“The storm was beautiful, but now there’s lots of it to slowly melt and just slush away” comes creator of Porches Aaron Maine’s melodic musings from out of my iPhone on a dismal London night. I’ve called to chat about Porches new album Pool, which has been three years in the making and marks a peak of Maine’s impressive output. Talking to the frontman, the sense of excitement about having an audience for the new record is palpable, which is understandable given that it’s been ready to go for months. And it’s been well worth the wait.
Sonically the album marks a new, more experimental direction for the band (which includes his partner Greta Kline aka Frankie Cosmos). Guitars are swapped for synths and drum machines to intoxicating effect. Indeed, speaking to Maine a couple of days after New York’s recent blizzard feels like apt timing. With a sound that’s both surprising and familiar, cosy and alienating; it’s wholly immersive and will whip up another storm in 2016.
You existed in a couple of guises and line-ups before Porches, what was it about this name and group that stuck?
I guess Porches the name and project started a while ago, like five years ago, when I came back from a tour with my rock band. Back then everyone was living in different places and we weren’t practising, so I made a new batch of songs that felt really different. I don’t really remember why I called it Porches though. I’m not particularly fond of it anymore but…. it’s just a name. And it took a while to start playing those songs live and to figure out how to do it. It wasn’t until Cameron and Greta joined the band that it felt like the kind of line up and instrumentation was finally something special. Before that we were messing with backing tracks and different members.
What was the inspiration behind the album?
I listened to more music, saw more things and experienced new things by living in the city. For me it was important to make something different, that made me feel different that made the audience feel different too. I was paying more attention to music that was being made currently and in drum machines and electronic music saw this cool, exciting potential for something new, and how far you could go with it. It feels really fresh still, even though its widely done to me it felt more exciting than guitar music.
Yeah, it feels like you’ve managed to create something surprising from what at first sounds familiar. I’m interested especially in the motif of water throughout the album, both lyrically and in the quality of the sound, was that a conscious thing or did that evolve naturally?
I was actively trying to make something that made you feel that way… Watery.
And when you’re writing, are you speaking from personal experience or as a character?
The songs are definitely personal. I know in this album the lyrics are pretty abstract, they’re not experiential or based on actual events in my life, but they are a collage of my mood, or whatever I was feeling like that day. Kind of like a set of emotions I put together to paint an emotional landscape.
They’re kind of like impressionist paintings?
Yeah and it was exciting to do that for the first time. I feel like I have always just clung to an experience and it was freeing to not have to experience something psychically to write about it. It taps into a different place. It’s not based on any specific instances so it’s just like a portrait of myself emotionally. Because of that I still feel in it (the album) and still like the songs and can get behind them.
So are you quite considered in your approach to making records?
I definitely live in the song for a while, or at least I live in the recording for a long time. I kind of like that vibe of a recording that’s been loved and given the attention that it deserves.
I’m interested in the eye contact element of performance. Do you ever find it uncomfortable? What’s your performing technique?
I actually made a conscious decision to perform with my eyes open. I realised that I was always closing them or looking down. It’s funnier and more interesting to scan the audience, to look at everyone and how they were feeling.
Have you ever got up on stage and completely screwed up?
Um (long pause) I mean I’m sure… I don’t know! I’ve l tried smoking weed before performing and I just can’t. It’s fun and sounds very special but I’d be psyching myself out. We try to be really focussed and professional. That wasn’t always the case, but it’s been like that for a while now! I
What was the evolution into music, could you have been a banker?
Hah, no. I went into college to study painting but always knew and felt more passionate about the fact that I truly needed to make music. And it was just a matter of time before I realised that it could be a thing.
It’s easy to romanticise creativity in the city, but what’s it actually like being an artist in New York these days?
There’s an insane amount of creative people but I don’t really know if New York embraces them, but at the same time that’s where people get their energy from. It’s something to, not rebel against, but to struggle with. It’s very not chill. You kind of have to be on your shit if you want to make it happen and want to stay around. I love that.
Haute couture isn’t something that’s typically thought of as cool. Beautiful? Yes. Incredibly intricate, ostentatiously unique and mind-blowingly accomplished? Yes. Rebellious? Absolutely. But cool? No. Well, turns out, someone didn’t give the seven-strong team behind Christian Dior‘s spring summer 2016 collection that memo.
What was presented to a predictably packed audience in Paris’s Musée Rodin on Monday was as deliciously unkempt as the bookshelves lining the Seine. Despite the departure of Raf Simons – the undoubtedly refreshing and oft-lauded face of modernity at the historic French house – this was a collection of magnificently wearable, works of art.
Starchy silhouettes were compromised with flashes of bare shoulder – not in a calculated ‘cut-out’ manner – but as if the model had been gesticulating too wildly and somehow shrugged one side of her previously ladylike look off. Because of course Dior is ladylike. Even when it’s sending punkish sheer tops layered underneath prom dresses down the catwalk, the hair remains in a perfect side part, and the cheeks delicately rouged.
