Any kind of topic that's about animals is super sensitive to me and to many other people all around the world. We talked about cruelty-free products and animal testing, hunting, endangered species, pollution, forest reduction.. The list goes on and on about the threats that animals have to face when a human is involved. The circus is not an exception.

Circus has been around for a very very long time and it's understandable that it's hard to change a human habit of being entertained. But fuck, are we still paying to see animals being tortured for the laugh?  It's disgusting enough that labs are still testing on animals and using them as props in irrelevant situations but circus really drives me insane. There are just the kind of topics that trigger you from the inside and you can't help but to speak up your mind. We've seen facts and pictures of how animals are being treated in circuses. Physical abuse, starvation, small spaces for big animals, cages. Do I need to even say more? 

As always, it's hard to change something that's been around for ages. It's always easier to create something completely different than to change someone's mind about anything (same-sex marriage and family, women rights, equality - you get the idea). However, Germany seems to be taking effort, time and energy into changing something about the entertainment of circus. 

German circus came up with a way of using holograms and light shows instead of live animals. Where has this been earlier?! We have human-looking robots but animal holograms are only now a thing? (I mean Night at the Musem 2 did it first in 2014 but still) 

'Cruelty-free magical experience' - that's how the article describes it and I totally agree. I'd much rather go to this kind of a show than sit in a dirty circus tent watching elephants being chased by monkeys. 

A lot of thought has gone into this production: the lasers, the techniques, the lighting. It must have cost a fortune therefor it's definitely worth it. The details are incredible and super realistic, the colours are vibrant as if the actual animal was there and thank God for the person who came up with this idea for the Circus Roncalli.

On Friday my friend dragged me to the opening of a new exhibition by Lis Rhodes in Nottingham Contemporary called Dissident Lines and I'm grateful that she did. 

"Lis Rhodes is a pioneer of experimental filmmaking and a major figure in the history of artists working with film in Britain. Enabled by the Freelands Award 2017, Dissident Lines is Rhodes’ first-ever survey and will span almost 50 years of work. Significantly, this is the first time that Nottingham Contemporary has ever dedicated all of its galleries to a retrospective. The exhibition will span Rhodes’ entire career, from iconic pieces such as Dresden Dynamo and Light Music to a specially commissioned new work. Dissident Lines will be accompanied by a comprehensive monograph." - nottinghamcontemporary.org

The visuals were truly contemporary - very trippy, dark and experimental. By far, my favourite exhibit/room was the film installation Light Music (1975). I could spend hours in there walking around, dancing and looking at my shadow on the screen. It was therapeutic in a way even. But still fun. I felt like in a movie, and old cinema. I love those installations that I can be a part of, the ones that allow me to move and shape myself into a piece of art. It's calming, inspiring, motivating, refreshing, stimulating...

"Formed from two projections facing one another on opposite screens, Light Music is Rhodes’s response to what she perceived as the lack of attention paid to women composers in European music. She composed a ‘score’ comprised of drawings that form abstract patterns of black and white lines onscreen. The drawings are printed onto the optical edge of the filmstrip. As the bands of light and dark pass through the projector, they are ‘read’ as audio, creating an intense soundtrack, forming a direct, indexical relationship between the sonic and the visual. What one hears is the aural equivalent to the flickering patterns on the screens." - tate.org.uk

Another installation that touched me emotionally was the wall with the list of thousands documented deaths of refugees and immigrants due to the restrictive policies of "Fortress Europe". It was interesting but horrifying to read at the same time. Children, women, men and their deaths, it's all written on there: their age, the region of origin, the cause of death. I had to stop myself from imagining all these poor souls going through such a traumatic journey only to be dead moments later. 

This wall was leading to a room where a movie was played explaining the agony, the pain of women and men who suffered domestic violence and forced labour. Even Lithuanians were mentioned, my people.. thousands of them tortured physically and mentally to work without the identity of their own.

All in all, the exhibition was exciting yet terrifying but the Still I Rise exhibition I visited back in October still remains my favourite I've seen so far. 

The first Monday of May. The most important fashion event of the year. The most iconic night. The most iconic fashion. The Oscars of fashion. What more needs to be said. Oh right, Camp! The theme for this year was Camp: Notes of Fashion. A lot of people got confused by the name, and to be fair, so was I when I first came across it. In all honesty, looking at the pictures, it seems that a lot of designers were confused as well. Now I'm no serious expert when it comes to fashion but I am studying it, so my opinion is a bit more 'educated' and dare I say 'reasonable'. In one of the Vogue videos on Youtube with Lady Gaga and her level of camp, she quoted the essay by Susan Suntag Notes on "Camp" and perfectly understood the meaning of this year's theme. 

"Camp is who you are. It's not who you TRY to be."

