Marcel Schlutt Brice Hardelin Nina Kharytonova Stephan Springer Amanda M. Jansson Nico Icon 1 Polys Rico Mahel Manuel Frรถhlich Alexander Weber Mats Udd Dirk Hoffmann Haniball Saliba Claudio Alvargonzalez Jon John Fatih Alasalvaroglu Slava Mogutin Christo Mitov Rochelle Lamanz Pascale Jean-Louis Kaey Asha Mines Chantal Henken Zsu Szabo Emma K. E. Jones Eastman wt. Neve Marcel Steger Haikal Noyes Steev Lemercier Silvio Hauke Nicolas Simoneau Daniel Ellmenreich Shel Fuller Anton Z Risan Coverphoto by Pascale Jean-Louis Model Jan Burchard
ART PHOTOGRAPHY MEDIA
H NK! #01
SCHIZOPHRENI SCHIZOPHRENIA SCHIZOPHRENIA SCHIZOPHRENI REVENGE OF THE NERDS
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Schizophrenia is an illness. The first signs of schizophrenia often appear as confusing, or even shocking, changes in behavior.
Hallucinations and illusions are disturbances of perception that are common in people suffering from schizophrenia!
Stop talking to me!
You are not me!
People with schizophrenia may have perceptions of reality that are strikingly different from the reality seen and shared by others around them. Living in a world distorted by hallucinations and delusions, individuals with schizophrenia may feel frightened, anxious, and confused
Are people with schizophrenia likely to be violent? I need to die....
SCH HZ IZO PHR I ENA 3
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Chief Editor Marcel Schlutt
Editors Christo Mitov, Polys, Amanda M. Jansson, Stephan Springer, Nina Kharytonova, Kaey, Claudio Alvargonzalez Production assistant Silvio Hauke, Nicolas Simoneau Translators Shel Fuller, Drew Eastman, Anton Z Risan Layout Haikal Noyes, Marcel Schlutt Texts Rico Mahel, Rochelle Lamanz, Stephan Springer
Photographer Asha Mines, Amanda M Jansson, Brice Hardelin, Pascale Jean-Louise, Manuel Frรถhlich, Marcel Schlutt, Marcel Steger, Emma Elina Keira Jones, Nico Icon, Slava Mogutin, Dirk Hoffmann, Zsu Szabo, Haikal Noyes Web design Nicolas Simoneau, Daniel Ellmenreich Published by Marcel Schlutt & Nina Kharytonova HONK! is based in Berlin
NK! HONK – the word in German has a very different meaning than in English. In Germany, there are usually people who are just as stupid as the meaning of the word but also freaks, nerds, and anyone who is different are included in this definition. In the U.S., honk is like when a car “honks” – “Watch Out! Here I am.” So there is no better word than HONK for a new magazine. Our magazine is for anyone who is different – for people against the grain. We do not want to revolutionize the magazine world, we just want to share our world. Honk will appear quarterly with each issue focusing on a different theme. The theme of the first issue is Schizophrenia - Revenge of the Nerds. We have invited artists on a global scale to address this topic. We want to give young artists a platform to present their work to a larger audience and to share in an exciting project with us. We want to catch the urban trap. In our magazine, we will feature a lot of photography with the simple focus on the total image. Fashion, Art and Media will also be highlighted in HONK! And to the makers of these worlds: “Take it easy! It’s just fashion and art. Not the reinvention of fire.” In 2011, we want to present exhibitions, movies and many other exciting projects focused around the magazine. The team around HONK! has years of experience in this arena and in the unique direction in which we plan on going. Now is perfect time to stand up on your own two feet. HONK! is made in Berlin, Germany but we are actually made for everyone out there! We want to inspire our readers with charm, excellent work and lots of fun. We look forward to all of the new tasks coming our way in 2011 and hope that you have as much fun viewing our work as we had creating it. Enjoy the first issue of HONK! Sincerely MS
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#01
8 Electronic Schizophrenic
Photo
Photos by Brice Hardelin
152 A ballad of beauty by Szu Szabo
20 Bucoli Nerds
162 Emma
30 I hate myself
184 I feel shot
Photos by Amanda M. Janssen Artwork by Nico Icon
Selfportraits Photos by Haikal Noyes
42 σῶμα
by Rico Mahel
50 Lords of the beards
Photos by Manuel Fröhlich
74 We’re 3
Photos by Marcel Schlutt
103 Pigsty
by Slava Mogutin
136 3AM Still Walking by Asha Mines
16 The sooner you start the therapy...
Topic
Interview with Dr. Sharif Bahir
48 Split my mind 68 Intellectual decision-making vs. gut feeling by Stephan Springer
112 It all came ex nihilo by Rochelle Lamanz
130 Claudio: A letter from Madrid 182 The X-Insider 190 Revenge of the nerds by Christo Mitov
TENT 58 Shout
Fashion
Photos by Dirk Homann
94 A man should wear 96 A woman should wear 98 URBERLIN
Interview with Fatih Alasalvaroglu
114 Werther 2.0
Photos by Marcel Schlutt & Pascale Jean-Louis
134 Fashion Blogs? Boring Ego Trips! by Kaey
168 Discomatic
Photos by Marcel Steger
192 Must have
Art/Media
37 Who the hell is Madonna? Music reviewed by Polys
54 Mats Udd Interview
83 Heeeeere’s Johnny
Movies discussed by Claudio
86 Politically incorrect, sarcastic and kinky Interview with Jon John
142 Chantal Henken Interview
160 KW Berlin - A good place for art 164 Eastman with Neve Interview
198 Steev Lemercier and the Lala By Interview
204 What Where When
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Elec 8
tronic Schizo
phrenic Photos by Brice Hardelin www.bricehardelin.com
Electronic accessories Cyril Del fluorescent wall installation Anne-Flore Cabanis Headphones beats solo HD Dr Dre for Monster Models Philippe and Sarah-Laure
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sooner YOU
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recovery. Interview with Dr. Sharif Bahir by Nina Kharytonova & Stephan Springer Illustration by Laris Ca Schizophrenia is a mental illness. Each of us can get it. But what are the triggers? What do I need to do if I think my partner is schizophrenic? We have so many questions to ask, that’s why we met Dr. Sharif Bahir, a doctor of psychiatry at the CharitÊ University Hospital/ Berlin.
HONK!: How important are mental diseases in our society and does humanity even need Psychiatrists? Sharif: Mental disorders currently occupy first place in the common diseases and schizophrenia, a very important disease in psychiatry. This disease is relatively common. According to recent statistics it is affecting 1 person out of 100. Accordingly, in Berlin alone there should be around 35.000 sufferers of the disease. It is this is a basic mental disorder whose
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symptoms impact thought, perception, feeling and experiencing the self. Schizophrenia occurs regardless of race, gender, cultural and social backgrounds and theoretically can affect any of us and not only the quality of life of the patient is severely restricted. Ok. Does this mean that everyone who suffers from a mental disorder is automatically a schizophrenic? No, not at all. The range of mental disorders
is very broad and schizophrenia is only one of them. Leading the way is the so-called ICD 10 catalog (international classification of diseases in it’s 10th edition) for all, to date known mental illnesses. They are all listed here. The WHO (World Health Organization) created this catalog and it offers an overview of mental illnesses, such as addiction (and not just the usual drugs and alcohol addictions), dementia, depression, eating disorders, ADHD,
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THE SOONER YOU START THE THERAPY....
anxiety disorders, various manias and the already mentioned schizophrenia. There are different stages of the illness and some go hand in hand with each other, it complicates the classification of course immensely.
Are there any preventive tests? Can I check as a healthy person if there is a potential risk? Unfortunately there is no accurate test for it.
How do I notice myself whether I suffer from schizophrenia? I have heard that for people with this disease it is difficult or even impossible to recognize their delusional state as such and to distinguish it from reality. Sharif: To answer that, I must first point out one very important difference. There is psychosis and there is schizophrenia. Schizophrenia itself is characterized that in at least one or more times in the life of the patient psychotic conditions occur so do psychoses. This illness is composed of several parts and one of these is psychosis. What most people know about schizophrenia is the classic notion that acute psychosis is accompanied by delusions, such as Paranoia and hallucinations. But there are delusions and hallucinations because of other mental illnesses; they are not necessarily conclusive for schizophrenia. What I’m saying is that the boundaries between the diseases are more elusive and one should always consult a specialist for advice before making an even devastating diagnosis yourself or even some form of treatment begins. A sure sign that something is wrong, are the already mentioned psychosis, especially if they are repeated and accumulate. Here I would also appeal to family members, because the sufferers themselves cannot recognize the condition as such. You should definitely be on the look out for social problems, integration problems but also apathy and cognitive disorders such as problems with language and thought processes one should not fear in any case to visit a psychiatrist. The sooner the disease is detected, the better it can be treated.
is nothing more THAN A
Schizophrenia
METABOLIC DISEASE
in the brain . But in an interview with a specialist it can be assessed if you might lean towards mental illnesses or be at risk of any due to a stressful Environment. Retrospectively one can usually pinpoint pretty well when the illness broke out, and what factors were responsible. In any case, count cannabis users to a higher risk group. They suffer more likely from it and the development can be more serious. Especially dangerous here is the young age. Namely between 20 and 35. Everyone has a certain personal limit, after which excess they may well develop schizophrenia. This can be caused by stress, overwork, and even consumption of psychedelic drugs. Are there really gender specific differences? Not Really, but it has been found that men have a more aggressive course of the illness, while women suffer in silence with their illness. Schizophrenia may well bring physical impacts, such as musculoskeletal disorders and problems in the patient’s sex life. Ok, after a successful diagnosis usually follows the therapy. What does this entail? Schizophrenia is nothing more than a metabolic disease in the brain. Depending on the strength of the disease, the therapy will be individually adjusted and combined for the patient. This consists of medical therapy, but
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also talking and occupational therapy are an important part on the road to recovery. Music, relaxation exercises and a stable environment and can in any case help make this recovery much easier. The therapy can take several years and one should not rush things and on no account bet on quick success. Because patients may have a relapse when therapy is not completed, even triggered by trivial things. Most of the patients go into treatment voluntarily, in particularly serious cases, however, the compulsory treatment is recommended. Family members may apply in court for compulsory treatment and submission into a clinic. Can you protect yourself from this disease or illness in any way? As with all other diseases or illnesses a healthy lifestyle is always helpful. Staying clear of psychedelic substances could help avoid that crossing that particular line mentioned earlier. Also, avoiding stress, overworking, pressure, and everything the modern lifestyle brings with it may well be helpful. Also: “Take it easy!� Let us take a brief summary of the whole issue. What would you like our readers to take away from this? In any case, be not afraid to visit a specialist. Investigate even the smallest signs of possible psychotic disorder however light they might be. Cannabis users should, due to the increased risk to be more watchful and at the smallest sign seek the help of a specialist. Schizophrenia is curable! The sooner you start the therapy, the higher the chances of a full recovery. Incidentally, it is believed that more than half
Schizophrenia
is CURABLE
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of our neglected citizens living on the streets and begging might be suffering from schizophrenia and their treatment have failed or the disease was not diagnosed at all and so no actions where taken to get them the treatment needed. So the next time you meet a homeless person, who might be confused or talks nonsense, do not dismiss him or her immediately, because they might probably be very sick and need urgent help, or at least your compassion. â—?
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Who the hell is Madonna MUSIC
Music reviewed by Polys His taste in music is legendary in Berlin. No dance floor is safe! He loves music and music loves him! Now the top of the top of Polys playlist!
