Buy this shirt
Aside from my opinions on the fabrication of this item, the ebay store Retro Couture Boutique offers an excellent selection. Let me know if you purchase anything...

Jan Albers

Wow, I'm really enjoying the work of Nambibia-born, Dusselldorf-based artist, Jan Albers. Line work, beautiful colours combos, collage, wall treatments, dogs, references to Picasso, Jesus and Tom Selleck ... fabulous!

Jan Albers, 2004 at Galerie Tanit, Munich. Most of this work is in oil stick... interesting effect, no?

Pablo

Maria

Theresa

Pelikan

F.L.
(ie Fernand Leger)

A.D.

Untitled Dürer

Sonnenlicht,
Van Horn Gallery, Dusseldorf

More information
Galerie Tanit, Dusseldorf
the-artists.org
Galerie Dezaal, The Netherlands
Re-title.com, online directory of galleries and contemporary visual art
Van Horn, Dusseldorf

Rigid is the new recline - Juergen Teller, W magazine

Feel awkward when someone points a camera at you at a party? Well, if you look to fashion mags like W magazine for your style cues, then you should know – lounging and lolling like Gisele is over. It’s all about being as stiff as a Long Island Iced Tea.

See Lily Cole in this Juergen Teller shoot, Washington, D.C.?

Soooo, now you know… next time someone wants to take your picture you need to be flat on your back, almost naked and halfway under a curtain.

Pool Party Posing 101

I feel uncomfortable just looking at this picture. I hope she didn't have to stay there for very long.

More information
W magazine
Washington, D.C. shoot
How to pose for photos
Long Island Iced Tea recipe