Belgium Living at Mum`s Lifestyle Asleep on the Job Fashion

volume 02 — issue 01
Neighbourhood Life + Global Style
Do not throw on the public domain.
Belgium Living at Mum’s Lifestyle Asleep on the Job Fashion Wasted Days
Design Sleep Keepers Culture Motel Coma + The Car Special
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Brillant Black Edition – Box Calf, Glazed finish calf with square markings – 50 examples
EDITOR’S LETTER
THE FIRSTS
The Word Magazine Is
Nicholas Lewis
The issue you are holding in your hands is a call to arms of sorts, a frustrated
battle cry which spells GET UP STAND UP from the get-go.
Advertising
Benoît Berben
Indeed, growing increasingly frustrated at the standardised editorials being
pushed onto readers the world over around this period of time (cover headlines
that read ‘10 tips on how to uphold your new year’s resolutions’ or, my personal
favourite, ‘how to live off salad’) we thought it necessary to refresh preconceived
blueprints and add our very own take on a post-New Year issue.
Editor-at-large
Hettie Judah
Materialising in our Lazy Issue. Its overriding tone ? Sit back, relax, look around
you and breathe. Relish doing nothing. Celebrate hours of idleness. It’s ok if
you’re slightly overweight. Fat is good. Make mistakes. Don’t be perfect. Leave
it ‘til tomorrow, procrastinating simply is too rewarding. Get to know your bed
inside out. Take a minute. No wait, take two.
Design
Delphine Dupont
+ pleaseletmedesign
Photography/Illustration
Geneviève Balasse
Jean-Baptiste Biche
Ulrike Biets
Sarah Eechaut
Opération Panda
Rafael Ricoy
Yassin Serghini
Gaëlle Sutour
This isn’t to say we haven’t worked our arses off in bringing you our sleep-inducing
issue. Firstly, as you’ll quickly notice, it comes with a new-and-improved layout
and cover design, courtesy of our in-house taste makers. Secondly, it also includes
the first instalment of a new section : The Specials - which will focus on one
specific industry in each issue. For the Lazy Issue, we chose Cars.
The rest of the issue saw us, among other things, checking into a sleep clinic,
discussing the double-edged sword that is advancements in internet technologies,
planning for the long sleep with outrageously exquisite urns and berating the
boredom of all-in-one, packaged holidays.
Writers
Hettie Judah
Nicholas Lewis
Karen Van Godtsenhoven
Jacques Moyersoen
Randa Wazen
So there you have it. Enjoy the Lazy Issue, but don’t put too much effort into
doing so.
From the depth of my bed, underneath the warmth of my duvet, head plunged
into my pillow, I trust you’ll have a good start to the year and hope you’ll enjoy
this feathered issue of ours…
Thank you's:
Mélisande McBurnie
Big-Game
Muriel Bleus
Zzz, zzz and more zzz,
Nicholas Lewis
For Subscriptions (6 issues)
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One last word : Sarah, Delphine, Pierre, Eléonore, Damien, Benoît, Hettie,
Geraldine, Mario, Mélisande, Yassin, Alex, Randa, Karen, Genevieve, Ulrike,
Jean-Biche, Seb, Séverine, this fi rst anniversary issue is for you and you only.
Thank you for this fi rst year. 2009 will be ours even more so than 2008 was.
For Syndication
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All information is correct up to the time of going to press. The publishers cannot be held liable for any changes in this respect after this date.
7
8
THE LAZY ISSUE
CONTENTS PAGE
01. The Firsts
Cover
Ad
Ad
Ad
Editor's Letter
Contents Page
Ad
Contributors
Ad
The Diary
The Diary
The Diary
The Diary
The Diary
The Diary
Ad
04. Fashion
The Lazy Issue
Armani
Swatch
Delvaux
Volume 2 – N° o1
You're Looking at It
Superdry
It's A Word's World
Magritte Museum
Post-its
Belgium
Belgium & UK
UK
UK & France
France
Affordable Art Fair
p01
p02
p04
p06
p07
p08
p09
p10
p11
p12
p13
p15
p16
p17
p18
p19
Title Page
Meet Tanguy
All But Exclusive
KVS
The All-Inclusive Sofa Day
Very Important Form to Complete
Lazy Eyes
Sunday-Lazy Belgium
Mister Golden Key
p20
p21
p22
p23
p24
p25
p26
p30
p32
Tracksuits
The Usual Suspects
Aspria
Bean Counters Count Sheep
Frey Wille
Web 3.0…
p34
p36
p39
p40
p43
p44
03. Lifestyle
Three of the Best
The Showstoppers
Ad
The Business
Ad
How Lazy You Are…
Living on Empty
p48
05. The Car Special
Ad
Cover
Putting it to the Test
Ad
The Politics of …
The Teaching
Design
Design
The Word On
The Showstoppers
Peugeot
The Car Special
Driving Miss Daisy
Café Modèle
I'm Not Anti Cars…
Racing to Nowhere
Cross-Town Traffic
Supa-Dupa-Ficial
Francorchamps
Fast and Furious
p56
p57
p58
p61
p62
p63
p64
p65
p66
p68
Laid to Rest
Amnesty
p70
p75
Easy Reading
The Claimers
Girlfriend, I'm in a TV Coma
I Can't be Bothered
Colophon
What We're Listening to
p76
p78
p80
p86
p91
p92
The Word
and Others We Love
Tamarind Foods
Round up
The Cinematic Issue
Baume & Mercier
La Veuve Cliquot
p93
p94
p95
p96
p98
p99
p100
06. Design
02. Belgium
The Lazy Papers
The Lazy Papers
The Lazy Papers
Ad
As Seen by Gaëlle
Time Waster
The Word On
The Photo Album
The Institution
Feature
Objects
Ad
07. Culture
Shelf Absorbed
Pencil Perfect
Eye Opener
TW on the Street
Ad
Playlists
08. The Lasts
Ad
Stockists…
Ad
Advertisers'
What's Next
Ad
Ad
Our Inspiration
The Big Lebowski, Homer Simpson’s Ass Crack, My Own Private Idaho, Tumble Weeds,
Watching BBC World all day, Marlon Brando in his last days and Stubbles
www.superdry.be
10
THE GOOD-FOR-NOTHING ISSUE
It’s a
Word’s
World
CONTRIBUTORS
El Neoray
Rafael Ricoy
Illustrator
¤
Illustrator
¤
A discovery of Melisande's,
El Neoray's simple-minded
illustrations more than fi lled the
brief when it came to our Car
Special's fl ip book. Based out of
Antwerp, Mr El Neoray's light
pencil touch and subtle humour
was exactly the kind of illustrative brilliance we were after to
create our Pimp-my-Ride-influenced page-by-page sequence.
We instantly fell for Rafael's
canny illustrative style when he
emailed us about two months
ago. An illustrator based in
Spain, he has several commissions for the country's El Pais
newspaper under his belt, as well
as numerous other editorials.
For our Lazy Issue, we asked
him to illustrate the schizophrenic world of Web 3.0.
—
—
Pages n° 53, 55, 57, 59,
Pages n° 44, 45
61, 63, 65, 67, 69, 71, 73
Collette Hutchinson
Writer
¤
Collette and The Word go way
back, and it was only a matter of
time before her name reappeared
on your illustrious magazine's
pages. A freelance writer based
out of London, she's our trusted
correspondent for all happenings
on the city's cultural circuit. For
this issue, she delves into our
Diary to bring you the best exhibitions the city has on offer.
—
Pages n° 16, 17
Andrea Lenon
Photographer
¤
Our newly-found fashion director Eleonore had been mentioning Andrea's work for quite a
while now, and our Lazy Issue
seemed like the perfect time to
bring her in. An Irish fashion
photographer living in Brussels, Andrea has shot for Vogue
Bambino amongst many others.
For this issue, we asked her to
apply her feminine, slightly
rock and roll-ish, touch to our
Fashion pages.
—
Page n° 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55
opening: June 2009
Rue de la Régence 3 — 1000 Brussels
www.musee-magritte-museum.be
open: Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
nocturne: Wednesday until 8 p.m.
closed: Mondays, January 1, 2nd Thursday of January, May 1,
November 1 and 11, December 25
entrance fee: 8 | 5 | 2 €
Royal Museums
of Fine Arts
of Belgium
For the use of L’Empire des Lumières, 1954 © Charly HERSCOVICI, with his kind authorization – c/o SABAM-ADAGP, 2008
For the decorative tarpaulin: © GDF SUEZ
12
THE NODDING OFF ISSUE
THE DIARY
THE FIRSTS
13
The Next Few Weeks’
Agenda Fillers
Belgium ( 01 ¤ 10 )
Toygiants
À Until 4th February 2009
☞ Young Gallery, Brussels
www.younggalleryphoto.com
02.
Public
Works
Ottmar Hörl is a
¤
public figure. First you had the
5000 garden gnomes on Munich's
Max-Joseph place, then the 7000
hares disseminated on 2500
square meters in Nuremberg,
the thousands of red and white
bears dropped around Berlin and
finally, the thousands of owls exhibited during Athens' Olympics.
The exhibition at Jonas Gallery
brings together a little piece of
each and every installation to
date, allowing viewers to see the
miniature sculptures featured in
these public installations. One
piece of work will, however, be on
show for the first time in Belgium.
Entitled "Landmines, Broken
Wings", it depicts a landmineridden field under the watchful
eye of a troupe of black guardian
angels.
Multiple Choice – Ottmar Hörl
À Until 14th February 2009
☞ Jonas Gallery, Brussels
www.jonasgallery.com
Patterson's work,
¤
greatly influenced by his
mother's heroin addiction and
his subsequent adoption by
an African-American family,
is imbued with tales of struggle. Politically-charged with
an undercurrent of pessimistic
observance, his drawings either
depict small groups of activists of all types or larger-scale
productions of intertwined
cultural and political worlds.
Underlined by a heavy dose
of symbolism, no civil rights
injustice is left unturned under
the fi rst-hand and unremitting
zeal of this art militant.
01.
© Daniel & Geo Fuchs
Art
as Artillery
02.
Michael Patterson – Carver
À Until end of February 2009
☞ Sorry We're Closed, Brussels
www.sorrywereclosed.com
04.
Mirror
Mirror
After a series of
¤
outstanding presentations at
various Biennales and other art
fairs, Mark Manders' work has
come full circle, with the artist's
ability to translate his emotional
being through autobiographical sculptures now a distinctive
imprint on the international
sculptural scene. His knack for
occupying spaces through installations with an undertone of intimate nakedness often sucks the
viewer into the body of work,
enveloping him in Manders'
symbolically-charged world.
The exhibition at S.M.A.K, presenting specially-created pieces
as well as others from 1990 to
2007, gives a full-rounded view
of Manders as he stands today.
03.
The Absence of Mark Manders
À Until 22nd February 2009
☞ S.M.A.K, Ghent
04.
© Werner Schenermann
They've touched
¤
every inch of popular culture,
having defined the aesthetic of
several past decades and being
forever immortalised in countless TV series and Hollywood
remakes. Yet, to the slight exception of some Japanese-leaning
product designers, they've
somehow been left out by the
art world. With their new body
of work, Daniel and Geo Fuchs
rectify the shot, with full-blown
prints of plastic toys presented
in three sections : portraits, productions and setting up. Including plasticized Manga superstars,
Tinseltown bad boys and even an
outgoing US president, the exhibition provides pure eye candy,
albeit with a slight populist tone.
03.
©Philippe D.
Go
Figure
www.smak.be
© Dirk Pauwels
01.
14
THE LAZY 143 ISSUE
05.
05.
And Justice
For All
© Yves Krieff
With established
¤
outposts in New York, London,
Paris, Amsterdam and even
Melbourne, the Affordable Art
Fair (fi nally) reaches Brussels.
Bringing to town a heady mix
of contemporary art galleries,
the fair operates on a simple yet
refreshing principle : to peddle
art in between the € 1,000 and
€ 5,000 price range, allowing
buyers to walk out with their
purchases instantly. With its international counterparts achieving near sell-out status, sights are
set high for the fair's fi rst time in
Brussels. The art market being
in a quasi-state of paralysis, we
can only welcome this slightly
more inclusive initiative.
© Julien-Pierre Buse & Anna Michalska
06.
Affordable Art Fair
À From 12th until 15th
February 2009
☞ Tour & Taxis (Shed 1),
Brussels
07.
Modern
Meaning
Part of the Brus¤
sels Biennial Off-Program, the
exhibition at CCNOA explores
the multifaceted meaning of
modernism, drawing on the
works of artists who have made
it their prerogative to go back
to basics in order to reinvent,
revisit and remodel. Divided in
two parts, part one focuses on
conceptual artists influenced
by their contemporaries, whilst
part two presents artists who
have purposefully moved away
from prevailing modernist
beliefs. Playful yet loaded with
artistic heritage, the work on
display provides a welcome look
at both sides of the story.
Yo, Mo' Modernism…
À Until 2nd February 2009
☞ Center for Contemporary
Non-Objective Art, Brussels
www.ccnoa.org
www.affordableartfair.be
08.
06.
Grow
Together
Eleven artists
coming from all walks of life
come together during the month
of February to showcase their
ephemeral collaborative work.
Comprising everything from
installation artists, sculptors
and painters, the collective-of-amonth unites around the looselyfitted theme Exponential. With
office favourites Jordi Dolinckx
and Anna Michalska also exhibiting, the showcase, held in Brussels' historically-charged Tour &
Taxi, promises to be a (sometimes
brutally) contrasting affair.
¤
© CCNOA
07.
08.
© Hannes Vanseveren
THE DIARY
Winking
Man
Bridging the gap
¤
between reality and the imaginary, Hannes Vanseveren's work
is characterised by an acute
sense of his surroundings and
his ability to infuse it with his
reinterpretation of everyday
items — from the chest of draws
to the bathroom sink. One
thing you can count on : his
often furniture-based work will
always keep you grinning. Be it
his sideways-severed cupboard
or his bench which somehow
seems welded into its environment, his work oddly never
feels out of place – though it
defi nitely should.
EXPOnentiel
À From 6th until 28 th
February 2009
☞ Tour & Taxis, Brussels
Hannes Vanseveren
À From 11th January 2009
☞ Hoet Bekaert, Ghent
www.tourtaxis.be
www.iets.be
THE NEXT FEW WEEKS' AGENDA FILLERS
THE FIRSTS
15
United Kingdom ( 11 ¤ 18 )
Show Me
Leiter
Although his
¤
initial intention upon arriving
in New York in the 1940s had
been to become a painter, Saul
Leiter, to whom the exhibition
at Antwerp's Gallery Fifty One
is devoted, blossomed into
an internationally-renowned
photographer. Famed for his
ability to capture those "nowyou-see-me-now-you-don't" moments, his poetic prints of urban
happenings exude contradictory
senses of urgency and calm. The
second exhibition of his work put
up by the gallery, this one will
include his colour as well as his
black & white work. Essential.
Saul Leiter
À From 30 th January 2009
until 14th March 2009
☞ Fifty One Fine Art
Photography, Antwerp
09.
11.
Through
the Window
Considered one of
¤
the most promising of the new
generation of New York artists
– together with Rian McGinley
and Dash Snow – it is fair to say
Dan Colen lives, rather than
makes, art. His work is a reflection of his generation's rapidfi re ethics, an analysis of his
surrounding environment's state.
The exhibition at London's Gagosian gallery is his fi rst in the
UK, and is presented in three
sequences, each showing a different facet of the artist's world.
