Primavera Sound Check: Glasser

May 29, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Mike Kelley's Largest Public Artwork, Mobile Homestead, Comes To LA

≪ Previous: Backstage Pass: The New York City Ballet

In SOUND CHECK, we check in with some of our favorite musicians. This edition comes direct from Primavera Sound in Barcelona!

Glasser (aka Cameron Mesirow's) homespun, technicolor pop draws from an eclectic assortment of influences, most notably her unorthodox musical upbringing: Mesirow’s father was a member of the Berlin edition of Blue Man Group, while her mother made new-wave tunes with Human Sexual Response. Last night, we caught up with the Boston-born, New York-based songstress before her set at Primavera Sound in Barcelona, where her dreamlike tunes were as hypnotizing as the humidity at the Pitchfork stage.

SHAWANA GROSVENOR: My name is ______ and my sound is ______.
GLASSER: My name is Glasser and my sound is like an empty room.

Can you tell us what’s behind the name Glasser?
I guess what’s behind it is just a nice sound. It came up in a dream of mine and I just liked the sound of it. And, I was like, “I’m going to go with that.”

If you could perform with one person, living or dead, who would it be?
The last person asked me that as well, and I forgot what I said. I don’t know; I feel like if I could just make another version of myself and collaborate so that I could spread out the responsibility, I would probably like to do that. I could get more done faster. [Laughs]

Your LP, Interiors, seems to suggest anxiety and closed-offness. Where is your favorite place to close yourself off from the world?
Anywhere. Being on tour makes you need to trust that you can zone everything out.

Is there a band right now that you’re really listening to?
A lot of times I listen to instrumental music when I’m by myself. I’ve been listening to Apollo by Brian Eno. That’s my touring record right now.

We read that you grew up in California. What are your thoughts on the Cali music scene and where do you feel most at home recording?
Interesting question, because I did move to New York. I grew up in California mostly; I was born in Boston. Definitely wouldn’t say Boston. But, California and New York are both places that I recorded and I feel great in both places.

Is this your first Primavera? What do you love most about Barcelona?
Oh my god, I love everything about Barcelona. This is my second time doing Primavera. The first time was in 2011, and I did the exact same slot. It was great. I hope it’ll be great again. It was much nicer weather then, but hopefully it’ll be not too freezing today.

What is your on-tour necessity?
Lets see, on-tour necessity? I read on my iPad all the time, so that’s probably it—that&

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Mike Kelley's Largest Public Artwork, Mobile Homestead, Comes To LA

May 29, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: The Look: Hanna Liden

≪ Previous: Primavera Sound Check: Glasser

Mike Kelley’s Mobile Homestead, the artist’s largest public artwork, has at long last arrived in Los Angeles at the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Geffen Contemporary after its pilgrimage across the country. The piece, which is a replication of the facade of Kelley’s childhood home in Detroit, settles into its new digs at MOCA’s Mike Kelley retrospective in its first outing from its permanent home at MOCAD in Detroit.

Kelley’s Mobile Homestead made its Los Angeles debut last weekend at “Walk the Talk,” the biennial Skid Row parade organized by the community performing arts group, the Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD). Over the next six weeks, the homestead will play host to a rotating series of exhibitions and community initiatives, the first of which is a powerful show on the history of Los Angeles’ Skid Row presented by LAPD.

At yesterday’s opening, MOCA curator Bennett Simpson spoke about the labor of love involved in trekking Kelley’s homestead across the country. In discussing the history of Mobile Homestead, Simpson noted that Kelley was known for his skepticism of public art. “He had a belief that often public art is foisted upon a public that doesn’t necessarily want it, that it is often fraught with pretensions about doing good and ameliorating public ills, or beautifying the community, and in fact, the opposite is often the case,” said Simpson. Kelley’s intent was to create an active, participatory space that would actually serve the needs of the communities who host it—both in Detroit, where a permanent structure will play counterpart to the mobile facade, and now in Los Angeles, where community groups including the LA Human Right to Housing Collective, the Local United Network in Combating Hunger (LUNCH), and the American Red Cross will all hold programs during the homestead’s stay.

Mary Clare Stevens, executive director of the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts, explained how Kelley initially envisioned Mobile Homestead as a private project, and how he pursued the current owner of his childhood home for years in hopes of purchasing it back for his own use. As she describes, Kelley imagined the home repurposed as his own gallery, with “tunnels underneath that might trail out into the neighborhood.” As his idea evolved into a public project, it grew both playful and subversive. Stevens mentioned Kelley’s vision of driving the “Mobile Homestead” to Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village, an outdoor museum showcasing historic American homes and structures, to “park in the parking lot and hope we could stay there until we got kicked out by the police.” In that sense, the Mobile Homestead can also be seen as an interloper.

