Sunday, 28 March 2010
Sunday, 21 March 2010
The Disappearance of the Image
Finally, a not so gloomy Sunday and I had the time to visit those places I had wanted to for so long, the Strozzina and a nice little find of a gallery called the Aria.
I've always has a preference towards blurry photos, to me they had more emotions in those movements, an incomplete capture of the moments, showing the flawless flow of time. Almost as if this is the only means to evoke all your senses and not just your sight. For this, the new exhibition at the Strozzina suited my taste well. Titled Gerhard Richter and the Disappearance of the Image in Contemporary Art, it was all about focusing on the media than the object. Blurring an image or let sink into the background completely until there are no traces left whatsoever. The media used most was of course photography, translating photographs into painting and through the process dissolving the object or transforming into another. There were also many works of other showing, including a couple of sculptures that had me roll the eye, so I won't mention the names. But a few had my attention, C-prints by Wolfgang Tillman and Marc Breslin. They had a lighter feel, more like play, especially Tillman's which were experiments by exposing the light in the dark room without any preset images to project onto. The pieces came out with a fairy air to them, almost like the flow of hair in the wind, yet look up close in microscope distances. The backgrounds were in a dash of pink and a dash of peach, warm colors that aren't seen often.
It was a small exhibition, nothing compared to the grand shows next door at the Strozzi but it was interesting enough. After that I sat outside in the central roofless pavilion and finished the last chapter of Deluxe, before heading out to find the Aria Art Gallery.
It's on a small street Borgo Santi Apostoli, very few people pass by it and from what I saw, most people had no clue there was a small hidden jewel. It was a tiny place with 4 small rooms housing no more than 10 paintings for this exhibition. Contemporary art, now a coherent theme from what I've been looking at just now. They had a beautiful little front with pebbled passage, a small bronze waterfall decoration, a sitting bench and table, and some interesting growth that went taller than me in spikes and quite bare from ground up. When I entered, there was only a "Salve" from the inside and I was free to look around by myself. The man in charge was quite friendly and I could've asked a little more about the operations of this little gallery and about future exhibitions, but somehow I felt tired even to talk and wanted to head home fast.
While I was inside and while I was slowing sliding my way out, there were quite a number of people interested in this place I'm at, but none went further than the porch. It was funny to look at, people walking in and then out again without really knowing what this is all about.
I've always has a preference towards blurry photos, to me they had more emotions in those movements, an incomplete capture of the moments, showing the flawless flow of time. Almost as if this is the only means to evoke all your senses and not just your sight. For this, the new exhibition at the Strozzina suited my taste well. Titled Gerhard Richter and the Disappearance of the Image in Contemporary Art, it was all about focusing on the media than the object. Blurring an image or let sink into the background completely until there are no traces left whatsoever. The media used most was of course photography, translating photographs into painting and through the process dissolving the object or transforming into another. There were also many works of other showing, including a couple of sculptures that had me roll the eye, so I won't mention the names. But a few had my attention, C-prints by Wolfgang Tillman and Marc Breslin. They had a lighter feel, more like play, especially Tillman's which were experiments by exposing the light in the dark room without any preset images to project onto. The pieces came out with a fairy air to them, almost like the flow of hair in the wind, yet look up close in microscope distances. The backgrounds were in a dash of pink and a dash of peach, warm colors that aren't seen often.
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Gucci Footwear Factory, Scandici, Florence
No pictures this time unfortunately, the place didn't allow photos. But it's understandable, because after today, I know almost everything about making a Gucci stiletto.
Right behind the Footwear Design Lab of Polimoda at the Castello (yes, a small castle), there is Gucci's factory. Or more like a protocol atelier when you look at the size of it, of course most of the production is either sourced to their own factories elsewhere or to third parties. So, let's start the process before my mental notes fade away... I am been in a really bad state today, even thought it might be allergies with a bad itch but no signs or anything. Thus, I think I might have even spaced out a couple of times during the tour. Oh and how could I forget, the call from the bank about my overseas transfer....!
