Tags: aeroflot
Object sexuality – married to the Eiffel Tower
6 FebWe would like to introduce you to Erika Eiffel. She married the Eiffel Tower in 2007. She is an Object sexual.
Erika Eiffel - Married to the Eiffel Tower
Object sexuality (OS) or objectophilia is a romantic and often sexual desire towards developing relationships with inanimate objects or structures. Individuals that express this preference may feel strong feelings of attraction, love and commitment to structures of their fixation.
For many objectophiles sexual or close emotional relationships with humans are incomprehensible. In Feb 2008, Erika Eiffel, an object-sexual living near San Francisco, California founded OS Internationale, an educational website and international online community for those identifying or researching the condition to love objects. The website generated a flood of international media interest. She has since appeared on ABC Today and the Tyra Banks show.
Objectum Sexuality
‘We love objects on a very significant level and many of us in an intimate way. This feeling is innate. Objectùm-sexual love comes for most in a similar awakening as other sexualities at the start of puberty.’ – Erika Eiffel
Since marrying the Eiffel Tower, Erika has moved on to have a long standing relationship with the Berlin Wall, who is also married to Mrs. Eklöf Berliner-Mauer, the first OS person to go public.
We found a video below where an objectophile talks about her latest partner…a German fair ground ride called “1001 NACHT”
For more information about OS visit http://www.objectum-sexuality.org/
Tags: Ed Simpson, Object Sexual, Objectum sexuality, Oliver Herbert
The O2, London
30 JanWhat was once the Millenium Dome, symbol of a prosperous future, is now The O2, a huge music venue and entertainment complex.
Designed by Richard Rogers , the Dome was built to house an exhibition celebrating the dawn of the third millenium. The project attracted controversy regarding its cost, the nature of the exhibits it contained during the year it was open, as well as the challenge of finding a use for the largest single-roofed structure in the world after its closure.
I go past this edifice every day on the way to work and never stop marvelling at its scale and boldness which was once a sign of optimism, then embarassment, and now everyday leisure needs.
Once inside there is a Vue cinema, said music arenas, and a plethora of eateries, from Pizza Express to Nandos, tarted up with some palm trees and faux-Art Deco facades.
The original structure still looms above as you follow the circular routes around the building- the distinctive yellow pylons holding up the tent-like roof are visible, sometimes even in the restaurants.
It is strange to see such an ambitious project turned into a glorified mall.
Tags: Millenium Dome, Plaza london, richard rogers, the O2, Vue cinema
The Inner-Beauty of Outward-Ugly
24 Janby Elise Bergerson
Every American baby boomer can tell you where he or she was when President John Kennedy was shot. My father was in Mrs. Horthschild’s class when she announced the somber news and to this day says his heart races when thinking of the memory (note: this is not actually true; my father and I have never had this conversation).
Likewise, I remember where I was that fateful day when Comrade Dear Leader Abundant Glory Kim Jong Il was (likely) poisoned or bludgeoned to death by Capitalist American Oppressors: Dakar, Senegal, host city to the Monument to the African Renaissance. To most, his death was significant insofar as it was the only political topic neutral enough to fill in awkward familial silences at Christmas dinner. To me, Masterful Chief Happiness Vision Kim Jong Ill’s death was life-changing. I am speaking as someone who crafted her thesis topic around whatever subject would allow for the most expansive exploration of The Dear Leader. I was spellbound by his eccentricities. Did you know that Comrade Really-great Half-Off Sale Leader Kim Jong Il had defective rice kernels filtered out of his meals? Or that, during his tenure, he established the Kim Jong Il Longevity Institute tasked solely with keeping him alive (methinks they were understaffed this year)? Perhaps my favorite Dear Leader story surrounds the time he kidnapped his favorite South Korean actors for a mere eight years, surely for the production of some dynamite rom-coms. Deplorable man. Fascinating all the same.
I had to properly mourn the man who had earned me a good thesis grade. Luckily, as aforementioned, I was in the neighborhood of the Monument to the African Renaissance, a project built and financed by North Koreans. What better proxy for an ugly man than this ugly monument?
