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Wim Delvoye

Introspective

Yale University Press

If you have ever read any of our features on the Museum of Old and New Art and the artworks it harbours that were specifically created by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye and focusing on the body and its functions, you would have gotten a sense of how high I hold his oeuvre in esteem.

Delvoye and controversy seem to be inextricably linked, specifically with his more political inspired works and those tackling religion.

Wim Delvoye Introspective is the outcomes of a close exchange between the man himself and distinguished scholars and critics. The beautifully embossed tome entails a comprehensive overview of works artist, highlighting the wide range of media, applications of different techniques, and thought-provoking subjects that inform his art.

Even if Delvoye is not your cup of hot beverage, the depiction of especially his bigger installations think full-size dump-trucks made from laser-cut steel plates fashioned in the style of Gothic architecture and ironwork or massive 60-foot towers constructed of the same material, are a sight to behold. Let alone his pig tattooing projects and footage of his acclaimed multi-media exhibitions.

Delvoye has found and defined a lane for himself – nearly always tongue-in-cheek, at times ridiculous, hardly ever not challenging – a lane for does not abuse conceptual art for obscuring mediocrity or reframing ambiguity.

At over 350 pages, with multiple paper changes, the tome entails, photos, sketches and several essays giving the reader the necessary background info to appreciate Delvoye's approach to contemporary art.

A beautiful and fascinating book detailing the works of a contemporary conceptual great.

Chances are you have come across them.

Ray-Ban.

Classics.

Style.

Worn the world over by rebels as well as the establishment and jetset and hence leaving an imprint on all facets of popular culture.

Wayfarer and Aviator being the staple models that never seem to go out of fashion. Bet you own at least one model – be it an original or a cheap replica 

Timeless throughout Ray-Ban’s nearly eight decade long existence.

What started as a necessity to protect Air Force pilots from the emissions of the sun in the 1930s and became a staple in the realm of military equipment, branched out to become the go-to shades for outdoors activities and eventually transitioned to pop culture helped by the emergence of Hollywood’s glam scene in the 1950s.

Jimmie Dean being what he was without a cause in the fifties.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s in the early 60ies.

Peter Fonda Easy ridin’ to the end of the hippy era and Bob Dylan wearing them throughout his career.

Bobby deNiro driving taxi and ridding the street off scum while Dirty Harry asked punks to make his day in the 1970s.

The main protagonists in Risky Business, Top Gun as well as icons like Michael Jackson and the Blues Brothers sporting them as a trademark in the 1980s.

Men in Black, Reservoir Dogs an Johnny Depp wearing them while carving his way through bat country in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Various collaborations and special editions / reworkings of classic designs in the noughties.

Ray-Ban has been effortlessly reinterpreting a classic with elegant twists, never losing an iota of relevance and refraining from experiments that would have diluted its DNA.

While Ray-Ban has always been a steady companion, my incarnation on terra australis, where the sun nearly always shines intensely, and Ray-Ban giving birth to new segments with a focus on technology and innovation intensified our relationship:

The Ray-Ban Tech Carbon Fiber Collection incorporated the sturdy yet extremely lightweight quality of carbon fiber, resulting in flexible, and durable frames. The P3 (polycarbonate) and P3PLUS (crystal) lenses guaranteed polarization and vivid and high-definition colors, culminating in something reminiscent of a cinematic experience.

In the 2010s, Ray-Ban Light Ray prescription frames were constructed with a hypoallergenic, durable, flexible, and lightweight titanium alloy and not long after the incorporation of LiteForce, a material that has provided solutions for the automobile, aerospace, electronics, and medical industries started offering the same strength as a traditional frame but with greater flexibility.

Summa summarum:

Through every decade of its existence, Ray-Ban has remained a classic of the enduring kind.

My trusted Ray Ban companion of the current season in sun drenched Australia to prevent me from the fate of Icarus is the new Chromance model.

Why?

Well, as a start they are hardly register on the scale.

The nylon fiber frame is an example par excellence for flexibility.

They come with either bright blue flash or mirror shades, which are designed to maximize contrast and enhance color perception, resulting in a crystal vision.

Pop them on a dreary day and things look up instantaneously as Chromance lenses fine-tune light, making everyday colours brighter, clearer, and more somewhat more extraordinary, while eliminating reflections.

Yup, Ray-Ban might not be the most affordable shades out there yet it is an investment I have yet to regret.

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Photos from official Ray-Ban website

Electric Gardens

Centennial Park

Sydney, Australia

January 27, 2018

We have covered the festival known as Electric Gardens since it first debuted in 2016. What was a success in every aspect and a welcome addition to the festival circuit topped its offerings with its sophomore incarnation last year.

