"IS IT JUST ME OR IS THE WORLD FULL OF BEAUTIFUL WOMEN?" (Robbie Coltrane)


SOFYA TITOVA @ next paris new faces division
FASHION CASTING
WE SHOT IN THE AFTERNOON SHE KEPT THE HAIR FROM A MORNING
SHOOT FOR HARPER’S
top & skirt Prada


During a fashion casting you have to stand out at first glance. You are just one of many beauties - a true challenge for your ego, no matter how talented or famous you already are. 

But not just for the main role. One travels along a rocky road until they find the perfect face, picture, and mood for the imaginary story which is going to be told. Trough the following photo series our beloved stylist Ann-Kathrin Obermeyer and photoraph Adrian Crispin captured a (not-so-)random casting situation for our EGO ISSUE. Additionally he mentioned just a fraction of what is admirable in the women's nature. 

See the whole story after the jump.




Stasya (Oui Management)

dress & jacket Chanel

Skinny is beautiful
but so is curvy
and short
and tall
and long hair
and short hair
and no hair
and freckles
and dark skin
dress Jil Sander
earrings Tamara Akcay


and light skin
and medium skin
and thin arms
and wide shoulders
and tiny feet
and long feet
and small hands
and long fingers
and big teeth
GEORGIA HILMER @ NEXT PARIS
SHE IS FROM JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY
I LOVE IT
SHE IS THE NEXT BIG THING


and wide wrists
and long arms
and blonde hair
and red hair
and black hair
and blue hair
and curves
and hips
and small breasts
shirt, pants & shoes Yves Saint Laurent
earrings Dior


and narrow fingers
and chubby fingers
and high cheekbones
and muscles
and strong calves
and big noses
and tiny noses
and round noses
and thick eyebrows
and loud voices
and accents
and intelligence
Lula Osterdahl @ Img paris 19 years old half Swedish half
French. She is in Paris to meet with her dad whom she had never met while growing up. 
Did Prada exclusive.


and high voices
and big toes
and wide thighs
and thigh gaps
and sharp ears
and small ears
and wide tummies
and big hands
and small tummies
and wide hips
and big butts
and flat chests
and no butts
and thin legs
Roberta Cardenio, @ Marilyn Paris ITALIAN
SHE WAS REALLY GREAT
SHE HAD A FRESHNESS REMINISCENT OF A YOUNG KATE MOSS.
MISSONI FROM HEAD TO TOE, LITERALLY!


and stubby legs
and big eyes
and slanted eyes
and streaks
and contacts
and glasses
and afros
and straight hair
SARAH @ OUI MANAGEMENT, 17 YEARS OLD
AMERICAN FROM SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
WITH CLOTHES THIS OR THAT


and curly hair
and moles
and big arms
and big foreheads
and love handles
and perfection
and flaws
1.) Lu cie Von Alten @ IMG Paris 22 years old - german - i saw her three weeks after this photo was taken at the ily paris fw 2012 fashion week cocktail reception. 2.) Camille Ninat @ MAJOR PARIS french 3.) MONICA COSAC @
VIVA PARIS her t-shirt says “all you need is me” — she came in with two other russian girls all wearing really strong perfume and putting on their high heels in the stairwell 4.) ANNA CANTEROT @ MARIL YN PARIS she recently moved from
the development division to advertising - i remember being impressed with a beach story from her book and thinking, is this really her? she was rather tiny but looked great in those pictures 5.) RENATA LADICS @ VIVA PARIS 20 years old -
hungarian - i thought her ears were really great 6.) Au d CA MILLE @ MAJOR PARIS 7.) ISAAC @ ELITE PARIS american from connecticut - i ran into her backstage at the thierry mugler fw 2012 fashion show. she was a ninja. - i want to do a
story with her and my daughter eugenie beacause they look similar they just come in different sizes. 8.) DAIANA DUMITR U @ ELITE PARIS 9.) ISAAC @ ELITE PARIS 10.) / 17.) MAN UELA OR ELENA LA ZIC “THE TWINS ” hard to tell. i guess
they are interchangeable @ elite — i ran into the twins backstage at the issey m show. one of them was wearing this really great tiger t shirt. They are really friendly and gave me the impression that they had a clean and simple upbringing.
11.) ELSA BALDAI @ ELITE PARIS she spoke portuguese and had just arrived in paris when this photo was taken - the only word in portuguese i know is cadeira which means chair and is phonetically close to cadera which in spanish means
hips - spanish is my mother tongue 12.) Lu cie Von Alten @ IMG Paris 13.) RENATA LADICS @ VIVA PARIS 14.) Patrycja @ MAJOR PARIS she is a good swimmer 15.) LEONORE MASSON @ ELITE PARIS french - redhead - at the
time she was studying to become a professional sommelier - her favorite wines are burgundy reds like me - she is much more sexy in real life than in this picture - her boyfriend drove her on a scooter to the go see and was waiting for her
downstairs. 16.) ANNA CANTEROT @ MARIL YN PARIS 18.) JESS YCA GO MES @ MAJOR PARIS 19 years old - brazilian 19.) PA ULA MARSINA @ ELITE PARIS 20.) MANON PIETO @ VIVA PARIS 21.) EMMA KARLSSON @ IMG PARIS
14