Meaningful yet not intellectual,
referential yet not historical,
his paintings, photographs and
thought-fi lled notebooks are
elegant and magical.
© Saul Leiter
09.
10.
Dan Colen - An Allegory
of Faith…
À Until 7 th February 2009
☞ Gagosian Gallery, London
www.gallery51.com
It's a
Set Up
Erna Hecey's exhibition of Belgian photographer
Laurie Simmons's work focuses
for the most part on that for
which she is most renowned, In
and Around the House. Visionary when fi rst conceptualized in
the late 1970s, it reflected upon
prevailing stereotypes, whilst
also drawing upon her own
personal memories. Unashamedly feminine, her photographs
reveal a dreamy world of prearranged fi xtures and fittings, set
against a dissembled backdrop
of dollhouses. Sometimes puerile, the prints offer an unadultured look into a seminal figure's
very intimate aesthetic.
¤
12.
11.
© Dan Colen
10.
© Laurie Simmons
www.gagosian.com
12.
Testing the Beauty
of Chance
André Tomkins was
¤
a man difficult to pin down, his
work eschewing any conventional defi nition of art as we know
it. The Swiss artist, reputed for
his relentless innovative nature,
produced a near-magical body
of work – "Lackskins" - over
the course of his 30 year career.
The works of art –lacquered
layers of paint meticulously
dripped onto the surface of
water – are used as sensuous,
free-flowing canvases. The
technique, discovered in the mid
1950s, reveals the artist's fullblown trust in the unpredictability of chance. And he makes
good use of it.
André Tomkins
À Until 28 th February 200
☞ Hauser & Wirth, London
www.ernahecey.com
www.hauserwirth.com
© André Tomkins
Laurie Simmons
In and Around the House
À Until 14th February 2009
☞ Gallery Erna Hecey, Brussels
16
THE SLACKERS ISSUE
© Uzifake Zatshon Iinzipho
13.
14.
THE DIARY
13.
Textured
Wizardry
For those who love
¤
textiles, colours and textures this
show is a must. African artist
Nicholas Hlobo's unique style of
stitching and weaving together
materials such as ribbon, rubber
and leather to create tactile artworks fuses feminine techniques
with more ‘masculine' materials. Linking the masculine with
the feminine in this way, he
challenges gender divisions,
breaking down boundaries and
bringing the two together. A life
spent in post-Apartheid South
Africa can be felt throughout
Hlobo's works, not only defi ning himself but also conveying
the hardships of his homeland
and hopefully sparking social
discussion. (CH)
© Terry Cryer
Nicholas Hlobo - Uhambo
À Until 1st March 2009
☞ Tate Modern, London
15.
Back
in the Days
Surveying 1,000
¤
years of history and incorporating over 300 objects taken from
collections across Europe, the
USA, Russia, Ukraine and Egypt
(some never displayed in public
before) this exhibition explores
the long and intriguing history
of Byzantine art documenting
the patrons and artists of the
time, the world they inhabited,
the art they created and the intellectual, emotional and spiritual
energies and thoughts of the
time. Although the art they produced is visually and materially
restrained, it is the product of
passionate beliefs and emotions, and in no better way is this
displayed than here. (CH)
Byzantium 330-1453
À Until 22nd March 2009
☞ Royal Academy, London
www.royalacademy.org.uk
www.tate.org.uk
16.
14.
15.
Feeling
Blue
With images of BB
King and Ella Fitzgerald, this
exhibition documents a part of
musical history as important
today as it was then. With roots
in the field hollers and work
songs of slavery, blues evolved
into a music still central to the
identity of African Americans
today. Includes iconic images
by the very best Blues photographers including Herb Snitzer
and Terry Cryer. (CH)
© ProcuratoriadiSanMarcoCameraphoto
¤
The Blues Anthology
À Until 1st February 2009
☞ Proud Camden, London
www.proud.co.uk
16.
In-Betweeners
The Work
of a Master
This exhibition
¤
showcases the work of fashion
designer Hussein Chalayan,
currently Creative Director of
PUMA. Well known for his
groundbreaking use of materials, technology and innovative
patterns, Chalayan deserves continued recognition for his creativity and experimental approach
to fashion design. Using it as a
medium to explore themes such
as cultural identity and migration, he challenges what clothing
means rather than viewing it
simply as something to be worn.
With elements of architecture,
science and more, Chalayan's
work is unique, continually looking to the future. This show is a
definite ‘must-see'. (CH)
© Chris Moore
Hussein Chalayan
The Mighty Underdogs
18th February 2009 at Jazz Café,
London – new hip hop supergroup The Mighty Underdogs,
consisting of The Gift of Gab and
Latheef the Truth Speaker, descend upon London’s Jazz Café
for a night of witty lyrical wizardry
and funk-fuelled beats.
À From 22nd January
until 17 th May 2009
☞ Design Museum, London
www.designmuseum.org
THE NEXT FEW WEEKS' AGENDA FILLERS
THE FIRSTS
( 19 ¤ 21 )
France
Architectural
Grandeur
Organised in col¤
laboration with the RIBA and
with the Centro Internazionale
di Studi di Architettura Andrea
Palladio in Vincenza, this
exciting exhibition celebrates
the quincentenary of the famous
architect's birth. Undeniably
one of the most innovative Italian architects ever to have lived,
Palladio's work is justly highlighted here through the skillful
use of large-scale models,
computer animations, original
drawings, books and paintings.
The show covers the full range
of his magnificent professional
output and makes clear why
his name is still so important in
any discussion on the history of
architecture today. (CH)
17.
19.
City
of Lights
Photographer Rob¤
ert Frank needs no introduction. Responsible for some of
the most seminal and perioddefining work in photography,
he single-handedly paired
photography and story-telling
together, his prints often
exuding an unmistakable urban
poetic essence. Although he
is most famous for his groundbreaking book The Americans,
it is his snapshots of Paris which
are on show at the Jeu de Paume.
Something of a chronicler of
street spectacle, he managed to
capture the city's liberating undertone, immortalising its many
components with a distinctive
motion-like stance, one which
convened a strong sense of
urgency to his photographs.
© Alberto Carolo
17.
17
18.
Andrea Palladio:
His Life and Legacy
À From 31st January
until 13th April 2009
☞ Royal Academy, London
Robert Frank, a Foreign Look
À From 20 th January
until 22nd March 2009
☞ Jeu de Paumes, Paris
www.royalacademy.org.uk
www.jeudepaume.org
Taylor Wessing
Photographic Portrait Prize
À Until 15th February 2009
☞ National Portrait Gallery,
London
www.npg.org.uk
19.
© Robert Frank
Annually showcas¤
ing the work of some of today's
most talented emerging young
photographers, The Taylor
Wessing Photographic Portrait
Prize attracts thousands of
entries, resulting in the submission of over six thousand images.
From these, sixty works are chosen, including the four winners
and the winner of the Godfrey
Argent Award – this year awarded for the best portrait in black
and white. The diverse mix of
international entrants produced
a collection of photographs that
examine a wide spectrum of
themes, styles and techniques,
resulting in some breathtaking
and revealing images, many as
yet unpublished. (CH)
20.
20.
Master
of Fluidity
Creator and innova¤
tor Ron Arad is a man of many
talents. Of Jewish origin, he
today lives in London where,
in addition to teaching at the
Royal Academy of Arts, he
has initiated a storm of designpurist controversies with such
breakthrough designs as the
Bookworm Shelf and his RAD
chair. A multi-disciplinary
artist, he refuses to be boggeddown by pre-defi ned categories,
preferring instead to try his
hand at everything from design
and architecture to visual arts.
His fi rst major one-man show
in France, the exhibition brings
together strong examples of his
work as a designer, as well as
more conceptual architectural
projects.
Ron Arad, No Discipline
À Until 16th March 2009
☞ Centre Pompidou, Paris
© Ron Arad
Awarding
Zeal
© Murray
18.
www.centrepompidou.fr
18
THE SWEET DREAMS ISSUE
21.
Opposing
Views
Paris' Fondation
Cartier asks two contemporary
luminaries to face each other in
an open-ended, visual confrontation exploring the meaning
of nativity, and human beings'
relationship with it. Inviting
cinematographer and photographer Raymond Depardon and
urbanite and philosopher Paul
Virilio to explore these issues,
the exhibition presents a forceful
discussion on what links people
to their earth, what importance
their native rootings have on their
lives and the consequences of
displacement. The Fondation's
main room being taken over by a
gigantic map charting migration
trends and their causes, modernday urban exile is put to the fore
in a visual feast of thought-provoking issues.
THE DIARY
21.
Concerts Pick
¤
Native Land, Stop Eject
À Until 15 th March 2009
☞ Fondation Cartier, Paris
www.fondation.cartier.com
¤ Antipop Consortium
on 29 th January 2009
@ L'Ancienne Belgique,
Brussels
© Raymond Depardon
¤ Of Montreal
on 22nd January 2009
@ Botanique
¤ Sebastien Tellier
on 11th February 2009
@ L'Ancienne Belgique,
Brussels
In-Betweeners
The Paris Metro
seen by Akemi Noguchi
Until 1st February 2009 at Musée
Carnavalet – Japanese photographer Akemi Noguchi entertains
a sometimes unhealthy, although
always sublime, relationship with
Paris’ Metro, an obsession on show
at this exhibition not to be missed.
¤ Nostalgia 77
on 13th February 2009
@ L'Ancienne Belgique,
Brussels
¤ Giles Peterson
on 13th February 2009
@ Het Depot, Leuven
¤ Seasick Steve
on 17th February 2009
@ L'Ancienne Belgique,
Brussels
What We're Giving Away
Two pairs of tickets to the following concerts
th
¤ Sebastien Tellier at L' Ancienne Belgique, Brussels on 11 February 2009.
th
¤ Giles Peterson at Het Depot, Leuven on 13 February 2009.
th
¤ Seasick Steve at L' Ancienne Belgique, Brussels on 17 February 2009.
¤ The Now_Series (Soldout, MVSC and Casiokids)
at L' Ancienne Belgique on 19th February 2009.
2 for 1 Ticket
To get one free ticket when you buy
one (E12 saved), register at
www.affordableartfair.be
Affordable Art Fair Brussels
12 - 15 February 2009
Tour & Taxis
What you need to do.
Send an email to [email protected], specifying which concert you wish to go to in the subject line.
The first readers to do so will each win a pair of tickets to the concert of their choice.
Conditions.
Until tickets last. Applies to Belgium only. Normal conditions apply.
Contemporary art
is contagious
Following success in London, New York, Sydney, Melbourne, Amsterdam and
Paris, the AAF is coming to Brussels! A selection of 65 local and international
galleries will represent over 300 known and emerging artists, with all artworks
priced under `5000.
AAF is the fab, funky fair where visitors can look at, love and leave with
contemporary art.
Public opening hours
12-15/02 : 11am - 7pm
Ticket
12` (free under 18)
Affordable Art Fair Brussels
Contemporary art under E5000 - 65 Galleries
12-15 February 2009
Tour & Taxis - Brussels
www.affordableartfair.be
20
THE COUCH POTATO ISSUE
THE LAZY PAPERS
— Not that we're about to give you a how-to-guide of donothingness but this month's papers do have a certain sense
of sit back, relax and let others do it for you. We check in
with a mothered 30 year old, whilst we wash our hands of
the responsibility that is planning our own holidays – at the
risk of ending up in a hotel room with no window.
Writer Randa Wazen
BELGIUM
21
a parasite. In one word, he is simply not normal. But what exactly is he ? According to a
recent study commissioned by P&V, Knack,
Le Vif / L'express, RTBF and conducted by
the TOR study group of the VUB, a "normal" person graduates around 22, moves in
with a partner by 24, gets married around 26
and usually has the fi rst baby on the way that
same year, before investing in a house at 27.
Yet about 36% of young adults in Belgium still
live with their parents. Even though that figure drops in the capital (17%), it rises in Wallonia (31%) and peaks in Flanders (40%).
Jean-Marc is a self-proclaimed Tanguy.
Until recently this thirty year old half-Italian
half-Belgian, who lives with his mother in
Brussels, never truly considered leaving the
family nest. "All I can see are the benefi ts. I
know that when I go home it's a place of quiet
where I can relax and where I am taken care
of. Why leave it ?" So he used his freedom to
try out various jobs and engage in different
projects. But none of them quite fitted. The
same goes for girls, his relationships all being
short lived. "I've gotten so used to my mother's
unconditional love that it makes it very difficult for other girls to compete. I feel like it will
be impossible for me to find the perfect person.
Unless maybe she's Italian…" he jokes.
But anti-conformism and Oedipus complexes aside, there is a far harsher reality that
explains and justifies this growing breed of
twixters: an economy that has been sinking
since the seventies and, by the look of the
current situation, leaves only grim perspectives for what is to come. The future of young
adults is more uncertain than ever, unemployment rates keep on rising and so does the cost
of life. One would actually have to be mad to
relinquish the comfort of your parents' home
unless they were forced to in one way or another. Which is exactly how Jean-Marc felt.
"I was never able to run or fi ght for something
just because society dictated me to do so".
Add to that a generalized identity crisis and
the omnipresent idea hammered by our modern culture that life stops once you hit the big
thirty, and you've almost got us packing our
bags to settle in Jean-Marc's haven of peace
and security !
But then again, seeing all his friends move
on with their lives, reaping the benefits of
all their hard labour, got him thinking. "I'm
thirty years old now. It's a turning point in a
man's life. I have to stop fi nding excuses for
myself. So yeah, it's defi nitely time I moved
on…" (RW)
© Geneviève Balasse
MEET TANGUY
Meet Tanguy
Have you met Tanguy ? Of course you have
– you know, he's in his late twenties, graduated from college, has a job… but chooses to
still live with his parents. While in French
speaking countries these post-adolescents or
"kidults" are referred to as Tanguys, after the
movie by Etienne Chatiliez, they are known
as Twixters in America, Nesthockers in Germany, Boomerang kids in Canada, and even
Mammoni in Italy. This phenomenon has always existed in certain cultures, mainly Asian
and Mediterranean ones, where it seems
to be culturally engrained. Yet the Tanguy
syndrome has suddenly boomed in Western
civilization a few decades ago and people just
can't seem to stop loathing and poking fun at
these modern day Peter Pans.
And why shouldn't they ? Tanguy lives a
pretty neat life : he never has to worry about
paying the rent, the mortgage, or about trivial
details such as cleaning, cooking and doing
the laundry. In a way, he enjoys the freedom
we all long for, but lives in a situation widely
despised. He is considered at best as an endearing yet pathetic mommy's boy, at worst as
THE SLOUCHING ISSUE
THE LAZY PAPERS
© Sarah Eechaut
22
All But
Exclusive
When people are asked what they most want
from their holidays, the answer is often "sunshine and idleness". A week spent doing nothing ? Talk about pushing the concept of laziness to its extreme, almost turning it into an art
form ! Belgian Gérard Blitz seemed to grasp
that concept very well when he created Club
Mediterranée, the fi rst "all-inclusive" resort,
in 1950. This former water polo champion
and yoga enthusiast envisioned a holiday village where all services such as travel, lodging,
entertainment, food and beverages would be
included in a packaged price and where everything would be taken care of, leaving the customer completely relaxed and carefree. Half
a century, 80 worldwide villages and millions
of customers later, the formula is still ever so
popular. Northern European countries like
Holland, Germany, Belgium and France are
very keen on the tried-and-tested formula.
The Belgians are even the Club Med's most
loyal clients, even though its customer base is
quite international.
