#Disrupt Berlin 2018

[henrykathman]

The Miraculous Horror of Stop Motion

From the same artform that brought you Coraline and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, comes three stories that evoke the existential fear of art.

Original Music by Molly Noise

Bibliography below

Atrocity Guide. “The Animators Who’ve Spent 40 Years on a Single Film.” YouTube, 9 Oct. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=73hip3pz0Xs&pp=ygUMdGhlIG92ZXJjb2F0. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Brubaker, Charles. “The Japanese Studios of Rankin/Bass.” Cartoon Research, Jerry Beck, 14 Apr. 2014, cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-japanese-studios-of-rankinbass/.

Bute, Paris. “Introduction to “a Rankin/Bass Retrospective from a New Perspective.”” Citizen Jane, Stephens College, 19 Nov. 2021, www.citizenjane.org/home/cwwicd2ucb2fvs64kgfaocfykjhaum. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Crome, Althea. “Coraline.” Althea Crome | Micro Knitter, 2012, www.altheacrome.com/coraline. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Harold Halibut. Directed by Onat Hekimoğlu, Slow Bros., 16 Apr. 2024.

Hekimoglu, Onat, and Gabriel Schmitz. “Unite Berlin 2018 - Harold Halibut and Making a Stop Motion Game.” Unity, YouTube, 6 Aug. 2018, youtu.be/9usssSQc0wQ. Accessed 6 May 2023.

Jon "Sikamikanico" Clarke. “The Making of Harold Halibut.” XboxEra, YouTube, 21 Mar. 2024, youtu.be/WMyxM9t3o7A. Accessed 19 June 2024.

LAIKA Studios. “Sweater and Gloves: Knitting Coraline by Hand.” YouTube, 11 July 2017, youtu.be/zUvkfcGR-7U. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Mad God Productions. “Phil Tippett’s “Mad God.”” Kickstarter, 17 May 2012, www.kickstarter.com/projects/madgod/phil-tippetts-mad-god/posts.

Olson, Mathew. “Report: Michel Ancel Accused of Abusive, Disruptive Practices on beyond Good & Evil 2.” VG247, 25 Sept. 2020, www.vg247.com/report-michel-ancel-accused-of-abusive-disruptive-practices-on-beyond-good-evil-2. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Ono, Kosei. “Tadahito Mochinaga: The Japanese Animator Who Lived in Two Worlds.” Animation World Network, AWN, Inc, 1 Dec. 1999, www.awn.com/animationworld/tadahito-mochinaga-japanese-animator-who-lived-two-worlds.

Orland, Kyle. “Claptrap Voice Actor Accuses Gearbox CEO of Assault, Underpayment.” Ars Technica, 7 May 2019, arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/05/claptrap-voice-actor-accuses-gearbox-ceo-of-assault-underpayment/. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Pilling, Jayne. A Reader In Animation Studies. Indiana University Press, 1998. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/book/40033.

Prehistoric Beast. Directed by Phil Tippett, Tippett Studios, 1984. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlaXIRTjNfo

Randles, Jonathan. “VFX Studio with Star Wars, Jurassic Park Credits Goes Bankrupt.” Bloomberg Law, 1 May 2024, news.bloomberglaw.com/bankruptcy-law/vfx-studio-with-star-wars-jurassic-park-credits-goes-bankrupt. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Shanley, Patrick. “Gearbox Software CEO Accused of Contempt in Latest Filing.” The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Aug. 2019, www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/gearbox-software-ceo-accused-contempt-latest-filing-1235064/. Accessed 19 June 2024.

The Making of “Jurassic Park.” Directed by John Schultz, Amblin Entertainment, 1995. https://youtu.be/8r01mk6F_Pk

The Making of Mad God. Directed by Maya Tippett, Shudder, 2021. https://youtu.be/sfUOHh0xmwc

The Tale of the Fox. Directed by Irene Starewicz and Ladislas Starevich, UFA GmbH, 10 Apr. 1941. https://youtu.be/Us_Pn6Q1dBQ

Wikipedia contributors. "List of films with longest production time." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 12 Jun. 2024. Web. 19 Jun. 2024.

Wikipedia contributors. "List of media notable for being in development hell." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 19 Jun. 2024. Web. 19 Jun. 2024.

Wikipedia contributors. "List of Rankin/Bass Productions films." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 9 Jun. 2024. Web. 19 Jun. 2024.

Wikipedia contributors. "Tadahito Mochinaga." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 28 Nov. 2023. Web. 19 Jun. 2024.

Wilson, Josh. “Phil Tippett: 24 Frames per Second < the Fabulist Words & Art.” The Fabulist Words & Art, 5 Nov. 2021, fabulistmagazine.com/24-frames-per-second-the-phil-tippett-interview/.

Worse than the Demon. Directed by Maya Tippett, Shudder, 2013. https://youtu.be/ghKqvDNRe4c

[blueiscoool]

German Police Arrest Suspects in Theft of 483 Celtic Gold Coins from Museum

The men were found in possession of gold bars, likely made by melting down the stolen coins.

Gold bars made from melted-down ancient Celtic coins that were stolen in a museum heist have been found by police in Germany. Four suspects have been arrested.

Thieves stole 483 coins from the Celtic Roman Museum in Manching after midnight on November 22, 2022. They severed several fiber optic cables, which caused internet and telephone connections in 13,000 households to go down for several hours. About an hour later, the museum was broken into and the suspects pried open two locked doors to make off with the gold coins.

The prosecutor’s office in Ingolstadt and the art investigators of the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office took over the investigations and recovered two blue crowbars, pruning shears, and a side cutter in the nearby area.

Police found a trace of DNA on the recovered items and conducted search in a nationwide DNA database and in neighboring countries, which alerted investigators to a string of eight similar thefts in Germany and Austria since 2014.

“The perpetrators were always equipped in the same way during the burglaries,” police said in a statement translated from German. “They wore black overalls with balaclavas and each had identical crowbars, screwdrivers and an angle grinder with several cutting discs.”

By examining the crime spree incidents together, investigators were able to identify the first suspect, a 42-year-old man from Schwerin, believed to have been involved in an April 2018 burglary. Through him, police identified a second suspect described as a 46-year-old German man.

Investigators eventually discovered two more suspects, a 50-year-old man from Schwerin and a 43-year-old man from Berlin, police said. The four men were arrested Tuesday and brought before investigating judges on Wednesday.

Police said the 43-year-old man from Berlin was carrying 18 gold nuggets in a plastic bag when he was arrested. Forensic analysts identified the material composition as having levels of gold, silver, and copper that corresponded to the composition of the stolen coins.

Prosecutors have charged the men with aggravated gang theft in combination with damaging property and disrupting telecommunications systems.

