Stone Hipsters

Apologies. I have been a busy bee, buzzing between the hive, the flower and the honey... (Or home, work and the occasional post-work-drinks..) Therefore my writing has shamefully been neglected. Nonetheless, I still find the occasional moment to marvel at the wonders of the world via the genius of the dangerous depths of the internet. In all of those nooks and crannies there are some real treasures. For instance this:

Basically, photographer Léo Caillard and art director Alexis Persani had a moment of creative hilarity. A genius idea that was pretty simple to translate: Leo photographed the classic sculptures at the Louvre in Paris and then his friends posed in a similar way. Alexis then took over to do the retouching and place the clothes on the sculptures. Ta-dah, the Street Stone series were created!

"The creative duo once again prove that nothing is truly set in stone!"

Information here and here. 

7 Cool Things

When I was doing my last internship at a rather cracking advertising agency, one of my 'workie' tasks was to compile a list of '7 Cool Things' that I'm currently infatuated with and explain why.

ONE:            The new BMW 5 series - looks yum and is a

                           dreamy drive

TWO:           Monet’s 1899 ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ painting - in

                           room 43 of the National Gallery in case you need 

                           convincing

THREE:        Bubblegum - especially Bubbalicious or Anglo 

                           Bubbly

FOUR:           Scrunchies - yes they may be ‘back in fashion’ but I 

                           have been wearing mine continuously since 1996 

                           for simplicity’s sake / to avoid spilt ends. And I 

                           have endured the bullying.            

FIVE:              Podcasts - ideal for the Tube and there’s something 

                           for eeeeveryone

SIX:                 Jennifer Lawrence - her voice, her persona, her

                          dress sense...babe.

SEVEN:         Sarcasm - when will sarcasm ever not be cool. 

21

So on 21.12.2012 the world is going to end. (Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t it be more poetic is it was the 20.12.2012 or the 21.12.2112?)

If I had lots of time left (and was as sceptical about my future as the Mayans are being) I would obviously create a personal list of 21 things to do before the 21^st while aged 21. Sadly there’s not much time left before the 21^st so I’ll condense the list to 10 things I’d like to do…

 1.  Spend a day frolicking in London with all my nearest and dearest – art galleries, restaurants and shopping galore!

2. Host a delightfully lavish dinner party (à remembering that money isn’t an issue, I won’t be needing any anymore anyway, so I’d really splurge!)

3. Invite someone I’ve been meaning to get in contact with for ages but haven’t to said dinner part

4. Invite someone excessively outrageous to said dinner party, purely for entertainment

5. Cook ALL the food for ALL the courses from scratch for said dinner party

6. Skype call the person furthest away from me in the world right now

7. Read a novel in a whole sitting without leaving the sofa (only to go to the loo)

8. Buy a Celine Boston bag

9. Go for a ride / on a hack with my sister dear

10. Spend an evening in front of the fire with magazines and books and a cup of tea. And someone to give me a shoulder massage.

Shakespeare Festival

2012 is the year of the Brits: as the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee take centre stage, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) follows suit and will stage the World Shakespeare Festival from April until September this year in a bid to put “art at the heart of the Olympics.”

The World Shakespeare Festival forms part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic movements. Since 2008, more than 16 million people participated in or attended performances nationwide, over 160,000 people attended more than 8,300 workshops and an excess of 3.7 million have taken part in almost 3,700 ‘Open Weekend’ events; all inspired by London 2012. The London 2012 Festival, in accordance with the London 2012 Olympics, will reach its peak by providing over 10 million opportunities to see free world-class events throughout the UK at various venues.

Ruth Mackenzie , Director of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival, describes the breadth of The World Shakespeare Festival as “a celebration of Shakespeare as the world’s playwright, produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in an unprecedented collaboration with leading UK and international arts organisations and with Globe to Globe, a major international programme produced by Shakespeare’s globe, it’s the biggest celebration of Shakespeare ever staged.”

Almost 60 partners will come together to bring the World Shakespeare Festival alive and thousands of artists from around the world will take part in almost 70 productions. There will also be supporting events, exhibitions and educational events right across the UK, including in London, Stratford-upon-Avon, Newcastle, Birmingham, as well as online. The festival will run from April 23rd to November 2012, forming part of the London 2012 Festival, the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad, and the idea is to bring leading artists from all over the world together in a UK-wide festival this summer. Over one million tickets are on sale, so the emphasis is for all to get involved.

Michael Boyd, Artistic Director of the RSC, equally puts emphasis on Shakespeare as a vehicle for multiculturalism: “The World Shakespeare Festival celebrates this most international of artists at a time when the eyes of the world will be on London, that most international of cities, for the Olympic Games.”

