The blue album - The Word Magazine

Volume 04 — Issue 04
Neighbourhood Life + Global Style
Neighbourhood Up in smoke Life Deep waters Style Doing denim
Music Out of the blue Culture Memoirs of melancholy + The Design Special
The blue album
G-Star Store Brussels
Rue Antoine Dansaert 48
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4
Publisher and editor-in-chief
Nicholas Lewis
Design
facetofacedesign +
pleaseletmedesign
Writers
Guy Dittrich
Rose Kelleher
Nicholas Lewis
Philippe Pourhashemi
Sam Steverlynck
Robbert van Jaarsveld
Randa Wazen
Photographers/Illustrators
Sarah Eechaut
Yana Foqué
Veerle Frissen
Ismaël Moumin
Melika Ngombe
Yassin Serghini
Siska Vandecasteele
Virassamy
Joke De Wilde
Interns
Kathy Boros (communication)
Alex Chavot (graphic design)
Joke De Wilde (photography)
For subscriptions (5 issues)
The editor's letter
There was a point in the production phase of this edition where we
tinkered with the idea of interviewing Portishead for our music section.
The band were just about to curate ATP’s I’ll Be Your Mirror festival in London and, as is the case with most summer revival projects
(Pavement and Faith No More anyone?), the band kept popping up on
our radar for all the good reasons.
For starters, memories poured in the minute the Bristol threesome’s
debut album Dummy was loaded into the player. Olivia’s house parties
in Tervueren / Tervuren, teenage benders in Julie’s flat in Schaerbeek
and mix tapes that, at the time, went from Portishead and Mudhoney
to Rancid and The Fugees. The album was lodged in my collective
conscience of the blue, next to Massive Attack’s Blue Lines, Kool
Keith’s Sex Styles, Del’s I Wish My Brother George Was Here and St
Germain’s Boulevard (yes, really). Indeed, Dummy’s cover art was also
predominantly blue – both its front and back covers were exercises
in colour-coded restraint, giving you just the information you needed
whilst still leaving lots to the imagination. Above all, going through
Dummy’s tracklist all over again was heart-warming and bizarrely
reassuring. Like seeing that childhood friend of yours for the first time
in ages and staying up all night reminiscing about your first fag, your
first flunk and your first fight. Memories. Some are good. Some are bad.
Some are easy, others painful. Some you’d rather erase, some you’d
prefer engraving on your arm.
And so it is with our blue album. It’ll wrap you in a blanket of nostalgic
warmth, cosy up to you and bring a smile (sometimes a tear) to your
face. It’ll remind you of your teenage bedroom. Of that passion you
used to entertain for aquariums. Of that time you actually knew the
name of your neighbourhood cop. It’ll make you want to dig out those
old VHS tapes of yours. It might even make you rollout the Rizzlas
(blue, of course) and spark one up – just for old times sakes.
Transfer ¤ 21 (Belgium),
¤ 30 (Europe) or ¤ 45
(Worldwide)
to account n° 363-0257432-34
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in the communication box.
Add to that our design special, and its round-up on vintage design
online galleries, and you could say we’ve been living in the past for the
last few months. We promise our next edition, the white album, will
see us return to our old selves though. But, just this once, it’s all about
yesteryear.
Visit us
thewordmagazine.be
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Follow us
@TheWordMgz
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thewordmagazine.be/ipad
Nicholas Lewis
© Veerle Frissen
The Word is published five times a year by
JamPublishing, 107 Rue Général Henry
Straat 1040 Brussels Belgium. Reproduction,
in whole or in part, without prior permission
is strictly prohibited. All information correct
up to the time of going to press. The publishers cannot be held liable for any changes in
this respect after this date.
The blue album. A mirror vision of our past.
On this cover
King fish
RADO r5.5 XXL / WWW.RADO.COM
6
The contents
Neighbourhood
Style
The DESIGN Special
21
38
69
Le caillou bleu
Meeting Dries Van Noten
La Fabrika
22
46
74
Photographer Julie Calbert’s blue notes
Giving in to temptation
Open doors policy
26
50
78
G. Van den Berghe’s very own little avatar
She’s the one wearing the pants
Online design galleries
Life
Music
Culture
30
62
84
Teenage territories
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
Pictures speak louder than words
34
63
86
The big blue
Ghostpoet
If only the walls could talk…
TURN
hugo.com shop online hugoboss.com
IT’S yOUR
HUGO JUST DIFFERENT
THE NEW FRAGRANCE FOR MEN
FEATURING JARED LETO
8
The contributors
It’s a Word’s world
Sébastien Lenouvel
graphic design and illustrator
Joke De Wilde
photography intern
Yana Foqué
photographer
Ismaël Moumin
photographer
Page
28
Page
70
Pages
62, 63, 85
Pages
46, 47, 48, 49
About
Current intern of our graphic
design team, we were told that
Sebastien possessed quite
the talent as far as ball pen
illustrations went. Having
contributed to the visual identity
of the Micro Festival and other
small-scale, but nonetheless
prestigious projects, Sebastien
seemed like the right talent
to turn to for our comical
illustrative page, the study.
About
Joke joined the team in May,
eager to get to grips with the
visual side of magazine-making.
She quickly settled in, getting
into the thick of it by her second
week, assisting photographers on
hastily put together productions
and scouring the city for fake
wallpapers. Testament to the
quality of her work, one of her
portraits even ended up on
the cover of our yellow album.
Interns – we don’t just ask them
to make coffee for us.
About
Antwerp-based freelance photographer Yana first popped up on
our radar with her cutesy and
intimate handwritten interviews
in Q&A form she’d taken the
habit of doing with certain artists
(Twin Shadow, Efterklang,
No Age and the likes) and which
we published online. She has
since moved on to the magazine
itself, this edition marking the
first time you’ll see her name in
the masthead.
About
It only takes a quick look at his
blog roll to realise that Ismaël
Moumin’s a rising star. Current
first assistant to that other grand
daddy of Belgian fashion photography Pierre Debusschere,
we first worked with Ismaël for
our March edition’s fashion
special, getting him to capture
a selection of items in the most
suggestive and playful of ways.
Then and there, we knew we’d be
working with him again in the
near future.
Task
For the study, we commissioned
Sebastien to pen a parody of
the many proposals to purchase
Viagra we get in our inboxes
everyday. Viagra pills being
blue, what better starting point
for a colour-coded piss-take?
Quote
“In this edition, I wanted to
show the absurdity of advertising
touting the merits of a product
that makes a man ‘effective’ and
‘sustainable’ and play with the
difference between this image
and the evocative real danger of
the product.”
Task
Living in Antwerp and having
a knack for portraiture,
we commissioned Joke to
photograph Veerle Wenes,
founder of design gallery
Valerie Traan.
Quote
“‘Into the wide blue yonder.’
I was looking for blue sayings
to combine with my pictures
and I found this one. I liked it.
It means : if you go into the wide
blue yonder, you go somewhere
far away that seems exciting
because it is not known.”
Task
This edition saw Yana trek it
from north to south in less than
two hours to interview Totally
Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs at
Dour, chase Connan Mockassin
for a throw-away exchange and
photograph this month’s book
selection for us.
Quote
“I enjoy Sci-fi novels a lot – they
put the future of the past on
display. A good dose of nostalgia
is what keeps you young. And
I still make a list of things to do
during the summer at the very
end of it.”
Task
The kind of photographer to
enjoy a close complicity with the
girls he photographs, we knew
a feature on tight-fitting hot
pants would be ideal for Ismaël.
He took two up and coming
models to Tervueren / Tervuren’s
Arboretum, and simply did
his thing for a couple of hours.
We couldn’t have hoped
for better.
Quote
“Don’t really know what to say
about the shoot ! It’s hard.
First shoot without
Françoise Salinger… That’s all
I can say really!”
ismaelmoumimn.blogspot.com
© Persuado
A FILMMAKER
200 seconds
is all it takes to win up to €15,000
worth of Nikon film equipment
Nikon’s ‘I AM A FILMMAKER’ competition is for short films up to 200 seconds
long. The competition is open to everyone, from students, pro and semi-pro
filmmakers to advanced enthusiasts.
Your entry will be judged by a professional jury
So if you please both the jury and the public, you
which includes Jan Verheyen, Jaco Van Dor-
could win equipment worth €15,000 !
mael, Valérie Pierre, Rob Rombouts, Mark De
The competition is open until August 31st 2011,
Visscher, Jo Vermaercke and representatives
full details about it at www.nikonfilmfestival.be,
from Brussels Short Film Festival and Gent
which is also where you can upload your film
International Film Festival and with the support
and ask people to vote for it. The competition
from Scam-Sofam. There are two prizes to be
is being held in collaboration with the Brussels
won. The jury prize is €10,000 worth of Nikon
Short Film Festival and the Gent International
film equipment and the prize for the most public
Film Festival. A selection of entries will be shown
votes is €5,000 worth of Nikon film equipment.
during the Gent Film Festival.
www.nikonfilmfestival.be
NIKON
FILMFESTIVAL
BELGIUM
10
The blueboard
Exhibitions Arts Music Shows Parties 01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
01. A 2007 edition of Exit magazine, one of the references we used when launching The Word. / 02. Terra blues crisps, made from natural blue potatoes and Bubbllicious bubblegum, blowing
bubbles since 1977. / 03. Nirvana’s Nevermind and Pantera’ Far Beyond Driven. 90’s teenage angst at its best. / 04. Papermate’s flexigrip ultra pens. A trusted companion in hours upon hours of
proofreading. / 05. The Word’s hoodies and polo’s, soon available to purchase online. / 06. Pairing a pair of Nike’s limited edition blue air max and a Balenciaga cashmere sweater. Mix and match
to the fullest. / 07. Spa Reine still water, Belgium’s best export. / 08. The Fafi-designed POP up, a scented candle which comes with a diamond designed by the street artist herself. We love it for its
intricately thought through packaging. And it’s blue. Available from Hunting and Collecting in Brussels. / 09. Blutak. Way better than drawing pins.
11
Neighbourhood
Belgium ( 01  10 )
03. The
art of storytelling
01.
Hailed as one of the most promising
young artists in Belgium, Rinus Van de
Velde’s charcoal drawings accompanied by
witty texts relating to separate moments in
his semi-fictional biography have caught
the eye of the international art intelligentsia
around the globe. His most recent exhibition
will see him present a new series of drawings that circle around the theme of the artist
studio. These drawings will tell stories that
are to a certain extent autonomous and can
be read individually from each other, leaving
it up to the viewer to be directly challenged
to imagine the larger story Van de Velde is
aiming to share.
Courtesy Almine Rech Gallery, Brussels-Paris
What a joke
We all know Richard Prince for his Jokes,
Nurses, Cowboys and Girlfriends series,
as well as for his heavy use of rephotography.
A member of the influential Pictures Generation, the American artist had a strong hand
in expanding the scope of conceptual photography through the use of appropriation.
This first solo show at Brussels’ Almine Rech
Gallery gives the audience the perfect occasion
to explore Prince's fascination with American
culture, Borscht Belt jokes, car enthusiasm,
pulp-literature and his unmatchable knack for
elevating material directly sourced from the
underbelly of society to the status of fine art.
Richard Prince : The Fug
Second Hand Second Life
@ Tour & Taxis (Brussels), on 14th October
– Acclaimed Belgian designers
will once more present one of a kind
creations made from second hand goods
for the 9th edition of the now famous
Petits Riens / Spullenhulp fashion show,
which is auctioned at the end of the
show to raise funds for the non-profit
organisation.
 petitsriens.be
02.
Casting everything
Coinciding with the Polish presidency
of the European Union, Wiels celebrates
the pioneering and provocative practice of
sculptor Alina Szapocznikow with one of her
first large-scale surveys outside of Poland.
Focusing on her experimental period, the
show gathers more than a hundred of her
works, among which the tinted polyester casts
of her lips and breasts transformed into everyday objects like lamps or ashtrays. A concentration camp survivor, Szapocznikow has
used her art to give voice to personal issues
such as the ambivalently sexualized and
anguished experience of the female body, recollections of the war and the Holocaust, and
finally, a dramatic examination of the cancer
that brought her life to a premature end.
Alina Szapocznikow : Sculpture Undone,
1955-1972
 From 10 th September to 8th January
 Wiels, Brussels
 wiels.org
 From 8th September to 22nd October
 Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp
 timvanlaeregallery.com
02.
Something old, something
new, something borrowed and
something blue
04.
By combining traditional analogue photography with digital editing, Florian MaierAichen has managed to create a language of
his own and redefine the concept of landscape
imagery. Abstract, unsettling and at times
surreal, his pictures contain a poetic nature.
The images originate from sources as varied
as documentary or textbook photos and
escapist landscape paintings. From there on,
the artist's visual vocabulary and broad
technical repertoire take over, fully aware
that it is in the pairing together of genres that
an original view emerges.
© Roland Schmid. Courtesy the Estate of
Alina Szapocznikow - Piotr Stanislawski
*
The auction to go to
Rinus Van de Velde
03.
© Courtesy Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp
 From 10 th September to 5th November
 Almine Rech Gallery, Brussels
 alminerech.com
Florian Maier Aichen
 From 13th September to 29 th October
 Galerie Baronian Francey, Brussels
 baronianfrancey.com
04.
*
The store to drop by
Pop-Up
@ Atelier Solarshop (Antwerp), until 8th
October – A mix of playful yet modern
aesthetic objects and items will fill up
the space of Atelier Solarshop for the
third edition of their Pop-Up project.
The selection of exclusive, limited and
numbered works by international young
talents is available for five weeks only, so
be sure not to miss out.
 ateliersolarshop.be
© Florian Maier-Aichen
01.
12
05.
The diary
05.
Back to basics
The question of sustainability has never
been as relevant, be it in fashion, food or
design, as it is today. The Design Museum’s
current show examines the kind of design that
illustrates the “art of reduction” – cutting
back on materials and going for products
with a longer life expectancy. The exhibition
aims to provide the explanation behind the
rational design logic in aspects such as the
production process, spatial limitations or
aesthetic trends, setting design icons ranging
from le Corbusier to Eero Saarinen against
similar figures from the worlds of fashion,
food design and art.
Die Essenz der Dinge:
Design and the art of reduction
© Hi-Cone, Vitra Design Museum
 Until 16th October
 Design Museum, Ghent
 designmuseumgent.be
06.
© Courtesy A.L.I.C.E. Gallery
06.
07.
Antoine Bouillot:
Little Did They Know
*
The show you can’t miss
© Gareth Hacker
© Bob Verschueren
Donna Wilson, Ercol & SCP
 From 8th to 30 th September
 La Fabrika, Brussels
 lafabrika.be
It takes one to know one
After having infiltrated the Parisian
fashion world aged barely 16 – where he
worked on catwalk scenography, became
artistic director and created identities
for luxury brands such as Lanvin, JeanCharles de Castelbajac, Sampar or Gaspard
Yurkievich – Antoine Bouillot decided to
have a go at movie directing, before settling
for visual arts. Visibly inspired – or affected – by his previous experience, the French
artist’s vision of art became one of a tautological provocation with the world of luxury as an
alibi, resulting in a body of work that accuses
as much as it celebrates these two worlds.
 From 10 th September to 29 th October
 A.L.I.C.E. Gallery, Brussels
 alicebxl.com
08.
07. British design at its finest
The Brussels-based design showroom
La Fabrika has invited Donna Wilson to
create an installation in collaboration with
established British manufacturers Ercol and
SCP. Earning the accolade of British Designer
of the Year 2010, Wilson has been quoted
as being “wonderful with wool,” a “material
marvel,” a “textile designer extraordinaire”
and even an “all round textile legend.”
Characterised by a playful nature, tactile
aesthetic and multicoloured palette, the
young designer’s work ranges from colourful
knitted creatures to striking upholstered
furniture designs, which all promise to be a
refreshing sight during this month’s Design
September festival.
