All posts filed under: Art

i want: Douglas Coupland x Roots

Published by

I like a few items of the Douglas Coupland x Roots collaboration. The ROOTS X DOUGLAS COUPLAND collection includes apparel for women/men/children, accessories, leather goods, design items, furniture, limited editions, original art and a series of pop-up stores. This is the first time Douglas Coupland has designed fashion wearables. He is best known as the internationally best-selling author of “Generation X”, “JPod” and “Generation A”. “For more than 10 years I’ve been intimately exploring what it means to be Canadian,” says Coupland. “This partnership with Roots is an amazing opportunity to keep that dialogue going with an even wider, more diverse audience.” The theme created for the ROOTS X DOUGLAS COUPLAND collection is “Canada Goes Electric” and brings together Douglas Coupland’s recognizable perspective with the Roots reputation for quality goods and craftsmanship. “For the first time in our history, we stepped back and left the design to an outside designer,” explains Don Green, Co-founder of Roots. “Visually the collection is strong but beyond that, Douglas Coupland has once again shown his trademark humour and brilliance …

Luminato 2010 - Wish Come True Festival

Luminato 2010 – Wish Come True Festival

Published by

I had to check out the super cute installation by FriendsWithYou at Queen’s Park for Luminato. It was like an acid trip came to life; floating mushroom and pill shaped objects with happy faces. Magic, luck, and friendship are the qualities that FriendsWithYou, a visual arts collective based in Miami Beach, seek to spread throughout the world. Now, in an unprecedented spectacle created just for Luminato, they invite Toronto to come out and play. FriendsWithYou turns Toronto into Rainbow City, a delightful explosion of colour and jubilant energy. Led by the Rainbow King, Luminato 2010’s Festival mascot, a host of celestial characters transform Queen’s Park with larger-than-life dimensions of giant totems, bounce houses, and inflatable friends. Meanwhile, emissaries from this magical world fan out across Toronto to spread their universal message. The trusty Olympus E-PL1 was there to record some video I wish random installation like this were more common in the city.

Todd Selby in Toronto

Todd Selby in Toronto

Published by

Todd Selby (aka The Selby) came to Toronto to promote his new book, The Selby is in your House.   Holt Renfrew hosted a public book signing session in the Bloor street store.  A party in his honour at was held at Parts & Labour the night before. It was at this party I would learn about Todd’s site and why I was always hearing his name in fashion circles. Yep, I was that ignorant about the man. I don’t follow interiors that much and since he loves to photograph homes I can see why I never really bothered to check him out.  I knew he was important, the why was never that important to me. For those of you not familiar with The Selby, he takes photos of people’s homes. These people are usually creative types and many big players in the fashion industry. My first exposure to The Selby was on the walls of P&L. Holt Renfrew had printed all the pages of his book on these panels that lined the walls.  There were …

Luminato 2010 – The Ascension of Beauty by Mark Fast

Luminato 2010 – The Ascension of Beauty by Mark Fast

Published by

Mark Fast returned to Canada to be part of the Luminato festival of Arts and Creativity.  He has the honour of presenting in the one of the best installation venues in the city, the Brookfield Place Allen Lambert Galleria.  It was two years ago that myself and some friends were part of the Toronto’s Mille Femmes installation during Luminato. Luminato, Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity will present a free landmark installation in partnership with Lancôme by London-based Canadian knitwear designer Mark Fast. Commissioned by Lancôme in celebration of their 75th anniversary, The Ascension of Beauty will be presented in Toronto’s Brookfield Place Allen Lambert Galleria throughout the 10-day festival from June 11th to June 20th. Fast welcomes the challenges of such a largescale project, which will see him outfit architecture in rope sculpture and fashion a dress of lycra, viscose and SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS. Said Fast, “The knitwear I have created is symbolic of the elegant structure of the rose and I have derived my inspiration from its delicate confidence. Its layers extend off the …

I want – I got goes to the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival – Behind the Lens Tour

