SPRING AND SUMMER 2013
SKILLS
The Burngate Stone Carving Centre
Loïc Prigent
The French film director in conversation with Gert Jonkers about documenting fashion, with portrait by Thomas Lohr.
Loïc Prigent’s films documenting the nightly stress and backstage panic at Chanel, Marc Jacobs, Yves Saint Laurent and many other houses shine a fascinating light on today’s fashion system. Yet the celebrated director never set out to make films. Born in Brittany, he moved to Paris with the idea to read, write and, above all, have a good time.
To Craft
Photographer Ola Rindal pays a visit to the Burngate Stone Carving Centre on England’s idyllic Jurassic Coast.
Stone carving is a careful art – there are no redoes. Tools like this peculiar hand hammer are a boon for precision work.
Skill n° 2
Paper Cutting with artist Ingrid Siliakus.
From her humble Amsterdam apartment, Ingrid Siliakus creates sensational paper pop-ups such as Elevation Terracotta (2009), pictured here. Ingrid brings buildings to life through an intricate series of cuts and folds. Her pop-ups are like a children’s fairy-tale book, but better.
Robyn
The international pop star in conversation with Penny Martin about creating new music, with portraits by Andreas Larsson.
Eight years ago the Swedish singer Robyn set up her own record label, Konichiwa Records, giving her complete control of what she does, looks like and, most importantly, how she sounds. It’s been worth it. Her hits such as ‘Dancing on My Own’ and ‘With Every Heartbeat’ and their accompanying videos are nothing short of groundbreaking.
Skill n° 3
Baking with E5 Bakehouse
It takes baker Ben Mackinnon of the E5 Bakehouse in east London about three days to produce the loaf of Bordinsky sourdough rye bread with coriander seeds pictured here. “If bread is made quickly,” says Ben, “the proteins become tightly bound, which makes them harder to digest than relaxed proteins. A long fermentation makes bread tastier too.”
Skill n° 4
Pottery Printing with design studio Unfold
The ‘Stratigraphic Porcelain’ vase shown here is made by the Antwerp-based design studio Unfold. It may look like conventional pottery, but ‘pottery’ is an odd moniker for what Claire Warnier and Dries Verbruggen actually do, as their production process doesn’t involve chunks of clay or a tradi-tional potter’s wheel. Unfold’s ceramics flow from a 3D printer using self-brewed porcelain clay.
Viviane Sassen
The mastery of Viviane Sassen’s work lies in her ability to traverse both art and fashion, and to turn staged moments into vivid monuments.
Her photographs combine alienation with enjoyment, always to majestic results. As a retrospective of her work opens in her hometown, Amsterdam, Viviane is already plotting another trip to the African continent, where she lived until the age of five.
Skill n° 5
Smelling with scientist Sissel Tolaas.
It is the aim of artist and scientist Sissel Tolaas to capture smells so ordinary and mundane that we often forget they exist. In NoSoEaWe, pictured here in its illustrative bottle, Sissel combines the smells of four neighbourhoods in her adopted hometown, Berlin. But how does one capture the smells of Reinickendorf, Neukölln, Charlottenburg and Mitte?
Aric Chen
The Hong Kong-based curator talks to Caroline Roux about China’s future design, with portraits by Dan Pak.
These are thrilling times for Chinese design, as centuries-old craftsmanship encounters an increasingly modern outlook. Contemporary design is booming in China, and there to witness it all is curator Aric Chen, a 38-year-old expert on Chinese design.
