Bite Me – Number 4 – Gripped by jason schlabach

gripped

Image courtesy of Toiletpaper Magazine

Number 4 : The HANDS Issue

This latest Bite Me chapter is two thumbs up to our publishing, design and art heroes... through the medium of their hands. Thumbing through archives, scrolling through dense files, clicking on our favourite likes, it’s an honour to feature designer Rick Owens and his arms. Seriously. Rick’s zen approach to life and design is gripping and we thank him for being so generous. Michele Lamy is an artist whose dipped dyed fingers have intrigued and fascinated, and together with photographer Ren Hang, they did a slap-up job – who else would be game enough to fondle live props so early in the morning and forego that hand sanitiser? CHAMPION. Bite Me contributors Katy Lefroy and Elle Waldmann explore the extreme ends of our fingertips; the world’s largest nail convention in Las Vegas and tiny, tiny hands – a study of our times and a middle finger to complacency. Massive high five to Misha Hollenbach, Gasius, Ron Wan, Marlon Rueberg and Jesus Manongdo who show the beauty, violence and workmanship of nos mains through their art and toils. Our deep admiration for Maurizio Cattelan, artist, provocateur, cocreator of Toiletpaper magazine has been an enduring inspiration for Bite Me. His work feels even more urgent now. Always challenging people to see things in every dimension, Cattelan’s techno-coloured world and his obsession with hands are a face-palm to mediocrity; pushing us to see the banality and humour of the status quo. Fingers crossed you enjoy The Hand Issue. Lovingly gathered by our gnarled, itchy, wrinkly, fat, stubbly, weathered, collective ham hocks. Our hands maketh the art, our dexterity scribbles the words and our bare-knuckle resistance gives us the strength to build something that is needless, indulgent and awesome.

www.bite-meee.com

#bitemeee

Thanks for showing us the way Ai Wei Wei. Taken at National Gallery of Victoria , Melbourne

chief facepalmer Katrina Tran

maximus@bite-meee.com

Middle finger salute Jason Schlabach

medius@bite-meee.com

HAND IT TO them Kathryn Lefroy Jesus Manongdo Hamish Munro Rose Ng Jane Ormond Marlon Rueberg Laurent Segretier Elle Waldmann Ron Wan

Kate Barnett Maurizio Cattelan Ellis van der Does Christel Escosa Gasius Ren Hang Misha Hollenbach Milo Kossowski

Rick owens Cover & Michèle Lamy inside cover by Ren Hang

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publishers.

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opinions

expressed

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publications are those of the authors and artists and not necessarily of the publishers.

nailing it

Kathryn Lefroy on assignment at the Nailpro World Cup Nail Art Competition 7

BITE ME asked Kathryn Lefroy to enter the heart of darkness. Not just Las Vegas. Not simply a convention centre tucked away behind the Strip. No. We asked her to report on a nail art competition at a beauty show in a convention centre near the very point that America goes to loosen the shackles of good taste and celebrate excess. Luckily, she survived to tell this tale.

A brief foray into the world of competitive nail art

Photos and story by Kathryn Lefroy

I’ll admit I’m an unlikely candidate to be covering the event. My nails and hands are not pretty—they’re for doing useful things. Opening bottles of champagne. Typing words. Chewing on when suffering crippling self-doubt. All vitally important activities for a writer. No amount of buffing or painting would ever make my hands nail art worthy, so why would I try?

The plane heaves as a blast of hot desert air catches the wing, and I bite off my last remaining fingernail. Shit. I was trying to save that one because I’m en route to Las Vegas for the 2016 International Beauty Show (IBS1), to check out the Nailpro World Cup Nail Art Competition.

But not everyone subscribes to my zero-maintenance policy. The exact origin of nail art is murky, but we know it’s been around for thousands of years: in the Neolithic era the Chinese developed nail-staining lacquer tinted with orchid and rose petals; Cleopatra favoured nails decorated with rust and gold colors, and forbid other Egyptian women from copying her; The 15th century Incas embellished their nails with pictures of eagles.

Skip forward to the 1930s, when French makeup artist Michelle Manard was inspired by the enamel-like quality of automobile paint. Two years later, her employer Revlon released their first nail polish. And the industry keeps growing—last year in the US, 8.1 billion dollars was spent on nail services.2 If the people streaming into the convention center today are anything to go by, it’s not slowing down anytime soon.

