Tag Archives: Arts

Culture, Lifestyle

New year, new beginning

Even though I don’t really believe in New Year’s resolutions – I think people should try to be the best version of themselves throughout the whole year and also make resolutions at any moment it becomes necessary – I actually do have some resolutions for this year.

The first one, which I’ve already started working on since November, are getting fitter, physically and also mentally. Having struggled with eating disorders for the past ten years, I’m becoming aware of the results of the horrible things I did to my body. I’m also noticing how my former lifestyle is affecting my health and how it might affect me in the future. Therefore, I started taking care of myself, which includes working out regularily, eating healthier, drinking less alcohol and sleeping more (and much better without the usual glas, glasses or sometimes masses of wine I used to have).

And since body and mind go hand in hand when it comes to your well-being, I also decided that I would challenge my brain more. At first, I started with the idea of simply increasing my IQ and trained myself by doing some IQ test preparation on my phone everytime I was taking public transports. In the meanwhile, I was thinking about how I could also become more creative. I have to admit that I kind of feel ashamed when people find out that I once started writing a blog, when I’m now totally lacking of inspiration and commitment. So I’m now planning on writing for at least half an hour a day – about anything, regardless of how it it could affect potential readers. (I’ve read that becoming adults, we lose the spontaneity that kids have. Kids just start drawing, writing, being creative without minding how their work will be perceived. As adults, we first of all think about the result we try to achieve, and sometimes get frustrated with our creative attempts, which of course, turn out to not be that creative in the end. So in order to escape this vicious circle, I’m trying to stop overthinking. I can still do that when it finally comes to publishing what I’ve written.) I hope in that way, I will be able to collect some ideas which are worth working with. That being said, I’ve no clue which direction this blog will take. There will certainly be less posts about fashion (there are so many talented people who are alreday doing a great job by writing about fashion). Instead, I will probably share more of my personal thoughts, concerns, opinions. Or to say it in a different way, I will use the blog for its initial purpose.

A few weeks ago, I read an article on the website of The Guardian. It was an critique on a modern artist whose name I forgot. (It also doesn’t matter in is case.) What really striked me in this article was the critivc asking if the artist had ever thought about what she actually wanted to express and in which way her art should affect the recipient. Apparently, she just went from painting to publishing, staying in the childish approach of not thinking about what kind of an impact her art could have. In any case, I thought that the question of purpose was a relevant one. And even though some people might say that art should have no purpose, I never shared this opinion. Also, I sometimes get the impression that modern artists don’t seem to care very much about how their art is received or if it’s accessible. But that’s another chapter. What I initially wanted to express with this rather huge parenthesis is, that even though I’ve given some thought to the possible reactions of potential readers and to the question if I could make an impact with my texts (probably not), I have no answer to that at all. And so I’m satisfied that a blog isn’t a piece of art.

Anyway, I hope I will succeed in sticking to my New Year’s resolutions and maybe, some interesting texts will come out.

Happy New Year!