Although “William Shakespeare is our greatest cultural export” as Boris Johnson has put it, the festival’s productions are not limited to Shakespeare’s plays. Other so-called themes include: ‘Arab Theatre Season’, ‘Globe to Globe’, ‘Open Stages’, ‘Shakespeare Re-imagined’, ‘Nations at War’ and ‘What Country Friends is this?’ In spite of this, the themes adopted by the RSC are definitely influenced by the Bard. ‘What Country Friends is this?’ encompasses Shakespeare’s shipwreck trilogy:The Tempest, The Comedy of Errors and Twelfth Night, and these are cast from one acting company, looking at migration, exile, and the discovery of brave new worlds. King John, Richard III and A Soldier in Every Son – The Rise of the Aztecs are the three plays under the umbrella title ‘Nations at War’, exploring the struggle for absolute power and the right to lead a nation. Further productions include A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Julius Caesar, but also adaptations like Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad or Two Roses for Richard III.

In addition, the Globe in London has announced its Globe to Globe Festival as part of the Shakespeare celebrations for the London 2012 Festival and will endeavour to present all of Shakespeare’s plays over 6 short weeks. Whilst it will stage one production itself, the remaining 36 plays will each be performed in different languages by different countries from around the globe, the epitome of global arts coming to London in celebration of this momentous year and as part of the events, which will be the finale to the Cultural Olympiad

All content © 2006 - 2012 Impact Magazine

From the wall to the shoe: is art becoming portable?

Traditionally, ‘portable art’ refers to small examples of Prehistoric art that can be carried from place to place, usually in the form of engraved or painted bones and stones. Whilst this has certainly gone out of fashion, it would seem that a different form of portable art has taken its place.  The art form of graphics is far from new as artists including Alan Fletcher (1931-2006) and arguably the Victorian William Morris have shown. What perhaps is new is the idea of transferring our art onto more transportable and conventional objects. 

Felix Green, founder of the shop, InkHeart Custom Kicks & Caboodle, sees himself as an artist. Graphics is his forte and shoes are his medium. The reason is simple: although his drawings and designs were popular, would a picture sell? With more artists choosing different mediums such as bags or clothing to channel their work as part of a ‘bespoke craze’, the question is raised whether the classic ‘painting on the wall’ is falling out of favour among some of us art lovers.

The enlightenment for Felix to transpose his art onto shoes came with a dramatic leg break. Completely unable to walk for a long time, he could not find a pair of shoes that he liked enough to treat himself to upon recovery, prompting him to draw one of his works on a pair of pumps. At the same time, his recently launched online portfolio atdeviantart.com was receiving generally very positive feedback. With the collaboration of a local shop to stock his produce, and a launch on the online store Etsy, his prints were transferred onto pumps. When business really kicked off, Felix bit the bullet, quit his job and turned his full attention to his art works. Next, he plans to incorporate printable bags and t-shirts. Demand for these has clearly risen, as seen in the mass availability ofBanksy print bags and clothing.
Felix has been in London to test the waters with the ultimate aim to launch on Spitalfields market. Although a somewhat daunting prospect, Felix admits that London definitely spurred him on, as the custom-made t-shirt and bag concept is big news down there and he has found London-based graphic artists to be helpful. Whilst members of art communities are often guarded with their plans, London artists were open with tips and ideas.

As an artist, Felix gives the creative process as much significance as the finished product and he only ever produces images that feel natural to him. Even so, a majority of his work is on commission, with clients requesting a specific image and leaving him the sometimes difficult but enjoyable task of adapting it to feature on a shoe. Whilst some of these requests are sometimes odd, Felix stresses that this is what makes his art so exclusive; it allows for that unique stance within the bespoke craze and it is the individual touch that he so loves in his work. Moreover, these suggestions often move Felix in new directions not otherwise considered. As a keen photographer, he does the professional marketing shots of his products himself. Before any graphic elements may be applied to design, they must be created by means of visual art; thus, the artistic flair is maintained throughout the whole process.



So, is this concept of approachable and portable art the new art form? The uniqueness and nostalgic concept of InkHeart’s products obviously make them sentimental and expressive pieces; they are his works of art. This, along with the fact that the Internet plays such a prominent role within his work through the commission, the advertising and the inspiration of his products, suggests that the modern art form is changing. It is becoming more transferable and fluid, with a much wider ability for the individual to develop that personal touch.  And with an actual need for shoes and bags, Felix has the perfect opportunity to transfer his skills.


All content © 2006 - 2012 Impact Magazine

PS This article was also featured on onlinetshirt.com 
http://onlineteeshirt.com/blog/?p=1700