First, the last. The shoe last is THE most important part, without the last, there shall be no shoe. Gucci has their own prototype last which only need adjustments for the toe shape and the heels. The 2/3 of the foot which is the arch is more anatomical so there really isn't anything too fancy you could do to it even if you wanted to. First the last is cut from wood, a special kind, forgot the name, but it's use for its hardness and resistance to other pressures during the process. After the wooden last is done, it is scanned into a digital file, which then sends this information to another machines that sands a chunk of plastic into the exact form within a couple of minutes. It was an amazing thing to watch, I gave my full attention then.
Second, to the designs. When the designs come from the workshop, they are drawn onto tape paper that are taped onto the lasts, then the tape is taken off and stuck onto another flat sheet of paper. Then there is a procedure called the CAD, which scans the lines of the print and produces all the patterns needed for that certain design. The front cover, the lining, the heel platform, everything. The patterns are put into identity folders that belongs solely to each design, then sent to the cutter. There are three different measures to cut, one by hand with a knife, one with a digital machine, the other which is the oldest ways of doing it, with steel outlines like those you stamp cookies with.
Then, the different layers of the materials are shaped onto the last, with literally tons of clue and nails. First is the inner sole. Ever wondered why your boots beep going through the airport customs? Because many of those tiny nails are left in the shoe to maintain shape! :) Some of those nail shooting machines (I don't know how else to call me), sound almost like machine guns, now imagine how many nails go into one shoe.... If you are working with leather, it will be constantly stretched, so to make sure the leather doesn't break, it needs to be worked with heat.
After the surfaces are done, the sole is sanded and glued to the outer sole and the heel is attached. The heel is at first attached with one large nail shot through a hole in the last from the inside, then several smaller nails are shot through in an angle to make sure the heel would be stable, like what you do in construction.
Finally, it's the finishing, meaning taking away all the extra glue, applying the correct color to the edges, applying the inner surface of the sole with the GUCCI print, and last but not least, polishing with shoe cream to give it a refreshing look.
I know I mentioned a lot about this machine and that machine, but actually most of the work is done by hand, such as applying some of the nails and stretching the material to the right shape, the curving of the edges, the sanding of the surfaces.... Really, a lot. So when you think about it, maybe a Gucci shoe is more worthy of the money than a Chanel bag....
Right behind the Footwear Design Lab of Polimoda at the Castello (yes, a small castle), there is Gucci's factory. Or more like a protocol atelier when you look at the size of it, of course most of the production is either sourced to their own factories elsewhere or to third parties. So, let's start the process before my mental notes fade away... I am been in a really bad state today, even thought it might be allergies with a bad itch but no signs or anything. Thus, I think I might have even spaced out a couple of times during the tour. Oh and how could I forget, the call from the bank about my overseas transfer....!
First, the last. The shoe last is THE most important part, without the last, there shall be no shoe. Gucci has their own prototype last which only need adjustments for the toe shape and the heels. The 2/3 of the foot which is the arch is more anatomical so there really isn't anything too fancy you could do to it even if you wanted to. First the last is cut from wood, a special kind, forgot the name, but it's use for its hardness and resistance to other pressures during the process. After the wooden last is done, it is scanned into a digital file, which then sends this information to another machines that sands a chunk of plastic into the exact form within a couple of minutes. It was an amazing thing to watch, I gave my full attention then.
Second, to the designs. When the designs come from the workshop, they are drawn onto tape paper that are taped onto the lasts, then the tape is taken off and stuck onto another flat sheet of paper. Then there is a procedure called the CAD, which scans the lines of the print and produces all the patterns needed for that certain design. The front cover, the lining, the heel platform, everything. The patterns are put into identity folders that belongs solely to each design, then sent to the cutter. There are three different measures to cut, one by hand with a knife, one with a digital machine, the other which is the oldest ways of doing it, with steel outlines like those you stamp cookies with.
Then, the different layers of the materials are shaped onto the last, with literally tons of clue and nails. First is the inner sole. Ever wondered why your boots beep going through the airport customs? Because many of those tiny nails are left in the shoe to maintain shape! :) Some of those nail shooting machines (I don't know how else to call me), sound almost like machine guns, now imagine how many nails go into one shoe.... If you are working with leather, it will be constantly stretched, so to make sure the leather doesn't break, it needs to be worked with heat.
