BRAINFOOD

FEBRUARY 2012

ISSUE ONE

ISSUE ONE FEATURING: WORLD OF COLOUR#01 TWISTED TALES#02 HERO TAKEOVER#03 CHINA COOL#04 THINK SMALL#05 SHINE A LIGHT#06

published by The Brooklyn Brothers

WE'RE THE BROOKLYN BROTHERS.A PICK-N-MIX OF CREATIVE AND PASSIONATE DOERSWHO ARE OBSESSED WITH DOING THINGS IN A NEW WAY.WE LOVE A GOOD CHALLENGE AND WE SPRING OUT OF BED EVERY DAY TO TACKLE THEM UNLIKE ANYONE’S DONE BEFORE.WE THINK A GREAT IDEA CAN COME FROM ANYWHERE,AS LONG AS IT’S TRULY SMART, EFFICIENT, INNOVATIVE AND ENGAGING.BUT THIS IS NOT ENOUGH. AHHH, THAT WOULD BE TOO EASY.WE BELIEVE OUR IDEAS MUST MOVE PEOPLE TOO. WE WON’T REST UNTIL WE GET PEOPLE LAUGHING, CRYING, SINGING,DANCING, PLAYING, WOWING AND WOOHOO-ING.BECAUSE THIS IS WHEN AN IDEA CUTS THROUGH.THIS IS WHEN IT GETS TALKED ABOUT. AND THEN, THAT’S RIGHT, MAKES YOU MONEY AND WINS YOU FANS. AND TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN, WE’LL DON ANY HAT NECESSARY:WE’LL BE WRITERS, PRODUCERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, CHOCOLATE MAKERS, DIRECTORS, DESIGNERS, COMEDIANS, MUSICIANS AND MAGICIANS.BECAUSE IF WE’RE NOT CONSTANTLY CHANGING TO FIND THESE IDEAS,THEN WE’RE NOT DOING OUR JOB.

CULTURE, YEAH WE DIG IT

#2012

BRAINFOOD

Hello there you creative soul you.Welcome to the first ever Brooklyn Brothers Brainfood; a

review of interesting stuff that we’ve spotted in contemporary culture. Exciting isn’t it?

As members, groupies and dare we say it, slaves to the creative industry we think it’s important to be able to flex your knowledge of the following: film, music, art, fashion, architec-ture, dance, theatre, design and television. We reckon that if you’ve got a good understanding of what’s going on in culture, you can understand the mood of our times and that’s important in everything we do. Plus it makes you look good.

We’re living in a remarkable age and culture is responding by creating fascinating new expressions from which we can all learn something. Or at least have a great time trying.

Our approach to Brainfood is simple; we want to identify patterns in culture, make interesting connections and bring them to life for your pleasure. Because we’re nice like that. For our launch issue we’ve identified the most exciting cultural themes that we think will be big news in the coming year.

2011 was an extraordinary year for culture and 2012 looks set to be another unforgettable vintage. We would love you to take a few minutes out of your day to immerse yourself in the exciting world of tomorrow.

We hope you draw as much inspiration from reading our paper of news as we have in putting it together.

So what are you waiting for? Get stuck in and enjoy.

The Brooklyn Brothers London

2012 is shaping up to be a super-duper year. Yes it is.Teenagers across the world will be adjusting to life after Twi-

light and Harry Potter, wiping off their talced faces and discard-ing their glasses. But in the UK we’ll have plenty to celebrate with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, The Olympics and Euro 2012. We’re kind of a big deal.

Picasso and Damien Hirst will draw huge crowds at The Tate Modern whilst David Hockney is showing at The Royal Academy. It’s Charles Dickens’ 200th Anniversary and Shake-speare’s verse and prose will shine in all its glory in three big budget BBC plays this summer and in Coriolanus, the directorial debut of Ralph Fiennes. Matthew Bourne will celebrate 25 years as the nation’s favourite choreographer, The Muppets return to the big screen and Anish Kapoor’s bright red orbit (London’s 21st century answer to the Eiffel Tower) will be unveiled. Yup, just your average year here in the United Kingdom.

As we look towards the next 12 months we’ve identified six cultural themes that we believe will make people think and feel in new ways. Are you ready? Ok then...

