Eryn Brinie is a Korean clothing brand that has recently opened its flagship store in Soho, New York. I think it's the only Korean brand that has a branch in the U.S. It's been compared to Topshop and H&M but Eryn Brinie's prices are much higher ranging from $68 for a blouse to $205 for a lightweight coat. From what I've seen on their website, they have very feminine, ethereal pieces with interesting structures and cuts. It's not particularly my style (I prefer classics like Boy or APC) but their clothing is beautiful nonetheless.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Eryn Brinie
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Apartamento Magazine
"Apartamento is not that kind of magazine that tells you what furniture you should buy or how you should decorate your flat. It’s quite the other way around: this Spanish-Italian venture is all about having a glimpse at how people organise their daily environment. Voyeurism or admiration? The point is that it’s a real pleasure to browse through living rooms or bed rooms of American polymath Mike Mills, of the Editor-in-chief of Purple Journal, Elein Fleiss, of the British indie-band Mystery Jets and many more. There are common aspects: since all the houses are of people involved in creative jobs, who tend to live in bigger cities, places are tiny and densely packed with stored information in form of books or pictures but the styles and the moods are very different. But the portrayal of other people's life spaces is not the only raison d’etre of Apartamento, that seems to be a good platform also for special projects like Annette Merrild’s featured in the first issue and many more other things: let’s discover them with the Milan based Associate Editor Marco Velardi."
Via Shift Blog. There's also an interesting article about "post-materialist" interiors on the NY Times blog.
p.s. Dinner at Tango Sur at 7pm! Mmmmm!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Songs You Can Dance In Your Underwear To
Or songs I personally like to dance in my underwear to in the early mornings after a nice, hot shower. Click on the song titles to download or download the entire playlist here. (A new window will open. Follow instructions and enjoy.)
01. Little Kids (Ladytron Remix) by Kings of Convenience
02. Her Hairagami Set by The Brunettes
03. Luckycharm/ The Intuition by Erlend Øye
04. Burning by Whitest Boy Alive
05. If I Ever Feel Better by Phoenix
06. Girls' Night Out by The Knife
07. We Share Our Mother's Health by The Knife
08. Speakerphone by Kylie Minogue
10. Like a Drug by Kylie Minogue
11. 220 by t.A.T.u.
12. How We Do by Mount Sims
13. Golden Cage by Whitest Boy Alive
14. Blind by Hercules and Love Affair
15. Still Missing (Röyksopp Remix) by Beck
16. Epie by Röyksopp
17. What Else is There by Röyksopp
18. Poor Leno by Röyksopp
19. Trahison by Vitalic
20. You Take My Breath Away by The Knife
21. Electronic Renaissance by Belle & Sebastian
22. Young Shields by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
23. Spiral Golden Town by Deerhoof
24. Ya Tvoi Vrag by t.A.T.u.
25. And I Was A Boy From School by Hot Chip
p.s. The image above is from the "Le Madison dance" scene from the film Bande à part. Watch the scene below.
Roxanne Adams
Great design work by Roxanne Adams. I have to say to say I'm a bit jealous of her work and talent.
p.s. I saw Synecdoche, New York yesterday with my friend S. It started off well and then it veered off into... like someone mumbling into your ear while you're nodding off to sleep, which was I was doing towards the end of the film. After we left the theatre, S. kept going on about how good the film was: the symbolism, reality vs. imagined reality, etc. I wanted to like this movie, I really did because I love Charlie Kaufman's work. Perhaps I was too tired. I'll have to watch this again... (or perhaps it's true that my brain is slowly melting away like I imagined while driving home some days ago.)
Thursday, November 13, 2008
We Live in Deeds
"We live in deeds, not years: In thoughts not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best."