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MUSIC
iamamiwhoami Interpret: Jonna Lee Album: No Album Genres: Electronic, Alternative, Dream Pop, Experimental • A music and multimedia project of the Swedish singer-songwriter Jonna Lee • My personal music highlight of the year 2010! • No album released yet, only singles (only available on iTunes and Amazon) • Dec. 2009 -> first clip on youtube • Viral campaign begins • Big mystery about who this viral electronic artist is. • Speculations included Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, Little Boots and even Gwen Stefani…. Fortunately none of them is the mysterious iamamiwhoami! • The project currently consists of three series of videos and a feature length concert video. • The disturbingly gorgeous artistic videos with the dark and mysterious electro beat tunes and the unknown’s sense-stimulating vocals, in combination with the creators’ leveraging of social technology (YouTube) and phenomena
(viral videos, crowdsourcing) makes iamamiwhoami to the best and most underground marketing machinery the Swedish musical industry has created this year. • Jonna Lee proves with this project that the originality ad creativity in the music industry is not yet dead as long as artists like her surprise us with such masterpieces! • I wish, i could move into her voice! I’d pay rent! • Nominated for the Grammis 2010 -> “Innovator of the Year” •Favourite track: y
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between melancholy and bouncy sounds, creating this way a compact album that like the Sigur Rós albums is highly addictive! • The album was sung mainly in English, making a change from the majority of Jónsi’s previous work, which was sung mainly in Icelandic and Hopelandic • Favourite track: Boy Lilikoi
JÓNSi Interpret: Jónsi (Jón Þór Birgisson) Album: Go Genres: Baroque Pop, Post-rock, Ambient Label: XL Recordings, Parlophone • Go is the new studio album of the Icelandic music-genie Jón Birgisson, frontman of the band Sigur Rós. • The composer is Nico Muhly. The album was co-produced by Jónsi, his boyfriend Alex Somers and Peter Katis. • I always say that the best music comes from Iceland and Sweden (my personal opinion) • For me is Jónsi (beyond Her Majesty Björk) the living proof for that! • This guy is a music-magician! • Jónsi’s distinguishing characteristic is an innocence delivered through peppy indie music that helps make emotions sound fresh. • His voice is one of modern music’s most readily identifiable instruments that ties every time the human throat in knots. • During the entire album Jónsi changes
mUSiC Click for Polys’ Playlist http://honk-music.tumblr.com/
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MUSIC
them combined in a very creative, inspirational and attractive manner, proving that if you have the talent, you can create some really nice music by mixing different styles you thought they would never match together! • Hope to hear soon more from aMinus • Favourite tracks: Army of You, My Mind’s Away • ALL EYES ON aMINUS!
aMINUS Interpret aMinus (Valentin Plessy) Album Almost and Maybe Genres Electronic, Pop Label Zingy (only digital on iTunes) • Debut studio Album of Valentin Plessy • His first solo Project beyond the boundaries of his electro-punk band Plateau Repas • Name “aMinus” inspired from the American Grade system ->A- = Almost perfect • 15 fresh and kinky songs with strong provocative statements • Clearly showing influences from synth pop, funky house, minimal, 8bit and more… All of
The irrepressibles Interpret The Irrepressibles Album Mirror Mirror Genres Alternative, Orchestral, Chamber Pop, Ambient, Soundtracks, Filmmusik Label V2 records • First studio album of the orchestral ensemble “The Irrepressibles” • The ensemble consists of ten very talented musicians led by the composer Jamie McDermott. • As a group, they have been compared to, and cited influences from, David Bowie, Kate Bush, Antony & the Johnsons and Bonzo Dog DooDah Band. • “Mirror Mirror” is an album fully charged with musical surprises and a wealth of touch-
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ing emotion which McDermott’s voice projects. • The mood switches between triumphant and withdrawn, almost as scenes in a play and this theme of rapidly changing feels continues through the entire Album • The time for the rise of the Irrepressibles is surely upon us. • For lovers of fine music! • Favourite track: In this shirt
PHANTOGRAM Interpret Phantogram Album Eyelid Movies Genres “street beat, psych pop”, Electronic rock Label Barsuk • an American trip pop duo from New York, consisting of guitarist Josh Carter and keyboardist Sarah Barthel • Eyelid Movies -> debut Album • Played as opening acts for Metric, The xx, Brazilian Girls and many more • In interviews, the band has described their unique dance-friendly sound concisely under the genre of “street beat, psych pop.” • Phantogram created successfully a multifaceted and atmospheric album. It can be interpreted versatilely and that is what makes
it suitable for every season of the year. Either when staying in on a rainy autumn day or lying on the green meadow on a warm sunny day you are definitely gonna enjoy this 11 heady and stimulating songs. • Phantogram may not be the pioneers in this sound, but they sure have carved a path that should be followed. • Favourite track: When I’m Small
ZOLA JESUS Interpret Zola Jesus Album Stridulum II Genres Experimental, Avant-garde, Electronic Label Sacred Bones Records • Real name: Nika Roza Danilova (21) • An opera trained singer from the USA • Stridulum II -> a dark masterpiece • Industrial-tinged power ballads •(Gothic evocations and oblique and grittily anthemic approaches to song) • Her voice is the deadliest weapon in her arsenal • Deep, dark, tortured, theatrical, religious vocals •Supported Fever Ray (Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson) •Favourite track: Night
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σῶμα Photos & Text by Rico Mahel
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The title “σῶμα” (soma) is a Greek term, which refers to the physical human or animal body. My starting point for this project on schizophrenia, which has a lot to do with psychological borders, is humankind and its own self-image. And as we all know, the body is related to the psychological condition. Consciously I used this Greek title as my work is based on the highly developed physical culture that arose during classical Greek history, where men were regarded as the likeness of the Gods and the human body was idealised by its physical appearance. But what happens when these rules and standards, these borders are corrupted and man becomes so alienated that he is almost un-
recognisable? Here the viewer has to break through his own boundaries and abandon his ideals to get access to a world where men and animals no longer exist. How do people think they look like when their psychological health is so endangered that they get vulnerable to every kind of environmental influence. Pull down the mask. What do you see? Isn’t the humankind an ugly species - inwardly? When borders become blurred or invisible, human models melt and cool down to a new state. Evolutionary borders are ruptured to create something new. The adnate or hybrid creature may be part of the world not yet seen, as our eyes and recognition catch up to this evolutionary progress.
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Help me! I´m not alone....Please
SpliT
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mY miND!! Suicide is a serious danger in people who have schizophrenia. If an individual tries to commit suicide or threatens to do so, professional help should be sought immediately. Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disease. Approximately 1 percent of the population develops schizophrenia during their lifetime more than 2 million Americans suffer from the illness in a given year. Although schizophrenia affects men and women with equal frequency, the disorder often appears earlier in men, usually in the late teens or early twenties, than in women, who are generally affected in the twenties to early
thirties. People with schizophrenia often suffer terrifying symptoms such as hearing internal voices not heard by others, or believing that other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them. These symptoms may leave them fearful and withdrawn. Their speech and behavior can be so disorganized that they may be incomprehensible or frightening to others. Available treatments can relieve many symptoms, but most people with schizophrenia continue to suffer some symptoms throughout their lives; it has been estimated that no more than one in five individuals recovers completely. â—?
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BEarDS! Photos by Manuel Frรถhlich Concept Alexander Weber Styling Susann Bosslau Make up Nicole Seifried Hair/Beards Alexander Weber
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maTSUDD Photo/Artwork & Interview amanda m. Jansson
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He is a slightly odd music video director, living in Stockholm, enjoying knives, thinking through the box-out of the box-and over the box, piling up films, and collecting books he never has the time to read. (Notable work: First Aid Kit - Ghost Town, Jonathan Johansson - aldrig ensam, Familjen - det var jag, Joel Alme - if u got somebody waiting) www.matsudd.com Why would you say you classify as a nerd? For me nerds have always been something good. And it was nerds I hang out with during my school days and to me they stood for something interesting, because they took their interests seriously, and I guess that’s what makes me a nerd today. I cannot do anything half-heartedly. I was a nerd when I collected hockey pictures, I was a geek when I was listening to Nirvana and gathered all bootlegs and I am a geek today when I make videos. I go very much into the details, use references that only one small group of people understand and I love it.) Do you believe there was an event in your life that made you into an oddball? I remember quite clearly when I stopped adjusting myself and began ignoring what other people thought. I was in high school, had played hockey for years and I got to the point where I got tired of living up to somebody I was not. So I decided to do something that no one at school understood. Practically, we had just then a cabaret that I joined. I did two things there. I did a piano with the help of radio waves, and I broke a TV on stage, smashed it down. After that everyone knew who I was but it was so fine when I realized I stopped caring about other people’s opinions. That I have brought with me later in life, I determined to make videos that people did not know they
wanted to see. So after the years in high school I stopped being afraid of people thinking I was an oddball. Do you believe in revenge? Have you or did you ever wanted revenge? I do not know if I really believe in revenge, but a successful revenge is amazingly beautiful. I never wanted revenge on any person, however, just the city I grew up in. I always wanted to prove I could do something much bigger than the city. That I somehow did not want to be that person who stayed behind. During my high school period, there was a guy who felt very bad about my makeup. One time he came up to me and said I was ugly and then he poked me in the eye, the day after everyone thoguht that he had beaten me down. I never took any revenge, but a few years later I was told that he beat his girlfriend and I even believe that he was convicted for murder a few years later. Nature’s revenge.
i kNow ThiS SoUNDS
prETTY SillY
BUT i gET amaziNglY grEaT
iNSpiraTioN aND iDEaS
from DrEamS . In revolting what is your weapon of choice? As a joke, I started calling myself Mats knife in my high school period. After Nick Lowe’s album Nick the Knife, which in turn took it from Mack the knife. I thought it sounded amazingly stupid and I liked it. I liked the idea of questions why I used The Knife and the answer is: “I am quite good at knives.” So it would be foolish if I chose a different weapon, other than just
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knives. Although I like it when things explode or burn. Flamethrower as well - what a fantastic weapon. What kind of people do you dislike? I’m not a hateful person. I’m not trying to dismiss anyone, but I am uninspired by the man who wakes up when he’s 55 and realizes he did not even try to fulfill the dreams he had when he was 25 years old. What makes you angry? But what makes me furious right now is that the Swedish people have voted for a racist party in parliament. I do not know what is wrong with people. I get angry at people who discriminate in other people due to their skin color, gender or where they come from. I get angry at people with huge Dollar signs in their eyes. What ever happened to kindness? Where do you seek inspiration? I know this sounds pretty silly but I get amazingly great inspiration and ideas from dreams. I do not dream very often but when I do, I try to take advantage of it. I have often difficulty to force myself to find inspiration, but it helps a lot to travel with loud music in the headphones. Doesn’t matter if I walk, go on the metro, car, bus or plane - I need the landscape passing by outside the window. At worst, I can do things that I know works to find inspiration - like watching a very good movie, listen to music that I know gives me inspiration or just get very drunk. If you were to direct a film on your life who would you pick to play yourself and why? In the movie of my life, there are three candidates will be merged for the role of Mats Udd (I would of course prefer that it was a movie where the great Mats Udd was being played by different actors). The three are Vincent Gallo, Peter Sarsgaard and Casey Affleck. Typical Oscar material to let three beautiful men play a
right ugly historical person haha. “Historical Person” Gee.
i woUlD havE
EXChaNgED mY lifE for kUrT CoBaiNS
If you could trade places with a person, dead or alive, for a week who would it be and why? Difficult. I would have exchanged my life for Kurt Cobain’s, mostly because he meant so much to me during my childhood. But I guess I would if I had the chance, take a more historical figure or a more historic moment. I probably would have liked to hang around in the Stockholm Bloodbath. I mean 82 people will be beheaded in the middle of Stockholm. It teaches and it will never ever happen again - thank goodness. But an opportunity like that, somehow it would be inspiring to have been involved in it.. If I peaked into your refrigerator right now, what would I find? Since I have almost not been at home the past month, you will not find more than the essentials. Sourmilk, fresh juice and a few cans of organic beer. In theory I love the idea of having a well stocked refrigerator, but that’s not so fun after a week when you do not have time to touch anything there in. ●
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www.peterpapenberg.de
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SHO Ut !
