Tostitos? One word - WOW. Excellent UE example.

I've been dying to figure out why nobody has done a video page take over in disguise since the Wario Shake Up on youtube (they've removed the site, why on earth would you do that? go figure) and here it is! From Tostitos! Well, I was wowed, loving the clever use of space and Mr. Jobs, no matter how much I adore your products, this is one of many reasons why Flash should never die.

Experience it here: http://vimeo.com/9194146

Stunningly elegant interactive music video...

Angie is in love with:
http://soytuaire.labuat.com/
I'm sorry I haven't updated my blog for a while as I have been in Madrid over the weekend and now to Lille this weekend. But here is my recent favourite. It's a pretty little Spanish lady under the name of Labuat and here's an interactive music video created for the song Soy Tu Aire. It's absolutely, absolutely breathtaking. The way the animations flow out, the coordination with the music and the playfulness/momentum of the graphics are priceless. If you understand Spanish, you'd appreciate it more than ever as the illustrations coordinate with the lyrics wonderfully. I wished I worked on this project. A big applause to Herriaz Soto and Co. for this production. A bit cheesy but lovely nonetheless... Enjoy!

Richard Long's many walks

(Click on the image above to enlarge)

After two friends' recommendations I took the advantage of the past sunny Sunday to check out Richard Long's exhibition at the Tate BRITAIN. Believe me, after 40 min of scuttling along the Thames to reach Tate Modern to find out it's actually at Tate Britain was not fun - but at least the weather was gorgeous. (I'm so sorry Aniko!) He is a landscape artist in the most contemporary sense. In short: Richard Long treks various walks across the world and documents them. His determination in walking the arduous distances alone is admirable. I adored his perspective on the world. Mr. Long has managed to bring out proses of poetry from the simplest beauties nature has to offer.

Initially, Richard documented his walks through hand-drawn maps and photography and later into sculpture and typography. The journey through his exhibition leaves you yearning to travel off the beaten track - and more importantly to notice the little details that are often dwarfed and overlooked by grandiose subjects. The next time I see a river, I'd look for patterns in the pebbles and at the blankets of moss that creep along the riverbanks. I will not bore you in my attempts to replicate his poetry but friends, this is an exhibition not to be missed. It made me realize how most of us no longer walk as much as we've become so dependent on transport and how much we are missing in terms of "travel". That the journey is all the more enjoyable when one doesn't focus on merely reaching the destination but also the little tidbits you could pick up or talk about - to touch and feel along the way.

p.s. It's also worth it to just take a few minutes in the room in the middle of the exhibition where he's covered a whole wall in finger mud painting against black. The little splatters across the bottom where the white paint hits the floor were my favourite bits.

Attached are photos that I have 'stolen' from the exhibition via my iPhone (I don't think my SLR was allowed), photography was prohibited - as if that really ever stopped me anyways :) For those of you that have been to this exhibition, will you please stop leaving your comments through emails and Facebook and leave them HERE on the blog please so we could strike conversations with other lovely and curious people like you.

p.p.s. Stay away from the After Darwin exhibition at the Natural History Museum - it was decidedly one of the worst (and paid for!) exhibitions I've been to EVER. If you've been and loved it, please prove me wrong and I might just feel better having parted with my hard earned £6.

LINKS
Richard Long at the Tate Britain
Richard Long's official site

Under the Surface - Tu+ from BKK

This is the first time I've felt inspired by an artist (probably my age or younger too!) from back home, Bangkok. It makes me feel warmer towards going back someday. There's loads of Thai talent on a boom and definitely a very vibrant, fresh and booming bunch of graphic artists that are making a lot of noise in the City of Angels and Land of Smiles. I loved this video but evermore so the illustrations from the group he's part of called B.O.R.E.D. have a look a the links below! VERY EXCITING NA KA!

SURFACE : A film from underneath from TU+ on Vimeo.

Check out the process by Tu+ on his site, I think it was part of his Thesis project for his Masters degree in Design+Technology for Parsons School of Design, NY...
http://www.surfacefilm.com//

and B.O.R.E.D. Design!!!
http://www.boreddesign.net/

Would Jesus carry a gun?

Okay, thumbs up to Simon Hook for this. It definitely made my morning. I couldn't stop chuckling in utter disbelief. Videos like these never cease to amaze me about America. Perfect for those of you who have watched Borat recently.

Made in Italy... Really?

Before I start, the reason why I wrote this? I don't like being lied to about what I bought with my hard earned money... I don't like it when big corporations think they could deliver shit and get away with it... I'm finding reasons to get over all this superficiality... and I guess I'm just a really curious human being...



So, a while back I was questioning how the Chinese managed to make such believable designer copies (Chloe, Louis Vuitton, Fendi the whole lot) as the leather alone must be so difficult to reproduce - but the metal workings look so crap? My fashion designer flatmate (a.k.a. CAM) revealed that all these designer handbags were never really produced in their said countries, as I peered deploringly at the 'Made in France' stamp embossed inside my LV Speedy. The designs are all shipped to China and produced there (stitching and so forth) and only the small details (like the metal work - buckles, buttons, zips, etc.) were added in ie: Italy. And just like that, it's 'Made in Italy'. The bags cost about £15 to produce and ship and is on sale on the shelf at £560 (pls note that these figures are an 'Angie' approximate). I was slightly annoyed with the information, it also explains how China could manage some of the world's best copies... but didn't really care too much, I love my bag... a little less now though, I guess it was kinda worth me shoving an extra £545 for it... right...? and continued munching on my dark chocolate brownie.

Months later, yesterday, after a conversation with a new acquaintance - Hamid from the fashion retail industry - sparked this topic again. How do you actually know how much of it is actually 'Made in France'. Where's the quality control? For all we know, that Fendi bag on the shelf in Selfridges was made by penguins running in wheels operating a giant sewing factory in Antarctica?

Well, it bothered me so much that after a few unsuccessful attempts in google (it just kept on bringing up CHEAP, AUTHENTIC, 100% LEATHER, MADE IN ITALY, ONLY £38.99 on Ebay), I made a few phone calls. So, after going through two independent quality control companies (they were thoroughly confused at my questions by the time I hung up) and a friend from the British Fashion Council, apparently the process goes like so...

When a product gets made and exported from a county, they are branded with a certificate of origin (CH - China, ER1 - Europe1, etc) by the country's Chamber of Commerce. So what happens is that all the leather and materials get done in China for example, gets shipped to Europe to be compiled. So there is a minimum 4-5 step process (this includes branding, packaging, trimming) before you could label it as coming from that country. Who regulates this? Well, nobody I asked knew. And if I wanted to do more research, it would probably take me days (and yes, I do have a job) so if anybody's got any ideas, please feel free to enlighten us here...

FYI - I'm going through a no shopping phase. I've lost my need for all these gorgeous, superficial 'things' and am spending all my money and energy on food, photography and traveling. I'd encourage anybody I know to do the same... :) But I'll always love you Fendi...

p.s. for those of you that are interested in food, photography and traveling, I'd like to suggest a site made by a wonderfully inspiring friend of mine, Zarina, and her sister, have a snoop around! http://www.sojournposse.com/

Tamagotchi Bin...

So yeah, quick before this becomes a music blog! Here's a bin I came across in one of the tunnels near London Bridge and doesn't he look so serene?! That's if you could spot the eyes and the mouth. It's almost Zen-like. I name thee Tamagotchi Bin, in memory of Davezilla, my tamagotchi pet whose batteries died out in 7th grade.