The 2018 shindig saw a refined version with four stages, each of which had their own theme and a high caliber of acts that graced them with their presence.

As mentioned in our previous coverage, Centennial Park is a thing of beauty and its natural features provide an ideal backdrop for a festival of these proportions – if you consult the dictionary to find our more about the “quintessence of a summer’s day out in Sydney”, you might find a picture of the festival in full swing.

This year’s high caliber acts includes Motez, DJ Henry Salz (who took things slow with his accentuated set), a trancey set by Gorgon City and the evening culminating in Fatboy Slim holding court again.

I have waxed lyrical about Norman Cook’s qualities as a headliner act before and this year’s set was not a disappointment either.

Slowly building up, the set covered all of his trademark bases and was framed with the elaborate visually appealing light and video show that enhanced and complemented the musical aspect not just with animations but also footage from movies.

As far as DJ sets go, Fatboy Slim is the gold standard, especially when it comes to catering huge crowds. Mixing tested and tried crowd-pleasers with hints, references and allusions to classic hits, Cook’s delivery was the evidence for why he has never not been considered to be one of the most accomplished and entertaining DJs.

As in previous years, the main stages were framed by chillout areas, mini stages with intimate sets, gourmet food trucks and drinks as well as a VIP Garden Party, with a lavishly themed in- and outdoor area for the ones that wanted to glam up their festival experience.

Electric Gardens 2018 showed that the festival has found its distinctive voice and style that stands for a premium festival in a near ideal location.

Albert Speer

Architecture 1932-1942

Written by Leon Krier, Preface by Robert A. M. Stern

The Monacelli Press

The Robert Johnson dilemma.

Making a deal with the devil for your own greater goods.

Once the decision at the crossroads is made, there is no turning back.

Albert Speer did it.

He got in bed with Adolf Hitler and his regime.

It enabled him to create grandiose neoclassical architecture on a scale that will remain unrivalled for aeons to come.

For Speer, the end seemed to justify the means, however, the book follows the guiding question architect Le?on Krier raises, i.e. how does being a war criminal align with being an artist?

Instead of being merely a catalogue of his oeuvre, Albert Speer: Architecture 1932-1942 is much more as it goes beyond face value and generally critically sheds light on the (inter)dependencies of money, art, politics and the yin and yang informing it all, culminating in the essential question it art, no matter how significant, can be seen stripped off the political backbone and context and if, in Albert Speer’s case and circumstances, it has any merit at all.

Krier’s tenet is achieved by drawing on interviews with Albert Speer as well as his involvement and role in the third Reich and the evaluations of experts.

An essential, lavishly illustrated tome that manages to strike a well-calibrated balance between documenting and critically questioning and one that speaks for the quality of Monacelli Press’ releases, which span from comprehensive works on architecture, interior design and décor, fine arts, fashion & stile to world history and culture.

Alexander McQueen

Savage Beauty

Footprint.com.au

Alexander McQueen might be known to you as a fashion designer. Quintessentially he is exactly that, yet it you zero in closer into his work, it becomes an intricate fabric of concepts, expertly drafted plots and storyboards that culminate in a story that his emissions tell. Viewed from this angle, McQueen’s oeuvre has qualities of cinematic proportions informed by his idiosyncratic worldview full of drama and extremes.

The book succeeds in documenting the career and work of a man who set out to incorporate and pay references to the past and tradition, challenge the status quo of what was perceived possible and acceptable and pave the way to future with innovations – expression through fashion.

Ever the champion of spontaneity, freedom of expression, creativity yet never losing precision out of sight, the romantic and Victorian gothic eras and their signature styles are omnipresent and form the red thread that is weaves through McQueen’s career.

What the book revealed to me as a novum, is that McQueen is also heavily inspired by his Scottish heritage to which some of his collections can be understood to be more than merely homage. What makes it interesting is the balance he strikes – paying respect yet being tongue in cheek and throwing bringing irony in for good measure.

Another country that has had massive impact on his approach to tailoring is Japan, which is becomes blatantly evident as you peruse the pieces, which often juxtapose traditional features from different countries to achieve the desired effect.

While some of his works is intricately ornate, primitivism plays a major role in his approach as well as the principles of technology and mechanism that underpin the workings of nature - seemingly contradictory lanes that form a mélange that make his work what it is renowned for and vital to spawn the yarn he spins for his narrative.

The book comes with a cover feature that the attached depiction won’t be able to do justice in the slightest and will only unfold its savage beauty if you hold it in your hands and play with it.