Wonder Boy

It was like a Marc Newson eclipse on the weekend: first, a way too short interview on the Australia show “Arts Sunday”, then, on the pages of Wallpaper, in all their glory, his designs for industrial denim brand G-Star, called strangely enough …. “G Star by Marc Newson”.

He’s back … but then he never left really did he?

I’ve had a love affair with Newson since I first locked eyes with his infamous “Lockheed” lounge in 1984, plus it helped that he was incredibly beautiful with his long hair and incredible fashion sense. It’s incredible to think that all these years later, his work ‘holds’ its design … a fact he concurred with in his interview, but then as he also added “My job as a designer is to constantly be ahead of everyone else”. While we play catch up to his aesthetic, he has moved on to bigger and better visuals.

Newson’s relationship with G Star commenced in 2003 and to this new collection he brings his expected “retro futuristic” eye to basic garments applying what he calls an “architectonic” approach where design is “translated into physicality with near invisible seams, basic monotones of black, white and grey with a mix of materials ranging from the classic leather and wool to the more futuristic laminated Gore-tex”. My god, the man has even turned his eye to the buttons.

His design interests are varied (planes, sneakers, watches, cutlery, interiors, dishracks) and in February this year he exhibited at the gargantuan Gargosian Gallery in New York (his dealer) in the show “Marble” alongside such greats as Brancusi, Moore, Giacometti, Noguchi, Bourgeois and Koons. Here, Newson both exposed and toyed with the fact his designs sit comfortably within both the art and design arenas. The viewer is forced to mentally volley: are these functional objects, or are these artworks?

Is there anything this design genius cannot do?

How about turning your attention to our cities Marc? I’m thinking perhaps the love child of Logan’s Run and Saarinen.

De La Hot

She lives on the periphery of superstardom, but then, anyone who sees themselves as a true artist would want to remain there wouldn’t they? I’m talking about the American actor Paz de la Heurta.

She came to my attention via her intriguing sense of unkempt style: fashion aware, but in a messed up, sleazy/sexy way – then I got intrigued about who she is, what she thinks, her career.

Her career to date has been somewhat patchy, but it’s a career that is building – her most recent efforts include a hotter than hot sex addict in “Choke”, Jim Jarmusch’s “Limits of Control” where she’s permanently naked and holding a gun – yum. She is about to be seen as a stripper in French provocateur Gaspar Noé’s “Enter the Void”. It’s a career trajectory that reminds me of Asia Argento, with a little less grit.

Her responses are mostly cliched. When asked “Did you always want to be an actress?” she declared:

“Yeah. It was always, for me, very therapeutic. It’s where I worked out all my shit when I was a kid, and now as well. But I’m also really passionate about life, and experiencing as much as I can in this lifetime. And I feel like you kind of have to live life to its fullest in order to be a good actor. Draw on experiences. The more experiences the better, and I really have had a lot of experiences in life, even at my young age.”

Yawn.

But then it’s not really her thoughts on world peace I am interested in: it’s her performances, her look, her style. Paz is beautiful, but not in a completely obvious way and she has a style that does not shout out “a stylist put this together for me”. There is a dirtiness about her that drives me wild with desire.

With a fantasy list of directors to work with that includes Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro and Pedro Almodovar, things are about to get very interesting …