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Mar 2012
# Editorial # Dear SUPERIOR readers, Working without limits is always a risk and a chance at the same time. For us it was a great success since we got the most editorial-submissions ever. For the first time we had more excellent fashion editorials than we can show in one issue. Therefore we created a new series at our homepage —the SUPERIOR WEBITORIALS. In this series we will present editorials in the same design as we do in the online magazine. So, don’t miss the great fashion editorials there! And some more good news. SUPERIOR ONLINE Mar 2012 is the first online-issue which is entirely designed by our new Art Director JESSE BENJAMIN. He will drive SUPERIOR Magazine's design beyond the sky… Enjoy SUPERIOR ONLINE Mar 2012, best wishes Tom, Marc and the SUPERIOR team
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ONLINE Issue March 2012
Editorial -9-
Dorian Kautz »Scarecrow« -14-
Superior Webitorials -20-
Eugen Mai »домо́й« -22-
Osman Balkan »Les Animaux« -28-
The Images Of JA-BÖRNSKI -52-
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Maximiliam vom Hofe »Glue. Strips. Lads.« -56-
Olya Kushyk »Rogues Vogues« -66-
Bastian Jung »Vauxhall Fashion Scout« -80-
Ben Ulmann »Daydream« -84-
Vitali V. Gelwich »Silent Viction« -92-
Luise Hardegg »Matroshka« -100-
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Gérard A. Goodrow »Just A Façade?« -124-
Svenja Pitz »Please Touch The Glass« -140-
The Art Of Hamburg: Machinist -160-
Uta Seelos »Anastassija« -164-
Label -174-
Imprint -176-
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�carecrow photography by DORIAN KAUTZ set & styling by HANNA BRUCHMÜLLER
tunic DAY BIRGER ET MIKKELSEN skirt ANNA SUI
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dress ANNA SUI
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dress BY MALENE BIRGER
more SUPERIOR WEBITORIALS
MORE FASHION & BEAUTY EDITORIALS AT WEBITORIALS
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домо́й (homewards)
photography by EUGEN MAI hair by ANDRÉ MÄRTENS make-up by BORIS ENTRUP model ZOE HELALI designer GUIDO MARIA KRETSCHMER post-production & editing by EUGEN MAI
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LES AN photography & art-direction by OSMAN BALKAN model JONAS H. / UNSIGNED photographers assistant RICHARD KRANZIN second assistant KEVIN UGURLU styling by TOM FELBER & OSMAN BALKAN make-up by MARIA EHRLICH light assistant MARC WALDOW special thanks to STRYCHNIN GALLERY, BERLIN
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long sleeve shirt DONT SHOOT THE MESSENGERS art as necklace DANIEL VAN NES
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l o n g s l e e v e s h i r t & t r o u s e r s D O N T S H O O T T H E M E S S E N G E R S art as necklace DANIEL VAN NES sneakers MICHALSKY
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leather holster ESTHER PERBANDT a r t L O U I S F L E I S C H A U E R ( A M F K O R S E T S )
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dress DAWID TOMASZEWSKI art as necklace DANIEL VAN NES
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l o n g s l e e v e s h i r t & 2 - r i n g - h a r n e s s DONT SHOOT THE MESSENGERS
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dress SEBASTIAN ELLRICH sneakers MICHALSKY
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blazer SEBASTIAN ELLRICH trousers TIM NEUMANN shoes N.D.C. bag FREITAG
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blazer DONT SHOOT THE MESSENGERS art as necklace DANIEL VAN NES
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dress DONT SHOOT THE MESSENGERS sneakers MICHALSKY bag FREITAG art as necklace DANIEL VAN NES
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dress DAWID TOMASZEWSKI boots G-STAR art as necklace DANIEL VAN NES
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blazer TIM NEUMANN jeans PRPS scarf as belt BARUTTI
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art as necklace DANIEL VAN NES
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dress FRED PERRY
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dresses ESTHER PERBANDT sneakers MICHALSKY art as necklace HAREM ROYAL
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l e a t h e r j a c k e t & j e a n s P R P S boots G-STAR tank top ZIMMERLI
