• The Waldorf Project

    Written by Fashion Tales

    An interesting art project will be taking place at Ksju in Stockholm's slaughterhouse district. The Waldorf Project is an immersive experience on a grand stage in which art is consumed through all of the senses. A realisation by artist Sean Rogg, has created and directed this project which has had a run of installments over several years; Chapter One/MUSKMELON, Chapter Two/COLOUR, and Chapter Three/FUTURO so far, the next deployment is a fully developed exploration of Chapter Four/BARZAKH which will take place in London in 2018.

    The Waldorf Project is one of the world’s most intense and mesmerizing theater experiences, in which the audience consumes the performance with all five senses. In an intimate setting running from May 17th until the 20th, is has been described as a new art form and will be its first exhibition outside of London.

    According to the press release: The full staging of the fourth chapter of The Waldorf Projects that will take place in the UK later this year. E.R.L.s (Experimental Research Labratories) are shorter performances compared to entire chapters, for CHAPTER FOUR/BARZAKH. This gives Rogg the opportunity to explore the core concepts that make up a chapter and trial them on a live crowd for the first time, often making the E.R.L.s more intense. The Waldorf Project was created by Rogg in 2012 and is a holistic theatre experience that seamlessly blends movement design, costume design, spatial design, choreography, music, and gastronomy into one cohesive experience. It represents the bleeding edge of 21stcentury performance and conceptual art. Sean Rogg elaborates, “Every person responsible for each of the creative disciplines that make up The Waldorf Project is at the very forefront of their crafts. We pride ourselves on our meticulous attention to detail, and our guests in Stockholm will have an experience as close to an actual chapter as possible. Since an E.R.L.s precede full chapters and give us an opportunity to trial ideas, they demand more from us as creators.”

    The world’s most coveted news and art media outlets including Associated Press, The Guardian, The Creators Project, Trend Tablet, WGSN and have covered the initiative since CHAPTER ONE / MUSKMELON. “Having lived in Sweden for over four years I’ve experienced the introverted nature of Swedes firsthand. It’s fascinating to me. Much like London, Stockholm is multicultural, yet the mentality of Swedes is typically much more close guarded compared to Brits. In that sense Stockholm makes for an intriguing ‘test market’ for us before we premiere the full chapter in London later this year,” Rogg explains, “There’s of course also the problem of finding spaces that can play host to what we do. Fristaden is a lot smaller space than we usually work with but makes it up with character. It’s in an interesting area of the city that struck a chord with me. It’s going to be an exceptional series of performances.”

    For more information and to purchase tickets for this incredible experience, visit www.ksju.se/thewaldorfproject

  • photography by THOMAS KLEMENTSSON

    model MADELEINE BLOMBERG

    		 
      
      

    MARTIN BERGSTRÖM X LAPPONIA: THE WORLD OF BARREN LANDSCAPE AND ORGANIC FUTURISM

    Written by Ksenia Rundin

    By bringing his unique artistic vision to the prominent Finnish jewellery brand Lapponia, the Swedish designer Martin Bergström has now been inscribed into the history of Finnish cultural heritage. The Kuu collection, consisting of several unique pieces combined in multiple ways and inspired by Finland’s barren landscape with the bright moon shining over it, is a result of a modern dialogue between the designer’s organic futurism and Lapponia’s incredible heritage. Inspired by Björn Weckström’s earlier design, Martin Bergström creates his own emotional and abstract interpretation of jewellery as both a functional decorative piece and an art work.

    The designer plays with futuristic character of the natural shapes by following the brutal forms of the Finnish landscape, and adds the intelligence of the modern technology by using his own two-dimensional sketches reshaped by 3D Technology. It seems that Martin Bergström with his ingenuity and digital curiosity, has broken the border between the past and future, creating a new story of jewellery design. While looking at the collection, I imagined Väinämöinen [an ancient Finnish Hero – K.R.] from The Kalevala playing the kantele and Princess Leia from Star Wars leading the operation to rescue Han. And it felt as the time was a mere illusion.