The final piece represents another embodiment of Kelley’s fraught relationship with his own home. In his statement to the opening’s attendees, Simpson offered his interpretation of Mobile Homestead within Kelley’s body of work. “Home was not an easy concept for Mike,” said Simpson. “Often, when home is present in his art, it is not a stable thing: it something that is mobile. It is something that is seen from a distance that is disorienting. It is something one is often separated from, isolated from.” As a work of public art,

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The Look: Hanna Liden

May 29, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Week in Haiku: May 26

≪ Previous: Mike Kelley's Largest Public Artwork, Mobile Homestead, Comes To LA

In THE LOOK, OC friends drop by to try on our favorite new arrivals and tell us about their wardrobe preferences past and present. This week, OC's Lissy Trullie hangs with artist Hanna Liden.

This week, I paid a visit to my good friend and Swedish import Hanna Liden at Maccarone Gallery, where her absolutely stunning show is currently on exhibit. I first met Hanna a million years ago in college at Parsons. Before we were friends, I remember seeing her around campus always dressed in the same thing: a denim jacket, denim shirt, denim pants, and motorcycle boots. Hanna’s day-to-day continuity gave me a genuine sense of comfort and serenity as an awkward 18-year-old. Although we didn't remain strangers for too long, that memory has stayed with me for over a decade and, I feel, is a good analogy for this show. Photographs show flowers posed in makeshift vases, pink roses in a worn motorcycle boot (I’m pretty sure they're the same ones from college), orange tulips in an orange Gatorade bottle, or sunflowers in a black deli bag. There is a reliable comfort and serenity in the uncommon pairings that evokes feelings of harmony and relief. It’s a reflection of Hanna’s razor-sharp wit, her knack for playful juxtapositions, and her masterful eye for composition.

Name: Hanna Liden
Hometown: Burbs of Stockholm
When did you move to NY? Summer of 1998, straight into the Chelsea Hotel
What look are you into at the moment? Same as always. Black jeans and T-shirts. On me and others.
Do you have any favorite places to shop? Gap and airports
Tell us about your current show at Maccarone. It's all flower photographs.
The photographs are images of sculptures you composed. Can you tell us about the objects and specific combinations of objects you chose to photograph? It's all from the deli.
In the past, sculpture has played a big role in your work. Can you tell us why you focused mainly on photography in this show? 'Cause I'm a photographer.
The images appear to be centered around balance, both compositionally and in terms of the objects they depict. Did you want to explore the juxtaposition of nature versus the urban landscape? It's all about the deli.
Do you have any special habits while working? I walk to my studio, and then I just sit and wait until I do it. Then I do it. Then it's done.
Do you have any specific influences—other artists, films, music, books… I love Werner Herzog.
Do you ever collaborate with other artists? Sometimes with my sister Klara. Like, twice.
What’s next on the horizon for you? Nothin', nothin' at all

Hanna Liden wears the Opening Ceremony & Magritte Sheherazade reversible bomber jacket and the blow to the heart vans canvas sneakers. Photos by Matthew Kelly

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Week in Haiku: May 26

May 29, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Have Your Caviar And Carry It, Too

≪ Previous: The Look: Hanna Liden

Week in Haiku is a week in review for the well-dressed––and the well-versed.

It’s not just a shoe.
It’s a lifestyle decision.
That’s mad heady dude.

Four across and a
New York Times crossword genius?
The answer: Anna

Classic denim mixed
with tapestry techniques make
these blue-jean babies.

"Be drunk" Baudelaire,
the great poet, said. We say
"be tipsy and tan"

A ballerina
floats under the light. Backstage
a different story...

clockwise, from top left: Just Weave And Breathe: In The Studio With Faustine Steinmetz; Backstage Pass: The New York City Ballet; Tipsy and Tan: Estela; The Real Reason Why Tevas Are Back (It's Not Normcore)

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Have Your Caviar And Carry It, Too

June 1, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Did You Try It? Sriracha-Flavored Potato Chips

≪ Previous: Week in Haiku: May 26

If one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, then what about a bag? That’s a question best answered by Paris-based designer Olympia Le-Tan. Taking nostalgic, oft-literary inspirations to her designs, she crafts singular, showstopping clutches and bags du jour that have made her one of the accessory greats since the launch of her namesake label in 2009. And this season, in addition to referencing classic tales such as Moby Dick and Hansel and Gretel, Le-Tan incorporated cultural conversation starters as well, offering little purses in the shapes of old records, compasses, and caviar tins.

Shop all Olympia Le Tan here

Caviar Round Bag in white

Boussole Round Bag in black

New York Book Clutch in light blue

Moby Dick Book Clutch in light blue

Peter Gretchen Book Clutch in red

Forest Hansel and Gretel Book Clutch in burgundy

Olympia Round Clutch in purple

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Did You Try It? Sriracha-Flavored Potato Chips

June 1, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Sky High: Eating Flowers

≪ Previous: Have Your Caviar And Carry It, Too

A new blog series, in which OC staff procures the wackiest, most buzzed about junk-slash-fad food on the global market, then conducts highly professional taste tests.

