Cloudy by Friends With You
My friend Eric from Whistler always emails me the most adorable things. This video is an example.
All posts filed under: Art
60 Years of Designing the Ballet & The Tutu Project – Till September 2, 2012
The Design Exchange is hosting two exhibits for The National Ballet of Canada: 60 Years of Designing the Ballet and The Tutu Project. Both exhibits will be at the Design Exchange until September 2, 2012. 60 Years of Designing the Ballet This exhibition offers an intimate look at the design of one of Canada’s most celebrated treasures – the National Ballet of Canada. The exhibition is organized thematically – highlighting the various ways in which the ballet as an institution is designed through hundreds of items from the ballet’s archive. The exhibition provides a private invitation into the world of one particular company. This exhibit brought me right back into The Nutcracker world again. I had to snap a photo of the Cannon Doll costume sketches and swatches. There are a lot of costumes to check out and set pieces to see up close and personal. You can even try on a tutu and try out ballet moves right in the exhibit. Admission is $10.20 for the 60 Years of Designing the Ballet exhibit. The …
Louie Gong x Manitobah Mukluks Gatherer Boot
I have to admit I’m a bit surprised that I’m writing about Manitobah Mukluks. I’m not a fan of Mukluks and I usually cringe whenever I see people wearing them around the city. They are very popular and the Manitobah Mukluks company is as close to the genuine article as you are going to get. I’m a huge fan of Louie Gong though and he’s partnered with Manitobah Mukluks to create a boot even I can love. Louie Gong x Manitobah Mukluks Gatherer Boot is described by Louie: The eagle is a cross-cultural symbol of strength, leadership, and long-term vision. By portraying the eagle on a women’s mukluck with a diving posture, oversized claws, and open mouth, I offer symbolic acknowledgment of strong women of all backgrounds. When wearing this eagle design, each step represents bold movement towards your life goals and leading our families into the next generation. The grey Louie Gong x Manitobah Mukluks Gatherer Boot are pretty damn cool. The boots are available for Pre-order on manitobah.ca for $299 with delivery happening …
I played a Cannon Doll in The National Ballet of Canada’s The Nutcracker
Just when I thought things couldn’t get more exciting and random in life I get an email from the National Ballet. They have invited me to take part in this season’s performance of The Nutcracker as a Cannon Doll. Traditionally, the National Ballet asks Toronto luminaries, personalities and politicians to join the production in this small role. For those of you not familiar with The Nutcracker story, the Cannon Dolls are colourfully costumed, Russian Petrouchka dolls in Act I who shoot a cannon into the audience to begin the battle scene. James Kudelka’s 1995 version of this evergreen seasonal classic is a perfect gem of a ballet, affectionate and reflective, at once cheeringly traditional yet freshly attuned to the rhythms and accents of the contemporary. Rarely have the dreamscapes and wonder of childhood fantasy, the allure of spectacle and the mood of reverie been integrated in such a seamless blend of dazzling stagecraft, virtuosic choreography and ravishing design. Kudelka’s gentle re-shaping of the narrative releases the story (based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Christmas tale) into new …
Technicolor Ultra Mall Book Launch – October 22, 2011
Technicolor Ultra Mall Book Launch – October 22, 2011 It’s with great pleasure that I post about my good friend Ryan Oakley’s book launch. I always knew he would be published and it’s finally happened with his first novel, Technicolor Ultra Mall. The Technicolor Ultra Mall book launch is on October 22, 2011 at 3pm and is open to the public. Ryan will be available to chat with fans. Most of all, Technicolor Ultra Mall will be available for purchase! Bakka-Phoenix Books 84 Harbord Street Toronto
The Machine
The Machine is another creepy video I recently viewed. It’s not fashion related like the Miu Miu FW2011 Film “MUTA†by Lucrecia Martel but still well done. A feeling of dread stuck with me after the first time I watched it. “The Machine” is an animated fable following the path of an innocently forged mechanical creature. As his independence and knowledge of the world grows on his journey, as does his desire to conquer all that we encounters, from the pastures of a farmer to the realm of man’s entire world.
Noc Kupaly, Poland
Noc KupaÅ‚y is a festival called Midsummer Night in English. They have a tradition of sending 1000s of paper lanterns in the air. It makes for spectacular video. Midsummer Night , also called night kupalnÄ… , kupalnockÄ… , Kupala , Sobótka or sobótkami – Slavic feast associated with the summer solstice the Sun , celebrated the shortest night of the year, which is usually (not including leap year) from 21 to 22 June (later eve of St. John – also commonly called St. John’s at night and then having many borrowings from earlier holidays – is celebrated with a 23 to June 24 ). Feast of fire, water, sun and moon, harvest, fertility, joy and love, celebrated in areas inhabited by the Slav peoples, Baltic, Germanic and Celtic, and also by some people coming from peoples Finno-Ugric peoples , such as the Finns (in Finland, St. John’s night is one of the most important holidays on the calendar), and Estonians. (source) via Colossal
Lanvin Dolls Spring Summer 2011
The Spring Summer 2011 edition of the Lanvin Dolls collection is now available atLuisaviaroma. I don’t collect porcelain figures but I think the Lanvin stuff is fun. The snowglobe is my favourite. images: www.luisaviaroma.com
CUTMR 2012 Call for Submissions – Ends May 31, 2011
Come Up To My Room 2012 Call for Submissions COME UP TO MY ROOM 2012, The Gladstone Hotel’s 9th Annual Alternative Design Event January 26 – 29, 2012 (Coinciding with Toronto International Design Festival and the Interior Design Show) Submissions Deadline: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 ATTENTION: DESIGNERS, ARCHITECTS, VISUAL ARTISTS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, SCULPTORS, WRITERS, MUSICIANS, SET DESIGNERS, PROP MAKERS, SOUND ENGINEERS, CERAMACISTS, TEXTILE ARTISTS, CRAFTS PEOPLE, FILMOGRAPHERS, PRINT MAKERS, NEW MEDIA ARTISTS and ALL CREATIVE MAKERS: The Gladstone Hotel seeks Expressions of Interest for innovative, cutting-edge, contemporary design and installation-based projects for The Gladstone Hotel’s annual alternative design event, COME UP TO MY ROOM. The ninth instalment of CUTMR will take place from January 26 to 29, 2012 at the historic Gladstone Hotel in downtown Toronto. Site-specific work will be mounted in the rooms and public spaces in the second floor Gladstone Gallery and ground floor spaces of the hotel. Ideal candidates for juried consideration are practitioners who approach their discipline with a radical personal vision, and who use design to converse, connect, collaborate and construct …
Garden of Roses: Denis Gagnon Interprets Alice at Luminato – June 10 – 19, 2011
I love that Luminato and Lancôme bring Canadian designers to create beautiful art installations. Last season it was Mark Fast and this season it’s Denis Gagnon who is going gangbusters with good news this year. Garden of Roses: Denis Gagnon Interprets Alice is the name of the piece that will be on display during the Luminato festival in June. Inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, one of Canada’s iconic fashion designers creates a world of wearable fantasy. One of the most acclaimed Canadian designers of his generation, Denis Gagnon is noted for his bold traversal of the boundaries between the fashion industry and art. For over a decade, his concept of clothing as “moving sculpture” has informed his innovative collections for fashion lovers across Canada while also finding expression in the realms of pure creativity.  As a result, Gagnon, who began his career designing theatrical costumes, recently became the first Canadian in his field to have his work exhibited at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. In this installation, a one-of-a-kind dress surrounded by a …