Excerpt from a work by Hadassa Goldvicht
Today I popped by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Open Studio event. LMCC had provided workspace to 16 artists (and 5 writers) including my friend Jayson Keeling. It was one of those moments when you see your friend's art work (including pieces you've seen him develop for years) viewed in a wider context and suddenly you feel a shift in your perception in the face of the will-to-power evidenced on the walls. I thought his work was amazing and I'm not sentimental about the work of the people around me. The whole unruly ebb and flow and excess of Jayson's clashing mind had been disgorged with a compelling passion into photographs, sculptures, drawings, paintings and video. I thought "What an amazing human spirit. !" One particular video held me, as well as Jayson's father mesmerized. It featured outtakes from a film shot in Kingston Jamaica in the 1970's called "Rockers". Jayson culled sections of different characters from the film, sort of stalking down those 70's streets in slow motion over "Jesus", an obscure Velvet Underground track . I think it was Lou Reed chanting "Jesus, help me find my proper place" over the most delicate little melody imaginable. It was a really beautiful moment that stayed with me even after I left to walk home through Tribeca on a quiet Sunday afternoon. There was another piece by an artist by the name of Hadassa Goldvicht which featured a bed surrounded by a moat of honey . On the windows were pasted some words, as seen in the picture above. Jayson's video piece and Goldvicht's words put me in a very reflective and elegiac mood as I walked past those old warehouses and Beaux Art facades mingled with the shiny, new condos that cluttered the streets. I'm really loving NY right now for providing me with moments and inspirations like this. For all the anxiety about whether the art boom will sustain itself or not, I have to say the creative output (like the work I saw today at the LMCC Studios ) is what keeps me going. Off now to a top- secret performance tonight by Hercules and Love Affair. I know it's going to be mad. What a fantastic city!
vogue
hello wayne
well my question has nothin to do with this post but i'd like to have your opinion
how can u explain there's this buzz around the upcomin vogue italia issue devoted to black models because there's no equality between them and white girls for example
but what about the asians ?
do u think we see more of them simply becuz they're the new customer ? or can we say maybe in few months or in a year we'll have the same thing goin on ?
ray from wherethelightsend
Hello Ray,
Hello Ray,
Sorry for the lapse ray...
Regarding your question about an Asian presence in the magazines and ads as well as runways, my personal perception is
i. There's a highly developed sense of how vital the "Asian" market is for moving luxury product these days . The globalization of fashion saw the need to seek new markets and for a lot of clients in NY, Japan, Korea and now especially China is seen as the new frontier.
ii. The home markets in those countries are evolving really rapidly. MDC posted an all Korean-girl cover of Korean Vogue which was interesting to me and I've been following the evolution of Vogue China and Vogue India with great fascination . One of my key sources of information on that market assures me this is the wave of the future given the population base that represents a future fashion market. Hyoni who won the Ford supermodel contest this year, for instance has found a lot of work in her home market
iii. What's interesting about all of that is also the realization that when you develop your own markets you gain 10 times as much leverage. Methinks. LOL