CULTURE, YEAH WE DIG IT HELLO NEW YEAR

Contents

Fig.01 World of Colour p. 8—9 Fig.02 Twisted Tales p. 12—13 Fig.03 Hero Takeover p. 16 —17 Fig.04 China Cool p. 20—21 Fig.05 Think Small p. 24—25 Fig.06 Shine a Light p. 28—29

p. 4 − 5

#01 #02 #03

#04 #05 #06

WORLD OFCOLOUR

#01

BRAINFOOD

Fig.01 Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s piece ‘The Obliteration Room” reconstructed a room painted entirely in white. For a few weeks, children who visited were given coloured dot stickers and encouraged to transform the space into an explosion of colour.  Fig.02 Meredith Ostrom, featured in Hunger Maga- zine, is a recently acclaimed actress also known for creating art with her body using multiple colours.  Fig.03 “Stacking Vessels” is a colourful series of functional sculptures for the home by German industrial designer Pia Wustenberg. Fig.04 Unicef’s latest campaign lets people buy and name their own colour, or give the chosen colour to some- body as a gift, with all the proceeds donated to charity.  Fig.05 Colour has become a popular addition to interior design and architecture. Here is the National Technical Library in Prague.  Fig.06 California-based artist Michael Ifland used digital photgraphy for the Pantone Street Project, street art found around town which inspired painting ideas.

2012 will bring us a Skittle bag of colour to inspire our daily lives with bright lights, online projects, art installations on city streets across the world and pastel shades and retro dyes for hair, clothes and bathrooms.

Colour has taken a new stand in the world of fashion and design, it has become more sophisticated and civilised (as nothing is black and white anymore). But most importantly seeing things in colour makes us feel happy and uplifted and inspires us to want to join in and have fun with things. Even if that means silly string, purple eye shadow and neon. Ah, neon.

As the seemingly never-ending cloud of gloomy news about recession and spending cuts continue to hang over us, colour is creating a natural antidote to the mainstream shades of our everyday greys and thankfully it looks like it’ll inspire us the whole year through. Woohoo.

p. 8 − 9

WORLD OF COLOUR #01

TWISTEDTALES

BRAINFOOD

#02

The need to escape is nothing new for 2012, but it’s playing an even more important role in our lives. But what has changed is the way escapism is being packaged. Instead of creating sugar coated fairyland stories there is a darker and more sinister tone to fantasy worlds. Muhahahaha.

“Edgy escapism” could summarise the fairytale frenzy that will come into force in 2012 and childhood classics have taken a darker twist, so has the world of fashion, turning to the dark side and portraying evil queens, Alice in Wonderland girls and ugly sisters with big feet. Eww.

TWISTED TALES #02

Fig.01 Designer duo Viktor & Rolf have written and illustrated an original fairytale book, which contains 12 original sto-ries. Fig.02 Mulberry has also focused on tales projecting an Alice in Wonderland feel to their winter/spring collection 2011/2012. Fig.03 Fairytale films will reach their peak during 2012 with several films being released including Snow White and the Huntsman starring Twilight super star Kirsten Stewart and Charlize Theron as the Evil stepmother. Fig.04 Bill Nighy and Ewan McGregor star in 2012’s ver-sion of Jack And The Beanstalk, “Jack The Giant Killer” Fig.05 Prada have created a lookbook for Autumn/Winter 2011 called Tilted Real Fantasies that has inspired weird, psychedelic visions. Fig.06 The magazine Noi.se dedicat-ed their 27th copy to Fairytales including a snow queen/evil stepmother like spread.

p. 12 − 13

HEROTAKEOVER

BRAINFOOD

#03

Superheroes are back to save the day. Batman, Spiderman and even the anti-heroes have returned to promote a world of peace, safety and freedom. They’re good like that.

Traditionally children were the ones who looked up to Super- heroes as they encouraged them to be “brave” during times of despair. Today, comic books, Superheroes and science fiction have gained their cool amongst adults as well, proudly pro-claiming to be part of the rising mainstream geek culture.

We’ve seen the rise in real life Superheroes carrying out anonymous and unselfish acts to help make a difference in the world around them. Despite their dubious penchant for lycra.

Expect an explosion of Superhero movies launching in 2012 and everything from the design of upscale superhero costumes, to creating your own “Superhero-workshops”. LEGO Super- hero figures will be a hot new kids toy and a slew of hero inspired products and activities will encourage people to stay strong and brave no matter how tough life gets. *Air punch*.