    What is the collection inspired by?
    The Kuu collection is partly inspired by Lapponia’s history. I admire a lot what Björn Weckström created during the 1960s and 1970s with his brutal style. Lapponia has probably changed its direction since then but I would like to bring it back to its brutal, organic and abstract aesthetics. I have studied their archive and also met Björn. My endeavor was to find a right approach, therefore I chose the moon concept as a part of the Lapland context with its barren landscape, moon and nature. These are what my starting point was.

    What is the purpose of your collaboration with Lapponia?
    The purpose is to take Lapponia into the contemporary times and to update it in accordance with my interpretation.

    Lapponia has a long tradition of creating, where its sculptural design language is decisive. What do you, “an organic futurism” (translation K. R.), as you described yourself in an interview, have in common with Lapponia through the Kuu collection?
    I have put my soul into this collection, what you as a designer must do. The whole collection is a kind of personal – my soul.

    I have seen small prints/patterns integrated into the metal structure. What are those?
    There is a casting structure on the jewellery what I integrated into the pieces, what was quite a long process. I had made a number of two-dimensional sketches, which were later scanned and processed by a 3D program. One jewellery can contain 10 different structures which I have painted and which later were minimized to the size of 0.5 mm and integrated into the pattern. It took a long time to perform that job but it was incredibly exciting to do that. It took over a year to get everything done.

    Is it your first experience as a jewellery designer?
    I have worked with jewellery a little bit before but this is the first time I do a whole collection. However, there is no difference in whether you do a single jewellery piece or a whole collection.

    Do you see any connection between the jewellery collection and your textile creations?
    Absolutely, my approach is the same in both cases.

    Is it a certain method you apply?
    I try to find a theme and put my soul into it. I tried to clearly see what I wanted to say and to look at it as a beauty of an art piece when adding such details as casting.

    You have mentioned your studies of Lapponia’s archive. Do you have any favourite jewellery?
    There are a few, especially Björn Wickströms 1960s and 1970s works. I also visited his home and saw his fantastic works. Furthermore, my intention was to integrate his works into my interpretation of the collection and what I think is Lapponia’s future direction. When it is not a museum but something alive, it is important to integrate different time periods into it and thereby take care of the heritage. In sixty years my current works will be old. Time passes quickly and when you are old, your works is what you have left as a part of your history. Therefore it is significant to care for your own history.

    You have studied in Germany and I assume that the Bauhaus school has somehow left an impact on you. Can we see any traces of that in this jewellery collection?
    Brutalism as such is a part of my interest and I could see it in the Finnish style and Finland. I also live in Finland half-time, as I live together with a Finn and I love Finland with its barren landscape and brutal character. These are things I feel I want to build my idea on. Thus, it is not that much about Bauhaus as such but the Brutalism that I am inspired by.

    When it concerns your fashion design, who is your customer?
    I work with different customers. Now I have now had my collection in the USA under soon two years. Bea Åkerlund takes care of my thing there. Then it is pretty much about me creating something less wearable and more as an art piece, like Lapponia, so you could have it on the wall. I see a tendency of people buying things and hang them on the wall instead of wearing when you can still choose both. The point is that you can have it hanging on the wall as an art piece.  I think also that the customer I have today is the one who does not really concentrate on trends as such but buys something she/he likes.

    Could you please say a few words on the sustainability aspect in the collection?
    The silver used for the collection is silver that been recycled to the best possible extent, circa 75-80 percent. You cannot recycle 100 percent of silver. The gold used in the production is, however, 100 percent recycled. Thus, the sustainability aspect is significant there. Additionally, all the jewellery is produced at the factory in Helsinki. There is no production stage which is left out to someone else. Furthermore, jewellery produces always according to the sales prognoses, not more than is expected to be sold in order to prevent any possible waste. The rest is performed by order. There is also a safety aspect integrated into the production, where only professional jewellers work with it.

    Do you and Lapponia have any plans to continue the collaboration?
    Yes, sure! We have plans to continue our collaboration with jewellery.

    If you, as a costume designer, would get a free hand, what film would you like to design costumes for, from any time period?
    It is depends on what film and who are the actors. Nevertheless, it would be fantastic to work with Fellini [Federico Fellini (1920-1993), Italian film director and screenwriter – K.R.] or Bergman [Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007), Swedish film director, writer and producer]. Right now I do not have anyone in particular in my mind. I love old films, like L’Amore by Fellini. Sometimes you are born in wrong time. If I were born earlier, it would be fun to work with those two.