The museum praised the “significant success” of the investigation in a brief statement on Facebook.

By Adam Schrader.

(Wonderful news that there has been arrests in this case but very sad that some, if not all of the coins have been destroyed)

[mariacallous]

Thousands of Airbnbs and short-term rentals are about to be wiped off the map in New York City.

Local Law 18, which came into force Tuesday, is so strict it doesn’t just limit how Airbnb operates in the city—it almost bans it entirely for many guests and hosts. From now on, all short-term rental hosts in New York must register with the city, and only those who live in the place they’re renting—and are present when someone is staying—can qualify. And people can only have two guests.

Gone are the days of sleek downtown apartments outfitted for bachelorette parties, cozy two- and three-bedroom apartments near museums for families, and even the option for people to rent out their apartment on weekends when they’re away. While Airbnb, Vrbo, and others can continue to operate in New York, the new rules are so tight that Airbnb sees it as a “de facto ban” on its business.

Short-term rentals can bring noise, trash, and danger, and they can price local residents out of their own neighborhoods. Some landlords in New York are prolific and have hundreds of Airbnb listings. But other New Yorkers who have listings on Airbnb are trying to make ends meet, either leasing their place while they’re out of town or renting half of a duplex to help cover their mortgage costs.

Airbnb is also popular with some of the 66 million visitors a year looking for accommodations that are cheaper and sometimes larger than hotels. In 2022 alone, short-term rental listings made $85 million in New York. The city might be a relatively small slice of Airbnb’s global market, but the new rules show how local governments can effectively stamp out short-term rentals overnight and lessen their impact on dense residential areas. And New York is just one of many cities around the world trying to calm the short-term rental gold-rush.

And everyone is taking a different approach. Dallas has limited short-term rentals to specific neighborhoods to avoid disruptive and dangerous parties. Elsewhere, the Canadian province of Quebec and Memphis, Tennessee, among others, now require licenses for short-term rentals. In San Francisco, the amount of time someone can list their entire residence for rent on Airbnb is limited to 90 days each year; Amsterdam puts that limit at 30 nights per year, Paris at 120 days. Berlin previously banned nearly all Airbnbs but walked the decision back in 2018.

Airbnb’s attempts to fight back against the new law have, to date, been unsuccessful. The company sued New York City in June, but a judge dismissed the case in August, ruling that the restrictions were “entirely rational.” Airbnb did not comment on whether it would appeal the decision. Hosts are also fighting for the right to list their apartments as short-term stays by meeting with city officials to try to change the law.

The rules “are a blow to its tourism economy and the thousands of New Yorkers and small businesses in the outer boroughs who rely on home sharing and tourism dollars to help make ends meet,” says Theo Yedinsky, global policy director for Airbnb. “The city is sending a clear message to millions of potential visitors who will now have fewer accommodation options when they visit New York City: You are not welcome.” Yedinsky says Airbnb has a goal of working with the city on “sensible” home-sharing rules, but he did not elaborate on the company’s next steps.

The change will make short-term rentals “a lot less attractive” for many people coming to New York, says Sean Hennessey, a professor at the New York University Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality. And in a city where hotel rooms are small and expensive, it could “make the city a little less accessible.”

There are currently more than 40,000 Airbnbs in New York, according to Inside Airbnb, which tracks listings on the platform. As of June, 22,434 of those were short-term rentals, defined as places that can be booked for fewer than 30 days. Many Airbnbs are concentrated around downtown Manhattan, along the Upper East Side, and in Williamsburg and Park Slope in Brooklyn. While the number of rentals may be small compared to New York City’s population of 8 million people, Murray Cox, founder of Inside Airbnb, says some desirable neighborhoods are overly burdened by short-term rentals, which can result in housing shortages and higher rents. The new law, in theory, could open these homes to local residents. New York City is facing a housing shortage that has increased rents and rates of homelessness.

The implementation of the law shows “very clearly you can cut down on short-term rentals,” says Cox, who was part of the Coalition Against Illegal Hotels, a group that advocated for the registration law. “You can make these platforms accountable.”

There’s an older law on the books that prevents short-term rentals of entire apartments for less than 30 days in New York, but it’s been difficult to enforce without the registration mandate that takes effect Tuesday in place. Compounding the sudden shortage of Airbnbs in New York is another piece of the new law that allows landlords to ban entire buildings from short-term rental platforms. As of July, nearly 9,000 buildings across New York City were on the list. New York’s laws on short-term rentals exempt certain entire apartments on rental platforms that are zoned as hotels and boarding houses, meaning there will still be some entire units advertised on rental platforms.

Some small-time hosts feel the law unfairly loops them in with professional landlords. Margenett Moore-Roberts rents out a two-bedroom apartment in her Brooklyn brownstone; she lives in the home’s other unit with her husband and teen daughter. She says she doesn’t want to rent the apartment to a full-time tenant and lose the flexibility to host family and friends there, or, as she did during the pandemic, use it as a home office. But because her family doesn’t occupy the second two-bedroom unit, it can no longer be listed on Airbnb for stays of less than 30 days.

Restore Homeowner Autonomy and Rights, a group of homeowners in New York, is advocating for amendments to the regulations that would allow owner-occupied one- and two-family homes to register their units with the city and do away with capacity limits. They believe people like Moore-Roberts should be able to rent out units, and that they don’t fall into the same category as bigger landlords.

Moore-Roberts says she isn’t against the rule change entirely, but she wants to see the law reworked with more nuance to protect renters with just one property, like herself. “They’ve used a very blunt object when they should have used a scalpel,” Moore-Roberts says. She is currently out of work, and she says a drop in income from the short-term rental compounds that financial stress. “Putting us all in that same bucket of players is really unfair and not helpful.”

Airbnb says it is canceling and refunding reservations in unregistered accommodations from December 2 onwards, but those up until December 1 can remain in effect to lessen the impact on hosts and guests. Guests won’t be penalized if they book and stay in an unregistered rental, but hosts and the platforms they advertise on could be as of September 5.

Airbnb also says unregistered stays were blocked from future bookings past September 5 as of August 14, but a search showed dozens of entire apartments for more than two people still available to book beyond September 5. These listings should not pass New York’s registration requirements for short-term rentals. Airbnb did not comment on why these are still on the platform. Vrbo declined to comment for this story. Booking.com did not return a request for comment.

There are 3,250 short-term rental hosts who had submitted applications for registration by August 28, according to Christian Klossner, executive director of Office of Special Enforcement in New York City. More than 800 applications had been reviewed, and the office had granted 257 registrations, returned 479 to seek additional information or corrections, and denied 72. As of Tuesday, the office will focus on working with booking platforms to make sure they are using the verification system for registrations and that they are not processing unverified transactions, Klossner says.

