Hasta La Ideas

Sweden’s neo-burlesque celebration of pasty-twirling, glitter and skin

With winter clipping at the heels of the Northern Hemisphere, what better way to celebrate being indoors than by seductively disrobing? Opening 27 October 2010, the first-annual Stockholm Burlesque Festival invites striptease fans and performers alike for four days of pasty twirling, fan shaking and coquettish pouting in the appropriately faded glory of the Berns Salonger. Alongside Scandinavia’s finest burlesque artists—including The Amazing Knicker Kittens, Miss Lilly Deluxe, Bettie Blackheart and the world’s quickest showgirl, Kiki Hawaiji—the event heats the city up with some of the scene’s top performers from around the globe, including Miss Indigo Blue, Trixie Little, World Famous *BOB* (the incredible female-female impersonator) and holder of Mister Exotic World 2010, The Evil Hate Monkey .

Lending support to the Pink Ribbon Campaign for breast cancer relief, the cleverly-named Octbooberfest showcases amateur talent with the Tassel Twirling Championship, open to anyone with ta-tas who wants to shake them.

Saturday’s events include the world’s most seasoned burlesque stars, who will stun the crowd with their ingenuity, experience and innovation. The fantastic lineup includes The Evil Hate Monkey, World Famous *BOB*, Miss Indigo Blue and Trixie Little performing all strands of this genre of performance.

Sunday finishes the weekend with a more civilized schedule inviting guests to dine well with afternoon tea and buffet while enjoying yet more sumptuous delights of the Amazing Knicker Kittens—a perfect way to wind down before rejoining the realm of the clothed.

As well as the evening (and afternoon) entertainment, Stockholm’s Burlesque Festival has organized a series of workshops led by some of the evening’s star performers. Choose from learning about The Art of the Tease or Tassel Twirling for the Twenty First Century, both led by Miss Indigo Blue, and World Famous *BOB* will be divulging tips for confidence building in her own special way, as well as leading a workshop on stage beauty techniques.

Considering this is the premiere for this event, organizers have set the bar high for what promises to be one of the future highlights of the European burlesque calendar.

Freaky fun abounds from childrens author Calef Brown’s newest book

A contemporary Dr. Seuss, Calef Brown‘s childrens books are as an exciting read for kids as they are adults. His catchy rhymes put his self-illustrated book “Flamingos on the Roof” a place on the NY Times bestselling list and his latest edition “Hallowilloween: Nefarious Silliness” is no less entertaining.

Filled with tongue twisters and short poems, Brown says “Since childhood, Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. Costumes, candy, and as an artist, the spooky color palette is a revelation—brick reds, oranges of every hue, deep blues, sour greens surrounded by overripe purples. I loved immersing myself in this eerie family of color while creating the paintings for Hallowilloween.”

Brown continues, “I wanted the poems to be funny and engaging but also have an edge and touches of darkness.” His slightly sinister take on standard Halloween creatures—ghosts, vampires and mummies—is perfectly spooky and a great read year round.

“Hallowilloween: Nefarious Silliness” sells online from Amazon and Powells for $17.

Levi’s launches a temporary space serving NYC’s photography community

Dial the clock back a few years and Levi’s was just another Big American Brand rapidly losing marketshare to other major labels and niche denim brands. Today (approximately one global financial crisis later) the San Francisco, CA-based clothier is mid-comeback with numbers to prove it and an unfolding multitiered campaign fueling the upswing. Of their various billboards, collaborations and promotions all under the banner “Ready to Work Go Forth™” the artistry-led workshops might not seem like such a big deal. But after visiting both the first S.F. printmaking installment earlier this year and the current photography version in NYC, I am hugely impressed by not just how well-executed they are but by the sense that there’s some real heart behind the project. To find out the backstory, we checked in with Levi’s head of Collaborations, Partnerships and Creative Concepts, Joshua Katz, who filled us in on what it’s like working with the brand, the power of community, and what drives the different identities of each workshop.

