Doublet (Comp.)

Peter de Potter I Am An Image Machine, 2011

The ditptych corporation and tumblr über-curator Petter de Potter pairs sexuality with violence and porn with propaganda. Machine versus image. Spit versus shipwrecks. Appropriation to be appreciated - or at least, endlessly consumed.
/HORST

Post London VI

A 'False Encyclopaedia' double feature with Taj Ragland, discussing:
Xander Zhou Spring/Summer 2014

For Spring/Summer 2014 Xander Zhou has created a post-apocalyptic cyber uniform. Zhou's customer doesn't exist in this dimension. He's clearly designing for the technology-crazed avatars of the internet. Zhou pushed full force into uncharted territory of the Web, presenting cold, clinical, deconstructed suiting with a focus on experimentation with strong contrasts. The silhouettes were flat, straight and unisex and Zhou's use of an array of tones, fabrics and references made for an otherworldly effect. The details and accessories add an extra plane to the Xander Zhou man's story, the super-long sleeves, silver chokers and PVC patches on black loafers add personality to the looks, no matter how disaffected and aloof.

Zhou's piece de resistance came in the form of a group of photo-collaged car coats, slathered in screen grabs of internet search engines, social media, error messages and Asian horror films. A complete wardrobe for a desensitized, analytic internet-dwelling youth. Count me in.
/TAJ

As dishevelled study of post-apocalyptic rent boys, Xander Zhou crosses Prada's futurism with bittersweet cosplay. Throwing in various artefacts ranging from the 'cute' and 'horrible' to the 'naive' and 'unrighteous'. Eventually, these forces end tangled up in gallimaufry - just like the misplaced collars and 'wrong' sleeve lengths.
/HORST








1. Xander Zhou Spring/Summer 2014
2. Google 1998-2013
3. Jeremy Scott Fall/Winter 2012
4. Columbine High School massacre 1999
5. Battle Royale 2000
6. Prada Fall/Winter 2008
7. Robert Mapplethorpe Dominick And Elliot, 1979
8. Xander Zhou Spring/Summer 2014

All about Taj Ragland

The Nude Portrait IV

category f.1) interior as group portrait

1. Richard Hamilton Hotel du Rhone, 2005
2. The Sims Nude Clothing
3. The Sims Gay Couple

category f.2) standing, reflection in mirror

4. Richard Hamilton Descending Nude, 2006
5. The Sims Untitled (Sims 3)

category f.3) sitting, at desk

6. Richard Hamilton An Annunciation, 2006
7. Second Life Reasonable Desires Underwear

category f.4) leaving the shower


8. Richard Hamilton A Mirrorical Return, 1998
9. The Sims Nude Patch (Sims 3)

category f.5) male nude, posing

10. Richard Hamilton Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?, 1956
11. Second Life Laguna Bay Nude Beach
12. Second Life Angelus Nude

The digital nude. The virtual nude. The rendered 3D nude. Resulting in a fictive hyper-realist portrait of the non-existent. Psyche portraits, phantom portraits, wet fantasy depictions.
/HORST

View previous parts The Nude Portrait I-III