Focus On Design: Charles and Ray Eaes

The story of modern design has been a very sombre one. Charles and Ray Eames added a touch of whimsy, lightness and delicacy, which expanded into their museum installations and films. They could easily get away with it because of their combined characteristics and superlative technical knowledge coupled with a sharp discerning eye for color and form.

Charles Eames was already working as an architect when he met Eliel Saarinen, head of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. In 1938 Eliel Saarinen offered Charles Eames a scholarship to Cranbrook Academy to study design and architecture. Charles Eames became a teacher of design at Cranbrook in 1939 and, in 1940, head of the industrial design department there. Charles Eames's friendship with Eliel Saarinen's son Eero was also of paramount importance for his subsequent career. Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen collaborated on designs to be submitted to the "Organic Design in Home Furnishings" competition hosted by the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1940. Their main design, an armchair with the seat and back formed three dimensionally of a single piece of molded plywood received an award at the MOMA competition but proved unsuitable for mass production. Other designers who collaborated with Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen on the designs submitted to the MOMA competition included Harry Bertoia, Don Albinson, who would later play an important role in Eames's office, and Ray Kaiser, whom Charles Eames married in 1941. The couple moved to Los Angeles, where they continued in their flat to experiment on developing an efficient and cost-effective method of molding plywood in three dimensions, using a press they dubbed "Kazam! Machine".

In 1942 Charles and Ray Eames founded the Plyformed Wood Company and made splints and stretchers of molded plywood for the US Navy. Financial straits forced them to sell the business to the Evans Product Company, where Charles Eames became head of the research and development division. Eames's office produced more prototype plywood furniture, which MOMA exhibited in 1946 at the one-man show "New Furniture by Charles Eames". The Eames designs shown included the "Lounge Chair, Metal" featuring a tubular steel framework and the "Lounge Chair, Wood", based on a 1940 design and made of bentwood elements. Further developed with armrests, this Eames chair became the prototype of the celebrated and sophisticated 1956 "No. 670" lounge chair with the "No. 671" footstool. Ray and Charles Eames also experimented with fiber glass in the late 1950s, producing the revolutionary "Plastic Shell Group", that included the "La Chaise" chair (1948), the "Dining Armchair Rod" and the "Rocking Armchair Rod" (1948-1950). The "Aluminium Group" dates from 1958. Furniture designed by Charles and Ray Eames is produced mainly by Herman Miller and Vitra.

Focus On Art: Jonathan Borofsky

Jonathan Borofsky's oversized sculptures are a prominent feature of many European cities, but the American artist came to wider attention in his native country only with a well-received temporary installation at New York City's Rockefeller Center in the fall of 2004. His immense Walking to the Sky , a steel pole featuring a series of life-like figures striding up it, was viewed by some as an unofficial tribute to the victims of 9/11. It was part of a series that had been replicated elsewhere, and while Borofsky was heartened by the response, he asserted that he simply wanted the piece to represent all human-kind. "These are human beings around the world; they represent all kinds of humanity, " he explained to Carol Vogel in the New York Times. "They are not New Yorkers, not Americans. This piece can stand anywhere—Africa, India, Hawaii."

Focus On Art: Banksy

Banksy is a graffiti artist from Bristol, UK, whose artwork has appeared throughout London and other locations around the world. Despite this he carefully manages to keep his real name from the mainstream media. However, many newspapers assert that his real name is Robert or Robin Banks.

Banksy, despite not calling himself an artist, has been considered by some as talented in that respect; he uses his original street art form, often in combination with a distinctive stencilling technique, to promote alternative aspects of politics from those promoted by the mainstream media.

Some believe that his stencilled graffiti provides a voice for those living in urban environments that could not otherwise express themselves, and that his work is also something which improves the aesthetic quality of urban surroundings; many others disagree, asserting that his work is simple vandalism (a claim made by at least Peter Gibson, spokesperson for Keep Britain Tidy), or that his (apparently left wing) beliefs are not shared by the majority of the inhabitants of the environments that he graffitis. This political purpose behind his vandalism is reminiscent of the Ad Jammers or subvertising movement, who deface corporate advertising to change the intended message and hijack the advert.

Focus On Music: New Order

New Order arose from the ashes of Joy Division, one of the most influencial bands in the alternative music scene in the late 70's and early 80's. Joy Division were Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris, four young men from Manchester, England. Joy Division drew attention to themselves with the release of their first full-length album, Unknown Pleasures, in 1979. The music they played was a sign of the times: angst-ridden, moody, enchanting, haunting.

New Order was known as the quitessential singles band of the 80's, releasing songs that weren't on any albums, or at least remixing them from the albums. In 1987, these singles (many of them long out of print and difficult to find) were collected on the double-album "Substance". Many of these songs topped the 5 and 6 minute mark, with a few going beyond that. It was with the release of "Substance" that New Order gained even greater worldwide recognition. Many argue that New Order could have been bigger if only they did things differently. They didn't splash their faces all over their album covers, they rarely even put their own names on their record sleeves. In fact, all of the designing of their record sleeves, from their days as Joy Division up to the present, has been left up to Peter Saville, a graphic designer who has sometimes been referred to as the fifth band member.

