PETER BJORN AND JOHN

by Natalie Joos / November 19th, 2009

For their 10^th anniversary, Swedish threesome Peter Bjorn and John have been up to their ever-enchanting tricks, traveling the US with a surprise tour and marking each city stop with special guest appearances from famous indie rock faces. They have, thus far, shared the stage with Spank Rock, Amanda Blank, Rose and the Alien with the Beer Baby Bong, Andrew WK, Au Revoir Simone, U-N-I, Matt Sweeney and Hollywood Holt, and upcoming shows are promising even more neo-jam band collaborations. Favorite singer El Perro Del Mar and her Swedish All Star Trio are opening each show, and during each concert PB & J have held a whistling contest—the prize being an opportunity to sing along to the 2006 hit “Young Folks” on stage. To add to the celebratory mood, a Birthday Light Show was specially designed by award-winning light master Ed Warren. The tour closes on November 21^st in LA at Club Nokia—in true Hollywood style—with a star-studded guest list and more surprise acts. For those of you who don’t get to sing Happy Birthday with them live, follow their twitter updates on http://www.ilike.com/artist/Peter+Bjorn+And+John.

Photography by Aaron Stern for amediumformat.com

OBESITY AND SPEED

by Alastair McKimm / November 13th, 2009

Known for iconic t-shirts and a nihilist-chic aesthetic that directly mirrors downtown New York’s perennial infatuation with paradise lost, Obesity and Speed have perfected a style that eschews luxury for uncompromising independence. Creating men’s and women’s collections, partners Luz Olko and Josh Conner ransack punk America to create looks that highlight a degenerate take on elegance. Here, we speak to them about their creative inspirations.

Alastair McKimm: When did you first become interested in fashion?

Lyz Olko and Josh Conner: One thing just led to another, I don’t think there was a direct interest in “fashion”, but more a redirection of interests in other things.  It is another medium of making things that are specific to “us”.

AM: Do you relate life experiences to your design work?

L&J: Yes, because what we make is derived from our interests and influences, which we’ve found through our personal experiences. We also experience new things every day which in turn influences what we are making at that time.  It’s nice to be able to change, and grow.

AM: Who has supported your career and creativity the most?

L&J: The biggest support in our design career (other than how much we rely on each other) has been our friends, who are our family. They are everything to us.

AM: How do you see the future of independent design?

L&J: In the future cities will become deserts. Roads will become battlefields. Mad Max.

AM: How do you measure success?

L&J: Dot. Dash. Don’t Crash.

AM: What was the last track you listened to?

L&J: When we first met, almost ten years ago, we made each other mix tapes. Here is a song selection from each. (some of these are from memory, I listened to mine so much the tape finally snapped after 5 years.)

From Josh to Lyz:

The Cure: Lovesong
L7: Shitlist
Patti Smith: Rock and Roll Nigger
Dusty Springfield:
Misfits: Bullet and She
Minor Threat: Filler
Siouxsie: Peekaboo
The Ramones: Judy is a Punk
Nico: These Days

From Lyz to Josh:

Bikini Kill: Rebel Girl
Nick Drake: Pink Moon
Minor Threat: I don’t Wanna Hear it
Misfits: Hybrid Moments
Dinosaur Jr: Feel the Pain
Lush: Ladykiller
The Cure: In Between Days
Cat Power: Cross Bones Style
The Buzzcocks: Ever Fallen in Love

AM: What was the last gig you went to?

L&J: Patti Smith

AM: What was the last film you watched?

L&J: We watch a few films every day, but here’s the last up to the minute one (and a favorite): Another State of Mind.

Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld & RVCA Welcome Nicolas Pol’s “The Martus Maw”

by Alisa Gould-Simon / November 7th, 2009

This Monday night, French artist Nicolas Pol will bring his bold, abstract paintings stateside for the first time in his career. The month-long show, titled “The Martus Maw,” will be open to the public from November 10 through December 10, and will include 16 never-before-seen works from Pol. Exhibited at 80 Essex Street, in a structure that was formerly an old meat market, the locale immediately points to the show’s fledgling curator, Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, who has, in his short career, shown a distinct penchant for abandoned and/or off-the-beaten path exhibition spaces. But the transience of the space services the conceptual rigors of the paintings with equal fortitude. As Restoin Roitfeld, who met Pol (a graduate of the Ecole des Beaux Art) 8 months ago in Paris as a result of a mutual friend’s introduction, muses, “You can look at his work for hours or even for a lifetime and you will always see something different.”

