In the eyes of world-renowned milliner Stephen Jones, hats are the punctuation of fashion. Like a shrewdly positioned comma, a hat can bring a whole new meaning to a couture ensemble that never before existed. In a career spanning almost three decades, Stephen has provided the punctuation for fashion’s elite (including John Galliano, Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Westwood and Rae Kawakubo) with his millinery creations gracing the world’s most coveted catwalks, and he has also created hats for personalities such as Boy George and Kylie Minogue. Most recently, the talented milliner has channelled his talents and passion for hats into an exhibition for London’s V&A Museum, Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones, which will take up residence at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art from March 27. Continue reading ‘international dreamer - stephen jones’
Archive for the 'International' Category
‘poor thinking’ plagues humanity - edward de bono
Edward de Bono is an inventor and problem solver who coined the term ‘lateral thinking’ and he was the first winner of the Capire prize in Madrid for a significant contribution to humankind through his groundbreaking ideas on the way we think.
Map Magazine attended his speech on February 01 at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
During question time, when we asked him “what’s the purpose of life?”, he responded with an aussie joke. We’re not so sure what that meant, but one of his key points about creativity was humour. We’ve outlined his main points below.
Continue reading ‘‘poor thinking’ plagues humanity - edward de bono’
Design Jazz
This video captures a design project that I was involved in. It is a street furniture design collaboration between Pratt Institute’s Design Incubator, Sustainable South Bronx (SSBx), Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects and the community of Hunts Point, New York. One of the many things that inspired involvement in the project, was the emotionally charged talk by SSBx Founder, Majora Carter, on TED.com where she shows how minority neighborhoods suffer most from flawed urban policy.
no joke.
From Fast Company: Aside from the Internet, no single invention might be as important to globalization as the shipping container. No joke.
Power of self
The Power of Self. A competition about the potential of self-portraiture. From Salvador Dali to Cindy Sherman the self has been the subject of all the art world’s greats. The self-portrait transcends medium, style and period, existing in the vast space between the personal and prophetic. This competition is about your story, your image and the power they hold. (PS It’s a worldwide competition and the prize is 6 months living in New York- go enter!)
centre for urban pedagogy
While the effects of public policies can be widespread, the discussion and understanding of policies are usually not. The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) is a New York non-profit that works to publicize and educate on important social and city issues and making them accessible to everyone. To do this they have successfully used the power of art and design to partner with schools and communities. One of their ongoing programs is “Making Policy Public” which aims to make information on policy truly public (accessible, meaningful, and shared) by partnering advocates with designers to create pamphlets on a particular issue. The current collaborations explores policy issues such as parks, rights of workers, and affordable housing.
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” The wise words of Albert Einstein have never been more pertinent than in today’s world, as we face climate change’s tipping point. But one person heeding the call is young Sydney-raised, Singapore-based entrepreneur, Dorjee Sun. Upon learning the plight of Indonesia’s orangutans as a result of the country’s dire forest clearing, Dorjee used his skills learned from the Dot Com boom to set up a carbon-trading company, Carbon Conservation, and developed a scheme based on ‘avoided deforestation’. His plan is that farmers and companies should be paid to protect the forests instead of clearing them to plant cash crops. The funding comes from trading the carbon stored in the forests on an international exchange, like stocks or shares. But the challenge Dorjee faces is a great scepticism from those in the position to invest. Undeterred, the young entrepreneur will not rest until he reaches his goal of a $100 million forest protection fund supported by respected businesses, institutions and politicians across the globe. Continue reading ‘international dreamer – dorjee sun’
faces from the frontline
Meet Hamish Cairns. Hamish is a photographer. He recently returned to Brisbane from Pakistan and what he describes as World War III happening there right now. “This is worse than Vietnam, but there’s no information,” he says. As someone who witnessed the situation first-hand, he believes it should be headlining the news every day. “What’s happening there is going to change the world we live in,” he says. His photographic exhibition PAKISTAN - Faces From the Frontline will display shots of actual refugees who have fled the warzone.
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Designing Obama: the book
The Obama presidential campaign was innovative. For the first time in American politics, a candidate used art and design to bring together the American people—capturing their voices in a visual way. The Design Director of the Obama campaign, Scott Thomas, has collaborated with artists and designers to create Designing Obama, a chronicle of the professional and grassroots art from the historic campaign. In the same ‘power to the people’ spirit, they are self-publishing the book and are only printing as many books ordered to avoid wasted paper. They have been using the campaign model of small pledge donations from supporters, and partnered with KickStarter to help fund the first run of books. You have until November 4th to get in on this deal.
Stormwater systems in cities are typically designed to get rid of rain water, but with increasingly violent rainstorms and aging infrastructure systems, low lying cities are more vulnerable to flooding. This has lead the Dutch office ‘DE URBANISTEN’ to came up with a new solution for this growing worldwide problem. Created for the City of Rotterdam, Waterpleinen (Watersquare) seeks to catch the rain and create playful public features while preserving the water quality in the canals. Continue reading ‘Waterpleinen’
the fun theory
Via Volkswagen - “We believe that the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better is by making it fun to do. We call it the fun theory. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better”.