New Order identified themselves as New Order, not as Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook and Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert. No one personality stood out from the others. They were the type of people who could walk out onto the floor after playing a concert and would barely be recognized. Also, remaining on an independent record label, Factory Communications, Ltd., probably didn't help either.

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Focus On Music: Indie Pop

In popular music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie", is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing.

Independent labels have been known to strive for minimal influence on the artist they represent, avoiding the artist-cultivating behavior of many major labels.

Focus On Art: Mr. Brainwash

The relationship of street art to the commercial art world has always been a tricky one. In the past few years, as street art has exploded from variations on fat- lettered graffiti to sophisticated murals and stencils, works by its top practitioners have sold at auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars: a far cry from such art’s usually subversive origins. But whereas many street artists now create work expressly for galleries, starting out—and, often, continuing—in the trenches of “outside” art is what gives them credibility and, ironic as it is, market legitimacy.

Which is why one of the most famous street artists is also one of the most controversial. Thierry Guetta, aka “Mr Brainwash” or “MBW”, got his start by befriending and filming some of the world’s top street artists, including Banksy, an elusive Brit famous for hanging spoof paintings at the Tate Britain and painting whimsical scenes on Israel’s West Bank separation wall. At some point Banksy suggested Mr Guetta do some graffiti of his own. As chronicled in “Exit Through the Gift Shop”, a documentary that Banksy subsequently made about Mr Guetta (using some of Mr Guetta’s own footage), the French artist moved quickly from pasting up stencils on walls to paying a large team of elves to churn out pop art en masse. The film is now on the longlist to be nominated for an Oscar.

Debating the merits of his work is easy, and somewhat sterile. Explaining his motives is more complex. Mobbed by enthusiastic visitors to the show—some of them other artists—Mr Guetta revelled in not taking his work seriously, chuckled at people who were intensely scrutinising an array of upended buckets that he had created to serve as seats and tables, and took sheer delight at a child riding a bicycle over one of his exhibits. One of his mottoes is “art for the people”, and while quoting a healthy six-figure price to an inquiring collector, he seemed to care about the money chiefly as a symbol of his success at upstaging the conventions of the art establishment. “I believe my art will be worth millions of dollars.

Focus On Music: Depeche Mode

Originally a product of Britain's new romantic movement, Depeche Mode went on to become the quintessential electro-pop band of the 1980s. One of the first acts to establish a musical identity based completely around the use of synthesizers, they began their existence as a bouncy dance-pop outfit but gradually developed a darker, more dramatic sound that ultimately positioned them as one of the most successful alternative bands of their era.

Depeche Mode influenced many of today's popular recording artists, in part due to their recording techniques and innovative use of sampling. For example, Pet Shop Boys cited Violator (and "Enjoy the Silence" in particular) as one of the main sources of inspiration during recording of their critically acclaimed album Behaviour. Neil Tennant says, “We were listening to Violator by Depeche Mode, which was a very good album and we were deeply jealous of it.” Bandmate Chris Lowe agrees, “They had raised the stakes.”

Techno pioneers Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins regularly cited Depeche Mode as an influence on the development of techno music during the Detroit Techno explosion in the mid 1980s. Appreciation of Depeche Mode within today's electronic music scene is shown by the numerous Depeche Mode remixes by contemporary DJs such as Ricardo Villalobos' remix of "The Sinner in Me" or Kruder & Dorfmeister's remix of "Useless".

According to Matt Smith, the former music director of the modern-rock radio station KROQ, "The Killers, The Bravery, Franz Ferdinand — that whole wave of music owes a tremendous amount to Depeche Mode."

In an accompanying interview for his piece in The New Yorker evaluating the impact of British acts on the US market, Sasha Frere-Jones claims that "probably the last serious English influence was Depeche Mode, who seem more and more significant as time passes."

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Focus On Art: William Eggleston

William Eggleston assumes a neutral gaze and creates his art from commonplace subjects: a farmer's muddy Ford truck, a red ceiling in a friend's house, the contents of his own refrigerator.

In his work, Eggleston photographs "democratically"--literally photographing the world around him. His large-format prints monumentalize everyday subjects, everything is equally important; every detail deserves attention. 