I check the IBS3 program. There are 15 nail competitions over the three days, which range from straightforward (competitors shape and apply polish to natural nails) to outrageous (inspired by the theme ‘bodybuilder’, competitors build 3D sculptures on fake nails). As I arrive at the cordoned off competition area, the Swarovski sponsored ‘It’s All About the Bling!’ is underway, where artists have 45 minutes to decorate their models’ nails with tiny, multi-colored jewels.

No seriously. That’s what people in the biz call it.

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Data from: Nails Big Book (2015). Gets me every time.

Amanda Lenher, a tattooed nail technician from Tennessee, has fixed dangerously long fake nails onto her model’s fingers, and applied a riot of colorful crystals over a metallic black base. Cinderella’s disco-goth alter ego. I’m curious how long the bejewelled daggers will last. “Oh, we’ll take them off straight away,” Amanda says. “There’s another competition in an hour I’m using her for.”

Rhonda Kibuk, floor judge for the Vegas competition, breezes past. “I used to be a competitor,” she says, “and I’d get so nervous before the competitions that I would puke, but then I was good to go.” Now, she helps put competitors at ease with friendly smiles and the odd few bars of Rihanna, belted into a handheld mic.

Aside from the impromptu concert from Rhonda, competitive nail decorating isn’t exactly a spectator sport, so I meander off to explore the display booths. I quickly become an expert at turning down offers of a nail art makeover by holding up my hands and saying “what would be the point?”

I stop and chat with Gi, a nail tech from Phoenix, and local artist, Heidi. “We met at this show a million years ago,” Gi explains. “I was old and changing careers and Heidi took me under her wing. She’s taught so many people how to succeed in this business.”

Heidi blushes, but her eyes never move from Gi’s thumbnail, where she’s applying a marbled swirl of phosphorescent blues and greens. I ask Heidi which competitions she’s in. None. “I just want to teach people how to be financially successful in the salon, without losing creativity.”

In fact, most of the nail artists I speak to choose not to compete. Industry veteran of 24 years, John Hauk, explains that “at the competitions, you’re playing to a certain crowd. There are very specific rules for each one.” I take a look at the rule book and immediately get a headache. Aside from the pressure of creating artwork on a canvas barely inches long, you can lose points for having an untidy workstation, using an excess of cuticle oil, or having products without labels in English.

Hauk used to be a competitor (over 274 awards to his name) but says that now there are other ways for nail artists to be recognized. He’s a judge on the TV program Global Beauty Masters, which is just one of a half-dozen shows celebrating nail art. There are also hundreds of nail artists who have generated dedicated followings online through social media.

One such person is Max Estrada, the CEO of Exclusive Nail Couture, who grew up around his mother’s nail salon in Tucson, Arizona. “She didn’t want me to do nails,” he says. “She wanted me to be a doctor.” But determined to pursue his passion, Estrada went to nail school in Russia and South Korea. His mom seems to have come around, and proudly shows me the sparkly gold and rhinestone manicure he did for her this morning.

So why do people compete? For Aussie nail artist, Viv Simmons, it’s a chance to advance her skill. “I did a nail course and loved it. I wanted to be really good, so I trained with everyone I could in Australia, then went overseas. To push myself even further I got into comps.” And she started winning. She won the Australian championship five years in a row, then the US championship the first time she entered. Then the UK. Then Asia.

I ask her what the most important tool for a competitor is. “The models hands,” she says, emphatically. “They will either make or break you.” Swarovski competitor, Amanda, agrees. “If the hands aren’t nice, it doesn’t matter how good your work is. I have models who travel with me to competitions.” The judges look for long, straight fingers, deep nail beds with a nice pink color, and youthful-looking hands.

As I’m making my way to the exit, an older nail artist stops me. “You don’t have your nails done!” I wave my fingers, giving my now-practiced ‘why waste your time on these hands’ smile. She meets my eyes and wiggles her own fingers, gnarled and world-weary, each nail an explosion of colors and patterns. “If I can make these look good, I can make anything look good.”

I don’t know if it’s the acetone fumes I’ve inhaled, or the steadfast way she holds my gaze, but there’s a tiny part of me that wants to believe her. So, I sit down and let the maestro work.

FINGA Z2, Milo Kossowski 16

a nail-biting confessional

If you’ve ever left a gathering which included a high number of babies, you’ll often discover your keys have been slimed. A baby will put everything in its mouth – especially its own fingers because – oh god, the pun, it’s coming – they’re always on hand.

Bit

Some of us quit the fingers-in-the-mouth thing as we get older. But roughly a third of us don’t, and we go on to become part of that twitchy legion known as nail biters. (Funny how ‘it’s a real nail-biter’ can be a selling point for a movie thriller or suspense novel, but it’s not up there when it comes to your online dating profile. Although if you Google ‘famous nail biters’ you’re in some swanky company.)