RECOMMENDED

Kettle Brand Potato Chips, Sriracha Flavor
Price: $14.99, on Kettle Foods, Inc.
Quantity: 5-pack of 5-ounce bags
Origin: Oregon, USA
Color: Rust-colored, dusted with black-and-brown spice flakes
Smell: Smoky, like a bonfire

An all-around crowd-pleaser, these chips seemed to elevate a slightly comatic office environment to "Summer Friday status." BBQ notes were detected as the sweeping flavor: "salty," "slow-smoked," and "something that would give Dinosaur Bar-B-Que a run for its $$$." Tasters were quick to detect a brand-specific "crunch anthem" that proved "mad addictive"—or as one colorful reviewer enthused, you'd "blow through an entire bag when wasted and dinner is still a 30-minute wait away."

The sriracha flavor fell flat on both the nose and palate. While a few commentators described the heat as "well-rounded" and "bright and peppery," others snubbed it as "tomatoey," "sweet with a kick," or something akin to "ingesting burnt ketchup."

Still, the snack has notable "upper qualities" and is "as good as coffee for jolting you out of a mid-afternoon lull." We don't usually get introspective whilst eating chips, but let's conclude with one staffer's incredulous remark: "What's in these?!"

*additional reporting provided by Bahar Sadjadi

Photo by Jessica Chou

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Sky High: Eating Flowers

June 1, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: A Closer Look At Magritte's Paintings

≪ Previous: Did You Try It? Sriracha-Flavored Potato Chips

SKY HIGH ON HEALTH reports on nutritional, wellness, and green lyfe fads both crazy and helpful.

They’re magical and kooky, enchanting and charming—not to mention pretty. But, edible flowers add more to your plate than just their beauty. I had a dinner party and invited our floral friends along. What’s on the menu? Vitamins A, B, and C, and unexpected doses of anti-fungal and antibacterial remedies.

The meal started with nasturtium spread. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of eating at my place, you’d discover my moderate-to-severe obsession with pesto. I try to fit it into any dinner party, so when I found fresh nasturtium leaves from the farmer’s market, I knew exactly what to do with them. Nasturtiums are a natural antibiotic, have loads of vitamin C, and contain lycopene and lutein, two amazing cancer-fighting nutrients. In South America, nasturtium leaves are used to treat bladder and kidney disorders and are believed to help with colds, coughs, and sore throats.

Ingredients:
1 cup raw, unsalted macadamia nuts
1 clove peeled garlic
Pinch sea salt
2 cups fresh nasturtium leaves
8 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of half a lemon (or more, depending on your tart-tolerance)
Pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Blend nuts, garlic and salt into a food processor until you have a coarse paste.
2. Add the nasturtium leaves and continue to blend into a gorgeous green paste.
3. Next, add the olive oil tablespoon by tablespoon, until the pesto takes on a creamier consistency.
4. Stir in lemon juice. I added pepper atop to taste.

Nasturtium leaves are intensely peppery and can leave you with a bit of an unexpected kick in your mouth. To soften the flavor, I spread the pesto over bread and topped it with slow-roasted tomatoes, which are incredibly easy to make if you’ve got time!

Ingredients:
Tomatoes, halved (I use heirloom cherry tomatoes)
Olive oil, enough to coat
Various pinches of sea salt
Herbes de Provence to taste

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place tomatoes, guts-up.
3. Drizzle with olive oil, pinch with salt, and sprinkle with herbs.
4. Pop the tomatoes in the oven and WAIT about three hours. It’s worth it!

Cooking with flowers can be really challenging, as their tastes aren’t always immediately recognizable and it’s so easy to surrender to temptation and simply use them as a garnish. I implore you to fight the urge! One great way to do so: Pasta with lavender pesto and borage flowers. I know, totally bizarre! Most people are used to smelling lavender, but trust me that this dish is creamy, unexpected, and deliciously fragrant. Lavender is full of vitamin A, calcium, and iron. It is used in aromatherapy to treat anxiety, depression, and insomnia. It is also known to help with digestive aliments, headaches, and nerve and joint pain.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic
2 1/2 cups fresh basil
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper to finish
Fresh cooking lavender to taste

Instructions:
1. Preheat a large skillet over low heat.
2. Begin with the walnuts by toasting them for about five minutes. Toss frequently.
3. Next, add the pine nuts until they turn the sli

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A Closer Look At Magritte's Paintings

June 1, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Come Again: OC & Magritte Vans And Birkenstocks

≪ Previous: Sky High: Eating Flowers

Detective novels, Persian queens, horse bells, German philosophy. Behind each surreal piece from the Opening Ceremony & Magritte collection is a painting whose story is even stranger. "When I began researching Magritte's body of work to select paintings for OC's collection, I was amazed not only by how complex and diverse his art is, but also by how uncannily it calls to mind the dream images and moments we've all experienced in everyday life," said OC founder Humberto Leon. To make your everyday life a little more dreamy, we've combed the art history books to create a guide to the Magritte paintings that appear in OC's collection. You don't need a BA in art history to rock these pieces, but won't it sound cool when you explain the role of Hegelian dialectics in your Hegel's Holiday Handkerchief Top? Yeah, we thought so.