HERO TAKEOVER #03

Fig.01 LEGO will be launching their new Superhero collec- tion. FIg.02 Phoenix Jones, 23, from Seattle, Washington is one of America's most famous real-life 'superheroes'. Fig.03 Fashion is hot for superheroes in 2012 and will let you represent your favourite superhero character in a variety of ways. FIg.04 Several films featuring super-heroes re- turn in 2012. The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider- Man and The Avengers. Fig.05 Victoria’s secret fashion show featured a superhero theme. Fig.06 Frugaldad.com recently designed an infographic called "Redefining Action Hero: Bill Gates Is Better Than Batman." The Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation have donated 48% of their net worth to charity which is helping to save millions of lives.

p. 16 − 17

CHINACOOL

BRAINFOOD

#04

China’s new culture of cool is inspiring the Western world with their restless ambitions.

Visionaries from the new generation of China are being em-braced by the West and are thriving within art, fashion, design and architecture.

The country is now one of the world’s largest luxury mar-kets and is seeing a big cultural shift, realising that it’s more important to show off good taste than showing off wealth. This new attitude is being reflected in the cultural creations they are inventing. Though we say there’s nothing wrong with a little bling. And maybe the odd sovereign ring.

Their eagerness to adapt to the Western world while still maintaining their own traditions has resulted in astonishing projects ranging form Zaha Hadid’s opening of the Guangzhou Opera House to artist Ai Weiwei’s most recent work, “Forever Bicycles”, to pop up fashion shows and theatres.

There is a new, open-minded and experimental gene- ration that are contributing to the economic and cultural growth not only of China but of the Western world as well. They are a generation of early adopters, embracing new business and technology with optimism and a newfound confidence.

It’s exciting times for China and 2012 will bring us even more interesting cultural highlights. Ooo.

CHINA COOL #04

Fig.01 The first large scale solo exhibition of Ai Weiwei’s most recent work “Forever Bicycles” installs 1,200 bicycles. Fig.02 As part of Shanghai’s campaign to become culturally relevant across the world, they are aiming to launch 100 mu-seums in a decade. One of them is the shiny new Museum of Glass that opened in late 2011. Fig.03 The Guangzhou Opera House, designed by architect Zaha Hadid has been acclaimed as one of the world’s most spectacular opera houses on the planet. Fig.04 Burberry created a digital experience for the launch of their first store in Beijing. Fig.05 Nike is set to release a collection centered around the Chinese Zodiac for the 11th year in a row, a tradition that’s highlighted this time around with the auspicious Year of the Dragon. Fig.06 Accidental Chinese Hipsters, is a blog casting a loving gaze upon Chinese fashion. Fig.07 Ma Yansong, one of the youngest and most successful architects from Beijing. His futuristic designs rep-resent the new wave of Chinese experimental architecture and have become renowned around the world.

p. 20 − 21

THINKSMALL

BRAINFOOD

#05

It's no longer about a quick fix or reaching out to as many people as possible through social media, instead the focus in 2012 lies in reaching out to the right people and offering them an intimate experience they’ll never forget. Like me and you.

We’re in the midst of a growing “small culture” where there are rewards for regulars and an immaculate attention to detail within design and user experience. Small can be beautiful and when we focus our attention on the small things in life they change our perspective of the world and bring us a sense of joy. Ahh.

Small experiences can make a big difference when presented in a way that makes us feel special and unique. The world has seen the arrival of personalised gadgets, miniature books, microphotography and Adele, the singer who won her title as this century’s best selling artist simply through thinking small.

She has famously declined performing at Glastonbury and the O2 Arena and has refused to let her name be associated with a perfume or a TV show. She has continuously fought for her fans not to be exploited by money driven record labels and her approach means she is now one of the world’s most successful pop stars.

2012 is the year which proves more than ever, that it’s the little things in life that make us happy.

THINK SMALL #05

Fig.01 A tiny 1938 children’s book by Gertrude Stein. Fig.02 Little Printer is a new product from BERG which aims to reinvent personalised publish-ing, with printed news from Foursquare, Facebook, and The Guardian. Fig.03 We will be seeing an in-crease in credit card payments with Square as you can pay anywhere with your iPhone, iPad or Android phone. Fig.04 Little Bets by Peter Sims, on how think-ing small can make us great. Fig.05 Mogees (Mosa- icing Gestural Surface) is a tiny mic that turns any sur- face into a touch interface, created by Bruno Zamborlin. Fig.06 Mini hipster caps made to be worn over your ears, this is the hippest pair of earmuffs you’ll ever own. designed by Beckman students Tove Greitz and Minna Magnusson, Sweden. Fig.07 Adele.

p. 24 − 25

SHINE ALIGHT

BRAINFOOD

#06

As we gingerly step out of the January darkness, 2012 looks like it will continue to shed rays of light on our day-to-day life and inspire us to see things in new ways. Soberly at least.

