R_EXile

An exile in surreal territories

Fashion Label vs Music Label

Ellenallien-thrills

Launching a label is one of the most important goals of my life. Rather than a fashion label, it will be a dance music label though. In fact, as I work for a record label whilst my girlfriend works for a jewellery designer, the comparison between the fashion and music industries is always a 'heated' topic between us. The objective of our discussions is not to find out which of the two is better; instead, by finding out the similarities and differences between these two well-established industries, we can generate inspirations and insights for our careers.

To a certain extent, fashion and music are inseparable. It is by no means difficult to come up with examples of fashion-music bonding: Rappers Jay-Z and P.Diddy have their own fashion companies (Roc-A-Fella and Sean John respectively); Techno label Bpitch Control's owner Ellen Allien is a fashion designer; Karen O, the vocalist of the rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, wears outfit specially designed by Christian Joy, whose works were exhibited in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London a couple of years ago. And let's not forget Vivienne Westwood's ex-husband was the manager of the legendary punk band Sex Pistols.

And by the way, have you seen a catwalk show where there's no background music at all?

Indeed, fashion and dance music are similar in nature because both of them are driven by trends. So what are 'trends'? According to Toby Meadows, associate lecturer at London College of Fashion and the author of the book How to Set up and Run a Fashion Label (2009), 'a "fashion trend" can be defined as the movement of fashion over a period of time.... Fashion trends are all about the "latest" or the "newest".' One example that best illustrates this would be the creative director of Chanel and Fendi - Karl Lagerfeld. In the documentary Lagerfeld Confidential (2007), Lagerfeld says that he only wears clothes from the latest season and that it is a reflection of his passion for fashion.

As for dance music, iconic DJ Sasha once spoke of the relationship between trends and development of dance music: 'The whole reason why dance music might go through peaks and troughs but it never goes away... [is] because it always eats itself and then spits out a new sound, then it gets massive and then that eats itself and spits out something else. Dance music has always done that.' After the temporal surge of electro house in 2005, purist minimal techno dominated the house and techno scene in 2006. Since then the scene remained dark and techy, but in 2009 melodic and housey elements are on the rise again.

Despite the similarity in nature, the fashion and dance music industries have profound systematic differences. I am going to illustrate them from two angles: 1) fashion designer vs dance music producer; 2) fashion label vs digital dance music label.

+Fashion Designer vs Dance Music Producer

Nowadays in London, young fashion designers find it hard to survive in the fashion industry. It is not only due to the keen competition between the designers in the fashion metropolitan, but also due to the domination of large fashion companies. Cultural theorist Angela Mcrobbie once said in a lecture at Goldsmiths that large fashion companies like Topshop nowadays are eager to recruit fresh graduates from prestigious design schools like Central St Martin's and London College of Fashion, but they fire them after two years and recruit another batch of graduates again. In this case, young fashion designers can hardly have the opportunity to become recognised.

On the contrary, it is relatively easier for a young dance music producer to generate a breakthrough. Whilst the dance music industry is becoming more and more digitised, as reflected by the growing popularisation of digital music files and professional music software, prestigious DJs' music libraries are now comprised of tracks sent by both well-known and unknown producers from every corner of the planet.  

The advantage of young dance music producers over young fashion designers is that they can send digital files to the prestigious DJs, who need new tracks to play all the time. Globetrotting DJs such as Sasha, John Digweed and Hernan Cattaneo tour around the world every weekend. Due to the accessibility of digital files, the files can spread widely with those DJs. When an unknown producer's track is selected by a superstar DJ to put into his/her live set or compilation album, the unknown will certainly become well-known within a short of period of time.

2 years ago Irish producer Greg Downey made a trance remix of the classic progressive house track 'Heaven Scent' without the permission of the original producers John Digweed and Nick Muir. He sent the track to prominent trance DJs like Paul Van Dyk, Tiesto and Eddie Halliwell, who really liked it and played it out, and then apparently the remix became a smash hit in the trance scene. John Digweed, who is also the owner of Bedrock Records, finally released Downey's remix officially on Bedrock Records in 2007.