Raw Edges, from flat to full
@ Hunting and Collecting (Brussels),
from 8th to 25th September
Design dealer Victor Hunt brings israeliborn, london-based designers raw edges
to town for an extensive overview of their
most recent work, the lot to be exhibited in the city’s favourite style boutique
Hunting and Collecting.
 victor-hunt.com
*
The festival to catch
Electronic Weekend
@ Bozar (Brussels), on 28th and 29th
October – The creme of the crop of the
current electronic scene takes over the
Bozar for a weekend where local talent
gets to mingle with international names
like Modeselektor or Siriusmo. Ideal for
those forced to go cold turkey at the
festival season’s end.
 bozar.be
08.
Still life
Exclusively inspired by nature,
Bob Verschueren has spent the past three
decades developing a singular visual language. Rising on the international art scene
with his vegetal installations, destined to
vanish with every exhibition’s closing, the
Belgian artist has also developed his own
brand of “miniatures”: photographs of small
sculptures assembled with twigs and found
leaves. Displaying his new and previous
creations, as well as featuring his recent
audio works of plant sounds, the Botanique’s
museum takes on the aura of an immersive
forest, proof that one couldn’t dream of a
better venue than the capital’s botanical
gardens to offer an extended vision of this
nature-lover’s work.
Bob Verschueren
 From 15th September to 6th November
 Botanique, Brussels
 botanique.be
13
Neighbourhood
United Kingdom ( 11  16 )
09.
The bear king
09.
11.
Walter Van Beirendonck: Dream The
World Awake
 From 14th September to 19 th February
 MoMu, Antwerp
 momu.be
Contradiction and harmony
Belgian sculptors Fien Muller and
Hannes Van Severen have launched a furniture collection that is to have its debut during
the Design September circuit. Having chosen
to create furniture out of sheer necessity
and function, both artists favour clear-cut
storage boxes, tables, racks and lamps whose
pure forms still manage to embrace the lush
adornment in their completion and combination. Their furniture exist because of a logical
necessity. A table with a table-leg turning into
a cantilever lamp, an open cabinet where one
of the shelves becomes a table, or a series of
lamps that are no more than a socket, a cover
and a cord. The surprise comes from the
combination of colours, materials, functions
and – especially – the commonness.
Gerhard Richter: Panorama
 From 6th October to 8th January
 Tate Modern, London
 tate.org.uk
10.
© Fien Muller. Courtesy Valerie Traan gallery
10.
*
the fair you can't miss
Frieze Art Fair
@ Regent’s Park (London), from 13th to
16th October – It is one of the world’s
most influential contemporary art fairs,
and one that requires little introduction.
It's the chance to discover work by some
of the most significant artists working
today in one single weekend, and run into
the likes of Kate Moss, Hugh Grant or
Claudia Schiffer.
11.
 friezeartfair.com
12.
Muller Van Severen
 diito.be
12.
© Design Museum, London
Duende is in the house
@ Diito (Brussels) from 15th to
30th September – The Eden ADN, a
genetic design exhibition by boundarybreaking PR agency Duende promises to
be one of Design September's highlights.
© Gerhard Richter
 From 8th September to 9 th October
 Galerie Jerôme Sohier, Brussels
 jeromesohier.com
*
The show you can’t miss
All hail the Kaiser
Without a doubt one of the most important
artists living today, Gerhard Richter’s major retrospective promises to be the fall opening no art
enthusiast could possibly miss. This is a unique
chance to get up close and personal with a vast
selection of the German artist’s paintings based
on photographs, colourful gestural abstractions,
squeegee paintings, portraits, subtle landscapes
and historical paintings. Landmark pieces such
as his The Skull and Candle paintings, Iceberg
in Mist, a magisterial triptych of Cloud, Wald,
and September, an image of the terrorist attacks
on the World Trade Centre in New York in
2001, will be present, as well as a series of glass
constructions and mirror works he has been
recently working on.
© Scott Trindle
Antwerp Six’ most exuberant and larger
than life figure has relentlessly been challenging the fashion world for the past three
decades. Known for his colourful designs,
his maverick fashion shows in Paris in the
90s, and the critical messages on society
he proclaims with his designs, Walter Van
Beirendonck will see the highlights of his
career and creations celebrated in this comprehensive retrospective at Antwerp's fashion
museum. In addition to silhouettes from his
collections, the exhibition will provide an
overview of the world he lives in, taking a
deeper look into the narrative character of
his oeuvre, his fascination for ethnography,
rituals, science fiction and technology.
Shaping a nation
Some products and appliances seem
so familiar and engraved in the collective
mindset that it can be hard to imagine where
they could actually stem from. Yet Kenneth
Grange has been shaping the interiors and
landscapes of Britain for the past 50 years,
creating products that were not only a commercial success but also a joy to use. Kodak
cameras, Wilkinson Sword Razors, Ronson
cigarette lighters, Kenwood food mixers,
Parker pens, the Adshel bus shelters, the Rural
Post box for Royal Mail or the re-design of
the London Taxi Cab are just some of his wellknown designs and are all currently displayed
at the Design Museum, putting the last five
decades of British design into perspective.
Kenneth Grange : Making Britain Modern
 Until 30 th October
 Design Museum, London
 designmuseum.org
14
The diary
13.
13.
The golden age
© John Kobal Foundation, 2011
There used to be a time when Hollywood
stars’ images were strictly controlled by the
studios and only comprised of a handful of
photographs that circulated around the world.
These portraits released to the public and press
depicted the actors as glamorous and inaccessible, imbuing them with a mystique that would
simply be unimaginable in today's paparazzi
culture. This exhibition displays more than 70
original vintage prints of icons, amongst which
James Dean, Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor
and Marilyn Monroe. This is a rare opportunity to view these important artefacts of a now
extinct Hollywood studio system.
14.
Glamour of the Gods:
Hollywood Portraits
 Until 23rd October
 National Portrait Gallery, London
 npg.org.uk
15.
Style over substance
Focusing on the 70s and 80s, the V&A’s
new exhibition dedicated to Postmodernism
will explore the radical ideas that challenged the
orthodoxies of Modernism. And whilst many
modernists considered style to be a mere sideshow to their utopian visions, the postmodernists
saw style as being everything. The exhibition
will also show how Postmodernism evolved
from a provocative architectural movement to
influence all areas of popular culture including
art, film, music, graphics and fashion with over
250 objects revisiting a time when style was not
just a “look”, but became an attitude.
Postmodernism:
Style and Subversion 1970-1990
 From 24th September to 15th January
 V&A, London
 vam.ac.uk
16. The
*
Last days to see
© Courtesy BP Archive
Jake or Dinos Chapman
@ White Cube (London), until 17th
September – London’s iconoclastic siblings have been shaking the art world for
the past 20 years with their searing wit
and provocative nature. For this exhibition, the brothers have worked in separate studios for the first time, unveiling
a series of works confronting the whole
idea of creative collaboration they have
become famous for.
 whitecube.com
15.
© Private Collection
14.
© Courtesy the Artist and Sprüth Magers Berlin London
16.
Modernism’s poster boy
The Estorick Collection has gathered more
than 50 pioneering works of graphic design and
illustration to examine one of the key figures
of British Modernism. A remarkably versatile
artist, Edward McKnight Kauffer drew on a
wide variety of styles in creating his works,
from Japanese art to Fauvism, Constructivism
and Surrealism. Yet it is his celebrated
posters created for clients such as London
Underground and Shell during the inter-war
years for which he remains most famous,
leading Kauffer to produce some of the most
iconic and influential commercial imagery of
the early 20th century. An absolute must-see for
any graphic design fiend.
Edward McKnight Kauffer:
The Poster King
 From 14th September to 18th December
 Estorick Collection, London
 estorickcollection.com
view from inside
Mayfair’s Sprüth Magers gallery will be
hosting an exciting site-specific project by
Joseph Kosuth, often referred to as “the father
of Conceptual art”. The Mind’s Image of
Itself – a play of architecture and the mind,
is both a reflection on the architecture of the
gallery space and of a suggested architecture
of the mind. The installation is composed of
an off register, a 1:1 wallpapered line drawing
facsimile of the gallery rooms themselves.
Add to that a fragmented intellectual discourse made up of more than 150 meticulously selected quotes by diverse thinkers from a
variety of sources put in play as wall texts and
you're sure to be in for a highly conceptual
experience.
Joseph Kosuth:
The Mind’s Image of Itself
 From 10 th September to 1st October
 Sprüth Magers, London
 spruthmagers.com
*
Last days to see
Mathilde Rosier
@ Camden Arts Center (London), until
25th September – The French artist has
transformed the Gallery 3 into a specially
constructed environment, gathering
paintings, sculptural assemblages and
film, inspired by Freud, Jean Rouch and
Tutankhamen’s tomb.
 camdenartscentre.org
Shave your style.
“Make life your canvas.”
Emil Kozak, 29, Artist
Scan to watch exclusive footage of Emil shaving,
styling and trimming his personal statement of style.
www.braun.com/cruZer
When you scan this bar code, the terms, conditions and privacy
policy of the bar code reader that you selected will apply.
cruZer
16
The diary
Holland ( 17  18 )
17.
France Poignant realism
17.
( 19  20 )
19.
From the globe with love
Sir Stanley Spencer's oeuvre is characterised by a wealth of themes that include
biblical stories, landscapes, self portraits and
domestic scenes and his unique figurative
style of painting. That, in combination with
his choice of subjects, have led him to become
one of the most important British artists of
the 20 th century. Spencer allows reality to
dominate in his silent landscapes and intimate portraits, while fantasy and joie de vivre
enjoy their heyday in some of his most famous
paintings. Significantly contributing to the
development of modern art, his work will be
placed in an historical context alongside 20
works by English contemporaries such as the
late Lucian Freud and Dora Carrington.
Now in its third edition, Photoquai is a
biennial dedicated to non-western photography whose simple mission statement is to
showcase artists whose work is little known in
Europe. Curators have selected 46 emerging
photographic talents from nearly 30 different countries such as Tanzania, Brazil,
Cambodia, Russia, China, Bahrain or Iraq,
each artist being revealed by the unique
identity of their point of view but also by the
context of their production and influences.
A unique voyage through the obsessions and
fantasies of photographers and their visions
of society.
Sir Stanley Spencer: Between Heaven
and Earth
 From 13th September to 11th November
 Musée du Quai Branly, Paris
 quaibranly.fr
© Courtesy Tate, London
 From 17th September to 15th January
 Kunsthal, Rotterdam
 Kunsthal.nl
Photoquai:
3rd Biennal exhibition of world images
*
The fair you can’t miss
18.
Visions arise
A prominent figure of the Düsseldorf
School (alongside Andreas Gursky, Thomas
Ruff and Thomas Struth), Axel Hütte has
made a name for himself by injecting a painterly quality in his landscape photographs.
Hütte does not retouch his photos, nor does
he direct anything, but he does consciously
employ traditional techniques from classic
painting such as central perspective, cropping, raised viewpoints, balanced compositions and imposing dimensions. Rotterdam's
Akinci gallery will gather the photographer's
recent works, in which the central theme of
reflections in water emerge, pervading the
prints with even dreamier aspects.
Fiac @ Grand Palais (Paris), from 20th
to 23rd October – 165 exposing galleries
spanning 21 countries will once more
gather in the French capital’s Grand
Palais for this modern and contemporary
art mecca. Don’t miss the “parcours
design” on the opening night, an event
marking the reinforcement of the design
and architecture selection.
© Axel Hütte
18.
 fiac.com
19.
20.
Axel Hütte
© Lek Kiatsirikajorn
 From 10 th September to 8th October
 Akinci, Amsterdam
 akinci.nl
*
Last days to see
 gem-online.com
20.
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Erwin Wurm, The Beauty Business
@ Gem (The Hague), until 18th September
– Wurm’s biting humour will be celebrated with this retrospective in which
visitors will be invited to take part in
the exhibition and become One Minute
Sculptures. All they have to do is post
pictures of themselves on Flickr and / or
Twitter using the (hash)tag WURMGEM.
How very 2011.
Hedonistic beauty
The second half of the 19 th century in
Britain saw a shift from the ugliness and
materialism that were predominant to a new
idealisation of art and beauty reinforced by
the painters, poets, decorators and designers
of that time. Together, they defined an artistic
style freed from the principles of order and
Victorian morality, allowing the expression
of sensuality. This exhibition will explore this
British aesthetic movement through the works
of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward BurneJones, Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley,
who all united in a quest to combine artistic
creation and lifestyle, a quest that found
fertile areas of expression in photography, the
decorative arts, literature and modes of dress.
Beauty, Morals and Voluptuousness in
the England of Oscar Wilde
 From 13th September to 15th January
 Musée d’Orsay, Paris
 musee-orsay.fr
BO
ZAR
MU
SIC
28 & 29.10.2011
Co-production: Je M’en Fish vzw
Photo | Foto : Olivier Bruniels
CONCERTS, DJ SETS,
AUDIOVISUAL ARTS
18
The diary
The pick of gigs to come
Kitty, Daisy
& Lewis
@ L’ Ancienne
Belgique
on 15th September
Boots Electric
@ Trix
on 17th September
Omar
Souleyman
@ L’ Ancienne
Belgique
on 18th September
Sic Alps
@ Vooruit Café
on 22nd September
Shabazz Palaces
@ L’ Ancienne
Belgique
on 28th September
Teeth
@ Botanique
on 14th October
The three Durham siblings
There’s no point denying
A legend in his own right
Sic Alps’ simple, stripped,
The first hip hop act to get
Being touted as Karl
– aged 18 to 22 – have been
the soft spot we have for
in his native Syria (where
nihilistic brand of garage
signed to Sub Pop, Shabazz
Lagerfeld’s favourite new
making waves with their
Eagles Of Death Metal
he is said to have released
might not be reinventing
Palaces appeared on the
band certainly raises the
swinging R&B, jazz and
frontman Jesse Hughes.
more than 500 tapes
the musical wheel, though
scene back in 2010 with its
stakes. Fortunately, Teeth’s
blues sound directly lifted
The self-proclaimed
in less than 20 years),
it sure does the trick when
self-debut titled, a blend
electro-noise-pop lives up
from the 50s, a decade
hillbilly and endearing
Souleyman’s singular
it comes to nailing the
of atmospheric and offbeat
to the hype. Playful, fresh,
they have been obsessed
sleazebag extraordinaire
style of beat-heavy and
hedonistic spirit of the
productions supported by
stylish, minimalistic yet
with for as long as they can
has taken some time off
synth-driven oriental
60s. Imagine the Beach
Palaceer Lazaro’s crystal-
very punchy, cynics might
remember. Soulful singing,
from the cock-rock band
music with an urgency
Boys mating with the
clear, hard-nosed delivery.
describe the Dalston trio
feel-good harmonica,
he shares with bestie Josh
akin to hardcore techno or
Kinks, add to that vocalist
The former Digable
as yet another bunch of
catchy handclaps, mom
Homme to embark on
punk has taken the western
Mike Donovan’s lazy
Planets frontman, a rap
hipsters, but who cares –
and dad backing them up
a solo journey as Boots
world by storm. Invited to
slur reminiscent of Brian
purist if there ever was
they put on a good show and
during concerts – it truly is
Electric. Cannot wait.
perform at AB during the
Jonestown Massacre’s
one, descends on Brussels
that’s all that counts, right?
capital’s “car free Sunday”,
Anton Newcombe, et voilà.
with his activist collective
a “bop till you drop” type
of family affair.
 Plays Amsterdam
 Play Amsterdam
on 15th September
following the release of
 Play Paris
 Play London
their second LP, Black Up.
(The Lexington)
(Glazart) on 23rd
Decidedly softer than its
on 21st September
the gig is free, so no excuse.
(Paradiso)
 Plays Tilburg
(Melkweg)
 Plays Paris
(013)
September
predecessor, it is one of the
(Nouveau Casino)
on 12th September
best rap albums of the year.
(Paradiso)
 Play Paris
on 16 th September
 Plays Antwerp
 Play Amsterdam
 Play Amsterdam
on 13th September
on 13th October
(Occii)
(La Maroquinerie)
 Plays London
on 12th October
(XOYO)
on 13th September
(Madame Jojo’s)
on 19 th September
 Plays Paris
on 27th September
(Trix)
on 24 September
th
 Play London
(Point Ephémère)
 Play Amsterdam
on 14 th September
(Melkweg)
on 29th September
Soul Asylum
@ L’ Ancienne
Belgique
on 16th October
Saul Williams
@ Botanique
on 20th October
Sonic City
@ De Kreun
on 29th October
The Ex
@ VK
on 29th October
Gablé
@ Beursschouwburg
on 5th November
Silver Apples
@ Trix
on 8th November
Yes, the “Runaway
The highly respected and
By inviting Melvins,
These veterans of Dutch
Pigeonholing this joyful
Silver Apples were already
Train” grungers from
versatile modern-day poet,
Factory Floor, HTRK,
punk emerged at the height
and whacky French quartet
experimenting with
Minneapolis are back.
