There's a brand new exhibition at the Tate Modern, that's right up my alley and hence yours too, savvy Foundtrack blog reader.
Here's the fancy words from the press release to let you know what it's all about:
"Pop Life: Art in a Material World proposes a re-reading of one of the major legacies of Pop Art. The exhibition takes Andy Warhol’s notorious provocation that ‘good business is the best art’ as a starting point in reconsidering the legacy of Pop Art and the influence of the movement’s chief protagonist. Pop Life: Art in a Material World looks ahead to the various ways that artists since the 1980s have engaged with mass media and cultivated artistic personas creating their own signature 'brands'. Among the artists represented are Tracey Emin, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Martin Kippenberger, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Richard Prince."
Just to inject some video goodness into this little art piece, here's an intro from exhibition curator, Alison Gingeras:
What do you mean you can't afford to come to London? Not one to hold that against you, here's what you can expect to see:
The exhibition runs until 17th Jan 2010 at the Tate Modern, London.
So, one or two of you may have noticed that Jini's Pick of the Week has been on summer hiatus but as with most good things (the return of Grey's Anatomy anyone?) I am back for the fall season and with a transatlantic theme to boot...
If you find yourself in London this month, then you must check out Carnaby's Newburgh Quarter (which you should do anytime of year anyway) as they've got a New York theme going on. 30 independent boutiques from the Lower East Side of NYC have set up their wares in two pop-shops in the famous Carnaby Street area. The London boutiques were in New York last month and now it's the turn of the New Yorkers to show London what it's got. With a bunch of free events, such as a block party on Oct 18th, and a New York style Halloween party on Oct 31st there's plenty to do. And they've even transported Central Perk to the area until Oct 7th in celebration of Friends' 15th Anniversary - if you can get past the long line of tourists, go grab your free cup of java... Find out more here
Hey all you UK art fans... everyone's favorite renegade street artist / mad genius Banksy is up to his old tricks again. He'll be displaying a new collection of work at the Bristol Museum for free daily June 13th-August 31st. All of you that won't be making it out across the Atlantic can checkout this sneak peak sizzle reel:
After last week's post about a guide featuring some of London's trendiest hotspots, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to check out (and cross off) one of the bars featured in the Pimp London Guide.
Just over a year old, East Village in Shoreditch, takes its name from the trendy underground suburb in Manhattan, and incorporates an element of NYC retro-cool into its stylings and decor. Whether you want to just relax in the chilled out deco lounge or dance to hardcore house and dance music in the club below, this has something for everyone. This has to be one of the less pretentious places I've been to in a while, but you'll definitely find the punters are still a trendy bunch and staff minus the attitude that you'd expect from most trendy hotspots.
I also have to give a shoutout to the manager Peter who totally went out of his way to help us with a few issues we had, and the bartender who actually had to get my attention to serve me (when does that ever happen!) On that note - if you find yourself in London with a night out to spare, definitely hit up East Village (and don't forget to take a picture with a flamingo or two)
I can't believe I hadn't come across this before, but what a pleasure it was to find this gem whilst randomly killing time in Urban Outfitters. So what is it that could get me so excited I hear you ask - the most useful book for any visitor to London (or indeed local) - Pimp London: The Guide aka "the definitive guide to London for global style hunters". This is definitely going to blow your Lonely Planet out of the water, because this is not for you if you're looking for how to get from Buckingham Palace to Big Ben, but this is a guide to where real Londoners spend their time and hard earned cash, enjoying the best of the capital's rich and diverse culture. Featuring the best of art/culture/bars/clubs/shops in all four corners of London town.
Brought to you by the guys at pimpguides, who "publish the most luxurious free magazine on the market - a hardback collectable style and street culture title" as well as being an "artist agency [which] represents some of the world's biggest and best contemporary street artists whose work you can buy in [their] online store" and they also "throw parties, art exhibitions and music events" to boot! Phew! So you can rest assured these guys know what they're talking about.
