FLUX No. 6 Art

ART DESIGN

Pow Wow Hawai‘i 6 Days of Art Basel Simple, Super Handsome

On the cover: Andrew wears Belstaff Roadmaster Jacket, J.Crew. Chambray long-sleeve, Band of Outsiders, Aloha Rag. Slim-fit chino, J.Crew. Mosley Tribe “Merchant” sunglasses, Crooks & Castles. Shot on location at Nella Media Group. With artwork by Richard Earl Leong.

POw wOw HAwAi‘i: A HOmeGrOwn inTernATiOnAl ArT COlleCTiVe | 34 bY sonnY GanaDen

With a little ingenuity, and a lot of aloha from friends, Jasper Wong brought together local and international artists for a cultivation and collaboration of creatives seldom experienced in Hawai‘i.

THe COnTemPOrAries | 39 bY JareD YaManuHa

One writer takes a closer look at the world of contemporary art in Hawai‘i.

ArT-CHeTYPes | 44

The paths artists choose to take are intertwined with other artists around them. Featuring Pegge Hopper, Linda Yamamoto, Dana Paresa and Ted De Oliveira.

DiGiTAl eDuCATiOn | 50

bY DaviD a.M. GoLDberG

In today’s digital age, it seems our education system is increasingly disconnected with a technological astute youth. If we don’t start creating innovative ways for our students to learn, then what does that mean for their future?

A GuiDe TO simPle, suPer HAnDsOme | 54

stYLeD bY cHris KaM

PHotoGraPHY bY JoHn HooK

From Manifest and manapua to Nella and Nextdoor, we spent the day in Honolulu’s arts district to compile a super simple guide for men to get super handsome.

ArT s-COOl | 62

stYLeD bY ara LaYLo, PHotoGraPHY bY aaron YosHino

For our women’s fashion, we decided to go back to school. Culling inspiration from icons such as Frida Kahlo and Ines de la Fressange, we sought to capture the iconic female creative as the student, teacher, muse and artist.

MANIFEST

Wall-to-Wall Studios knows how to have fun: They’ve evolved to become a branding agency for print, interactive, web and broadcast outlets.

eDiTOr’s leTTer mAsTHeAD leTTers TO THe eDiTOr COnTriBuTOrs

wHAT THe FluX?! | 12 an art MerGer

lOCAl mOCO | 14 Graffiti buster

nOTABle wOrKs | 16

GaYe cHan anD nanDita sHarMa

fLuXfiLes : ArT | 18 interisLanD terMinaL

fLuXfiLes : DesiGn | 20 WaLL-to-WaLL stuDios

fLuXfiLes : DesiGn | 24 HuManHanD

fLuXfiLes : musiC | 28 tHe JaMes faMiLY

TeCHnOlOGY | 30 tHe artPHone

Green enVirOnmenT | 32

furniture DesiGn WitH PurPose

TrAVel | 68 art baseL, MiaMi

OPen mArKeT | 72

DeCOnsTruCTinG | 76 aLeXa sectionaL

in THe KiTCHen | 78

WitH MiXoLoGist JoeY GottesMan, MuncH, aPartMent3

6 rAnDOm QuesTiOns | 80 steven GiLes curator, WaiKiKi eDition retaiL store

TOC Online

Go behind the scenes of “Art S-cool,” and see the inner workings of our women’s fashion editorial.

Fr O n T Business

If you frequent the Honolulu arts and culture scene, you may know Ted De Oliveira (see his profile on page 48) by one of his many monikers: Tedji, Tiger Blood, The Greatest, or as the first name on a club’s 86 “no entry” list. He’s cleaned up now, and is making some amazing music. His latest electronic project, Front Business , conjures up a bit of Swedish psych-rockers Dungen and French supergroup Justice. His track caricatures haunts like the best of D’Angelo. Go to frontbusiness.bandcamp.com to download.

B OO m, P Ow!

Channeling the collaborative spirit of Pow Wow Hawai‘i (see page 34), Hong Kongbased artist Jasper Wong, known for his frosty illustrations, magical laser beams, and an obsession with the color pink, doodled around with artist friends Samuel Rodriguez and Bu to create a kick-ass (!) version of our cover. Visit our website to see the full cover in all its uninterrupted glory.

front busines + uvav coLL ab

Much of what we hear in regards to the arts is dismal. The closing of galleries for lack of revenue, the merging of museums for lack of funding, the migration of young creatives for lack of opportunity. Actually much of what we hear these days in general is dismal. Budget crisis. A failing educational system. Increased homelessness — and with that, increased homeless children.

The crisis in Japan certainly doesn’t assuage fears. The HTA, I’m sure, is quivering at the double-digit decreases of tourists from Japan, Hawai‘i’s second largest visitor market. Currently the HTA is looking for new ways to market Hawai‘i and provide our state with a strategic advantage over other competing destinations. Here’s one offered by Jay Jenson, the deputy director of exhibitions and collections at The Contemporary Museum, “While many visitors want the tourist stereotype, many also want to see and experience something of Hawai‘i beyond that. Cultural tourism is mentioned a lot now, and I think to keep visitors coming back, we have to offer alternatives to the sand and sea cliché. Unfortunately, tourism executives have been slow to recognize the potential in cultural tourism for Hawai‘i, so culture and arts rarely gets promoted.”

Justin Cravalho, co-principal designer of Humanhand, in his summation of what it’s like to be a designer said this: “Being a designer is like being a skateboarder. Skateboarding gives you a new way to look at and re-examine your surroundings, and it’s the same in that once you’re designing, you see things differently. Like I look at the way the exterior of this building is falling apart, and I find inspiration because of the way it’s cracking.”

For the sake of our arts community – for the sake of our state – it’s time we all started thinking of ourselves as artists, because an artist is one who thinks outside the box – with innovation and creativity at the forefront – and often makes do with less.

In this, our Art & Design issue, we celebrate innovation and seeing things just a little bit differently. Instead of cracks, let’s see color.

Enjoy.

Lisa Yamada

FLUX HAWAII

Lisa Yamada EDITOR / PUBLISHER ara Laylo CREATIVE DIRECTOR

ADVERTISING

scott Hager

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & ADVERTISING advertising@fLuXhawaii.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Gloria baraquio

sonny Ganaden

David a .M. Goldberg alex Kaiser

Linda Kwon

aaron Woes Martin

carolyn Mirante

bridget Mullen

Mike Pooley

toshi sato

Margot seeto

Jen tam

Jared Yamanuha

COPY EDITORS

anna Harmon andrew scott

INTERNS

Geremy campos

Joel Gaspar

IMAGES

Luke aguinaldo creativity academies

John Hook

Pegge Hopper

Humanhand interisland terminal

Harold Julian

Linda Kwon

aaron Woes Martin

Mike orbito

Mike Pooley

brandon shigeta

cassy song

Wall-to-Wall studios

Lisa Weiss

Jasper Wong aaron Yoshino

CREATIVE

ryan Jacobie salon, ryan camacho

Landon fidele

Kylie Mattos

timeless classic beauty, Dulce felipe

almond Joyce chris Kam

Multimedia

Matthew Mcvickar

FLUX Hawaii, P.O. Box 30927, Honolulu, HI 96820. Contents of FLUX Hawaii are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the expressed written consent of the publisher. FLUX Hawaii accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts and/or photographs and assumes no liability for products or services advertised herein. FLUX Hawaii reserves the right to edit, rewrite, refuse or reuse material, is not responsible for errors and omissions and may feature same on fluxhawaii.com, as well as other mediums for any and all purposes.

FLUX Hawaii is a quarterly lifestyle publication.

Dear FLUX Editor,

I am writing in regards to the February 1, 2011 FLUX Hawaii blog entry titled, “9769 Radio Drive: The Maker Movement comes to Honolulu (with invisible dog parts)” written by Sonny Ganaden.

As a 22-year veteran arts worker and practitioner, my primary goal is to create access to all forms of art for all people. Contemporary art in particular requires special attention when developing ways for the general public to access it. Many think that contemporary art is high maka maka , filled with ideas beyond the reach of the layperson. Ganaden’s review does nothing to dispel this notion, and instead actively reinforces the idea that contemporary art is only made by and for the elite.

Blatant name checking (two philoso -

phers, one Greek mythological figure, two über corporations, one alleged art movement, two artists), use of rarified language and concepts, and sloppy writing are amongst the offenses found here.

Ganaden writes, “They don’t make invisible dogs anymore. If they did, those factories would have moved far offshore last decade, where workers now make Gucci bags and happy meal toys.” If the writer wants to comment on how the garment and plastic toy industries are no longer based in the US why doesn’t he just say that? And in this case he’d be wrong. While Happy Meal toys are made in China, Gucci bags are made in Italy, under different work conditions, for different markets. #checkyourfacts. I suspect Ganaden wants to say something critical about sourcing labor and production, but makes no clear connection to “9769 Radio Drive!”

I pose the questions: How can we as arts workers and media makers demonstrate the relevance of contemporary art for everyday people? How can we show that contemporary art can speak to issues that many can identify with? It’s questions like these that make working in the arts meaningful for me and why Ganaden’s re -

To the author of this type-written letter:

While we must commend your use of type and appreciate your concern of our need for a proofreader, we also must roll our eyes at your anonymous audacity. It’s easy to criticize when you’re hiding behind a piece of business reply mail. Also, in regards to your first statement regarding medicine in the 18th century (yes, the 1700s): Edward Jenner discovered the vaccination for small pox; surgical forceps were invented by Stephen Hales; the first American hospital opened in Pennsylvania; William Hewson disproved Plato’s theory on blood clotting noting that changes in temperature did not cause coagulation; René Laënnec invented the stethescope; the science of modern pathology had its beginnings in this century; condoms became a widespread way to prevent pregnancy.

view ultimately disappoints. I hope in the future that you subject your writers to closer scrutiny and that their work be evaluated for clarity, accuracy and accessibility. Coverage on the arts and cultural scene of Hawai‘i can and will effectively be broadcast by FLUX Hawaii, but only if the people can first gain access to what it is your writers are trying to say.

With respect,

Trisha Lagaso Goldberg

You are absolutely correct. The arts should always be presented in a way that’s accessible. It has always been our intention to provide readers with content that’s informed and relevant but never high maka maka or highbrowed. In terms of the accuracy of statement regarding the production of Gucci bags, I suspect Ganaden was referencing the large market for and production of Gucci fakes, which often are manufactured in China. This may have been understated because of Ganaden’s inference-based style of writing, which may not be the most effective style when discussing the arts. But because this was published solely online as a blog entry, we gave the writer more leeway in being pretty tangential. Still, we understand a link or 20 probably was in order.

JoHn HooK

An artist is … Anyone creating something with a purpose.

I’d like to own a piece of artwork by … I’d really like a painting by Adolf Hitler. It boggles my mind that such a douche bag would paint a peaceful landscape.

What is needed to create more thriving arts scene in Hawai‘i?

More galleries willing to let people show work for the first time. There’s nothing more exciting than your first solo art show. I think artists would be more inclined to give it their all and audiences to show support. Personally, I’m tired of seeing the same people show the same work in different places.

o ur cover photographer, John contributed immensely in putting out this issue. s ure he might come off as goofy, but he does some serious work in capturing the essence of the story and of the person. John’s is a skill that can’t be taught, but arises inherently as a result of utter creativity and passion.

cHris KaM

An artist is … An expressionist of feelings who communicates through visuals and/or sound.

I’d like to own a piece of artwork by… Any of the KAWS ad posters from the late ’90s or any from his collaboration with David Sims.

What is needed to create more thriving arts scene in Hawai‘i?

I feel this has already begun organically, with the roots and seeds being planted in places like Chinatown and with individuals such as (and by no means limited to): Aaron “Angry Woebot” Martin, Kamea Hadar, Aaron “Honozooloo” Yoshino, Brooke Dombroski, Andy South, Luke Aguinaldo and Lucky Olelo, who have gained interest/praise beyond the islands for their works.

by day, chris is the art director for KicKs/Hi by night, he’s the #suPerHanDsoMe @DJDeLve known for making bodies on the dance floor and shake + pop. He also knows a thing about fashion, and he brought his discerning eye (and the most pairs of shoes we’ve ever had on set) to style our cover look and men’s fashion editorial, page 54.

image by cassy song

DaviD a .M. GoLDberG

An artist is … Someone who connects you to a sense of experiencing an emotion, perception or thought as if for the first time.

The local artist everyone should know about: The reader inspired by this issue to take a genuine creative risk instead of enjoying the weather and procrastinating.

What is needed to create more thriving arts scene in Hawai‘i?

Nothing. From museum shows, music, collectives, graffiti and design, the “art scene” *is* thriving. Will Honolulu ever be thought of with London or New York when it comes to contemporary art? All signs point to “no,” and I’m not sure that in their hearts folks actually want it to be.

David a .M. Goldberg is a cultural critic and freelance writer who sees art in much of the world around him, a blocked black canvassed wall, for example. if his precocious son is any example of what could be, his methods for integrating visual arts in today’s education will enhance learning for the future.

aaron van boKHoven

An artist is … Someone who chooses to express his or her self in any way – a computer programmer can be an artist.

The local Hawai‘i artist everyone should know about:

Chris Rohrer, a fellow photographer who shoots with film.

My general impression of the local art scene: Like the island itself, it’s pretty small. There are so many unknown artists lurking everywhere, although we tend to see the same people at the front. Don’t get me wrong, I think that it’s great for those artists, but you would think because Hawai‘i is so small that new artists would be discovered all of the time. I think it’s quite the opposite. The ones at the top tend to overshadow the newer artists.

the only digital camera aaron owns is the one on his phone. He shoots solely on film and uses Polaroid backs to check for lighting. When we first heard of aaron one year ago, we were told he had retired from photography and was expressing himself through code (programming websites), so we were honored he emerged to shoot the portraits featured in “art-chetypes,” page 44.