MC, musician and actor
Mark Ernestus, Legendary
of the genre in 1979 and
is simply impossible.
primitive synthesisers in
As a matter of fact, they
is on the road to defend
Pink Dots, Tannhauser
survived its downfall.
Gablé crosses over genres
1967 (before Kraftwerk
never really left the scene,
Volcanic Sunlight, his
Sterben Und Das Tod,
Undergoing several line-up
and styles, overthrowing
even formed), producing
they just somewhat failed
fourth offering, which sees
Standish/Carlyon, and
changes during their three-
any expectations of what
a new kind of trippy and
at following up on that
him take things where he left
Sightings; the LA-
decade career, their sound
a normal “band” could
psychedelic electronic sound
1993 worldwide hit.
them on his previous Trent
based Liars – who were
evolved from anarcho-
possibly be, with an
that would go on to influence
Recent material might not
Reznor-produced opus
asked to curate this day
punk to new-wave, even
unexpected freshness.
krautrock, dance music
have been met with great
and steer even further in a
festival in Courtrai/
incorporating free jazz,
Their bubbly and
and indie rock. It wasn’t
enthusiasm, but if you’re
strange electro pop vibe.
Kortrijk - demonstrate the
afrobeat, blues and folk,
unpredictable live shows
until the late 90s that they
impeccable, versatile and
whilst never losing their
have cemented their
finally got the recognition
dying to whip out that
flannel shirt from the attic,
 Plays Amsterdam
slightly offbeat taste one
relevance, edge or mythical
reputation as the band
they deserved, leading now
you know where to go.
(Bitterzoet)
would rightfully expect
onstage energy.
to watch, incorporating
sole-member Simeon to hit
on 17th October
of them.
hoovers amongst other
the roads again.
 Play London
 Plays Paris
 Play Paris
surrealist elements. Simply
(HMV Forum)
(La Cigale) on 3rd
(Jazz A Villette)
expect some serious fun.
on 15th October
November
on 4 th September
 Plays London
(Corsica Studios)
 Play Utrecht
 Play Paris
(Ekko)
(Point Ephémère)
 Plays Rotterdam
on 26 th October
on 2nd November
(WORM)
on 27th October
on 7th November
.
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G
IN
it
is
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a
Exp
pport
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and advice. That’s ex
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Our ING Expat service
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at ING
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hesitate to call one of
can do for you, don’t
464 66 64.
advisors on + 32 (0)2
www.ing.be/expat
ING Belgium SA/nv – Bank – avenue Marnix 24, B-1000 Brussels – Brussels RPM/RPR – VAT BE 0403.200.393 – BIC (SWIFT): BBRUBEBB – IBAN: BE45 3109 1560 2789 (Account:
310-9156027-89). Publisher: Philippe Wallez, cours Saint-Michel 60, 1040 Brussels.
20
The papers
Cinema Photography Industry Society Publishing Rise and shine The blue papers
We walk the beat with the local boys in blue, talk to prodigy
movie maker Gust Van den Berghe about his latest feature
Blue Birds, meet the founder of boutique photography
publisher Le Caillou Bleu and, finally, talk to photographer
Julie Calbert about her on-going series of Polaroids
Into the Blue. Think we might have gone a little over-the-top
on this colour-coded trip for once?
Writers Robbert van Jaarsveld, Rose Kelleher, Nicholas Lewis & Sam Steverlynck
Neighbourhood
21
ˆ
“ Le Caillou Bleu, essentially, is Fabrice’s
very intimate ode to photography on paper ”
© Sarah Eechaut
ˇ
Le Caillou
Bleu
Listening to Fabrice Wagner (pictured above)
describe Le Caillou Bleu, the boutique publishing imprint he founded six years ago and
which now counts 20 fine art photography
books to its name, you get the sense that this
is more than just a commercial venture for
the Strasbourg-born Frenchman who arrived
in Brussels in 1995. With a somewhat looseended focus which defines itself by its wholehearted acceptance of photography in all its
forms (“Le Caillou Bleu publishes photographic works of every kind, without favouring
any specific artistic trend,” states the ‘about us’
page on the company’s website), the Brusselsbased publisher mostly acts as a springboard
for otherwise little or unknown photographers.
“The image comes first,” says Fabrice when we
meet him one Wednesday afternoon in his
Schaerbeek townhouse “it doesn’t have to be
(the work of a) professional.” A one-man band
with more than a facet to his game (he takes
care of everything from his books’ graphic
design and art direction to their international
sales and distribution), Fabrice belongs to that
rare breed of new generation publishers: confident in their vision, patient in the achievement
of their goals and driven by a deep-rooted
passion for what they do. And it is this last
point that really shines through in the case of
Le Caillou Bleu, which, essentially, is Fabrice’s
very intimate ode to photography on paper, an
extension of himself. Indeed, you get the sense
that his back catalogue of books acts as his
private gallery, every new book he brings out
more akin to a recent addition to an already
growing collection than a mere new entry in an
Autumn / Winter catalogue. He talks fondly
about the photographers whose work he has
published (Frank Rothe, André Cepeda,
Philippe Herbet, Jean-Luc Fournier amongst
others), investing himself to the fullest in nurturing their career and taking word of one of
them getting a major exhibition in an international gallery as a personal victory, one which
seems to go way beyond the need to breakeven at the end of the month – “I live with the
editing work I do for other publishing houses,”
he says, somewhat reassuringly. Asked how he
believes his books differ from that of another
publisher, his response is immediate: “their
finish – distributors love my books – and
(the fact that) the price is affordable.” In the
end though, the personal and non-linear way
in which the selection is made is really what
is the most endearing about the independent
publishing house. Nothing is too calculated,
and nothing is too provoked. Everything is the
work of instinct and emotional appeal. “I’ve
published the works of a pensioner, as well
as having published the works of a student,”
continues Fabrice. And, why Le Caillou Bleu?
“My son, Thomas, used to paint stones in blue
when we were on holidays.” Simple… (NL)
Le Caillou Bleu has just published Satoru Toma’s book
‘Ask the cat’ to coincide with the Japanese-born,
Brussels-based photographer’s current exhibition
of the same name at Espace Photographique Contretype,
which runs until 4th September.
cailloubleu.com
contretype.org
22
Photographer
Julie Calbert’s
blue notes
“I like telling stories with oneiric undertones,”
says 25 year old photographer Julie Calbert.
A recent graduate of Brussels’ INRACI, the
Brussels-based artist creates and captures
mystifying, mysterious and, at times even
The papers
mesmerising atmospheric moments, solemnising timeless instants of beauty that often owe
more to their past existence than their present
one. More akin to snapshots of the unexpected
than to calculated compositions of the predicable, Julie’s impressive body of work considering her young age delights in its sheer beauty
and maturity. She possesses an uncanny ability
to detect the meaningful in a sea of everyday,
spotting those little things you wouldn’t necessarily see, let alone deem worthy of a photograph: a chandelier, a landscaped-wallpaper,
lakes in Sweden, eerie forests. It is the way she
captures these, however, that makes her work
so endearing and distinguishes it from the rest.
Indeed, the blue tones used throughout her
many series, omnipresent and defining, hark
back to her fascination with dreams and memories: “(the colour) brings a certain lightness to
my images,” she explains “just like in dreams or
memories.” A dreamcatcher then. (NL)
juliecalbert.be
Visit thewordmagazine.be/wonders/JulieCalbert
for a complete gallery of Julie’s work.
Neighbourhood
23
24
The papers
ˆ
“ An enduring analogy for the wistful, the local bobby walked the beat,
escorting kids home who'd snuck out of school or sleepovers ”
© Virassamy
ˇ
Good old
fashioned
police work
How many policemen does it take to change
a lightbulb? One, but he's never around when
you need him. An unexceptional joke says it
all. Once the heroes of TV and film, the cop
of popular imagination has degenerated into
an estranged bureaucrat at best. Ye olde neighbourhood policeman, on the other hand, is
one of nostalgia's greatest hits. An enduring
analogy for the wistful, the local bobby walked
the beat, escorting kids home who'd snuck out
of school or sleepovers. He always had time
for a chat, and he was always a “he”. Due to
the rise of statistics-based policing, today's
university-educated boys and girls in blue are
more likely to be involved in obsessive record
keeping than community relations. “There is a
lot of paperwork now,” says 3rd District Police
Inspector Louis De Langhe, “About 75 percent
of the job. When I started, we were outside
more and the job was based on action. Now it's
all statistics.” On the force for 33 years now,
Louis is a decided graduate of the old school.
He is nostalgic for the neat and uncomplicated
days when beat policing was the ideal of public
policy. “I know the people. The young officers
today don't know the people. They look for big
criminals. They are looking for glory, and they
don't want to walk the beat. They prefer to go
around in cars.” He holds regular community
meetings. These softly softly measures project
a nice image of the police. Most people don't
care about national crime figures based on data
in far-flung cities. They care about finding the
delinquent who stole their garden gnome. The
sight of a uniformed officer on foot is more
reassuring than an aloof face emerging from the
depths of a patrol car. “I hate going in the patrol
car.” says Louis “You see nothing. You can go by
bike too, but if you park your bike on the corner,
you come back and it's gone.” His beat includes
the well-behaved Chatelain / Kastelein quarter,
but also the more colourful Matonge. As soon as
he steps out of the station, a woman asks Louis
for directions. Her hands are clasped respectfully in front of her, the uniform producing a
strange reverential effect. He stops every few
metres to drop in on local business owners. He is
on kissing terms with many of them. He watches
out for illegal parking, breaches of red lights.
A soccer referee in his spare time, Louis has
the psychology and eye of an sentinel. He spots
amateurs filming a movie in front of a church.
An enquiry reveals they don't have permission
from the commune, but he drops it. “We are not
in Cuba. I don't want to be repressive, to be a
bear, I'm more like a lion. In Matonge they call
me Bwana Louis.” he laughs. Ça va ? Ça va...
Louis shouts in the window of a Lebanese snack.
“That's if you are polite with me. Two weeks
ago, this stupid guy stole a bottle of Adidas
perfume. ¤ 3.50 it cost. He tells me “Fuck you”.
I don't even know this guy, and he tells me “Fuck
you”! So I call a patrol car.” Saluting workers in
a beauty shop, Louis adds “But it's not always
necessary to make a report. If I see someone
with a joint, I put it out. I use my judgement,
and if my boss says it was a bad decision, I say
OK, but I was in the street and you were in the
office. And he says OK, it's your decision. On
the street, I'm the boss.” Rue du Bailli is busy
with shoppers. “I saw some of these girls at six
years old with their parents. Now I see them in
Place Chatelain / Kasteleinsplein 20 years later
with their own kids. That's what you get being
the neighbourhood police: you get to know
the people.” (RK)
Rose spent two days walking the beat with Inspector Louis
De Langhe in and around Ixelles / Elsene.
Neighbourhood
25
ˆ
“ The only difference is that there is no tape, no disc, no cashier to pay and no
overhead cost including the rent of the real estate, maintenance, power… ”
© Virassamy
ˇ
Above
the cloud:
from hard
to no copy
In the last years, the long-play phonograph
record has made a nearly unprecedented comeback after its near death at the hands of the
compact disc. Industry statistics showed that
in 2010, sales of vinyl records increased by 14
percent – a rare triumph in a bloody war that
is being lost on all fronts. It marked a cultural
turning point ; musical journalists marveled over
what they called the return of decency in a realm
of decay. True music lovers will find their way to
quality and the new releases that matter to them
– they said – regardless of how many low bitrate
mp3's you bombard them with. Maybe so, but
then why did the same report indicate that some
of the top selling artists included such upcoming
talents as Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan ?
Sure, you know some people who buy a bit
of vinyl or the occasional cd, but not the way they
used to do it before the days of P2P, Rapidshare
and Youtube. Speaking of which, when is the
last time you bought a DVD or rented a movie ?
If you’re thinking “last week, why do you ask ?”
Then congratulations, you belong to that dying
breed, the upstanding citizen. Most probable
though, you belong to the download-and-share
tribe, the on-demand generation used to getting
whatever the fuck it wants at the mere click of a
button (often red). The only difference is that
there is no tape, no disc, no cashier to pay and no
overhead cost including the rent of the real estate,
maintenance, power… So then what are you
paying for? A rain of bits coming from a cloud.
The only overhead cost is a buzzing basement
full of servers and hard drives… And of course
copyright coin. It's that same statistical mindfuck:
getting a 25 percent discount doesn't count for
shit if all it means is that you're being ripped off
more efficiently than before.
Thus, the question remains: how are the
Kaisers Of Content going to save their sharkskin
suits? So far, the majors still seem to think that
they can turn this thing around on a legislative
level – and get everybody to pay again. And the
truth is that they are probably going to succeed.
Better yet: they’re going to do it by making you
think you got a good deal. They haven’t yet
figured out that they don't really need a carrier;
that in fact, they can significantly up their profits
by uploading one high quality master file onto a
central server instead of shipping containers full
of Blu-rays off to other markets. Prognosis: most
carriers will disappear while a select few will
take on the status that vinyl holds today: a luxury
item for the connoisseur, the expert cultural
consumer. Everything else will come out of the
cloud. In a way, it makes perfect sense. Even on
an ecological level, it seems like the smart thing
to do. Why press billions upon billions of dvd’s,
Blu-rays, newspapers, books and cd’s and ship
them all over the world when it’s way easier to just
upload it straight onto your corporate server and
make it available worldwide to all your paying
customers with the click of a button? Doing it
any other way seems like a waste of time, energy
and resources. Of course it can't be a win-win for
everybody: if everything is in the cloud, there
will no longer be a need for bookshops, press
shops, record stores, libraries, video stores…
At least not as we know them. There will be a
time when a paper magazine – much like the one
you’re reading right now – will be like a limited
edition 10" Radiohead EP: a vintage symbol of
nostalgia you keep on your bookshelf to indicate
that you know how to appreciate the finer things
in life. (RVJ)
26
The papers
ˆ
“ We went through some heavy stuff.
Death, quarrels with tribal chief, locals ripping us off… ”
ˇ
Director
Gust Van den
Berghe’s very
own little
avatar
Having your final-year project screened at
Cannes’ Film Festival must be every film student’s ultimate dream. It did become reality
however for the then 24 year old Gust Van
den Berghe, who’s Little Baby Jesus of Flandr
premiered at the prestigious festival to critical
acclaim. For his debut, Van den Berghe – an
ambitious yet down to earth director who graduated in 2009 from Brussels’ RITS film school –
used the little known Flemish Christmas play
En waar de sterre bleef stille staan by Felix
Timmermans as a starting point. In Van den
Berghe’s version though, the play’s three kings
are played by mentally handicapped actors
– like the majority of the crew – contributing to the film’s uncanny atmosphere. Shot in
the Flemish countryside, the grainy black and
white film contains long frames of desolate
landscapes that at times evoke the universe of
Bruegel, whilst also revealing a voice of its own.
Van den Berghe's second film Blue Bird – based
on another obscure fictional story, this time
L'Oiseau Bleu (1908) by Maurice Maeterlinck,
Belgium’s one and only Nobel price winner
for Literature – was also selected for Cannes’
Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, rejecting any claim
that the wunderkind was just another one hit
wonder. As the original story about two children looking for a magical blue bird is too dated
for today’s (western) readers, Van den Berghe
wisely set the story in Africa where the belief in
ghosts and the supernatural is still well-and-truly
alive. In their quest to find the bird, the children
wander through a near-mystical landscape,
meeting their deceased grandparents and a group
of yet to be born children. This journey of life
and death is a rite of passage, which is further
emphasised in the end, when the mother notices
that her children have outgrown their clothes.