A native Southerner raised on a cotton plantation in the Mississippi Delta, Eggleston has created a singular portrait of his native South since the late 1960s. After discovering photography in the early 1960s, he abandoned a traditional education and instead learned from photographically illustrated books by Walker Evans, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Robert Frank. Although he began his career making black-and-white images, he soon abandoned them to experiment with color technology to record experiences in more sensual and accurate terms at a time when color photography was largely confined to commercial advertising. In 1976 with the support of John Szarkowski, the influential photography historian, critic, and curator, Eggleston mounted "Color Photographs" a now famous exhibition of his work at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. William Eggleston's Guide , in which Szarkowski called Eggleston's photographs "perfect," accompanied this groundbreaking one-person show that established his reputation as a pioneer of color photography. His subjects were mundane, everyday, often trivial, so that the real subject was seen to be color itself. These images helped establish Eggleston as one of the first non-commercial photographers working in color and inspired a new generation of photographers, as well as filmmakers.

Eggleston has published his work extensively. He continues to live and work in Memphis, and travels considerably for photographic projects.

Focus On Music: Cover Songs

The term 'cover version', coined in 1966, originally described a rival version of a tune recorded to compete with the recently reeased original version, e.g. Paul Williams' 1949 hit tune "The Hucklebuck" or Hank Williams' 1952 song "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)", both crossed over to the popular Hit Parade and had numerous hit versions. Prior to the mid-20th century the notion of an original version of a popular tune would, of course, have seemed slightly odd — the production of musical entertainment being seen essentially as a live event, even if one that was reproduced at home via a copy of the sheet music, learned by heart, or captured on a shellac recording disc. Popular musicians (and especially modern listeners) have now begun to use the word "cover" to refer to any remake of a previously recorded tune.

In previous generations, some artists made very successful careers out of presenting revivals or reworkings of once popular tunes, even out of doing contemporary cover versions of current hits. Musicians now play what they call "cover versions" (e.g. the reworking, updating or interpretation) of songs as a tribute to the original performer or group. Using familiar material (e.g. evergreen hits, standard tunes or classic recordings) is an important method in learning various styles of music. Most albums, or long playing records, up until the mid-1960s usually contained a large number of evergreens or standards to present a fuller range of the artist's abilities and style. Artists might also perform interpretations ("covers") of a favorite artist's hit tunes for the simple pleasure of playing a familiar song or collection of tunes. A cover band plays such "cover versions" exclusively.

In the contemporary world, there are broadly three types of entertainers who depend upon cover versions for their principal repertoire.

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Focus On Art: Tyeb Mehta

Tyeb Mehta was a well known Indian artist, who was known all over the world for his brilliant painting. A multifaceted personality, he also dabbled in filmmaker and made a mark there. He held the record for the highest price for which an Indian painting has ever been sold, in a public auction. It was his triptych painting Celebration that, on being sold for 15 million Indian rupees ($300,000 USD), gave him this honor.

Tyeb Mehta was born on July 26, 1925 in Kapadvanj, Gujarat. He initially worked as a film editor in a cinema laboratory. However, his interest in painting took him to Sir J.J. School of Art, Bombay, where he studied painting from 1947 to 1952. There, Mehta also came in contact with Akbar Padamsee and became a close associate of the painters in the Progressive Artists' Group.

In 1954, Tyeb Mehta visited London and Paris for four months, following which he returned to India to concentrate on painting and sculpture. He took part in numerous group exhibitions and organized his first solo exhibition of drawings, paintings and sculptures at the Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay, in 1959. He lived and worked in London from 1959 to 1965.

Tyeb Mehta returned to India in 1965 and lived in Delhi till 1968. In 1968, he visited United States, on a Rockefeller Fellowship. Around this time, he also dabbled in films. His film 'Koodal' won the Film fare Critic's Award in 1970. In the 1980s, he worked as an Artist in Residence in Shantiniketan. He was also awarded the Kalidas Samman by the Madhya Pradesh Government in 1988.

In his lifetime, Tyeb Mehta participated in several international shows, like Ten Contemporary Indian Painters at Trenton in the U.S. - 1965; Deuxieme Biennial Internationale de Menton - 1974; Festival Intemationale de la Peinture, Cagnes-Sur-Mer, France - 1974; Modem Indian Paintings at Hirschhom Museum; Washington - 1982; and Seven Indian Painters at Gallerie Le Monde de U art, Paris - 1994.

On 2nd July 2009, Tyeb Mehta left for the holy abode, following a heart attack. He is survived by his wife - Sakina, a son and a daughter. Tyeb Mehta's large body of work, spanning over six decades, established him as one of the greatest names in the field of Modern Indian Art. His paintings raised numerous questions about the human condition, some of which remain unanswered till date.

Focus On Art: Francis Newton Souza

"I seek Beauty more than knowledge. In fact, knowledge can be ugly."
-Francis Newton Souza

Francis Newton Souza was an Indian painter and writer, active in Britain and the USA. After a difficult upbringing, he joined the Sir Jamshetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art, Bombay, in 1940 but was expelled in 1943. For a short period afterwards he was a member of the Communist Party of India and painted in a Social Realist idiom. In 1946-7 he initiated the Progressive Artists' Group in Bombay, which promoted modernism in Indian art. By this time he had abandoned Social Realism and was influenced by European Expressionism. His work became known and in 1947 he won the award of the Bombay Art Society. In 1948 his work was represented in an exhibition of Indian art at Burlington House, London. The following year, after his paintings were removed from the Bombay Art Society and his flat was raided by the police to seize 'obscene' works, he decided to move to London, where he supported himself by painting and writing.

