LOST MOORINGS

DAILY PICKINGS: BERLIN RESIDENTS BLOCK TEMPELHOF AIRPORT PLANS [DEZEEN]

One of my favourite public places in the world: 

"Berliners have voted against the development of the former Tempelhof airport site, securing its future as a public park.

Berlin residents voted in a referendum on Sunday, with the results overturning the city government's plans to use almost a third of the site to build 4,700 homes.

The referendum was the culmination of a campaign by local residents, and almost half of Berlin's 2.5 million eligible voters turned out to cast their ballot. Over 64% voted in favour of keeping the land as a public park.

"We're pleased that Berliners joined us in choosing a new direction for the city's development," Michael Schneidewind, a board member of the grassroots organisation behind the campaign, told Bloomberg Businessweek.

"We want Berlin housing policy to focus less on new construction and more on making the most out of existing homes," said Schneidewind.

The airport was closed in 2008 and opened to the public in 2010 as leisure space, quickly becoming popular with kite flyers, cyclists and rollerbladers who take advantage of the 386 hectares of tarmac runways and green space"

ALICE HARTLEY

Back in 2010, Alice Hartley graduated with a BA in illustration from Kingston University. Not content however with her sampling of London art schools or indeed creative education, Alice boldly went on to change her artistic direction entirely, studying an MA in printmaking at the Royal College of Art .

Having graduated in 2013, take one look at Alice’s large-scale prints and her change of tack was obviously a wise one.

Alice is also part of the Grey Collective – a group of 18 super talented individuals who met during their MA studies at the RCA. Working across multiple disciplines, the collective is quite a force to be reckoned with - clutching numerous awards and all sorts of critical acclaim. Alice is no different having just been announced as one of the 55 Bloomberg New Contemporaries for 2014. Joining the list of past exhibitors that include Damien Hirst, David Hockney and Jake & Dinos Chapman, Alice’s work will debut as part of the New Contemporaries show at the Liverpool Biennial between 20th September and 26th October before coming to London’s ICA on the 26th November for two months.

www.alicehartley.co.uk

greycollectivelondon.wordpress.com

DROP EVERYTHING: CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL BIENNIAL

There is something rather dreamy about contemporary cultural biennial Drop Everything. Hosted off of the shores of Ireland on the minute Island of Inis Oírr, the name Drop Everything doesn’t just sound like an irresistible proposition but is also pretty literal – the festival is as remote as it gets.

The wonderfully intimate biennial is now in its second year and this May will host a heathy mixture of talks, installations, screenings and a bucket loads of fresh, Irish air. With artists flocking from all over the world to take part - New York based Sougwen Chung showcasing her sculptural audio video piece Ecdysis, Berlin natives Starstyling and Lukas Keijser hosting a host of screen printing workshops and London-based creative, science collective super/collider showing off their astronomical installations - the biennial in designed to inspire both artist and the audience alike.

The best thing about the Drop Everything however is the charm is oozes. The biennial is completely free - surviving entirely on crowdfunding  with organisers, crew and artists donating their time and talent free of charge. With a population of under 300 permanent residents, accommodation comes in the shape of campsites and the islanders' spare rooms and with permanent dining venues being few and far between Irish staple restaurants Ard Bia and The Fumbally will be hosting communal dining pop-ups throughout the weekend.

Drop Everything will run 23rd - 25th May.

dropeverything.net

JEAN JULLIEN FOR WRAP MAGAZINE

 If you're a fan of illustration, chances are that you're already familiar with hot-shot graphic designer Jean Jullien and independent magazine Wrap. Both big names in the illustration world, Wrap's new cover - designed by Jean Jullien -  is pretty much any illustration fanatic's idea of pure perfection.

