SATURDAYS SHOP
by Jonathan Shia / April 28th, 2010
Skaters have Supreme, tennis players have Tretorn, and now surfers have Saturdays. The Soho café–slash–lifestyle store just opened last September, but it’s already a downtown classic. Beginning with coffee from La Colombe, the shop, opened by good friends Morgan Collett, Colin Tunstall, and Josh Rosen—all refugees from the city’s creative industries—has expanded over the winter months to include surfboards, wetsuits, and a perfectly edited selection of surf-inspired wear, from Isaora parkas and Birdwell Beach Britches board shorts to Spring Court sneakers. “Surf culture used to have such a sharp look, and at some point that was lost,” says Rosen, who oversaw the space’s transformation from gallery to surf-shop. The store is just the starting point for what will become a lifestyle brand, with the first capsule collection available in March. “We wanted to design clothes you can wear to head to Montauk, surf, then throw on a button-down and go out,” Rosen explains. “Very classic, nothing too contemporary.” Summer can’t get here fast enough.
A RAZOR, A SHINY KNIFE
by Aimee Walleston / April 22nd, 2010
Anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss used the terms “raw” and “cooked” to illuminate the difference between nature (wild ducks, for example) and culture (paté de foie gras). Michael Cirino, creator of the poetical A Razor, A Shiny Knife–an experimental supper club based in Brooklyn–isn’t so much for those hard-line Structuralist distinctions. Cirino, a dead ringer for Serpico-era Al Pacino, is, however, of a philosophical mind when conceiving his popular experimental cuisine and conceptual dinners, which have occurred all over the world. Cirino has done all-black dinners, all-white dinners and an event that reinterpreted the “locavore” food trend by examining locally-produced tableware. And the hits just keep coming. Recently, in conjunction with New York’s Storefront for Art and Architecture, Cirino created a dinner themed around the art space’s current exhibition Landscapes of Quarantine, which was curated by Future Plural and features artworks that respond to “a strategy of separation and containment.” Cirino’s meal, which was produced and served in the gallery space, employed the same ideologies. Dry-aged beef, which is “quarantined” for 28 days, was the main focus, while a course of sous-vide cooked ravioli featured adorable thyme blossoms hermetically-sealed in tiny plastic bags. A standout course of Hirami sashimi was magically captured inside a canning jar filled with cherrywood smoke, which released curls of cherry-scented fumes into the space when opened. Both raw and cooked, the dish, like its proud father, was one of a kind.
THE COACHELLA DIARIES, PART 4
by Natalie Joos / April 22nd, 2010
By day three, the festival starts to wind down. The headliners are less exciting, the ambience is more subdued and the people less jumpy. Everyone seems to need a little bit more room to breathe and relax. I decided to enjoy the performances from behind the stage, instead of amongst the crowd in front. My feet were blistered, my skin burnt from the sun, my vocal chords on their last stretch. I saw the beautiful Florence (and the Machine) as she nervously psyched herself to get on stage. I chatted with De La Soul’s David Jude about his ambition to start a jewelry line—he was wearing his own magnificent diamond encrusted fish-on-a-hook necklace. I watched Charlotte Gainsbourg from the comfort of own square meter on the back of the stage, water at my disposal.
For the past three days a few things had caught my attention. I noticed how many hot girls are at Coachella. For a casting director like myself this observation is simply a professional hazard, for the straight man at the festival however an absolute joy. Skimpy dresses, short shorts, bikini tops, cut out T-shirts, even some thongs here and there. The sights were dizzying. Models.com was taking notes on passing supermodels, casting agent Douglas Perrett was scouting the next new face of fashion, and photographer Derek Ketella simply said: “Damn!”
And what better way to truly amplify the festival experience than some good old-fashioned, mind-altering drugs. About half the people on the field must have taken mushrooms or XTC. I saw many eyes rolling and smiles that were just a bit too delightful and dreamy. For the local dealers Coachella must be height of their fiscal year. If you stood in the same place long enough something would surely fall in your lap.