    In some interview I have read that you also worked with haute couture. Could you name any fashion houses you worked with?
    I have worked with patterns for one of those big haute couture fashion houses. When you have a contract with such a fashion house, you are bound by a confidentiality clause, what makes it impossible for me to give any names. I make scarves for them and I learn a lot there. You could actually recognise my ‘hand’ in those shawls.

    Do you have a free hand while designing for the fashion house?
    No, I receive a brief I have to follow. I love different types of commissions and this is one of many I have.

    Your fashion city?
    Helsinki.

    On your webpage is stated that you work with ‘forgotten handicraft techniques to bring [your] composition alive’. Do you feel that you in a certain way work against artificial intelligence with its 3D technology in order to keep the old techniques alive?
    I worked a lot with digital print, I work a lot with future technology but you always have to be aware of what you are doing concerning your own heritage. I love haute couture pieces but I also love the idea of doing those in a modern way. If you could work in 3D and perform an haute couture piece through a digital process by using for example 80 percent less water. Thus, I am working a lot with trying to find modern solutions to work with old handicraft techniques. I am a lecturer at Beckmans College of Design in pattern and there I work a lot with that vision.

    What is the process around making the theatre costumes?
    When I am working with theatre, I read the script first. However, I mostly work with dance and then it is the feeling in a dance which you work on together with the choreographer. My role there is more about fashion.

    Could you say a couple of words of any of your future projects?
    I work on two own projects now. Then there is an exhibition I will do in Moscow and I will tell about it when I know more about it and it becomes more official. I am also working on my next collection.

    What is the theme of the collection?
    I am working with memories, as my dog has passed away and I also have got a new puppy. It is a lot about life and death. In the beginning it was more about grief process, where I used to cry a lot. Now it takes a form and I know what I am doing. In other words, I am trying to give a structure to my feelings. My previous collection was about poisonous plants and flowers and the current collection turned to be about a grief process dedicated to the memories of a dead dog. The collection might probably be titled with ‘Memories of a Dead Dog’ or something like that. It sounds quite beautiful actually.

    Are you still collaborating with Nathalia Edenmont?
    No, not today. I used to make her flower dresses but we are not working together now. Projects come and go. However, I have worked a lot with female artists, such as Julia Hetta, concerning scenography and shooting, Martina Hoogland. There are always strong women, what is really fun.

  • IONNALEE – A SEARCHER WHO EXPLORES

    Written by Ksenia Rundin

    Ionnalee has been exploring her music artist path from Jonna Lee to Iamamiwhoami, creating a number of mystically fascinating audiovisuals, where Norse mythology and social issues turn into a video story with its own narrative and vocal character. Today, as ionnalee, she has gone back, where it all once started and created a new solo music album ‘Everyone Afraid to Be Forgotten’. The Swedish female artist’s predilection for nature and music conceives a peculiar world of sustainability and creativity, where the audience, through the music, lyrics and visuals are invited to participate and help shaping the final ‘product’ by being a part of it.

    Ionnalee’s collaboration with the luxury brand Comme des Garçons with its urban aesthetics, enhanced with the authentic synthesis of Kabuki’s colourful drama and the koto’s pacific sounds, seems to be natural, making the artist and the clothes build a spiritual integrity.

    The existential belief of ionnalee is a philosophy, where no one is forgotten and everyone is included. The magic is here and you just have to open your eyes and see the nature, prick up your ears and hear the universe. Become like ionnalee, a searcher who explores!

    I have watched some chapters from Iamamiwhoami’s albums ‘Bounty’, ‘Kin’ and ‘Blue’ and I could see the nature as a least common multiple. There are beautiful landscapes with mountains and meadows in your visuals. Where have you filmed those?  How did you find/choose those places?
    These three series you mention were made under a period of 5 years. So there is a lot of different locations filmed in, depending on what scenes are filmed, they are chosen from what the idea is for the scene in particular. We have a clear image of it beforehand, it is drawn and storyboarded and then we find the best possible physical counterpart of the idea. Most of my/our releases are filmed in Scandinavia.