A growing number of cities might be trying to clamp down on Airbnb rentals, but the company continues to grow. It made $2.5 billion in the second quarter of 2023, up 18 percent year-on-year, with the number of nights and experiences booked on the platform growing by 11 percent in the same period.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

Tomorrow (Apr 30) at 2PM, I’ll be at the San Francisco Public Library with my new book, Red Team Blues, hosted by Annalee Newitz.

#20yrsago Business 2.0 publishes its first-ever sf story (mine!) https://web.archive.org/web/20030430152919/http://www.business2.com/articles/mag/0,1640,49104|4,00.html

#15yrsago My email management power-tips https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/apr/29/email.filter

#15yrsago EFF to Ballmer: You owe MSN Music customers an apology, a refund and more https://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/04/28

#15yrsago When trademark becomes a tool for stealing our language https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/apr/29/trademarks-good-bad-ugly

#10yrsago Monsters and Legends: kids’ reference book on the origin of monsters https://memex.craphound.com/2013/04/29/monsters-and-legends-kids-reference-book-on-the-origin-of-monsters/

#10yrsago Icelandic Pirate Party lands three seats in Icelandic parliament https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/04/pirate-party-wins-3-seats-in-icelandic-parliament-for-its-best-result-worldwide/

#10yrsago Bruce Sterling on startups’ role in helping the global rich get richer https://web.archive.org/web/20130428013213/http://nextberlin.eu/2013/04/bruce-sterling-fantasy-prototypes-and-real-disruption/

#5yrsago Facebook warns investors to expect bigger and worse scandals than Cambridge Analytica https://www.siliconvalley.com/2018/04/27/facebook-got-an-earnings-boost-but-heres-the-fine-print/

#5yrsago 100 US Mayors sign a pledge to boycott ISPs that commit Net Neutrality violations https://gizmodo.com/100-us-mayors-sign-pledge-to-defend-net-neutrality-agai-1825612839

#5yrsago The teachers’ strikes are spreading https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2018/04/teacher-uprising-spreads-far-and-wide

#5yrsago The US gave its client states hundreds of millions for anti-terrorism, then crooked UK military contractors ripped it all off https://federalnewsnetwork.com/acquisition/2018/04/mattis-criminal-charges-likely-amid-probe-into-intelligence-contract/

#1yrago Killing online surveillance with contextual ads https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/29/taken-in-context/#creep-me-not

From Apr 26–28, Barnes and Noble is offering a 25% discount on preorders for my upcoming novels (use discount code PREORDER25): The Lost Cause (Nov 2023) and The Bezzle (Red Team Blues #2) (Feb 2024).

Catch me on tour with Red Team Blues in Mountain View, Berkeley, San Francisco, Portland, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, DC, Gaithersburg, Oxford, Hay, Manchester, Nottingham, London, and Berlin!

[darkmaga-returns]

Alexey Miller, the longstanding head of Russian energy giant Gazprom, is not known for rhetorical excess. That’s why his recent public statement at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum should make Europeans, and especially Germans, prick up their ears.

Miller explained that the “artificial destruction of demand” on the EU gas market – that is, Western sanctions and a little US-UK-Ukrainian pipeline bombing “among friends” – has led to a continuing “deindustrialization” of Western Europe that will disrupt its economies “for at least a decade,” in the best-case scenario.

According to more pessimistic expert assessments, we are witnessing the “economic suicide of Europe,” Miller added, with its “locomotive” – a traditional byname for Germany – now the continent’s “sick man.” And that, Miller stressed, is a diagnosis “with which one can agree.”

Context always matters. Due to Berlin’s absurd decision to enthusiastically join the US proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, the German-Russian relationship is at its lowest point since, literally, 1945. So, it may be tempting for Germans to dismiss Miller’s tough words as less than objective. But they would be wrong because he has facts on his side.

Robert Habeck, Germany’s Green minister of the economy, has just had to lower his growth prognosis for 2024 as a whole. So much, in fact, that, instead of the minuscule increase of 0.3% – yes, you read that right: that’s what’s considered good news now in Germany, if it happens, which it does not – the country is looking at a minus of 0.2%. Germany’s economy is not merely stagnant, it is shrinking. When Berlin was still dreaming about that lavish 0.3% growth that is not actually happening, government representatives were speaking of a turning point. Well, there has been a turn alright, another one for the worse.

What makes this much worse is that it is not an outlier event or a temporary phenomenon but the new, miserable German normal. Or, as German economists put it, their country is stuck in a “deep structural crisis.”

Even the staunchly NATO-philic and Russophobic Economist came to the same conclusions last summer already. Asking (rhetorically) if Germany was “the sick man of Europe,” the journal found that, since 2018, Berlin has been presiding over an economic “laggard.”

[kitchenlegrecords]

RomaTrial presents: BERLIN POST PUNK! a Feminist Band*s Happening! The green t-shirt with the slogan “Girls invented punk, not England” worn by Kim Gordon is for sure one of the most memorable outfits of music history. And that slogan is true: the revolutionary and disruptive force of punk should rightfully called feminist too. No music scene has so many FLINTA people involved in, and the whole new wave scene that scattered from it has an impressive numbers of FLINTA artists and bands that took their music in any disparate direction, sometimes incredibly far away from any rock clichee.

PIEUVRE, VORSICHT KINDER & JEJEJE (bands associated with the label K i t c h e n L e g R e c o r d s) are going to show perfectly an uncompromising originality in their music being the playfullness infused of the alcolpop-neue deutsche welle of Vorsicht Kinder, the math max rhythms with minimalist approach and beautiful melodies of Jejeje or the abrasive, yet very pop no-wave punk funk of Peiuvre”

Pieuvre is a sensation from the bubbly Berlin underground, started magically by coincidences, missing connections and a bit of luck. Once Pia, Lina and Fege met, they fused their influences patching together raw-no wavey guitars, a punk-funk like rhythm session and well crafted vocal melodies in three languages. Playful, dance-able, very feminist and mostly quite impertinent. They released their debut “Hyperstretch” with Kitchenleg Records in 2023 and a music video for their single “Wardrobe” in May 2024. ByteFM praised Pieuvre’s debut as “grungy lo-fi post-punk, for fans of fuzzed-out guitar sounds”.

Vorsicht Kinder

Well, do you still remember the delicious alcopops – those sweet, sticky alcoholic mixed drinks from your youth that gave you many an excessive high? That’s what the music of VORSICHT KINDER sounds like and from it they claim their own music genre: alcopop – nice and cheap and banging. VORSICHT KINDER are four friends from Berlin who have been playing concerts regularly since 2019 and released their first album ‘Verschluck dich nicht’ on the Berlin label Kitchen Leg Records in 2023. Their style is described as a mixture of post-punk, no-wave and Neue Deutsche Welle that playfully breaks down genre boundaries and song structures. They regularly swap instruments on stage and in Dadaist-feminist lyrics – which sometimes lead somewhere and sometimes into the void – they process states of lust, anger, intoxication and senselessness: Fuck the Banana!

