Archive for the ‘culture vultures’ Category
Star Trek (2009): review
Star Trek: The Movie in cinemas accross the world now | Image © Creative Commons, daughter of chaucer, 2009
Who would have thought that Gene Roddenberry’s brainchild of the 60s – Star Trek, would become a classic in the world of sci-fi, nevermind it turning into a religious movement. In the last 50 years Star Trek has brought a brighter and happier vision of the future and the latest blockbuster version of the epic has proven to continue to “boldly go where no one has gone before”.
Star Trek has become a cliché and captain James T Kirk (William Shatner) together with Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) have explored the final frontier inside out. However, the latest Star Trek motion picture does not leave its viewers disappointed. Committed followers as well as newborn Trekkies can enjoy the sound and video effects in the future where the ending is always happy.
Passionate Star Trek fans argue that throughout the series and previous films there have been a few inconsistencies, however the creators of this year’s Enterprise have managed to justify conflicts by ‘changing the history’. Thanks to Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Romulas ship Narada travelled from the future, the history is rewritten, and captain Kirk’s crew becomes open to all Roberto Orci’s and Alex Kurtzman’s fantasies.
The cast for the rebirth of Star Trek was selected perfectly. The sweet boy Chris Pine gives Kirk’s role a Kazanova’s vibe and the badass Zachary Quinto, known as Sylar from US TV series Heroes, plays the young, stubborn and all-so-logical Spock with real Vulcan dignity. Even Zoe Saldana, Britney’s friend from the film Crossroads, beats stereotypes and seduces heart-less Spock.
One of the film’s candies is the cross-reference with 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The Trekkies can finally observe the actions connected with the legend of James T Kirk cheating the unbeatable test.
Overall Star Trek still warms hearts and brings a more positive vision of the future, which in the current sad economic and environmental climate is a real treat. Happy Bunny is happy indeed, blinking 4 and a half out of five times. We are very looking forward to the next film, which undoubtedly will come out as soon as enough cash is gathered from this one.
Fresh Faced and Wild Eyed
Himsagar Express by Nishant Shukla
The creative industries are constantly looking for new talents. The Photographer’s Gallery organizes its annual Graduate Photography Exhibition discovering UK’s brightest visual artists.
The second year in a row FreshFacedAndWildEyed09 will present the best of UK student photography by BA and MA students who have graduated in the past year.
A total of 23 photographers were selected by a panel of such experts – Joy Gregory, Magda Keany, Brett Rogers and Ossian Ward. Submissions were accepted from visual arts course graduates across the UK, whose graduation date fell between 1 May 08 and 31 May 09.
One of the selected photographers, Nishant Shukla, graduated Thames Valley University in 2008 and is currently in the middle of his master’s degree.
“I am delighted to have been selected for the show. It’s every photographer’s dream to be exhibited at such a prestigious gallery. I’m looking forward to seeing my work on the wall at The Photographers Gallery, get an opportunity to meet some people in the industry and hopefully some commissions would be a good result,” Nishant Shukla said.
His series of prints are portraits of travelers on the Himsagar Express – a three-day journey from the foothills of the Himalayas to Kanyakumari on the southern tip of India.
The Photographers’ Gallery is dedicated to exhibiting, educating and engaging people with photography. Events such as freshfacedandwildeyed09 reflect our dedication to recognising, nurturing and supporting photographic talent in the UK.
“The frontality of these images presents an honest exchange of views mediated by the camera. Nothing is hidden and there seems to be a mutual trust which dignifies the subject. There is in this work a studied avoidance of the sentimental or repressive gaze. Shukla modernises colonialist photography and invests it with a sympathetic and quiet restraint. The idea of a shared journey is what these pictures convey,” Peter Smith commented.
The exhibition runs 24 June – 5 July 2009.
For more information and a virtual gallery visit FreshFacedAndWildEyed09.
The Photographer’s Gallery
16 – 18 Ramillies Street
London
W1F 7LW
The list of all selected graduates:
Jonathan Baggaley, Benjamin Beker, Petros Chrisostomou, Eleanor Cleasby, Lucy Dawkins, Teresa Eng, Kathryn Faulkner, Leonora Hamill, Aileen Harvey, Hannah Hewett, Alexandra Hughes, Nae Bunthita Indhawong, Jessica Layton, Martina Lindqvist, Ellen Nolan, Tom Pope, Wendy Pye, Tomoko Sakanishi, Grace Schwindt, Nishant Shukla, Anthony Wallace, Michael Whelan and Dave Wyatt.
Fresh Faced and Wild Eyed 09 exhibition runs until 5th of July
When You’re a Boy
From Galliano’s Warriors, photographed by Nick Knight, styled by Simon Foxton. Published in Arena Homme Plus, Summer/Autumn 2007
The modern climate encourages creative industries to collaborate and more and more successful projects are born breaking the boundaries.
The Photographer’s Gallery is no exception and this summer will present an exhibition ‘When You’re a Boy’ that focuses on men’s fashion stylist Simon Foxton’s work.
