"Éden"

For our last day of Pride Month, here is a lovely short film, "Éden," by Portuguese filmmaker Fabio Freitas.

"Genesis 2:8 "And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed". In this story, João (Nuno Pardal) and Pedro (Pedro Sousa Loureiro) live in this garden. What João wants the most is for Pedro to be happy and the only way he found to make that happen is to support him in his escape with Sara (Sara Barros Leitão). On the other hand, Pedro learned how to love João and does not want to leave the garden. But one of them ate the forbidden fruit."

http://www.eden-movie.com/

The Bon Bon Bar, Gothenburg, Sweden

Just opened in Gothenburg, Sweden, The Bon Bon Bar is a classic cocktail bar, lounge, and social club designed by Spik Studios with the clash of centuries--1920/2020--in mind. I just love the fox-man at the entrance. Regular readers may recall that I have a thing for humans with animal heads...

http://www.bonbonbar.se/
http://www.spikstudios.com/en/bon-bon-bar/

2024 EDIT: The Bon Bon Bar is permanently closed.

"Creature Comfort" and "Everything Now" by Arcade Fire

Two songs from the forthcoming Arcade Fire release, "Everything Now," to be released on July 28, 2017.

Here is "Creature Comfort," a rather devastating song about disconnection in our current culture obsessed with social media. The words are a part of the song... watch.

And here is the title track from the release, "Everything Now." It's a deceptive song, sounding happy, grand, and sweeping with a piano line seemingly lifted from an ABBA song from the 70s (and a quirky pan-flute sound!). But of course the words, like "Creature Comfort," show us something darker, reflecting back to us an ugly mindless, consuming culture.

I'm in the black again
Can't make it back again
We can just pretend
We'll make it home again
From everything now

Every inch of sky's got a star
Every inch of skin's got a scar
I guess that you've got everything now
Every inch of space in your head
Is filled up with the things that you read
I guess you've got everything now
And every film that you've ever seen
Fills the spaces up in your dreams
That reminds me

(Everything now)
(Everything now)

Every inch of road's got a sign
And every boy uses the same line
I pledge allegiance to everything now
Every song that I've ever heard
Is playing at the same time, it's absurd
And it reminds me, we've got everything now
We turn the speakers up till they break
'Cause every time you smile it's a fake
Stop pretending, you've got...

(Everything now!) I need it
(Everything now!) I want it
(Everything now!) I can't live without
(Everything now!) I can't live without
(Everything now!)
(Everything now!)
Everything now

Every inch of road's got a town
Daddy, how come you're never around?
I miss you, like everything now
Mama, leave the food on the stove
Leave your car in the middle of the road
This happy family with everything now
We turn the speakers up till they break
'Cause every time you smile it's a fake
Stop pretending, you've got...

(Everything now!) I need it
(Everything now!) I want it
(Everything now!) I can't live without
(Everything now!) I can't live without
(Everything now!)
(Everything now!) 'Til every room in my house
(Everything now!) Is filled with sh*t
(Everything now!) I couldn't live without
(Everything now!) I need it
(Everything now!) I can't live without
(Everything now!)
(Everything now!)
Everything now

Na na na na na na na na...

Stop pretending, you've got...

(Everything now!) I need it
(Everything now!) I want it
(Everything now!) I can't live without
(Everything now!) I can't live without
(Everything now!) I can't live
(Everything now!) And every room in my house
(Everything now!) Is filled with sh*t
(Everything now!) I couldn't live without
(Everything now!) I need it
(Everything now!) I can't live without
(Everything now!) I can't live
(Everything now!) Every inch of space
(Everything now!) In my heart
(Everything now!) Is filled with something I'll never start
The ashes of everything now
And then you're black again
Can't make it back again
From everything now

http://arcadefire.com/site/

Happy Pride Anniversary 2017!

Happy Pride Anniversary!

Forty-eight years ago today, a bunch of fed-up drag queens, hustlers, and assorted gay misfits at the Stonewall Inn in New York turned the tables on a harassing police raid. That resistance gave rise to a series of riots and ultimately to the birth of the modern gay activist movement. It seems like a long time ago, and things (laws and minds) have changed, but considering the attempted rollback of human rights and the introduction of anti-trans "bathroom bills" in more conservative, backward states (emboldened by the presence and administration of the current Monster-in-Chief), we still have a way to go, and a lot more irrational fear, hatred, bigotry, and misconceptions to fight.

But today, we thank the brave men and women at the Stonewall uprising and the ensuing riots for saying, "ENOUGH. I AM A HUMAN BEING AND I DEMAND TO BE TREATED AS ONE!"

While The Stonewall Inn was already part of the city-designated Greenwich Village Historic District, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, it became an official New York City landmark on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 in order to preserve the site and honor its historic importance. Most importantly, on June 24, 2016, the Stonewall Inn was named the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to the gay rights movement.

There is a very nice, informative, and moving Wiki entry about the riots and the history leading up to them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots

The Numbers Don't Lie

So what about THAT?