+Fashion Label vs Digital Dance Music Label 

Whilst being a dance music producer may be easier than a fashion designer, setting up a digital dance music label also seems to be a goal that can be reached more easily than setting up a fashion label. The key difference lies in the production process. In his book Meadow lists out the production process of a fashion label:

1. Researching trends, colours, shapes fabrics
2. Developing product designs
3. Ordering sampling fabrics and trims
4. Patterns developed
5. Toile developed
6. Product samples cut and sewn
7. Final sample collection selected
8. Selling season, order taken and production run calculated
9. Final product modification made
10. Patterns graded for sizes sold
11. Production of order
12. Quality control checks
13. Packing and shipping

It can be seen that in the process there are a lot of physical entities which require physical transportation. For example, in the early stage '3. ordering sampling fabrics and trims', fabrics are needed to be sourced and shipped even before the sample is made. And then when it comes to manufacturing of the product, certainly it will involve a great deal of physical mechanism and shipping that will take a lot of time. The same goes with product distribution. Furthermore, the above process is complicated by the 2-season-a-year wholesale and retail calendars (spring/summer and autumn/winter), which bring about an awful lot of deadlines to meet. If you want to establish a successful label then you will have to follow the well-established calendars of the fashion industry, which is not easy at all.

As mentioned above, the accessibility of digital music files on the Internet has speeded up the flow of music in the dance music industry tremendously. The duration of the 'shipping' of the files can be neglected when the sharing of materials is done online, whether it is getting samples or distributing musical products. In addition, although the dance music industry is driven by trends as well, it does not have a fixed or strict wholesale or retail calendar like those in the fashion industry; therefore, there are fewer deadlines to meet, which may lead to better allocation of resources for the long-term development of the dance music label. 

Of course, if you go digital then you will have to face the piracy problem, as it is undeniable that illegal sharing of music files online has imposed a devastating impact on the whole music industry (the definition of 'illegal sharing' needs to be explored though). Despite the fake Louis Vuitton and Gucci products all over the world, the problem of digital piracy is much more severe due to the accessibility of the files. How can we cope with that? High quality control of the product itself and marketing may alleviate the damage a bit.
Finally I want to objectively say that my opinion about the fashion - music debate could be to an extent subjective - as I am a DJ, it is natural for me to think that setting up a dance music label is easier than a fashion label. But I am not saying that doing the former is easy; we all know that the creative industry is cruel and competitive, as model Heidi Klum always says in the TV show Project Runway, 'one day you're in, next day you're out'. 

+Nevertheless, I do believe that at the end of the day, it is your passion that truly matters. "If you’ve got talent and tenacity and you really believe in what your doing I don’t see any reason to give up because one way or another the stuff will start to stick and they will catch peoples ear. It is hard but it’s always been hard." -- Top-class DJ/producer Charlie May

'Miss Underwater' by Kal LKL

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Photography by Kal LKL

Kal LKL (www.morf.hk ) is one of the most talented young photographers from Hong Kong. His works have been featured in various publications and media such as Galleri HK, Millionaire Asia, Prestige (Hong Kong), Hi-low Magazine (Beijing), Jetpac Magazine and Mischmasch.

He has his unique vision for his photographic projects:

'I am always fascinated by the double-sided character of human beings 
- being both detached and sentimental. Inspired by the 3 years of film 
studies in the film school, I often conduct my photo projects with the 
method of "stage moment", which makes approaching photography as a 
realm of fiction and duplicity possible. Meanwhile, I try to restrain 
the facial expressions and gestures of the models in order to provide 
an ambiguous narrative possibility to the viewers, as I believe that 
one shouldn't access any artwork without interpretation based on 
personal experience.' - Kal LKL

Recently he completed his 'Miss Underwater' project - a stunning underwater photo shoot that has been gaining international recognition. Check it out here:

Compilation Albums News

There are three compilation albums that I will buy this month: 1) Christian Smith's Platform on Renaissance, 2) Radioslave's Fabric 48 on Fabric, and 3) Dave Seaman's The Masters Series on Renaissance.

