Category: Art
school-girl nouveau
HE’S ONE OF A KIND
Let’s face it – Korean music is making a strong impression on the west-side of the world today. I’ve always been open to global music whether it be French, Brazilian, or Filipino but Korean music has always been a closeted favourite of mine for almost 5 years. I remember some of my middle school friends mentioning names such as Big Bang so I, along with my sister, decided to look them up and give them a listen. We were hooked right off the bat!
Today, G-Dragon of BB released his new music video for “One of A Kind” as a solo artist. And all I can say is, “WOW, WHAT THE F**K!??!?!” I was a bit overwhelmed at first but after a few watches, I grew to love it. The little kids, the black and white concept, all the Chrome Hearts, the Chanel tennis getup (my favourite), custom Vans Old Skools, dreadhead Youngbae in Givenchy and Rick Owens (reminded me of their old BB days), my girl LYDIA PAEK, GD dancing his butt off… I mean the animal concept was a bit bizarre and his yellow spaghetti hair wasn’t really working for me, but hey it’s G-Dragon! He can do all that and more. He is probably one of the most hard-working, talented, “G”‘d out, coolest persons in the world right now and he’s definitely one of my icons. He really is “one of a kind”!
KATOON, BABY!
Ryan Chan is a newly discovered photographer of mine and is now considered one of my favourites. Ryan moved from New York to Tokyo in 2006 and he graduated from the Tokyo Design Gakuin College in 2009. Last year, he published two photo books – “Mad Tokyo” and “YOUTH”, both successfully receiving the JAPAN ADVERTISING PHOTOGRAPHERS’ ASSOCIATION AWARD 2012 (APA AWARD 2012). He has also been featured in numerous exhibitions and his work appeared in publications such as ViVi magazine and GQ Japan.
I guess what really attracted me to Ryan’s photos is the distinct focus on the subject. You can never go wrong with photographing people, but what I like about the way Ryan photographs them is that the subjects fill up the space. You are up close and personal with these strangers, but you feel as if you’ve known them for a long time. It is a nice overwhelming feeling!
Ryan’s trip to India and his encounter with the locals.
Headshots of Tokyo’s Youth.
Ryan’s portrayal of Japanese “freedom” – the ability for the people to be who they are and to be doing things they enjoy in public. All photos were taken with a Leica M8.
Leslie Kee is a good friend of Ryan’s and is also an accomplished photographer. He even shot Beyonce!
Bip’s Lips
Earlier today, my cousin asked me to straighten her hair as she prepared for a little party tonight. We talked about makeup, hair, fashion, etc and she told me I should look into beauty school on the side. It’s something I’ve looked into for quite a while, so who knows!
After doing her hair, I went on YouTube and saw that my favourite makeup bloggers, Lisa Eldridge (SUCH AN AMAZING MAKE-UP ARTIST), uploaded a new tutorial with none other than Bip Ling! Bipasha is a beautiful half Indian, half English blogger and DJ out of London and she is definitely one of my favourite people on the Internet. Her blog is not your average “fashionista blog” – and that’s a straight fact. See for yourself. I always have a smile and a few laughs whenever I visit Bip’s page. It’s such a fun site!
Here is the video tutorial for a “bright lashes and lips” look. What I enjoyed about this tutorial is the use of colored mascara and a bright lip. Some may think that’s a little too much for a face, but Lisa has the creative mind to make anything work. She also applied Mac’s face gloss which is the first time I’ve seen any makeup blogger put to use and it definitely brings a nice shine to Bip’s face!
FAKE TALES OF SAN FRANCISCO
For once, after two weeks of summer playing couch potato, I thought it was time to leave my house and take an action-packed trip to San Francisco! While there, I met with two of my good friends from school. Both are SF natives, so for one whoooole Saturday, I trusted them with my life.
We started our day taking the subway, passing through Noe Valley and all the way to Dolores Park. To me, it was like taking the jeepney in the Philippines. Except it was faster and with air-conditioning!
First stop was at the Community Thrift Store on Valencia. From printed sweaters to old records, faux plants to blossoming floral couches, and vintage jewelry to an antique dental chair?! I thought they had a great selection of items.
While walking down Valencia, we discovered Paxton Gate, which is a natural science shop that exhibits a wide range of plants, fossils and lots of creative taxidermy. I pretty much died when I stepped foot in there. They had me at the succulents.
All that walking worked up an appetite, so my friends took me to a Mexican eatery called El Farolito. I had the carne asada super burrito, and that monster kept me full and satisfied for the rest of the day! You definitely can never go wrong with carne asada!
