2011 Rewind: Part I

04.01.2012 | Blog , Thoughts , Twin Life | BY:

As one year passes to the next, Twin thought it time to pause and reflect. And who better to kick off our New Year rewind than Twin editor, Becky Smith…

So, 2011 was a mad mix. From the Kardashian’s, who spread throughout the globe like a new herpes type of disease, becoming the most googled thing in the UK, to the riots, which were basically extreme shopping. There was structured reality courtesy of TOWIE, Made in Chelsea and Desperate Scousewives. WARNING – this can bring on early dementia and is to be avoided unless hungover. There was also 4D TV – total bollocks – and the Beckhams posing the big question, has Victoria finally worn us down into believing she is credible? Not to forget the Higgs Boson. Does anyone actually know what this is?

To sum up the best and worst of 2011, here are a few of my favorite Portmanteaus:
Après-olution: relaxation that follows the ritualistic but often quixotic making of New Years’ resolutions.

Occupy-movement: New mode of urban habitation which has replaced loft living. All the best people are now doing it, though most only stay a night or two.

Bunga bunga: Phrase associated, for largely unknown reasons, with Silvio Berlusconi’s sex parties. I think I get it though.

Lottoroticism: The arousal and satisfaction of excitement within or by oneself as one imagines what they would do if they hit the lottery. I think I feel this every year.

Planking: See here. The act of balancing yourself in a horizontal position on top of unlikely objects. There are strict rules for proper planking: the planker must be lying face down, completely still, with his or her hands by her sides – I can’t help but think of the economy right now.

 

And so, to 2012. The events I’m looking forward to are:
Becoming a Mumpreneur: A woman who combines running a business with looking after her children. Actually, this is a lie. I don’t have children or plan to.

Flying Cuddle Class: When two airline passengers buy an additional seat so that they can recline together.

And above all…

Mamil(s): A middle-aged man in Lycra

AND

Mullet dress(es): A woman’s skirt cut short at the front but long at the back.

Here’s to the the New Year!
Becky Smith

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Smith’s Other Side

03.01.2012 | Art , Blog | BY:

Even at 64 years old, the godmother of punk Patti Smith still manages to be a creative powerhouse.

Her exhibition Patti Smith: Camera Solo and the accompanying hardcover book show that although singing might have been the first thing to catapult her into the spotlight, the Chicago native’s talent for photography deserves equal recognition.

Smith, who describes retreating to photography like “a room of my own”, shot 70 images with a vintage Land 100 and Land 250 Polaroid camera.

Utilising black and white photography as a reflection of her career and life, she features self-portraits and objects such as the belongings of her father and close friend Robert Mapplethorpe.

Intimate and personal, the exhibit and publication showcase the undiscovered side of a cultural icon.

Patti Smith: Camera Solo is on view at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, CT  until February 19.
pattismithcamerasolo.com
yalebooks.co.uk

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Teller Like It Is

30.12.2011 | Art , Blog | BY:

Juergen Teller’s inimitable and raw style of photography has been helping redefine the genre for over three decades. From crafting a signature look for Marc Jacobs advertisements to his infamous images of Kristen McMenamy, the German photographer’s work is that of a true original.

Now there is an opportunity to get to know his work from a more autobiographical and personal side. An accumulation of his weekly columns for newspaper Die Zeit, consisting of a personally selected image and accompanying explanatory text, Pictures And Words is not only an introduction to the Teller aesthetic, but also an insight into the thought behind it.

For those who are running a bit late on their gift-giving rituals this year, an almost 200-page hardcover book of Juergen Teller’s photographs and musings is a pretty good place to start.

Juergen Teller: Pictures And Words is published by Steidl.
juergenteller.com
steidville.com

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Mia Moretti: NYE Playlist

29.12.2011 | Blog , Music | BY:

With Christmas over, the party’s only just starting. Twin asked DJ Mia Moretti to serve up some New Year tunes to launch us into 2012. Originally from Oakland, the 27-year-old currently resides in New York and plays parties and fashion shows across the globe. “My highlight of 2011 was playing inside the I.M. Pei pyramid at Louvre,” she says. “I can’t wait to hear new original music in 2012.”

