Three years in London, three years since I began my PhD. Time flies. Since then, I've finished over 20 notebooks/agendas cover to cover...
31 minutes on Bond Street
11.58 – I get off the Central Line at Bond Street. I almost suffocated on the train. Everyone's smelling like a Fish & Chips shop these days. There came a certain point in time in 2012, when I first moved to London, where the carriage was empty (only once or twice really). Until the Crossrail opens, this is going to get worse.
11.59 – Walking towards the exit I notice the exit sign is written in almost every European language. I'm surprised – judging by our proximity to Edgware Road and Selfridge's – that Arabic is not on the sign.
12.01 – I'm starving so I pass by the only editable quick place to eat nearby, Prêt, but it's packed and everything has ham in it.
12.05 – I'm walking in the direction of high end shops. This means I pass by Trésor Rare and avoid the sales lady yelling "excuse me hello" about three times. The Swiss-shop sells creams that make your skin for the affordable price of £900. I once got dragged in there by a pushy salesman, who went down to £150 (!!!) for an under-eye cream. I took the samples and told him I'd think about it. I'm nouveau pauvre (the student/creative with champagne taste on a beer budget that make impulse purchases), but not that nouveau pauvre.
12.07 – Someone with an umbrella that says 'European wealth' passes me. There are many rich tourists trekking through the rain. Many of them are tacky, nouveau riche types. I pass Fenwick. Of course rich Arabs are entering.
12.08 – Rich tourist with tacky Fendi luggage and umbrella almost takes me out by not paying attention. She didn't even notice it happened.
12.09 – I spot EAT. I got inside, pick a brie, basil and tomato sandwich and an Americano and sit down. I'm not sure why anyone with options chooses to eat here. I have little time, nor do It work nearby so I'm here. The others? Not sure.
12.12 – A woman asks to share my table. I have no problem with that. She's North American but our encounter is so brief I can't figure out where she's from. She's into her phone. She eat her meal, makes zero eye contact. English training.
12.29 – She gets up, wipes the bread crumbs off, says 'thank you' and walks into the anonymous city.
11.59 – Walking towards the exit I notice the exit sign is written in almost every European language. I'm surprised – judging by our proximity to Edgware Road and Selfridge's – that Arabic is not on the sign.
12.01 – I'm starving so I pass by the only editable quick place to eat nearby, Prêt, but it's packed and everything has ham in it.
12.05 – I'm walking in the direction of high end shops. This means I pass by Trésor Rare and avoid the sales lady yelling "excuse me hello" about three times. The Swiss-shop sells creams that make your skin for the affordable price of £900. I once got dragged in there by a pushy salesman, who went down to £150 (!!!) for an under-eye cream. I took the samples and told him I'd think about it. I'm nouveau pauvre (the student/creative with champagne taste on a beer budget that make impulse purchases), but not that nouveau pauvre.
12.07 – Someone with an umbrella that says 'European wealth' passes me. There are many rich tourists trekking through the rain. Many of them are tacky, nouveau riche types. I pass Fenwick. Of course rich Arabs are entering.
12.08 – Rich tourist with tacky Fendi luggage and umbrella almost takes me out by not paying attention. She didn't even notice it happened.
12.09 – I spot EAT. I got inside, pick a brie, basil and tomato sandwich and an Americano and sit down. I'm not sure why anyone with options chooses to eat here. I have little time, nor do It work nearby so I'm here. The others? Not sure.
12.12 – A woman asks to share my table. I have no problem with that. She's North American but our encounter is so brief I can't figure out where she's from. She's into her phone. She eat her meal, makes zero eye contact. English training.
12.29 – She gets up, wipes the bread crumbs off, says 'thank you' and walks into the anonymous city.
A Manifesto of Change or Design Imperialism? A Look at the Purpose of the Social Design Practice
In June 2014, I had the opportunity to present my paper "A Manifesto of Change or Design Imperialism? A Look at the Purpose of the Social Design Practice" at the STS Italia conference 'A Matter of Design' in Milan, Italy. The proceedings were published a few months ago, and I'm happy to announce that my paper is available to read for free in the proceedings.
The proceedings can be found here: http://www.stsitalia.org/?p=1548&lang=en, and the paper is on pp. 245-260.
It's wonderful to see the journey the ideas within this paper have taken in the past three years. The idea started off through discussions with a colleague during our MA in Social Design at MICA, then evolved to a short presentation for the Goldsmiths Graduate Festival in May 2013, reworked for the STS Italia conference, and then reworked again for the proceedings. It's also making an altered appearance in Beirut next month as part of the Beirut Design Week International Conference (2-3 June 2015). I'm looking forward to presenting it in a non-academic oriented conference.