Elise Bergerson mourning at the Monument to the African Renaissance
So far as I can tell, no one likes this thing. For one, it was built in a conservative Muslim country where Qu’ranic prohibitions against depicting people render its very existence questionable. Also questionable: the nudity of the monument’s figures (see up skirt), the fact that the statue points away from the continent it’s supposed to celebrate, and that it is built on a raised base so as to be visible everywhere in Dakar -a city too dusty to see anything set at a distance. Most questionable: the fact that the expensive monument was built in the first place, when most of Dakar’s citizenry suffers from blackouts and other infrastructural shortcomings. Quite literally, the monument casts a shadow over people who are already often without working lights.
Monument to the African Renaissance Up-skirt photo
The monument is the perfect place to theatrically weep over the death of Dear Comrade Leader and to witness a prime example of a class of monuments I term the Fugly-Ass-Unwanted-Gift-Of-Aesthetically-Challenged-Communists monument. For whatever reason, there is an abundance of monuments designed by artists in communist (or former communist) states, foisted upon unhappy municipalities the world over. The Dakar citizenry now has to pay for the maintenance of a statue few appreciate, which includes the cost of 24-hour surveillance, as the structure has been barraged with bomb threats (for its sheer fug-ness, I presume).
For another example of this structural category, I suggest readers make a pilgrimage to Moscow to this monstrosity:
Monument to Peter The Great, Moscow Russia
What you’re staring at, aghast in horror (you can close your gaping mouth now), is a monument to Peter the Great, founder of St. Petersburg. Except, it’s not exactly that. Why is Peter standing atop three ships? Why is he dressed as a Roman Legionnaire? What is that decree he is holding? Well, chances are that this statue was actually meant to celebrate Christopher Columbus. The artist, Zurab Tsereteli, vehemently denies that this statue was meant to commemorate anyone other than Peter the Great. Coincidentally, Tsereteli approached the US in 1992 with plans for a statue depicting Columbus and was rejected. Still, construction commenced and, at some point -perhaps after the statue was allegedly rejected a second time by an unidentified Latin American country – the ever-resourceful Tsereteli decided to make lemonade with his sculptural lemons. The head of the statue was lopped and replaced by the likeness of Peter the Great. No need to concern yourself with the three ships’ similarity to the Nina, the Pinta, the Santa Maria. Also, ignore the fact that the statue depicting sea exploration ended up in a locale that fails to qualify as a port city. It might also make your brain hurt to think that the monument to Peter the Great was erected in a city he historically detested, so ignore that too. Just let the fug wash over you.
Like the Monument to the African Renaissance, the statue of Peter the Great has been subject to bomb threats by Moscow residents. It too is under 24-hour surveillance. When Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov suggested that the statue be relocated to Peter’s beloved city, St. Petersburg residents countered with the suggestion that it instead be moved to Mironov’s vacation home. Not to mention that the high price of dismantling the statue, six million dollars, has thwarted efforts to rid Moscow of my favorite eyesore.
Surprising then, given the costs associated with hosting a Fugly-Ass-Unwanted-Gift-Of-Aesthetically-Challenged-Communists monument, that the residents of Bayonne, New Jersey so quickly accepted another statue designed by the great Tsereteli, this time, a monument “To the Struggle Against World Terrorism”:
To the Struggle Against World Terrorism Bayonne
The monument, a hyper-literal interpretation of the grief of surviving victims of the September 11th terrorist attack, features a forty-foot teardrop suspended in the crack of a rectangular tower. But let’s be real: there’s something…vaginal about it, is there not? I’m pretty sure that’s what vaginas look like.
The monument was originally meant to be a gift to Jersey City but, upon seeing its photo-realistic vulvic form (a refreshing counterpoint to all those phallic obelisks that litter our global skyline), they passed the buck to Bayonne. Clearly, Bayonne’s residents don’t know what they’re in for. I can only imagine that the small town’s economy will be upended as municipal funds are earmarked for the inevitable 24-hour surveillance that the monument will undoubtedly require.
On the other hand, maybe the monument “To the Struggle Against World Terrorism” will finally put Bayonne on the map much as Tsereteli’s equally fug statue “Good Defeats Evil” made New York famous.
Good Defeats Evil, Tsereteli
Every year, millions of tourists forego tours to the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building in favor of this statue, on the grounds of the UN building in Manhattan, which commemorates the historical battle between a medieval horseman and his Godzilla-Mothra-hybrid foe.
