THE SPRING ISSUE
Posts Tagged ‘vol. 20.6’
Alva Noto: Surgeon of Sound
Text by Alexander Provan Photography by Kenichi Hagihara Carsten Nicolai’s performance of Xerrox in the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in May was as much surgery as music. An array of computers and mixers replaced the patient on the operating table, and rather than display the surgeon’s forays into the body, a vast screen behind Nicolai […]
Arts Corporation
Text by Hannah Eaves You know the story. If you haven’t actually lived it, you’ve seen it in the movies a million times. Two co-workers have to share desk space. First a stapler drifts over, then papers and a notepad. The familiar slow invasion of personal space. Now, imagine if you could just stick out […]
My Identity
Photographs by Frank Schwere Photographic and creative assistant: Bridget Webber Hair: John Ruidant with See Management Make up: Munemi Imai with See Management Models: Rachel Michalik with Elite, Caroline Barcomb with Elite, Lana with Next
BLACK CAT
Photographs by Carlotta Managio Fashion Editor: Nicky Coan Vest PHILLIP LIM jacket DEVELOPMENT Knickers AGENT PROVOCATEUR Stockings WOLFORD Top by ESTUE Cape DEVELOPMENT, Stockings HUE Bra IMELDA THE TYRANT, Hat stylists own Vest DEVELOPMENT, Knickers ARAKS Jumper ESTUAY, Shoes and Hat COSTUME NATIONAL Jacket KAREN WALKER Hair: Tuan Anh Tran at L’Ateliernyc using Bumble and […]
LOLA
LOLA 1 oz. Oronoco rum 1/2 oz. Campari liqueur 1 oz. orange juice, fresh squeezed 1 oz. lemon juice, fresh squeezed 1/2 oz. of agave nectar (second option: 1/2 oz. simple syrup) orange peel Pour all the ingredients in a pint glass and fill with ice. Shake and strain into a 12 oz. Collins glass […]
Sound Check
Various Artists / Radio Algeria / Sublime Frequencies 029 For those not familiar with the Sublime Frequencies’ explosion of exotica over the last few years, Radio Algeria is a stellar example of curator Alan Bishop’s region/world/mind-spanning collage work using the radio as his only source. Presented with minimal liner notes, Radio Algeria does not hide […]
Get Hustle’s Sugar and Chaos
Text by Adam Gnade Photography by Yoni Kifle Some people notice their clothes first: Get Hustle pianist Mac Mann’s gelled silent film-star finery, and drummer Ron Avila and singer Valentine Falcon’s Hendrix-gypsy trip. It’s also easy to draw cues and clues from the band’s album cover art and song titles, which give an impression of […]
Monsters are Waiting
Text by Allison Bloch Photograph by Zen Sekizawa From their name to their unique mode of transportation (a short bus complete with two dogs, Bear and Monkey), the four members of Monsters Are Waiting combine refreshingly quirky behavior with style and sophistication. Emerging from Southern California comes a band with its own brand of indie […]
Purveyors of Escapism
Lawrence Lazarou, Jim Colvill and Jamie Johns in pursuit of modern music and antiquated ideals. The “play kingdom” of Social Registry Text by Matthew Nestel Photographs by Lane Coder On a summer afternoon, Greenpoint is the Brooklyn-enclave of Polish natives gobbling kielbasa and pierogies between cigarette drags. Closer down toward the water is an old […]
The Art of Ariel Pink
Text by Fred Miketa Photograph by Brigitte Sire Woody Allen once said, “Don’t knock masturbation. It’s sex with someone I love.” While differing vastly from the purposely constructed wit of Allen, Ariel Pink creates his patent blend of lo-fi art in his own masturbatory context, far from the discretion of external critical force. Often noted […]
Nine Perfect Minutes: Neil Young
Text by Jaan Uhelszki Photograph by Danny Clinch Bob Dylan may have famously said, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” but his longtime friend Neil Young likes a few more guarantees before he takes action. The august musician has long plotted his life around the phases of the moon. […]
Front Line Assembly: Experiments in Design by Front
Text by Mila Zulo Many of Front Design’s projects begin with a philosophical question. “Can a designed object exist without being materialized?” “What defines a home?” Through such Socratic dialogue, the four women who comprise the Swedish design group answer these questions with a collectively conceptual mind and a spirit of healthy rebellion. SOMA spoke […]
Film Reviews
