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While clothes worked their way across catwalks this past NY Fashion week, museums and galleries are doing their own bit of fashion contribution but showing a variety of exhibitions honoring fashion. And while I write this through bitter tears brought on by this NY Winter season the multitude of art shows has eased a bit of my pain.
I start with the International Center of Photography, (didn't even realize there was such a museum) and their show on iconic fashion photographer, Edward Steichen who shot for Condé Nast publications during the mid-20th century and while any fashionista would be creaming over Steichen's photos I was frankly more smitten with the "Weird Beauty: Fashion Photography Now." Def. worth the commute to the westside!
Heading uptown and east, the Museum of the City of New York, who also exhibited a lovely "Black Style" show a few years ago is honoring, American couture designer, Valentina Sanina Schlee. While most people think of the big Europen dogs when considering couture artists, MCNY's show Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity is creating some hype about badass American couture skillz and New York City's history in the apparell biz.
And while the Museum of Art Design does not exactly present fashion exhibits, I have found that some of their shows have been a great source of inspiration for the creative mofos in the city, including fashion designers. Their latest and one of my fave shows this season is based on taking ordinary objects and recycling these things into art pieces, great idea for the fashion industry, eh? One of my favorite pieces from the show was Portrait of Textile Worker which is comprised solely of garment labels.
Happy Fashion Week!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
In Honor of NY Fashion Week, Your own Museum Tour!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
SVIIB/Fujiya and Miyagi
Last night B and I met up at one of our fave watering holes, V Bar, for a glass before heading over to (le) Poisson Rouge to see a band I'm really into at the moment, School of Seven Bells.
Having still not mastered the elusive art of "perfect show timing," we arrived at LPR a good hour before SVIIB hit the stage. As we stood in the front while they played through eight songs from Alpinisms, I was completely transfixed on Benjamin Curtis, particularly his right foot as it seemed to create 90% of the music through the use of a delay pedal and other knobs and buttons on a control panel before him (pictured above). It was all very Kevin Shields.
SVIIB was opening up for Brit rockers Fujiya and Miyagi, a band I don't listen to very often but I think is really great live. I caught another one of their shows last October during CMJ at Mercury Lounge where the drawing act (for me) was opener Tobacco. Fujiya and Miyagi's set was a mélange of driving beats and funky numbers presented before a backdrop of pixelated old school arcade-like visuals.
We left the show right before the encore, in fact, we exited the room exactly when the band did. It was entertaining to overhear them pondering whether or not to give the crowd a few more as we made our way up the staircase.
SVIIB and Fujiya and Miyagi are touring into the beginning of March and this Friday, they will be at one of my old stomping grounds: Athens's Fabulous 40-Watt. So if any Athens peeps are keeping up with this blog, go check them out! Should be a great show.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Disco ball cake, record cupcakes
These desserts are made of pure awesomeness. I think an architect missed her calling as a pastry chef!
McQueen for the masses
You know Alexander McQueen right? As in the Alexander McQueen? The very same one Christian "I coined the term 'hot tranny mess'" Siriano interned for (and reminded us as often as possible) before taking top prize on Project Runway's fourth season?
McQueen is the latest in Target's "Design For All" series which really does put design within reach by mass producing lines from high end designers and offering those in their stores at very reasonable prices.
The collection debuts in stores on March 4th but those of us lucky enough to live in New York were treated to a preview sale over the weekend. I snatched up a few items including a pair of hot pint printed leggings with zippers on the bottom! Check out the pics below for a sample of what to expect at Target.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Craze-y for dnb
The not-so-unlucky streak of Friday the 13th went strong into the early morning hours of Saturday. After a delicious dinner at a dumpling restaurant called M, I found myself at Studio B with BFF extraordinaire, T$. When we arrived, Drop the Lime was doing a live set which was somewhat interesting but mostly lacking in excitement. The crowd energy instantly picked up the moment Craze hit the decks.
The highlight of the night for me was around the 3am hour when Craze asked the crowd if anyone was up for some old school drum and bass. He dropped (and instantly rewound) Konflict's "The Messiah" and then went into 5 or 6 tunes including a Total Science tune whose title escapes me now and the infamous "Fugees or Not" white label (was that Zinc?) Rolling amens and pure classics.
I haven't danced like that in like, a decade. Thanks Craze! Big Ups!
Love Lost + Found
Two friends of mine from Atlanta are currently putting on an exhibit at SB Digital Gallery in the East Village.
The show, entitled Love Lost + Found features a five-minute animation of characters illustrated by Nicole Fineman over photographs taken by Aaron Fineman. The film is being screened on televisions inside and outside the small gallery as well as being projected onto the wall. The remaining wall space is filled with still prints from the project.
Aaron and Nicole score big points for having delicious fresh sushi at the opening. The overall concept is also unique and very well done. The show will be up until February 26th so if you're in the area, definitely check it out and be on the lookout for more great things from these two.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Land of Chocolate?
This morning, I stumbled up this link in my work email: Free Chocolates, Hotel Rooms, and... Movie Kiss Reenactments. Free chocolate? Across the street from the office, say no more.
So at 11:45am, four guys from the office and I take the elevator down and hop on over to Jacques Torres. It's relatively quiet when we arrive but over the span of 30 minutes, it develops into full chaos. People are milling around wondering when they're going to get their free chocolate. Store employees appease the masses with samples of hot chocolate, which, quite honestly, is by far the tastiest I've ever had, but this is obviously a calculated ploy to get people into a chocolate store the day before Valentine's Day in the hopes that they will make a last minute purchase.
Still, we stand firm and keep waiting for the promised freebies and finally, they arrive. Sadly, our grand expectations (Think Homer Simpson frolicking inside the Land of Chocolate) are quickly crushed. What do we get for waiting inside a crowded chocolate store for over half an hour? A coupon good for a free hotel room in Atlantic City (that's not good on Friday or Saturday nights, AKA "useless") and ONE piece of leftover Christmas chocolate!
I guess I should've learned by now that most things that sound too good to be true usually are. Especially in New York City.
Then again, I've never been to AC and have always wanted to see what it's like. Maybe it's time to take a personal day on a Friday or Monday and see what all the hype (or lack thereof) is all about.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Beirut @ BAM
The bad news is: my iPhone died. And the good news is: my iPhone died.
You see, when the 3G iPhone exploded onto the mobile devices scene, it brought along with it the App store. And with the birth of iPhone applications came the death of free time on the train ride home to jot down Lazy Robots posts.
That's right people, Apple killed Lazy Robots!
At any rate, with a little bit of spare time on my evening commute, I thought I'd share a really amazing evening I was lucky enough to partake in just last weekend.
Saturday night, Yer, Jake, Brandon and I caught the second night performance by Beirut at BAM. The acoustics inside BAM's Opera House proved to be far superior to the previous time we saw them in the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.
Beirut is one of the few bands that sound more incredible live than they do on their recordings. They played a number of songs including "Nantes" and "Cherbourg" and the Vassar Orchestra joined them halfway through the set for "Sunday Smile" and many more. The combination of accordion, horns, strings and enormous drum made my eyes gleam like Omar Sharif's.
The only complaint of the night was the fact that you couldn't take drinks up to the Opera House for the show - all in all, a fair trade for an experience like this.
On another note, Japanese noisecore band Mono is playing a Wordless show at The Society For Ethical Culture on May 8th where they will be joined by a 23-piece orchestra. I'm buying my tickets for that right after clicking "PUBLISH POST" here.
While it's sad that my phone bit the dust after a mere 13 months of usage, I will most likely run out and buy another one immediately. Hopefully that won't kill the momentum that I've created here today. Stay tuned!