A Frenchman living and working in London, Jean graduated from Central St Martins back in 2008 and from the RCA in 2010. Since them he has pretty much bounded his way through London's art world, opening up a show at Shoreditch's Kemistry Gallery last year and working for an impressive list of big-name clients; Channel 4, Tate, Le Centre Pompidou and The New Yorker to name and few.

www.wrapmagazine.com

DAILY PICKINGS: RAPHA – BUILDING A BRAND THROUGH CREATIVITY [DESIGN WEEK]

‘The reason why I love road cycling and why I’m passionate about it is suffering,’ says Rapha founder Simon Mottram. ‘It’s a very true, honest sport. It’s based on the idea of the more you put in, the more you get out. Suffering is absolutely at the heart of everything we do.’

When Mottram was seeking funds for his idea of a premium cycling brand in 2001, he put together a short film to show to potential backers. Set to a Pavarotti aria, a succession of iconic racers from the past decades of road cycling are depicted struggling up desolate mountain passes, baking in the heat of the sun or streaked with mud and rain. Hunched over the handlebars, their eyes roll back in their heads and their mouths hang agape with the almost superhuman effort. ‘It’s quite hard to explain to investors about suffering,’ Mottram says.

Cut to 2014 and this penchant for pain has made Rapha a cycling icon in its own right. It had sales of £16.9 million last year and was named in the Sunday Times’ Fast Track 100 list. Rapha has outlets in the US, Japan and Australia and last year became kit supplier to Team Sky – one of the world’s leading professional road cycling teams.

Mottram’s background is in marketing and before launching Rapha he worked for agencies including Interbrand, Circus and Sapient. This experience, combined with his passion for cycling, doubtless explains the clarity of his brand vision. ‘You have to start with a key customer insight,’ he says, ‘and for me that customer insight comes from the fact that I was a cyclist who hated the products that were around back then.’

DAILY PICKINGS: METRONOMY - RESERVOIR 

Metronomy get creative with felt tip pens in their latest music video.

LUST: RACHEL PARKER SODEN [INTERVIEW]

Green fingers and red lights aren’t two things that necessarily go hand-in-hand but thanks to designer Rachel Parker Soden, that’s exactly what unsuspecting visitors to this year’s Hampton Court Flower Show will be getting.

Rachel’s ‘Lust’ conceptual garden is designed to replicate a brothel in response to the flower show’s wonderfully unorthodox theme of seven deadly sins; the idea being that visitors to show are voyeurs to the sex lives of plants.

 Taking inspiration straight from the 1980s black comedy Withnail & I’s quote “flowers are essentially tarts – prostitutes to bees”, the garden will boast a Amsterdam-style canal, phallic cacti and a beautifully crafted glass house illuminated by strip club signage.

Now that’s unorthodox for you.

www.rachelparkersoden.co.uk

www.rhs.org.uk/rhs-hampton-court-palace-flower-show

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HOW DID YOU COME TO BE A LANDSCAPE DESIGNER? WAS IT SOMETHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO DO?

I’ve always had a love of nature and wild places, but it was only about seven years ago that I first had a garden. I remember that feeling on the first morning in our new home, putting the kettle on and stepping out of the back door into what was now our little plot of the world and having an immediate connection with the outside world. It took a few years before it became clear that garden design was what I had been waiting for, encapsulating my passion for materials, texture, form, structure, nature, architecture, design and my new found love of gardening.

YOU HAVE A BACKGROUND IN FINE ART AND SCULPTURE - HOW DO YOU INCORPORATE THAT INTO YOUR LANDSCAPE DESIGN?

It has made me aware of how much bad commercial garden art is out there, which is a shame as there are so many talent artists out there making unique, beautiful, innovative and challenging art work that is ideal for gardens. I love working with clients to find the perfect piece for their outdoor space.

But how do I incorporate my fine art and sculpture background in my design work? Well, I don’t think it is something I necessarily consciously do, but I am sure it manifests itself in someway in most of the things that I do. I feel privileged that I was able to explore my love of materials, structure and form through art, and to work creatively without a brief, I think this definitely has an impact on how I see and react to spaces, and on how I work. There are of course projects, like Lust, where I really get to work creatively and conceptually.