This last statue makes me think that maybe I’m too hard on the creators of Fugly-Ass-Unwanted-Gift-Of-Aesthetically-Challenged-Communists monuments. Indeed, once in a while, they create something so perfectly, unimpeachably grotesque that the monuments become sublime testaments to the strivings of a flawed humanity. These are monuments that, in showcasing the artistic failures of humankind, also spotlight the the surprising achievements of people. If we live in a world where a North Korean tyrant was able to finance a statue of Africans rising out of a volcano, only to be headed back in the direction of the nearest ocean. Doesn’t that make the invention of the printing press and the success of the first transcontinental flight even better? We need these fug-ass monuments as a reminder of the relative beauty out there. Maybe instead of gazing upon their outward unsightliness, we should see them for their internal beauty: as compasses of the relative benchmarks of human history, even if these compasses sometimes point in the exact wrong direction.
Elise Bergerson currently lives in New York City and works in international affairs. She is a first-time contributor to PLAZA.
Tags: Bayonne, Elise Bergerson, Kim Jong Il, Monument to the African Renaissance, Moscow, New York, Peter the Great, Senegal, To the Struggle Against World Terrorism, Tsereteli
PLAZA – At Home With The Ludskis, Dalston Rio Cinema, London
23 JanA view of the recent installation PLAZA showed in the basement of the Dalston Rio Cinema. Amazing bunker-like space allowing for a series of projections which highlight PLAZA’s interests.
The futuristic architecture of 90s music videos
20 JanThe 90s was a time when the music video came into it’s own.
Well known directors debuted on MTV, such as Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, David Fincher. Martin Scorsese and Mark Romanek. People started taking notice of the music video as an art form, this wasn’t just a filmed live gig, that we would often see in the 80s. In the 90s the music video was a carefully constructed theatrical masterpiece, with budgets often as big as Hollywood blockbusters. The most expensive music video ever made, Micheal and Janet Jackson’s ‘Scream’ cost over $10,000,000 was shot in 1995 by director Mark Romanek.
Particularly in the R&B and Pop genres the setting for many of these videos were vast futuristic landscapes, with minimalist steel chambers with oceans of mercury and walls of flames. It seems the upcoming 21st Century sparked the imagination of directors to set our favorite stars in utopian landscapes that represented sophistication and a new flawless luxury (see J.Lo in ‘Play’).
I’ve put together some of my favorite stills from the hits of the time!
TLC 'No Scrubs' directed by Hype Williams 1999
Madonna Bedtime Stories directed by Mark Romanek 1994
O Town Liquid Dreams 1999
Missy Elliot The Rain 1997 Directed by Hype Williams
Missy Elliot I Want You Back featuring Mel B directed by Hype Williams 1998
All is Full of Love Bjork directed by Chris Cunningham 1999
Shes a Bitch Missy Elliot 1999 - Hype Williams
Tags: 90s music videos, Hype Williams, Mark Romanek, Oliver Herbert, TLC
PLAZA at Dalston Rio Cinema
10 Jan
Rio Underground:
Dalston Underground Studios at the Rio Cinema
Miyuki Kasahara (Guest Artist) - Calum F. Kerr – House of O’Dywer
PLAZA (Ed Simpson & Oliver Herbert) - Marina Potok
Lisa Slominski – Lex Thomas – Nick Wild
At Home With the Ludskis #3 Winter Garden Edition
Saturday 14th January 2012.
For one night only artists from Dalston Underground Studios are exhibiting in the
Rio Cinema Basement as part of At Home With the Ludski’s 3
Saturday 14th January 2012 from 11.30pm to at least 2.30am!
See - http://www.dalstonunderground.org.uk
Rio Cinema - 107 Kingsland High Street – London E8 2PB(corner John Campbell Road)
Tel 020 7241 9410
Tickets are £5 with stage performances, short-films and more, they can be bought via the Rio Cinema website http://www.riocinema.org.uk or on the door.
Updates found on: http://www.facebook.com/AtHomeWithTheLudskis
Tags: At Home with the Ludskis, Dalston Rio Cinema, Dalston Underground Studios, Edward Simpson, Oliver Herbert, Plaza london
Nicosia’s abandoned airport
9 JanNicosia International Airport was the gateway to Cyprus for sun seeking holiday makers. In July 1974 Turkey invaded Cyprus, bombing the airport making it inoperable. Now it lies derelict, trapped in the United Nations Buffer Zone, a designated no mans land, seperating the Northern Turkish controlled Cyprus and the Southern Greek Cyprus.
