Me and Milly are selling LOADSA stuff this Sunday morning to raise money for our trip to Japan and generally to pull ourselves out of debt. Despite the generosity of La Tasca diners, I'm still broke. So if you feel like coming along to have a chat or to drop a few pounds into our empty pockets, head for Columbia Road Flower Market this Sunday from 9ish until 2ish. We'll be on nearby Ezra Street at some amazing sounding studio full of our old clothes, books and miscellainy. And my mum gave me a bunch of kids clothes from the mid 90's to try and shift as well. So if you are TINY and have a superfresh style, you'll def have to have a gander.
Exciting, non?
Also, that photo is misleading. It's the only one I could find of us together without a fingerprint over my face. And we don't always dress like extras from a cross between harry potter and grange hill. That was for a "Back to School" themed night, DON'T PANIC.
But if you did find yourself panicking, listen to this, Ed got me full on addicted to Gorillaz's latest album, I've had Rhinestone Eyes on repeat for DAYS:
Today I received my 5th postal Chlamydia Testing Kit.
Some may see this as a fairly insignificant event, but this isn't 5th test of all time. This is my 5th test that I have received this month. This is the 5th test I have received within the month of July. According to my calculator widget the NHS believes that I have had random unprotected sex with a different STI-riddled partner every 5.6 days this month. I'll try to take that as a compliment.
In the first kit they offered me security and peace of mind as a reward for posting my pee in a bottle to the NHS.
In the third kit they offered me £10 off a purchase at hmv.com as well as security and peace of mind as a reward for posting my pee in a bottle to the NHS.
In this fifth kit I have been offered £15 off a purchase at hmv.com as well as security and peace of mind as a reward for posting my pee in a bottle to the NHS.
I think they are also trying to tell me that as a further reward for posting my pee in a bottle the NHS will stop judging me and tick me off their list of "Not Diseased There" girls.
I know I'm a massive slag and all* but come on. If you're reading this Mr Minister of Health, please stop it. My parents are getting worried, and my grandma is paying more and more attention to my hemlines. I'm one more postal test away from being followed by the local church group every time I go out.
*DISCLAIMER.
I'm not a massive slag. But, if you are or feel like a free HMV voucher, go to www.check-kit.org.uk to receive the reward of security and peace of mind.
97 different countries produced 6133 designers who produced 5748 valid entries for possibly the coolest competition EVER.
Hermes have clocked that the internet is a pretty darn cool place, and on november 5th last year, in association with DesignBoom, the Les Cravates par Hermès competition was launched. Today, after my massive absence from the internet (bar facebook, OBV) I stumbled across the results. Here they are, along with a lovely introduction from the General Artistic Director of Hermes International. I want that job title so bad.
Via DesignBoom
"Hermès has reinvented the tie every day for 60 years.
The perfect canvas for graphic creativity, it tells and retells stories, equestrian and sporting, and displays imaginative animal patterns, geometric variations and more. It is also the ideal accessory, allowing the man who wears it to express his desires, assert his personality, show his moods, indulge in the refinement of 'soie pour soi', and simply be himself. Launching a contest with designboom is a way for us to give you the chance to surprise and stimulate us, broaden our field of vision, reinvent us. The jury carefully considered each of the 5,478 submissions that came in from 97 different countries.
We are happy to share the results of this contest with you.
The three first prizes will be part of the Hermès Fall-Winter 2010 collections.
Bravo and thank you,'
Pierre-Alexis Dumas
General Artistic Director
Hermes International"
First Prize
'Modern Leisure' -Heidi Mueller, France
Second Prize
'Unpossible' - Nickolus Clifford, New Zealand
Third Ex-Aequo Prize
'Hermes Active Men' - Nina Choe, USA
Third Ex-Aequo Prize
'Cleverness Patterned # 2' Lilliam Dooley and Ernesto Oroza, USA
Special Prize Innovation Graphisme 'Hermès Vertical City' - Johan Hermijanto, Australia
Special Prize Innovation Graphisme 'Party Time' - Daisuke Nomura, Japan
I promised you all something intelligent, instead I wrote about how I don't know anything about rock, got a few band names wrong and put up some pictures of clothes and textiles. So here is my attempt at an intelligent sounding piece of art-spiel.
