Mrs. Carter's Non-Collaborateurs, In Non-Chronological Order

1. Herb Ritts Andie MacDowell in Hawaii, 1984
2. Leonor Fini The Ends Of The Earth, 1949
3. Marylin Minter Splish Splash, 2005
4. Irving Penn Issey Miyake, 1991
5. Man Ray Le Violon d'Ingres, 1924
6. Herb Ritts El Mirage, 1990
7. René Magritte The Lovers, 1928
8. Guy Bourdin In Between, 2010
9. René Laloux Fantatsic Planet, 1973
10. Erwin Blumenfeld Vogue, 1950
11. Robert Mapplethorpe Lisa Lyon, 1980

For her self-entitled #VisualAlbum 'BEYONCÉ', Beyoncé has been seeking expressionist advice from French surrealism and its tradition in film and fashion photography.

Beyond well-established motifs of modern and contemporary art, the content also reflects something soft-political: feminist speech clashes with sexist slang ('Bow Down Bitches') and masochistic submission ('I Cooked This Meal For You Naked.'). A work on rough love, drunk love, jealousy. Not an artwork though - but a commercially valuable, visual-acustic product.
/HORST

Post Paris XXX

A 'False Encyclopaedia' double feature with Fabian Hart, discussing:
Chanel Fall/Winter 2013

I like Karl Lagerfeld.

For being an entertainer, for his ready wit, his eloquence, his ingenuity, his business sense and unprecedented career.

For making history.

I don’t like Karl Lagerfeld for making history. As a designer. In particular for Chanel. The wool costumes that once, back in Gabrielle Chanel's day, embodied a new ideal of woman, have become obsolete, an antiquated retro-look that not only references Coco Chanel but also himself in the eighties when he took over the design house. Today all these references have become a mood board of heritage, a constant repetition of silhouettes, fabrics and ideas. He makes women (and super young models) look like old frumps and his rock and fetish references are a desperate attempt to be contemporary/relevant for the time we live in.

/FABIAN

I wish there was a splash of Makoto Aida's 'Harakiri School Girls' (2006), a hint of brutality. Yet, the constant ejection of seventy-six safe and seen-before bouclé looks unveils Karl's real perversity, his very own sadistic torture. In this sense, the collection as a holistic idea reflects the writings of Marquis de Sade – and is accordingly staged in a majestic venue that evokes scenes of secret underground cellars occupied by chained virgins and naked slaves in leather boots.
/HORST








1. Chanel Fall/Winter 2013
2. Richard Avedon Coco Chanel, 1958
3. Karl Lagerfeld The Muse And The Master, 1983
4. Kasimir Malewitsch Das Schwarze Quadrat, 1915
5. Man Ray The Imaginary Portrait of the Marquis de Sade, 1938
6. Makoto Aida Dog (Snow), 1998
7. Kevin Scott Hees Untitled
8. Chanel Fall/Winter 2013

More about Fabian Hart

A Short History Of The Egg In Popular Culture

1. Hans Finsler Eggs in mirror II, 1929
2. Jeff Koons Cracked Egg, 1995-1997
3. Man Ray Ostrich Egg, 1944
4. Maison Martin Margiela Door-stopper egg, Line 13
5. Josef Sudek Egg and glass, 1952
6. Marjan Pejoski Björk Swan Dress, 2001

When it comes to evolutionary history, artists have taken unanimous position. The egg was first, everything else just follows. The perfect object to be studied, portrayed and decontextualized. Thus, the egg equals David, the icon of (still) life.
/HORST

A Short History Of The Grid In Popular Culture VII

1. Unknown
2. Man Ray Venus, 1937
3. Daniele Buetti Blue Face (Lightbox #55), 2005
4. Hasse Nielsen Supergirl, Cover Magazine Novenber 2012

On its seventh installment, we are facing the face grid in four sections: mythological, surreal, virtual and editorial. Each dividing/slicing his or her countenance in equal fragments which results in a dominant and strictly 'square' world view.
/HORST

Thoughts On Pop Culture, Sex & Fashion II

1. Paco Rabanne Haute Couture Spring/Summer 1998
2. Man Ray Presse-papier a Priape, 1920

When did we stop showing steel erections?
/HORST

80 Rue de Turenne, 75003 Paris

1. Simon's 80 Rue de Turenne
2. Raf Simons' home, Antwerp



3. Many Roy 80 Rue de Turenne
4. Man Ray's atelier, 8 rue du Val-de-Graxce




5. Google Street View 80 Rue de Turenne

Two masters, finally, fictionally and temporarily united. Door to door in Paris. The city of surrealism and haute couture. The address: 80 Rue de Turenne. The furniture: cubistic lounge chairs.
/HORST

Image credits LYNN and HORST, Ivan Terestchenko, Google Street View

Entropy, Domesticated

1. Claudio Parmiggiani Senza titolo, 2012
2. Wolfgang Tillmans Freischwimmer, 2003
3. Man Ray Rayographie, 1921

Experiments with smoke, fluids and light. While investigating on the nature of chaos and diffusion, the visual formations of these three artists are directed by limitations, depicting an utmost restrictive result of an entropic state.
/HORST