July 2011 "Art" issue

THE ART ISSUE

VIRTUAL REALITY FOR ALL FIVE SENSES

FEATURING

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ALVIN NGUYEN STREET ART NIKKI LAM BROOKE SHADEN DI$COUNT THE ART OF DANCE AND MUCH MORE! 1

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IN THIS ISSUE

06 FROM THE EDITOR

THE LIFE

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Le Paysage le Reve et le Desir A fashion dreamscape; photographed by Erica Fava

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This is Not An Artwork Understanding the high value of contemporary art

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On The Verge Three artists with very different talents

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New York Chronicles Street art

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Color Theory Fine art for your face; photographed by Mirella Szymoniak

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Fireflower Avant-garde fashion; photographed by Quro Studios

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Moving in Pictures Fast-paced fashion; photographed by Yuji Watanabe

The Art of Dance Appreciating the art of dance and all its many colors

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Half-Life Fashion reaches new levels; photographed by Alvin Nguyen

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DI$COUNT It’s not just fashion, it’s a movement; photographed by Zac Steinic

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Melbourne Art Space Blogger Ray Tsai shares his favorite hot spots

BUZZWORTHY

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FASHION FORWARD

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Siren Song You will be pining for these looks; photographed by Niko Mitrunen

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Immaterial Interview with feature artist Nikki Lam

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Angel Boys Heavenly menswear; photographed by India Hobson

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The Range in Fine Art Photography Fine art photographer Brooke Shaden shares her experience

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Hayley Maybury CREATIVE DIRECTOR Nicole Bechard MARKETING & TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Jamall Oluokun ADVERTISING DIRECTOR & PUBLISHER Shomari Miller FASHION EDITOR Nicole Herzog COPY EDITOR Nora E. S. Gilligan WEB DEVELOPER Jason DePeaux

GUEST BLOGGER Ray Tsai CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Erin Berry Brittnee Cann Lee Hershey Brooke Shaden Alicia Strusa George Veve CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Brittnee Cann Julie Dewaële Erica Fava Daniel Herzog India Hobson Niko Mitrunen Alvin Nguyen Ron Erick Odchigue Quintin Perez Brooke Shaden Zac Steinic Mirella Szymoniak Yuji Watanabe

ON THE COVER

Photographed by ALVIN NGUYEN Assisted by ALAN WANG & TOMMY O’BRIEN

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Hair NIKO WEDDLE Makeup STACE QUACH Styling ALVIN STILLWELL Model KELSEY JEAN HARDING (SMG) 5

FROM THE EDITOR SUNSHINE AND SUMMERTIME.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Editor-in-chief Hayley Maybury, creative director Nicole Bechard and friend Susan Haifleigh at a recent MassArt event; visiting the Chihuly “Through the Looking Glass” exhibit at the MFA Boston for their annual Summer PARTy; a gorgeous nighttime view of Miami during their recent MBFW Swimwear fashion week (photo by Greg Brown).

Hello and Happy Summer,

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This time of year, I find that it can sometimes be hard to keep up with what’s going on around you— all you want to do is push all your work to the side, hang out, relax and lie on the beach with your favorite issues of Papercut (well, that’s all I want to do)! Lucky for you, though, while you’ve been flipping through our pretty pages, we have been hard at work to bring you one of our favorite issues of the year...The Art Issue!

as always, we are bringing you some top-notch editorials. We welcome back our dear friend Alvin Nguyen and his outstanding editorial team, as well as some fabulous new photographers, to bring you yet again a dazzling display of photos.

This month we are embracing the Art community in its entirety. We have gathered artists from all over the globe to give you a look at their very cool work: the lovely Brooke Shaden offers us some great insight on fine art photography, our guest blogger Ray Tsai gives us a tour of his favorite Melbourne art spaces and our own Erin Berry talks to us about what makes Contemporary Art—well Art, in her clever article, “This Is Not Artwork.” And of course,

Enjoy, Papercutters!

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And, don’t forget to grab your own copy of Papercut Magazine here...www.magcloud.com. It is a must have for your summer reading!

xoxo

WANT THE LATEST IN FASHION, ART, CULTURE & NEWS? DON’T FORGET TO VISIT US ON THE WEB

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THIS IS NOT AN ARTWORK UNDERSTANDING THE HIGH VALUE OF CONTEMPORARY ART. Written by ERIN BERRY

René Magritte, “The Treachery of Images (This is not a pipe),” 1929, oil on canvas, 25 3/8 x 37”.

I was strolling through the Metropolitan Museum of Art a few years ago with my boyfriend Brad, who, being an engineer, was a little out of his element surrounded by paintings and sculptures.

I dreaded the transition from the more “understandable,” traditional art of Ancient Greece and the Renaissance to the Modern Art wing, where he was sure to question me about why a canvas painted entirely white would be hanging in a prestigious museum. Sure enough, as we rounded the corner into the gallery where Damien Hirst’s infamous stuffed shark floated ominously in a tank of formaldehyde, Brad turned to me and said, “Now—why is that art? There’s a shark like that at my college in the Marine Biology department—so is that art too?” I sighed and carefully tried to assemble the correct explanation in my head, as if having an art degree made

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me an expert on such volatile things: “Well—he made this with the intent of it being art. Your school meant it as a science exhibit,” I said, hoping to settle the discussion.

“So I could bring my dead deer head in and call it ‘art,’ then it could be hanging in a museum?” Brad asked, purposely trying to push my buttons. On the brink of losing my patience I started to say, “Well not exactly...” he interrupted with, “What makes this shark more special than my shark? I don’t get it.” Not wanting to disturb him further, I decided not to mention the facts that Hirst neither caught nor stuffed the shark himself, and at the moment the piece was worth a whopping 12 million dollars.

The most frustrating thing about this exchange was not the fact that Brad just “didn’t understand” the very profound subject of art, but that his questions were

completely viable. In fact, they were the very same questions artists themselves scratch their heads over. Art with a capital “A” is as fickle as a labyrinth—it can be controversial, and the success of one artist over another can appear to be completely random.

Economist Don Thompson explores these questions and the real reasons behind the enormous price tags in his book The 12 Million Stuffed Shark; the curious economics of contemporary art. He cracks open the door into the cutthroat world of art auctions at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, two auction powerhouses that make up the crème de la crème of the art scene, where the richest of the rich thoughtlessly lay down seven figures on a large abstract as if purchasing a lawn ornament.