Christian Dior Haute Couture SS16
In addition to this, hemlines of voluminous silk dresses cascaded messily from beneath embroidered, tobacco-hued wool coats that were just that bit too short, and the breast-plate of stiff tops exploded provocatively in a fanning wave of ruffles around models’ décolletage.
There is no denying that haute couture as a whole, has become infinitely more realistic in its approach to cut and day-to-day use in recent years. Even the handful of super rich clients who buy this stuff have some kind of ‘cost per wear’ gauge. But – that doesn’t mean it’s become boring. Far from it. In fact, the true inventiveness now is in the attitude conveyed by the most beautiful of clothes. As Christian Dior themselves echoed in their statement this week:
“The spontaneous, relaxed Parisienne of today is Couture by nature, down to the smallest details, but modern in spirit. It’s her attitude, her way of moving, her way of simply being.”
To welcome 2016, Taschen books are launching a sale that will run from the 28th to the 31st of January. Taschen’s South London store – situated in Duke of York Square – will offer discounts of between 50-75% on displayed and slightly damaged titles, which will also be extended to their website www.taschen.com.
Originally known as Taschen Comics, the publishing house was established in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen to publish his extensive comic book collection. It has since become a force in making lesser-known art available to mainstream bookstores and in bringing subversive art into broader public view. Taschen has always embraced potentially controversial material alongside books that focus on subjects like art photography, comics, painting, fashion, film and architecture. Their reputation of producing more daring titles on fetishistic imagery, queer art, historical erotica and pornography has set them apart from traditional competitors, making Taschen the first stop for lovers of print, art, anthropology… and aphrodisia.
In its 35-year history, Taschen has garnered a global following and made headlines several times. It has produced the world’s most popular art book series, the introductory Basic Art Series, and has broken records with Helmut Newton’s SUMO – the most expensive book published in the 20th Century. Last year, Taschen introduced Art and Collectors Editions with models Gisele Bündchen and Naomi Campbell, photographer Bettina Rheims and music icon David Bowie. Join Taschen on the 28th of January as they celebrate many new, bold ventures for 2016, and indulge your artistic, or erotic, needs.
For as long as one can remember, men’s fashion has been inextricably linked – and obviously inspired by – music. So it was particularly significant that the autumn winter 2016 menswear shows that recently took over the fashion capitals of the world fell in the shadow of David Bowie’s tragic death.
David Bowie was not just a music icon, he was a cultural revolution. And it is hard, nay almost impossible, to find a single designer who has not paid reference to his work at some point in their career. From the likes of Burberry to Alessandro Michele at Gucci – this season’s AW16 shows were full of acknowledgements for the late star. The former had little time to do anything other than react to the news, and so models were sent down the runway with glitter shadowing their eyes, and even ‘Bowie’ scrawled across exposed palms. While a few days later at Gucci, a simple cardigan was emblazoned with the singer’s name, which is no surprise as it was the Italian fashion house who sponsored the V&A’s 2012 retrospective of his life and style.
But David Bowie, at heart of all the glitter, hair, disguise and self-expression, was a lad from Brixton. A south London boy who knew how to wear a skinny-cut suit. And as such, it was Paul Smith who really knew how to show his creative thanks with his AW16 offering.
Featuring a melee of those aforementioned skinny suits, ankle boots which snuggly snaked their way up trouser cuffs, paisley motifs and bold stripes which adorned both outwear and cashmere knits – it was a riot of British street style from the late ’60s and early ’70s. See how it all played out – but more importantly listen to the soundtrack which so perfectly accompanied it – below.
This month sees the publication of two new books on the work of German artist Werner Büttner – the first entitled Coincidence In Splendour takes a look at his paintings, and the second My Looting Eye his collages. Why is that a big deal? Well, considering that these are the first books on Büttner’s practice to ever be published in English, it means his work is about to become accessible to an entirely new audience. See? Exciting.
For those unfamiliar with Büttner’s oeuvre, here’s a little background. Whilst predominantly known as a painter, he started a series of collages in the early naughties to confidently and pointedly address the nature of composition and subject matter in art practice. By enabling viewers to reconsider artistic conventions and norms, Werner Büttner also addresses social conformity and the ideology of rebellion (interestingly, Büttner originally trained as a lawyer).
Büttner decontextualizes everyday objects to explore the power of meaning in a visually-stimulating and dynamic way. Explaining his seemingly unpredictable, idiosyncratic style he comments: “the artist is a sieve, sifting his environment. Information nuggets of precisely the required size get stuck in the sieve. Now he can work.” My Looting Eye explores the ‘method that lies behind the madness’.
Werner Büttner’s My Looting Eye and Coincidence in Splendor launch on 28th January, 6-8pm at Marlborough Contemporary London. Published by Black Dog Publishing.
