here & now

THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT

fr — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:20:53 +0000

Again, it is Apple Macintosh that put goosebumps into my skin today. Because after having thought about the iPad not more then an hour or two, these guys made me do it again. The once punk-rock-on-silicium dream of being different whilst also knowing it turns out to lead into a blind alley of thoughts like I’m-nothing-without-a-soon-achieved-world-supremacy or the-internet-is-free-as-long-as-you-pay-me-therefore. Maybe once the day will come when our children will use Microsoft under the table. Let’s all hope that this will be only for doing something different, and not because they understood what’s the right machine to use.

BRAND SPACE

as — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:08:18 +0000

I fell over this architecture project and hurt myself.

GONJASUFISM

kvr — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:00:59 +0000

In case you ever wondered what a black Tom Waits might sound like, enter Gonjasufi, whose seriously amazing debut album A Sufi and a Killer was released today by Warp Records. Not meaning to be racist, but how come our black friends can make even religious music sound cool? Sheer genius, methinks.

AI WEIWEI IN THE HALL OF FAME

kvr — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:01:21 +0000

The venerable Tate Modern in London just confirmed rumours that our cover star Ai Weiwei has been commissioned as the 11th artist ever to show in the giant Turbine Hall at London’s South Bank this autumn. It’s something akin to winning the Oscar and another giant step in Weiwei’s mysterious career, which only really began in 2004 with his first exhibition in Switzerland. Considering the eternal quest for the ‘next hot thing‘, it’s really comforting that someone like Weiwei could still find his place in the art world, even at an unusually late stage in his life. Anyway, we’re really looking forward to the Turbine Hall smelling of Chinese cooking and maybe now even the bookstore at Tate can finally be persuaded to sell mono.kultur…

POSSIBILITIES UNLIMITED

uk — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:30:05 +0000

Now that Sam Mendes will direct the next James Bond movie, nobody would be very surprised to hear that Wes Anderson will direct the next Spiderman. Some guys made an attempt to get Anderson’s attention on that subject by shooting a spoof in the typical quirky Anderson look and feel. It probably won’t happen but it makes me wonder if there might be the possibility of the public demaning who will direct which film in the future. Maybe Werner Herzog could direct the sequel to Avatar.

WHILE WAITING

uk — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:08:03 +0000

Waiting (i.e. if The Hurt Locker won the Oscar for Best Motion Picture Of The Year) can be very uncomfortable, you might be too nervous to really concentrate on your reading, restless legs or feet… Here’s a thing that will remind many of you of the times in the old school days when you kept busy in break hours with Rubik’s Cube or Rubik’s Magic. The new thing is called The Perplexus and it looks quite cool. Read the story of how it was invented by Michael McGinnis in the current issue of Wired’s UK Edition.

Happy Birthday, Rudi

ub — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:37:45 +0000

Today would have been Rudi Dutschke’s 70th birthday. Time to think about long marches, institutions, and most certainly of revolutions.

I LIKE MY STYLE

scg — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:41:34 +0000

Be on the lookout for Ilikemystyle. A new social networking site based around fashion, Ilikemystyle functions much like Facebook, only without the ungainly design and unbearable, Twitter-like feed system. The focus on is pictures and the choices behind them, allowing users to match their aesthetic attitudes with like-minded individuals.

Most important, though, is connecting all these fashion-forward, multinational individuals. Indeed, the founders of Ilikemystyle, Eva Munz and Adriano Sack have decided to harness this growing digital fashion network to create a quarterly print magazine. They have invited members to contribute photos, statements, articles, and interviews, which they will then select and edit. They are calling it “the first ever user-generated fashion magazine.”

And if you’re curious about the Fashion Week scene here in New York, the Ilikemystyle team have put together a series of fun videos, shot at various runway shows, openings, and showrooms. Check them out here.

COLD TURKEY – AN INVITATION

tw — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:26:55 +0000

From April 1st to 30th, 2010 a drug detox residency will be offered by Hotel Marienbad at KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin. Artists, curators, critics and all those professionally related to the arts are invited to apply. The Hotel Marienbad suite offers a confidential retreat secluded from the public eye. Your drug detox will take place under therapeutic guidance and medical care. Privacy and anonymity will be respected throughout the entire process. Medical and therapeutic care provided by Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Havelhöhe, Berlin. Please apply until to March 28th, 2010 at contact@hotelmarienbad.com. All correspondence will remain confidential.

A project by Benjamin Blanke and Claudia Kapp.

KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Hotel Marienbad, Auguststr. 69, D-10117 Berlin

WHAT WOULD ‘MOTTO’ SOUND LIKE IN SWISS GERMAN?

kvr — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:32:59 +0000

Well, you can find out tonight when the adorable guys at Motto open their second bookstore at La Perla in Zürich tonight. Great space, great people, great books – what more could you possibly want?