Photographer Dirk Hoffmann www.dirkhoffmann-photo.de Concept / Styling / Production Haniball Saliba www.haniballsaliba.com Hair and Make up Sofie Ăœhla www.sofie-uehla.com Model Natascha @ Seeds
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Jacket Minimarket T-Shirt Wood Wood
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Dress Aq1.
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T-Shirt Motel Socks Wellenstein
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Jeansjacket Cheap Monday T-Shirt Levis
Troussers Aq1.
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Top Wood Wood Hotpants Aq1
Overrall Wood Wood
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Text by Stephan Springer
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It’s not surprising that modern life, in general, is characterized by disorientation and the Big “I Don’t Know Either “ declaration that is quickly becoming a mutated cultural universality. Nonsense is the result of modern times. Does it matter or is it dangerous? Well, the fact that every action has a reaction cannot be disputed. In other words - in the great equation of the universe, there is no rest. That is, at least, the state of affairs according to modern science - computational security. And it is definitely known that faith has long since been replaced. Our big motto is, “think with your head instead of your gut”. So it’s not important what one feels but what one thinks. Or how one thinks? In the joyous science of psychology, mental disorders are determined by the degree of man’s inability to adapt to normal or pre-determined socially acceptable standards. So, adaptation? If you look at the human race, in an overall biological context, adaptation was never really our thing, with the exception of a few selected primates. Oh God - Nature! Why should the Laws of Nature interest us when we can make our own? Why accept when you can create? Be productive instead of reflective – and everything as quickly as possible please! Time is money! We don’t want to starve or allow ourselves to be totally satisfied or something like that. We want it all and we want it today, if possible. What luck that the modern world makes it all possible, and in a time when we are overflowing with products, it isn’t difficult for someone to see themselves as the one. And as you well know, demand regulates supply and it only seems logical to make some in-
novative changes to the desired framework of love. Humanity wants to arrive well instead of wandering aimlessly in display cases. Thanks to “autofascism”, pieces and snippets envelope us, slowly blasting away at our folds and corners until any last remnants of individual character is dissolved away. And what cannot be totally remolded can be wonderfully buried under a decent amount of self-hatred. No doubt, we are really prepare for anything. It is only unfortunate that this psychological self-contempt and a certain degree of emotional hypothermia brings with it a sense of social isolation which in turn results in the over exaggeration of emotional needs including the need for attention and extended “cuddling sessions” in order to try to counterbalance this emotional state. But that can also be solved by having 500 Facebook friends who may have a lot of cool things to show off but have stopped having anything meaningful to say eons ago. And the synthetically-developed, technicallyimposed weekly work intervals should also not generate problems. A skillfully, executed intoxicative weekend and an evening of “leisure” activities will enable you to press out careerrelated stress from the cerebral cortex. A little tip, “scene professionals” definitely do not wait until closing time. The clear separation between the concepts of “service is service” and “cocaine is cocaine” has not existed for quite some time. Finally, one should always be in a good mood and not only at closing time. All in all, adaptation works wonders. Would it be presumptuous to say that the requirements of modern times should be subject to the forced alienation of one’s own reality and certainly not a requirement for those of us who simply cannot come to terms with it? ●
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by Claudio Alvargonzalez Well, I guess you already know who said that and where but for those who don’t let’s take it from the beginning. There are many films that talk about mental illnesses and other disorders but the main problem is that in most of them the character doesn’t come to you like... “Hey dude, I’m schizophrenic you know so let’s go to a bar to get drunk and try to have a happy ending at my motel room, ok?”, let’s try to light your already twisted minds with some good examples.
Schizophrenia. The person suffering from it may experience hallucinations of many kinds. In an extreme case, these visions lead him to see other people who do not exist, to talk to them and believe they are there. Who suffers from this problem use to project one or more personalities out, believing they are real and a reflection of their frustrated hopes, anger or any other repressed feeling. As the person is not able to behave in certain ways he/she creates another one who does it.
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MOVIES
To me the clearest example would be “Fight Club” (David Fincher, 1999) where Jack (Edward Norton) has projected in Taylor Durden (Brad Pitt) features he would like to have or maybe he has them but they are hidden. Taylor is stronger, better looking and more forward than Jack. Taylor not only acts in his place but also tortures Norton mentally and physically because he doesn’t behave the way he likes him to. Similiar to his role in “Primal Fear” (Gregory Hoblit, 1996) where Richard Gere tried in vain to put his “I’m a great actor” face. And now let’s talk about Johnny. Yes, as you should know I’m talking about the great Jack Nicholson after deciding he had enough snow and decided to kill his time trying to do the same with his family in “The Shinning” (Stanley Kubrick, 1980). This film is a masterpiece in many ways but it is also special because it shows this mental disorder in its most aggressive way. Just think about one of its most remembered scenes where Johnny (Nicholson) tries to break the bathroom door where his family is hidden with an ax and you will know what I’m talking about... Yes, that sentence and that face are still the creepiest.
In general, many directors have been seduced by this disorder as it is easy to create powerful characters and solid scenes. David Lynch is probably the main, his whole filmography could perfectly carry the adjective “schizophrenic”, especially “Lost Highway” (1997) but also “Mulholland Drive” (2001) and of course “Twin Peaks” (1990). But there are many other examples, not all of them great films but at least interesting, such us “Spider” (David Cronenberg, 2002), “A Beautiful Mind” (Ron Howard, 2001) or even the comedy “Love Actually” (Richard Curtis, 2003). Yes, I said “Love actually”. Not many people remember the unfinished story (and also big script mistake) played by the great Laura Linney where she is stuck for life because of the needs of her schizophrenic brother in hospital (probably the best scene of the film shared with the one played by Emma Thompson opening the Christmas gifts... but that is another story). And what about spanish cinema? Well, at the beginning the idea of this article was to focus on movies made in Spain but although there are many films describing social drama at its best it’s not that rich speaking about schizo-
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Not too much else to say but just a quick mention to the recent “La Isla Interior” (Dunia Ayaso/Félix Sabroso, 2009), a hard drama without concessions where a middle class family have to live with the consequences of the father and the oldest daughter schizophrenia. Big names in Spanish cinema support this film, Cristina Marcos, Alberto San Juan and specially Geraldine Chaplin. Although many doctors use to criticize most of these movies arguing that schizophrenics are not violent, only with themselves, they forget that cinema is an illusion, movies are just a reflection of the reality and they want to make us think. And to get to this purpose sometimes we need a fake mirror, an empty hotel in the middle of nowhere, a lost highway, a crazy woman with a gun or just a seriously painful joke. phrenia or similar disorders. But at least we have Pedro Almodovar. He deal with mental disorders in a lighter way, most of the characters walk on a thin line between comedy and drama so we tend to forget the real problem behind the joke. One of my all time favorite moments is in “Women of the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” (1988) where the fantastic Julieta Serrano after trying to kill her ex-husband with a gun at the airport and a crazy chase through Madrid says to the police: “Take me to Lopez Ibor Clinic, that is where I live”. If you haven’t watch this film yet you are missing a lot. Also a comedy but a bit more aggressive is “Átame!” (Pedro Almodovar, 1990), where Ricky (Antonio Banderas) is released from a mental hospital and hunts down a porn film star and tries to convince her to be his wife so he kidnaps and ties her up. This is the best Antonio Banderas, a good example of how difficult it is for some actors to look convincing when they are not acting in their native language.
mEDia Click here for movie trailers http://honk-media.tumblr.com/
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Politically incorrect, sarcastic and kinky! http://akajonjohn.blogspot.com Interview by Marcel Schlutt He is one of the young French artists now based in Berlin, that makes this city into such a special and artistic place. As a performer, artist and one of the founders of AKA ( a place for creative people in Berlin), he is giving Berlin a very specific vibe and touch, where we feel his creativity and his art. It is not an easy task to understand who Jon John is, and what he wants to express with his art. So, thats why we asked him in for an interview Ladies and Gentlemen: JON JOHN
HONK!: Jon John, if you have 5 words, how would you describe yourself? Jon: Love, Share, Sex, Ego, Intransigent. You are doing a very specific kind of art, calling yourself a dermal plastician artist, what does this mean? Dermal plastician refers to the fact that i am mainly working through body, skin and flesh. I am also a video arist and i create installations. But i am mainly a performer. Performance has a large meaning especially today. I ´ve been called a Body art performer (i´m blessed). I use my own body as an instrument of sort, creating a physical act, which is not characterised as dance, neither theatre, and by
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cal live act and my entertainment boylesque show, and you can obviously understand it just through their name. But they are, at the same time always linked. I can´t build a show without aim or interest, loads of performer do, and bless them, but i can´t. I need to be political, controversial, picky, sending a message... My entertainment show are usually around strip tease, lap dancing, acrobatic aerial bondage, acrobatic chair motion. It´s usually grotesque, sexy, politically incorrect, sarcastic and kinky.
HURT? .
Do you plan your show, or does it just happen on stage? I don´t think you can practice that at home. Of course i do rehearsals. Regarding the physical live act, i prepare a guide, then the whole ritual happens differently all the time, as it´s based usually on going through my body limits, the trance is different all the time (thank God!). If the performance happens to be the same all the time i would loose my trance as it comes from a mix between endorphin and adrenaline, being over-prepared about what will happen would remove the adrenaline process. The boylesque shows are probably the acts that i rehearse the more, but again the shows are never the same, they all have a base, and then it changes all the time, following the stage, the location, my mood, the people, the other performers i can collaborate with. I love to improvise and collaborate, and i know what i can and cannot do, so i usually mix all those factors to give the best cocktail.
You are also doing performances, some kind of boylesque shows, what s going on in your shows? That is exactly why i mentioned the different meaning of “performance”. There is a huge difference between my physi-
Using your own body as a piece of art makes me think you are a “hurt soul”, as to me your art looks painfull... am i right? Is it something inside you that has to come out? Or is it just a fetish? Whos soul has never been hurt? Once again i am going to use this sentence
Photo by Kiril Bikov http://bikov.de/ doing so i aim to express feelings or exploring different topics. I´ve mainly worked on rituals.
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WHO’s Soul
HAS NEVER BEEN
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from Gina Pane: “If i cut my body open for you to stare at your own blood, it´s because i love you: THE OTHER.” My acts has nothing to do with a fetish. Puting my body in action to send a message, share feelings, give my opinion, makes sense for me. Some others will paint on canvas, sculpt in wood, take pictures... and believe me, you see much more painfull things everyday on your tv. That will always freak me out. When you just remove this electrical signal to put people in front of their reality, it suddenly hurts more... Loads of my past work are based on how beauty can be subjective and subversive, you are giving
me credit to this by asking me this question. When did you create your first artwork, and how did it came about? I was born in a deaf family (not all of them but parts of them), and so i grew up with deaf people. I´ve been used to body language since i was born. I did study deaf langage, and I have a degree as a sign language teacher. We are educated and used to simply move the lips to go through language, my family gave me a different vision, i feel blessed. Being able to use my body to talk since i was born makes me realise so much things about non deaf society barrier and frustration.