Main image: Werner Büttner, Abandoned, 2008, Courtesy the artist and Marlborough Contemporary, London
The London Art Fair, or righteously self-referred to as ‘the UK’s premiere Modern British and contemporary art fair’, has returned for its annual take-over at the Business Design Centre from 20th-24th January 2016.
Recognised as the ultimate hub of support for collectors of all levels, the 28th edition of the Fair is set to bring together 126 galleries from the UK and overseas. Ranging from museum-quality Modern British art to work by top contemporary artists – both emerging and established – this superb occasion provides a sound retrospective into the early 20th century and to this present day. Alongside galleries exhibiting for the first time in 2016 – such as Beetles + Huxley (London), Omer Tiroche Contemporary Art (London), and Galerie BART (Amsterdam) – this year’s Photo50 and Photoworks’ latest editions delve commendably into the love triangle of women, sex and art.
As such, the London Art Fair is dedicating part of its exhibition space to photography, and this year’s Photo50 presents a carefully curated exhibition from London-based photography critic, editor and curator Federica Chioccetti. The exhibition, titled ‘Feminine Masculine: On the Struggle and Fascination of Dealing with the Other Sex’ has truly emancipated the theme of femininity, as it endeavours to depict both genders in its relation to one another rather two separate entities. This selection of images is set to confront the mysterious dynamics that operate between men and women, and will serve as a fascinating insight into the ways in which we deal with the opposite sex.
Additionally, Photoworks Annual’s latest edition takes a look at women, specifically, and their roles in photography. Whether the woman stands as the subject, creator or consumer, this panel talk aims to explore the themes raised around the changing landscape of gender and photography with references to the ’70s, ’80s and the modern day. This inspirational discussion will present guest speakers Catherine Grant, Liz Heron, Oliver Richon, Natasha Caruana and Max Houghton…it’s definitely one not to miss.
The London Art Fair is on now at the Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, N1 0QH. More information and bookings can be found at londonartfair.co.uk
Main image by Ekaterina Anokhina (Russia), from the series 25 Weeks of Winter (2)
Around November, Stef found herself in London and happened to meet some great new people, as one so often does when travelling. As a result she embarked on a – quite literally – explosive series of go-sees, and is publishing them exclusively with Twin online. This marks the first in a new series of specially commissioned works from people that we love, and want to showcase – keep your eye out for more of the same in the year to come.
Meanwhile, enjoy this brilliant series from Stef, and discover a little more about her – and these images – below.
What was the idea behind these pictures?
I wanted to shoot a little series of go-sees while I was in London for a week. I really enjoy the process of a go-see because they’re extremely useful, and mostly because people are never what you expect. And every now and then you find someone amazing who you know you could collaborate really well with. I also enjoy dealing with different personalities and finding out how you get along. I usually don’t look at the pictures while I’m taking them, and it’s kind of nice if later on if you find something you like.
Where did you take them?
I took most of these pictures in Notting Hill where we stayed with a friend. Also the fireworks were for Guy Fawkes, but someone felt enthusiastic enough to let them off every night that week. I managed to catch them only once!
When did you first ever pick up a camera? What did you shoot?
I first picked up a (disposable) camera in the first grade and shot a roll of my friends at school.
When did you know that this would become your career?
I wanted this to become my career when I was about 17.
Have you been influenced by anyone over the years? Or is there someone who’s career you’d love to emulate?
I’ve been influenced by different parts of various photographers and artists over the years. But I wouldn’t want anyone in particular’s career. I think it’s exciting to head in your own direction.
What brought you to New York? Can you describe your neighbourhood?
I was traveling through New York and met a girl at a party who ended up bringing me back here by getting me an interview to intern with Annie Leibovitz. I actually ended up marrying that girl and we live on the Lower East Side. The block we live on is the type of place where you can see something inspiring or beautiful and someone projectile vomiting or being arrested simultaneously.
Do you prefer drawing or photography?
I don’t prefer either drawing or taking photos, they’re both nice for different reasons. I definitely get frustrated at times with both and it’s nice to be able to switch between the two.
Do you prefer sounds or silence when you work? If sounds, any particular ones?
I prefer sounds! I like whoever I’m shooting to chose the music so they’re happy. But if they don’t care I like Blood Orange.
Who and where would you still love to shoot?
So many different people! And I want to shoot in Italy, Sweden and the Bahamas. And Scotland!
What’s coming up in the next six months for you?
The next six months – I have a few projects coming out that I’m excited about and will hopefully spend more time running around Europe and dining at as many pubs in London as possible.
All images by Stef Mitchell, commissioned exclusively for Twin; with special thanks to Claire Dickens at IMG London
In spite of labels such as Moschino, Belstaff and Dunhill showing at London Collections: Men, the most talked about designers were the new kids on the block. This year saw a formidable collection of talent at the MAN catwalk. Charles Jeffrey, who runs the notorious night Loverboy in London, walked a collection reminiscent of Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano at their prime. Billowy silhouettes, Rauschenberg-esque handbags and vibrant colours which clashed against earthy browns created an overall aesthetic of dishevelled, debauched beautiful young things of the night.
