Going to see this tomorrow! magical http://www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/telling-tales/exhibition.html

RANKINLIVE

http://www.rankinlive.com/#/the_retrospective/

http://www.rankin.co.uk

The retrospective starts tomorrow at the Truman Brewery, Brick Lane and being his first major exhibition looks like it's well worth a trip!

Summer exhibition

Really really liked and found inspirational:

BUTTERFLY CAN (MOTORISED) 2009
TIM LEWIS

Robotic fantasy, magic
Out of ordinariness comes a surreal drop of fantasy



EXPLOSION
LAMBDA PRINT, MOUNTED ON ALUMINIUM
JOSCHI HERCZEG

Beautiful poetic slow motion magic explosion in a lampshade
Dust, shatter, dreamy movement

LILY COLE, 2009
C-TYPE PHOTOGRAPH
GILLIAN WEARING

Wonderful porcelain doll... beautiful



POSTCARD FROM HEAVEN
ALI EISA

Brilliantly witty message

ELIZABETHAN DRESS
DOWNES, MILBURN, ALVES & FRICHER

Stunning and outrageous

VALLEY OF THE DOLLS

My current reads are Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann and Ulysses by James Joyce

Snow globe worlds

Fighter
Christina Aguilera

Love everything about the styling of this video. STUNNING

Femme Fatale

John William Waterhouse

Dangerous women turned all sailors into swines and enticed men to drown with their beauty.
There was a continual presence of unattainable and beautiful maidens. Mystical women evil in their beauty.

Desperate Romantics

'The Pre- Raphaelite artists were the infamous bad- boy celebrities of the late Victorian era. Their bohemian lifestyle crossed 19th century barriers of class and shockingly bent the rules that governed the roles of the sexes'

Franny Moyle
From the book: Desperate Romantics

(also adapted in a BBC 2 drama Desperate Romantics, Tuesday, 9pm)

After thinking about the tragically beautiful Ophelia by Millais I was very pleased to come across the John William Waterhouse exhibition at The Royal Academy when I was going to see the Summer Exhibition (which was also an exhilarating art boost I have so badly needed of late). I found the Waterhouse exhibition really inspiring and am now really interested in Pre-Raphaelite work and want to continue looking into it.



John William Waterhouse
The Lady of Shalott
1888

Waterhouse was reacting to Millais' Ophelia with this piece.
The lady of Shalott knows she is about to die as a result of a curse put upon her. The curse meant she could only look at things through a mirror and weave a tapestry of the reflection but when she saw Lancelot in the reflection she was unable to help herself but look out the window. This resulted in her being doomed.

lady don't you fall backwards

Ophelia
John Everett Millais
1851-52

PARALLEL UNIVERSE

[last lines] Richard: And me, I still believe in paradise. But now at least I know it's not some place you can look for, 'cause it's not where you go. It's how you feel for a moment in your life when you're a part of something, and if you find that moment... it lasts forever...

underwater kiss scene
The Beach 2000
Danny Boyle

'I'm movin, Im comin
Can you hear what I hear?
Its calling you my dear out of reach
(take me to my beach)
I can hear it calling you
Im comin not drowning, swimming closer to you'

Lyrics:

Pure Shores (The Beach soundtrack)
All Saints

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so that I may climb the golden stair.

Ponytail magazine
Fall Winter 2008
Photographer Bella Howard VERY VERY EXCITED TO FIND THIS PHOTOGRAPHER, LOVE HER WORK!
Models Josh Beech, Ash Stymest, Tyler Riggs and Will Westall

I've always really like the image of Beech and Stymest below so was very excited when I found the blog http://thefashionisto.com/blog/2009/01/all-tats-out/ which had the rest of the story.

look into my kaleidoscopic eyes

MEDUSA'S MESSENGERS

all characters in my poetic rebellious utopian world

grunge princess

Elle magazine
ONE LOVE

why hello ILLUSTRATED BOY

A CLockwork Orange

I have just finished reading Anthony Burgess' book A clockwork Orange. I really enjoyed the language Burgess used as I felt that instead of it being a hurdle to overcome it was instead quite a rewarding puzzle that really made the book. My favourite part was near the end when we are given an explanation of the meaning of the title and its subtle reflection to Alex's journey in the book. I found it interesting the idea of Alex being CLOCKWORK due to his institutionalised, almost robotic state that the reforming process had on him and the natural image of self development through the FRUIT. Together the title reflecting Alex's altered, unnatural change and state.

GOTHIC LOLITA

Gareth Pugh and Nick Knight collaboration
Dazed & Confused
Elevation issue

Abby Lee
i-D magazine (300th issue)

'Bohemia was above all a quest, less an identity than a search for identity, less a location than a utopia'.


Bohemians: The Glamorous Outcasts
Elizabeth Wilson
(pg 11)

'TATTOO IT IN THE SKY ABOVE YOU' - The Kills

i-D October 2008

Model: Erin Wasson
Bottom image: My dream dress from Emma Cook's A/W 08 collection.

'It's like trying to dry your eyes in a pouring rain'

Peter Doherty
Sheepskin Tearaway

When Daphne was a little girl she used to swim in Salvador Dali's lobster-filled pool.

Daphne Guinness

This image was the beginning of my adoration for the look I described below.

(She was my main inspiration for my fake and reality project.)

For absolutely ages I have had a love/ obsession with tunic/ armour jacket pieces and hot pants. This D&G outfit is an ever so lovely realisation of this look.

LOVE D&G Fall 2009 R-T-W

Bustier dresses with lampshade miniskirts
Brocade
Jewel-studded velvet
Tapestry-print chiffon

I HEART BROCADE

Bejewelled Hare: by Charles Avery
Walking in my mind exhibition at Hayward Gallery

"And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about a hundred miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas..."

escape into daydreams and romance

Escher
Liberation

SURREAL TRANSFORMATION

Alexander McQueen A/W 09

(Link artist Escher)

THE EMERALD CITY

The Emerald City from The Wizard of Oz

IF THE CITY WAS A DRESS S/S 09 Emerald Balmain mini reminds me of the sparkling, striking, magical attraction of the emerald city.

S/S 09 Balmain dress

I feel relates to art work and other fashion pieces below.

Love the RASPBERRY colour

Chiharu Shiota

(Middle Image After the Dream from Walking in my mind exhibition at Hayward Gallery)

'When I dream ... I feel the dream as reality. I can't distinguish between dream and reality. When I wake up, I have the feeling I'm still dreaming'.
Chiharu Shiota

I am intrigued by the question asked about her work in the Hayward exhibition guide:
DREAM CATCHERS OR METAPHORS FOR NIGHTMARES?

I feel this work really relates to the look and construction Galliano dress below and Lanvin number. The jewels look intrigingly caught up in the fabric in quite a mystical and almost tattoo like way. I adore this.