Scheduled to be released on 7 Sept, Christian Smith's Platform will be a 2XCD album with the first CD featuring tracks inspired by the Detroit sound. 'I focused on European producers influenced by the Detroit techno sound with this mix... my main priority of the mix was to show how techno can also be very musical and melodic,' he says. A 25 min excerpt of CD1 is available here: http://renaissance.com/eflyers/platform/CSpromo/CSpromo.html

Tracklist:
CD 1
01. Taho – Atlantess
02. Subotic – The Seed
03. Humate – Love Stimulation (Radio Slave Mix)
04. Stimming – The Kiss (Ripperton Mix)
05. Technasia – Crosswalk
06. Christian Smith & John Selway - Daytona
07. Secret Cinema - Kurzweil
08. DJ Yellow feat. Rucyl - In My Heart
09. Quince featuring Paris The Black Fu - My Life's Rhythm
10. Nic Fanciulli & Steve Mac - 10%
11. Psycatron – Tipping Point

CD 2
01. Christian Smith & John Selway – Manfreak (Athos Mix)
02. Samuel L. Sessions - Can You Relate (Slam Remix)
03. Wehbba – The Hiss
04. Alex Under – FI (Tobias Remix)
05. Christian Smith & John Selway – Mistral (Pietee Mix)
06. Karotte - All She Wants Is
07. Christian Smith & Reset Robot - Elixir (Gary Beck Remix)
08. Guy J – Bianca
09. Pan-Pot – Confronted
10. Florian Meindl - Here Today Gone Tomorrow
11. Christian Smith – Indecent Exposure
12. Timo Maas – Jetstream
13. Carlo Dall Anese & Diego Logic – Brigadeiro Demais Engorda
14. Psycatron – Directions
15. Cirez-D – On Off

+Fabric 48 by Radioslave is a 13 track compilation due to be released on 14 Sept. Although the heyday of purist dark techno has been over, Radioslave aka Matt Edwards have always amazed me with his mesmerising production; therefore I'm looking forward to this compilation as well. He describes, 'it’s a mix of new and old tracks, something that people outside of the dance music snoberity would enjoy! I just wanted this mix to be a true reflection of my DJ sets, so I tried to capture the vibe of what I've been playing over the last year, and expose listeners to the kind of sets that I play at Fabric.'

Tracklist:
01. Baeka - Right At It (Michel Cleis Deeper Remix)
02. Radio Slave - DDB // Cabin Fever
03. Radio Slave - I Don’t Need A Cure For This
04. Dance Disorder - My Time (Radio Slave’s Rekids Tribe Remix)
05. Brothers’ Vibe - Platter Sugar
06. Spencer Parker - The Beginning (Michel Cleis Remix)
07. Nina Kraviz - Pain In The Ass
08. DJ Boola - Balada Redo // Cabin Fever
09. Radio Slave - Koma Koma (Steve Lawler Remix)
10. Spencer Parker - My Heart (Daniel Sanchez Easy Noise Remix)
11. Michel Cleis ft. Totó La Momposina - La Mezcla
12. 2000 & One - Wan Poku Moro
13. Nate William’s Club Patrol 'Maximum Overload' (Roy’s Death Wish Mix)

+ As for Dave Seaman's The Master Series, it's a must-buy for me not only because am I a fan of his, but it is also because I am a supporter of the series. In fact, compilations of this series have always been mixed by DJs who are capable of representing the legendary status of the label in the house and techno scene, such as Satoshi Tomiie, Hernan Cattaneo and of course Dave Seaman, just to name a few. I'm sure the album will be a good indicator of the current trends of the scene.