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WHat

tHe fLuX ?!

an art Merger

tHe HonoLuLu acaDeMY of arts is HaWai‘i’s LarGest Private Presenter of visuaL arts

ProGraMs, WitH an internationaLLY recoGniZeD coLLection of More tHan 60,000 WorKs sPanninG 5,000 Years.

18% of those polled were members of tcM. on average those polled visited tcM 2.3 times in the past year.

24% of those polled were members of the academy. on average those polled visited the academy 3.1 times in the past year.

OTHER NOTABLE MERGERS

:

Honolulu became a one-paper city in June 2010 when the o‘ahu Publication’s starbulletin bought out Gannett’s Honolulu advertiser. the merger resulted in 430 workers laid off.

65% say the newspaper merger has not resulted in a stronger paper.

in 2009, tv stations KGMb, KHnL anD K-5 MerGeD tHeir oPerations resuLtinG in 68 Jobs Lost.

56% say the station merger has not created stronger news programming.

in July 2010, the contemporary Museum and the Honolulu academy of arts released a letter of intent to merge their operations. While a period of due diligence is still underway, and it’s unclear what will become of both properties, the merger is sure to bring about widespread changes for both museums. in an online poll we asked our readers what they thought about the merger.

The Contemporary Museum is the only museum in the state of Hawai‘i devoted exclusively to contemporary art, focusing on preserving art from 1940s to the present.

What do you think of the Art Merger?

“Whatever it takes! if the alternative is shutting down, then the academy takeover has to be positive.” – David Wilkie

“Hawai‘i should preserve diversity amongst its institutions for the arts. a merger feels like a business move and seems stifling. it’s sad to hear about all the cutbacks, but strong financial leadership and a reevaluation of their programs might be a positive reinvention for new and old audiences. this is a test with no easy answers, and a merger seems a little simple.” – creative research cooperative

44% view the merger of tcM and the academy as positive.

24% view the merger as negative.

32% were not aware of the merger.

IMAGE BY AARON YOSHINO

LocaL Moco: Graffiti buster

Ric Ramos, Graffiti Removers Hawaii

TEXT BY LISA YAMADA | IMAGE BY JOHN HOOK

“As soon as you get off the airport viaduct, what do you see? You see graffiti. You see all these pillars just tagged. You drive down Nimitz Highway and everything’s just tagged, like nobody even cares.”

Ric Ramos is what urban street artists would call a “graffiti buster,” and he doesn’t just paint over the tagged letterforms, but removes them completely. He eventually started Graffiti Solutions Hawaii (now Graffiti Removers Hawaii) mainly because he was tired of seeing people simply paint over graffiti. “All of a sudden you have a pink spot, a baby blue spot, a beige square – I just thought that was the weakest way you could fight graffiti. We’re supposed to be this tourist destination, and we have the state of Hawai‘i just painting over this stuff.”

Painting boxes over graffiti is what’s known as “canvassing,” and Ric says he thinks this only encourages taggers to want to showcase their work. “If somebody paints a box over a tag, the next tag doesn’t go to the left of it or to the right, it goes right in the middle.”

Ramos began distributing and using products with names like “Jack Hammer” and “Elephant Snot” to remove graffiti from

walls along the street, the freeway and commercial properties. “Cleaning graffiti is not like cleaning anything else because you have to worry about what kind of ink was used and the surface it’s on.”

Once, Ramos saw a large tag across the Amber Alert sign above the freeway near School Street. He called up the Department of Transportation and offered to clean the tag. “Just put me up on a lift, and I’ll do it for free,” he recalls telling them, “because if you don’t do it right, you’re gonna mess up your sign.” They declined Ric’s offer. The next day, DOT did remove the tag, but since they used a chemical that wasn’t conducive with plexiglass, the entire sign was fogged up for two weeks after.

Graffiti falls under criminal property damage and can be a felony or misdemeanor, depending on the extent of damage. If caught, the law requires a person to remove graffiti from the damaged property within 30 days and perform community service in the area where the offense was committed. If the offender is a minor, the parent or legal guardian can be held responsible to clean the graffiti. One 20-year-old offender in 2006 got slapped with 200 hours of community service, and had to serve four weekends in jail, along with pay $5,000 in restitution after tagging freeway signs. It was his third offense.

Asked if he thinks there’s a difference between tagging and street art? “Some people may consider it art, but I just think people don’t have respect for our island. I think there is a difference, but here’s my biggest thing: Put it on anybody’s building that you don’t own, that you don’t have permission to do it on, and that’s a problem.”

“Some people consider it art, but I just think people don’t have respect for our island.”

Ric Ramos of Graffiti Removers Hawaii.

notabLe WorKs

[anD otHer

sHenaniGans] WitH…

Gaye Chan and Nandita Sharma

TEXT BY FLUX STAFF | IMAGE BY LUKE AGUINALDO

Gaye Chan and Nandita Sharma are the founders of Eating in Public, a growing “chain” of free stores where anyone and everyone can leave or take goods. They have grown and shared food on private/public land since 2003 without ever asking for permission and have implemented an anarchist recycling system on O‘ahu. Chan serves as the chair of the department of art and art history at UH Mānoa, and Sharma is cross-appointed in the departments of ethnic studies and sociology.

Why Eating in Public?

We are simply continuing the work of the 17th century Diggers in remaking the commons. We do this to make fun of, and make trouble with, the state. We want to show that we can take care of each other while we take care of ourselves.

I hear you are throwing these Diggers dinners. Tell us more about them. They are basic potlucks, except the primary content of what you bring you must

have either grown, hunted, fished, gathered, bartered, been given, found or stolen.

What’s your favorite thing to eat for lunch?

Freshly harvested stuff. I am also very excited that Steve just figured out how to clean, remove parasites from and sauté African snails in butter and garlic.

In one sentence describe the book you are currently reading.

The gentries took the commons and the commoners have been trying to get it back ever since.

The film that has most influenced you is: Scene 3 of Monty Python and the Holy Grail .

KING ARTHUR: How do you do, good lady. I am Arthur, King of the Britons. Whose castle is that?

WOMAN: King of who?

KING ARTHUR: The Britons.

WOMAN: Who are the Britons?

KING ARTHUR: Well, we all are. We’re all Britons and I am your king.

WOMAN: I didn’t know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous collective.

What are you currently working on?

We are expanding a garden at the University of Hawai‘i and designing/building seeds-sharing stations. Anyone interested in adopting these stations should let us know at info@nomoola.com. We are also preparing for an exhibition titled The Raw & Cooked: Art, Food and Agriculture at the Palais des Nations in Geneva some time in October 2011.

For more information about Eating in Public or to find out more about how to remake the commons visit www.nomoola.com.

Gaye Chan and Nandita Sharma shown with the Eating in Public collective.

Interisland Terminal’s inaugural exhibition featuring Belgian artist

was held in an alternative space: an unoccupied store front on Wai‘alae Avenue.

Rinus Van de Velde

NOW BOARDING

Art Organization, Interisland Terminal

An interisland terminal layover is rather uneventful. Lacking the size and number of people at most international airport hubs, the sleepy, slow-moving transition area isn’t inspiring. But take the concept as a nexus for Hawai‘i’s creative communities to compete on an international level through various approaches, and the terminal suddenly seems like an exciting point from which to jumpstart.

Interisland Terminal is an arts organization that’s only two years old, yet it has already created buzz in the arts communities. An entity whose founding members reside in Honolulu, Interisland Terminal (IT for short) strives to create art experiences for those in Hawai‘i, but can also hold their own in the international art arena. The mission of IT is “to curate and create public programs in contemporary art, film and design,” says Wei Fang, head of the art and design legs of IT. The organization’s programs vary in location, medium, scope and subject matter, though “we do work we hope supports and nurtures the creative community in Honolulu,” says Fang.

The all-volunteer organization’s diverse programs prompt one to think about the comprehensive mission of IT: a Belgian artist’s solo drawing show, a rock ’n‘ roll film festival, a ticket kiosk design competition, a pop-up bookstore, a documentary series about concepts of reality, and architectural tours, to name just a few. The wide range of experiences IT provides challenge pre-conceived notions of art spaces and utilize fleeting programs to slowly build a more permanent, big-picture mission and presence of IT.

The people behind Interisland Terminal come from a myriad of disciplines and are

Manufactured Reality

a mix of Hawai‘i locals and mainland and international transplants. Fang brings experience in business management and art curation and also works closely with MA‘O Organic Farms. Anderson Le commands the film division of IT, in addition to serving as the program director of the Hawai‘i International Film Festival. Sarah Honda, who also has a role in HIFF, brings her experience in journalism, music management and development to head IT’s marketing and outreach. Sean Shodahl is in charge of IT’s development, and has more than 10 years of experience in the film industry. Ben Trevino is head of operations, with extensive experience in operating film and theater projects. In addition to the five founding members, IT has since added staffers for media planning, graphic design, web development, and a new board of directors.

One of these new board members is Konrad Ng, who teaches critical studies at the University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa’s Academy for Creative Media. When asked about his view of IT’s mission, he replies, “Our consensus was a recognition of the value and efficiency of episodic and mobile, creative ‘one-offs’ to incubate a unique, creative arts urban culture.” When Ng talks about the creative urban culture of Honolulu, he taps into Honolulu’s demographics and location as being key to IT’s existence. Fang elaborates: “It’s essential being based here. We have to do things on a scale and with a sensibility that uniquely fits our community. Otherwise, our programming doesn’t make sense.” Fang cites the difference between a group show and a solo exhibition. “With many shows in a group format, you lose a connection or

an opportunity to look at their work in a deeper way. Doing the shows that we do, with a single artist showing one body of work, one series, one idea, really helps bring a clarity and manageable approach to that work. That’s really appropriate for this community right now.”

June’s program features the Hilo-based family of Sig Zane, Nalani Kanaka‘ole and their son Kuhao Zane, who will have a collaborative arts program at the Parc Hotel in Waikīkī from June 2 to June 12. It will incorporate exhibits, educational programs, lectures, demonstrations, screen-printing and more. “Everything they do creatively goes back to who they are as a family, where they come from,” says Fang. Sig Zane is a successful clothing designer, Nalani Kanaka‘ole runs a prestigious hula halau with her sisters, and Kuhao Zane works with his father on the company designs, as well as projects of his own. Such a creative family working in harmony is rare. “It’s indigenous and uniquely Hawaiian and yet contemporary as well,” says Fang. “You cannot find this anywhere else in the world.”

The Sig Zane pop-up store will run from June 2 to June 12 at The Waikīkī Parc Hotel. For more info on upcoming projects visit www.interislandterminal.org.

Visual culture is everywhere, especially in Wall-to-Wall Studios’ office space in Chinatown. Bernard Uy shown at bottom of stair.

WALL-TO-WALL STUDIOS

Massin, the iconoclastic French graphic designer, once proclaimed that graphic design has developed in our contemporary culture to become both an inescapably identifiable element and an economic motor of prime importance. It may not always be overtly evident, but Massin was right about one thing: Graphic design is in everything. We have only to stop for a moment to realize just how prevalent its elements are in our lives. We can find these examples of what is perhaps most appropriately labeled “visual culture” in the various surfaces of daily existence, from the cups that hold our morning coffee, advertisements and magazine inserts to the decals on the back of a work truck whizzing down Maunakea Street. The permutations are seemingly endless.

Most of us are capable of discerning which advertisements are successful and which aren’t simply through our responses to them. But when it comes down to it, what does it really take to create a successful campaign? Nestled in the bustling creative hub that is downtown Chinatown, the design firm Wall-to-Wall Studios is working to address this very question. Its creative director and founder Bernard Uy believes that the key lies in the method of execution, insisting that design is just one facet of the whole process.

Wall-to-Wall started in Pittsburgh back in 1992, when he and co-founder James Nesbitt came up with the concept for a comprehensive design company that would combine their talents in both communications and art. “There’s no denying that we

are a visual culture,” says Uy, “but for us, it was imperative that we addressed what was really at the heart of our client’s needs – and that’s effective communication.” In turn, what started off as a traditional graphic design studio and illustration partnership has since evolved to become a branding agency for print, interactive, web and broadcast outlets.

“We couldn’t go in to this business, doing what we did, without having our client’s challenges and goals in mind,” Uy says of the decision to move the company beyond just design. “Otherwise, we’d just be doing something that’s purely along the lines of fine art.”

Just a short walk down Nu‘uanu Avenue to Wall-to-Wall’s Honolulu office holds the potential to incite thoughts concerning how this area has quickly become one of the most relevant centers for creative activism in Hawai‘i. For the past decade, entities from local bands and theater groups to artists and activists have considered Chinatown a launch pad, and, in some cases, home base. Along with the advents of these simultaneously modest and monumental achievements come their visual manifestations: ingeniously designed posters for an upcoming showcase of local art and music cling to a light post, while just around the corner, a clever logo beckons from its home on a storefront window to sell you the next best thing.

The Wall-to-Wall team is no stranger to this kind of scenery. Back in Pittsburgh, Uy, Nesbitt and their small team of design -

ers once worked exclusively within the arts and non-profit communities. When Uy decided to move to Hawai‘i to expand the business, sticking with that initial model, as well as positioning themselves in a place like Chinatown, was a no-brainer. As a result, Wall-to-Wall’s first paid client in the islands was the Hawai‘i Theater Center, which was located a mere walking distance from their space. Since then, their client base has grown to encompass countless names in various industries spanning from restaurants and catering companies to real estate development firms, educational institutions and beyond. Locally, they’ve helped such names as Hawai‘i National Bank, the UH Mānoa Shidler College of Business, J.J. Dolan’s and the Kobayashi Group among countless other clients that extend nationally and internationally.