Nicolai Howalt's Car Crash Series is a collection of photographs studying the aftermath of car crashes and what seem to be potentially fatal accidents involving cars (no, really?). While Howalt does photograph 3 different sides to the car crash; the interiors of the cars post crash, the airbags during inflation and after inflation, it is the final collection that sparked my interest. The sub-set titled Abstraction explores the lethal crashes effects on the body-work of the cars, and transforms the twisted and chewed metal into rich, poignant landscapes, that even outside of their context of the crash somehow seem morose.
It is because of this strange emotion attached to these abstractions that I can't decide where exactly Howalt's work sits, is it documentary photography? Or do the complex ideologies and concepts attached to each image tear it away from this genre and pull each photo into modern abstract art or perhaps even installation work. Indeed, Howalt's pieces while beautiful independent of their context, can only truly be appreciated for their depth when the contexts are understood.
The destructive beauty of each of Howalt's Abstraction photographs forces the viewer to explore their own emotions in reaction to the consequences that lead to this photograph being possible. We all know that for this beauty to exist, something terrible must have happened. While we don't know fully the extent to which the crash caused pain and loss, I find myself instantly assuming that nothing bad could have happened, even though the evidence here overwhelmingly supports an alternative view. Howalt's work forces us to face the duality of this situation, we are presented with something beautiful that has a horrific past. Are we as spectators, willing to forget that past to appreciate the beauty of the present?
For me however, half of the beauty of each piece lies in their terrible context, and so separating the two feels nigh impossible. Without the sense of sorrow and dread behind each photograph, there is nothing to juxtapose the lively bright colours and sharp textures with, and so the depth of each photo is lost. Without their context, the photographs don't provoke any thought, and it is the fact that I could stare at each photograph for hours on end without reaching a conclusion that makes each so interesting and therefore beautiful to me.
To see more of Howalt's wonderful Car Crash series visit his website, where you can also find other collections by the artist and an impressive list of his shows. www.nicolaihowalt.com
Goldhawk Road is one of my favourite places in West London. Nowhere else will you find various members of Middle Earth out in plain view downing Special Brews with quite as much enthusiasm as you will on the corner of Shepherds Bush Market and Goldhawk Road, nor will you ever find an area with such a high concentration of SUV-like cars teamed with quite as high an unemployment rate as there is here.
Despite all this chat, I do love it for other, more valid reasons. I love that there are a billion buses that take you there, I love that its right around the corner from Westfields, and I LOVE the fabric shops. I love that whatever fabric you could ever want, in whatever length, in whatever colour, stretch stitch or weight, you'll find it there. However, I did think that there was one type of textile you wouldn't/couldn't find next door to the Middle Earth Men, that's anything by Liberty of London.
I got proved royally wrong today at Classic Textiles.
They had the most beautiful collection of Liberty silks and cotton prints. The prices start at £16 a metre, but they do have a selection of off cuts that you can buy for quilting or accessorising. Me and Alex had a wander and peered in the window for about 10 minutes, drooling over a flame red, coral and yellow peacock print silk, UNTIL we got inside.
When we got inside, the woman informed us that they were sold out of the orange colour, but she had just received some in a rich blue purple black wonderful amazing tint. She held it out for us to see, and I swear, my heart flew out of my chest, flung itself at the silk and just beat there against the crisp peacock feathers for a full 20 seconds. I was in love, but unfortunately, my credit card wasn't. Alex's however, was, and she bought two metres of it. God I'm jealous.
Also, apologies for the state of these photos, they were taken on my phone, and because of my hard-drive failing, I don't have photoshop to edit the colours.. Sorry!
Kim Graham has corrupted me.
Not only is she a massive stoner*, as proved by that photo, but she has also sweet-talked** me into going to see Against Me, a "punk-rock" band in November to celebrate our wonderful birthdays.
