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The new issue of Made in Brazil magazine is now on sale.

A sneak peek:

The best of Brazilian beauty.

Five people and a band

Things that happened to me while I was in New York:

1. We hired a shuttle bus service to get to the city. It took way too long and I got impatient twice. The long time got me angry too and I even thought the driver wanted to kindnap us. He won us over though, for he managed to say something nice to every single passenger as they got off the van. We overtipped him.

2. Our first night out almost turned sour because we took the wrong subway line, which led us to a random place in Brooklyn. Then we waited for 30 min in the wrong side of the platform until we figured that one out. Luckily, we ended up in a nice little alternative spot, in which we saw The Pains of Being Pure at Heart totally by chance.

3. A nice saleswoman convinced us to buy sunglasses based on her sincerity: she told us twice some model didn’t suit us well. We felt obliged to buy the ones she said looked good on us. Actually, I was the one persuaded to purchase without the need, my friend really wanted a new pair of shades and was more than happy to get them.

4. I was hit on by a salesman in a hat store who was really sweet and charming and interesting. He told us he was from Oklahoma and that he lived in Harlem in this very nice street and that he wasn’t scared of the area at all. I pictured myself already falling in love with him and sharing his apartment which I would decorate with nice things I would pick. Nothing really happened between us and I didn’t get his name. I’m still curious about it.

5. We had a major fight but ended up theorizing on why people who love and know each other well are still capable of hurting one another. We came to the conclusion that sometimes harsh feelings and bad habits are just too difficult to withhold.

Read carefully

Truth at odds

Miranda July is so adept at translating feelings and emotions it is almost unbearably beautiful and inspiring.

I am counting the seconds to finally seeing her new film, The Future:

And as formidable artist as she is, there is a whole project surrounding the release of the film, the most important of which being the blog.

On it there is this life-defining test, which I shall copy here:

To kick things off, I thought I would give you a brief diagnostic test so you can evaluate whether this movie is something you might be in to. Make a mark on a piece of paper for each “true” answer.

1. “I have survived a devastating break-up.” [true/false]

2. “I want to have a kid, but I’m also worried a kid will make it impossible for me to pursue my dreams. Especially since I’m already finding that pretty hard.” [true/false]

3. “I feel guilty about the above statement.” [true/false]

4. “I often find meaning in coincidences.” [true/false]

5. “I would like to take a break from being myself.” [true/false]

6. “I would like this break to involve sex, ice cream, and sheets with a high thread count.” [true/false]

7. “I think cats are pretty wonderful.” [true/false]

8. “I have a serious problem with procrastination that borders on paralysis at times.” [true/false]

9. “The job I have requires me to hide my soul.” [true/false]

10. “I spend way to much time online.” [true/false]

From the set of The Future, by Autumn De Wilde

I got a 9, which makes me odd.

Another truth.

Youth knows some pain

My love for small venues and alternative new acts is too immense to be measured.

The new music club scene in New York is heaven for me; the energy I get from these places runs through my veins and makes up to my brain making me want more and more and more.

Totally by chance, I had the wonderful opportunity of being to a Pains of Being Pure at Heart gig in a small club in New York. They remind me of olden times I did not live, the times of The Smiths and underground moods I didn’t experience. So how could I know how they felt like. Like this:

Indie rock in its best.

Creating art, crushing cars

A seemingly vague idea or impression engraved in one’s mind which only surfaces long after it was first seen or caused is never to be neglected.

Upon seeing John Chamberlain‘s sculptures at a gallery in New York, my first thought was one of curiosity: were the pieces welded together or simply placed one against the other?

But then, as I return home and am faced with the difficulties of moving about, the images of his sculptures rose in my mind, bringing about the question: how outdated really are cars?

Cars cause pollution, create stress and foster vanity, besides being an undeniable token of social difference. Many are those who have come to detest automobiles in favor of the more environmentally friendly and democratic public transportation systems.

In an era when cars have become as disposable as plastic tableware, it is really delightful that Chamberlain chooses to bend them and use their (cheap) metal as if they were simple sticks.

It is as if by crushing one of the modern days’ most controversial yet apparently innocent icon, a new road is being built and shown to us.

