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Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Fundamental Political Writings

Broadview Press

A philosopher – both in the realms of politics as well as morality and psychology.

The influence Rousseau has exerted cannot possibly be overstated.

What has always made him an interesting figure to me and more of an authority amidst the myriad of thinkers of his time is that he not only questioned the status quo of the political environment, but he never stopped questioning his own viewpoints and those of his philosophising peers.

If one was to boil down Rousseau’s emissions to their essence, you might find freedom of will and the opposition to tyranny at their centre. His political writings aimed at creating a stable society based on political institutions to ensure equality and peaceful coexistence of the individual as well as counteracting egotism and selfishness. 

Now, from a distance this could be perceived as an overly optimistic view on things but when delving deeper into his elaborations, it becomes apparent that Rousseau is convinced that humanity at large is on a slippery slope down to a dystopian world of epic proportions, i.e. corruption, enslavement and inequality, if approaches to politics and individuality along with the responsibilities that come with the territory are not being reassessed and carefully reconsidered.

His early writings assess how humanity got to where it was at the time of his writings, and the focus then changes to how democracy should and could look like if equality is the central tenet.

What makes Rouseau’s political tracts and essays an enjoyable read is that they are underpinned by some very engaging and lively writing.

It also does not hurt that Rousseau was not just a political thinker but also dabbled in music as a composer, which he was inspired and fascinated by the wonders of nature and that he was firmly in touch with his feelings and emotions, which made his writings an important influence on the genesis of the Romantic Movement.

It is that wide range of influences that make his political writings approachable, as his elaborations are informed by topics and areas that ostensibly unrelated to the realm of philosophy, yet help illuminate the points he brings across.

An essential resource and reference book of one of the major political thinkers with newly translated texts and an abundance of explanatory notes, contextualisations of his emissions as well as comparisons to other philosophers and Rousseau’s influence on them.

Spirit of the Wild - Wild Turkey Pop-up

Sydney, Australia

There are pop-ups abound.

There is hardly a multi-national brand that has not at least dabbled in providing an experience to win new audiences over and extend what they are known for with some sort of engaging incarnation.

With Wild Turkey, bringing a touch of the wilderness to city sounds like a natural fit, i.e. conveying the “Spirit of the Wild” and helping city slickers to bridge the divide between their sheltered existence and the appeal of the outdoors with the launch of a bespoke watering hole framed within the context of natural surroundings and wilderness.

To achieve this feat, Wild Turkey has teamed up with not only a group of authentic craftsman, but with the well-oiled machine and some of Sydney’s best bar talent that is the trio of Gabrielle and Andres Walters and Daniel Noble. Each of the constituents of the Old Mates teams has honed their craft at reputable bars, e.g. The Lobo Plantation, Kittyhawk, and Ramblin’ Rascal Tavern, which are well decorated for their inventive efforts to create more of an experience than merely serving drinks.

What will become their new venue, i.e. Old Mate’s Place, which is set out as an old, abandoned library, with exposed wooden beams and a staircase leading up to the rooftop with an overgrown garden – in essence, a treehouse kind of theme, became the fertile ground and site on which Wild Turkey’s incarnation of “Spirit of the Wild” has come to pass:

Upon gaining access through a non-descript door on the fourth level of an office building, one if ushered through a dimly lit entrance area to be welcomed with a dram of Wild Turkey’s excellent “Decades” expression and inducted by the host on the proceedings.

Once the dram has been drained, the journey continues upstairs where the immersion in sight, smell and taste is taken to the next level: In a bush environment, guests are seated around a fire-pit, which was specifically designed and hand-crafted by sculptor Dion Horstmans. Blankets are handed along with the first cocktail of the evening, a little number based on the concept of retoxification, with activated charcoal proffered in a hand-carved tiki style bamboo cup.

The cocktails of the evening are creative, made with native ingredients and presented in different ways e.g. form hip flasks but not over the top conceptual — the focus is firmly set on good drinking drinks with a bit of fun ‚ and a two-course menu, inspired by the flavours of the Wild Turkey range, is served with a touch of nostalgia, reminiscent of meals around the camp fire and carefully curated by the free-thinkers behind the hospitality stalwarts Continental Deli.

Spirit of the Wild is an immersive experience that manages to convey the essence of what makes the DNA of Wild Turkey, with its emissions being paired and matched with drinks and fare that accentuated not only flavour nuances but infused the concrete jungle with a sanctuary of sensory experiences that our day-to-day routines are usually devoid of.

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Photos by @k.a. vv

Grape, Grain and Graze.