On New Year’s Eve she’ll be spinning tracks at The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas opening for Stevie Wonder. Twin asked Mia for her nine must have tracks…

1/ HOLY GHOST! – I Wanted To Tell Her
This cover of  Ministry’s early 80s hit with both Nancy Whang and Juan MacLean featured on the track (and in the video) is the perfect combination of throw-back jam and nu-disco.  What a way to start 2012, right?

2/ KATE BUSH – Wuthering Heights
A lot of people hate Kate Bush, but I think she sounds like a sweet angel calling from heaven.

3/ STEVIE WONDER – Do I Do
On NYE I’ll be in Las Vegas opening for Stevie Wonder, this is one of my all time favourites.

4/ JESSICA 6 – White Horse
If I had to pick a band of the year, it would be Jessica 6. This track was released in the beginning of 2011, but it is just as current, if not more, than it was a year ago. Its touches of funk, disco-pop, & filtered house make it an instant classic.

5/ MIDNIGHT MAGIC – Beam Me Up (Jacques Renault Remix)
Everything Jacques Renault remixes has a nice disco feel, but this track is especially dancey and extremely catchy.

6/ LITTLE DRAGON – Ritual Union (Tensnake Remix)
It’s the year of the Dragon, so I thought this Little Dragon track was appropriate.

7/ DJ MIA MORETTI & CAITLIN MOE – So Beautiful (Sex Ray Vision Remix)
This is my debut single, it was just released last week. Here’s a sexy remix from a couple of kids that go to Stanford and make intellectual dance music. Just kidding, I made that last part up.

8/ MAYER HAWTHORNE – No Strings (Classixx Original)
Mayer Hawthorne is also playing the NYE show I am playing with Stevie Wonder. He’s been on tour opening up for Chromeo, his live show is a treat if you ever have a chance to see it. This remix is by two of my favorite LA DJs, Classixx.

9/ FLEETWOOD MAC – The Chain
I hope that in 2012 you break all the bad chain and latch together all the good chains in your life.

Listen to Mia Moretti’s NYE playlist here
miamoretti.com

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Time and Place

28.12.2011 | Art , Blog | BY:

Throughout 2010 Tyrone Lebon photographed friends and family in his own image. The result is Nothing Lasts Forever, an intimate anthology of the friends and family who passed through his Brixton studio during that period. “It doesn’t reflect much about the way I am feeling now, but back at the start of 2010 I was in a darker mood,” says Lebon. “These photos are about impermanence and change, and this project began as a way of mourning that.

“Photography is especially good at highlighting change, as a moment and all the circumstances that surrounded it are frozen in a picture life moves on. By the end of 2010 I didn’t feel the same and the photos started to feel forced so I stopped, and started working on printing the images and getting the book made.”

Composed of 60 portraits of sombre beauty, Nothing Lasts Forever reflects the passage of time and the ephemeral nature of a feeling.

Nothing Lasts Forever is available at dobedo.co.uk

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All I Wonderful Christmas Is You

23.12.2011 | Blog , Music | BY:

The festive season always gets musicians in a flurry of Yule spirit and this year there’s been no shortage of Christmas song offerings from the likes of Dog is Dead and She & Him. Twin’s favourite is by Summer Camp, who for a second year running has proffered a special Christmas prezzie to fans.

This year it’s a simply smashing mash up of Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmas Time and Mariah’s classic karaoke high-hitter All I Want For Christmas Is You. Featuring Eighties synth and Elizabeth Sankey’s signature cool vocals it’s all we want to listen to on Christmas Day.

Listen to All I Wonderful Christmas Is You here

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Chanel Girl

22.12.2011 | Blog , Fashion | BY:

We love Alice Dellal for her irreverent beauty and punk attitude and it seems Karl Lagerfeld is a fan too. Chanel have now confirmed that the model, and Thrush Metal drummer, will be the new face of their Boy Chanel handbag collection. With Chanel declaring the Boy Chanel collection will strive to subvert conformist notions of femininity, it’s clear why Alice is the perfect muse.

The campaign has been styled and shot my Karl himself and at the moment all we’re getting is a sneak peek within the design house’s rococo walls, but we can’t wait to see what edge Alice brings to a Chanel skirt-suit.