The showcase will include work of such photographers as Nick Knight, Jason Evans and Alasdair McLellan and Foxton’s range of photographic prints, scrapbooks and image installation produced while working with John Balsom, Donald Christie and others. The stylist raises the questions of definitions of masculinity, national identity and taste while capturing menswear’s spirit and energy.
Foxton, known for his witty and often provocative approach, anticipated and defined key shifts in menswear design since the early 1980s. Historic portrait iconography and classic English men’s tailoring are combined with contemporary sportswear design, street fashion and references to gay subcultures to produce sophisticated and innovative fashion images for a range of brands and magazines.
The exhibition ‘When You’re a Boy’ runs 17 July – 4 October but while you wait visit the current exhibition ‘The Photographic Object’ that explores the ambiguous space between two and three dimensions by such international artists as Maurizio Anzeri, Walead Beshty, Annette Kelm, Gerhard Richter, Alina Szapocznikow, Wolfgang Tillmans, Andy Warhol and Catherine Yass.
The Photographer’s Gallery
16 – 18 Ramillies Street
London
W1F 7LW
George Morris: exhibition ends this Sunday
Hall of Mountains by George Morris
There’s less than a week left to see George Morris’s solo show at Schwartz Gallery.
‘The installation ‘Hall of Mountains’ was created specifically for the Schwartz Gallery space: the archetypal mountain as both form and concept, data coordinates and physical place, is collapsed, rationalized then reconstituted throughout the gallery space using a combination of 3D computer modelling, architectural print, sculpture, illumination and sound.’
Until 31st of May
Fri-Sun 12-5pm
Special late night opening: Thursday 7th May 6 – 9pm
Address:
White Post Quay
92 White Post Lane
London, E9 5EN
For more information visit Schwartz Gallery website.
A new class of terror
A New Class of Terror: Tormented
Even though Happy Bunny is not a big fan of horror movies or any visual material that includes violence (except for gangster films, of course), we braved ourselves and went to watch the latest teenage zombie horror comedy – Tormented.
The plotline is simple – a bullied school kid (the cool gang refers to him as Shrek) commits suicide then rises from the dead to kill his predators. Not quite From Dusk Till Dawn, not quite Dead Set but still enough blood and unexpected moments.
The story in Tormented is predictable but can still be enjoyable as long as one keeps the mind open. Happy Bunny spent most of the premier hiding behind a friend’s back but noticed a few very important details. For a teenage drama Tormented had very neatly presented sex scenes with an emphasis on the use of condoms (Durex could learn from them). Yes, sex sells, but safe sex sells even better. Also the film promotes ‘bullying is bad, mkey’ concept that is incorporated as anti-bullying week at school.
Overall Tormented was filled with swearing, nudity, blood and very English humour. Happy Bunny believes that ending is the most important part of the film and in Tormented all expectations regarding the grand finale were fulfilled. The film might not be an intelligent challenge but is a good way to celebrate the end of academic year.
Professional cast, imaginative deaths and beautiful camera work – Happy Bunny blinks his eyes 4 out of 5 times.
A new class of terror ‘Tormented’ by Jon Wright in cinemas across the UK now.
Special thanks to Emfoundation!
Text: Marina Scukina
When fashion meets art
Alice Instone (on the left) with a friend | Image © Marina Scukina
Last week a team of Happy Bunnies put on their heels, layers of make-up and marched to the Beach Blanket Babylon for an ‘Interview with a shoe’ where London-based artist Alice Instone presented her latest collection of portraits – in this case – paintings of shoes.
More than 20 portraits of celebrity and not-so-celebrity shoes were displayed at the exhibition and revealed intimate hints of such contemporary icons as Annie Lennox, Elle Macpherson, Cherie Blair, Baroness Neuberger Alice Temperley, Bianca Jagger Alexander McQueen, Shami Chakrabarti, Nicole Farhi, Sir David Hare, Lord Woolf, Laura Bailey and others.
‘I think shoes have got that something sacred about them.,’ Alice Instone told our Fashion Bunny Kristin Knox. ‘They’ve also got that real fetish side as well, which I tried to capture with the prints and the sculptures.’
Instone’s paintings work as a connecting platform between art and fashion. They form a bridge between two opposites. ‘Art is meant to be something that lasts forever and obviously the whole idea of fashion is that it is ever changing,’ Alice says.
Alice Instone's exhibition 'Interview with a Shoe' runs until 3rd of June | Image © Marina Scukina
‘It’s kind of ironic, on the one hand, we are criticizing sculptures, on the other, we are selling sculptures and hopefully tempting looking paintings celebrating shoes,’ she adds.
Even though shoes are more of a girl-thing, Alice painted some of the male shoes, including Pope’s slippers. However, the artist admits her work is often feminism orientated.
‘A lot of my work is about women–ideas of gender, power and general contemporary cultural values. And as I have been painting all these powerful women I got interested in the shoes they were wearing. It’s amazing how much those shoes say about them it made me want to do some portraits of pairs of shoes,’ she says.
The Happy Bunny was inspired by Alice Instone’s work and beautiful shoes, thus spent most of the evening crawling on the floor and capturing photos of other’s footwear.
‘You’re not really expressing yourself when you put on a pair of trainers,’ says the artist.