Blue Bird is a deliberate and simple story about
the loss of innocence. At its core, the movie is
more about the subdued atmosphere and poetic
beauty than the story itself. Most interestingly
perhaps, the film’s overall aesthetic, atmosphere
and tone are enhanced by Van den Berghe’s use
of visual technique. Though shot in colour, the
film’s blue tint was reached at through the use
of a filter, which was constantly graded in a
studio – a time-consuming process that can be
compared to the act of painting every one of the
movie’s frames. Indeed, Van den Berghe refers
to Blue Birds as “My own little avatar”. The blue
hue gives the film almost a physical dimension
playing with the viewer’s perception, while the
horizontal format works wonders for the shots of
Togo’s vast landscapes.
Both of Van den Berghe’s movies were made
without professional actors (people with Down
syndrome for the first and locals for the second),
and with a very low budget (a mere 60,000
euros) : “To find money, you almost have to be as
creative as in making your film,” he jokes. As in
order to finance his debut, Van den Berghe was a
guinea pig for several medical tests (he also apparently engaged in some illegal activity but nothing
we can talk about on these pages). Shooting a
film in Africa wasn't easy either : “It was literally
madness! The only certainty we had is that there
was no money. We went through some heavy stuff.
Death, quarrels with tribal chief, locals ripping
us off…” That being said, the restrictions – the
lack of electricity which forced the crew to use
memory cards – did serve to keep the director on
his toes. Tellingly, the agitation during production didn't overshadow its final result, as Van den
Berghe says, “it contributed to the energy animating the film.” The general mood however is one
of poetic tranquility of which Van den Berghe
– though just starting to develop his oeuvre –
already seems to have made his trademark. (SS)
Visit thewordmagazine.be/wonders/bluebirds to watch the
movie’s trailer and a gallery of stills.
28
The study
Graphic design Illustration Talent Jokes The Word & Levis
presents
The blue album’s colour chart
S0.40.50
T0.40.30
S6.14.75
S0.40.60
S5.48.41
S0.15.80
S4.26.64
S0.50.40
S6.09.77
T0.20.70
S0.50.50
T0.10.80
—
A collaborative study in different shades of blue
30
The Word on
Industry People Heritage Teenage territories
Your teenage bedroom was the first time your personality
really took shape. From the tacky Beverly Hills 90210 posters
you blutacked to the wall to the love letters you scribbled on
the back of your bed, your bedroom was your world. It said
more about you than the Wrangler jeans your mum forced you
to wear. It was who you were.
Photographer Sarah Eechaut
Eva Van Kerkhove
28 years old, clinical child psychologist.
Life
Magalie Flerackers
25 years old, masters in Sinology student.
31
32
The Word on
Stijn Van Hoey
34 years old, sports coordinator.
Life
Yves Van Kerkhove
31 years old, music product manager.
33
34
The other Word on
Passion Photography The big blue
When the Indian Ocean is nothing but a distant dream yet
your little one insists on a face-to-face with Nemo, your
next best option is bringing it to the living room. And, as we
realised whilst meeting some aquarium diehards, that can
mean anything from single-room, table-topped fishbowls to
fully automated, wall-mounted monster aquariums.
Photographer Veerle Frissen
Life
35
Steven van Aeldeweereld, 31
Bought his first aquarium aged 25 and now
counts 36 fish, all of them Cichlids from Lake
Malawi except for one, “a fish from my previous aquarium that I really wanted to keep.”
He is most proud of his Pseudotropheus
Demasoni, a blue and black striped cichlid
from Lake Malawi.
36
The other Word on
Erik Lievens, 62
Bought his first aquarium in 1987, aged 38.
Owns approximately 60 fish, all of them
Cichlids. Erik estimates he spends around
250 euros per year on his aquariums.
Life
37
Dirk Van Damme, 54
Bought his first aquarium at the tender age of
12 and today owns eight (two large aquariums
in the living room, the largest of which is a
whopping 1,600L, and six in the back room).
Owns over 100 fish, all of them Cichlids from
rivers in Brazil and Argentina. Dirk finds it
difficult to pick one fish over another : “You
will always see, that when you favour one fish,
something bad will happen to it.”
Jan Jacobs, 34
Bought his first aquarium aged 21 and
today owns three. One for show, and one
for emergencies (in case a fish gets sick, is
attacked by another fish or, worse, needs to
be quarantined). His aquariums are inhabited
by 10 fish, a few Scarlet cleaner shrimps, a sea
star, a black sea urchin, a hermit lobster and a
few sea snails. “Currently, I have a black and
orange clownfish mating with each other and
I’m very excited about the result.”
Visit thewordmagazine.be/wonders/thebigblue
for our full feature of aquarium obsessives.
The encounter
38
People Talent Industry Meeting Dries Van Noten
(or the day my heart stopped beating)
Despite being part of fashion royalty, Dries Van Noten really is an
idealist and true romantic at heart. I remember meeting him for the first
time in Paris a few years ago, in the run up to one of his menswear shows,
and being touched by his honest nervousness. What struck me the most
though was his humility and sense of distance. And that there is where
Dries’ real appeal lies : in fashion, but somewhat removed from it.
Writer Philippe Pourhashemi
The thing about Van Noten’s clothes is that you
can actually wear them – everything you see
on the catwalk will end up in stores. His frocks
aren’t made to sell more lipstick. This sense of
reality is as rare as it is refreshing in an industry where designers often rely on shock value to
make the headlines. Blame it on the recession
perhaps, but conceptual fashion doesn't cut it
any longer. There’s a yearning for the authentic, qualitative and crafty that Van Noten has
come to be synonymous with. In fact, he has
enjoyed support from the international press
ever since his early beginnings, even though he
never advertised in it. “I think that, for a very
long time, our decision not to advertise was not
a choice, but more of a necessity as we simply
didn’t have the budget. Since then the company
has grown, and our decision not to do it remains,
but for different reasons. We do not necessarily
want to increase the price of our clothes to fund
the advertising and I personally don’t feel that
my collections should be associated with a specific image or person. When it comes down to
the press, I think that – after 25 years – people
get to understand your thought process a bit
more. They respect that I’m an independent
designer and I respect their point of view, too,
whether it be praise or criticism.”
“Independence” is an important factor
for the home-grown designer. His company
is privately owned and he doesn't have to
answer to anyone, except himself. In a weird
way, Van Noten could be Antwerp’s answer to
Giorgio Armani, who still owns his name after
more than 35 years in the business. However,
Van Noten admits he did consider getting a third
party involved when things got challenging.
“I remember back in the 90s when many young
designers – including myself – were under huge
amounts of pressure to sell to the big groups.
When Galliano and McQueen were sold, my
business partner and I did think twice about
whether or not it would have been a good idea
to seek financial help. We decided to forgo that
option, got through the worst part and came out
stronger in the end, with the ability to work at
our own pace and no constraints. I cannot really
speak for anyone else on that matter, because I’ve
only ever had to make decisions independently.”
This free-spirited approach also serves to
shape the designer’s aesthetic. Indeed, one of Van
Style
39
Noten’s skills is the subtle way in which he astutely balances references in his clothes, avoiding
clichés and stereotypes. For his last womenswear
collection, he had opulence and collage on his
mind. “I had the pleasure to see an amazing exhibition on the Ballets Russes at the V&A museum
in London last year. I was enthralled by the different ways in which the wardrobe masters were
able to create new costumes out of old ones. Sergei
Diaghilev – the founder of the Ballets Russes –
was also a huge inspiration. This idea of bringing
movement and asymmetry to the silhouette was
something I found very powerful.” Shown in one
of the ridiculously grand reception rooms of the
Hôtel de Ville in Paris, the collection was a multisensory experience, offering a heady and idiosyncratic take on luxury. The Thin White Duke's
“Heroes” played on the soundtrack, giving a fiery
and poetic vibe to the presentation. Bowie is, in
fact, one of the designer's major musical obsessions
“His music has been an endless source of inspiration throughout my life. He was able to capture
the essence of his music through his wardrobe
choices. Besides the endless variety of his looks,
Bowie was a true chameleon who had this ability
to change constantly. I was referring mainly to two
of his periods: the “Just a Gigolo” film – shot in
the late 70s – for the menswear's winter collection and “Ziggy Stardust” for the womenswear.
It felt perfectly normal to use his music for
both shows.”
ˆ
If a designer creates 12
collections a year, I do
believe he or she will get
burnt-out pretty quickly.
ˇ
Despite having both feet on the ground,
Van Noten can nonetheless be vulnerable and
sensitive at times. He leaves room for doubt
in his life and still questions his choices as
a designer. When he talks about the end of a
collection – and the whole process that leads
to the fashion show – his emotional side takes
over “I suppose you could say that there is that
element of postpartum remorse. After working
on something for more than six months, it is
tough moving on to the next collection straight
away. You do feel sad initially, but there is a
great sense of accomplishment, too. Then, of
course, you wait to see how people will react.
This heightened sense of anticipation runs a
little longer until you’re fully involved with
the next collection.” The increasing speed of
fashion is not something that leaves him indifferent either. With the steady rise of mass
clothing chains and the amount of product and
styles out there, “designer fashion” has had to
reposition itself, jump on the collective bandwagon or stick to what it does best. This has led
to more and more collections being produced
annually by luxury brands, something Van
Noten believes clearly affects the designers’
creativity. “Look at all the collections people
have to design each year, including pre-collections and accessories. If a designer creates 12
collections a year, I do believe he or she will
get burnt-out pretty quickly. Ideas should be
nurtured and have a chance to grow before
being pushed out the door to make room for
new clothes. It’s hard enough doing two lines
each season. I have enormous respect for other
designers who – year in, year out – continue
to produce excellent work. As a designer, it all
boils down to my love for the craft and always
wanting to push and grow.”
Van Noten is less forgiving to the fashion
circus and its pretentiousness. His clothes
work for different body types and nationalities, proving that the industry does not have
to be narrow-minded to survive: “It would be
foolish for a designer to think that his entire
client base is sample sized. Sadly, fashion can
be too elitist sometimes, often economically,
though hopefully never creatively. My main
basis when I work on a collection is to create
garments that anyone can include into their own
wardrobe. I want people to be able to mix pieces
up and make them a part of their own style.
There is no better feeling than seeing someone
walking down the street wearing something you
designed in a way you wouldn’t have expected
it to be worn.” There is a generosity in Van
Noten’s approach that does not apply to other
designers’ work. He is fascinated with exoticism
and foreignness, letting his fertile imagination
do the travelling, “The idea of different cultures being incorporated within my collections
is obviously something very dear to me. I like
to learn more about them, through reading or
exhibitions. I guess I’m fascinated with other
ways of life, cultures and history. I will often
use these rituals and traditions in my work, but
always in a contemporary way.”
I have a confession to make: Dries Van
Noten is one of my fashion heroes. Season
after season, he produces beautiful, wearable
clothes I want to have. His shows move me,
too. He manages to create the right atmosphere and lures you in, without being pushy
or in your face. Walking into his flagship store
in Antwerp is like sneaking into an old, cosy
English library, full of hidden gems and promises. His generosity as a human being shines
through, from the drinks and tasty nibbles he
serves his audience at shows, to his support
of new designers. In fact, he makes a point of
returning what he received, “Each year, we
hold seminars in the studio with students from
the Royal College of Antwerp. This is a time
where members of my team and I have the
opportunity to show fashion students the ins
and outs of running a fashion company. It is an
important thing as an ‘established’ designer for
me to do, considering the years of support the
industry gave me when I was growing. When
I was selected to be president of the fashion jury
at the Festival d’Hyères in France last year, this
was another way for me – with the help of some
extremely talented editors, designers and stylists – to advise younger designers on where
their energies should be focused on, giving
directions to the ones we thought were the most
promising.” They say you should never meet
your heroes, but, honestly, that’s just a load of
BS if you ask me.
driesvannoten.be
40
The insider
© Yassin Serghini
Retail Heritage Vintage Consume A blast from
the past
Pièce Unique is a mecca for fashion lovers with
a tendency to look to the past for class. Opened
in January 2010 by Nathalie Gutterman – a
bubbly, fun-loving French woman whom many
refer to as “NG” – the boutique specialises in
rare vintage finds and second-hand pieces. The
90 square meter space has a warm and friendly
feel and it hasn’t taken NG very long to get to
know the neighbourhood. “When I was looking
for a place, a friend of mine suggested I open in
this area and I’m glad I did. I love it here. My
original idea was to have a consignment shop
with clothes from contemporary designers, but
my son and I found these amazing dead stock
pieces from the likes of Yves Saint Laurent and
Thierry Mugler. All the original tags were still
attached and I decided to include them in my
selection.” Despite the owner's sourcing skills
and eclectic taste, Pièce Unique was not an
overnight success “When I opened last year, I
only had vintage and hardly any clients. Most
of the pieces I showed were from the 80s and
people didn’t seem to get them. My very first
client bought a fur coat from the 70s and I realised there were people here who really knew and
appreciated vintage. In fact, this same woman
still is a client and only buys Hermès scarves.
She’s obsessed with them.” NG’s enthusiasm for
extraordinary clothes is contagious and she’s
not the kind of woman who will take no for an
answer. When she looked at vintage stores in
Brussels, she noticed the wow factor was often
missing. “When I choose vintage clothes, I want
Couture or iconic pieces. It has to be exceptional. This is not something you find easily here and
I felt there was a gap in the market. Even though
I mix contemporary brands with older pieces,
vintage is something I’m truly passionate about.”
ˆ
It’s a very small world.
If you go to clothing
auctions in Paris, you
will always see the same
faces fighting for designer
clothes. These people hate
each other's guts so much
it makes the whole scene
rather comical.
ˇ
A quick tour of Pièce Unique's stockroom gives
you an idea of what she means. Racks of pristine
vintage frocks would give any die-hard fashion
fiend instant hot flushes. Courrèges, Paco
Rabanne, Chanel and Issey Miyake are all there,
as well as more recent pieces from Helmut Lang,
Jil Sander or John Galliano. There even is a silk
madras Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche dress
with a fitted bust and full skirt. The tags are
still on and its condition is remarkable. In fact,
it’s no secret designers have been plundering
vintage clothes for years, giving their collections that reassuring, familiar feel. Escaping the
retro dance has become impossible in fashion,
as every season brings images from previous
decades. The 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s are
constantly reinterpreted, even though quality
standards tend to be lower now. “The thing
about vintage is that it stands the test of time. It is
rare, too, which means that competition amongst
dealers is pretty fierce. It’s a very small world.
If you go to clothing auctions in Paris, you will
always see the same faces fighting for designer
clothes. These people hate each other's guts so
much it makes the whole scene rather comical.”
If price can be an issue for Belgians, NG also
sells to international clients who understand
the value of vintage, “I sold this beautiful, white
Courrèges coat to a young Parisian couple the
other day. She tried it on and he bought it for
her as a present.” This autumn, Pièce Unique
will expand, opening a gallery space where the
ever-resourceful NG will showcase one-off
vintage, as well as selected works from innovative, upcoming artists. (PP)
Pièce Unique
Rue Franz Merjaystraat, 167-169
1050 Brussels
WELCOME TO OUR WORLD
PARIS - NEW YORK 2011
WOR KS BY
TH E DE FI N ITIVE R E FE R E NC E FOR FAS H ION, PHOTOG RAPHY,
I MAG E MAKI NG, ADVE RTI S I NG, PRODUCTION AN D EVE NTS
WWW.LE BOOK.COM
All Basquiat Works © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Used by permission. Licensed by Artestar, New York
CONNECTIONS : THE CUSTOM-MADE TRADESHOW FOR ALL THOSE WHO COMMISSION CREATIVE TALENT
FOR CAMPAIGNS, EDITORIALS, CATALOGS AND OTHER VISUAL PRODUCTIONS
BERLIN
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WINTER 2011
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BY INVITATION ONLY - REGISTER AT WWW.LEBOOK.COM/CONNECTIONS
42
The showstoppers
Fashion Beauty Consume One for you, one for me
We have a little bit of everything for everyone this month.
We have a perfume for him, shoes for her, a bag just for her,
a heavy-knit cardigan for him (although she’ll probably
stretch it to the max on those crispy Sunday mornings) as well
as a raincoat they might even snuggle into together if really
needed. Either way, we’ve got it covered.