Shop all Opening Ceremony & Magritte HERE

The Lovers, 1928: The rumored origins behind Magritte's inspiration for The Lovers are fascinating and disturbing. As the story goes, at a young age the artist witnessed the police fishing out the body of his mother from a river, after she committed suicide by drowning. The memory of her face obscured by her nightdress was so traumatic to Magritte that it became a recurring motif in his work.

Sheherazade, 1950: This painting is undoubtedly inspired by legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights. In the tale, the Persian king marries a new virgin every day and orders the previous day’s wife to be beheaded. Sheherazade bravely volunteered to sleep with the king and tell him a story, and when day broke and she was not yet finished with her narrative, the king spared her life, eager to hear the end. Sheherazade put off her death by telling the king 1,000 stories for 1,001 nights. When she was done, the king fell in love with her and made her queen.

La Double Réalité, 1936: In a letter to friend and fellow surrealist André Breton, postmarked March 19, 1936, Magritte explained his process for La Double Réalité. “It was the reading of a detective novel that put me on the scent, if I may say so; the relevant phrase was something like this: 'this clue is as obvious as the nose on your face,’ and the person thus addressed immediately grasped his nasal appendix. I felt at once that it takes very little to destroy ‘likeness’ and make us see the face, or rather that a face only shows us colors and that awareness of this phenomenon is a sort of illumination. It occurred to me that way of bringing about this awareness might be to show an amorphous shape next to the face and with the same colors as the face. I perfected the method by putting next to the face a rigorously determined amorphous shape: that of the face itself turned upside down.”

The King’s Museum, 1966: The King’s Museum is one of Magritte’s trompe-l'œil masterpieces. In it, a man’s body, transparent like a window, leads the viewers' gaze to the landscape beyond. The painting

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Come Again: OC & Magritte Vans And Birkenstocks

June 1, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Astrology IRL: Make Mercury Retrograde Your #Frenemy

≪ Previous: A Closer Look At Magritte's Paintings

This is one of the only times we'll say: keep your head down. Earlier this year, OC & Magritte reinvented Birkenstock's iconic Boston clogs and Zurich sandals, as well as Vans' Authentic Canvas sneaker with some of René Magritte's most recognizable works, such as La Double Réalité, Sheherazade, or The Blow to the Heart, just to name a few.

You might have missed them the first time around (all iterations sold out in one fell swoop, even before the collab hit stores), but now OC is rereleasing the stylish footwear just in time for summer's calling. Works of art in their own right, they're sure to direct some serious attention to your feet and save you—and any passerby—a trip to the museum.

Shop all Opening Ceremony & Magritte here

Sheherazade Birkenstock Boston Clogs in blue

Double Reality Birkenstock Zurich Sandals in green

The Lovers Birkenstock Boston Clogs in grey

The Blow to the Heart Vans Canvas Sneakers in dusk blue multi

Good Connections Vans Canvas Sneakers in peach multi

Ladder of Fire Vans Canvas Sneakers in orange multi

Sheherazade Vans Canvas Sneakers in blue multi

The King's Museum Canvas Sneakers in black multi

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Astrology IRL: Make Mercury Retrograde Your #Frenemy

June 1, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Going, Going: Opening Ceremony x Elvis Girls Girls Girls Sweater

≪ Previous: Come Again: OC & Magritte Vans And Birkenstocks

In 2014, Mercury will be retrograde for a total of 68 days. That’s nearly one fifth of the year lived in complete chaos, confusion, and technological meltdown. But does it have to be this way? Mercury in retrograde is never going to be your friend, so you might as well become frenemies. Since Mercury rules our thoughts and brain functions, a retrograde can be a productive time for research and development, a time to clarify your thoughts in regards to the past, or make plans for the future (but not act on them). It can provide a totally fresh perspective on a situation that didn’t previously make any sense. This year, we have an unusual pattern of Mercury retrogrades perfect for shifting perspectives because we enter each retrograde in a water sign and exit in an air sign. So first we feel, and then we know what path the universe wants us to take. Thoughts and emotions are sometimes difficult to untangle, but the upcoming retrograde in Cancer and then Gemini will ask each sign to figure out how they think and feel about a certain subject that has been puzzling.

Shop all Astrology IRL HERE

(March 21 - April 20)

You've gotten pretty cozy at home over the past year while Jupiter, the planet of good vibes, has been in your fourth house of domestic affairs. Beginning June 7, retrograde Mercury will pay a visit to you at home, causing a fair amount of chaos if you plan on spending much time there. Avoid the confusion by staying out of the house this month. I normally would never recommend traveling during a retrograde, but I could see getting out of town as a viable alternative to the hometown headaches you might have. The full moon in Sagittarius on Friday the 13th falls in your ninth house of vacation and exploration, making this an ideal weekend to get away. However, it would be wise to avoid potentially dangerous or extreme recreational activities like bungee jumping or rock climbing because you will be more accident-prone while the Cardinal Cross creates cosmic tension mid-month.