The proceedings can be found here: http://www.stsitalia.org/?p=1548&lang=en, and the paper is on pp. 245-260.
It's wonderful to see the journey the ideas within this paper have taken in the past three years. The idea started off through discussions with a colleague during our MA in Social Design at MICA, then evolved to a short presentation for the Goldsmiths Graduate Festival in May 2013, reworked for the STS Italia conference, and then reworked again for the proceedings. It's also making an altered appearance in Beirut next month as part of the Beirut Design Week International Conference (2-3 June 2015). I'm looking forward to presenting it in a non-academic oriented conference.
Link round-up - 10 March 2015
This edition of round up has been sitting in my draft for over two weeks now! Some great finds from the inter webs:
- London, I love you but you're breaking my heart. Living here comes with a price tag. An interesting billboard campaign called 'London is Changing' has been launched to share stories of people choosing to leave the city.
- I always wondered why Electric Circus never came back as a Nuit Blanche installation (I don't know if this happened since I haven't attended in ages), but this article on the Canadian institution is worth reading (and the clips will make you smile).
- 64 Marxists against each other competing for the title of 'Champion.'
- Stephen Hendee, Baltimore-based artist and professor at my alma-mater MICA, recently had an exhibition at The Silbert Art Gallery. Really love his stuff, and these pictures make me hope he gets invited to produce an exhibition in London soon!
- London really is all about private, private, private. Ian Martin's article for The Guardian is a great read (lots of references relevant to UK/London so some parts might get confusing)
New design work: Radhika Khimji Artist Portfolio
Last year, I had the pleasure of working with London-based artist Radhika Khimji on a portfolio featuring her recent work. I finally got my hands on the printed copy of the portfolio, which I'm generally very happy with (a spine would make it more elegant). Radhika's work is striking and it stands out, which meant the design could not be intrusive – even though the movement of the pieces feel like a composition that would work very well in anything by Hercules & Love Affair. This was the first portfolio for an artist I've worked on, and although I am a big fan of her stuff, I found it much easier to connect with the work after having been able to sit down with the artist in her studio, surrounded by the work, and leafing through her images and note/sketch books. Below are some images from the portfolio.
Typeset: Baskerville and Univers | Size: A5
Typeset: Baskerville and Univers | Size: A5
This generation's 9 1/2 weeks?
I'm supposed to be writing PhD related stuff but I'm going to take a break and write about pop culture instead. While I haven't read the book (nor have any desire to), don't plan on watching the film, nor read the Wikipedia entry, I must say that I believe Fifty Shades of Grey is 9 1/2 Weeks twenty-nine years later (minus the crazy box office numbers). I'm basing this entirely on tidbits I read from the media and the two minute trailer I had to sit through waiting for Inherent Vice at the Barbican.
Now, the film that made stars out of Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger was apparently met quite negatively at the time, but it is often cited (style! sexy! grimy-ish NYC!) by the younger generations (well, mine at least). There is no questioning it - did you see Kim in it? I'm not going to get into a conversation about what happened to Mickey Rourke, but let's just call it bad decisions. Although 9 1/2 Weeks was not necessarily about BDSM, it was about a sadomasochistic relationship - dealing with ownership of a woman's body and the master/slave relationship which I assume is what Fifty Shades deals with.
Looking back at the trailer of 9 1/2 Weeks now, much of this stuff is likely to creep its way in 14A films as many directors are quick to throw in a sex and/or nudity scene just for the heck of it. As for cast comparisons, I understand there's a lot of factors that go into casting, and despite society's obsession with sex (more heightened than ever apparently), the lead actors are, well, boring and Disneyish. This is very similar to the current music 'superstars'. I am referring here to the likes of Ed Sheeran, who appears to be emulating a look from 'indie' bands from the 2004-2005 period (he reminds me of Billy Talent, Fall Out Boy, American Rejects, Simple Plan, etc.,) and whose 'bad ass' credibility comes in the shape of sleeve tattoos that likely have an image of My Little Pony and other 80s-90s nostalgia; and Sam Smith, who is apparently 22 years old but looks 35 at least, has zero facial expressions, and whose style reminds me of 1980s-90s George Michael minus the charisma.
Back to Fifty vs. 9 1/2: Dakota vs. Kim? Kim wasn't just beautiful, she had style, charm and a certain elegance.