The Boy Chanel campaign will be revealed in March 2012.
chanel.com

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Love Before Intimacy

21.12.2011 | Art , Blog | BY:

For her first solo show, Love Before Intimacy, artist Lola Montes Schnabel has created an Arcadian landscape energised by the vibrancy and colour of passion.
Created over the past year, the five canvases on show at The Hole gallery in Manhattan share a unity of pallet and subject. Each painting depicts an episode in a narrative of androgynous youth encountering each other on a remote Greek island. Depicting a time of love before sexuality, nude youths make free in her heated teal and tan landscape.

Blending expressionism with figurative painting, it is Schnabel’s own heated application of paint that sets her scenes of romance and free love on fire.

Love Before Intimacy is at The Hole, 312 Bowery, New York until February 4th, 2012
theholenyc.com

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The Art of Protest

20.12.2011 | Art , Blog | BY:

Four decades of society-questioning artwork will be on display as part of the Sanja Iveković: Sweet Violence exhibition at the MoMA.

A self-proclaimed feminist artist, she started out as part of the Nova Umjetnička Praksa (New Art Practice) generation in Croatia. To this day, the Zagreb-born creative continues to produce fascinating and deeply critical work in the form of photographs, sculptures and installations. In her early work, Iveković showed an insight into the psychological effects of mass media through work such as Double Life in 1975, which placed a collection of the artist’s personal photographs alongside women’s magazine advertisements.

Nowadays, her work analyses politics, gender, paradoxes as well as the place and representation of women within society. Figure & Ground, her 2006 compilation of collages depicting blood-covered female models in high-fashion military-style outfits as armed terrorists, as well as Women’s House, for which the artist produced facial plaster casts of abuse victims, are a testament to this ideology.

Innovative and thought-provoking, Sanja Iveković proves that art is best when served with afterthought.

Sanja Iveković: Sweet Violence is exhibiting at the The Museum Of Modern Art, 11 West 53 Street, New York, NY 10019 until March 26
moma.org

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Hogan in the House

16.12.2011 | Blog , Culture , Fashion | BY:

To celebrate the launch of their new website, luxury footwear brand Hogan has invited cult photographer and blogger Todd Selby to record a day in the life of 17 inspiring creatives going about their day-to-day lives and of course in a pair of Hogan’s finest.

Among the 17 creatives stars featured in Future Roots are Twin favourite, illustrator Quentin Jones, artists Gaia Repossi and Lola Montes Schnabel and director Benn Northover. Each film is up to five minutes long, enough time to reveal each person and what they represent, while leaving the viewer with some seriously stimulating thoughts. Thank you Hogan.

Watch the films
hogan.com

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Merry Madewell

15.12.2011 | Blog , Fashion | BY:

This holiday, Madewell, the effortlessly cool jean makers, are asking whether you prefer tea or coffee? Shoes or bags? Sparkle or confetti? Dree Hemingway and Maria Muñoz star in this fabulously fun fashion film. Each choice reveals a different sequence. Girls..I bet you only need one second to choose…enjoy.

Watch the video here
madewell.com

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Cocktail Hour

14.12.2011 | Blog , Culture | BY:

Brixton, and Market Row in particular, is quite the foodie destination thanks to the likes of Franca Manca and Rosie’s. But there’s a new kid on the block that’s luring the after-hours crowd. Seven at Brixton is an eclectic venue offering art, board games, pintxos and cocktails.

Paying homage to its former life as a luggage shop, suitcases take the place of shelves in the bar and the cocktail menus are printed on brown luggage tags. At £5 a pop cocktails are purse-friendly and the in-house creations are inventive; try the Electric Avenue – marmalade, apple vodka and pomegranate juice, served in a sherbet-dipped martini glass. Failing that, the classics are just as delicious – an Old Fashioned is an ideal winter warmer. The food, seemingly typical tapas fare, is a similar mix to that of the cocktails. Expect the classics done well alongside inventive, moreish little dishes like sherry-soaked figs on bruschetta.

Past a church pew and up a storey via the crooked staircase artists have been invited to produce temporary installations in each of the rooms, which will be changed every three months. Sam Cook and Joe Crowdy’s mounted paper sculpture is accompanied by A3 sheets of ‘cut-around’ instructions; these lie waiting on the makeshift road sign table for eager fans to recreate their triangular work.