Thompson explains that making it in the art world is all about being “branded” rather than having raw talent. Art is similar to fashion in this sense, for instance, you wouldn’t buy that putrid yellow purse with the gaudy clasps at any old bargain outlet, but suddenly the name PRADA makes it an object of beauty, an envious accessory, and an absolute must-have. Thompson explains that owning expensive art is more about status than true appreciation: Even if you are only moderately rich, there is almost nothing you can buy for 1 million that will generate as much status and recognition as a branded work of contemporary art. Flaunting a Lamborghini might be viewed as vulgar. A country house in the south of France is better, but it better have a small vineyard and a sea view. A great many people can afford a small yacht, but art distinguishes you. A large and recognizable Damien Hirst dot painting on the wall produces an impressed, ‘Wow – isn’t that a Hirst?’

Thompson points out that the aesthetics of a piece are not as important as the price, who is looking to collect it and the aura of the artist himself. Two artists on different sides of the world could produce a piece that is similar in subject and style, but if one of them is a boring housewife and the other is a transvestite who survived a tsunami— who do you think is going to have the highest bid? The intent of artwork is also glorified and elaborated when it is up for sale. Thompson mentions Christie’s catalogue description of Yves Klein’s blue color field painting that sold for 1.8 million in June of 2006: What did Christie’s catalogue say about this solid blue canvas? ‘These works

allowed the viewers to bathe in the infinite, in the luminous spiritual realm of the Blue. Influenced by his experience of Judo, his interest in Rosicrucianism, his fascination with the age of the atomic, Klein had created paintings that have no frames and therefore no edges, and are thus windows into the eternal and endless spiritual realm.’ Imagine being offered a window to the eternal for just 1.8 million.

Artists are not always creating work with multi-layered meaning comparable to peering into a magic eye picture— like my high school art teacher once said, “Sometimes an apple is just an apple.” But when work is entered into the market, it suddenly needs to have a story to make it interesting. Abstracts are no longer spilled paint strokes, but bold marks representing “the anger the artist felt about the country at war,” and a solid painting like Klein’s is no longer just a plain study of the color blue, but a “window to the eternal.” Phrases like these that emphasize the mystique of a

elicit such controversy. Slade comments that contemporary art is not meant to be pretty; its purpose is more sinister: “That’s the job of contemporary art; to piss us off. It disturbs, gnaws at the psyche, provokes visceral reactions, and ultimately gets us thinking about the current human condition in a way that even the most sumptuous John Singer Sargent painting at the MFA cannot.”

So what does this mean for the future of art? If every strange or shocking idea has been brought to the forefront, is it harder for artists to produce eyecatching work that will launch him or her to “branded” status? Maybe if the stigma of “what sells” were removed, artists could produce new and original work that is true, and unhindered by the color green. Then again, art will always be a business, no matter which side of the easel you stand on.

“ART WITH A CAPITAL “A” IS AS FICKLE AS A LABYRINTH—IT CAN BE CONTROVERSIAL, AND THE SUCCESS OF ONE ARTIST OVER ANOTHER CAN APPEAR TO BE COMPLETELY RANDOM.” piece are what add value to otherwise ordinary paintings. You would think, with the way certain pieces are selling for the cost of a small country, the “starving artist” stereotype would no longer be applicable. But the competition to be original and to get noticed is fierce and largely reliant on “who you know”—also on pure dumb luck.

Another relevant question is how does an artist maintain creative integrity when making art to make a living? In other words—is art made for art’s sake anymore? Contemporary artists seem to be more interested in what they can get away with than the exploration of their own journey. Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) was recently critiqued by Boston Magazine writer Rachel Levitt Slade for “selling out.” In her article titled “The Exhibitionists,” Slade criticized the museum’s lack of interesting new artists and its focus on “safe” modern choices that were successful in the past. The exhibitions that are most likely to draw a crowd are generally those that present a disturbing idea or provoke a negative reaction, and, as people are desensitized, it becomes more and more difficult to

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NEW YORK CHRONICLES STREET ART

Written and photographed by BRITTNEE CANN

One of the best things about living in New York City is that inspiration can strike at any moment. Walking around, you’re always being creatively stimulated by anything and everything around you. And one of the most prominent “anythings “and “everythings” is art. Not always just the stuff hanging in galleries; it’s the art on walls, on the ground, on rooftops and in every nook and alleyway throughout the city.

New York is one of a collective of major cities around the world known for its graffiti and street art culture (others, if you’re curious, include London, Paris, Berlin, Melbourne, and São Paul). Artists from all over the world come here to make their mark in the U.S., leaving behind a piece of their work accessible to all of the city’s residents. In the spirit of competition, it becomes a game of creativity, wit and seeing who can spread their name the widest and fastest.

If this game sounds familiar, it’s likely because the fashion industry plays it too. What has no one else done before that we can create? What kind of design will prompt a discussion?

What is something that will bring out an emotion from the viewer? All of the best designers and artists are constantly coming up with new ways to answer these questions. Trends are recycled all the time, so the best of the best are coming up with fresh ideas to break up the rotation. Just the way fashion designers create things that make a viewer stop to think about what it is they’re looking at, street artists are doing the same.

Last summer I had the incredible fortune to have a small part in a large-scale street art project happening in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York. In August of 2010, design studio AKANYC organized an 80-foot mural project on the western facing wall of Public School 11 with twin Brazilian artists “Os Gemeos” and the legendary “Futura.” Being amongst these artists and spending time talking with them was an honor and a pleasure. One of the things I found most 10

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interesting was their take on fashion and how their work has been translated into the business.

Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, otherwise known as “Os Gemeos,” are certainly not ones for high fashion (I know from a first-hand witness that they washed their socks in a hotel bathroom sink during their art tour last year—sorry, guys), but it’s quite remarkable how their art has been made into wearable duds. After the P.S. 11 mural’s completion, graffiti website 12ozProphet produced a limited edition t-shirt featuring the artists’ work, which sold out almost immediately. As for Lenny McGurr (Futura), he has built himself a retail empire, smoothly transitioning from graffiti into fashion with his FUTURA LABORATORIES store in Tokyo that sells his own branded clothing alongside other leading street wear brands.

Behind any given realm of culture, be it in fashion, street art or otherwise, there is a million man and woman army following and supporting the movement. Fashion followers are fanatical about the industry just the same way that street artists and their fans are passionate about graffiti. Why else would fashion weeks be such a hectic mess in a million and one cities? Why else would people have watched a website ticker count down the minutes until the Os Gemeos and Futura shirts were released for sale? Seeing the demand for fashion by these artists proves some overlap between the street art and fashion communities. It just goes to show that sometimes the best way to show your support for the arts is by wearing it on your back.

12oz x Futura t-shirts can be bought exclusively through 12ozProphet at www.12ozProphet.com/shop

BRITTNEE CANN is a freelance fashion journalist for StyledOn and also writes about fashion, music, art and other cultural musings on her personal blog at www.brittneecann.com.