Lupus Gutus
2009, Oil on canvas
210 x 390 cm

STAGES

by Aimee Walleston / November 3rd, 2009

Opening at Deitch gallery on Broome Street (and on view until November 21^st), STAGES is a parade-of-stars (including Ed Ruscha, Raymond Pettibon and Catherine Opie) group show conceived in collaboration with NIKE, Lance Armstrong, and Armstrong’s LIVESTRONG organization. Proceeds from the exhibition, which first premiered in Paris and will soon be traveling to Miami Basel, go to help raise funds and awareness for cancer treatment, research and prevention. Here, we speak to New York artist José Parlá about his contribution to the project. 

Aimee Walleston: In your piece for STAGES, you’ve created an abstract canvas that layers the names of 250 cancer patients until the names themselves become almost indecipherable. With this work, were you seeking to give a more personalized identity to the experience of this disease, while also pointing out its ubiquity in our lives?

José Parlá: For my untitled painting in the STAGES exhibition, I wanted to create a work using the names of cancer patients. By using the names to create a web of linear marks, I felt the viewer would be able to feel the marks rather than read the names. During the time I was making this painting, my friend Dr. Alan Berkman was in the hospital with cancer, and passed away the week as I was completing the artwork. I dedicate this painting specifically to his memory. The list of names was a mix of friends and family in my life who have passed away from, or survived, cancer. Also included are names in that the Lance Armstrong Foundation, LIVESTRONG, gave to me after I asked them for a list of cancer survivors to inspire the artwork.

HANNA HEDMAN JEWELRY

by Alisa Gould-Simon / November 2nd, 2009

The jewelry designs of Stockholm-based artist Hanna Hedman walk a fine line between fantasy and reality, art and function. Conceptually, her highly sculptural necklaces are constructed with the intention of offering their wearer a sense of escape; an entrance into an alternate universe. Hedman follows somewhat in the footsteps of sculptor Alexander Calder’s forays into jewelry, but the work she produces is something else entirely. Ultimately, Hedman, who exhibits her work globally in galleries, has the intention to provoke, as well as to provide solace and a sense of escape. More armor than accessory, Hedman’s works occupy the dark space between literal and figurative, where nothing is quite what it seems. This is what Hedman calls “The grey area,” where everything is “beautiful, but also melancholic and malevolent.”

Photography by Sanna Lindberg

RASHAAD NEWSOME

by Katie Kitamura / October 30th, 2009

Rashaad Newsome builds new cultural monuments out of the fragments of pop culture.  He recreates high culture forms, from chamber music to heraldry, using diamond bling, ghetto vernacular, and hip hop beats.  Creating his own distinct language and coat of arms, Newsome is already the recipient of numerous awards. His first solo exhibition in New York is on view now at Ramis Barquet (532 West 24th Street).

Katie Kitamura: Can you talk a bit about the genesis of your work, and in particular the way you use sampling as both a metaphor and a methodology throughout your work?

Rashaad Newsome: I have always been interested in language, specifically non-verbal forms of communication. As a visual artist I deal in the business of visual language. So given that visual language is a practice where images are used to communicate concepts, becoming an artist felt natural. In my work I use the equalizing force of sampling to craft compositions that frequently surprise in their associative potential and walk the tightrope between identity politics and abstraction.  One of my issues in terms of looking at art is how esoteric it can be and how it is relegated to a sense of aesthetic elitism. Yet for me, art represents the complete antithesis of this school of thought. Art, when at its best, elicits emotional and visceral responses that are universally recognized and felt.

KK: You often work the divide between high and low . . .

RN: I often deal with the language of “high” and “low” cultures, both which come in quotations for me. I select “high” and “low” samples and combine them, which enables me to demystify their perceived distinctions and shed light on the fact that they are both in fact subcultures that draw upon each other.  The results are often an acculturated affect, which I find very interesting. In many ways my work functions as cultural amalgams.

KK: Your work cuts across performance, video, collage and sculpture, and yet it hangs together incredibly well as a body of work. Can you describe some of the underlying process that ties the work together?

RN: I think it would be the act of composing. For instance, in the “Untitled” videos the dancers come to my studio and perform. I videotape the performance and using samples from that footage compose them into something new. I view those videos as drawings with the dancers acting as my pen creating lines, shapes, landscapes and an array of narratives. In “The Conductor” I take orchestral music, daily gestures and sounds associated with hip hop culture and compose them into a multi sensory performance. With “Ice Grill” I compose a culturally specific object into a unique piece of architecture. I think “Shade Compositions” represents the ultimate illustration of this practice of composing because it’s all done live and in real time.

KK: Your show at Ramis Barquet is called Standards, which I think refers to not only to the language of heralds that you employ in your collages, but also to the idea of status consciousness, which is so rampant in our culture. In what way do you comment on (and also exploit) the allure of power, wealth and position?