Meanwhile Grace Wales Bonner set the city ablaze with her collection ‘Spirituals’. Her AW16 collection was sensitive yet full of precise cuts and intricate details, from coloured embroidery on denim knees to golden stitching. Her ’70s silhouettes ranged from red tracksuits to soft collared white shirts, and these were complimented by Swarovski adorned chokers. In all, an ethereal, truly soulful and stand out collection.
Designer Alex Mullins made meta play out of clothes, with faces of friends stamped across jackets and tee-shirts. Tailoring was obscure and architectural, with off-kilter cuts and frayed denim edges aligning to create a staunchly energetic collection, with the rhythms of the city at its core.
Outside of the MAN presentation, designer Josh Reim (pictured main) showed his first ever collection at LCM. His was a pagan inspired presentation with personal ancestry at the locus of the designs. Models were placed within a rural tableaux which highlighted the intricacy of the stitching and complimented the muted palette on show. All eyes on this new crop of talent, promising to carry the torch where McQueen & co blazed before them.
After sweeping the net with her ethereal lo-fi offering ‘Station’ (which had Annie Mac gushing), Liverpool’s soulful stirring vocalist Holly Fletcher, aka Låpsley (it’s her middle name), is the 19-year-old still on everyone’s minds, radiating an inner warmth with her teary and introspective lyrics, achingly beautiful harmonies and haunting minimalism.
A multi-instrumentalist with a classical background, her non-traditional route into the industry as a bedroom producer (via Soundcloud), saw her tipped for big things, and later as a studio producer, her debut EP followed as XL’s latest signing, the label that brought us ground-breaking and innovative records from the likes of FKA Twigs and M.I.A.
Låpsley’s self-motivated vision and creative control continues the uprising of women in electronic music – a traditionally male-dominated genre – with the internet providing a platform and voice to be heard.
We caught up with the singer / songwriter to talk musical heroes, owning a loch one day, and why she’s already broken one of her new years resolutions.
Hello, so how are the New Years resolutions going – did you make any? I am trying to be vegan for January. It was going well until I went to Italy and they force fed me Parmesan!
And what about NYE, do you remember anything past midnight? I stopped drinking at midnight but somehow can’t remember anything between then and 8 in the morning so must have drunk my bodyweight in Prosecco.
Haha! So you probably missed London’s NYE music-a-thon fireworks on the TV then, I reckon David Bowie’s going to feature on that playlist quite heavily this year – who are your musical heroes? Arthur Russell is a genius, his work is so honest. Joni Mitchell as a songwriter and of course Bowie as someone who was such a creative innovator and set an example for generations to come to not be afraid to go against the perceived norm.
What about the first record you bought, embarrassing or a good’un? I think it was Kings Of Leon ‘Only By The Night’ – that’s a good’un to me, wouldn’t really listen to them now however as a 12 year old emotional wreck I clung onto the words.
I bet you made emotional mix tapes for yourself and your loves right? Yes. I made loads. For boys that I fancied, for best friends, for parties, for promiscuous year 11 times, for everything really.
And what else did you listen to growing up? My parents music. From my Dad it was Joy Division, The Smiths and Depeche Mode. From my Mum it was Fleetwood Mac, Bjork and Kate Bush.
Did you have pop poster crushes on your walls? Mum wouldn’t let me put blu tac on the wall so I had lots of framed art of things like squirrels and other wildlife (British wildlife) ha!
And if you could choose a song that completely sums you up now, what would it be? For January it’s that Internet sensation ‘Peel the Avocado (guacamole)’.
Oh that song! Dr. Jean should officially be on the NHS as an anti-depressant. So tell me more about Låpsley – what’s the story behind that name? It’s my middle name so no exciting story there. It’s Scottish, it actually means keeper of the loch, hopefully one day I’ll own a loch #buymyalbumpayformyloch (#bmapfml)
Nice hashtag! And you went from bedroom producer, gaining fans like DJ Annie Mac, to being signed to a label really quickly – are you still in control of your overall soundscape, so it’s still a personal and natural growth? Yes I’m totally in control of my own sound but also take advice and am open to help developing my sound.
You’re experimenting more with new genres too, how would you describe your sound? Experimental [laughs]
Ha! And how are you evolving, do you know where you’re going to, as Diana Ross once sang? I think with every new song I finish I learn something new. Fuck knows where I’m going though.
And what about your impact on the electro music genre, it’s still very much a male dominated scene – how do you bring a female perspective to it? Hopefully lyrically women will be able to relate to my lyrics because men are heartless bastards (fuck my ex, #fme)
Well that told him. So from where you’re sitting, apart from the heartless ex, what does it mean to be a woman in 2016? It’s sick, Tom Ford has a new make up range that just came out, what could be better? Still pissed that tampons are classed as a luxury item by the government though.
