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p u b l i s h e r / C r e A T i V e D i r e C T O r • CAmILA AmORTEgUI

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D i r e C T O r O F O p e r A T i O n s • mCkINNA hAhN

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C O n T r i b u T O r s( i n A l p h A b e T i C A l O r D e r )

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table of contents // issue 13 // 2011

MIKE GIANT

MINNI HAVAS

DAN-AH KIM

PATCH WHISKY

GRANT CORNETT

18

30

24

40

50

STROBE LIGHT34

BACK TO BLACK44

kAtE MOROSS

fACtORY fRESh

56

64

Cover by Kate Moross

pAStEL dREAMS60

thE WAndERER

thE fAvELA pAIntIng pROJECt

MOOgfESt

68

74

78

S E PTE M B E R 2011

Jan uaRy 2012

BLUMAG.indd 1 6/3/11 10:00 AM

LES fEULLES

MIkE BAkER

LOLItA

98

102

94

table of contents // issue 13 // 2011

ARt BASEL90

BEACh BLvd 82

14 BlÜ-MAgAzINE.CoM

CONTRIBUTORS

ShANNON BARRINgER favorite musical artist/album nick cave and the bad seeds/the boatman’s call best vacation spot koh samui most beloved item in wardrobe a vintage mexican embroidered peasant dress. i got it years ago at a thrift store; it’s the perfect summer dress! biggest pet peeve rudeness- there’s no excuse not to always be polite. least favorite food item french toast coolest gallery i’m totally in love with the bechtler! greatest hero (real or fictional) zora neale hurston regular or diet soda sundrop! cherry lemon, in fact. up and coming artist that we should be on the lookout for tabi musselwhite, she’s a muralist from charlotte who is currently based in boston. type of cuisine you want/are willing to try any! i’d like to try more caribbean cuisines!

CIARA BIRD favorite musical artist/album maxwell - urban hang suite and d’angelo - brown sugar - i could listen to these two for the rest of my life. best vacation spot i couldn’t tell you, but i am dying to visit seychelles and santorini most beloved item in wardrobe my louis vuitton damier speedy- i worked hard for it and am looking forward to wearing it out and passing it down biggest pet peeve when people try to talk to me while im reading least favorite food item hmm. how about my favorite? mango frozen yogurt! coolest gallery soap plant/wacko in los angeles greatest hero (real or fictional) jk rowling regular or diet soda regular up-and-coming artist that we should be on the lookout for hmm, idk but i really love darren booth

and jennifer sánchez type of cuisine you want/are willing to try i am such a picky eater, but i am always in the mood for mexican or chinese.

mATThEW BROWN favorite musical artist/album i don’t think i could narrow it down to just one, some of my favorites would be sam cooke, otis redding, mazzy star, papercuts, most 90’s hip hop, and any reggae group from the late 60’s—early 70’s whose band name began with “the” best vacation spot san francisco for the city, new york for the friends most beloved item in wardrobe probably my menace ii society crewneck sweatshirt that says “trigga gotz no heart” on the back biggest pet peeve i have quite a lot of those. i really dislike when people act fake about anything, which seems to be quite prevalent these days. i also can’t stand these internet know-it-alls that just spend time researching what other people have actually lived/experienced least favorite food item i’m not too picky, but i probably wouldn’t order lima beans anywhere. coolest gallery known gallery is consistent with having cool shows, joshua liner gallery has a lot of cool shows that come through as well. greatest hero (real or fictional) my mom. she always put everybody before her, and always went out of her way to help other people out. regular or diet soda regular. up-and-coming artist that we should be on the lookout for there are tons of graffiti writers who are currently killing shit right now. type of cuisine you want/are willing to try i’ll give anything a try.

AShTON ChANDLER best vacation spot mexico most beloved item in wardrobe vintage velvet turban biggest pet peeve trying to be someone you’re not least favorite food item anything too processed coolest gallery electric blue gallery, london greatest hero (real or fictional) coco chanel regular or diet soda diet all day everyday up-and coming-artist that we should be on the lookout for photographer sofia ajram type of cuisine you want/are willing to try indian

LAINE DEDmON favorite musical artist/album a recent favorite is alex cuba best vacation spot any pretty beach with sand (as opposed to rocks) most beloved item in wardrobe in the summer, it’s my vans bandeau that i wear under razorback tanks biggest pet peeve wastefulness least favorite food item anything spicy – i don’t see how a burning tongue makes for an enjoyable eating experience coolest gallery pura vida in noda greatest hero (real or fictional) derek bledsoe, my brother from another mother regular or diet soda neither; i’d rather drink wine up and coming artist that we should be on the lookout for nico amortegui - slowly taking charlotte by storm. type of cuisine you want/ are willing to try ethiopian

mATThEW FARINA favorite musical artist/album leonard cohen, the knife, ratatat best vacation spot still seeking time for more vacations... most beloved item in wardrobe i have a t-shirt my dad wore in the ‘70’s that says “rain bird” on it. i also have

BlÜ-MAgAzINE.CoM 15

a photo of him wearing it looking young and suave and ready for the next band to come on biggest pet peeve sometimes i hear people my age complain about having to work hard to survive in new york and i honestly didn’t know what they expected! ugh! least favorite food item i like most things but goat cheese has never been a favorite coolest gallery the albertina museum in vienna. they have a huge collection of early 20th century prints and drawings that are to die for greatest hero (real or fictional) matisse? liz lemon? regular or diet soda fresca up-and-coming artist that we should be on the lookout for my subject for this issue, grant cornett, of course type of cuisine you want/are willing to try i feel i’d enjoy more south american foods in my life.

mCkINNA hAhN favorite musical artist/album all cocteau twins best vacation spot blue ridge parkway and denmark most beloved item in wardrobe my turquoise jewelry collection biggest pet peeve cigarette smoke and selfish people least favorite food item onions!!! coolest museum the louisianna in dk greatest hero (real or fictional) everyone in my family is great! regular or diet soda kombucha! no soda! up-and-coming artist that we should be on the lookout for donald graham hershey, the coolest, the greatest, my friend type of cuisine you want/ are willing to try macrobiotics, now!

ANgELA hAN favorite musical artist/album at the moment, i’m very into snowden best vacation spot it’s between san diego or brussels, belgium

most beloved item in wardrobe black jersey/leather shorts biggest pet peeve people chewing with their mouths open least favorite food item pickles coolest gallery long view gallery in dc greatest hero (real or fictional) arnold from hey arnold! he’s so wise and mature, and yet he’s only 9 years old. regular or diet soda regular any day up-and-coming artist that we should be on the lookout for bombay bicycle club type of cuisine you want/ are willing to try i really want to try ethiopian food

ANDREW hOSNER favorite musical artist/album pink floyd / iron maiden (tie) best vacation spot amsterdam most beloved item in wardrobe trusty levi’s biggest pet peeve repeating myself. least favorite food item broccoli coolest gallery thinkspace greatest hero (real or fictional) my father. regular or diet soda neither. up-and-coming artist that we should be on the lookout for tran nguyen type of cuisine you want/are willing to try martian

ERIC hURTgEN favorite musical artist/album right now - wild nothing “gemini” best vacation spot folly beach, charleston most beloved item in wardrobe levi’s biggest pet peeve music in an emergency room least favorite food item squeezable cheese coolest gallery wallspace, nyc greatest hero (real or fictional) photographer robert adams regular or diet soda soda water with a lime up and coming artist that we should be on the lookout for andy mcmillan (andymcmillanphoto.com) type of cuisine you want/ are willing to try thai food

BENJAmIN gELNETTfavorite musical artist/album at the moment the growlers best vacation spot france most beloved item in wardrobe jeans biggest pet peeve last minute cancellations least favorite food item habeneros coolest gallery dugg dugg greatest hero (real or fictional) paul miller regular or diet soda diet up-and-coming (graphic) artist that we should be on the lookout for matt stevens type of cuisine you want/are willing to try head & hoof

BRIgITTE kUm favorite musical artist/album this is impossible, however, right now i’m into frank ocean best vacation spot my bed most beloved item in wardrobe it’s a tie between my anniversary edition doc martins and my jil sander bag biggest pet peeve people who hang out on roof tops least favorite food item anything with legs or wings coolest gallery galleries are all the same to me, it’s about the artists they feature greatest hero (real or fictional) my parents, because they put everyone else, including strangers, before themselves. it’s a rare and beautiful trait that few people truly have. regular or diet soda screw the diet up-and-coming artist that we should be on the lookout for lars stoten, menswear designer of mjolk homme type of cuisine you want/are willing to try korean dog soup...relax, just kidding ;)

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ThIEN LA best vacation spot visiting the hawaiian islands would be the ideal vacation spot for me. when i think of the islands, i imagine this idyllic place; it is the perfect getaway to relax and escape from all the daily chaos. there are lots of breathtaking sceneries of waterfalls, volcanoes, and beaches, which presents me with many great photo opportunities as well most beloved item in wardrobe well, i can’t really think of a particular clothing that i love the most, but i like to dress in anything nice, casual, and comfortable. when i’m working, i like to look professional so you can find me dressed in a blazer and a shirt biggest pet peeve rude and disrespectful people coolest museum guggenheim museum in new york city. the breadth of artworks offered there is so vast. my favorite artworks to look at are paintings that portray landscapes and still life greatest hero my mother is my hero. she has always been my biggest supporter in everything that i do. i owe every bit of my success to her. the incredible strength and love that she has inside amazes me everyday and i love her for that. i can’t begin to thank her enough for the life she has provided for me, making me who i am today up-and-coming artist that we should be on the lookout for charice pempengco type of cuisine you want/are willing to try- i love food, so i enjoy trying various types of cuisines. one that i have yet to try is german cuisine. it is simply because i never had the opportunity to.

