If you are having trouble viewing this email click
here
|
| |
| |
Don't miss our new
print issue out this month, PLANET° Magazine #6, our special
travel issue. Subscribe
now.
|
 |
 |
Rarely do artists' lives
match the depth and passion of their work. Afrobeat
visionary Fela Anikulapo-Kuti is an exception whose
tumultuous existence includes 70-plus albums, 28 wives,
hundreds of court appearances, torture at the hands
of the Nigerian authorities, and failed candidacies
for the West African country's presidency.
"Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti" is a
stunning multimedia exhibition of Fela-related artifacts and new works by 34
international contemporary artists ranging from painting, sculpture, photography,
sound installation, and computer animation that commemorate the late Pan-Africanist's
extraordinary life. (Like this one by Barkley Hendricks.)
Fela's AIDS-related death in 1997 and the posthumous renaissance of his work
since then have introduced his revolutionary music and message to a new generation
of socially conscious artists, thinkers, and subversives worldwide from Chile
to the Côte d'Ivoire.
This exhibition is a one-of-a-kind chance to investigate what the hype is really
about. Housed by San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the waka-waka (Yoruban for wandering) exhibition, starting April 17, is accompanied by a
series of symposia, film, and events highlighted by a free June 19 concert
that features Bay Area's Broun Fellinis, Blackalicious, and Brooklyn's own
afrobeatniks, Antibalas.
ALVARO EDUARDO ROJAS
Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti
April 17 - July 4
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission St @ 3rd
415.978.2787
yerbabuenaarts.org
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
Jørn
Utzon helped define the orbit of architecture
in the 20th century, and he remains a star
in the contemporary firmament as last year's
winner of the Pritzker Prize. This month
an overview of the visionary Dane's trajectory
comes to the Louisiana Museum in Denmark, where a large
collection of his models, drawings, and other
works including furniture, describe the comet
of an extraordinary creative career. In his
responses to ancient cultures – Mayan,
Islamic, Chinese, and Japanese – we
find strict geometry combined with curved
shapes in a bid always "to be on the
edge of the possible." The Sydney Opera
House shines at the center of an international
oeuvre that includes such diverse works as
the ultra-modern Bagsvaerd church with lyrical
ceilings of glass, the stone acropolis of
a house in Majorca, the Kuwait National Assembly
where tent fabric becomes a metaphor for
concrete, and communities of contemporary
housing capturing
views of the landscape while maintaining
interior privacy. The Louisiana, Denmark's
top modern art museum known for stunning
coastal sculpture gardens 22 miles from Copenhagen,
makes the ideal site for this exploration
of Utzon's working method as process, and
on his sources of inspiration.
GEOFFREY COEFFY
Jørn Utzon: The Architect's
Universe
April 2 - August 29
Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek, Denmark
louisiana.dk
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
The interplay between
style, comfort and functionality in urban wear
is a given. But there’s a more au courant
understanding of urban fashion that subtly incorporates
design and comfort. It’s a darkly realistic
vision that designers like London-based Vexed Generation
have explored by incorporating functionality and
cutting-edge fabric selection. Vexed co-founders
Joe Hunter and Adam Thorpe collaborated with Puma
to bring their vision of what the urban dweller
needs — “designs that address air pollution,
urban surveillance and civil liberties whilst catering
to a performance lifestyle” — at a
refreshingly lower price. With two of Puma’s
five new stand-alone apparel ranges, Vexed offers
their eye for urban detail in “Urban Mobility” and “Martial
Arts”: wraparound gloves designed into the
cuff of a jacket, hidden hoods, silhouette-altering
wraps, pant-cinching zippers, hidden pockets and
textiles that bring waterproofing to a new level.
At the collection’s debut at NYC’s
Milk Gallery, Joe and Adam didn’t seem at
all surprised as the downtown crowd toasted to
a new champion of urban wear.
MICHAEL COHEN
Photo credit: Triple-zero/groundwave
vexed.co.uk
puma.com
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
| The year 1913 marked the start of the gradual drainage of Owens
Lake in California, due to high water demands. This eventually
produced a dry lakebed full of exposed mineral deposits,
uncovering an exquisite display of natural surrealism.
Inspired by such scenery, photographer David Maisel launched
the project “Black Maps” in 1983 to photograph
environmentally impacted American landscapes. The intention
of the artist is not to glorify beauty, nor condemn environmental
degradation, but to explore the contradictions born between,
in an attempt to comprehend both. This art stirs a strange
fascination with the earth’s surface and the collective
impact of humans on it. With an array of tints and hues
ranging from ochre to rust to oxblood to jade, nature
moulds unsound environmental practices into a priceless
work of art that is inimitable and captivating. |
The lakebed’s rich definition of
thick red ribbon swirls, bright white river veins and
bold blue-edged shapes creates an intricate complexion
that bears the mark of divine creation, despite human
intervention. Meanwhile, powerful winds sweeping through
the Owens Valley have proven a serious hazard, dislodging
carcinogenic particles from the lakebed. Maisel’s
book, The Lake Project, manages to expose the lake’s
transcendental elegance, while simultaneously unmasking
its reprehensible history. His projects are redefining
natural beauty in a most compelling manner. The Lake
Project will be published in April, 2004.