    Some videos have amazing underwater moments with you in them. Could you describe your experience of the underwater filmmaking? Have you received any special training prior to that?
    Thank you. For BLUE in particular that was made entirely around water, there was a lot of holding breath. And also for some of other series there have been challenging under water scenes, but BLUE took it to a whole new level. I love free swimming, snorkelling and moving under water, so the practise I have is from being comfortable in water since childhood. However, it still was a challenge, especially in HUNTING FOR PEARLS, where the underwater pressure was an issue in my ears weren’t doing so well. During the 1.5 years we spent on making BLUE we filmed underwater in different kinds of water environments. Tropical oceans, freezing lakes and it was all amazing.

    Your visuals are very metaphorical and mythological with a lot of black, white and grey hues. I understand that you use nature and its dwellers for the metaphorical part. Where does the mythological part come from? Are you referring to Celtic mythology or Scandinavian sagas?
    There are referrals to Norse folklore in my work. I was brought up with it and it is in my heritage.

    You represent a strong woman in your visuals, who is exposed to the power of nature and in a certain way is merged with the latter. Where does that image of strong woman come from?
    Taking control over my own work and life has been a big process throughout my career and that is the image I think you are referring to in my visuals.

    In one interview you mentioned that you never use real fur in your videos. Are you a sustainable artist? What does it mean for you to be a sustainable artist? Do you also try to organise your working process in a sustainable way?
    I feel part of nature and do not want to be separated from it like we are in the cities we build as protection and segregation from it. I try to be sustainable and responsible in what I wear, how I consume, what I eat. That humbleness before ones place in nature is important not to lose. Many see nature as pretty backdrop and that is scary.

    To know what prints we leave and aim to make the work stand with time and not encourage a lifestyle of quick consumption is a good start in being sustainable. My label TWIMC, which I use to produce and release my work, do our best to manufacture and release in an environmentally friendly way, like only producing unisex organic fairwear, offering ways to support great organisations like ‘Mission Blue’, ‘One Tree Planted’, and we have recently taken in two homeless dogs.

    Are you a boss or a chief in the process of creating your visuals? Is it the same for both the production of Iamamiwhoami and your first solo music album ‘Everyone Afraid to Be Forgotten’?
    Well, I will always need to be the boss of my own work. For ‘Bounty’ and ‘Kin’ I was the executive producer and for BLUE and EABF I am also co-director and editor. For TWIMC I am the visual director for all releases.

    You consider “Everyone Afraid to Be Forgotten” to be ‘rather its own separate organism, combining a dramatic plotline, music and art house cinematography with an avant-garde fashion slant.’ Is the album a creative and independent endeavour to look for your personal identity as ionnalee - outside iamamiwhoami - or is it more like an independent commercial product of your skills gained in the industry through the years?
    You could see it as: before iamamiwhoami I made two solo albums (Jonna Lee). Iamamiwhoami, which is a duo that includes my long-time collaborator Claes Björklund, began in 2009 and I then put all my solo work on hold for undecided time and went through a major creative metamorphosis. Now 10 years later, ionnalee is where I reconnect with my solo work and release that album that I began making many times since 2009 when iamamiwhoami was born.

    Quoting your text from the song ‘Goods’, ‘Change is always given to decide just who it’s for’, I would like to ask you about your first solo album - who is it for?
    It is ‘change is always given to the searchers who explore.’ Cannot trust them lyric pages.

    It is said that you’re reflecting on your own perspectives, leaving the audience a space for personal experience. Is it a monologue you have, while giving the audience their own space or are you establishing a dialogue by inviting into your world - the world of audio visual artist ionnalee?
    Yes. As an independent artist the dialogue with the audience is direct. There is room for raising questions and open up for interactions. They are invited in through communication through the music, lyrics and visuals and they help shape the work by being invested and vocal. It does not mean they shape it their direction. There are many layers to the online world and you can browse it on the surface or you can dive in and be part of it and many of my followers are.