QUAN mAI favorite musical artist/album kanye west and lady gaga best vacation spot southeast asia most beloved item in wardrobe a leather jacket from salvation army biggest pet peeve boring/stale people least favorite food item macaroni and cheese coolest gallery art gallery? i love the ones in south california like thinkspace gallery greatest hero

(real or fictional) my mama regular or diet soda both! up-and-coming artist that we should be on the lookout for my dear friend lina zoo (linazoo.com) type of cuisine you want/are willing to try i’m a big foodie, i love exotic cuisines, i wanna travel with anthony bourdain and try everything with him!

mAL & CRISS favorite musical artist/album mal grace potter criss kaskade best vacation spot mal sanibel island, florida criss charleston, sc most beloved item in wardrobe mal my vintage blazers criss bcbg hot pink bandage skirt biggest pet peeve mal a weak handshake criss when people wear multiple designer pieces in one outfit least favorite food item mal water chestnuts! criss fish coolest gallery m. & c. we’re still learning… greatest hero (real or fictional) mal & criss - anna wintour regular or diet soda mal diet “coke” criss regular up and coming artist that we should be on the lookout for mal grace potter and the nocturnals criss (mal & criss) lol jk type of cuisine you want/ are willing to try mal indian criss french

kC PRESLARfavorite musical artist/album right now would be the strokes/angles best vacation spot costa rica most beloved item in wardrobe jeans biggest pet peeve speed bumps in parking lots least favorite food item radishes coolest gallery i honestly don’t go to many so i don’t know.. i need to though greatest hero (real or fictional) people who do what they love regular or diet soda neither up and coming artist that we should be on the lookout for taylor williams type of cuisine you want/ are willing to try greek, really stoked on greek food

ONIShA ISABEL ROmAN ESPADA favorite musical artist/album katy b is “katy on a mission” and magnetic man by magnetic man best vacation spot i would love to go to egypt to see the pyramids; india, africa, far enough north to see the aurora borealis… but, before all that, i must go back home to puerto rico most beloved item in wardrobe white linen blazer, shades and body politik vintage lace fan biggest pet peeve improper use of they’re vs. their, apart vs. a part, its vs. it’s and any other such mix ups. fox news least favorite food item blaut, never tried it. don’t think i ever will. coolest gallery mint & beep beep greatest hero (real or fictional) any and all females that go against the grain to succeed in her own terms. also, barack obama. regular or diet soda ideally none, but if i had to choose, regular up-and-coming artist that we should be on the lookout for katy b, bosco, obie ethereal, jeffet (musical) sean fahie, nikita gale, tunde ogunnoiki (visual/multi media) type of cuisine you want/are willing to try i always want mediterranean, mexican and chinese. willing to try ethiopian (sounds very exotic).

FABIO SChINCAgLIA favorite musical artist/album this is a tough one, let’s say from jimi hendrix to the joy division best vacation spot i love getting in touch with nature when i travel, great memories about mexico and south italy most beloved item in wardrobe my motorbike boots biggest pet peeve as a friend of mine told me once “i can’t stand anymore people who try to seem clever” least favorite food item cucumber coolest gallery tate modern gallery-london greatest hero (real or fictional) i know a few, they don’t wear a cloak though regular or diet soda no soda thanks


up-and-coming artist that we should be on the lookout for check out this sculptor, aaron demetz, who is already been at the biennale in venice a few years ago - really strong type of cuisine you want/are willing to try anything that’s cooked from the locals in their own traditional way and in their own country, i am very adventurous in terms of food

RYAN SPENCER favorite musical artist/album hot snakes best vacation spot i’m never satisfied going back to one spot too often, unfortunately most beloved item in wardrobe my overcoat biggest pet peeve alarm clocks, because sleep is the cousin of death least favorite food item star anise coolest gallery the walls in my apartment greatest hero (real or fictional) bill hicks, rip regular or diet soda neither, unless its with real cane sugar up and coming artist that we should be on the lookout for myself, ryan james spencer type of cuisine you want/are willing to try ethiopian cuisine is something i’m itching to try.

JOAh SPEARmAN favorite musical artist/album a tribe called quest’s “midnight marauders” lp best vacation spot rio de janeiro, brazil most beloved item in wardrobe my tie collection, there’s at least 100 of them, many of them vintage skinny ties that i’ve bought over the last decade in consignment shops biggest pet peeve people who say they couldn’t “pull that off” when referring to clothes, if you’re that close-minded how are you going to tackle real challenges in life? least favorite food item beets coolest gallery i’m a big fan of the trammel crow family’s asian art museum in dallas greatest hero (real or fictional) ben franklin regular or diet soda neither, i don’t drink it up and coming

artist that we should be on the lookout for art brad stovall, music - the weeknd, fashion - chelsea jones’ toxophilite type of cuisine you want/are willing to try octopus

mIChAEL STONIS favorite musical artist/album modest mouse – “we were dead before the ship even sank” best vacation spot haven’t been there yet, so i will continue my search. most beloved item in wardrobe my black leather shoes. i haven’t wore anything but black leather shoes for 7 years biggest pet peeve people who try to talk to me while i’m on the phone least favorite food item mcdonalds. but for some reason when i’m really hungry, it’s the only thing i crave coolest gallery i need to spend more time visiting galleries regular or diet soda neither. coffee all day everyday up-and-coming artist that we should be on the lookout for die antwoord type of cuisine you want/are willing to try i’d like to try more thai food.

AShLEY ThORNE favorite musical artist/album i think gil scott-heron is a true classic musical artist and i’m currently in love with the band warpaint. best vacation spot right now it seems to be washington d.c., it’s as close to a vacation destination i have had in years most beloved item in wardrobe my bone tube and brass necklace i designed, it goes with everything biggest pet peeve people saying “free gift” or if someone doesn’t cover their sneeze. least favorite food item i’m not a huge fan of chicken coolest gallery anton kern gallery in nyc greatest hero (real or fictional) i know it sounds crazy but lately i have been looking up to bethenny frankel. i almost hate to say a reality star is my hero but she is kind of my hero right now, she does it all like

superwoman regular or diet soda i like to mix juice and sparkling water for a soda, my friend jo taught me this. up-and-coming artist that we should be on the lookout for devin troy strother, love his imagination and his work. type of cuisine you want/ are willing to try well i want sushi all the time but a close family friend is nigerian and she raves about the food. so the next time i am home i will beg her to make me some nigerian cuisine.

LENkA ULRIChOvA favorite musical artist/album right now i’m only listening to sirius xm’s chill best vacation spot big sur, post ranch inn most beloved item in wardrobe hmm, jeans…? biggest pet peeve my husband’s snoring. least favorite food item barley coolest gallery moca greatest hero (real or fictional) i don’t think i have any, but my husband is a dork for superman regular or diet soda perrier up and coming artist that we should be on the lookout for you tell me type of cuisine you want/are willing to try earth’s best teething cracker

THANK YoU To EVERYoNE WHo HAS CoNTRIBUTED To BlÜ AND THIS ISSUE.

hI mIkE, CAN YOU TAkE A mOmENT AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF FOR ThOSE WhO AREN’T FAmILIAR WITh WhAT YOU DO? I’m 39 years old, I live in San Francisco and I draw for a living. Mostly I draw t-shirt graphics for REBEL8, and sometimes I make tattoos and paint on walls.

CONgRATULATIONS ON ThE SUCCESS OF REBEL8, WhAT ARE ThE BEST AND WORST PARTS ABOUT RUNNINg A COmPANY? Well, as the artist, running the company is the worst part for me. I leave that to my partner Joshy. He takes care of the business side of things so I can concentrate on the drawings. Without that partnership, REBEL8 wouldn’t survive.

I FEEL LIkE ThE TERm “STREET ART” IS SOmEWhAT PRETENTIOUS FOR vARIOUS REASONS, WhERE IS ThE LINE DRAWN BETWEEN gRAFFITI AND STREET ART? I have always thought of myself as a “writer”, writing my name over and over, yet never the same. It’s a very controlled and concentrated practice. It’s about the word, GIANT. I really don’t think it falls under the generic categories of “graffiti” or

“street art”. It’s different. It’s played on the same field so to speak, but it’s a different mode of communication. Writers write mostly for other writers. That’s why some of our writing is illegible to regular people on the street. It’s not for them. Whereas I think graffiti and street art are for the populace. It’s public work made by the populace. I think that’s a very important distinction to make.

I think it’s as important as understanding that even though our writing culture is an integral part of the foundations of hip-hop culture, it has always operated independently of hip-hop. If you look at the history of writing culture, you’ll see that just as many writers came from the punk and metal scenes as the hip-hop scene. You’ll also see that writing was the only inherently illegal aspect of hip-hop culture as well, something I think is important to recognize.

DO YOU FEEL LIkE SOCIETY ACCEPTS SOmEThINg LABELED “STREET ART” mORE ThAN ThEY DO SOmEThINg DEEmED AS “gRAFFITI?” I think the generic terms “graffiti” and “street art” are basically the same thing. By definition they are terms that would cover any markings in public spaces. I think the general public looks down on “graffiti” and they love “street art”, whether commissioned or not. To me it’s an erroneous distinction. And like I said, I’m a writer. I’ve always hated being called a

“graffiti artist”.

MIkE GIANT IS A REBEL WITH A cAuSE. THE TATTooEd 39 YEAR oLd ARTIST GRAcEd NEW HEIGHTS IN THE STREET ART WoRLd AS BEING oNE oF SAN FRANcISco’S MoST NoToRIouS WRITERS. HIS cLoTHING LINE, REBEL8, IS TAkING oFF THANkS To HANd-ILLuSTRATEd GRApHIcS ANd ITS RooTS THAT MIRRoR THE ARTIST’S LovE FoR HIp-Hop, METAL, BMX BIkES, SkATING, ANd THE TATToo cuLTuRE THAT INSpIREd IT ALL.

MIkE gIAntI N T E R v I E W B Y MAtthEW BROWn



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< A R T

DO YOU hAvE A FAvORITE SkATE vIDEO? The first Bones Brigade video. That shit changed my life.

WhAT WAS YOUR BREAD & BUTTER TRICk ThAT YOU COULD LAND ALL DAY? I can’t think of one really. Seems like some days I couldn’t land a regular old ollie to save my life and other days I could ollie over trashcans and down stairways. It always depended on the day. It was unpredictable in that way. I was doing switch and fakie tricks long before any of my friends though. I was kinda known for that. I was going off launch ramps fakie back in the day.

WhAT’S ThE BAY AREA gRAFFITI SCENE LIkE ThESE DAYS? Still going, alive and well. I still hang out with writers from back in the day as well as some young guns. I still get inspired by them a lot.