I use inverted commas with that genre because when I say "punk-rock", I can't help saying it without a slight pause before and after it, like I am actually saying it with the inverted commas floating in mid air. I don't do rock. Jen played me something by some guy with small and tate in his name and it didn't go down well. Liam played me some Guns and Roses, which I liked, but I was informed by Jen and Kim that that bullshit doesn't fly when it comes to saying "I like rock", it's modern rock or no rock. Kim played me some Motorhead and I nearly cried. However, I have been to gigs where rock music was featured. The most hard-core "modern rock" I've been to see was some strange Japanese band in Angel a few years, and that was only because I thought the drummer was cute. Then he came out with white-out contacts in, and I decided to drink until the music sounded or he looked hot. Neither he nor it ever did.
Hmm.
However, I am positive that I will enjoy this. Kim has played me something called Coheed & Cambria, which I was not averse to. If that band was in man form, I wouldn't kick him out of bed.
Wouldn't invite him in sober though.
Anyway, here's a little bit of Against Me! for you to listen to and judge whether you think I'm mad or not. Kim tells me this song is their new commercialised stuff, and therefore less scary to me.
In true form, I'm less worried about the gig than I am about what I'll wear. If I had a limitless budget, I'd wear studded ashish for the entire gig and a pair of yummy desert boots. But I don't have that budget, so it's going to be old nikes and THIS outfit, which I'm saving up for..
Lace Jacket and Jeans, Urban Outfitters; Corsellete & Necklace, Topshop
EDIT:
Kim played me Machine Head.
Not Motor Head.
Apparently they're different.
DISCLAIMER
*by "massive stoner" I mean she had a few puffs of some green I found 4 months dry in my presence once
and
**by "sweet-talked" I mean she posted on facebook 'who wants to go to a gig?' and I eagerly replied that I would DEFINITELY go.
I've received numerous complaints of late, and rightly so. I haven't updated this blog for.. 117 days.
Now that I haven't posted something for so long, I feel like this next post has to be something exceptional. However, there isn't much exceptional going on in my brain at the moment. To be fair, there isn't much of anything going on in my brain at the moment other than an overwhelming desire to go microwave some smiley faces.
This is because last night was a very, very messy night, one that I am still suffering from now. As many witnesses from last night, the wee hours of this morning, and the early afternoon of today will tell you. Me and my new good friend Alex (whom I met at La Tasca, where I now work) went for cheeky cocktails at Vodka Revolution by Stamford Brook as soon as I finished my shift at around 5.30.
Big Mistake.
Alex has told me many many stories of her heavy-weight skills when it comes to alcohol, and I've told her many stories of my light-weight skills when it comes to alcohol, so once we'd both had a couple of happy hour cocktails in us, it seemed like a wonderful idea to do "traffic light" shots to "train" me up.
Once I'd downed my shots and realised what a horrible mistake it was, we met Tommy, Alexia, Will, Max and Chris in the Bull at Westfields for more cheeky drinks, and after letting Alex buy me wine, I realised what a horrible mistake that was as well. After that, I dragged Alex and Will all over W3 and W4 until Alex went home, and after that I realised what a horrible mistake it was to go back to Acton in first place.
Me and Will then got lost trying to get to Fabric, but were eventually successful and got to the damned club, had tequila to top up and despite all my horrible mistakes of that night, I enjoyed finding a hazy new love for music I previously had only contempt for.
On my way home this afternoon (Will kindly offered to put me up at his, there was no way I was getting back across the Thames at 6.30 feeling as rough as I did) I met so many people, who laughed at me with my "blergh" face, manly croaky voice and skanky outfit. So today people, while I am updating this blog, there is nothing for me to update it with other than this entertaining but shameful story.
Tomorrow I'll attempt to post something vaguely intelligent about art.
I'm off to eat another 3 packets of microwave smiley faces.
ME: I like lots of things but its shit to list that here. Read my blog, you'll get me eventually. I don't even know why this part of the blog exists, just cos its a template, and I dont know how to get rid of it. Might as well fill it with something
I don't update this blog as much as I should, apologies. I'm a 20 year old student living in London/Cambridge depending on the dates. I've just finished a difficult two years studying Japanese, and while I loved my culture/essay subjects, the grammar got to me, and I'm starting my final two years in History of Art in October! VERY exciting. This blog is both a diary for me and a collection of things within art, fashion and music that I find interesting.