Jejeje is a Spanish onomatopoeia which stands for a skeptical mocking laughing and/or for an apologetic laugh. Jejeje is also a Berlin-based trio that combines post pop, post punk and math max rhythms with a minimalist approach. Band members are Jordi (Parmesano, Nunofyrbeeswax, El Gos Binari), Itacate (Roto) and Zutoia (Muerte y Destrucción, Come ‘n Wait). They got together thanks to the existence of Ojalá Esté Mi Bici, a DIY music collective from Barcelona, and to a house concert of Geoff Farina (Karate) and mOck in Berlin in 2018. Until now, they have self-released a split tape together with their friends Nunofyrbeeswax. Additionally, in December 2022 they appeared in a Xmas punk cover compilation released by Discos Pinya (Barcelona). All three members are looking forward to the release of their first album in 2024, co-release with Repetidor.

[amoveablejake]

Album of The Week: ‘Low’ By David Bowie

Stand out song: ‘Always Crashing in the Same Car’. 

Once upon a time the idea of multiverses in popular culture were restricted largely to comic book narratives. Ofcourse, the idea of different worlds could be found in certain films and novels however, it was in comic books where the idea of worlds within worlds and upon worlds grew and grew. It grew so much that the comic provider Marvel had to collapse certain multiverses in on themselves to streamline them and in a way, to go back to one universe, to an extent. Following comic books thriving on this idea for a long stretch, it seems to be that multiverses have taken over cinema in a way that doesn’t seem to be slowing down as different iterations on the idea come and go. But throughout all of these variations, no matter the format there always seems to be one constant idea that is present in all of them. That idea being that the different universe, whether they be parallel or multiverses are always talking to each other in some small way. Communications between the two are coming through in very small fashions as the inhabitants reach out to the other side or to another version of their self. And really, I think that this idea of communicating between universes must be true. It has to be real, that different versions of ourselves are trying to contact us as really, this is the only way to explain why ‘Low’ suddenly appeared at the forefront of my mind this evening. 

Okay, multiverse (can I squeeze it in anymore) joking aside, ‘Low’ did really appear out of nowhere for me this evening. I haven’t listened to Bowie for a little while and I hadn’t really been thinking about ‘Low’ or the other masterfully created Berlin tapes however, out of the blue there it was and once I had the thought in my mind to listen to ‘Low’ this evening, I couldn’t get it out of my head. The moment I did press play on what is the first of the Berlin trilogy, it clicked as it always does when I listen to this record. ‘Low’ is one of those albums that has a place on my roster when I’m not even listening to it or thinking about it. It is an album that has now accompanied me for many years and everytime I listen to it I draw something different from it. In early 2018 it accompanied my daydreams of an upcoming trip to Germany as I worked my way through my studies and part time job that winter. It then ofcourse featured heavily on that trip when I was in Berlin in the sun and again when I returned to Germany the summer after and once more last year as I was yet again in Berlin, in the sun. Listening to Bowie’s album here has entwined these visions of Germany with my life here and has formed something quite unique from it. Its almost like when you feel nostalgia for something you didn’t experience or a strange sense of deja-vu. Listening to ‘Low’ seems to bring Germany closer than it is as day dreams, memories and visions all wrap up into one singular thread. 

Yesterday would have been Bowie’s birthday and tomorrow is the anniversary of his passing. It is then, rather spooky that he happened to appear in my head today and I promise I wasn’t reading any retrospectives about him that do tend to appear around this time. There are a few artists in my life that opened the door to different ways of thinking for me. A Tribe Called Quest perhaps being one of the biggest ones and Bowie is certainly up there with them aswell. Bowie’s music, for the most part, is outsider music. Its music that exists unto itself and going by its own rhythm. Its at times beautiful, haunting, disruptive, romantic but most of all, always and forever mesmerising. There are certain songs of Bowie’s that always strike me to my core and one of them is indeed from ‘Low’. ‘A New Career in a New Town’ always seems to hit me, washing over me like the surf and through its duration taking me out to sea and then back to the shore again. Perhaps this is controversial and I do reserve the right to change my mind on this down the line, but for the moment I’ll stick with this idea that for me Bowie’s voice seems to be the loudest when he isn’t saying anything at all. And on ‘A New Career in a New Town’, I can hear him loud and clear. 

For the days gone by and the days ahead. Sleep easy. 

-Jake, a man standing by the wall, 09/01/2023

[inventivaindia]

Shuttle business Via could add scooters to its lineup

Shuttle business Via could add scooters to its lineup

Via, a shuttle-based carpooling service and platform that partners with cities in the U.S. and Europe, could soon add scooters to its business.

Via CEO and co-founder Daniel Ramot said onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin that the company is experimenting with the idea of adding scooters as a complement to its shuttle business.

“We’re also adding scooters mostly, again, for our partner cities,…

[juliestacy]

Announcing the companies in Startup Alley at Disrupt Berlin 2018 Announcing the companies in Startup Alley at Disrupt Berlin 2018 Leslie Hitchcock @lsh / 8 hours …

[gloriousgwendolinechristie]

Peter Strickland’s Flux Gourmet starring Asa Butterfield and Gwendoline Christie Is Set To Premiere at Berlinale

The film will be in competition for the 2022 Encounters section, a separate competitive sidebar for more artistically challenging or experimental films.

Flux Gourmet follows in an institute devoted to culinary and alimentary performance, a collective finds itself embroiled in power struggles, artistic vendettas, and gastrointestinal disorders.

Flux Gourmet reunites IFC Films with Strickland — the indie studio previously collaborated with the auteur on his English-language debut “Berberian Sound System” and his follow-up feature “The Duke of Burgundy.” A24 released his most recent film 2018’s “In Fabric.”

In an interview, Strickland said, “Flux Gourmet came about through a personal frustration with how alimentary disorders or food allergies have been comically portrayed in some films, and without wanting to embark on a finger-wagging mission, I wanted to write something devoted to the disruptions of the stomach whilst attempting to maintain a degree of dignity to deeply private and embarrassing symptoms.” It would seem that Strickland wants to portray a more realistic side of food allergies and the quirks that accompany them.

The 72nd annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale will take place from 10 to 20 February 2022.

[allthingsfern]

In order, my responses to comments in Reply of my COVID19 era post that was my answer to my question “My answer to my questions: Has the era of COVID19 changed your photography? How? And perhaps also, why?“ I am so confused now...

adventuresofalgy

Algy thinks you are lucky and - certainly if compared with Europeans - perhaps quite unusual in not having experienced a more profound effect on your creative outlets and expression. Many of Algy's creative friends have experienced wide-ranging and often severe impacts on their creativity and associated motivation - and therefore on their mental health as well.

themazette

As @adventuresofalgy Jenny said.... you are lucky...

