Serene Saturday... The Art of Slumber

How fascinating it is that what one may find most intriguing is the very thing that is the farthest from that individual’s own being. Perhaps fascinating is not the correct word, as that very concept, essentially reverse psychology, is a human’s instinctive behavior; what one may see as unfamiliar, generally, becomes utterly captivating to him or her.

I have always been mesmerized by the act of sleeping; ironically, sleep is a luxury I have been unable to attain. How glorious it is to have a period where the thousands of unrelated and minuscule actions experienced throughout the day are blended into a cohesive vision. It is a brief moment where reality and reverie collide, diving into a brilliant world of unimaginable world where everything is upside down and backwards in a strikingly beautiful way.

Being lost in such a meditative thought, I had to look towards the Romantic poets for answers. William Wordsworth poem “To Sleep” (one of three of the poems titled “To Sleep”) encapsulates a contemplative thought where the speaker unearths his or her own uneasiness towards the calm and serene act of sleeping.


"To Sleep" (1806)
- William Wordsworth

O GENTLE SLEEP! do they belong to thee,
These twinklings of oblivion? Thou dost love
To sit in meekness, like the brooding Dove,
A captive never wishing to be free.
This tiresome night, O Sleep! thou art to me
A Fly, that up and down himself doth shove
Upon a fretful rivulet, now above
Now on the water vexed with mockery.
I have no pain that calls for patience, no;
Hence am I cross and peevish as a child:
Am pleased by fits to have thee for my foe,
Yet ever willing to be reconciled:
O gentle Creature! do not use me so,
But once and deeply let me be beguiled.

(Oil Painting: The Mask By Kathy Ostman-Magnusen)

F*ck It Friday! Thoughts on "Nothingness"

Hmmm… how mundane our lives are. For F*ck It Friday I decided to post a novel written by the brilliant Jean-Paul Sartre as this work seems to reflect the idea of life being extremely dull, which in turn causes us to get a bad case of the “F*ck Its.”

Nausea has been one of Sartre’s most notable and intriguing novels. Chronicling the life of a Historian, Sartre depicts human life as a trivial existence that misappropriates the gravity expressed towards petty issues. The novel illustrates our humdrum lives as simply being a meaningless existence; this concept reflects his existentialist philosophical perception on the art of “being.” The Main character experiences a strange and sickening sensation he is unable to identify which seems to be Sartre’s way of illustrating the pain we feel after discovering our lives are essentially worthless.

Depressing isn’t it? It appears we are afraid to acknowledge we exist in an essence that is separate from other people and material objects: “existence precedes essence.” Ultimately, there is this bare existence that is utterly tragic. Human life is incredibly isolating and meaningless, and in order to “get by” if you will, we must assert our own existence and escape into the nothingness that our insignificant lives offer.

Say Whaaaa? Wednesday!

Just when you thought fashion could not get any more eccentric someone like Isabel Mastache comes along and knocks down the wall of conventional style.

At Cibeles Madrid Fashion Week for fall 2010, Isabel appears to have pulled off a… creative isn’t quite the word I’m looking for… “exciting” show for the male fashion fanatic with a pair of penis pants. Get it? “Excited”… like when a man is… well you get it; sorry, I suck at puns. She also took influence from famed movies and story books such as The Wizard of Oz and Where the Wild Things. Isabel’s frivolity towards fashion is a breath of sexual promiscuity mixed with the reverie of childhood innocence… strange combination but it makes for a good show! She has truly created an illustrative line that restores the much needed risk that is essential to artistic growth and creativity.

Stay Tuned...

I will be having three theme days...

"Say Whaaaaaa? Wednesday"
"Fuck it Friday"
"Serene Saturday"

You all will see what each theme day will entail, however, I'm guessing the names are self explanatory... sort of. They will be fab and fun and, as per usual, stick to the themes of art, poetry and fashion!

The Body and Blood of Art... really.

The spectrum of artistic creativity has an extremely long and winding plane that seems to be warping in and out of consciousness every minute. Does that even make sense?
An artist by the name of Gunther von Hagen has created a controversial form of art that has ruffled a lot of the tight wads feathers. His art is a display of partially dissected corpses in varying poses, mostly sporting positions. Von Hagen’s exhibit will be arriving in my city, Calgary, in May 2010 at the Science Center.

I am utterly fascinated by such a brilliant way to expose the bleak reality of the human body’s inevitable demise. Not only is von Hagen unearthing the complex beauty of our biological inner workings, his art reflects a notion that the conventional world seems to cast as arrogant: Our bodies do not hold any type of significant substance, our physical selves are ultimately flesh and bone which will whittle away into the nothingness of our world. He is elevating the concept of self identity by illustrating the misappropriation of value that is placed onto our physical bodies.

