FIEND PROJECTS ART FESTIVAL 1/7-1/27

Last friday I went to Designcenter de Winkelhaak in Borgerhout for the Fiend Project Art Festival. Apparently this festival with workshops, artist talks, film showings and more already started on the 7th of January. But I completely missed out on this information. I am glad I heard about it by this guy I knew from Rotterdam. He is a graffiti artists and together with his graffiti collective 'Lastplak' he did some live painting on Friday. So I went to have a look and found out that this festival was organised by Fiends projects, an artist initiated idea which has been around in various forms for some time, over the last few years they have been producing magazines, organised exhibitions and curated various other art related projects.

The festival will be until the 27th which means you still have some time to go there! This Thursday there will be an artist talk with Bram de Ceurt [artist of erotic graffiti art and photography] and Jorrit Spoelstra [mainly works as director and editor in documentary] from 3-6pm. On Friday there will be a market throughout the day where artists, designers, publishers and clothing distributors will sell their products. Of course there also has to be a good closing party for such an interesting festival, so everyone is welcome in Bar Nadar on Friday night starting at 8pm! Hope to see you there!

I WILL ALWAYS SING FOR YOU

You might not have heard of them yet, but this will soon change. Handsome Poets are already a big success in The Netherlands, and are planning to slowly take over the rest of the world. And they will. Early 2010 the first single of these good looking and talented young guys was recorded and got picked up by the popular Dutch radio station 3fm. It didn't took long before you could also see them on Dutch television, winning the 'Serious Talent Award', and see them playing at 60! festivals during this season. 2011 really was their year.

Tim van Esch, the lead singer of Handsome Poets found some time to talk to me about last year and their future plans. Tim: ''We look back on a bizarre story of success. Our first song written [Blinded] got picked up by 3fm. We became 'Serious Talent' and the second song we wrote [Dance (the war is over)] got picked as 3fm smash hit. An extraordinary year for us. We didn't expect it at all, but it's pretty cool.''

                              Handsome Poets live @ Lowlands Festival


The inspiration for the music they make (which can be described as danceable popmusic with a raw alternative edge) comes from bands such as Elbow and Coldplay. Tim says he personally played the life out of 'Hot Fuss' from the Killers. They were the supporting act of 'Hurts' and 'Naked and Famous' whom are also very inspiring for the band because of their great sound. ''The live acts of Mute Math are a great example of how we want to put up a show'' says Tim.

With the success there were also some changes in the band formation. With the pressure getting higher and the quick developments the guitarist left the band. But this also gave Handsome Poets a new impulse. ''With a new guitarist it seemed like we had even more inspiration. We rocked at Lowlands festival and had our first own tour in December. We slowly transformed into Handsome Poets 2.0.''

I always wonder how people with the same love for music get together and start a band (personally I can never imagine taking that step!) ''We know each other through friends who are all into music. We got together and stayed together because there is such a good vibe between us. No ego's, no actors, just playing together making music. We enjoy it so much! Whether it's for 40.000 or 20 people, it doesn't matter. And we are all hungry for more!''

This summer they will be recording their second album. ''We want to cross borders and play in other countries. Make new friends and travel. I saw Prince on Werchter, Coldplay in 't Sportpaleis and I saw the excitement with the audience. We would love to have that.. one day!''

If you're still not convinced that you should see these guys live, Tim will tell you why you should: 'We make pop music with an alternative edge. Flemish people like alternative and raw edges with some Dutch vibes.'
So they only need a location to play, a small amount of money to cover the costs and of course a lovely audience (which won't be hard in Antwerp!).

Visit them online
handsomepoets.nl
Facebook
Twitter

YES! 'A brief crack of light'

Turn up your speakers and enjoy the release of 'A brief crack of light'. The experimental short film exploring the beauty of the shortest of moments where nature and art meet, fragments of life are discovered. (Please watch full screen!) Let me know what you think!

a brief crack of light from a brief crack of light on Vimeo.

Narration/Produced/Directed by
Vera Holland Salih Kilic Ted Alkemade

Creative Directors
Vera Holland Ted Alkemade

Director of Photography
Salih Kilic

Dancers
Pamela Ferraroni
Lorenzo van Velzen Bottazzi

Composer
Lennert Busch

Editor/Co-color
Ted Alkemade

Color
Bob Alkemade

Camera
Phantom v710

NEVER TOO LATE TO PLAY

Personally I'm not a big fan of goldfishes. I don't think they have any beauty and especially as a 'pet' I think they're completely stupid. And after a while the water starts to smell. But when the Japanese artist Riusuke Fukahori starts working with them I'm completely fascinated. This guy paints three dimensional goldfish embedded in layers of resin. The fish are painted layer by layer, and it just looks so real.