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THE IMAGES OF JA-BÖRNSKI SUPERIOR MAGAZINE MET UP WITH BENNEK, ART DIRECTOR OF THE BERLIN-BASED LABEL JA-BÖRNSKI. # Bennek, tell us about JA-BÖRNSKI. I’m the founder and creative director of JABÖRNSKI in Berlin. JA-BÖRNSKI is a fashion and art label. We combine fashion, style, sustainability and art. We draw our inspiration from urban art, fetish, glam, rock and nothing… # Who is JA-BÖRNSKI? Our team is made up of people with a background in fashion, graphic arts, screen printing, marketing…everyone does their thing and everyone contributes to JA-BÖRNSKI. Our motto is: I LIKE YOU! It says a lot about who we are. It’s spot on. We love what we do, we love you, we love our products and we make them for people who love them. Come together! I LIKE YOU! # The JA-BÖRNSKI design is quite distinctive. Is there a message and what does the process involve? We start with portraits. Models, expressions, secrets. Illusions and reality. A message? Fashion meets art — art is fashion. Messages are subjective. Fashion is relative. That sounds superficial, but it isn’t meant to be, our design is
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communicative. Just take a look. Screen printing. Screen printing. Warhol. The Factory. We’re a bit like The Factory, really. Our studio is in the Pankow district of Berlin, that’s where our images, tees and prints on paper originate from photographs, scans or illustrations. The originals are edited, transferred onto film, then onto a screen, add coating, the right exposure, lots of water... then off with the colour. That makes it sound a lot simpler than it is, and that’s how it’s meant to be. It happens when it happens. All our prints are one-offs, because every handmade screen print is unique. We’re against mass production, but not as a matter of principle. We’re into organic and fair trade. At the moment we’re working on our next generation. The next generation of motifs will be portraits again. We still want to be out of the ordinary, if that’s possible zeitgeist-wise. Our T-shirts really live from the illustrations, we consciously keep them simple, that way the focus is on the prints. The tees are made locally, too, in Friedrichshain. That’s where they’re sewn, dyed, finished off. The prints on paper are framed, hang rigidly on walls, at home or in exhibitions, but the T-shirts mean the illustrations go out into the urban environment. That’s the idea anyway. # And where can we buy JA-BÖRNSKI? At the moment in a few concept stores and in our online shop. There’s another JA-BÖRNSKI exhibition coming up soon. We’ll keep you posted. By the way, we only ever produce a limited number of prints with serial numbers – limited edition 1 to 250 – that’s how we keep renewing the label. We’re not interested in what season it is. We hate it! # Thanks, Bennek. Thanks, Superior Magazine. „I LIKE YOU!”
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glue. strips. lads. photography by MAXIMILIAN VOM HOFE production by DIETMAR HERBERT
hair/make-up by MANUELA SCHWOZER styling assistant MERLE HINRICHS
models ROBERT/PLACE JANOSCH/IZAIO
sweater H&M shorts AMERICAN APPAREL
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sweater H&M shorts H&M belt COS
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sweater AMERICAN APPAREL kerchief STYLISTS’ OWN shorts WOOD WOOD shoes REPETTO belt HUGO
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sweater FRENCH CONNECTION leather shorts H&M
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top ACNE jacket AMERICAN APPAREL
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glasses YVES SAINT LAURENT
sweater WEEKDAY pants HIEN LE
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belt ACNE
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sweater WEEKDAY shorts WEEKDAY bag AMERICAN APPAREL
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top FILIPPA K
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shirt AMERICAN APPAREL shorts H&M belt COS shoes AMERICAN APPAREL
top COS shorts H&M belt H&M
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Rogues ues o g V photography by OLYA KUSHYK stylist and designer MARIA ZAGIROVA models OLYA SNAGOSHENKO & ALEKSEY TERKULOV decor by NIKOLA FEDORINCHIK assistant IGOR TSARUKOV retouching OLYA KUSHYK location BAR COYOTE/MINSK
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female model all by MARIA ZAGIROVA m a l e m o d e l a l l S T Y L I S T S ’ O W N & V I N T A G E
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Vauxhall Fashion Scout photography by BASTIAN JUNG
# Bastian, for your photography, where do you draw your inspiration from?
# Is there any project you "would die for" to realize in the future?
I keep my eyes wide open always looking for inspiring moments or situations where you wouldn't expect them. I enjoy travelling in order to see new places and other cultures which can be very inspiring as well.