Light has always played a central part in spreading hope and positivity and it has become more prominent in art, design and architecture during the past year and has been featured in ev-erything from interactive music videos, interior design and fes-tivals, to bouncing off walls and inspiring fashion shows.

Portraying light in contemporary ways will flourish during 2012, driven by new technologies that will allow light to open up a brilliant world of optimism and opportunity for us all to enjoy.

SHINE A LIGHT #06

Fig.01 MOMA, New York has commissioned a new multime-dia work by Antony Hegarty, including a performance of Antony And The Johnsons; the production will be mounted at Radio City Music Hall on 26th January 2012. Fig.02 Brit-ish designer Samuel Wilkinson and product design company Hulger won the Brit Insurance Design Of The Year 2011 for their redesign of the low energy light bulb The Plummen 001. Fig.03 Ellie Goulding recently launched her new single “Lights” together with an interactive music video where the viewer can steer the light beam in different directions, deter- mining the speed of it. You are also encouraged to tweet your name and it will appear as you fly past colourful shapes and forms. Fig.04 The living Disco ball Bella Berlin is an avant-garde dance performance artist who was disco- vered in an underground club by graphic designer Bruno Kolberg. Fig.05 Reykjavik’s new concert hall designed by artist Olafur Eliasson featured in MARK magazine. Fig.06 A litre of light is a sustainable lighting project that aims to bring the eco-friendly Solar Bottle Bulb to underprivileged communities nationwide. Using recycled plastic bottles, bleach and water, the bottles illuminate the room with the help of sunlight. Fig.07 Speed of Light is a tremen-dous fusion of sport and innovative culture. It is one of Scotland’s official artistic contributions to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

p. 28 − 29

WE'RE THE BROOKLYN BROTHERS.A PICK-N-MIX OF CREATIVE AND PASSIONATE DOERSWHO ARE OBSESSED WITH DOING THINGS IN A NEW WAY.WE LOVE A GOOD CHALLENGE AND WE SPRING OUT OF BED EVERY DAY TO TACKLE THEM UNLIKE ANYONE’S DONE BEFORE.WE THINK A GREAT IDEA CAN COME FROM ANYWHERE,AS LONG AS IT’S TRULY SMART, EFFICIENT, INNOVATIVE AND ENGAGING.BUT THIS IS NOT ENOUGH. AHHH, THAT WOULD BE TOO EASY.WE BELIEVE OUR IDEAS MUST MOVE PEOPLE TOO. WE WON’T REST UNTIL WE GET PEOPLE LAUGHING, CRYING, SINGING,DANCING, PLAYING, WOWING AND WOOHOO-ING.BECAUSE THIS IS WHEN AN IDEA CUTS THROUGH.THIS IS WHEN IT GETS TALKED ABOUT. AND THEN, THAT’S RIGHT, MAKES YOU MONEY AND WINS YOU FANS. AND TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN, WE’LL DON ANY HAT NECESSARY:WE’LL BE WRITERS, PRODUCERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, CHOCOLATE MAKERS, DIRECTORS, DESIGNERS, COMEDIANS, MUSICIANS AND MAGICIANS.BECAUSE IF WE’RE NOT CONSTANTLY CHANGING TO FIND THESE IDEAS,THEN WE’RE NOT DOING OUR JOB.

We're The Brooklyn Brothers.A pick-n-mix of creative and passionate doerswho are obsessed with doing things in a new way.We love a good challenge and we spring out of bed every day to tackle them unlike anyone’s done before.We think a great idea can come from anywhere,as long as it’s truly smart, efficient, innovative and engaging.But this is not enough. Ahhh, that would be too easy.We believe our ideas must move people too. We won’t rest until we get people laughing, crying, singing,dancing, playing, wowing and woohoo-ing.Because this is when an idea cuts through.This is when it gets talked about. And then, that’s right, makes you money and wins you fans. And to make this happen, we’ll don any hat necessary:We’ll be writers, producers, photographers, chocolate makers, directors, designers, comedians, musicians and magicians.Because if we’re not constantly changing to find these ideas,then we’re not doing our job.

THE BROOKLYN BROTHERS

If you would like to know more about The Brooklyn Brothers, please contact Jackie Stevenson.

Email jackie@thebrooklynbrothers.comAddress 11 —29 Smiths Court, Soho, London, W1D 7DPPhone +44 (0)20 7292 6200

thebrooklynbrothers.com

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