The pros are tempting… With a daily routine of sunbathing, swimming and eating, not
much can go wrong. You can stuff yourself
till your stomach's satisfied and drink till you
drop, without ever fearing a nasty surprise
upon receiving the final bill. "Not having to
think about money gives our customers a
certain freedom. They are carefree. They can
do whatever they want, whether it is relaxing,
engaging in sports or other activities" explains
Quentin Briard, marketing and commercial director for Club Med Belux. And with the recession currently underway, these packages are
even more attractive to holiday goers because it
allows them to leave with a sealed budget.
That said, whether you go for up-market
tour operators like Club Med and Pégase, or
their lower end counterparts such as Thomas
Cook, Neckermann or Jetair, the result is often
the same : a pleasant yet somewhat generic and
charmless experience in the heart of mass tourism. The herds flock in every week, following
each other in a continuous flow, you are bound
to run into the same people during your stay and
Russian will probably be the most exotic language you get to hear all week long. If the price
tag on your heavenly holiday was suspiciously
cheap, chances are you'll feast on the same buffet of recycled food every day, be served ques-
tionable alcohol, fight for a spot around the
overcrowded and noisy pool and be fooled by
the label of "all-inclusive", because most of the
services will in fact be supplements. And don't
even think about escaping to the nearest little
restaurant, since those resorts are usually located in remote areas, making it almost impossible
to visit other parts of the country, let alone interact with locals. The only option is to embark
on the hotel's scheduled and impersonal bus
tours. Another non-negligible issue is that the
huge revenues generated by those resorts barely
profit the local economy.
We are in no position to pass judgement on
those who choose to travel in a packaged way
– the prices are extremely competitive, even
more so with "last minute" offers, and they can
be very suitable for families, seniors and even
singles, looking for fun times. But on the other
hand, planning a customized vacation is guaranteed to provide you with a more culturally
enriching experience. Sure, it involves more effort and organization and more than certainly
plenty of glitches and mishaps. But aren't those
the moments that holiday memories are truly
made of ? (RW)
Smeds
Ensemble
+ KVS
Mental
Finland
11>
22.02
11>
22.02
Director/
Kristian
Smeds
www.
mentalfinland.
com
www.kvs.be — 02 210 11 12
KVS/Arduinkaai 9 quai aux Pierres de Taille
1000 Brussel/Bruxelles
Picture © Antti Ahonen
Graphic design www.coastdesign.be
A dark comedy about
Europe in the year 2069
24
THE YAWNING ISSUE
The All-Inclusive
Sofa Day
AS SEEN BY GAËLLE
TIME WASTERS
BELGIUM
25
Very Important Form to Complete
Check the boxes after having achieved the action described. Please respect the order of the procedure.
If performed correctly, this should temporarily make office life less boring.
Approximate time consumption: 45 minutes.
NAME
DATE
COMPANY
TIME
U Cut this page from the magazine.
U Look at your watch for five seconds.
U Walk to the nearest photocopy machine.
U Make a copy of this sheet and give it to your nearest colleague.
U Sit down at your desk and sigh.
U Send as many e-mails as possible in less than one minute to [email protected].
U Find 3 anagrams for "Work is boring".
U Turn on any database program on your computer.
U Enter the following numbers in the first column 9433; 1353; 4136; 1276; 7889; 5698; 2857.
U Enter the following numbers in the second column 1677; 9757; 6974; 9834; 3221; 5412; 8253.
U Create a third column with the sum of the two firsts.
U Save this database on the desktop in a file you've named TheWordTimeWasters08.
U Go to the bathroom and stay there for 3 whole minutes.
U Walk back to your desk.
U Find four highlighters: one green, one blue, one pink and one yellow.
U Fill in the following diagrams.
Rate Your Colleagues.
Boring
Entertaining
Sexy
Nerve-Racking
S
M
L
XL
How has your day been so far?
JOY
NEUTRAL
BOREDOM
What percentage of your Facebook friends are:
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
A. Single
B. Married
C. With children
D. Male
E. Female
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
U Go to the www.big-game.ch homepage and count the words beginning with a B. Total
words.
U Without moving from your chair, take a serious look around and take a picture of a yellow object (even with your cell phone).
U Send your image to [email protected].
U Open your agenda and book a day to visit the BIG-GAME exhibition at Grand Hornu.
U Write "Send ASAP" on a post it.
U Grab an envelope and address it to TIMEWASTER RESULT c/o The Word Magazine 107 Rue Gen. Henry Straat 1040 Brussels Belgium.
U Stick the post it on the envelope.
U Find a nice stamp.
U Search Google for an Origami folding, and fold this sheet accordingly.
U Put it in the enveloppe.
U You may resume your normal office activities.
TOTAL TIME TAKEN FOR COMPLETION
This moment of random behaviour was brought to you by BIG-GAME
H
M
S
26
THE SLEEPY ISSUE
THE WORD ON
Lazy
Eyes
The romanticism and beauty attached to what is commonly refered to as a
lazy eye made the following portraited feature a sure shot.
Photography Sarah Eechaut
Name : Johannes Verschaeve
Age : 28
Profession : Frontman for The Van Jets
From : Ostend, lives in Ghent
¤
His eyes get worse when he's tired or nervous. "I've never considered it a problem,
and doctors left it unnoticed, unnamed".
LAZY EYES
Name : Gerald Claes
From : Ghent
BELGIUM
Age : 32
Profession : Bar Owner
¤
Has a dead eye ever since a mould damaged his retina two
weeks after birth.
Name : Delphine Cornille
From : Leuven
¤
Age : 26
Profession : Personal Assistant
Was born with the Marcus Gunn Syndrome.
27
28
THE BEDTIME ISSUE
THE WORD ON
Name : Dr. Ignace De Keyser (PhD) Age : 62
From : Ghent
Profession : Head of the Ethnomusicological Section at the Royal Museum for Central Africa
¤
Has Congenital Ptosis.
LAZY EYES
BELGIUM
Name : Patrick Van Acker
Profession : Bar Tender
¤
Age : 38
From : Ghent
Had a car accident when he was 18 and lost his left eye.
29
30
THE LIE IN ISSUE
THE PHOTO ALBUM
Sunday-Lazy
Belgium
In our quest to perfection our grasp of the true Sunday spirit, we went back
to our archive to dig out a faded visual composition of what truly makes the
seventh day the most special of them all.
Words Mélisande McBurnie
"Go on love, give us some room"
Sleeping on the job
Eastenders omnibus
Warm and toastie
SUNDAY-LAZY BELGIUM
BELGIUM
"Merrily-Merrily-Merrily, life is but a dream"
The old settee
Productive
Non-productive
Productive
"I ditched Church today"
Pictures chosen whilst making
a visible dent in the sofa cushion.
Non-productive
31
32
THE SUNDAY MORNING ISSUE
THE INSTITUTION
Mister
Golden Key
© Jack Moyersoen
A mystery to many but a friend to all, the hotel concierge is the
traveller's most overlooked ally. Jack Moyersoen reports on
these ultimate insiders and how to put them to work for you.
Marcel Berckmans, concierge "Golden Key" at the Metropole Hotel has 25 years of experience in satisfying any guest's desire.
The Concierge
Marcel Berckmans, 42, has fielded a lot of requests during his 25 year tenure as concierge
at Brussels' only 19th-century hotel still in
operation. While most renowned Belgian
hotels have been sold and swallowed up by
international conglomerates, the Metropole
Hotel still belongs to the same Belgian family
who founded it. "It creates a much friendlier
atmosphere", Marcel confides, "The management doesn't put profit at the centre of the
equation. The priority is set on the well-being
of the employees and the clients. It is not in
this house that this could have happened…",
pointing to an article of la "Dernière Heure" on
his desk which tells of employee strikes at the
Conrad Hotel during a European summit.
Dressed in an old-school black redingote behind the vintage lobby desk of the
classified French renaissance hall of The
Metropole Hotel, Berckmans epitomizes the
tradition of care that is taken by the 5-star
hotel to honour all customer demands.
" We always say that if we
can't get you a white
elephant, perhaps we
can get you a pink one. "
Shunning yellow Post-its in favour of recording guests' desires in meticulously kept
notebooks, concierges deal with the mundane (restaurant reservations, theatre tickets, questions about local transportation and
where to check e-mail), to the sublime (help
me plan a marriage proposal my intended will
never forget). And all requests are fulfi lled in
unfl appable style, even when the pressure is
on. "A guest should never, ever understand
what goes on behind their request," confides
Mr. Berckmans. They are courteous, helpful, experienced and discrete. "We are like
the 3 little monkeys" as Marcel puts it, "See
everything, hear everything, and don't tell
anything." And all that expertise, attention
and loving care isn't just for VIPs. Hotel concierges serve all guests, regardless of their
bank account balance.
No matter how strange the request, concierges rarely turn a guest down. "We always
say that if we can't get you a white elephant,
perhaps we can get you a pink one," says Marcel. "The word 'no' really doesn't exist. It's a
word concierges rebel against." Concierges
may only turn down a request if it is illegal
or morally unacceptable. "A few years ago, I
had an old man asking me for a second cushion" says Berckmans. "I gave him one of the
local publications that had phone numbers
in it and told him he had to call for himself.
We are not pimps !" However, this has not always been the case. Long ago, European concierges had a reputation for being pimps — at
least in circles that didn't mince words. Today's concierges say they don't go anywhere
near "funny massages," but that doesn't mean
they don't get asked !
Keeper of the Keys
The origin of the word "concierge" comes
from the Latin word conserves, meaning "fellow slave." The word itself is French, meaning
"keeper of the keys." During the Middle Ages,
concierges did just that. When castles across
Europe hosted visiting nobility, the concierge
kept the keys to the castle rooms, and ensured
that guests had everything they needed during their stay. By the 1800s, every building
of any significance in Western Europe (royal,
municipal, residential) had a concierge, who
was like the building superintendent of today.
The hotel concierge, as we know him, wasn't
born until the dawn of the twentieth century,
when improvements in steamships and steam
train travel brought touring into vogue. Hotels throughout Europe began creating concierge positions to take care of their guests.
Today, the concierge's elegant costume is still
reminiscent of that period.
In 1929, Ferdinand Gillet, the head concierge at Paris' Hotel Scribe, founded Les
Clefs d'Or, an association of concierges based
on a network of "service through friendship."
Through this mystique corporation, a concierge in the lobby of a hotel in Rome could
now call upon his counterpart in Berlin to
find out the best spot for Wiener schnitzel for
a guest who would be arriving there in a few
days. Today, Les Clefs d'Or has 3,000 members in 50 countries, identifiable by the pair
of crossed golden keys pinned to their lapels.
The Belgian wing of the association has as
president Alain Vanderauwera, the chief-concierge of the Sheraton, and counts 38 members
all employed by the country's 14 best hotels.
Earning the pin is no easy task. For starters, concierges must have at least five years'
experience and be nominated by two mem-
MISTER GOLDEN KEY
BELGIUM
bers. Then the tests begin. To make sure that
a candidate is worthy of the keys, a member
might anonymously call with a question on
the origins of an obscure statue in Buenos
Aires ; another might check into the applicant's hotel under an assumed name and behave badly or make obscure demands, such
as requesting a list of all the art shops that sell
Rotring pens in a 40–block radius. Finally,
the applicant is subjected to a board review.
a year. It consists of a fi xed salary which is
topped by a 16% service fee (shared among
the Service Department employees) included
in the price of the room.
Even though no tips are required, Marcel
has witnessed over the years a shift in the
guests' comportment towards the concierge.
"People seem much shier than twenty years
ago to walk up to me to ask for a service. They
also don't seem to be spending as much during
their stay. I used to make frequent bookings at
prestigious restaurants like the Comme Chez
Soi. Today, our guests seem just as happy to
go eat in a fast-food or a local restaurant for
which the use of my connections and skills
are not required."
So, are concierges a little underused ?
Maybe. Many don't realise, for instance, that
they can call the concierge desk as much as a
month before they arrive to discuss the objectives of their trip — whether it's business, romance, food, art, sports, or college tours for
prospective students and their parents. With
notice, the desk can then make all arrangements and appointments and have a detailed
hour-by-hour itinerary prepared by the time
the clients arrive.
" … a concierge
in the lobby of a hotel
in Rome could now call
upon his counterpart
in Berlin to find out
the best spot for
Wiener schnitzel for
a guest who would
be arriving there
in a few days. "
33
The Information Age
Life in a Palace
Besides the prestige that comes with the pin,
Marcel Berckmans, a proud member of the
Clef d'Or since 1993, appreciates the sense
of community and excellence it shares. He
gradually climbed the ladder of hierarchy of
the Metropole Hotel's customer service department to become a concierge. He started
at 16 as a groom, a position which has now
sadly disappeared in most hotels. Dressed
in a red uniform with matching hat, exactly
like Belgian comic-strip hero Spirou, his job
was to assist the concierge. The tasks could
vary from walking a client's dog, to fetching
cigarettes or train tickets. Marcel then became a bellboy, carrying customer luggage's
in and out the hotel before fi nally being appointed concierge in 1988. He would by no
means trade his current place for another one
and sees himself retiring, possibly as chiefconcierge, in 20 years.
Despite their often posh surroundings, the
average concierge earns only about € 20,000
Technology has impacted the concierge
business, just as it has virtually every other
industry. Using a Web-based system, concierges can now for instance not only track
guest requests until they're fulfi lled, but can
make reservations even before a restaurant
opens. Laptop computers and PDAs have
also familiarised customers with the booking
of train and plane tickets on the go. So it isn't
hard to think that the necessity of the concierge will only decrease with time.
In some hotels, touch-screen kiosks have
supplemented and sometimes even replaced
concierge. These kiosks provide information on restaurants, shopping, city tours, and
services. Guests can use them to print out
maps, coupons, and tickets without ever interacting with a human being.
Let us here remember how the automation
of elevators sealed the fate of the elevator
boy, and hope that the information age does
not ultimately lead the concierge to the same
tragic fate.
34
THE HERMIT ISSUE
THREE OF THE BEST
Tracksuits
— The whole office wanted to model for this one but, believe it or not, we
do have certain dos and dont's which sometimes prevail. So we opted for a
slightly more democratic option. Not wanting to make too much of an effort,
we simply sent out a message to our Facebook group members, calling for
all slouch-susceptible models. Let's just say people more than got off their
arses…
(To those we didn't pick, please don't hold it against us but we hope you'll agree we found in these three heavychillers the perfect protagonists for the feature)
Photography Opération Panda
1.
The "Glued to the TV
Screen" Superstar
2.
The Couch
Revolutionary
Nike Grey Heather Fleece Hoodie
and Tracksuit Bottoms
The Tracksuit
The Material
American Apparel's Evergreen
California
Fleece Zip Hoodie and Straight
Leg Bottoms
80% Cotton, 20% Polyester
The Tracksuit
3.
The Orange-Tanned
Serial Lounger
The Verdict
Essential Indoor Attire
The Tracksuit
The Material
The Dream
100% Combed Cotton
Bright Lights
Juicy Couture Pink Original
Zip Hoodie and Leg Drawstring
Bottoms
The Verdict
The Alternative
The Material
Indispensable After-Party Wear
Recording Session in the Studio
80% Cotton, 20% Polyester
The Dream
The Model
The Verdict
Spandex Comeback
Pablo Andres is an author,
comedian and MC of many
talents. He is currently working on his album, Nino del Sol,
out sometime in 2009. Expect
everything from Hip Hop and
Bossa to Reggae and Soul.