There is no specific project that comes to my mind when I read this question but there are many great people that I would love to collaborate with as well as there are beautiful locations out there that would be great for some editorials.
# Which ‘feeling’ or ‘message’ would you like to convey with your photos?
# What‘s your next big project?
It strongly depends on the project. The message is a different one on every single project but I always try to tell a story or express something like an emotion or a situation. For me it feels a bit like a movie.
The next "big project" for me is a personal one. I want to move to a big city that gives me more possibilities to improve as a fashion photographer. At the moment it seems like I will move to London in a few months.
# Do you have a certain style you prefer for your photography?
# You visited the London Fashion Week. Which impressions got you?
I think you define your style by making your creative decisions which are based on your personal taste but I don't deliberately try to follow a certain style. I just do what I think is appealing or interesting.
I was impressed by the very good collections the young designers presented. Being able to have a look at the preparations backstage was very exciting. At the numerous exhibitions I met friendly people who informed me about their new collection which was interesting. The whole atmosphere was great. It all makes me look forward to the next London Fashion Week in September.
# What is your goal as a photographer? I want to share feelings, stories or moments with the people who are looking at my pictures. I want them to be able to see the world through my eyes.
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Daydream photography by BEN ULLMANN styling by FRANK OBERBERGER hair/make-up by EROL KOYU model MALTE FLIERENBAUM @ QUANTUMSEVENMODELS assistant SEBASTIAN BEUTEL digital service D-I SERVICES retouch GOLD GMBH special thanks FLIP MUNICH
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suit TOPMAN t i e & d e c o r a t i o n F T A shirt JOHN GALLIANO
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uniform-jacket JOHN GALLIANO
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leather jacket UNCONDITIONAL
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denim jacket DARK SHADOW BY RICK OWENS
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cardigan ISABEL BENENATO low crotch-pants DARK SHADOW BY RICK OWENS b o o t s F I O R E N T I N I & B A K E R
bow tie, polo neck and shirt VINTAGE BY SCREAMING MIMI NEW YORK
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silent
photography by VITALI V. GELWICH styling by JULIANE DUMJAHN
glasses STYLISTS’ OWN shirt EP_ANOUI
viction make-up by AGA SCHILLERT
models PAUL & MARC @ VIVA MODELS
ONLINE hat HUTMANUFAKTUR KREUZBERG longsleeve JULIAANDBEN
glasses OWL pants JULIAANDBEN
ONLINE t-shirt BUTTERFLYSOULFIRE pants EP_ANOUI
hat HUTMANUFAKTUR KREUZBERG c a r d i g a n a s s c a r f G U D R U N & G U D R U N pants JULIAANDBEN longsleeve JULIAANDBEN coat JULIAANDBEN
glasses OWL jacket BUTTERFLYSOULFIRE
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glasses STYLISTS’ OWN shirt EP_ANOUI
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Matroschka photography by LUISE HARDEGG (MAKING OF) concept & styling by SABINE ORTLIEB (MAKING OF & 100UND1) make-up by INA MAURER (MAKING OF) & PATRICK GLATTHAAR models KATYA GAYDUKOVA (BODY AND SOUL) & KIRA (TEMPO) hair by PATRICK GLATTHAAR
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hat MÜHLBAUER jacket REALITY STUDIO gilet VINTAGE head cloth STYLIST’S OWN
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coat VINTAGE shawl REALITY STUDIO hat STYLIST’S OWN
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blouse ZARA camisole STYLIST’S OWN
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t r o u s e r s & j a c k e t R E A L I T Y S T U D I O shirt STYLIST’S OWN gloves PRADA necklace FOREVER 21
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shoes LES TROPEZIENNES
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j a c k e t & h e a d c l o t h F O R E V E R 2 1 necklace D_LUXE headband SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS
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coat VINTAGE shawl REALITY STUDIO hat STYLIST’S OWN
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blouse REALITY STUDIO shawl STYLIST’S OWN