I had a lot of fun competing with my mates to see which places we had been to and which ones we'd heard of - ah, the stories of people jumping fully clothed into the pool at The Aquarium! One of my favourite features are the interviews with London style icons and trensetters asking the question, "Someone arrives in London for only 4 hours, where do you take them?" which is a great question for any city in the world. So, come on pimp peeps, when are the LA and NYC editions coming out?
If you find yourself at a loose end in London this Tuesday, here's an awesome cause to support with a gig thrown in to boot. Staying Alive is MTV's global HIV and AIDS awareness and prevention campaign and they're throwing yet another fundraising event with great new music.
The first time I heard about Kidrobot was when I lived back in LA and my friends had set up a myspace page for a smoking rabbit! So, now I'm glad that London is giving the bunnies some high-profile love now too! One of my favourite department stores in the whole world, Selfridges has teamed up with the Kidrobot guys to create a Kidrobot universe in Selfridges' Wonder Room concept store, complete with a store gallery and shop showcasing the brands toys, tees, hoodies and a collection of original print bags. If you want some exclusive dunnys and munnys, check it out now (or just admire the giant pink bunny in the store window as I do every night on my way home from work!) The Kidrobot x Selfridges Store-gallery will be located at 400 Oxford Street and will operate from January 22 through February 21.
Last night, I had the opportunity to check out the latest trendy bar/restaurant/disco/art installation in Angel, London called The Double Club. The Double Club opened on 21st Nov 2008 and as the press release states, it offers "a unique approach to entertainment and hospitality, as well as creating a dialogue between Congolese and Western contemporary music, lifestyle, arts and design". It is in fact a Carsten Holler art project sponsored by the Fondazione Prada, where 50% of the club's profits go to the City of Joy charity.
As can be seen in the plan above, it is split into three rooms: the disco, courtyard bar and restaurant. Definitely the most impressive is the courtyard bar which has this great feeling of being outside indoors. My only complaint was that it took almost an hour to try and get served at the bar after 9pm, as it was packed inside by this point, and a steadily growing queue building up outside. However, the atmosphere was genuinely a relaxed and friendly one.
The food was tasty and even though it doesn't seem like much my friend and I stuffed ourselves on goat and spicy shrimps with a lovely side order of plantains and white mushy paste (aka chikwangue). We were even tempted by the cook who was bbq-ing burgers and various skewers in the corner of the bar space well into the early hours of the morning - last orders 1am!
We ended the night in the dance space, watching a live set of Congolese singer Gordon Masiala and the DJ positioned in the centre of the room on the revolving circular dancefloor. Plenty of opportunity to see people let it all go and show off their crazy dance moves to the Congolese tunes.
The place has a fantastic feel to it, with a vibe that I could probably only create on holiday in a tropical destination. Definitely worth a visit because it's only going to be around for 6 months - eat some goat while you can!
As Jini's Pick of the Week was off for Christmas last week, here's a double to make up for it. So, I've been in tourist mode this week, and been visiting exhibitions a plenty in good ol' london town and thought it would be culturally responsible of me to promote them to the rest of the world!
First up is the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit at the Natural History Museum. This annual competition finds the very best wildlife images taken by the world's top professional and amateur photographers. Check it out while you still can - the exhibition is on until April 26th 2009 and is also touring various cities around the world. If you can't make it to the exhibition, check out the winning photos online. Here are just a few of the amazing photos taken for this year's competition:
Polar bears fighting it out over a kill in Norway, a great story here....
An amazing use of lighting to highlight the outline of the polar bear.
A Southern Right Whale saying hello to a diver in New Zealand.
Taken from a plane over london's financial district.
Next up is the James Bond/Ian Fleming exhibition, For Your Eyes Only, at the Imperial War Museum. The exhibit focuses both on the life of Fleming and how his experiences influenced his novels, as well as some great memorabilia from the James Bond movies. This is a must for all Bond fans.
