Oakazine

Saga Sig

staff — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:04:22 +0000

Saga Sig is a London based photographer from far away Iceland. Her interest in Fashion Photography arose when she started working in a vintage store back home and was surrounded by so many beautiful clothes. Her work transmits vintage, is very feminine and with few exceptions is always photographed in Iceland's most amazing surroundings. Saga, currently studying at the London School of fashion and has curated shoots for clients like Dazed & Confused, Adolfo Dominguez, Vogue Korea and many more. Saga Sig moves the definition of Art!

Oakazine presents Michael Magnan

staff — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:59:41 +0000

Interview with Michael Magnan When did you move to New York? Ten years ago, in the spring of 2000. I grew up in Rhode Island and lived in DC for 5 years before moving to NY. Miraculously I've kept the same apartment the whole time I've been here. What are your current weekly events? Right now is a good time...I have a bunch of partial residencies and monthly things in rotation. I do the basement of Vandam (at Greenhouse) twice a month on Sunday nights, that's probably my favorite party ever. Great sound system and a really devoted family of regulars that come and let it all out. Saturdays I throw a party with Ladyfag called "Family Function" over at Woody's (on 2nd Ave) which is pretty hysterical - I usually do that 2 or 3 times a month. Also, I help throw a great monthly event called The Beat which is the first Thursday of every month at Santo's. Do you have any more art shows etc...coming up? Yeah! I'm really psyched...going to Berlin next week to install a new wallpaper piece I'm working on. It's a big group show called Lost Horizon/Head Shop curated by Billy Miller from the awesome Straight To Hell zine. I'm in the company of some of my favorite artists: Assume Vivid Astro Focus, Christian Holstad, Scott Hug, TM Davy, Desi Santiago, Michael Economy and Genesis P-Orridge. It'll be my first time in Berlin so I'm pretty sure I won't be sleeping all week. Then I'm sneaking over to Warsaw for a night to play Klub M25 while I'm there. Where was your first DJ gig? It was in the back room of Bowery Bar on a friday night! This was early 2004 when my friend Debbie (from the band Avenue D) had started a weekly thing there. She was trying to host and DJ at the same time and got really flustered on the second week doing it. Halfway through the night she asked me to take over and I knew my way around her iTunes and her Traktor program a little bit so it went alright. At the end of the night she said "YOU'RE HIRED" and the rest is history. I didn't know a thing about mixing then but eventually I broke away from her collection of music and started using CDs and taught myself to how to mix and beat match properly. That went on for two years until one night we were cancelled for some dumb reason. I was pretty bummed but the next week I had a job at The Cock and that's when it all got really crazy. What song is your guilty pop pleasure? Oooof. Nothing current that I can think of. I guess I can't be mad at Britney ever. Definitely not this Ke$ha "person." What song do you put on when you want to work the floor into a frenzy? "Baby Wants to Ride" by Frankie Knuckles never gets tired and never fails me. What film can you watch on repeat and never get bored of? I usually fall asleep to Mean Girls or Paris is Burning. They're both like...really soothing to me! Or maybe...Ruthless People, Big Business & Outrageous Fortune. That's like my Holy Trinity. Who in fashion is inspiring you right now? All the local underground kids here in NYC doing cool things! Telfar, Gerlan Jeans, Hood by Air. The kids at DIS Magazine are giving the smartest commentary on fashion and life in general right now. Same with Zana Bayne from Garbage Dress. She's blogging hard and making the sickest strappy leather objects. They're all friends, so I don't really need to look too far for inspiration. Twilight or True Blood? Strictly Harry Potter. Butch Queen or Banjee Girl? BANJEE GIRL EFFECTS...of course. Got to give it up to my wifey on the cutting edge, Dosha Devastation. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR MORE OF MICHAEL MAGNAN ! AN EXCLUSIVE MIX FOR OAKAZINE WILL BE UP SOON ! STAY TUNED !!

“Witch”

staff — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:06:17 +0000

Work from the multi dimensional Angela Boatwright Photographer turned director/producer Angela Boatwright's new short film, "Witch", is a must see. Boatwright used the images she shot for oaknyc.com's editorial as inspiration to create the work. The talented artist combines the perfect mix of religious symbolism, eerie music, and super natural styling. Where many other artists have failed, Boatwright creates an elegant, fashion forward editorial with out being overly campy. http://vimeo.com/13313717 The editorial she shot for Oakazine.com

Frozen in Time

staff — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:06:39 +0000

The work of artist Dustin Yellin. Dustin Yellin was coating a collage of his in resin when a bee struck the artwork by accident. Going against PETA, Yellin didn't remove the helpless insect but instead, Yellin placed more resin on top of the image. Yellin took the inspiration from the bee and put his own spin on the new medium. Yellin lays now a layer of glass or resin, paints on the glass and then places more resin or glass on top- sometimes repeating the process multiple times. The final product appears realistic, three dimensional, and almost to be encased in an ice cube. Yellin took inspiration from the bee again as most of his works are biological in nature. He has done numerous skeletal images, as well as botany and self portraits. Dustin Yellin is also working on many other projects besides his main artworks. The artist is experimenting with three dimensional photography and is releasing a documentary soon on an Amazonian tribe. He is also working to inspire young artists to keep following in his foot steps. Together with Charlotte Kidd, they formed Kidd Yellin. The pair are also developing a residency program for young artists in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Sex and Words

staff — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 05:21:11 +0000

A book by Bruce Weber "Sex and Words" is a slender yet elegantly designed publication of Bruce Weber male nudes inspired by the writings of D.H. Lawrence. It overlays the photographer's explicitly erotic photographs with reproductions on vellum of drawings by Frank Stanley; all interwoven with excerpts from "Lady Chatterley's Lover", "Women in Love" and "Sons and Lovers". Described by some as "what Madonn'a sex book would have looked like had Weber photographed it," the book is minimalistic and at times nostalgic, but inspires the viewer to take a journey. Weber said, "I want the reader to have a discovery." It completely explores the many dynamics of Weber, and really pushes the Weber experience.