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ireflower Photography, hair and make-up by QUINTIN PEREZ & RON ERICK ODCHIGUE, QURO STUDIOS www.qurostudios.com Wardrobe and styling by MARIANNA BARKSDALE www.mariannabarksdale.com | www.evigheden.com Model EKATERINA PETUSHOVA

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“Locke and Demosthenes” vest dress by BARKSDALE

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THIS PAGE “Maladroit” jacket and “Polyglot” cuff by BARKSDALE OPPOSITE “Graff” leotard and “Polyglot” cuff 15 (worn as shoulder pad) by BARKSDALE

THIS PAGE “Caromed” dress by BARKSDALE; “Null Gravity” shoes by EVIGHEDEN OPPOSITE “Mazer Rackham” jacket and “Pidgin” skirt by BARKSDALE

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THIS PAGE “Locke and Demosthenes” vest dress by BARKSDALE OPPOSITE “Kiss From A Rose” dress

by EVIGHEDEN

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“I am Ender Wiggin” two-piece

by EVIGHEDEN

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THE ART OF DANCE APPRECIATING THE ART OF DANCE AND ALL ITS MANY COLORS. Written by ALICIA STRUSA I remember watching my niece’s dance recital a couple of years ago; the show was called “The Color Of Music.” Each song related to a color, and everything— from the lighting to the choreography to the costumes—was perfectly matched.

The show made me realize how much of an impact music has in our lives. It motivates us to work out, or to sit down and write a ten-page paper. Along with the music, naturally, came the dance. As I watched the children perform the last dance to its respective matching “color,” the true meaning of the work unfolded.

Each color was meant to symbolize a different genre of music, and each individual dance was a choreographed part of one big, unified whole.

The beautiful thing about dance is that it always tells a story. “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t move my body to music,” says Jackie Rwigamba, a 23-year-old dancer from Uganda.

Rwigamba has been part of a dance academy since moving to the United States at four years of age. She laughs as we talk and sit in her apartment, looking at her African interpretive dance photos from when she was a child: “I think I want my own dance studio someday, “says Rwigamba with a big smile. “It would be such a blessing and wonderful thing to teach people the expression of dance.

To pass on the beauty and creativity of it would be a dream.”

Traditional African dancers like Rwigamba not only represent a spirit, but also embody that spirit during their dance. These stunning dancers use a range of masks and costumes, representing spirits, gods, and sacred animals, to help tell their story through music.

It’s been said that the body is a sacred garment, and that dance is the hidden language of the soul. “Dance has a language all of its own,” says Robyn Goullet, a former dance instructor at the Jeannette Neill Dance Studio in Boston.

“We always tell our classes to just listen to the music and flow along with the rhythm and emotion of it, the movement releases energy and it’s communicating a beautiful language.”

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that the gods offered this gift only to select mortals, who in turn taught the art of dance to humanity. I believe through the practice of dance, we can experience past and present, connecting within ourselves when we have no words to communicate. It is known as a healing art, because positive energy is said to move all throughout the body when dancing.

Dance is not only an art, a way of expression and a language; it is also a skill that takes much passion and true dedication. Dancers are athletes in their own unique way, using patterns

“EVEN THE ANCIENT GREEKS BELIEVED THAT DANCING WAS A GIFT FROM THE GODS—THAT THE GODS OFFERED THIS GIFT ONLY TO SELECT MORTALS, WHO IN TURN TAUGHT THE ART OF DANCE TO HUMANITY.” in movement, practicing for hours perfecting their routine. Ballet dancers especially spend an extensive amount of time crafting dainty movements, one graceful leap after the next.

At five in the morning in a dance studio in New York, 18-year-old Chantel Hughes begins her daily stretching routine. “This is what I spend my weekends doing, you know?” says Hughes. “Ballet is a big part of my life.” She starts by resting her leg on the bar attached to the giant mirrors in the open, echoing studio, and slowly reaches her arm up to stretch across it.

“I’ll spend the day here, stretching and working on splits to help me move more easily. When you have a show or a recital coming up, you can’t afford to slack off.”

Chantel pounces around the studio and dances for a bit on her tippy-toes. “I just feel better when I dance. It’s who I am and inside I am an artist. It’s something we should remember to cherish and not take for granted.”

Just as Hughes is motivated and strong in each stride she takes, hiphop step and interpretive dancer Mika Brinson can’t imagine ever taking what she does for granted. “I am so thankful

for the opportunity to move and dance every single day,” Brinson says to me, as we sit outside of the Boys and Girls Club in Nashua, New Hampshire. She jumps up, eager to show me her stepdance routine. Step dance, unlike most styles of dance, involves patterns of movement around the dance floor.

The arm movement is sharp and the footwork is very simple. “Being able to dance here and practice every day makes me count my blessings,” says Brinson. “I’ll take classes here and I just don’t want to be anywhere else.

Dance is just in my being.”

After hearing the passion in each dancer’s voice, I believe that perhaps the true beauty in the art of dance is not only the form of expression itself, but also the driven inspiration of the people who passionately pursue it. When we step back and look at the positive impact both music and dance have on us, we see how much each has shaped our culture, and will continue to do so in the future.

Every rhythmic motion really is just a small part in “one big, unified dance.”

When we look at it this way, we learn to truly appreciate the art of dance, and all of its many colors.

Natasha Balan, Moscow Ballet ballerina; photographed by Daniel Herzog.

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MELBOURNE ART SPACE RAY TSAI SHARES HIS FAVORITE ART SPOTS IN THE CITY. Posted by RAY TSAI Photographed by JULIE DEWAËLE

Explore the city of Melbourne, Australia, and it’s not too hard to sense that this is a place immersed in the arts and creativities. Inspired to share, here is a list of my favorite art spaces in the city and surrounding suburbs. A few paragraphs simply cannot describe the amazement Melbourne has to offer; I give my apologies to other significant places left unwritten.

FITZORY

ACMI http://www.acmi.net.au/ ACMI stands for Australia Centre of Moving Images. Arguably the most important exhibition centre for cinematic arts in Melbourne, hundreds of monthly programs, educational workshops and film festivals are open for film buffs to attend.

In the past few years, the Centre has held exhibitions for Disney, Pixar, Tim Burton and many other international leading forces in moving images. ACMI is located in the same complex as the National Gallery of Victoria and Federation Square.

Federation Square, Flinders Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia THOUSAND POUNDS BEND http://thousandpoundbend.com.au/ Thousand Pounds Bend was born to feed Melbourne peoples’ dual addiction

to both coffee and art. The building is a combination cinema (upstairs), café and gallery; the gallery tends toward local, independent and street art, and has hosted a series of graffiti contests, exhibitions and even a local skateboarding video premier. The artistic energy of Thousand Pounds attracts many to come and linger, meeting like-minded people for art chats over warm vintage couches and coffee.