Watch this movie to get an idea how it's done

"Goldfish Salvation" Riusuke Fukahori from ICN gallery on Vimeo.

Riusuke just closed at ICN Gallery in London and hopefully I can soon watch these sculptures/paintings from up close.

A BRIEF CRACK OF LIGHT

My lovely friends Vera Holland and Ted Alkemade made 'A brief crack of light', a slow-motion film in cooperation with Salih Kilic, a young photographer from Rotterdam. The film is finished, but not yet published. I have seen the movie and I can tell you it is very impressive! You can already watch the making of movie here and read more about the background of this project. The making of and an interview will be broadcasted on Dutch television (Labyrint, Ned2, 08:50pm) on January 11, 2011.

The making of 'a brief crack of light' from a brief crack of light on Vimeo.

In a small town outside of Madrid, Vera and Ted met Salih  Kilic whilst watching an experimental short film in a museum.  They started talking and ended up with the question from Salih if they would like to participate in an experimental film project with a Phantom camera. Salih followed an intensive course to use a Phantom high speed camera, which makes 7000 frames per second. This results in an ultra slow-motion film. Salih was able to lend the camera for 2 days, which was an amazing opportunity.  He wanted to take this opportunity to make an experimental short film together with young filmmakers. It was a coincidence that he bumped in to Vera an Ted in Spain, but this led to a very special project. Vera explains more about the background and their ideas.

How come you chose to film bumblebees?

The only condition for this film was that flying animals were captured for research since this project is an initiative of  ‘De Vliegkunstenaars’, supported by the University of Wageningen. Being interested in bumblebees, Salih wanted to do something with this small animal so we came up with the idea to also use dancers. 

So what is the idea between bumblebees and dancers, flying animals vs people?

With the start of the brainstorm we tried to figure out what we wanted to do with the bumblebee.We saw a difference between human and insect, but we also saw similarities between them only with a different ending. Our idea was to make a short abstract film where it will be clear that the ballet of the bumblebee and a dancer are close to each other in a symbolic way. Where one will be disowned, the others are coming closer to each other. The film turned out to be a story about time, life, behavior and needs in short flashes.  

What are the plans for the future, will you continue with this kind of projects?

We all have future plans and ambitions in experimental short films. Together or on our own, it doesn't matter. All three of us have never experienced such joy in making a film as with this project. We have learned out of this project and hope to fulfill our dreams in the creative world. 

OPEN YOUR EYES NOW

HET RAAM BY LAMPEKAP 01/04-01/07 2012

A very interesting videoproject will start today: 'Het Raam' (The Window) by lAmpekAp. When the evening will fall tonight [around 5.30] the first part of this video installation will start in the Twaalmaandenstraat [side street of the Meir]. Windows will light up and expose the interiors of people who are getting ready to go to a party. This video installation will be projected on six wall around the Meir. A story will arise during three evenings. Every day the story continues, and on Friday you will know the plot [which revolves around a murder]. The actors are i.a. Maartje Remmers, Herwic Ilegems and Marc van Eechem. Creator Frederik van Remoortere is fascinated by the private spaces of people. 'For me it is heaven to enter someone's home to see how they live. I often slept at peoples places just to see how they lived. I got this idea to project windows, and the medium film is an interesting way to use for this project.' Clever thinking of Frederik, because aren't we all curious about what's going on behind the windows of your neighbours? If you won't have time to come tonight and the next two evenings, you can always come on Saturday evening to see the whole film at once. The films will be showed until 00.30 every night.

AND TO MAKE AN END IS TO MAKE A BEGINNING

HAPPY 2012 TO ALL!

http://www.lomography.nl/homes/blackbyrd

I hope you all celebrated New Years the best you can! Expect the unexpected in 2012, stay true to yourself and experience the excitement in everything you do, all the best for this year! After a home party which was crazy (too bad not many pictures were made, but one person brought his videocamera so some surprises might be coming up soon) I ended up at Kissinger which was pretty good as expected. Really busy too but fortunately the Customsbuilding has enough space, so thanks again Gory for a great party. I'm still thinking of new ideas for this blog, inspiration is always welcome! The next few weeks you can expect some interviews with upcoming music artists, young creatives and I wont forget my camera again!