Through Krishna Menon, the Indian High Commissioner to Britain, he received a commission to work on a series of murals in the Indian Students' Bureau in London (since destr.); Menon also arranged an exhibition of his work at India House. In 1954 he had an exhibition in Paris and in 1955 at Gallery One in London.

These exhibitions brought his work to the attention of the public and, with recognition, further exhibitions and sales followed. In 1957 he won the John Moore's Prize and in 1960 visited Italy on an Italian Government scholarship. From Italy he travelled to India for his first visit since 1949, but soon returned to London.

His paintings, executed in a forceful, expressionist manner, included Christian themes (inspired by his Roman Catholic upbringing), caricatures of social types, women, erotic scenes, still-lifes, landscapes and such paintings of cities as Las Ramblas, Barcelona (oil on canvas, 0.85*1.29 m, 1961; New Delhi, N.G. Mod. A.). He was influenced by the works of Georges Rouault, Cha?m Soutine and Pablo Picasso, and also by Mexican artists such as Diego Rivera and Orozco. An articulate writer, he disseminated his sometimes controversial views on art in catalogues, articles and essays. His works are in numerous private and public collections including the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, the Museum and Picture Gallery, Vadodara, and the Tate Gallery, London.

Focus On Art: Farhad Hussein

Farhad Hussain, born in Calcutta in 1975, is among those young artists who have been contributing with panache to the current renewal of contemporary Indian art. Paintings by Farhad Hussain have the direct, fresh gaiety of a Matisse cutout, and the nuclear family his iconographic focus. These paintings could be family photos taken by a Walt Disney in the throes of a psychedelic episode. The illusion of happiness is omnipresent, the ecstatic atmosphere redolent of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” family-style.

Focus On Art: Christine Berrie Illustrations

Originally from Glasgow, Christine Berrie gained a 1st Class BA from Glasgow School of Art before heading to the Royal College of Art in London where she graduated with an MA in Communication Art & Design in 2002.

Currently, everyday scenarios and objects are her favoured subject matter and she has long had an interest in creating colourful, detailed imagery with a hand-rendered approach.

Christine is particularly fond of drawing architecture, old cars, cameras, machines, retro objects, mechanical contraptions, signage & lettering, london scenes and scooters, to name a few!

Her drawings have appeared in several publications including Communication Arts, Design Week, Creative Review and Varoom. Christine has also worked on Hand to Eye and The Picture Book, both published by Laurence King.

Clients include: The Guardian, Microsoft, The New York Times, New Scientist, Howies, Time Out, Wallpaper, Soho House, Dwell, The Independent, Esquire, GQ.

purchase her artwork HERE

Focus On Music: Tracey Thorn

One of the most enduring English singer/songwriters since the early '80s, Tracey Thorn began making music with the all-female quartet Marine Girls, a minimalist pop group that released a pair of albums. She also recorded A Distant Shore, a relatively moody, if similarly skeletal solo album, for Cherry Red in 1983. Around that time she met Ben Watt -- who was also signed to Cherry Red -- and formed a partnership as Everything But the Girl. From 1984 through 1999, Thorn and Watt released ten albums that shifted from indie pop to slick sophisti-pop to downtempo club music.

Shortly after having twin daughters together, they put EBTG on ice. After several years of inactivity, Thorn began writing again and recorded her second solo album, Out of the Woods, which was released in early 2007. Throughout the years, she has guested on songs by a number of groups, including the Style Council, the Go-Betweens, Massive Attack, and Tiefschwarz.

Tracey Thorn's third solo album, Love And Its Opposite, is out May 17, and capitalises on the critical acclaim of her 2007 release, Out Of The Woods, a mixture of hard-edged dance music and folk fare which bridged the gap between the acoustic and the electric.

Love & Its Opposite finds Tracey and producer Ewan Pearson stripping things back to more organic essentials, embracing a retro sound that references the type of music she would have grown up listening to. Thorn is in pensive mood for much of the album, which is as much about her own experiences as a forty-something trying to make sense of her life as it is about the relationships of others, resulting in a mature and often cynically humorous set of songs that’s sure to be embraced by her stalwart fans.

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World AIDS Day

Ways AIDS are contracted::
- blood transfusions (not common)
- being born with it.
- having unprotected .
- getting infected blood into yours.

In 2006 UNAIDS estimated that there were 5.6 million people living with HIV in India, which indicated that there were more people with HIV in India than in any other country in the world. However, NACO disputed this estimate, and claimed that the actual figure was lower. In 2007, using a more effective surveillance system, UNAIDS and NACO agreed on a new estimate – between 2 million and 3.6 million people living with HIV. This puts India behind South Africa and Nigeria in numbers living with HIV.

