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Talking fashion.
DO have more style than fashion//DO wear dirty clothes, but never food
stained//DO mix and match, but don't blend//DO layers and never be cold//DO
hem, but only with brightly colored thread//DO ask your friends to give you
clothes they have that you like//DO dress quickly, cause you can always
change//DO dress for your mood and not the occasion//DO wear clothes with
holes in them, but no holely shoes//DO wear clothes that are too tight, but
not if they hurt// DO show off your beer belly because we're all gonna get
one// DO wear baseball caps, but never in the company of friends who are
also sporting baseball caps//DO wear clothes, but keep them off your
animals//DO wear ties, but never with shorts.
instant coffee will be overdone
Send letters to the editor to feedback@instantcoffee.org
TOP |
Saturday Edition Feature
1. T-Shirt Show Online Catalogue Launch
When I was fourteen my best friend got me a job at Big BrotherŒs
T-shirts in Chinook Mall. It was one of those iron on places,
where you could get ready-made decals like "I'm with stupid" plus
arrow and "I'm not two-faced. If I was, would I be wearing this
one?" put on old or new T-shirts. There were hundreds of options
from illustrated unicorns in rainbow saturated landscapes to rock
band logos. But the most popular selling items were the felt
letters. Sure they were mostly used by sports teams, but people
also used them to convey their own sentiments (from nasty to nice)
or to retell their favorite poems (ie, "If you love something, set
it free").
I really sucked at this job. I never had a steady enough hand to
line up the decals or letters. More than not they were crooked
and at least three times I remember putting them on completely
upside down. I only lasted about three months, but the experience
was just the beginning of my discovery of the T-shirt as a
creative means of expression.
- j.p
Instant Coffee astonishingly presents the on-line version of the
T-shirt Show.
We know that everyone has had a T-shirt idea so we gathered a few
together. Artists from across Canada present their ideas and
designs in a catalogue that we like to call a venue and NOW you
can see them on the Instant Coffee web-site. No adjective or group
of words could fully describe this eclectic, intelligent, super
funny, biting, politically astute, nice and pretty collection of
ideas and designs so go and check it out at
WWW.T-SHIRT.INSTANTCOFFEE.ORG. The shirts are for sale and can be
ordered on-line.
Participating artists:
o 1000km Design Büro o Andrew McLaren o Andrew Reilly o Cecilia
Berkovic + Kate Monro o Celeste Toogood o Chantal Rousseau o
Chris Martin o Greg Hefford o Greg Staats o Holly Ward o Instant
Coffee o James Carl o Janis Demkiw o Jess Rowland o Jessica
Thompson o Jinhan Ko o Jon Sasaki o Jordan Sonenberg o Kika Thorne
o Laura Borealis o Lisa Deanne Smith o Lisa Kannakko o Lisa
Klapstock o Marco Bortolussi o Micheal Klein o Natalie De Vito o
Nicole Bauberger o Peter Kingstone o Sasha Havlik o Simone Moir o
Timothy Comeau o Tullis Rose
2. New Software Launches, Fashion Crimes Ensue
By Andrew Duff
It's six a.m. on a cold Thursday morning. A gawd-awful time to be
awake, let alone awake and trying desperately to figure out what
to
wear. For some reason, several weeks ago, I registered online to
go
to a Macromedia FLASH MX seminar. I don't even use FLASH! I'm
interested in it... but interested enough to be up at 6 a.m. and
make
it downtown by 8:30 a.m.?!? I must be crazy.
I settle on black jeans, a black T-shirt, and a burgundy,
button-down, long-sleeve shirt. I put on my cool-ass black
leather,
ankle-high, square-toed shoes. I feel very
digital-designer-come-Art-Director, with a splash of
wanna-be-capital-"A"-Artist. Oh yeah, that's right!
