On November 16, 2006, Joan Rivers spoke about her experience as a female comic in the early 60s and finding her comedic voice. Interview conducted by director Michael Kantor for the six-hour PBS comedy series, “Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America” (2009).
Darja Bajagić’s work confronts loaded thematic content and recontextualizes history, urging viewers to navigate the complexities of contemporary society through their own interpretations. We met with the artist at the Montenegro Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, in her exhibition It Takes an Island to Feel This Good. An exhibition that reframes the layered history of Mamula Island—a site once used as a fortress, prison, and concentration camp, now transformed into a luxury hotel. Through fragmented archival images and symbolic shapes, Darja Bajagić challenges viewers to confront the tension between historical memory and contemporary reality without offering clear answers. "My goal is to highlight the complexities of the world that we live in," Darja Bajagić explains, "and assert agency to the viewer." Scavenging images from the dark web and state archives, Darja Bajagić explores the tension between what is seen and what is hidden beneath. Through imagery and formal decisions such as shape and composition, she subtly intertwines historical references and contemporary issues through a deliberately disjointed narrative style. The resulting work is intentionally ambiguous, echoing her ongoing theme of obscured and fractured narratives. As an artist, Darja Bajagić resists offering her audience definitive interpretations, instead urging them to engage with the work on their own terms: "I don’t give instruction for the viewer on how to understand the work." Darja Bajagić (B. 1990 in Montenegro) is an artist whose research-based work is known for its provocative exploration of contemporary and historical themes. She splits her time between Chicago and Montenegro. In 2014 she received an MFA from Yale University. Darja Bajagić’s work has been shown at international institutions such as Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-οn-Hudson, US); Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland and Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Franc. In 2024, she represented Montenegro at the Venice Biennale.
Erik Yvon is a Melbourne / Naarm-based fashion designer redefining perceptions of femininity and masculinity. His bold, transeasonal pieces are a dynamic combination of colours, prints, shapes and textures – drawing inspiration from art, his everyday surroundings, and origins in the island of Mauritius. Having completed a Bachelor of Fashion Design at RMIT University in 2014, Erik gained experience training under iconic Australian labels such as Romance Was Born and Neo Dia. From here, he continued to find success in national design competitions such as The Wool Awards and the Australian Fashion Awards. Yvon launched his eponymous label in 2017 with a focus on sustainable and ethical production. Each piece is made to order, and every collections includes collaboration with some of Australia's brightest textile and jewellery designers. His works have a appeared in countless editorials and runways – recently opening the Next Gen Runway at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week (2021). As he continues to expand his reach across the globe, he hopes to continue to share stories of diversity and joy through his incomparable style and personality.
Michael Staniak’s work concerns the changing dynamics of images and materiality in light of the proliferation of digital culture. Grouped into the post-internet movement, Staniak’s process-oriented paintings explore the relationship between flatness and texture in digital images. To create his paintings, he builds up textural surfaces out of materials such as casting compound that he then sprays with acrylic paint, creating subtle gradients of texture color with minor stippling that evoke the effects of inkjet printers. The work oscillates between a sensation of a flat, screen-mediated image and the rich texture of an analog painting. For Staniak, the life of the painting both as object and image is crucial. “I consider the finished work as a moment in my practice; something to be considered and valued as an object that will ultimately end up as another picture entering the stream of the internet,” he has said.
In this episode of In The Studio With... body inclusive fashion designer Michaela Stark invites us into the creative chaos of her space where she's 'making a new kind of beauty'. Her boundary-pushing attitude is fuelled by “a lot of laughter and fun,” she tells Dazed, as she opens up on working with Beyoncé, the cultural impact of her reimagined Victoria's Secret show and being fuelled by the “body dysmorphia of my entire generation.”
Edward O. Thorp is the author of the bestseller Beat the Dealer, which transformed the game of blackjack. His subsequent book, Beat the Market, coauthored with Sheen T. Kassouf, influenced securities markets around the globe. He is also the author of A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market. Edward was one of the world’s best blackjack players and investors, and his hedge funds were profitable every year for 29 years.
“Create art just to create art. Don’t follow whatever’s trendy or be motivated by money. Creating what you love the most is so much more rewarding and fulfilling." For this episode of MAFF chat we dial in with Tae-young K.C, a Korean director and artist who grew up in the Western world. We fell in love with her animation and illustration style which she utilizes to tell stories that resonate with her audience.
For Episode 4 of MAFF Tour Colombia, we head to Bogotá to meet with visual artist, Fabian Rojas, who created the project and alter alias, Pelitoz Locos. Rojas uses hair as a canvas for creativity and shows us the opportunity for self-expression and transformation through styling. Most of all, Pelitoz Locos is about having fun and playing with ones identity while using hair as the medium. Starring models, Vagabunda Frite & Alexa Tmg.
Chia Amisola is a Filipino internet artist and founder of Developh, a nonprofit community that seeks to promote the use of 'technology as a tool for liberation rather than oppression.
New York-based fashion brand Sandy Liang and heritage footwear brand Salomon bring you an exclusive look behind the scenes at their latest collaboration. In this episode of Salomon TV, Liang takes us on an exclusive journey behind the scenes of her upcoming SS24 collection, allowing us a glimpse into her creative journey, her relationship with New York and the synergies that drew her to partner with Salomon.
“I just think we are in a big artistic zone for everybody,” Jesse Jo Stark, daughter of Chrome Hearts founder Richard Stark, says of the brand’s factory in Hollywood. Inside you’ll find a music rehearsal studio, a kitchen, a living space with couches, and countless amounts of clothing racks within the warehouse which stretches three Los Angeles city blocks. The Stark women—including Jesse Jo, Frankie Belle, and their mother and Chrome Hearts co-owner Laurie Lynn Stark—give us a tour of the brand’s factories and their favorite objects within. Director: Nina Ljeti Director of Photography: Stephen Tringali Editor: Estan Esparza Producer: Gigi Chavarria Associate Producer: Lea Donenberg Associate Producer, on-set: Emebeit Beyene Assistant Camera: Melanie Adams Gaffer: Bailey Clark Sound: Gloria Marie Production Assistants: Brock Spitaels, Daniel Neumann Production Coordinator: Ava Kashar Production Manager: Natasha Soto-Albors Line Producer: Romeeka Powell Senior Director, Production Management: Jessica Schier Assistant Editor: Billy Ward Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant Supervising Editor: Erica DeLeo Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch Director, Content Production: Rahel Gebreyes Senior Director, Programming: Linda Gittleson Executive Producer: Ruhiya Nuruddin VP, Digital Video English: Thespena Guatieri
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On this episode of J'Adore, Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, talks about her (exciting!) early career in the fashion industry.