Where San Francisco’s event drew on the “precious objects” culture that makes printmaking thrive there, the ten-week-long NYC edition is more about the democratic nature of photography and how it’s “interwoven into everything” in the city. As such, there’s a little something for everyone in the massive space (formerly Deitch Gallery) with digital and vintage Leica cameras, other vintage camera brands, digital technicians, photo assistants, a printing center and light box, as well as exhibitions and installations. Collaborators include photographer and curator Tim Barber, Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner, master photographer Bruce Davidson, chef April Bloomfield, and photography publisher Hamburger Eyes. Launched last night with an event featuring droves of guests, a photobooth, lots of drinks, and DJ duo Chances with Wolves, Katz explains, “the reason a lot of brands don’t do this is because it’s hard, it’s tiring.”

The payoff of course is “if you make that extra effort, people can believe in it.” Or in other words, their success comes from embracing hard work and community as core values from the top down. “There are fundamental philosophies that don’t change,” says Katz. “The [brands] that stick around are people who recognize that they are part of a community.” In addition to opening its doors to artists, community groups and non-profits, all proceeds from sales of Levi’s goods (including the exclusive Trucker Jacket, pictured) and camera-related items will go to NYC-based charitable organizations Harvey Milk High School, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Edible Schoolyard New York.

Comparing his current job to his previous work with Quicksilver, Katz describes his own thinking on brands as having “a certain obligation to the people that wear them, to continue to solve their problems through products and be responsible members of their community.”

And as for Katz’ own role in that community? “I’m still a geek, I’m still a fan…photography is a way to ground me and remind me, capture some of those moments, and record what I do.” Where he’ll be documenting next as the project continues is still under wraps, though it shouldn’t come as any surprise that it will have something to do with music.

Until then, check out the calendar for a full list of NYC events (it runs through 18 December 2010) and see more of our images in the gallery below.

Our chat with the curator of a new online concept championing young creatives

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Pushing insistently at what a blog is and can do, the recently-launched The Smartest Thing She’s Ever Said is an interesting take on storytelling in the digital age. Teams of visual artists and writers collaborate to create a loose serialized narrative over the course of three weeks under the sharp eye of curator Alexis Hyde. Supported by Ann Taylor, the project is essentially an open platform for celebrating the work of young artists on the rise.

When we heard about The Smartest Thing She’s Ever Said, we were interested in getting to know the people behind the project. Here, we speak with Alexis Hyde about art disasters, Los Angeles rising, and gut reactions.

In no less than two but no more than three sentences, who are you and what do you do?

I ‘m Alexis, and I am the curator of the site. Translation: I help the artists flesh out their ideas into a form that is translatable for the platform and help coordinate some of the logistics of running the blog.

The age of information has in some way, shape, or form turned everyone into a curator of sorts. What do you think makes your perspective special?

I have such a hard time with people calling me or themselves a curator just because I or they have a blog where they compile images. I’m a blogger, a writer, and perhaps a collector of images of works that I admire, and haven’t considered myself a curator until I started working on this project where there’s a concise voice and a vision that the artists are trying to achieve.

Honestly, I don’t think my perspective is special. What I do know about it is that I am always honing it. Every day I try to absorb as much information as I can. Also, I have learned to trust my gut when it comes to art; if I am not immediately attracted, moved or affected then I move on. There is too much for me to waste my time on something that doesn’t have immediate draw or impact. Which is what I am loving about this first story on ArtSheSaid.com, each image and piece of story stand on their own and have the ability to immediately grab your attention.

You’ve got exactly 10 minutes in your museum of choice before it burns to the ground. What do you save and why?

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The Louvre, “Winged Victory.” I remember seeing it with my mother in Paris and being entranced by its mystery and beauty. There is also a fun family story of my very Texan grandfather giving my mother and her sisters a whirlwind tour of the Louvre when they were young and they all say that is the only thing any of them remember. Imagine a man, who looks like Clint Eastwood, basically jogging through the Lourve with four girls in tow talking about art in a very Southern accent, it’s just too good.

Imagine you found yourself in control of LA’s arts budget. Who would you throw your money at, and what would you commission them to do?