After the surfaces are done, the sole is sanded and glued to the outer sole and the heel is attached. The heel is at first attached with one large nail shot through a hole in the last from the inside, then several smaller nails are shot through in an angle to make sure the heel would be stable, like what you do in construction.
Finally, it's the finishing, meaning taking away all the extra glue, applying the correct color to the edges, applying the inner surface of the sole with the GUCCI print, and last but not least, polishing with shoe cream to give it a refreshing look.
I know I mentioned a lot about this machine and that machine, but actually most of the work is done by hand, such as applying some of the nails and stretching the material to the right shape, the curving of the edges, the sanding of the surfaces.... Really, a lot. So when you think about it, maybe a Gucci shoe is more worthy of the money than a Chanel bag....
Friday, 12 March 2010
No-Title
Haven't been to anywhere significant this past week or so, of course, the second visit to Palazzo Strozzi doesn't count, its not an agenda but a love affair. I'm way too in love with the place to estrange it as just another site to see. Right now the exhibition showing there is called "A look into the invisible". Paintings by De Chirico, Max Ernest, Rene Magritte, Balthus and many more. Being a fanatic follower of surrealism and cubism, it was like heaven, where all beings were created. I remember standing in the halls feeling my feet go numb, my shoulders sore under the weight of my bag, and my spine not knowing how to feel comfortable no matter whichever way I turned, but all those pains were compensated through sight.Some of the paintings I had already seen in books and albums, but seeing them in person... it was just extraodinary. For example the "Sleep Girl" by Balthus, the various paintings of men in bowler hats by Magritte, they almost seemed to reach out to you. And while in front of a few paintings by De Chirico, I found myself not remember to move, and I couldn't pull myself away from it, eyes glued to the masterpieces.
Since its the weekend again (thank God!), I finally have 2 days to myself and free time to go to galleries again. Florentine people are simple way to blessed to have this land of treasure all to themselves. So the plan is to visit the Kings Room in Palazzo Pitti, which I missed the last couple of times due to my slow motions in places like that, and perhaps Palazzo Vecchio as well, I've waiting to see some of its jewelry pieces from centuries before. Also, there is another new interesting find, the Aria Art Gallery. Apparently it exhibits many works by a wide range of arts, mostly up-and-coming I'd imagine, and its free entry!! Now that is a treat. I have this fever of buying all-year-round tickets at any museum or gallery I could come across and some free entries will be more than beneficial to me economically. Last but not least, the Strozzina within Palazzo Strozzi --- told you it was a love affair...
More out of curiosity then anything else, I was wondering if I could volunteer to work there in spare time, if they give compensations then I could commit anything.... Let's not get ahead of ourselves.... Anyway, galleries are also a market or area of business and pleasure that I have been interested in, it would extremely interesting and rewarding to learn the mechanisms within a small art gallery won't it? I intend to ask this weekend. Wish me luck, though I know well enough that there's barely a thread of chance.
Let me think, where else have I been... The Four Seasons? It was only a talk with the head of HR, and since it's the busy season, we couldn't really go visit the room of the old convents, pity. The cars parked outside were nice...
Where else... Oh yes, IPlace and... oh darn I can't remember the name of the place. Anyway, IPlace was a wonderful consortium full of small Italian producers of leather, beverage, food, clothing... and they are all 100% Italian craft. Them being small and mainly no-name brands, the consortium works more like an intermediary between them and the buyers, or brands looking for manufacturers. I bought this amazing orange travel leather bag by the company Sapaf for a bit over 200 euros, and its of absolute quality.
Horse hair is definitely on the roll, especially in orange, I mentioned this in the entry about MICAM right?
Interesting decorations, this metal tray is a beauty. Wonder what it's used for.
Talking about Chanel, once you've been to Lotti, you'd probably almost never want to buy s Chanel again....It's sad, because you'd find out that the production time of a bag takes merely 3 hours, entirely by machine other than the shoulder straps... Even though it is fair to say that much effort is put into the bag such as the ultra complicated printing process, but I'm just over the machine made phase... If you ever come to Florence, visit IPlace, I can't promise that all the products are fashion-forward, but you will most likely find something you like. I want to go back and get that honey colored leather suitcase a friend of my got, its so pretty!!