All-in-One Tracksuit-Come-PJ
The Alternative
Crate-Digging in Köln
The Model
Soumaya Dancemachine
is a DJ with several of Brussels'
best parties under her fi ngers.
The brains behind the city's
High Needs Low parties, she's
a fi rm fi xture on the local party
circuit.
The Dream
Celebrity Big Brother
The Alternative
Sun-Bedding
The Model
Stéphanie Caulier, aka Mr Mittens, is knitting up quite some
storm, as you'll notice in our
Showstoppers section on the
next page (p36)
TRACKSUITS
2
LIFESTYLE
1
Sit on it White TryAngle XL Bean Bags, available from www.sitonit.be
35
3
36
THE PLAYSTATION ISSUE
SHOWSTOPPERS
The Usual Suspects
— With the sole exception of the boots we picked out, this month's
Showstoppers most definitely brought out the hermits in us. We dreamt of
better tomorrows in an intricately exquisite hammock, planned to change
the world around a stylish cup of tea, gave into our feminine sides by
indulging in some heavy-duty moisturizing and wrapped it all up without
being able to let go of the scarf a kind soul had made for us.
Photography Delphine Dupont + pleaseletmedesign
01.
Everything about Mr Mittens
spelt out WE LOVE from the
¤
word go. A one-woman show
of exquisite knitted simplicity,
Mr Mittens makes scarves, hats and, well,
mittens. Get in touch with master-knitter
Stephanie via email, discuss with her what
you're after – yarn type, stitching technique,
colour preference, length and width – tell
her a little bit about the person who will
ultimately wear the piece and you end up, a
couple of days later, with personalised, cosy
and simply lovely knitted items waiting for
you in the post box. (NL)
For your made-to-order Mr Mittens,
email [email protected].
02.
This is how to get hands that your
in-laws will disapprove of – the
kind that make it evident you've
¤
never performed an honest day's work in your
life. Doing a hand mask is the laziest activity
ever – never mind working, you can't even pick
your own nose while wearing one. Even in
private. It is also the excuse most likely to get
you thumped when you refuse to do the washing up. If you are thinking of having extensive
plastic surgery, bear in mind that the face of a
nymph with the hands of a crone is not a pretty
combination ; get to work now laying the foundations for elegant, indolent old age. (HJ)
From Left to Right :
Barielle's Intensive Hand Treatment Cream (113mg)
€ 39 from Cosmeticary, Brussels.
Aveda's Hand Relief (125ml)
€ 28,55 from Aveda Lifestyle Salon, Antwerp.
Kiehl's Intensive Treatment and Moisturizer (100ml)
€ 28 from Kiehls, Antwerp.
THE USUAL SUSPECTS
LIFESTYLE
37
03.
Latvian-born Ieva Laurina won
an award for Nest at the 2008
Kortrijk design Biennale. The
¤
25-year old post-graduate student at Design
Academy Eindhoven recently did a project
on the "borders of perception", wrapping
rope between tree-trunks in a forest on the
Dutch /German border. Nest has a similar
fragile simplicity – something very beautiful
created with a small bundle of humble materials – it's the closest you'll come to sleeping
on a cloud. There's something philosophically pleasing about a piece of furniture that
depends so heavily on existing structures,
yet has such distinctive visual impact. (HJ)
Nest Hammock from € 600
email [email protected] for more information
04.
We've made no secret of our
downward-looking inclination,
and have lately been taken aback
¤
by a new kind of boot making its mark on the
city's window-shopping sidewalks. Unstructured, crumpled-out and baggy, Mellow
Yellow's Elisey boots' fall-back nature is the
perfect answer to a sometimes exaggeratingly
square design ethos and functional zeal.
These knee-high boots – similar to leather
sacks for your feet – are just the kind of
slouching attitude to fashion and shoe design
we'd like to see more of. (NL)
Mellow Yellow's Elisey Taupe,
€ 185 from Prive Joke, Brussels.
38
THE PROCRASTINATING ISSUE
SHOWSTOPPERS
05.
More than four years in development, Patricia Urquiola's Land¤
scape collection for Rosenthal
combines the ethereal, translucent lightness
of fine porcelain with contemporary graphic
motifs that "invade" the pieces like a virus
within the surface of the designs. The complex
process of producing the entire range with its
variable thicknesses of porcelain has been
documented in an exhibition at London's
Design Museum, and Urquiola imagines that
there is still another year or two of work facing
her. All that effort and all we want to do is laze
around in bed sipping tea from the dreamy
cups. (HJ)
Rosenthal's Landscape Collection
€ 39 from Gallerie Inno, Brussels.
www.inno.be
06.
How many times have you found
yourself in the frustrating position
¤
of needing a product for its functionalities, but resisting it because of the instantt
clash it would provoke with the rest of your
interior aesthetic ? Be it radiators, gas cookers
or even toilets, the design world sometimes
seems to completely ignore these household
hallmarks, preferring to apply their touch to
slightly easier-to-embellish items. Not so for
Swiss design company Staddler Form, who has
made it its forte of stylishly revisiting sometimes
bland everyday items, the humidifier being one
of them. Being lazy and a hermit is one thing,
but you need to ensure it is all done in the most
air-levelled of settings. The Fred will guarantee
that, whilst never looking out of place. (NL)
Staddler Form's Fred Humidifi er, € 129.
Go to www.leonardospecials.nl
for your nearest dealer.
Aspria Club:
all our experts at your service
Richard Earney
Jean-Luc Rudé
Marco Meli
TRANCE Creator,
Int’l Dancer
& Aspria Expert
Olympic Athlete
& Aspria Expert
™
Master trainer,
Nutritionist
& Aspria Expert
Elisa Kant
European Aquafitness
Champion
& Aspria Expert
Olivier Bovy
Introduced Les Mills
in Belgium
& Aspria Expert
Eric Simmons
Aspria Member
since 2005
Peter Pastijn
Ironman, Cycling
Master Trainer
& Aspria Expert
Patty Leconte
French Miss
Fitness 2008
& Aspria Expert
Beran Parry
Rudi Van Lancker
Pilates Master Trainer
& Aspria Expert
Athletics
multi-record holder
& Aspria Expert
Eric Rozen
Bharata Natyam
Dancer, Choreographer
& Aspria Expert
The Aspria team of experts has achieved great
But that’s not all... Aspria Club is proud to
things: former Olympic athletes, record holders,
announce its brand new “Functional Training
national champions.
studio” to complement its existing state of
They are now at your side to help you achieve
the art fitness equipment, 21m pool and wide
your goals, support and motivate you.
variety of classes.
If you join in January, you can meet your own expert: just you, him and your goals.
What better way to start the year?
To find out more, visit www.aspria-experts.be or call 02 508 08 12.
Aspria Club: the health, wellness and sports experts
Rue de l’Industrie 26 - 1040 Brussels
THE SLOW MOTION ISSUE
THE BUSINESS
© MetroNaps
40
01.
Bean Counters
Count Sheep
— Sanctioned napping at work has arrived.
The question remains whether Europe is
ready for it.
Writer Hettie Judah
BEAN COUNTERS COUNT SHEEP
LIFESTYLE
41
The EnergyPod is a space age sensory deprivation chair that companies can rent to allow their employees to take naps during the
working day. Developed by a New York fi rm
called MetroNaps, the prototype chair was
launched six years ago and originally intended for use in napping centers. These were
imagined as restful spaces designed along the
lines of tanning salons, where clients could
drop by for a 20-minute rest in the middle
of a working day, to be woken, refreshed, by
gentle vibrations.
MetroNaps' co-founder and CEO Arshat
Chowdhury was an investment banker ; long
working hours were an unquestioned part of
the culture. Alas most human beings haven't
quite evolved to fit the New York work ethic,
and Chowdhury had grown accustomed to
colleagues dropping off during meetings, or
slipping out to catch some ZZZs in a parked
car. If corporations provided their well-paid
employees with food, water and even exercise equipment, why, thought Chowdhury,
should they not provide them with facilities
for a power nap ?
Chowdhury and COO Christopher Lindholst quickly abandoned the idea of nap
salons and concentrated on renting to companies as part of a fatigue reduction package that include seminars on the importance
of taking a nap. Anti-fatigue seminars cost
€ 1,950 per day, and the all-inclusive rental
of a pod starts at € 379 per month. As well as
offices in New York, Sydney and Hong Kong,
Metronaps has recently expanded into Europe, with its headquarters in Denmark and
subsidiary offices in London and Frankfurt.
There seems to be little question the practice is beneficial. "My personal opinion is
that napping is a good thing for a lot of people," confi rms neurologist Dr Ilse De Volder
of the sleep research clinic at the University
of Antwerp. "Nearly all the studies conducted with either healthy young students or older
people showed improvement, specifi cally in
the area of cognitive reasoning. A nap doesn't
need to take a long time – 5 minutes is worth
the investment."
© Srah Eechaut
" Alas most human beings
haven't quite evolved
to fit the New York
work ethic. "
02.
About the pods themselves, De Volder is a
little more reserved, noting that it's really not
necessary for companies to splash out on fancy
technology. "All you need is a good chair. If I was
a firm I wouldn't invest in special equipment,
you just need to make a room for the resters, beside the one you have for breastfeeding mothers
and the one for smokers." She also worries that
the explicit nature of the devices will actually
put people off. "People are ashamed of napping, and with all the music and pods I don't
think they'd be less ashamed."
On the fl ip side, the pods send a clear message to employees that napping is ok. Pascal Burger, Metronaps' agent in Frankfurt,
confi rms that there is a pattern to the earlyadopting companies in Europe. "At the moment its the companies that want to be top
employers and want to have a reputation for
looking after employees," he explains. "The
company demonstrates that it not only cares
about performance but about the health and
well-being of each individual employee, and
they get media attention with it."
International detergents giant Procter &
Gamble have purchased two pods for their
European headquarters in Geneva. "It's part
of our general wellbeing program," explains
corporate communications officer Sabrina
Heymans. "We're helping our employees reach
peak performance at work – they will be able
to better balance their work and private life.
As part of the same program we also offer a fi tness centre and ergonomic massage chairs."
Heymans says the company has no current
plans to offer the facility in any of its other
European offices, and cannot state what
number of P&G employees have used the
pods, but does confi rm that the feedback has
been 'positive'. "A lot of our people are using
the facility and it helps them regain energy
during the day, I think."
MetroNaps has focused on the north of
Europe for its expansion largely because of
the different cultural attitudes in the workplace. "The siesta culture is not the same as
the power nap," Burger explains. "It's more like
one or two hours in which you see your family
and have a long lunch, then go on to work late
in the evening. In Germany interestingly the
20 minute power nap works quite well."
While they may have been the original inspiration for the MetroNaps concept, Master of
the Universe financial types have not provided
much of a market for the products. “The investment banks with their long hours are not necessarily our first clients,” regrets Burger. "It's like
they don't want to admit they need a break."
Dr De Volder does suggest that all the
technology and facilities in the world won't
influence employee's napping habits without
the appropriate corporate culture in place ;
"the best thing a fi rm can do is have a topdown culture of napping."
THE SLOW LANE ISSUE
THE BUSINESS
© MetroNaps
42
03.
" … you just need
to make a room
for the resters,
beside the one
you have for
breastfeeding mothers
and the one
for smokers. "
Belgium is one of the last places to resist
the ‘lunching is for wimps' dictum of extremist corporate culture. Not only is lunching
still regarded as an indispensible component
of civilized life, but this is also one of the few
countries where you can still drink wine at
lunch without your colleagues dropping hints
about the ten-step recovery system. However
the same permissive atmosphere does not
seem to extend to napping ; Belgium is not
currently one of the countries on Metronaps'
radar for expansion.
Jerry Penxten, of Masterkey corporate
consultants in Brussels, works with some of
Belgium's big industry players in the public
service and energy sectors. While he has
read about the supposed power-napping phenomenon in the US, he says that he has never
encountered a company over here that actually sanctions napping.
"It's good for you, but it's not in the culture. It's not something that those in the kind
of businesses I work with would go for," says
Penxten. "It's always the CEO who creates
the culture, and for a big salary they are expected to be strong and work a 14 or 15 hour
days. But even if a highly paid CEO said that
power napping was the key to success, I'm not
sure that people would go for it."
Penxten says that he imagines that the culture might shift in another ten years or so, but
also points out that acceptance of napping at
work seems closely linked to the nature of the
company itself. "I work with very big, high
performance companies – I think that with
little independent companies the story may
be different."
01+03.
02.
MetroNaps' EnergyPods
Analysing Your Sleep
DESIGN © FREY WILLE
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44
THE EASY GOING ISSUE
Web 3.0 :
The Thin Line
Between
Simplicity
and Stupidity
— With the Web 2.0
becoming increasingly
obsolete, our tech-attention
turns to the Web 3.0 and all
its novelties. To attempt to
make sense of it all, we talk
to a panel of four experts
who give us their views on
the direction the web is
evolving, and why they think
their computer doing their
groceries is the best thing to
happen since the advent of
personal computers.
Writer Karen Van Godstenhoven
Illustration Rafael Ricoy
HOW LAZY YOU ARE ABOUT TO BECOME
WEB 3.0: THE THIN LINE…
LIFESTYLE
45
46
THE BLAH ISSUE
The Experts
Clo Willaerts
¤
Blogger and reader, heavy user of Twitter,
RSS social and professional networking sites.
Hopes the Web 3.0 will do her groceries.
Bart Becks :
Belgian, lives between California and
Europe. On the board of four digital media
and technology startups, and is creating
two himself. Would like the web to become
so smart he doesn't have to read through
the communication clutter anymore,
allowing him basically to stop typing.
Something he calls instant mind messaging.
Niels Schillewaert
¤
Professor in marketing research and
founder of Insites, Europe's leading market
research company. Like Clo, he would like
his fridge to do the groceries for him.
Alberto Pepe :
PhD student at UCLA. Hopes his computer
will one day choose the right wine for his
meal, instead of taking trips to taste wine.
BUSINESS
Defining
Technology and laziness have always gone
hand in hand. A lot of technological advancements stem from a certain quest for laziness but – if that sits better with you – we
could also call it a normal evolutionary human zeal. By wasting less time on doing the
dishes, we have more time to learn different
things, or just to relax.
Although Web 3.0 is still an early phase
of the web and won't solve all your problems
yet, it will simplify things – similarly making
your web life that much more stress free. Clo
Willaerts : "Right now we have so much
RSS feeds, blogs and status updates to follow and process, it's very tiring. Information
is like a snowfl ake that keeps rolling, it aggravates itself, especially with the 'wisdom of
the crowds' and publishing overkill from Web
2.0. Although I enjoy a lot of Web 2.0 phenomena, there are just too many websites, too
little time and we still have to make too much
of an effort. I'm curious as to how Web 3.0
will make life easier in this respect and give
us more time to think things through."
Alberto Pepe explains it this way: "The
most important feature of Web 3.0 is the
focus on structured data. The web today, or
Web 2.0, engages users in the production,
sharing, annotation and publishing of data.
Now, although a lot of the promises of Web
2.0 have not been met, the web is awash with
user-generated data of all kinds. Truth is, not
only are these data hard to mine because they
lack a standard structure, very often they are
also hidden from search queries and practically undiscoverable and thus largely unusable. The chaos this brings along is tackled by
some social platforms like Facebook .People
want to manage their data in a 'safe' environment that they get used to navigate in, after
the free-for-all mentality of Web 2.0. Now
users can find stuff because it is sitting in a
well-structured working environment. In my
opinion, Web 3.0 is about data and making
it more usable, discoverable and interoperable by the use of good-old URLS and typed
relationships."