I am indeed very lucky, or as I think of it, blessed. However, it is no way a US thing, nor even a California thing. I add California, because I know many in the US and around the world think of the Golden State as a haven, a progressive, hippie filled state that is all about peace and love and marijuana. However, that is far from the truth. California is like Germany in the 1920s and 30s. There was Berlin, where there was a wildness in the city that was not shared, and was often looked-down on, by those in the majority of the country, who lived in more conservative areas and who, often, economically could not afford the grand life of partying Berliners. In California it is the same. Except for a few urban areas, the state is full of very conservative folks, and for them, like for those in the cities (and in the rest of the world) this COVID19 era has been devastating. Well, and the fires for Californians have been too.

Even in this cool college town where I live, which is lovely and quiet and inspiring, the painfully empty streets, movie theaters, restaurants, shops (think of all those unemployed people) is (still) staggering. In mid-March last year, right after lockdown, I took several phone videos of the deserted street in our town and the campus, but I could not bring myself to share them, since I knew that so many others here on Tumblr were experiencing the same desolation in many different ways. (I figured: “Why add to the sorrow we are living, almost globally?”) I was overwhelmed by the emptiness of the major (well, major for a small town of around 65,000 people) street where I live and the empty bicycle trails and street on campus. And by empty, I mean that even now, I see maybe 3 cyclists per hour, and very little car traffic. Remember, this is a bicycle town; I do not own a car, doing most all my errands on my bike with its 2 fordable baskets in the rear.

And now, over a year later, that same heavy, oppressive emptiness persists. And no, I am not used to it. And yes, I traveled over the last year, but I found the same suffocating blanket of emptiness in each city I visited, even in Las Vegas. It was unnerving. As a matter of fact, last year when I drove to San Francisco 2 months after lockdown for my birthday, I wound up getting depressed and disoriented, in a city where I lived for almost 7 years. Driving back home across the Golden Gate Bridge with tears of sadness in my eyes on my birthday was not what I expected. However, I did get some solid photos of the malaise that hung thick in the air, a malaise that physically took up the space that once was taken up by crowds of people.

Now, I am also very aware that my situation is unique. (Not a fan of the word exceptional, since it can mean both unique and special, and I do not see my situation as special.) My life situation is very unique in that I have a job I love and I work with a great team of characters. We get work done and we have fun, share about our lives. My job is often, especially since COVID19 first got noticed in early 2020, stressful and demands my colleagues and I learn (and sometimes then teach) lots of new technology and that we adapt to the vagaries of the technology gods, which are sometimes unfriendly and unresponsive. And a big part of my job is trying to figure out how to get the technology gods to like us again and grace us with their gifts. (I never realized, until now, with this discussion, that the troubleshooting that is a big part of my job is creative and probably fuels my photographic creativity. Who knew?) Yet, as a group, my colleagues and I support each other. And I am fortunate to count my closest colleague, Steve, as a friend. We have been a great emotional support to each other over the years and now through this COVID19 era. And I recently was reminded (as if I needed reminding) just how unique my work situation is because I participated in a committee that was going over responses to a UC Davis-wide survey exploring levels of employee satisfaction. My 2 colleagues who were also on that committee and I did not have the complaints that others from other departments shared. We work well together, have supportive management that share what is going on and include us (as mush as possible) in the decision making process. And as a department, we get stuff done.

Possibly the best example of how blessedly unique my situation is is what happened this morning when I was talking (yes, on ZOOM) with my immediate supervisor. We discussed the work related stuff, including how at around 10:30 pm the night before I figured something out about an online tool integration I had never done before that I knew was easy but I did not see as easy until I reread the overly complicated instructions a couple of times and just figured out how and where to cut and paste the lines of code (it was that easy, just fucking cut and paste some lines of JSON code) that got the fucking thing to work. Then we talked about his dealing with his young children returning to school and how “normal” now is not “normal” from before and how disruptive the whole thing has been, yet since we work in a supportive atmosphere (and are both salaried), he was able to deal and keep living.

Then, and you are gonna love this, I shared about my original COVID19 question post and the responses and pretty much said to him what I am sharing here.

We talked for a little over an hour. That kind of rapport is rare, for any job, anywhere.

And then there is another way my situation is unique. In some ways, previous “bad things” were actually a preparation for this era of physical distance and uncertainty. In mid-2019, from July to August, first because of my work related bowling concussion and then an antibiotic resistant infection, I was bedridden for about 5 weeks and then had several absences because of concussion issues, like sudden and extreme anger flare ups, nausea, headaches. But however bad I thought that concussion and infection were, the concussion induced forgetfulness and my desire to sharpen my mind and nurture and nourish it have lead me to become, in my old age, organized. I now often take notes of important stuff, add work and personal dates and notes to my Outlook calendar, and even know what day it is, which bugs my colleagues who often find they have no idea what day and/or date it is. Yep, unique, but the bad concussion shit got me to be organized in ways that I was never able to be before, no matter what I tried. This time, I just fucking get organized, without thinking about it too much. And if I fuck up with my being organized, like I did the other day for work, I admit it, fix it, and move on.

Preparation for isolation (and unexpected natural threats) came by way of the 2018 Northern California (the region where I live) fires that year, which caused the campus to shut down for about a week. (As my friend Steve called it, the smoking break.) And for work, my colleagues and I faced a couple of long term, emergency technical outages that impacted all of the UC Davis faculty, one of them for over a month. Pretty much on a professional and personal level, I was, if not ready, at least getting used to the WTF of whatever life decides to surprise me with. (And lets not forget the really bad fire last September, seen in this video I posted of ash “snow” falling. We did not have to shut down the campus because there was no one there anyway.)

Another aspect of this last year, and one that has been present in my life for a few years now, is the BLM movement and the brutal police violence against Black people in this country. As someone who was a teaching assistant and taught in African American Studies and worked closely with students of color on campus in a student run organization, I was and am still devastated, in part because I know, from hearing so many personal accounts, the pain many of my friends, former colleagues, and former students, are still facing and how overwhelmed they felt and still feel. I understand, if as an outsider, their emotional exhaustion. This has been going on for a while, plus add the years of anti-immigrant hate against the Latinx in the US and the rising tide of violent hate against Asians, and yes, it has been sorrowful. Heartbreaking. And I have, in several ways, including my photography, tried to capture the sorrow and resilience of US people of color. It hurts, almost physically, that many people of color are just tired of talking and dealing with the hate.