photos & notes: Adrian Crispin
Fashion: Ann-Kathrin Obermeyer
Casting Coordinator: Diana Chen

"How deep should the artist penetrate the work with their identity — How important is the artist?"A conversation with Ayse Erkmen






Ayse Erkmen is a conceptual artist who represented Turkey at the 54th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition. The public projects of Ayse Erkmen reflect her concerns with the physical, cultural, and social landscapes in which she works. She lives in Istanbul and Berlin, and has been teaching at Münster Kunstakademie since 2010.

Bilgen Coskun talked with Ayse Erkem about the ego in the artist and the art, sociological influences, creative connections and her personal working processes between Istanbul and Berlin. 
In conversation with Bilgen Coskun

One of the most resounding works at the 2011 Venice Biennale was your installation Plan B, which was installed in a room immediately adjacent to the canal. The work drew water from the canal and deposited it back into the canal after purifying it. Can we talk about the origin of this work?
Generally, I simplify the starting point and try to go from there. For example, the room I was assigned in Venice had a window with a view of the canal. When you look at Venice as a whole, you have a city that is surrounded by water. The proximity of the room to the water made me think that I had to do a work related to water. I am from Istanbul, therefore and I am living in a city surrounded by water too. If the privilege of having a window opening to a canal is in the forefront of my mind and I don’t use it, I feel as if I a missing out on the opportunities offered by that room. I then began to think about what I needed to be doing with water. This was followed by remembering some of the works I have done relating to water in the past and making decisions about technical issues. At first I thought of converting the seawater to potable water, running this water through the faucet, and offering it visitors. Later, I thought that the performative features of this action would be in the forefront. This excessive appeal does not conform to my other works in reaching a result both technically and conceptually. Additionally, this includes practical difficulties; details such as the frequent analysis of the water and obtaining permission would slow down the work. Whereas, I felt work should be as natural as the water and light. This is why I wanted to draw a line for the water. The water will be taken inside, will be ridded of salt, will be purified up to the cleansing level, and will be purified even further until it becomes potable, finally this water will be transferred back to the canal. From the visual perspective, I wanted to carry the visual chaos of the canals in Venice into the room.