Bart Becks adds: "Because computers
will better communicate with each other, it
will make our human workflow easier. I'm
looking forward to these meaningful communications that simplify our lives. Laziness and efficiency are tied close together
in this sense. I, for one, would already be
happy with self-organizing emails and
simpler and more efficient social media so
that I can spend more time surfing-literally
that is. Down with social online labour, up
with physical labour ! For some web people
though, Web 3.0 evokes the same feelings of
hope and change as the election of President
Obama. That, in my opinion, is overrating
the effects (laughs)."
Change
But things will change, no ? Niels Schillewaert sees three major functions for Web
3.0 : "it will be automational (it will work for
you), informational (better quality of data)
and transformational (new phenomena will
emerge on top of the former two functions)."
The transformational aspect is what fascinates him the most: "Marketing research,
a traditionally conservative fi eld, needs to
challenge its basic assumptions: for example,
focus moves from the profi le of the user to the
topic he / she talks about. Web 2.0 brought
about so much information for marketing
research, and once these data become more
contextualized and open, the possibilities
are limitless."
Bart Becks
¤
" For some web people
though, Web 3.0 evokes
the same feelings of
hope and change
as the election
of President Obama. "
For Alberto Pepe, Web 3.0 will become
an even richer source of information. "The
web will become the de facto platform for the
vast majority of scientific as well as social
research. Being a social researcher who uses
scientific tools, I predict that 90% of my
research work will be performed analyzing
data on the web. Think of the endless pos-
sibilities of cross-analyzing heterogeneous
data from different sources by performing a
simple query. You could, for example, query : "gimme the names of all the Facebook
fans of The Word that live in Brussels and
are fans of Sigur Ros"
But isn't that a bit scary, the web becoming an openly accessible, intelligent database
with all our likes and dislikes linked back to
one uniform e-ID ? And won't marketeers
gladly use this data for playing tricks on unassuming consumers ? "No", Niels says, "as
I said, marketing research will be less about
tracking an opinion back to the specifi c user
profi le but rather about the content of what
the user is saying and writing, to form a complete picture of the brand's image. Nevertheless, if a new sort of intelligent spamming or
identity-theft would appear, because of Web
3.0 evolutions, I'm sure the system will correct itself. The internet has always been a
space where good and bad sides of humanity
meet each other, just like 'normal' society. I
believe self-regulation has become stronger
since Web 2.0 : behave badly on a forum and
you get kicked out by the administrator".
And the advertising business ? The Word
did not talk to an advertizing guru, but hopes
there is a way out of see-through advertorials and intrusive banners. Niels : "Actually,
the things you mention will probably be improved, because information in general will
need to be better tailored, the advertising
market will need to improve and listen to
the customers. Inevitably, certain business
models will have to change, and some industries will have to understand it's never going
to be a champagne holiday again, good wine
will do ! Just like the global recession, Web
3.0 will fi lter out the mediocre content, and
offer chances to innovative minds."
So what is the downside to all this kind
of artificial intelligence ? Geeks and techies
might be well aware of which intelligent
technologies are pushing content onto their
desktops but people with less 'information
literacy' might lose touch with all the automated mechanisms and not even realize how
'lazy' or passive they have become. "No,"
says Alberto Pepe, "the web isn't that intelligent just yet. In contrast, we will have
more time to think for ourselves."
Spiva Novack, CEO of Web 3.0 application Twine, cornered the term 'Artificial
Stupidity' : to him, the web, which now has
more pages than the human brain has neurons, should be used in a self-serving manner, free us from idiotic tasks, like organizing
email, fi ling documents, organizing folders,
remembering things, coordinating schedules,
WEB 3.0: THE THIN LINE…
LIFESTYLE
responding to routine messages, re-organizing things, linking and tracking things and
leave the higher-level thinking to our own
brains. He simply doesn't believe in computers 'overpowering' the human brain. It would
just not be fun, to have your past behavior
determine your future actions, would it ? If
you just read an article on renaissance, you
might change to detective stories, cartoons
or the Japanese Vogue at the click of a mouse.
We're just too manic and complex to be predicted by our past preferences. Do you still
listen to the records you bought five years
ago ? You might, but this doesn't mean you're
stuck in them. Anyway, as Alberto Pepe
argues, "These recommendation thingies are
not what the Web 3.0 is about, that's rather
some kind of 2.5 process."
given the many blog- and Facebook-related
work accidents, people have been fired because they did not realize the impact of their
online behavior on their real lives: "I don't
think people should be limited on the web,
I'm not a reactionary, but still, I don't know
where the limits are of what you can share
and what not. If I see someone drinking and
flirting and I know that person is married to
someone else, should I publish that on a blog?
Or you doing a job interview whilst your boss
just promoted you? Or even worse, what if I
know your cancer is terminal? I guess, just
like in the ‘real' world, self-regulation will
have to prevail, and I think it will.”
This brings us to the subject of the economy of trust and reputation. Clo Willaerts
is a non-believer of this ‘reputational economy': “Although the transparency of my life
and lack of privacy is not such a problem to
me, I don't believe in this general profi le. Imagine a 100% trustworthy seller on ebay, with
a great professional network, who might also
be a pedophile or simply an arrogant bastard
who insults people via blogposts or social
networking sites.” “Nothing to worry about,
because it will solve many of our problems,”
says Dick Heardt, one of the advocates of an
open ID: “Trust decisions are contextual, so
it is a case by case situation -- so there are
challenges to a reputation economy outside
of high value, broadly accepted, critical scenarios. Still, I do think a more accountable
net is coming through. ”
Whether all this makes sense to your human intellect or not, outlooks are good for
people who don't mind some changes. And
those who don't want to, can just sit back and
relax, lazily enjoying the waves of the web as
they pass by.
Alberto Pepe
¤
" The web isn't
that intelligent
just yet. In contrast,
we will have more
time to think
for ourselves. "
Still, as Clo Willaerts and Niels
Shillewaert both argue, we can't just trust
our own intellect or common sense in the
web wide world: "Education about information technologies and how to use them will
become of paramount importance. If not,
there will be a new digital divide : this time,
not between the broadband haves and havenots, but between the surfers who make the
web work for them and those that are being
manipulated by it." Bart Becks also has
some dystopian visions in the sense that,
47
48
THE SLOTH ISSUE
FASHION
Don't ask them what they feel, what they aspire to, what they dream of,
what they imagine, what they hope for nor what they seek.
These pretty-faced slackers are quite happy just being.
Photography Andrea Lenon
Art Direction Eleonore Vanden Eynde
Her. Bra by La Perla, Cashmere Underwear by Sonia Rykiel, Tunisien by Zadig & Voltaire,
Wolford Stockings from Underwear
Him. T-shirt, Belt, Pants and Shoes by Diesel
Her. Orange Bra by La Perla, Skirt by Zadig & Voltaire
Him. V-neck Sweater by Zadig & Voltaire, Jeans by Diesel
Sequin Top by Rue Blanche, Underwear by La Perla, Shoes by Patrizia Pepe
Her. Sweather by Sophie d'Hoore, Underwear by Implicite, Resille by Fogal, "Plume" Silver Bracelet by Zadig & Voltaire
Him. T-shirt by American Apparel, Belt and Jeans by Diesel
Top Left.
Yellow Top by Annemie Verbecke, Underwear by New Look
Love Bracelet by Zadig & Voltaire, Poison Perfume by Dior
Right.
Her. Sequin Top by Rue Blanche, Leather Belt by Patrizia Pepe, Irresistible Perfume by Givenchy
Girl on Bed. Black Sequin Top by Rue Blanche, T-shirt from Essentiel
Girl on Floor. Shirt by Designers Remix
Him. Square Shirt by Levi's, Jeans by Diesel
Photographer Andrea Lennon
Art Direction Eleonore Vanden Eynde
Stylist Sandra Herzman at cestchic.be
Make Up Béatrice Stich
Hair Adrien Coelho
for Gonay Hair Salon
Models
Roxanne and Ksenia at IMM
Thiemont at Newmodels
Rani and Tessa at Ministar
Thank You's
Ruinart, Dom Perignon, Louis Vuitton
Special thanks
Troc.com, BC+, LVMH, Ruinard
IF THE NEW 407 SW HAS EXCEPTIONAL ROAD-HOLDING,
IT IS BECAUSE WE PUSH PERFECTIONISM THAT LITTLE BIT FURTHER.
TO ADD A CLOUD
(but not too big)
TOO BLURRED (DECREASE 10%)
THERE’S A TRICK, JUST THERE
MORE YELLOW
TO MOVE THE ROCK
SLIGHTLY TO THE LEFT
TO ERASE THE
FINGERS’ MARK
S
A BIT LESS
GREY
SHADOW IS TOO DARK
www.peugeot.be
by Peugeot gathers a set of technologies dedicated to road-holding, like the front axle with double wishbone and a linked hub
carrier which brings a sharp of letting in curves, the 407 benefits an exceptional
road behaviour. The new 407 SW also exists in berline version.
PEUGEOT. ENGINEERED TO BE ENJOYED.
Fuel consumption from 5,3 to 8,5 l/100 km - CO2 emissions from 140 to 225 g/km.
New
ROLLING ON THE 1-10
SOUTHBOUND
GOT MY CHEVROLET 63
HUM
DROP TOP
RAN INTO MY MAN HYPNO,
HE HAD HIS MUSTANG
05
TRYING TO MAKING IT LIVE
SO I
PULLED UP NEXT TO HIS MUSTANG
I DID MY THANG
MY CHEVROLET IMPALA'S TOO TOUGH
HE COULDN'T HANG
SO I
HAD TO HIT THE FLOOR
HAD TO HIT THE FLOOR
63 IMPALA BABY
YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW
58
THE NUMBNESS ISSUE
PUTTING IT TO THE TEST
Driving
Miss Daisy
— We finally put our press
cards to good use and sped
off with some head-turning
automotive novelties
fresh off the factory belt.
Packing a sometimes
scary dose of engineering
prowess and motorised
power, these three roaring
roadsters are the perfect
embodiment of the
different human profiles we
seek in a car.
Writer Nicholas Lewis
Photography Yassin Serghini
The smart thing to do, to begin with, is to
give a little warning notice. We aren't automotive journalists. We are far from being
car-buffs. We don't cover our steering wheels
with sheepskin or weekly-wax our car. Nor
do we keep a box of Kleenex on the rear window board.
What we do have, however, is an appreciation for the kind of statement-making set of
wheels we've been given. Be it their sturdy
and sleek exterior body work, or their warm
and inviting interior, these three (predominantly industry-standardised white) gravitydefying machines had us glued to our seats
from Brussels to Bonn.
And, just to prove our point, we fi rstly reviewed the cars in a more traditional way –
evaluating their technical strength, together
with their design rateability and engineering
innovation - before going slightly more Word
and devising our very own left-leaning selection chart, more in line with our own centres
of interest.
The Sporty Eco-Warrior
Saab 9-3 Sport Hatchback
BioPower 1.8L (White)
Saab is well known for having revisited the
classic convertible model, introducing its
“four seater, four seasons” version close
to 20 years ago. Now in its third edition,
the model's defi ning characteristic – due
to its front seat's generous leeway – is its
quasi-unobstructed entrance to the back
(tricky in any convertible) whilst also being
particularly forward-looking in terms of
personalisation and smart-driving features.
ComSense avoids the driver any dangerous
distractions, Night Panel dims any unnecessary lights on the dash board whilst the car
also has an essential Bluetooth function.
A macadam-loving drive with a sporty yet
luxurious interior, the Saab 9-3 Sport hatchback, with its optional BioPower technology,
gives any tree-hugging Jeremy Clarcksonite
the chance to redeem himself.
Our Alternative
Selection Method
The Heads That Turned
Woluwe Saint-Lambert
yummy mummies.
The Fines We Got
None!
How We Travelled
Eco-friendly.
What We Were Listening To
Death Jazz.
Where we Began,
and Where we Ended Up
Began in Brussels,
Ended in Antwerp.
Will be remembered for
Its low-rider driving
and functional inner aesthetic.
DRIVING MISS DAISY
The Fat-Cat Family Man
BMW 325d Touring
(Black Metallic)
BMW's latest 3 Series Touring has “space”
written all over it. Be it the car's actual
length (4,5m), the place allowed in the booth
(let's just say it would have Mr Soprano's
vote) or the interior's leg room, this here
car is fit for giants. Technically, it offers a
wealth of driving-made-easy options, such
as its multi-functional steering wheel (complete with tectonic gear box), its breakingallowing cruise control and its wheelchangeable menu function. Design-wise, the
car's latest model doesn't pack any surprises
in it, but why change a winning formula?
Last but not least, we strongly recommend
the Dakota Red leather seat option, as it will
make all the difference between driving a
Beemer, to living a Beemer.
THE CAR SPECIAL
Our Alternative
Selection Method
The Heads That Turned
The car-loving Turks.
The Fines We Got
€ 50.
How We Travelled
Light-heartedly.
What We Were Listening To
The Jungle Book Audiobook.
Where we Began,
and Where we Ended Up
Began in Brussels,
Ended in the Zoute.
Will be remembered for
Its tectonic gear-change
on the steering wheel
and IPod dock.
59
60
THE GO TO BED ISSUE
The Flashy/Loud Hot-Head
Alfa Romeo
MiTo (White)
Alfa Romeo's brand new MiTo packs as
much power, speed and engineering excellence in four meters than the rest of the
brand's fleet does in its slightly more elongated models. An aggressive go-getter, the
MiTo's defi nitive plus-point is its innovative
D.N.A system: D for Dynamic (read sporty),
N for Normal (read urban) and A for All
Weather, which allows for three completely
different driving styles to be adopted at the
fl ick of a switch. On a slightly more aesthetic
note, its (sometimes overly) stylish interior
also manages to ergonomically make the best
use of the indoor space, without making it
seem like a science experiment. Add to that
its industry-leading gear-box (which comes
with 6 gears and was especially developed
for the MiTo) and its distinctive body work
and you've got yourself a parking lot showoff session serious contender.
PUTTING IT TO THE TEST
Our Alternative
Selection Method
The Heads That Turned
The gold-digging blondies.
The Fines We Got
€ 250.
How We Travelled
Heavy-duty.
What We Were Listening To
Chart-topping J-Pop.
Where we Began,
and Where we Ended Up
Began in Brussels,
Ended in Ghent.
Will be Remembered For
Its voice-recognising
navigation system.
62
THE INERT ISSUE
THE POLITICS OF TRANSPORT
"I am not anti cars..."
(Just pro-cycling)
Writer Nicholas Lewis
Photography Ulrike Biets
Brussels Minister for Mobility Pascal Smet
represents a new breed of politicians currently making waves on the local and national
political scene. An independent-thinker with
a go-getting attitude, he is well-known for
voicing his frustrations at the "old boys club"
system, prevalent in the stale world of Belgian politics, as is illustrated by the adage he
is most associated with : "Everybody in Brussels is competent, but no one is responsible."
Having been given responsibility for the
capital's transport and mobility portfolios,
we sit down with him on the 14th floor of his
cabinet offices to fi nd out what his thoughts
are on the issue of cars in the city, and why
he has such a reputation as a car-basher. Juggling a € 550 million transport budget ( a
whopping 27% of the entire regional budget ),
he oversees the city's public transport system,
its roads, its cycling policies as well as its taxi
network. Having to appease all these traditionally hard-nosed lobby groups is a sometimes strenuous task, one which he seems to
take on with the fervour of a politician whose
ambition has yet to be watered down by years
in the game.