01.
If you’re planning to take
the boat out this Autumn…
S.N.S Herning is a Danish knitwear brand who’s been on the clothing
racks of every self-respected ‘serious’ style boutique for the last year or
so. As the story goes, the company used to manufacture outerwear for the
Danish fishing industry, apparently using Latvian knitters to hand-stich
their heavy-duty jumpers and cardigans. The quality and design of the
garments was such that the local population started to wear the brand
casually, giving it an entry into society that launched its ensuing dominance of that very peculiar of niches – unparalleled craftsmanship, a
particular attention to detail and a light-heartedness that makes one melt
(each piece comes with a hand-stitched label specifyi ng the name of the
person who made it). Now if that didn’t sell it for you, just imagine how
dapper you’ll look this winter in a tight-fitting, sturdy-looking navy blue
cardigan. I bought one last winter and have literally never had as many
people comment on something I wore. (NL)
S.N.S Herring.
Available from Mapp (Brussels) and Houben (Antwerp).
sns-herning.com
Style
43
02.
Faire and square
Obsessed with graphic styles and contemporary shapes, Frenchman Nicolas Ghesquière
has offered consistent and directional collections at Balenciaga for more than a decade.
His accessory line keeps on growing each year
too, and now includes bags, shoes, jewellery
and watches. The designer's sharp sense can
be found in these sleek sunglasses, which are
as unisex as they are timeless. In fact, plastic
has never looked so good. Black shades are
out this season : go for blue instead and we
promise you a brighter future. (PP)
Balenciaga square frame sunglasses (¤265).
Available from Louise 54 (Brussels) and Louis (Antwerp).
balenciaga.com
03.
Scent of a winner
Perfumes can be a tricky one to balance,
especially so for men. Too fruity, and you come
across as being too precious, too girly. Too strong
and you come across as being too macho, too
sexist. First impressions really do count you see,
and the right scent is half the battle won. If you
want to go a step further though, and make sure
the entire battle is won well before the meet has
even taken place, try Chanel’s latest perfume,
Bleu de Chanel. Manly enough to reassure yet
discreet enough not to overshadow, the eau de
toilette – which comes in an intense blue developed especially for the bottle – is a balancing act
in sensorial superiority : it’s fresh, energetic and,
most important of all, self-assured. (NL)
Bleu de Chanel 100ml bottle (¤71).
Available nationwide from Ici Paris XL.
chanel.com
04.
I’ll never let you go
If skinny jeans were the trousers that defined
the first decade of this new millennium, Keds
certainly were the accompanying shoes. The
thing about Keds you see is their longevity.
Even when worn to their ultimate limit, the
street-smart sneakers manage to retain their
prime positioning in our wardrobes. Fact is,
although they might be drenched in festival
mud or have holes in their soles the size of lunar
craters, there’s nothing that’ll stop us wearing
them. Not even a new pair of leather patterned,
navy blue ones we, actually, could see replacing the white ones we’ve had since 2008 – and
which aren’t remotely white anymore… Hmm…
Might get the new ones after all. (NL)
Keds Veronica Navy shoe for women (¤85).
Available from Fresh (Brussels) and
Lux Street Fashion (Antwerp).
keds.com
The showstoppers
44
05.
Do you remember the time ?
K-Way. The name alone brings back memories of 8.20 am starts, playground hustles
and cigarettes you didn’t even know how to
smoke yet. One of those brands – similar to
Walkman, Chevignon and Chippy – that
forever stays imbedded in your teenage
subconscious. Kind of like when you hear
Roxette’s The Look on the radio and it
instantly transports you back to that first
kiss you managed to blag behind the school
football field. What’s more, with the rain
making a triumphant comeback, there’s really
no better investment you could be making at
the moment. (NL)
K-Way reversible jacket (¤290).
Available at farfetch.com
kway.be
06.
Kinky heyday
The first word that comes to mind when looking at Carine
Gilson's lingerie line is “exquisite”. Using the finest
Chantilly lace and Lyon silks, her pieces are utterly feminine and hand-crafted in Belgium, exuding just the right
amount of retro charm. Coloured underwear can be risky,
but it avoids any vulgar connotations in Carine's hands.
Her designs are destined for girls who know a thing or two
about seduction and are confident enough to flaunt it. This
chemise is embroidered with contrasting lace and can also
be worn as a dress. Indeed, it'd be a shame to hide such
beauty under layers of clothing. (PP)
Silk-satin chemise with lace (¤790).
Available from Carine Gilson (Brussels).
carinegilson.com
07.
Bag raider
Launched by Nina Bodenhurst, Niyona
reconciles great design with a functional and
free-spirited essence. Bodenhurst arrived on
the scene in November of last year aged 26,
having first had stints with both Delvaux and
Nathan-Baume. Entirely made in Belgium
and working with nothing but the finest
of leathers, it is her ability to respect the
past whilst firmly looking to the future that
attracted us to her collection in the first place.
That, and her ‘Le Lewis’ bag, an oversized,
rectangular-shaped holdall perfect for
extended city breaks with him or her. (PP)
Niyona Lewis ‘Le Lewis’ (¤840).
Available from Must (Brussels).
niyona.com
Go to page 96 for full stockist information.
46
The nod
Play Photography Fashion Giving in to temptation
Having our girls-of-the-moment fool around in some
tight-fitting hot pants is bound to make us come across
as macho pigs only too willing to objectify women
the way the media always has. And, whilst you may
have a point, just take a minute to actually look at the
images, and tell us if you don’t agree: they’re sensual,
playful and, yes, attractive. So, macho pigs maybe,
but macho pigs with taste.
Photographer Ismaël Moumin
Rinsed denim page short RAW correct line by G-Star
Style
47
03.
04.
Left – Kenya short Wrangler / Right – Cruz short G-Star DNM
48
The nod
Right – Mini short G-Star Women / Left – Black denim short I kks Women
Style
49
Mini shorts Z adig & Voltaire
Photographer’s assistant
Kelly De Block
Make up Maud Eben
Models Ine and Justine
@ Jill Models Management
With special thanks to Françoise Salinger,
Nina Juncker and 254 Forest Studio.
Go to page 96 for full stockist information.
50
The fashion Word
Fashion Consume Photography She’s the one
wearing the pants
She might come across as the shy, comfortable-in-the-background
type, but make no mistake, she’s really the one keeping it all
together. She’ll set the tone, decide what they listen to, where
they go, who they see and, more importantly, what they wear.
The pillar of the pair, her man nothing but an accessory to her
own happiness and satisfaction.
Photographer Sébastien Bonin
Fashion Jennifer Defays
Style
Jean jacket Isabel Marant, Flower Indress, Gloves Hermès, Stockings Wolford
51
Shirt Wrangler, Collar Ann Demeulemeester
Megane — Jacket Wrangler, Trousers Dries Van Noten, Scarf Ann Demeulemeester Vintage
Ian — Jacket Lee, Shorts Diesel, Sunglasses KTZ by Linda Farrow
Jacket and jeans G-star by Marc Newson , Hat Hermès, Scarf Stylist’s own, Mittens Hugo Boss
Dungarees Levi’s, Gloves Haider Ackermann
Megane — Jeans jacket Gervaise Gournay, Shorts Diesel Black Gold, Necklace Maison Martin Margiela, Boots Hermès
Ian — Overalls Levi’s, Sunglasses Jeremy Scott for Linda Farrow and Trainers Bernhard Willhelm for Camper
Jeans Dior Homme, Pins Les Petits Riens
58
The fashion Word
Shirt Wrangler
Style
59
Photographer
Sébastien Bonin
Photographer’s assistant
Bettina Genter
Fashion
Jennifer Defays
Retouching
Jonathan Steelandt
Hair and make-up
Esther
Models
Megane
@Keens
Ian
@Imm
Go to page 96 for full stockist information.
Megane - Shirt Wrangler, Boots Nathalie Verlinden
Ian - Jeans Dior Homme
60
The columns
Talent Nostalgia Rise and shine Electronica New release Deniz Kurtel
— Since the release
of her eponymous
debut album ‘Music
Watching Over Me’
earlier this year,
rising star Deniz
Kurtel’s broody
and atmospheric
productions have won
the hearts and minds
of house revival fans
the world over. We
recently caught up with
her via email after a
missed opportunity
for a proper, face-toface conversation at
Brussels’ airport.
When and where was your LP recorded?
How long did it take you to record?
(The album was made) between 2009,
when I first started making music, and mid
2010. (It) took about one and a half years. I was
mainly in Brooklyn during this time, except
for the summers, when I was in Berlin. I didn’t
have anything sitting in my hard drive because
I had just started making music and Damian
Lazarus suggested that I make an album for him
after he heard the first few tracks I made, and
for a year after that I was working on completing the album.
If I understand it right, you first started doing
your LED installations at Wolf & Lamb parties,
then started making music, then hooked up
with Crosstown Rebels via Damian?
I met Zev and Gadi (Wolf+Lamb) at one of
their first parties back in 2005 and shortly after,
we started living together, and I was making
LED installations for their parties. Being into
this kind of music for a long time, and being
around friends who DJ and produce, I wanted
to try it for myself. I didn’t really have a plan to
do it full time, or even make an album, it was
just something I got into out of curiosity and
for fun. And then Damian heard from someone
that I was making music and was curious to hear
it. That’s how I got involved with Crosstown.
Crosstown Rebels seems like the perfect
home for you. Can you talk to us about the
dynamics within the label? How supportive was the label with this first LP?
Yeah they’ve been super supportive with
everything since the beginning. The LP was
actually Damian’s idea, I didn’t even have that
sort of a plan in my head, I had just started
experimenting with music. They’ve also been
very supportive last year when I first started
playing. I’m happy I started touring with them,
everything felt much safer.
Do you consider yourself more of a studio
or live show kind of musician?
Definitely more as a studio musician. I started playing just to support my music.
Can you talk to us about one of your most
memorable parties / dj sets?
So far some of my most memorable parties
have been my gigs at Fabric in London and
Electric Pickle in Miami. Fabric is very special
for me because it’s the first place where I had
my LED installation properly working with my
live show. I had it at Pacha in New York before
that, but there were a few problems setting it up
and I don’t think the club was really suitable for
it. And Electric Pickle is my favorite club in
the US, and even though I only started playing
February of last year, I already played there
seven times, and every time it’s been magical.
Can you tell us the five tracks that would
definitely be included in a live sets of yours
at the moment?
The L Word, my remix of March of No
Coincidence, Best Of (the new freestyle
version), Love Saves the Day Remix, and the
M.E.S. remix I made with Gadi.
When and where are you at your most creative?
I think when I’m moody, also when I hear
really good music.
What’s the best/funniest thing anyone has
said of your music up to now?
That it made them cry (not funny, but definitely one of the best things).
What is your favourite colour to use in your
LED installations? How do you actually go
about creating them? Do you start with a pen
and a paper, or is it all done ’on location’?
I use blue a lot, and usually the colder
tones of colors. I always start with pencil and
paper. I draw and write and plan everything in
detail for a long time before I start creating it.
Because I build the whole thing myself, I have
to calculate every little element that goes into
it ahead of time.
What do you have planned for the summer
and the rest of the year?
This summer’s been a lot of touring and
collaborations with other artists. I started
working on a new album with Art Department,
and some tracks with Tanner Ross, Voices of
Black, Gadi Mizrahi, Pillow Talk and Greg
Oreck. (The) rest of the year will be devoted
to completing these projects, and more touring.
denizkurtel.com
crosstownrebels.com
wolflambmusic.com
61
© Yassin Serghini
Music
Jane’s
addiction:
Marianne
Faithfull’s
Broken
English
I think I must have been around eight when
I first heard Marianne Faithfull’s Broken
English. My dad always used to have a
great taste in music so I was brought up with
Marianne Faithfull, Kate Bush, Patty Smith,
The Rolling Stones, Van Morrisson, Pink
Floyd, etc… But Marianne wasn't my favourite at the time, I was more into Kate Bush and
Carole King when I was a kid. But then as every
normal teenager I rejected my dad's music and
went my own way, listening to a lot of northern
soul, disco and early Chicago house. Then,
14 years later, my good friend Ran introduced
me to her again. He had just finished reading
her biography and lent me his copy. I read it
whilst re-discovering the Broken English
album. It really moved me. I’ve always found
Marianne to be a very intriguing person. After
having read her biography, I knew she had been
fighting addiction her whole life, yet she did it
all by herself. She's a very strong person, having
lived an extraordinarily difficult life. She had
her first hit in 1964 with As Tears Go By, the
first song ever written by Mick Jagger and Keith
Richards. When you look at the video, you see
a very young, beautiful girl with a little, angellike voice. After having a huge hit with the song,
she got into a four year relationship with Mick
Jagger. The couple became notorious as part of
the swinging London scene. After their relationship ended, she’d been living in the streets
for years with a huge drug and alcohol addiction, trying to survive while being the daughter of a baroness. Then suddenly, after having
effectively been written off as a one-hit wonder,
she reappeared again in 1979 to shock everyone with this dark masterpiece. It also revealed
a dramatic change to her voice. The melodic
vocals on her early records were replaced
with a raucous, deep voice, affected by years
of smoking, drinking and drug use. Marianne
puts a lot of emotion in a song when she sings it.
She has a way of spitting out the lyrics. If you
compare her version of Working Class Hero to
the original one of John Lennon, you can see
that hers is grittier. There’s also another song
on the album where you hear her cracked voice
spitting out very aggressive lyrics “Why d’ya
do it”, one of my favourites! It's definitely her
best album according to me. I really like the
harshness, the bitterness of it. It also was very
controversial at the time of its release, the title
song was some kind of a dedication to Ulrike
Meinhof, a well know terrorist.
The above is part of a new series where we hand the pen over
to Lady Jane, and get her talking about an addiction of hers.
Something, someone or somewhere that is close to her heart.
Jane is the founder of the Catclub, Brussels’ pre-eminent
monthly house night. She also is about to start a new night
called Black Out, and whose first date will see Permanent
Vacation’s Wolfram perform a live show at Tour & Taxis on
17 th September. Make sure to pencil it in.
catclub.be
62
The columns
The last thing you could accuse Totally
Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, known as
Orlando Higginbottom to his friends and
family, is that he didn’t think long and hard
about his stage name. Totally Enormous
Extinct Dinosaurs. You ain’t about to forget that
one now, are you? And, to be honest, even if
his name was, say Benny Blando or some other
form of industry-constructed ‘brand name’, his
output would ensure he remained firmly at the
top of your music chain. ‘Garden’, latest single
‘Trouble’ (”it’s about trying to get with someone
and knowing that whatever happens, it’s always
going to turn out wrong”) and, our favourite, ‘Household goods’ all have this uncanny
ability to stay engraved in your mental playlist.
One listen, and you find yourself humming the
track’s vocals or its baseline for the rest of the
day. Ever since creeping up on to the scene a
few years ago with his first EP on Greco Roman
Records (Joe ‘Hot Chip’ Goddard’s berlinbased label), the rosy-cheeked, Oxfordshire
talent has been building up considerable
industry credit, as much for his danceable,
melodious electro than for his memorable live
shows – complete with dancers wearing dinosaur costumes. Initially the whole thing grew
out of sheer boredom. TEED (the abbreviated version of his world record-worthy stage
name) was “a reaction against deejaying,” and
people that forgot what dancing was all about.
His work shares a lot of similarities with dance
music from the nineties: the heavy juicy basses,
the synths (naturally) and the enchanting
vocals. There’s nostalgia too, lots of it: “When
I was young there were some albums I’d listen
to A LOT. For six months I would just listen
to one album. Unkel’s debut album Psyence
Fiction (1998), early jungle music,” and those
early influences can still be found in the music
he’s making today. “There’s also something
about the sound and production of that time.
The naivety of some of the dance records that
were produced back then that is inimitable.”
But there’s more than the 90s to his music. For
starters, he gets his inspiration through a lot of
channels. Records that nobody would expect
him to have: classical music, Motown, eastern
European folk music and Japanese traditional
music. “In general, I’ve got some weird stuff,” he
says. And in his line of business it helps that late
© Yana Foqué
Totally
Enormous
Extinct
Dinosaurs
ˆ
I like the idea of things
falling apart and chaos.
