Young Gifted and White
A few things I wanted to share about the yBa movement.
Apparently it all started in the 80s-90s with a few artist sponsored by Charles Saatchi. They became famous after a few won the Turner price (at a time where the price was itself hypermediatised having been endorsed by channel four). It was also a period categorised in my opinion by the rise of ostentation as the main driver to society - ie MTV blingbling culture, 'affordable' luxury and pop up celebrity. Furthermore, with with the end of communism (1989 putting an end to the petrol choc of the 70s) marked by the progressive disappearance of industrial jobs, manual workers were replaced by urban white collar office workers and the dominant social values shifted with them. Fashion, aesthetics and appearance become drivers of social status and social appurtenance blurred further. Trends and ideas “trickled up” from the masses rather than trickle down from 'the rich' - ie, MTV, the rise of 'social media', reality TV and wide diffusion of 'branding'. These can be seen as causes as well as consequences of the social changes of that time. Trends evolved unpredictably from small groups of forward thinkers before they diffuse into society at large. As such, influencers, viral marketing and endorsement become superior to merit and intrinsic values. To put it simply, society was shifting and values such as appearance, immediate pleasure and riches were taking the upper hand. Of course in such a context branding and marketing came to dominate our perceptions.
In addition, the end of manual labour (following 100 years later the disappearance of agricultural work), and the suppression of social structure surrounding it (owners, proletariat, liberals) led to a deterioration of sense of belonging. This is still today visible and actual in areas, which haven't recovered from the 'desindustrialisation'. Social interactions are consequently less and less codified (no more is hard work a value) and more and more dictated by openly fake ostentatious behaviour. People have been confronted with some form of crisis of identity. In rejection to the fakeness, youth have turned to stylised violent expressions of themselves inspired by the Punks a decade earlier: jackass, graffiti, Fight Club, raving (indistinct masses moving to unified beats with no leader or social organisation, on drugs which suppress social awkwardness and barriers) are just examples of this mediatique counter culture. It is in that context that the yBa have rised and changed art.
Below the key artists of the movement:
Damien Hirst
This piece is what made the yBa (a bunch of friends from Goldsmoth art school). This was the first peace, which was bought by Saatchi. A bit of back ground on Saatchi...Saatchi is the co-founder of Saatchi-Saatchi, the largest advertising agency in the world. They were successful at marketing cigarettes, and getting Margaret Thatcher into office.
Damien Hirst who was very entrepreneurial and dynamic in the promotion of his work organised several shows and exhibitions. One of the most successful ones is Freeze, which he started in 1988 and which is now one of the world most important fairs for contemporary art. It is at one of these shows that Charles Saatchi, which was and still is an influential collector, discovered his work and started buying loads of it!
Marc Quinn
Quinn has used blood, ice and faeces to make sculptures; his work sometimes refers to scientific developments. Quinn’s oeuvre displays a preoccupation with the mutability of the body and the dualisms that define human life: spiritual and physical, surface and depth, cerebral and sexual.
 |
| Planet (2008) |
 |
| Waiting for Godot |
 |
| Siren |
 |
| Sky (2006) Human Placenta, umbilical cord, stainless steelm perspex and refrigeration equipment (205 x 65 x 65 cm) |
His White Cube profile describes:
He regards art as a concrete philosophy and his motif world explores the major issues of life and death, gender and transformation, identity, and the icons of our contemporary world. Indeed, Kate Moss doing yoga poses in solid gold statue is exactly that! haha
Fiona Rae
The Timothy Taylor Gallery describes: Employing a battery of painterly marks, graphic signs and symbols, her paintings explore the profusion of our visual and material culture and take us on an exhilarating ride through the possibilities of paint. The paintings seem to suggest the seductions, contradictions and disappointments of contemporary life and culture.
 |
| Who is peeping there? - 152.4x127cm |
I'm Back
Ok, well... its a new start! No longer Ferome Baudousio, but the true authentic djejou: don't worry the style won't change, only i'll cut the bullshit about those fucking crappy brands! Who gives a shit about brands anyway. Get a life motherfuckers, brands are dickshit!
ok, that's done, now we gotta find something to talk about. Uhm, what about talking about me? uhm, naaa! yawn!
Music, Films, Books, Websites, Design, Business, Chicks, Geeky Stuff, Sex... all already done. Maybe just some crappy bullshit, let the flow come to you young apprentice! j'ai la Haine! ke dale je me regale moi! finalement, (ca a l air parti pour que je te parle un peux de moi...merde!)
Ok guys (is anyone out there???) I got nothing! Rap Attack
I always wanted to do some culture shit. not the crappy tradition stuff, but like, do you know nothing about Clouds, Russian Alphabet, the story of my idol Hannibal... You interested in that kind of shit? What if I choose a topic a week about some random knowledge shit and try to explain the best I can? no response for know of course, I am alone with myself drinking some good old Jack, listening to some 80s Rap in between a few minimal and italo disco beats, just enjoying openess...
talking of which, let me pick topic one. i won't start today of course, got to do this good, do some research and talk sense. but a gotta think about the next post and the next after that and even the following. Ok, so what's on my mind, what is actual yet immortal? What will be symbolic, a good start? Arts... maybe some sort of art movement? The history of Arts viewed by Djejou? might be a little too vast. A life isn't enough to deal with that kind of "stuff"(I wanted to say Bullshit, but I've already used it too much, staring to get a bit repetitive.. lossing audience as I type!) .......... ok narrow down: back to symbolic: beginning a new thing... Novelty... What about city guide! Yeah that could do it! A new life is starting, so I got a week to tell you guys about summer in Paris? Sounds ok??? I like it so fuck your opinions! BsPk.ltd will begin with Paris, the city of lights. See you in a week (or tomorrow if I am realy serious about this writing exercise).