Louis Kahn

staff — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 05:00:09 +0000

Architect, educator and philosopher Louis Isadore Kahn is one of the most important twentieth-century architects. He was born in Saarama, Estonia in 1901 and grew up in the U.S. His architecture is notable for its simple, platonic forms and composition. Through the use of brick and poured-in place concrete masonry, he developed a contemporary and monumental architecture that maintained a sympathy for the site. Louis I. Kahn evolved an original theoretical and formal language that revitalized modern architecture. His best known works, located in the United States, India, and Bangladesh, were produced in the last two decades of his life. They reveal an integration of structure, a reverence for materials and light, a devotion to archetypal geometry, and a profound concern for humanistic values. Kahn was a divine form of complexity. From that of his genius design to his illusive lifestyle. In 1974, Kahn died of a heart attack in a men's restroom in Penn Station in NYC. He went unidentified for three days because he had crossed out the home address on his passport. Kahn had 3 wives and 2 children... and a collection of inspiration. Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban, Bangladesh's parliament building in Dhaka Interior of Phillips Exeter Academy Library, Exeter, New Hampshire (1965) Salk Institute, by Louis Kahn Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban, Bangladesh's parliament building in Dhaka

Through the Looking Glass

staff — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:00:18 +0000

A selection of photos from uber talented British photographer Benjamin Lennox.

A God Among Men

staff — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:00:30 +0000

Herb Ritts was one of the most iconic photographers of the 1990s. Utilizing clean lines and strong forms, his black and white photos (often reminiscent of Grecian gods) are sensual and passionate. Ritts also strived to redefine race and gender roles in his gallery work. Shooting everyone from Madonna to Johnny Depp to His Holiness the Dali Lama. Ritts was often seen on the pages of Vogue, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and shooting ad campaigns for Chanel, Valentino, Versace among others. Sadly, the world lost a true talent when Mr. Ritts passed away on December 26th, 2002. His legacy lives on with his work as well as his influential work with numerous HIV/AIDS charities.

Narcissister

staff — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 18:29:47 +0000

Isabelle aka Narcissister is a New York based artist who was a professional modern dancer before she grew into her character called Narcissiter. She has worked in many creative media including contemporary quilting, collage, sculpture, printmaking , photography and has also worked extensively as a commercial artist, designing window display and working as a stylist and art director. Her performance projects integrates her prior experience as a professional dancer with her current visual and commercial art practice. Her art film “The Self-Gratifier” won an award for “Best Use of a Sex Toy” at The 2008 Good Vibrations Erotic Film Festival. Narcissister, "Many Leg Woman" http://vimeo.com/13343123

“I have looked into your eyes with my eyes. I have put my heart near your heart.”

staff — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:00:44 +0000

A look at Marina Abramović's recent retrospective at the MoMA For Marina Abramović's recent retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the artist sat in silence for seven hundred thirty six hours and thirty minutes. From March 14th to May 31st, the artist remained motionless as audience members sat across from her defining the piece. The museum staff at the MoMA captured head shots of everyone who took part in the experience (http://www.flickr.com/photos/themuseumofmodernart/sets/72157623741486824/). The expressions on the participants' faces range from perplexed, to sad, to suprisingly content. Women came dressed in wedding gowns, more people came in exact replicas of the outfit she was wearing, another woman stripped naked after waiting 31 hours to have the chance only to be removed seconds later. Abramović on day 18 The retrospective was one part of the exhibit on Marina (the longest performance art exhibit in the MoMA's hsitory). While Marina sat day in and day out down stairs, a group of artists recreated some of her original work on an upper floor. Two completely naked people stood across from one another so close that anyone wishing to enter the exhibit had turn and often graze them. Arguably Abramović's most famous piece, Rhythm 0, played on a video screen in one room while a naked man laid down with a skelteon on top of him just a few steps away. Abramović with Givenchy creative director Ricardo Tisci at the Givenchy Party for the Retrospective's Closing Abramović constantly explores the relation from artist to audience member. She has had audience members cut her, feed her, save her from death and now define her work. Marina also seeks to push and redefine the limits of her body and mind in her pieces. Some people called her most recent retrospective snobbish and pretentious with so many people looking so intense and other bursting into tears. The meaning behind her work is not easily decipherable, but looking into the eyes of the head shots on Flickr and talking to others who have seen the exhibit, you see something more. A person could walk in off the street and see two people sitting down and never know which one is the "artist" and which is the "audience member". It's the opposite of pretension. It's putting the fate of the piece to anyone daring enough to take a seat.