In another room Adam Hemuss’ scribblings creep up the walls and onto the ceiling. Sitting up here is like taking part in a live installation; don’t be put off if half-way through your conversation an art enthusiast pops up next to you to observe the works.

Seven at Brixton is open to catch the breakfast crowd from 8am but it closes relatively early for a cocktail bar (6pm Mon-Wed, 10pm Thurs-Sat and 5pm on Sundays). The address itself surely insinuates the best time to visit. Meet you there at 7pm.

Seven at Brixton is at 7 Market Row, Brixton SW9 8LB

brixtonmarket.net
sevenatbrixton.wordpress.com

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Virtual Valentino

13.12.2011 | Blog , Fashion | BY:

This week marked the launch of The Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum, an archive of over 5000 images, videos and sketches set up in a three-dimensional palazzo landscape.

The fashion lover’s dream of a virtual maze, the tour animates the history of the Valentino empire, as well as the story behind the creation of the 79-year-old’s most iconic pieces. An ode to the lifework of the couturier who retired in 2008, the application is an engaging and fascinating look at one of the Twentieth Century’s most legendary designers. As breathtaking as one of Garavani’s designs in real life, Valentino gone virtual proves why fashion and technology make the perfect mix.

The Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum is available for download here

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A Reel Take On Fashion

12.12.2011 | Blog , Culture , Fashion | BY:

From Edith Head’s designs for Tippi Hedren in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds to Audrey Tautou portraying one of the 20th century’s most revolutionary couturiers in Coco Before Chanel, fashion and film have enjoyed a well-documented and fascinating relationship.

On screen, clothing embodies the unscripted role of sculpting characters – would Cruella De Vil be as villainous without her floor-length fur coats? Clothes create unforgettable moments such as Audrey Hepburn in a Givenchy little black dress outside Tiffany’s, adding to the aesthetic vision of a director – could one imagine Margot Tenenbaum in anything but her heavy eyeliner and preppy polo dresses?

Creative arts platform Test’s series of monthly film screenings and talks mark an intriguing new chapter in the genre. Accompanied by an introduction and Q&A with designer Roksanda Ilincic, the latest motion picture up for discussion will be Liliana Cavani’s The Night Porter starring Charlotte Rampling and Dirk Bogarde.

More than simply a night of stylish cinema, the event is a testament to the lasting power and iconicity of fashion in film.

Test Presents…The Night Porter Introduced By Roksanda Ilincic takes place at Town Hall Hotel & Apartments, Patriot Square, London E2 9NF on December 13 at 7:00 pm.

testmag.co.uk
townhallhotel.com

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Age Of Innovation

09.12.2011 | Blog , Fashion | BY:

Hussein Chalayan is one of those elusive designers who manages to create things that, season after season, leave one flabbergasted. A wooden coffee table/skirt hybrid, LED-lit sheaths and self-transforming robot dresses are just a few examples of ideas that have blossomed in the Cyprus-native’s mind.

Now in its final days of display, Hussein Chalayan: Fashion Narratives at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris pays tribute to a true fashion visionary. Comprised of past collections, installations, fashion shows, projections and research, the exhibition is as multi-layered as the CSM graduate’s work itself.

Even having to book an overpriced, last-minute ticket on the Eurostar seems like a small price to pay when you have the opportunity to spend an afternoon inside the mind of Chalayan the Great.

Hussein Chalayan: Fashion Narratives is at Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 107 rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris until December 11th.

lesartsdecoratifs.fr
husseinchalayan.com

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All the fun of the fair

08.12.2011 | Blog , Culture | BY:

Forget trawling the internet for Christmas presents, shopping around a market is far more de rigueur. Circus, the brainchild of the House of Hackney founders, promises lashings of festive spirit and unique gifts.

For five days, cherry-picked labels and creatives are setting up concept stalls selling their wares. Expect to find such brands as Les Chiffoniers, Lost Property of London, Olivia von Halle (top image), Paper London, Fred Butler and, of course, House of Hackney. Alongside fashion and homeware stands, as well as some more unconventional offerings from Polly Morgan, there will be a Christmas fair selling trees, roasted chestnuts and gift wrapping.