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Fashion

Miss Dior exposition

It’s been a while that I haven’t done anything against the intellectual decline which is haunting me since the day I graduated from school and so I decided that it would probably be a good idea to spend a couple of my evenings going to some expositions instead of watching a whole season of Pretty Little Liars in only one week. Still, despite of all my good will, I’ve never been a fan of classic museums and to be honest, I can’t imagine any place which gets me bored out faster than the world famous Louvre. So I have to start light. That’s why, when I read an article about the new Miss Dior exhibition which opened today at the Grand Palais in Paris, I thought I should give it a try. Also, I already was very cultural last Sunday when I went to the new exposition of Brassaï : pour l’amour de Paris which I enjoyed very much and which gave me the courage to do more cultural stuff. And so today, right after work, I went to see Miss Dior. Actually, I was expecting that it would be crowded. Brassaï was. And I was also expecting many many teenage girls, the kind of girls who are subscribed to Glamour magazine and who always tie their long sleek hair to a pony tail. You can spot them in the 17th arrondissement of Paris or around La Sorbonne. In summer, it’s even easier to recognize them because they also wear those huge sunglasses which became famous thanks to the wonderful Audrey Hepburn, and they usually wear ballet pumps. But not any kind, Repetto, please! Since this is Kate Moss’ favourite brand. Maybe it was the thought of the perfume Miss Dior which made me think that, maybe it was its name. It’s very fresh and flowery, notes that I used to wear when I was fifteen. I remember that Riley Keough used to be the ambassador of Miss Dior Chérie in 2008, she was nineteen at that time but looked much younger. I also always had the conception of the perfume Miss Dior being a very young fragrance. Furthermore, the word “miss” never made me think of a grown up woman, although I know that it just indicates a woman’s marital status but not her age. All in all, I was almost sure that the tonight’s exposition would be very girly, from its content to the people who would go and see it. Fortunately, none of my expectations were fulfilled. The first thing I saw when I came in was this huge, typical flacon of Miss Dior which was in the middle of a beautiful entry hall. The stairs, which then led to the exposition, were bathed in very bright, white and light pink light which made the ugliness of the industrial looking staircase fade away. When I finally arrived in the hall were the exposition takes place, I felt like being in a perfumery. Not only it smelled really nice there, the fact that I got one of those paper strips for perfume which was impregnated with the Miss Dior fragrance increased that feeling. And the place was simply beautiful. I didn’t even know where to start, there were light installations, pictures, paintings, dresses and of course flacons everywhere. And everything is set in the way that permits visitors to circulate as they want. There’s not the typical entry and exit you can mostly see in classic museums, and I really appreciated that. The exposition itself is very fresh, very modern. I think it’s fair to say that it represents the idea of the Miss Dior universe in the best way it could. There are a lot of facts about Christian Dior as a person and as a designer and you can get quite a good idea of his inspiration, his muses and of course, the history of Miss Dior. In addition to that, there are many works of art which are as varied as the different conceptions every one of the artists has to the theme of the exposition. And I have to ad that the different interpretations are really worth to be seen. Anyway, I guess it’s quite obvious that I had a great time. For everyone who is interested, the exposition is still on until the 25th of November 2013.

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Paris

Autumn in Paris

Now that November arrived, it already becomes less easy to find eccentrically or very well dressed people in Paris, mostly because they are all covered in black winter coats. That’s something very Parisian, by the way. As soon as summer is over, people change their (sometimes overly) coloured clothes against much darker items. Especially when it starts raining, the national grief about the end of those two weeks of summer, which nature gives to Paris every year, can be particularly well observed. There is no single umbrella which isn’t black, except the transparent ones which mark a new trend, and except the funny umbrellas tourists use when they’re not wearing one of those bin-bag-like raincoats. And it’s not only the dark colours which make the city look like a grieving widow, but people suddenly also start to walk with their heads down, and not only when it’s raining. And besides of being very annoying, making a slalom run through all those people who might or might not bump into you can also be very entertaining. What I personally also find very funny is when people approach till a few centimetres close until they finally see your feet and stop walking. The look they give you then, as if you were Albus Dumbledore who just appeared out of nowhere, is priceless. I have to admit that I sometimes force this situation, just for my own amusement.
But I’m getting carried away, because I actually would like to present you two styles which I like a lot.
On the first picture, you see a very good friend of mine who is wearing a cool combination of jeans and leather. Black leather jackets by the way happen to be of my favourite items, amongst others. Except for very few people, they immediately give you the coolness of James Dean. And even dorky girls like me suddenly look like some hot biker chick that could also be in some calendar for guys (except that we keep our t-shirts on, and also our pants). Usually, people combine leather jackets with jeans. My friend also does that, but she’s wearing a jeans shirt. And you don’t see that very often. That’s why I like her look.
The second picture was taken in the Marais. This girl walked by and it was a coincidence that I noticed her amazing coat. So I, crazy person as I am, started running after her, telling her to wait in French. When I finally reached her, I found out that she was American and that she wasn’t afraid of me, but that she just didn’t speak French. She also told me that she had made the coat herself.
I just love the simple elegancy of her outfit and the little golden details on her shoes and her bag that match perfectly. I’m still happy about having run after her.