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dress KILIAN KERNER jacket REALITY STUDIO necklace STYLIST’S OWN shawl ROECKL
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skirt TOPSHOP blouse ZARA stockings FALKE camisole STYLIST’S OWN embroidery VINTAGE FROM 1920 shoes STYLIST’S OWN
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skirt TOPSHOP jacket PETAR PETROV
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coat VINTAGE shawl REALITY STUDIO boots PETAR PETROV hat STYLIST’S OWN
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left KATYA
right KIRA
dress KILLIAN KERNER
trousers MAURIE&EVE
shoes STUART WEITZMANN
r i n g & b r a c e l e t U R B A N O U T F I T T E R S
jacket REALITY STUDIO
s h i r t & b l a z e r Z A R A
headcloth ROECKL
tights FALKE
broach STYLIST’S OWN
shoes STYLIST’S OWN
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photog raphy luise hardegg {making of} conce pt & styli ng sabine ortlieb {making of} m a k e - u p i n a m a u r e r { m a k i n g o f } & pat r i c k g l at t h a a r h a i r pat r i c k g l at t h a a r m o d e l s k a t ya g ay d u k o va { b o d y a n d s o u l } & k i r a { t e m p o }
skirt TOPSHOP jacket PETAR PETROV shoes BOSS ORANGE
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ARCHITECTURE AS ABSTRACTION text by GÉRARD A. GOODROW
# Since time immemorial, architecture has been praised at the ‘mother of all the arts’. Already in ancient Egypt, for example, the temple complexes in Luxor or the sepulchres of the Pharaohs such as the Great Pyramids in Gizeh have been seen as being more than mere religious structures, but rather also and especially total works of art, which were quite literally ‘worthy of the gods’. In ancient Greece and Rome, but also in the spectacular civil and sacred buildings of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance throughout Europe, the genres of architecture, sculpture and painting were virtually inseparable. Isolated examples from the Modern age, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the church of the Sagrada Familia by Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona or the ‘Merzbau’ of Kurt Schwitters in Hanover carried on the tradition of the architectural ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’. At the very latest since the Wiener Werkstätte in Vienna and the Bauhaus in Weimar (and later in Dessau and Berlin), the common bond between architecture and the visual arts has become coherent and logical for nearly everyone. It thus comes as no surprise that, today as well, visual artists – be they painters, draughtsmen, sculptors, installation artists or especially photographers – frequently take architecture as a point of departure for their own fascinating compositions.
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# The exhibition ‘JUST A FAÇADE?’ sheds light on the fascinating interrelationship between architecture and contemporary visual art. The title makes reference, on the one hand, to the architecturally based contents of the exhibition while it simultaneously attempts, with a certain sense of irony, to lead the viewer behind the surface of simple aesthetic stimuli in order to reveal the underlying contents and attitudes that drive the artists and their works. On view are photographs, paintings, drawings, sculptures and objects by nine artists, for whom architecture has been a recurrent source of artistic inspiration: Boris Becker, Hélène Binet, Tobias Grewe, Dong-Yeon Kim, Ola Kolehmainen, Heinz Mack, Heribert C. Ottersbach, Apostolos Palavrakis and Kris Scholz
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OHNE TITEL 1960 SPIEGEL-PAVILLON 1980
FARBE UND RAUM II 1968
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SPIEGEL-PAVILLON 1980 all photos © Heinz Mack, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
# The architectural models of HEINZ MACK (born 1931 in Lollar, lives and works in Mönchengladbach and Ibiza) from the 1970s and '80s are closely tied to his works from the ZERO period (1957-1966). A perfect example of this is his mirror pavilion from 1980 — a cube comprised of mineralogically vaporised glass plates. Since everything that surrounds it, be it the interior of an art gallery or a park landscape, is reflected in its mirrored façade, the architectural form appears ephemeral; the outer walls seem to disappear and the very objectness of the pavilion becomes negated.