FoundTrack's Fashionable Friends at 55DSL are sponsoring this year's edition of a really cool annual design tournament called "Cut & Paste." Competitors in 3 categories, 2D, 3D & Motion Graphics, are given 15 minutes to battle it out for design glory and bragging rights. The first event was hosted in London, but the 2009 edition will feature a round the world tour- the winners of each regional battle will meet in NYC for the Global Championships.
If you're interested in JOINing the Tournament, visit Cut & Paste's official site and make sure to register by January 14th in the US and February 6th in Europe/Asia. Check out this rad sizzle reel and get pumped up for the new year of design ahead of us- This looks wicked- I'll definitely be at the LA event... Judges from all three design disciplines will be announced in the coming weeks and the LA stop currently include Chevon Hicks of Heavenspot and Adina Sales of Blacklist.
As I mentioned in my last Ladyhawke post, Pip was playing at The Coronet Theatre for Modular Records' Nevereverland gig...and she was awesome! I managed to get there just in time for her set, giving up the luxury of putting away my stuff because of the crazy long outdoor cloakroom line, and having my friend get my drink for me from the overly crowded bar.
Although her performance was pretty understated and she seemed completely overwhelmed by how much the crowd was loving her, she would let out a meek thank you now and again. The screens behind her were displaying the artwork that is associated with her album and videos, and it definitely helped set the mood. She played most of the tracks from her new album and here are a couple that I managed to capture on video:
Manipulating Woman
Paris is Burning
The New York natives Shy Child came on about an hour later, and I think the following anecdote represented the general attitude towards them. Aussie guy (not unusual because the crowd was 99% Australian) next to us asks my friend, "Are you from London?" "Yes" "Who the f*** are these guys?" To which we both shrug our shoulders. I didn't manage to take any footage of the two guys for fear of having a drink thrown over me, but just because the lead singer was grinning throughout his whole performance, here is a performance they did at the Fashion Rocks event in London this time last year...
The main event was of course, The Presets who came on at about 2am and they did not disappoint. They were hands down the best act of the night in terms of getting the crowd excited and moshing like crazy. Two fights even broke out, with a Stephen Dorff lookalike having his t-shirt ripped and pulled over his head...not quite sure what that was about! Anyway, the dancing was manic with flashing lights all over the place...check out the footage below of This Boy's in Love (*note: it is quite difficult trying to hold up a camera when 100s of crazy Australians are jumping up and into you).
If you get a chance to catch these guys in concert, then I highly recommend it. You can find out more about Meijin's review of Cut Copy and The Presets here.
Also, don't forget Ladyhawke's album has finally been released in the US today, so if you have respect for good music (which you obviously do if you're on FoundTrack), I highly recommend it. And for those, who bought the album in the UK, you'll be excited to know there is a bonus track "Danny and Jenny" on the US version (as well as a French version of Paris is Burning on the EP).
Although I am personally not a basketball fan, I love this story about the amateur b-ball player taking on professional NBA star Devin Harris on a court in South London last week. Harris was in town with the Nets for a game against Miami Heat on Sunday in the 02 arena in Greenwich London. He was taking part in a coaching session in Stockwell, when the personal trainer/basketball coach Stuart Tanner showed Harris a thing or two on the court - watch below...
Exploring the creative connection between fashion and sports, this exhibition at London's Victoria & Albert Museum will delve deep into the "complexities and tensions" between these two industries.
Split into 4 areas of DARE, DISPLAY, PLAY and DESIRE, the exhibition looks at both the functionality of sportswear as well as how it is very much a fashion statement of today's youth.
Check out the sneaker workshop online where you can "construct, style and share your own unique hybrid footwear".
Looking to fill that void now that the Olympics is done and dusted? Well have I got the championship for you! The Barclaycard World Freerun Championship is being held in London tomorrow night. 20 of the world's best freerunners (aka Freestyle Walkers... more at Wikipedia) will come together and be challenged to show off their skills and abilities in a specially constructed stage at the Roundhouse in Camden. I remember watching a documentary about freerunning way back when, and then it seeing it again in the awesome sequence at the beginning of the Casino Royale movie.