In terms of AIDS cases, the most recent estimate comes from August 2006, at which stage the total number of AIDS cases reported to NACO was 124,995. Of this number, 29% were women, and 36% were under the age of 30. These figures are not accurate reflections of the actual situation though, as large numbers of AIDS cases go unreported.

Overall, around 0.36% of India’s population is living with HIV. While this may seem a low rate, India’s population is vast, so the actual number of people living with HIV is remarkably high. There are so many people living in India that a mere 0.1% increase in HIV prevalence would increase the estimated number of people living with HIV by over half a million.

The national HIV prevalence rose dramatically in the early years of the epidemic, but a study released at the beginning of 2006 suggests that the HIV infection rate has recently fallen in southern India, the region that has been hit hardest by AIDS. In addition, NACO has released figures suggesting that the overall rate of new HIV infections in the country is slowing. Researchers claim that this decline is the result of successful prevention campaigns, which have led to an increase in condom use.

Some AIDS activists are doubtful of the suggestion that the situation is improving, though:

“It is the reverse. All the NGOs I know have recorded increases in the number of people accepting help because of HIV. I am really worried that we are just burying our head in the sand over this.”
-Anjali Gopalan, the Naz Foundation, Delhi

Focus On Travel: Seattle Vacation

I wish this was the echeck-list for my upcoming trip, but unfortunately it is not.

I will be heading to a place that is damp, cold and bitter this time of year.

I will be heading to Seattle, Washingtom for the next two weeks
so please visit the archive for your enlightenment.

Seattle is the northernmost major city in the continental United States, and the largest city in the Pacific Northwest and in the state of Washington. A seaport situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound (an arm of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington, about 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canada – United States border, it is named after Chief Seattle, of the Duwamish and Suquamish native tribes. Seattle is the center of the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan statistical area, the 15th largest in the United States, and the largest in the northwestern United States. Seattle is the county seat of King County and is the major economic, cultural and educational center in the region. As of April 2009, the city's population was approximately 617,000 within a metropolitan area of 4,158,000. The Port of Seattle and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport are major gateways to Asia, Alaska, and the rest of the world.

Seattle is on the I-5 corridor, about 170 miles (270 km) north of Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington and 140 miles (230 km) south of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. The city of Victoria, British Columbia's capital, is about 110 miles (180 km) to the northwest (about 90 miles (140 km) by passenger ferry) while the eastern Washington hub city of Spokane lies 280 miles (450 km) to the east.

The Seattle area has been inhabited for at least 4,000 years, but white settlement began only in the mid-19th century. The first permanent European-descended settlers, Arthur A. Denny and those subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived November 13, 1851. Early settlements in the area were called "New York-Alki" ("Alki" meaning "by and by" in Chinook Jargon) and "Duwamps". In 1853, Doc Maynard suggested that the main settlement be renamed "Seattle", an anglicized rendition of the name of Sealth, the chief of the two local tribes. From 1869 until 1982, Seattle was known as the "Queen City". Seattle's current official nickname is the "Emerald City", the result of a contest held in 1981; the reference is to the lush evergreen forests of the area. Seattle is also referred to informally as the "Gateway to Alaska", "Rain City", and "Jet City", the last from the local influence of Boeing. Seattle residents are known as Seattleites.

Seattle is the birthplace of rock legend Jimi Hendrix and the rock music style known as "grunge," which was made famous by local groups Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam. Bruce Lee and his son Brandon are both buried at Lakeview cemetery.

Seattle has a reputation for heavy coffee consumption; coffee companies founded or based in Seattle include Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, and Tully's. There are also many successful independent artisanal espresso roasters and cafes.

Focus On Art: Despicable Portraits

RGB Art Studios Comes to us from CT/NYC. These abstract art portraits come to us from the imagination of R. Barbera. We find them to have great whimsy and character. These pieces are very affordable at $6.00-$20.00 and suggest pairing in a group of 6 or more for great impact.

Pick them up HERE

Focus On: Robots

A robot is a virtual or mechanical artificial agent. In practice, it is usually an electro-mechanical machine which is guided by computer or electronic programming, and is thus able to do tasks on its own. Another common characteristic is that by its appearance or movements, a robot often conveys a sense that it has intent or agency of its own.

Focus On: Shriners

The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, commonly known as Shriners and abbreviated A.A.O.N.M.S., established in 1870 is an appendant body to Freemasonry, based in the United States. The organization is best-known for the Shriners Hospitals for Children they administer and the red fezzes that members wear.

Focus On Music: Serge Gainsbourg

Serge Gainsbourg (April 2, 1928 – March 2, 1991) was a french poet-songwriter, singer, actor, novelist, painter and director. Gainsbourg’s varied style and individuality made him difficult to categorize. Although famous in France for many years, he did not achieve his first No. 1 album until 1979, when he released Aux Armes et caetera more than twenty years after his music career had begun. But since the 1980s, his legacy has been firmly established.