Anthony, a writer from Melbourne, says “I’ve can’t remember not biting my nails. My dad was a nail-biter, and almost everyone in his family was too. An early memory is of my dad watching Bugs Bunny (a favourite of his) and me sitting watching him. We were both chewing away. My son has bitten his nails since he was three or four.” Psychologists say that people bite their nails when they’re preoccupied, bored or stressed and in need of comfort. It can also be tied to self mutilation and aggression towards the self.

Kirsten, a yoga instructor from regional Victoria says, “I’ve done it ever since I was tiny. It gets to the point where you don’t know you’re doing it. It’s that tactile feeling, that constant movement with your hands, whether it’s biting or picking. I don’t only bite, but I also pick my toenails. It’s like a nervous energy that’s trying to come out and you’re trying to stop it.”

Similarly, Anthony says he doesn’t notice he’s doing it but “the psychiatrist said it was a nervous habit and that if it manifested itself as a speech impediment, I wouldn’t be able to get a sentence out. I do notice that if the footy’s really close or I’m on my way to speaking in public, I find myself doing it. But also if I’m just reading a magazine or listening to music on the train or chatting with friends after a meal; times when I’m not feeling anxious at all. I really do feel like I have no control over it at all.”

There are methods to help stop the habit – hypnotherapy, relaxation therapy, reprogramming to view your fingers as your friends, so why would you want to hurt them? - but it seems the pull of nail-biting is no match for remedies like foul-tasting and bitter nail polish. Anthony says all it gave him a taste for bitter drinks as an adult.

“I stop periodically when I get nails puts on and I have no desire to put them in my mouth,” says Kirsten. “It’s when they’re short and I rub the tops of my fingers together and can feel a little break, that’s when I just keep going. And it’s generally in times of stress.

“I keep going even when it gets painful, which I guess is part of self harm. Being able to see the blood, the infection that can get caused is probably some sort of subconscious duality of soothing and harming.”

The thing is, your hands are forever on display, whether it’s when you’re signing a form or making coffee or shaking hands. If they’re weathered, they tell a story. If they’re soft and manicured, they may tell of luxury. If they’re frayed and bitten, are they like the open page of a very personal diary?

ten

“Because I’m usually not aware that I’m doing it, it’s pretty hard to hide the act itself,” says Anthony. “When my nails are red-raw or even bleeding, I try to hide it; tucking my fingers in a light fist or keeping my hands off a table – that sort of thing. My wife’s the only one who reacts – she’ll tell me to stop several times a day. It’s a good reminder that I’m doing it, but it doesn’t change my behaviour for long. Other people never say anything about it. I suppose they’re too polite.”

by Jane Ormond

And then there’s the big question. Do you spit or swallow? Both Anthony and Kirsten are in Camp Swallow. “Biting nails is pretty gross, but spitting is truly disgusting,” says Anthony. Kirsten admits, “I swallow it. Sometimes if you get a really big bit you can chew it for quite a long time to get it into little pieces before you swallow it. You don’t swallow it whole. I used to chew my toenails as a kid, and pick at my toenails with a Stanley knife. I’ve got one toe that’s still really fucked.”

Kirsten figures she’ll always be a nail biter. “I don’t think it’s something that ever goes away because you never know what’s around the corner.”

slap jack Photography by Rose Ng Playing cards by Tom Sachs 22

heart attack

A deck of cards is slapped down on a Hong Kong apartment table. Made by an American artist who has re-crafted utilitarian Japanese tools, the thread of decipherable cultural origins is lost forever. All we know is that our hands must be quick and sure to land with a skin-reddening thud before anyone else can beat us at this childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s game. 23

pleased to meet me the tattooed hand Hands talk – they caress, they clasp, they shake hello and wave goodbye, they gesticulate, they stroke, they flip the bird. They can say a lot. Can hand tattoos say more? Tattoos have been part of myriad ancient cultures but in the 21st century, Western youth in particular have gone stone cold cockamamie for the ink, unafraid of making major statements with high visibility. While the Tattooed Lady used to work the travelling freakshows, now she’s apple pie. “Tattooing, like everything else, falls in line with how society, and the internet, is going – bigger, better, harder, stronger, more impressive,” says Sime Moody of Simplesime Tattoo.

“Everything’s getting boosted harder and people are churning through content so quickly which is why these kids are saying ‘I’ve already seen that, I want to see something crazier’ and going for the face or throat or hands.” Hand tattoos can be broken down into two kinds – the larger ones on the back of the hand and the smaller, trinket-y ones on the knuckles and fingers.