Tracklist:
CD1
1) Four Tet – Swimmer 
2) Ben Watt - Guinea Pig (Vocal Variation With Julia Biel) (DJ Koze Remix)
3) Culoe De Song - The Bright Forest     
4) Butch Feat. Julie - Soultan
5) Extrawelt - Mit Liese Der Auf Wiese
6) Andre Winter – Trauma c/w UNKLE - Heaven (King Unique Acapella Remix) [Seaman’s Group Therapy Meeting]
7) Will Saul & Tam Cooper - Through The Smoke
8) Ian Pooley - Compact
9) Sahar Z & Audio Junkies – Beyond Detroit
10) Quivver - Sludge
11) Djuma Soundsystem - Bi Polar
12) Moby - Pale Horses (Gui Boratto’s Last Window Remix)
13) Triangle Feat. Joel Xavier - Three
14) Spooky - Outernebula
15) The Youngsters - The Phoenix
16) Fiol Lasse - Svedala
17) Jon Hopkins - Light Through The Veins (Ewan Pearson’s Downtown Lights Remix) [Seaman’s Intravenous Remodel]

CD2
1) UNKLE - Hold My Hand (Innervisions Orchestra Dub Mix) c/w Moderat - Les Grandes Marches
2) Guy J - Esperanza
3) Dave Seaman - Gobbledygook (Erphun Remix)
4) Agoria - Baboul Hair Cuttin (Radio Slave Remix) 
5) Infusion - So Soon (King Unique Remix)
6) Jay Lumen - Morning Call
7) Nic Fanciulli & Steve Mac - 10%
8) Delphic - Counterpoint (Paul Woolford Remix)
9) Popof - Shades
10) Nick Muir - Fu Man Chew
11) Niko Fantin - Fire Games (Venue 44 Edit)
12) 16 Bit Lolita's – Gig On The Moon
13) Gregor Tresher - The Life Wire
14) Freeland - Mancry (Gui Boratto Remix)
15) Darko Esser - Teardrops

My reviews on those CDs will be posted here later. 

 

RA D IOHE_AD at Leeds Festival

I love Radiohead because they are always unpredictable. Since the release of Pablo Honey in 1993, their metamorphosis has never ceased. After OK Computer achieved both commercial and indie success in a spacey and futuristic manner - 'the greatest rock album of all time' as suggested by the magazine polls - they surprised everyone by creating Kid A, a deep and experimental album mainly composed of ambient and electronic elements. Since then the soundscapes of the other albums have been built by fusions of rock and electronica, where musical boundaries are explored and actualised.

In Oct 2007 they did another pioneering act by releasing In Rainbows, whose digital copies' price was decided by the consumers. Limited box-sets containing 2 CDs (one of them contains 8 bonus tracks), 2 vinyl records, a lyric booklet and digital art were also available for pre-order (£40). The format of the box-sets were adapted by The Verve's Fourth and Oasis's Dig Out Your Soul later.

In Rainbows was out of my expectation because it is 'calmer' than Kid A and Hail To The Thief . It lacks the dark drive of the tracks like the former's 'Idioteque' and the latter's 'There There'. It is lighter and has a chill-out feeling in it. Therefore although it was intelligently constructed, it did not suit my palette perfectly.  

+ But it all changed after I watched them live at the Leeds Festival a couple of days ago.

Under the lit up cylinders, the band began their set with the complex percussion of '15 Step' (the time signature of the song is 5/4), the first track of In Rainbows. During the breakdown of the song, all of a sudden the melancholic melody created a resonance in me; and shorty after that when the energy level instantly soared again with the complex beats, I was overwhelmed. I told myself, 'I should listen to the album again.'

After listening to other tracks from In Rainbows in the set, I realised how much I had missed from the album. Yes it is softer than Kid A and Hail To The Thief, but the drive is there. Indeed the little step back from darkness has rendered fresh edginess that is capable of triggering immense resonance. This is utter genius, another surprise offered by Radiohead.

Another delightful thing about their set is that they played all the songs I hoped they would play except 'How To Disappear Completely' (I am not a big fan of 'Karma Police' really). Combining with the cutting-edge stage design - the lit up cylinders and the screens showing the action of all the the band members at the same time - every song performed was memorable. For me, it was not merely a concert- it was an art experience and is a highlight of my life.