Everything can be,
no is, part of the music.
Sometimes the feedback
is the best aspect of
a show.
ˇ
nights inspire him too. “There’s two reasons for
that: going out and listening to music is always
inspiring – even when it inspires you in a bad
way – you want to go home and make your own
thing. Also, I find good creativity in being tired.
In tiredness you are in a more open and relaxed
atmosphere.” And by ‘relaxed atmosphere’ he
means his studio, where he keeps his many
synths and even a vegetable patch. “Studio’s
are absolutely essential. I think all producers
will agree with me on that. You have to feel good
about where you are and you have to want to be
in that room. Almost committed, because god
knows how much time you will spend there.”
He obviously likes spending time there – three
EP’s worth of time. “I do everything myself.
I like the way I work, like I did before.” All this
serves to imbue his songs with a carnival-like
essence and in the live performances. It’s a
Cagean thing. “I like the idea of things falling
apart and chaos. Everything can be, no is, part
of the music. Sometimes the feedback is the
best aspect of a show. Music shouldn’t be too
precise. All these influences infuse his music
with an eclectism unlike any other: one minute
he’s singing profoundly (as on ‘Trouble’). The
next he’s belting out a dancefloor banger (as on
Sickly Child). (YF)
TEED is currently working on his debut album on Polydor
Records. His favourite dinosaur is the Iguanodon.
myspace.com/totallyenormousextinctdinosaurs
Music
63
Hype’ em and
type’ em
You could do worse than allow Leuvenite lawstudent-come-blogger Jarri Van der Haegen
choose your desert island discs. Disco Naiveté,
the music blog he founded in October 2009 and
which today clocks up an impressive 75,000
unique monthly visitors, is his intimate universe, a curated blog roll of videos, MP3s and
imbedded players with no particular musical
allegiance. The playlist features yards of miscellany, from the indie pop of Twin Sister and
Grizzly Bear, to Beach House’s dream pop,
Joanna Newsom's harp, the bouncy beats of
M.I.A. and even the androgynous voice of
Antony and the Johnsons. The blogosphere
is packed with a cache of freebie music, from
the “hits” (whatever that means) to genuinely
bizarre new quote unquote music, and Jarri
is just another geek on the horizon hyping the
bands he dearly loves by digging deep for those
hard-to-find covers, radio sessions and b-sides
– a cover of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game by
Washed Out for example. Happily, he peddles
his “Play” buttons without tempering our enjoyment with saccharine sweet copywriting or death
by description. His is a less-is-more approach to
blogging, accentuated only by the frequency of
his activity – a couple of posts per day, at least.
As refreshing as the other side of a pillow on a
clammy autumn night, Jarri addresses his disciples in a rare, unfussed and genuine voice.
Here's a sample of what the disco don had to say
about SSION's new LP, BENT: “Very recommended: it’s fun, danceable, gay’ish pop in a
non-Britney way, etc etc etc.” This “etc etc etc”
is not a cop out. “I don't want to be the person
who tells someone what feeling or atmosphere
a song should create, that's up to the listener.”
You’re damn right. Add to that some thoughtful mix tapes and soft interviews with mainstream-eschewing alt-musos (We have band,
Cocknbullkid and Local natives to name a few),
and you've got yourself a new bookmark. (RK)
disconaivete.com
There are so many things to like about
Ghostpoet’s debut album ‘Peanut Butter Blues
& Melancholy Jam’ (Brownswood Recordings,
2011) that it’s hard to know where to begin.
There’s that very British blend of self-depreciation – constant downplays and self-mockeries.
There’s the hypnotic, lazy baritone voice – at
times slurry, as though the 27-year-old MC’s
repeatedly falling over himself. The distorted
and distant bass line that echoes in the background, constructing and carrying each song –
so present you’d be forgiven for thinking that
Ghostpoet is sometimes nothing but an accessory to the bass. The broody, atmospheric and
at times even tempestuous moods – character
traits symptomatic of someone having recently
moved from the idyllic city of Coventry in the
West Midlands to the oppressive megalopolis
of London. The eternal repetitions – rallying
cries of desolate desperation for a confused and
jilted generation of the unheard that manage to
warrant your utmost attention. The many ramblings on the ironies of modern life – “Run
away, be a real man and fight another day, I
© Yana Foqué
Ghostpoet
heard that on the TV program, so it must be
right, right, right, right,” he sings on the album
opener One Twos/Run Run Run. There’s the
undercurrent of downbeat humour – witty
and twisted yet customarily insightful. Then,
most endearing of all, there’s the humanity,
intimacy even, of his offbeat delivery - never
quite marching to the beat, like he’s always
running late. And that there is exactly what
carries it home. (NL)
ghostpoet.co.uk
64
The columns
Slove
Slove is playful. It’s sexy and
suggestive. It teases you. Even leads
you on sometimes. It’s highly
addictive too. Like that girlfriend of
yours you spent all night with, and
still want more. Slove. Slow + Love
as we find out when we speak with
Léo Hellden and Julien Barthe, the
two men behind what is arguably
one of the most exciting albums to
come out of Paris this year.
Music
A lot has been made about the recent revival
the French music scene is going through,
especially so in the indie/electro/house
scene. Where do you feel you fit into this,
given that, although very French in some
ways, your overall sound seems to lean more
towards the other side of the Atlantic…
Julien: I think our melody and sounds
come from the UK’s beats and sequence
scene, but also from “savoir faire” old school
house and a very French touch for sampling…
peace of mind, with doing something you really
love doing, something very positive for your
well being. The “si tu as un plan cheval, let me
know,” I guess, is a bit ironic, not sexual, but
more like “let's make shit happen.”
Can you talk to us about the various different
people involved in the making of the album?
Julien: In the beginning, Léo and me started
pop songs which tilted towards dance music and
we suggested them to singers we knew…
One of the things I like the most about Le
Danse is the drums. They’re rhythmic, come in
at the right moment and always provide just the
right amount of tempo to a song’s backbone.
I particularly think they hit the right spot on
Carte Postale. Who does the drumming?
Julien: I mostly take care of the drums,
mixing real drum samples with techno drums.
What is both you guys’ background? Have
you always worked in the music industry?
What were you doing before Slove?
Julien: I studied graphic design and used to
play bass and guitars in an indie pop band until
1993, then discovered DJing in 1995. I started
to produce singles as Plaisir de France on Pro
Zak Tax record in 2000.
Léo: I started in 1997 as a guitarist with
Swedish singer Jay Jay Johanson and worked
with him for about five years. Since then, I've
worked on different projects and moved gradually into composition and production. I worked
for some time for antiquarian booksellers first
in Stockholm and later in Paris. Right now I’m
not doing it anymore but wouldn’t mind doing
so again at some point.
Can you tell us a little about the atmosphere in the studio whilst recording?
Where was the LP recorded? How long
did it take? Did you develop any routines/
habits (good or bad) whilst recording?
L. We share a studio in Paris and spend
much time there talking and making music.
The Slove album took about two years and an
intense six months of finalising.
Who does what in the band? How do you
go about composing a track?
Julien: Positions aren’t fixed. Sometimes Léo
suggests a melody and I’ll respond or vice versa.
Carte Postale is probably the most fun-loving
yet sexy track I’ve heard in some time. Somehow,
I imagine 30-something bored housewives
wearing headbands all working out a sweat to
the song. The vocals couldn’t be any simpler, yet
they seem laced with ‘insider’ references. Who
is singing? What’s with the number counting?
And, most importantly, what’s with the “Si tu
as un plan cheval, let me know”? I assume it is
telling that the counting stops at 69…
Léo: The singer is Anne-Laure from
Appaloosa. We contacted her after hearing
The Day. For us it's a perfect pop song. I'm not
sure about what she meant with the lyrics. I’m just
happy that I was around when she recorded it.
When she’s recording she puts herself in a state,
an out of body experience, and I don't think that
neither me nor Julien expected that style but were
both amazed. It was intended as a demo but we
basically didn’t touch the song after her recording
to not fuck up the presence of the performance.
Anne-Laure Keib: This song, I was back
from a trip to Camargue, South of France. I took
this trip after someone dear to me, died. He was
someone very destructive. I arrived in the most
lovely place, near Les Saintes Maries de la Mer,
owned by a British woman, and it was eight
hours of horse backriding, everyday, for three
weeks, and it was amazing. One of the happiest
moments of my life actually. When I came back,
Leo and Julien asked me to write a song and sing
for them. They were into the stuff I have been
doing for my band, Appaloosa. I was in front of
the mic and started to count. I guess this counting is about when you go through borderline or
painful experiences, and find a stability and
65
ˆ
I’m just happy that I was
around when she recorded
it. When she’s recording
she puts herself in a state,
an out of body experience,
and I don't think that
neither me nor Julien
expected that style but
were both amazed.
ˇ
You have several projects you’re working
on at the same time. Can you tell us a little
more about them?
Léo: Tristesse Contemporaine is a project
with Mike (also on Slove) and Narumi, a Japanese
keyboardist and vintage clothes shop owner. We
just completed our first album, produced by
Pilooski. As for Aswefall, which I do together
with Clement, our second album came out last
year. We’re working on new songs now and hoping
it doesn't take five years until the next one.
Julien: I'm always running Plaisir de France,
remixing many French pop personal hits.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
What's the last album you bought? Were
you listening to anything in particular
whilst recording the album?
Julien: At the moment I’m listening to indie
pop, lots of edits and electronic dance music.
The last album I bought is the soundtrack for
"My Little Princess” by Bertrand Burgalat
and Mogwai. During the album’s recording sessions, I was listening to a lot of house
revival from Mark E , Eddie C, Noze, as well
as edits and remixes from Joakim, Pilooski,
Superpitcher, Inflagranti, Cosmo vitelli, Get a
room and Datassette.
When and how did you guys meet?
Léo: First time we know of is at Sonar
in 2005. We were playing in the same party,
Julien with Sweetlight and me with Aswefall.
Some years later we met again in Julien’s
studio. I was renting the studio next door on a
short term basis to finish the second Aswefall
album. We ended up sharing Julien's studio
and started making music together.
What’s in store for you until the end of the year?
Julien: Good remixes of fFash and a
release of two Plaisir de France remixes of a
French 80's band Mikado.
Slove’s debut album is out now on Pschent.
plaisirdefrance.net/artistes/slove
pschent.com
66
The throw - away project
Talent We love Festival Backstage Civil Civic
A guitar, a bass, keyboards and one big, fuck off beat machine
are all this Australian duo exiled in Europe need. The fun
loving criminals, in Belgium over the summer as the headlining
act to Liege/Luik’s Microfestival, fill loudspeakers with their
deafening yet melodious math rock. Layers upon layers of
sounds which, inevitably, draws comparisons to Battles.
High-octane, take-no-prisoners rockers who dutifully took on
the challenge of going through one of our disposable cameras
without returning it with nothing but crotch shots.
An exception to the rule – in every sense of the term.
With thanks to Damien Aresta
Music
67
myspace.com/civilcivic
Visit thewordmagazine.be/radar/civilcivic
for the band’s complete throw-away project.
68
The
DESIGN
Special
69
© Veerle Frissen
The DESIGN Special
La Fabrika
Like all good design-focussed shopkeepers in
Brussels, Kelly Claessens, the unassuming but
no-nonsense founder of La Fabrika, will hang
the triangular prism of Design September, the
city’s annual design fair, above her door this
year. The pale blue banner symbolises more
than just a shop selling design. La Fabrika is
bigger than its carefully curated collection of
furniture and interior design. The single glass
façade at the edgier, canal-end of Brussels’ fashionable Rue A. Dansaertstraat is only a fraction
of the story. Come September the window will
be transformed into a riot of colour, showcasing
the works of Scottish designer Donna Wilson
for the duration of the festival. Best-known for
her knitted, scary-cutesy animal cushions, La
Fabrika will show Wilson’s wider talents with
sofas, armchairs, knitted cushions and pouffes.
Getting the involvement of a luminary such as
Wilson, nominated Designer of the Year in the
British Design Awards 2010, is not a bad coup
for Claessens who only opened La Fabrika last
November. Behind the residential feel of the
street-facing shopfront lies the real heart of
La Fabrika. The walls of the large semi-basement industrial space are hung with angular,
wall-mounted ply display boxes to celebrate
individual products. “An ‘available collection’ is
what I have chosen. One with items that are not
easy to find elsewhere,” explains Claessens of
the selection that includes the low-slung homeliness of the Oscar Sofa from Matthew Hilton and
the bright lacquer of the Satellite cabinets by
BarberOsgerby. A choice that ranges from the
1956 Shaker-inspired design of the Love Bench
by Lucia Ercolan to the laid-back simplicity
of the Eugene lounge chair from Stefan Diaz
released last year. Availability is taken literally
and financially with Claessens, for example,
currently not stocking Interni Edition products
due to their bespoke qualities and wide choice
of finishes making delivery times tricky but
also their high price point. At the back of the
main space and only partially visible through
a cut-out slot in the rear ply wall is a tempting overview of the studio of designer Benoît
Deneufbourg. Together with Deneufbourg,
Claessens’ long-term partner, La Fabrika has a
second-string to its bow, offering interior design
services with two residential projects currently
underway. “It needed real guts to just jump into
the retail experience,” confides Claessens, “but
I felt an overwhelming urge that was stronger
than myself.” Gratified by the positive reactions
of her first visitors, “they were literally jumping
up and down with excitement,” Claessens has
seamlessly progressed from her on-line shop
window to the realities of shop life. She purchases all her stock without any recourse to the
supplier in the event of non-sale. Manageable
if you are selling apples but a more formidable risk with tables worth thousands of Euros.
Being the first Belgian stockist for both SCP
and Ercol takes some doing; gaining exclusivity given La Fabrika’s brief existence is remarkable. “My clients appreciate the story behind
the objects I am selling,” explains Claessens.
Stories that might be as straightforward as the
heritage of the simple three-legged Stool 60 by
Alvar Aalto for Artek compared with the considerably more affordable four-legged version
sold by Ikea. Either you get it or you don’t and
Claessens’ clients do. (GD)
La Fabrika
Rue A. Dansaertstraat, 182
1000 Brussels
lafabrika.be
The design papers
© Joke De Wilde
70
Part of the
furniture
Breezing through the atrium of Veerle Wenes’
new-ish gallery in Antwerp feels a lot like arriving a bit too early for a housewarming in an
exquisite new home. Design furniture is strewn
about like actors in a conversation. It’s unclear if
they’re part of the latest exhibition or if they’re
leftovers from a recent spring cleaning bout.
Case in point: we’re not entirely sure whether
to stack our things on them or just gaze admiringly. We do both. Veerle doesn’t seem to mind.
Everything in the Valerie Traan (Valerie is
Veerle’s full name, and Traan means teardrop,
if you were wondering where the name comes
from) gallery is, or was, or could be, functional. And beautiful – the great balancing act
between art and design. “There must always be
a practical application for the pieces I exhibit.
You must be able to use it, or it must talk about
utility in art. The last exhibition by Goele De
Bruyn was 100 used bars of soap laid out like
an archaeological find.” The soap, she says, was
useful once. The gallery is Veerle’s dream stage
for functional, beautiful things. “I wanted to
be in the centre.” she says. “I didn’t want to be
in a hype area, like Zuid, but among ordinary
people. When you walk out the door, there are
rich people, poor people, people who are into
art and people who are not…” Once a nunnery
(her neighbours to the back are still in the habit),
the gallery is surrounded by an ivy-covered
medieval church. “We restored the entire building,” she says of the former furniture showroom.
There is certainly something of a showroom
about the gallery. There is something of the
sanctity of the church within this space, too.
It’s the stained glass looming over the patio, it’s
the intense calm. That odd visitor, the church,
lends solemnity to our shuffling between things
that are all the more attractive for being useful.
Her roster of talent has so far come largely from
Belgium (Bram Boo, Diane Steverlynck, Muller
van Severen and Studio Simple to name a few),
although this is no national sport for Veerle.
