beauty

Martynka Wawrzyniak: smell me on october 20th

polish artist martynka wawrzyniak

smell me is a solo exhibition by martynka wawrzyniak. a mixed-media and performance artist known for incorporating unlikely substances into her work, wawrzyniak will be creating an installation reflecting a year long project where she acted as both investigator and subject exploring and capturing her biological essence.

working with a research team of hunter college chemistry students under the guidance of professor donna mcgregor the artist underwent multiple experiments to collect aromatic elements from her body. she was subject to rigorous sessions to extract the concentrated essence of her sweat, tears, and hair to create an olfactory-based self-portrait that will engage visitors in a visceral form of communication without visuality as primary form.

a limited edition of the original organic essences will be displayed in tear shaped chemistry vials as well as three candles that are made of paraffin that was scraped off wawrzyniak’s body then melted into 250 ml chemistry beakers.

“in today’s society we do everything we can to mask the natural scent of our bodies, thus forgoing an ancient form of animal communication. i wanted to isolate these primal human essences and deliver them in an environment devoid of other sensual distractions. the piece represents the true essence of a woman – free of visual prejudice.” – martynka wawrzyniak. by dd

CATEGORIES: art, beauty, fragrance

the gravest moment in life

a man said:

–the gravest moment in my life took place in the battle of the Marne, when they wounded me in the chest.

another man said:

–the gravest moment in my life, occurred during a Yokohama seaquake, from which I was miraculously saved, sheltered under the eaves of a lacquer shop.

and another man said:

–the gravest moment in my life happens when I sleep during the day.

and another said:

–the gravest moment of my life has taken place in my greatest loneliness.

and another said:

–the gravest moment in my life was my imprisonment in a Peruvian jail.

and another said:

–the gravest moment in my life is having surprised my father in profile.

and the last man said:

–the gravest moment in my life is yet to come.

the words of peruvian poet and all around genius in any language, cesar vallejo.  exploiting our gravest moments in the simplest language, beautiful.   by sv

CATEGORIES: beauty, books

Mad Men to the rescue: estee lauder and banana republic looking for some help

lame, lame, lame…

after banana republic’s ill attempt at mad men, here’s estee lauder jumping on the mad-wagon. unfortunately, neither one is doing it well. the banana republic ads look like a “canal street version” of the actual mad men, poorly produced and desperately cheap. estee’s carolyn murphy is of course the perfect choice for don’s wife, but it’s incredible how cheap and discarded the finished ad actually looks in the video… or maybe estee lauder has moved distribution to k-mart and i’m not aware of that? the behind the scenes video is of course “veeery interesting” i mean, i have never seen a model get made up before, nor had i ever seen close up shots of a bunch of products. its very surprising and entertaining indeed! thank you for that, but maybe next time spend 5 minutes, thinking about what’s in the video for us? cause i couldn’t find anything other than commenting on your me too stance.

in any case, all that said i’m glad there is still a TV show to emulate that doesn’t make you want to puke, if they ever get it right. i have to admit even i wasn’t immune to the mad men. after refusing to watch it for years i finally gave it another try a month ago. i had seen one episode 2 years ago after repeated suggestions by friends but got bored halfway through. i finally watched the entire four seasons this past month, not because it was amazing, but because i was desperately out of material to watch. i guess i got used to it and must admit found it to be quite beautiful when you consider its origin. i used to say if they put you in a room with a toad for long enough, eventually you’ll fall in love with it. and i guess after 12 hours i did. my favorite character, of course is not don draper but rather roger sterling for his dry sense of humor and silver hair, i cant wait to go grey… by dd

CATEGORIES: beauty

the world according to fabrice penot: le labo in the bazaar

was quietly editing today along with my santal 33 candle from le labo, when i came across the issue of harper’s bazaar russia. i’m amazed as to how russian language has changed since i used to speak it as a child. forget high german, i can barely understand it. that said, mr. penot’s life is a life of envy. who wouldn’t want to be around the fabulous smells and good vibes of le labo on a daily basis? they have become a little piece of nolita’s modern history by now and we can’t get enough of them… by xy

CATEGORIES: beauty, fragrance, ny places