Doubtful that I will see anyone I know, but looking good just in
case, I head off for the Toronto Convention Centre. When I get
there, I'm not surprised by what I see. Yahoos dressed just like
me,
but with more stylish outer wear... those expensive "Roots"
three-quarter length leather jackets, or the retro 70's orange and
red sporty jackets. And then there's all the "geek chic" people.
The ones that look like they slept in their clothes, shook off the
bits of Doritos, and came on over. You could also see the ones
that
try really hard to mimic that geek look, but with brand-new jeans,
brand-new plaid short-sleeve shirts, and brand-new runners from
the
Zellers near their parent's suburban homes.
I've come to this event to witness the grand spectacle of a
software
launch. To listen to the guys and gals in their matching, logo
bedazzled, short-sleeve polo shirts and chinos. All "just out of
the
box," clean and neat. They make me happy, they make me feel safe.
They gurgle on about their lovely software and how it will make my
life so much easier, my web sites so much more cutting edge. I
become convinced that I would be really, really silly not to use
their software. Never a harsh word, the occasional fun-loving jab
at
the competition. Smiles, matching shirts, clean pants, and highly
efficient software.
The seminar ends. I meet up with three friends - friends I
haven't
seen for several months. We come together in the crush of the
exiting audience. Clutching our fully completed surveys, we
slowly
move toward the long tables near the theatre doors where we will
be
rewarded with a CD of software demos. Our survey information soon
to
be added to a giant database, where we will all be reduced to our
focus groups, our e-mail addresses compiled for future sale and
re-sale. What we were wearing that day will be forgotten, if it
was
ever noticed at all.
So, when it's six in the morning and I'm fumbling toward the next
seminar, I think I'll just grab my best pair of track pants, throw
on
my runners, and with a knowing smile slip into that glorious sea
of
plaid.
3. Fashion Does Not Exist
By Leif Harmsen
I am not a fashion writer. Nobody is because fashion no more
exists than
does God. Yet self proclaimed fashion experts write and talk about
this
non-existent fashion, put on fashion weeks and millions obsess at
dressing up like characters from television drama. At a Burger
King by
the 401 near Trenton I saw a nice random sample of Canadians in
transit,
and could identify the television show part that each was
imitating by
their dress. I can do the same from the bathhouse to the
boardroom. What
the gurus divine and peer followers believe to be fashionable
keeps
changing year by year, which should indicate to any sensible
person that
those who claim authority on fashion have nothing of any value to
contribute.
It is often practical to wear clothing for warmth, protection and
pockets. But clothing looks silly and ugly on animals, Beatrix
Potter
notwithstanding, and we primates are no exception to this rule.
Your
apparel is crude when compared to the wondrous human form it
obscures.
The rag trade simply can not compete with 2 billion years of
evolution
any more than a neon sign can compete with the sun. Artists never
tire
of drawing nudes, but the fashion du jour constantly changes
because
they are too boring to hold anyone's attention for long.
Good designers serve to style clothing in order to deal with the
predicament of clothing as best they can. Like a good DJ, they
know
their place as background wallpaper at a function where the guests
are
the main event. Bad designers think their outfit looks better than
the
people it covers, and will even compromise the underlying flesh in
order
to achieve a gratuitous aesthetic. Business suits worn under the
sweltering summer sun come to mind as a design disaster, as do
crippling
high heels or anything synthetic. Like all bad designers, bad
clothing
designers would have us believe that they themselves have
something
important to say when they do not, and manage only to annoy all
but the
shallow with their prolific but empty hype.
A belief in fashion is a tempting crutch for people who lack their
own
style or a sense of self. It gives them an off-the-shelf virtual
identity that in a pinch can stand in for themselves. This
explains all
the television character drag. Still others comply with whatever
we're
told is fashionable for fear of being bullied if we appear too
different. I fall into this later camp but am bad at it. Between
these
two camps are a few who style their dress they please, but don't
much
identify with it. I prefer to be naked because regardless of what
I wear
it always feels fraudulent, and I don't watch enough television to
know
how to blend in. The Emperor really did have the best clothes,
even if
they weren't new.