They haven’t forgotten their roots, though. “We still find ourselves working on projects in the arts that run the gamut from for-profit to non-profit, per-project through entire campaigns,” says Uy. “Art is important in our community in so many ways. It’s continually rewarding to know that you’ve helped facilitate its impact in some way.”

For more information visit www.walltowall.com.

“Our ‘solutions’ are born out of extensive conversations with the client, not just our artists whims.” Shown

left to right: Warren Daubert, Luke Aguinaldo and Justin Cravalho of Humanhand design agency.

NAVIGATING THE TERRAIN

To a skateboarder, a bench is not just a bench. A handrail is not meant for safety. To a skateboarder, the bench becomes an obstacle, the handrail a surface to grind.

“Skateboarding gives you a new way to look at and re-examine your surroundings,” says Justin Cravalho, co-principal of the design company Humanhand, “and basically, being a designer is like being a skateboarder. It’s the same in that once you’re designing, you see things differently. Like I look at the way the exterior of this building is falling apart,” he says of his office in the Blaisdell Hotel on Fort Street, “and I find inspiration because of the way it’s cracking, and the colors.”

In 2007, after spending 12 years in the corporate design world of agency advertising, Justin sought an outlet for greater creative release and joined forces with Warren Daubert and Jon Borgonia to form Humanhand, an independent design and interaction company built around the idea that inspired art and design will make good ideas extraordinary.

As their name suggests, Humanhand is about imparting all of their work with the care of a human hand, as opposed to the mechanized experience often found in colossal corporate agencies. “We never discount the fact that the client knows the client’s own business best,” says Warren, emphasizing why so much time is spent in research and development. “Our solutions – and we always call them “solutions” – are born out of extensive conversations with the client, not just our artistic whims.”

One such solution was a year and a half

in the making, with an organization they consider one of their most rewarding client relationships to date: The Honolulu Academy of Arts. The redesign of the Academy’s website was to be a firebrand for all aspects of the museum, from exhibitions in art and film, to classes and tours and events, and more. In the end, Justin says everyone came away from the project feeling like they had a tool at their disposal that united and empowered the staff at the Academy.

Even though they are a small company, each of their distinct skills give Humanhand the ability to provide clients with a multi-faceted range of services not necessarily found anywhere else. Justin first became interested in design in yearbook class while attending Saint Louis School. “This was still when it was all cut and paste, and I really liked counting picas and placing copy, developing our own photos – having control of layouts fascinated me,” he says. For Warren, it was comic books that piqued his interest in illustration, typography and story. He eventually honed his design skills under the tutelage of Anne Bush at University of Hawai‘i.

“Our success stems from Warren’s strong artistic background, with my strong design background, mixed with people we know in the community who have extreme talent in certain areas to create a tight-knit crew of passionate people with varied expertise,” says Justin. Jon, who handles technology development, makes everything a reality for the web, while Luke Aguinaldo is their video component.

Still, in addition to being creative, both

Justin and Warren understand the necessity of maintaining a strong business sense. “Eighty percent of the day is handling the business side,” says Justin. “And oftentimes creativity happens long after you feel like it should’ve happened, but that’s the rub of being a small business.” Adds Warren: “We know that we’re going against some pretty big fish when it comes to getting jobs, which is why we tend to overachieve on the business side. We’re aiming higher than the size of our company would dictate on paper.” So far their client list has expanded to include the Hawai‘i International Film Festival, MA‘O Organic Farms and La Tour Bakehouse & Cafe, to list just a very few.

On Humanhand’s website, among the list of clients and logos, is a skateboarding video produced by the bi-annual Man About Town – but it’s not skateboarding in the way you’d expect. The video shows Kilian Martin, dressed in Dior Homme, skating against the backdrop of the 1950s tune “It’s All in the Game” by Ricky Nelson. It elicits a hauntingly enchanting side of skateboarding never seen before. It is this that will be the secret to Humanhand’s success: repackaging ideas in ways you wouldn’t quite expect and seeing the terrain just a little bit differently.

For more information visit www.byhumanhand.com.

Photo credit: Brandon Ells

Improvisation is key in connecting to the

process.

creative

Patriarch Chuck James (center) show with his two sons Jerome (left) and Jeff (right).

A HIGHER PLANE

The James Family

I met Chuck James and his two sons Jeff and Jerome, with little more than a cursory understanding that they collectively manage the family-owned Chuck James Music Studios, along with a full-staff of established teachers from a variety disciplines. Within the first few moments of talking to the James family I understood I was in the company of a prolific family of drummers. Later, their legacy and influence on the local music scene became abundantly and quite surprisingly clear.

I arrived at their Stadium Mall studio, a modest storefront next to Ice Palace and a central location between their Waipahu, Dillingham and Wahiawā institutions. My interest peaked when I noticed a photo of Chuck and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett. “I played his luau. He’s a great guy,” Chuck said, and with that I got to know the patriarch of the James family.

Born in Winnipeg, Chuck James was exposed to music throughout his childhood. His mother was a professional jazz singer. Influenced by her colleagues (including Reg Kelln and Lenny Breau) Chuck practiced sheet music and played rock and pop as a drummer during his adolescence. Inspired by the people around him, Chuck found himself drawn to “more serious” disciplines like jazz and soul music. At 16, he moved from the Canada to Los Angeles, where he finished the last two years of high school while “listening to jazz, soul and playing everything.” Chuck became enamored with the language of improvisation in jazz music. He described that language as nothing less than achieving a “higher plane.”

That simple, eloquent phrase stuck in my mind. It perfectly defined the intangible energy between players as they riff and solo, bop and nod together in synchronous, unspoken harmony – the higher

plane as tantamount to the connection necessary to any creative process. Somehow, established jazz musicians like Chuck have internalized it into muscle memory.  I had to ask him the secret: How does one plateau on this higher plane? Without hesitation he said, “What I found out – and what I teach – is the more you structure yourself in learning the fundamentals the easier it is to get there.”

Though there are exceptions to that rule (like 7-year-old prodigy Logyn Okuda, who’s already playing Herbie Hancock in Nashville bars) the James family has imparted the fundamentals upon generations of musicians. Along with a focus on sheet music (and the obligatory repetition involved) they let the students jam and incorporate their own musical influences because they know that enjoying themselves will take that repetition to the higher plane.

None of this would be possible without Chuck’s sons. Ever since he first opened the drum store in Mapunapuna in 1999, his sons Jerome, Jeffrey and Justin (who currently lives and makes music in Vancouver) served as his workforce, though they no longer sell drum equipment and the four current studios replaced the Mapunapuna location.

To say that they inherited the traits of their prolific and talented father would be an understatement to their own unique personalities. Jerome remains casual and down-to-earth, despite establishing himself as a traditional/free-jazz drummer in New York all while jetting back-and-forth to keep his roots in Hawai‘i. He’s still producing and writing but has a particular interest in programming with platforms such as Ableton Live, even giving programming lessons at their Dillingham location.

Jeff began drumming at 11 and also inherited the chill demeanor that seems to be a trademark of the James family.

Asked if there was anything they’d like me to include in particular: “Oh, I got a No. 1 song on the local pop charts,” Jeff nonchalantly divulged. Turns out that Jeff’s band TTYM, short for Talk To You Music, released a song called “Hawaiian Girls.” With production help from Jerome, they had a hit single.

As I was leaving the studio, Chuck stopped me. “What was your drummer’s name again?” I told him it was Nate McCurdy of GRLFRNDS and his eyes lit up. He had given Nate lessons (not to mention Micah from local hip-hop group The Deadbeats, and currently Matt Mcvickar from ambient trio Clones Of the Queen) from fifth grade until middle school. Chuck was tutoring Nate when we started our first band in eighth grade, and we’ve played together ever since. I came to realize that this was an institution, a family, that has shaped our local scene and its musicians in ways too great to measure. I couldn’t wait to play some music and get on that plane.

For more information, visit www.chuckjamesmusicstudio.com.

tecHnoLoGY

The artPhone

TEXT AND IMAGES BY MIKE POOLEY

We

are in the middle of the “instant gratification era.”

Our mobile phones have become like tiny computers, where flat photos now can become dynamic and artistic, vintage-inspired. The explosion of photo apps available on the market has turned anyone capable of downloading an app into an instant photographer, especially since buying an app is cheaper (and faster and less prone to developing problems) than buying film. What’s ironic is that we are trying to make digital photos look analog, which is like taking a Blu-ray movie and trying to get it to look like a VHS tape. Nonetheless, here’s a list of the most interesting photo app technology on the market.

HIPSTAMATIC | P rice : $1.99

This is the most popular app for creating vintage-looking photos. It’s the auto-tune for photos and is just as fun as the T-Pain app. What sets this app apart is that it’s a camera within your camera, versus being just a photo editor. You select a border for your photo, choose a lens, select a flash, and start shooting, creating photos characterized by vignettes, swaths of light, oversaturated and blurred images. You can buy more lenses and film and “out art” your friends.

INSTAGRAM | P rice : free

The Hipstamatic for social media. You create an account and start following people and their photos. The cool thing about this app is you can take an existing photo and choose from a number of different filters, making it a bit more dynamic than the Hipstamatic. Once your photo is picture perfect, you post it on your account and people can comment it, share it or ignore it. It will even auto-post your photos to your Twitter and Facebook for even more exposure!

INCREDIBOOTH | P rice : $0.99

More of a novelty app versus a photography app, this one is for those with a front

facing camera like the iPhone 4. Made by the same company who created Hipstamatic, it has four different film settings to choose from and offers four frames of fun. What I like about this app is, (unlike Mac’s “PhotoBooth,” which has also plagued the Facebook feeds), these photos come out looking like an actual photo from an old photo booth at the carnival.

VINTAGE VIDEO MAKER | P rice : $1.99

This app allows you to choose from different eras of film, including the ever so fun ’20s where everything was sped up and covered in stray hairs. You can even add an old-time piano tune to make it more legit. I find myself spending most of my time with this app trying to reenact the intro to the Wonder Years , but my Kevin Arnold ’fro just won’t cooperate. If you want to turn yourself into Charlie Chaplin or John Holmes, this app can make your video look as ’70s porn or silent film as your art-heart desires.

Visit our website to see Mike’s video shot entirely with the Vintage Video Maker, www.FLUXhawaii.com.

Making art with iPhones.

Crystal Okamoto’s home was build from the ground up using 25 percent re-claimed material.

Green environMent

Furniture Design with Purpose

TEXT BY GLORIA BARAQUIO | IMAGES BY JOHN HOOK

According to the Department of Environmental Services, O‘ahu generates more than 1.5 million tons of waste annually, of which more than one million tons are recycled. A big feat, but we can still do more! One small way of reducing the trash piling up in landfills is by repurposing, or in other words, taking worn, forgotten furniture and transforming them into something new. It’s good for the environment and easy on your wallet, too.

Shown above: “Our house was built from the ground up using 25 percent re-claimed material from the old house and from Re-use Hawai‘i.  It has some pretty neat and funky features and a little story behind each piece.” – Crystal Okamoto

buiLDinG MateriaLs:

Re-use Hawaii is a non-profit organization with the mission to keep reusable building materials out of Hawai‘i’s landfill. The company deconstructs homes piece by piece (instead of demolishing them), maintains the used lumber and building materials, and sells them at competitive rates. In most cases, the lumber at Re-use is more durable than commercial lumber you find today because the wood, milled decades ago, came from superior quality

trees. The deconstruction crew can salvage up to 80 percent of a building’s main components. Ask a sales clerk at the warehouse, and they will most likely know what house or building each piece came from (like Punahou gym or a home in Palolo).

buiLt MateriaLs:

Forward Thinking Furniture, also known as Wuttke Werks, builds customized furniture from reclaimed wood and steel, taken from deconstructed homes on O‘ahu. Much of the lumber is purchased from Re-use Hawai‘i, and the finishes and stains are soy-based. Because of the wood’s high quality, these pieces of furniture are guaranteed to last a lifetime and beyond. Founder Thorben Wuttke celebrates the imperfections of used materials and brings forth their originality and life with natural, yet modern designs. “Wood has energy,” he says. “It is from the earth. This furniture is like having a piece of history before your eyes.”

Why repurpose?

1. It reduces waste in the landfill and saves space for other land usage.

2. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions from waste disposal.

3. It minimizes the need to produce new materials, which conserves energy in harvest, production, transportation and distribution.

4. It provides locally-based green jobs, while reducing the use of machines and gas, because you are deconstructing instead of demolishing.

Crafty tips for repurposing:

1. Convert a dining table into a coffee table by sawing down or changing the legs.

2. Use old doors as new table tops.

3. Stain wood furniture to create a rustic look, or paint white to brighten up a room.

4. Take drawers from a chest or dresser and use them as shelves.

“Art shouldn’t bore you. It should give you an emotional response, whether positive or negative.” Jasper Wong takes a moment at Pow Wow Hawai‘i.

POW WOW HAWAI‘I

A Homegrown International Art Collective

With a little ingenuity, and a lot of aloha from friends, Jasper Wong brought together local and international artists for a cultivation and collaboration of creatives seldom experienced in Hawai‘i.

TEXT BY SONNY GANADEN | IMAGES BY BRANDON SHIGETA

As one gets older one sees many more paths that could be taken. Artists sense within their own work that kind of swelling of possibilities, which may seem a freedom or a confusion. - Jasper Johns

To truly understand a painting, one must contextualize the painter. Despite my repeatedly mentioning that I would be paying for breakfast and a few subtle hints to dine somewhere with air conditioning, 28-year-old contemporary artist and expatriate Jasper Wong insisted we do our interview at Ray’s Cafe in Kalihi. Past the last few buildings in the state still used as both auto body shops and apartments, it seemed that time moved a little slower at Ray’s. The ambiance suggested that if you asked for decaf, brown rice, or even green salad instead of the house’s potato-mac, the cook would wince as if you’d lost your mind somewhere on River Street.