Showgrounds

Sydney, Australia

August 11, 2018

What a beautiful alliteration that not only rolls off the tongue well but clearly portrays what one of Australia’s most prestigious wine shows is all about.

The shindig is essentially based on the annual completion that is the KPMG Sydney Royal Wine Show, which originally emerged in 1826, because once wines have been judged according aspects like their complexity, fruitiness and balance and excellence is rewarded, the outcome is presented at the Grape, Grain & Graze Festival – an elysian afternoon of fine wine, brews, fine food and live music.

There is a no shortage of wine tastings in Australia yet having the opportunity to sample drops from a range of over two-thousand two hundred takes the operation to a whole new level – and we are only taking grape related emissions here as Grape, Grain and Graze has to offer much more, e.g. products from the Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show along with grazing banquets that offer ample opportunity to samples medal-winning artisanal food.

Once you enter through the doors, one is equipped with a Riedel Ouverture glass, an event guide with medal results and overview of tutorials that are offered by the industry judges and can be booked and one is off to the races to sample your way through it all with expert advisors being nearby whenever a query pops up in your mind.

With the last few wine seasons on the vast range of soil and climates that make terra australis having been dominated by demand outstripping supply and a resulting improvement in quality as rising prices aided more investment in winemaking and subsequently upped quality standards, quite a few treasures and surprises from new varieties and blends were to be found.

Same goes for the Ciders and Beers, which were proffered in a dedicated Beer Garden with a bar featuring all champions and medal winners that the public could sample via differently curated sets of tasting paddles.

Wine-wise our favourites were Syrah Gamay’s vibrantly coloured, spicy / peppery 2017 La Boheme Act 4  and House of Arras’ 2008 robustly bubbled, yeasty, green appled Grand Vintage Sparkling Wine, with Peter Lehmann’s excellent crisp, citrus flavoured 2015 Riesling convincing on the white side of liquid emissions.

Apart from Modus Operandi’s Red IPA, which we praised already as part of the Boilermaker Dinner with Glenmorangie Whiskies, the slightly hazy, clean tasting, Pirate Life Brewing’s Mosaic IPA with its nuances of tropical fruit and hints of pine tickled our fancy.

Sustenance came in form of grazing stations that offered a banquet ranging from cheese boards, prime cuts, vegetarian options, brasserie bread and gelato, with some of the fare being presented in the most engaging manner: Imagine a backyard clothes line with German butchery streaky bacon with black pepper, fennel seeds and brown sugar, a nut station and a pretzel board next to Schinkengriller and Leberkaese with Senf.

Summa summarum:

An expertly organised big-scale tasting event that is unrivalled both in terms of the variety of quality offerings as well as the curation and quality standards – one that any vino aficionado should consider a trip to Sydney for.

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Photos by @k.a. vv

Deafheaven

w/ Drab Majesty 

Neptune Theater 

Seattle, Washington

August 10, 2018 

I saw Deafheaven back in 2015 for the first time and aside from being blown away by their performance, I strongly remember a string of weird bands playing before they went on. Weird in the sense that it all sounded like loud, garbled noise to me—and as someone that tries to see the positive in almost all music I felt like a grandpa shaking his head about how times have changed and in the old days this type of music would have been ridiculed. That being said my hopes weren't high for the opening band Drab Majesty, but after seeing them live I can totally see why they're touring with Deafheaven. Their whole performance was like a fog-infused LSD trip, not that I've ever done LSD, but watching Drab Majesty is what I'd imagine it'd be like. The synth, darkwave sounds mixed with their eerie stage presence and outfits really set the mood for their music and I was all about it. It felt like I was in a parallel universe, inside of The Upside Down except no monsters were chasing me. My only criticism is that as their performance went on all the songs started to mush together into one. Although their 70s horror movie vibe was entrancing their songs lacked depth and arches which tended to flatline their music for me. Regardless, Drab Majesty still put on a hell of an interesting show and it was super refreshing to see a new, different band keep me on my toes. 

The air was still slightly smoggy from Drab Majesty's set and I was sitting in the photo pit waiting for Deafheaven and it's not so much that I heard the crowd when they came on stage—I felt the crowd. I felt them pushing against the barrier, felt the floor shake beneath me, felt the barrier stool I was crouched down on shaking my whole body and it was incredible. It sounds so cliche but at that moment I felt so alive. They opened with the second track "Honeycomb" off their new album Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, which definitely set the tone that they were back and fiercer than ever. Singer George Clarke's signature stage presence had him all over the stage like a tornado dressed in black, while the rest of the band played to their subdued approach but drew you in with the complexity of their instruments. Clarke does these hand gestures that mimic those of an orchestrator of a symphony, which it could be argued that he is indeed the orchestrator of a symphony. Ordinary Corrupt Human Love is playing on a softer side of Deafheaven—which isn't to say it lacks grit or metal, but just that the album has managed to explore depths I didn't even know music was capable of. 