- Leif Harmsen www.harmsen.net
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International Coffees
1. Moreno Ferrari's convertible clothes
By Elena Guarneri
A designer, philosopher and urban observer, Moreno Ferrari taps into the fabric of modern society and creates clothes that morph and change
to suit our individual needs.
A shawl that converts into a curtain ‹ so that we can cloak ourselves with our home comforts only to become a greenhouse or even a portable
privy where we can pause from the world for a moment; a jacket that inflates into a chair; a raincoat that morphs into a kite so we can all be
children once more. Fantasy? Science-fiction? No, just some of Moreno Ferrari's latest creations. 50-year-old Ferrari is a fashion and interior
designer from La Spezia in Liguria who spent his youth amidst swatches of fabric and material, followed by a professional career marked by
his studies in philosophy as well as his love of cinema and literature. Carlo Rivetti of the textile group GFT and C.P. Company, saw the
designer's work and recognised his potential, allowing him to experiment and create some of his trademark pieces.
Ferrari deconstructs his clothes and redesigns them as versatile and transformable objects. He reinvents our concepts of home and housing in
the light of a society which increasingly demands flexibility and change and privileges those who can mould and adapt themselves to continual
evolutions. His clothes are like a shell, a light, manageable and flexible structure which is an integral part of the person wearing it - a protection
- like the armadillo's carapace - that insulates the wearer against all instability, fear or turmoil.
In his search for a permanent centre of gravity Ferrari discovers that the centre of things lies in its very absence and the resulting attempts to
locate and relocate objects, places and meanings in the quest for even partial answers. This is one of the reasons why the designer speaks of
his creations as "fragile, light and supple architecture (Š) which correspond to a metaphysically precarious condition."
for more. http://www.italiaplease.com/eng/megazine/stylefile/2001/11/ferrari/
2. A La Mode
Vogue's pathetic attempt at body-type diversity.
By Emily Nussbaum, April 2, 2002
http://slate.msn.com/?id=2063972
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Mr Brown
instant coffee coffee link
Like Sugar Cubes, Only Coffee
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Coffee_20Cubes
selected links
1. Peaches got 4 stars in the guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,3604,666227,00.html
2. Imitation of Christ Links
It's just a coincidence that it happens to be Easter, and my
submission regards the New York fashion
designers that go by the name "Imitation of Christ", much to the
dismay of Catholics (they took their
name from a Psychedelic Furs song, not Thomas a Kempis). I like
them because they take second hand
clothes, add a new stitch or something, and then sell it for a
grand. They kill two birds with one stone
- make a lot of money to pay the rent with, and expose
fashionistas for the idiots they are. Their last
Spring 2002 show (which is held in the fall, because in the logic
of the fashion world, you need the 6
month interim to get the stuff into the stores) turned the tables
on the fashion folk - when the
reporters crowded and in and herded through the doors, they found
themselves on the runway, and the
models sat in the audience, taking notes and pictures.
They have even spawned a parody group:
http://www.imitationofimitationofchrist.com/
Chum City's own Fashion Television vignette on them (highly
recommended):
http://www.imitationofimitationofchrist.com/index3.htm
And they're associated with Chloe Sevigny, the actress (which
probably accounts for a lot of their attention):
http://www.chloesevigny.com/news.html (scroll down)
Review of spring 01 and preview of fall 01
http://www.loper.org/~george/trends/2001/Jan/47.html
Amy Spindler is a fashion editor. Scroll down to read her
assessment of IoC
http://www.hintmag.com/lunchvox/amyspindler/amyspindler1.php
Spring 2001 (Sept 2000) Theme: a funeral
http://www.hintmag.com/collections/nywommensp01/ny2.php#imitation
(scroll down)
Fall 2001 Show (Feb 2001) Theme: mock movie premier.
Reporters had to pay to enter, proceeded to be donated to
anti-sweatshop charity.
http://www.hintmag.com
http://www.papermag.com
http://www.pagesix.com
Spring 2002 show (Sept 2001) Theme: mirror world fashion show.