RN: The title came to me when I was working on the piece that was used in the Artforum add. “Status Symbol #12″ is loosely based on a standard from 1867 depicting the arms of Alexander II. I started to think about standards not only as an object but also as a concept.  As I mentioned before composing is a big part of my work.  In the concerto form, the soloist would often compose and perform a cadenza as a way to express their individual interpretation of the piece. In my own way my work functions as a cadenza expressing my Issues having to do with race, class, gender and sexuality that are somehow bound to identities that are more restrained then myself. In a sense I’m trying to make work that is unrestrained by the suffocating and outmoded standards prototypically associated with class, race, wealth, gender, sexuality and art.

MICHELLE COPELMAN

by Alastair McKimm / October 28th, 2009

A true new talent, American designer Michelle Copelman graduated from Parsons School of Design in New York a scant 5 months ago. Quick on the rise, her design sensibility blends a “yes, please” take on color with an eye for how creative young women in New York want to look (original but not daffy, classic but not kitsch, etc.). Here, she speaks with Alastair McKimm about her process and practicality.

Alastair McKimm: When did you first become interested in fashion?

Michelle Copelman: I believe I was 3 or 4 and I used to cut up my clothes and ask my mom to help me sew new ones for my baby dolls.

AM: Where do you seek inspiration?

MC: It’s always something new but it starts with a mood, something emotional that drives the collection. I’m always drawn to eccentric and powerful women; they become part of my vision and me. The collection starts to tell a story and I am just here to create it.

AM: What are your opinions on originality in fashion design?

MC: My first day at Parsons Tim Gunn told a crowd of eager freshmen, “You are not here to reinvent the wheel.” That being said, everything has been done, but true originality comes when you put your own twist on things, when you represent your own style, that’s originality. Only you can be you.

AM: Do you relate your life experiences to your design work?

MC: Of course, how could it not? Everything and everyone who surrounds me has an influence on my work and me, but I always keep my philosophy and vision in mind. I would never want to steer away from who I am.

AM: Who has been your biggest supporter?

MC: My mom.  She is the one who always encouraged me and pushed me to be creative. She is the one who introduced me to designing. Style is in my genes, for that I am forever thankful to my parents.

AM: Ho do you see the future of independent fashion design?

MC: Competitive.  Everyone wants to be a fashion designer and for some it happens over night.  Creating a philosophy and vision is so important to insure longevity and a brand that your customer can always come back to.  More attention needs to be placed on that rather than trying to make a quick buck.  We need to go back to the basics, go back to valuing individuality and style.

AM: How do you measure success?

MC: How many people I can influence with my style.

AM: What was the last art show you went to?

MC: Robert Frank’s “The Americans” at the Met

AM: What was the last track you listened to?

MC: “House Jam” by Gang Gang Dance

AM: What was the last gig you went to?

MC: Bear Hands at Cake Shop

AM: What was the last film you watched?

MC: “Brideshead Revisited.” The cinematography and is just absolutely beautiful, I could watch it over and over.

WARPAINT

by Catherine Blair Pfander / October 20th, 2009

THE GIRLS AND ONE GUY WHO COMPRISE ELECTRONIC ROCK FOURSOME WARPAINT LOOK, SOUND, AND SING LIKE THEY WERE BORN AND BRED IN THE WILDS OF LOS ANGELES.THEIR BEAUTIFULLY ORCHESTRATED TUNES MAY BE SPREADING THROUGH THE GLOBAL ROCK ATMOSPHERE, BUT DON’T EXPECT THEM TO LOSE EVEN AN OUNCE OF THAT WEST COAST GLIMMER.

Emily Kokal, Theresa Wayman, Jenny Lindberg, and Josh Klinghoffer of psychedelic rock quartet Warpaint are cooler than anyone you know. It might have something to do with sun exposure or the scarce desert water supply, or just a simple governing truth of the universe: if “a” equals “b” and “b” equals “c” (a=b=c), then unless you live in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake or Echo Park neighborhoods, you will never attain the same insouciant, to-the-bones hipness that seeps from the very pores of local residents.

Kokal and Wayman, who provide the howling vocals for Warpaint, met as kids in their Eugene, Oregon, choir class. “I think what differentiates us from other L.A. bands is that we’re all totally in love with each other,” says Kokal, whose soft voice speaks in wistful, sing-song tones. “We’re three girls who admire each other deeply, and sharing that energy and spotlight with one another couldn’t be better. It’s the most awesome thing ever to play music and be with your best friends.” Backup vocalist Lindberg has been cooing with the band through its many permutations over the last three years, and current drummer Klinghoffer (Warpaint has a long, difficult history with getting drummers to stick) doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere.

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