He was born in Paris, France the son of Jewish Russian parents. He had one daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg, from his marriage to Jane Birkin.

His early songs were influenced by Boris Vian. However, Gainsbourg wanted to break free from old-fashioned chanson and explore new musical grounds, influenced by British and American pop. During his career, he wrote the soundtracks for more than 40 movies.

His most famous song, Je t'aime ... moi non plus, was vocally very erotic. Originally recorded with Brigitte Bardot, it was released with a different female singer, future wife Jane Birkin, when Bardot backed out. Considered too "hot", the song was censored in various countries and in France even the toned-down version was suppressed.

In 1978 he recorded a reggae version of "La Marseillaise", "Aux Armes et cetera", with Bob Marley's band in Jamaica, which resulted in him getting death threats from right wing veterans of the Algerian War of Independence.

Serge Gainsbourg died on March 2, 1991 and was buried in the Cimetière du Montparnasse, in Paris.

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Flesh And Ink: The Tattoo

A tattoo is a marking made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons. Tattoos on humans are a type of decorative body modification, while tattoos on animals are most commonly used for identification or branding. The first written reference to the word, "tattoo" (or Samoan "Tatau") appears in the journal of Joseph Banks, the naturalist aboard Cook's ship "The Endeavour", in 1769: "I shall now mention the way they mark themselves indelibly, each of them is so marked by their humor or disposition".

Tattooing has been practiced for centuries worldwide. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan, traditionally wore facial tattoos. Today one can find Berbers of Tamazgha (North Africa), Māori of New Zealand, Arabic people in East-Turkey and Atayal of Taiwan with facial tattoos. Tattooing was widespread among Polynesian peoples and among certain tribal groups in the Taiwan, Philippines, Borneo, Mentawai Islands, Africa, North America, South America, Mesoamerica, Europe, Japan, Cambodia, New Zealand and Micronesia. Despite some taboos surrounding tattooing, the art continues to be popular in many parts of the world.

Focus On: The Pin-Up Model

A pin-up girl or pin-up model is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as pop culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display. Pin-up girls are glamour models, fashion models, and actresses.

Many pin ups were photographs of celebrities who were considered sex symbols. One of the most popular early pin-up girls was Betty Grable. Her poster was ubiquitous in the lockers of G.I.s during World War II. Other pin-ups were artwork, often depicting idealized versions of what some thought a particularly beautiful or attractive woman should look like. An early example of the latter type was the Gibson girl, drawn by Charles Dana Gibson. The genre also gave rise to several well-known artists specializing in the field, including Alberto Vargas and George Petty, and numerous lesser artists such as Art Frahm.

Self Depricating Humor

Self-deprecating humor is humor which relies on the observation of something negative about the person delivering it. Many comedians use self-deprecating humor to avoid seeming arrogant or pompous, and to help the audience identify with them. In this way, its use could be seen as an application of the rhetorical concept of ethos. Rodney Dangerfield was best known for his self-deprecating humor in his stand up acts, with his famous line "I get no respect."

Focus On Music: Phoenix

The French group Phoenix draw elements from their eclectic '80s upbringing to arrive at a satisfying synthesis of rock and synthesizers. Vocalist Thomas Mars, bassist Deck d'Arcy, and guitarist Christian Mazzalai were a garage band based out of Mars' house in the suburbs of Paris. Mazzalai's older brother Branco joined the band on guitar when his band Darlin' disbanded in 1995.

The group got its touring start on the French bar circuit doing Hank Williams and Prince covers to drunken audiences. Two years later the band took on the name Phoenix and pressed 500 copies of a single on its own label, Ghettoblaster. The A-side was a punk rock song and the other a chugging Krautrocker, hinting at their eclectic tastes. Shortly after, they were signed to the Paris-based Source Records. Phoenix became well acquainted with labelmates Air when they acted as their backing band on several U.K. TV appearances. The result of the electronic exposure was a single called "Heatwave," which was very similar in approach to '70s disco.

United, the group's debut album, appeared in 2000 on Astralwerks and was recorded over two months. The album featured guest appearances from friends and family, including Thomas Bangalter (Daft Punk), Philippe Zdar (Cassius), and d'Arcy's mother's choral society on the track "Funky Squaredance." From that point, they issued Alphabetical (2004), It's Never Been Like That (2006), and their mainstream breakthrough, the critically adored Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009). Part of the extended break between the third and fourth albums was due to Mars becoming a father (with his partner, director Sofia Coppola, Rovi).

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Focus On Art: Damien Weighill

Damien was abandoned at birth, deep in the idyllic woodlands of the North East of England where he was adopted by a local clan of bigfoot. His youth was spent making brief and indistinct appearances on campers’ home videos and learning a rudimentary form of communication which the bigfoot called drawing.