I would do whatever I could to help save Watts Towers. They’re a national treasure and an amazing achievement in art that unfortunately is in a not so great part of town and are difficult to conserve and restore. People are trying, but it seems that there is more red tape than there should be. I remember coming to Los Angeles for a weekend and some friends of mine took me there and I was floored! It’s such an astounding site to take in. The love and patience that went into every part of this project really shows and that energy sticks with you for such a long time.

Also, I would have Chris Burden build me a mini “Urban Lights” for the patch of grass in front of my apartment building.

Taking your thoughts on the the over-proliferation of the title “curator” one step further, are there any legitimate curatorial voices out there that you respect, admire, or are particularly moved by? What is it about them that touches you?

The Hammer always has amazing projects and I am always cursing the distance between me and the Tate Modern, where, if they let me, I would move in.

Online,
Fette and Jogging stand out to me. Everytime I see a new post I am always impressed with how well they are able to get their vision across. Always concise with a little bit of a twist that makes you think.

It seems like there is a rising tide of interesting and relevant action happening in Los Angeles that hasn’t really existed since the ’80s. Places like NYC get by on long-established cred, but L.A. has had to struggle to regain that kind of ground. What made you set up shop there and are the rumors of an L.A. revival real or all hype?

That’s actually why I moved here, to be a part of what I hope is an L.A. revival. Well, part of the reason. The other reason is that I am a huge weenie when it comes to weather so N.Y. and S.F. were out of the question for me. There are a lot of exciting things happening in Los Angeles all the time. The feeling that you can create something new, of yourself, of your work, is ingrained in our culture here. I know it doesn’t sound good, but I think that the freedom from a long-established art history in this town helps some people be more comfortable in their creativity. It’s different for everyone, some people like to be in NY so they can break down those barriers, others like to be here because the barriers weren’t there in the first place.

Artists align for a community poster festival celebrating bicycles

Started in Minneapolis just three years ago, the Artcrank show was a quick, fun way to publicize local artists by inviting them to create posters about bike culture. Since then, the concept has spread with lightning speed to cities like Portland, San Francisco, Des Moines and even London. With new cities taking part every year, “Artcrank is growing roughly 10-15% faster than I can keep up with,” said Charles Youel, Artcrank’s director and curator—not a bad problem to have.

“Accessibility is a big part of what makes the show unique,” Youel explains. Local works on display each sell for an affordable $30 apiece at each venue. “The more accessible those experiences are, the more diverse and interesting a biking and artistic culture becomes. I see people arriving on bikes, discovering local artists they’ve never heard of and connecting with causes. If free beer and cheap posters are the catalyst for that, it’s cool by me,” continues Youel.

Another central component to Artcrank is ensuring every show reflects the character of the community. At Portland’s show tonight (7 October 2010) Deschutes Brewery will offer free beer at the Ace Hotel Cleaners, an old laundry facility the Ace Hotel Portland converted into their own event space. “Having local partners and sponsors who support the show is a very important part of making Artcrank a more sustainable proposition,” said Youel.

Local artists featured in Portland’s show include Aaron James of MathDept, Martha Koenig, the husband-and-wife team of Truen and Julia Pence who make up Craft Services Design Co. and numerous others. In many cities, Youel posts an open call for artists on Facebook or Twitter. However, in a more established bike mecca such as Portland, he often contacts the artists personally to request submissions.

“When we first started entertaining the idea of doing shows beyond Minneapolis, I thought, ‘Well, this will work in places like Portland and San Francisco.’ And I figured that would be it,” said Youel. “Since then, we’ve seen the show catch on very quickly. We’re betting that Artcrank can and will work anywhere that people love bikes and art. So far, it’s a bet we’ve won every single time.”

Artcrank Portland will take place at the Ace Hotel Cleaners at from 5-11pm. All proceeds from the show will go to Bikes to Rwanda, a nonprofit that provides cargo bicycles to farmers in Rwanda as transportation for basic needs and coffee hauling. Other upcoming shows include Artcrank SFO at the Chrome store, and Bend, Oregon in December.

Also on Cool Hunting: Joy Ride Art Shows