The reporters are objectified by the models.
http://www.fashionshowroom.com
http://www.papermag.com
submitted links
A whole website devoted to coveralls
http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/7510/
Two mullet oriented websites
http://www.mulletmadness.com/index.html
http://www.mulletsgalore.com/
model art collective London UK
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk
"computer chip grafiti"
http://caffeine.ieee.org/WEBONLY/publicfeature/mar02/chip.html
ic supporter links
http://www.steamwhistle.ca/
http://www.thinoffice.com
http://www.easydns.com
http://www.techno.ca
TOP |
Tasters Choice
Instant Coffee Toffee Fudge Cake
By The Canadian Living Test Kichen
7 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (200 g)
1/2 cup butter, cut in pieces (125 mL)
1/4 cup coffee liqueur (50 mL)
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules (15 mL)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (125 mL)
4 eggs, separated
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (150 mL)
1/4 teaspoon each salt and cream of tartar (1 mL)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (50 mL)
4 bars (each 39 g) milk chocolate-covered toffee, finely chopped
Chocolate Glaze
1/4 cup whipping cream (50 mL)
2 tablespoons coffee liqueur (25 mL)
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules (10 mL)
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (150 g)
In saucepan, heat semisweet chocolate, butter, liqueur and coffee granules over medium-low
heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Remove from heat; whisk in brown sugar until
dissolved. Whisk in egg yolks, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in flour
in three additions; let cool for 5 minutes.
In bowl and using electric mixer, beat together egg whites, salt and cream of tartar until soft
peaks form; gradually beat in granulated sugar until stiff peaks form. Whisk one-third into
chocolate batter; fold in remaining egg whites. Gently fold in half of the chopped chocolate
bars.
Pour into well-greased 8-inch (750 mL) round cake pan. Run knife through batter to remove
air bubbles. Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven for 45 minutes or until top is firm to the touch and
crust has formed. Let cool on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely.
Chocolate Glaze: In small saucepan, bring cream, liqueur and coffee granules to boil over
medium-high heat. Immediately stir in chocolate; remove from heat and whisk until smooth. Let
cool to room temperature. Pour over cake, letting some drip down sides. Garnish with
remaining chopped chocolate bar.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until glaze is set. (Cake can be covered and refrigerated for
up to 5 days or frozen for up to 1 week.)
Yield: 8 servings
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Ten Ten
1. Trudeau, CBC television, March 31-April 1 2002, 8-10pm
By Timothy Comeau
I didn't like the look of the commercials I saw for this show, but
I knew I would watch it regardless since Trudeau was such a
mensch. He was a man who was so widely admired that his death was
a national patriotic event for some, but was also so reviled by
the western provinces and in Quebec that they're reluctant to put
him on the money just yet.
A. The Ubercanadian
Colm Feore played Canada's most famous international musician,
Glenn Gould, and now he's played Canada's most famous politician,
Mister Margaret. It made sense that he was cast as Trudeau, even
though he looks nothing like him, a condition that almost seems
expected after so many productions that strive to cast similar
features. Because of these two roles, from such opposite ends of
the white male canadian spectrum, I've now come to think of him as
the ubercanadian, a role previously occupied by Trudeau himself as
socialist-peacemaker-intellectual-world-traveler who loved Canada
(and who Nixon hated!)
B. Halifax
Having lived in Halifax, I was distracted in the first episode by
recognizing so much scenery. I found the Beatlemania allusion
filmed at the AGNS particularly laughable, because it's the only
time in my life that I'll see that many people running out of the
AGNS in joy. I wonder how John Greer feels about having his statue
used as a prop during that somewhat awkward sequence (however, I
thought was an interesting way to present Trudeaumania by
referencing the way Beatlemanina was portrayed on film by the
Beatles themselves). Couldn't they have found another location
that wasn't so obvious, and one in which didn't trivialize the
location by assuming that "no one's going to know where this is,
so we'll use this as an urban campaign headquarters"? For the most
part they disguised Halifax well. I must say that I saw a clip of
the program on the Mike Bullard show the week before, wherein the
silent little girl give Trudeau a rose, while he overlooks the
scenery from some balcony. seeing the clip I thought that scene
had been filmed in Montreal - only while watching the show on
Sunday night, with the Haligonian teleology in place, did I
recognize the location as being the top of the Westin Nova Scotian
or
thereabouts.