All in all, Coachella is the caviar of festivals. Palm trees, dry weather, clean toilets and unbelievable lineups. The crowds might be getting bigger, and the tickets more expensive, but the experience remains stellar. The festival would, however, be a completely different experience if cell phones worked properly. Communication on the field was about half an hour delayed, and by the time your lost party got your text about a meeting place, they had already moved miles away. By the time you received their text to stay put, you had literally walked a marathon to get to them, so neither of you were where you said you would be! I had my own personal melt down after a 4-hour intensive search for my car keys one night. I think there may have even been a few tears…
PATRIK ERVELL
by Jonathan Shia / April 20th, 2010
Young designer Patrik Ervell has made his mark on men’s fashion by creating a line of perfectly calibrated pieces that mesh sharp modernism with forward-march technology. Windbreakers are constructed from reconstituted parachutes, military parkas are cut from oilcloth, and blazers are elegantly stained with rust. Last Thursday, Ervell brought the same sensibility—classic patterns and futuristic technical fabrics—to the Internet with his new online store.
The online store had been in the works since last July, a gestation period that belies the seeming ease and simplicity of the site itself. The architecture of the shop was the complicated part; the videos—produced entirely in house—were easy in comparison. The difficulties involved with establishing such a deceptively intricate showcase may be one reason why many brands are so reticent to make the move online. There’s a lot of pressure to stand out and get it right, an increasingly onerous task on the overcrowded web.
Visitors to Ervell’s site, which until recently featured a video of his latest show, are now greeted by several images of a model dressed in Ervell’s spring collection. Arranged across the screen in three rows, the looks—actually short videos set on repeat—are a rare opportunity to see the clothes in movement before purchasing. The model picks at his nails, runs his hand through his hair, tugs at his collar, peeks in his pocket, little routines meant to emphasize the naturalness and ease of the pieces. The shop also offers several exclusives, mostly different color and fabric options that brick-and-mortar stores didn’t order, as well as other special items. Most of the items from his current collection are available now—including those rust-stained blazers.
THE COACHELLA DIARIES, PART 3
by Natalie Joos / April 19th, 2010
My personal mission for the day was to meet my teenage crush Mike Patton, singer of Faith No More. With my artist wristband I had access to just about every area on and behind the field, but for some reason the band had taken special security measures. I made a few attempts to slip into their gated backstage section but gave up before it became too embarrassing. Instead I bolted to the field twenty minutes ahead and planted myself in front of the stage, in the center of the mosh pit. I was prepared to get crushed, but found out quickly that American fans are a bit boring. There was not enough singing, jumping and dancing, just a lot of sweating, pushing and groping. The highlight of the show was a crowd surfing Mike, which sent the fans in a mad frenzy. Sadly, my crush did not make it over to me… Mission incomplete…
On Saturday night 2 Many DJ’s trailer party was kicking off. 1. Champagne was handed around 2. Fellow DJs Eroll Alkan, Trevor Jackson and James Murphy visited. 3. Friends from all over the world found each other. 4. DEVO watched from across the “street.”
To get from the backstage to the stages or tents the production team commands a fleet of golf carts. The field is so big it literally takes fifteen minutes to get from one side to the other. And that’s if you’re running and can avoid stumbling over the thousands of festival-goers sprawled across the field. In the Sahara tent, DJ Z-trip was just finishing his set to give the stage to Die Antwoord, a Zef-Rap act from Capetown, consisting of three members dressed in matching white printed, hooded tracksuits. Frontman Ninja looks like a mix of Vanilla Ice and Jeremy Scott. His sidekick Yo-Landi is a tiny girl with a long blonde Mohawk. Their lyrics are in Zuid Afrikaans and apparently quite obscene. When 2 many DJs finished their set at 1am, we had one more champagne for the road. It would take me another two hours before making it back to the hotel. If I were more of a rock star I would’ve jacked one of those golf carts…
EXERCISES FOR GENTLEMEN
by Caroline Clements / April 19th, 2010
A dear friend of mine is a tailor. He was trained in Saville Rowe in London and makes bespoke suits. This chap will come to measure you up, at work or home, and within weeks you will have a trouser and jacket that fits, well, like a suit should. He makes a suit a pleasure to wear everyday.
So when I was handed this little book, Exercises for Gentlemen: 50 Exercises to Do With Your Suit On, I thought of him immediately. As a lady, I too find myself often compromised by attire choices: bike riding in a short skirt, walking distances in heeled boots, cooking in a silk blouse. But, there are ways around these situations, and I thought it was better to look good doing something inappropriate (with regard to your outfit) than to look inappropriate doing something good. Sometimes your outfit does not match with your activity, but you take it in your stride. Literally.