After difficult teenage years where he was teased for his lack of body hair and found it difficult to buy stylish footwear for his cursedly proportional feet, Damien headed South for the the bright lights of the circus.

Rejected by the Circus Master because the size of his feet were wholly unremarkable in this unfamiliar human world, Damien was forced to get by on his only other talent. To this day he can be found peddling crackpot drawings from his luxury penthouse cave in the East of London.

Damien is represented in the UK by Jelly

Focus On Music: The Remix

Today, remixing involves "repositioning" an old hit to suit the present-day musical tastes amidst digital drums, synths, rap sequences, and so on. Nothing is blasphemous in a remix, with diverse musical styles and languages making for an unorthodox concoction. "Remixes are new arrangements and textures based on a primary, full-length theme. New lead instruments may be used, instruments may be pulled out of the mix, or entirely new melodies may be added," goes one definition of remix music.

This takes us to a realm beyond our judgment about the banality of remixes, to the cultural context in which they emerge. Remixes, clearly, emerge at the point of interaction between two worlds — a hallowed musical tradition and the New Age hip-hop. Remixes, perhaps, reflect a yearning or an anxiety to be "cool" even while not letting go what one chooses to identify as one's "heritage". It is significant that Bally Sagoo, who could well be called the guru of the genre, is described as a "guy of a new attitude for a new age, an artiste at home with various cultures, yet very rooted".

Talking about the many layers of "appropriation and cultural exchange" one sees in Hindi remixes and what they signify to the Indian-American youth, Peter Kvetko, a scholar, writes: "The playful re-appropriation of the past is also a yearning for more immediate connections to a time that may seem better, more meaningful, more genuine... The effect is to allow the listener to reclaim the past for the purpose of the present, not simply to imagine what it was "then" but to participate in the "then" by actually performing it... Diasporic cultural production takes place at the intersection of multiple social, historical, and technological fields." This, perhaps, can be extended to a multiple-rooted generation within India that is keen on an Indian beat that leads on to an international sound.

click and track below to listen

Focus On Art: Ellen Lohse

Ellen Lohse graduated from Rhode Island School of Design on scholarship but is self taught in what she has been doing since then.  Ellen worked for a spell as a book designer while she waited  for her drem job of working for National Geographic photographing the highest mountaintops and Jane Goodall with the chimpanzees.

Ellen likes to travel by plane, train, automobile, subway, on foot, or most of the time by sketchbook and pencil.

Here we focus on a mesmerizing collection from her kitschy, interpretation of pop culture icons.  Her endless array of work, acrylic paintings, brought us instantly back to some of my fondest childhood memories and the TV shows, movies and characters that were a part of it.

purchase her work HERE

Focus On Festivals: Holi

Holi, also called the Festival of Colors, is a popular Hindu spring festival observed in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Srilanka, and countries with large Hindu diaspora populations, such as Suriname, Guyana, South Africa, Trinidad, the UK, USA, Mauritius, and Fiji. In West Bengal of India and Bangladesh it is known as Dolyatra (Doul Jatra) or Basanta-Utsab ("spring festival"). The most celebrated Holi is that of the Braj region, in locations connected to the god Krishna: Mathura, Vrindavan, Nandagaon, and Barsana. These places have become tourist destinations during the festive season of Holi, which lasts here to up to sixteen days.

Focus On Festivals: Dia De Los Muertos

More than 500 years ago, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now Mexico, they encountered natives practicing a ritual that seemed to mock death.

It was a ritual the indigenous people had been practicing at least 3,000 years. A ritual the Spaniards would try unsuccessfully to eradicate.  A ritual known today as Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. The ritual is celebrated in Mexico and certain parts of the United States, including the Valley. 

Unlike the Spaniards, who viewed death as the end of life, the natives viewed it as the continuation of life. Instead of fearing death, they embraced it. To them, life was a dream and only in death did they become truly awake.

In rural Mexico, people visit the cemetery where their loved ones are buried. They decorate gravesites with marigold flowers and candles. They bring toys for dead children and bottles of tequila to adults. They sit on picnic blankets next to gravesites and eat the favorite food of their loved ones.

"We disguise with faces painted as a skeleton, because on this day age, race, title, name brands or gender doesn't matter. We are all the same, on this day strangers share the pain and joy that connects us all. Yes, we are all the same, the difference is the memories we create for our loved ones to share when we are fiscally gone."

- Deisy Marquez-Zavodny

Focus On Food: Indian Cuisine

Indian food is as diverse collection of cuisines of many ethnic and cultural groups in India. Tradition, ethnicity, geographic location, religion and individual preference


Street Fare
With its huge migrant population, Mumbai is the city for a slew of sidewalk snacks, dished out in fresh and generous platefuls. Aficionados swear by Chowpatty beach, but almost any street stall will do, if the chef is an experienced hand at this fine art. Of course, if you're a stickler for hygiene, sanitized versions can be found in most up market restaurants, properly served on bone china and followed up with finger bowls to wash away the grease from your hands. But most citizens agree that street food is just not the same without a free helping of, well, harmless germs.

