by Jonny 'Dzonki'

This Is Not Fashion

What makes the the designs of Jum Nakao and Hussein Chalayan art

And the designs of 'Haus of Gaga', Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen fashion?

Are the latter merely pop-culture fashion extremists, or postmodern cultural icons of fine art?

When do the likes of Lady Gaga, Marilyn Manson and Leigh Bowery stop being pop stars and start being performance artists?

This is what I plan to explore in my next project: This Is Not Fashion, as well as exploring innovative and exciting materials in fashion and sculpture; not to mention a heavy emphasis on video, poetry and music. Not much then.

Alright, Treacle?

I attended my first ever piece of Performance Art last week.

Treacle, by Robert J. Anderson, performed at St James - a performance space that was once a church, owned by the Jersey Arts Centre.

In one sense it was everything and nothing I expected from the genre. It was closer to a piece of abstract theatre that I would have studied in Performance Studies than a piece of live art that I would have investigated in Fine Art - but the cross-genre postmodernism of the piece was warmly accepted by myself and (a majority of) the audience. The OAP's beside me disagreed.

At a memorable climax of Avant Gardism, I found myself watching a naked man standing on a step ladder being painted by four members of the audience in treacle whilst a young man (also from the audience) recorded the process with a disposable camera. Church-like music played as four more members of the audience were invited to wipe the performer clean whilst a man shouted crude remarks. Admittedly, the man was not part of the performance, which added to the spontaneity of the genre.

In short, I was left moved by the piece. The bellowing vocals of the artist as he attacked his piano in a way that crossed Patti Smith (I must broaden my music knowledge) with Henry Cowell and Florence 'and the Machine' Wells was deeply emotive, whilst the image of him straining to push the piano across the space as he played proved both comedic and powerful. In hindsight, there was a careful balance of lightheartedness (when Anderson stripped on an elevated stage to pop music, dollar bills thrusted into his underwear and socks) and more enigmatic content that could have been mistaken for pretentiousness.

The religious imagery of the cleansing was sufficiently mirrored by the performance space, which still had church pillars, arched windows and an altar clearly visible behind the stage lighting and stripped-down vacuum of performance space. The religious connotations also reminded me of a recorded dance piece I viewed entitled Flesh and Blood, choreographed by Lea Anderson.

This is a very brief evaluation of the piece, and I would go further into detail if I felt that anybody would enjoy reading it at all.

The Truth About You

For a special person.

The Truth About You

She looks when you’re not looking
And she talks when you’re not there
She whispers in a silent ear
And all she writes is LOL

She’s got that way of telling you
The way she never feels
But when you go and hold her hand
You know it must be real.

‘Cause it’s the way she never tells you
It’s the way you never knew
It’s the truth behind the touches
It’s the fact that I know you.

It’s a truth its not suspicion
It’s a fact its not just talk
And I never thought I’d feel this
‘till the day that I met you.

You think they’ll never know you
Like I never knew you too,
But now that I have met you,
All I think about is you.


22:46, 7th March 2010.

Soon to be a song

The Temper Trap

I downloaded a new album today, based upon my liking of their song Sweet Disposition and the more than complimentary ratings on Play.com and itunes. I wasn't disappointed. You may recognise Sweet Disposition from a Summer ITV advert and I think either Fader or Fools have has some airtime.

To describe their sound, try: Subdued Trippy Techno Indie, or perhaps alternatively fellow fan Claire's description: Summer on Acid. A title for their follow-up methinks.

Florence and the Machine

Here's a little one of my favourite dittys by Florence and the Machine =] absolutely beautiful x Their videos are awesome as well so have a go on Youtube, I just like this because you get to see the real Florence having a good time