2012 December | The Blogazine - Contemporary Lifestyle Magazine

18/12/2012

Christmas Design Wishlist

Even though every single one of us promises oneself to get all Christmas gifts in time each year, we are fairly sure that many will do their shopping this last weekend before our favourite holiday arrives. That is why we felt the urge to compile a short shopping list for those who haven’t been so diligent to get all the stuff on their friends’ and family’s wishlists by now. Here are a few advice for conscious design shopping and also a sort of a ‘best of’ selection of design goodies that can be found in only the most wonderful design stores.

The first item we dared to choose is an all-time classic: the Eames plastic rocking chair. Designed exactly 62 years ago and currently produced by Vitra, this timeless piece of furniture will be the perfect object for lazy Christmas reading and will surely be the perfect match for at least another 50 years of holiday (and non) relaxing.

The second choice fell on a recent publication that should already be on everyone’s bookshelves. If not, then this is the perfect occasion for this acquisition: Walter Pfeiffer’s book ‘Scrapbooks 1969-1985’. Published by Edition Patrick Frey, an art books publisher we have already largely praised in the past, this book is a dense insight in the creative process and aesthetics of one of the most interesting photographers of our time.

The third object was recently produced as a result of an already prolific collaboration between the Italian tableware producer Alessi and the French designer duo Bouroullec brothers. The Ovale cutlery will surely become handy during the festive over-eating!

And last but not least, we have a perfect example of conscious and timeless design: Enzo Mari’s Sedia 1 chair, one of the most successful pieces of his ‘Autoprogettazione’ project. If you’re not playing around making Christmas treats, then maybe assembling this chair wonderfully produced by Artek might be a perfect time killer while you also might take an insight into the design process of one of the most critical but yet honest Italian designers.

Whether or not these pieces actually end up under your tree, we still hope you have a jolly jolly Christmas!

Rujana Rebernjak

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18/12/2012

Fashion history: Paniers, Baleines et Jabots

In age of enlightenment in central Europe, fashion was as much a barometer of economic and social trends as it is today. Like a tailored corset, the marketplace for 18th century aristocrats and merchants was both luxurious and constrained. Brussels buzzed with activity of buying, selling and making their own brand of bobbin lace. But getting that lace into the hands of the people who loved it took both artisan skills and political subterfuge.

Enterprising ladies used their social connections to create business of creating and trading Brussels lace and its products to local aristrocrats and merchants. Meanwhile, clever tailors turned the lace into accessories – hairstyles, collars, ties or ruffles – which adorned the ladies at court. Business success was ensured by the access to the formal events of the court of Louis XV at Versailles or Paris, frequented by the high nobility. Yet profits from exploitation of Congo and other African colonies also kept demand among the merchant classes of Europe and the UK high. The production of Brussels lace began in the 15th century, but by the 17th century some authorities were moving to supress its great popularity. In 1662 the English parliament, followed quickly by France, passed legislation against the importation. These restrictions on trade where ineffective, the higher quality Brussels lace was renamed ‘Point d’Angleterre’ and smuggled over the borders.

English designs reveal a desire for greater comfort and pliability, perhaps due to the new interest in travel, exploration and transport, while the French garments and accessories continued to aim for refinement by restricting and containing the body with whale bone corsets, bustles and wigs. By the end of the century, however, woman had adopted a long and narrow form influenced by greco-roman antiquity, perhaps signifying a relaxation of restrictions on trade and movement.

Masculine elegance was also transforming. Influenced by oriental and colonial contact, some menswear of the period featured exotic birds, flowers and even palm trees. Shoes were pointed, collars fitted, waistcoats with flat sleeves flared at the hip. Culottes and breeches featured decorative edges, while buttons became the epitome of men’s style.

The Museum of Costume and Lace in Brussels has assembled several costumes and cloths from the age of enlightenment, illustrating with precision and details the cultural and economic changes taking place between 1700-1789. This exhibition will appeal to anyone interested in this craft or in how social and economic change can make themselves felt quite literally in new fashions. If you happen to be in Brussels for the Christmas holidays, we definitely recommend a visit in the Costume and Lace Museum, on until the 31st of December.

Philippa Nicole Barr

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17/12/2012

The Legendary Christmas Sweater

Legendary, Iconic? Yes, we would go as far as to say that the Christmas sweater is up there on the legendary and iconic fashion statements. Bad taste, cheesy, festive and fun? Oh yes! But did it start out with this intention or has it gained this reputation due to the publicity it has received via films and media and how is it rated now?

Existing since the early 1950s, the Christmas knitted patterned sweater was offered to the family by auntie or grandma who would knit a unique festive pattern and family members would wear it for the occasion. Patterns and applications slowly became louder and more sparkly and generally more outrageous, creating a somewhat tacky over-the-top look.

The whole idea of being given these sweaters and feeling obliged to wear them added to the un-coolness. Certain famous figures evoke the image of the Christmas sweater, think Bill Cosby; he has to have worn the record number of dodgy patterned knits. So then who put the cringe-worthy item back on the fashion map? One memorable moment would have to be when Darcy, actor Colin Firth is seen sporting his reindeer sweater in the Bridget Jones movie. He managed to pull it off and gave the sweater a certain new sex appeal.