. I´ve been used to
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Maybe this is where it started, when i understood the body and the powerfull language it could have. As a child i did dance, and theater. I started performing at my 18th birthday , in south of France, with a collective called “kitschissims” in some riot street happening, we were really controversial, and political. Then i met Bastien, and we created the “un autre corps” project. This is where we started approaching body art. We have been called body architects. Our duet been through loads of nice stages and events. I miss performing with him. I got used to collaborate all the time, and loved it, that is why it was really strange for me finding myself alone in acts, but i have learned a lot about myself from that.
What was your first implant procedure? How old were you? I had a traditional piercing ring (circular barbell) when i was 18 years old, i wanted to see and experience the process, i removed it when i came with my first “conceptual” ornament, those two clock rings i still have in my forearms. I started a collaboration with a french artist on the removal of those pieces, more to come soon... All the pieces that i put under my skin are meant to be worn and removed, and always part of an installation. Procedures are always filmed and performed, sometimes even in live surgery. I show those films in gallery and performance events. Does it hurt? Do you like the pain? Well, of course opening up my skin, elevating my skin, puting an item inside stiching it back and healing the whole process is painfull. But the pain is not the aim. To be honest i hate pain, well who likes it? I think determination gives you some extraordinary “powers” sometimes. But do you know what is really painfull? People asking me that ;-)
Photo by Kiril Bikov http://bikov.de/
How are the people reacting to your show? Most of the time people are kinda scared to come and see me, especially people who are really close to me, but they usually ask me if they can come again. What you see in pictures or videos is not really explaining
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Ritual for love by Julie Fogarty http://www.juliefogarty.com what happens during my rituals. I am sharing a lot with the audience during the acts, and it s a very important point in my work. I give a lot, emotionaly, physicaly, and bring the audience with me. It’s a travel inside my poetry. I have seen a lot of reactions, but the one that
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It’s a travel
inside my
ents patterns on my skin. (handstooth, tartain, black, pin-striping, paisley...) My “love to love” ritual project has been something so powerfull so far for me that i had to ink those 3 beautiful words. I just got a horse head tattoo in my pomme hand for my next and new project “das leben ist kein ponyhof” I do tattoo aswell, i do tattoo myself yes, but because of the idea of sharing i prefer to get tattoo by someone else.
poetry .
You are from France but based in Berlin, is it easier to be an artist in Berlin. I am not sure, but the fact that there are lots of artist in this special city increase your creativity.
remains are tears. You have lots of beautiful tattoos, do they all have special meanings, or are they just graphic choices? Did you tattoo yourself? My tattoos are usually parts of some art projects. The pattern project: As wearing fabric from my clothes, i got tattooed (and still do) differ-
Where do you see yourself in a couple of years, where do you want to let your art grow? I am working a lot on video actualy, i like this media and the new collaboration it brings me. I started several projects of conceptual ornament implantation, but not on myself any-
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more, on other performers, wich is a different approach of my art, and really interesting for me cause i can focuse more on the production, editing and directing. I m really focused on the AKA project aswell, the dream of creating a space like AKA was in my head since a long time. Written on a paper in my “project” folder. As a multi-discipline artist i’ve never found a space to work which was combining different art practices. Under the influence of Valentin (aMinus), we decided that it was about time to create this space, AKA is an artist-run space in the first place (we both use this space as atelier for our respective art activity). We both have loads of friends involved in art, with different backgrounds, different disciplines, and it was for us an opportunity to give them a place to work, a place where we can all collaborate, spend more time together, be a family. That’s why we chose the name AKA (although known as): the simple fact that this place has no name, has different tags and different people involved in the adventure. Regarding the tattoo activity, we want to show a new face of Tattoo. We have once again lots of friends involved in Tattoo throughout europe and all of them have a different artistic background which led them into tattoing eventually. This is why their style is different, more graphic, using new technics and technologies to make their own art evolve on skins. We want to promote that. About the location, we both live in Berlin and we both love Berlin. It is the only city in europe which allows you to open anything creative easily. The city is focused on and filled with artists, that inspires us so much everyday. Berlin also brought huge opportunities in our respective carreers. AKA was meant to be a Berliner. How much do you take care of yourself? Cutting your body in part isn’t it dangerous
especially in terms of infections etc? I do take care of myself, that´s the first thing i do, i respect my body, and it is really important for me, my body is my temple. I do take some breaks from performing really often as my body needs it. I am an hygiene teacher in body piercing seminars, so no worries for me, i know how to avoid
.
mY BoDY iS mY
TEmplE . cross contamination. Where can i see you in the next month? What are your plans? Nothing really planed for the next month as i am on a break for the moment, working in the shadow on videos, new pieces, directing other performers in my “theater”. I started a big film project with loads of different performer called “we are no robots”, in wich i selected and joined different performers that i like around a topic and a symbol, but it is just the begining of this adventure so i won t tell more. I collaborate a lot with Kiril Bikov, and we are building a live act together. ●
mEDia Click here to watch Jon John’s performance ‘love to love’: http://honk-media.tumblr.com/
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Lucha libre, by Antonio Flores ( acrobatic aerial bondage )
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A MAN
SHOULD
WEAR The perfect dress for the HONK!GENTLEMAN
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Burberry Prorsum
Jil Sander
Etro
Comme des Garcons
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The perfect dress for the HONK!LADY
A WOMAN
SHOULD
WEAR
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Prada
Edrem
Chloe
Mondo Guerra
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URBERLIN
UR BERLIN
Interview with Fatih Alasalvaroglu by Marcel Schlutt Translation by Shel Fuller Fatih Alasalvaroglu is a German with Turkish roots. He is living in Berlin and he is following a dream he had once. Thanks to his studies of Corporate and Business Communications at the University of the Arts in Berlin and a successful career as an actor for TV and cinema, both as Director, narrator and illustrator, it was only a matter of time, that he came up with a project by his own power and initiative. In June 2010, the all-round talent, founded URBERLIN! Which is a very exciting and succesful Project! We met Fathi Alasalvaroglu , as it should be otherwise in an old Berlin artist caffee, and with his charm, he won us for his project, directly! But read for yourself! HONK!: What is Urberlin? FATIH: In particular, ART! Art by Artists is nei-
ther the clean “white cubes” of galleries, nor the illegal fringe that cannot be classified by society. URBERLIN offers new perspectives on both contradictions; a new development which lies between the two with original designs “From the streets - For the streets. “ Art from the walls of Berlin captured on fabric and textiles. URBERLIN is ART to WEAR. Thereby, social projects are supported and the artists have a chance to earn a living. All products are “Made in Berlin”, Limited Edition Only prints (pcs 100 / designer), exclusively Berlin artists, environmentally friendly printed and sweatshop-free. Street Art is an exciting art form. It is creative expression within the public domain and Berlin has a lot to offer. If one looks closely, there is a great deal to discover on Berlin’s walls. Images that move. It is made for us humans, in fact for us all! Nevertheless, it is often unfortunately painted over, destroyed and declared illegal. It does not receive the attention it richly and truly deserves.
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URBERLIN offers street art a new stage: On the bodies of people, they are carried back onto the streets. URBERLIN is canvas and medium in one. Art becomes fashion, and their wearer becomes the art’s ambassador. With designs from the streets, for the streets, URBERLIN is a label and agency in one: For street artists who are looking for a new platform, as well as, style orientated people, in search an extraordinary product and simultaneously do a good deed. In the long term, the birthplace of street art, the street, should also benefit from the profits, as well as, the brand itself. In the future, URBERLIN will donate a portion of its revenue per item sold to various social projects in Berlin. In this sense, that means, WEAR ART AND SHOW YOUR TRUE COLORS. How did an actor decide to start such a project? Acting, for me, doesn’t just mean spending my life hoping and waiting for offers from other people. You always have to find a way to quench your desire to “play”; to be curious about life, hone ideas and above all, never lose enthusiasm. The eternal “waiting for the role of a lifetime” can do exactly the opposite. After I completed my degree in Media Studies at the University of the Arts, I thought about what I could do that would bring me the most joy and decided on URBERLIN, here, I am playing the “main character” and I can determine the future of how things will develop. Overall, it has to do with lifestyle, communication, politics and society - all areas which I feel drawn to. I’m happy with this decision because I am currently discovering that every day it makes me stronger than I’ve ever felt in other roles. URBERLIN is my film and celluloid from which everything is made – exactly my taste! I have heard that you want to use UrberlIn to support varios social projects. How will that work? Correct. URBERLIN will donate part of its
profit to the streets, thereby, bringing the central theme “from the street - for the street” full circle. I find it important that the art of the streets of Berlin, somehow flows back into the streets. URBERLIN art not only moves but it also makes a difference. With a donation, for example, I am able to help children and young people from socially-difficult backgrounds. Because if not here then where? They need support and especially positive role models from whom they can learn and emulate. In various workshops, which are currently having a strong impact for young people and kids of Berlin, I see the possibility of providing creative support and help through donations. It is an amazing opportunity to back something positive for our
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society. If each donation is “only” a drop in the ocean, than one drop is always better than no drop! You take street art and place them on various textiles, which artist are involved? Now, I have a handful of good artists who have contributed their artwork in support of URBERLIN. Stohead, NEMA-ONE, PRINCE BUNTSTIFT are the first in a number of artists who are soon to join. Not only because they are experienced and good, but mostly because they understand the philosophy behind URBERLIN. They appreciate the creative collaboration and personal conversation that URBERLIN has developed with them and wish to help the com-
pany evolve. URBERLIN appreciates this essential trust, and therefore promotes its artists in a fair partnership! Other interesting, innovative, and fresh artists have also shown interest in our portfolio of products which are already in development. So it’s just a matter of time.. URBERLIN is very young, but it is already looking forward to being part of a burgeoning movement in art. Many famous artists from film and television like Tobias Schenke, Eralp Uzun, Roy Peter Link, Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss, Lara-Isabelle Rentinck, Bärbel Schleker and Ralph Kretschmar have contributed their support to URBERLIN. New artists are already in the pipeline ... URBERLIN is currently seeking collaborations with famous athletes. They are
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popular figures, close to the people and, above all, they display a fighting spirit and enthusiasm for our modern society. Aspects that are very interesting for URBERLIN. Some interesting offers are on the table but I am not at liberty to say more. And did they all immediately say yes? Yes, the artists who want to understand, and those who have not forgotten how to understand jumped immediately on board. Without vanity those artists showed their enthusiasm for the cause. Surely there are others, but they are not worth mentioning. URBERLIN works with positive people and in particular, we work with positive thinkers! After all, this concept is not just a fly-by-night idea, or brand but a movement that promotes something new. For URBERLIN, both the art and the artist are the beacons of change. What is the payment like? As it so often is at the beginning of sucha project, the payment is not the essential thing. You work with people and artists who want to contribute for the sake of their art and the idea. Nevertheless, every artist receives a fee for every product sold. What are your dreams and goals for URBERLIN? Where do you see yourself in 10 years? My dreams and goals for URBERLIN are: increased awareness, financial support, genuine cooperation with other labels and companies, welcoming additional artists into the collective and especially, to expand the product portfolio. Besides T-Shirts, URBERLIN will also offer hoodies, sweaters, baseball caps, shopping bags and fashion accessories with unique designs. The original canvases of the artists will be available to purchase online. Everything exclusively created by URBERLIN’s original artists, and only limited edition! An
extension of the online shop as a storefront is also a dream, and finally to help the children and young people of Berlin by sharing and donation profits. Something that will make their eyes sparkle. All this will be URBERLIN! Where do I see myself in ten years? Hopefully with a smile on my face and a happy sigh when I look back... Is Berlin a good basis for this kind of art? If not this city, where then? Berlin has made me what I am today. In no other German city, would I probably have this development
Berlin has made me .
