Tokyo Telescopes
14/05/2010
Coffee, Cigarettes & Boredom - ÇA, C'EST PARIS !
Paris is one of those few cities that are part of a global fantasy, almost everyone dreams to visit it, some actually do, and very few are not slightly disappointed when done. Of course, there's the quality of life, the Cafes and their terrace where one can sit for hours, looking around and trying to catch a waiter, there are the restaurants, the food and wines, and there are the many museums and monuments. yes, all that is here in Paris,but that's about it really. If ever you dare going out for fun, beware ! as that mostly won't happen, La Ville Lumiere is actually shutting down pretty early and unless you fancy standing around drunken people who desperately try to have conversations on politics and other irrelevant subjects for the dance floor of a night club past 3am, you'd rather stay home. That's what most Parisians do anyway, it's all about wine fueled dinners for the locals, at home or in restaurants. But 2am seems to be the deadline for fun, afterward you'll get dragged into either sordid or ridiculously hip clubs, where nobody would ever enjoy themselves but for checking out who is with who, who wears what, and further on who does who ! There are some exceptions, and some Parisians actually enjoy it the way it is, even without drug use (though that really lowers the number), so when in Paris, keep it nice and early, and whenever you end up on a club's red velvet sofa in the late hours, just fit in with the crowd, avoid heavy conversations (easier said than done) and on top of all, don't ever look like you're enjoying it too much, that might attract suspicions...
13/05/2010
12/05/2010
just kids by andreas lonn
Just finished reading "Just kids" by Patti Smith. If you have the time or chance to read this sweet little book you should. I really believe it will be one of those books youngsters will read in their early teens when they are looking for a specific identity. Kind of like what Kerouac's "On the road" meant for teenagers in the 1960's. The book is mainly about not belonging and trying to figure out where to belong. Her former lover Robert Mapplethorpe's (right on the cover) search for his identity. Their adventure together at the Chelsea hotel, living there and meeting people looking for some kind of truth or identity. Hopefully in this era where the subcultures are disappearing in an alarming rate this book can inspire young people to search for their identity a bit deeper than the surface. The message for me is that you can never know or plan what you will become in a true search for your dreams.
There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out
The ANDAM award has been quite criticized this last year for not helping the upcoming french designers, even Anna Wintour mentioned it to the french ministry of the Industry during a well publicized lunch. True that giving the price consecutively to Richard Nicoll, Gareth Pugh and Giles Deacon, ANDAM was looking for gaining an international influence more than promoting new french talents.This year, probably in reaction to many critical comments, Carine Roitfeld joined in as president of the jury and 3 on the 6 nominated are Paris based designers competing for the 220 000 Euros award. Still we're missing 2 upcoming Paris based designers that were praised in the french and international press, Maxime Simoens and Anthony Vaccarello, they could have done a good use of that money too, but c'est la vie.... also we can note that the accessory designers section, which used to compete for a smaller award has been erased this season.
So far my heart goes for Calla Haynes with her label CALLA, the most interesting and fresh collection, a promising talent on an international scale, now it's up to the jury to decide, and that includes Alber Elbaz, Hilary Alexander, Sarah Lerfel ( Colette ), Jefferson Hack, Virginie Mouzat ( Figaro ), and Jean-Jacques Picart. Who ever wins, let's hope it will mark a change in the way awards, press and buyers from France tend to ignore their homeland designers and give a kick of energy and hope in the sclerotic french fashion industry.
Tonight !!! in Paris...
Tonight, in what is probably the only german bar of Paris, dance to the sounds of post, new and cold wave selected by L.S.D.L.N to celebrate the day before the Ascension, any excuse is good to party, right !?Find Map here.
11/05/2010
Louder Than Words
"In 1983, Katharine Hamnett launched first of her protest T-shirts: they were designed to be copied, slogans and all, and read: CHOOSE LIFE, WORLDWIDE NUCLEAR BAN NOW, PRESERVE THE RAINFORESTS, SAVE THE WORLD, SAVE THE WHALES, EDUCATION NOT MISSILES, etc. Thanks to the excess media coverage, she was chosen as the designer of the year by the British Fashion Council the next year and was invited to the Downing Street to meet with the Prime Minister.
Hamnett was not a supporter of the-then PM Margaret Thatcher, and was reluctant to go. But she decided to seize the photo-op to make a political statement. The United States had recently deployed controversial Pershing II guided missile being in West Germany, and Hamnett wore a slogan T-shirt declaring “58 per cent Don’t Want Pershing”, specifically ensuring that the lettering on the shirt would stand out in photographs. She wore it under her stylish jacket, and removed the jacket just before meeting the prime minister. She made headlines the next day.
Vogue magazine called it one of the most iconic moments in fashion, but Hamnett admitted that her fashion statement didn’t make quite the impression on the Prime Minister that she hoped. Hamnett remembers: “She didn’t notice it at first, but then she looked down and made a noise like a chicken. Then quick as a fishwife she said: ‘Oh well we haven’t got Pershing here, so maybe you are at the wrong party’, which I thought was rather rude as she had invited me.”
Although she later became increasingly skeptical of whether T-shirts can make a difference, Katherine Hamnett enjoyed the idea of the copiers of her T-shirts unwittingly promoting her messages. In 2003 Hamnett sent models down the catwalk in London wearing T-shirts shouting “No War, Blair Out”, and thousands wore copycat T-shirts to the anti-war march before the invasion of Iraq. Hamnett concedes that there is also a danger with T-shirts (and marches) that they “give people the feeling that they have done something when they haven’t”."
Source : Text & Image from IconicPhotos
pig by andreas lonn
1969
Roman Polanski outside his and Sharon Tate's house the following days after Sharon Tate and others were brutally murdered by the Manson family. The Manson family wrote PIG in blood on the front door. The murders on 10050 Cielo Drive is in pop culture sometimes referenced as "the end of the 1960's".
1994
The house was in the 1990's owned by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and the album the Downward Spiral was recorded there. Three of the tracks had direct relations to the murders, Piggy, March of the Pigs and Closer. When Mr Reznor sold the house, he kept the door and it's now the door to his studio: Le Pig.
09/05/2010
hole by andreas lonn
Various Hole covers over the years.
Whether you liked Courtney Loves new Hole album, her cover art has always been beautiful. The cover art on the new album Nobody's daugher features 3 women who all got their heads chopped off: Anne Boleyn, Marie Antoinette and Lady Jane Grey. The album art pays homage to a tradition of LP covers. If you come across the Vinyl version of the record you can play around, pretending you are the missing head of Anne Boleyn or Marie Antoinette.
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