The ‘Understudy’ EP is out now. Låpsley’s debut album will follow later this year.
Suave, salient and immeasurably slick London Collections: Men certainly epitomized the it in British Fashion this season. Over four days, the AW16 collections unfolded to reveal a line up of bold, clever and thoughtful designs that will have sartorial hounds and innocent laymen baying for blood in the months to come. Overall there was a sense of confidence and attitude: a thoroughly British, slightly grungy and often playful aesthetic which could afford to be irreverent because it was so smart. The collections were many and the quality was high though stand-out designers included Matthew Miller, CMMN SWDN, Alex Mullins, Craig Green and J W Anderson, who’s designs managed to make gold-toothed A$AP Rocky’s attendance at the show feel underwhelming in comparison.
The Aesthetic
One noticeable trend was focus on the elements and the natural world. Craig Green delivered an acclaimed collection once again. This time he wove his signature sculptural forms closer onto the body with the theme of protection as the inspiration. Buttons and ties were used to beautiful effect, embodying a sense of vulnerability against the elements. This, combined with the natural tones of mossy greens and terracotta hues, rendered Green’s AW16 collection both romantic and ethereal. Emblazoned with a similar mandate, Christopher Raeburn turned to the wild, with a Mongolian inspired collection. Models walked with oversized bum bags, patterned sweatshirts and extreme parka coats, worn open with stand-out rucksacks. Also of note were the highly covetable and timeless bombers mixed against some gigantic shredded ponchos. At Cottweiler, the duo looked to the natural world as well. Inspired by a youtube fetish that involves wading through mud whilst fully clothed, the collection featured high waisted waterproof trousers alongside neutral bomber jackets.
A military thread also ran throughout LCM, embodying the duality of male identity. The duo at Casely-Hayford shook up standard outwear thanks to a re-imagining of military uniforms. Under the title Irregimental Youth, the collection spanned eras, from the ’60s through to skinheads and ’90s rave culture. Long, khaki jackets were adorned with patch-work denim whilst others were split at the back, creating a lizard-like tail that, though perhaps impractical for the commute, was genuinely imaginative and forward-thinking. Notable mention should also go to the vibrant colour scheme inspired by psychedelic images of the Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper album. Turquoise jackets and acid bright suits ensured that Casely-Hayford kids will always bring the party. Over at McQueen, Sarah Burton created a signaturely baroque collection, showing expertly tailored red jackets embroidered with black beads. On Monday, Xander Zhou lent a glam spin to the same theme with a wide-shouldered, cropped jacket.
Christopher Shannon AW16
The Influences
At Christopher Shannon, the designer took inspiration from suburban ’80s Liverpool, updating the aesthetic and creating a new set of local heroes for 2016. The collection was awash with bright colours. Highlights were the oversized vinyl jackets in plastic pink, crisp, pastel boxer shorts and high neck anoracks with zip detail. The design duo at CMMN SWDN, Emma Hedlund and Saif Baker, drew on feelings from the late ’70s and early ’80s to create a collection around the title Domus. Looking to the warm, comforting feelings associated with ones own home, the pair contrasted the retro influences with modern fits. Key pieces included a pony skin jacket, an orange suede jacket with a signature ‘c’ tag in tortoiseshell on the pocket, and a mid-length leather piece that had audiences weak at the knees. As ever with CMMN, the cuts were dexterous, with silhouettes spliced together in unexpected ways. The high waist, high neck combinations made a particular impression.
Matthew Miller’s much talked about collection elucidated ideas of Nouveau Riche, stripping the term of it’s old meaning and associating it with the ”cultural capital” of his generation. Cropped box jackets were layered over longer out—wear with pieces pulled together by thin straps at the waist. It was a challenging collection, one that drew on the old to traipse over it with new. The stand out design was the Caravaggio ’David and Goliath’ print jackets and shirts which not only embodied his theme but added a heightened sense of unease to the overall aesthetic. As at Agi & Sam, Miller walked both male and female models, compounding the idea that gender-less fashion is the future.
If some designers spent this season searching through history, J W Anderson bucked trends and embraced the pace and power of change. His AW16 show was a melding pot of ideas, influences and aesthetics, underpinned by a re-invention of casual-wear. Highlights included polka dot faux furs, cropped white knit trousers with button detail and silk printed suits. The recurring motif was that of a snail, a cartoonish and ironic nod to the fast-paced fashion world. A cartoon cat from the 1920s also made a recurring appearance. It was an energetic collection, both dark and playful, which will define how men dress for seasons to come.