Puri
The most popular is bhelpuri : crispy crunchy semolina, puffed rice, onion and potato garnished with an assortment of spicy chutneys, coriander and a squeeze of lime. Variations include sev puri, -- bhel served canap style - and dahi puri, doused in sweet yogurt.

Bhaji
Don't take their word for it, however, unless you have a tried and tested constitution. Or better still opt for the relatively safer cooked snacks like pao bhaji and vada pao.

Pao
Actually, pao bhaji is more than a snack; it's a staple. The bhaji is essentially a runny vegetable stew accompanied by soft bread buns or pao liberally soaked in sinful amounts of melted butter.  The dish is prepared in the open air on a huge iron griddle: chopped vegetables, spices and slabs of butter cook quickly on the hot surface and are poured bubbling into plates accompanied by generous helpings of buttered bread.  Certainly not for the calorie conscious, but for the common man its generally cheap, fresh and perfectly safe when served piping hot.

Poor Mans Snack
The other favourite of the hungry Mumbaiwallah is vada pao, a spicy, deep fried potato dumpling sandwiched between the cheeks of a soft fat pao and slathered with spicy chutney. This is the quintessential poor man's snack, popular amongst migrant labourers and impoverished urchins.
One piece for breakfast generally costs Rs 4.00 which is less than the price of a bus ticket and will see you through until late afternoon.

Kulfi
Yet another Chowpatty special, Kulfi is hand churned ice-cream made with condensed milk and oriental flavourings such as nutmeg and cardamom. The most popular is the pale green pistachio kulfi but the plain "malai" or cream variety is as much in demand.

Idlis and Dosas
This is South Indian fast food at its best. Idlis are steaming hot rice cakes served with a curry called sambar and some subtly spiced coconut chutney. Dosas are huge crepes with a pungent potato filling, also served with sambar and chutney. Both these are meals by themselves, and serve as the standard lunch for thousands of office goers.

Chinese
In Mumbai, streetside Chinese food is humorously called Chindian: mostly noodles or chow fan soaked in pungent curries laced with green chilies. Despite the cultural mishmash this is surprisingly tasty stuff but can take its toll on a sensitive stomach.

Focus On Travel: India Part Deux

Australian designer Megan Park escapes the hectic pace and crowds of Delhi, her home away from home for three months a year, at the enchanting Neemrana Fort Palace in nearby (two hours by car) Alwar. "Stay in the shish mahal, or room of mirrors," she advises. "The couple who restored the fort also installed a good ayurvedic spa, with traditional massage and steam body treatments." More information available at Neemrana Fort Palace.  http://www.neemranahotels.com/.

The silk bed coverings and 22-karat-gold jewelry that Alayne Patrick sources in India have made her Brooklyn shop Layla, left, a destination for New York shoppers. On her supply runs to Delhi, the stylist and boutique owner hits Andraab Treasures in Hauz Khas Village (a warren of twisting medieval alleys lined with merchants), where finds include high-quality pashminas, spice, saris and sandals. Layla, 86 Hoyt St., Brooklyn, (718) 222-1933; Andraab Treasures, Hauz Khas Village, Delhi; Village Bistro, Hauz Khas Village, Delhi, 011-91-11-2685-3857

Trust Anuj Desai, the India-born former editor in chief of BlackBook Magazine, to be able to name not one, but two boutique hotels in Delhi, a city most people will tell you has none. The 224-room Park is conveniently located in the Connaught Place shopping center, but Desai recommends the Manor, left. Situated in Friends Colony, a former suburb now absorbed by the growing megalopolis, it may be less central, but that's its charm. With only ten rooms, it's a veritable oasis in this bustling city of 13.8 million. More information available at the Park, www.theparkhotels.com, and the Manor.  http://www.themanordelhi.com/.

Vikram Chatwal, the New York-based hotelier whose upcoming wedding to Priya Sachdev will be a seven-day, three-city affair complete with a masked ball at the island palace of Jag Mandir, loves India for its contrasts. "You can be anything you want," he says. "You can be decadent, spiritual, a backpacker. The country contains so many different worlds." That's why you might find him dining on tandoori delicacies with friend Chelsea Clinton at Bukhara in Delhi one night, and getting cozy with tigers the next at Aman-i-Khás, a wild but luxe tented resort on the edge of Ranthambhore National Park.   http://www.amanresorts.com/
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When London-based illustrator Tanya Ling returns to Calcutta she stays at the 125-year-old Oberoi Grand. Its neoclassical façade houses a host of modern luxuries, including a beautiful full-size pool.  Colonial flourishes are evident throughout, from the ballroom to the tennis courts. "It feels very Raj-y," says Ling. "You can still feel the days gone by there." More information available at the Oberoi Grand, www.oberoikolata.com, and the Saturday Club.  http://www.saturday-club.com/.