So, yes, my situation is unique, but with its own emotionally draining weight. And yes, I am extremely grateful. This leads to the other 2 comments in Reply:

kkomppa

Thank you for sharing, Fern. Very interesting. Like you, I would say my output hasn’t changed much. However, I have sought locations deeper in the wilderness. This has been fulfilling.

schwarzkaeppchen

Really interesting thoughts. We live in strange times, but creativity and motivation comes and goes for so many different reasons. My photography has changed a lot. I used to work as a photographer at events and took portraits for fun... Now I'm officially a portrait photographer.

Both of these comments point to another unique aspect of my life situation: For some of us, our photography and how we do it, has not changed much, and if it has, that has been a part of our overall experience with this art form we love so much.

For me, because of my depressive tendencies, the Zen of photography, at least the way I do it, is therapeutic. And I do not use the  term “Zen” lightly here, because my spiritual life has helped me come to terms with the WTF surprises that are pretty much life, if at times the WTF of it is more impactful, as it is during this COVID19 era. And that is part of what I was trying to share with my original post: Before this period of isolation and disorientation, I was already coming to grips with the gospel truth that “creativity and motivation comes and goes for so many different reasons.” as @schwarzkaeppchen​ said. In no way do I diminish the anguish flared up by these bleak times that impact so many around the world. And really, when you think about it, bleak times have been a norm, at least here in the US, since late 2016, though, of course, lockdowns and physical distance make it all worse. But, at least for me, I try to learn from the bleak times, even if I abhor going through them. And when dealing with the highs and lows of creative energy, at least for me, I have a calm certainty that photography is part of my life and I do not have to worry, since I only love it more each day. And the other side to my certainty is that if someday my love of photography fades, some other treasure of creativity will replace it.

Let’s be real, because of photography. I think about stuff like this and get to have discussions with so many great Tumblr original photographers.

And I am grateful for it, and no, this is not unique to my life situation. I know many of us love being here and sharing the good, the bad, the confounding.

Please think about joining @tvoom and me for InConverversation this month. It has been a long time since we talked, and this COVID19 era will be our topic.

I am grateful for all y’all.

[writemarcus]

Heartbeat Opera Announces 2021-2022 Season

Highlights include MESSY MESSIAH, FIDELIO, and more.

by Chloe Rabinowitz

Aug. 10, 2021  

HEARTBEAT OPERA will return to the in-person stage for its eighth season this year. Heartbeat's 2021-22 season kicks off in September with a free outdoor screening of BREATHING FREE, their visual album that connects Beethoven's Fidelio with the work of Black composers and lyricists such as Harry T. Burleigh, Langston Hughes, and Anthony Davis to manifest a dream of justice, equity, and breathing free. BREATHING FREE builds on Heartbeat's 2018 work with incarcerated singers and prison choirs, and continues its exploration of race and the American prison system. Then in December, Heartbeat's beloved annual drag extravaganza, MESSY MESSIAH, returns after six years of Halloween shenanigans for a new Christmas special. Looking ahead to winter 2022, Heartbeat plans to go on its first-ever tour, remounting its production of FIDELIO, which Joshua Barone of The New York Times called "urgent, powerful, and poignant," for seven performances across four cities, kicking off at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Heartbeat will later present its pilot production of NO EVIL projects, QUANDO, ossia Project "0," which is co-produced with Long Beach Opera and refashions music from Verdi's operas La Traviata and Don Carlo and Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice into a 25-minute short film. Heartbeat also continues to work on its first-ever commission, THE EXTINCTIONIST, an opera by Heartbeat Co-Music Director Daniel Schlosberg, librettist Amanda Quaid, and Heartbeat Co-Founder & Resident Director Louisa Proske. The Extinctionist wrestles with climate catastrophe and with one woman's unorthodox choice, with the goal of presenting its world premiere in winter 2023.

At the helm are Artistic Director Ethan Heard, Associate Artistic Director Derrell Acon, Co-Music Directors Jacob Ashworth and Daniel Schlosberg, and Managing Director Annie Middleton. Heartbeat Opera was founded in 2014 and has since grown from an indie "start up" into an internationally recognized player, consistently hailed as a leader in envisioning the future of opera.

The 2021-22 Season

BREATHING FREE, a visual album

September 18 at Pier 63, Hudson River Park Trust At dusk A free outdoor screening with live performances (Additional future screenings TBA)

Focusing on Black empowerment in the arts

Featuring excerpts from Beethoven's Fidelio, Negro Spirituals, and songs by

Harry T. Burleigh,

Florence Price

,

Langston Hughes

,

Anthony Davis

,

Thulani Davis

Director:

Ethan Heard

Filmmaker: Anaiis Cisco

Creative Producer: Ras Dia

Co-Music Directors: Jacob Ashworth & Daniel Schlosberg

Movement Director: Emma Jaster

Watch Breathing Free Trailer

2021 Drama League Award Nominee for Outstanding Digital Concert Production

In 2018, Heartbeat collaborated with 100 incarcerated singers in six prison choirs to create a contemporary American Fidelio told through the lens of Black Lives Matter. In 2020-the year of George Floyd's murder, a pandemic which ravages our prison population, and the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth-they curated a song cycle, brought to life in vivid music videos, mingling excerpts from Fidelio with Negro Spirituals and songs by Black composers and lyricists, which together manifest a dream of justice, equity... and breathing free.

Jamilyn Manning-White in DRAGUS MAXIMUS, photo by Andrew Boyle

MESSY MESSIAH

December 16 at 8pm and December 17 at 7 and 9:30pm at Roulette in Brooklyn

Directed by

Ethan Heard

Music Directed by Jacob Ashworth

Arranged by Daniel Schlosberg

Watch WNET's ALL ARTS feature on Heartbeat's drag extravaganzas

Heartbeat's beloved annual drag opera extravaganza returns in all its glory this December. Over the past seven years, Heartbeat has presented six fabulous extravaganzas at venues across Brooklyn: Hot Mama: Singing Gays Saving Gaia; Dragus Maximus: a homersexual opera odyssey; All the World's a Drag! Shakespeare in love...with opera; Queens of the Night: Mozart in Space; Miss Handel; and Purcell's The Fairy Queen. These interdisciplinary celebrations playfully mix opera classics with pop culture and drag to create an otherworldly experience that encourages audience members to embrace opera in new ways.

This year, the show moves to December-just in time for Christmas. Featuring familiar tunes by Handel, Tchaikovsky, Berlin, and many more, this naughty pageant celebrates the holidays with wit and warmth. Expect tradition...with a peppermint twist.