361 Lt Lonsdale Street, Melbourne Victoria, Australia

It would be impossible to exclude Fitzory, an inner city suburb to the northwest of the city, while speaking of art in Melbourne. Art and music are truly celebrated here. Filled with vintage shops, bookstores, commercial galleries, artist-run spaces, studios, live performance venues and cafés, artistic freshness is everywhere to be found in Fitzory. Some galleries to visit are Brunswick Galleries, Centre of Contemporary Photography and Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces.

Take a walk around Fitzory, and refill your pool of inspiration.

OUTRÉ GALLERY http://www.outregallery.com/ Outré Gallery is located in the inner city of Melbourne on Elizabeth Street (with a second location in Sydney). The gallery’s focus is on introducing international works and collections of contemporary artists around the globe. A decent storage of art books is also available for purchase. New show openings are held each month, and provide a great environment for socialization among artists; Outré recently launched the exclusive exhibition of Sylvia Ji (who travelled down under from Los Angeles for the event).

249 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne Victoria, Australia

RAY TSAI is a web designer originally from Taiwan; he has been based in Melbourne, Australia for the last four years. Ray encourages web designers to explore all forms of art, and to experiment with various mediums, because web design itself is also a form of art.

See his inspirational blog here: raytsaiblog.blogspot.com And few of his exploratory personal works here: rippingtearness.blogspot.com/

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Leather top and shorts (with detachable strapping) by SUZAAN HEYNS; leather harness by MISSIBABA

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Photography by NIKO at www.nikophoto.com Hair/Make-up by BIANCA HARTKOPF Styling by CATHARINA CARA VAN WYK Models SANTA (ICE)

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THIS PAGE Pleated silk and satin gown by GAVIN RAJAH COUTURE; crop top and deconstructed leather helmet by SUZAAN HEYNS OPPOSITE Pleated silk gown with Shorofsky crystals

by GAVIN RAJAH COUTURE

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THIS PAGE Silk and chiffon gown by CINDY BAM; leather epaulets by SUZAAN HEYNS; fencing mask is vintage OPPOSITE Cut-out crop top by SUZAAN HEYNS; fencing mask is vintage.

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THIS PAGE One piece with cut-out crop top by SUZAAN HEYNS; leather “feather” shoulder epaulets with chain by MISSIBABA OPPOSITE Pleated silk and satin gown by GAVIN RAJAH COUTURE; crop top and deconstructed leather helmet

by SUZAAN HEYNS

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Silk and chiffon pleated cape by CGDT KLUK; bikini by SUZAAN HEYNS; 35 leather harness by MISSIBABA

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IMMATERIAL AN INTERVIEW WITH NEW MEDIA ARTIST NIKKI LAM. Written by GEORGE VEVE Melbourne is the second biggest city in Australia. Has its differences and/or similarities to Sydney helped inspire any of your work?

The cityscape in Melbourne is all about the alleyways, basements and rooftops. Smelling like coffee during the day and beer at nightfall, these spaces offer a unique experience to visual artists, street artists and musicians alike, to create site-specific work—which is very exciting. We really have a culture here in Melbourne to creatively use those interesting spaces. This has definitely inspired me, especially in creating spatial installations. Some say Melbourne is the arts capital of Australia. I guess we have relatively more unconventional and bold art spaces than in Sydney. But, then again, if you ask any Melbournian, they would tell you that everything in Melbourne is better than Sydney. <laughs> How have social networking websites helped you to explore new markets interested in your work?

I think online social media, such as Facebook and blogs, have really provided us young artists an open platform to reach out to an audience around the world. Once your work is online, it makes marketing a lot easier locally and internationally. It doesn’t matter if the artist is emerging or quite established; [his or her work is] still as accessible for the public. Social media sites are also very cost-effective. Great for early career artists like myself.

You focus a lot on photography, video art, performative work and new media installation. Are there any specific reasons you prefer to work capturing live images, created by you, than using other media (e.g. paint, clay etc.) to create an imaginary installation from scratch?

I think that really depends on the theme that I am working with at the time. In the past few years, I have been working with ideas related to the immateriality of identity and cultures. With that, I often feel the need to create something with direct references of my subjects visually, rather than the representations of them. I found video installations, in particular, the most suitable as the majority of my work related

to the duration of changing, becoming and transitioning. The long and ongoing duration of the videos becomes a crucial element of those works. Besides, I found the evolving imaging technology very fascinating, in that one can always discover fresh and innovative ways to create, install and present video art. The truth is...I can’t really paint. <smile> It seems like you draw a lot of inspiration from language, traveling and sociology. Would you say you are inspired by other cultures more than your own, or have ideas you’ve drawn from home also inspired your art?

This is a difficult one. I have always been intrigued by cultures other than my own (the precise reason of why I live and work in Melbourne). The idea of differences interests me a lot—when you think about it, everything we do and think, ultimately our identities, come from not just our

“IN THE PAST FEW YEARS I HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH IDEAS RELATED TO THE IMMATERIALITY OF IDENTITY AND CULTURES. WITH THAT I OFTEN FEEL THE NEED TO CREATE SOMETHING WITH DIRECT REFERENCES OF MY SUBJECTS VISUALLY, RATHER THAN THE REPRESENTATIONS OF THEM.” families, religion, work and education, but [from] the diverse cultures (and subcultures) in our societies. The ambiguity of these relationships between individual identities and the sense of belonging fascinates me. From communications to ways of living and human conditions, it is interesting to peel layer by layer and get to the bottom of ethnology. To answer your question, I guess my inspiration comes not only from different cultures, but, most importantly, from the gaps and layers within the complex structure of cultures (whatever that might be).

In your last installation (May 2011), you created walls of suitcases to express the idea of physical and emotional transition during life. Although the idea of

THIS PAGE AND PREVIOUS: “Longing, Be-Longing (at BUS Projects)” (2011) Two-channel Video Installation.

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using suitcases to express transition is appropriate, what made you think of using the suitcases to build walls? Did it have to do at all with the idea that during certain transitional phases in life it can feel like you have to break down walls and barriers to move on?

Longing, Be-longing was a work that evolved a lot in the past seven months or so. Initially it was installed with suitcases randomly placed on the floor of Trocadero Art Space, in October 2010. I was [showing] with another artist in a group exhibition at the time, and the piece was more focused on the intimate videos of repetitive packing of belongings.

The suitcases were metaphors of the transitory nature of attachments, both physical and emotional.

I decided to make [the piece] more site-specific for my last installation at BUS Projects Gallery due to the nature of the space (BUS is located in the basement of a beautiful heritage building in Melbourne CBD). With a sense of emptiness and the cool air down in the basement, I decided to create an experience for my viewer in which they would have to be stunned by a storage of others’ burdens. Since all the suitcases were old and each had a history of its own, they became less material and more sentimental. As much as it was about the transitions and moving on, I tried to explore the emotional aspect of being attached to the past.