"(The fi rst thing you must remember is
that) for the past 50 years, everything has
been done to promote car usage in the city"
says the young Haasdonk-born Minister,
who believes the capital's mobility policies to
be in dire need of some "re-equalisation" as
he puts it. He has made no secret of his championing of a different kind of city, one which
puts the emphasis on its inhabitants further
interacting with each other : "A city is meant
for people to meet in and people simply don't
meet in cars" states the energetic Smet, who
lifts his middle fi nger up in the air to illustrate the most common form of communication between drivers.
"Cars have been given too much space in
the city and I believe their role needs to (return) to a more utilitarian purpose" goes on
the happy cyclist. This translates into the
Cambio car-pooling initiative, investing in
new metro and tram lines (with a Schaerbeek
to Uccle branch planned for completion in
2020), providing bycycles for city-dwellers
to rent temporarily, increasing the amount of
cycle lanes, teaching over 1,500 people how
to cycle every year, allowing them to cycle
on bus lanes, further pedestrianising the city
and, fi nally, standardising taxis across town,
making for a more recognisable network of
identifiable people-carriers ( a policy which
initially met with a barrage of opposition
from the taxi lobby ).
The Minister who just seems intent on
citizens reflecting more on their transport
habits' effect on their own surroundings, is
sometimes baffled as to why so many people
believe they need a car. "(The fact is) if you
drive less than 10,000kms a year, or that most
of your trips are city-bound bouts of 5kms or
less, you simply do not need a car" says the
pro-cycling activist. This generational belief
that the key to a facilitated life (devoid of pedestrian and public transport trips) – often
spurred on by ridiculous marketing speak –
through car ownership, is simply outdated.
"I'd like them to realise that there are other ways to be considered cool than by driving
what essentially is a killing machine" finishes
Minister Smet, upon being asked how he would
like new generations to consider cars. Is he on a
quest to bring the cool back into cycling ? We
can only hope so…
THE TEACHING
THE CAR SPECIAL
63
Racing
to Nowhere
— If you're the type to race
to the red light only to have
to wait impatiently for the
green one, the following
makes for an interesting
– although sometimes
obvious – piece of advice.
Writer Nicholas Lewis
Photography Sarah Eechaut
In these times of roller coasting oil prices,
eco-consciousness and increasing car scaremongering, driving a set of wheels has never,
it would seem, been so expensive and socially
looked down upon. And if you're the type to
speed down the high street in second gear –
exhaust pipes roaring – chances are you're
in for a couple of disapproving looks and
moralising pep-talks from the responsible
masses. Keen to shake-off our reputation as
the neighbourhood brats, we checked in with
Peugeot's School for Automotive Control –
out in Nivelles – to learn all about the subtleties of responsible, earth-loving and economical driving. Let's just say our habitual
driving techniques were put to shame…
"You always need to exploit the car's
constants to their full potential" begins our
seasoned instructor Jean-Noël Van Clooster,
who sits behind the wheel of a car as confidently as a king sits on his throne. "(The
point) really is to turn the engine off as little
as possible, as stopping ultimately means, at
some point, re-acceleration, which in turn
means increased consumption." Going round
the school's grounds a couple of times to illustrate his point – keeping a stable speed,
only changing the gears at the last minute and
always driving one gear above that necessary
– Jean-Noël is quick to point to the evolutions
in engine innovations, and the added possibilities these allow for in terms of driving styles.
Indeed, whereas cars 15 years ago started to
rattle if you were driving in the fourth gear at
30kms / hour, today's new crop of engines allow drivers a much longer retro-grading time,
resulting in a minimisation of potential stoppage times. Remember, the whole point is not
to have to stop at the red light, but instead to
spot it as soon as possible, slowing down consequently and letting off a little gas when the
light turns to green again.
01.
02.
" … if you're the type to
speed down the high
street in second gear
chances are you're in for
a couple of disapproving
looks and moralising
pep-talks from the
responsible masses. "
Eco-driving rests on the premise that you
know your car better than the back of your
hand. What is its optimal round per minute
count ? When will its engine start rattling
away ? How comfortable does it sit in each
gear ? How far can you push the car ? But
eco-driving also rests, for the most part, on
the driver, and his ability to work with the car
to achieve a balanced driving style.
This latter point explains the use of the
G Cam during the course's fi rst phase : driver
appraisal. When drivers enrol in the school's
program, the fi rst thing its instructors do is
03.
to allow the driver to look at himself driving,
and observe his reflexes. This, as Jean-Noël
tells us, "allows for a better post-analysis
of the driver's performance" often deriving
some eye-popping statistics which help in
highlighting certain of his or her shortcomings. The second phase is where the advice
comes in.
And, just to make sure it sticks,
here are the tricks and tips that need
to be remembered:
- Get to know your car as well as possible.
- Keep a constant and stable speed.
- Stop as little as possible.
- Anticipate as much as possible.
- Keep a maximum of distance.
- Always drive one speed above.
So the next time you unnecessarily race to
that red light, take a minute to remind yourself of the above…
01.
02.
03.
Controlled Skidding
The All-Revealing G Cam
The Eye Opening Freinographe
e
64
THE BED-BOUND ISSUE
DESIGN
Cross-Town
Traffic
© altreforme
Writer Nicholas Lewis
Car-loving design buffs have never had it so
good. Whilst car manufacturers have embraced the design world's expertise with open
arms, the latter has sometimes been slow to
react to the flurry of opportunities that lie
in cross-industry associations. Reassuringly
though, a small yet growing breed of auto-design protagonists have slowly been coming to
the fore with dreams of futuristic designs and
further engineering innovations. Materials
and components that traditionally were the
playing toys of car engineers and technicians
are increasingly being sought by product designers for their liberating possibilities and
high-end fi nishes. We speak with the Fontana
Group's Valentina Fontana about her fresh
foray into the world of design, which comes in
the form of new design outfit altreforme.
"I like the idea of starting from a process,
to create something new," says the third generation family member, of her willingness to
start afresh, and exploit in-house capabilities to different ends. The newly launched
venture builds on the family-owned company's 50 years of automotive engineering
expertise in bringing to light a cutting-edge
breed of limited edition designs and other
one-offs, to highlight its acquired know-how
by commissioning designers to create unique
pieces which draw upon everything from the
group's research and development resources
to its testing capabilities and manufacturing
ingenuity. Put simply, altreforme gives the
possibility to the Fontana Group's engineers
to prove their worth and confi rm themselves
as a leading design solutions-provider for the
automotive sector. Industrial showing off,
one might say.
Altreforme's debut collection, presented
at Design Miami 2008, includes a console table, a bookcase and a modular chair created
by Aziz Sariyer ( whose work has been picked
up by Moroso and Cappellini amongst others ) as well as a mirror designed by Valentina
herself. "I wanted to translate the emotions
and passions of the Formula 1 world into
something new for the company" tells the
ex-consultant, very aware of the benefits of
diversification to a company's long terms outlook, especially in times of economic hardship besetting the industry.
The fi rst thing that springs to mind when
looking at the Monza mirror is its exposed
fi nish, clean-flowing lines and behind-thescenes feel. Shaped in the form of the infamous Italian Fomula 1 race track – with whom
the company has a five year exclusive licensing agreement – the mirror uses a thick sheet
of aluminium as its frame, giving it a contour
with a dramatic and sturdy fi nish. "One thing
that struck me in Miami was the continued
use of aluminium and its obvious future appeal" says Valentina. The mirror possesses
a very demanding shape, not normally suited
for aluminium use and one which makes very
clear the capabilities presented by the group's
engineers and machinery. Keen to capitalise
on its luxurious association – the material is
favoured by clients such as BMW and Audi
– the mirror and indeed the whole launch
collection seems to be an homage paid to aluminium's resilience.
And what does the future hold for Valentina and her new-born altreforme ? "This
fi rst collection has convinced me of the huge
cross-over potential inherent in bringing the
two industries closer together" says the entrepreneur-come-designer, who is already busy
working on the next of altreforme's commissions – to be presented at this year's Salone
Del Mobile in Milan.
DESIGN
THE CAR SPECIAL
65
dinner with directors from the British design
house Established & Sons who suggested that
he invite Barnard to collaborate with him.
For Woodgate, the thrill of the experience
is working with someone from such a different design background. "I tell students that
it's always better to look at disciplines outside
your own for inspiration rather than simply
looking at other people's furniture." Interest
in the new materials was in there somewhere,
but Woodgate insists that these played a
supporting role in the design process rather
than leading it. "It really was just two guys
that wanted to work together. We use whatever material is the right material, there's no
manifesto to work with carbon fi ber."
It is nevertheless clear that the material fascinates Woodgate. Their initial meeting was the
result of a Royal Designers for Industry discussion Woodgate had staged between Barnard and
the fashion designer Betty Jackson. Hoping that
the pair would explore the gulf between their different areas of design, Woodgate was astonished
to find them discussing the similarities. "Each
racing car is tailored," explains Woodgate. "The
carbon fiber comes in rolls of fabric, and the materials are cut and laid on a mold in the same
way as a Saville Row tailor would cut the cloth
to wrap around the 3D form."
The uni-directional carbon fiber that makes
up the Surface Table comes in lengths 300mm
wide that are laid out on a glass table, abutting
one another lengthwise. The assembly process
is so specialized that it has to take place in clean
rooms to prevent contamination. The assembled piece is then put into an autoclave – a pressurized oven - to cure, turning, in the process,
from soft fabric to a solid structure. "It's very
skilled, you only have a certain time to bond
things together. It's all quite critical."
Despite being only 2mm thick at the edges,
the Surface Table uses almost as much carbon
fiber as a racing car, but for Woodgate, the
point of the exercise was more aesthetic than
practical. "It links in to Jasper Morrison's idea
of Super Normal," he muses. "Maybe with more
emphasis on the super than the normal : Superduper-normal."
SuperDuper-Ficial
— Formula 1 technology
meets minimalist furniture
design in Terence
Woodgate and John
Barnard's blink-and-you'llmiss-it Surface table
Writer Hettie Judah
" … the materials are cut
and laid on a mold
in the same way as
a Saville Row tailor would
cut the cloth to wrap
around the 3D form. "
The table is the product of Woodgate's
collaboration with racing car designer John
Barnard. The pair met at a design event in
2006, and Barnard invited Woodgate to visit
his factory in the South of England. "It's the
old Ferrari factory," explains Woodgate. "In
the mid ‘90s Ferraris were made in Guildford. John was headhunted by Ferrari after
he designed the fi rst carbon fi ber monocoque
and won three world titles for McLaren. He
had a young family and didn't want to move
to Italy, so Ferrari set up a manufacturing facility there in Guildford."
Woodgate returned from his visit somewhat green with envy. "I was so jealous of all
these materials and the way they work with
such precision – the titanium and Kevlar,"
he explains. Shortly after, he sat down to
© Kalpesh Lathigra
"Rather than produce something in an expensive material such as Carrera marble,
we wanted to use state of the art aerospace
technology to take a standard table and push
it as far as we could structurally," explains
Terence Woodgate. The British furniture
designer has discovered a rather novel use
for the word ‘expensive' in this context : with
available list prices putting the table at over
€40,000, his experiment with uni-directional carbon fiber is hardly low budget.
66
THE FEATHERED ISSUE
THE WORD ON
01.
Francorchamps
— We couldn't possibly
dream of doing a Car
Special without being given
our very own private tour
of the country's automotive
pride: Francorchamps'
Formula 1 race track.
The scene of countless
memorable races –
Hakkinen's humiliation
of Schumacher the most
vivid – the track is
apparently the longest run
in the world, is preferred
by pilots as the most
challenging to negotiate
and is moulded within a
breath-taking setting.
Photography Sarah Eechaut
02.
FRANCORCHAMPS
THE CAR SPECIAL
03.
04.
05.
06.
01.
02.
03.
04.
05.
06.
Pole Positions
The Writing's On The Road
The World-Famous "Le Radillion"
Prime Views
The Control Room
First On The Scene
With thanks to Marc Duez
67
68
THE APATHETIC ISSUE
THE SHOWSTOPPERS
Fast and Furious
— Optioned-to-the-max cars all are very well, but what about
the consumerist goodies making your road trips more enjoyable,
comfortable and safer affairs ? Contextualised within BMW's
latest 7 Series, we were at pains to concentrate on the goodies
themselves, as we simply couldn't help fi xating on the navigation
system being projected on the windscreen. What cars have
become…
Photography Yassin Serghini
Hermès Gloves
01.
It only seemed normal for our
driver to be kitted with the fi nest
pair of gloves for our drive-by
¤
Showstoppers section. Hermès' Renaud
gloves are exactly the kind of hand-warming,
all-gripping gloves we were after. Made of
glazed lambskin leather, their soft inside
gave them a mitten-like cosiness, whilst their
sturdy exterior lining made them slightly
more feminine companions to an otherwise
testosterone-fuelled trip.
Moka 'Renaud' Gloves by Hermès – € 590.
www.hermes.com
Starbuck's
Chai Tea Latte
(No Water)
02.
Anti-globalisation speak aside,
we hope you'll agree Belgium
¤
was in dire need of a coffeecum-takeaway chain to feed us coffee-starving masses. And not that we're particularly
keen on the company's ethical stance, it
seems Starbucks once again comes at the
right place, at the right time – and we're not
about to complain. Although its fi rst outpost
is situated far out at Brussels' airport, the
Venti Chai Tea Latte with no water we customarily order when in London or Paris was
well-worth the trip.
FAST AND FURIOUS
THE CAR SPECIAL
V6 Gum Box
03.
We had tried Freedent's rectangular ones, as well as Stimorol's
squarer alternatives – which
¤
both were equally minty fresh in their own
right – but instead opted for V6's gum box
for one reason and one reason only : the ability of its design to blend in with whatever
car's interior – let alone that of the latest
BMW 7 Series. Cylinder-shaped, easy-tograb and open, not one gum was dropped
during our speed-chasing trip.
www.v6.be
St Christopher
04.
How do we come out intact
from our Fast-and-Furious-like
trips to Ghent's Culture Club ?
¤
How come we close-to-never get parking
(we said parking, not speeding) fi nes ? How
do we always fi nd our car so quickly in the
parking lot ? How come we never get stuck in
traffic jams (unless we're late for a meeting of
course) ? Well, we always have our guardian
angel magnetised on our dashboard. Patron
saint of travellers, St Christopher has been
protecting the street-going masses ever since
the fi rst cars started appearing on roads the
world over. Want to make sure you get home
in one piece ? Stick one on your dashboard.
Available from www.auto5.be
Apple
Flavoured
Magic Tree
05.
To be very honest, we'd never be
caught dead in a car sporting one
¤
of these. But that would be forgetting one of this section's founding purposes: to
reflect on some theme-specific novelties, and
popularities. The flavoured trees – as ubiquitous in Belgium as the Ferrari sticker is in Italy
– is firmly entrenched in popular car culture.
And don't ask us why. All we know is that by
simply attaching one to our rear-view mirror,
we instantly felt a certain sense of belonging.
www.arbremagique.com
About BMW's
Latest 7 Series
Its engineering ingenuity and technological innovation set aside, BMW sets the
record straight once again with its latest
interpretation of its behemoth of a salon,
the famed 7 Series. Subtly redesigned,
with clean and contemporary outer
lines, the 7 Series comes back with an
embellished rear, and a seemingly more
aerodynamic body work. Inside, the
sheer versatility and all-encompassing
nature of the technologies packed into
the elongated Beemer gives one the
sensation a 747 pilot might have when
steering his baby – albeit with a wealth
of assistance. Be it its near-magical
and ever-so-practical navigation system
projected on the windscreen, its impressive all-assembling control panel or its
high-tech steering wheel, the 7 Series
will require even the most ardent of car
enthusiast to get a crash course in technological advancements. Not to fear
though, we're sure you'll find the necessary motivation to go back to school.
