Saturday, August 16, 2014

But I asked you for a dance...

I hope this post finds you all sundrunk by the sea, with freckles on your nose, blonde streaks in your hair and a fabulous book in your hands. This summer has been relatively short, due to unforseen forces of change, but sweet nevertheless. I engaged in my annual hermit, detox, island retreat for about two weeks and thought I would share some photos and the books and songs that occuppied my time during my summer paradise-lost.

"The Myth of Sisyphus" has been somwhat of a recurrent theme in my life, whether it was the spectacular dance performance "Still Life" by the incredibly talented Mr Papaioannou, or my mum and lover reading it during the exact same time and talking to me about it. I thus thought that it was high-time to dwelve into a little absurdism. Though this essay rang true in many ways, I must admit I was surprised at how such a talented man like Camus managed to make 120 pages rather tiring and repetitive. Just know that at the end one must imagine Sisyphys happy....

"I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negated the gods and raises rocks. He, too, concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."

Albert Camus, "The Myth of Sisyphus" 
























Survival kit for lazy sunbathers

The other book, "Generation X", that kept me company has again been ever-present during my teenage years as the term kept appearing in some of the key movies marking my coming of age such as Clerks, Reality Bites, Heathers, Fight Club, Dazed and Confused, Singles and many many more... and indeed it was a real delight and very topical for a girl in her late 20s coming from Greeceland. 

























Self-diagnosis


"But my crisis wasn't just the failure of youth but also a failure of class and of sex and the future and I still don't know what. I began to see this world as one where citizens stare, say, at the armless Venus de Milo and fantasize about amputee sex or self-righteously apply a fig leaf to the statue of David, but not before breaking off his dick as a souvenir. All events became omens; I lost the ability to take anything literally."  

Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, by Douglas Coupland 



Washed out island beauty queens

Dancing in the moonlight on this long hot summer night

 

























View from my paradise-lost


Absolute cuteness! World meet Victor! Cause the family just gained a heartbreaker!

























The beauty of visiting my grandparents: Family tresures and long forgotten fashion gems












































Dressing up
























A fantabulous night for a moondance

 






















Summertime is all about figs and hammocks

Cause Paul Simon's Graceland is and fo ralways will be the quintessential summer soundtrack
























Absolute Greeceland




Cause we had a moment listening to this song, driving to the North side of the island to howl at the August super-moon



Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Teddy Boys and Copycats

"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensation for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."

Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

I finally read the dystopian all-time classic and  this is the paragraph that stayed with me the most. Cause a good fight against misfortune and a struggle with temptation do hold a dangerously glamorous allure.

Speaking of dystopian futures and state controlled behavioral manipulation, an interesting fact about Greeceland is that during the 60s, a time of revolution across the rest of Europe, an infamous law, law 4000, was put in place to punish "Teddy Boy" behaviour. According to law 4000 young troublemakers arrested for the offense of slander had their heads shaved, the cuffs of their pants ripped and were forced to walk around with a sign stating "I am a Teddy Boy", for pedagogic reasons of course.


























And now for the copycats, surprisingly enough some of my favorite "songs du jour" seem to be covers and the quintessential soundtrack during this transitional month is Todd Terje's Johnny and Mary sang by Brian Ferry! This song is GOLD.





Another current favourite:






And last but not least photos and tips from 2 of the must-see exhibitions in Athens at the moment.

-The exceptionally curated A THOUSAND DOORS exhibition by NEON and Whitechapel Gallery that is hosted at the majestic Gennadius Library until the 30th of June.
Tip: all the volunteers are extremely polite and well-informed ask them to tell you a story about the art piece they are standing next to you won't regret it!



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I'm profoundly shallow, my lack of knowledge is vast and my horizons are narrow" said the boy.

 

 "No Respect": Graffiti and street art at the OCC." 

Cause our graffiti rocks!