BEAUTY: Shoes--Anastasia Radevich

As much an artist as she is a shoe designer, Anastasia Radevich creates ravishing, startling footwear for women.

Her ABOUT page on her website states:

"Of Belarus origin she lives and crafts in Montreal, Canada. Having a distinction diploma from London College of Fashion in footwear design under her belt, she has spent a few years deepening into essence of technical design and art of the shoemaking at such creativity hubs as Alexander McQueen, Nicholas Kirkwood.

Among the knowledge Anastasia attained was also appreciation of free unobstructed expression and creativity which is often uneasy in our profit driven society. This is when she has challenged herself to become not just a designer but a footwear artist and began exploring shoes as a medium. Shoes are her canvas where Anastasia combines art, craft and technology to relay a message, a story or a statement. She is morphing her inner world, inspiration and energy into a sculpture of a pump, open-toe or a boot."

Her stunning Alchemy collection features forms from nature but also the human body. Radevich says, "Alchemy covers several philosophical traditions spanning some four millennia and several continents, and it can be summed up in this way... Alchemy is the philosophy and practice of liberating a physical substance from its 'fixed' physical properties. It was believed that without achieving a form of enlightenment or inner spiritual revelation, alchemy would not be possible to the practitioner. There would be no hope of you transcending the fixed properties of the physical dimension so as to transform something like ordinary metal into gold without gaining access to the higher truths of this universe through spiritual practice and mastery."

For her Lost Civilizations collection, she uses time as a guide and shows us past, present, and future civilizations (ours, naturally).

I love how the past features what looks like stalactites or stalagmites and early geological formations along with bone and horn shapes from extinct animals.

The present is full of oil rigs, chemical waste, broken glass, and industry..."THIS WILL DESTROY YOU."

And if we make it to the future, it could hold some sort of biomorphic forms--maybe combining nature with A.I.

Truly amazing work.

http://anastasiaradevich.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Misc. Paris Fashion Week SS'18

Some interesting things shown at Paris Fashion Week for Spring Summer '18:

Super high waists and drop crotches at Y Project make for a very interesting, eclectic, Vivienne Westwood-esque cut for trousers! I'd love a pair of each.

Luke Meier, the Canadian designer behind the brand OAMC says the name of his company is an acronym for something different every season. For this Spring Summer '18 collection based on the work of Allen Ginsburg including the legendary poem "Howl," Meier says the brand this time stands for "One Always More Conscious." The show notes included a section from Ginsburg's "Song": "The weight of the world is love. Under the burden of solitude, under the burden of dissatisfaction." Poetic phrases on small tags or large patches were sewn onto the pieces, phrases like "Lumière et Veritas" (Light and Truth--OH, how we need BOTH of those things in the world now), "My Way," and the plea "People For Peace." A large, detailed, embroidered version of a signed cover page from Ginsburg's "Howl" graced the back of a nylon flight jacket (seen from the back in the last photo)!

Like the collection by Philip Lim seen here, we saw two more designers send paint spattered garments down the runway. Junya Watanabe sent his usual Carhartts out but this time with paint...

...and designer Jean Touitou at A.P.C. had some paint fun as well, actually dripping paint himself, à la Pollock, onto 100 pairs of jeans!

And finally, I don't think I've ever seen such a pervasive 100th Monkey Moment as this season's preoccupation with...wait for it...the classic Hawaiian shirt! One reviewer said the plethora of shows this year that featured the iconic garment made Hawaiian shirts cool again. But come on, were they ever NOT cool? They embody a fun sense of 1950s nostalgia that never left, a time when air travel became inexpensive and Hawaii turned into a destination when it became a state in 1959. Tiki lounges, surfing, kitschy cocktails...they were there in the 60s and 70s, and even 80s and 90s. A Hawaiian shirt--a good one--is a fun staple in a summer wardrobe.

Louis Vuitton did a colorful take on the Hawaiian shirt...

...as did Paul Smith in amsuing, nearly cartoon-y designs.

Ami chose flashy, fluorescent--yet ultimately pretty--shades (and models walked the show on fuchsia sand!) for their Hawaiian shirts...

...while Cerruti 1881 rendered them in earthy hues.

Dries Van Noten went almost neutral.

Lucien Pellat Finet offered a stark, graphic take with the word ALOHA.

And finally, sartorial celebrity turned fashion designer Justin O'Shea (previously here) started a brand he calls SSS World Cup and this season it featured a collection entitled "Aloha From Hell." Sort of a punk-y, badass take on the Hawaiian shirt...and the show was not a runway show at all but guerrilla fashion. Journalists were invited to a street corner in Paris at a certain time to see Justin O'Shea ride a motorcycle and see a small group of models just walk down the sidewalk... get in, do it, get out...

https://yproject.fr
http://www.oamc.com
http://usonline.apc.fr
http://www.louisvuitton.com
https://www.paulsmith.com
https://www.amiparis.com
https://www.cerruti.com
http://www.driesvannoten.be
http://www.lucienpellat-finet.com