Set List:

'15 Step'
'Airbag'
'There There'
'All I Need'
'Lucky'
'Nude'
'Morning Bell'
'Weird Fishes/Arpeggi'
'2+2=5'
'A Wolf At The Door'
'Videotape'
'(Nice Dream)'
'The Gloaming'
'Reckoner'
'The National Anthem'
'Bodysnatchers'
'Idioteque'
'You And Whose Army?'
'These Are My Twisted Words'
'Jigsaw Falling Into Place'
'Paranoid Android'
'Just'
'Everything In Its Right Place'

James Lavelle GU37 Bangkok

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It is no easy task to write a review on James Lavelle's mixes. An iconic figure in the music industry, Lavelle has produced a wonderful lot of classics with his partners in the group Unkle. 'Lonely Soul', 'Reign', 'In a State' (the Sasha remix is my favourite tune of all time)... you name it. Whilst his musical taste and creativity are impeccable, there are people who are disappointed by his technical skills of DJing. Yet with his immense contribution to the production side of music, especially to the electronic dance scene, it seems reasonable that we demand more from his track selection as well as programming than his mixing when reviewing his latest compilation album 'GU37 Bangkok'.

We all know that the range of Lavelle's musical taste is very wide. From his early days of 'Psyence Fiction', to 'Never, Never, Land' and then to 'War Stories', elements of hip hop, electronica and industrial rock can be successively found in his works. So when I first heard about this album, I expected a genre-crossing work that is able to melt down musical boundaries. 

From this perspective, CD1 is no disappointment. The orchestral violins from Unkle's 'Trouble in Paradise' matches with two rock tunes - 'Jetstream' by Doves and 'Summertime Clothes' by Animal Collective - nicely, and when the energy level of the mix drops to the lowest, James Holden's minimal tech track '10101' shines like a gem in the dark. The rest is mainly comprised of more electronic dance oriented tracks, one highlight is Unkle's very own 'Heavy Drug' (Surrender Sounds Mix) , with its euphoric melodies guiding the listener in a trip out of reality. Whilst most of the tracks on CD1 feature male vocal, School of Seven Bells' female vocal embedded 'Sempiternal/Amaranth' puts CD1 to an end.

It's a common practice that when creating a 2 CDs compilation album, the artist experiments with a wider variety of music on CD1, and then puts together a more club-oriented mix on CD2. This is what Lavelle did in this album; and in my opinion, CD2 is a disappointment.

The factors for the disappointment are twofold. First, due to the iconic status of Lavelle, I did expect an extraordinary, groundbreaking mix that fuses both club and more experimental music (electronic and/or rock) i.e. a mix that works both in the club and the bedroom on CD2. However, it turns out to be very clubbish, as it is mainly composed of popular big room dark techno tracks. Second, the mix sounds a bit obsolete. In fact, some of those tracks have been over-played for quite a while, such as Fergie's 'Break In', and Dubfire's remixes of System 7's 'Space Bird' and Radioslave's 'Grindhouse'. It is obvious that Lavelle has exerted efforts in re-working the tracks by implementing extra layering; nevertheless, as the house and techno scene is getting more melodic and sentimental these days, the dark vibe of CD2 (except the ending) sounds so not fresh, especially to those who are eager to keep abreast of the trends in the scene all the time. 

Programming-wise, Lavelle has done a good job on both CDs. The ups and downs of energy levels have been cautiously calculated, so both mixes are comfortable musical journeys. As for the mixing, oh well, I can't say it's bad, and neither can I say it's the strength of the legendary James Lavelle. 

Banksy and Anonymous Techno : a new form of resistance

When I first heard about Banksy's collaborating with Bristol's City Museum to organise an exhibition of his works, I was shocked. In fact, one of the most well-known acts by this (in)famous graffiti artist is vandalising art museums by installing his 'appropriated' works in the museums secretly. 'Is he going commercial?' or 'has he been tamed?' - questions like these came up in mind. In order to find out why such a man who has been upholding anti-establishment for so long made a deal with the government, I went to Bristol to take a look.