During the exhibition, I was quite surprised by the diverse responses from my audience. Some found it comforting and secure, some found it difficult and nostalgic. The work transformed from one viewer to another, and became something more personal than I had expected.

Of every piece of art work you’ve done, including in primary and secondary schooling, what has been your favorite creation?

It’s hard to pick because I’m a self-confessed perfectionist.

When I look at something I created two years ago, I can always pick on things that I could have improved or changed or refined. If I have to pick one, though, I think it would be Longing, Be-longing, simply because it’s most recent and I haven’t got sick of the idea yet. <laughs>

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THIS PAGE: “Romanticism” (2010) Archival Digital Prints on Aluminum. OPPOSITE: “Silence II” (2009) Three-Channel Video Installation.

Are there any places in the world that have inspired you most? Anywhere specific to Australia that helps you envision your next project?

Cockatoo Island in Sydney. I went to the Sydney Biennale a couple of times and I loved the creative use of the old, unconventional factory buildings and tunnels on the island. Lucca, Italy—a small, old town in Tuscany that is surrounded by a thick, 16thcentury wall—is another place. I first started my project on languages and identities during an artist residency in Tuscany in 2008, so I guess the place really had inspired me deeply.

On your blog you discuss your most recent musical muse, France Gall. Are there any other artists who have helped inspire and shape your personal style as a visual artist?

I am inspired by a range of artists and thinkers, including Mona Hatoum, Alfredo and Maria Isabel Aquilizan and Ai Wei Wei, as well as by writers Ghassan Hage, Dominique Moïsi and Roland Barthes. But most of the time my inspiration comes from all sorts of directions—food, media, music, film and just life in general.

Do you feel any pressures being an emerging artist in such a metropolitan area?

Very much so, yes. Melbourne has a very active and vibrant art scene, which makes it very competitive for young and emerging artists. Having said that, we do have a very supportive culture within the arts communities across Melbourne. Besides, the pressures and competitions kind of become part of my motivation to push myself a bit further every time I get a chance to show my work to the public. It’s a positive stress I suppose.

Are there any other artists who you would potentially like to work with one day?

Interestingly, I haven’t thought about that before. I think I would love to collaborate with international artists in different disciplines, such as contemporary dance, music, theatre, etc. I’m open to collaboration with any creative minds that share views similar to my own.

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ANGEL BOYS Photography & post-production by INDIA HOBSON Photo assistant DAISY HOLLINGDALE Grooming by Nina Robinson (Lyden & Andrew) & Nina Sagri (Louis & Matt) Styling by REEME IDRIS & LINDSEY CASH Styling assistant CIANNA CANNING Models LOUIS DU SAUZAY (AMCK), LYDEN (STORM), ANDREW JONES (ELITE); MATT WOODHOUSE (ELITE) Special thanks to CLIC LA MODE STUDIO, LONDON

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THIS PAGE AND PREVIOUS Andrew wears knit/feather cardigan

by CALUM HARVEY; shirt by DOMINGO RODRIGUEZ; trousers by YASMIN BAWA OPPOSITE Matt wears shirt and jacket by YASMIN BAWA; scarf by YAELLE

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THIS PAGE Andrew wears shirt by DOMINGO RODRIGUEZ; trousers by YASMIN BAWA PREVIOUS Louis wears knit by KIM JUNG SUN; necklace is stylist’s own

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THIS PAGE AND PREVIOUS Matt wears t-shirt by YASMIN BAWA; trousers by CALUM HARVEY; shoes are stylist’s own

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THIS PAGE Louis wears silk t-shirt by CALUM HARVEY; trousers by KIM JUNG SUN OPPOSITE Andrew wears mink jacket, vest and trousers by DOMINGO RODRIGUEZ; sunglasses are stylist’s own

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THIS PAGE Lyden wears knit by CALUM HARVEY; trousers by DOMINGO RODRIGUEZ; glasses are stylist’s own PREVIOUS Lyden wears jacket and trousers by YASMIN BAWA; shirt is stylist’s own

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THE RANGE IN FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHER BROOKE SHADEN SHARES HER EXPERIENCE. Written and photographed by BROOKE SHADEN One of the joys of fine art photography is that the photographer can focus on any element of the image he or she is creating, instead of selling a garment or showcasing hair and makeup. The point of commercial photography is often, to put it bluntly, to sell something. That something may not be as tangible as a shirt or a handbag; sometimes it is the model herself (or himself), and sometimes it is a hairstyle (so the stylist can use the picture for his or her book). With fine art photography, the focus is on the creative concept of the piece, and the mixing of all elements to create something dynamic.

Fine art photography is personal, and can be defined differently for everyone. Unlike in most commercial work, suited to magazines, the aspect ratio and subject matter can change; an image can have high concept or no concept at all. So, if there are no standards or rules as to the “perfect” image, what makes something fine art?

Fine art fulfills the creative vision of the artist while not aiming to sell a product or document a real event. Because the definition is so broad, the term “anything goes” relates here in a way that it does in few other artistic areas. When I started photography, I did not know whether I would label

“FINE ART FULFILLS THE CREATIVE VISION OF THE ARTIST WHILE NOT AIMING TO SELL A PRODUCT OR DOCUMENT A REAL EVENT. BECAUSE THE DEFINITION IS SO BROAD, THE TERM “ANYTHING GOES” RELATES HERE IN A WAY THAT IT DOES IN FEW OTHER ARTISTIC AREAS.” my work fine art or not. In fact, I had no idea what fine art was. I simply began creating the visions that I had in my head which happened to be quite dark and disturbing. From my earliest accounts of being an artist, I wanted to capture the essence of darkness while at once creating and sharing it in a beautiful way. To this day my motto still stands, as wanting to make beautiful that which others find disturbing.

To my amazement, I was never completely shunned for not creating beautiful, commercial images. Until I began my journey, I thought that all photography was commercial photography, as naive as that sounds. It was not until I picked up my own camera that the idea of fine art “clicked” in my mind. I find that the most evocative fine art imagery carries juxtaposition; even if an image is hard to look at, if it is sad or dark or disturbing, there is something beautiful to be found in it, either aesthetically or conceptually. The same goes for beautiful images. There is often more to look at than just the pretty exterior.

Art can easily have a transcendent quality, where the soul of the image hovers in equilibrium. This is the 52

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juxtaposition that I speak of. There are usually unanswered questions and emotions that the viewer takes away that fall between happiness and sadness. Fine art is often a crossroad between emotions: sorrow and joy, pain and comfort, life and death.

Imagine a photo of a landscape: mountains loom in the background, some trees are visible and perhaps a lake resides in the foreground of the image. This might be considered landscape photography, but maybe not fine art. Now add some highly dynamic, detailed and thick clouds in the sky. Suddenly there is drama added to the image. This “drama” is often what takes an image from

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a “picture” to “fine art,” and it is something I try to capture into every picture I take. Fine art allows space for the drama factor to dominate the visuals of the image, which is why fine art is so dynamic in range.