By referring to your work titled Easy Jet, I want to come to the subject of transportation and from there to the flow of information, which often travels faster than transportation. Actually, Easy Jet, in addition to positive meanings, such as speed and price, is also related to negative meanings such as delays and cramped spaces. Why did you call this work of yours Easy Jet?
I called this work Easy Jet because of its color. In those days I frequently flew on Easy Jet because of the convenience of its flight routes to my destinations. Because the ribbons I used were the same color used by Easy Jet, I gave the work that name. Color was at the very forefront of this exhibition. The wall behind the orange ribbons, which made up the Easy Jet piece, was painted in a special pink color. Honeysuckle was the color selected by Pantone for the year 2011. At the same exhibition was my work Pink Sweater, depicting the scene from Wim Wenders’ film Paris, Texas. In the scene Nastassja Kinski was undecided if she should take her pink angora sweater off or not. I placed this in the showroom with a showcase facing the small street on which the gallery was situated. This scene from the film impressed me considerably, perhaps because of its color. I dissected this scene into small pieces by placing squares of pink angora sweater side by side. Thus, the pink color continued outside of the gallery was trying to enter into a dialogue with the color inside the gallery, and although Paris, Texas was an old film, it was addressing the color of 2011.
In recent years the plasticity of modern identity has been frequently discussed. This refers to the inclination towards social and cultural consumption, and the outward reflection of individual identities. It is said plasticization steers the individual to re-create their identity, especially with the development of virtual identities through the Internet. In your work On Its Own were you examining the presentation of identity in the virtual world by considering its external effects?
Yes, here I am letting things take their own course. My interest was how Internet search results for my own name would gradually become distanced from me, forming political and social dimensions of their own. Obviously, there is a relationship between myself and each image that comes up during a search for my name. None of the 1,200 photographs that appeared by googling “Ayşe Erkmen” were loaded onto the Internet by me or anybody I know. I don’t know who does this. However, I am not criticizing this situation in any way. For example, one of the latest photographs returned when I searched for my name was of Demi Moore appearing in Vanity Fair while she was pregnant. From time to time a picture of a sports car or a cat may appear! When this happens, I am in the same position and importance as that sport car or cat. Actually, this situation sounds very funny. Depending on when, where, and on which browser you use, different photographs in different sequences appear. New images are being added constantly
— only the sequences change. Therefore, we downloaded all the images at the same time and froze the sequences, these were displayed in the gallery, no distinctions were made. It is very important for me not to be the one making the decision on certain issues and to let things take their own course.

How have these sociological changes affected artists in recent years? Have artists started to create virtual identities for themselves? Can we say that the fact that some artists are as popular as pop stars, and as a result are asking astronomical prices for their works, is the effect of sociological events in the field of arts?
There are no superstars in the world of art as there were in the past. Nevertheless, there are fluctuations in the prices of some of artists. As for those who are as popular as pop stars they have perhaps deserted the field of art because of their status and become part of the media. I think there are artists who only make products and the fluctuations and astronomical prices you mentioned are primarily created by these individuals. The majority of artists who do not receive these astronomical sums, and whose work is comprised of more than production, continue to create art in the manner they know and the history of art is more inclined towards them.


Identity and ego are closely related concepts. Do you view the ego of the artist as a catalyst of production or as an element that creates timidity?
This is what I am trying to understand with the work I create. The artist shall of course have an ego. How big should this ego be? For example, in my work On Its Own I can google my name and a sequence of images will be returned, but I cannot make any decisions about these images. I also want to use the ego of the work. This is present in the ribbons that make up On Its Own inscribed with “Ayşe Erkmen.” How deep should the artist penetrate the work with their identity — how important is the artist? The repetition of the name on the ribbons is like the artist signing the work thousands of times. If something is repeated endlessly it becomes meaningless — in this sense it is like the disappearance of the name.


The theme in one of the past issues of the Manifesta Journal was “The Curator as Producer.” I believe that it is more important for a primarily conceptual artist like yourself to be able to speak the same language as the curator and to work together from the inception of an idea through the production stage than it is for conventional artists. Taking
into consideration the egos of both parties what are the preliminary conditions for a productive common work?
I like to use the egos of others. This may not necessarily always be a curator, but the egos of everybody who contributed to the creation of the work. For example, in the planning of the Plan B installation, when the technician said that the height of the pipe should be such, I did not interfere. This suggestion was very important to me, because he was the person who can make the work perfect. If the work is technically correct this makes the work artistically and aesthetically great. The same applies to curators, but not every curator is the same. It is a great pleasure to work with some curators. There are things we can learn from them, or when you cannot make a decision they will show you the way. Their ego is very important to me. This should not be construed as showing respect. I want my work to be perfect, and if their ego is required to make it so I will use that. The thoughts, decisions, and tastes of the persons whose opinions I value are important to me.