YOU TALk A FAIR AmOUNT ABOUT BUDDhIST PhILOSOPhIES, WhAT gOT YOU STARTED WITh IT? I was in my early 20s, sad and lonely. I wanted to figure out what really caused my feelings of sadness and loneliness and Buddhism offered me some help in that regard.

YOU SEEm TO BE OFF AND ON WITh YOUR TATTOOINg, IS IT mORE OF A TImE ISSUE, OR DO YOU ENJOY OThER mEDIUmS mORE? It’s more of a pain issue. Tattooing hurts my body. I can’t do it for more than a few hours these days. I only do about one tattoo a week. So I spend more time with my Sharpies, which is fine.

WOULD YOU SAY ThE INTERNET hAS A POSITIvE EFFECT ON SOCIETY? like anything in the world, whether or not it has benefit depends on the user. I do think it’s amazing that anyone with enough money for a computer can have the world’s library at their fingertips. That’s pretty amazing in its own right.

IS ThERE ANY PARTICULAR PIECE OF WORk ThAT YOU’vE CREATED ThAT STICkS OUT AS ONE OF YOUR FAvORITES? Not really. I’m happy making things, not brooding over them once they’re finished. on to the next one…

A LOT OF YOUR WORk INCORPORATES LATIN/ChOLO ImAgERY, DID LIvINg IN NEW mExICO INFLUENCE ThE DEvELOPmENT OF ThAT STYLE? For sure. You can take the man out of New Mexico, but you can’t take the New Mexico out the man.

ARE YOU SPONSORED BY ShARPIE? I wish. I still buy them by the boxful!

WhAT DO YOU PREFER TO BE CALLED? Mike. I prefer that to “giant”. I like to connect to people I meet on the street as “Mike”. The only time I’ll introduce myself as “giant” is to a fellow writer that is being introduced by a writer that I already know. Years ago, if anyone I didn’t know asked if I was giant I straight up said no. It was part of a code of secrecy handed down to me by my mentors, something I think is important to uphold when you’re really crushing shit. You have to be really careful who knows your real identity. But once I started having to become more public with my identity because of my commercial connections, I had to quit denying my street identity. It just got stupid. I stick out like a sore thumb. No use hiding it. But it does make me think twice about street bombing now, which is a bummer.

WhAT mOTIvATES AND/OR INSPIRES YOU? Mostly love and lust.

WhAT IS ONE OF ThE CRAzIEST ThINgS YOU’vE EvER SEEN? I sure saw a lot of crazy shit when I did lots of lSD in the mid 90s, but nothing knocked me on my ass like Salvia. I can’t believe that shit is legal. go get some and try it. It only lasts about 10 minutes, but it’s a wild fuckin’ ride. I got into similar hallucinatory states on lSD, but it required a large dose and about 12 hours of your time. gnarly.

DID YOU RECEIvE ANY FORmAL TRAININg FOR ART OR DESIgN? I took a drawing class when I was about 14 and a drawing class in middle school. I had an incredible teacher in high school that taught me all the old school methods of technical and architectural drafting which really grounded me in perspective and professionally legible hand lettering. The same teacher introduced the first computer-aided drafting computers (CAD) to the state. In my last year of high school I did two important internships. one was at a rather boring, academic architectural firm. The other was at a civil engineering firm where I was able to apply what I learned on the CAD systems. I learned so much about the professional world in those internships. I wish public schools were able to offer them more.

I started studying architecture at the University of New Mexico on full academic scholarship in 1989. I took numerous drawing and painting classes, and lots of architecture studio courses where I made tons of drawings in various mediums at various levels of technical application. I took lots of art and architecture history courses. I took courses in manual photography including printing and processing. I also learned etching and silkscreen printing. Just before I left at the end of the fourth year, I took some art education courses as well. I was offered a full-time job drawing graphics for Think Skateboards in 1993, and left school without a degree. I haven’t had much formal training otherwise.

WhAT’S YOUR BIggEST FEAR? I just have pesky little fears, like being uninsured. I believed I have conquered my fear of pain and death. What’s left after that?

WhAT’S YOUR BIggEST COmFORT? First, being in the arms of a lover. Second, drawing. Third, sleeping.

DO YOU hAvE ANY LAST WORDS OF WISDOm OR BACkWOODS REmEDIES YOU’D LIkE TO ShARE? If you truly seek the wisdom of all ages for yourself, I’d recommend that you start your journey in southern France. There, in a place called Plum Village, you’ll find an old Vietnamese monk named Thich Nhat Hanh. He’s the wisest man I’ve ever met, a living Buddha. He can tell you what it all means. It’s still up to you to live it though.

mIkEgIANT.COm


ARTIST DAN-AH KIM HAS BEEN qUIETlY CARVINg oUT A SolID CAREER FoR HERSElF IN THE REAlMS oF FINE ART, FIlM, DESIgN, AND IllUSTRATIoN SINCE gRADUATINg FRoM THE PRATT INSTITUTE IN BRooKlYN, NY. KIM’S DElICATE, AlMoST WHIMSICAl WoRK JUxTAPoSES BEAUTIFUllY AgAINST THE SoBERINg AND EARNEST TRUTHS SHE HElPS To BRINg To lIgHT IN HER PIECES. HER WoRK HAS BEEN FEATURED IN A NUMBER oF WEll RESPECTED gAllERIES oN BoTH CoASTS oF THE STATES AS WEll AS THE UNITED KINgDoM, INClUDINg All oF THE gIANT RoBoT loCATIoNS, THINKSPACE, loNDoN MIlES, AND SCIoN SPACE. DAN-AH WAS KIND ENoUgH To TAKE A FEW MoMENTS AWAY FRoM WoRKINg oN HER UPCoMINg SHoW AT THINKSPACE WITH TIMoTHY KARPINSKI To DISCUSS WITH BlÜ WHERE SHE’S BEEN, WHAT SHE’S UP To, AND WHAT’S oN THE HoRIzoN.

dAn-Ah kIMI N T E R V I E W B Y ANDREW hOSNER

CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR BACkgROUND AND WhERE YOU gREW UP AND SPENT YOUR ChILDhOOD?I was born in Seoul, then lived in Tijuana, los Angeles, New orleans, and all over Florida, eventually settling in Fort lauderdale. My father is a Tae Kwon Do master and I remember the various TKD studios better than the apartments or houses we lived in. At the time I hated moving so often, but I think it has since informed a lot of who I am. WhAT, IF ANY, INFLUENCE hAS YOUR kOREAN hERITAgE hAD ON YOUR ARTWORk? I suppose there are some specific reccurring elements in my work that stem from my heritage, like Korean shield kites and weaponry. These were our toys growing up. YOU mOvE SEAmLESSLY BETWEEN SCREEN PRINTINg, PAPER CUTTINg, SEWINg, DRAWINg AND OF COURSE PAINTINg. IS ThERE ONE ThAT YOU PREFER mORE ThAN ThE OThER? DO YOU SEE YOUR FUTURE WORk mOvINg TOWARDS ONE OF ThESE mEDIUmS, OR WILL IT BE AN EvEN mORE INTENSE mIx OF ThEm ALL? I love them all, and am leaning more towards an intense mix of them. In the future I’d love to use a bigger variety of materials, work in 3D, make dioramas and miniature sets, and use film and video as a medium as well! PLEASE TELL US A LIL’ BIT ABOUT YOUR CREATIvE PROCESS. I write and sketch ideas over a period of time, then sift through them later to see what sticks. Sometimes a fully formed image occurs to me, and other times it takes a lot of improvisation and working through frustration to finish a piece. I like to do research, watch films, and end up on Wikipedia tangents for hours. Drawing is first, then layers of paint, cut paper, thread, until it’s built up to somewhat resemble what was in my head. WhAT ARE SOmE OF ThE ThINgS ThAT INSPIRE YOUR WORk? To be broad, I have dreams and nightmares about history, mythology, mankind, the magic of nature, the greater universe, and human involvement. I fear and respect these forces and the art I make is a feeble attempt to understand

and interpret them. More specifically, I love stories and peoples’ abilities to invent them. I wish nature was more accessible in New York City so I could spend more time looking at the stars and seas. old maps, manuscripts, antique objects, and paintings for the things they say about their time. YOU ALSO DO A gOOD BIT OF DESIgN AND FILm WORk. DO YOU FEEL ThERE IS STILL A STRONg DIvISION BETWEEN YOUR mORE COmmERCIAL DRIvEN ART AND YOUR FINE ART? My film and art work are very different and usually separate. I have to divide months of the year as each requires all of my time and energy, and the only time they cross over is when a set decorator borrows some paintings from me to use in a set! Film work is great since you’re constantly surrounded by creative people, but ultimately you’re working towards someone else’s vision with someone else’s story. Whereas fine art lends me a chance to make the things that are personal and it’s satisfying in that regard, even if it means minimal human contact for a stretch of time and agonizing over blank sheets of paper.

I SEE ISSUES OF INDIvIDUAL FREEDOm POPPINg UP A LOT IN YOUR WORk. IS ThIS CORRECT, AND IF SO, WhAT DRIvES YOU TO SPEAk ABOUT ThIS TOPIC SO OFTEN IN YOUR WORk? WhAT OThER ISSUES AND/OR IDEAS ARE ImPORTANT TO YOUR WORk? There were a lot of constraints growing up, and I was always reading books on places and things that weren’t accessible to me. Dreaming about these day and night developed into having an unruly sense of wanderlust as an adult. If I’m not acting on it, then I have to channel it through my work. It’s important to me to have curiosity and interest in other parts of the world, and how we’ve come to be. other themes I try to use are fearlessness, and a sense of balance and peace even when things are sinister. WhAT’S ThE ONE ThINg YOU TOOk AWAY FROm YOUR TImE AT ThE PRATT INSTITUTE ThAT STILL hELPS TO DEFINE YOU AS AN ARTIST TO ThIS DAY? Probably that it wouldn’t be easy to make a career as an artist, to always work hard at your craft and keep trying to learn. I knew I wanted to work in film but my major had little to do with it, so I just tried to have as much fun with my work as I could.