Even though it’s a hard part of the body to tattoo – the skin is thin, sinewy and weathered so the results won’t be as pristine as they would be on other body parts – it hasn’t stopped their rise in popularity. Large oriental-styled floral designs, hennaand mandala-inspired looks, body modification tattoos, text and tiny gag tattoos are riding high. “Definitely the acceptance level of tattoos is going up so that’s why people are starting to step out into things like hands,” says Sime. “In the past, they were super controversial, although, even in the industry, we still call them ‘job stoppers’. The contradiction there is that a lot of hip hop stars have hand tattoos and they’re a big style influence on young kids, but they’ve already made it and are probably flying first class.” Just check out how much online space is dedicated to Rihanna’s tattoo style. Heavily tattooed baker and cake decorator, Gavin Walker, who owns and operates Atomic Cakes with his wife, Sophia, admits that “if I’m not in this environment, in the shop, people definitely do give you a double glance. I can pick up on people when they judge and people do definitely judge.” Gavin’s old school, nautical-style hand tattoos tell a very personal story. “I got both of these when I got sober. The buoy is about being saved and the corked bottle is a reference to the old saying, ‘Keep the plug in the jug.’ On the other hand I got the porthole and anchor, so no matter how rough things get, underneath it can be anchored.”

“It depends on how you carry yourself. A lot of people come up and ask me about my tattoos because I look approachable. I’m happy to answer them because I’m passionate about being who you are. As Oscar Wilde said, ‘Be yourself. Everyone else is taken’. “ (For a crystal-clear example of not judging a tattooed book by its cover, check out Czech composer, scholar and presidential candidate, Vladimír Franz.) Sime says “Hand tattoos are a big statement. Besides having your face tattooed, it’s the second thing you’re going to most present to people. I try to steer people away from hand tattoos if it’s their first tattoo. I say, you really need to go away and think about it. The same with getting someone’s name tattooed on. I say, you need to ask that person. Because it changes the dynamic and there’s a lot of psychology behind it and I’ve seen the other end of it, with people coming back and wanting it changed.” So while it may seem like more people than most are toting inky paws, Sime thinks, “It’s going to be a long time before you see a politician or a doctor with a hand tattoo. The people who are going to a lot of clubs or bands, they require it as a badge of their subculture. They’re not at school studying for six years and at home hitting the books and thinking ‘man, I wish I had that sweet hand tatt’.”

Among Gavin’s other tattoos are a key, which matches up to the lock Sophia has on her hand. “That keeps me grounded as well. I can be having a crap day and I know there’s another person who has the lock, so there’s always part of me with her.” Working in a food-related industry when your hands are tattooed can make some people falter though. “In this shop, they don’t look at it in a negative context, but in other places, I’ve had to win people over. I used to work at a bakery in a big Greek community and whole generations would come in with the new baby, and they’d look at my knuckles and my arm tattoos and they’d be unsure. They’d be all ‘we want a pretty cake, make sure it’s a pretty cake’. For some reason they’d think the negativity of my tattoos would rub off and taint their beautiful little bub. So you have to win them over a little bit.”

Photos and story by Jane Ormond 27

untitled , Hamish Munro 28

Fandom, Laurent Segretier 30

Morning Salutations

Night Moves

Concept and photography by Elle Waldmann

a modern romance in eight acts Illustrations by Kate Barnett

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Applause for Toiletpaper TOILETPAPER magazine is the truly original creation of Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari. It’s a punch in the gut, a feast for your eyes and fuel for your frontal lobes. There aren’t enough words or emoticons to express our deep admiration for TOILETPAPER’s colour-soaked vision and hilarious take on the world order but... ! As Cattelan told the New Yorker in 2011, “We had so much fun, we said, why don’t we do more of this?”. In these serious and cynical times, we couldn’t agree more.