69
70
THE COMATOSE ISSUE
OBJECTS
Laid to Rest
— Why shouldn't funerary
objects be a standard part
of a designer's repertoire ?
Writer Hettie Judah
Death tends to be a subject treated fl ippantly
by the design world. The charnel house is routinely raided for its symbolism – you can buy
lamp stands in the shape of spinal columns, or
a table formed like a coffi n. At the recent Design Miami fair, Atelier Van Lieshout presented a winged seat that closed to create a skullshaped sensory depravation chamber. Death,
and the imagery surrounding it, is co-opted to
give works a dark edge – but evidence of death
as a simple human experience is barely apparent in most designers' portfolios.
Just because so many of them drive fast and
smoke hard, why should designers be more
aware of death than the rest of us ? We seem
to have reconciled ourselves to paraphernalia
surrounding death that speaks of another age.
We think of caskets in the Queen Anne style
(itself a Victorian fantasy of an earlier time),
blue and white urns reminiscent of the Ming
01.
era, and statuary with the wistful religious
contortions of baroque church carvings.
There is likely something superstitious in
our leaving the design of death old fashioned
– it keeps it distant, and turns it into something that doesn't apply to us. Death is the
kind of thing that happens to people who kit
their homes out with Queen Anne furniture.
The idea that we too might die in the style
we live was neatly fl ipped when the artist Joe
Scanlon made a spoof IKEA-style DIY coffi n
last year and offered it for sale at $27.50.
Much of our reading of the values of other
civilizations comes from the representation
they made of themselves in death, from the
Royal Egyptians' gilded preservation, to the
tombs of the Merovingian lords buried with
their horses and trappings of war.
In Europe and North America, our way
of death is changing, moving away from religion and the traditions of burial, towards
something more secular and possibly more
personal. Great Britain has, at over 70%, one
of the highest rates of cremation in the world,
closely followed by Switzerland, Denmark
and Sweden. Having been long frowned on
by the Catholic Church, the figures are rising
too elsewhere in Europe; in France cremation
LAID TO REST
DESIGN
71
02.
rates have gone from 5% in 1989 to an estimate 27% last year. The rise had reached a
similar figure in Belgium.
Families often opt to keep the cremated remains in the home, or scatter them in a natural setting, rather than place an urn in a formal
columbarium. As yet the inclination towards
an expressive, personal style of remembrance
is barely reflected by what is on the market.
In the dim, somewhat confused hubbub of
the Saint Etienne Design Biennale, it was easy
to overlook just about anything that didn't
jump about and make a noise, but those who
saw the mute glass figure in the vitrine – part
space age deity, part tribal fetish – found
themselves haunted by it. The work of French
product designer Pierre Charpin, the piece
looked explicitly like what it was – a container for human cinerary remains, rendered in
white glass for a child, black for an adult.
"An urn shouldn't have to look like any other container," explained Charpin, who was
inspired by the lack of established ritual surrounding cremation in France. "It shouldn't
just be a pretty, elegant, well-designed box.
The form of this urn acts a little like the ghost
of the departed. It's a presence in the house,
an object that functions at once physically
and mentally."
Charpin has worked with glass before – he
spent a long period experimenting at CIRVA,
the international glass research centre in
Marseilles – and this strong anthropomorphic figure was the result of a commission
from a young glass worker that he'd met during his time there.
Matteo Gonet spent 3 years as a glass
blower and head of the "Hot Shop" at CIRVA
before setting up a studio in Basel, Switzerland. Two years ago he needed an urn for the
" Death is the kind of
thing that happens
to people who kit
their homes out
with Queen Anne
furniture. "
01.
02.
Pierre Charpin's Urn
for an Adult and Child
Jean-Baptiste Sibertin-Blanc's
Blanc s
Colourful Urn
72
THE DILLY-DALLYING ISSUE
OBJECTS
03.
ashes of a family member. The 28-year-old
had never thought about the industry surrounding death and was shocked by the disjunction between the designs on offer and the
way that he might want to remember someone
he loved. During a trip to Naples, he saw Roman funerary urns made in glass, and it occurred to him that he might be able to bring
something on to the market for those looking
for an alternative style of commemoration.
From his studio in Basel, Gonet contacted
artists and designers for whom he had produced works, and commissioned them to design a glass urn for him to manufacture. As
well as Pierre Charpin, the list included artists, craftspeople, glassworkers and former
teachers.
While Charpin's is the most immediately
haunting of the pieces, 10-piece collection is
as diverse as the personalities behind it.
An equally assertive - if more abstract design was presented by Jean-Baptiste Sibertin-Blanc, creative director of Daum glass.
Vividly coloured and clear glass is set around
a frame of Corian which in turn has windows
cut into it leaving the ashes visible at the heart
of the piece. "Cinders are symbolic after the
death," explains Sibertin-Blanc, who wanted
the design of the urn to reflect the process of
mourning. "But maybe after three months I
might want to scatter them in a natural setting and keep the object. I wanted to imagine
the memory of the person, with all the colours
of the glass refl ecting on the area inside when
the light falls on it. I wanted to make it a very
lively piece, not sad, but strong."
Alexis Georgacopolous's urn doubles as a
vase. "A funerary urn is a statuary object that
you use only once, it becomes an object you
never touch or move," he explains. "To give
it another function makes it more visible. It's
like a serious joke – the deceased person has
a role in the house – grandmother is there to
keep the fl owers."
Hubert Crevoisier's Funerary Urn for a
Couple is a cocoon shaped work in translucent glass in which two chambers are joined.
As a nurse, Crevoisier had worked closely
with terminally ill patients. Five years ago
he gave up a career in palliative care to concentrate on his artwork and this project was
strongly linked to his on-going exploration of
death and dying. "The complicated things for
Matteo was to blow two very similar pieces,"
explains Crevoisier. "With a very focused eye,
you can see some differences and I like that.
It's at the junction of the two halves that the
piece becomes alive."
After Saint-Etienne, Gonet's prototypes
were picked up for exhibitions in the Design-
LAID TO REST
huis Eindhoven and MUDAC in Lausanne.
While fl attered by the attention, Gonet's
focus is now on getting the pieces to a stage
where they can be commercially produced.
Marie Garnier was already exploring modern
rites of passage when Gonet approached her.
Before the glass design that she produced for
him – a pair of oval shapes, one for the ashes,
the other for a USB key holding personal information – she created a biodegradable urn
hollowed from a loaf of bread. Within the
shell of the bread, the ashes are placed on top
of acorns and earth, then sealed inside with
traditional red wax and ribbon. "The process set in motion by the slow growth of the oak
becomes an analogy for mourning," explains
Garnier. "What links the two designs is the
desire to leave positive traces – the impulses
contained in the USB key, and the transformative life created by the acorns."
" The third work
– Carbon Copy –
uses the ashes
as lead for
a box of pencils
each stamped
with the name
of the deceased. "
Garnier's suggestion of new rituals for
death fi nds echoes in the work of the young
British designer Nadine Jarvis. "I'd never
set out to design for the funeral industry,"
explains Jarvis. "This started as a quite
abstract-look at cyclical processes and materials that degrade. The original intention
wasn't to design urns, but then I started to
realize that there wasn't much on offer."
Jarvis' Post Mortem Research project has
resulted in three propositions. The fi rst,
Rest In Pieces, is a fragile ceramic container
tied to the branch of a tree. The string frays
over three years or so, eventually leaving it
to smash on the ground, scattering the ashes
to the wind. The forces of nature are also
co-opted in Bird Feeder, in which ashes are
progressively released as birds peck at the
walls ( for Jarvis, the idea that the birds might
ingest some of the ashes carries intimations of
reincarnation ).
04.
05.
03.
04.
05.
Hubert Crevoisier's
Funerary Urn for a Couple
Marie Garnier's Take on Urns
Nadine Jarvis' Biodegradable Urn
DESIGN
73
74
THE THUMB-TURNING ISSUE
06.
OBJECTS
07.
08.
The third work – Carbon Copy – uses the
ashes as lead for a box of pencils each stamped
with the name of the deceased. While some
might fi nd this the most disconcerting of the
three works, for Jarvis, it was the most personal. "The pencils pay homage to my granddad," she explains. "He was German and I
couldn't communicate with him, so I'd write
letters which he'd translate."
In 1997 Maureen Lomasney read an article
in the San Franscisco Examiner about the rising cremation rates in California. "Mortality
wasn't a subject pressing on my mind," she
recalls. "I started thinking of what people
were making to put the ashes in – surely there
must be a whole new group of artists and artisans making beautiful urns for people ?"
After discovering almost nothing on the
market, Lomasney decided that she could do
something to stimulate creative work in what
she felt sure was an emerging area.
In 2000 she solicited entries from art
school and ateliers for the fi rst juried international exhibition of urns, reliquaries and
funeral art. The response – both from artists
and from the buying public – led her to create
Funeria, a funerary art business that now has
a dedicated gallery in Sonoma, and a Biennial in San Francisco.
"Our orders have been quadrupling every
year in the past three years, so I'd say were on
a very good path," explains Lomasney. "Since
the gallery opened there have been many
more requests for specially commissioned
work." Clients visit from as far away as New
York, often returning time and again to fi nd
the right piece.
Lomasney suggests that Funeria offers a
glimpse of practices that might become commonplace elsewhere in the world in coming
decades. "The Bay Area is where natural
childbirth took hold prior to doing so in the
rest of the country," she explains. "Some-
thing about the West Coast liberates thinking about all stages of our lives and people
are looking for opportunities to enrich those
stages."
06.
07+ 08.
Nadine Jarvis Urn Sketches
Nadine Jarvis' Carbon Copy
Amnesty international.
proved to be effective.
000-0000070-70
www.amnesty.be
76
THE LAID-BACK ISSUE
SHELF ABSORBED
Easy
Reading
— In between the coffee stains,
overflowing ashtray and left-over bento
boxes, we managed to slot in a couple of
lazy literary winners for our – and your –
Sunday morning reading pleasure.
Photography Yassin Serghini
Production Melisande McBurnie
EASY READING
I'm With the Brand (2008)
By Rob Walker
Constable
Some have been aggravated by Rob Walker's
refusal to attack the new culture of marketing
–or "murketing" - that has integrated branding into almost every area of our lives, but
intelligent readers will decide for themselves.
Instead, Walker focuses his energy on an exploration of the way consumers have come to
defi ne their identities through brands, images
and marketing ideologies. Whether you're a
paid-up brand ambassador or a practitioner
of "guerilla" handicrafts, this is essential
reading for anyone that thinks they're too
smart to be sold to. (HJ)
Club Kids (2008)
Black Dog Publishing
Remove the upper crust of club culture – you
know, sunglasses in clubs, designer gloss and
footballers' wives' VIP areas – and underneath it all lies an actual culture, one filled
with larger-than-life personalities and their
often heavy-hitting creativity. Be it Beth Ditto's uncompromising yet contemporary punk
attitude blurting onto our radio waves, the
softly-spoken and manicured act of Spandau
Ballet or even Manchester's sweaty Northern
Soul all nighters, the book makes a fine job of
highlighting the extremely different spectrums
of the global underground club scene and its
influences on mainstream pop culture. (NL)
The World from My Front Porch (2008)
By Larry Towell
Chris Boot
Clockwise, from Top Left.
Club Kids (Black Dog), The World from my Front Porch
by Larry Towell (Chris Boot), Process by Jennifer Husdon
(Laurence King), The Doodle Notebook by Clare Fay
(Thames & Hudson), I'm with the Brand by Rob Walker
(Constable).
¤
Whilst fl icking through Larry Towell's impressive photographic reflection on land,
home and belongings, you somehow can
picture the Magnum Photographer sat on a
rocking chair on his front porch, absorbing
the surroundings' going-ons and plotting his
recalling of it. Presented in three sections
and photographed over 20 years, the book
offers a before, during and after account
of life around Towell's farm, the obvious
centerpiece of his being. Drawing on archival imagery and historical artifacts – the
book even includes Indian arrowheads found
on his property – and including Towell's own
motion-heavy photographs, the volume is a
towering testament to the photographer's meticulous documenting streak. (NL)
CULTURE
77
Process (2008)
By Jennifer Hudson
Laurence King Publishing
Essential porn for design nerds, Process documents the development of 50 products, from
one-off ceramics to industrially produced
furniture. Interviews with designers describe
the background to the pieces with in-progress
photos and sketches. While Jennifer Hudson's inclusive approach to design is laudable
on its own merits, it also illuminates the range
of involvement that designers have in the production of their work, from artisan designers,
through technical innovators, to design "artists" who leave the practical aspects of production to the little people. (HJ)
The Doodle Notebook
How to Waste Time in the Office (2008)
By Claire Fay
Thames & Hudson
Providing you're able to get it past the gorillas
at the office entrance, this book could wellprove to be the hour-consuming office pastime
you've been longing for. Indeed, gone are the
days of empty friends requests on MySpace
or self-absorbed status updates on Facebook.
Instead, the discerning time wasters out there
will opt for this compact journal of do-nothings. Illustrated with an obvious eye on the
market for design-snobs and ‘connect-the-dot'
grownups, the book comprises such symbolic
actions as Tippexing "irritating pests" or drawing your boss' boots and licking them as often
as necessary. With The Doodle Notebook,
French author and illustrator Claire Fay saves
the (office) day. (NL)
78
THE IDLE ISSUE
PENCIL PERFECT
Dad should be hustling stolen car parts to
his AA meeting acolytes
– It's half past ten on a
Monday morning and
our family of expert lazeabouts are readying for
yet another day of lost
thoughts and unfullfilled
ambitions.
Illustration Jean-Baptiste Biche
Son hopes his new (stolen) phone
allows him to surf on porn sites
THE CLAIMERS
CULTURE
79
Mum's wondering
what the f$%$ you're looking at?!
Grandma wonders
where it all went wrong
Grandpa dreams of
Ladbroke winnings
80
THE LETHARGIC ISSUE
EYE OPENER
Although he found it hard to get off the bed, photographer Dirk Leunis
perfectly managed to capture the free-floating numbness of one too many
afternoons spent in a motel room, emptily watching the time go by as
easily as bad TV.
Photography Dirk Leunis
GIRLFRIEND, I'M IN A TV COMA
CULTURE
81
82
THE LISTLESS ISSUE
EYE OPENER
GIRLFRIEND, I'M IN A TV COMA
CULTURE
83
84
THE UNCONCERNED ISSUE
EYE OPENER
Model Delfi ne Bafort
GIRLFRIEND, I'M IN A TV COMA
CULTURE
Make-up Paul Hillewaere for Korres
Styling Hilde Destoop
Imaging Ché for Confronteerlijk
Props Kringwinkel SPIT
85
86
THE SOMNOLENT ISSUE
THE WORD ON THE STREET
— We found in Barbrabbit's illustrative touch a memory of
the hours passed doodling away during class. Explicit yet
self-reflective, her take on lazy living extends to a world of
odd creatures and ever odder contexts.