When arriving at the museum, we were told by the steward that it would be a 4 hr waiting and we might not get in. I looked around and saw people from all walks of life in the queue, what surprised me was the large number of parents taking their children to see the exhibition. If somebody suggested organising the same exhibition in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Government would undoubtedly see Banksy's works as immoral materials that would induce social disorder and inappropriate behaviour from our younger generations. But perhaps for those parents in the queue, the most inspiring qualities in Banksy's works for their children would be, rather than vandalism and rebellion, his wit and creativity.

The exhibition has the same stylistic and symbolic flavours as his mind-blowing book 'Wall and Piece' published a few years ago. My favourites are the swimming tesco fishcakes and the portrait hit by a toy arrow. Playful and sarcastic, he criticises social prejudice and inequalities via his 'appropriated paintings' and installations. One of the social phenomena that Banksy has been blaming the most is the domination of museum art. He argues that putting artworks in a museum is merely a practice to generate profits for a small group of individuals. To prevent this, the exhibition is free, so anybody can come to have some laughs about the current social system via his works.

When I discovered that Banksy's works were 'hidden' among the permanent exhibitions in the whole building, all my negative questions about him were answered positively. It was not difficult to spot out his works at all though - there were always people gathering in front of them and giggles could be heard, whilst the works by other artists were virtually ignored by the viewers. This time Banksy does not need to paste his work on the wall in disguise and count how long it would last; attention of the viewers no longer needs to be drawn. Rather than having been tamed, he has triumphed over museum art - gloriously yet still quite anonymously this time. 

The other day on Beatportal I read an article named 'The Function of identity in techno' (http://www.beatportal.com/feed/item/the-function-of-identity-in-techno/). It talks about what Dave Sumner aka Function, one of the founders of the techno label Sandwell District, thinks about 'anonymous techno' as a resistance to mainstream music. As its name suggests, anonymous techno is created by artists who tend not to reveal their identity. 'Well-known' anonymous techno artists include Detroit's Undergound Resistance, who perform in ski masks and black combat suits, Berlin's Basic Channel, who perform behind a black curtain, and of course, Function himself. The article has a few photos of Function, yet his face can not be seen. The reason why they conceal their identity is that they want their listeners to focus on their music. 'In the early and mid 90s, a lot of statements were made through techno,' he says. 'For years it was a faceless thing. Then techno got hijacked, and a lot of people starting acting like major labels, focused on superstars and big promotions.' 

Function believes that anonymous techno is a resisting force against the mainstream market. “To us, techno is a like a sister or a brother of punk. With techno, proper techno, there’s no compromise. It’s against the grain and focused on technology.' His music is characterised by its dark, purist and hypnotic approach: “It is cyclical, as is the process behind it. I get into a kind of self-induced hypnosis when I make music. When I can listen to a loop over and over again, for hours, and not get bored, I know it is perfect. It sucks me in.' Whilst this kind of deep and intelligent music upholds the ethos of underground dance music in its purest form, becoming more popular within the underground scene is inevitable. Collaborating with Beatport (doing an interview and selling music there), perhaps the most popular online store for electronic music, may have breached the doctrines of anonymous techno already. So how should anonymous techno artists cope with this problem of 'fame'?

Function reckons, 'nothing we have done has changed. There is a perception, or fear, that Sandwell might change because of the press and hype, and when we started getting some attention a few of our hardcore fans said ‘oh, they’re jumping on the minimal bandwagon’, but any artist should be measured on the strength of their work, and not on their hype.'

Indeed, a parallel can be drawn between Banksy and Function. Both are anonymous, and yet both are ironically famous; they represent a new form of resistance to mainstream media. 'Resistance and domination', developed and elaborated profoundly by the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, is one of the most important notions in classical British Cultural Studies. This notion refers to the interaction between the ideological domination of the privileged social groups and the symbolic resistance of the unprivileged social groups, and is expounded in the Centre's seminal work 'Resistance Through Rituals'. The book illustrates how subcultural groups (mainly from the working class) like Punks, Teds, Mods and Skinheads resist the dominant ideologies symbolically, e.g. spiky hair of the punks in opposition to ordinary hairstyles which symbolise formality. 