Lord Wolf and his father's shoes | Image © Marina Scukina
Read the full interview with Alice Instone by The Clothes Whisperer here.
The exhibition runs until 3rd of June at Beach Blanket Babylon, Shoreditch.
Beach Blanket Babylon East
19-23 Bethnal Green Rd
Shoreditch
London
E1 6LA
Special thanks to Consolidated PR!
Text: Marina Scukina
To see more shoes follow the link!
Guy Bourdin: from unseen to seen
Unseen Guy Bourdin at The Wapping Project | Image © Nicholas Harvey
While people of the Fashion Planet and Johnny Blueeyes’s groupies make their way from one party to another, the critics and artists seek inspiration in one of the greatest 20st century’s fashion photographer’s work. Exhibition at The Wapping Project: Unseen Guy Bourdin.
Nicolle Meyer poses in front of Guy Bourdin's photograph of her | Image © Nicholas Harvey
Guy Bourdin, born and raised in Paris, was an author of iconic pictures. The exhibition Unseen features 32 images collected from over three decades of his creative work. In many Nicolle Meyer – also known as his muse – can be recognised.
‘I had no idea I was being called muse,’ she claims and explains that title was achieved after Bourdin’s death in 1991, when the model compiled ‘A Message For You’ book. She worked with Guy for three ‘very intense’ years at the very peak of his career – untypical long period for him.
‘The legend goes he was very difficult person to work with,’ Meyer says and adds that ‘he was very particular, very sure of what he wanted to do’.
Nicolle reveals she and Bourdin had special chemistry between them. ‘Subconsciously when you work with someone who’s so talented it somehow influences the way you view things. He’s part of my life, my mystery,’ she says.
‘It was the past and now it has become the future as well. Images I did with him are now in contemporary culture and you see people who are influence by his work, who pick up on his elements. I feel like a part of larger picture. I feel like a part of the history,’ the model reveals.
‘The images are technically also astonishing, given that they were taken before the era of digital photography and retouching and were shot on 35mm transparencies,’ says Jules Wright, director of The Wapping Project.
Unseen Guy Bourdin exhibition can be viewed at The Wapping Project until 4th of July.
The Wapping Project
Wapping Hydraulic Power Station
Wapping Wall
Lonodn
E1W 3ST
Special thanks to Camron PR!
Text: Marina Scukina
The unconventional Brussels
Ethiopian restaurant Kokob | Image © Marina Scukina
The Brussels generation of talents secretes its true nature to tourists and only a few lucky ones are introduced to the social circle of artists and musicians. Most of the youth in their late 20s, early 30s earn living working in bars and cafes and spend free time playing gigs at different venues.
To meet new friends chatting with waiters and bartenders is essential – they work hard and party even harder. The staff of Ethiopian restaurant Kokob is one of a kind – Haile, Lionel, Lucie, Norma and others take great care of their guests. ‘People leave drunk and happy,’ Lionel comments.Kokob offers a unique Ethiopian experience as people are ought to eat with their fingers. Only tourists ever dare asking for cutlery, which is slightly sneered upon. The menu offers traditional African meals and wide selection of wines, Belgian beers and cocktails. ‘I make the best mojitos in the universe,’ Lionel proudly adds.
Bar Booze'n'Blues | Image © Luize Ratniece
The restaurant regularly organises live music events, including experimental jazz. However the best place for jazz in Brussels is L’Archiduc – one of the rare bars open until early hours. Visitors must ring the doorbell to enter and be greeted by serious-looking but very kind-hearted bouncer.No matter how much fun one has during the opening hours of L’Archiduc, real entertainment starts after the doors shut to public. The bartenders and their friends indulge in adventurous cocktails and musical performances even after sunrise.
Parisian Camille Provost, who has been living in Brussels for five years, names Booze’n’Blues as one of her favourite nights out. The place is decorated with comical interpretations of Belgian history and its owner Hafid is a thoughtful host offering delicious food, quality ‘booze’ and inspiring atmosphere.
The Peeing Girl of Brussels | Image © Marina Scukina
When it comes to dinking Belgians take pride in their beers. Luize Ratniece from International Planned Parenthood Federation describers Brussels as a place where ‘you can sip one of more than 2000 available beers in the infamous Delirium Café while chatting up at least whole European Union if not United Nations’.Delirium Café, included in World Guinness Record 2004 book for its collection of lagers and ales available, traditionally serves half-pints served in individually designed glasses for each beer, e.g. Kwak is poured in funnel-shaped goblet. Delirium also attracts customers with weekly live gigs from reggae to electro.‘I haven’t met a single person who doesn’t like Belgian beer so I guess it’s a well-earned status of the best beer in the world,’ Natalija Rasseino, independent wellness consultant and frequent visitor in Brussels, adds.
Perhaps Belgian passion for beer has encouraged the statue of peeing boy to become one of the national symbols. Now the peeing family of Manneken Pis is complemented by Jeanneke Pis (peeing girl) and Zinneke Pis (peeing dog). The crouching young lady spends her days observing Delirium’s clients while the puppy is located in the Brussels China Town, just a few minutes walk from the popular meeting point – Beurs.
