cross-country

Our friend Antje, an illustrator and graphic designer, made a journey through different countries earlier this year and of course she couldn't stop drawing everything she saw. All her wonderful illustrations are now bound together as a drawing journal in the form of a book. You can order it via her website.
And it is not only a travel diary, but also a lovestory ♥.
//
Unsere Freundin Antje, Illustratorin und Grafikdesignerin, hat Anfang diesen Jahres eine Weltreise hinter sich gebracht und konnte kaum aufhören zu zeichnen, was sie so gesehen und erlebt hat. All ihre wundervollen Zeichnungen gibt es jetzt in gebunder Form als eine Art gezeichnetes Tagebuch - ganz einfach über ihre Seite zu bestellen.
Außerdem ist es nicht nur ein Reisetagebuch sondern ganz nebenbei (oder hauptsächlich?) eine Liebesgeschichte ♥.

ART.FAIR.21

credit. KoelnKeller

Well well...unfortunately, the Art.Fair.21 was not worth the money. I had not so much to do with what was exhibited, but more of the way it was exhibited. First the atmosphere (the light) was horrible - too glaring. Second there was no structure - at least I did not recognize any. On the small brochure/map there were only the names of the galleries given - you had to be an insider. In the booths themselves there was hardly any written information on the exhibited pieces. Sometimes there were books of the artists, but all in all it was just not accessible enough for a public fair. I expected more of an exhibition than the atmosphere of a classic fair.
Of course there were some pieces that caught our attention anyway and I have already been busy with collecting some more information to show you some things in the next weeks.
One highlight was the special exhibition on the International Photography Awards by Pilsener Urquell. More of it soon...
//
Nun...ich muss leider sagen, die Art.Fair.21 war ihr Geld nicht wert. Es lag weniger an dem, was ausgestellt wurde, als an der Art wie es ausgestellt wurde. Erstens: Das Licht war zu grell - die Atmosphere war dadurch schrecklich. Zweitens gab es keine für mich erkennbare Strukutur. Auf dem Messeplan waren nur die Namen der Galerien angegeben- da musste man sich schon auskennen. Auf den Messeständen selber gab es dann auch nur enttäuschend wenig Information in der Form von Text über die ausgestellten Stücke. Es lagen zwar manchmal Bücher aus, aber alles in allem war es einfach nicht zugänglich genug für eine öffentliche Messe. Ich hatte etwas mehr Ausstellung erwartet und etwas weniger Messe.
Natürlich gab es trotzdem Werke, die sehr interessant waren und ich sammle schon fleißig Informationen um hier in den nächsten Wochen etwas zu zeigen.
Ein Highlight war allerdings die Sonderausstellung zum International Photography Award von Pilsener Urquell. Demnächst mehr davon...

a happy family :-)

Yoshitomo Nara

picture: Johnen + Schöttle

I have been a fan of Yoshitomo Naras art for along time and was very happy that a gallery here in Cologne exhibited some of his work. There was not so much to see, but luckily they showed the Mini Puff Marshies - five giant heads of a girl made of fibreglass. I especially liked the colour and texture of these pieces. Also the Big Pup Head was great to see in real life, since it was bigger (it is huge) than i expected.
Read more about it on the gallerys website: Johnen + Schöttle
//
Ich bin schon länger ein Fan von Yoshitomo Naras Arbeiten und war sehr froh sie heute in einer Galerie hier in Köln bewundern zu können. Es waren nicht viele Arbeiten ausgestellt, aber glücklicherweise die Mini Puff Marshies, fünf überdimensionale Mädchenköpfe aus Fiberglas. Besonders fasziniert war ich von den sanften Eisfarben und der Textur. Außerdem habe ich endlich mal den Big Pup Head gesehen, einen Hundekopf, ebenfalls aus Fiberglas. Er war viel größer (riesig) als ich ihn mir vorgestellt hatte.
Lest mehr darüber auf der Website der Galerie: Johnen + Schöttle

picture: Johnen + Schöttle

c/o pop day five

Actually there was no more c/o pop on day five for us since we felt more like this little guy.

c/o pop day four

We decided to meet up with the Distortion bus again -they really got us hooked up- and went to some private party under a bridge on the rhine. The party itself sucked, but there were of course still the djs on he bus who provided us with some great tunes. After that we went to the party in the Gewölbe im Westbahnhof, which was part of the "Deutschlandreise".