Without a doubt, I think my art training helps my work as a designer, however I work in quite an emotive way and it can sometimes be difficult to take a step back and remember that it is design and not art, and that I am running a business. I know I spend way more time than I should on projects but I know I’m not alone with this issue!

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA FOR LUST?

As the theme was the seven deadly sins, I thought this was a great opportunity to create something unexpected, go a little dark and to play with people’s reactions.

Lust is really just an amplification of the relationship between the flower show visitor lusting over blooms and the flowers principle purpose as the reproductive centre of the plant. Lust re-contextualises the show garden as a brothel or live sex show, in its own red light district where the show visitor is a voyeur on the sex lives of plants.

THE CONCEPT OF LUST IS A BROTHEL, IS THIS SIMPLY BOLD LANDSCAPE DESIGN OR A METAPHOR FOR WIDER SOCIAL ISSUES?

For me, personally, there is underlying theme within the garden with wider social issues, which pushed me to want to provoke people to acknowledge sex, where there is sex. Our prudishness and moral stance on prostitution in the UK, an industry that will exist and thrive, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, and the subsequent law, that fails to offer those that choose to become sex workers any real safety without breaking the law. Stands in strong contrast to the safety at work laws that every other industry is afforded. Is that really morality?

As part of my research for the garden I went to Amsterdam’s Red Light District, as memories of a previous visit had definitely influenced the development of the design. A walking tour of the area is run by Mariska at the Prostitute Information Centre, it is such an interesting insight into how a tolerant and regulated system works, and I would recommend everyone to go on the tour.

HOW HAVE PEOPLE REACTED TO LUST?

“Really?!”, is a common response, but I don’t think I’ve had a negative reaction… yet! I’m expecting a mixed reaction at the show, but I want that, I’ve sold it to my team that there are going to be some great people watching opportunities.

WITH HAMPTON COURT'S SEVEN DEADLY SINS THEME, DO YOU THINK GARDENING AND FLOWER SHOWS ARE SHAKING OFF THEIR REPUTATION FOR ATTRACTING AN OLDER, MORE TRADITIONAL AUDIENCE?

The horticulture industry has been working hard to appeal to younger people, and there seems to be quite a lot of initiative being taken by young horticulturists to promote the trade, and to engage others. It was very apparent at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show that they were really trying to push the “there’s lot’s of young designers here” message. However, through all the beauty, and it was beautiful, I found Chelsea very safe, they call it the catwalk of the horticulture industry, but I struggled to find the avant garde, with the clear exception of Sophie Walker’s Cave Pavilion. Sponsors stump up colossal budgets, and they want a return on that investment, and everyone is after those gold medals.

Maybe the budgets have got so big at Chelsea that risks are harder to take, but the RHS shows at Hampton Court and Tatton Park, have had some exciting conceptual and themed gardens for some time now. These garden categories are part funded by the RHS, which I feel, helps with creative freedom for the designers as there is less need to have an overall sponsor. I am really hoping that the seven deadly sins theme will promote the conceptual gardens at Hampton Court to a wider audience, there is certainly scope to. I would love to see the inspire zone of the show become a feature that gets young people excited about horticulture and garden design, for the RHS to go all out and do something unexpected. I think they are trying to, I have worked with the shows team, and they are young, enthusiastic and energetic, but their core members and visitors, that “older, more traditional audience” ultimately fund their work, and they are a gardening charity, with a focus on plants.

YOU FOUNDED RACHEL PARKER SODEN DESIGN STRAIGHT AFTER GRADUATING, WHAT IS IT ABOUT BEING YOUR OWN BOSS THAT WAS SO APPEALING?

Creative control. I have the freedom to make the decisions that not only effect the future of my business, but also how it will affect my family and my career in the long run. I really enjoy working with other people though and collaborate on a projects frequently. Having someone to bounce ideas off can quickly progress a project, and sharing knowledge is invaluable.

LUST IS MADE UP OF SO MANY DIFFERENT UNIQUE COMPONENTS - CACTI, SIGNAGE - BUT WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE?