A 19-year-old Shirley Spear sat in a charming old restaurant that she and her then-boyfriend had discovered whilst backpacking on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Enchanted by the simple fare and fairytale location, Shirley was compelled to eat there again the next night. But perhaps it was something stronger that drew her to this restaurant again. For, little did she know, ten years later she would leave her PR job in London, and move with her husband and two young children to the remote Scottish island to purchase that very same restaurant, The Three Chimneys. With no professional cooking experience to speak of, and with her husband working front of house, Shirley set about building the tiny locale into a gourmet nook that would showcase the best of Scottish cuisine whilst still maintaining the warmth and hospitality of homecooking. Twenty-five years later, The Three Chimneys has twice been named amongst the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, with food critics the world over lauding its food creations. Continue reading ‘international dreamer – shirley spear’
sergei mikhailovich prokudin-gorskii
Can you believe this photo is from 1909? It was taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, a chemist, photographer and one of the first to pioneer colour photography. The image was part of Prokudin-Gorskii’s ambitious project to document the Russian Empire circa 1907 and 1915. Travelling around in a specially fitted darkroom railroad car, Prokudin-Gorskii documented the history and culture of the empire using his own method of colour photography. He took three consecutive photographs of his subjects with three separate filters – red, blue and green. The filters were then layered on top of each other and projected into full colour. The results are vivid, eerie and captivating. Using digital processing, the Library of Congress restored the images and is exhibiting the collection online. Image via the Library of Congress.
With a heart that beats fervently with the pulse of compassion and social justice, Mary Robinson has devoted her life to ensuring that each of the world’s citizens lives with the human rights they deserve. From being elected the first female President of Ireland (from 1990–1997), to stepping down to become the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary’s journey has been fuelled most by her positive spirit. Standing alongside Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, Aung San Suu Kyi, Kofi Annan and Desmond Tutu as one of the Elders – an independent group of respected world leaders and champions of human rights – her newest project, Realising Rights: the Ethical Globalisation Initiative, supports and promotes equitable trade, corporate responsibility, the right to health, humane migration polices, gender equality and global accountability. She will soon bring her inspiring crusade for equal human rights to Brisbane, when she delivers the 2009 Griffith Lecture as part of Brisbane Festival. Continue reading ‘international dreamer – mary robinson’
Life paths can be funny things. Just when you think you’re heading smoothly in one direction, you hit a dead end. Or perhaps an opportunity comes up that takes you down a series of smaller paths that lead you to one you never knew existed. Or you come to a crossroads that could lead to two very different outcomes. For the past 33 years, entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie’s life path has taken him in many directions. And from missing out on one-million dollars by only four minutes, to starting a reality television network that was ruthlessly quashed by Rupert Murdoch, he has experienced his share of disappointment. But, as is the case with life, these disappointments were all part of the path that would lead him to his true purpose. In 2006, while on a holiday in Argentina, Blake was inspired to create TOMS shoes, a one-for-one business that, for every pair sold, gives a pair of shoes to a child in need. Continue reading ‘international dreamer – blake mycoskie’
Environmental activism can take many forms. Some opt for aggressive sensationalism, others appeal to their governments for action, while some simply lead by example in their own personal actions. For Canadian artist Nicole Dextras, activism takes the form of art. In her Weedrobes series of ephemeral sculptures – composed of materials such as hydrangea flowers, magnolia leaves, thorns, yucca leaves, crab apples, and hemp thread – Nicole presents a fascinating take on wearable art. Through her sculptures, Nicole explores the dysfunctional relationship between people’s bodies, the fashion industry and the environment, questioning the attitudes towards dominance and the need for excessiveness in society.
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Some people are sure of their destined career from the moment they can talk; others simply fall into it, discovering their passion out of necessity rather than pursuit. For the man now known by many as the world’s greatest living chef, Spaniard Ferran Adriá, it was the latter. At the age of 18, after studying economics, he took a job as a dishwasher in order to earn some quick cash to pay for a party-fuelled holiday in Ibiza. But soon he had graduated from sinks to salads, and when his compulsory service in the Spanish Navy gave him the opportunity to become head chef of a kitchen, Ferran’s passion was well-and-truly ignited. While on leave from the military, he applied for a one-month traineeship at elBulli – then a French haute cuisine-inspired restaurant – in Cala Montjoi, about 160 km north of Barcelona. Immediately his talents began to bloom and Ferran was offered the position of line chef. Soon after he was appointed one of the restaurant’s head chefs, assuming the helm autonomously in 1987. But it wasn’t until 1990, when he became co-owner of elBulli, that Ferran began to focus all of his passion and creativity into his culinary work, and the gastronomic wizardry that has seen him revolutionise the art of cooking began to take place.
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It’s been a big 7 days in the planet’s history. While one of the most loved lies shrouded in mystery, another, as equally revered, is basking in bright, renewable sunlight. In a historic vote approving the Clean Energy and Security Act, Barak Obama has revealed a new America to the world. This bill sets the stage for the dawn of the clean energy future. While imperfect, it sets forth a set of goals America must achieve — and exceed. The bill’s most important achievement is setting the United States on a path to reduce carbon emissions some 80 percent by 2050, a signal accomplishment necessary to preserve the planet for future generations. But this event pales in comparison to the Obama’s vegetable garden, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt planted one in honour of America’s victory in World War II. It’s refreshing to see a leader, leading isn’t it?
If you were lucky enough to see it, Earth from Above was the stirring, photographic installation project of Frenchman Yann Arthus-Bertrand that toured the world. A decade in the making, the collection of images taken from the air, documented both the World’s natural and man-made happenings. Not satisfied with either the exhibition, or DVD of the same images, in 2009, Yann, who was possibly inspired by Jehane Noujaim’s Pangea Day, is releasing Home. In partnership with French film director Luc Besson, and a global PR firm, Yann is simultaneously broadcasting the film on the same day in over 50 countries. That day, is World Environment Day, June 5. There’s no place like home. (Apologies, it’s late…;)
are you doing it?
“…and the ones who are, aren’t doing it very well ” (That is the end of the anonymous quote that’s missing from the photo). This is part of the “What Has Architecture Done For You Lately?” exhibition currently at the Toronto Design Exchange. The exhibition explores architecture through perceptions of success, equality, emotion, health, and the environment.