The majority of designers and celebrities understood Camp as being as extra as you can to the point where the garment looks costumey, tacky. And that's exactly what Katy Perry brought to the pink carpet. Yes, she looked insane and definitely original but to me, her outfit looked like a very expensive Halloween costume. The chandelier looked glamorous (I actually did like the chandelier) but the burger... That was definitely a costume, not Camp. Yes it was weird, funny and crazy but there has to be a line where Camp ends and costume starts or am I missing something? If I touched on costumes, some may argue that Zendaya and her Cinderella fantasy was also a costume and that's correct. But her entrance, her whole aesthetics was Camp. The performance that she put on with the fairy dust and the light up dress, her body language itself was glamorous and she breathed with elegance. That's the thing though, I'm disappointed that Katy didn't do a dramatic entrance, she just came in and stood there. The performance wasn't LIT. (I had do)

I could get into my faves and hates of the night but that would be boring as we all have seen the photos at this point. I'm writing this post as more of a personal opinion on this whole shebang in general. 

Last year, all I cared about were the outfits and the beautification of the look but now, when I'm more mature and can form an opinion based on research, I am more into the idea of that Gala, the meaning of it. 

On Sunday, I watched the documentary The First Monday of May to get me even more excited about the event. Looking at the rooms and exhibits that I saw myself when I visited New York back in January was incredible to the point where I started to tear up. News flash, I am a sentimental cry-baby. But the documentary was inspiring and eye-opening, for the first time I looked at the Met Gala not only as a red carpet event full of beautiful dresses but as an event with purpose and meaning, with a story. I looked into the exhibit, I started following the official Instagram accounts of The Met and got insights that prepared me for the carpet, that gave me a base to form an opinion from. And really, it is just all blown up in this modern era, a few decades ago it truly was all about the purpose, but now, everybody only cares about the outfits. And that 's something that celebrities, designers and organizers have to start spreading awareness about. Maybe, dressing famous people in outfits that don't quite represent the theme is their way of forcing people to look into what the theme actually was? Yes, everyone understands Camp differently but if there's a certain description of how it's supposed to look and you still don't do it, there has to be a reason for it, right? 

Right off the bat, Manolo Blahnik is one of the best shoe designers out there. It doesn't matter if you would wear the shoes or if you just adore them as fashion masterpieces (at least that's what I do since I'm not a massive heel wearer). Everyone adores Manolo Blahnik as an individual and as an artist. And after I saw the movie, I perfectly understand why they do so.


The movie was truly inspiring and aesthetically pleasing. We get the insight on Mr Blahnik himself and on how he works as a designer and that's always interesting to have a peek at. Did you know that Manolo Blahnik executes and creates the shoe, the base model, the sample himself before he lets everyone else get to work? I found that really interesting and unique about him. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that he's the only one who does so or at least one of the minority of shoe designers out there. The relationship between Blahnik and his work, his passion is just breathtaking, it almost looks so effortless... The way he sketches his shoes, the way he works on them, he just has that calm and pleased expression on his face. And that's one of the many things I adore about him as an individual.
His personality is also very charming and appealing. Blahnik has that charisma and attitude that is just somehow warm and welcoming. The little stories that Anna Wintour, David Bailey, André Leon Talley, Paloma Picasso and, of course, Manolo Blahnik was telling were just full of joy and lightness. There were moments where I cracked a smile up to my ears or even let out a laugh..

All the love in the world,
Karolina x

Maria Grazia Chiuri is the Creative Designer at Dior and I don't know about the rest of the world, but I truly admire her. Dior has been a feminine house from the very beginning and M. G. Chiuri really continues the legacy of Christian Dior in creative, beautiful and feminine silhouettes. 

As the guest of the Business of Fashion podcast, she gives us an insight on her feelings about the exhibition at Victoria&Albert museum in London that just opened. (I'm eager to visit it soon!). Maria Grazia Chiuri also talks about some key elements of Dior fashion history and the evolution of style, about the strangeness of her arrival to a French fashion house. 

The podcast is not long, only about 30 mins and it's definitely worth it. Her voice is somehow calming but it's interesting to hear her accent, it's charming. I enjoyed every second of this podcast and I know you will too.

All the love in the world,

Karolina x 

The Whitney museum was on our list as well, so we had to go in and cross one more thing out of that list. I didn't think I would enjoy this that much, but frankly, I did enjoy it. At first, I thought there would be a part about American music history, like jazz and R&B icons, but there wasn't. It was all about the art: some modern, contemporary, some classic brush strokes and portraits, there were many installations as well and I freaking love those. My beloved installations were incredible, they had everything: the sound, the story, the colour contrasts, the illusions, the lighting. 