This Film Is Not Yet Rated Directed by Kirby Dick The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is the lobbying organization for the film industry charged with advising filmgoers to the appropriateness of a film’s content for certain ages, and it wields enormous power over what gets seen in American theaters. If, for instance, members […]
Death Arrives with Ozon’s Time to Leave
Text by Yon Motskin “It is often said that when people grow old they become children again,” director François Ozon said recently about his latest film Time to Leave. The tough, love-loss drama is the second in the French filmmaker’s “trilogy of mourning” that began with Under the Sand, and though it treads similar water […]
The Independent Mind of Lili Taylor
Text by Michelle Lanz Photography by Jason Nocito Over the last two decades, Lili Taylor has portrayed a feminist assassin, a deranged kidnapper and a heartbroken teenage songstress, and just shy of her 40th birthday, she has cemented a reputation unparalleled in its boldness by playing subversive characters most actresses wouldn’t dare attempt. As one […]
Lying Awake with Michel Gondry
Text by Andrew Rodgers Photograph by Ye Rin Mok Known for crafting beautifully stylistic music videos for the likes of Björk, the Chemical Brothers and the Foo Fighters, as well as for a number of award-winning commercials and the incredibly well-received feature Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, French-born director Michel Gondry has made a […]
Herzdog & De Meuron: Sublime Skins
Text by Franklin Melendez I’ll admit it, I’m an architecture novice. I don’t understand the allure of a building’s hidden facades, nor am I moved by the tendril-like cracks in concrete. Sure, I can recognize a handful of names and noteworthy projects, enough to throw around at cocktail parties, but for the most part I […]
The Dark Prince of Manchester: The Incomparable Peter Saville
Text by Alexis Georgopolis Photograph by Anna Blessmann It’s safe to say there is no one quite like Peter Saville. Certainly no other album designer has exerted such personality and such a distinct aesthetic as he has. Borrowing from Russian constructivism, the New Typography of Jan Tschichold, and Italian futurism, Saville made covers for Factory […]
Gareth Pugh: Send in the Clowns
Text by Franklin Menendez In a relatively short span of time, Gareth Pugh has built a considerable reputation based on inflatable balloon tops, light-up dresses and gold harlequin suits. Ridiculous? Certainly. But these outlandish designs radiate an irreverent energy that has been largely missing from a British scene now spearheaded by the tasteful deconstruction of […]
The Big Green Apple
Text by Steven Snyder Photography by Michael Ficeto Zigging and zagging up the Manhattan skyline, an organic gem blooms in a sea of simple, sterile facades that almost seem archaic in comparison. It is the Hearst Tower, the looming and arresting new headquarters of the Hearst media empire located in midtown Manhattan which opened its […]
Cloak Design: Alexandre Plokhov
Text by Allison Bethurem Photograph by Ray Lee Hidden beneath the heavy shoulder throw of Cloak Design lies a mysterious and alluring menswear line flapping its way onto the streets of urban cities around the world. Created by Russian-born designer Alexandre Plokhov, Cloak gives the modern-day man a chance to get in touch with his […]
Street Pulse: Los Angeles
Meet the TBWA/Chiat/Day’s Media Arts Lab. They design the advertising for one of the most design-obsessed and ubiquitous brands on the planet: Apple Computer. SOMA visited a few members of the team around their Los Angeles office. 1 If you could redesign an everyday object, what would it be? 2 What is your favorite product or […]
Word Play
Words Fail Me By Teresa Monachino (Phaidon Press) What will you get for that distant cousin who publicly insulted your haircut at the last family gathering for Christmas? Or that office colleague who always drinks the last cup of coffee? When an occasion for compulsory gift-giving arises, Phaidon has published a little book that will […]
Original Bedlam
Text by Malin-Louise Martensson In the building that used to be an asylum, I now drink champagne. I eat oysters in the loony bin. I sleep in rooms where English men once paid to abuse the patients of the First Bethlehem Hospital. This is the original Bedlam, now presented as the creation of English design […]