Right now it is a hot item, high street retailers are cashing-in on the scene, top end designers such as Paul Smith and of course charity and vintage stores are great places to pick up an original 80s or 90s style creation. Even better: make and customize your own! It also seems it’s no longer about sophisticated Christmas parties and wearing your best frock, but Christmas sweater parties are a must, with competitions to win the cheesiest sweater. Rather fittingly, in the UK today there’s the official Christmas jumper day, with wearers encouraged to donate to the charity Save the Children.

Well isn’t that what Christmas is about, good spirit, festive fun and giving? So be sure to be seen wearing one, after all ‘tis the season to be jolly’.

Tamsin Cook

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16/12/2012

Sunday Breakfast by Love For Breakfast

Penetrating aroma of an atmosphere made of drafts, and that is accompanied by the slow crackling of wood in a fireplace.

Alessia Bossi from Love For Breakfast

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14/12/2012

For Lovers of Art and Frost

Glasgow is a city of contradictions. Once synonymous with crime and industrial abandonment, its somewhat tough exterior now harbours artistic and architectural treasures and green spaces that thrive, regardless of the season.

Ranging from the very big – there’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery, a red sandstone landmark packed with the works of Botticelli, Rembrandt, Dalí and the Glasgow Boys – to the slightly smaller, there are galleries aplenty in this town. Architecture fans should stop by the Hunterian Art Gallery, which includes a complete reconstruction of No. 6 Florentine Terrace; the home of space and colour loving architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his artist wife Margaret Macdonald.

For something a little different you’ll find that few museums pull off video and lighting instillations like the Glasgow Museum of Modern Art. Known as much for the cone-wearing horse rider that guards its entrance as well as the art it contains, this family friendly space proves that 5-year-olds are an awesome source of insightful artistic commentary. Those with a penchant for sartorial daring should also perch out the front for a while; it’s the stomping ground of the truly modish.

But the truest gallery-esque pièce de résistance is the Glasgow School of Art. Considered to be Mackintosh’s greatest architectural creation, it plays with the contrast between height, light and shade, and will bring out your appreciation of all things abstract. Combining dark and dramatic halls, a top floor dungeon, Glasgow marble (i.e. polished concrete), forest-like library, Art Nouveau furnishings, ceramic tiles devoid of a definite meaning and a puzzling assortment of nature inspired Mackintosh motifs – which act as rewards for visitors captivated enough to really notice the details – this space is a visual treat.

There’s a story behind every element. On a student-led tour my guide explained that the wooden alcoves framing various doorways were created to hold fresh roses grown in a dedicated rooftop greenhouse, and to inspire the students. Although there’s no record of a caretaker ever taking the time to arrange these said flowers, students over the past 100 years have occasionally left bouquets as homage to Mackintosh.

Art aside, Glasgow is a city keen to entertain, and around the West End you’ll benefit from simply wandering. Along the Woodlands Road you’ll pass packed antique furniture stores hidden within Victorian houses, and school buildings that have transformed into pubs. You can acquire the perfect vintage wardrobe on Great Western Road and stumble upon the city’s best coffee in Gibson Street’s Artisan Roast. If tables made from old doors and fairy light filled fireplaces are your thing, you’ll find loitering here a pleasure.

Finally there’s Kelvingrove Park. A jumble of paths, hills, ponds, skate parks and monuments, watched over by the Glasgow University and packed with acrobats, excitable children and aimless amblers. A wintery stroll here will no doubt result in a newfound appreciation of frost.

Clearly a champion of the arts, nature and character, this thoroughly Scottish and rather complex metropolis shows that you really can’t judge a city by its cover.

Liz Schaffer

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13/12/2012

A Way Of Being Oneself

A project by students a bit over their twenties which became a brand. Born in Germany in 2009, although in a few years it conquered the most niche European markets, A Kind of Guise cares to maintain its design office and production in Deutsche territory. Their biggest talent? Knowing how to communicate strong. Communicate what? A lifestyle. Through video, teasers, images and slogans. The style is nice, the language intelligible and the quality of garments excellent. In today’s world that runs at 2.0 speed, it is not enough anymore to get your hands on a good product, you must be able to generate the public’s desire to own it.

Tell The Blogazine how and when did A Kind of Guise start? Nobody knows who you are nor how many you are. This is an intention to focus only on clothes and not on the designer, or what?
Well, first of all, we want our products to be in the spotlight, not the persons behind it. And secondly it has never seemed important for us to publish our names or see them printed somewhere. But it’s not a secret, we are 5 people coming from different backgrounds (like fashion, music, art, film etc.) who try to translate all their influences into the products. The whole thing started off in the summer of 2009 in Munich, as a little student-project, but soon more people joined the team and we are still growing (slowly but strong).