all images courtesy of Toiletpaper Magazine 39

michèle She looks exactly as she does in her photographs. Tiny, wizened and nut brown, she walks calmly, curiously; turning her grey–blue gaze this way and that, until it alights upon something that might interest her for a moment, before unhurriedly moving on, the enigmatic, woody and sexless scent of Santal wafting in her wake. The vessel that contains Michèle Lamy the myth and legend, despite being in its early 70s, is full of a serene vitality. And even with the level of worship and fandom aimed at her from certain circles, Lamy is low-key. She is not some thirsty deity who derives power from the benedictions of lesser mortals. Somewhat surprisingly, even with it’s acuity, hers is not a gaze you instinctively feel the need to shrink from. Photos by Ren Hang

story by Christel Escosa

As interesting and fascinating a character as she is in the creative sphere, and as fabulous as she herself has written her history, Michèle is without affectation. Perhaps it’s that she’s been at the rodeo long enough to have let go of the quietly desperate human desire for not only acceptance, but admiration. Likely because she has been and done that a thousand times over already. Her hands are small, and she holds them quite still when she is speaking; perhaps because they are heavily laden with rings, her wrists manacled with huge cuffs up to her elbows – they must be what keeps her arms so toned. Her fingers, of course, are dip dyed in henna, a signature. It occurred to me that the dye might perhaps hide cigarette stained digits, whilst her throaty voice evidences a lifetime of exhaling clouds of smoke and glamour.

Special thanks to JOYCE Hong Kong, Ingrid Chen and Anne McManus 46

Most people are concerned with being interesting. Most people are also completely unaware that the most interesting people, are in fact, usually the most interested . Interested in the people around them, and in the world around them, even at its most mundane. During our interview, Michèle often asks me questions about myself. She is interested in knowing where I’m from, my life here in Hong Kong, and what I was doing before I came here. She graciously gives time to the people walking past who want to take a picture with her or express their admiration of her or to tell her about their latest project or exhibition. She watches their videos, listens to their elevator pitches, and accepts gushing compliments and messages for Rick about, “That time they met in Paris backstage,”, and for her to “Please say hello to so-and-so from me, he’ll remember me if you say my name!”. Others discreetly frame their pictures from a couple of metres away, strategically framing her within their selfies without even having to ask for a photo. In between all of that, we talk about day to day things as we smoke cigarettes and chat, leaning against the hip-high metal barriers lining the Hong Kong sidewalk.

Do you know much about Hong Kong, or Asia, even? I have a nephew who lives in Shanghai since 12 years, he has a company called Pig China, they do commercial and movies somehow. He started his company in LA. I’m French, but I think I’m more American. The only thing is, I have a curse because I have the accent. Because you know when I was 12, I was sort of learning english, but I always have this accent, and I thought I got a curse because in a previous life, I don’t know what I did wrong. But then someone explained to me that the French have the smallest ears, because the sounds are all like “shou shou shou” so already at 12, a lot of us don’t hear a lot of sounds right.

What is your earliest memory? What’s the memory that you have held on to? I think remember things from when I was 2. But also, you know I was just born after D-day. And my parents met in the Resistance, so there were all those stories they told. So I have a feeling that I sort of lived through it, a little bit. Like, the good part. My parents always talked about it like, “That summer the peas were so good,”, things like that. And you know sometimes, you get the feeling that you have met people, but at the same time, I never think about the past. I always think about what I’m going to do tomorrow, what is exciting about tomorrow. Like here, I know I could feel at home very quickly, because I know I will meet the right people. You know I am here, following Rick with something there, and then you came in the picture. And this is to me, a sense that there is a follow up to the story. I like encounters. I always believe something like this will happen.

So you believe in energy? That like attracts like? That’s why you have all these amazing encounters, right? Exactly. It goes without saying. I’ve been living for so many years now. It’s not like I’m following a trail. I don’t see what I don’t want to see, in a way.

Is Immortality important to you? In this day and age, do you think it’s still possible for people, like perhaps yourself, or Rick, that you can achieve the same kind of immortality that Marie Antoinette, or Cleopatra – is that possible? I don’t think so! There will be so many with what, Instagram and such I don’t make things change, that they stay in history, and I think it has to do with science, even if it’s not within the newspaper that right now, the black hole, after that, we discover that people will be on Mars, not that I will see, but very soon. This is what make you change, and at the same time we have these discoveries, and at the same time, people are fighting for religion from the 8th century, so it’s very difficult to deal with that. For me, it’s very difficult to think why it cannot be a religion behind it, so we go to tribes, and we were thinking that we are different tribes of people. But now what is great is that the tribe don’t need to be from the same location, and people can find each other in different places, and that will continue a train of thought, but I don’t think I’m going to be born. I don’t know if that’s immortality in the first degree, but I am interested in those tribe things.