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YOUR EARLIEST mEmORY INvOLvINg CREATINg ART? I remember using sticky rice after running out of glue to piece together sheets of paper so I could make bigger drawings! And I remember drawing tigers and flowers the most often. WhAT DO YOU DO WhEN PROCRASTINATINg IN ThE STUDIO? Try to convince my cat to play with me. I told myself I’d read more books and less internet this year but it’s not really happening! Uncork a bottle of wine. FUTURE gOALS FOR YOUR ART? To work on a grander scale, experiment further, use different media. To start working on ideas I’ve been percolating for a while, for children’s books and ways to incorporate my personal art with film. WhAT ARE YOU WORkINg ON AT ThE mOmENT? lots of art making for the show with Timothy Karpinski at Thinkspace in April, and for upcoming groups shows. ANY ADvICE FOR FOLkS gETTINg READY TO gRADUATE AND ENTER ThE ART WORLD? Frankly, it feels awkward to be giving anyone else advice at this point as I’m still learning, but I think if you’re earnest with your work it will be appreciated. Just be honest about what you make and not worry much about how it will be received. And it helps to get the dull stuff out of the way, figuring out the business end of being a freelancer, having a proper place to work, and a good balance in your day for work and rest. FAvORITE LIvINg ARTIST? FAvORITE ARTIST FROm ThE PAST? living - Kiki Smith, Yayoi Kusama. Past - Eva Hesse, Nagi Noda, Henry Darger, Joseph Cornell, gustav Klimt, gustave Doré, Joan Miró

IF YOU COULD COLLABORATE WITh ANY ONE ARTIST, WhO WOULD IT BE AND WhY? Hayao Miyazaki! His stories and worlds are so clever and unusual. I love his brave heroines who fight, befriend animals, and fly.

WhAT DO YOU hAvE COmINg UP IN ThE YEAR AhEAD AFTER YOUR ShOW WITh ThINkSPACE IN CULvER CITY? A few group shows with artists I love, film work, and hopefully start on a children’s book!

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HELSINKI BASED ILLUSTRATOR MINNI HAVAS WORKS MAGIC WITH HER COLORED PENCILS, CAPTURING THE FASHION WORLD AS VIVIDLY AS ANY PHOTOGRAPH. WITH HER OWN CLOTHING LINE GETTING READY TO LAUNCH, MINNI PROVES SHE’S AS MULTI-FACETED AS HER DRAWINGS.

MINNI HAVASI N T E R V I E W B Y SHANNON BARRINGER

TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF! I’m a freelance illustrator based in Helsinki. Having studied fashion design at the University of Art and Design Helsinki, my focus is mainly on fashion illustration. I also run a clothing company with my fashion designer colleague.

WHAT LED YOU TO CHOOSE ILLUSTRATION AS YOUR PREFERRED MEDIUM OF EXPRESSION? I started drawing when I was very young. I loved it from the beginning. I admired all the photorealistic paintings and drawings I saw in books and tried to copy them. My drawing skills gained attention and I got offered some small work for magazines. I’ve been actively working as an illustrator since I was asked to join my current illustration agency. I think illustrating, compared to pure art, is more challenging for me because I have to deliver a certain message.

WHERE DID YOU GO TO SCHOOL? HOW (OR DID) YOUR FORMAL EDUCATION INFLUENCE YOUR PRESENT WORK? I began my art studies when I was five and went to design school for children. After graduating from high school I went to study fine arts and thought at one point to become an artist. But I was more intrigued to get involved with the commercial world of design. Then I applied to study fashion design. The world of fashion has always fascinated me, because its always changing and creating appealing images. I’m also interested in forecasting trends and trying to visualize them.

WHAT CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS MOST INSPIRES YOU? I can’t say any specific one. I often get inspired about photographs, mostly documentaries because they touch me. I also admire many other illustrators, so many I can’t point out one. I saw Hussein Chalayans UK solo exhibition at London’s Design Museum in January 2009 and that was truly inspiring. And I love sculptor Marc Quinn’s Kate Moss statues.

WHICH FASHION MODEL WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO DRAW? Definitely Liu Wen, she looks so amazing.

WHEN I LOOK THROUGH MOST MAGAZINES, EVERYTHING I SEE APPEARS TO BE EITHER PHOTOGRAPHED AND/OR PHOTO SHOPPED. HOW DO YOU MAKE ILLUSTRATION RELEVANT IN SUCH AN ENVIRONMENT? Well, I think illustration can fit anywhere nowadays. Maybe people need to see something fresh and illustration can bring some of that and replace some photos. In the end, I think photos and illustrations can go hand in hand in magazines. I don’t see a conflict there.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF DRAWING A SUBJECT VERSUS PHOTOGRAPHING THEM? It’s like creating that fantasy world drawn out of your imagination; there are no boundaries like in photography. To take a photograph you need a model, a photographer, a studio, a camera, the clothes, etc. But in illustration you can make it all up and it can be what ever you want. In a drawing you can bring that extra spice to the image with your drawing style, and you can enhance something like movement with brush strokes.

FAVORITE SUBJECT TO DRAW? WHY? I love to portray women. I guess it’s easy somehow. The female figure is inspiring to draw, but it’s not only the figure it’s the whole subject: the clothes, the atmosphere and the things surrounding the main subject. I especially like to draw my sister. She has this amazing face. I also like to draw flowers and animals because they have interesting colors and textures.

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON? I’m currently busy with my new clothing brand. It’s going to be launched in Paris in the beginning of March. I’m so exited about it. I’m also doing some regular illustration work like advertising and stuff. I have also been recently part of some exhibitions in Helsinki and I’m working with new series of images for an exhibition in August.

MINNIHAVAS.FI PEKKAFINLAND.FIMINNIFRONYA.FI

p H o T o G R A p H Y B Y RYAn JAMES SpEnCER

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M A k E u p B Y BRAndALYn fULtOn

H A I R B Y AShLEY ORzOL

T Y p E T R E A T M E N T B Y BEnJAMIn gELnEtt

top: panupong rattanachot pants:urban outfitters

dress: panupong rattachot leggings: uniqlo

coat: liz claiborne shoes: guess


WHISKY CAN BE SMooTH, BUT SoMETIMES DANgERoUS. PATCH WHISKY IS SMooTH, BUT DANgERoUSlY FUN. HIS ART IS AlIVE WITH PlAYFUl CREATURES CAllED ‘WINKlES” WHICH oFTEN EMBRACE THE SURFACES oF SKATEBoARDS, SURFBoARDS, T-SHIRTS, AND ANYTHINg AND EVERYTHINg THAT CAN BECoME A SUITABlE CANVAS. oRIgINAllY FRoM WEST VIRgINIA, PATCH CAME DoWN To CHARlESToN, SoUTH CARolINA AFTER STUDYINg gRAPHIC DESIgN AT THE ART INSTITUTE oF PITTSBURgH. I MET UP WITH PATCH IN HIS HoME STUDIo WHIlE THE SPRINg SEA BREEzE ENCIRClED HIS EASEl AND NEW WINKlES WERE BoRN.

pAtCh WhISkYI N T E R V I E W B Y AShtOn ChAndLER

WE ARE ALL WANTINg TO kNOW, WhAT IS ThE ORIgIN OF ThE NAmE, PATCh WhISkY? Patch whisky, I made that guy up—he was a character from a video game, a wrestler I made up when I was about 14 years old. He kind of died away until I went to Pittsburgh (to college). I didn’t want people to know who I was and he was still in my head, so I took on the name. He’s based on my childhood experience of watching cartoons and wrestling. WhAT DID YOUR FIRST CREATURES LOOk LIkE, AND WhERE DO ThESE gUYS COmE FROm? My first creatures were more like a square with sticks and beady eyes—they were on coffee tables, dresser drawers, and other furniture. I wasn’t a standout artist when I was a young kid, so it’s been a long process to get where I’m at now. They’ve totally evolved, even since I’ve moved down to Charleston. My palette has definitely changed from doing a lot of colorful backgrounds to the more colorful foregrounds I do now. DOES YOUR WORk hAvE ANY UNDERLYINg mEANINgS OR mESSAgES YOU WANT TO gET ACROSS? I just try to keep it fun because there is so much serious stuff going on in the world. I want to try to keep people’s mind off of that and give them a world of bright colors and bright times. Even my scary creatures are still kind of silly. I just like to have a good time and I think that shows through my work.

hOW hAS gRAPhIC DESIgN INFLUENCED YOUR PAINTINgS AND DRAWINgS? I would say my practice of graphic design leads to the way stuff flows onto the canvas: the movement, the colors, and the overall balance. My eye has been trained to know what looks good and what needs to be improved during the process. There are rules and guidelines that you are allowed to break, it’s just a matter of how you break them. I still do a bit of graphic designing to make t-shirts and prints, but I think it’s more real to paint something. A computer can mass-produce stuff, but painting has brush strokes and is more real. WhAT COmmON LINk DO YOU BELIEvE ExISTS BETWEEN SkATE CULTURE AND STREET ART? The street art culture is a very rebellious type of thing; you don’t have to ask anyone or get permission. Skateboarders are exactly the same way: middle fingers up, they’re going to do what they want to do. A lot of them do street art and a lot of the graphics on the bottom of their skateboards are some bad mo-fos from the street art world. YOU PAINT ON vINYL RECORDS, gUITARS, AND SURFBOARDS… WhAT’S NExT? IS ThERE ANYThINg YOU WON’T PAINT ON? What have I not painted on? There’s got to be something! I don’t know, I’ll paint on anything if my paint will stick to it.


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My paintings make objects 3D and functional. When I was in West Virginia, I was studying under a master artist and he was painting on mannequins and all this stuff. I mean whatever you can find- just paint on it. WhAT BROUghT YOU TO ChARLESTON, AND hOW DOES WORkINg BY ThE OCEAN INFLUENCE YOUR WORk? My family has always come here for vacation and I’ve always been connected with Charleston. You know, Kiawiah Island, City Market, etc. We were looking for a place to live and relocate and Charleston was our number one spot and now here we are. I love it here, there’s a good art scene, cool people, cool artists, and good friends. You can’t ask for much more than that. NAmE A FEW ARTISTS ThAT hAvE INSPIRED YOU ALONg ThE WAY. I keep tabs on the San Francisco/los Angeles boys practically on a daily basis. I’m into Jeremy Fish, Crayola, gary Basemen, and Ron English. I’m into cartoons from my childhood, you know, like Bugs Bunny and Popeye. All those cool cartoons from back in the day have all inspired me.