“I don’t care where the artists come from. I select
those whose work I like, but I also have to like
the people because we go through a period of
intensive working together.” The current exhibition is by a Flemish couple, Fien Muller and
Hannes Van Severen. The artists, a sculptor
and a photographer, changed their medium at
Veerle’s behest, and created a suite of bookcases and shelves using marble and plastic. “It’s
amazing to see people doing something they
never did before. It gives a lot of energy to me
and to them.” She adds “It’s not really art. It’s
made for using, but it’s beautiful.” A door swings
open onto a chic dining room, like the pages of
a glossy design mag flicking open. “I live here,
too.” says Veerle. “I don’t want a gallery where
I open the door at 11 o’clock and close it at 7,
a sterile, concrete place with no life. Living and
working have to mix, what I do in my private
life is much the same thing as what I do in my
work life.” We ask about the upstairs terrace,
a closed, pebble-covered square secluded by
tall walls and dotted with plants and loungers.
“It’s a beautiful space, but I haven’t sat out there
since opening in November, I’m too busy” she
confesses. (RK)
Fien Muller and Hannes Van severen will be exhibiting
their furniture project at Jerome Sohier from 8 th September
to 1st October.
valerietraan.be
jeromesohier.com
72
The intrusion
Talent Interiors Pol Quadens
Some people need their commute to work to wake up, whilst others
much prefer merely having to go down a flight of stairs to make it
on time for nine. And, with his sprawling 600 square meter loftcome-atelier industrial conversion, it’s safe to say Pol Quadens
firmly belongs to the latter. “Living with my designs helps (shape)
my thinking process,” says the designer when we meet to discuss
the merits of living where you work. “I can draw upstairs, and
instantly create downstairs,” he continues, motioning towards
a sink he designed and made himself, and which he obviously
is particularly proud of (it came up twice in our hour-long
conversation). Sitting at one of his Corian dining tables, talking
about the way in which he likes to bring a new piece he designed up
from the studio and ‘live with it’ for a couple of days upstairs in his
loft, it becomes apparent Pol’s output and overall oeuvre (his more
recent work has been taking a closer step towards art than design)
is deeply defined by his surroundings. This is a man that lives by
extension. A man who, to put it in his own words, “lives how he
works and works how he lives.” We step into his singular set-up to
see if indeed you can mix work and pleasure.
Photographer Veerle Frissen
73
The DESIGN Special
Pol Quadens has an exhibition running at the Mercedes
House in Brussels, from 9 th to 25th September 2011.
polquadens.com
mercedeshouse.be
74
The invitation
Talent Behind-the-scenes Open door policy
The world of designers can sometimes be an
intriguing one. One that, for one reason or the
other, draws you in and makes you want to know
more. How, you wonder, do they get to the end
result? How do they actually do what they do?
And where do they do it? What do their studios
look like? What tools and machinery do they
work with? Are their office walls covered with
scribbled-on post-its and patent applications or
are they more the folders classified alphabetically
on their iMacs type? We visit four Belgian design
practices’ studios and discover a world not that
much different than what we had imagined –
sketches and unfinished prototypes lying about,
all types of materials at arms’ reach and, most
importantly, an FM radio.
Photographer Sarah Eechaut
75
The DESIGN Special
Maarten Deceular
“We’ve been in this space since last summer
only. It's a temporary thing since we have
to move out by the end of November at
the latest unfortunately. We all got really
attached to the space, even though rain drips
in buckets spread out across the studio and
in winter it is freezing cold. But the space
'feels' so nice. When it's sunny there's a terrific atmosphere in there. It's a five-minute
walk from my house, so for me the location
couldn't be better. The entire space is about
500-600 square metres, and my 'corner'
in it would be around 75 square metres.
I also quite like the neighbourhood, Place
Bethlehem for example, is wonderful to
have dinner at on summer evenings, there's
also one of the best pizzeria's in the whole of
Brussels. The building used to be a furniture
factory that went bankrupt. We found the
office in the same state as the previous owners
left it, everything still quite intact, catalogues
and unpaid bills everywhere, personal things
like children’s’ drawings, unopened mail,…
Collages of the furniture they produced,
together with images from magazines were
hanging on the walls, self-made shelving (which we are using now) everywhere.
We have a very flexible studio, everything
depends on the projects we're working on.
Sometimes there are three tables, sometimes
only one.”
maartendeceulaer.com
76
The invitation
Raphael Charles
“The studio was founded in 2007 and is
located in the Koekelberg district of Brussels.
I live in one of the city’s last dead end streets
– old worker houses, quiet surroundings, like
a small village. My neighbours are people
who work at Medecins sans frontières, a taxi
driver, a lorry driver, a pianist…”
raphaelcharles.com
Studio Simple
“Studio Simple stands for objects and projects
who have a clear relation with simplicity and
time, local production and resources; hence a
combination of what can be found nearby and
something new, focusing on design footprint
awareness.The name Studio Simple means
‘creativity rules, keep it simple and D.I.Y’.
The studio was founded in 2007, in Ghent.
It is located in a coal merchant’s house dating
back to 1900. It still has the original stables.
We spend the most time in the atelier part of
the studio, which has 300 square metres.”
studiosimple.be
77
The DESIGN Special
Tom Mares
“My studio is located near Rue Antoine
Dansaertstraat, downtown Brussels, near the
canal between the city centre and Molenbeek.
I’ve been here for a year, but founded my
practice in 2007. The building is occupied
by a melting pot of dancers, sound engineers and all other kinds of creative types.
The neighbourhood too is a melting pot of
creativity and different cultures. It’s interesting to see the night shops and telephone shops
combined with fancy art galleries and trendy
boutiques.
wearenodesign.be
Atelier 4/5
“Atelier 4/5 provides an alternative to the
mass production of furniture in creating
unique furniture and lamps made from items
found at flea markets. We founded the practice in a bar in 2009 and have a studio in the
centre of Brussels, close to Place Anneessens.
The studio is one big open plan space with
different zones… One to paint, one to stock
all the furniture found at the flea market, one
to work and one to expose our finished work.
atelier4cinquieme.be
Visit thewordmagazine.be/wonders/opendoorspolicy
for our complete series on designer studios.
78
The round-up
Industry Innovation Consume Passion Online design galleries
With its high rent and exorbitant stock costs, it is no surprise
that the world of design is no different when it comes to online
convergence. Ebay swarms with hawkers pushing their Eames
chairs, Designaddict is full of design galleries flogging their
wares whilst the most courageous have branched out on their
own, opening their very own online shop fronts. Here, we turn
our attention to those dealers and gallery owners who have
opted for clicks, visits and Paypal payments instead of noisy
tills, rigid opening hours and unpredictable footfall.
Writer Nicholas Lewis
Photographer Sarah Eechaut
The DESIGN Special
City furniture
With over 14 years in the game, it’d be fair
to say that city-furniture.com founder Lenz
Vermeulen is a pioneer. Having first started
buying up furniture on Brussels’ flea market
to re-sell it on ebay, he quickly moved on
to opening up his own gallery on Antwerp’s
Klosterstraat aged 24. “It failed. My knowledge wasn’t good enough and I couldn’t
survive on it at the time,” reveals the straighttalking dealer. He then took a step back,
realising his knowledge of design needed to
be perfected if he was going to make a living
out it. Having grown up with design his whole
life (his grandfather owned a lighting shop in
Antwerp), it wasn’t long before Lenz was back
on his feet, this time focusing all his energy on
the web, and ebay more specifically. “At the
time, it was the best way to ensure my collection could be seen around the world but, after
several years on ebay, I grew tired of working
for them, because that is essentially what
you do,” he continues, as way of explaining
why he decided to branch out on his own.
Several years later, his website city-furiture.
com clocks up an impressive 300,000 page
views per month, and has without a doubt
become a force to be reckoned with in the
online vintage design world. And this is no
surprise, given the appeal his website exudes,
the strength of his collection but also, more
importantly, the hard work put into it: “Most
of my time is spent on sourcing and photographing pieces, as well as on search engine
optimisation and Facebook,” he continues,
fully aware of the power of the web to further
his venture.
city-furniture.be
79
80
The round-up
Be-dsgn
By day, Philip Logie and Bart Dujardin are languages and economics teachers respectively. By night, the pair shape-shift into vintage design dealers.
And, although the term ‘dealer’ might be too harsh a word to describe the
duo (think of them more as design enthusiasts), there’s no denying the two
friends (they’ve known each other since their teens, teach at the same school
and even owned a team-building company together in their former lives)
possess a sharp commercial nous. Their collection (mid-priced, ‘easy’
pieces aimed more at design beginners than seasoned collectors), reveals
a knack for knowing what the people want, and knowing how they want it.
The website’s navigation is clean-lined, photography is immaculate (it’s all
done in-house, by Philippe himself) whilst the site’s design couldn’t be any
more enticing. As far as periods go, the online gallery essentially operates in
the 1950s-1990s range, whilst also making a particular effort to champion
obscure Belgian designers (which explains the website’s clumsy yet explanatory name). Case in point, when we meet, Philippe (the gallery’s buyer)
suddenly came to life when talking about his love of De Coene (the Kortrijkbased licensed manufacturers for Knoll that declared bankruptcy back in
the 1970s), Novalux’s Rudy Verelst and Georges-Charles Vanrijk. “Belgian
design is very badly documented, and some people (wrongly) equate that
with a lack of quality.” says Philippe, who came back to the importance of
archiving and documenting several times during our conversation. Vintage
design retailers, yes, but with an educational approach.
be-dsgn.com
Jimmy Beyens
Jimmy Beyens moves in the upper echelons of design dynasty.
The 23 year old, surprisingly confident for his age, founded his upper
crust online gallery two years ago, on the back of his father urging
him to do so. Housed in a magnificent villa just 15 minutes north east
of Brussels, his collection tilts towards the exclusive and hard-tofind – pieces with a story. The trained architect and interior designer,
conscious of the hard-nosed and sometimes uppity world of vintage
design, first took it upon himself to self-document, doing his homework
by reading tome after tome of design books to spruce up (perfect even)
his design knowledge. “I spent hours, sometimes even nights, reading
up all kind of material,” confesses the fresh-faced entrepreneur. And it
shows. With a slight preference for seating, his Scandinavian-tinted
collection clearly speaks to the initiated (the collectors, resellers
and interior architects), buyers for whom a 14,000 euros price tag is
nothing compared to the satisfaction they’ll get out of sitting at their
1959 Kho Liang Le-designed three piece lounge unit that used to be
part of the fixtures and fittings at the old Rolls Royce headquarters,
and even comes with a metal plate as proof. Now if that doesn’t warrant
a premium, what does?
jimmybeyens.com
The DESIGN Special
Alainko
A social and political studies graduate, you
could say Alain Hens stumbled into design by
accident. The 31 year old first got a foothold
in the design field on the suggestion of a friend
of his who was also flogging pieces he found
at flea markets on ebay. The more Alain sold
on ebay, the more he got a sense for where the
demand really was – vintage design. Being
at the time in the middle of a Masters at
university, he persuaded the administration
to let him use the basement as an office-comewarehouse, marking the first beginnings
of Alainko (“The name was suggested to
me by ebay when I first signed up,” he says
anecdotally “as Alain was already taken
and I didn’t want Alain 69.”). Describing
his online gallery as a bridge between the
ordinary and extraordinary with a wide net of
interest, Alainko specialises in what is closest
to his heart: French and Belgian design.
“This is because I have easier access to them
geographically…I guess this geographical
reality is an important thing in my business.”
Asked why he opted for an online gallery as
opposed to a physical one: “I still ask myself
this question everyday…The client potential
was and still is so tremendous. If I have an
item that has been viewed about 900 times in
one week (on my website), I wonder how many
times that same item would have been seen
in a shop during a week… 56 times maybe?”
With a refreshingly laidback and unpretentious approach to his online dealings, it is the
length at which Alain goes to to get his pieces
that distinguishes him from the rest. Once,
he managed to bag a lot of 200 chairs from
a Dutch contact in exchange for a crate of
Duvel and a pudding pie. Priceless.
galeriealainko.com
81
82
The design showstoppers
Man Vs machine
From industrially-engineered machines to handmade crafts, we’ve touched upon the entire
spectrum of the design industry with this month’s
selection of design novelties.
Photographer Melika Ngombe
For book keeping
Coffee tables primarily serve as a presentation display for your lingering collection of
magazines of the month, yet none have ever
incorporated their purpose as astutely as
this 100 percent Belgian-made one. Taking
the concept of meaningful integration to new
heights, designer Antoinette Ribas manages to
make magazines part of the table, using their
spines to bring a rainbow of colours to the
table’s top. Made of a 2mm sheet of steel that’s
been folded, cut out and lacquered, the table
is a godsend for media junkies incapable of
sifting through their monthly subscriptions.
Tablemag (¤ 725).
Available from Rose (Brussels).
thetablemag.com
For sitting
Being more fascinated with what the past has to say than
what the future has to offer comes with certain drawbacks:
often, the furniture pieces we love so much simply aren’t
available anymore. Passing time, it can have a destructive
effect on one’s passion you see, and leave you in a constant
state of frustration. Not if denim imprint G-Star RAW
and German design deity Vitra have anything to do with it
though. Indeed, the pair have just joined forces to re-edit a
collection of 19 Jean Prouvé-designed pieces (everything
from stools, chairs and coffee tables) under the Prouvé
RAW banner, re-igniting a fiery debate in the design world
about the merits of creating and producing new ‘stuff’
when the old one is so effortlessly beautiful. The collection only actually hits stores come October, so we had to
make do photographing its exquisite press pack for the
moment. Can’t wait for the real thing though.
Prouvé RAW collection (from ¤ 575).
Available from Vitrapoint (Brussels and Antwerp).
g-star.com
83
The DESIGN Special
For tea time
There’s not a lot that Muuto can do wrong in
Word HQ. The playful and poignant Nordic
design firm, always one to see the funnier side
in life, operates on the fringes of the design
world, never taking itself too seriously and
always daring to go a step further in bringing
a smile to your face. True to form, its Bulky
tea set, designed by Swede Jonas Wagell, is
the perfect, quirky addition to the table top.
Packing the right kind of curves in all the right
places, and with a colour palette with sunny
dispositions, we guarantee rooms full of
laughter if this is what you’ll be serving tea in.
Muuto Bulky tea pot (¤ 69), tea cups (¤ 29 for the pair)
and sugar bowl (¤ 29).
Comes in white, grey and yellow.
Available from Design District (Leuven).
muuto.com
For grooming
With all the attention our facial hair has been
getting of late (we’ve recently discovered the
merits of clean-shaven appearances), it’s only
normal that we thought it high time to upgrade
our toolbox and go professional. Thing is,
there’s only so much your usual, run-of-the-mill
shaver can do and, if shape-shifting ‘staches
or quirky sideburns are your thing, you’ll
need to get serious about your machinery. And
there is no more serious about facial hair than
Braun’s latest range of hair-toning shavers
and trimmers, the CruZer range. Precise and
playful, Braun’s CruZer range (which includes
a Beard&Head device as well as a Face device)
is not only your best shot at achieving style
supremacy when it comes to facial fantasies, it’s
also one of the rare shavers that’ll actually look
as good as the style it carves out.
Braun CruZer Beard & Head and Facial.
braun.com/cruzer
For reading
What is it about denim brands and design?
All of a sudden, jean makers seem to have
caught the design bug, preferring their moulds
to their stitches and their prototypes to their
samples. More often than not though, denim
brands’ foray into design leads to disaster,
essentially because of the former’s lack of
experience in the field. As in anything, you
need a partner with experience to make things
work, a fact Diesel seems to have understood.
Partnering up with Italian lightning supremo
Foscarini, the flashy denim maker has created
a range of luminaries of all sorts to suit the
needs of its statement-making loving masses.
Diesel Fork Lamp by Foscarini (Price available on request).
Available from Espace Bizarre (Brussels).
diesel.foscarini.com
84
The shelf
Arts Photography Publishing Pictures speak louder than words
You’d think that three months of holidays would have convinced us to
pick up a ‘proper’ book – you know, fiction, philosophy or what not – and
finally get into some ‘adult’ reading. Not really, still very much into fine art
photography books, although we did give the selection a slightly more, lets
say, educational lean this time – just to keep the intellectuals happy.