I do love the neon lighting, I have been waiting for a project to use neon, I’m always trying to sneak some in.I am a big fan of Chris Bracey, and would love to use his work in future projects. I actually have an interesting concept for a Chelsea garden with his work… I first need to find a sponsor who is up for something a bit ‘un-Chelsea’ though!

LASTLY WHERE CAN YOU BE FOUND WHEN YOUR NOT WORKING?

ADVANCED STYLE: ARI COHEN

There’s nothing new about fashion blogging. Go to any big city where people know a thing or two about dressing themselves and the fashion bloggers will inevitably flutter.

What however makes fashion blogger Ari Cohen stand out from the crowd is that he only photographs women and men of the older generation. They may not have perfectly straight teeth or tight skin, but these people sure do know a thing or two about style!

After years of Ari documenting New York elders in their finest attire, film production company dogwoof got wind of the project and set about making a film documenting the lives of these style eccentrics. Releasing in cinemas up and down the UK over the next few weeks,  Advanced Style is a beautiful tribute to the New York fashion world and just goes to show that style really does have no boundaries. 

advancedstyle.blogspot.co.uk

Watch the trailer here

SENSE OF THE MOMENT: GIANNI BERENGO GARDIN [LONDON EXHIBITION] 

The best artists always come with a good story, and Gianni Berengo Gardin is indeed no exception. Managing his family's Italian glass shop in Venice, it was in his early twenties that Berengo Gardin first started to dream up his career as a photographer. Fortunately enough, his uncle knew high people in high places and Berengo Gardin was introduced to then LIFE photographer, now late Magnum photographer Cornell Capa. With Cornell incidentally being the brother of celebrated war photojournalist Robert Capa, he sent the budding amateur a host of American documentary photography books. Almost instantaneously Berengo Gardin was completely taken with the art form and, from that moment on, went to dedicate his life to it. 

Fast forward sixty or so years and Berengo Gardin, now eighty four and considered a photography hero, is bringing his stunning photography to the UK for the first time since it was shown off at the V&A 25 years ago. Capturing the faces of post-war Italy, Berengo Gardin's black and white photographs have a certain Henri Cartier-Bresson air about them and document, with stunning poignancy, a county on the brink of transformation.

Unlike other photographers of his era, Gianni wasn’t taken with the discovery of colour photography, much rather sticking to black and white - only 10 of his 250 published books featuring colour. It is this wonderful stubborn loyalty to monochrome that has come to define his work and given him the worthy title of being one of the world’s most significant photographers.

DAILY PICKINGS [DAZED AND CONFUSED]: WATCH IRIS APFEL PLAY DRESS-UP WITH MATISSE

"As the new Tate show on the French painter opens, Apfel unravels his unconscious influence on her eclectic wardrobe"

DAILY PICKINGS: CATHY BY JOHN CARDER-BUSH [AN OTHER MAGAZINE]

An Other Magazine take a look at 'Cathy' - a book full of photographs of an eight-year-old Kate Bush taken by her older brother John Carder Bush. 

"My name is John Carder Bush. My father comes from rural Essex, and my mother comes from County Waterford. I have a brother eight years younger than me and his name is Patrick, I have a sister fourteen years younger than me, her name was Cathy. She is famous now, and her name is Kate.

Much has changed since these photographs were taken, some almost twenty years ago, and we in her family have changed. The sudden introduction of fame into a human unit forces decision and action, and they change people. But still in the photographs is the “now” as well, and for those that know the later images of Kate there is much to recognise."

DAILY PICKINGS [JEAN PAUL GAULTIER ON HIS EXHIBITION AT THE BARBICAN] 

Ahead of his blockbuster exhibition opening up at the Barbican in April, Jean Paul Gaultier hilariously shares his take of the world. 

ARCHIZINES: ELIAS REDSTONE

To say Elias Redstone is  a man of many talents is a bit of a understatement. Clinging to the official title of an “independent curator, writer and editor”, Elias has exhibited at the Venice Biennale’s British Pavilion back in 2012, been a senior curator at the Architecture Foundation and worked alongside the likes of MoMA, the V&A and Tate Modern – and that’s just naming a few.