WhAT CAN WE SEE FROm PATCh WhISkY ThIS SUmmER AND BEYOND?This is the biggest year for me to date. I’m doing Kulture Klash, works for the Halsey Institute, and a big skatepark all happening in Charleston, SC, then shows in Charlotte. I’m also doing a show in Asheville, NC in July in a skateshop/art gallery. There’s stuff going on in Miami and Savannah, gA as well. I just create art all the time- paint, paint, and paint, so I’m always ready for anything. gIvE US A LITTLE INSIghT INTO A DAY IN ThE LIFE OF YOUR CREATIvE PROCESS WIThIN ThE STUDIO. I usually wake up, have some coffee, check my emails, walk the dogs, and then I just start to paint. I put on Toxic Avenger or some music or whatever. I don’t even know what I’m going to paint it just kind of shoots out. It’s not very magical- it just kind of happens and eventually I’ve got some art and some creatures with eyeballs and mouths. I just work mostly from my head. Sometimes I look at other people’s stuff to get inspired, and I put it in a cauldron and mix it up to pour on my own canvas. WhAT mOTTO DO YOU LIvE BY? Don’t drink and draw.

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p H o T o G R A p H Y B Y fABIO SChInCAgLIA

S T Y L I N G B Y fRAnCESCA gIACOMELLI

M o d E L vIktORIA vALtChAnOvA @ COLLECtIOn MOdELS

T Y p E T R E A T M E N T B Y kC pRESLAR

top: gareth pugh

skirt: martin margiela

dress: gareth pugh

dress: charles anastase

bracelet: anne demeulemeester

necklace: anne demeulemeester

dress: charles anastase

shoes: neil barrett

RESISTANT To cATEGoRIzATIoN, GRANT coRNETT’S pHoToGRApHS HAvE BEEN uSEd EFFEcTIvELY AS INTRIGuING FoddER FoR THE pHoTo-BLoGSpHERE ANd MAGAzINE WoRLd WITHIN THE LAST FEW YEARS. HIS ARRANGEd STILL LIFE pHoToGRApHS IN pARTIcuLAR FEEL LIkE AN EccENTRIc’S cAREFuL MASH-up oF HISToRY, MATERIALITY, ANd FoRMAL JuXTApoSITIoN—THEY’vE dESERvEd THE ATTENTIoN. THE AFFABLE pHoToGRApHER REvEALEd THAT dESpITE THE SHARp poIGNANcY ANd INTENdEd coMMENTARY THAT HAS BEEN ASSocIATEd WITH HIS WoRk, HE SHooTS WITH A quIckLY INTuITIvE ANd LESS ScHEMATIc AppRoAcH. coRNETT dIScuSSEd THIS pRocESS, THE BENEFITS oF THE dIGITAL AGE, ANd THE SuccESSES ANd pITFALLS oF HIS pHoToGRApHIc ENdEAvoRS. THE TWo oF uS MET FoR THE vERY FIRST TIME oN A WINTRY NIGHT IN WILLIAMSBuRG. THE vIEW FRoM THE BAR’S WINdoW RESEMBLEd A SHAkEN SNoW GLoBE ANd MY MINd WAS SIMILARLY IN FLuX BY coRNETT’S cANdId INSIGHT.

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N o S T A L G I c A M A L G A M A T I o N S :

T H E p H o T o G R A p H Y o F

DO YOU ThINk YOUR TImE WORkINg AT ThE mETAL FACTORY IN BOSTON INFLUENCED YOU? It taught me process, which I kind of obsess over—though I don’t know if it began there. At the manufacturer, everything had to be done perfectly, plus or minus like a ten thousandth of an inch. You wanted to make things efficient. I just entertained myself by programming the machine so I could get done as fast as I could. My process today is fast but the way I get to the final image is not planned. I don’t think about where everything will be at first, like, “there is this glass in this red room and a girl is going to be laying there with just her feet sticking out.” I don’t do that. I let things fall together or I find something of interest.

WhAT ABOUT YOUR ImAgE OF ThE FLOWERS IN ThE TOILET - DID YOU FIND ThE TOILET WITh FLOWERS IN IT AND ThEN TAkE ThE PICTURE? The toilet was found. That’s at a friend’s house who is a florist. I was in her bathroom and I thought the blue floor was pretty. Then I started obsessing over this graphic of the ring and thought,

“How can I make this better?” I thought “oh flowers!” so I got flowers off the floor. I had just taken a piss, so it’s still yellow. Someone cut their finger that day and there was a tissue with blood on it. Then I put it all together and it all happened within ten minutes.

I SEE DECAY, hISTORY AND TImE AS mAJOR PARTS OF YOUR ImAgES. DOES ThAT CARRY ANY mEANINg? I don’t really conceptualize like that. My girlfriend is a painter and she can pull out everything like that from my work. In my conscious mind I’m not trying to symbolize life. I look at things and remember things but I don’t have ‘that’ in me. Maybe if I had gone to school for it, or if I really thought about what other people have thought or seen or done in the past.

SO WhAT WORk hAS INSPIRED YOU? WhAT DO YOU ThINk OF mORANDI? Awesome, I know so many people who love him, he is popular. I think he was just enjoying himself or maybe he was crazy. He’s

not even thinking. He’s just painting. It’s so simple. He paints the same glass for five years and we love every single one of them.

I’ve heard a lot of people compare my work to Gregory crewdson, which is funny because it’s so opposite from how I make stuff. He’s like a gold brick and I’m like a penny. I don’t have any problems with his work. I think it’s technically well done but that’s about it, the work doesn’t grab me. I did see a pina Bausch piece once that did grab me. I never really cared about dance, but our friends gave us tickets to see her. I got there right as the lights went down and I was like,

“okay here we go we’ll see what happens...” After it was over I was like “What the Fuck was that! That was fucking, ahh!” Then, I saw another piece of hers that was totally boring—and then I spent $350 on tickets for another show and I got the dates wrong by a day and missed the show. It was supposed to be amazing.

CAN YOU gIvE mE YOUR vIEWS ThEN ON ThE DIgITAL vS. FILm DIvIDE? For me, digital has more freedom.. You can fuck up and you can play, and it’s not expensive to play. You can be kind of like Irving penn where you shoot something and then go develop and print it in two hours. It’s kind of the same thing just 50 years later. If Irving penn had access to a digital chip back in the 50’s I really don’t think he’d be shooting film.

Somebody asked Sally Mann once if she would shoot digital and she was like, “Yeah, I would shoot digital. If there was some expensive program out there that could replicate (this) then I would totally do it.” It was nice to hear from somebody who is put on a pedestal say that. Martin parr shot with a huge emphasis on technique with amazing results, and his new digital work is, just…blah. Boring. His age might play into that I don’t know. Steven Shore’s work from the 70’s is amazing too, but I’ve seen very little work of that caliber since. I saw him speak once and it was such a let down. His work is really best from his 20’s when his life was chaotic, it was all 8 by 10 film and that hour of set up for the shots maybe worked to his advantage.


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How do you feel about retro or nostalgic tHinking in society, or in pHotograpHy? everyone in the last few years is going back to the land of dressing like they’re from the 50’s or 60’s. it’s reverting back to what everyone grew up thinking was comfortable or stable. i read an article about war and how people swing back when times are tumultuous, which they are in a lot of ways right now. You can say the same thing about images. as a photographer you are referencing the past but not referencing it to look like the 50’s because it’s cool, but because that’s what is comfortable. There’s comfort in a yellow velour couch. You’d never have it in your own house, but maybe you grew up with it as a kid. There’s warmth to that feeling.

a lot of what i started looking at was 60’s and 70’s street art like eggleston and Frank. From 1999-2003, i would shoot a lot of street stuff. i always shot with a leica when i was shooting film. i always find it hard to shoot in the street or to deal with cities because you encounter advertising. There’s so much stuff that actually does reference contemporary times, which i find annoying. i want to be able to get around that. There’ll be a cisco sign or a Harry Potter poster. So, then they came out with a digital version. i bought that and it got me back into it shooting new subjects when i went to France in 2006.

do you ever worry about loosing your inspiration or drive? no. i just want to have fun. That sounds really simple and basic. but i really do just want to enjoy myself. it comes down to that. if i get frustrated or bored shooting this stuff, then i’ll take simple portraits based on conversation—it’s like talking to somebody for an hour and then shooting. Then i’ll move onto something in five months that will strike my fancy. i’ll probably watch movies or TV shows on my computer for three weeks until i don’t want to do that anymore. i wouldn’t have understood that five years ago, the idea that it goes up and down.

wHat would your dream project be? my dream project? i lived in australia in 2000 for six months. i went back this past winter for a month again. i want to go there for a year to travel and just look. it’s like if you took america and tilted it and added a bit of british life. no one has really done it there that i know of. it would be like what Robert Frank did in america, but with a camper van. i would drive around for a year and meet people and document it. i’d see what happened.

grantcornett.com


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kATE mOROSS has crystallized the art of graphic design and illustration. Hailing from the streets of london, this girl has peaked in the realm of perfectly crafted graph-ics. She has made her name known with her projects for Topshop, Cadbury’s, Pepsi, Nike, Vogue, Virgin, and Sony—just to name a few. Moross has created a mini-empire for herself, complete with a record label, a line for clothing and watches, and an endless supply of eye-catching designs suitable for any sort of commercial endeavor. At 24, Kate Moross is the boss when it comes to calling the shots for what’s hot when it comes to the visual arts.

Moross’ works are recognizable through her use of vibrant colors, experimenta-tion with typography, and application of the elements of shape, form, and pattern. She playfully disguises words or objects within other things, creating a visual aesthetic that transforms with each glance. She never takes anything too seriously in her work, and that element of fun is reflected throughout all of her creations.

When it comes to how these designs are conjured up in her head, Moross’ inner-workings of what triggers her ideas are the opposite of what you would expect. She’s not your typical gallery-visiting, magazine-reading girl when she’s looking to get her creative juices flowing. She’s influenced by nothing in particular, but just keeps her mind open and absorbs the world around her. Doing just that becomes an art in itself of collecting ideas in her head while purely existing. Moross tries to block out the usual visual culture initiators and experiences daily life with the hope that it imparts or plants an idea in her head to create a new piece of work.