The now abandoned terminal was designed by German company Dorch-Gehrmann of Wiesbaden. The new terminal could accommodate 800 passengers at one time and the parking apron 11 aircraft. The airport operated as a busy European holiday hub which became the site of chaotic scenes as holidaymakers and other foreign nationals tried to leave the island prior to the conflict.
The airport is unlikely to be ever used again.
Tags: Abandoned Airport, Nicosia Airport, Oliver Herbert, UN Buffer Zone
Mansion inside a mall, Centro Comercial Galerias, El Salvador
9 JanCentro Comercial Galerias is a shopping center in San Salvador, El Salvador. The mall’s main attraction is a mansion known as La Casona dating from the late 50′s and kept in perfect condition, which was home to a family of Palestinian origin, the Guirola family, one of the most powerful families in El Salvador.
This is the only mall that has been built to home an entire mansion.
Between the 60s and 70s the mansion became the seat of the Organization of Central American States OCAS, being the first in Central America in which all the leaders were meeting to arrange plans for the Central American Union.
Due to the onset of a bloody civil war in the early 80′s the house was sold to a commercial group named SIMAN, with the aim of expanding the nearby mall, however due to prolonged conflict this didn’t happen until a decade later.
In the early 90′s building of Centro Comercial Galerias began, the most prestigious in Central America with modern architecture and style. Marble floors and water features were added – this was to be the luxury destination in El Salvador.
From the onset of development Centro Comercial Galerias, it was decided to retain the original structure of La Casona, instead of destroying the building, it was decided it’s elegance should be integrated into the architectural style of the rest of the mall, creating a work of art, a Salvadoran pride.
The mansion now houses coffee shops and boutiques from European and American favourites such as Zara and Ralph Lauren. On top of the mansion you can now even find an ice skating rink!
The integration La Casona in Centro Comercial Galerias is a unique concept worldwide. The restoration of the old mansion and decorative fountains creates a magnificent scene and a space for all kinds of cultural and commercial events.
The mansion has important historical significance to El Salvador, however the Guirola family, who built the mansion are the subject of urban legend and superstition.
This testimony comes from an anonymous source;
“The head of this family was Mr Guirola whose actual first name escapes me. A friend of mine who worked for the family told me several stories about his employer and what happened inside the walls of the Guirola home.
They say that at that time Mr. Guirola had an agreement with the devil and that was why they were so successful in business. The Los Guirola family living in La Casona were slowly dying and nobody knows why, there are rumors that they were possessed.
I believe that their last child was born a monster. Shortly after his birth, he died and people say that the devil came and took the child away as payment for the families success.
Someone I know (I will not say the name) went to investigate this house as a journalist about 10-15 years ago. There he met an old woman who opened the door and welcomed him to the house and told him about all the events including frequent visits from the devil.
The following day the journalist visited the house to find the old lady was not there and in fact had been dead for 20 years.
Legand has it that at La Casona (inside the mall) in the middle night you can hear noises and screams of an animal who is the son of Mr. Guirola.”
Tags: Centro Comercial Galerias, El Diablo, El Salvador, Grupo Siman, la Casona, los Guirola family, Mansion inside Mall
BNKR concept for earthscraper in Mexico City
13 OctAn interesting solution to creating high-density structures in an historical city centre. The ‘earthscraper’ is an inverted pyramid reaching 65 stories (1,000ft) below the ground designed by Mexico City-based architects BNKR Arquitectura.
The mixed use structure would house office space, apartments, shops and a museum. The flat roof is glass covering a 2,600sq ft hole in the city’s main square, allowing light into an atrium space which reaches to the tip of the pyramid.
A dramatic solution to inner city problems with space and planning regulations. One wonders if this sci-fi vision could ever be a realistic option. It is kind of an inverted version of the Shard tower currently rising at London Bridge, or Deptford X, the latest building project by PLAZA…
Tags: bnkr arquitectura, earthscraper, Edward Simpson, mexico city, Plaza london
Westfield Stratford City- Time-lapse construction video
12 OctTags: construction, stratford city, Westfield
The Marketing Suite- Deptford X
2 OctOnce the Tour was finished, visitors were invited back the Deptford X Marketing Suite, where they could peruse a multi-media display for further information about this visionary project.