Would you say that art should enter into partnership with design, architecture, and other creative productions or should it keep its distance?
I disagree with a harsh segregation of these practices. If we are to take fashion design as an example, Martin Margiela behaves like a conceptual artist; he goes to the roots of tailoring and then surfaces from there. This is a very artistic behavior; the basic ingredient of fashion is tailoring, just as the basic ingredient of an artist should be art. Therefore, I think Martin Margiela is a very important name in conceptual art. Perhaps, because he is a fashion designer, he may not think this but he uses the basis elements of conceptual art very well. He does not strive to make beautiful clothes — rather he uses elements of tailoring itself. Although the result may be fashion, in the end the important thing for him is to get to the center of things with questions such as
“What is fashion? What is art?”


You live between Berlin and Istanbul. How does it feel not being connected to only one place or to only one artistic environment?
Although the lifestyle in both cities may appear to resemble each other, they are very different and very different in respect to the arts. When I meet with my friends in Berlin we eventually come to the subject of art. Everybody talks about their work, projects, of what they saw, and this is very enriching. In Istanbul we generally talk about our daily lives. This is actually very pleasant and funny. Such talk energizes a person. I believe that Istanbul, as a city, inspires creativity and emits its own energy. I find the discussions with friends and acquaintances in Berlin to be very nourishing. There is the comfort of a pleasant vacancy, just like in a “white cube.” While Istanbul is more entertaining, Berlin is more satisfying. On the other hand satisfaction is entertainment aswell. Because I travel a lot to other cities, I don’t feel detached in coming and going between the two cities. I don’t feel like a stranger or indigenous anywhere. My home is wherever my work is.



























portrait photo: Marcus gaab
fashion: Stefanie Roth
hair & make-up: Catrin Kreys @Uschi Raabe using Chanel

art: Courtesy of Ayse Erkmen,Galerie Barbara Weiss,Berlin
photographer: Roman Mensing

HAVE YOU SEEN MY BABY? (Rolling Stones)

shoes prada, stockings wolford
curtain kva






































After showing how to hide, it's now about time to stand out from the crowd.

 But let's take baby steps;
 We provide you with a few advices to strengthen your position in the digital world
 and 
today's ruling society,
 accompanied by some beauty products and accessoires which will do the rest. 


The whole story after the jump. 

1. 
SOCIAL NETWORKS

Besides facebook make sure to join ever other social network there is
google+
tumblr
twitter
instagram
pinterest


2. 
LIKE
follow and make yourself worth following
the easy rule: the more you like you'll get liked

e.g. optional posts for tumblr-starters:
"ask me any-anything"
"for every repost I give you extra followers"
or a simply
"follow me, i'll follow you"


scarf odeeh, stockings falke, shoes jil sander
moisturising hair masque aesop “rose"





















3. 
ATTEND
Before you get the invitation to every hip event in town (or one day around the globe) make sure to:  
add some cool "friends"
who get at least a few of them
start "attending" 
(first step is pushing the button)
find out the people behind the events
add them
if you're done with step 4, attend (in real life)

4. 
GET THE LOOK
have simply the nicest clothes
use the "busy"
"just-don't-have-the-time-to-take-much-care-of-my-look-so-this-outfit-is-so-random"-look
sneakers
cashmere sweater
high-end-accessoire
sunglasses
the busier you look the more attention you will get
(in case of doubt always rather overdress than underdress) 

5. 
STREETSTYLE PHOTOGRAPHERS
be at the events
answer a shy, slightly annoyed "okay" if the streetstyle hunters want to take a photo of you

gloves nina peter, luminous bronzing powder chanel “soleil tan de chanel”
pantie hanro, scarf la la berlin


6. 
THE PHOTO
be the main role, but don't overdue it
tilt your head
cross your legs
act like you're laughing about an insider joke your friend just told
(doesn’t really matter that she/he isn’t even there)

7. 
WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE
(but you need a smartphone)
take pictures of nice food
usa an extra photo filter - so even the frozen pizza looks 
quite nice
take pictures of yourself
(candlelight flatters almost everyone)

8. 
ADD SOME VINTAGE
oldie but goldie should be a regularly used topic of your new "presence"
get some vintage furniture
thrifted clothing
and 
have some super stylish looking old family pictures with you





















perfume annick goutal “nuit etoile”stockings falkecurtain kvadrat

 9. 
WHINE AND COMPLAIN
mention how ugly you feel today
how badly you need to go to the haircutter
to the manicure
you can be pretty sure the answer will be
"you look so pretty, you actually ARE pretty."
well, thanks.
(note: this will only work if your claim is not exactly according with the real situation.)