June 7 - Mercury goes retrograde in Cancer, creating miscommunication at home.
June 8 - Venus and Pluto create an aspect that could bring your finances into harmonious order.
June 9 - Neptune goes retrograde for the Summer, giving you super psychic dreams all season long.
June 13 - The full moon in Sagittarius is a good opportunity for an adventurous weekend, BUT...
June 14 - The cardinal cross is active once again, so exercise extra caution in dangerous situations.
June 17 - Mercury enters Gemini (still in retrograde) but this allows you to clear your head of confusing home matters.
June 19 - The Sun joins Mercury in Gemini, providing a moment of clarity or severing confusion (possibly both at the same time).
June 21 - Summer Solstice and Cancer season begins!
June 25 - Romantic entanglements could be a hazard. Mars in your seventh house of relationships opposes Uranus, the planet of hazards.

(April 21 - May 20)

You’re so fancy, and everyone already knows. Venus, the planet of luxury and pleasure, entered Taurus in the last week of May, bumping you up to the next bracket of beauty and actualizing all of your #GoddessGoals. You will look and feel more popular, charming, and beautiful while Venus is with you, so feel free to socialize as much as you would like until June 23. You're much more likely to meet cute and attractive people during this time,

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Going, Going: Opening Ceremony x Elvis Girls Girls Girls Sweater

June 2, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Hot Rods And Surfboards: SoCal Artists Of The '60s

≪ Previous: Astrology IRL: Make Mercury Retrograde Your #Frenemy

Supply and demand is a tricky thing. Our latest series, GOING, GOING, is your siren call to OC's most covetable items that are flying off our shelves at lighting speed!

Elvis, the original triple-threat, was known for being an entertainer as well as sartorial influencer. To salute him, OC collaborated with Elvis Presley Enterprises for a commemorative collection boasting his legacy. In particular, this sweater—screaming "Girls! Girls! Girls!"—drew inspiration from the 1962 musical of the same name, and it's been making noise in both the streets and pop culture.

Take celebrities Lena Dunham and Pharrell Williams, who have both been spotted in the sweater while promoting commercial projects bearing the word (Williams with his latest album “G I R L,” and Dunham’s hit HBO series “Girls"). Needless to say, the king lives on, but this might be the last chance to scoop this particular memorabilia for yourself.

Shop all Opening Ceremony x Elvis here

Opening Ceremony x Elvis Girls Girls Girls Sweater in black

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Hot Rods And Surfboards: SoCal Artists Of The '60s

June 2, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Make It Snappy: Dior Fetes Raf Simons At The CFDA After-Party

≪ Previous: Going, Going: Opening Ceremony x Elvis Girls Girls Girls Sweater

Sun, surf, and the open road with the top down: all these images directly recall the days of 1960s Southern California, and all are captured in the work on display this month at Los Angeles’ Kayne Griffin Corcoran Gallery. The show’s full title spells out its subject: Surface to Air: Los Angeles Artists of the '60s and the Materials That They Used. Sleek vintage surfboards, translucent columns, glossy ceramics, and eye-popping video from some of the era’s top names including Robert Irwin, Ken Price, and Kenneth Anger showcase a distinct moment when artists were focused on how to manifest a vision of the future with the tools of the present.

Ed Roth’s Orbitron, a futuristic hot rod that could have come straight out of The Jetsons, holds court in the center of the space. The legendary bright-blue ride, a homage to the artistry of a budding car culture, is lined with a matching plush interior and features a vintage television behind the wheel. The custom ride was originally constructed by Roth, whose body of work also includes an extensive library of cartoons, in 1964. The Orbitron was feared lost until it was rediscovered in 2007 in Mexico, where a carnival owner had owned it for years. Some of Roth’s original design team reunited to help carefully restore the car (watch a video of the rescue and restoration here).

Kayne Griffin Corcoran brought aboard curator Robert Dean, editor of the massive multi-volume Catalogue Raisonné of Ed Ruscha, on the seminal mid-century Los Angeles-based artist, to bring this show to life. A 1975 film by Ed Ruscha, Miracle, is also exhibited in the show. Director Genevieve Day, who has been with the gallery for ten years, answered some of our questions on the period, the “finish-fetish” moniker, and how the works of the collected artists compare to the equally rich East Coast pop art scene of the same era.

NOAH ADLER: The British photographer John Coplans referred to the work of these artists as a "finish fetish." Did that play into the approach to this show?
GENEVIEVE DAY: In some ways, "finish fetish" is an appropriate term, particularly if we limit the discussion of this distinct use of materials and techniques as a means to an end. However, like most terms applied to groups of artists, the artists themselves have generally rejected it. With this in mind, the exhibition seeks to look beyond just surface quality to examine the specific environment of Southern California and the role this played in these artists’ work at the time. In this way, Surface to Air, looks at not only the similarities between these artists’ work, but also the differences from one another in the development of their work.