In the image published here, “Amongst the Decay of Wild Forest,” both emotion and tone are ambiguous.

The subject is hanging from a tree branch, blowing in the wind: on one hand, someone might see this as dark and deathly, while another might look at it and see pure beauty. The subject is becoming the tree, and therefore connecting with nature; some will undoubtedly see that as weakness, while others see strength. And therein

lies the beauty of fine art. There is nothing being sold, neither garment nor idea. Instead, fine art is put forth for the viewer to interpret, making it as intimate and personal as it is wonderfully undefinable.

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Photography by ERICA FAVA Artwork by SARA SPANO Hair/make-up by JOANNA BERDZINSKA Styling by NOELIA ORTEGA Model AMANDA MORENO GARCIA (UNO MADRID) 56

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THIS PAGE AND FOLLOWING SPREAD Geometric top and culotte by AMAYA ARZUAGA (PARIS COLLECTION); shoes by UNITED NUDE; headdress by MARIA ESCOTÉ

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THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE Geometric jumpsuit by AMAYA ARZUAGA; boots by ASTAÑER; headdress by MAMITA LINDA

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THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE Corset by MAYA HANSEN; shorts and shoes by AMAYA ARZUAGA; chainmail

by ANILLARTE.

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THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE Geometric dress by AMAYA ARZUAGA (PARIS COLLECTION); shoes by UNITED NUDE; headdress by MONIC

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THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE Dress by JUANJO OLIVA; shoes by AMAYA ARZUAGA

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Top and shoes by AMAYA ARZUAGA (PARIS COLLECTION); trousers by JUANJO OLIVA; headdress by MAMITA LINDA

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THIS MONTH WE BRING YOU THREE TALENTED ARTISTS WITH THREE VERY DIFFERENT STYLES. HOLLY LEVELL CONSTRUCTS LIFELIKE GROCERY ITEMS AND OTHER PRODUCTS OUT OF CLOTH. THOMAS BONNIEUX DAZZLES US WITH HIS GRAPHIC ART THAT HAS BEEN FEATURED BY BRANDS SUCH AS H&M. AND MICHAEL COMBS PROVES THAT HAND-MADE ART IS STILL ALIVE AND WELL. ALTHOUGH VERY DIFFERENT, ALL THREE ARTISTS’ WORK CONVERGE.

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GRAPHIC CONTENT INTERVIEW WITH GRAPHIC ARTIST THOMAS BONNIEUX. Written by LEE HERSHEY Google Thomas Bonnieux’s name and the first hit will be yourarthere.com, by H&M; here you will find his Nostalgie, a collage and painting about the evolution of music “supports” (read: everything from an old school Walkman to the latest iPod). Thomas, who also goes by Thomars, submitted a winning entry for the H&M design contest, and his design later became a graphic on t-shirts sold in-store.

“Tout m’inspire.” Thomars’ work is bright, electric, and colorful, and, as with Nostalgie, much of his inspiration comes from music, especially pop culture and mainstream images and sounds.

“J’attache aussi beaucoup d’importance au signe distinctif d’une personne ou de quelque chose.” (Translation: «I attach a lot importance to a distinctive style of a person or a thing.»)

News and other art are also huge influences. Often, ideas come to Thomars from the street, when he least expects it: “C’est souvent le quotidian, la vie de tous les jours.” He carries a small notebook with him, and with a sketch or drawing, ideas become living works, through which he hopes to touch people with simplicity and color.

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Thomars has a knack for combining certain images into one, so his collages appear seamless. He also combines symbolism into his illustrations. Taking a second look is often well worth it— although the symbols within Thomars’ art allude to greater depth, his intention is more motivated by stimulating emotions rather than creating a message.

There is also a strong 80s vibe to Thomars’ work, which may beckon from the era he was born in. The retro elements that “j’ai collectione depuis tout petit” (“that he has collected since childhood”) permeate his work, adding to that electric and exciting energy. As a child, he said he always loved to draw and create, and once made his own handmade blankets with images of k7 audio (music cassettes).

“Je pense que j’ai toujours voulu être graphiste et illustrateur,” Thomars says about his desire to become an artist from a young age, adding that he didn’t then realize that it could be a trade.

Thomars studied at several schools in France, and also a few months in Venezuela (Caracas) before he graduated. Currently, he is working on creating his own brand

of t-shirts for the whole family. “Cet fut un projet unique et tres interessant. L’aspect creative est immense.” (“It is a unique and very interesting project. The creative aspect is expansive.”)

Having been in the field for only three years, Thomars’ illustrations are catching on with a lot of great names.

He has collaborated with many brands on packaging and advertisement design, such as for Chanel, Piaget, Paul Smith Sparkling Water, ENKI WATERS (one of his first big projects) and Hush Puppies.

“It has always been by chance,” he wrote in French, “[and] through contacts,” that Thomars has come into the networks he has. He enjoys working on more globalized projects, that reach a greater demographic of people. He would like to open himself to other means of communication with his art, whether that be through more magazines, art galleries or other media. Thomars notes that he would like to work with a watch brand: “J’aime beaucoup cet objet comme accessoire de mode, et la maniere dont on peut le reinterpreter a l’infini.” (“I love this object as a fashion accessory, and how it can be reinterpreted at infinity.”)

Thomars graphic illustrations can be found featured in such magazines as Art Nouveau Magazine, Velvet and BooMag. To view more of his work, visit thomars.com for videos, collaborations, illustrations and more. Each week, he posts new work in the “OF THE WEEK” section of the site.

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STITCH BY STITCH INTERVIEW WITH TEXTILE ARTIST HOLLY LEVELL. Written by ALICIA STRUSA

When you look at Holly Levell’s Tumblr page, you can’t help but grin from ear to ear. A bottle of ketchup, a can of beans and a Diet Coke. Levell’s found a way to recreate these simple products into works of art with cloth material.

“I’ve always had a thing for drawing and art,” says Levell, “But it was at college when my graphic design course clashed with another subject [that] I sort of fell into textiles, and, within a year, I was completely and totally in love.”

The 21-year-old textile artist specializes in embroidery and will graduate this summer from the United Kingdom’s University of Huddersfield with a degree in Textile Crafts. As she focuses on school, Levell’s passion and motivation for her current work has only grown: “The everyday object has been a huge influence in my work for the last three years. Things and objects that are overlooked or forgotten—I try to shine a spotlight on them to be enjoyed.”

Levell’s blog features her latest project, “Supermarket Stitch,” which includes a colorful array of fantastically-crafted, everyday groceries, ranging from a box of Kellogg’s Cornflakes to a life-size tube of Colgate toothpaste. And yes, she even added the grocery store receipt!

