Kehinde
Wileyhas gained recent acclaim for his heroic
portraits which address the image and status of young African-American men in contemporary culture. Models discovered by the artist on the streets dress in contemporary urban
fashion as they mimic poses from these historic works. The sacred and secular themes of the Renaissance and Baroque references give new meaning to embedded codes of gesture and dress,
past and present, while provoking a reconsideration of lingering stereotypes about masculinity, race and class in our society today.
The Economist.com spotted a study reported in the Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology which measure the creativity of people who were either living abroad or had spent time doing do.
They had not merely discovered that creative people are more likely to choose to live abroad, they also identified and measured personality traits, such as openness to new experience, that are
known to predict creativity.
BBlessing New York invites you to a night of drinks and post-punk musicat B.East, the private lounge underneath Broadway East, 171 E. Broadwaynear Rutgers from 10pm - 4am with your hosts
Daniel Jackson, Sean Shuter,Michael Cohen, and Nicholas
Kratochvil.
The Dirty Projectors, the polyrhythmic arty New York, continues to attract the
favor of prestigious sponsors. After David Byrne earlier this year, Björk joined the group last week to participate in a charity concert in a SoHo bookstore.She perfomed a series of six songs
composed specially for her by David Longstreth.This intimate evening is available onStereogum.Two years after "Rise Above", the Dirty Projectors have just released a cd entitled Domino "Bitte Orca".
Anyone planning a trip to the Swedish capital might be a bit aghast at cost of a place to lay
their head at night, but Creators Inn by Elvine - the world’s first hotel-in-hotel - might just sport the most shocking price tag of all.
What’s so overwhelming is that it is free. That’s right: free! As in no charge,
complimentary, gratis. Creators Inn, in partnership with the Scandic Malmen Hotel, will offer visiting creatives free short-term accommodation in Stockholm this summer between August 1st and
September 13th.
"People simply cannot understand that this is free," says Jesper Larsson, CEO of Next Century Modern, the design firm behind the
initiative.
The Creators Inn concept was initially born in Gothenburg when Larsson came up with the idea of offering visiting creatives a place to stay free of
charge as part of a marketing campaign for Elvine, a Swedish streetwear label. The hotel-in-hotel concept at Scandic Malmen is the latest incarnation of Creators Inn.
The concept is similar to the shop-in-shop concept in the retail business. One of the
rooms at the Scandic Malmen hotel will be redesigned and transformed into a special space optimised for visiting creators and available free of charge. Elvine, which bills itself as "sophisticated clothes for unsophisticated behavior," was founded in 2001 by Daniel Mänd, a graffiti artist on the streets
of Gothenburg. He named the brand after his grandmother Elvine, an Estonian seamstress who escaped to Sweden during WWII. The idea of promoting hospitality also related well to one of the brand
mottos: "Elvine is your friend."
Priority is given to foreign visitors."By offering visiting creators free accommodation, we hope to
remind people of a lovely little thing called hospitality," says Larsson.
The first Creators Inn by Elvine is a "capsule hotel" in Gothenburg, in collaboration with LAT, a creative collective located at Lindholmen. Besides a
single room for either an individual or a couple, guests have access to a shared bathroom and shower, a common work space, kitchen, dining area, a music studio and a workshop in the basement.
Visitors are also offered clean sheets, a bathrobe, slippers, free wifi and consumables.
Those who have stayed at Creators Inn in Gothenburg have been
pleasantly surprised. American writer and filmmaker Kevin Doyle stayed at Creators Inn when he there on a film shoot. At the suggestion of one of the Swedish bands he works with, he emailed
Larsson "without actually believing" the claim. To his great surprise, Doyle received an immediate response back and was even picked up personally at Central Station and escorted back to
LAT.
He said that in addition to the high quality of accommodation, what was most important about the experience was the connection with other creative
individuals at LAT and the artistic environment. Of the other residents, Doyle said “they appreciated me and supported me without any requirements or stipulations.”
The Creators Inn deal is hard to beat. Their website even guarantees guests the best rate in town: "Feel confident knowing that you will always get the
best available rate at Creators Inn by Elvine. If you find a rate lower than zero, simply submit a Best Rate Guarantee Claim by emailing us and we will honor that lower rate."
TheCreators Innby Elvine at the Scandic Malmen hotel in
Stockholm will be open between August 1st and September 13th. People who are interested in free accommodation in Stockholm during this period are welcome to register to stay right away. Foreign
guests and creators from Gothenburg are prioritised.
Among the grotesque realities of modern American life is the exponential rise of geriatric prisoners–men and
women in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and even 90s, who committed crimes decades ago, are feeble and ill, yet remain incarcerated not only as a punitive measure, but on the premise that are a threat to
society. Many of these people want to get out of prison only so they can die in what many call the “free world.”+