A stand-out in the show is Ed Roth's Orbitron. What is the story behind it and how did it make it into the show?
The curator, Robert Dean, believed it was important to include an example of the custom hot rods that were being built at the time, particularly because the spray-booth application of paint and pinstriping were used by artists such as Billy Al Bengston, Judy Chicago, and Craig Kauffman. Beyond that, several of the artists in the exhibition were car enthusiasts, a context which undoubtedly informed their art-making.

The geometry of the pieces in the show struck me—particularly in Robert Irwin’s Column, Peter Alexan

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Make It Snappy: Dior Fetes Raf Simons At The CFDA After-Party

June 2, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Why The Art-Epic Of The Year Is Set In Detroit

≪ Previous: Hot Rods And Surfboards: SoCal Artists Of The '60s

Make It Snappy is a photo series showcasing quick snaps from OC friends!

Who: (from l to r): T Magazine's Patrick Li, W Magazine's Stefano Tonchi, Humberto Leon, Raf Simons, and Anabela Belikova
Where: Dior's CFDA Awards After-Party at Madison Avenue's Ladurée
When: Last night
Why: Because Raf Simons won the time-honored CFDA International Award (and everyone loves a macaron).

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Why The Art-Epic Of The Year Is Set In Detroit

June 2, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Belgian Slang Dictionary - 'Zijn Kat Sturen'

≪ Previous: Make It Snappy: Dior Fetes Raf Simons At The CFDA After-Party

What does the city of Detroit have to do with ancient Egyptian pharaohs, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and various types of butt play? That’s what I set to find out at last weekend’s Detroit premiere of River of Fundament, a nearly six-hour cinematic opera by artist Matthew Barney, with music by Jonathan Bepler. Loosely based on Norman Mailer’s Ancient Evenings––a novel whose protagonist’s search for immortality takes him through a literal river of feces––Barney’s film is a sometimes perverse, often brilliant, and entirely avant-garde spectacle. A third of it is situated in Detroit, where the declining auto industry serves as a backdrop to the weirder exploits of Egyptian deities.

For the most part, Detroit and the cars that appear throughout the film serve to satirize American culture and its obsession with performance, power, and eternal youth. Act I principally takes place at a Chrysler dealership in Los Angeles and in Mailer’s actual home in Brooklyn Heights during the author’s reimagined wake, with a star-studded cast of the likes of Gyllenhaal, Aimee Mullins, Paul Giamatti, Debbie Harry, Fran Lebowitz, Elaine Stritch, Salman Rushdie, and a number of very major opera singers. In Act II, whose footage was taken from the 2010 performance KHU (attended and COVERED for the OC blog by Patrik Ervell), a 1979 Firebird Trans Am emerges from Detroit’s Rouge River and is taken by boat to McLouth Steel Mill, where it is then thrown into smelters in a kind of ritual sacrifice (we hear Barney used 25 tons of molten steel while making the film.)

River of Fundament also has scenes in Los Angeles and New York, but Detroit is somehow always lurking in the background. As the preeminent urban symbol of post-industrial decline in the Internet age, the city is a prime metaphor for the male artist-ego Barney is interested in satirizing and annihilating via the figure of Mailer and others. At one point, Jeffrey Eugenides, local Detroit hero and author of The Virgin Suicides, Middlesex, and The Marriage Plot, is also at the wake. “Detroit is a shithole!” one of the opera singers shouts, interrupting Eugenides after he is asked how often he goes back to the city. “No one in New York can be trusted,” Mailer’s actual son, playing Mailer II, says to Paul Giamatti’s character in the film. Is that self-awareness or perhaps just irony? I wondered, and I never heard a theater laugh with such relief.

River of Fundament screens in Toronto, Basel, London, and Amsterdam this month.

Matthew Barney and Jonathan Bepler. River of Fundament: KHU, 2014. Photo: Hugo Glendinning. © Matthew Barney

Matthew Barney and Jonathan Bepler. River of Fundament: REN, 2014. Photo: Chris Winget. © Matthew Barney

Matthew Barney and Jonathan Bepler. River of Fundament: KHU, 2014. Photo: Hugo Glendinning

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Belgian Slang Dictionary - 'Zijn Kat Sturen'

June 2, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Kenzo Time: Watch Out For These Watches

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Sure, you can order a pommes-frites with curry ketchup and pronounce Dries Van Noten's name without a hitch. But can you really get by in Belgium? Our Slang Dictionary will make sure of it.

Have you ever wanted to get out of a social obligation so badly that you considered sending your pet instead? If you “send your cat” in Flanders, it means you didn’t show up somewhere you were expected. Similarly, the expression “er is geen kat komen opdagen” (literally: not a single cat showed up) means “almost no one came.” You know you’ve failed if even the cats don’t want to turn up at your DJ night.

Example: This is the third time we’re supposed to meet and he hasn’t showed up! / Da’s al de derde keer dat we afspreken en hij zijn kat stuurt!