The little room was packed, and after settling in, we shared a table with a few local guys in steel-toed boots who were apparently related to everyone there. When it took too long to get the coffee we ordered, one of the uncles took a break from what looked like his morning ritual of two eggs, spam and toast to pour us a cup, returning to his meal only after he refilled everyone in the room.

Discussing the international art market over 9 a.m. fried fish, industrial strength coffee, and dripping plates of french toast in Kalihi explains a bit about Jasper. He grew up in the neighborhood, helping his mom out in her Chinese butcher shop. Joking often, the guy is absolutely serious about his vision – one gets the sense of someone deeply committed to the undertaking of creating something new.

Pow Wow, from the Narangasett term referring to a gathering, has been Jasper’s idea from the beginning. After graduating from Kalani High School, Wong spent time in San Francisco and Seattle essentially teaching himself design. In 2008, he moved to Hong Kong, staying in his grandmother’s apartment and turning an old restaurant into an art gallery he called Above Second. While working on projects for Adidas, Hurley, DC Shoes, the Yerba Buena Art Center, and more, Wong thought to bring the friends he’s made over the years to his studio for a collective creativity spree. Noting that in the digital age actual face time has increased in value, Jasper explains that “these days the focus has unjustly been placed on the final product. It’s this imbalance that creates a finite sense of our relationships with a product as often it evokes no meaningful connection.”

The second Pow Wow in Honolulu went down in Fresh Café’s warehouseturned-multimedia space, “Loft in Space.” The collective was truly international and included Canadian artists 123klan and Jeff Hamada, Hong Kong-based Suitman, Will Barras from England, Yue Wu of France, Meggs of Australia, American Aaron De La Cruz, and Hawai‘i-based artists Kamea Hadar, Prime and Ekundayo. Jasper even got in a painting. Envisioned as a week-long event in which international artists converge to create together, Pow Wow succeeded in uniting these artists for a common purpose on O‘ahu, the gathering place.

As for thematic unity, all of the works aggressively assert themselves as fiction. Colors are distorted and keyed up, images are washed out or sprayed over, giving a take-it-or-leave-it quality that appreciates craft insomuch as it looks good. Australian artist Meggs makes a real argument for the spray can as a legitimate tool of art,

We’ve had very little funding. I mean, I depleted my checking account to make this thing happen. I’m not worried though. I’m excited.

with effective imagery coming from the American canon of comic books. Using spray cans the way they were meant to be, the splatter and block out effects create hero masks and explosions on top of each other, targets and tagging orient outside the frame of the canvas to extend the story in a way that would make Jack Kirby, the comic book artist famed for his contribution to Marvel and DC, proud. Young Kim, an international artist better known as “Suitman” had attendees pose for portraits wearing a smock that gave the appearance of being a shirt, tie and suit jacket. It went on like a flak jacket or the lead vest one wears prior to getting an x-ray at the dentist’s office. The end result on Suitman’s website are both intimate and flattened, like René Magritte’s mid-century paintings of an apple over the face of a suited man. Like Magritte, here is an artist capturing an image in order to remove it from its context. Outside, a massive mural, partially obscured by scaffolding, was worked on all week, a showing of enough complexity to deter explanation.

Pow Wow may be modern in ideology, but it is grounded in the recent American tradition of hip-hop. The genre’s tendency to create new analysis using the artwork of others with samples, remixes and re-visions in the post-everything world that keeps it a fluid and malleable form found itself here in paint form – a self-referencing act that collects and spits out imagery with

equal indignation at all forms of authority. Critics might see the ghost of Basquiat in the collective, along with the realization that somewhere in the 21st century hiphop got older and wiser. In that context, I must articulate a slight objection to some of the work. Fetishes and sexual hangups of boyhood continue to be celebrated — the subject matter remains juvenile even as the artists have grown up and their technical skill has grown with them. In the paintings for this year’s Pow Wow, female lips, breasts and objectified bodies abound. For the quality of the work, women continue to be mindless conveniences, 21st century muses splashed in acrylics over canvas. For better or worse, the men are treated no better. A closer inspection of Wong’s piece shows the head of Mr. T on the body of a toddler with an erection, ejaculating onto the rest of the canvas.

However, I don’t think the subject matter was without artistic intent. Jasper has received several homophobic emails regarding his stylized work. As he explains: “For me, art shouldn’t bore you. You should get an emotional response, whether that be positive or negative. I guess I’m attacking masculinity in some way. That’s why you see a dictator as a baby painted in pink, maybe lasers coming out of his eyes or something.” Looking closely, there is some actual analysis of social structure in the work. Alienation, childhood cartoons and indiscriminate iconography tell the story

of a young man separated from America, experiencing it as a state of mind. The images of Hitler or Mr. T in the work aren’t referring to the actual men and critiquing them, but rather references a TV version of them as characters within a fiction, the visual remix.

As Wong carves a space for American street art in once-British Hong Kong, the unheeded capitalist changes in China have reached the contemporary warehouses in Beijing, turning that historic city into a global hub of human creativity. Massive amounts of money are being traded as the Chinese government continues to chasten artists.

Regarding the contemporary arts scene in Hong Kong, “The place sucks man. It’s populated with highly educated people, and it has a Western infrastructure. The British were there for so long, that the environment created a certain capitalism for art. The galleries are there for the high-end market. They sell old items, showing the same thing over and again, oriented towards sales. It’s a difficult place to progress.”

In October of 2010, imprisoned poet and politically-minded intellectual Liu Xiaobo became the first Chinese Nobel Prize winner, “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.” The Chinese government’s denial of the prize and continued repression of any coverage highlights where the country’s leadership stands socio-politically. As of the writing of this article, world famous

POW WOW HAWAII

Ai Weiwei, after the successful run of his Sunflower Seeds exhibit at the Tate Modern in London, is being detained for unspecified reasons in a Hong Kong airport, prompting major art institutions around the world to use Twitter and Facebook to reach out to the community in signing a petition for his release. It seems that in this part of the world, art really does have the capacity to change everything.

Speaking days before the event, Wong explained that “Hawai‘i is similarly distrustful of art. I have been trying to secure better funding for Pow Wow, and local companies have found it hard to go in with me because they don’t see Hawai‘i as a lucrative market. So for this event, we’ve had very little funding. I mean, I depleted my checking account to make this thing happen. I’m not worried though. I’m excited. I’m not scared.” Wong might not be scared, but there is certainly scary talk of the closing of The Contemporary Museum, and/or its merger with the Honolulu Academy of Arts. As in most instances of the arts through history, funding has originated from wealthy benefactors. Here in Hawai‘i those wealthy benefactors hail from a uniquely hamajang history. The descendants of those first missionaries who sailed from Boston Harbor on creaky wooden ships in the early 19th Century were some of the originating patrons of world class art in the Pacific, another of American Protestantism’s lasting provenance on these islands. In this city, well past the days of royalty and sugar, missionary names still affect power moves in town. There is only so much that provenance can provide however, and arts at all levels, from the third grade teacher to the contemporary thought-provoker, have been affected by the downturn in the economy.

No great victory will be claimed by the shuttering of a place designed to showcase humanity’s creativity to a requiring public. But as the Great Recession settles into the new status quo for museums, they have had the difficult task of choosing between projects that used to mean economic security and those that represent artistic risk. Such security may go the way of the telephone landline, diminishing in a new era. In attempting to do art par excellence on a Top Ramen budget, they are missing out on the work that actually excites. To fill space with art for an educated bourgeoisie and the occasional ‘ohana (accounting formulas and egalitarianism), they have picked a version of madness induced by economic uncertainty; doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result.

In American form, Pow Wow got by with a lot of help from friends. Instead of waiting for authority (and money) from on high, the organizers willed the gathering into existence. Artists stayed at Kamea Hadar’s family residence, drink sponsors came through, and several local friends took the week off to see it go down. The success of the event stems in no small part from the audacity of its organizers, willing to sacrifice a false sense of security for a vision.

Certainly these young artists enjoyed themselves, understandably, taken with the task of their work while on Hawaiian holiday. They commandeered a warehouse in Honolulu to form their own republic of joy – a parenthesis within the city’s contentious art world – a paradise within a paradise. This is American contemporary art in Honolulu, and Jasper Wong is seeing to it that they will be back next year.

Pow Wow Hawai‘i put the focus on the process of making art. Artists shown blacking out the walls.

THE CONTEMPORARIES

One writer takes a closer look at the world of contemporary art in Hawai‘i.

THE ARTISTS

Last September, weeks before the opening of the Biennial of Hawai‘i Artists IX at The Contemporary Museum, I met Jason Teraoka, one of the featured artists in the exhibition in his designated gallery space.

“This is gonna be a long process,” confessed Teraoka. His plan was to construct a false wall – a floor-to-ceiling wainscoting of exposed wood grain – around the

gallery, and then submerge his artwork into the faux wall. So far though, his installation amounted to a few strips of lumber, a silver ladder, and a few power tools, scattered haphazardly across the space. He was not kidding.

While Teraoka busied himself with construction, I took a closer look at canvases and works on vellum, which were propped up against the wall and fanned out on the floor. Although I knew that he drew inspiration from movies — especial-

ly those made in the ’50s and ’60s, shot in grainy black-and-white and gaudy Technicolor — there was a dreamlike quality to them, a quality that was unforeseeable based solely on photographic reproductions, of which I had seen many. Each face was brought to life by hundreds of thin, diaphanous brushstrokes. Skin tones appeared translucent and hair undulated like thin ribbons of seaweed on the ocean floor. Tiny bubbles, which percolated on the surface of the canvases, seemed analo-

Te XT by J A red yAMA n UHUA | Open

by

Jason Teraoka has witnessed the local arts scene fluctuate over the years and is cognizant of the problems contemporary artists face in Hawai‘i.

gous to the pixels on a television screen. Teraoka summoned these anonymous people to life, an act of acrylic prestidigitation.

Teraoka, truth be told, is no newcomer to the art world. He’s exhibited work since the ’90s; he’s witnessed the local art scene fluctuate over the years; and most importantly, he’s cognizant of the problems that face every contemporary artist in Hawai‘i. One of the biggest, he told me, was the outside world’s one-dimensional perception of Hawai‘i as a tourist destination, and nothing more.

“See that’s the thing with Hawai‘i,” lamented Teraoka. “There’s definitely traffic happening through here, and it’s influential art and business people. The problem is, they come here and they just want to vacation.” Teraoka told me about a gallerist who begrudgingly visited his studio while on vacation and informed him that his time in Hawai‘i was strictly reserved for rest and relaxation, and not for looking at art. “I think that happens a lot,” Teraoka said. “And it’s really rough for contemporary art here. It’s always been an uphill battle.”

Was there, in his opinion, a way to mitigate this situation? Could it be possible, just for a moment, to pull Waikīkī out of the spotlight, and in its place hoist contemporary artists of Hawai‘i onto the world stage and into the limelight to lay claim to their proverbial 15 minutes? “I’ve been thinking about this for decades, the past 20 years maybe!” Teraoka said, with a mixture of excitement and frustration. “What can make Hawai‘i’s art scene more successful?”

Weeks later, on a rainy day in East Honolulu, I drove up a vertiginous hill punctuated by shower trees to visit Deborah Nehmad at her studio to discuss her latest body of work, which she told me was political.“I’m an unabashed progressive,” said Nehmad, who years ago worked as a lawyer in Washington, DC. “So when I turned to art, I always wanted to find a way to articulate that political side of me, but in a non-pedantic, non-ideological way.”

She opened a nearby closet, took out a tall tube of paper, and removed the plastic covering. Carefully, she unfurled sheets of rough, highly textured paper on a worktable, as an architect would with blueprints. She ran her fingertips across the paper.

“This,” she said, “is a piece about Darfur.”

At first glance, “Never Again” appeared purely abstract, even beautiful. It possessed the formal qualities of a centuries-old map of Sub-Saharan Africa lined with the vestigial traces of rivers. I looked closer. Numbers, thousands and thousands of them, written in pencil emerged. Nehmad said each number symbolized a person killed during the civil war in Sudan. “At the time I completed this, the number of deaths was 213,000,” she said.

Then it hit me. My admiration for the piece’s aesthetic qualities collided with my sudden comprehension of the immense scale of the atrocity in Darfur, which was spelled out in the endless numerical kudzu that crawled across the surface of the paper. It was a truly unique feeling of ambivalence, one which I later realized could only have been generated by a work of art.

Nehmad, like Teraoka, is somewhat acquainted with the art world-at-large and is intimately familiar with what it means to be a contemporary artist in Hawai‘i. What made her career in Honolulu particularly difficult? “There’s a real geographic problem with living here,” Nehmad told me, explaining that shipping her artwork to cities like San Francisco or New York to show potential gallerists entailed exorbitant shipping costs. Plus, when galleries in those cities have immediate access to thousands of artists nearby – indeed artists whose studios they can visit without purchasing a plane ticket – why would they bother showing an artist from Hawai‘i?

During my conversations with Teraoka and Nehmad, they both stressed the importance of getting their work exhibited elsewhere, beyond the borders of the island. It was absolutely imperative, since aside from the museums and a few key galleries and venues, there were very few places to exhibit work locally. I began to wonder, how they approached the seemingly implausible act of being seen outside the state, and so I looked closer.

then yes, it’s possible to exhibit your work outside the isolated confines of the island chain. This process, however, is at once difficult and circuitous, time-intensive and frustrating, and can make living in “paradise” seem anything but Edenic.

“I’ve actually hit the pavement a bit, and tried to hit up galleries, and it’s really painful!” said Teraoka, who likened the experience to visiting the dentist to have teeth painfully plucked. “But if you want to make art a bigger part of your life, then at this point, you have to get your stuff outside Hawai‘i,” he said, with total conviction. “Whatever it takes.”