Whilst this notion was useful for mapping out the cultural phenomena in the past, many theorists have put forward that it is no longer valid nowadays due to the meltdown of class boundaries and the rapid information flow brought about by the advancement of computer technology, e.g. Internet. We have entered the era of post-subculture, in which minority groups, (the underground artists in our case) interact with the majority (mainstream media) differently from the past. 

Of course the opposition between underground and mainstream still exists, but there has been more collaboration between underground and mainstream than ever, and without a doubt it will continue to grow rapidly. Last year when I was doing my MA at Goldsmiths I attended a guest lecture by Kode 9 aka Steve Goodman, the owner of the Dubstep label Hyberdub. The lecture was about 'sonic virology' - a conceptual model for mapping out how underground musicians interact with the mainstream market like viruses. Besides attacking the host (mainstream market), collaborating with the host for mutual benefits (mutual symbiosis) is also a key for the relationship. One good example for that would be Hyberdub's producer Burial having done a remix for the track 'And It Rained All Night' from Thom Yorke's solo album 'Eraser'.

Therefore, it can be seen that the pure opposition between domination (mainstream) and resistance (underground) is outmoded. The demarcation between them is becoming fluid and a new form of resistance is on the rise - resistance with collaboration. Whilst some may worry that underground artists will lose their core values and characters, safeguarding the underground ethos and quality will be the key in this kind of resistance - Banksy and anonymous techno artists like Function have already set good examples for us.

"Walking in My Mind" exhibition at the Hayward Gallery

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Showcasing the works by ten artists from Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, the UK, Netherlands and USA, the "Walking in My Mind" exhibition at the Hayward Gallery aims to materialise the creative aspect of the mind into "landscapes" that the viewers can walk through. 

The most eye-catching work of the exhibition probably is Japanese artist YaYoi Kusama's 
Dots Obsession
, (see the picture above) which consists of large red spotted balloons placed in a mirrored corridor and in a sculpture terrace covered with green carpets resembling a lawn. According to the exhibition guide, her signature polka dots "emerged as the result of recurring hallucinations in which the artist found herself and all her surroundings covered in the same pattern." 

Whilst all the works in the exhibition reflect the creative mind of the artist by transforming it into a physical space that the viewers can participate in, my favourite work of the exhibition is Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist's 
Extremities (smooth smooth)
. Viewers are invited to sit in the centre of a dark room where gigantic images of a foot, hand, ear, breast, mouth, as well as white molecules are projected to the surrounding black curtains in a floaty manner; accompanying the ephemerally recurrent images is an eerie female vocal singing lines like "you are a molecule", and "you are a butterflower" in abnormal pitches. Generated by the sum of those elements is a trippy, hypnotic experience in an attempt to meltdown the demarcation between dream and reality. Rist states in the exhibition guide,

"I also call this work 'Sleeping Room'... The room symbolizes the bedroom and sleeping, when our awareness of extremities dissipates. In uncensored dreams, physical and medical facts become inconsequential. Identity soars in space, becoming a Milky way; body parts take on lives of their own. The visual circles around the extremities."

In my mini-essay about DJing and dance music (see the entry on 25 July 2009), I deploy Scott Lash's concept of art becoming communication. Apparently, the concept matches with this exhibition nicely as well. As its names suggests, the works in this exhibition were specifically designed for the participation and experience of the viewers; without the latter the works can never be completed. Therefore the works actually are channels for the communication between the artists and the viewers - the ephemerality of the images in Rist's work already reflects the rapidity of the informational flow in such reflexive communication - a kind of communication that leads you outside the reality.  

Arsenal's revolution?

Wenger ready for Arsenal revolution

Manager to deploy team in bold new formation to exploit talent of young squad

By Sam Wallace, Football correspondent

Tuesday, 4 August 2009

Arsene Wenger is considering changing to a 4-3-3 formation this season to accommodate his young attacking talents in what would be a radical departure from the Arsenal manager's usual 4-4-2 system. Wenger used the 4-3-3 formation in the weekend's two Emirates Cup games and has worked extensively with the players on that style during pre-season in Austria.