Liquid Sky
"For me its easy, from hell to hell, I live in a concret maze, steel and glass hard like my heart, sharp and clean"
You gotta love the New York sharp violence of Slimane.
You gotta love the New York sharp violence of Slimane.
Out and about
So the guy I met back in Paris has finally made it to London. Just got a call from him asking if I wanted to crab a drink later on this evening. I knew he was gonna call!So I've decided to go with my favorite wear, just for good luck. For those who don't know me yet, this is an (almost) entire Dior by Hedi Slimane look, with the silk scarf and all! Skinny jeans, frock coat (the same Karl L. wears, I was reading in l'Officiel that he wears almost only DH!!). And my Strip hi-tops of course! It is all vintage stuff (2-3 years old must be vintage right?) by Slimane himself, except for the hightops, which are from the last collection. I must say I don't know about Kris van Assche's take on the collection, but I it seems like he is keeping the slim silhouette alive. Whatever happens, you just can't undo what Slimane did. He signature will last forever!
I wanted to wear the suit I have from the votc collection but I already wore it on Monday... You have to feel good on mondays, right? Yesterday was a bit of a fusion day, I only wore the sweater from the "follow me" collection, with other stuff I have in my wardrobe. But don't worry, I have loads of cool stuff from the Luster collection to wear! Makes me shine...
Wish me good luck!
Nostalgia
I almost had an accident last evening. I was on my way to visit some mates, riding my vespa, enjoying the road (it was raining...) speeding down the banks of the thames on my way to fulham when this skank b*&%!@ passed at a red light! I don't know how I avoided her, but man it was close.
It made me think and realise how dangerous driving around town is. Not like when I was a kiddo, driving around the Toscane village with my grandpa's Vespa GS. I heard that the guys at the Pondera factory still have it and use for their exhibition! I still remember how sad I was when it broke down... Everyone was sad: my parents had riden the thing since they knew each other! It was a part of the family, it had stories of its own!! So we brought it for repair at the Piaggo factory. The guys couldn't beleive we still had one of VNC's!
But I won't let that turn me off! I love riding around town. I feel like a Mob, going down to Brighton with the geezers... I love the whole scene, I am definetly one of the revivers of the movement! It is sort of "passive agressive"!!! You know, stylish but rebelious. These guys where punks before the punks, post modern before the fashion, they started the whole thing. Talk about "romantism au yeux ouvert"! I think that the link with these guys and there movement is one of the easons I love riding around so much! Did I tell you my mum was a Mod? She does talk much about those days, but sometimes she like comes up about a wacky story that happened to her and her mates back then. She even knows the guy that owns the Scooter Emporium on Bricklane. He was some mate of hers or something! I meet the chap, he's alright! Loves scooters to bits, but he was a Lambretta man... No one is perfect! He still got me some sick mirrors for Mario! He also helped me with the paint job... I have to go see him again, ask him about the shit going down back in the days!!
So, that was quite a story, kind of shook me a bit... But it won't break my spirits! The PX is part of me, it is me, my mates call me a Mod!! So there ou go, I can't go back to taking the bus!! Hell no!
Bloody Monday
Monday mornings... Well, went for a short jog before heading of to work. I've been listening (on my black ipod special edition) to this 80s upbeat italo-disco stuff that has me running like there is no tomorrow! Though I love this old generation pod I have, I am gonna need to update it: the ipod touch is so nice, but I already have my tricked out iPhone. (have you seen the beer app, think its hilarious!) Maybe I'll just wait until the MacExpo next year! Can't wait to get to SF...Oh, i didn't tell you, yeah, I got my tickets for the MacWorld Expo next Jan! Wooow. Steve Jobs, here I come! I won the trip by being the "coolest" salesman of the Apple Store in December. Not bad eh?? It gonna be a bit packed with nerds, but who cares, I am sure there's gonna be loads of ideas for my next art project.
I was following one of the free courses one the first floor of the store (I was on a break, man! I swear...) on how to create interactive photoshop designs, which made me tilt! The next big project is gonna be with Mac. I'm sure I might even get to exhibit in the offices above the shop. Well, who knows, I am sure they'll consider it?!
Back to my day, other than that course, it was just the same old. Some homeless guy came in and spent hours trying to figure out how everything worked, which was hilarious. He managed to get almost everything working... Surprising?? I don't think so!
J'Adore Dior Addict....
Last night was crazy! I was out with some mates from the Studio Belleville I met some time ago. I had these invites to the launch of the new Dior Homme Collection at their store Rue Royale. God I love that store… so sleek. I loved the installation they put up with all the butterflies!!! Anyway, I was going on about how I wanted to travel to Berlin on my sweet “Mario” (that is the name of my beloved Vespa PX150 with the five mirrors and large wipe screen for those who haven’t been following. Its bright yellow just so you know) back to the subject, I was talking about Berlin when this uber cute guy interrupts me. Turns out he was part of this crazy group of Vespa fans in Manilia! Imagine the odds. I’ve linked his mate’s website for you to check out.So I made them crack up and I am now officially part of the Dior underground tribe having all the Dior staff as facebook friends!! These guys remind me of when I used to be the party animal back in the days (what 2years ago?? Ha I am getting oooold) They played some sick tunes all night. I’ll post a playlist once I’ve downloaded (iTunes store of course…. You know me!) some of the names I picked up.
Catch you guys later. Go to run catch the Eurostar back to London.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)