East London gem Lily Vanilli will be on hand selling Christmas hampers as festive foodie presents and her bakery and cider stand will serve up warming snacks for weary shoppers. Taking place in a disused power station in Shoreditch, the vibe is sure to unite the best of hip Shoreditch creativity and traditional Christmas fare.


Fred Butler

House of Hackney

Circus 11 takes place from 14th until 18th December (10am-8pm daily) at The Tramshed, Shoreditch
circus11.com
houseofhackney.com

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Xerox Machine

07.12.2011 | Art , Blog | BY:

Launching tonight, The Photocopy Club is a monthly photographic exhibition of Xeroxed photographic work from all over the world. Held alternatively in London and Brighton, The Photocopy Club hankers for the days before email. Photographers are invited to post signed and dated photocopies of their work to the club. Each month a selection of photocopies will be exhibited and then sold. Eliminating digital files and emails, it’s about the tangibility of photography, pushing images off our computers and back into the physical world.

The Photocopy Club takes place tonight at Create Studios in Brighton 6.30pm – 9pm
thephotocopyclub.com
welovecreate.com

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Twin Playlist: Hanna Hanra

06.12.2011 | Blog , Music | BY:

Twin’s December playlist comes courtesy of DJ and music mag editor Hanna Hanra. Having spent ten years djing across the globe and writing about music, Hanna now edits her own music paper BEAT, from a basement in Dalston. Born out of her love for music and images she says; “There wasn’t a music magazine that I liked, so it made sense to start one”. While the photography is always striking, it’s Hanna’s passion for sound that’s at BEAT’s core.“Without music my life would be very quiet. And very different. I listen to music constantly,” she says.

Twin asked Hanna to name nine of her favourite tracks…

1/ FEISTHow Come You Never Go There
This is just out and it’s brilliant. I love Feist – I love music that is happy and sad all at once – and this is a particulary good example of that. I will probably listen to this on repeat now.

2/ BLONDIERapture
The best pop song ever written.

3/ BLACK WIREHard To Love
I bought this record in Chicago not realising they were from Leeds…. and I bought it on the merit of the cover alone! It’s so good.

4/ BOWIEAlways Crashing The Same Car
I had a phase of only listening to Bowie. So picking my favourite is always hard. I love Ziggy Stardust, but Low is really my favourite album, it’s so weird.

5/ REMthe sidewinder sleeps tonight
REM was the first gig I went to see. I was 13!

6/ LATE OF THE PIER Bathroom Gurgle
This is incredible. They were so young when they did it too!

7/ MYSTERY JETSYoung Love

8/ YAZOOSituation

9/ DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMESMy World Is Empty Without You (Drop Out Orchestra Remix)

Listen to Hanna Hanra’s Twin playlist here
thebeatjuice.com

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Shopping Mall

02.12.2011 | Blog , Culture | BY:

If you’ve found yourself on the corner of Bethnal Green Road and Shoreditch High Street recently you will have undoubtedly noticed that a space which has been uninhabited for the past four decades has new residents. A cluster of shipment containers have been erected to form the world’s first ‘pop-up mall’.

Founded by Boxfresh’s Roger Wade, whose ethos is all about the ‘brand experience’ rather than sales, the 60 containers house retail outlets with a streetwear slant. Up-and-coming designers like OnePiece and Playful Promises vie for attention amongst established brands Evisu, Calvin Klein, Nike and Phaidon.

Diesel has launched its Fifty Five DSL line here and, alongside such nosh outlets as Foxcroft & Ginger, Frae frozen yoghurt and Hop-Nano, charities Amnesty International and Art Against Knives have spaces on the first floor selling artworks and collaborative designs by such East London-based designers as Lucy Jay and Tracey Emin. Welcome to the anti-high street.

Boxpark opens on Saturday 3rd December
boxpark.co.uk

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First Past the Post

01.12.2011 | Art , Blog , Culture | BY:

Twin loves the posters designed for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games so much we thought we’d give you a little pre-peep show.  Artists such as Howard Hodgkin, Tracey Emin and Martin Creed were chosen to give forth their thoughts on the Games happening in London, and the ideals that sit behind it. And the result? An amalgamation of colourful, minimalist, quirky art created with words, a pencil, or paint. Perfect.

The posters will be showing as part of the London 2012 festival next July at the Tate Britain, free of charge.

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