Nehmad agreed. “You have to do your homework. You have to look for galleries, or alternative spaces, or even museum venues that are interested in your kind of art. If you’re interested in New York, go to New York. Walk the galleries in Chelsea. See who shows work like yours.” Nehmad went to New York and is now communicating with one gallery that just might, if everything aligns, exhibit her work. “Whether something happens, I don’t know, but it took years to get to that place,” she said. “And it took pounding the pavement, and doing the homework.”

Even though their struggles may suggest otherwise, Teraoka and Nehmad have enjoyed considerable success outside Hawai‘i. Teraoka has representation in Tokyo (Tomio Koyama Gallery) and Seattle (James Harris Gallery); he’s exhibited in countless cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago; and he’s had a solo exhibition at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. Nehmad has exhibited in the US, Korea and Spain; her work sits in major collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; recently, she was mentioned in a New York Times art review in an exhibition alongside the likes of Jasper Johns, Sol LeWitt and Richard Serra.

Here’s the good news: If you’re a contemporary artist, living and working in Hawai‘i, and have absolutely no intention of moving to Los Angeles or New York,

t H e co LL ectors

On a breezy Tuesday afternoon in the middle of December, I paid a visit to Dean Geleynse, a contemporary art collector at his home in Honolulu. He had graciously invited me over to view his collection, which he has been assembling for more than 20 years. I knocked on his door, unprepared for what was on the other side. A few seconds later, the door swung open.

“Hey! Come in, come in!” said Geleynse, who promptly invited me into his spacious, brightly-lit apartment. The second I stepped inside his home, my jaw plummeted to the floor. I was in awe. The white walls were adorned with paintings, drawings and photographs, the marble floor dotted with sculptures. Up until that precise moment, I had no idea that people like Geleynse existed in Hawai‘i. Silly me.

I wanted to know everything about his collection. His focus, he told me, was on young, emerging artists from around the world and that included artists from Hawai‘i too. “When you buy young artists,” Geleynse said, “it’s always a crapshoot. Sometimes they have a career for one or two years, and then they disappear.” Some artists in his collection have dropped off the radar; others still make art to this day.

He led me on a slow peregrination through his apartment, and we made pit stops at each piece, where he gave me the name of the artist and the provenance of each work. This was a photograph by Luisa Lambri; that was a sculpture by John Koga; those, over there, were drawings by Sean Alexander. By the end of the tour, I had exhausted my vocabulary of superlatives and resorted to the repetitious use of “wow.” We sat down at his kitchen table to talk about collecting art.

“I would look at art anywhere,” he told me. “I don’t care if it’s a coffee shop, a bookstore, somebody’s living room.” He enjoyed the hunt for new artists doing original things with different materials in brave new ways. (He specifically liked to discover artists prior to their entering the gallery system, where prices then soared and availability of works diminished.) He had a penchant for things that were tactile, art made by hand. A certain indefinable quality persisted throughout each piece. Nothing felt out of place.

Geleynse, and collectors like him, rep -

resent the other side of the art equation. They are the ones who support, quite literally, the artists and their careers. They purchase works of art and by doing so, help provide artists with the income and encouragement necessary to create new work. They complete the cycle.

As I looked around his apartment, I noticed something interesting. Geleynse situated works by Hawai‘i artists, like Jason Teraoka, right next to works by artists from San Francisco and Seattle. Given his first-hand knowledge of art scenes in various cities across the nation, I asked him how Hawai‘i artists, like Teraoka, stacked up against artists from, say, Los Angeles or New York City.

“Teraoka is one of the artists whom I have followed for a while, and his work gets better and better,” he said. “It would hold up anywhere on a national and international scene.”

Days later, I visited another collector, Herb Conley, whose collection includes works by both Teraoka and Nehmad. His opinion paralleled Geleynse’s. “Jason and Deb work in a contemporary style that appeals to collectors around the world,” he told me. “Not as Hawai‘i regional art, but as international contemporary art. This is why their works have been in shows from Tokyo to New York City.”

t H e curators

With a surplus of great contemporary artists in Hawai‘i and the monumental effort they devote to getting seen outside the state, it’s worth questioning why more attention isn’t being placed on developing audiences here – tourists and locals alike –for contemporary art. To help me answer this question, I turned to three people in Hawai‘i’s art world who’ve enlightened and educated me about contemporary art.

Jay Jensen, deputy director of exhibitions and collections at The Contemporary Museum, was first on my list. (He curated the Yoshihiro Suda exhibition of hyperrealistic weeds and flowers, which, to this day, remains one of my favorite art exhibits, anywhere, ever.) What did he think of Hawai‘i’s potential as a destination for contemporary art?

“Cultural tourism is mentioned a lot now,” said Jensen, “and I think for Hawai‘i

to keep visitors coming back, we have to offer alternatives to the sand and sea cliché.” There is, he mentioned, the ongoing question of whether tourists could be an overlooked market for Hawai‘i’s contemporary art. “A surprising number of visitors from elsewhere approach TCM with an interest in buying works they see in the museum’s exhibitions,” he told me. “So there is a market there.”

David Goldberg, a local freelance writer and cultural critic whose articles I’ve been consuming quite religiously, helped elaborate on the notion of kick-starting a new, unforeseen market for contemporary art in Hawai‘i. Interestingly enough, he envisions it beginning with those making art. “I think local artists just need to focus on making dope work,” Goldberg said. “In the long run, we’ll develop our own markets for it, and if surfing is any indication, if we do it right, people are going to by copying Hawai‘i.”

Wei Fang, a curator of contemporary art and design for Interisland Terminal, rounded out the trifecta. (She helped organize a site-specific installation at UH Mānoa by Whitney Biennialist Heather Rowe; it was the most radical and exhilarating exhibition of contemporary art in Hawai‘i in 2010.) What could differentiate Honolulu from the major hubs of contemporary art, given its obvious disadvantages vis-à-vis New York City or Los Angeles?

“We are unique in that we offer almost an antidote to the megacity-artists’ havens of the world,” she said. “And so perhaps Hawai‘i is poised to attract a certain kind of creativity, and certainly, there is a widespread passion here to craft an infrastructure for our arts ecosystem that is uniquely suited to the conditions of our site.”

Honolulu’s greatest strength, I realized, resides in its artists, the Teraokas and the Nehmads of Hawai‘i. Even if galleries couldn’t stay financially afloat by selling it, if critics had no inclination to write about it, if collectors didn’t want to purchase it, or if people had no interest in seeing it, artists would still make it. Unbeknownst to many outside the archipelago, great contemporary art is being made right here in Hawai‘i. To see it, you just have to look closer.

For more info on the artists featured visit www.deborahnehmad.com and www.jasonteraoka.com.

Deborah Nehmad is acquainted with the art world-at-large and is familiar with what it means to be a contemporary artist in Hawai‘i.

Renowned throughout Hawai‘i and the mainland, Pegge Hopper has dedicated her life’s work to painting the women of Hawai‘i. Hopper shown at her gallery space in Chinatown.

THE ART-CHETYPES

The paths artists choose to take, most times, do not follow a straight line. They curve in and around school, personal projects, personal demons - work - but inevitably the paths they take are intertwined with other artists around them. Though they may not know it, they have somehow influenced, inspired, been affected by one another. These are some of the archetypical artists along those paths.

IMAGES BY AARON VAN BOKHOVEN

THE MATRIARCH

PEGGE HOPPER

Excerpted from Women of Hawai‘i

My career as a professional artist began in New York City. My father made a trip to the Art Center to talk to my teachers to see if I really had talent. He had to be sure I was going to succeed and wouldn’t end up starving in a garret. My teachers assured him I was going to do fine. I remember he paid $99 for the plane ticket.

New York didn’t intimidate me. I think because I was sure I had received a good education. I felt good about my portfolio, and I knew I could depend on myself to work hard. I tramped around town looking for a job wearing my high heels and white gloves. I was 21 years old when I was offered a job at Raymond Loewy Associates, an industrial design firm. Even though I really wanted to work for a magazine as an illustrator, I accepted.

While there, I met my future husband Bruce, a graphic designer. In late 1960, we decided to go to Europe, and after traveling and living in our VW van for four months, we decided we’d better look for jobs. We took our portfolios to La Rinascente, a department store in Milan, and we worked there for two years. That’s when I started to take myself seriously as an artist and, I believe, when my style began to develop.

A desire to start a family eventually brought us to Hawai‘i. Everything seemed so vibrant and lushly organic. While Bruce worked hard to establish a graphic design business, I worked as an art director at an advertising agency and took care of the children.

In 1968, I began to visit the state archives to study old photographs. I was intrigued by the faces of the Polynesian people. Their open and unself-conscious gazes

stared at me from another era, and I was inspired to paint them. My first paintings were sketchy and rough, but they attracted the attention of my friend Mary Philpotts, who commissioned me to do 22 paintings for Kona Village on Big Island. My career as a painter was launched.

My first experience creating serigraphs, or screen prints, was in Sand Island at a signmaker’s shop, where signs such as “No Parking” were printed. It was a makeshift, jury-rigged sort of operation. Termites would be flying around the shop and falling into the ink. We’d get an edition of about 120 out of every 300 sheets of paper. The mortality rate was incredible. But the serigraphs sold well, and that encouraged us to keep going. My serigraphs and posters caught the eye of Larry Winn, a mainland publisher of fine arts. He helped me understand how to combine business and art, and my work began to get widespread distribution outside the Hawaiian Islands.

When I first started to paint Hawaiian women I felt they had not yet been depicted in a contemporary style. So I used my drawing skills in combination with graphic imagery to portray the fortitude and some of the sadness that I had seen in the old photographs. Although I don’t know many Hawaiian women personally, their beauty has become etched in my mind. I know them from the outside only, and have never dared to invade their privacy.

Since I have lived in Honolulu for more than half my life, I feel like kama‘aina in spirit. I realize how fortunate I am and how much support this community has given me, both as an artist and as a woman. I hope that through my art I have given something back.

student Dana

is interested in the changing of identities. Given the cuts made to much of the arts industry, she wonders how her identity will change after she graduates.

Art

Paresa

Her passion for her work and dedication to her students consistently makes sculpture instructor Linda Yamamoto a favorite among art students.

THE INSTRUCTOR

LINDA YAMAMOTO

By Lisa Yamada

It’s the first day of spring break at the art building at the University of Hawai‘i and for the most part the campus is quiet, absent of the normal hum of students milling around in between class. I’m here to interview art student Dana Paresa, and we’re looking for a good spot to photograph her portrait, an area with nice lighting. “Linda’s probably here in her office,” she says. We head up to room 204, and sure enough, Linda’s there with two other students working around her.

“There’s some gems here, like some teachers that make going to UH worth it,” says Dana. “Like Linda, who’s working today because it’s her free day – stuff like that inspires me.”

Linda Yamamoto has been teaching sculpture in the art department since 1992. Her classes, kinetic sculpture (sculptures that move) and 3-d sculpture are among some of the school’s most popular. “Every-

one tries to get into her class,” says Timo Lee, a former student of Linda’s. “Her class is always one that fills up the fastest!”

Timo recalls a project she worked on for kinetic sculpture in Linda’s class: “I wanted to make dancing elephants, but I was having a hard time calculating the measurements, like how tall the legs have to be. Linda totally helped me in trying to make the elephants dance, although it didn’t come out so good anyway.”

In an art-imitating-life kind of way, Timo (a travel industry management major and art minor), like her elephants, didn’t quite dance like how she or Linda envisioned she would after college. But she’s doing something even better. As a popular deejay on KTUH and along the local club circuit, Timo’s managed to find something she’s passionate about: making people dance.

Linda recalls when Timo was a student at UH: “I remember when she was just talking about applying for a spot at KTUH, and now, how she’s progressed, has made me really proud.”

Currently, Linda is working on a project that involves 70 bronze-cast frogs teaching a chubby bronze baby about life. “But

the story is that you shouldn’t trust frogs to mentor your baby because they’ll teach a baby about anything,” she says. There are frogs smoking cigarettes, running with scissors, holding condoms, gambling, and even two frogs wedged in one cup.

I guess sometimes art doesn’t imitate life, at least not in terms of Linda as an instructor. “You know that joy you get out of making art?” she says to me, already knowing the answer. “I know not everyone can continue it because real life kind of sets in, but I always hope my students find that niche for themselves that gives them the same sense of accomplishment and joy, even if they’re not physically doing art.”

THE STUDENT

DANA PARESA

As told to Lisa Yamada

When I was in elementary school, boys would ask me to do drawings for their girlfriends, and they would pay me in candy. I guess my first major “art” project was in preschool. I remember drawing a comic, and it was get-

ting printed in the school newsletter or something. And they lost it, so I had to draw it again really fast. As far back as I can remember I have been doing art.

Now, with my art, I like changing my face so that I don’t look like myself. You know who Leigh Bowery is? Or Amy Sedaris, how she can warp her face to look even 50 years older or like a dude? I’m really interested in changing identities. A lot of people do political art, but I’m just not into making art that has that kind of statement. I like more of a personal change rather than an outside one.

My biggest worry right now is not finding a job after I graduate. Since The Contemporary Museum and The Academy of Arts are merging, I don’t know if there are going to be that many opportunities. I eventually want to work in a gallery, so I’m taking a museum interpretations class, where we go to galleries and talk about how we trick people into thinking that things are important. You’re really getting into people’s heads and trying to assume what they’re going to do by placing something a certain way. You’re just considering their next step and making it easy enough for them to swallow the concepts.

I feel there’s always that decision artists struggle with after graduating: Do you want to cop out and make money because you know you can just paint a palm tree on a beach and sell that? I don’t want to feel stuck having to make touristy arts, though, because that’s not why I’m doing it in the first place. It’s not like I think I can make a lot of money after this anyway.