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Fashion

PS Paris Fashion Week

Since I kind of announced it in y last post, I think I should actually share the few pictures I did mention. So here they are: One picture showing André Leon Talley after the show of Maison Rabih Kayrouz, and three more pictures of bloggers whose style I highly appreciate.

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Just blogging

Jonas Alaska

Since I metioned him in my article about Mikhael Paskalev, I somehow have the feeling that I should definitely also shortly present the equally talented Jonas Alaska, who has already had some great success in Norway. With the release of his debut self-titled album in 2011, Jonas Alaska was nominated in three different categories for the Norwegian Grammy and he finally won in the categorie of the « Best New Act ».
Recently, Jonas Alaska released his second album If Only As A Ghost in Norway. The album’s first single I Saw You Kid immediately became one of the top 5 hits in the radio charts. After having listened to this single, I can say that it’s perfectly understandable why it became such a hit in such short time. What I especially like about this song is the fact that there’s some sort of discrepancy between the melody and the lyrics, which are very intelligent by the way. All of his songs sound very light and relaxed, but then the lyrics are quite serious. And it’s this funny mix that makes his music so interesting.
To give you a small foretaste of his music, you can find a short list of song which are my favourites below (besides the two great songs that I mention above, of course).

​October
In the Backseat
Dark At Last

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Just blogging

Har Mar Superstar

It’s always nice when being disconnected from your gadgets for a couple of days, because even after a short time, being connected again opens a whole new world for you and so much interesting stuff is suddenly going on and there are plenty of things to discover.  This is how I felt when I lately logged in to my Deezer account. After just a couple of days where I hadn’t been logged in, so many new albums had been released. It was like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory for nerds and music addicts. And I was Augustus Gloop in this huge music library filled with new tracks. And I discovered this charmingly weird album Bye bye 17 by Har Mar Superstar.
It’s not the kind of music you expect to be in the charts, nothing to be compared to synthetic sounding so-called music you can year on some dance music radio channels. And amongst all this purely commercial music which, thanks to all the audio editing that’s done after recording a track, always sounds the same, Har Mar Superstar’s music clearly stands out and is uncommonly refreshing. Listening to it, I felt transported to the groovy and colourful 70s where I met The Caterpillar and Austin Powers in his bright suit. And it somehow made me also think of Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Virgins.
But have a look on your own:

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Just blogging

dubstep & other genres

Before I will post more of the Paris Fashion Week circus, again, I would like to give you something fresh and unexpected for your chill out nights. Maybe some of you already know the artist I will present in the following. Around one year ago, you could hear his single Right Thing To Do featuring Jesse Ware all the time on Radio Nova. I’m talking about the British DJ and musician Aaron Jerome alias SBTRKT.
The first time I heard his music was, as I mentioned, on Radio Nova. But I can’t even say that I got addicted to his music immediately. You know, sometimes you don’t really have an opinion on some kind of music until the day where you hear a song for the umpteenth time and you suddenly notice that this song actually is really catchy. And from then on, it’s stuck in your head. This was the way I fell in love with SBTRKT’s music.


But at that time, I unfortunately wasn’t able to find out more about him, because funnily, his name was never mentioned on the radio. Or if it was, then I wasn’t able to get it because of the lovely French accent. Anyway, it is thanks to a pure coincidence that I listened to his self-titled album, which also includes the single Right Thing To Do, that I finally had the chance to finally know his name and also listen to more of SBTRKT’s music, which is a pleasant mix of Electronica, dubstep, soul and many other genres.
I hope, this article got you intrigued. If so and especially if not, you should check out the following links:

New band of the day/ No 1,048: SBTRKT
SBTRKT Catches ‘Fire’ with Drake Remix, Self-Titled Debut
SBTRKT on SoundCloud
SBTRKT Live Review

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