what i am todaY
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and experience. This freedom of thought, the authenticity of expression, the ability to be anonymous and yet be connected - all that makes this city for me exceedingly beautiful, even though it could leave the impression of being ugly at first. Essentially, Berlin is a diamond in the rough for me and I decide every daily interaction. Sometimes, I can polish it and make it shine, or leave it simply unpolished, dirty, “staring” or “etched”. Berlin is only a matter of perspective - especially because of its diversity. In that diversity, the courage to stand out and shine is a challenge. That is exciting and you can easily grow accustomed to it. URBERLIN can only grow. So why not dare? WEAR ART and make it shine for us all. First in URBERLIN and then hopefully, all over the world.●
www.urberlin.com
pig STY Photos by Slava Mogutin
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Text by Christo Mitov When he first arrived in New York 15 years ago, Slava hardly knew anyone and could hardly speak English. He had to start his life and career from the ground zero and reinvent himself both personally and artistically. As he describes it: “It was a long, dramatic and exciting journey, and that’s how Slava Mogutin the artist was born” The photographer was named after Yaroslav the Wise, the ancient king who was responsible for unifying the state and bringing literacy to Russia, but everybody calls him just Slava (Russian for fame). When he moved to New York, he started using Slava as his artistic name. One of his poetry books was published under the name SUPERMOGUTIN. And that’s where also the name of his collaboration project with his muse Brian Kenny, SUPERM comes from. Slava and Brian met at a nightclub called Opaline in New York’s East Village back in 2004. Their first creative collaboration is an art video where Brian was throwing eggs at Slava’s ex-boyfriend, who was wearing only a diaper and boots, on the streets of Brooklyn.
Slava starts writing poetry and doing photography at the same time - in his early teens when he prints his first photographs in an improvised darkroom in his mother’s bathroom. For years photography and drawing was something he was doing on the side as a hobby, but it’s not until he moved to New York when he started focusing more on visual art. After publishing 7 books in Russian and being a professional writer and journalist for over 10 years, Slava felt like he had said enough. For his photographs Mogutin never uses professional models. In fact, he hadn’t even had a professional studio until just few months ago. Most of his shoots are completely spontaneous and improvised. Slava gets plenty of solicitations from volunteers who want to be photographed by him, but he prefers to work with friends and people he knows. Personal connection with his subjects is essential part of his work. Slava’s not just interested in pretty faces or beautiful bodies, he wants to capture their real character and emotion. His photographs are always about trust and mutual respect and understanding. Even for his most graphic and
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explicit photos, he would never force anyone into anything they don’t want to do, or something that Slava wouldn’t do himself. Slava hardly ever goes to galleries—just because most of the pretentious and commercial art you can see in Chelsea bores him to death. Nowadays he finds more inspiration in the street art and the work of young artists who don’t get much exposure besides the Internet. One of the reasons why he started his Pinko Commie Fag Blog (http://slavamogutin.blogspot.com) is to give the platform to these talented rebellious kids and emerging artists who don’t have a gallery representation, because “these kids will shape the art of the 21st century, not the art mafia that controls the market” 2011 Slava will publish Panoramic View - his new travel book of panoramic photos from around the world, places like Morocco, Guatemala, Mexico and, of course, Russia. Panoramic View is very different from my first two books, Lost Boys and NYC Go-Go. It’s not so much about people, as about spaces—landscapes and still-lifes with occasional portraits and nudes. For the first issue of HONK! he shot ... PIGSTY this shot : on the set of Gio Black Peter’s music video directed by Bruce LaBruce and starring Thomas Lachin as Truffles Photos by Slava Mogutin!
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by Rochelle Lamanz Schizophrenia. All we hear about is delusions, hallucinations, people covering stuff in foil to prevent alien signals from reaching them, John Nash freaking out at Princeton. Incidentally, I knew someone who was a student at Princeton around the time Nash 'went crazy.' But if you look at the symptoms, and what they represent, in a way, it's beautiful. And the nerds embrace it. Silver foil? My silver foil is the things with which I surround myself to deflect the hurtful gaze of society trying to look in and try to tell me that I'm a freak for being who I am, that I'm wrong and strange and weird for liking what I like. My silver foil is the music I listen to, the books I read, the people I love, the scientific formulae that wrap me up and cradle me and keep me safe. If you smell things that aren't there, see things that aren't there, hear things that are not uttered, you're mad. In that case, you'd be in good company. Rachmaninoff wrote the most sublime piano concertos, Tchaikovsky's ballets induce weeping, and Mozart must have heard way too much that wasn't there.
My point is, all art, be it poetry, music, art, sculpture, literature... it all came ex nihilo – out of nothing. My point is that Rachmaninoff heard something that had not previously existed, and composed it into something that reaffirms existence – I know I'm alive when I hear the Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor. All these nerds, the people who loved music and art and science, they took something that didn't exist, wasn't there, and they made it so that it was there. And as for delusions – the only delusion we carry is that we don’t believe we’re good enough for anything. We don’t see our true potential. We’re scared of what we can achieve. And other people get scared when they see our potential, which is why they try to tell us not to do something. It’s the geeks and nerds and ‘weird’ people are bullied – because they’re not afraid to achieve, to create, to be who they are!! Celebrate your individuality. And remember, it’s not necessarily that people are against you. They’re just for themselves!! ●
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wErThEr 2.0 The life of man appears a glorious fate: The day how lovely, and the night how great! And we ‘mid Paradise-like raptures plac’d, The sun’s bright glory scarce have learn’d to taste.
the sorrows the pain
Rest in peace
Photos by Marcel Schlutt & Pascale Jean-Louis Concept & Styling Haniball Saliba www.haniballsaliba.com Hair&Make up Pascale Jean-Louis Model Jan Burchard
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Trenchcoat A.D. Dertz Shirt Moga e Mago Trousers Butterflysoulfire Gloves Roeckl Button & Colier Styrstyling Boots Dr. Martens Gun Stylist Own
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Vest Butterflysoulfire Skinjeans, Leather Neck Stretchers & Leatcher Police Gloves Butcherei Lindinger Shirt Tiger of Sweden Butcherei Lindinger Boots Maison Martin Margiela
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Trenchcoat A.D. Dertz Leather Blinders Butcherei Lindinger Shirt Moga e Mago Trousers Butterflysoulfire Gloves Roeckl Button & Colier Styrstyling Boots Dr. Martens Gun Stylist Own
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Sacco Drykorn Leather mouth-gag Butcherei Lindinger Trousers Hugo Boss Shirt Fred Perry Fly Rene Lizard´ Belt Starstyling Gloves Roeckl
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Trenchcoat Kilian Kerner Shirt Tiger of Sweden Longjohn Schiesser Rubber Gladiator Mask Butcherei Lindinger Gloves Roeckl Boots Adidas
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Trousers Kilian Kerner Schoulder Pieces Moga e Mago Leather mouth-gag Butcherei Lindinger Gloves G.star Gun Stylist Own
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Trenchcoat Butterflysoulfire Button Stystyling Gloves Roeckl Gun Stylist own
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Biker pant and Belt Butcherei Lindinger Fur and Sholuders pieces Moga e Mago Gloves Roeckl Boots Dr. Martens
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Dress Butterflysoulfire T-Shirt Moga e Mago Leather Harness Butcherei Lindinger
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It’s Sunday morning and i wake up after working for more than 15 hours and sleeping only 4. Sun is shining . For a moment I think it’s summer but when I open the window a cold siberian wind definitely wakes me up. I go to the fridge and It’s empty, something awfully too usual during weekends. No coffee either. Just some vodka a friend of mine left the night before. Well, that’s better that water and as it cold outside, let’s have breakfast russian style! My friend Wanda is calling for the third time. We were supposed to meet at La Latina. Maybe the best place to go on a Sunday morning. I’m late. I’m always late. By the time I get there and while I’m welcome with a very cold tap vermouth the show starts. In a corner of the square a bunch of old ladies are leaving church after the Sunday service. Some are all dressed in black (very catholic), some wear impossible make ups and impossible hairdos. What’s the matter with the hairspray in this city? Do they give it for free in the drugstores? There is also a group of nerds coming from a chinese liquor store with maybe 300 bottles of
beer. I bet they are still awake from the night before. They all look like clones, same shirts, same glasses, etc. They look like an army with uniforms ready to battle against the old ladies. Suddenly a peaceful pop song from the 70’s begins to sound from the other side of the square. A very thin woman in her late sixties introduces herself in a very british accent. There is a very fat man sitting behind her next to a very old CD player. I guess he calls himself the DJ. She speaks with a very deep voice. Too much sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. She danced for The Rolling Stones back in England. She tried to have something with Mick Jagger but she did Keith Richard because he was more “available”. She says she is on tour around Europe after singing for Vivienne Westwood at her birthday party (now I understand her outfit).
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by Claudio
She starts dancing frenetically (well, as frenetic as a 70 years old woman can dance) remembering her golden years in Woodstock. One of the nerds decides to dance with her but she push him against his friends who can’t resist laughing . This is a one diva stage and she owns it. The music is off and the fat man wakes up and walks around the crowd with an empty box asking for money. There is a big applause and the audience wants more. The diva is ready for a reprise. Watch out Madonna! Your kingdom is over bitch! I think I have enough so I decide to follow my friends to a Tapas Bar. It’s time for a typical fried calamari sandwich.
I look back for a moment. The diva is dancing, the nerds are still her most committed fans, the women from church start their way home and a new group of very posh girls come next to nerds to enjoy the show. They feel very alternative because they are sitting on the ground. Yeah, let’s get wild girls. My friends are waiting and the area is full of people, punks, nerds, posh, gothics, mods, old ladies with too much hairspray and Linda the british dancer. If she belongs to a trend she invented it... and her fat husband? Well, he just goes with the flow. I believe this is what we call here “Any given Sunday”. ●
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The eye sees
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what it looks for.