C. Stylization
Despite the fact that I've recently developed an allergy to
stylization that exists only to prettify weak or boring ideas, I
like the way it was used in Trudeau to enhance a weak budget and
by-default nature of the casting. I thought this was a fair and
legitimate use of stylization, which I'm defending agaisnt those
who hated this obvious example of "cbc canadiana" - that usually
wacky and poorly produced quality of broadcasts that makes CBC's
recent American marketing campaign futile. For example, my
sister's friend, who watched it with us, scoffed at when one of
the dates fell from the top of the screen and then became
unsynchronized. Such unexpected effects, in a biopic, was a
surprise and kept my interest, whereas a slick and over-expensive
American production would have bored me with it's earnestness and
had me channel surfing. Considering they wrote some of the script
from cabinet minutes only realeased last year, the content was
earnest enough without needing to be visually slick. Life in
reality is not slick, and this after all, was a re-presentation of
a reality.
D. The Best for Last
I've long wished that a biopic would acknowledge the reality of
the subject matter by using original footage here and there. My
simple reason is so that I could be reminded of what the original
looked like, or what the reality was like against the recreation.
So, at the very end of the film, here was THE REAL Trudeau, who
wasn't as handsome as Colm Feore, nor as tall, delivering an early
version of his "Just Society" speech at the 1968 Liberal Candidate
Convention. As a whole, "Trudeau" was better served by using
archival material, because I was reminded of the reality of this
story, and got a feel for the marked difference between then and
now.
E. Completely Gratuitous
It was also nice to see Knowlton Nash again via the archival
footage, since he was such a presence in my pre-cable childhood.
Related Links
http://cbc.ca/trudeau/
http://www.johngreer.ca/publicart/origins/originsFrameset.html
Rating: eight out of ten
TOP |
Sanka
1. I like belt buckles and stuff.
by Anon.
I have three with motorcycles on
them, and my
friend has one with a picture of Jesus. Kind of sparkley red, and
in the
center there’s a Sacre-Coeur. Christ may be a busy guy, but he’ll
still take
the time to hold your pants up. I like belt buckles almost as much
as I like
Girl Guide Cookies.
2. FORGET SIX-PACKS: I'LL HAVE A KEG
By Patrick DeCoste
There are many types of beer-bellies. My favourite has the right
balance of
visceral and subcutaneous fat - round and buoyant. Beer-bellies
should never
be hidden under baggy clothes. The ideal garment to gird a
beer-belly is the
T-shirt. The perfect fit is one size too small, revealing the
full shapely
round belly, and not quite long enough to tuck into hip-hugging
pants. The
beer-belly T is easy to accessorize: a few beer stains, bits of
food, and some
rips and holes to show a bit of furry flesh.
You may think this genre is most apt for truck driver and plumber
types
... but remember Kate Moss? The fashion industry transformed her
look from
crack-whore-grotesque into runway success. The hottest designers
are now
hailing beer-belly chic as the new thing. Dragging reluctant burly
men from
greasy auto-body shops into the glossy pages of fashion magazines.
An
aesthetic antidote to the flat abs which currently infest the
media.
So if you've got what it takes, throw on your skimpiest rattiest
shirt,
get out there, and flaunt your beautiful beer-belly!