Although Moross has been blessed with success, it didn’t come without a fair share of hard work. She was working her butt off before she even knew she was actually working by taking initiative and creating for her friends, bands and people she liked, and anyone providing an opportunity to showcase her designs. She was self-promoting and socializing as she built clientele and established her career. “Socializing by designing,” Moross says. Creating for people became her way of interacting with them, and many of her close friends now are the people that she originally met this way. She spent four years at university studying art and design, yet all the while she had a website and did freelancing. She hit this point at the right time when the Internet had just become an essential tool. She then began designing websites and advertisements for people, as she studied to be a conceptual artist. The role of conceptual artist thing was contrasted with the type of work Moross was actually producing; therefore she turned her back on the fine art world and made the decision to focus on being a commercial artist.

kAtE MOROSS: the graphics boss

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The link between music, fashion, and design is evident in Moross’ works. Elements of each are constantly overlapping in her work, just as these industries simultaneously cross over outside of her works. The niches of overlap are where Moross is drawn to, and as she travels down those roots, each undertaking brings more room for creativity and fun. For her, being the type who likes to dabble in several areas of artistic expression, she’s most in her element when working on a number of projects at once. Working on a music project, a fashion project, an advertisement, a video, and doing a logo- all at the same time- is her ultimate system of working that keeps her fire burning. lately, Moross has been creating work on a more personal level, in addition to producing prints to be available for sale. A nice little side venture, Moross is happy to make works for herself for a change, as well as create pieces for people to enjoy in their homes.

Moross doesn’t only design for bands and musical artists, she also runs her own re-cord label, Isomorph Records. According to Moross, “the record label is something that I do when I come across someone or a band or an EP or track that I really love and want to collaborate with and make a release for. It’s not dictated by the normal record label rules and regulations. It’s not something I necessarily seek.” Isometric features anything from performance artists to pop groups, such as Pictureplane and HeartsRevolution. If there’s a band that Moross believes has amazing visual potential, she’ll make a record for them.

graphics are truly Moross’ calling, as she’s polished her skills of producing functional, communicative designs from the blank canvas of a computer screen. The process of creating such a work from thin air proves to satisfy her appetite for art and design. Her career has moved into the area of art directing and she’s given birth to new styles which she basically creates from scratch.

So what’s brewing in Moross’ head at the current moment? She’s hoping her one of her next endeavors will involve collaborating with a major fashion house, particularly one that shares her visual aesthetic and love for color. Moross’ ideal achievement would be creating an insanely dramatic production by working alongside a designer across all the areas including creating a lookbook, designing the prints used for the textiles of the apparel, and planning the runway show. The isometrics of Moross’ work are pointing in the right direction for her continuous rise in design world. The key to her success lies in being polite, professional, and working extremely hard. Moross’ talent and work ethic illustrate what it takes for an artist to be at the top of her game.

Kate Moross is represented worldwide by Breed

BREEDLONDON.COm

Contact [email protected] for more details

kATEmOROSS.COm

PASTELDREAMS

p H o T o G R A p H Y B Y Mg OAnIA S T Y L I N G B Y JOY

A S S I S T A N T S tREntOn dALLAS And AShLEY CLEMMIngS

H A I R B Y MYkI

M A k E u p B Y gAYLE CARBAJAL

M o d E L SABRInA @ BASIC

At MAJOR MOdEL MAnAgEMEnt

T Y p E T R E A T M E N T B Y kC pRESLAR

PASTELDREAMS dress: h&M

top: Manthey necklace: dusty buttons vintage shoes: topshop glasses: vintage

opposite page: top: vintage shorts: forever 21 shoes: house of harlow sunglasses: Mercura

DREAMS

top:stylist own tights: h&M

shoes: forever 21

DREAMSDREAMStop: Manthey skirt: vintage sandals: rosegold necklace: dusty buttons vintage belt: stylist own

fACtORY fRESh

I N T E R v I E W B Y AShtOn ChAndLER


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hOW DID ThE gALLERY, FACTORY FRESh, ACTUALLY COmE ABOUT? Factory Fresh is a continuation of our first gallery, orchard Street Art gallery, that was started in Dec 2002 on orchard Street in Manhattan’s lower East side. When we started orchard Street we were doing it because my partner Ad and I wanted a space to showcase our own art. overtime, we met other like minded artists who we began to show as well. Eventually it snowballed into a street art gallery.

WhEN DID YOU FIRST OPEN YOUR DOORS, AND WhICh ARTIST(S) DID YOU FEATURE FOR ThE gRAND OPENINg? We opened Factory Fresh during the Bushwick open Studios weekend in June 2008. We had a Skewville show which is my partner Ad & his twin brother Droo. For the show, Skewville used parts from our six month renovation like doors that were on ice cream cooler cases & old oil can lids left behind from the remains of the former bodega.

Photo of Ad Deville and Ali Ha by Gregg Delman taken at Factory Fresh March 2008 www.greggdelman.com

SUPER FRESH oN THE SCENE: FACToRY FRESH gAllERY IN NEW YoRK CITY CoMBINES THE BEST oF STREET ART WITH CREATIoNS oF THEIR oWN. loCATED IN BUSHWICK, THE gAllERY EMERgED IN JUNE oF 2008 AND HAS SINCE BEEN oN THE EDgE BREAKINg oUT THE lATEST IN FRESH NEW TRENDS AND TAlENT. oWNERS AlI HA AND AD DEVIllE HAVE CREATED A SPoT THAT CUlTIVATES ART THRoUgH URBAN IMAgINATIoN AND oRIgINAl PIECES oF WoRK.


DEFINE “FRESh”, ACCORDINg TO FACTORY FRESh gALLERY.Factory Fresh is a spin on our industrial factory zoned neighborhood and the building our gallery resides in. We consider the art we showcase to be reflective of our current culture. Not booking shows too far in advance keeps us and our patrons excited about what’s next, in our terms “Fresh”.

hOW DO YOU ThINk STREET ART hAS EvOLvED IN ThE PAST 20 YEARS, AND WhERE DO YOU SEE IT gOINg IN ThIS NEW DECADE? There has been a significant shift in it being part of an underground culture with a language communicated by few to its current mainstream state. If you know art history you know what happens next...

WhAT ARE YOUR FEELINgS ABOUT STREET ART mOvINg FROm ThE STREETS INTO A gALLERY SETTINg? We do not believe street art should be in a gallery nor does it translate properly.

We work with “artists” some of which also do site specific projects on the streets. The work they showcase in a gallery is completely different than the work you see by them in the streets. Many of our artists have serious paintings an installations rivaling what you would see in other galleries.

WhAT SORT OF vIBE CAN vISITORS ExPECT TO ExPERIENCE AT FACTORY FRESh? Each show is completely different. We encourage artists to transform the space; the vibe completely depends on what show you are attending. We have had artists build mazes, install trees upside down, perform live music shows, and we also hosted a block party earlier this year with artists painting live.

WhAT DOES FACTORY FRESh hAvE PLANNED FOR 2011? NEW PROJECTS ON ThE hORIzON? ExCITINg ShOWS ON ThE WAY? We are excited for 2011, we have some big names who will be coming through and some side projects like Pop Up Shops that we are doing with other artists, all of which I am keeping on the Dl for now.

DO YOU LOOk FOR YOUR ARTISTS TO ShARE A COmmON UNITY OThER ThAN ThE FACT OF BEINg STREET ARTISTS, OR DOES ThE gALLERY TAkE ON ARTISTS FOR ThEIR INDIvIDUAL ExPRESSIONS? We seek only individuals who are the originals of what they do, we have the ultimate respect for them. The gallery is our home and our artists are our friends and we develop a very close relationship with them through our process. We have an arsenal of artists who are contemporary and pop as well as street and graf and they make every show here exciting and diverse.

DO YOU ThINk FACTORY FRESh INSPIRES kIDS TO gRAB SPRAY CANS AND CREATE ThEIR OWN PIECES ON ThE STREETS OF NYC? OR RAThER JUST ExPOSE PEOPLE TO ThE WORLD OF STREET ART AND UNDERSTAND ThESE ARTISTS DO A LOT mORE ThAN RUN FROm ThE COPS? I would hope the latter, we focus on the positive aspects of change on our surroundings and who is shaping our underground culture.

WhERE ARE ThE BEST PLACES IN NYC TO SEE REALLY gOOD STREET ART OUTSIDE ThE WALLS OF FACTORY FRESh? our neighborhood, East Williamsburg, is filled with some amazing pieces around many of the streets. Check out our friends “All City” app, they are a great reference to see where street and graf pieces are as locations are constantly changing.

WhAT CAN WE FIND YOU gUYS DOINg WhEN YOU’RE NOT WORkINg AT ThE gALLERY? We both have our own art careers, we use most of our time to make our own art shows when we are not working on other peoples.

IF FACTORY FRESh hAD A SIgNATURE CATCh-PhRASE OR mOTTO, WhAT WOULD IT BE? Snooze you loose.

FACTORYFRESh.NET

p H o T o G R A p H Y B Y Mg OAnIA

S T Y L I N G B Y ISABEL kIBLER

M A k E u p B Y ALLIE SMIth

H A I R B Y dAMOn ALfOnSO

M o d E L gEMMY ALCAnzAR

At MAJOR MOdEL MAnAgEMEnt

T Y p E T R E A T M E N T B Y QUÂn MAI

hat: vintage donna karan coat: MiniMarket

dress: vintage bracelets: isabel kibler

vintage trousers: MiniMarket shoes: stine goya

vest: french connection jacket: vintage dress: stine goya belt: vintage bag: stine goya scarf: henrik vibskov pants: Michalsky boots: tecnica

cape: vintage dress: henrik vibskov necklace: isabel kibler

bracelets: vintage ring: charles albert design pants: vintage chanel boots: Marc jacobs


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w r i t t e n b y LAInE dEdMOn

P H o T o S C o U R T E S Y o F F A V E l A P A I N T I N g

WITh close to 13,000 fans on their Facebook page, the Favela Painting Project is taking Brazil by storm. Founded in 2005 by Dutch artists, Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn, the Favela pintores are bringing vivid color and striking imagery to the streets of Rio. Their mission is simple: “To collaborate with local youth, using art as a tool to inspire, create beauty, combat prejudice, and attract attention.”