Although still in its relative infancy when compared with some of the other international fashion weeks, London Collections: Men – or LC:M for speed and ease – is rapidly gaining momentum. And a highlight of this season was Twin favourite Paul Smith, who lived up to his iconic British status and served up a playful slice of eccentric nostalgia.
Casting his magpie eye back to 1970, when he opened his first shop, the designer presented his autumn winter 2016 wares in an exact replica of his original three metres by three metres store. In among a riot of charming bric-a-brac lay joyous prints influenced by a pile of cycling jerseys, a bold new bag inspired by the Argentine tango, as well as an array of his seasonally expected – and universally appreciated – tailoring. He even smacked the detailing from the facade of his Mayfair outpost on a selection of leather goods.
This season’s offering was staged at none other than the Pace London gallery, which has continuously served as inspiration for Paul throughout the years. Currently home to work from the like of British triumvirate John Hoyland, Anthony Caro and Kenneth Noland – it was yet another source for the acclaimed British designer to draw inspiration from.
Fashion is a business that can very often take itself a tad too seriously, so thank the stars for people like Paul Smith, who know that a sense of humour – and the ability to find inspiration in absolutely anything – are the ultimate palette cleanser.
Kids. Gummo. Spring Breakers. Director Harmony Korine’s work needs little in the way of introductions. It is with excitement, then, that we suggest you cancel all forthcoming plans and head for the London Short Film Festival this weekend, to indulge in two days of some of his most potent works. From the aforementioned Gummo, to an adaptation of Harmony Korine’s experimental novel, A Crack Up at the Race Riots by the Belgian collective Leo Gabin, the events are shaping up to be a tad more provocative than your usual Sunday roast.
“When an artist is loved or loathed in equal measure, they must be doing something right.” Says the festival’s artistic director, Philip Ilson in a candid blog post on the event’s website. “Harmony Korine is a filmmaker who is hated by many,” he continues, “his last cinema release, Spring Breakers, definitely felt like a film with a personal hate campaign against it, which must’ve excited him immensely… though I think it’s very likely he didn’t really give a fuck what people thought.”
The above serves as a highlight of the acclaimed film festival, now in it’s 13th year, which kicked off earlier this week. With screenings taking place all over the city – from ICA to the Hackney Picturehouse, Oval Space, Ace Hotel and Round Chapel – other special events includes the tongue-in-cheek Cats&Cats&Cats which promises “the best in classic and contemporary cat cinema”. Miss at your peril.
Annie Leibovitz is widely considered to be one of the world’s best portrait photographers. Her book Women, which was first published in 1999, celebrates an array of women, from Supreme Court Justices and Vegas showgirls to coalminers and farmers. In 2016, the project is set to continue in the form of a travelling exhibition, making its debut in January at the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station in London.
Over twelve months, Annie Leibovitz’s new portraits will appear in ten cities; London, Tokyo, San Francisco, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Istanbul, Frankfurt, New York and Zurich. The new portraits will display the changes in women’s roles in contrast with those 15 years ago. Alongside Leibovitz’s new work, visitors will be able to view work from the original series and other photographs taken since.
Speaking at a press conference at Somerset House, Leibovitz describes how Women ‘is an unending project, it goes on and on.’ The original project is Annie Leibovitz’s most popular body of work and was a collaborative series with her partner Susan Sontag, who accompanied the subject matter with an essay. Sontag passed away in 2004, but her influence had a lasting effect on Leibovitz’s photography, with Sontag encouraging her to become more intimate with her photographs.
The original book features 100 portraits of women, including public figures like Hillary Rodham Clinton and Gloria Steinhem, and Leibovitz has promised 20 additional images to the project in 2016. At present, only one new photograph from the series has been released, of Leibovitz and her daughters Sarah, Susan and Samuelle. However, Leibovitz has confirmed that new portraits from the series will include Venus and Serena Williams, Amy Schumer and her sister Kim Caramele, Misty Copeland, and Caitlyn Jenner.
WOMEN: New Portraits has been commissioned by UBS and will be presented to the public for the first time on the 16th January 2016 at the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station in London. Admission is free.
You don’t have to have Instagrammed Corrine Day’s iconic Kate Moss shoot for The Face to know that youth culture has shimmied around fashion’s dance-floor since time began, throwing shapes and intoxicating every wisened creative as it went. Whilst Joan Didion for Celine may have piqued an interest for a mature, savvy model, really it’s the arresting, intangible power of youth that continues to enthrall the industry. From Friday, London College of Fashion will celebrate this preoccupation in an all-star exhibition Mad About The Boy at the Fashion Space Gallery.
With a timely opening on the first day of London Collections: Men, Mad About The Boy promises to cast a discerning spotlight on the relationship between fashion and beautiful males. If the subject alone didn’t have you intrigued, the fact that it’s curated by SHOWstudio’s Lou Stoppard definitely will.