 








































 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And my favourite portrait at the moment needlewordk by Lockibird

 


Monday, March 24, 2014

As sweet as it gets

I was blown away by Belgium's very own Mr Michael Borremans whose work is currently exhibited at Bozar. Rarely has a contemporary painter made such a strong impression on me! At first glance you see a realistic representation of beauty yet Mr Borremans subtly burns little holes into logic, whilst ensuring that  an underlying sense of menace is present in every canvas. The sarcasm with which he represents the telekinetic powers of The German, the jet black face of the otherwise romantic and breathtaking in size Angel and the playful, red, one-size-fits-all Devil's Dress are examples of how emptiness invites manipulation. Simplicity is deceptive and a touch of humour inserts some lightness in to characters that appear to be at the mercy of their creator. 

"My work has to be very lavish, very charged and, at the same time, light, nothing."

"I like being sharply dressed while I am working. Like when  you're going out or, in the past, going to mass. Out of respect for the work. I have noticed that my attitude and concentration improved as a result...You don't want to get dirty, so you paint a bit like a peintre seigneur. It has really brought about a change pf style in my work and technique. Suddenly, you feel like an aristocrat who is doing some painting, whereas previously you rooted around in the paint like a Jackson Pollock."

"I realise that my work both attracts and repels, but no, I don't do that deliberately...Lovely but peculiar. That is my character. I subscribe to the idea that the painter depicts nature and in doing so shows his own soul; but I don't depict nature, I just paint culture. So, actually I'm a bit of a no-romantic as well. I paint in the way that is the right way for me to present a particular image. Why, I don't know. Intuition, instinct, necessity...Why does a dog piss against a wall? An instinct, that's all it is."

Lovely people of Brussels and visiting friends this is definitely not to be missed! Enjoy a selection of my favourite pieces (out of the 100 pieces that are currently on display!).



























The Angel



















The Ear










 






The Devil's Dress 



 






















The Wind  


 















Eating the beard 
 


We have art in order not to die from the truth

NIETZSCHE  





And a taste of the best gigs I've been to lately!



Blown Away by Planningtorock

 

Thursday, February 20, 2014

I should have loved a thunderbird instead

"Love is the world's infinite mutability; lies, hatred, murder even, are all knit up in it; it is the inevitable blossoming of its opposites, a magnificent rose smelling faintly of blood."

Tony Kushner, THE ILLUSION
























Photo taken at DESTE foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens 

 

Mad Girl’s Love Song - Sylvia Plath

I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

God topples from the sky, hell’s fires fade:
Exit seraphim and Satan’s men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I fancied you’d return the way you said,
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

I should have loved a thunderbird instead;
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)







Cause who doesn't love kissing strangers, Nuit Blanche, Brussels






















Cruising etiquette at Les Brigittines 
























Now You Are...Mine, Love in the Streets of Athens
























Cause a kiss with a first is better then none, DESTE

The Rival - Sylvia Plath

If the moon smiled, she would resemble you.
You leave the same impression
Of something beautiful, but annihilating.
Both of you are great light borrowers.
Her O-mouth grieves at the world; yours is unaffected,

And your first gift is making stone out of everything.
I wake to a mausoleum; you are here,
Ticking your fingers on the marble table, looking for cigarettes,
Spiteful as a woman, but not so nervous,
And dying to say something unanswerable.

The moon, too, abuses her subjects,
But in the daytime she is ridiculous.
Your dissatisfactions, on the other hand,
Arrive through the mailslot with loving regularity,
White and blank, expansive as carbon monoxide.

No day is safe from news of you,
Walking about in Africa maybe, but thinking of me.




And yes there are some really beautiful Greek love songs out there too

 

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Will suffer for fashion or how I fell in love with TOILETPAPER

A SURREAL TAKE ON THE NEW SEASON  or the coolest fashion shoot I have seen in a long long time and a soundtrack to go with it!




For New York's Spring Fashion issue, the masterminds behind TOILET PAPER MAGAZINE, conceptualist sculptor Maurizio Cattelan and photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari teamed up to shoot standout men's and women's runway collections in a most delightfully absurdist manner.




























































































































  









 










ALL THE PRETTY HORSES 

















KAPUTT, an installation by Maurizio Cattelan




















Elena-Ghiaurov photo by PierPaolo-Ferrari

TOILET PAPER 
Cause I am totally in love with it! 































Scream for ice-cream 




Photo taken by yours truly in Greecelnd at New Hotel


















































































And guess what the Toilet Paper team is also behind the rad new KENZO campaign