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# The Korean sculptor and installation artist DONG-YEON KIM (born 1960 in Seoul, lives and works in Seoul and Düsseldorf) also plays with the objectness of architecture. By bringing the simplified architectonic forms onto the wall as two-dimensional stencils in fluorescent signal colours, the forms become chiffre-like signs or symbols for ’housing‘ and/or urban space in general.
STRUCTURE
FLAT BUILDING NO 2011 all photos © Dong-Yeon Kim
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FLAT BUILDING Y 2011
BUILDING 2009/2010
FLAT BUILDING NG 2011
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EXPERIMENTELLE FABRIK 3 2011
1923 2011 all photos © Ola Kolehmainen
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# Among the nine artists represented in the exhibition, five employ the medium of photography, whereby each artist does this – even when certain affinities can be seen here and there – in his or her own unique and highly individual way. OLA KOLEHMAINEN (born 1964 in Helsinki, lives and works in Berlin) and Tobias Grewe (born 1975 in Arnsberg, lives and works in Cologne), for example, both use the camera in a certain sense like a paintbrush, transforming the three-dimensionality of architectural structures into enigmatic two-dimensional painterly compositions. Kolehmainen is perhaps the most prominent member of the so-called Helsinki School. His generally large-scale photography investigate space, light and colour in an effort to reassess or question his own patterns of perception as well as those of his viewers.
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# For TOBIAS GREWE, the architects behind the buildings that he deconstructs with his camera are completely irrelevant. He is concerned more than anything else with pure form and colour, as well as the greatest possible complexity that can result from these, whereby the most humble apartment building by an anonymous architect can be just as fascinating as the spectacular modern masterpieces by international star architects.
TWISTED 2010
HONG KONG ISLAND III 2010 a l l p h o t o s © T o b i a s G r e w e , D G P h
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OHNE TITEL 2662 2009 all photos © Boris Becker, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
# BORIS BECKER (born 1961 in Cologne, lives and works in Cologne) and Kris Scholz (born 1952 in Hanover, lives and works in Düsseldorf) both studied at the famous Academy of Art in Düsseldorf in the internationally acclaimed photography class of Bernd Becher. The various formal languages of architectonic structures play a central role in the works of Boris Becker. For him, architecture – as well as landscapes – are translated into graphic signs. The weight of the voluminous buildings is negated to create minimalist colour compositions characterised by a floating buoyancy.
OHNE TITEL 1695 2000
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F L O O R S ( # 1 B A R C E L O N A ) 1 9 9 8
F L O O R S ( # 2 B A R C E L O N A ) 1 9 9 8
F L O O R S ( # 3 B A R C E L O N A ) 1 9 9 8
F L O O R S ( # 4 B A R C E L O N A ) 1 9 9 8
F L O O R S ( # 6 B A R C E L O N A ) 1 9 9 8
a l l p h o t o s © K r i s S c h o l z VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
# And even when architecture plays a subordinate role in the oeuvre of his colleague KRIS SCHOLZ, the ‘Floors’ series, which the artist captured with his camera in Barcelona in 1998 is a prime example of the way he perceives the world around him. Here as well, the interrelationships between photography and painting cannot be overseen: antique tiled floors are photographed with the objectivity so typical of the Becher School, but as a result of the contextual shift from the floor to the wall the decorative tiles are transferred into exquisitely colourful abstract paintings.