    Who are you influenced by? Kate Bush? The Knife? Cocteau Twins? DAF? Front 242? Fever Ray?
    Kate Bush and Karin are both incredible artists in different ways. They are also both people I get compared to a lot because we are all women with strong vocal character but our music and visuals are not very similar- I heard Kate Bush very late in life for the first time and I loved ‘Running Up that Hill’ in particular. Voice and production together.

    As I see it, there are the conscience influences that you willingly consumed. For me that is Kraftwerk, Cocteau Twins, Depeche Mode, Christopher Nolan, Air, Vangelis, Madonna, David Lynch, Portishead, Sigur Ros and many more. There are also newer creators I enjoy like Blood Orange, Arca, Denis Villeneuve, Chromatics, Four Tet, Björk, Todd Terje, Disasterpeace and Mozart.

    Then there are the influences that you were force-fed socially through your upbringing. My childhood offered my parents excellent-taste vinyl collection of Chaka Khan, Pet Shop Boys, Madonna, Tom Petty. And then what was on radio at the time, Snap! Two Unlimited and Backstreet Boys. I really liked Marie Fredriksson’s voice as a kid. I wished for a NKOTB’s vinyl for my eleventh birthday but got Roxette’s ‘Tourism’ instead because the local record store did not have NKOTB. That ended up being a record I sang to for the next year because I learned to love it. ‘Queen of Rain’ is a classic.

    Have you in any way been engaged in the production of Fever Ray’s latest album “Plunge”? Have you inspired each other?
    I have not been part of it but I think it is great.

    You have collaborated with Comme des Garçons. Have you had any other collaborations with other fashion brands in your visuals? Any plans to do it in future?
    No plans beyond CDG. Adrian Joffe and I were introduced through the release of BLUE in 2014 and we did a photo series together for Vogue Italia. We began discussing how to collaborate and eventually created an alliance for EVERYONE AFRAID TO BE FORGOTTEN. COMME des GARÇONS (‘like boys’) is a daring, equal and strong voice in the world of fashion, much what I aim to be for the music scene.

    Starting from ‘Bounty’, you often wear different jumpsuits in your visuals. Could you explain the choice of garments? Is it an attempt to create a discourse about female body culture in the entertainment industry?
    There is always a reason for what I wear that is based in the story we are telling. As an example, for ‘John’ in Bounty I wear a wash cloth jumpsuit for protection in the bedroom where the video takes place in. However and whatever I wear, there is a purpose for it coming from the storytelling.

    There is a black cube appearing in a visual from ‘Blue’ and also in ‘Goods’ from ‘Kin’, what feels very Tarkovskij and his ‘no-go-zone’. What is the cube referring to?
    ‘Kin’ was the second audiovisual we released in 2012, and it was also the first release to receive a physical edition. The black cube in ‘Kin’ represents our ‘product’ that we released. And watching ‘Kin’ you get to come inside the process of our making.

    Please reveal the secret of your beautiful long lashes that have appeared in many videos, sometimes totally white and sometimes blonde. What do they symbolise? Are you wearing those outside the creative space?
    It is bringing me a step closer to the inner animal being.

    You believe in evolution talking abstraction in previous interviews. Do you see any parallels between what you do today and what the pioneer of abstraction Hilma af Klint did a century ago - translating music into visual forms?
    She grew up in a time when women had much less voice than now and where art schools had only just begun accepting female students. It is very inspiring how she managed to have such a clear artistic point of view. I can see she had a passion that I share, where the arena you work does not appreciate dissipations. That is not conductive to exploring, so you have to go your own way. She was a pioneer and made some incredible pieces of art that were not fully appreciated until after her passing.

    Do you consider yourself to be an art or a fashion influencer? Maybe both?
    It is hard to answer. I am not the receiver you know, but I can see that my work creates ripples that at least subconsciously makes an impact on people.

    You have lived in London for a while and your favourite street there is Portobello Road with its Victorian terrace houses. Could you say what you love about that street?
    It is a calm but a living street with such a mixed crowd of regulars, artists and tourists. I used to live close by. For some reason I am drawn to the places where there are lots of tourists. Just like with airports, people are on the way, often enjoying themselves with an open mind. The best thing about London is that it is so multicultural and alive.

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