Check out a little promo video to get you excited about the championship...
Now, if I was ever pissed about missing out on tickets to one thing this year, it's definitely not the Madonna concert, so here's hoping there are some cameras at this thing!
*Something that got me even more excited, was the fact some of these guys are actually offering classes on it here.
If I didn't suffer from stage fright, I would totally have been there for the launch party of Just Press Play at Bar Vinyl in Camden last night. Punters are challenged to bring their mp3 players to the bar and battle it out with an opponent to see whose tracks bring down the house...the crowd votes and prizes are won!
I wouldn't want to show people up with my mix of Disney's Greatest Hits and The Distillers Sing Sing Death House (hmmm...prob a good thing I didn't go then) but head on down if you think you're hard enough. Every fortnight on Mondays, free entry from 5am-midnight.
The guys at Orange mobile have teamed up with Sony Ericsson, T4 (the teen channel 4 brand) and MySpace to give people the chance to help their local communities in exchange for concert tickets. Its real simple - people volunteer for four hours and in return get tickets to a special concert at the Royal Albert Hall featuring Busta Rhymes on September 26th. Free music + good karma...what you waitin' for - sign up now!!!
This weekend Nokia launched Skate Almighty in London to promote the Nokia music store. Essentially an outdoor roller disco with DJ sets from Norman Jay MBE, Zero 7, Guilty Pleasures, Bodyrox, Seamus Hall and Graeme Park, I was lucky enough to nab some of the free tickets and "rock n rollered" to music old and new. It moves to Birmingham next weekend and then onto Manchester - definitely worth an hour of mayhem on the roller rink floor!
Some crazy kids have come up with the bright idea of turning London into an urban playground for those who are looking to relive their childhood. The Hide and Seek Festival was founded by Alex Fleetwood and Gideon Reeling, after attending Come Out and Play in New York.
According to their website, "Hide and Seek is a festival of social games and playful experiences... it will encompass everything from fine artists making location-based work to huge flashmob games within the public spaces of the Southbank Centre".
Games include "This is it..." which requires players to race across the city to rescue a special-guest band in time for them to play a gig at the festival's opening party, and "Snap-shot City" which sees New Yorkers and Londoners on a worldwide photographic treasure hunt.
Check out this short documentary about the festival last year:
Get ready to join in the fun this weekend June 27th - June 29th...I can think of worse ways to spend a weekend.
Miramax and HMV have teamed up to promoted Miramax's newly repackaged dvd back catalogue by having famous scenes reinacted in-store in London's Covent Garden. The Teatro Vivo theatre company, known for performing their own unique interpretations of established classics in unusual spaces, will be responsible for the perfomances. The iconics scenes will be from Pulp Fiction, Clerks, Chicago and Scream. Unsuspecting customers may also be brought into the action with the chance of winning dvds for their participation!
The performances begin at HMV in Covent Garden's King Street from 2pm on Thursday 29 May...go and check it out!
So a couple of weeks back, I tried to get into the "exhibition" set up by Banksy, known as The Cans Festival, set in a disused tunnel behind Waterloo Station. Unfortunately I got there at 9pm on the last day an hour before it closed and it was so packed that hundreds of people were being turned away. I was lucky enough to peer over some railings and catch some of the artists putting their finishing touches to their graffiti.
Banksy invited 40 graffiti artists from around the world to make their mark as well as putting up some installations during the 3 day event. His idea behind it was "...hoping we can transform a dark forgotten filth pit into an oasis of beautiful art". Although Banksy likes to play the rebel, he actually got permission from Eurostar to transform the tunnel into what is now a "public gallery" of sorts. The art will still be up there for at least 6 months, so catch it while you can (find it just opposite The London Eye).
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