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Is classic fashion journalism standing before its end? A legitimate question when browsing the web which features countless blogs on the subject of fashion. More and more people feel called to present, illustrate and comment on their personal taste. One encounters highlycharged cell phone videos of fashion shows, ragtag shopping tips, homemade photo collages, opaque text fragments and rough-form comments. The blog really gives everyone the opportunity to exhibit themselves in the manner of their choosing. This is precisely the essence of a blog: self-presentation. Journalistic work means that one must have the ability to collect, assess, prepare and present information. Sometimes, I look at fashion blogs, and find myself up to my ears in the ego of the author. I can no longer bare to look at the countless “daytime looks” featuring an unmotivated, melancholic girl, unadorned with long hair, a gray sweater, Marlene trousers and wedge heel shoes or bearded, narrow-types in skinny jeans, shirt, straw hat and sunglasses staring blankly into the camera. I do not care whether Ricardo, who was obviously not born in Berlin, is grinning at me on a Berlin-street style blog in his military jacket. Why would anyone be interested in photographing the Parisian pseudo-fashion elite hanging out at some party? Do I really need to know which designer piece some petite, gay, Asian boy thinks is in style? Who are these people who think that their opinions are interesting or better yet, simply worth being presented? When I look precisely at some of the most successful fashion blogs, which are partially written by educated, industry professionals, it becomes clear that some high-powered fashion houses have commissioned a blog and maintain it so that they are not lagging behind the times. Sometimes, young, ambitious people
think that the Internet is the perfect medium for their creative energies to develop without restriction. And sometimes, they are journalists working for print media and using a blog not as a service but to present themselves as independent artists. What is shocking is the amateurism of the ideas implemented. Often, I expect a confusing maze on a website. Where do you find the information? On this button? No! I’m already tired. Then, this video! Who edited this? Hasn’t anyone noticed that it’s way too dark, the sound is unbearable and the host standing in front of the camera has the presence of a prune! Poorly written articles and terrible images which give the feeling that a blind man surely was at work. There are good reasons why there are different departments in a magazine. For the visual appearance of the magazine, graphic designers and art directors are responsible. The content is compiled by the Editorial Department. Authors write good articles. Photographers produce professional photospreads. A huge team is responsible for a perfect product. Often on a blog, one person attempts to tackle all of these challenges. Fatally, brands from Louis Vuitton to H&M have jumped on this train. These companies are trying to win over bloggers by giving away their products in the hopes that the brand name or the product will be mentioned on the blog as often as possible. Another method is to invite bloggers to fashion shows and events. Presently, there are a plethora of unknown bloggers at major fashion shows sitting next to Fashion Editors like Anna Wintour and Suzy Menkes. Seats that previously were only held by print journalists and editors. Good thing there is the internet because in case of an emergency, you can always quickly find the latest looks that you have not even seen because someone else was sitting in the front row.●
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walking Photos by Asha Mines Paris 2010
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CHantal
Henken Interview by Marcel Schlutt
She is maybe the cutest human being from Belgium i have ever met! One look in her eyes and you are in love with her! Miss Henken grew up in Brussels and studied photography and screen printing at the E.R.G. Born in 1973 she is a living proof that Belgiians are the best drawing artists in the world.! She is a true artist. We just love her tattoos and paintings.
myself for a specific project. I worked for a lot of projects, and i like to work the common tattoo into a special project with each customer.I like to experiment within the techniques and I hope to discover and work with new techniques as well. For example, I’m working on a friend’s project called UNREZT, a music label, which develops too a whole graphic universe. For example, I’m working on a friend’s project called UNREZT, a music label, which develops too a whole graphic universe. For the tattoo, I met someone who offered to teach me. I’ve always worked with regard of the people I meet.
I’VE ALWAYS
WORKED WITH REGARD OF. the people i met
HONK!: Miss Henken, are u a tattoo artist? CANTAL HENKEN: I don’t limit myself to the techniques, they are more like tools to express
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CHANTAL HENKEN
Every tattoo is a little piece of art. But some people wanna have some realy ugly tatoos. What are u doing when someone is coming with a bad idea?
I DON’T WANt TO
JUDGE
THe AESTHETIC TASTE OF THE CLIENT . I don’t think that tattoos are art pieces, they are pieces of life. Some people have really bad tattoos (for me), it’s true, but I don’t want to judge the aesthetic tastes of the client. But if someone comes with an idea, I’ll do everything to enhance the project. And if I feel that I won’t be happy with it, I’ll direct the client to someone else, more suited to his wishes. Do u have a special kind of tatoo u like the most? There’s no tattoo style I prefer, but there are styles of tattoos towards whom I don’t have any affinity’s. I’m probably not the best person to do a tribal tattoo, because I don’t recognize myself in this culture, and I’m not attracted to it visually. How expensive is a tatoo from you? The price depends on what you are ready to give for your tattoo. But the tattoo is not something vital, it is a luxury, and what’s important is what you put in it. Where do you work and how long do people have to wait for an appoinment’? I work in Brussels, at “Chez Elles”, in Berlin, at “AKA” and “ Tatau Obscur”, and I try to travel the rest of the time, to learn, to meet new
people. There is not really a waiting list to have an appointment, because it’s a time used to prepare the project, meet the client, and develop the tattoo project together. There are so many girls being tattoo-artist. Do you know why? My point of view about women in tattoos, is that women have more space in the work system first. (Nowadays there are a lot of people becoming tattooists, who comes from graphic art backgrounds, and it develops the visuals, the styles of tattoos. And women have the place in this situation too. And honestly, it’s far more comfortable to suffer in the arms of a pretty girl, no? (hahaha) Do you see yourself as an artist? I feel more like an artisan than an artist. What is your biggest wish for 2011? My biggest wish : continue to meet people, learn, travel, and develop my work everyday. ●
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ChaNTal hENkEN
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a
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Photography & Production Zsu Szabo Styling Sebastian AnderĂ&#x;en Make up Janine Mannheim Hairstyling Gregpr Makris/Bigoudi Model Christien Fleischhauer/Seeds
a Ballad of Beauty
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wasindeed indeed a a sight for sore SheShe was sight for eyes sore eyes
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A BALLAD OF BEAUTY
A darker landscape filled withwith horrorhorror A darker landscape filled
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swallowed my my my desire! She She swallowed mylust, lust, desire!
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KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin is a place for the production and presentation of discourse oriented contemporary art. KW has no collection of its own but instead views itself as a laboratory for communicating and advancing contemporary cultural developments in Germany and abroad by means of exhibitions, workshops and resident artists’ studios, as well as by collaborating with artists or other institutions and by commissioning works. In 1996 KW launched the Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, taking place for the seventh time in 2012 Founded in the early 1990s by Klaus Biesenbach and a group of young art enthusiasts, the institution is located on the site of a abandoned margarine factory in Berlin’s Mitte district. It symbolizes, perhaps more than any other institution, the city’s development into a center of contemporary art in the decade after the fall of the Wall. The listed front building dating from the second half of the 18th century and the late-19th-century factory to its rear were extensively restored with assistance from the urban heritage preservation office Städtebaulicher Denkmalschutz and the foun-
dations Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin (German Federal Cultural Foundation) and Stiftung Denkmalschutz, during the course of the 1990’s. Two new buildings were also added to the complex: the Café Bravo pavilion designed by the American artist Dan Graham and architecturally realized in collaboration with Hanne Nalbach, and a classical white cube exhibition hall from the Berlin architect Hans Düttmann. The refurbished KW was inaugurated in fall 1999 and possesses some 2,000 square meters of exhibition space extending over five floors, six artists’ studios in the front side wings, and one of the most striking courtyards in central Berlin.
KW Institute for Contemporary Art Auguststraße 69 D-10117 Berlin T 0049. 30. 243459. 0 F 0049. 30. 243459. 99 info@kw-berlin.de www.facebook.com/KWInstituteforContemporaryArt
Opening hours Tue - Sun noon - 7 pm
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The KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin showes until February 20/2011, the first comprehensive solo exhibition by Israeli artist Absalon in 1994. To this day, his work is an important reference for subsequent generations of artists. Absalon, born in 1964 in Ashdod, Israel, moved his Center of life in 1987 to Paris, where he remained worked until his untimely death in 1993. In just a few years he created a work of exceptional Complexity and coherence, which - although imperfect - never fragmentary remains. Systematically and gradually opens the AbsalonSpace. Based on the essential questions of human activities and based on the basic shapes rectangle, square, triangle and circle begins in 1987, first trying to empty the existing rooms newlyand structure to fill in simple forms. The Experimental arrangements, in which he objects, drawings, photographs and Films developed its completion, see the Cellules: Absalon created on the basis of his own personalized body measurements, ascetic contemplation of the residential units, either as a purely sculptural, the still be classified as in the classical sense architecturally. The Cellules created in 1991 as models and prototypes. Reduced to a strict, geometric vocabulary of forms, they are completely Wood, cardboard and plaster and manufactured exclusively in neutral white held. Formally remind the cells to the architectural modernism - Le Corbusier, Bauhaus, de Stijl and Russian Constructivism - in their unconditional abstraction they reflect not so much by a utopian dimension. The exhibition at KW shows the complexity of Absolon´s aesthetic and conceptual forms for the first time in their entirety and can be Relationships between individual and groups of works are clear.
There will be a fully illustrated catalog with essays Absalon, Bernard Marcadé, Nina Möntmann, Moshe Ninio, Beate Söntgen and Philip Ursprung and a conversation between Ute Meta Bauer, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Susanne Pfeffer. The exhibition is sponsored by the Federal Cultural Foundation. With generous support of the KW friends. The program of the KW Institute for Contemporary Art is the Support from the Governing Mayor of Berlin - Senate Chancellery Cultural Affairs allows. ●
Opening times Tues - Sun 12 - 19 clock, Thu 12-21 clock Admission 6 €, reduced 4 €, Thursday night ticket (19 21 clock): 4 € (including Operator)
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For us at HONK! “Greedy Eyes” is already one of 2011’s best new tracks. The song hits you right at the heart, the head and feet with a beautiful atmosphere thats is just unique. NEVE’s amazing vocal brings something very fresh to a quite tired pop and techno scene. Producer behind the track is Drew EASTMAN a.k.a EASTMAN who is also label head at Mode2 Recordings based in Berlin. Drew was born in Germany but lived most of his life in London where he was influenced a lot by the various scenes. We are sure you will hear Greedy Eyes a lot around the world this year.
Eastman NEVE:
Greedy
Eyes
(Separately
Together)
HONK! Met up with EAST- Interview MAN to talk about this electronic pop masterpiece and the Video which was filmed in London last December and how HONK! Played a part. HONK!: How did Greedy Eyes come together and how did you find NEVE ? Eastman: Well i actually produced the instrumental track a few years ago as part of a new album project for Victoria Wilson James (The Shamen / Soul II Soul) but that project was shelved and it ended up on my Lgt Dsgn 3D album last year .. Around the same time i got approached by NEVE and her posse about maybe working together. I was so blown away by the voice and
with Eastman by Marcel Schlutt the quality of the previous work that i send them this track and when came back to me is what is now known as Greedy Eyes. We will be working on a few more tracks now for the new album. Your music is very relaxed and has a certain atmosphere about it, how would you describe your music yourself? I always find it tricky to describe my own music but i guess its a mix of Electronica , Dance, House and Chill Out with a mix of Soundtrackey stuff here. But its best to have a listen to my previous albums and you get the idea. Have you always been a music fanatic or is it
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Credits Video clip Anton Z Risan Director, and Magic Mask Pictures Ltd -Production Company Alessio Valori (A.I.C) Director of Photography
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grEEDY EYES
more of a recent thing for you ? Also who and what influenced you ? The answer is actually tied together .. i was growing up with music around me. My folks used to and still listen to music till the early hours of the morning. Great stuff from Pink Floyd, Supertramp, Rush and such Hippy kinda music .. You can hear that influence especially in my first album .. A lot of music that inspired me has been from the likes of Pink Floyd, Groove Armada, LCD Soundsystem, Michael Nyman, Portishead, Zoot Woman, M83, Miike Snow and Hotchip to name just a few.
mUSiC Click here to watch the video clip http://honk-music.tumblr.com/
Greedy eyes is well on the way to become a international smash it, where you expecting that?