While Dakota may represent exactly the type of character described in the book I have not read, Kim's character wasn't meant to be some vixen either. From the trailer of Fifty Shades I saw, Dakota has none of that electricity Kim brought. In fact, it felt like she belonged in a romantic comedy from the mid to late noughties period alongside Mandy Moore. As for the lead male actor, he's too much of a "I have a job in the City" pretty boy. He has no look in his eyes that gives you a warning that there's something dangerous about him (like Mickey did). I think the celebrities of today are in fact just representations of today's society: boring and extremely PC (you know, in that I am going to stay neutral in person but have an opinion online ONLY kind of way).
Now, the film that made stars out of Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger was apparently met quite negatively at the time, but it is often cited (style! sexy! grimy-ish NYC!) by the younger generations (well, mine at least). There is no questioning it - did you see Kim in it? I'm not going to get into a conversation about what happened to Mickey Rourke, but let's just call it bad decisions. Although 9 1/2 Weeks was not necessarily about BDSM, it was about a sadomasochistic relationship - dealing with ownership of a woman's body and the master/slave relationship which I assume is what Fifty Shades deals with.
Looking back at the trailer of 9 1/2 Weeks now, much of this stuff is likely to creep its way in 14A films as many directors are quick to throw in a sex and/or nudity scene just for the heck of it. As for cast comparisons, I understand there's a lot of factors that go into casting, and despite society's obsession with sex (more heightened than ever apparently), the lead actors are, well, boring and Disneyish. This is very similar to the current music 'superstars'. I am referring here to the likes of Ed Sheeran, who appears to be emulating a look from 'indie' bands from the 2004-2005 period (he reminds me of Billy Talent, Fall Out Boy, American Rejects, Simple Plan, etc.,) and whose 'bad ass' credibility comes in the shape of sleeve tattoos that likely have an image of My Little Pony and other 80s-90s nostalgia; and Sam Smith, who is apparently 22 years old but looks 35 at least, has zero facial expressions, and whose style reminds me of 1980s-90s George Michael minus the charisma.
Back to Fifty vs. 9 1/2: Dakota vs. Kim? Kim wasn't just beautiful, she had style, charm and a certain elegance.
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While Dakota may represent exactly the type of character described in the book I have not read, Kim's character wasn't meant to be some vixen either. From the trailer of Fifty Shades I saw, Dakota has none of that electricity Kim brought. In fact, it felt like she belonged in a romantic comedy from the mid to late noughties period alongside Mandy Moore. As for the lead male actor, he's too much of a "I have a job in the City" pretty boy. He has no look in his eyes that gives you a warning that there's something dangerous about him (like Mickey did). I think the celebrities of today are in fact just representations of today's society: boring and extremely PC (you know, in that I am going to stay neutral in person but have an opinion online ONLY kind of way).
Link round-up - 5 February 2015
First link round-up of 2015:
- New York celebrates the work of designer Paul Rand. Wish I had the chance to see this one, particularly since I really adore the Museum of the City of New York. NYC people, don't miss this exhibition.
- The Evening Standard (you know the paper everyone picks up after work in London), can sometimes produce some interesting opinion pieces. Read this one in newsprint (gasp!) on a bus ride home and found myself nodding in agreement and laughing. Obviously there are some holes, but it's quite accurate.
- The Last Relevant Blogger: I felt a great sadness while reading this. Hipster Runoff, although I wasn't a religious follower of his blog, was definitely my generation (particularly those of us who blogged (or still blog - dinosaurs!). After reading this, I started thinking back at how the internet has changed throughout time (having worked in it as a blogger and within the marketing/advertising realm). I hope to have a decent blog post to share soon. Or it might stay in drafts, who knows.
- While in Paris in December, I had the chance to visit the Kitsuné Café and the shop. Absolutely insane to think of how far these guys have come since releasing albums with then unknown 'indie' musicians. The shop is way overpriced, and I went mostly for nostalgia and novelty purposes I guess. Paper Mag's feature discusses their beginnings in an article from August.
- Another one of those articles where I was reading it and nodding in approval. At times, the writer pushes the writing where it's like "what?" but otherwise, absolutely spot on. Although I believe Homer Simpson said it first when he said (paraphrased here) there's nothing I hate more than rich people with Kickstarter campaigns.
Passages on nostalgia and authenticity
Been doing what feels like endless amounts of reading lately. Came across some fantastic passages, but these two in particular feel more and more relevant to recent conversations I've had (or found myself in!) and posts I've been seeing on social media.
From Undoing Culture: Globalization, Postmodernism and Identity by Mike Featherstone
From Cosmopolitan Vision by Ulrich Beck.
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