I’m pretty confident, though, that I’ll find something in my field. I’ll just keep trying until I do. I’m not going to just say, “Oh well, I guess I’ll just work in an office or a restaurant.” I don’t like that whole Picasso thing either, you know, like the I’m-painedby-my-paint kind of thing. I don’t feel like you need to be a tortured soul to create art. I think you just have to step out and try something different. Regardless, I don’t think art should be made for anyone else but for yourself. If people like it, they’ll like it because they can relate to it. I think having that kind of connection with art is more fulfilling than doing it for any other reason.

THE TORTURED ARTIST

TED DE OLIVEIRA

By Sonny Ganaden

To hear Ted De Oliveira play his set late on a weekday evening comes as something of a shock, especially if you know him. After spending the last several years making friends and simultaneously ostracizing them with his occasional demons, the raw emotive power of his talent onstage conveys the occasional transcendence of someone who’s actually experienced the content of the lyrics, of an artist working through personal history.

For Ted, that history includes moving to Mānoa Valley at the age of 6 from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil with his two siblings and musician parents. “At some point my mom got me to stop playing Mario Kart and into guitar lessons with this gypsy guitarist that looked like Leonardo da Vinci, long white beard and everything,” says Ted. “Back then I was just playing lots of bar and hippy chords, trying to sound like Fugazi or Rage Against the Machine. I played a lot as a teenager, with everybody I could, too.” In his teenage years, he also began experimenting with electronic music, amongst other things.

Those other things have gotten De Oliveira in trouble. To say that Ted’s music is worth a listen without presenting a full picture of him would be like recommending Dr. Jekyll for your annual checkup without mentioning all that pesky Mr. Hyde business. As he says it, “After I graduated from high school, there was a slow descent into the O‘ahu club scene. For a while, I was breaking, beatboxing and playing guitar in Waikīkī. When I’d get too high, my dad, who was driving a taxi at the time, would come by and force me into the taxi.”

Now, a few busy months out from a recent stint locked up, Ted has taken charge of his future. “I’ve been sober now for one year, three months, and a little change. For me, it’s both a burden and a badge of honor. If I make addiction bigger than it

is, then it’ll just snowball and overtake me. But if I say I’ve been there and don’t demonize it, then it won’t grow on my shoulders and come back.”

The music De Oliveira has been releasing on the web has been anything but simple. In March, he released Front Business, an album combing electronics over haunting vocals. A legitimate music critic could spend paragraphs attempting to corral the album into terms like chillwave, glitch, whatevz. We may have reached the event horizon where musical stimulus can be anything that a skilled artist can conjure using zeros, 1s and modified voices colliding in an infinite number of possibilities. A few of the instrumentals sound like Japanese nuclear engineers programmed one of those three foot tall humanoid robots to do something useful, like skateboard, and it was at A‘ala Skate Park doing 50/50 grinds and kickflips on a First Friday.

De Oliveira certainly has not burnt all bridges on his road to recovery. Local artist Landon Osamu has been creating some fairly hilarious images to promote Front Business, with posters up around town of Ted as a smoking Pee Wee Herman, Ted as the man with the golden voice, Ted as a giant chain-smoking baby. Designer Joseph Pa’ahana created the cover art with a spaceage, jump-suited Ted receding into a rainbow galaxy. With his upcoming EP Halfway House , so titled because it was written in an actual halfway house, De Oliveira may use more of the brilliant guitar and vocals of his live shows. In May, with the blessing of his parole officer, he will have taken a trip to mainland China to record the soundtrack of an indie documentary about traveling and changing.

Knowing he’s still on the edge, Ted’s been careful to keep his hands far from idle. “Look dude, being in a cell means a lot of time, too much time, to think. So since I’ve gotten out, I’ve had a lust for working, almost panic working. And I think the work is good for us.” In keeping the demons at bay, those busy hands are making work far better than good.

and

many

Though the

Ted De Oliveira has

names

talents.

demons of his past continue to haunt, his innate artistic ability continues to push him to the surface.

DIGITAL EDUCATION & Visual Arts

Let us give teachers a new image of themselves: that of artists and creators.

In today’s digital age, it seems our education system is increasingly disconnected with a technological astute youth. If we don’t start creating innovative ways for our students to learn, then what does that mean for their future? David A.M. Goldberg makes a case for the integration of visual arts into a soon to be archaic way of schooling.

TEXT BY DAVID A.M. GOLDBERG

Consider what Hawai‘i would look like if, starting from childhood, our public educational system provided individually tailored means for students to recognize, hone and amplify their talents. Imagine students with affinities evolving together, and the system periodically updating itself in order to adapt to their efforts and provide fresh challenges. Such a system would require teachers willing to hone their skills in constructive competition, who could network, collaborate and solo… something like the Wu Tang Clan. From this we might witness the emergence of a society where individuals are not organized in sections, but flows.

Our students ride a conveyor belt through elementary, middle and high school, where they are subjected to memorizing, drilling and standardized testing. Unfortunately schools rarely change in response to new developments in social, scientific, aesthetic or even commercial knowledge. Therefore, under the pressures of short-term, often myopic politics, our schools craft students to fill pre-defined roles that future-proof a society. Change only comes in reaction to intrusions from a future that is unpredictable but inevitable: earthquakes, tsunamis, trans-pacific plumes of radiation, terrorist attacks, and global Ponzi schemes that trigger market implosions and budget crises.

The role of causing and/or confronting societal disruption is reserved for an elite minority produced by the very best and very worst circumstances. Their pursuits are creative, often misunderstood and sometimes dangerous. This group includes research scientists, serial killers, inspired politicians, committed social activists,

immigrants and all types of marginalized folks; also Goldman Sachs investment bankers, drug lords, mathematicians, Special Ops types, and especially artists They all operate among volatile flows that emerge wherever management or regulation is weakest, where there are more possibilities, higher risks and therefore greater potential rewards. Artistic thinking is the foundation of working the flow, and unexpected insights are the reward.

At full strength, art (whose Indo-European root ar means “to connect”) takes our familiar perceptions of space, color, sound, rhythm, time, emotion – and now money – and stimulates them as if for the very first time. Though our senses have been trained to observe, measure and record in service to the status quo, the majority of us maintain a degree of sensitivity to the world. Strong art (s)educes, leads us into and draws forth the flow; it connects what is with what is possible beyond and in the depths of the eight-hour work.

Characterized by self-governance, tactical brilliance and innovation, we can find art-driven, embryonic examples of flowbased society if we know where to look. The most successful of these nascent flux cultures: corporations like Apple, the communities of Kaka‘ako and those of Facebook all demonstrate a flexibility, creativity and ability to educe that is weak if not absent in our legislature, board of education and classrooms. Such arthritic social bodies are insulated against change by the strength and redundancy of bureaucracy. Though easier to use, ready for personalization, and driven by reading and writing, social media platforms and dynamic content archives are not integrated into

the public school curriculum. Meanwhile, bored, accelerated and amplified by electronic mediation, students maintain parallel digital lives during their classes via cell phone, abuse and nurture each other online, and sleep whenever they feel like it.

At the turn of the century those who could imagine the future impact of the Internet were certainly not in public school classrooms. The mainstream educational establishment still views the Net as distracting and unreliable, and at worst a threat to standardized knowledge. Some of their skepticism is warranted, as many remember the 1990s when tools like PowerPoint, Photoshop and Final Cut were supposed to revolutionize modern education by promoting interdisciplinary thinking in teachers, and pro-grade technical and conceptual media literacy in students. Today, the teenager sitting at the top of the bell curve has no better idea of how to author a simple video-based narrative than one from the previous generation could make basic repairs on a car.

And yet right now, any student can follow tweets from survivors in Sendai, or become Facebook friends with someone struggling to overthrow a dictator. Couple this with the archived online resources from the likes of MIT, Stanford, MOMA, the Smithsonian, TED Talks and iTunes University and the educational opportunities appear endless. What could (rather than must) be learned is finally becoming obvious, even to the students.

The actual landscape of the public school system is a wildly uneven distribution of resources, expertise and interest. We cannot fault the inspired early adopters of technology who saw genuine opportuni -

ties to introduce some flow into the classroom and built upon it. However, we must also recognize that left to their own devices by choice and circumstance, the majority of teachers are slow to change their approaches. There are no incentives or deterrents for doing things any other way.

Working the flow is about deploying a set of contingent techniques in a spirit of experimentation and improvisation. Most teachers are hesitant to step into a hyperspace of links, serendipitous connections, and de-emphasized authenticity. These teachers, perhaps shocked and awed by the marketing of contemporary media have forgotten that they are supposed to be better at assessing and making connections than their students. Perhaps they believe the hype of the “digital generation” in an era where no one can set the clock on a VCR! Expertise remains incredibly valuable; Hierarchy in the classroom, less so.

All of our students will inherit a bubble-based economy descended from plantation society, an incredibly fragile ecosystem, and a contemporary culture built from Western and non-Western values that are by no measure harmonious. No single technology, curriculum, philosophy or rubric will help teachers prepare students for the inevitable social and economic crises that loom for these islands. Hawai‘i’s future successes and failures will simultaneously evolve along multiple lines, at different rates and intensities, and they will feed back on each other. The only logical place to confront and imagine the possibilities of a fully flowing society is in the public schools.

Risks must be taken, beginning with the latitude, resources and support we give to our teachers. Let us give teachers a new image of themselves: that of artists and creators, not shepherds, daycare workers and prison guards. There is no formula for the future, so we must return imagination to the classrooms, and remind our society that teaching is an artform. Clearly people are the medium through which a society is expressed, so instead of thinking of our students and teachers as bricks, might we begin thinking of them as paint?

c reativit Y a ca D e M ies

Taking learning into the 21st Century

An Interview with Colin Delos Reyes, Lahainaluna High School

Creativity Academies (CA) is a new curriculum paradigm for the 21st century that fuses the creative visual arts with science and technology. Creativity Academies is grounded in Art 112 and Physics 100 and integrates animation, video-game design, creative writing and digital media in a curriculum for middle and high school students that meets education standards set by the state. David Goldberg is the lead curriculum developer for CA.

Colin Delos Reyes is a high school science teacher at Lahainaluna High School on Maui. He started implementing the curriculum from Creativity Academies one year ago and has found it to be a powerfully effective tool to promote learning in today’s digitally adept, often apathetic, youth. He took a moment to share his thoughts with us about the program.

Explain the premise of Creativity Academies? Basically the students use digital media programs like Flash, PowerPoint or an animation program to show that they can understand a concept, in my case a science topic. So for example, one of the lessons I chose to utilize the CA lesson plan for was to understand the food chain in biology. We used an animation program developed by MIT called Scratch to show how something eventually gets onto our plates as food.

How did the students react to the lesson?

The drawing part they really liked. Some of them had trouble with the programming side, which to me was really good because it shows they have to really think about how to make things work. Not only are they drawing, but they have to use logic to create a program.

How do you think CA benefits the students? It’s a good way for the kids to get excited about something, and when you’re excited about something you become a lot more willing to learn. You know, everything is digital for them, so it’s something that puts learning in their environment now.

Do you think it’s feasible to enact statewide? Well I have tried to apply it as much as possible, but it can be pretty time consuming for the students to create a product. And because of the DOE standards we have to meet, I have to pick and choose when to use it. For example, there’s a lesson plan on molecular graffiti. For them to learn the concepts on electronegativity and bonds could take a day or two, but then for them to create a product using calligraphy and symbols could take one or two weeks. If the kids had access to laptops to take home it would be quicker, but you know, that’s just how we have to do it.

What are the biggest hurdles to implementing this program?

In my case, it’s not having access to computers and software. Also the teachers themselves, because I’m not that great with the media component. But after using the programs, I went out and bought some books from Borders and tried to learn more about them. Still not that great at it, but that’s where the kids can teach me too at the same time. So it’s reciprocal. I might teach them the science concept, but they might teach me about how to do some things with the Adobe programs like Illustrator.

Will you continue to teach with it?

Oh absolutely. My goal this summer is to learn as much as I can about especially the Adobe creative suites. I mean you put kids on the computer, and it’s like, wow. It’s pretty amazing because you can see where their talents and interests lie.

For more info visit www.creativityacademies.com.

A GUIDE TO SIMPLE, SUPER HANDSOME

PH oto G ra PHY bY JOHN HOOK

st YL e D bY CHRIS KAM & BLAISE SATO

H air bY LANDON FIDELE , r Yan J acobie sa Lon

M a K eu P bY DULCE FELIPE

M o D e L s

AUSTIN KINO , nic H e M o D e L s an D ta L ent

ANDREW SCOTT

ANDREW : Gingham long-sleeve and metallic bracelet, both n eighborhood, Leilow.

AUSTIN : rr L chambray long-sleeve, r alph Lauren. Knit mariner jacket, c rooks & c astles.

riGH t:

Location : n ella Media Group

AUSTIN : evening jacket, Dolce & Gabbana, n eiman Marcus. b lack tee, a lexander Wang, n eiman Marcus. Pant, s tussy H n L. Watch, Panerai Luminor 1,000M submersible, stylist’s own. s tudded c huck taylor shoe, converse by John varvatos, K ic K s/H i

ANDREW : Hooded naval sweater, c rooks & c astles. s triped tee, J.c rew.

riGHt:

ANDREW : sherborn long-sleeve, Penfield, KicKs/Hi. red tofer tee, Publish, KicKs/Hi. rrL khakis trouser, ralph Lauren. boot, stussy x Palladium, stussy HnL. andrea sunglasses, retrosuperfuture x High snobiety, KicKs/Hi. AUSTIN : Plaid long-sleeve, stussy Deluxe, stussy HnL. Grey Henley, J.crew. rrL denim pant, ralph Lauren. star Player shoe, converse by John varvatos, KicKs/Hi. Merchant sunglasses, Mosley tribes, crooks & castles.