However amid all his big name successes lies his website ARCHIZINES, a collection of architecture zines, journals and magazines that’s he’s picked up from all around the world. Documenting the very best architecture publications from way back in 2000 right up to now, the archive shows off a beautiful array of perfected graphic design and, for anyone who is a sucker for print, the website is sure to remain firmly on your bookmarks.

It wouldn’t however be right to sing Archizine praises without choosing one or two favourites:  

Preston is My Paris - Purely for the genius title

Maximum Maxim MMX - For its no nonsense

TOO MUCH - For its concept

“A magazine about ‘romantic geography’, is made by international writers and photographers with a Japanese design team. As the world enters an era of widespread urbanisation, TOO MUCH gathers thoughts about cities, the people who live in them, and the effects they have on societies and our environment. The magazine also reports on migrations in and between cities, and the impact this has on race, nationality, language, tradition and customs”.

www.archizines.com

DAILY PICKINGS: ICA OFF-SITE - DOVER STREET MARKET [EXHIBITION RUNS 11TH FEB - 6TH APRIL]

"The ICA returns to occupy its former home on Dover Street with an explosion of rarely seen archival material across all six floors.

Between 1950 and 1968, the Institute of Contemporary Arts was based at 17-18 Dover Street, before relocating to The Mall. It was in this building that Pop Art was born, as well as Op Art and Brutalist Architecture. It is where the Independent Group formed and regularly met, its members including artists Richard Hamilton and Eduardo Paolozzi, and architects Alison and Peter Smithson"

DAILY PICKINGS [DAZED AND CONFUSED: DAVID BAILEY, TRUTH, BEAUTY, BAILEY]

With David Bailey's retrospective Bailey's Stardust opening its doors at The National Portrait Gallery today, Dazed filmed this interview with the British photographer. Brash and full hilarity, he comes out with some great one-liners including "are you filming this or am I wasting my fucking time?"

SEVERAFRAHM FOR COS: NEW GEOMETRY

Forget all the A-list designers, when it comes to clothing, there are few more sublime and innovative than Swedish high-street brand COS. With their individual off-the-cuff designs and arguably being responsible for the abundance of well-dressed young professionals currently gracing Europe's capital cites, if you haven't yet got the COS bug, you will soon! 

However, it isn't just their clothes that give them their prestige. COS work alongside some of the most exciting emerging creatives, and therefore at the core of everything they do, you'll find design (if you're after some examples all you have to do is look at the things section of their website or their concept store they commissioned to simply celebrate Milan's infamous design festival, Salone Del Mobile).

Their latest creative venture comes at the hands of Amsterdam-based photography and art direction studio severafrahm who have come up with the latest art direction behind their line 'New Geometry '. 

"A fresh perspective on colour, texture and proportion", the beautifully considered series comes full of bold colours, definite lines and geometric loveliness. 

severafrahm is made up of German photographer duo Mirka Laura Severa and Michael Frahm who founded the studio in 2012 having met during their photography studies in 2006. As a studio they focus on 'concept' which, although could sound pretty broad to you or me, results in their work being a healthy mix of fashion, editorial and still-life photography. 

cosstores.com/gb/Shop

REVIEW: ISABELLA BLOW - FASHION GALORE [SOMERSET HOUSE]

Isabella Blow had a thing for wearing odd shoes, hosting wild weekend house parties and, clearly un-phased by Anna Wintour's frosty notoriety, cleaning her Vogue office desk with bottled Perrier water.

She also had a thing for fashion.

The two combined gave her the makings for becoming one of the biggest, most celebrated and flamboyant figures of the fashion world, so its no wonder why Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore is easily one of the most hotly-anticipated exhibitions to grace the fashion world this year!

Scattered with anecdotes and mementos from a lifelong love affair with fashion - from her infamous pink lipstick to her worn down high heels - the exhibition is not only a wonderfully elaborate celebration of her massive influence in fashion but also a beautifully considered tribute to her own individuality and flamboyancy.