Brilliant.

Share

My original plan of sharing my travel experiences real time with you hasn’t turned out quite the way I expected it would.

But don’t you worry, there are lots to be told once I return.

Now I’m off to Brooklyn.

Streets of inspiration

I’ll be in New York City very, very soon.

As the week unravels, I shall attempt to translate some of my visual and sentimental experiences through various written texts and images on these pages.

And I cannot wait to be immerse in the atmosphere of a city of plenty.

Sleepwalkers (2007) by Doug Aitken

This time I’m staying close to the art galleries in Chelsea.

Inspiration will be one street way.

Uncover

There is a most fruitful debate regarding the status of fashion photography within the arts.

Quite obviously, there are pictures which are so commercial they become devoid of any further significance or aesthetic purpose. They are, for the most part, just pretty.

The unfortunate weight of the business makes it less common for fashion editorials to delight us with their visual poetry.

That is why I simply cannot get over these pictures of Peter Bruder by German photographer Markus Pritzi.

It is beauty to be unveiled on multiple levels.

The kitschest of Kitsch

Brazil is an eternal nursery for new music and unexpected new rhythms.

Nurtured in the melting pot of multiple influences, a new beat is taking nightclubs and sound systems all over the country: Tecnobrega.

Translating roughly as technocheesy, this new music has recently been embraced by top producers and as an offspring we have bands like Banda Uó:

It is about time Brazilian acts start taking pride in our kitsch core and its reflections.

It defines us.

Champagne

Images are the only things that my brain can interpret today.

The words are too tired to come out.

Luckily for us, there are pictures such as those by photographer Brett Lloyd.

The Seldom Seen Series are an invitation to quiet contemplation.

Let’s.

Artistic unison

When talented artists from different areas join forces, one can only expect a masterpiece to lie ahead.

I was taken aback when I found out that Botticelli contributed with Dante Alighieri creating illustrations for the world classic The Divine Comedy. I was so pleased to know a Brazilian publishing house is launching a new edition of the literary milestone containing the remarkable original drawings:

Such beauty can come from two minds sharing one aesthetic goal.

But it is ever so challenging, given the fact that artists very much like to work on their own and developing ideas that come from within.

How lucky for us.

Short of boys , full of fun

Today my eyes go eastwards to Australia (remember I write from Brazil) to find yet another delightful electronic music act: Strange Talk

Doesn’t this video make you want to fall in love, travel to the coast and have an enormous amount of fun with your gorgeous friends who are also in love?

Great tune, lovely lyrics.

Stories to be told

If you read this blog or know my personal history, you are aware of the obvious fact that I love Nordic artistic expression.

There is something about the combination of wealth, social justice, harsh climate with a bit of loneliness which always lends such poetry to the arts coming from the North.

Having acquired such a taste, I must say I am always on the lookout for northern expressivity.

That’s how I came across the incredible work of Finnish photographer Riitta Päiväläinen:

Through pictures of old garments, she explores a subject that is very dear to me, that of untold stories.

In her own words:

The main theme and primary driving force of my work is my interest in old clothing. In my photographs, I use discarded clothes from second-hand shops and flea markets. I am interested in old garments, because they carry silent, unknown stories and histories. The unavoidable fact that I will never know the actual stories and personal histories connected with the clothes arouses my curiosity. The clothes remain silent withholding their secrets. Little by little, personal histories are absorbed into the collective history.

It is so mind-catching and stimulating to wonder about not only the origins of our possessions but also the history they carry with them.

Being an avid secondhand enthusiast, I dare say her Vestige series has forever changed the way I look at my belongings.

Being made to think always excites me.

Rejoice!

A new era has begun for homossexuals in Brazil.

The Supreme Court approved an extension of the legal rights to gay couples by a uninamous decision yesterday evening.

The excitement is almost much too large to be shared and I am almost speechless… A historic day.

More about it here.

To and fro the Heart

One day I found a big book buried deep in the ground. I opened it, but all the pages were blank. Then, to my surprise, it started writing itself:

I am a tree that grows hearts
One for each that you take
You’re the intruder’s hand
I’m the branch that you break