Munich River Surfing

1 July 2009

In Munich last Saturday, as I was riding my bike in the center of town, I noticed a small gathering on the side of the road, looking down over a ledge at something below… I had seen images and videos of the local river surfers, so it wasn’t a total surprise to lean over and see a bunch of people taking turns surfing on a static wave. But it still looked pretty impressive and highly unusual. Next time I’ll give it a try.

Fantom magazine launch

30 June 2009

I was in Milan last week and attended the launch of a new photographic quartely, Fantom.

Edited by Cay Sophie Rabinowitz and Selva Barni (the wife of Massimo Torrigiani, the dashing, charming and highly intelligent ex-editor of Rodeo Magazine, who is now working with us on the launch of Intersection Italia) . I love the name – Fantom just sounds and looks good – and the contents aren’t bad either. I especially adored a series by Ramak Fazel of people taking shelter in the Smithsonian Freer Gallery before Obama’s inauguration in DC, totally oblivious to the art around them… check it here. Marco Velardi’s agency, SM, did the Art Direction of the mag, just to keep it in the Arkitip family!

Here is the magazine’s cover, at the launch party in Skitsch:

City-hopping Pt.2

24 June 2009

As usual when flying into Milan, I did it all by bike, riding to and from the airports.

Linate is the only airport where I can get a view and a shot of my bicycle going through the X-ray machine – always looks cool (note the different bike from my previous scan…)

Hogan x TatsCru

24 June 2009

Last Saturday I was in Milan (again..) and passed by the Hogan Art Tribe event, where they had NYC-based graffiti crew TatsCru present, drawing live on some simple white shoes.

I used to paint graffiti in the late 80’s and early 90’s, but grew a bit bored of the repetitiveness of this art form. Once in a while I’ll see a nice new technique or style that will excite me, but it’s pretty rare. I wasn’t a fan of all the shoes on display, but a couple caught my eye:

Rankin’s Wedding (+Lyle Waddell!)

22 June 2009

When I moved to London 9 years ago to start Intersection Magazine, my original business partners were Dan Ross and Rankin Waddell. We still share offices with Dazed & Confused, and have kept close ties with Rankin. Last week he got married to Tuuli Shipster, and the wedding was a really special moment. One of the highlights for me (and for everyone else I’m sure) was the singing performance of Rankin’s son, Lyle. He’s only 13, but make sure you remember his name. His stage presence, his voice, his mastering of the guitar, all pointed to a future star…

Bicycle Film Festival Trailer ‘09

22 June 2009

My close friend Brendt Barbur is one of the most dedicated men I know. Hard-working, uncompromising, enthusiastic, generous, and a pretty damn fast bike rider as well. For the past 9 years he has been running the Bicycle Film Festival, starting with one event per year in NYC, now in almost 40 cities around the world. A few months ago he showed me preliminary drawings for this year’s festival’s identity, which I loved. The final result is just great, and the trailer, directed by Marco Mucig, just makes you want to ride and smile.

Make sure to check the festival when it comes near you (and the Intersection-produced movie, One Less Horse, by Benjamin Seroussi).

ComePlayPolo Tshirts

16 June 2009

London probably has the biggest and most active Hardcourt Bike Polo community in the world, and amongst our ranks you’ll find film directors, accountants, messengers, photographers, estate agents, and of course… graphic designers. Joel Priestland is a talented one, and came up with this nice t-shirt:

Intersection Magazine “Don’t try this at Home” #29

15 June 2009

Ever since we launched Intersection, we’ve done a silly stunt per issue, printed as a sequence on the final page of the magazine. Most of them were done by my anonymous stunt double. We’re now gathering them all under the same format, and I’m going to gradually upload them here.

Here is the one from the latest issue.

Self remote-controlled biking.
1. Get yourself a gas-powered RC car, capable of hitting 60mph. Tie a string to its back.
2. Attach the other end of the string to the front of your bike. We suggest a 24′ cruiser BMX, low and solid.
3. Start the car, then hop on the bike, somehow managing to hold the remote in your hands.
4. Control the speed with the throttle, steer the bike and the car at the same time, using your fingers and elbows.
5. Gather way too much speed.
6. Lose control, crash
7. Get kicked out of the park by rangers

Car: Baja 5T from HPI
Bike: DC x SE Bikes Quadrangle
Camera: Oliver Engelhart
Stuntman: Georgie Madoff Jr.
Suit: Duffer of St. George
Shoes: Eley Kishimoto

Hogan Yamaha SR400

9 June 2009

I was in Milan yesterday and passed by the massive Hogan HQ. On display on the first floor was this nice and tasteful Yamaha SR400 customized a few years ago by Ramdane. Nice exhaust pipe. This was for a bike exhibition he curated, which also included my very own Honda Cub 50 (RIP), made to look like some kind of Hindu worshiping bike…

Venice Biennale 2009

7 June 2009

Just back from a few days in Venice. Didn’t take enough pics – need a proper camera!

I work for an art gallery in Paris, Kamel Mennour, and they rented a Palazzo for a few days to entertain guests, since one of their artists, Claude Lévêque, was doing the French Pavilion. Nice place we had there:

and the view:

The Australian Pavilion had Shaun Gladwell, who put quite a few clichés from his country on display: Kangaroos, surfing, dry deserts, and Mad Max-looking cars:

A “Russian” “submarine” by Alexander Ponomarev:

But my highlight of the trip is the absolutely mind-blowingly perfect and clever New Zealand Pavilion logo:

Even more clever than the Roman Ondák’s Czech pavillion, which was already quite well-thought and executed.