Tags: Deptford X, Edward Simpson, Number 82 Gallery, Oliver Herbert, Plaza II
Deptford X- The Tour
1 OctLast night at 7.30pm, an excited group of the public was treated to a visual feast when our lovely PLAZA Guide Stephanie led a tour of Deptford X. The latest development by PLAZA, this architectural feat has been designed to provide the ultimate glamorous lifestyle while retaining a sense of local community.
The tour began at the entrance to Deptford Market Square from Deptford High Street. Here Stephanie encouraged the visitors to take in the vastness of the structure, and to enjoy the dynamic dolphin sculptures at the entrance.
From there Stephanie invited everyone to enter the building via one of the numerous revolving doors, being mindful not to catch themselves. Once inside, the vast foyer is compared to soaring Gothic Cathedrals, and the legions of receptionists are described as ‘the epitomy of youthful beauty, primed to assist with every whim’. Materials used are highlighted, such as the Etowa marble floors, the sculptural gilt steel reception desk, and the towering Washington Robusta palm trees.
Stephanie led the group to the suite of high speed elevators, which would transport them to the 88th floor. Set inside the world’s largest cylindrical aquarium- which is home to endangered species such as the Yangtse dolphin- these diamond-like vessels glide in a balletic display.
Once on the 88th Floor, the home of the new Deptford Market, the tour took in the vast array of merchandise available from all corners of the globe. The character of the original market is retained: The striped awnings so redolent of the market place have been reinterpreted in abstract stainless steel and neon sculptures that hover over the stalls.
Other highlights of the building were listed when the tour reached the Great Hall of Escalators, including:
A reconstruction of Medieval Deptford. The sights and smells of the settlement of houses of fishermen, boat-builders and water pilots are showcased on an exciting state-of-the-art time capsule ride in the bio-gesic dome on level 47;
The 08/08/2011 Plaza, a memorial to the famous Riots of London, which engulfed the entire city in the grip of fear. The structure, a 50 foot hight pyramid constructed from televisions and radios plays out an audio and visual account of those affected. This can be found on Level 75.
There is also a Mandarin Oriental 7 Star hotel on Levels 76 to 86 with spa, pool area and 3 eminently stylish restaurants, office accommodation can be found on Levels 20 to 40, and exclusive duplex apartments on Levels 48 to 70.
Stephanie also pointed out to the ladies that on Levels minus 1 to minus 10, there is the High Street Luxury Mall, a place to discover the best in designer fashion and lifestyle.
The neighbouring convention centre, a 3.5 million square foot modern and functional facility well known among industry professionals for its versatilty was pointed out, and then the audience was directed to the Eastern balcony for a digital fireworks display, projected on the glass facade.
Once the tour was completed, the overwhelmed visitors where then invited to return to the Deptford X marketing suite, where they would receive further information from the PLAZA Directors.
Tags: Deptford Market, Deptford X, Edward Simpson, guided tour, Oliver Herbert, Plaza II, Plaza london
The Plaza Tour at Deptford X!
29 SepWe’re looking forward to seeing you all at Deptford X.
We will be treating you to a tour of an unprecedented architectural feat transforming Deptford market into a fantastic, crystalline pinnacle. A publication will accompany an installation at Number 82 gallery. The tour leaves at 7.30 from Number 82 Gallery – be prompt to be sure not to miss out!
Plaza Deptford X
http://www.deptfordx.webeden.co.uk/#/fringe-programme/4554673733
http://www.number82.org/number82.org/home.html
http://www.plazalondon.wordpress.com/
Tags: Deptford X, Ed Simpson, Number 82 Gallery, Oliver Herbert, Plaza london
New Westfield Stratford, London!
13 SepMuch excitement has surrounded the opening of the latest Westfield shopping mall in London at Stratford today.
Built as part of the Olympics 2012 masterplan, it is a huge addition to East London’s shopping and leisure profile.
Below is how the Evening Standard reported about it. I can feel a field trip coming on!
Nicole Sherzinger entertained the lucky first visitors
Interviews with visitors enjoying promotions from the stores.
Some facts- 5 Eiffel Towers in Stratford would have been amazing..
Tags: Edward Simpson, Largest shopping mall, Plaza london, Stratford, Westfield