Published by

I went on the Heineken Behind the Lens Tour which is a guided tour of Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival exhibits. It was a fun way to see more exhibits at the festival in a group setting. Join us each Saturday afternoon in May for the Heineken Behind the Lens Tour, an exclusive interactive tour of Scotiabank CONTACT. Go behind the scenes with top photographers and other culture mavens as they share curated insights on fascinating photography from an insider’s vantage point. Each tour, located in one of Toronto’s unique neighborhoods, will end at a local watering hole for discussion, snacks and the opportunity to enjoy a cold Heineken. I chose the City Centre tour which took us to the AGO for Barbara Kruger’s Untitled (It), U of Toronto Arts Centre for The Brothel Without Walls and Probing McLuhan, the ROM for Creative Commons and the Boss Store for Glen Baxter. Barbara Kruger’s Untitled (It) At this stop in the tour we had one of the curators talk about various aspects of the installation. This piece …

Rupert Sanderson x Aida

Rupert Sanderson x Aida

Published by

Rupert Sanderson created shoes for the cast of Verdi’s Aida at the Royal Opera in London. I love seeing fashion and costume design converge. It’s such a perfect fit. Rupert Sanderson has designed the shoes for a cast of over 200 working alongside illustrious young costume designer, Moritz Junge. The vision for the production is bold: Egypt is set aside for an unnamed post-apocalyptic tribal landscape where everything is very ‘brought-down’ and distressed. This has given Rupert great scope for designing an edgy, deconstructed collection of shoes. Boots will be worn out – Rupert is literally burying them in his back garden for two months to allow the mud and grit to do its worst. Sandals will be simple, using frayed materials with raw edges and a neutral or earthy colour palette. And against this ragged aesthetic, the bejeweled slippers and platform wedge sandals designed for the princess Amneris stand out like diamonds on a beach of pebbles. On collaborating with The Royal Opera, Rupert Sanderson says: The opportunity to delve into The Royal Opera’s …

Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival – Hermann & Audrey

I want – I got goes to the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival – Hermann & Audrey

Published by

The Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival exhibit by Hermann & Audrey is held in The Baitshop and I’m obsessed with it. There is a huge skateboarding ramp as soon as you walk in. The ceilings are high with exposed beams, ductwork and brick. The Baitshop makes me want to throw a party or an event. The space is just that inviting. The exhibit features photographers Steve Carty, Javier Lovera, Stefania Sgambelluri, Jalani Morgan and Cory Vanderploeg. These photographers will collaboration with artists Skam, Jon Todd, Derooted’s Simon Rojas, Smakstudio’s Scott McIntyre and Kimmy Yun to create 40 pieces challenging Marshall McLuhan’s theory of Hot and Cold media. In Understanding Media, Marshall McLuhan defined photography as a ‘hot’ medium, characterized by single sense stimulation with a high degree of data. According to McLuhan, absorption of the ‘hot’ message requires minimal involvement on the part of the viewer. ‘Cold’ mediums, by contrast, are low in data because little visual information is provided, thus putting the user in a more active role of filling in the gaps. Hermann & …

Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival – Right To Play – Azerbaijan, 2009

I want – I got goes to the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival – Right To Play – Azerbaijan, 2009

Published by

Right To Play – Azerbaijan, 2009 is Glen Baxter’s exhibition for the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. I had no idea that Glen was a photographer. This is his fifth solo show with Scotiabank CONTACT. I just assumed he was always in front of the camera as the host of In Fashion and not behind. Glen traveled solo to Azerbaijan and visited the many settlements which host a million people displaced by war and conflict. Glen is auctioning off all 25 images in the show with 100% of the proceeds going to Right to Play. He has raised over $45,000 with his photography for Right to Play to date. The show is in the 3rd floor event space in the BOSS store on Bloor street. It was my first time in the space and it’s perfect for an art event.  There is lots of wall space and minimal obstructions in the middle of the room to allow for chatting and socializing without distracting those that want to stare at the photos.  I’m looking forward to attending …