Thanks to contributions from game-changing designers and creatives such as Raf Simons, J W Anderson, Nick Knight, Meadham Kirchhoff and Larry Clark, the exhibition is set to continue last year’s legacy of mixing fashion and art (did you already forget about McQueen mania?), to great effect. Attendees can expect a sensory experience thanks to audio recordings of designers and photographers discussing their memories alongside editorials, films and select looks from seminal collections.
Hauser Wirth and Schimmel is bringing the revolution to LA
From 13th March 2016, Hauser Wirth and Schimmel, a gallery in the heart of the downtown LA art district, will host ‘Revolution in the Making: Abstract Sculpture by Women, 1947 – 2016’, an exhibition featuring almost 100 artworks by 34 female artists. Spanning seven decades, the exhibition aims to reflect on women’s artistic progression in the field of sculpture.
The display will be partly overseen by Paul Schimmel, the former chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art. He has noted that the exhibition is modeled on gallery founder Ursula Hauser’s private collection, which included several pieces by prominent female artists.
The exhibition will explore how integral elements of contemporary art have been pioneered by female artists since the post-world war II era, who in seeking to form their own artistic narrative, expanded and redefined sculpture.
Moving chronologically, the exhibition takes off directly after the Second World War, when sculptors like the legendary French artist Louise Bourgeois and New York artist Louise Nevelson combined feminism and surrealism to create large-scale sculptures and installation art. Moving forward into the 1960s and 70s, works by Post-Minimalist artists including German Eva Hesse and the iconic Yayoi Kusama illustrate how conventional uses of materials changed at this time, with tactility incorporated into sculpture to convey the artists’ presence.
The exhibition continues with artists emerging from the Post-Modernist era and expanding further into the realm of installation art, using videos and being more expansive in their use of space. Concluding with work by a new generation of sculptors, much of which has been commissioned especially for the exhibition, visitors are able to see how artists have built upon the legacy of previous sculptors, while incorporating new uses of colour and materials into their work.
The exhibition will run until 4th September, 2016.
For Issue 13 it’s personal, it’s political. Explore the work of Israeli-born artist Tal R, who explains why awkwardness and the colour pink are key to his practice. Hear from Perfect Pussy singer Meredith Graves, who discusses her influences and the importance of taking drastic rebellious action. See Bella Hadid turn punk in front of Scott Trindle’s lens, and photographer Cass Bird transform Andreea Diaconu into an all-American girl. The artist behind fashion’s favorite Instagram account talks luxury, violence and image making, while up-and-coming actress Elisa Lasowski gives a tour of London home and pulls no punches on the frustrations and pleasures of her craft.
Intimate, considered and subtle, Emma Tillman’s photographs have had us captivated long before her husband (singer Father John Misty) stepped into the limelight. And whilst she may have earned thousands of new fans after the success of his second album I love you Honeybear, in which she is the proclaimed muse and inspiration for his complex lyrics and idiosyncratic melodies, Tillman’s accolades are all her own.
We caught up with Emma to find out more about her work, photographing love and not getting Instagram.
How did you get into photography?
When I was 12-years-old I took an after school class where the students took pictures and learned how to work in the dark room. My mother gave me a camera that had been hers when she was young and I became obsessed with the medium.
Light and shadow play a strong role in your work, what is it that you’re looking for when you take a picture?
I’m looking for a feeling.
Photography by Emma Tillman
Whether your subject is human or an object, there’s strong sense of intimacy in your photographs. What’s your process when you’re working?
I have a gift for communicating my emotions through the lens of a camera. All photographers who take compelling photographs have this gift. There is a supernatural quality to photography that is not often acknowledged, but in my opinion contains all the undeniable fascination of the medium within it.
Your photographs retain a sense of the individual behind the lens, and often you’re in front of it too. Do you find that photography creates and mythologises a character or uncovers the crux of an individual?
It is both. The moment is raw and alive, but somehow also a vitrine of an experience that is just beyond the viewers reach. It is a clear representation of an individual but yet you must put your own imagination into it to complete the story for yourself. It is mercurial, imagination runs wild. That’s the good stuff.
Photography by Emma Tillman
People regularly revel and empathise with other’s misery but in the photographs that you take of your husband there’s a clear sense of joy and celebration. Do you ever feel conscious of this?
I choose my moments. At this time in my life couldn’t take a photograph of someone I love in pain.
Your self-portraits and portraits of other women reclaim the idea of the gaze, like early Cindy Sherman photographs. There’s a sense of exposure without exploitation. Why is it important for you to capture the female body in this way?
I like to photograph other women naked because it is simple and the lines are lovely. There aren’t any distractions to contend with in the picture. As for photographing myself, I can’t help but be drawn to the endless mystery of it. I come back to it again and again. My own face, my own body. It holds a lot of secrets.
Photography by Emma Tillman
How has the rise of instagram affected your relationship with the lens, if at all?
Oh I can’t stand Instagram! To say too much about it would be to marginalise myself, but I can say that from Instagram I glean how much our culture relies in the comforts of sentimentality and try to run in the other direction, artistically speaking.