Writer Nicholas Lewis
Photographer Yana Foqué
Places, Strange and Quiet (2011)
by Wim Wenders
Hatje Cantz
In a Lonely Place (2011)
by Gregory Crewdson
Hatje Cantz
Behind the Zines:
Self-Publishing Culture (2011)
Gestalten
At times intriguing, at others downright
hilarious, Wim Wenders’ photography
captures the everyday absurdities he
encounters on his many travels – everything
from oversized cowboys sporting Wrangler
denim skirts to windowless backyard sheds
and deserted former submarine assembly
plants. With characteristic wit, the celebrated filmmaker creates visual statements
on non-descript places which draw meaning
not from their subject matter but, rather,
from Wenders’ watchful gaze, and the notes
accompanying each photograph. Opposite a
photograph depicting a Bavarian policeman
looking onto Italian activists running amok
through a field for example, the sentence
reads: “The G8 in Germany…Protesters ran
through the fields, Italian activists carrying a
sign PACE. A Bavarian policeman turned to
his colleague: “Look, these idiots don’t even
know how to spell PEACE.”” It’s simple,
self-explanatory and works wonders. Pure
Wenders.
Best known for his highly staged, film-like
photography, Crewdson also has a more intimate and intuitive side to his work, one which
somehow seems more improvised and less
restrained. Although the celebrated photographer shot to prominence with his sometimes
glacial series Beneath the Roses (2003-2008),
Crewdson manages to counter his tendency
towards the pre-determined with rather more
personal series such as Sanctuary (2009), a
black and white documentary which captures
Fellini’s famed Cinecitta studios in Rome,
or Fireflies (1996), which reflects the artist’s
interest in nature. In each of the series though,
Crewdson’s ability to contrast an overriding
sense of sadness with an unquestionable and
somewhat naïve beauty remains the unsettling
element that makes of his visual aesthetic
one of the most innovative in contemporary
photography today.
However limited their print run, the impact
self-published fanzines have had on the growth
of certain counter-cultures and musical movements make them the undeniable and ultimate
voice of independent thinking. The precursor
to blogs, what really distinguished these homemade, low budget boutique publications was
their approach to art direction, graphic design
and production. Antiquated print presses were
preserved merely to achieve a particular finish,
paper stocks mixed-and-matched to rainbow
effect, 3D typefaces created out of pure ‘zine
zeal and binding techniques so advanced even
the Japanese couldn’t catch up. An exhaustive, well put together and, above all, accurate
survey of the culture in itself, Behind the zines
manages to succinctly capture the movement’s
essence without reading like a how to guide.
From Polaroid to Impossible (2011)
Hatje Cantz
Along with the demise of the Polaroid
Corporation came the realisation that its legendary Polaroid Collection housed in New
York and Europe would need to be auctioned
off to pay angry creditors and administrators.
Aghast, a movement made of artists, museums
and photography lovers and led by the
Polaroid-perfected artist Chuck Close came
to life, mobilising itself to ensure preservation of the 16,000-strong collection which
includes instant photography by the likes of
Ansel Adams, Robert Mapplethorpe, Andy
Warhol and Helmut Newton. The group
succeeded in its quest to avoid a sale, and this
book is the result of their perseverance.
Jeff Wall, The Crooked Path (2011)
Bozar Books and Ludion
Global Denim (2011)
by Daniel Miller &
Sophie Woodward
Berg Publisher
The dominance denim enjoys over other
textiles in the fashion industry is unparalleled.
It’s a natural monopoly of the global uniform,
one which has rarely been investigated. From
the streets of Mumbai and the back alleys of
Mexico City to the urban townships of middle
America and the rural villages of central
Africa, nothing says effortless cool the way
a pair of jeans does – be they boot cuts, slim
fits or baggies. But what, exactly, makes them
so ubiquitous? What is their anthropological
meaning when taken in their local contexts?
At times a heavy read that can make you feel
like you’re back at college, Global Denim uses
the Great Depression, Bollywood screenings
and Rio de Janeiro’s funk balls to reach a set of
conclusions explaining the unquestionable rise
of denim as the global garment of the world.
The accompanying book to the Canadian photographer’s monumental exhibition of the same
name currently on show at Brussels’ Bozar,
The Crooked Path represents Wall’s attempt to
make sense of his body of work in a very public
manner by contextualising it, confronting it
even, to the works of his contemporaries and
icons. Using as starting point a simple picture
of a landscape, Wall proceeds to historically
reference his work – large-scale photography
framed in light boxes for the most part - opting
for total transparency as far as inspiration goes:
he makes no secret, for example, of having
taken inspiration from Delacroix’s La Mort
de Sardanapale for The Destroyed Room, his
1978 depiction of a ransacked room. And that is
the beauty of Wall’s work: conscious of its debt
to the past, but keen to translate it for the future.
Visit thewordmagazine.be/dribbles/theblackbooks
for more photographs of the books as well as Amazon
purchase links.
Culture
85

From left to right
From Polaroid to Impossible (Hatje Cantz),
Jeff Wall (Bozar Books and Ludion),
Global Denim (Berg Publishers),
Behind the Zines (Gestalten),
In a Lonely Place (Hatje Cantz) and
Places, Strange and Quiet (Hatje Cantz)
86
The book
Heritage Photography Nostalgia If only the walls could talk…
You want to get to know someone, get underneath their skin.
Similarly, the best way to get to know a house, apartment
or room you’ve just moved into is by taking a closer look at
its walls – the wallpaper, the family portraits, the tapestry.
And that there is when you start thinking to yourself :
if only these walls could talk…
Photographer Siska Vandecasteele
Igor’s house in Antwerp
Culture
87
Mr Decuypere’s house
88
The book
An old house in Brugge
Sarah Eechaut’s house on the outskirts of Ghent
Culture
89
Boarding school Leiekant in Kortrijk
Visit thewordmagazine.be/wonders/talkingwalls
for our full feature on wallpapers.
90
The portfolio
Arts Graphic design Talent Rise and shine Play Emil Kozak’s shades of blue
Graphic designers, if you ask us, don’t get half as
much of love as they deserve. Part of that can be
down to the fact that they operate on the fringes,
preferring the familiarity of the backstage to the
shine of the spotlight. Part of that is also down
to the fact that they’re the last great technicians
of the creative communities, geeks with one foot
firmly in a bucket of cool. They take inspiration
from their everyday, sucking up their surroundings whilst delving deep into their subconscious
to shape a visual narrative imbued with a steadfast vision and a very personal aesthetic. Most
often than not, the designer’s personality seeps
through his work. And so it is for Danish designer Emil Kozak, one of the chosen endorsers for
Braun’s new cruZer, whose early days as a skater
ended-up shaping the rest of his career. “I guess
what really hooked me on skateboarding was
the creativity,” he says from Barcelona, where
he moved to from his native Denmark for, as
he puts it, his ‘love of skateboard (and his girlfriend).” After an initial phase of lots of “staring
at the ceiling because of the language barrier,”
Emil managed to set up a design practice in
the city that focuses on art direction, graphic
design, illustration and communication for wellknown, influential culture and fashion imprints
such as Eastpak, Burton or Nike. ‘Danish design
made in Barcelona’ became his tag line. Think
Northern pragmatism with Southern warmth.
Today, Emil’s inspiration net is cast slightly
wider, with everything from mother nature and
photography to surfing and pop culture giving
him enough material for reflection and creation. And, with a visual style that tilts towards
the playful and good-humoured, it is no wonder
he has taken his art to, well, the canvas. Here, we
take a sneak peak inside Emil’s studio to survey
some of his blue-tilted work…
emilkozak.com
Culture
91
92
The portfolio
Culture
Artwork created exclusively for The Word by Emil Kozak
93
94
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Round-up
Page 27
95
Page 29
Page 41
The Word & Levis
WELCOME TO OUR WORLD
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LOS ANGELES
JANUARY 2012
BY INVITATION ONLY - REGISTER AT WWW.LEBOOK.COM/CONNECTIONS
Design September
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The Word & Levis
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Le Book
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Page 71
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The fuTure is free
BuT free don’T come cheap
support The Word magazine
and suBscriBe to receive your
five yearly issues at home
1.
January — February
2.
March — April
3.
May — June — July
4.
September — October
5.
November — December
What you need to do
Transfer ¤ 21 ( Belgium ), ¤ 30 ( Europe ) or ¤ 45 ( Rest of the world )
to bank account number 363-0257432-34
( IBAN BE00 363 2574 3234, BIC BBRUBEBB for international transfers ),
stating you full name, the address to which you wish the magazine to be sent to
as well as your email address in the communication box.
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Visit us
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The Word Magazine
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OpenSoon
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Page 99
Page 100
The Word Magazine
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Hotel Amigo offers you a special package : the “Art Amigo”
Illustrated catalogues of the pick of current Brussels exhibitions
await you in your room, together with an entry ticket.
La Ligne de CHANEL - Belgium Tel 070 66 55 55 (0,15 €/min., incl. VAT)
For more information please contact +32 2 547 47 07
The art of simple luxury
Hotel Amigo Brussels
www.chanel.com
Rocco Forte & Family Brussels S.A. • Member of the Leading Hotels of the World
Rue de l’Amigo 1-3 • B-1000 Brussels
Tel. : +32 2 547 47 47 • Fax : +32 2 513 52 77
[email protected]
www.roccofortecollection.com
Hotel Amigo
hotelamigo.com
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Chanel
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The stockists
Consume We love Aider Ackermann (at Stijl)
Rue A. Dansaertstraat 74
1000 Brussels
+ 32 (0) 2 512 03 13
haiderackermann.be
Ann Demeulemeester
Leopold de Waelplaats
2000 Antwerpen
+32 (0) 3 216 01 33
anndemeulemeester.be
Dries Van Noten (at Stijl)
Rue A. Dansaertstraat 74
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 512 03 13
Dries Van Noten (at
Modepaleis)
Nationalestraat 16
2000 Antwerp
+32 (0) 3 470 25 10
driesvannoten.be
Espace Bizarre
Balenciaga (at Louise 54)
Avenue Louise 54 Louizalaan
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 511 62 43
louise54.com
Rue des Chartreux 19
Kartuizerstraat
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 514 52 56
espacebizarre.com
Balenciaga (at Louis)
Lombardenstraat 2
2000 Antwerp
balenciaga.com
Fresh (for Keds)
Bernard Willhelm
for Camper (at Ra)
Gervaise Gournay
Kloosterstraat 13
2000 Antwerpen
+32 (0) 3 292 37 80
camper.com
Carine Gilson
Rue A. Dansaertstraat 87
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 289 51 47
carinegilson.com
Chauncey (at Mapp)
Rue Leon Lepagestraat 5
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 551 17 67
Chauncey (at Houben)
Steenhouwersvest 46
2000 Antwerpen
+32 (0) 3 227 42 10
thisismapp.com
Diesel (Brussels)
Rue A. Dansaertstraat 38
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 503 34 27
Diesel (Antwerp)
Meir 22
2000 Antwerpen
+ 32 (0) 3 213 79 79
diesel.com
Dior Homme
Boulevard de Waterloolaan 61
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 500 18 18
dior.com
Rue du Midi 57 Zuidstraat
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 486 76 03 14
G-Star RAW (Brussels)
Rue A. Dansaertstraat 48
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 514 96 50
Isabel Marant (at Icon)
Place du Nouveau Marché au
Grains 5 Nieuwe Graanmarkt
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 502 71 51
isabelmarant.tm.fr
Jeremy Scott for Linda
Farrow (at Hunting and
Collecting)
Rue des Chartreux 17
Kartuizerstraat
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 512 74 77
huntingandcollecting.com
Hugo Boss
Avenue Louise 43 Louizalaan
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 538 03 63
hugoboss.com
Ikks
Rue A. Dansaertstraat 29
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 502 66 48
ikks.com
Indress (at Balthazar)
Avenue Louise 294 Louizalaan
1050 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 647 77 37
indress.net
Muuto (at Design District)
J. Lipsiusstraat 18
3000 Leuven
+ 32 (0) 485 56 71 21
[email protected]
lunarsociety.be
Nathalie Verlinden
+32 (0) 476 24 69 96
nathalieverlinden.be
Rose
KTZ by Linda Farrow (at
Hunting and Collecting)
Vitrapoint Brussels
Rue Darwinstraat 60
1050 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 345 58 90
kellyshop.com
Rue des Chartreux 17
Kartuizerstraat
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 512 74 77
huntingandcollecting.com
Rue de l'Aqueduc 56
Aquaductstraat
1060 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 534 98 08
roseshop.be
Place du Grand Sablon 35
Grote Zavel
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 242 02 02
brussels.vitrapoint.net
Vitrapoint Antwerp
Lee (Antwerp)
Kammenstraat 32
2000 Antwerp
+32 (0) 3 213 27 40
leecooper.com
Hermès
Boulevard de Waterloolaan 50
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 511 20 60
hermes.com
Rue Darwinstraat 37
1050 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 347 57 59
Kelly
G-Star RAW (Antwerp)
Kammenstraat 22
2000 Antwerp
+32 (0) 3 232 94 99
g-star.com
Must
Plantinkaai 1
2000 Antwerp
+32 (0) 3 260 97 00
antwerpen.vitrapoint.be
Wolford
Les Petits Riens
Rue Américaine 101
Amerikaansestraat
1050 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 537 30 26
petitsriens.be
+32 (0) 3 451 39 36
wolford.com
Wrangler
wrangler-europe.com
Zadig & Voltaire
Levi’s
Rue Neuve 93 Nieuwstraat
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 217 70 41
eu.levi.com
Lux Street Fashion (for Keds)
Kipdorpvest 36
2000 Antwerp
Maison Martin Margiela
Rue de Flandre 114
Vlaamsesteenweg
1000 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 223 75 20
maisonmartinmargiela.com
Rue A. Dansaertstraat 73
1000 Brussels
+ 32 (0) 2 514 05 24
zadigetvoltaire.com
The future is free
But free don’t come cheap
Support The Word Magazine
and subscribe to receive your
five yearly issues at home
1.
January — February
2.
March — April
3.
May — June — July
4.
September — October
What you need to do
Transfer ¤ 2 1 ( B elgium ), ¤ 30 ( Europe ) or ¤ 45 ( Rest of the world )
to bank account number 363-0257432-34
( IBAN BE00 363 2574 3234, BIC BBRUBEBB for international transfers ),
stating you full name, the address to which you wish the magazine to be sent to
as well as your email address in the communication box.
Follow us
twitter.com/TheWordMgz
Like us
facebook.com/TheWordMagazine
Visit us
thewordmagazine.be
Download us
thewordmagazine.be/ipad
5.
November — December
Before we leave you…
Play The team Why did we choose to end the year on a
white note? It’s simple really.
We figured it’d be the perfect way for us to atone of all the sins we’d fallen victim to during the year.
Call it our very own whitewash, our last chance to redeem ourselves with one,
magical stroke delivered by the tip of a worn-out Tipp-ex eraser.
Our last shot at letting it all out, indulging in our every fix, follies and fantasies,
before setting the dirt aside for the pure. A transitional phase if you will.
Not so much of a clean album, more of a ‘in the process of getting clean’ album.
Raw and uncut, yes. 100% pure product, certainly.
But with nothing but good intentions, we promise.
A virgin suicides fashion feature
The word on white socks (preferably with flip flops)
Corner shop cocaine kaids
Undercover with transparency advocates
White street thugs
Money laundering conspiracy theories
White-collar crime, private investigators, corporate espionage
Recovering drug addicts and alcoholics
The Word’s WHITE album
( + the food special )
Leontien Allemeersch
98
Out on 10th November 2011
Hotel Amigo offers you a special package : the “Art Amigo”
Illustrated catalogues of the pick of current Brussels exhibitions
await you in your room, together with an entry ticket.
For more information please contact +32 2 547 47 07
The art of simple luxury
Hotel Amigo Brussels
Rocco Forte & Family Brussels S.A. • Member of the Leading Hotels of the World
Rue de l’Amigo 1-3 • B-1000 Brussels
Tel. : +32 2 547 47 47 • Fax : +32 2 513 52 77
[email protected]
www.roccofortecollection.com
www.chanel.com
La Ligne de CHANEL - Belgium Tel 070 66 55 55 (0,15 €/min., incl. VAT)