The second song played was "Canary Yellow" which a week prior when I first listened to the new album I was instantly drawn to that song. It starts off with such a light, melodic feel which live was accompanied by Clarke's slow almost sexy dancing. Halfway into the song I just stopped taking photos and watched Deafheaven in amazement. Clarke had managed to work up such a sweat that his black, long-sleeved dress shirt was soaked through and the more he moved the more you could see sweat spritz off his body. If I had to describe Clarke's voice it would be what boiling blood sounded like if it had a voice. And when you take that deeply unique and dark voice and pair it with mismatched styles of music perfectly layered together it leaves you speechless. At least it left me speechless. Clocking in at just over 11 minutes, "Canary Yellow" might be one of the most perfect songs I will ever hear live not just based on the perfect execution from the band, but because it's a song that has an endless supply of depth. 

They played signature songs like "Sunbather" and "Dream House", which was really great to hear the comparison with their new songs. I still think Sunbather is a hell of an album, but I hear so much growth on Ordinary Corrupt Human Love; it's like just when you thought this band couldn't explore any deeper into their music they went and found a whole new layer. The subtly in the newer songs like "Worthless Animal" definitely didn't take away from their live show because musically it's fascinating as hell and visually Clarke's stage presence is unmatched. Clarke's body movements and voice are his instruments and they can definitely hold their own next to the band's killer guitars and unwavering, perfectly timed drum beats. I've honestly never seen or heard a band like Deafheaven and that's the beauty of them. Go support them. Go be amazed. Go be inspired. 

Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination

Yale University Press

Based on an exhibition at the Met, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination is one opulently curated thing of beauty that in essence displays extremely beautiful artefacts, objects and designs, most of which find their origin in the Vatican and then went on to inspire and reverberate through the confines of haute couture, where religious and worldly takes on art eventually merged to become palatable for the mainstream for the twentieth and especially a renaissance in the twenty-first century.

The photos the tome is comprised of are pieces of art in themselves, which adds another dimension yet also a point of critique as the enhancement and fragmentation – which results in some garments invoking the impression that they are made of patchwork - of the photographic depictions sometimes goes at the expense of details and depths of the design, as it can prove to be difficult to make out specifically the construction and volume of the darker pieces – of which there are plenty: Austere clothes, altarpieces, artworks, accessories, et cetera – many of which have never been published before – are juxtaposed with recent collections of the big fashion houses, think Dolce & Gabbana, Lagerfeld, Gaultier, Alexander McQueens and Versace.

As a result of the highly stylized presentation of the photos, one has to rely a bit more heavily on the narrative and accompanying analysis instead of being enable to come to one’s own conclusions when it comes to the complex and more often than not controversial interaction and opposition between religion and boundary pushing fashion and art.

Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination is a fantastic coffee table book that offers eye candy galore, yet it is not necessarily a reference / research book as it lacks the details and indulges more in aesthetic representation. What it definitely does accomplish is open one’s eyes for the genesis of what we perceive to be commonplace trends in both art and fashion.

Art and Violence in Early Renaissance Florence

Yale University Press

Creativity and extreme force. Diametrically opposed extremes or inextricably linked?

Art and Violence in Early Renaissance Florence explores this intriguing relationship with a focus on the epoch of an era known as “renaissance”, i.e. a time spanning the period from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century.

Now, the epoch of what basically means “rebirth” is not exactly known for holding back when it comes to the public display of violent rituals, be it in a religious context as in the ordeals our saviour and Good Shepherd was subjected to or punishments that were unleashed under the guise of law on wrongdoers.

What this tome zeros in on is that in an age that is known for being liberating and fertile ground for spawning progressive and enlightening ideas, there seemed to have been an appreciation and aestheticisation acts of violence, predominantly in the field of visual arts – the realms of artists like “il divino” Michelangelo, “the Elder” di Cosimo and sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni, who seemed to be fascinated by depictions of lethal physical altercations and brutal battles.

What the book does well is exploring how each artist’s personal relationship with violence and art resulted from a fusion of their own backgrounds, political and religious influences and the images they created.

The fact that most emissions of artists rooted in the era of aestheticism exerted an immense influence on the evolution of all facts of the arts as we know it lends weight to the notion that there was a bit more to the fascination with evil and violence than a face value representation of the signs of times: It explore that it was an integral part of the DNA and that without it would have probably lacked both the impact and significance it had for generations to come.