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Palazzo Tornabuoni
Basically the pictures will speak for themselves. This is an ultra luxury apartment building where its bought in shares... such as 1/8th or 1/12th....
Enjoy!
Its very discreet for its status, through a huge entrance right opposite my favorite Palazzo Strozzi gallery, you don't really see any indications other than a small gold sign near the number plate.
They have a amazing selection of books in every apartment!! Gosh, I don't need the room, but can I please have the books???
Ceiling decorations and frescos from the 16th, 17th, and 18th century.... xoxo
Enjoy!
Rooftop view of the city and the Duomo.
MICAM
MICAM is THE international footwear exhibition in Milan, it also includes leather and fur sections.
In general it was all so-so, but through the day there, there were a few eye-catching little booths and pieces. THE MOST ATTRACTIVE IS OF COURSE THE BOOTH OF GEORGINA GOODMAN!! Ok, Ok, I am doing a research paper on the brand but still, I'm not exactly biased here. Have you seen her shoes before?? If the answer is no, uh oh, you'd better!!
Now that I've actually finished my paper on it, I could simply just copy and paste that whole thing here right... except this is more than 3,000 words long... and.... hm I'm tempted all the same.
Anyway, so I was very lucky to have been able to make an appointment for 3 or 4 pm, and by the time I went over, BJ Cunningham himself was there! (Now, he is the husband of GG and the director of her brand, basically the business genius behind it) I had so many questions prepared, and loads of info already researched, but I'm glad it wasn't too much of a Q&A, the conversation went well, afterwards was given his cards and contacts for further inquiries. Yes, surely I followed up.
Trust me, Georgina Goodman is definitely a name to watch. Forget about the praise by Manolo Blahnik as the future of footwear design, forget her collaborations with Alexander McQueen resulting in those absolutely stunning alien-like runway shoes of Fall 2010, forget about all those connections that might influence a judgement of the brand, but to look simply at her shoes… Even with the purist of intentions, it is hard to not recognize her designs and her talent in footwear design. Personally for me, the way I decided to chose a brand to work on is by randomly and blindly selecting a number of pictures off the internet all jumbled together. Then I picked four shoes that caught my eye as inspirational at the first instant (Trying as hard as I could leave all brand name associations out). As it turned out, three out of those four were by Georgina Goodman. What else to do?
For a young brand of only 7 years, they have done great, and according to BJ, they are opening another flagship store in Paris within 18 month, not to mention securing the 4 million pounds investment last year and 14 new clients from MICAM this year. THEY ARE AWESOME!!
Other than Georgina Goodman, which I intended to visit while I'm at MICAM, there are a couple of brands that just really caught my attention there. There was a small bags brand called the EMBAWD from Germany I think, and they had these very cute wooden bags with leather. They were extremely light and well shaped. The two designers only just started they business this year, and it was their first time at MICAM, good luck to them!
Another brands was called Chiara, which sold bags and some other accessories...maybe. Anyway, they had beautiful horse hair shopping bags in various colors, ash, moss green, red, yellow.... loved them all!! They were quite busy at the time so I didn't go and ask for the price, but they were soooo pretty!! Could've gotten one for wholesale price.... Anyway, talking about horse hair, its on a roll this year!! EVERYWHERE! Literally everywhere you'd see horse hair. Surprisingly I had my yellow horse hair belt with braided leather straps on, haha, yep, if you were a stylist or a fashion buyer, that what you need to have --- i'm not talking about the belt, lol --- instinct.
Some photos taken on the way back.
It was raining cats and dogs...
Oooolright, I'm a bit late on the updates, should have the post on Palazzo Tornabouni done as well....
In general it was all so-so, but through the day there, there were a few eye-catching little booths and pieces. THE MOST ATTRACTIVE IS OF COURSE THE BOOTH OF GEORGINA GOODMAN!! Ok, Ok, I am doing a research paper on the brand but still, I'm not exactly biased here. Have you seen her shoes before?? If the answer is no, uh oh, you'd better!!