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FELDKAPELLE FÜR DEN HEILIGEN BRUDER KLAUS 01 2009 a l l p h o t o s © H é l è n e B i n e t gabrielle ammann // gallery, cologne
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FELDKAPELLE FÜR DEN HEILIGEN B
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BRUDER KLAUS 03 2009
FELDKAPELLE FÜR DEN HEILIGEN BRUDER KLAUS 05 2009
# Among the five participating photographers, HÉLÈNE BINET (born 1958 in Sorengo, Ticino, lives and works on Osea Island, Essex) is the only ‘architectural photographer’ in the truest sense of the term. Since many years, she has worked together with some of the most influential architects of our time, including Zaha Hadid, Daniel Liebeskind and David Chipperfield. One of her favourite projects is the Brother Klaus Field Chapel in Wachendorf, built by the famed Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, which she has deconstructed with unusual and unexpected perspectives, transforming these into fascinating graphic compositions.
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U N T I T L E D ( O P E N S P A C E I ) 2 0 1 0 all photos © Apostolos Palavrakis UNTITLED 2010
# A similar deconstruction of architectonic forms can be found in the large-scale works on paper by the Greek multimedia artist APOSTOLOS PALAVRAKIS (born 1962 in Trikala, lives and works in Dortmund). With his most recent works, the trained architect-come-artist investigates the role of architecture in politics and society and creates impossible utopian forms which seem to nearly burst with inner tension.
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ABSTRAKTES BILD 2010 a l l p h o t o s © H e r i b e r t C . O t t e r s b a c h VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn Photo: Carl Victor Dahmen, Köln
# More quiet and contemplative are the paintings and drawings by the conceptual painter HERIBERT C. OTTERSBACH (born 1960 in Cologne, lives and works in Leipzig and Bettna, Sweden). With his figurative works on canvas and paper, which frequently take up the theme of abstraction, he investigates the meaning and the very essence of painting as well as the relative significance of art in general in contemporary society. His critical, philosophical and socio-political analyses of the pregnant concept of ‘modernity’ play a central role here.
ERZIEHUNGSANSTALT 2005
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# ‘JUST A FAÇADE?’ is conceived as a conceptual investigation into the multifarious possibilities open to artists who analyse architecture at the dawn of the 21st century as a starting point for a new form of abstraction, which provides insight into the fascinating world of human perception and puts this up for discussion. The exhibition ‘Just a Façade?’ is on view until April 21st at the Düsseldorf based gallery Beck & Eggeling Contemporary.
link to GERMAN TEXT
link to INTERVIEW WITH TOBIAS GREWE
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please TOUCH THE GLASS!
photography by SVENJA PITZ assistance EVELYN WOITGE model PIA GERMANN @MODELWERK hair/make-up by ANIKA RESS styling by RAWFITTING
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dress BCBG MAXAZRIA
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dress VERO MODA shoes MODELS’ OWN
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THE ART OF HAMBURG „ONLY IF YOU ARE NOT TOO GOOD TO MAKE YOUR HANDS DIRTY, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CHANGE THE WORLD“ # A beautiful, hundreds of years old warehouse not far from the river Elbe is the studio of the Hamburg based artist Frank Bürmann. This is the place where his wearable art comes to live: As ‘canvas’, Bürmann uses T-Shirts, shirts and bags of all sizes. Not only the material he uses is unusual, it is also the way he paints and prints that makes his work unique. Instead of computers, silkscreen- or offset-printing, he uses his whole body and unusual methods to create his ’wearable pictures’: a dust mop turns into a paintbrush, a hand brush is great for creating structures, and with the help of unevenly carved strips of wood, Frank Bürmann prints ringed T-Shirts. Cardboard, glue, hot glue and small pieces of wood create the basis for hundreds of handmade rubber stamps in all sizes. When an idea is to become reality, it can happen that a shelf that has just been put up is taken down again — the length of the shelves had the perfect length he needed. Since 2006, Frank Bürmann, born in 1964, has been selling his one of a kind art under the label ‘The Art of Hamburg’. His career as a freelance artist began after he started working at the Police in Niedersachsen. Works like his paintings ’Kleiner Könich’ in 1992 or his project ’Welt-raumTraumraum’ in 1998 (Bürmann created a pilot's chronograph for the Swiss watch manufacturer Fortis in 1998 which the cosmonauts of the Sojus Tm-10 mission took to the space station MIR together with the original sketch of the watch) caused a lot of attention across the international art scene. Bürmann already had numerous solo- and group-exhibitions, amongst other places in Paris, Brussels, Biarritz, Athens, Chicago, NY, London and – of course – Hamburg, Germany, the city where he lives and works for 12 years now.