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Kenzo Time: Watch Out For These Watches

June 2, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Carte Blanche: 12 White-Hot Dresses

≪ Previous: Belgian Slang Dictionary - 'Zijn Kat Sturen'

These days, we’re always on someone else’s schedule. But Kenzo is changing the game with a bold line of watches straight from the future, so you can keep time on your own terms. Sleek, mysterious, and noir, the "3-Point" watches, as they're called, include faces for hours, minutes, and seconds, perfect for setting up clandestine midnight meetings. Inspired by Carol and Humberto’s coastal upbringing and legendary Japanese-French designer Kenzo Takada himself, the collection features pearly metals that glimmer like fish scales, embossed leather straps, and phenomenal tie-dyes. Form and function come together in timepieces so eye-catching, you’ll never be more than fashionably late.

Shop all Kenzo Men's and Women's

Kenzo Tie-DYe Strap 3-Point Watch in white/blue

Kenzo 3-Point Watch in black/pink

Kenzo 3-Point Watch in black/white

Kenzo 3-POINT WATCH in white

Kenzo 3-Point Watch in black/green

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Carte Blanche: 12 White-Hot Dresses

June 3, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: A Perfect 10: Band Of Outsiders x TEN

≪ Previous: Kenzo Time: Watch Out For These Watches

Somehow, come Memorial Day, all we want to wear is a pretty white frock. And why not? Effortlessly chic, scaling both casual and dressy, a well-chosen LWD shows off glowing skin and even the faintest of tans.

So, we've chosen some of our favorite ethereal dresses this season, taking you from the Hamptons (Walk of Shame's tennis dress) to the weekend flea market (Jean Paul Gaultier's Maxi Tank Dress) to a hot date night (Christopher Kane's sweetly seductive Double Pleat Cami Dress). These dresses are light enough to endure summer heat storms, and stylish enough to wear long after Labor Day.

Shop all dresses here.

Channel the late Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in AWAVEAWAKE's CHARMEUSE STRAP MAXI DRESS.

Christopher Kane's 2 Pleat Collar is perfect for engagement parties, after-work cocktails, and four-star dinners.

Casual, comfortable, and elegantly pulled together: Alexander Wang's Gathered Cascade sleeveless dress is a wardrobe staple.

Dare to show skin in Maria ke Fisherman for Opening Ceremony's Crochet Cut-Out Dress.

A classic silhouette gets jazzed up with sequins in Opening Ceremony's Crystal crepe tank dress.

G.V.G.V.'s chiffon frilled shirt dress gets just a touch of edge with sheer fabric.

Walk of Shame's tennis dress easily takes you from the country club to dinner.

Sweet yet sultry: Christopher Kane's Double Pleat cami dress.

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A Perfect 10: Band Of Outsiders x TEN

June 3, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: 5 Gorgeous, Trippy Graphics From Print-Wizard KEENKEEE

≪ Previous: Carte Blanche: 12 White-Hot Dresses

What do you wear to bed? Everyone has her own personal style out in public, and under the covers that holds true, too: from nightgowns to oversized T-shirts to even nothing at all. Designer Daphne Javitch, who makes the ever-so-comfy TEN underwear, teamed up with ever-so-chic Band of Outsiders to create two pajamas sets to celebrate Band's tenth anniversary. Pulling from Band's prep-school aesthetic and giving it a twist with mismatched trim, these sets are smart, classic, and sure to make their way into your bedtime routine. Below, Opening Ceremony spoke with Daphne to get the lowdown on what makes a perfect ten, who her Woody Allen muse is, and what her own pajamas look like.

Shop all Band of Outsiders x TEN here

DANA MELANZ: How did TEN begin?
DAPHNE JAVITCH: I had been a costume designer for ten years… It's amazing and I loved it, but in a film or a play when you're designing costumes, at the end of the day the only impact you have is on the clothes, unless you're working with a group of people that collaborate with you in other ways. I wanted to have more creative control over the entire process and decide what compromises to make and what to push for. At the time I had transitioned into personal styling and I was looking for the perfect pair of navy-blue underwear that had a '60s or '70s fit and were made out of beautiful fabric with considered designs in great colors. At the time, I was watching a lot of French New Wave and all these old Woody Allen movies, these films where they featured these playful, straightforward, smart, sexy women. I wanted to make something that was inspired and geared towards that kind of woman. So, I just decided to make a navy-blue pair of underwear!

I love those genres too! Who do you think would be more suited to your underwear: Anna Karina or Annie Hall?
Both, but I'm super inspired by Annie Hall, because there's that scene where she smokes pot and leaves her body and she's wearing a camisole and a white pair of cotton underwear. I have a lot of cinematic memories that inspired my line. I think about her a lot; she's just so cool.

I read that in your search for the perfect underwear you were wearing a lot of kids' underwear. What was it about them that you found appealing?
I just wanted really simple, cotton bikinis that didn't have, like, bows and super-thin straps on the side. Just really plain underwear. I couldn't really find them for grown-ups but I found a lot of them for kids. So I wore those.

When you're buying or creating underwear, what is the thing that you look for?
I'm always looking for something that I think is flattering and comfortable, that's practical. No wedgies, no falling apart. I don't want it to dig into me… But, I also want something that if I happen to take my pants off I wouldn't be embarrassed. I want something pretty and that goes with my style and makes me feel more like me.