This book is a little etiquette guide that takes advice from The School of Health, a reference book from the early 1900s that directs one through low-impact exercise. Its aim is to help men with little time to devote to activities outside a busy schedule, enabling one to get the physical exertion they should on a daily basis, regardless of your restricting threads.
With illustrations and instructional notes to accompany the routine, each chapter focuses on the exercises that will target a different region of the body, including Standing Exercises, Head & Trunk, Leg & Foot Movement. The tome also delves into matters of Personal Hygiene & Tonic Measures. In between chapters, there are quoted tips that often relate to the upcoming chapter such as: “If the directions have been carefully followed, the position will be one of erectness, dignity and grace, and pleasing to behold.” Something we all strive for no?
SHIRIN NESHAT
by Aimee Walleston / April 19th, 2010
Perhaps this is an obverse comparison, but I can’t help but juxtapose Iranian artist Shirin Neshat’s first feature-length film, Women Without Men, in comparison with Swedish director Niels Arden Oplev’s Men Who Hate Women (in the US, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). Both films are adaptations of novels, and both use political struggles as their backdrop. Neshat’s depicts the 1953 CIA-led coup d’etat in Iran, which was reportedly prompted by the British government’s fear of Iran’s plans to nationalize its oil industry. Oplev’s film explores Swedish businessmen whose longstanding devotion to the Third Reich is barely hidden beneath a protective screen of money and power. Housed conspicuously within both films’ political agendas are extremely disconcerting visions of female subjugation and sexual assault. Unfortunately, Oplev’s film treats this type of assault as just short of fetish, with its lead female character as a vector for an extremely unrealistic and grotesque revenge fantasy. Neshat’s film, despite its pretty, color-washed views of Iranian landscapes, is a far more authentic (ergo more painful to watch) depiction of bodily violence against women. A devoutly religious female character, Faezeh, is assaulted, and her disassociated psychic state is rendered in perfectly calibrated images constructed by Neshat, who has long been known as a fine artist who produces aesthetically and conceptually evocative film works around the political, social and psychological lives of Iranian women. Many of the scenes in Women With Men were screened at the Gladstone gallery in New York over the past 5 years, and to see the work in completion is to place all the pieces together in an affecting narrative. The film will open in NYC in May. Rizzoli is publishing a monograph of Neshat’s work, due out on April 20. And, for those who wish to see the artist in person in NYC, the School of Visual Art’s great Art Criticism and Writing MFA program will be hosting a talk with Neshat on April 22 at 7pm, at the SVA Theatre (333 West 23 Street).
THE COACHELLA DIARIES, PART 2
by Natalie Joos / April 18th, 2010
Jigga who? The ten-minute count down to Jay-Z’s performance was electric. As soon as the two giant digital clocks appeared on the LCD screens, announcing his approaching appearance, seventy-five thousand people merged and shuffled to see hip hop’s finest. It was the reward for a stressful day. In the hours leading up to the main event, the conversations overheard on and off the field all dealt with the same issues: 1. The volcano in Iceland had artists and fans stranded in Europe. 2. At least five British bands had to cancel their performance, including Gary Numan and The Cribs. 3. 2 Many DJs was left with just one member and had to replace the younger brother with the Soulwax keyboard player. 4. For the first time in Coachella’s 10-year run, tickets were sold out, even if you had $300 to buy a 3-day pass, or $600 for a VIP pass. 5. Traffic from Los Angeles to Indio was brutal, causing massive delays. 6. My own artist wristband only arrived at 8.30pm which, sadly, caused me to miss Them Crooked Vultures. 7. All the hotels in the area were booked solid, or had jacked up the rates to at least $500 a night. 8. The lines up to the main entrance were almost a one-hour wait, which the blaring hot sun made all the more sweaty and messy. 9. Happily, the principal topic on everyone’s lips was Jay-Z’s rumored surprise guest. Many people were convinced it would be Dr. Dre or Drake. Others thought it was Rihanna.
So when Hova finally emerged on a platform through the stage floor, to the opening tunes of “Run This Town,” the suspense culminated to an explosion of cheers and whistles. What followed was an hour-long track list of Jay-Z hits interluded with rock ballads like The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony.” Forty-five minutes into the show, the band started to play the intro of Alphaville’s 1984 “Forever Young.” As the intro dragged on, the tenstion built. Finally, in white cut-out printed T-shirt and black hat, appeared the beautiful Beyonce, singing her heart out.