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# However, at some point he got bored displaying his art in galleries. He began to think about affordable, payable art in day-to-day life. „Of course it is great to get a lot of money for big paintings. But I wanted to create a place from where the whole world could be just a little bit more colourful and beautiful – independent of the gallery business and the usual rules of the art world.” In the beginning there was a small paper boat. It sailed over large posters for the Jungfernstieg festival in Hamburg. Shortly after, it was seen on the first limited edition T-Shirts and is sailing the world so far. Then, born from a ’dirty idea’, the ’Maschinist’ was born – T-Shirts that look like as if they were worn by a man working in the large machine room of a ship who rubbed his oil dirty hands off on his shirt. Rapidly they became a bestseller at ’Art of Hamburg’ and still each shirt is personally dirtied up by Frank Bürmann. We asked Frank Bürmann to tell us more about his art.
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# Frank, why the machinist? Is this your way to fulfil a childhood ambition? On close look, the whole world really is a machine room. Only if someone isn’t above getting his fingers dirty he can change the world. That is the main thought going into my machinist pieces. And yes, I guess my romantic idea of seafaring influenced my work, too. In reality I was pretty much disenchanted by an intern on a containership when I was 15 years old. # Do your customers realize that they are buying a piece of Art? [laughing] Some do. Others don’t – those I fooled! They can’t make excuses anymore that they don’t have a free space on their wall to hang a work of art or that they have no notion of art or even that they can’t afford it. Those people still believe they have just found something nice to wear. And this way they start collecting without actually realizing it. How cool is that, don’t you think? It’s like having a never ending circulation exhibition out there! # Does it make a difference to you painting on canvas or on a piece of clothing? Just as with a big painting, the picture itself, its subject, comes to life in my head. In principle there is no difference from painting or printing a piece of art on canvas. However, I develop and craft my tools, too. My stamps have to handle me standing on them so I can reach a certain contact pressure. I build them in my very own way and they become durable pieces of art themselves. Later this year, I am having an exhibition just for the tools I use and create!
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Mar 2012
# Is fashion itself art? Or is it a painted T-shirt? Of course, a painted T-Shirt is art. A work of art doesn’t care whether it’s made on canvas, on wooden panels or on a piece of fabric. The main difference is that a ‘T-shirt-Painting” runs free and can be seen by everyone. If the owner wishes to, he might even put it into a frame and hang it onto the wall. Like some of my customers did. Generally speaking, I think fashion becomes art if an artist had the idea and created it himself to convey a meaning. # What is the message of your work? Every subject has its own central idea and message, like the machinist for example. Very often my emotional attachment to my adopted home Hamburg impacts what I do. I have never been a politically motivated artist but rather someone who keeps his heart and mind open, like children do – I keep a positive view of the world. I am sometimes told: „My kids could do that, too!“ My answer is always: „Precisely. And YOU can’t anymore.“
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# Art and Craft – where do you draw the line? Really a good question. I would say most of the time Art doesn’t have a practical effect. A clothing piece, by all means, can be practical – whether painted on or not. An artist should control or command his craft. Am I, therefore, a craftsman? No, I am always on time. Kidding aside: Being an artist means for me to have a vision, a fundamental idea of life. For me, its reinventing myself every day and to create something new, never seen before. # What is it that makes the biggest difference of your work in comparison to artists developing collections for big fashion brands? I create every single piece myself. Every time. Not just one showpiece, which is then replicated in more or less, automated mass production. In comparison, I like teamwork. I actually love it. Jutta von Perfall, who is my creative partner, is the perfect sparring partner. Together we get better and better – in fact we sometimes goad each other too much. Especially when we start to create a whole new world from a simple thought. This is our way of reaching the perfect level of imperfection. Which is what we strive for. On top of this, our own two shops are very important to us: they are a vital part of the world we made up. They are not just the point of sale or gallery but rather a further, three-dimensional canvas. Here we kind of create pictures you can walk into. A client, with the purchase of a T-Shirt, becomes part of that work of art himself bringing it to life by simply walking into the world outside our store.