Am I going out on a far out limb here? Is von Hagen taking his anatomist background and simply experimenting with art? Maybe… all I know is the radical fusion he is creating sure made my mind go to a tea party with Charles Darwin and Jean-Paul Sartre.

NYFW 2010 Wrap Up!

It is safe to say that New York Fashion Week for fall 2010 was all about “the statement” look. Furs, embellishments, velvet, structured leather and pure elegance rushed the cat walks with their warm and welcoming presence. The trends are a true return to luxury with a simplistic twist. The material mash-ups and long skirts are definitely a note to make in your fall 2010 shopping must haves if you’re thinking that far ahead… like me.
(Photo: Brian Reyes Fall 2010)

The Origin of Art in Paris

While reviewing the prints and patterns for spring 2010 I realized how much fashion reflects every era our earth has experienced; I am not talking just about the 20th century either. The faded colors of ancient etchings and paintings on stone, and the images themselves, are used constantly as inspiration for a unique fabric.
SO, in the midst of this revelation I discovered an interesting cave I wanted to share.

The Paleolithic cave paintings in Lascaux are beautifully crafted works of art that are said to be over 16,000 years old. In the southwest of France there is a complex of caves that consist primarily of realistic images of animals, humans and abstract signs that total over 2000 images.
Discovered in 1940 the cave has been open then closed, then open, then closed again due to damages by the public, air conditioning systems and high powered lights that were installed in the caves for tourists. In 2008 the cave had been closed for at least 3 months for scientific research and preservation.
The images are truly remarkable and varying in size and brilliant colors. The paintings origin are unclear, however, there have been theories ranging from the pictures being constructed from astrological mapping to visions experienced during ritualistic trance-dancing.

Matching Denim hot for Spring 2010?!

... Well, I'm really into it; however, matching the denim in the proper way.
Is there a technique to it? Absolutely, and it can go utterly wrong if you are not extremely careful about your pickings and may end up looking like a color coordinated farmer. No, we do not want that people.

My suggestions:

1. Make sure the denims that you are attempting to match has shades that are far from matching!!! Avoid wearing denims that are too close in color... go for a dark pant with a light top or vice versa.
2. Avoid "western" accessories; try pairing chic and "uptown/mod" shoes and jewelry with the outfit... we don't want to look like we are traveling back to 2004 when boho chic came in do we?!
3. Id try to stay away from that camel/tan color all together when it comes to bags and accessories. Again, the "western" theme is not what we want. Go for black, deep brown or Burgundy belts, bags and shoes.
4. Finally, make sure the cuts of the denim are current, borderline TOO current, possibly verging on the line of being labeled "so 20__" if you get my drift? If your not wearing matching denims that are clearly "now" fashion (ie. boyfriend patched jeans, worn denim (sooo key this season), skinny jeans etc) you risk looking like the farmer we have been trying to avoid!

MKA finally debute "The Row" at NYFW!

So Mary-Kate and Ashley finally showed their Fall 2010 line of The Row at New York's Fashion week! I am a huge fan of anything MKA so I drooled the entire show... absolutely breathtaking.
The mix of textured navy blues, sheer fabric and accents of leather paired beautifully with the seamless tailoring of the dress pants, asymmetrical skirts and discretely ruched cocktail dresses. The line reflected the New York woman who claims to "only take 15 minutes to get ready in the morning"; we know these women are lying but, to be honest, they can say whatever they want when they are dressed that fabulous!

Sleep Till Death

Striking from hell’s angry grave,
We are aloft the white peaks of a mad sea.
While shells of skulls and earth remain,
The flesh of bone perishes amid the furry.

Niamh’s Bones

Under her tread, the gut of the land
Soaks her worn shoes, soiling her apron.
Forming her childlike frame into a pitiful arch
Her flesh fell into a breaking fear,
Grasping rotten potatoes buried
In the grime asylum of a bog.
Amongst the sodden packet
Of the others, she held her breath
In the midst of dying thickets;
None of which could shelter quarried lovers.
The field offered no sense or nonsense,
Only muffled winds and famished souls.
In silence, they become the maggots
Of a shivering havoc.

The Peril of Virtue

Hope is the one
Who fools us all.
The wake of an inferno;
it engulfs our trembling
lungs like a seething furnace
who burns its coal
in a fury of kindling.

It sprays fumes of purple haze
And spews a stream of flame
From a flamed vent
Far too heavy to conquer.
Cobalt ashes and a singing blaze
Silence the sound of reason,
Flogging our delirium.

A desolate sanctuary
For screeching lambs
Misguided into a wasted league,
Aloft the desperation of fate,
Are propelled into a wrath
Of void and spellbound red.

This fathomless beast becomes
our slumber and our exile.