Favelas are the notorious slums, or shantytowns, that densely populate the hillsides of Rio de Janeiro. As the center of controversy for decades, favelas are home to 26% of Brazilians living below the poverty line. While this statistic may sound overwhelming for most of us, Koolhaas and Urhahn jumped at the chance to do something when they first visited the country six years ago to film a documentary piece for MTV.

Working under the pseudonym of Haas & Hahn, Koolhaas and Urhahn embarked on a journey to bring outrageous works of art to unexpected places. They aim to ignite community-wide art collaborations in order to produce murals on a grand scale. The hope is that by making favelas pleasing to look at, a sense of pride will be kindled in its residents, thus generating a new opinion/reputation about the ominous slums.

o Morro is the latest and most ambitious project for the Favela painters. In 2010, the first stages of o Morro were put into place by employing residents to paint their homes following a predetermined pattern. Upon completion, the project would vibrantly beautify an entire hillside favela, an artistic collaboration of epic proportion!

If you would like to help sponsor portions of the o Morro project, visit www.favelapainting.com/omorro to find out how you can donate to the cause. Visit Favela Painting on Facebook to see up-to-date photos of all paintings. If you don’t like to paint, but want to dress like a painter, check out the new Pintor T-shirts, which can be purchased from Freshcotton.com.

thE fAvELApAIntIng pROJECt

FAvELAPAINTINg.COm

PhOTO CREDIT xxxxx

MOOgfESt

PANDA BEAR

DAm FUNk

W R I T T E N B Y MAtthEW BROWn I M A G E S c o u R T E S Y o F MOOgfESt

W R I T T E N B Y MAtthEW BROWn

IkONIkA

BIg BOI

JONSI


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WhEN we first found out we were going to the event, we felt somewhat overwhelmed by trying to choose who we were going to see. Since so many different artists play at different venues, and at the same time, we started narrowing the list down. We ended up seeing MgMT, Jonsi, Four Tet, Panda Bear, Emeralds, and Caribou.

MgMT and Caribou (formerly Manitoba) played at the Asheville Civic Center, which was used as the main venue to host performances by the headlining bands. The whole room was completely filled with people, and was quite a sight. It seemed like the Civic Center was, for the most part, a big dance party all weekend long.

Jonsi and Panda Bear’s performances were held at the Thomas Wolf Auditorium, which provided a more laid-back atmosphere than the main room at the Civic Center. The auditorium had plenty of theatre-style seating, which most took advantage of due to the more relaxed nature of the music. The video projections were impressive for both artist’s sets, and certainly added a lot more to the experience of both performances.

The orange Peel was the location for performances by Emeralds, and Four Tet. Emeralds’ performance was a lot more “intimate,” due to the amount of people in the venue during the performance, which was a very nice change from some of the other packed performances. Four Tet played to a packed out room, which seemed more like a makeshift dance party.

All of the venues did a good job during the event, both with the quality of sound, and the professionalism displayed by the employees working the event. We heard rumors while we were there that Moogfest signed a contract to take place in Asheville for the next 5 years, so if you missed this past one, be sure to catch the ones in the future, it was a blast.

2010 MARKED THE FIRST YEAR FoR MoogFEST To BE HoSTED IN ASHEVIllE, NC. THE lINEUP FoR THE EVENT WAS VERY IMPRESSIVE, AND CoVERED A VAST RANgE oF MUSICAl gENRES, So THERE WAS SoMETHINg FoR EVERYBoDY. gIVEN THE FACT THAT IT WAS TAKINg PlACE DURINg HAlloWEEN WEEKEND, IT CERTAINlY ADDED To THE ENERgY BoTH IN THE STREETS AND IN THE VENUES. PEoPlE WERE looKINg To HAVE A gREAT TIME, AND MoogFEST, AloNg WITH THE CITY oF ASHEVIllE, PRoVIDED THAT.

MoogFest 2011 will take place in Asheville, NC October 28-30.

mOOgFEST.COm

mgmT

ThE OCTOPUS PROJECT

DAN DEACON

gIRL TALk

SLEIgh BELLS

p H o T o G R A p H Y B Y MIChAEL StOnIS

S T Y L I N G B Y ShEREE CARELLAM A k E u p B Y JOSE MOnzOn

H A I R B Y JOSE MOnzOnM o d E L CAROLYn StOtESBERY

At IndUStRY MOdELSp H o T o A S S I S T A N T ChRIS BROWn

T Y p E T R E A T M E N T B Y BEnJAMIn gELnEtt

Vest: veda

dress- ai for ai underwear: aMerican apparel

cuff: bagstil

shirt: vintage

pants: kristina dMitrieva

bag: collina strada cuff: bagstil

jacket & shorts: veda

ARt BASELW R I T T E N B Y OnIShA ISABEL ROMÁn ESpAdA // p H o T o G R A p H Y B Y tUndE


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ThE official program boasts hundreds of galleries, artist talks, special exhibi-tions, exhibitions within exhibitions, public installations, and special viewings of private collections. The unofficial program includes various other exhibitions by emerging artists, galleries, street artists, release parties, gallery openings, and parallel fairs. All in all, it is four days of non-stop art. For some reason, I was expecting something so super spectacular that my head would explode. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Well, except the part when we happened to run into Mr. Brainwash and got a private tour of his building/exhibit before it was even opened. or maybe the part where we got to dance to tunes spun by Shepard Fairey as he DJ’d at a book release party. okay, so it was kind of epic. It was also exciting to see works in real life from well known, contemporary, and emerging artists outside of the typical museum/gallery/blog/magazine setting. As far as any in-depth critique on the art scene, I’ll leave that to the professionals and just show you the pretty pictures we took. It was inspiring to see so much energy and effort put behind anything and every-thing art, something that is quite hard to find in the South. our first year at Art Basel-Miami ended with a positive result, making us pencil in the date for next year and the years to come! Speaking of the next year, this year’s Art Basel-Miami Beach is taking place on December 1-4, 2011.

DURINg THE FIRST WEEK oF DECEMBER, ARTISTS oF All DISCIPlINES, CURAToRS, AND CollECToRS DESCEND UPoN MIAMI BEACH To SET UP SHoP AND SHoWCASE THE lATEST AND gREATEST ART FRoM THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES. CollECTIVElY, THEY MAKE UP ART BASEl-MIAMI BEACH (THE oRIgINAl IS HoSTED ANNUAllY IN BASEl, SWITzERlAND AND IS MoVINg ToWARD ITS 42ND YEAR RUNNINg).

ARt BASEL

p H o T o G R A p H Y B Y LEnkA ULRIChOvA, LEnkAULRIChOvA.COM

S T Y L I N G B Y kAtE RInEYH A I R B Y ALLIE LApIdUS

M A k E u p B Y ALLIE LApIdUSM o d E L BROOkE pERRY @ fORd LA

T Y p E T R E A T M E N T B Y ERIC hURtgEn

this page:sweater: d&g

opposite page: sweater: j-crew

jacket: gianfranco ferre glasses: stylist own

opposite page:gloves: urban outfitters

blouse: karl lagerfeld skirt: karl lagerfeld suspenders: stylist own boots: steve Madden


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MIkE BAkERINTUITIVElY NERDY, BUT ExTRAMURAllY EDgY—THE AUDACIoUS MIKE BAKER (THE BIKE MAKER) ISRISINg To BECoME AN ESTEEMED MEMBER oF THE HIP HoP REAlM. HIS SolID RElATIoNSHIP ANDCoNTRIBUTIoN To THE HoNoR Roll HAS NoT oNlY BRoUgHT HIM TogETHER WITH oTHERS THAT SHARETHE SAME MUSICAl ASPIRATIoNS, BUT HAS AlSo SPARKED HIS INCESSANT FAN BASE. WITH THE RElEASEoF HIS lATEST MIx TAPE oUT, Body of Work, AloNg WITH HIS ClEVER AND ExTREMElY CoNVENIENTNAME, THE DoWN To EARTH MUSICIAN IS A CUlTURAllY CREATIVE FoRCE To REMEMBER.

i n t e r v i e w b y BRIgIttE kUM // p h o t o g r a p h y b y AndREW ACACIO


i n t e r v i e w b y BRIgIttE kUM // p h o t o g r a p h y b y AndREW ACACIO

DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND. My sound is Hip-Hop, but it’s also a bit more than that. My sound is fun and fulfilling. Sonically, I’d say my sound is an amalgamation of everything that’s moved me in my past up till now. Hip-Hop in the 90’s. Photography. Different types of music, from Electronic and House music to Jazz and Rock. Comic books. Film. Women. Everything feeds into what my music sounds like.

I could say: “My music sounds like outkast, Serge gainsbourg, and something from DFA, but that wouldn’t be accurate. I’m more than just the sum of some parts, and my sound is the same. It’s me. Period.

DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONAL STYLE. My personal style is not too much of any one thing. I’m a big fan of spy films and fiction, especially James Bond books and movies, so that dangerous and cool factor speaks to me. Also, I’m really big into visuals, like photography, comic books and film, so that speaks to me as well. I’m a big ol’ melting pot of a nerd that takes everything I think is cool, and translate it all into inspiration to fuel my creative fire.

WhAT’S BEhIND YOUR NAmE, mIkE BAkER ThE BIkE mAkER? My name is simply a play on words. You switch my initials. From

“Mike Baker” to “Bike Maker”. MoxMore, (another member of the HNRl) coined this name for me back in high school, and I kinda just went with it. Then, years ago when I started popping my head up on the scene, everybody already was calling me “Mike” or “Baker” or “Bike Maker”, so it stuck.

hOW DID YOU gET INTO hIP hOP? I got into Hip-Hop at a very early age. My mom is a flight attendant, and my dad is in sales, so in my elementary school years, I would always be at a babysitter’s house when they were traveling. I would be left to my own devices, with all the cable TV I could consume, and so, Yo! MTV Raps played a very instrumental part in my upbringing. I took to it, and never looked back. of course I was into other stuff as a kid, like cartoons, and toys, but Hip-Hop was something so cool and exciting for me. When I was in 3rd or 4th grade, my mom joined Columbia House, and told me to pick some albums that I wanted. So I picked De la Soul 3 Feet High And Rising, ll Cool J Walking With a Panther, and a Bobby Brown album. Those De la and ll albums were the beginning of Hip-Hop being something tangible to me.