Anyway, so I was very lucky to have been able to make an appointment for 3 or 4 pm, and by the time I went over, BJ Cunningham himself was there! (Now, he is the husband of GG and the director of her brand, basically the business genius behind it) I had so many questions prepared, and loads of info already researched, but I'm glad it wasn't too much of a Q&A, the conversation went well, afterwards was given his cards and contacts for further inquiries. Yes, surely I followed up.
Trust me, Georgina Goodman is definitely a name to watch. Forget about the praise by Manolo Blahnik as the future of footwear design, forget her collaborations with Alexander McQueen resulting in those absolutely stunning alien-like runway shoes of Fall 2010, forget about all those connections that might influence a judgement of the brand, but to look simply at her shoes… Even with the purist of intentions, it is hard to not recognize her designs and her talent in footwear design. Personally for me, the way I decided to chose a brand to work on is by randomly and blindly selecting a number of pictures off the internet all jumbled together. Then I picked four shoes that caught my eye as inspirational at the first instant (Trying as hard as I could leave all brand name associations out). As it turned out, three out of those four were by Georgina Goodman. What else to do?
For a young brand of only 7 years, they have done great, and according to BJ, they are opening another flagship store in Paris within 18 month, not to mention securing the 4 million pounds investment last year and 14 new clients from MICAM this year. THEY ARE AWESOME!!
Other than Georgina Goodman, which I intended to visit while I'm at MICAM, there are a couple of brands that just really caught my attention there. There was a small bags brand called the EMBAWD from Germany I think, and they had these very cute wooden bags with leather. They were extremely light and well shaped. The two designers only just started they business this year, and it was their first time at MICAM, good luck to them!
Another brands was called Chiara, which sold bags and some other accessories...maybe. Anyway, they had beautiful horse hair shopping bags in various colors, ash, moss green, red, yellow.... loved them all!! They were quite busy at the time so I didn't go and ask for the price, but they were soooo pretty!! Could've gotten one for wholesale price.... Anyway, talking about horse hair, its on a roll this year!! EVERYWHERE! Literally everywhere you'd see horse hair. Surprisingly I had my yellow horse hair belt with braided leather straps on, haha, yep, if you were a stylist or a fashion buyer, that what you need to have --- i'm not talking about the belt, lol --- instinct.
Some photos taken on the way back.
Oooolright, I'm a bit late on the updates, should have the post on Palazzo Tornabouni done as well....
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Napoli stands for Kiton, Isaia, Pompeii
A two days trip to Napoli finally came to an end, hours of bus ride was not exactly the best part of it, but I'm glad I came through with the help of a mp3, a book and a couple of fags in between.
Our visit to Kiton and Isaia's factories didn't bring up much of anything new, the usually "all hand stitched except the length along the back", "the coral is our signature for these reasons.1.2.3...", "it took this many hours just to make the shirt..." la di ya di da. But it was nice to walk around there factories. ("NICE" being THE most ambiguous word in any dictionary).
Basting sample at the tailoring school of Kiton.
Isaia's factory and their coral symbol.
Kiton's founder Mr. Ciro Paone was for sure the most amazing treat during this entire trip, he was the most adorable old gentleman, he not only treated us to lunch, but sat with us the whole time, reminding me of my very own grandpa...
Mr. Ciro Paone had a stroke four years ago leaving him with limited speech and ability to walk. His daughter assists him in most places and she is the only one who could fully understand what his thoughts are and is trying to say in an instant. He still comes into the office every day at around 1pm and administers all areas of the business till late afternoon. It's hard to imagine what kind of dedication this must be, but then again, Kiton is his life's work, something he had built up from the very foundations of this renown luxury company.
Now, Pompeii was a sidetrack. A few years back I remember myself being absolutely fascinated by its history, its landscape, and its ruins. Going to exhibition in Sydney and borrowing books on the subject in the central library of Auckland city... Everything. I even saw a short film made to visually reconstruct the happenings of that fatal incident. Seeing the place in person was just amazing, even though I did wish there were more volcano dust and dead bodies (just kidding...). However, our little "personal guide" wasn't too familiar with the place apparently, so after 2 and an half hours of running along, we missed all the important sights: the bath house, the back gardens of the riches back then, the market... I almost fainted! But, no place to complain, too bad I just went along with everything thinking that for once I could lay back and enjoy. Too bad...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)