Phyllis Galembo is a photographer and professor of art at the University of Albany, State University of New York where she heads the printmaking department and teaches photography. She spends the rest of her time planning and carrying out her personal projects. She describes herself as project-oriented, but stresses that it is her passion for travelling and meeting people from different cultures that ultimately drives her. “What I want to do most of all is document how people can live a tolerable life under harsh conditions. As an artistic onlooker I am fascinated by all the beauty that survives in the very poorest slums on our planet.” Text by Kerstin Fiedler.+++ info
Akata Dance Masquerade, Cross River, Nigeria, 2004 Ngar Ball Traditional Masquerade Dance, Cross River, Nigeria, 2004 OtogheToghe, Aromgba Village, Nigeria, 2005
Phyllis Galembo
Suzanne Lee creates clothing out of yeast, a pinch of bacteria, and several cups of sweetened green tea. She is a senior research fellow at the School of Fashion & Textiles at Central Saint Martins in London, and the brains behind BioCouture, an experiment in growing garments from the same microbes that ferment the tasty caffeinated beverage.
The website says:
Imagine if we could grow clothing…
BioCouture aims to address ecological and sustainability issues around fashion.
The BioCouture research project is harnessing nature to propose a radical future fashion vision.
We are investigating the use of bacterial-cellulose, grown in a laboratory, to produce clothing.
Our ultimate goal is to literally grow a dress in a vat of liquid… http://www.biocouture.co.uk/ http://biocouture.posterous.com/
In 2009 to celebrate the fifth birthday of A MAGAZINE, a new website and the A BLOG CURATED BY is launched.
A BLOG will explore the archives of A MAGAZINE and the worlds of our curators, contributors and collaborators. Past issues of A MAGAZINE will be released to view on the website each month through 2009, coupled with parallel content on the A BLOG. We aim to release A MAGAZINE #10 simultaneously in print and online in early 2010.
Urban Dolls is the project of designer Vilma Jaruseviciute presented as a critical stance on plastic surgery when at the DMY international design festival held at Berlin Tempelhof Airport. TUrban Dolls consists of a series of wearable to prosthetics (perhaps influenced by Dunne & Raby, Jaruseviciute’s teachers). In her own words, the designer says:
‘It is getting more and more difficult to define a concept of contemporary beauty. In urban society, where the hunt for perfection begins at an early age and modified ‘plastic beauties’ wave from the covers of glossy magazines, humanity’s struggle for perfection appears almost limitless. This project is an explorative journey in search of alternatives that could replace plastic or aesthetic surgery. Design becomes a mediator between humans and existing body modification processes; static, permanent procedures are transformed into flexible, temporary prosthetics.’
“There are hundreds of ethnic groups in Nigeria, each with its own language and traditions. Among other things which are part of these traditions are various hairstyles. These are determined by the social position of the family, and the artistic talent of the hair stylist. Among them there are special hairstyles for ceremonies such as circumcisions, a woman’s becoming an adult, or the celebration of a marriage. Today it is difficult to trace the background of certain hairstyles because various ethnic groups have mixed together, and adapted to modern culture. Many hairstyles have died out, taking their secrets to the grave with them. Since 1968 Ojeikere (b. Nigeria, 1930) has been making photographs of various hairstyles he sees on the street or at work, or at celebrations. He always asks his models where the hairstyle they are wearing comes from, what its meaning is, its name, and its history.” (source)
Nagi Noda , who brought us the word-for-word parody of Susan Powter’s first workout video, featuring poodles and a beautifully crazy poodle-woman, comes back with the fantastic animal hair hats. Take a look HERE.
Design by Leah Buechley who created the sewable version of the Arduino microcontroller.The Lilypad Arduino.
Interactive fashion needs technology. If we want our clothes to move, sense and light up, then we will need the materials to do this for us. There are a lot of very interesting materials out there, but their engineers may never have considered them as possible fashion fabrics. Mostly their purpose is more industrial- shielding, antibacterial or other such practical things. (by Mediamatic)
KNOW MORE HERE
Lucy McRae and Bart Hess share a fascination with genetic manipulation and beauty expression. Unconsciously their work touches upon these themes, however it is not their intention to communicate this. They work in a primitive and limitless way creating future human shapes, blindly discovering low – tech prosthetic ways for human enhancement.
In their website you will encounter a very subtle Morphing Effect that might keep you focused for a while.
Egungun, Bohican, Benin, 2006 
Akata Dance Masquerade, Cross River, Nigeria, 2004
Ngar Ball Traditional Masquerade Dance, Cross River, Nigeria, 2004
OtogheToghe, Aromgba Village, Nigeria, 2005
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