Your taste of style is very precise and coherent. This is a trend overflowing around the world, but in particular way in Europe. Such a country, old school, fifties, mormons attitude. Where do you look for your inspiration?
Inspiration comes from everywhere. Books, music, photographs, the people around us, our family and our friends (who we still want to design the stuff for).

Communication. It is a massive point of strength in fashion today, and you work on it very well. How do you manage your communication and image strategies, that are so funny and powerful as well?
Honestly we don’t think so much about strategies. Of course we set schedules and release-dates, but style-wise it’s just us you see in the pictures. There is one important word that may sum it up: Passion.

Proudly Deutsche production. DNA and quality fashion could be a way for young designers to capture and ride on the market? What’s your personal experience and your point of view about it?
Well it’s a basic decision you make before you start. And for us it was clear that we want to build strong, long-lasting and honest quality products. So you start searching for a proper production which is regional, close, easy to communicate with etc. There you go, we found that in Germany.

Sum up in three words A Kind of Guise.
Analyse. Solve. Believe.

Antonio Moscogiuri Dinoi

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12/12/2012

The Editorial: Twelve Twelve Twelve

Right about now, you’re probably realising that you can’t possibly get half of everything done you’d planned to this year, that you’re nothing you’d imagined a year ago, and that soon, you’ll be trapped into small talk for days on end with relatives you don’t like. (I fully plan on entering advanced eggnog inebriation prior to any attempted merrymaking with Republican relatives.) But fret not, dear friends! I’m here to tell you that it’ll all be alright. Today, after all, is 12/12/12! It isn’t often that the stars line up in such delicious symmetry, but when they do, some craaaaaazy stuff is bound to go down.

So, seize the day. Have a spiced-up, fatty snack to hold you over and do something silly (or symmetrical). Or both. But mostly just cool down and start coasting: it’s just twelve days ’til Christmas, after all. And on the off chance the Mayan apocalypse is too busy to destroy us on the 21st (a date that is 12 spelled backwards, coincidentally), I’ll get back to you around New Year’s time with a loving recap of the past 12 months of ’12. Merry merry!

Photo & text: Tag Christof

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11/12/2012

Pop Art Design at Vitra Design Museum

If you were to think about some of the most common art movements that became elusive arguments for myriads of different exhibitions around the world, surely in the first place you’d find French Impressionism and right after that the oh-so-popular Pop Art. Yes, this post-war art movement is  one of the most analyzed subjects in any museum worldwide, and every single one of you reading this article must have seen one of these shows telling its history and legacy.

Many of the iconic elements of Pop Art, that introduced the vernacular and the everyday in the high circles of art, have been designed long before it had officially taken the stage: bold objects designed by Raymond Loewy, the colourful furniture and even more colourful lifestyle proposed by Charles and Ray Eames, or the intricate graphic designs of the period, have all penetrated the art world marking it unforgettably. Strangely enough the love-hate relationship of mutual contamination between Pop Art and design of that period has never been explored before the current “Pop Art Design” show at Vitra Design Museum.

The links between art and design of the period are fairly intricate, not only the graphic design of the period must have given a spin for the classic work of artists like Roy Lichtenstein and elements of penetrated design culture works of great masters like Andy Warhol, but many of the artists started off as designers themselves. Hence the show at Vitra Campus tries to untangle those stories showing some of the most interesting but disregarded relationships between art and design: from Gaetano Pesce’s or Achille Castiglioni’s furniture, to Jasper John’s paintings or rare screen designs by Andy Warhol. Even though grand part of what can be seen at the show is widely seen contemporary classics both in furniture design as well as in art, the close juxtaposition of the two fields might offer a new evaluation and inspiring insights in both disciplines, ultimately contributing to the idea that boundaries between art and design maybe don’t even exist.

“Pop Art Design” runs until the 3rd of February at Vitra Design Museum.

Rujana Rebernjak

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10/12/2012

Performance Art Week

The first edition of the Venice International Performance Art Week entitled Hybrid Body – Poetic Body started on Saturday at Palazzo Bembo, and hosts the works by 31 international artists, pioneers and contemporary exponents of Performance Art.

 Celebrating arts that turn the artist’s body into the artwork involving time, space and interaction between performer and his/her audience, this project presents a full programme of workshops and talks about live art, while displaying installations, photographic documentation, video and live performances. Among the names selected by Andrea Pagnes – curator and member of the artistic duo VestAndPage with Verena Stenke – we can recognize the ‘superstar’ Yoko Ono; the versatile, charming figure of VALIE EXPORT, one of the most important masters on conceptual media art, performance and film; Hermann Nitsch, who founded the Wiener Aktionismus along with Guenter Brus, Otto Muehl and Rudolf Schwarzkogler and the Belgian artist, set designer, choreographer, theatre director Jan Fabre.

 Focusing on the instant of action that goes on existing has to be saved through different media, the exhibition pinpoints the essence of a total practise that gets out from abstraction to investigate the human body, its interiority and its relation to political and social issues in a physical, tangible way.

The show will run until 15th December, and a printed and digital catalogues collecting the main moments, texts and visuals records will be released at the end of this big, contemporary “happening”.