Hehehe is it? Well it’s something one hopes for or dreams about but expect? No, never. It would be amazing though if it did. A Very sexy video has just been filmed in London and been directed by Anton Z risan. Can you tell us how you met Anton and give us an idea of what to expect from the video ? Well in fact is was HONK!’s own Editor in Chef Marcel Schlutt that recommended me to Anton as he was looking for music for a new project which i am also gonna be working on. But once i played him Greedy Eyes he was all fired up and wanted to do a Music Video for the single first .. So i have Marcel to thank for this too :) The Video is very sexy its got an amazing cast of Porn Stars, Models, Acrobats, the wicked Drag Queen Chrissy Darling and many more sexy people along with NEVE who is in the Video .. i am not though. Next time here Just expect a lot of stunning visuals playing with good and evil and sexuality. Very Rock n Roll! You don’t just Produce your own music but also other artists and some remixes right ? You also run Mode2 recordings, when did you
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start that and whose signed to the label ? Yeah i also produce and remix others .. not been doing that much lately but i did work for Massive Ego, Victoria Wilson James, Ysa Ferrer and others there are a few projects lined up for 2011 but i talk about that when i am working on them here.I Started Mode2 in 2006 and right now alongside of me there is Bjoern Nafe, Sedat Altinok, HydrusX, Wave Dweller, Lanny May and Kill Paris. Can we catch you DJing anywhere in the world? Naaahhhh i did that a few times back in the UK and some gigs in France, the last have been in Berlin but i prefer making music rather then doing the DJ bit. Last but not least .. Whats in store next ? An album ? Another Single ? Will you do any live gigs promoting Greedy Eyes? In fact i am already working on the new album which is called: “I Can’t Rock n Roll” and depending on how long Greedy Eyes will run the album will drop before the next single. NEVE will defiantly be doing the vocals on that and there are some other amazing singers lined up
for the album. Regarding live PA’s not sure about any just for the single but i will post dates on my facebook profile: facebook.com/eastmanmusic But their might be a few dates in the pipeline later in the year to promote the album so keep it locked. Thanks for taking the time to meet us .. Thank you and all the best for the Magazine in 2011 and see you soon. LOVE EASTMAN
HONK! is totally in love with GREEDY EYES and we wish you all the success in the world with it. ●
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DISCO
MATIC! Photographer Marcel Steger www.marcel-steger.de Styling Kaey Styling Assistenz Kassandra Beab, Nora Lubasch, Tanja Grams Hair and Make up Gisela Sommer, Kaey Model Silvio Hauke, Gisela Sommer
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Dress Katrin Ciupiak
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Shirt & Trousers Kassandra Beab
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Dress & Necklace Friederike Hentschel
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Harness Nora Lubasch
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Dress Mirjana Gรถdecke Corsage Petra Dos Santos Collar Kristin Schuster Necklace Elias Korzendorfer
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Shirt Nora Lubasch
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Dress Juliette Springer Hood Kristin Schuster
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Cape Anne Stutzky Necklace Elias Korzendorfer
MATIC!
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His name is Jens! He works in a hospital for schizophrenic Patients as a night watchman. We met Jens on a cold winter evening in Berlin and he has some interesting stories to tell about working and living in a closed department of psychiatry.
often can be violent. Are you not afraid at work? Yes, that is a problem.. But you are not allowed to have fear, they can smell it and you are easy pickings.We try our best to keep it secure. Fortunately nothing happened yet.
Why do you work in a hospital for schizophrenic people? I spend 5 years working as a nurse and needed a change. A friend told me that they are looking for workmates in the closed psychiatric. And now I’m here.
When you go home after work, can you switch off without problems and relax? Some days I can do so very well, others less so. But I have great friends, they catch me every time.
How was your first day at work? Was it crazy? The point is that everybody wonders how it is to work in such a hospital. But the reality looks very different. We only know it from some movies. The first day I was a little shocked at the beginning. But these people are really nice although I was a little bit afraid, yes! In the end it was a good day. Many patients are not even there forever. Do you also meet former patients again? If so, how do they react? Oh yes, this happens all the time.Many of them remember me and say hello and others act like they never seen me before. It’s funny though when I meet them in a Club. Do you think there are certain types of people especially vulnerable to be affected by schizophrenia? Not really, no. In my experience, it can affect anyone. From young to old, woman to man, black or white. But many true addicts are affected especially the ones that smoke much marihuana. We now have read a lot about schizophrenia and again you hear that schizophrenic people
If you work with schizophrenic people everyday. Do you have a feel for people with this problem when you meet someone new? (He laughs) Oh yes. I have something like a radar for that. I meet new people and my feeling tells me something is wrong with that person. To conclude, please tell us one of your weirdest moments in the hospital. Oh this is a good one .. One night I was on night watch for a patient who admitted herself. I entered the room and she was already confined to the bed so I sat on a chair to read a book next to her. But what was going on than was like in a movie, she started switching personalities back and forth and each with a different dialect. They said things like: “I always smoke my last cigarette.” Or: “I Always dream day and night, always.” And: “I cannot die, I could not die but I still want to fly.” A few days later when she was a little better she came up to me and took my hand thanking me for listening to her. I was really touched by that.
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Photos by Haikal Noyes www.haikal.de
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Text by Christo Mitov There is no better place to start this article but St. Oberholz - an infamous café in the centre of Berlin used by many trendy people with 70’s plastic frames and varieties of Apple products in their hands as a working station and business meeting point. This is a field study, live form the city jungle which is also the natural habitat of a rare breed I will educate you about. The following report is aimed at distinguishing the real geeks from the self-acclaimed nerd wannabes.
Lately, it has become a trend to be a nerd. Or at least to pretend to look like one. The moment gossip magazines started to use the term “nerd” in their titles, I thought someone should speak out. I will never forget how I got bashed in school for being a nerd. I was one of few to have the best grades in all disciplines and almost no social life and. now it’s become a compliment to call someone a nerd. As the person behind Grateful Grapefruit ( www.gratefulgrapefruit.com ) for (horny) nerds and as acclaimed geeky eager beaver - I have the right to tell you, that:
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You are not a nerd. You wear a V-neck, some tight skinny jeans or leggings, vintage shoes with no socks and fisherman coat (for the lack of better ones) From time to time you rock a beanie, a player or a traveller hat. When you unroll your scarf it measures almost 10 meters. In summer you wear tank tops and straw fedora, as seen on your favorite Berlin street fashion blog. You dress studiously, but don’t know what that word means. You wear empty plastic frames and call them nerd glasses, but you actually don’t need them, because all you read is your pal’s blogs and feeds. You say your swag is ironic while you’re really trying too hard. Your most valuable accessory is a tote bag where you put the tobacco you roll, the low-cut vest and the MDMA that gets you high. You call yourself a DJ or VJ because you can play some songs on your MacBook. You do something with media or design while actually you live off social benefits. You have a mustache or a beard and neither fits you. You use your iPhone to take pictures with vintage filters and post them on your blog, twitter and facebook profile. You use dailybooth.com when you’re bored (after you finished masturbating). You are vegan, but don’t miss an opportunity to stuff yourself in the nearest Burger King or kebab place. You listen to bands with at least 4 words in their names. You tweet “I’m such a nerd LOL” and you believe it. You play games and you think that makes you so fucking extra special. You obnoxiously co-opt every style, culture and subculture there is. You’re just a hipster.
You are a nerd. You are terrible with women or men. You have an IQ over 130. You don’t really care about your haircut or outfit; or food you eat; or other superficialities. You wear glasses, because you spend your days & nights reading/staring in some uncrackable codes. You play with a Rubik’s cube while you wait for your eye doctor appointment - what is it this time -5? You are studious and you know 5 more synonyms for that word. You don’t know what fedora or player hat looks like, but you couldn’t care less. You have arguments about RFC standards with your followers on Twitter. You are socially awkward, but that is ok. You make pranks like those guys www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RBPvX9FadU and you laugh your ass off at the Star Wars joke when you watch those videos. You probably don’t even know the other breed of “nerds” exists, because you’re too busy working on a solution for Apollonius‘ problem www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=123709 You have to listen carefully: 0100111001100101011100100110010001110011001011000010 0000011101010110111001101001011101000110010100100001 00100000010010010111010000100000011010010111001100 100000011101000110100101101101011001010010000001110 10001101111001000000111001101101000011011110111011100 1000000111010001101000011011110111001101100101001000 00011100000110100001101111011011100110100101100101011 1001100100000011101110110100001101111001000000110100101110 011001000000111010001101000011001010010000001110010011001 010110000101101100001000000110010001100101011000010110110 000100000011010000110010101110010011001010010111000100000 0101011101100101001000000110110101100001011110010010000001 1011100110111101110100001000000110100001100001011101100110010100 1000000111010001101000011001010010000001101100011011110110111101101 0110111001100101100001000000110001001110101011101000010000001110111011001010010
000001101000011000010111011001100101001000000111010001101000011001010010000000100000011000 1001110010011000010110100101101110011100110010000001110100011011110010000001110011011010000110 1111011101110010000001110100011010000110010101101101001000000111011101101000011000010111010000 1000000111001001100101011000010110110000100000011011100110010101110010011001000111001100100000011000 0101110010011001010010000001100011011000010111000001100001011000100110110001100101001000000110111101100110001011100 0100000010101110110010100100000011010000110000101110110011001010010000001110100011011110010000001110010011001010111 001101110100011011110111001001100101001000000110111101110101011100100010000001101110011000010110110101100101001000000 1100001011011100110010000100000011100100110010101110000011101010111010001100001011101000110100101101111011011100010111 0001000000100100101110100001000000110100101110011001000000111010001101001011011010110010100100000011001100110111101 1100100010000001110010011001010111011001100101011011100110011101100101001000010010000001011100001000000101110000100 000001011110010000000101111*
*Nerds, unite! It is time to show those phonies who is the real deal here. We may not have the looks, but we have the brains to show them what real nerds are capable of. We have to restore our name and reputation. It is time for revenge! \ \ / / ●
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You certainly can live without these ITEMS, but life is so much More Beautiful with THEM.
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Necklace www-save-fashion.com
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Eyemask KaDeWe Berlin
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LED Light Moree
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Adidas Sneakers Beverly Hills
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Bodhi Wolks . custom figures by Sergey Sbss
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Interview by Christo Mitov
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I am a traditionalist when it comes to concerts - I only go to see bands and artists I have followed for at least a year and whose music I’ve listened to at least a week on loop. With Lemercier And The Lala By it was more of a blind date. I went to their concert in Schwuz - the band was the culmination of the “Queer Noises Festival” 2010. The time between their mesmerizing magical performance and this interview consists of just a couple of phone calls, facebook chats and numerous listens to Lala By tracks. Steev Lemercier is a DJ, producer and performer, born in 1978 and raised in Geneva, with family origins from France and Sicily (oh yeah!) In other words, a mix of Alpenmilch, revolution and volcanic eruption. As core of the music project he embodies the shaman leader of a mystic forest fairy cult called The Lala By – a combination between peri, dark furry creatures with horns and Greek gods. Just like their music, Steev isn’t a guy you would judge by the cover or by the first listen. The deep vocals you hear on the records come out of the mouth of a small skinny guy with big eyes, wide smile and sweet French accent. We met in a small cafe in central Berlin Mitte and talked about his toughest times, his brightest moments of inspiration and why, no matter how cliché it may sound, you should only be yourself and trust your instincts. How are you? To be honest, not so good. I am very happy to be working on music again and be able to focus on my art again. I have other things in my family that suck and are not very easy to handle. That actually really inspires my life. Do you want to know what?
If you feel comfortable with sharing. Why not. My father died 20 years ago and we cremated him. 20 years later he sent me a letter to say that he has saved money to build a grave on the ground he has reserved in the cemetery. I am just back from Switzerland where I was with my mom and my sister. We threw my father’s ashes in the river in the mountains in Switzerland. Some intense things came out from his history. My father was murderer and now I asked to reopen my father’s case together with the police. It’s a very dark and horrible story. Now my life is great, but reality isn’t that easy and I have to work on it to make it that way. So I am very angry. The past is haunting you. No, I let it go. Unfortunately now I feel something I never felt before - revenge. I am not holding on the past. In this very moment I feel like balance has to be restored and fairness too. What I did with my father’s ashes was more to let go. I want things to be clear. Is this why you reopened the case? Yes. I don’t want to go back too deep. What happened, is really nasty. Two people who have been covered for 20 years, have to come clear and justice has to be restored. Other people suffered for 20 years although they shouldn’t have. Back then I was a little kid so I didn’t realize what was happening. What’s the best memory you had with your father? Actually I don’t have so many good memories. My father wasn’t nice with us, his children. he was this dominant person that scares you. My mother used to be that way too. We grew up in this fake protective golden childhood. My parents had a restaurant - they were having people from all over the world coming to the restaurant. It was all about attitude - they punished us for eating even with the wrong fork.