The new approach would be much more similar in style to the one used to such great success last season by Barcelona and would be spearheaded by a single centre-forward in either Robin van Persie or Eduardo da Silva. Although it would be a culture shock for a team accustomed to playing 4-4-2 under Wenger, it explains the Frenchman's confidence at allowing Emmanuel Adebayor to leave the club.

The feeling at Arsenal is that Wenger will give the system a more exacting test by using it against Valencia in the friendly on Saturday and if he feels that his players have sufficiently adapted then he will use it against Everton in the first Premier League game the following week. It would mean keeping Andrei Arshavin on the left wing and using Theo Walcott on the right of an attacking three.

In terms of the midfield three, Alex Song would be favourite to play the holding midfield role behind a pairing of Cesc Fabregas and one from Denilson, Tomas Rosicky, Aaron Ramsey, Fran Merida of even Jack Wilshere who impressed over the weekend against Atletico Madrid and Rangers. The concern for Wenger is the defensive aspect of the formation.

Talking about the change to his team's formation on Saturday, the Arsenal manager said: "I wanted to see how it works because we have many offensive players and maybe we have to tighten up a bit in midfield to keep balance between offence and defence. But I wanted to see how it works in a game and I am quite happy with it." He mentioned the importance of the "tactical cohesion" in his programme notes for the weekend.

The weakness is where Wenger finds a holding midfielder as an alternative for Song who is still some distance from establishing himself in that position. Abou Diaby can play that role and there are still the rumblings about Patrick Vieira returning. However, it is understood that despite Wenger's cryptic answers on the subject he has made no move to sign him.

He has been priced out of any move for Daniele de Rossi, the Roma and Italy midfielder, who at a valuation of around £30m would not be viable for Wenger. His move for the Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh is starting to gain momentum with the player giving an outspoken interview in L'Equipe yesterday outlining his desire to leave.

The 25-year-old has been the subject of one offer of around £6.5m from Wenger which has been dismissed outright by Bordeaux who have priced the player at £15m but would probably settle for closer to £12m. Chamakh, who was pulled out of a friendly on Sunday against Villarreal said it was his "dream" to join Arsenal.

"I am angry, I am even disgusted [with Bordeaux]," he said. "I don't understand why people are doing this to me. I believe I deserve more consideration. I am a year from the end of my contract and the club [Bordeaux] wants to make it all about money."

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/wenger-ready-for-arsenal-revolution-1766864.html

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Arsenal looked good in 4-3-3 so far, yet I'm also looking forward to the chemistry between Van Persie and Eduardo in the traditional 4-4-2 formation.

As a lone-striker, Eduardo is apparently better than Van Persie, because: i) that's his usual position in the Croatia national team, ii) his finishing is much better than that of Van Persie.

But that doesn't necessarily devalue VPS's importance in the team because VPS's best position is the one behind the main striker, being responsible for linking up the main striker and the midfielders with his exceptional ball control and passing skills.

In my opinion they should play together, although according to the friendly matches Arsenal have played so far, Arsene Wenger does not have the same idea.

One thing for sure is that Adebayor's departure is good for the team. Gone are his sloppy passes and waste of goal-scoring chances; Arsenal now are so efficient attack-wise, and they have plenty of attacking players to cope with injury problems as well.

Of course defense and stability throughout the season will be the problems that Arsene Wenger has to tackle. I do hope that he will bring some experienced defenders with quality to the team (not some players like Silvestre please, he's a dynamite). Putting Alex Song to the centre-back position is suicidal.

As an Arsenal fan, honestly I am confident that Arsenal will remain in the top 4 yet I don't think they will win the championship because with the young age of the players they will lack the stability throughout the season however hard Arsene Wenger will try to deal with it.

Be that as it may, I like how Wenger treats football as an art and how the budding talents execute his ideas. It's always hard to strike a balance between art and (practical) success. For me, I'd rather be a poor artist who can produce sensational artworks.