WhO FROm ThE PAST OR PRESENT CAN YOU SAY WERE INFLUENTIAL TO YOUR DEvELOPmENT AS AN ARTIST? I would say my parents are very instrumental in my development as an artist. They always let me decide for myself, what I liked and didn’t. Trackademicks and MoxMore, were influential as well, cause we all started rapping together. Whiz (of the HNRl, as well,) because he’s the one that essentially taught folks in our circle how to “cut the fat” so to say, when it came to anything music, film, or culture related. From understanding why something is tight, and not just to go with the herd, and to also explore and learn more about the things that you like, and to never get lazy when it comes to your inspirations.

In terms of music, past and present, that have been influential, I’d say A Tribe Called quest, outkast, ll, Slick Rick, Darshan Jesrani, Morgan geist, James Murphy, Big Daddy Kane, grand Puba, De la, little Dragon, gangstarr, Dilla, Radiohead, Art Blakey, The Roots, Naked Music, Michael Jackson, The Neptunes, Kanye, Nas, Mobb Deep. Stereolab, and hella other artists and groups that are too many to name.

WhAT IS YOUR CREW, ThE hONOR ROLL, ABOUT AND WhAT IS YOUR ROLE WIThIN ThE gROUP? The Honor Roll/

HNRl is all about knowing your shit. There are eight of us: Trackademicks, DJ Tap.10, 1-o.A.K., Josie Stingray, Spank Pops, MoxMore, Whiz and myself. We’re all very different people, but we’re family. The whole objective of a crew like HNRl being around, is for there to be an entity that makes smart, relevant music that hearkens back to the days when music wasn’t so disposable. When you could slap an album nonstop for 2 years, cause it’s just that undeniable shit. You listen to anything from the crew, and you’d be surprised at how many “Easter Eggs” there are in each song to be like “oh damn, they flipped this like that!” or “That’s why he/she said that”, or whatever. In these blissful days of ignorance, we just wanna make learning fun. I know that sounds like a dumb after school special cliche, but for real. If you like artist “A”, and they sampled artist “B” to make your favorite song, then maybe check out artist “B” to see if there’s more of what you like in that artist’s catalogue. It sounds simple, but hella people just listen to whatever’s fed to them on radio, interwebs, TV commercials and whatever’s played in the background of an episode of “Jersey Shore” or “Entourage”.

LIkE ANY gOOD ARTIST TODAY, YOU SEEm TO CROSS gENRE BOUNDARIES. DO YOU ASSOCIATE YOURSELF WITh ANY PARTICULAR gENRE? I hate drawing lines, but I would say, without a doubt, I’m Hip-Hop first and foremost. That’s my foundation. If there’s any other sounds I dabble in, it’s me respectfully playing around in someone else’s house. My home is Hip-Hop.

WhERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION OR mATERIAL FOR YOUR LYRICS? Visuals. More specifically, I would say women are the biggest inspiration for my music. Not even subject matter-wise, cause I could be rapping about how tight my skills are, and those lyrics could come from me seeing a woman that blew my mind into my creative space. And it’s more so the female form, which to me is the greatest, most beautiful creation in existence. That’s why I’m into photography so much. That’s why my Body of Work mixtapes have the aesthetics they do, cause that’s where all my ideas come from. From a woman’s posture while she sits with her legs crossed while eating at a cafe, or from how a woman walks and carries herself - observing those things just on the day to day, just plants some kinda seed in my head that ends up blossoming into a song like “The Chase” or the “Say goodbye to love” Trackademicks remix. My eyes influence my mind, and I go from there.

WhAT IS YOUR WRITINg PROCESS? I just write whenever I feel the bug. Most of the best ideas come in the shower or when I’m driving. But my process when I’m working on a project is similar to film. I went to school for film, and basically when making a film, you have pre-production (writing, rehearsing, etc.), production (shooting), and post-production (special effects and editing.). I work on my music the same way, but applied to music instead of film.

WhAT IS ThE TRACk YOU ARE mOST PROUD OF? I’m hella proud of all of my music. “The Chase”, “Espionage” and the “Say goodbye to love” Trackademicks remix are my favorites of what’s out now. Body of Work, I’m extremely proud of.

There’s music that nobody’s heard yet, that I’m saving for my album, that I’m HEllA proud of though. And I can’t wait for folks to hear songs like “Sweat!”,

“Kiss the lens” and everything else.

WhERE ARE YOU hEADED, mAJOR OR INDIE? Major or Independent? I’m not sure. It all depends on whatever the situation may be, and what works out best for me to get my complete vision out there without compromise. And some money too. Cause yes, I do this for the art, but I also do


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this from the heart, and I would like to be compensated well for my unadulterated output into this world.

hOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT mUSIC TODAY? Earlier I did say that music was more disposable these days, but honestly, there’s still a lot of really good music coming out. You just gotta do a bit more than just sit in front of the TV to find it. I’m very happy with the state of music right now. And honestly, fuck what you heard, Hip-Hop is not dead. Far from it. My crew and I will prove it along with all the other artists making dope shit. Just be a bit more patient.

WITh ThE INTERNET, DOWNLOADINg, AND ShORT ATTENTION SPANS, hOW DOES A mUSICIAN mAkE mONEY OR STAY RELEvANT IN 2011? I think in this era of the short attention span, artists really need to make music that resonates. People need to hear “new shit”, and it needs to be good enough that when it becomes “old shit”, that it’s still some of their “favorite shit”. Decisions need to be smart as well. And licensing songs for TV, film, etc., and touring. I’m working on making all of this happen for myself, cause it’s the most feasible means to making money in this post-apocalyptic state of a music industry.

WhAT WAS YOUR FAvORITE ALBUm AND TRACk IN 2010? I don’t have any one favorite album or track of 2010, but what I did love last year were the albums Janelle Monae, Big Boi, lCD Soundsystem, Dom Kennedy, Kanye, xx, N.E.R.D., and Mark Ronson released. Everything HNRl was super dope, as well as anything Freddie gibbs, J*Davey, Nina Sky and Dam-Funk released. I did enjoy a whole lot of music last year though.

WhAT mUSIC ARTISTS DO YOU FIND RELEvANT OR INTERESTINg FOR 2011? I think everybody making music is trying to take it to new places, is relevant in 2011. Especially in Hip-Hop/Rap, with artists like Dom Kennedy, Chip da Ripper, Dlo and the rest of livewire, making some good ass, undeniable shit to slap in your headphones or cars.

I really appreciate what Kanye’s been doing with his latest album, cause its breaking down the artistic box that so many feel stuck in when it comes to Hip-Hop and Rap music. Anything that’s working to further the art and culture of this here music is relevant in 2011 and beyond.

FAvORITE mUSICAL ERA OR gENRE? My favorite music is Hip-Hop/Rap music, but I’m definitely into other things as well. Especially dance music. Deep house, electronic stuff, and whatever sounds good, and like the future. And a whole lotta music with soul and substance.

gRANDmASTER FLASh OR kRAFTWERk? Kraftwerk

JOhN COLTRANE OR kURT COBAIN? Coltrane

WhAT IS YOUR kARAOkE SONg OF ChOICE? “love Shack” by The B-52’s

CELEBRITY CRUSh...OR CRUShES? The names zoe Saldana and Rosario Dawson come to mind.

YOU ARE TRAPPED ON A DESERT ISLAND. YOU DON’T hAvE ShIT! YOU ONLY hAvE A mAgICAL 90’S STYLE SONY CD PLAYER ThAT NEvER NEEDS TO BE RE-ChARgED AND IS DAmAgE PROOF. WhAT FIvE ALBUmS ARE WITh YOU...UNTIL DEATh DO YOU APART? outkast - Aquemini, A Tribe Called quest - Midnight Marauders, Radiohead - Kid A, little Dragon - Machine Dreams, and Art Blakey - Night In Tunisia.

WhAT DOES 2011 hOLD FOR mIkE BAkER ThE BIkE mAkER? 2011 holds a lot in store for me. In March I released the next installment in my Body of Work mixtape series. In June I worked to release an EP of original songs. Then in the Fall, I want to release a third installment of Body of Work, all to set up for my debut lP down the line. There’s a whole lot of other HNRl releases this year as well, besides my own, so all in all, it should be a pretty exciting year, full of new HNRl music!

mIkEBAkERThEBIkEmAkER.COm hONORROLLCREW.COm


PhOTO CREDIT xxxxx

earrings: Mila Mila-aMor.coM

dress: French connection From Boris and natasha

arrowhead necklace and ring: charles alBert From Boris and natasha

boots: allsaints spitalFields

LOLITAp H o T o G R A p H Y B Y thIEn LAS T Y L I N G B Y MCkInnA hAhnH A I R B Y SpARkLES hILL At vERgE tALEntM A k E u p B Y JOY nIChELLE RAndALL At vERgE tALEnt & ChERRItA MCkEEp H o T o G R A p H Y A S S I S T A N T BRAd pAttERSOnS T Y L I N G A S S I S T A N T S AngELA hAn & dUStIn gRAYM o d E L kEndAL hARLESS @ CAROLInA tALEnt

romper: anna sui From Boris and natasha

arrowhead cuff: charles alBert From Boris and natasha

belt: GloBal Girls From poole shoppe

darkwood pendant: monies From Boris and natasha

layered necklaces: 2-pepita From coral

shoes: JeFFrey campBell

earrings: monies From Boris and natasha

sunglasses: thierry lasry From coral

dress: thread social From coral sunglasses: thierry lasry From coral

arrowhead cuff & ring: charles alBert From Boris and natasha

belt: coral earring: edGe oF urGe From

the niche market

dress: lotus

necklaces: stylist’s own

arrowhead ring: charles alBert From Boris and natasha

earrings: alex speer From Boris and natasha

skirt: Vena caVa From coral

top: rachel comey

sunglasses: chanel

beaded necklace: lotus

darkwood pendant: monies From Boris and natasha

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blu magazine issue no.13

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