“Supermarket Stitch” got its start through Levell’s interest in working with three-dimensional objects; “soft sculpture” was a natural extension of the artist’s talent with textiles and creative inclination. Levell admits the style wasn’t easy to take on, however. Each object had to be taken apart and re-sewn together at least five times: “It was the 3D nature of the objects themselves. When I get a good idea I run at it full speed and don’t take time to plan—it’s my downfall. But I think, in a way, I’ve enjoyed the stress and sleepless nights dreaming about how I could make a piece of felt look like a ketchup bottle.”

How many of us can say that? The project was a six-month process—and it’s not over yet. Truly dedicated to her passion, Levell wakes up thinking about her work and falls asleep at night dreaming about ways to achieve what she wants to create.

With that kind of determination, there isn’t anything else that Levell would rather be doing. “What I do now is what I want to do until I’m old and grey, and probably way past that. The main goal is to be a full time Textile Artist, and to have fun while I do it.”

The art of soft sculpture is not a new craft. Levell’s main source of inspiration is Claus Oldenburg, whose work made her re-think what she was capable of achieving through embroidery. Magarita Cabrera is another one of Levell’s influences. Cabrera produces textile replicas of everyday objects and completely softens the lines of perception, challenging the viewer to re-think what they see.

Do what you love and love what you do. This motto describes Levell quite well. “I love my work and I get really excited in maybe the last ten minutes of each soft sculpture,” says Levell.

“It’s as I’m finishing off any stitching, removing bits of fluff and ‘massaging’ them into shape; I just sit for a while, taking in what I’ve just made, admiring my creation. I do it with each [piece] I make, before I photograph or reveal it to anyone. It’s like the object and I have a bit of alone time to appreciate each other.”

Become a fan of Holly Levell on Facebook or check out her blog: http://hollylevell.tumblr.com/

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HAND-CRAFTED INTERVIEW WITH SCULPTURE ARTIST MICHAEL COMBS. Interviewed by ERIN BERRY

“Field Gear” (2005) wood vinyl urethane foam, leather.

Ever since computers dipped their digital paintbrushes into the art world, our idea of beauty and creativity has changed dramatically. Art has become both a duet and a duel between human and machine, so today it is a rare treat to come across art that celebrates the product of what two human hands alone can accomplish.

Sculptor and mixed media artist Michael Combs returns to his natural roots with carefully carved sculptures that deal with the relationship between humans, nature and the morbid exquisiteness of death.

Combs’s work could be defined as “masculine,” both in subject and material.

Born from a generation of hunters, builders and fishermen on the coast of Long Island, Combs’ creations are the definition of man-made. His carving skills derive from his boyhood experience making duck decoys for hunters. Combs gathered from this experience not only an extensive knowledge of the birds’ anatomy, but a certain empathy that is quietly indicated in his slack-necked duck sculptures. The smooth seamless carved deer mounts, embellished with leather and zippers, along with his elegant duck head sculptures, reflect a tragic, but fetish-ed obsession with hunting as a sport. Combs’ work illustrates the 76

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dilemma he faced growing up, between the instinctual desire to hunt and the grotesque aftermath when gutting the animals. In the same way Combs removed the guts from a kill, his work “guts” the inner animalistic desires of people: Man’s relationship to nature isn’t always pretty. I often dissect the absurdity of what we do, for example the lengths in which we go for power, security or sex. I find it extremely similar to what happens in the animal kingdom.

Combs attained both his bachelors and masters degrees from The School of Visual Art in New York City, where he currently lives and works. His work has been exhibited in many prestigious galleries throughout New York, and he held a solo exhibition in Dubai in 2008. Combs has been featured in widely circulated publications such as ARTNews, BOMB Magazine and Sculpture magazine. His first large scale installation, titled “The Trophy Room,” at the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton NY (2005), was a menagerie of taxidermy from his own family collection mixed with his own disingenuous representations of dead trophy animals. More recently, Combs held a solo exhibition titled “The Lodge”

at Salomon Contemporary in New York City, which featured a large aluminum cage hanging from the ceiling containing a life size sculpture of an albino buck.

The piece is titled “The Wish” and it refers to the legend of its elusive subject matter, said to be the most sought-after creature in the woods of Long Island. If anyone knows a true hunter, they would be familiar with the obsessive way that a hunter searches and waits for the perfect buck. Comb’s sculptures successfully convey the duality between predator and prey and the difference between killing for sport and killing for need.

Using phallic curved lines and S&M paraphernalia, the pieces relate hunting to sex, emphasizing the instinctual urge to overtake and penetrate like an arrow through skin. Not only is the subject matter enticing and edgy, but the manner in which the sculptures are built reflects the importance of hand-made items. The craftsmanship is not only something to be admired aesthetically, but also because it ties in the history of people building from scratch and using the land to carve out a life.

Combs has upcoming exhibitions in the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton NY and Salomon Contemporary gallery in New York City.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: “Head Games” (2011) wood vinyl urethane foam; “Untitled” (2005) wood, oils archival wallpaper; “Head of State” (2001) wood vinyl urethane foam; “Apparel” (2005) carved wood silk embroidered patches, oils).

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OLOR THEORY Photography by MIRELLA SZYMONIAK Make-up by LENA ZIEBA Models KATARZYNA DANIOŁ, ALINA GŁOWACKA (AW AGENCE) & MAGDALENA MRZYCZEK 78

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Photography by YUJI WATANABE Retouching by MONICA CHAMORRO & YUJI WATANABE Hair by CHIKA KIMURA Make-up by NAO YOSHIDA Styling by KANAKO HIGASHI Models ENN (BELLLONA)

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Dress by CHRISTIAN DADA; Rings by MADE HER THINK from RESTIR

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THIS PAGE Skirt by JAZZKATZE; necklace and cuff

by FLAKE; shoes by NOZOMI ISHIGURO OPPOSITE Jacket and pants by JAZZKATZE; belt

by SAPHIR EAST; necklace and rings

by FLAKE; gloves are stylist’s own

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Jacket by NOZOMI ISHIGURO; rings

by MADE HER THINK from RESTIR; necklace by FLAKE

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THIS PAGE Dress by CHRISTIAN DADA; rings by MADE HER THINK from RESTIR OPPOSITE Dress by YASUTOSHI EZUMI; rings

by MADE HER THINK from RESTIR; 92 headband JULY is2011 stylist’s www.papercutmag.com own

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THIS PAGE Tops by NOZOMI ISHIGURO; bodysuit by JAZZKATZE; necklace by FLAKE; rings by MADE HER THINK from RESTIR PREVIOUS Dress by ERI MATSUI; necklace by FLAKE; 95 rings by MADE HER THINK from RESTIR

Dress by YASUTOSHI EZUMI; headpiece

by STEPHEN JONES from TEST, rings by MADE HER THINK from RESTIR; shoes are stylist’s own