STEPHANIE RODIGAS
The Lake Project
April 1- May 28
James Nicholson Gallery
49 Geary St. 4th Floor
415.397.0100
nicholsongallery.com
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
Craving a cup of Monkey
Picked Superior Ti Kuan Yin? Try Teany. This Lower
East Side eatery is musician Moby’s first
restaurant. It’s a peaceful, if sometimes
crowded space, which offers over 90 different varieties
of tea, along with a wide range of vegetarian and
vegan entrees, snacks and desserts. If you thought
that tea began and ended with “hot or iced” or
even “Tetley’s, Lipton or Twining’s” Teany
will expand your horizons. Smoky black teas like
Lapsang Souchong, floral greens like China Clouds & Mist,
and flavored ones like Lemongrass Sencha – each
is as different as Burgundy and Beaujolais Nouveau
or single-malt Scotch and Kentucky bourbon. Teany
also offers herbal and fruit teas ranging from old
standards like Peppermint to exotica like Rooibos
(a South African drink rumored to fight insomnia,
headaches and hypertension).
Do the words “vegan desserts” leave
you quaking in fear? Take a deep breath and try
the vegan chocolate peanut butter bomb. If you’re
in the mood for something savory, the non-turkey
club, featuring tempeh bacon and veganaise, might
be the best sandwich on the planet (at least the
menu says so!). Dairy products are available for
those who haven’t conquered their craving
for animal products.
KEVIN FILAN
Teany
90 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002
212.475.9190
teany.com
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
Juana Molina
Tres Cosas
(Domino)
For someone that almost no one has heard of, Argentinean Juana
Molina has had a very nice year. Her 2003 release, Segundo, topped
critics’ lists — even if they were the only ones
to hear it. Molina is hoping to change that with her latest
release Tres Cosas. Where Segundo listed under whispered vocals,
strumming folk guitars, and uneasy beats — Tres Cosas takes a similar yet stripped-down approach. This is not what
you’d expect from a South American whose career started
with noted Latin producer Gustavo Santaollo (Café Tacuba,
Bajofondo Tango Club). Yet when she shed her past and entered
her LA home studio — the sound became intimate and experimental.
Now with heady anticipation centered on Tres Cosas, Segundo
materializes like the ghost of Tom Waits, Fourtet, and Beth
Orton dancing on the shipdeck of the Titanic. The effect is
unsettlingly sexy and strikingly somber. This time the critics
won’t be the only ones listening.
SAM WICK
dominorecordco.com
|
 |
Tortoise
It’s All Around You
(Thrill Jockey)
After 10 years of pushing the boundaries of instrumental music,
Tortoise seems to be finally comfortable with a sound they
can call their own. Taking the disparate elements from their
five albums, It’s All Around You is a greatest hits record
of sorts, albeit with new songs. It incorporates all the great
moments Tortoise has shown throughout its career: the jazz-indie
rock fusion of their cardboard-boxed debut, the boundless,
tangential compositions of Millions Now Living…, the
cinematic epics of TNT, and the dub-electronic grooves of 2001’s
Standards. By composing together (a process they have shunned
in the past), the quintet has managed to mix their contrary
influences into a cohesive sound. Herndon’s and McEntire’s
vibraphone interplay, the consistent staple across Tortoise’s
oeuvre, is at its best on the title track, their warmest sentiment
to date. Jeff Parker’s Morricone-esque guitar also reaches
new heights with “On the Chin”, a dreamlike combination
of Tortoise’s jazzy past and its electronic present.
The comfort that comes through on this record indicates a band
that is proud of its accomplishments and just taking a quick
stock-check before they head into the future once again.
TODD
ROSENBERG
trts.com
|
|
Editors
Derek Peck, Marina Garcia-Vasquez
Design
Carolina
Palmgren
Production
Todd Kamps
Contributors
Michael Cohen
Geoffrey Coffey
Kevin Filan
Stephanie Rodigas
Alvaro Eduardo Rojas
Todd Rossenberg
Sam Wick
|
PLANET° is seeking writers and reporters covering cool
cultural content from around
the world. Drop us a line at:
contribute@planet-mag.com
To become an exclusive media sponsor of PLANET° Online,
email us at:
advertise@planet-mag.com
For inquiries regarding creative services in custom publishing, advertising or
web design, contact Derek Peck at:
derek@planet-mag.com
To receive future editions of our online version,
sign
up here |
|
|
|
| PLANET° Online is a monthly
newsletter addition to PLANET° Magazine’s quarterly
print edition. You are receiving this newsletter because
you have either registered on our website, subscribed to
our print magazine, signed up at one of our events or been
registered by a friend. |
|
|