Illustration Barbrabbit
I CAN'T BE BOTHERED
CULTURE
87
88
THE UNCONCERNED ISSUE
THE WORD ON THE STREET
I CAN'T BE BOTHERED
CULTURE
89
90
THE REMOTE CONTROL ISSUE
THE WORD ON THE STREET
The Word Magazine <[email protected]>
23rd December 2008 15:28
Reply to: [email protected]
To: [email protected]; pleaseletmedesign <[email protected]>
Subject: Lazy Issue's Playlists.
pleaseletmedesign's Playlist
The Mae Shi — I Get Almost Everything
Les Singlets — Party!
Human Highway — Sleep Talking
Joakim — Come Into My Kitchen
Lykke Li — Little Bit
Man Man — The Ballad Of Butter Beans
The Morning Benders — Wasted Time
Mr Oizo — Bruce Willis Is Dead
Oh No Oh My — Go To Work
Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin — Think I Wanna Die
Jean Biche's Playlist
Blonde Redhead — Top Ranking
Metronomy — On Dancefloors
Le Club des Chats — Yes Madame
The Buggles — Elstree
Valérie Lemercier & Pascal Borel — J'ai un mari
Mr Oizo — W
Deux — Le couloir
Silver Apples — Seagreen Serenades
Todd Rundgren — I Don't Wanna Tie You Down
Philippe Sarde — Cesar et rosalie (Movie Soundtrack)
Sarah's Playlist
Silversun Pickups — Lazy Eye
Brazilian Girls — L'Interprete
Gustavo Santaolalla — Deportation / Iguazu
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy — Wolf Among Wolves
The Blow — True Affection
Gorillaz — Hong Kong
Elliott Smith — Between the Bars
Bon Iver — Lump Sum
Fleetwood Mac — Dreams
PJ Harvey — White Chalk
Karen's Playlist
Aimée Mann — Looking for Nothing
Bjork — Dull Flame of Desire
Amy Macdonald — Poison Prince
X — Burning House of Love
Sparks — This Town ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us
Smiths — Girlfriend in a Coma
Crystal Castles — Untrust us
Nick Drake — Northern Sky
Dear Sir Galahad — Joan Baez
1 of 1
23/12/08 15:45
Yes, We’ve Sold Out !
(And now that we've got your attention, hear this)
Starting with The Word's January-February 2009 Issue
Receiving six issues of The Word at home will cost you € 18
Why ?
Because the postman isn't free.
What You
Need to do
Transfer € 18 to bank account 363-0257432-34
to continue receiving The Word at home in 2009.
The Word still is a free magazine
(for our many distribution points go online
at www.thewordmagazine.be).
The € 18 merely represents the cost of
getting it delivered at home.
94
THE MADE-IN-THE-DARK ISSUE
STOCKISTS AND OTHERS WE LOVE
Stockists…
and Others We Love
A
Alfa Romeo
www.alfaromeo.be
Alice Gallery
www.alicebxl.com
Altreforme
www.altreforme.com
American Apparel
www.americanapparel.net
L'Ancienne Belgique
www.abconcerts.be
D
L
Designers Remix
www.designersremix.com
+32 (0)3 248 84 16
La Perla
www.laperla.com
+32 (0)2 646 99 80
Diesel
www.diesel.com
+32 (0)3 608 40 55
Laurence King
www.laurenceking.co.uk
Dom Perignon
www.domperignon.com
+32 (0)2 372 96 18
Leonardo Specials
www.leonardospecials.nl
Louis Vuitton
www.louisvuitton.com
+32 (0)2 551 10 10
E
Annemie Verbeke
www.annemieverbeke.com
+32 (0)2 646 25 81
Essentiel
www.essentiel.be
+32 (0)3 201 13 81
Aveda
www.aveda.com
Established & Sons
www.establishedandsons.com
S
Saab
www.saab.be
Sitonit
www.sitonit.be
Sophie D'hoore
+32 (0)2 514 50 77
Spa Francorchamps
www.spa-francorchamps.be
Stadleform
www.stadlerform.ch
M
T
Mellow Yellow
www.mellowyellow.fr
Thames and Hudson
www.thamesandhudson.com
N
U
B
Barielle
www.barielle.com
F
Fogal
www.fogal.com
+32 (0)475 90 01 34
Big Game
www.big-game.ch
Nike
www.nike.com
Underwear
www.dunderwear.be
+32 (0)2 514 27 31
O
P
V
G
Black Dog Publishing
www.blackdogonline.com
BMW
www.bmw.be
Bozar Shop
www.bozarshop.com
H
Het Depot
www.hetdepot.be
Pascal Smet
www.pascalsmet.be
Patrizia Pepe
www.patriziapepe.com
+32 (0)2 217 35 22
W
Waffl es
www.ilovewaffles.be
The Winery
www.wineryonline.be
I
Q
C
Ieva Laurina
www.ievalaurina.com
X
R
Y
Chris Boot
www.chrisboot.com
Constable Robinson
www.constablerobinson.com
Implicite
www.implicite-lingerie.com
+32 (0)2 347 28 85
Innovation
www.inno.be
Cook & Book
www.cookandbook.be
J
Cosmeticary
www.cosmeticary.com
Juicy Couture
www.juicycouture.com
K
Kiehls
www.kiehls.com
Racing to Nowhere
www.maitriseautomobile.com
Rosenthal
www.rosenthal.com
Rue Blanche
www.rueblanche.com
+32 (0)2 451 50 81
Ruinart
+32 (0)2 372 96 18
Sonia Rykiel
www.soniarykiel.com
+32 (0)2 502 08 13
Z
Zadig & Voltaire
www.zadig-et-voltaire.com
+32 (0)2 514 24 40
96
THE WASTED ISSUE
ADVERTISERS' ROUND UP
pages 04 – 05
www.giorgioarmaniparfums.com
pages 02 – 03
Armani
www.giorgioarmaniparfums.com
S33021031 Aqua di Gio_DP_420x295.indd 1
page 09
Swatch
www.swatch.com
page 11
page 19
delvaux.com
page 06
23/12/08 14:46:54
opening: June 2009
Contemporary art
is contagious
Brillant Black Edition – Box Calf, Glazed finish calf with square markings – 50 examples
www.superdry.be
Following success in London, New York, Sydney, Melbourne, Amsterdam and
Paris, the AAF is coming to Brussels! A selection of 65 local and international
galleries will represent over 300 known and emerging artists, with all artworks
priced under `5000.
AAF is the fab, funky fair where visitors can look at, love and leave with
contemporary art.
Royal Museums
of Fine Arts
of Belgium
Rue de la Régence 3 — 1000 Brussels
www.musee-magritte-museum.be
open: Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
nocturne: Wednesday until 8 p.m.
closed: Mondays, January 1, 2nd Thursday of January, May 1,
November 1 and 11, December 25
entrance fee: 8 | 5 | 2 €
Public opening hours
12-15/02 : 11am - 7pm
For the use of L’Empire des Lumières, 1954 © Charly HERSCOVICI, with his kind authorization – c/o SABAM-ADAGP, 2008
For the decorative tarpaulin: © GDF SUEZ
Superdry
www.superdry.be
Magritte Museum
www.musee-magritte-museum.be
page 23
page 39
page 43
Smeds
Ensemble
+ KVS
Mental
Finland
11>
22.02
DESIGN © FREY WILLE
Delvaux
www.delvaux.be
11>
22.02
Director/
Aspria Club:
all our experts at your service
Kristian
Smeds
www.
mentalfinland.
com
A dark comedy about
Europe in the year 2069
Richard Earney
Jean-Luc Rudé
Marco Meli
TRANCE™ Creator,
Int’l Dancer
& Aspria Expert
Olympic Athlete
& Aspria Expert
Master trainer,
Nutritionist
& Aspria Expert
Elisa Kant
European Aquafitness
Champion
& Aspria Expert
Olivier Bovy
Introduced Les Mills
in Belgium
& Aspria Expert
Eric Simmons
Aspria Member
since 2005
The Aspria team of experts has achieved great
Peter Pastijn
Ironman, Cycling
Master Trainer
& Aspria Expert
Patty Leconte
French Miss
Fitness 2008
& Aspria Expert
Beran Parry
Rudi Van Lancker
Pilates Master Trainer
& Aspria Expert
Athletics
multi-record holder
& Aspria Expert
Eric Rozen
Bharata Natyam
Dancer, Choreographer
& Aspria Expert
But that’s not all... Aspria Club is proud to
things: former Olympic athletes, record holders,
announce its brand new “Functional Training
national champions.
studio” to complement its existing state of
They are now at your side to help you achieve
the art fitness equipment, 21m pool and wide
your goals, support and motivate you.
variety of classes.
If you join in January, you can meet your own expert: just you, him and your goals.
KVS/Arduinkaai 9 quai aux Pierres de Taille
1000 Brussel/Bruxelles
Picture © Antti Ahonen
Graphic design www.coastdesign.be
What better way to start the year?
www.kvs.be — 02 210 11 12
To find out more, visit www.aspria-experts.be or call 02 508 08 12.
Aspria Club: the health, wellness and sports experts
ÊÀœÌiÊ<>ÛiÊ{xÊ*>ViÊ`ÕÊÀ>˜`Ê->Lœ˜ÊUÊ£äääÊÀÕÃÃiÃÊUÊ/i°ÊäӇxäÓÊÎxÊÓäÊUÊÜÜÜ°vÀiއ܈i°Vœ“
Rue de l’Industrie 26 - 1040 Brussels
Ê6 KVS078_0809_Annonce_MentalFinland (WordMagazine).indd 1
KVS
www.kvs.be
Ê Ê * , - Ê Ê - / , - " 1 , Ê Ê "
"
Ê Ê Ê Ê " - " 7 Ê Ê 1 Ê Ê 7/01/09 08:12
Aspria
www.aspriaclub.be
Frey Wille
www.frey-wille.com
Ê Ê " - Ê -
Affordable Art Fair Brussels
Contemporary art under E5000 - 65 Galleries
12-15 February 2009
Tour & Taxis - Brussels
www.affordableartfair.be
Ticket
12` (free under 18)
AAF
www.affordableartfair.be
ADVERTISERS' ROUND UP
page 56
page 61
THE LASTS
97
page 75
IF THE NEW 407 SW HAS EXCEPTIONAL ROAD-HOLDING,
IT IS BECAUSE WE PUSH PERFECTIONISM THAT LITTLE BIT FURTHER.
TO ADD A CLOUD
(but not too big)
TOO BLURRED (DECREASE 10%)
THERE’S A TRICK, JUST THERE
MORE YELLOW
TO MOVE THE ROCK
SLIGHTLY TO THE LEFT
TO ERASE THE
FINGERS’ MARKS
A BIT LESS
GREY
Amnesty international.
proved to be effective.
SHADOW IS TOO DARK
www.peugeot.be
by Peugeot gathers a set of technologies dedicated to road-holding, like the front axle with double wishbone and a linked hub
carrier which brings a sharp of letting in curves, the 407 benefits an exceptional
road behaviour. The new 407 SW also exists in berline version.
New
PEUGEOT. ENGINEERED TO BE ENJOYED.
000-0000070-70
Fuel consumption from 5,3 to 8,5 l/100 km - CO2 emissions from 140 to 225 g/km.
295x210_PM _New407SW_UK.indd 1
1/6/09 2:07:10 PM
www.amnesty.be
AMNESTY_TShirt_A4THEWORDMAG.indd 1
Peugeot
www.peugeot.be
Café Modèle
www.aperos.be
Amnesty international
www.amnesty.org
page 91
page 93
page 95
Yes, We’ve Sold Out !
(And now that we've got your attention, hear this)
Starting with The Word's January-February 2009 Issue
Receiving six issues of The Word at home will cost you € 18
Why ?
Because the postman isn't free.
What You
Need to do
Transfer € 18 to bank account 363-0257432-34
to continue receiving The Word at home in 2009.
The Word still is a free magazine
(for our many distribution points go online
at www.thewordmagazine.be).
The € 18 merely represents the cost of
getting it delivered at home.
Colophon
www.colophon2009.com
The Word
www.thewordmagazine.be
page 99
page 100
&
M E R C I E R
&
M E
Photo © Jim Wright
B A U M E
It’s TIME to make a difference. To learn more about how
Baume & Mercier and ASHTON KUTCHER contribute to programs
that improve education for our children, seek to cure cancer and
protect the environment, please visit: www.baume-et-mercier.com
AALST: JUWELIER ZWITSERLAND - ANTWERPEN: HORLOGES SLAETS - BRUSSEL:
TOLLET JOAILLIERS - BRASSCHAAT: SPOOREN JUWELIERS - GENT : BOUVERNE •
JUWELIER LEFEBVRE - HASSELT: ORYE - KOKSIJDE: DE RUBAULT - KORTRIJK: NYS
JUWELIERS - OOSTENDE: QUINTYN - ROESELARE: POOLS - SINT NIKLAAS: MARTENS
JUWELIER - TONGEREN: EDDY HELEVEN JUWELIERS - TURNHOUT: HUYBRECHTS
JUWELIER - WAREGEM: JUWELIER HAESEVOETS - WETTEREN: KRIS BAELE
CLASSIMA
EXECUTIVES
Taste our knowledge wisely.
INFO BAUME & MERCIER : +32 2 533 15 33 - [email protected]
Baume & Mercier
www.baume-et-mercier.com
Veuve Clicquot
www.veuve-clicquot.com
Tamarind foods
www.tamarindfoods.be
5/01/09 17:13:04
98
THE BIG LEBOWSKI ISSUE
Seen through a yellow-dimed
projector, our Cinematic Issue
is on its way to winning itself an
Oscar. Filmed and canned in
Brussels, but soon-to-be-banned in
the rest of the world, our motionon-print issue features :
WHAT'S NEXT
An insider’s look into catering to the cinema industry.
A photo-essay on peeping cinemas and the legend that is
Dennis Black Magic.
A feature on the business of pop corn.
A reflective essay on the quest to being discovered.
Our very own attempt at Guerrilla fi lmmaking.
A survey of the myriads of Belgian fi lm festivals.
A focus on independent cinema houses.
A list of our top ten suicide-inducing Belgian movies.
Our Fashion Special.
As well as our usual crop of selected goodies, regular
features and outbursts of creativity.
Oh, and we’ll also be sending out a limited-edition
DVD to all our subscribers. Get the hint ? Subscribe !
The Word’s Cinematic Issue
Out 6th March 2009
Coming soon to a Theatre near You
&
M E R C I E R
&
M E
Photo © Jim Wright
B A U M E
It’s TIME to make a difference. To learn more about how
Baume & Mercier and ASHTON KUTCHER contribute to programs
that improve education for our children, seek to cure cancer and
protect the environment, please visit: www.baume-et-mercier.com
AALST: JUWELIER ZWITSERLAND - ANTWERPEN: HORLOGES SLAETS - BRUSSEL:
TOLLET JOAILLIERS - BRASSCHAAT: SPOOREN JUWELIERS - GENT : BOUVERNE •
JUWELIER LEFEBVRE - HASSELT: ORYE - KOKSIJDE: DE RUBAULT - KORTRIJK: NYS
JUWELIERS - OOSTENDE: QUINTYN - ROESELARE: POOLS - SINT NIKLAAS: MARTENS
JUWELIER - TONGEREN: EDDY HELEVEN JUWELIERS - TURNHOUT: HUYBRECHTS
JUWELIER - WAREGEM: JUWELIER HAESEVOETS - WETTEREN: KRIS BAELE
INFO BAUME & MERCIER : +32 2 533 15 33 - [email protected]
CLASSIMA
EXECUTIVES
Taste our knowledge wisely.