Do you consider yourself part of a tribe? Who is your tribe? You know so first, that was not something that was told in my family, but the first time I went to North Africa. I was 17, 18, and I felt I was going home. And three weeks later, I was in a tent with some Berbers doing music and I found out that this part of France where my family is from, – and the way we look also – belonged to Spain at the time. The Moor were there too, so I have Berber and Moor genes from like, ten generations ago, because those people never moved, other people just went there and cross-pollinated. My own mother, she was covering herself with powder in the summer. At the time, people were getting so tanned when they were working in the field, and she was a lady that lunched! And when we were kids, with my sister on the beach, people were talking to us in English because they thought we were Indian. So everywhere I go, even in the subway in Paris, people talk to me in Arabic, because they think I’m a Berber, with blue eyes. And then when I go to Bali, they think I’m from Lebanon. In India, I was looking very much Indian and yesterday on the plane, the woman told me you are Vietnamese.

In the last collection Rick did, I read a review where he mentioned that he was inspired by human decline. With that in mind, do you think we have hit peak civilisation already, and that now, humanity is in a state of decline? Is that where we are? I don’t think so. I think when Rick talks about decline, he likes this feel of Death in Venice and the romantic feeling about it. You see, Rick he always looks at dead artists. And I always look at the youngest ones. So to me he has a romantic vision that is, you know, through the books and language that is very much romantic. On the contrary, there has always been war and what not, and we try to deal with it. But I don’t think we’re in decline.

Compatibility. Do you think compatibility is about two puzzle pieces fitting perfectly together, or is compatibility about adapting and moulding to another? Is it about a perfect fit, or a moulding together? I think it’s about perfect fit. Even if the two are different, they find that they go together. Simple.

Are you scared of anything? What are you afraid of, if anything. I don’t know why people say that I am not afraid of anything. Being afraid is not something – I just like to be surprised. I want always to discover something that you have to adapt to. This is why, what is at the same time exciting and sad, is that you come here and the first thing you see is a Gucci ad. Or whatever ad, you know what I mean. There is a wall, where now it’s all the same. At one time, when you would go to Saint Tropez, there were shoes that were only made in Saint Tropez, and in 30 years, it’s changed completely. But at the same time, there you have only people who have changed and culture that is different and you pass on this globalisation –” [We get interrupted by a woman on the street she had met the night before. They exchange compliments in French.]]

Do you like to talk to people on the street? Yes, I love to talk with people on the street. I love it.

So I always sort of stick, wherever I go, except in Paris, where nobody can really tell where I am from, or in England because there are so many mixes. Everywhere that is south of the Mediterranean, I belong! So anyway it’s good, I feel like I pass. 51

Can you verbalise magic to you? What is magical to you? Is there any magic left in the world? I think there is magic everywhere. To me, magic was, you know, I just run into somebody. This is why I like to go places on the street. Like you were saying about being in the club and seeing somebody and creating a story about them. Even if they look like the opposite that you thought. I find magic in the small way of things. It depends on what you make your magic with. For example I find boxing very important, because all the boxing I met a lot of people. From the first day, when I went to see which club I was going to and felt it [magic]. In New York, I go to this boxing club, it’s called Box and Booze. You have to find a path. I’m sure that when you discover people, that you know in a certain way, whether it can work. When I lived in L A I was at this club, working at Le Deux Cafe, and everyone was training at this Wild Card Boxing Club. And through there, at least right now, I’m seeing a lot of the world through the rules of boxing. Even though I hate fights in a way, there is something to being naked in front of somebody, and trying to escape. Like playing chess. You know, that’s a kind of magic to me, when there is a lot of feels, and you put yourself into that kind of situation. I like the stage. I do a little bit of stage now with Caecilia Tripp who is a great artist. I never know what I am going to do with her, but then a few hours before, she tells me what it’s all about. She says “I hate rehearsal, people are not natural after rehearsal.”. So I like to be in this situation where that magic happens, magic to me. We do it to make a little tribe also. I like to bring people together. You know I was surprised after having this place in L A, Le Deux Cafe, for 12 years, and that people are still talking about it. So it’s the same thing, a little stage, and you say, “What’s going to happen?” And you discover things. And it’s a way to have a path.

Boxing is a dance as well in a way, between people. Yeah, it’s all about being fast on your feet.

Do you hit people? I hit a trainer. And they don’t hit me. But they need to know that you can do the hit. You know the only time, I fought – because it’s all by the weight, you know – so who was the same weight as me? It’s all the young kids, Mexican fourteen year olds. You think they will understand that I was not doing this to take their place? No! The first seconds are the hardest, because you don’t know how they are going to move. So if I’m in those first seconds, I have this rage in me like I wanted to slap them, I ask myself, who raised these kids! Who is this little shit! But yes, it’s like dance. Rhythm. Very close to hip hop.

Do you still go out and enjoy that?