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protect me. My mother disappeared with somebody and had to hide because of the problems she had with the restaurant. She put me in a school in the mountains for children with problems. Most of them were mentally sick, but I was more of a calm water person. There was this one time when a kid was insulting my father. I told him many times to shut up but he didn’t. So I broke his arms and legs. Then the teachers punished me not to leave the school for 6 months during which I was seeing a shrink. After the school I went to college. My teachers blamed me for being angry, but could understand me, too. I was very rebellious those days. I lived together with my mother. i wanted to shock her so I was going out late, not coming back for days, I pierced my nose, dressed up in leather, shaved my head and did all the things I wanted to do. I was goin out in the gay scene - I wasn’t only into drugs and alcohol, but also into sex. I met a hustler, i found his life very interesting and got inspiration from him. How many brothers and sisters do you have? One older sister, Natasha. She was the person educating me while I was growing up. She is my mother actually. She was eating with the wrong fork, too. She was protecting me from many harms coming from my parents. She was treating me like an adult, not covering the truth. What was the greatest advice she gave you? To be myself. She didn’t want me to be affraid to say what I felt and what I thought. How did you get out of the repression of your parents and escape your home? By ignoring them. I was this autistic child always painting and drawing, not saying anything. When they yelled at me, I just went to my room silently. My father died when I was 12. the family had to be split. My sister married and escaped in france. She was working hard to get me and
Is this also when you started with music? The last year of secondary school I didn’t go to school. i decided to be a hairdresser in Geneva. Everybody was really nice to me and praised my work. I am born in Geneva, but I hated it so much that I decided to leave and finished my hairdresser education in London. There I started to mix everything. I became a DJ. I met a lot of people and I stayed in London for five years. Then I went back to Geneva, met my old friends who then became famous DJs like Miss Kittin and others. There was this club called Vitamix, which was the Berghain or Panorama Bar (most popular Berlin club) of Geneva where all those popular alternative DJs came for gigs. Then I came to Berlin because I was invited to play as a DJ. After some time I decided to stay here. Now it’s going to be 9 years that I’m here. I promoted my DJ work, I got invited in Berghain. Then I found a group with a friend of mine - we called it Anachrom. He was the first person
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who showed me how to compose properly and share my music with others. Out first album was called “The Rest Is Yours”. I was the deep vocal and he was the high vocal. We split for personal reasons and now I started to develop LaLa By. How did you find all the members? When I left Berlin, I continued composing songs. It was the Christmas of 2009. I was on my own and I wrote this song called Dominoes - it is about fucked up relationships. When I finished it, I thought it’s a crappy Christmas song. Then I made a friend listen to it - he was really inspirted by it and we listened to it many times. Then I composed two other songs the same night. That is when I decided to have my own project called Lemercier LaLa By. The name of the album was supposed to be called LaLa By. I used to like psychedelic music so I wanted to make this kind of music. Then I started inviting friends over to help me with some instruments or vocals. When the album was ready, I got an invitation to perform it live. So I decided to invite everyone to my place over dinner, bought a € 40 box of macaroons from Ladurée and told them about my concert plans. After that we worked on the project and I was able to put myself together after the whole black history. The night after the concert which went really well I thought I wish I’d die, because I wasn’t able to achieve anything better. But after 3 years now, we have a stable core of the band consisting of 9 members. People invite us for many gigs and I am really glad that it turned out so successful. What genre is LaLa By’s music? Lately I don’t really know. In the beginning I used to call it international dark wave, because we have people from italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, etc. The band is also called LaLa By because when I was a child I always dreamt of getting someone to sing a lullaby to me, but never got it. I also had this thought once that
everything is just “la-la”. What is the direction you are going right now with LaLa By? I was recently in Istanbul with two of the Lala Bys and we wrote some songs. Last year we recorded our album called Real Fiction. We have a lot of new songs and old tracks that we never recorded. But this first album wasn’t really a released album. The first real album we’re going to release is called Charivari - it consists of new rough tracks, it is about love stories, dominoes and fairies. Our music is getting a bit harder. We started the interview with your lowest point - let’s finish it with your highest point. Have you reached it already or is it still in the future? I don’t want to find a label and become a rock star. I want all these great people I am working with and myself to experience life and be exposed to many different situations through LaLa By. I wish this project will make us better version of ourselves and bring us to places we’ve never been before. I want this moment to never stop. This will be a constant high point. ●
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WHAT, WHERE and WHEN are the ques events from all over the globe n ever also a
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stions that will give us the directions for a list of hand-picked ery HONK! issue. The first selection has a focus on art fairs, but a couple of events for dedicated geeks and nerds. Bon voyage!
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WHAT WHERE WHEN by Christo Mitov TRANSMEDIALE.11 response:ability In our post-future era of acceleration and densification of information, the state and nature of being live and online becomes one of the crucial definers of our social presence. Response and action are compressed into an existential here and now triggering a durée of continuous digital stimulation. With RESPONSE:ABILITY transmediale.11 explores the emerging qualities of liveness as a fundamental nature of our present digital culture and discusses the abilities, that are required to respond to social, political and economic processes triggered by the intensity of our participation and interaction. RESPONSE:ABILITY raises many questions which are about to be answered this February. To get a clue, watch the video trailer here ( http://vimeo.com/17731652 ) or take a look at the program here ( http://www.transmediale.de/node/17213 ). Where Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany When February 01 - 06, 2011 More info at www.transmediale.de
NEXT 2011 More than an art fair, NEXT is a showcase for the world’s talents and an adventure in innovative culture. An opportunity to redefine the relationship between art and its public,NEXT is a platform for established and emerging galleries to promote the work of cutting-edge artists. NEXT is dedicated to the exhibition and ad
vancement of today’s art. NEXT is the catalyst for the exchange of information and experimental ideas aimed at today’s educated collectors. NEXT includes works from both commercial and noncommercial arts organizations—galleries, project spaces, art publications and key private contemporary collections from around the world. Where The Merchandise Mart, Chicago, USA When April 29 - May 2, 2011 More info at www.nextartfair.com
ART DUBAI 2011 What: When you hear Dubai, art fair is not really the first thing that comes in mind, but some extravagant buildings and a lot of sand. Despite those first associations with the emirate, Art Dubai is the largest and most established contemporary art fair in the Middle East, taking place every year in March at the Madinat Jumeriah, Dubai. The fair is held under the Patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-president and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, and is owned and run in partnership with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Art Dubai features galleries from over 30 countries and an extensive programme of collateral events including Global Art Forum, Art Park, Art Week and START - a nonprofit organisation operating art workshops for refugee and orphaned children from the region. Where Madinat Jumeriah, Dubai When March 16 - 19, 2011 More info at www.artdubai.ae
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re:publica 2011
LOOP 2011
re:publica is The conference for blogs, social media and the digital society for Germany organized by spreeblick ( www.spreeblick.com ) and newthinking communications ( www.newthinking.de ). Every nerd is there. If you are one, you already have a ticket - just like us.
LOOP is the most important annual event for all those involved and interested in the latest video art productions. At LOOP you can watch, buy, learn and disseminate video artwork from the creme de la creme of video art from all over the world. LOOP focuses on new releases and present mostly premières. Every year the best proposal is rewarded a prize by a selection committee. Galleries from around the world gather in Barcelona to provide an overview of current video art trends, as well as the future possibilities that video and new technologies offer to the artist. LOOP is a dynamical event, constantly adjusting to the changing needs of the various agents involved in the movingimage field. It includes exhibitions, screenings, presentations, conferences and a fair.
Where Friedrichstadtpalast, Berlin, Germany When April 13 - 15, 2011 More info at www.re-publica.de
European Media Art Festival 2011 EMAF is one of the most influential forums of international Media Art. As a meeting point for artists, curators, distributors, galleries and an audience of experts the festival has a great impact on the topics and aesthetics of Media Art. Each year the festival offers its visitors a current summary of experimental films, installations, performances, digital formats and hybrid forms, ranging from personal and political subjects or formal experiments to provocative statements from the pulsating area of “Media Art – Society”. The Festival sees itself as a place of experimentation and a laboratory where extraordinary works, experiments and ventures are created and presented. When April 27 - May 1, 2011 (exhibition April 27 - May 29, 2011) Where Osnabrück, Germany More info at www.emaf.de
Where Barcelona, Spain When May 19 - 21, 2011 Who Established and emerging video artists from all over the world. More info at www.loop-barcelona.com
arteBA 2011 Ever since its formation 21 years ago, the arteBA Foundation has been organizing what has become the region’s most important contemporary art fair promoting Argentine and Latin American art, with the goal of positioning that art in the world market. The fair has been singularly successful in both giving broader visibility to well-established artists and serving as a launching point to legitimize emerging artWhere: La Rural, Buenos Aires, Argentina ists. On each new occasion it provides fresh
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examples of the potential of both the local and regional market, and proves that institutional acquisitions remain the kick-off for sales that dynamize that market. And by extension, other discerning eyes are paying ever greater attention to Latin American art, and there is a noticeably steady growth in the number of collectors eager to discover interesting works. arteBA was conceived as a fair for art galleries, but it’s not a static product. Each new year of the fair adds new projects that boost the creative energy of the participating galleries. The auditorium program, the prizes, the area for emerging spaces, and the various activities of the corporate sponsors that have joined us, seek to break up the strict grid of the stands, turning the fair into something more festive – a true cultural fiesta. Where La Rural, Buenos Aires, Argentina When May 19 - 23, 2011 More info at www.arteba.org
LISTE 2011 Forget about the art fair in Basel, now it’s all about LISTE - a combination of the fine Basel ambient and sutting-edge art. Every year since its opening in 1996, the LISTE - the Young Art Fair in Basel has presented new and important galleries and highly contemporary young art. The LISTE’s concept of introducing galleries in general no more than 5 years old and artists under 40 has been at the heart of its being one of the most important fairs for young art and still being considered one of the art world’s most important discoverer fair. Where Werkraum Warteck pp, Basel, Switzerland When June 14 - 19, 2011 More info at www.liste.ch
VOLTA 7 VOLTA is a platform for presenting the vision of contemporary art galleries of global repute whose artists represent new and relevant positions for curators and collectors alike. Conceived to bridge a gap between Basel’s pre-existing fairs, VOLTA showcases galleries – whether young or mature – that choose as their mandate to work with the most exciting emerging artists. The galleries are selected by an annually changing group of Curators to give each edition its own clear identity and to redirect focus back on the art producers as well as their representing galleries. Where Dreispitzhalle, Basel, Switzerland When June 13 - 18, 2011 More info at www.voltashow.com
KIAF 2011 Presenting North Korean art fair would be much more challanging, but since we don’t really want you to get in trouble going to the communist sister of South Korea, it is more than a pleasure to present the 10th anniversary issue of Korea International Art Fair 2011. KIAF was established in 2002 under the auspices of Galleries ll as young artists from around the KIAF will introduce internationally renowned artist. KIAF’s enriched programs such a huge popularity from collectors, as well program, Forum and Docent programs have gained huge popular as from participating galleries. Guest country this year is Australia. This year KIAF will present around 190 galleries.
Where COEX 1F Hall A&B, Seoul, South Korea When September 22 - 26, 2011 More info at www.kiaf.org
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H NK! #02
Is Coming
MArch 15th ‘11