Tuesday 30 April 2013

Tetley DIY

Tetley DIY is a project supported by PSL (Project Space Leeds), who will soon be moving to their new location of the old Tetley brewery in the city - exciting.

I'm involved with Breeze International Festival, which is an arts festival run by Leeds City Council that Tetley DIY will be contributing to.

We'll be running a weeks worth of curated arts workshops in the Trinity Leeds customer service lounge in May, and at the moment, we're just in the planning phases of the project - we started last week with the basic idea/notion of 'SHOPPING'.

D I S C O U R S E will be running some workshops, which we're really looking forward to.

In the meantime, here is the project blog:

http://tetleydiy.tumblr.com/





Monday 22 April 2013

Weird Materiality

UCL's Institute of Making has an amazing Materials Library.
Like the original cabinet of curiosity, all sorts of futuristic/scientific/techy things line the shelves to produce a most fascinating collection of objects which all have a kind of weird materiality:


from http://www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/materials-library

I want to talk to the 'curator' about how these 'non-objects' are culturally understood and organised - after having researched immateriality in relation to objecthood (immateriality of code, and of light), these strange hybrid objects fascinate me: how do we define them (in art history), and could they be used artistically?

Friday 19 April 2013

immersive isn't always techy

Two very different forms of immersive artworks by
Pae White: (site-specific yarn installation)


(similar to Jeongmoon Choi and Nike Savvas)

and Yoshi Sodeoka: (GIF weaving)


 The virtual and the physical have a very separate appeal, but in this instance, the layering of structure is visually similar.

"Handling New Media in Fashion"

After having investigated and explored interdisciplinary networks within contemporary art for the last few months (BA History of Art dissertation project), it only makes sense for me to extend my academic interest into the realm of fashion. Media theory - in connection to new media art and fashion presentation - certainly applies to both areas of creative practice as a result of the inescapable integration of technology within culture. During/after this 'digital revolution', the once distinctly separate realms of academia and practice have become connected: the distributive nature of living in conjunction with technology has resulted in the decentralization of specific areas of understanding, which ultimately means that new relationships between these areas can be made. Collaboration is thus encouraged, and in so doing, new methods of creativity emerge and develop within contemporary art and fashion.

My decision to investigate new media in fashion has been further prompted by the Europeana International Fashion Conference, which happened over the last few days in Florence (more info here). Sadly, I was unable to attend, but the notes made on the event's blog have spurred my intentions to build upon the theories I have investigated in my arts degree. The interaction with fashion archives, as well as matters of library and museum curation and engagement are all very similar to important art-historical areas of consideration - which only serves to illustrate the contemporary/cultural blurring of the (once very distinct) boundaries between fashion and art. The visual implications of technology within both areas are also similar: in particualr, internet and moving image development have had huge effects on both industries, often in the same way.

I've got a lot of interesting research ahead of me, which I can't wait for.

Colour Consideration

modern /
fresh /
blue /

The colour scheme of this editorial is somehow icy and tropical at the same time, whilst the styling is giving me everything I want: classical - futuristic - iconic - sexy - serene

Vogue Spain, May 2013 via StuddedHearts
Next month's editorials are looking incredible!







Nick Knight Forever





Incredible talent all round.

Thursday 18 April 2013

Billabong Surf Capsule Summer 2013


Surf Capsule Summer 2013 from Billabong on Vimeo.

Hugely expecting to see these wetsuits in some 'futuristic' fashion editorials over the summer. If not, I'll hopefully see them in the water. Mad for them.

Shop here

'remediataion of imagery'

Remediation - digital age - RCA MA Curating course bloggers

http://www.dazeddigital.com/blog/article/15934/1/why-live-life-when-you-can-watch-it-on-youtube

http://nooneliveshere.rca.ac.uk/#/

Need a bit of time to explore and consider what's going on here.

Wednesday 17 April 2013

Is conclusive useful?

(introduction:)

When we read an academic piece of writing, or even an online article or blog post, it's usually because we want to know something. They'll be an introduction (like this), the body of the work (to come), and then a conclusion in which there might be a summary and a final thought/opinion. Regardless of the length of the piece, this sort of standard set-up is what we expect. But does that make it good/effective/the most appropriate way to write?
This  question was the topic of a heated discussion in a seminar I attended for uni this week, focusing on a reading we'd been asked to study. This reading discussed the photographic representation of urban non-places (disused industrial areas, etc); but in many ways, what it discussed was irrelevant, because we ended up talking about how it was written. I felt as though the author hid behind references - rather than making clear from the beginning what his interests and aims were, he used examples endlessly, and then never really concluded. It was incredibly frustrating to read, and impossible to make notes about. As a result, most of us thought it was a pretty bad piece of writing. But bizarrely, our tutor praised it.
Rather than maintaining the expected essay set-up, this author was 'brave enough' to simply accumulate information, making the suggestion and encouraging the reader to consider everything as a whole - and thus to make their own decision regarding its point. This might include further research, and a lot of consideration. Our tutor told us that he doesn't believe in conclusions, because they only shut down discussion.
Whilst this initially all sounds quite postmodern, there are certainly some benefits to writing in a different way. Yet having all just submitted our dissertations - not to mentioned enduring three years worth of training in writing essays with an intro and conclusion - everyone got quite pissed off.
This discussion fascinated me, since I'm interested in various forms within the same practice. My own writing (this blog as a project) oscillates between focused posts in which I investigate an idea, and posts in which I'll simply record a link or a video, or an image. With these more basic posts, my intention is that an interested gear talk visitor will follow that link and continue their own mini-investigation - much like the accumulative reference-making within the frustrating essy previously mentioned.

(no conclusion)

(link to further thoughts via D I S C O U R S E )

Tuesday 16 April 2013

like a pony

girl on girl


This super sexy art show poster for a all-female show 'Girl on Girl' at One Thoresby Street seems to illustrate the themes of the works on display: sexual, sensational consumerism.
Works for me.

Surveillance can be beautiful

Lucky PDF x Mykki Blanco




Lucky PDF is a London based artist collective, working predominantly with internet and program.
Mykki Blanco is a transvestite rapper from New York.
What they're working on together, I'm not sure - but I like this video a lot.

Saturday 13 April 2013

Taisuke Koyama

PICTURES, Diptrics, Tokyo, 2011

Taisuke Koyama CV
Rather than being reduced to tumblr posts (its got that familiar tie-dye, iridescent hipster vibe), Koyama has a fascinating CV and publications list.
I am yet to discover the work's subject, however..


Ocean Pop


ELLE UK May 2013
Completely blown away by the colours in this photograph. Amazing editorial.


VOGUE Netherlands May 2013
Different shoot, same brilliant vibe.


both via Studded Hearts


Mesh Stuff

Been pranging out about finding the right mesh lately. So difficult - I was even watching those net stripper leotards on eBay (low point). Anyway. Found a whole host of ready-to-wear mesh over at nastygal. So good!






Friday 12 April 2013

Lottie Hall lookbook preview


via wolfcub, amazing model Hanlei.
So much love for Aussie fashion vibe at the moment, especially what with Emma Mulholland (featured on geartalk a few months ago) coming through so large this week at Australia Fashion Week.

These sandals rule

Those Stella shoes.

Last month, these 90s chunky shoes clumped down a Stella McCartney runway.


So cool.
The platform, the tread and the white can be found in high-street sandal form here.
Not that different to a pair I've be wearing over the winter (here).

Wednesday 10 April 2013