3. Baseball Caps
By Timothy Comeau
I like b-ball caps cause they keep the sun out my eyes. That's the
biggest reason I wear them, since I
don't own a pair of sunglasses. I also wear baseball caps cause
it's a habit, a personal tradition. This
developed in the early 90s. In my high school graduation group
photo, I'm the only one wearing a hat
(cause it was blue cordroy and it rocked -and it was sunny out
that day). While reaching for a hat I'm
often reminded of my days in university residence, when I was
scolded by a patriarchal figure for going
to class with bedhead. "At least put a hat on for god's sakes!" he
said. Because of the good times I
had then, and the fact that we all wore baseball hats in
residence, the tradition that began as a
teenager was nurtured. I remember at the time being fond of the
Tragically Hip song, "50 Mission Cap",
whose main lyric "I worked it in to look like that" seemed to
exemplify the relationship one has with
ones hat - as you work it in as it accompanies you through these
experiences that live on in memory.
Sometimes I feel more comfortable with something on my head. I've
worn other hat styles, but because of
the ubiquity of baseball hats, wearing other styles usually draws
for more attention than I'd like. You
end up talking about the stupid hat you're wearing. That quality
of anonymous ubiquity I find
appealing. You can do the whole "something on your head" thing
without being too warm in a toque, keep
the sun out of your eyes, and not draw undue attention to
yourself.
I'm glad that there are no photographs of me from the 1980s
wearing acid wash. As well, I managed to
make it through the 90s without getting a tattoo. But the one area
fashion area where I don't mind
following the crowd is to wear the baseball hat, since they are
the contemporary tricorn. An example of
this is how last summer during the previews for the new Star Trek
show, they had scenes with the mid
22nd Century characters wearing baseball hats, which was meant to
convey that they were more
contemporary then the 23rd and 24th Century characters known from
the previous series.
I've never been that much of a fashion conscious person, having
known far more fashion victims than
actual fashionable people, but I did become concerned a few years
back that I wouldn't date photographs
correctly. It's an interesting feature of fashion that one can
date a photograph by what people are
wearing; to within a decade when you're dealing with obviously
20th Century photos. This is something I
like about fashion in general, how it corresponds to that which we
know by those two German words: the
Kunstwollen and the Zeitgeist. It reveals something intrinsic
about the human character's need to belong
to some group. As the anthropologists say, we are social animals
and we wear clothes that reflect our
tribal allegiances. Besides keeping the sun out of my eyes, and my
hair in place, they help me date
future photographs, and I can feel like I'm participating in a
fashion sense particular to now.
4. Week in review care of 032c workshop, Berlin.
http://www.032c.com/diary.html
This is just one of 032c projects
032c workshop has organized an exhibition and a party for Karl Lagerfeld's
portraits of Chicks on Speed, DJ Hell, Casey Spooner, Matmos, Miss Kittin &
The Hacker, Peaches and Vive La Fete in Berlin. The Music Looks Better With
You - Portraits by Karl Lagerfeld
generally, it is a daily listing of some choice fashion related web reading
and some details about 032c's projects. we found a good link to an
article about the crazy prices the average Tokyo fashionista spends on a
second hand t-shirt and The Economist's special dossier on fashion luxury
companies. It is smart talk about fashion and mediocre talk about art.
TOP |
Instant Coffee Saturday Edition is our (sort of) monthly email/online zine. Saturday Edition compliments to Instant Coffee's email list service, which has been promoting local, national and international events to a targeted audience since 2000.
Instant Coffee Saturday Edition takes submissions. We're interested in graphics, articles reviews and links about music, video/film, art exhibitions, architecture and design for the sections as above ... and self indulgences for the Sanka section. Send submissions to saturday@instantcoffee.org
instant coffee + march break = workplace work
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just read &delete
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Saturday Edition content submissions can be emailed to saturday@instantcoffee.org. Email IC to ADD or REMOVE yourself to IC EVENTS LIST: local toronto/ontario and inter/national posts. IC HALIFAX LIST: local halifax/maritime and inter/national posts. IC VANCOUVER: local vancouver and inter/national posts. IC NATIONAL LIST: inter/national posts only. Art related only. Post for FREE, but no Guarantees. |
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