You’ve also worked in film, how was that experience? In terms of story telling, which medium have you found gives you more narrative freedom?
I don’t know if a comparison can be drawn. Film satisfies an urge for me which has always existed, to tell a story. Photography is more playful. The feeling about it changes, the style changes. It is more about subtraction than addition, which is how I think of film.
Photography by Emma Tillman
What was the last record you listened to?
It’ll be Better by Francis and the Lights.
Favourite equipment to shoot on?
I have a few cameras. A Pentax from the 1970s, A Nikon from the 1980s, a Minolta from the 1990s.
What’re your upcoming projects?
I am finishing a book of photographs, Born with a Disco Ball Soul. I’m also in pre-production on a feature length film I wrote. We’re shooting the film in Summer 2016, in New Orleans.
What’re you looking forward to for the rest of 2016?
My book, my film, and Christmas.
If there’s one thing we’ll never tire of, it’s a great coffee table tome. And the latest offering from fashion journalist and fashion photography specialist Jérôme Gautier – Dior: New Looks – is the perfect kind of thing to lose yourself in on a wintry Sunday afternoon.
Since 1947, when Christian Dior first showcased the irreversibly influential ‘new look’, the house of Dior has been at the forefront of revolutionary design prowess, and this book chronicles some of the most beautiful moments of that time-spanning journey, resulting in a satisfyingly dense catalogue of breathtaking couture and iconic imagery.
From Irving Penn to Peter Lindbergh, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Willy Vanderperre, Mario Testino and Patrick Demarchelier to name but a few – the list of revered photographers with work nestled between these pages is endless.
Given the recently announced departure of the brilliant Raf Simons from the house, this book comes at the ideal time. It is a chance to marvel at all that has come before, and appreciate the sheer amount of history that the new artistic director will have to shoulder in the future.
Peter Lindbergh, 2012; Christian Dior Haute Couture by Raf Simons, AW12
Dior: New Looks by Jérôme Gautier (Thames & Hudson) is out now.
The Pirelli 2016 Calendar has been met with contrasting reviews. Most people have been singing its feminist praises; in a markedly new direction compared with previous years, the calendar has welcomed a diverse array of successful women, and offers varied and mostly clothed images of female bodies, diverting from its usual display of artful nudity. Others have noted that while the calendar celebrates female empowerment, it also limits the sexual attractiveness and femininity of the women on its pages. It suggests that women can be either successful or beautiful, but not both.
To interpret the Pirelli 2016 calendar in this binary way would overlook the point of the pictures, in Leibovitz’s words they are to show the women exactly as they are. The calendar shows us that our bodies can be used in different ways; to represent power and strength, like the striking shot of Serena Williams’ rippling back muscles. Or as a comedic device, like the photo of Amy Schumer topless and surprised, suggesting that she didn’t get the ‘clothes on’ memo this year. These are ways that men’s bodies have been presented for a long time in the media. More than showing that flaws or quirks can be beautiful and sexy, these pictures invite us to look past the sexualisation of women’s bodies and to start noticing the other things a body can do, like be strong, powerful, suited and booted.
February, 1972, Sarah Moon
The calendar has gone viral on social media, and no matter how it is interpreted, having an iconic publication like the Pirelli calendar joining and extending the conversation about female representation can only be a good thing. Just a year ago, Pirelli’s calendar was a spread of high profile supermodels in various states of undress. The calendar may be just one small step for womankind, but it is one big step for Pirelli and towards the cultural shift we are all yearning for.
To mark the drop of their Resort collection this week, Etre Cecile have released a series of tongue-in-cheek 15 second mini films, playing on the label’s French (or lack thereof) heritage. Featuring a number of the brand’s key faces – from Tallulah Harlech to Laura Bailey and Pandora Skykes – as well as bright young things brought in through street casting, it is a playful way to celebrate yet more of their cool girl clothes hitting the shelves.
Founded by Yasmin Sewell, Jemma Dyas and Kyle Robinson, Etre Cecile has fast become a staple for women seeking a little je ne sais quois on a daily basis, thanks to their witty T-shirts, riotous prints and general fashion tomfoolery. And here, Yasmin tells Twin a little about this latest project:
“We wanted to bring together our diverse mix of Cecile girls in this film series, the french language theme thing is just our ongoing joke that well….we’re not really french at all! We street cast most of the girls mixed in with some well known faces who have been amazing ambassadors since Day One. We’ve never wanted to take ourselves too seriously as Etre Cecile was created so we could have easy fashion pieces you can feel unpretentious…but impactful in. Just like all our girls…” – Yasmin Sewell
Watch Tallulah Harlech flex her French skills in one of the videos below, and check out this link to see more. The best news of all? All of these pieces are out just in time for Christmas, and have gone straight to the top of our wish lists.
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