Kelly Griffin in FIDELIO, photo by Russ Rowland

FIDELIO

Heartbeat's first tour

February 10, 12 & 14, 2022 at Met Live Arts, New York City February 19 at The Mondavi Center, UC Davis, California February 22 at The Scottsdale Performing Arts Center, Arizona February 26 & 27 at The Broad Stage, Santa Monica, California

Music by Ludwig van Beethoven Original libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner & Georg Friedrich Sonnleithner Adapted & Directed by Ethan Heard Arranged & Music Directed by Daniel Schlosberg New English Dialogue Co-Written by Marcus Scott & Ethan Heard Featuring Derrell Acon (Roc), Curtis Bannister (Stan), Kelly Griffin (Leah), Victoria Lawal (Marcy), Tim Mix (Pizarro) and more than 100 incarcerated singers in six prison choirs

Heartbeat was planning to take its Fidelio on tour in 2020, the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth. Then the pandemic hit, affecting incarcerated people especially and forcing them to postpone the tour. Then George Floyd was murdered, sparking a much-needed racial reckoning. Now, with humility and a renewed sense of purpose, Heartbeat has the opportunity to bring the tour back and even expand it. The story of their Fidelio is more urgent and timely than ever:

A Black activist is wrongfully incarcerated. His wife, Leah, disguises herself to infiltrate the system and free him. But when injustice reigns, one woman's grit may not be enough to save her love. Featuring the voices of imprisoned people, this daring adaptation pits corruption against courage, hate against hope.

Heartbeat is thrilled to continue its work on this Fidelio, updating the libretto for our current moment, deepening the company's commitment to anti-racism in all that they do, collaborating more with their prison choir partners, sharing the production, and sparking important conversations. This tour is Heartbeat's largest and most ambitious venture yet. They have the opportunity to reach thousands of new audience members, including hundreds of young people, in four cities across the country.

QUANDO, ossia Project "0"

In-person screenings w/live performances in NY and Long Beach, April 2022 A co-production with Long Beach Opera The pilot production of NO EVIL Projects

Creative Produced by Derrell Acon Music Directed and Arranged by Daniel Schlosberg In-person screenings with live performances in New York and Long Beach in April 2022 (dates TBC)

Some of the most beautiful and famous music from the operatic canon becomes the landscape for this fierce social satire of sex, activism, and the performance of everyday life. Music from Verdi's operas La Traviata and Don Carlo and Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice are repurposed and refashioned into a 25-minute short film that follows a starry-eyed young couple as their night on the town unravels into a surrealist swirl of decadence, intrigue, and ultimately, vengeful justice.

The short film, a co-production with Long Beach Opera and produced by Heartbeat's newly-appointed Associate Artistic Director Derrell Acon, will be screened as is, and then followed by a second presentation that features live composer-performers actively disrupting and reconstituting the music from the score for a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience. No two performances will be the same, as the ending will change with each iteration of the live performances, and audiences will be challenged to re-examine their perceptions of art and its role in societal transformation.NO EVIL is an initiative meant to create a self-replenishing fund of seed money for new projects in the opera field by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color) creators. Acon is in conversation with OPERA America, the Sphinx Foundation, and other industry colleagues about the full structure of NO EVIL Projects, which has an anticipated launch of 2022.Says Acon: "As Arts Equity Specialist for the OPERA America New Works Forum, I had the opportunity to facilitate all-BIPOC adjudication panels for granting, and was deeply impressed by the nuance of perspective and intentionality centered in those discussions. I am convinced that the financial barriers experienced by marginalized creators in the field require even more attention and action-and, frankly, MONEY!"

THE EXTINCTIONIST

A new one act opera

Music by Daniel Schlosberg

Libretto by

Amanda Quaid

, based on her play

Directed, Conceived, and Developed by

Louisa Proske

Music Directed by Jacob Ashworth

World Premiere Production Coming in Winter 2023

During the 2020-21 season, Heartbeat Opera commissioned its first-ever opera, The Extinctionist, a one-act work that grapples with the catastrophic effects of climate change and one woman's unorthodox choice to sterilize herself to save the planet and become the very first "Extinctionist." The dark comedy turns one woman's body into the battlefield of our political anguish, conflicting desires, and individual responsibility.

This past May, The Exctintionist was featured in The New York Times, which chronicled Heartbeat's longtime commitment to reimagining classic works and its new expansion into commissioning. A semi-staged production of the opera was presented in May 2021 at PS21 in Chatham, New York, and the world premiere is slated for Winter 2023.

[lindortech]

One week left: Apply to Startup Battlefield at Disrupt Berlin 2018 Anyone with even a tangential relationship to the European tech startup scene knows that Startup Battlefield…

[mariacallous]

Germany's domestic intelligence agency has warned that Russian military intelligence has been behind a series of cyber-attacks on Nato and EU countries.

The Bundesverfassungsschutz (BfV) said the attacks were carried out by Russian military intelligence's (GRU) Unit 29155, which has been linked to the poisonings of a former Russian double agent and his daughter in Salisbury in 2018.

The warning comes amid increased fears in Europe of suspected Russian hackers and spies since Russia's war on Ukraine began two years ago.

The BfV said in a social media post on Monday that the attacks involved espionage, sabotage, defacing websites and publishing stolen data.

In its advisory, the agency said targets included critical infrastructure as well as government agencies and companies in the financial, transport, energy and health sectors.

BfV said the primary intention of this group appeared to be to look for and disrupt aid deliveries to Ukraine.

It also warned that unit - also known as Cadet Blizzard or Ember Bear - was behind a series of cyber-attacks on Ukraine in 2022.

It added it was issuing the warning alongside the FBI, the US cybersecurity agency (CISA) and other international partners.

In May, Berlin accused Russia of launching a series of cyber-attacks on its defence and aerospace firms, as well as on the governing Social Democrats.

[diaryofaphilosopher]

My Favourite Movies and Series!

So I decided to make a list of all my favourite movies and series of all time. I’m including the IMDb pitch for each one. 

1. The Secret Garden: Living in India, Mary Lennox (Kate Maberly), a young, privileged girl, is left orphaned when her parents are killed in an earthquake. She is sent back to England where she goes to live on her Uncle Lord Archibald Craven's (John Lynch's) estate. It is a fairly isolated existence and she has to find things to keep herself occupied. She finds sickly young Colin Craven (Heydon Prowse), and a secret garden.

2. Picnic At Hanging Rock (series): Picnic at Hanging Rock will plunge viewers into the mysterious disappearances of three schoolgirls and one teacher on Valentine's Day 1900, taking the audience on a new journey into the revered Australian novel. The complex, interwoven narrative follows the subsequent investigation and the event's far-reaching impact on the students, families and staff of Appleyard College, and on the nearby township.

