The girls of “off-the-record” collective FASTFORWORD are out to preserve the artwork of the Internet generation. With the publication of their first book—a beautifully spare tome aptly titled, YOUth, for the 20-something photographers, visual artists, and writers that it champions—childhood friends Sofia de Pahlen, Tatiana de Pahlen, Elizabeth Gilpin, and Carolina Cavalli hope to make physical what has long been floating aimlessly in cyberspace. “It’s easier to save a book than a blog,” Carolina joked.
Sourcing their participants directly from the blogosphere, the FastForword girls picked young artists that they felt authentically represented modern-day youth culture in all of its Internet-induced-ADD glory. What they uncovered was a cohesive collection of sometimes sun-faded, often low-res, almost always spontaneous, and unquestionably authentic works from emerging talents like Coni Dietrich, Colin Michael Simons, Sophie Van Der Perre, and OC friend COCO YOUNG.
After a successful premier in Milan, YOUth has come to America with a launch at Bill Powers’ HALF GALLERY, tonight from 6 to 8 PM. I chatted with Tatiana, Elizabeth, and Carolina on the eve of their book party to talk about everything from domain name woes to what the word “youth” means to them.
Shop YOUth in Opening Ceremony stores
CLARKE RUDICK: What does the word “youth” mean to you?
TATIANA DE PAHLEN: Opportunity.
ELIZABETH GILPIN: I think it’s a lot of energy and people that are very eager.
CAROLINA CAVALLI: Being conscious.
T: I think it’s a lot of fear as well.
E: Self-discovery. Trial and error. It’s also about working together and collaborating with other youth and growing together. That’s what we’ve done—bounced ideas off of each other.
T: It’s lack of responsibility.
E: Stumbling out of night clubs! [Laughs]
Why did you choose the name "FastForword?"
C: Lack of sleep. [Laughs]
E: And the domain was available! And it wasn’t 20,000 Euros!
T: We wanted HarBoiledEggs.com, but it was 20,000 Euros!
How did YOUth come about?
E: One night, exhausted, at 5 AM. [Laughs]
T: It grew organically. People really believed in us. We got lucky that way.
E: Everything was very organic. It started as a book, moved to a show in Milan, and then Bill [Powers] came. It was never meant to be this world tour. The lack of responsi
Sourcing their participants directly from the blogosphere, the FastForword girls picked young artists that they felt authentically represented modern-day youth culture in all of its Internet-induced-ADD glory. What they uncovered was a cohesive collection of sometimes sun-faded, often low-res, almost always spontaneous, and unquestionably authentic works from emerging talents like Coni Dietrich, Colin Michael Simons, Sophie Van Der Perre, and OC friend COCO YOUNG.
After a successful premier in Milan, YOUth has come to America with a launch at Bill Powers’ HALF GALLERY, tonight from 6 to 8 PM. I chatted with Tatiana, Elizabeth, and Carolina on the eve of their book party to talk about everything from domain name woes to what the word “youth” means to them.
Shop YOUth in Opening Ceremony stores
CLARKE RUDICK: What does the word “youth” mean to you?
TATIANA DE PAHLEN: Opportunity.
ELIZABETH GILPIN: I think it’s a lot of energy and people that are very eager.
CAROLINA CAVALLI: Being conscious.
T: I think it’s a lot of fear as well.
E: Self-discovery. Trial and error. It’s also about working together and collaborating with other youth and growing together. That’s what we’ve done—bounced ideas off of each other.
T: It’s lack of responsibility.
E: Stumbling out of night clubs! [Laughs]
Why did you choose the name "FastForword?"
C: Lack of sleep. [Laughs]
E: And the domain was available! And it wasn’t 20,000 Euros!
T: We wanted HarBoiledEggs.com, but it was 20,000 Euros!
How did YOUth come about?
E: One night, exhausted, at 5 AM. [Laughs]
T: It grew organically. People really believed in us. We got lucky that way.
E: Everything was very organic. It started as a book, moved to a show in Milan, and then Bill [Powers] came. It was never meant to be this world tour. The lack of responsi