- Aristotle
Steve Job's Stanford Commencement Address
This speech was shown in my graphic design class. It's a great speech and I found it to be very inspirational. My professor highlighted the part about Typography. She reiterated how the even a small seemingly insignificant part of design: typography had an immense effect on our visual world. Over the weekend she had attended the U.S. National Design Policy Summit. She met a woman who had worked for Nixon's Federal Design Program, and was currently aiding with the redesign of the U.S. Passport (Unsurprisingly, the new design is a downgrade. Oh America!). My professor was given some print outs of the new design and while we viewed them, she reminded us that there was much more to design than just branding, logos, websites, and magazines. Design is form of communication and implemented in things one doesn't normally think about such as streets signs, stamps, identification cards, etc. I wonder where I'll end up in all this...
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Change Can Happen
This made my crummy week (the interview for the internship didn't go too well) a bit better (handsome photo courtesy of Men's Vogue). But I was sorely disappointed about Proposition 8 in California. I hope someday the U.S. grants equal rights to everyone.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Dark Winter Days
The days have gradually gotten shorter and shorter. It's a bit discouraging to wake up to the dark in the mornings and to find that it's dark already when leaving my classes. I haven't been outside (except walking to and fro buildings) or seen the sun (except through windows) for ages due to classes and work. At least the weather is still warmer than usual. I hope to try and enjoy this while I can.
p.s. This morning, we changed all the clocks back to standard time. I guess it means, my body will get an "extra hour" of sleep. It's a good thing for someone like me who has the most difficult time getting up these days.
Scandinavian Illustration
Recently, I've noticed a prevalence of illustrators with a style best described as twee, especially from Scandinavia. There's a certain dainty, childish, and charming quality to their work that I admire. I remember skimming through an article in Print Magazine a few months ago, discussing the spread of this type of twee design from Iceland ranging from clothing to music to art. Some people dismiss "twee" as being excessively saccharine but I quite like it. I hope the artists don't mind that I've categorised them under this term. They have wonderful work that should be given notice regardless of whether it's twee or not. The illustration above, called "Forest Museum" is by the talented Anna Emilia Laitinen. Below are more illustrations by Anna and other Scandinavian illustrators.
I had written about Hanna Konola in a previous post a few years ago. I've always liked her work and am glad that she's getting noticed more.
Jenni Rope: http://www.jennirope.com
Elina Minn: http://www.tuhru.net/elina/
Anna Olsson: http://drawnbyanna.se
Elisabet Ericson: http://home.no.net/huxflux
Jaakko Pallasvuo: www.jaakkopallasvuo.com
Related Links:
Napa Illustration
Tuhru
blog
Emmi's illustration blog
Pikaland
Panama blog
Friday, October 24, 2008
Synedoche, New York
Synedoche, New York is the directorial debut of Charlie Kaufman, the writer of some of my favourite films: Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. The title of the film is a play on the word synecdoche (a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to refer to the whole thing) and the city Schenectady, New York. It features Philip Seymour Hoffman as a theatre director, Caden who attempts build a replica of New York City. The cast also includes Catherine Keener (his wife), Michelle Williams, and Emily Watson. There isn't much out describing this film because, like Kaufman's other work, the plot is fairly convoluted involving a blurring of relationships, memories, reality, etc. Still, I love all of Kaufman's films so I'm quite excited about this one. Links: Official website, NY Times review.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
You're Not Worth a Thing
Cat Power (the stage name of Chan Marshall) is one of my favourite musicians. Her songs contain soulful lyrics that manage to pull out all of my hidden the fears, the one's I'm too afraid to admit to myself. At the same time, they're very reassuring, soothing over all the things that paralyse me. Below are videos of her performing two different versions of "Metal Heart," a decade apart.
Metal Heart (1998)
Metal Heart (2008)
The first video is from her 1998 album, Moon Pix. The second, a new version of the same song from her most recent album, Jukebox. You can immediately hear the changes from melancholy to sanguine as her voice and body language goes from shaky to confident, challenges rather than admits.
New York Times Interview
p.s. Download Metal Heart (1998) here and Metal Heart (2008 version) here.
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