I loved the paintings well, since I'm a sucker for colours contrasts and palettes, it's no surprise there! (Yeah I am sad that I didn't have time to go the colour factory, don't even get me started there)

One of the artists was actually born in Kaunas, Lithuania which is pretty cool, considering the fact that my country is relatively small and not a lot of people make it to the States. 

all pictures are mine

The colour contrasts and shadows really caught my attention to the point where I just stood there and admired every inch of that picture.

Some said that this is a better version of a contemporary art museum than the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). But I hadn't das a chance to visit that either, so I can't be the judge here.

See! So many things that I didn't get a chance to explore. Now this means that I truly need to go back to the city of my dreams and finish what I started..

All the love in the world,

Karolina x 

Along with Longchamp, Gucci store in Soho, New York was the second most fabulous retail space we visited. Henry, our lecturer was the one who actually told us to visit that place. Thank you!

I have never seen such an urban and 'vintage' designer store before. And that was exactly what the creative director Alessandro Michele was aiming for. The current shop is in the 155-year-old building that was originally a pencil factory.

 "The design concept was conceived exclusively for this location to maintain the integrity of the original framework."


all pictures are mine

All the love in the world,
Karolina x

If you went to New York and didn't go to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, were you really in New York? 

The Met was definitely of my list of places to see in NYC so I paid a visit (literally, I paid $12 for a student ticket) to the museum. And it was truly worth my every dollar. We were a bit disappointed that the exhibitions at the Costume Institute were closed (the next one will be on view from 9th May 2019 to 8th September 2019). We had a chat with the lady that worked at the American Wing and according to her, the museum goes absolutely mad at these dates because all fashion enthusiasts attack The Met to see these original designer pieces and to gain further knowledge on fashion history.

We did, however, visited the following departments in order: Egyptian Art, The American Wing, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, Art of Africa Oceania and the Americas, Greek and Roman Art, Modern and Contemporary Art, 19th And Early 20th Century European Paintings And Sculpture.

My overall thoughts? Absolutely loved every square inch of that museum. A bit sad that we didn't have enough time to wander around every room, but that's why I promised myself and New York that I would come back in a few years (this time I will definitely try to come in the summer when The Costume Department is opened).

Since I adore Greek mythology (my dad is completely obsessed with Greek and Roman history so he was extra jealous of my experience), my favourite department was Greek and Roman Art. I also really enjoyed Modern and Contemporary Art and European Paintings because of my love for European history of art.

All the love in the world,

Karolina x 

Helmut Newton is one of the most important and controversial photographers of the 20^th Century. Newton’s pictures, whether fashion, nude or portraits, are often highly erotic, bold, and provocative.

I can confidently state that I'm adding Helmut Newton to my favourite photographer's list with Viviane Sassen. 

 “There must be a certain look of availability in the women I photograph,” he said of his models. “I think the woman who gives the appearance of being available is sexually much more exciting than a woman who's completely distant. This sense of availability I find erotic.”

If Juergen Teller made his women look natural, raw and realistic, Helmut Newton made them look perfect in every way: their skin was shiny like silk, smiles were pearl white and lipstick precise. That's what makes them look angelic and even 'too good to be true' and I absolutely adore this illusion. 

All the love in the world,

Karolina x 

Right off the bat, Juergen Teller is not my favourite photographer, but I do admire the majority of his work. 

Teller's photography style is very up-and-personal, he uses unconventional models and pays attention to their bodies in a way that not many photographers out there do, meaning, they are very graphic and a lot of them include nudity. However, I look at them like it's a piece of art which, frankly, it is a part of it and I am that type of person who appreciates all kinds of art.

If I would have to sum up his photography styles into bullet points, they would look something like this: 

Juergen Teller really pays attention to casting, he focuses on lighting, attitude and voice. His most used colour palettes seem to be pastels and neutrals, sepia effects. 

BIOGRAPHY

"Juergen Teller (b. 1964, Erlangen, Germany; lives and works in London) is a prominent photographer who has successfully navigated both the fine art and commercial world since beginning his career in the late 1980s. Teller does not distinguish between his commercial and non-commercial work, treating all of his subjects—family members, celebrities, and himself—with a uniform style of grit and raw emotion that has become his iconic and recognizable aesthetic. Although he often parodies fashion photography, he is very much a participant in it, promoting the industry as he criticizes it. Teller subjects his models to unflattering angles, uses a bright, harsh flash, and never retouches his photographs, exposing the myth of idealized beauty that airbrushed fashion images offer. Teller’s work is characterized by a spontaneity and genuineness that he believes better evoke authentic desire than the artificial sensuality often found in commercial photography. Some of the prominent figures Teller has photographed include William Eggleston, Cindy Sherman, Kristen McMenamy, Kate Moss, Vivienne Westwood, Kim Kardashian, and Kanye West." - www.lehmannmaupin.com

Here are some of my favourite pages from his book 'Juergen Teller: do you know what I mean' (2006)

All the love in the world,

Karolina x