 10. 
DISCUSS
you
a second person who is less familiar with the topic you are going to discuss about
a third person listening

11. 
STYLE ICON
If you already found out what looks good on you buy ten pieces of it.
Congrats! You have a "look"
from now on it's about getting comfortable

shoes roger vivier, stockings wolford
curtain kvadrat, scarf odeeh


12. 
WIKIPEDIA
compose an entry about yourself
(even better: let someone else do it for you)

           13. 
          DONE
If you are comfortable with all of this - good luck:
your ego will grow like a little plant 
(at least in public)


If not - go out and and play with your friends. 

gloves chaneleau de parfume stella mccartney “l.i.l.y.”
nail polish uslu airlinescurtain kvadrat


text: Zsuzsanna Toth
photos: Marcus Gaab
fashion: Stefanie Roth

"IT'S AN ODD THING, BUT ANYONE WHO DISAPPEARS IS SAID TO BE IN SAN FRANCISCO. IT MUST BE A DELIGHTFUL CITY AND POSESSES ALL THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE NEXT WORLD” (Oscar Wilde)

turtleneck Filippa K.,black dress Etrosilk scarf Hermès

Exept the childhood memories of playing hide and seek - 
Who hasn't at some point wished for hiding out for a while?

Due to some favorite fashion accessories, 
the Berlin-based photographer Sabrina Theissen 
and some useful advices we found online
we pointed out some possibilties in our EGO ISSUE. 

See the whole story after the jump. 


HOW TO HIDE 

(FOUND AT WIKIHOW)

1.

MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT BEING OBSERVED OR BREAKING LINE OF SIGHT


2.
STEP BEHIND YOUR COVER OR INTO THE SHADOWS
(if possible do it silently.)


cardigan & skirt Jil Sanderblouse Stella McCartneysilk scarf Hermès

3.
 KEEP QUIET
 (this is key!)

4.
 IF IT IS POSSIBLE GET UP HIGH OR CROUCH . THE HUMAN MIND INSTINCTIVELY LOOKS LEFT , RIGHT , AND BACK — BUT NOT UP OR DOWN . MAKE SURE YOU’RE NOT AT EYE -LEVEL



knit Marnisilk scarf Hermès








5. 
TRY TO COMPRESS YOUR BODY AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE . WHOEVER SEES YOU IS LESS

6. 
STAY STILL 
(the human eye detects motion before anything else, even more so at night.)




dress Chanelsilk scarf Hermès


7.
IF POSSIBLE , COVER YOURSELF WITH YOUR SURROUNDINGS 
(e.g. leaves in a forest, clothes in a laundry room.)

8. 
THERE ’S A MUCH HIGHER CHANCE OF STAYING HIDDEN IF YOU DON ’T MOVE
 (even if they seem to be looking right at you they may not have seen you, so don’t even move your eyes.)

silk scarf Hermèsring Chaneldress Victoria Beckham


9.
IF YOU AREN ’T HIDDEN BY THE TIME THEY ARE LOOKING , DART TO THE NEAREST PLACE , EVEN IF IT’S OBVIOUS
(e.g. if you are wearing all black clothes in a bedroom, it may still work to get on a bed with pillows, get behind all the pillows, and then curl up to disguise yourself as a pillow.)

10. 
IF YOU ’RE SMALL ENOUGH GO AND HIDE IN SMALL PLACES
 (the person (or people) you’re hiding from would not think to look in such a small area.)

PHOTOS: SABRINA THEISSEN
FASHION: Kathi Kauder
Make-Up: Jochen Pahs using Chanel
Hair: Hauke Krause @ k stiegemeyer using AVEDA
Model: Cailin @ M4 Models/ Elite Model management london
Photo assistant: Kenny Gessner
STYLING ASSISTANT: Emily Gessner