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Photography by ALVIN NGUYEN Hair by NIKO WEDDLE Make-up by STACE QUACH Styling by ALVIN STILLWELL Model KELSEY JEAN HARDING (SMG) Assistants ALAN WANG & TOMMY O’BRIEN 99

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THIS PAGE AND PREVIOUS Jacket by MARNI; dress by BROSE; rings by ERIC SAETER OPPOSITE Dress by PLASTIC ISLAND

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Jacket by PLASTIC ISLAND; dress by MIKE VENSEL; belt by SUZI ROHER; rings by ERIC SAETER

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Couture dress by EMA SAVAHL; shoes by CARLOS

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THIS PAGE AND NEXT Top and skirt by RAZAN ALAZZOUNI

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Tank top by JENNY HAN; pants by BISHOP OF SEVENTH; shoes by CAMILLA SKOVGAARD

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THIS PAGE AND NEXT Dress by MCGINN

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ARTI$ANAL dress by DI$COUNT

Photography by ZAC STEINIC Photo assistant LUKE REYNOLDS Hair by ROB MASON Make-up by BERNICE MANSFIELD Wardrobe/styling by DI$COUNT at www.discountuniverse.com.au Model MALAAN (FORD MODELS) & JETHRO CAVE

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JUST WHO AND WHAT IS DI$COUNT? WE FIND OUT MORE...

Told to us by NADIA NAPREYCHIKOV & CAMI JAMES

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We met in our Honours year—the final year of the fashion design degree at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT). The course is pretty much a total mindfuck for all involved, perhaps even more so for those that were perplexed by RMIT’s attempt to teach us to “creatively fit into a system.” Both of us found that we had begun to create things that had no typical “contextualization,” as outlined in the brief given to us by lecturers, and the fashion system that was being preached was something that neither of us could seem to relate to, as much as we tried. The kind of work RMIT encouraged was generally pigeon-holed—gallery floor or editorial (so nothing in particular, and especially no financial stability), and the job prospects circulated around internships and working for other people—climb the ladder style shit. Which, of course, is absolutely brilliant for some, but simply not what excited either of us.

Both of us have been, for quite some time, pretty hard into technology and online communication. In fact, we both wrote our thesis last year on topics that revolved around the future of online creativity, dissemination, showcasing and communication. This probably has a lot to do with how limiting it can feel to be in the Australian market—not only feeling isolated on a geographical scale, but also even having inverted seasons to the rest of the world. Through use of the Internet, we gain global access instantly; it closes the gap between trends in what are considered the ‘fashion meccas’ of the world and our own local trends. Through online retail, and the ability to buy from anywhere in the world, we’re now able to choose season/ trend/culture/style—irrespective of location.

In some ways, the Internet has cut the fashion market up the guts, and the playing field is much vaster and more diverse than ever before. Money is not nearly as huge of an advantage as it used to be, for example. To start up a conventional label you need capital (for maintaining retail space, stock, etc.), while by using the Internet, anyone can enter the market and gain interest and momentum through the use of various online communication systems. (We should note here that there are many well known celebrities, blogs, labels, etc. that have succeeded from cash and access not talent…Internet just gives a better voice and platform to the little guy).

All these things were going through our heads during the course of our graduate year, and we were becoming aware that our work and outcomes didn’t really fit within the traditional Australian fashion market. Another thing we know is that we are really lucky to be doing this at this very time, because some years ago we wouldn’t be in such a position. The current fashion system is outdated—now is the time to challenge it, to recreate the framework.

The evolution of the online consumer has superseded the industry’s pace. In essence, we recognize that the traditional fashion system lags even in comparison to the counterfeit one. If you acknowledge that collections are designed (give or take) six months before images of them are released, and then available for purchase another six months later, then it becomes clear that—with the evolution of the web and democratization of citizen journalism, in the form of the blog—this system is outdated. Given the number of outlets available to saturate the market with what’s “new,” it is not uncommon that imitation products are released even before the initial design. We all know what happened to the infamous Balmain jacket—images were released months before the physical jacket was available, and Zara and Topshop copies went to retail. The Internet propels the organic, traditional flow of fashion, and it’s eclipsing the outdated system that fashion previously

existed in. We came up with DI$COUNT because we refused to change our ideals to fit into said system.

Our idea of fashion stretches beyond just clothing. The term itself (“fashion”) is becoming ambiguous; it was never exclusively applicable to just clothing, yet was popularized by the clothing industry to the point where most of us seem to have a hard time remembering what the word actually means (it comes from the Latin term factiōō or factiōn, which means, “to make,” “to do” or “to shape.” And to us, this applies to any field or medium). The fashion education system

“DI$COUNT IS A BRAND, AN IDEA, AN IMAGE, A DIALOGUE, A STRATEGY, A TRANSFORMATION, A DESIGN, A BLOG, A MOTION PICTURE, A LABEL, A PERSONALITY, A WEBSITE, A QUOTE, A GARMENT, AN EMOTION AND AN EVOLUTION.” that we were exposed to didn’t show us all the options—it taught a specific way to design and to be a designer, through forcing concepts and fitting in to certain systems. The web has created new channels; we’ve seen it change the music industry and print journalism. It is inevitable that it is changing fashion, too.

DI$COUNT allows us freedom. We’re designing our own place in the system. It’s through the subversion of, the fucking with the fashion framework, that DI$COUNT was developed, and the output is steeped in humour and irony, cliché and imitation.

DI$COUNT is a brand, an idea, an image, a dialogue, a strategy, a transformation, a design, a blog, a motion picture, a label, a personality, a website, a quote, a garment, an emotion and an evolution.

Nadia Napreychikov and Cami James of DI$COUNT in the process of creating their garments for the a collaborative project entitled “3”. The finished pieces can be seen on following pages.

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THIS PAGE Dress by DI$COUNT ARTI$INAL; boots are vintage OPPOSITE Dress by DI$COUNT ARTI$INAL in collaboration with VLAD KANEVSKY; yellow string hair extensions by DI$COUNT TRA$H; boots from DI$COUNT VINTAGE ARCHIVE

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THIS PAGE AND PREVIOUS Backpack by DI$COUNT ARTI$INAL FOR THREE EXHIBITION; shorts by DI$COUNT ARTI$INAL; shoes are vintage

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Jacket by DI$COUNT ARTI$INAL FOR THREE EXHIBITION; Pants and Russian soldier hat from DI$COUNT VINTAGE ARCHIVE

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THIS PAGE AND PREVIOUS Dress by DI$COUNT ARTI$INAL FOR THREE EXHIBITION

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THIS PAGE Dress by DI$COUNT ARTI$INAL; boots are vintage OPPOSITE Jacket and thigh-high tabi boots

by DI$COUNT ARTI$INAL; jocks are modelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own

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