Do you feel like the underwear you create is meant to be a base layer, or is it something that people will want to show off?
I think it's both. When I started the line, I was wearing a lot of vintage nightgowns that were sheer and I wanted to make these modest shapes that weren't ultra-sexual but that came in beautiful colors, so if you were wearing a sheer dress or top and you saw the underwear through it, it would be in a tennis-ball yellow or beautiful blue or a terra cotta. Seeing them is important… The women who wear the high-waiste

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5 Gorgeous, Trippy Graphics From Print-Wizard KEENKEEE

June 3, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: The Local Juice Guy On Everyone's Lips

≪ Previous: A Perfect 10: Band Of Outsiders x TEN

If you've ever done a double take when passing a particularly psychedelic shirt at Opening Ceremony, we can pretty much guarantee it's a KEENKEEE. Hyoungkee Kim, the designer behind the Korean brand, is known for littering his sportswear with metallic thorns, adorable hedgehogs, octopus tentacles, and crystallized eyes in a dazzling array of colors.

"Whenever I have to come up with some visual ideas for garments and fabrics, I usually think of very random words," Kim says. "My collections so far, like water, classic, crystal, thorn, and octopus, were initiated from simple words, and they were pretty random and spontaneous. Then I start doodling."

Grabbing inspiration from his past and future collections (stemming from "mouse pad," "molecule," "air," "gekko," "lung," and "aloe," among others), Kim came up with five original graphics for Opening Ceremony. Anime eyes overtake a canvas, taken from the manga of Kim's youth, while an angry octopus battles it out among what looks like pastries.

Each graphic took two hours to make, Kim says, and while his sportswear has obtained a cult following, his prints are equally engrossing on a 2D level. He is, after all, getting his MFA at Yale. "It is very hard for me to say that pursuing fashion is exactly my interest, but one thing I enjoy is thinking with physical material," he says. Since he's been a boxer for ten years, sportswear is a natural transition. What better way to confuse your opponents than with a trippy, nearly high-inducing print?

Shop all KEENKEEE HERE

An original graphic created by designer and artist KEENKEEE, inspired by his Spring/Summer 2014 holes, Vine and hedgehog prints

An original graphic inspired by KEENKEEE's Fall/Winter 2014 octopus print

An original graphic inspired by KEENKEEE's Fall/Winter 2013 Crystal print

An original graphic inspired by KEENKEEE's Spring/Summer 2013 TIGEr print

An original graphic inspired by KEENKEEE's Fall/Winter 2012 WATER print

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The Local Juice Guy On Everyone's Lips

June 3, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Jenny Slate On Post-Breakup Outfits, 'Light Stalking'

≪ Previous: 5 Gorgeous, Trippy Graphics From Print-Wizard KEENKEEE

Despite our attempts at oil pulling, sea buckthorn-drinking, and bitter melon-eating, one of the few health trends we can really get behind is juicing. Luckily, our local juicer is hardly the trendy juice bar where we’re shamed into buying $12 worth of juices. Instead, Madhufalla in Nolita is a small (organic) health-food store with farmers-market-worthy greens and the sweetest man behind the counter: Jerry Karma.

We dropped by one day to interview Jerry about the latest juice trends, and how he ended up in the health food movement.

JESSICA CHOU: What’s the latest juice trend?
JERRY KARMA: We have a lot of youths getting into juicing, and they’re always creating their own smoothies. They always ask for either kale or açaí, and people love hemp smoothie—hemp is high in omega and it’s good for your joints, skin, hair. They also add ginger or lemon in their green juices to make [them] a bit sweeter.

What is an ingredient that most people don’t know about?
Bee pollen. We mix it with vanilla protein and banana. Basically, bee pollen builds your immune system, and it’s good for your skin, too.

Why is eating organic important to you?
Back in my country, we used to eat almost 90 percent organic. Whatever we grow, we grow ourselves and we eat.

What made you move to the US from Bhutan?
I just thought, “Take the opportunity. Have some adventures.” And, you know, New York is a famous city. So, [I thought], "Why don’t I try it and experience life out here?"

What’s the best part about New York?
There are lots of beautiful places, but the best part is the shopping. If you have the money, you can get whatever you wish to buy. In my country, even if you have money, you cannot get the right stuff that you need.

What’s the worst part?
It’s a little bit rough. The people, they’re rude, especially when you travel in the subway, or in certain areas. And, I’ve found that there’s a sort of racism, being Asian. I think we are looked down on.

Where do you go to get away?
The parks. I really miss nature because back home I grew up in the countryside and most of the time I spent my time in the forest with the trees and the animals. So it makes me feel really calm, hearing the wind between the leaves in the trees.

Favorite juice?
I start every morning with a green juice.

Madhufalla

185 - 193 Mulberry St.

New York, NY 10012
MAP

Madhufalla in Nolita. Photos by Jessica Chou

Jerry Karma

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