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ANASTASSIJA photography by UTA SEELOS
assistant TOLGAHAN POLAT design-styling by SIMONE RICKER hair/make-up by LARS RÜFFERT light assistant MARC WALDOW model ANASTASSIJA MAKARENKO/EASTWESTMODELS
stockings PRADA shoes MARNI flower INDRESS f u r j a c k e t & s l i p & b r a S I M O N E R I C K E R
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f u r v e s t & s l i p & b r a & n e c k l a c e S I M O N E R I C K E R flower INDRESS
f u r v e s t & s a t i n d r e s s & c o l l a r & n e c k l a c e &bracelets SIMONE RICKER flower INDRESS
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t o p & s l i p & b r a c e l e t s & c o l l a r & n e c k l a c e S I M O N E R I C K E R flower INDRESS shoes MARNI stockings MISSONI
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s h i r t & s l i p & f u r j a c k e t & n e c k l a c e S I M O N E R I C K E R flower INDRESS hat GAETANO NAVARRO stockings PRADA
s h o r t s & b r a & f u r j a c k e t & f u r c o l l a r & n e c k l a c e S I M O N E R I C K E R stockings KUNERT shoes SALVATORE FERRAGAMO
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f u r v e s t & s a t i n d r e s s & n e c k l a c e & b r a S I M O N E R I C K E R flower INDRESS
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# L a b e l
ACNE AMERICAN APPAREL ANNA SUI BARUTTI BCBG MAX AZRIA BOSS ORANGE BUTTERFLYSOULFIRE BY MALENE BIRGER CAVALLI CHEAP MONDAY COS D_LUXE DANIEL VAN NES DARK SHADOW BY RICK OWENS DAWID TOMASZEWSKI DAY BIRGER ET MIKKELSEN DENHAM DONT SHOOT THE MESSENGERS EP_ANOUI ESTHER PERBANDT
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FALKE FILIPPA K FIORENTINI & BAKER FOREVER 21 FRED PERRY FREITAG FRENCH CONNECTION GAETANO NAVARRO G-STAR GUDRUN & GUDRUN GUIDO MARIA KRETSCHMER H&M HELMUT LANG HIEN LE HUGO ISABEL BENENATO JA-BÖRNSKI JOHN GALLIANO JULIAANDBEN KILIAN KERNER KUNERT LES TROPEZIENNES MANGO MARIA ZAGIROVA
Mar 2012
MARNI MAURIE & EVE MICHALSKY MISSONI MONKI MÜHLBAUER MYKITA N.D.C. PRADA PRPS PAUSTIAN PELZE PETAR PETROV REALITY STUDIO REPETTO ROECKL SALVATORE FERRAGAMO SEBASTIAN ELLRICH SIMONE RICKER STUART WEITZMANN SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS
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TIM NEUMANN TOPMAN TOPSHOP UNCONDITIONAL URBAN OUTFITTERS VERO MODA WEEKDAY WOOD WOOD YVES SAINT LAURENT ZARA ZIMMERLI
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# I m p r i n t SUPERIOR MAGAZINE Lychener Strasse 76, 10437 Berlin www.superior-mag.com connection@superior-mag.com PUBLISHER Tom Felber CHIEF EDITOR V.i.S.d.P. Tom Felber / tom@superior-mag.com PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR Marc Huth / marc@superior-mag.com ART DIRECTOR Jesse Benjamin EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT editor@superior-mag.com ADVERTISING advertising@superior-mag.com PR MANAGEMENT press@superior-mag.com
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