Category archives: Artist Pages
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10 years ago
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There is nothing like mid-August to get us thinking about a fresh start. Maybe it's the long standing habit of buying school clothes, but refreshing one's wardrobe will soon be the order of the day. The interesting thing is that, now more than ever, there really are no rules in fashion. From solids, stripes and color blocking, silhouettes are crossing the spectrum. Even florals were trending in the resort collections this year.
What this means for self-expression is all good news. Recent trends and collections feature both Boho and structured looks, along with strong colors and varied skirt lengths. With a full range of both staples and frivolous accents, our options are endless. The best part of having no rules is that we can focus on self-expression and individuality with pieces we already have in our closets. By adding in a few fresh separates or colorful accessories, an entire wardrobe can be revived. So here's to enjoying these last few weeks of summer, while looking forward to getting dressed again. Not to mention NY Fashion Week in September!
Fashion and art are always flirting with each other, finding ways to intertwine craft with creativity and function. When it is successful, it allows people the freedom to be creative while maintaining their integrity. The fall 2014 collections showed us how color, functionality and creativity come together. A few standout collections seen on Style.com from Dries Van Noten, Christopher Kane, and Billy Reid menswear....
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10 years ago
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Welcome to We Learn Dances, an occasional series on the people, parties and (most of all) music that make clubland the wonderful place it is. The focus will be on the slightly more refined, artistically oriented end of the nightlife spectrum—yes, such a thing exists, believe it or not—rather than on the superficial pleasures afforded by either the bottle-service scene or the EDM world. At least, that’s the plan.
We’re kicking the series off with a man who’s intimately familiar with the concept of sophisticated dance music, Dennis “Citizen” Kane. He’s been an integral part of NYC’s nightlife since the mid-’90s, when the Philly transplant hit NYC and established himself in the underground scene as one of its most knowledgeable DJs; since then, he’s since played scores of venues across the city and around the world. He’s established a pair of respected record labels: Disques Sinthomme, which has released a wide range of work featuring the likes of Max Essa, the Beat Broker, Liquid Liquid’s Sal Principato and Richard “Padded Cell” Sen, and an edit imprint, Ghost Town, which has seen contributions from Brennan Green and Bicep, among many other notables. He’s a talented producer himself, with material out on such respected labels as Tummy Touch, Ubiquity and Adult Contemporary (track down his mix of Yagya’s “Rigning Sjö” on that last label—it’s killer.) His website, dsgtnyc.com, hosts a rather amazing podcast that’s featured sets from such international stars as DJ Harvey, Prins[...]
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10 years ago
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In the fall of 2012, Nasrene Haj and Mila Pinigin formed the Creators Collective. At the time Haj and Pinigin, who had recently graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, were interested in creating a collaborative space in which other artistic individuals could come together to network, generate discussion and develop projects and events which challenged the status quo. In the two years since the Creators Collective was founded, Jeremie Gluckman joined the organization as Research Director while Haj has remained at the helm guiding the Creators Collective forward, always seeking out new and innovative ways to engage the arts on a micro and macro scale.
I spoke with Haj who is the Director and Co-Founder of the Creators Collective, about what it is like being a working artist in Brooklyn today, what challenges she faced starting an organization, and what changes she has seen in the Brooklyn arts community having grown up here
Anni Irish: How was the Creators Collective formed? And what was your intent for this organization?
Nasrene Haj: I founded The Creators Collective with one of my best friends from college, Mila Pinigin. One evening, while studying abroad in Italy our junior year, we were having dinner and started throwing around ideas for projects we’d like to work on together. We thought about how amazing it would be to create a small collective in Brooklyn that would engage these various projects with other friends and community members. A few months after gradu[...]
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10 years ago
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Recently I saw the Kara Walker installation “A Subtlety: The Marvelous Sugar Baby" which was on display at the former Domino Sugar Factory through July 6th. The event was organized by Creative Time, an arts based nonprofit that has commissioned various large scale public art projects with many artists within New York and internationally since 1974. The full title of the piece, “A Subtlety Or The Marvelous Sugar Baby an Homage to the unpaid and overworked Artisans who have refined sweet tastes from the cane fields to the Kitchens of the New World on the Occasion of the demolition of the Domino Sugar Refining Plant” has poetic undertones and underscores many of the complex issues that Walker is driving at within the installation.
On a recent weekend, I made the trek to Williamsburg to see Walker's installation. When I arrived at the Kent Street waterfront where the Domino Sugar factory is located, I was astounded by the amount of people in line. It extend down the street for almost an entire block. I took my place in the back of line with only my sunglasses to shield me from the hot summer sun and waited. As the line continued to grow, several volunteers for Creative Time emerged to help answer questions and to hand out releases to sign to enter the factory. The line progressed and soon I was in the factory.
When I entered the space, I was overcome by a smell—a pungent, sticky and sweet aroma that seemed to fill the factory. The overwhelming odor was present partly becau[...]
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10 years ago
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Within recent years, Brooklyn has become a place that many artists have flocked to. One such artist is Dianna Carlin, who has been active within the Brooklyn arts scene since 2000. Carlin who is better known as Lola Star, has become a local celebrity through her popular Lola Star's Dreamland Roller Disco. Dreamland Roller Disco first opened in 2010 and combined Carlin's love of rollerskating and the glamor of Coney Island for a wide audience to enjoy. However, the skating rink sadly closed in 2010.
After four years of searching for new location, Dreamland recently reopened in Prospect Park's Lakeside Rink. Each Friday Lola Star will host themed skating parties in the new location. This week's party will be based on the 1980 film "Xanadu” staring Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly and Michael Beck. With more dance parties on the horizon, Carlin is “excited” to have Dreamland up and running again. The skate parties are scheduled to go through the end of August but Carlin hopes to offer more parties in fall and winter months.
I recently spoke with Carlin about how she got the name Lola Star, how she has adapted to the changing face of Brooklyn and what role community activism has played within her work. Carlin got the nickname because, “I use to skate around my parent's basement listening to Barry Manilow's 'Copacabana' on repeat and dreamed of being a rollerskating star. My parents would yell downstairs 'What are you doing down there Lola?'” This was in reference to the [...]
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