Yes. But with Rick not so much. But we still dance our stories together. We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go to club club.

unnamed Misha Hollenbach

Popples Hands, Gasius 62

Ellis van der Does

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Jesus Manongdo

Special thanks to Joe Sayers and Hamish Costley 83

rick Rick Owens as an aesthetic concept is monumental. The cult of Rick is fervent and the way members refer to their leader is reverent. This was apparent from the pilgrims clad in top to toe fresh-off-therunway looks; that the love for Rick runs deep in Hong Kong. Despite the frenzy that occurred around him, Rick was calm, measured and zen. He was protective of his wife Michele, squeezing her shoulder as if giving her some of his energy, as they posed for countless photographs. He responded in a gentle, matter-of-fact way to questions, and delivered his statements and opinions in soft terms. His speech was peppered with â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I guess-esâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, and he was always conscious of the fortune of circumstance that brought him to where he is today. Cool, calm and collected, Rick Owens is the chill dad that everyone wishes they had.

He asked more than once, somewhat wistfully, whether anyone present had any children. He after all, chose to birth his eponymous fashion label as his child and legacy – his immortality. Now a fully grown monster, Rick Owens the brand is a way of aesthetic existence that goes deeper than just clothing. He is the original health goth who might tell you, “Now I know you might make some bad decisions tonight, but it’s okay, and if you’d like to break it down tomorrow, I’ll be here, but please don’t vomit in the greenhouse again, you’ll mess with the Venus Flytraps.” That right there says far more about me than it does about Rick, but his air of warm understanding and gentle attentiveness were a fresh comfort.

Americans, or LA? L A. I mean, I go to New York every once in awhile and I don’t dislike it but - it never was me. There’s this sense of VIP-ness and this urgency for something. There’s this frenetic energy that, um, I always think of it as this VIP room of the US, and then when you’re in the VIP room, there’s all these other VIP rooms and there’s a VIP corner – there’s that thing in New York, and the values there, it’s grabby. I guess I was ambitious? I must have been ambitious. It was ambition to make something of value. It wasn’t even that much about money and status, but things worked out. And I’m not complaining.

Are you still ambitious for something? Is immortality important to you? I am. More ambitious than ever, almost. Like when I go to the factory, I just get enraged when I see all of these mistakes. I’m not mean, I don’t think I am. I’m almost more ambitious than I ever was. When I look back at the stuff I do now, like everything that I fit into a week that would have taken six months when I was younger and more energetic. It just proves that you can really rise to the occasion, if you have to. If you decide this is what you have to do to survive, you can just completely transform yourself. Now I’ve lived in Paris for the past 15 years and I haven’t been back to Los Angeles since I moved to Paris, and I’m not exactly sure why. It makes me nervous.

Absolutely. I think it’s important to all of us. That’s why we get up in the morning to try and do stuff. That’s why we have babies. And that’s why we teach our babies the values that we believe in. That’s what immortality is. And for me, I didn’t have kids, because I’m too selfish, but, doing what I’m doing is my baby. That’s what I’m going to leave behind, and I want my baby to be a positive contribution to the world. Do you guys have babies? No?

Photos by Ren Hang

story by Christel Escosa

Do you think that immortality in this day and age is achievable in the same way as Cleopatra or Alexander the Great. Is that still possible? [Rick laughs wryly] Legends? Sure. I’m sure there will be legends. It’ ll be interesting to see who survives this generation. The whole internet thing has evened out the playing field and everybody has a voice now, and I haven’t researched it, but I think at the Tower of Babel, there seems to be some kind of relation there. But their problem was, I think that they have – I don’t remember, I’ ll have to google it again, but it probably bears googling in light of our generation. But yeah there are so many voices in fashion, it’s oversaturated, which is fine, it’s just turning into something else, and that’s what had to happen anyway. There’s nothing to complain about, but it’s really happening really fast. But the fashion world is world.

I read in a Vogue runway review that you’ve had the ‘human decline’ on your mind the last few seasons. One of my favourite books is by an sci-fi novelist and philosopher called Olaf Stapledon. He wrote a book called ‘Starmaker’ that proposes that intelligent existence will forever hit a disappointing peak before degrading back on itself again, beaten down by an indifferent universe, and through no fault of their own, fail to comprehend or realise their own lofty yearnings. And so humanity rises and falls, again and again and again. With this idea in mind, are we today still waiting to hit our peak or are we already in the degradation phase? Lofty yearnings are usually pretty idealistic and unattainable. As individuals, being satisfied by hitting realistic peaks is totally doable. Life doesn’t have to be so dramatic. I’m not really sure I believe in ecological decline. We see changes happening and some doors closing but I think these changes are inevitable and some other portals start to open. I was mainly talking about how we handle threats – mortal or ecological. How can we negotiate transition in the most beautiful and graceful way?