look of the night

c/pop day three

We planned to got to the concert of elektronic-rap-supergirls M.I.A. who were supported by SICK GIRLS (Berlin). BUT WE MISSED OUT ON THAT BECAUSE THEY DID NOT LET US IN!!! Grrr - I heard M.I.A was great.
So we stood waiting in front of the door, thinking about were to go instead. We already read about some kind of bus shuttle that brings you from location to location with music and drinks. But we did not expect what we saw then. It was a bus, like the ones for public transportation, with the number 666. Smoke came out of the door when it opened and out came some party people from denmark: the bus tour was organised by the guys of the Distortion festival which takes place in Copenhagen every year.
Besides great music they offered free drinks so we did not hesitate and jumped onto the bus.

in the bus

We really had the best night that days going with the bus from one location to the other. We ended up at the Kompakt Party in some huge industrial style building
The party was great - of course: Kompakt is one of the most popular electronic indie-labels in Germany and based in cologne, so they really made their hometown rock that night with their best line-up.

look of the night

the shiny shoes + the pants + the slightly maskuline white shirt + the slightly posh golden jacket = very smart style


djuna barnes - one of the hottest dj's in denmark right now.
myspace

c/o pop day two

On thursday UFFIE hit the stage together with FEADZ from Paris. They were supported by Mediengruppe Telekommander from Berlin and the colognebased local heroes MIT who performed first. They really did a good job, the sound was great and their singer was really funny (take it as a compliment).
Uffie only played four songs, until the crowd got out of control and conquered the stage.

I say conquer, because Uffie definitely could not control the situation. The security guys had to play it tough on the people and literally threw them off stage. When the stage was cleared Uffie had disappeared - but Feadz was going on and he really made the audience go crazy (this time they behaved) for some time more.

The credits for the look-of-the-night-picture go to les mads since i was not quick enough (or was I just to shy?) to take a picture of this guy...


He was a fashion exception that night since the rest were (almost) only new rave kids - no offence. The tattoos in combination with -or should I rather say in contrast to- that sophisticated suit just hit my eye immediately.

c/o pop day one

look of the night

Opening concert with APPARAT FEAT. RAZ OHARA of berlinbased elektronic-label BPitch Control aswell as BATTLES from New York who signed to the british Kult-Label Warp.

Raz Ohara
myspace
about




Apparat
website
myspace




Battles
video
myspace

The glock you pop

At the moment we are enjoying the c/o pop - we got ourselves some festival tickets and are having a great time. Next week I'm back with some pictures.
In the meantime you can enjoy some music of the three "main" acts.

::pimp your walls::

Sharmila Banerjee is a Cologne based Illustrator and Graphic Designer. Her colourful world is full of little animals and odd creatures in phantastic landscapes.


She made illustrations for the RheinDesign Flyer and now you can purchase some of her work as wallstickers, available at tapetenagentur.

I really like her work because it reminds me of some artists that create vinyl toys. The mister and I are totally into collecting these little characters...

Zeigt her Eure Beine...

Meike Diedeling has dedicated herself to the design of stockings... Most of them have a text printed on them, but my personal favourites are these ones:

Little bags spread over your legs! They come in different colour combinations but I stick to the always fresh and classy red and white combination.

LOOK at RHEINDESIGN

Nadine & Nicole, designer of Nani Coldine


Marie, author, & Paul, mediadesigner

goldig

Finally we have a new up to date fashion store/boutique in cologne... GOLD, Antwerpener Straße 13. Being up to date is kind of their motto, as stated in an addition to their actual name: GOLD - Mode zur Zeit. They sell fashion and accessories from young designers from Europe and besides that, books and records. Some name dropping follows...Kaviar Gauche, Cheap Monday, Eksempel, Presque Fini, Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, Wood Wood, Sabrina Dehoff etc. In the music department you can find a selection of smaller/indie record companies e.g. Ghostly Records, Kompakt or Noisedeluxe Rec.

on the streets in cologne #3

Julia


Tina & Oliver


C'mone

cologne streetstyle part two

Esther, visual merchandiser

Jasmin, student

cologne street style

Sandra, student & Anita, employee at human resources - both from spain


Johanna, student


Steffi, student