AUSTIN : Jacket, alexander Wang, neiman Marcus. Woven camouflage pant, crooks & castles. black tee, stussy HnL. carved black jade bracelet, Jade by nikolai. bag, bottega veneta.

for the full looks and product breakdown visit www. f Lu

LEFT:

ANDREW : tiger print tee, b almain, a loha r ag. Military jacket, Golden Goose, a loha r ag. rr L denim pant, r alph Lauren.

ANDREW : Leather zip-up, Phillip Lim 3.1, a loha r ag. b lack tee, s tussy H n L. rr L denim pant, r alph Lauren. c astellano sunglasses, Mosely tribes, c rooks & c astles.

Xhawaii.com.

MISTY : Printed dress, Marni, Neiman Marcus. Cascade necklace, Dina Mackney Designs, Neiman Marcus. Drop earrings, J.Crew.

MISTY : Ruffle bustier, J.Crew. Ruffled short, Marni, Neiman Marcus. Leggings, American Apparel. Shoe, stylist’s own. KATE : Polka dot bustier, J.Crew. Neon skirt, J.Crew. Leggings, American Apparel. Color-block shoes, Fendi.

S-COOL

LOCATION UH MANOA ART DEPARTMENT

PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON YOSHINO

HAIR BY RYAN CAMACHO & KYLIE MATTOS, RYAN JACOBIE SALON

MAKEUP BY DULCE FELIPE & ALMOND JOYCE

STYLED BY ARA LAYLO

MODELS

MISTY MAA, NICHE MODELS AND TALENT | KATE SCHUETTE, KATHY MULLER

KATE : Jacket and pant, Phillip Lim, Neiman Marcus. Button-down shirt, Theyskens’ Theory, Neiman Marcus. Pearl strand, J.Crew.

KATE : Woven dress, Fendi. Lynwright Sunglasses, Vestal. iPad case, Fendi. Turquoise ankle sock, Forever 21. Pearls, J.Crew. Shoe, stylist’s own.

MISTY : Floral blouse, Dries Van Noten, Aloha Rag. Color-block dress, Fendi. Leggings and ankle sock, American Apparel. Shoe, stylist’s own. Headband, J.Crew. KATE : Perfect 3/4-sleeve shirt, J.Crew. Periwinkle dress, Fendi. Purple leggings and ankle sock, American Apparel. Shoe, stylist’s own.

KATE : Short-sleeve jacket, Alexander Wang, Aloha Rag. Blue short-sleeve, Céline, Aloha Rag. Rust pant and suede bootie, J.Crew. MISTY : Kimono, Diane von Furstenberg.

taKinG over baseL, MiaMi

A Journal by Aaron Woes Martin

D a Y 1, nove M ber 30, 2010. M ia M i .

Oh how I love airports. Airports have pretty much been my life for the last three years, and I still hate going through the process. Nonetheless, I touch down in Miami and am ready for Art Basel. It’s my first day in Miami, but events are already popping up prepping for what has become known as the most important art show in the United States. Driving around, I’m already seeing the aftermath of last year, murals by heavy hitters still gracing some of the walls. It’s cool seeing art blasted everywhere.

The gallery hosting our show, The Take Over , had an assistant running around wheat pasting posters all over town. For the show, we were supposed to create an installment from home, then cut the piece down into panels and send before we arrived. But because I been so busy traveling, working back in Hawai‘i and on both my Converse release and Kid Robot Dunny drop, I haven’t had time to work on any pieces for The Take Over show. I figure I’d finish when I arrived.

D a Y 2, D ece M ber 1, 2010. e XPL orin G base L.

They’re not letting us install our pieces until tomorrow, so we decide to check out the other sites and watch an amazing abundance of art emerge from the ground up. Collectives like Primary Flight and Graffiti Gone Global host graffiti artist from around the world, so there are heavy hitters prepping wall spots everywhere. It seems like you could post up at any wall and just paint, but most walls during Art Basel are

commissioned by galleries and art promoters, and so everything in downtown Miami, from warehouses to abandoned buildings, are taken over by art groups to smash out huge murals and installations. I run into local boy Estria and Mike “Bam” Tau rocking a giant wall along with the rest of the Montana Spray Paint team. It’s coming out so fresh! Definitely is good to see local island boys out here killing it.

I stop by Wynwood Walls, which is an outdoor mural project produced by Deitch Projects and Goldman Properties and also my favorite exhibition at Basel. Artists I consider my heroes smash out Wynwood: Os Gemeos, Nunca, Shepard Fairey, Futura, Ryan McGinness, Space Invader, Ron English, Logan Hicks, Jeff Soto – such an insane roster! Seeing this show alone I could have gone home happy. By then, my manager Palmetto arrives from California. We end up getting shit faced at the hotel. Walking around all day, it seems like the best idea.

D a Y 3, D ece M ber 2, 2010.

I finally run into Pixel Pancho, my crew member from Italy who’s looking for some open walls to paint. I try to find some spray paint to rock on a wall, but since the city is filled with graffiti artist, all the paint is gone. Palmetto and I leave Pixel and head to Art for Basketball , an exhibition using NBA-issued backboards. All the pieces are selling for $10,000, and they all sell! We head to the Fresh Produce show, an amazing venue with free vodka all night long. The roster is heavy: pieces by Revok, Dabs and Myla, Jim Darling, Tatiana Suarez, Parskid, Herbert Baglione and London Police, just to name a few. We take advantage

of the vodka bar, then decide to head out, only to be stopped by the free ice cream truck outside.

We manage two last stops before calling it a night. The first is Anthony Lister’s, whose show is like a cross between David Choe and Neck Face. I really dig his huge installs because of the rawness and freedom of his paint. Then we top off the night at the Tools of the Trade art show. Another killer roster: Mike Giant, Ron English, Donny Miller, Tara McPherson, Buff Monster, Anthony Ausgang, Claw Money, Oliver Black, Mark Bode, Vaughn Bode and more. I got to meet Mark Bode, the son of Vaughn Bode. I was bugging out; he said he was a fan! Vaughn Bode inspired a lot of New York graffiti writers who adopted Bode’s famous cartoon characters like Deadbode Erotica and Cheech Wizard. The crew goes off to explore after hours in South Beach, but I head back to the hotel. I have a whole mural to start in the morning.

D a Y 4, D ece M ber 3, 2010. insta LL D a Y.

Today is set up day. It flies by, and I’m still not finished with my piece. The owner of the lot next door is allowing us to paint the walls, but I have no paint, and I’m still stressing about my installment not being done. Next door, Pixel Pancho, Ekundayo, and a bunch of fellow artists in The Take Over show start smashing on the walls in the lot. I end up going solo mission to check out the Sanrio installation and meet up with Palmetto, Ekundayo and the Art Whinos for a party. Dubstep, drinks and pretty girls everywhere. Finish up the night back at the hotel with a cup of noodles. Nothing’s open. It’s pretty gross.

Aaron Woes Martin, known for his “Angry Woebots,” witnesses a city covered in art. In front of his mural at Art Basel, Miami.

D a Y 5, D ece M ber 4, 2010. s H o W D a Y.

I drag myself out of bed to finish up my piece for The Take Over . I only have a few hours to paint a whole mural. I am the last artist painting. Doors open at noon. People start flowing in, but I just keep painting. At the opening later that evening, there are people everywhere in the streets headed to our show. It’s filled to the door. We still have to rock out a live install. The show is fresh lit up! I love my job.

D a Y 6, D ece M ber 5, 2010. brea K D o W n

Palmetto and I actually sleep in. Then we head back to the show spot, where I find out my install sold. Not bad for a day and half of work. Six days is definitely not enough to see everything, what with working on the show and trying to kick it with the crew. I actually didn’t have time to check out the official galleries at Basel,

which have the more high-end pieces from Mark Ryden works to huge sculptures and abstract installs. The street art is more appealing to me because there’s the sense of an amazing freedom in it – this is why I paint. To witness a whole city covered in full productions of art, to witness every wall covered with beautiful characters is a real sight to see.

For more on Art Basel, Miami visit: www.artbaselmiamibeach.com.

To keep up with Aaron Martin visit: www.armyofsnipers.com.

Painting by Jeff Soto at the Fresh Produce group show in Miami.

ART BASEL MIAMI

GO wHere HAwAiiAn GOes.

EXPLORE THESE GREAT TRAVEL DESTINATIONS WITH HAWAIIAN AIRLINES.

AT THE HELM SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Helm Bar & Bistro is the perfect way to experience Sydney with your best mates. Enjoy the sun-warmed terrace by day or take in Darling Harbor’s sparkling lights of the city by night. What’s great about Helm (other than the views) are the daily specials: Saturdays and Sundays are prawn-tastic, where $24 gets you 1kg (2.2 lbs) of fresh prawns; Mondays, get “schnit-faced” with their succulent and plump chicken schnitzels; Tuesdays features $10 steaks; Wednesdays, flaky $13 fish and chips; and Thursdays, experience all-you-caneat mussels for $22.95. The mussels come in an array of such flavors as onion and parsley Thai ginger and lemongrass and coconut milk. And until August 1, Hawaiian Airlines is offering daily non-stop flights to Sydney, so no matter what day you fly you’re sure to get a great taste of Sydney at Helm. - LY

www.helmbar.com.au

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY

PORTLAND, OR

Screen Door brings a modern approach to the romances of Southern living. The regional cuisine is expertly made with the finest farm ingredients around. Everything at Screen Door is fresh, locally sourced and organic. It’s the spot for brunch on a weekend: Three gigantic pieces of the best boneless fried chicken you ever had stacked on top of a crisp sweet potato waffle, and served with real maple syrup. Dinner is no laughing matter either. A rotating local organic vegan/vegetarian menu accompanies standard dishes such as crispy fried catfish with remoulade, smoked chicken and andouille jambalaya, and of course, crispy buttermilk-battered chicken and collard greens. Get your southern hospitality on daily with non-stop flights to Portland from Honolulu and Maui. - Jen Tam

Screen Door

2337 E Burnside St. Portland, OR 97214 503.542.0880 www.screendoorrestaurant.com

HANJUNGSIK

SEOUL, KOREA

Any visit to Korea is not complete without experiencing hanjungsik , meaning Korean full course meal, in which your table is quite literally covered with delectable banchan , or side dishes. Ok Jung and Jirisan, in the Insadong neighborhood in Seoul, are two restaurants that will not disappoint, and with nonstop flights to Seoul on Hawaiian Airlines, you’ll be there to experience them in no time.

Ok Jung offers several hanjungsik choices, the most basic of which begins with a spicy chicken dish, scrumptious egg battered cod filets and grilled pine mushrooms served on a bed of pine needles. Following the

initial starters, rice is served in a hot stone pot, along with soup and side dishes galore. Standouts include seasonal vegetables with wild sesame dressing and braised fish in a sauce of tangy spicy citrus notes.

Jirisan is housed in a traditional hanok style structure with indoor bamboo trees and a tiny stream with koi running through the front of the restaurant. In addition to soup, grilled fish and a tofu porridge is also served. While Jirisan specializes in tofu dishes, they have a large menu, including bibimbap and “nutritious rice” served in a hot pot with ginseng and whole grains added. – Linda Kwon

LISA WEISS’ HOLY LAND

SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Why did you originally move to San Francisco?

I grew up with my dad in Kahala, and I moved to San Francisco in 2006 after experiencing insane bouts of island fever most of my life. I went to the University of San Francisco, which had a pretty shoddy art program, before going to San Francisco Art Institute. Now I miss Hawai‘i terribly, but you know, the grass is always greener.

What is the concept behind Holy Land ? Holy Land was a compilation of B&W photos I took during a six-month stay in Israel/Palestine a couple years ago. The whole trip whipped by, and it left a big empty hole in my wanderlust. I was bummed out that I had all these photos from this mind-blowing trip and wasn’t doing anything with them aside from spitting out some prints here and there for friends. I started interning at Hamburger Eyes, and Ray Potes said, “Hey why don’t you make a zine?” All the photos are from places or things I was blown away

by. When I look back at those photos it’s like, “Wow, was I actually there?” I hope that Holy Land shows people how enthralling Israel and Egypt are.

You got a shout out from Vice. How does that feel? I did! It felt pretty good. Vice found me through Hamburger Eyes, so I owe it to them for giving me a huge boost. It’s motivating and nice to know someone out there appreciates what you’re doing. I also genuinely appreciate people telling me that my photos suck. It means they’re looking at my stuff wishing they could like it!

How long have you been taking photos and what got you interested in photography? I started taking a lot of photos in high school, with endearingly shitty Kodak disposables until I finally bought an equally shitty point-and-shoot from Kaimuki Goodwill. Like most teenagers, my friends and I would do stupid things, and I thought it was a great idea to preserve our idiocy on film. Again, like most teenagers, I totally idolized Larry Clark and wanted to take photos of junkies and degenerates just like him! Imagine Tulsa if instead of kids shooting up and playing with guns, everyone was perma-stoned and running around Honolulu in their underwear with water pistols. R.I.P. 2002.

How would you describe the photos you take? I’m always trying to look for something bizarre to photograph. My favorite things to shoot are friends against their will and new, unexplored destinations, but the latter is harder to come by. Portraits usually involve obstruction or cropping a major portion of the subject. There’s something attractive to me about not being able to see the whole, like a lady showing me her milky wrist instead of her butt. I’d hope my viewer sees something oddly mysterious and dreamy in my pictures.

What is one of most iconic photos of all time that stands out in your mind most?