Do you think about that, does it affect you so much? I suppose it does, I mean, there’s a lot to react to. It’s kinda great actually, there’s always something to look at. I like to do stuff a different way, and there’s space for a different interpretation and there’s got to be an alternative way to look at this. And if I’m looking for it, I’m not that unique, there’s a lot of people like me.

Can you think back to your earliest memory – why do you think you hold on to that? I remember lying alone in a field feeling perfectly serene surrounded by wet high green grass. I smelled wet earth and felt the dampness penetrating my clothes and reaching my skin as if I could start melting into the dirt myself. It was very reassuring and I recreate that scenario whenever I can.

A closed fist is a symbol of power, aggression, anger. Control too. It’s also part of the concept of gripping tightly to something. What does it take for you to let something go? I’m pretty good at letting things go. I don’t like a lot of complication, chaos or clutter so the less I have to deal with the better. You might be surprised how simple my life is.

Can you talk to me a little bit about your concept of control? Are you self controlled? I’m very self controlled but that’s just a personal priority. I don’t think its a better way to live than other people, it’s just a choice I made. And I am perfectly aware that it is a fantasy. A committed junkie has as much value in his choice.

Can you tell me a little bit about your first thoughts in the morning when you wake up. Do you have any rituals? My first thought is usually gratitude, because my life is nicer than I thought it would be. My second is anticipation on what new developments will present themselves and my third is a self doubting weakness, wondering how I might fuck it all up.

Has your process changed much from when you started? Are you a digital or analogue person now? Do you draw for pleasure, ever? Do you still get your hands very dirty? I never really drew – I always draped and I drape as much as I ever did. I just don’t translate my draping to paper patterns like I did at the beginning. But I am at the factory half the year going through the fabric rolls and cutting and pinning and discarding and starting over.

Hands very much deal give both pleasure and pain, and touch conveys so much. Are you a hugger?

I am a hugger. I try not to impose myself too much, not everybody really enjoys being hugged. But I don’t really see how anybody could be offended by a shoulder squeeze or brief pat on the forearm.

What is simultaneously pleasurable and painful to you? Gauging what I can get done before the next deadline. But I don’t feel sorry for myself feeling pressured. I find the cycle stimulating.

Are you a very tactile person? What do you find pleasurable to touch?

Oh my god, don’t get me started. The throat of a wild foxglove, wet clay, swansdown, money... What is a dirty word to you?

I don’t like being told no. 89

Special thanks to JOYCE Hong Kong, Ingrid Chen and Anne McManus 91

Photography by Marlon Rueberg

concept: Oliver Metzler @ A+O and Marlon Rueberg

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special thanks: Nikita Barisik, Valentin Wrba , Naomi Iwobi, Joel Rukweza , Hally and Jens Ihnken

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BITE ME is made possible by the contributions of some of the best creative minds around the world that we are fortunate to count as friends.

Page 6-16

Kathryn Lefroy San Francisco www.kathrynlefroy.com Page 28-29

Hamish Munro Paris hamishmunro.com.au Page 16-17

Milo Kossowski New York cargocollective.com/milokossowski Page 30-31

Laurent Segretier Paris/Hong Kong segretier.com Page 18-19; 26-27

Jane Ormond Melbourne instagram.com/warholetty Page 32-33

Elle Waldmann Los Angeles waldmann.co Page 20-25

Rose Ng Melbourne/Hong Kong rosepophalf.com Page 34-37

Kate Barnett Lisbon/Hong Kong instagram.com/barneybarnett

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Page 38-43

Maurizio Cattelan/Toiletpaper Milan toiletpapermagazine.org Page 64-69

Ellis van der Does London ellisvanderdoes.com Cover; Page 44-53; 84-91

Ren Hang Beijing instagram.com/renhangrenhang Page 70-75

Ron Wan Hong Kong ronwan.com Page 44-53; 84-91

Christel Escosa Hong Kong christelballz.com Inside back cover; Page 76-83

Jesus Manongdo Melbourne Page 54-61

Misha Hollenbach Paris/Melbourne perksandmini.com Page 92-109

Marlon Rueberg Milan marlonrueberg.com Page 62-63

Gasius (Russel Maurice) London/Tokyo gasius.com

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REN HANG • rick owens • michèle lamy misha Hollenbach • jane ormond • gasius maurizio cattelan • christel escosa • ron wan jesus manongdo • rose ng • marlon rueberg