It was a sizzling hot day, and I had no choice but to walk around the city in a sweater and boots, so we decided to freshen up and cool down with some ice cream from Bi-Rite. Feeling bold and adventurous, I went with a scoop of Lavender as well as Salted-Caramel. My sweet-tooth was definitely appeased, and to this day I still wish I had gotten a double scoop instead of a single.
Just one day of gallivanting through the streets of San Francisco with your closest buds is definitely not enough, and surely I will be back again soon, with Jireh this time!
Kudos to my lovely friends for babysitting me that Saturday.
Killing Me Softly
I’ve always had Yellow Fever, but lately I’ve reached the point beyond boiling point. Sen Mitsuji and Sang Woo Do are my favourite Asian male models and I’ve got another to add to that list. Min Ho Shon is a South Korean male model whom I’ve discovered yesterday. He’s got a strikingly soft face and tattoos on his left arm. He’s under Grant Agency and has been featured in GQ Korea, Esquire, and appeared in Monoros’ A/W 2012-2013 Lookbook.
2011 FALL K-LINE VOL.1
2011 F/W W.DRESSROOM
I really like this haircut on him. Suits him well.
PERSONAL WORK OF MAENG MIN HWA
Super obsessed with this photograph.
2012 MARCH GQ
2012 JULY ESQUIRE
2012 JUNE GQ
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2011 FALL K-LINE VOL. 1
Wow
Sunshine
After being locked up at home aka having no car, I finally went out and got a good dose of happiness! I spent the whole afternoon with Marco, a very close friend of mine. We had lunch at AjiSen Ramen – a little Japanese restaurant in Tamuning. I had the Karaage Curry Ramen and man, it was really good
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We drove to Westin to check up on our other friend Nathan. He took us up to the top floor and we hung out inside the Presidential Suite (wow!). It was nice having the trio together for a bit. Laughs everywhere, man!
Helped Marco picked out his very first pair of Janoskis at Kicks/HI. Then we sauntered over to Stussy Guam and I bought this Tiger Camo S-Carabiner!
Tumon Tourist life
Ended the day with Mt. Lam Lam! A must to get the Shave Ice Surprise – Two/Three syrup flavours with Vanilla ice cream inside! I got Peach and Blue Raspberry syrup on mine.
Also, here is a new track from Little Dragon. A good summer tune!
Room Portraits
German photographer, Menno Aden, started a unique series called “Room Portraits”. And yes, his series does reflect its title but presents it through a different perspective – a bird’s eye. Attaching a camera on ceilings of a variety of spaces, Aden’s use of “surveillance” abstracts these rooms.
Untitled (Basement Garage III), 2011
Untitled (Classroom)
Untitled (Lounge)
Untitled (Corner Shop II)
Untitled (Shoe Shop)
Untitled (G.S. II)
Untitled (Kitchen I)
Untitled (M.O.)
There are a few things I like about this series. We take a look into someone’s personal space as a two-dimensional plane filled with geometric objects. You are able to point out the shape, size, and structure of the room. I enjoy the exaggerated depth found in rooms with high ceilings as well. Most importantly, you are aware of the type of person’s lifestyle in a different light.
Check out more from his series here.
PROMETHEUS AND YATES
Last Thursday, my friend and I had the pleasure of catching the premier of Prometheus (for free!). I thought it was a pretty cool movie, but besides Michael Fassbender and Logan Marshall-Green’s acting and handsome faces, I was really into their costumes. Janty Yates was the brilliant designer for this movie.
Logan Marshall-Green’s character, Charlie, wearing a simple gray tee, dark olive pants, a blue hoodie slippers, and a scarf.
Close-up of scarf
Fifield, played by Sean Harris, with botanical-print shirt.
Custom-made sweater with a hood/collar for Milburn, played by Rafe Spall.
Nehru style suit for Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, and Guy Pearce.
Michael also wearing flip flops.
Cast members wearing their space suits.
Janty Yates wanted a “sleek and slimline [fit], to avoid the sort of Michelin Man look of the NASA suit.” I personally liked how Elizabeth, played by Nooma Rapace, had a more detailed suit as far as the neon orange piping and a different chest shield. Surprisingly, the helmets are also functional.
Another Space IV
Every year, Southwestern College holds a juried art show open to all students. For the past few weeks, I’ve been contemplating whether or not I should submit a few things knowing that there are so many talented people at my school. And the fact that someone was going to choose which artworks were going to be featured in the show was a bit discouraging. However, I mustered up the courage to submit three projects from my Design and Drawing classes. I found out on Tuesday that two of my collages were accepted!
Tonight was the Opening Ceremony over at Third Avenue and to my surprise, one of my collages was awarded First Place in the Design category! I haven’t felt this happy in a really long time and it feels so good. Congratulations to all those featured in the exhibit!
THE BORDER 