Singular photos don’t stand out in my mind as much as individual photographers do. I’m a big Daido Moriyama and Garry Winogrand fan. They make B&W look so smooth and sexy, despite their peculiar subjects.  Moriyama’s “Fishnet Tights in Shimotakaido” (1987) is one of my favorites.  It would force a nun to have a suggestive mind, and that’s powerful.

Visit www.hamburgereyeland.com to scope some really cool zines, including Lisa Weiss’ Holy Land

TREND

THE RUNWAY LOOK

Don’t be afraid to mix patterns, shapes and colors to create a polished look. A graphic pop on a clutch, like this one from Miu Miu, can pull the entire look together.

Vest and top from Neiman Marcus. Skirt, Aloha Rag.

OPEN MARKET

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE AT

tCM

ALISON MORITSUGU

MAY 27, 2011 – AUGUST 28, 2011

Alison Moritsugu’s interest in the connections between family genealogies led to her newest work for The Contemporary Museum. Taking the form of two large-scale nets patterned with knots representing generations of her maternal and paternal family trees, the work is inspired by techniques and materials employed by members of her family. Her grandfather was once the head fisherman at Kane‘ohe Bay. Installed within TCM’s gardens, viewers will notice the colorful netting from afar but will only realize the detailed repetitive patterns at close range. In conjunction with Moritsugu’s month-long residency, she will work side by side with selected art students from the University of Hawai‘i, as well as emerging artists in the community. This program provides a rare opportunity for younger artists to learn firsthand what it takes to realize a museum quality project.

DARREN WATERSTON:

FOREST EATERS

MAY 27 – SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

Over the course of the past year, as part of The Contemporary Museum’s artist-inresidence program, New York-based artist Darren Waterston hiked on lava flows at Volcanoes National Park and researched past artists’ depictions of and writings on Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire, and volcanoes. The result is Forest Eaters , his response to the landscape of Hawai‘i and his interest in Pele, lightning and volcanoes.

Forest Eaters will be a two-part exhibition staged at TCM and the Honolulu Academy of Arts. At TCM, Waterston will exhibit the majority of the Forest Eater series including three new sculptures surrounded by more than 40 of his paintings. The centerpiece will be an 18-foot sculpture, Waterston’s largest to date, suspended from the museum’s ceiling.

For the installation at the Academy, Waterston selected works from the museum’s print and drawing collection and combined them with his recent paintings on panel, canvas and paper. The juxtaposition of historic and contemporary views of the volcanic landscape marks the first time the Academy is exhibiting works from its collection within a contemporary artist’s installation.

Portrait , 2011 Oil on linen, 24 x 20

Magma , 2011 Oil on wood panel, 14 x 18 inches

DECONSTRUCTING

Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams’ Alexa Sectional

THE ALEXA SOFA

The “Alexa” is the quintessential classic sofa, simply styled with comfortable box cushions and skirted with a drop welt detail. High density, high resiliency foam core cushions assure all over comfort.

instead of softwood, like pine, Mitchell Gold + bob Williams’ sectionals are made from poplar, maple or ash because it’s stronger. each frame is kiln-dried to remove moisture to prevent warping, mildew and odors and is precision-cut by computer, which is easy on the environment because this method gives the highest yield from each tree cut.

Plush cushions are not only comfy, they are environmentally safe! Wrapped in 80 percent regenerated fibers, MG+bW’s ozone-friendly, non-carcinogenic foam cushions are composed of up to 10 percent soy. the foam used doesn’t release ozone-depleting cfcs into the atmosphere during manufacturing.

MG+bW uses arched 8-gauge steel serpentine springs (also called sinuous or zig-zag) for lasting comfort and support. the springs are secured to the front and back of the frame with paper-coated metal clips, which prevents squeaks from metalto-metal contact.

Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams is sold exclusively at Pacific Home Honolulu. Pacific Home offers stylish furniture and accessories inspired by the unique flair of the Pacific Islands. The design-driven environment combines quality, imported, exotic merchandise with the newest, sharpest trends in U.S. brands of home furnishings.

www.pacific-home.com

BaCK piLLoWs

Cushions

MG+bW’s back pillows are partially composed of recycled fibers that were once plastic bottles.

OPEN MARKET

OCEAN INSPIRED

The ever-beautiful Noelani Designs jewelry is on every woman’s most wanted list. Whether at the office, cruising the beach, or on a fancy dinner date, Noelani’s versatile jewelry is for you. Inspired by the North Shore’s big blue waves and lazy summertime days, a new Noelani Designs collection is born. So treat yourself or special friend to a unique treasure that

will surely attract the right attention wherever you go. Wear nothing but the best as Noe’s jewelry is created with all natural, high quality materials that are safe for even the most sensitive skin.

Shop online at www.noelanidesigns.com, see her every other Sunday at the Hale‘iwa Farmer’s Market, or stop by the newly opened shop at Sunset Beach in the North Shore Wellness Retreat.   Call 389-3709 for an appointment.

BAMBUTWO

Your Satellite Office

Need to get away from the office, but still be connected? bambuTwo Cafe + Martini Lounge is a chill, downtown cafe offering free Wi-Fi, comfortable seating, and most importantly, air conditioning. Sandwiches, salads, dips and desserts made fresh every morning at Brasserie Du Vin and hot and cold espresso drinks prepared the way you like them. And when it’s time to

unwind, the cafe morphs into a martini lounge, serving favorites like cosmos and lychee-flavored martinis, standard cocktails, wine and beer. The espresso martini and Guinness martini are rich, dark, top sellers. Worth a try! bambuTwo 1144 Bethel Street Mon. – Sat. 11:00 am to 2:00 am www.bambutwo.com

“The art of pairing cocktails and food comes in the flexibility of manipulating flavor profiles.” Mixologist Joey Gottesman preps for a cocktail paring at Apartment3’s MUNCH.

in tHe KitcHen WitH...

Munch at Apartment3 and Mixologist Joey Gottesman

TEXT BY BRIDGET MULLEN | IMAGE BY JOHN HOOK

I have to admit it: When I heard the next Munch was celebrating the food of France, I was a little concerned, especially since the closest I have ever been to this European cuisine is le french fry. Of course I had nothing to worry about. Munch did to me what it has done to the vast majority of its past patrons: It left my mind intrigued and educated, my body satisfied and (a little) tipsy, and my taste buds blown away and yearning for more.

Munch – an Apartment3 culinary adventure that pairs gourmet three-course meals with flavor-complementing cocktails for a taste-tantalizing experience – is a product of the combined efforts of Apartment3 executive chef James Lewis, who creates the set menus using his culinary expertise, and Better Brands master mixologist Joey Gottesman, who tailors each cocktail to complement its corresponding dish. The result is a thrill ride of innovative pairings that manipulate the flavor profiles of each food and drink.

French Munch was no exception. Mmmm …The way the sweet and sugary ginger Bordeaux cocktail toned down the rich and creamy curry mussel mouclade … Or how the invisible dark chocolate martini joined the tart raspberry sorbet to recall the world’s love affair with this fruitand-candy combination. Everything came together for a meal that was, well, how the French say, “Really fucking good!”

After filling up on French fare (not to mention, a few memorable cocktails), FLUX caught up with the mix man of

Munch to discuss tequila suicides, Apartment3, and the art of the perfect drink.

So Joey, what exactly is a mixologist?

A fancy term for a very experienced bartender. The person who creates the signature or specialized cocktails for the bar. Or maybe another word for a kick-ass DJ?

How do you develop a new drink?

There are no new drinks! Yikes, bold statement! But, there are variations and techniques that take existing drinks to the next level. I always start off with the base of a drink, like a Bloody Mary, and then I slot in and out different flavor profiles to create a tasty base. So instead of Tabasco for heat, I’d use Sriracha, and in the case of horseradish, I’d use wasabi. Then to fortify the drink, I could switch to TY KU soju, Bombay Sapphire or even a great tequila instead of the usual vodka. It’s not a new drink. It’s just a twist that delivers a completely different flavor profile, mouth-feel and finish.

How do you name your cocktail creations? I’m really bad at naming drinks, so I usually stick to the components. Like if I don’t want to say, “mojito,” it would be an “herbaceous citrus and rum sparkler.”

Describe the art of pairing cocktails with food. The pairing comes in the flexibility of manipulating flavor profiles, acidity and balance to work with the protein or sauce. Sometimes the cocktails are great on their own, but their brilliance comes out when they are drank with the food they are paired with. It’s like how a good table wine is OK on its own, but eat some cheese and fruit with it, and it moves to a whole new level.

Why does something like Munch work well at a place like Apartment3?

Apartment3 continues to be pioneering and innovative for the nightclub and restaurant scene in Honolulu. The venue itself is intimate and cozy, fun and unpretentious. Munch has created a cult following of diehard foodies and cocktail aficionados.

How do you come up with a Munch menu? In a nutshell, the chef comes up with the menu, and then I create interesting drinks that complement or contrast the flavors in the dishes.

What has been your favorite Munch so far? Tequila Munch was my favorite. It really crushed the paradigms that most people think tequila cocktails are all about.

Since you get so creative with your cocktails, do you find simple drinks boring? The brilliance of a simple cocktail comes from making it properly. A beautiful manhattan, the cosmopolitan, or a properly made margarita are absolutely delicious when made perfectly. That’s not boring at all.

What are some common flavors that go well together?

Jack Daniels and Cheerios, Grey Goose and everything. Oh! And of course loco moco with a large fruit punch.

What is the craziest cocktail you’ve ever made?

Squid-ink martini, clarified quail fat cocktail and, of course, the smoked mai tai.

What’s the craziest drink you’ve ever had?

On my 21st birthday, I had a Tequila Suicide: Sniff the salt, shoot the tequila, squeeze the lime in your eye.

Get you Munch on every fourth Thursday. Call Apartment3 to reserve your spot at 808955-9300 or visit www.apartmentthree.com.

IF JOEY WERE A WHISKEY, HE’D BE JACK DANIEL’S TENNESSEE WHISKEY.

“Jack Daniel’s was the first drink that my brother (who passed away) bought me in a bar. i was only 18. We were at my cousins bar Mitzvah. When i turned 21, we spent the summer together going out almost every night, and he showed me the etiquette of how to drink. that was our last summer together, so every time i order or make a Jack Daniel’s for a guest, a little part of him is with me.”

TENNESSEE MAI TAI

What you need: ice

Jack Daniels

Preparation: this tennessee twist on the legendary tropical drink is prepared like a typical mai tai, except replace lime, rum, orange curacao, orgeat and simple syrup with a double shot of Jack Daniels. serve over ice.

anotHer WaY to Write reciPe if tHe above is too confusinG:

Preparation

1. find a bucket glass

2. fill glass with ice

3. Pour a double shot of Jack Daniels over the ice

4. enjoy, repeat, and call a sober driver.

6 ranDoM Questions

Steven Giles, Curator, The Waikiki EDITION Retail Store

TEXT BY LISA YAMADA | IMAGE COURTESY OF WAIKIKI EDITION

To call Steven Giles a buyer would be a vast understatement. The curator of cool, who turned Base, the Miami Beach retail store in the Delano Hotel, into more of a destination than a lobby gift shop, brings his curatorial eye to Hawai‘i. From limited edition, Nixon ceramic watches, which are only available at a handful of stores worldwide, to metallic blue piggy banks and arty books by Mario Testino, he’s given even the most discriminating consumer a reason to pay a visit to The Waikiki EDITION retail store.

What is the premise for The Waikiki EDITION’s retail space?

The brief for the store was to create a lifestyle proponent that exemplified and extended the spirit of the brand. In that sense, the store is not a conventional version of a typical hotel gift store inasmuch as it would be unfair to compare The EDITION brand to an interstate motel (no disrespect intended.) As such, it is filled with objects

that are designed to amuse and provoke, inform and entertain.

If you could have any artist design a Be@rBrick for you, who would it be?

The British graffiti artist Banksy – I celebrate irreverence in all things.

Define “cool.”

Defining “cool” is like riding the elevator from the 40th floor to the lobby and having the brakes fail. That said, cool, in the current vernacular, is an arbitrary term randomly assigned by members of a collective tribe who determine the current currency of one thing over another. One can be “cool,” for example, but it would not be “cool” to declare oneself such.

What is always in your suitcase when traveling to Hawai‘i?

A mat, organic SPF 35 sunscreen by COOLA available in the EDITION store, my

running shoes, and several long-sleeved cotton tees by Alexander Wang.

What brand are you most excited to carry in the store?

They are all equally interesting to me, but I particularly like, and endlessly wear, the organic cotton tees from Australian line Bassike.

Given your highly developed curatorial eye, what is your general impression of Hawai‘i as a whole in comparison to other parts of the world?

I never make those kinds of comparisons – I prefer to see what is unique to every culture I am in. In Hawai‘i it is the tremendous sense of geological physicality, the gorgeous people, and the enchantment with myth and legend. It’s a terrible cliché, but I do feel a deep connection whenever I am in Hawai‘i to whatever forces that drive our unseen worlds.

Buying locally and eating seasonally helps to preserve our connection to food and support the local economy. Here are some local Hawai‘i farmers we are delighted to support:

Evonuk Farm, Maui Cattle Company, Robb Farms, Twin Bridge Farms, Ho Farms, Paradise Flower Farms, Ali‘i Kula Lavender, Otsuji Farms, Kumulani Farm, Coca Farms, Kahanu Aina Farm, Rice Farms, Kanoa Enterprises, Ma‘o Organic Farms, Kumu Farms, Ono Organic Farms, Waipoli Hydroponic Greens and Anuhea Farm.

Liliko‘i grown in Kula, Maui

MAUI MALL

70 E. Ka‘ahumanu Ave.

Kahului, HI 96732

808.872.3310

KAHALA MALL 4211 Wai‘alae Ave.

Honolulu, HI 96816

808.738.0820

COMING SOON Kailua, Oahu Wholefoodsmarket.com