3. The Beguiled: Three years into the American Civil War, in 1864, the dilapidated mansion of Miss Martha Farnsworth's Seminary for Young Ladies is still running, occupied by the matriarch, a teacher and five students in Spanish moss-draped Virginia. However, when a young student stumbles upon Corporal John McBurney, a wounded Union deserter on the verge of death, the already frail balance of things will be disrupted, as the hesitant headmistress decides to take him in to heal from his injury. Little by little, as the unwelcome guest arouses an uneasy sexual excitation among the women of the secluded boarding school, it is not before long that they will find themselves competing for the alluring man's favour. Undoubtedly, this handsome devil is a manipulator, nevertheless, will the ladies stay forever beguiled by his charm?

Pan’s Labyrinth: In 1944 Falangist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.

The Nightingale: THE NIGHTINGALE is a meditation on the horrors of Australian colonization, set at the turn of the 19th century. The film follows Clare, a 21-year-old native Irish wife and mother held captive beyond her 7-year sentence, desperate to be free of her obsessed master, British lieutenant Hawkins. Clare's husband Aidan intervenes with devastating consequences for all. When British authorities fail to deliver justice, Clare pursues Hawkins, who leaves his post suddenly to secure a captaincy up north. Unfamiliar with the Tasmanian wilderness she enlists the help of an orphaned Aboriginal tracker Billy. Marked by their traumas, the two fight to overcome their distrust and prejudices against the backdrop of Australia's infamous 'Black War'.

Penny Dreadful (original series): Explorer Sir Malcolm Murray, American gunslinger Ethan Chandler, scientist Victor Frankenstein and medium Vanessa Ives unite to combat supernatural threats in Victorian London.

The Woods: In 1965, after provoking a fire in a forest, the rebel teenager Heather Fasulo is sent to the boarding school Falburn Academy in the middle of the woods by her estranged mother Alice Fasulo and her neglected father Joe Fasulo. The dean Ms. Traverse accepts Heather in spite of the bad financial condition of her father. The displaced Heather becomes close friend of he weird Marcy Turner, while they are maltreated by the abusive mate Samantha Wise. During the nights, Heather has nightmares and listens to voices from the woods, and along the days she believes that the school is a coven of witches. When some students, including Marcy, simply vanish, Heather believes she will be the next one.

Suspiria (2018): Susie Bannion is a young American ballerina who travels to Berlin to study dancing at the Markos Tanz Company, one of the world's most renowned schools under Madame Blanc's management. On her very first day, one of the students who had been recently expelled from the school is murdered. As this appalling happening does not seem to be an isolated occurrence, the brilliant new student soon begins to suspect that the school might be involved in the homicide. Her mistrust heightens when Sarah, one of the girls at the school, tells her that Pat, before being killed, confided to her that she knew and guarded a terrifying dark secret.

[swisscgny]

NYCxDesign: Design Days, Highlighting Emerging Swiss Designers

NYCxDesign is a non-profit founded in 2013 focused on unifying New York’s creative capital under one umbrella and drawing significant exposure and opportunities to the City’s design disciplines, people, events, and related industries. As part of their programming, Design Days in May brings together the city’s design community to celebrate accomplishments, share new ideas, and find inspiration.

In honor of Design Days, the Consulate General of Switzerland in New York is highlighting exciting work by emerging Swiss designers. Scroll down for a look at their innovative projects.

Photographed by @flavio.leone

Rafael Kouto is an avant-garde, experimental and conceptual fashion brand with integrity and purpose. He sees couture as an escape from capitalism, investigating the life cycle, disrupting it through upcycling of clothing and other materials. The brand is characterized by a distinctive, visionary aesthetic merging the African and Western culture. Cultivating an uncompromised approach to sustainability, it exclusively uses pre- and post- consumer upcycling to create new clothes and accessories. Rafael Kouto is a brand that aims to move the textile industry forward towards greater impact in environmental sustainability, increase access to high quality, creative and affordable fashion that stands out from the mass market offer and that hits the zeitgeist.

(Left) © Inge Clemente; (right) photo by Baptiste Coulon

The work of Geneva-based Argentine designer Joséphina Munoz, takes a macro perspective to the world of contemporary design and the influential sometimes seemingly distant factors that determine the industry’s course. Nominated for Swiss Design Awards 2019, Winner of the Art & Design Indosuez Award 2019 of the Art and Crafts Switzerland Association, she participated in exhibitions around the world, including the Milan Design Week (2016, 2017, 2018) and “De Mains de Maîtres” in Luxembourg (2017). With her creations, she aspires to give the opportunity for the viewer to live a moment of serenity. As a designer, she seeks to inspire, inform and provide a voice to artistic professions such as ceramic, stone and glass, among others. After starting her own studio in 2016, she is perpetually seeking out new experiences and collaborations around the world.

Lamps by Panter&Tourron

Panter & Tourron explore the intersections of design, technology, and society through the creation of product and visual experiences. Driven by material investigation and technical innovation we challenge the contemporary codes of objects and images. They collaborate with brands and partners offering expertise on commercial works and research across product and spatial design, creative direction, and consultancy.

Photo by @yvyleather

YVY is a line of versatile leather accessories and classic clothing, founded by Yvonne Reichmuth creating seasonal-independent designs where traditional craftsmanship meets innovation. All collections are handmade from the finest Italian leather and prove how seductive sustainability can be, while also blurring the lines of traditional accessories and clothing. YVY’s work has been featured in editorials including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, GQ, and L’Officiel. Yvonne’s designs have garnered her the Design Prize Switzerland for Young Fashion Entrepreneurs, the Premium Young Talent Award; as well as invitations for exhibitions and shows in Paris, Milan, Beijing, Berlin and Dubai. Her designs have been worn by the likes of Billie Eilish, Cardi B, Taylor Swift, and Monica Bellucci, among numerous other celebrities.

(Left) Instant window, in collaboration with Wendelin Federer and Heinrich Nolte, photo by Reto Togni; (right) all-new, user experience to manual wheelchair, photo by Reto Togni

Mundane, everyday things have the capacity to shape, in fact, change who people are, what they do, how they view the world and are viewed by others. As a developer of such everyday objects, Reto Togi disentangle these relationships, analyses their components, prototype interventions, and design new practices. He was trained at Zurich University of the Arts, graduated from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London and is now pursuing a PhD at ETH Zurich where he is working full-time on the in collaboration with Invacare International GmbH. He hopes to start seeing steering wheelchairs on the market in the future.

Photo by @Superposition

Superposition provides cutting-edge motion control services for the Swiss and European film industry. It is an offshoot of award-winning creative robotics studio AATB GmbH founded in 2018 by Andrea Anner and Thibault Brevet. With extensive knowledge and expertise in motion control systems, software programming, electronics, and mechanical engineering, Superposition is able to provide highly specialized solutions to unique Motion Control and Visual Engineering problems. They have gained international recognition through our robotic artworks, and built up a strong technical expertise in customizing robotics and automation platforms for creative applications.