Finding this article in my inbox this morning put a smile on my face. I have long been a big fan of Converse, and this piece is an interesting read, particularly the parts about the genesis of the company and the history of Chuck Taylor.
I mentioned a while back that I was planning on wearing my pink Chucks at Versailles as a tribute to Marie Antoinette.
Et voilà!
Posted in machine vs. man, man vs. nature, skillin' not illin'
Tagged black & white checkers, converse, stylin'
Bonjour mes amis!
I have some exciting news. I am taking this show on the road. For the next two weeks I will be skillin’ my way around Paris and the south of France. This holiday is one that I have been looking forward to for months, and I can’t wait to do a little sightseeing, drink beaucoup de vin, and generally butcher the French language in my forthcoming posts. On that note, there’s no real direct translation for ‘Mental Skillness’ into French, but I have settled on ‘Compétence en France’, which seems close enough.
After work today I did a little shopping in preparation for the trip. If you saw Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoniette, you may have noticed a scene at Versailles in which Kirsten Dunst sports a pair of bubblegum-pink Converse:
So I felt it was only fitting that I pick up a pair in honour of my own upcoming visit to Versailles.
I would like nothing more than to wear them with a sweeping ballgown, but I am questioning the likelihood of fitting one into my suitcase. Quel dommage!
A friend of mine who is at OCAD (Ontario College of Art & Design) had his Grad Exhibition last night, which I attended to support him and check out his project. I was really excited about the event because I am obsessed with art school. There’s just something amazing about going to school for four years to paint, or sculpt, or take pictures, or whatever. And a lot of the stuff that people create in art school is really cool, but some of it is super pretentious and that is what I love the most. I love how art school students can be self-important and ridiculous, and not only does no one call them on it, but their narcissism is actually celebrated.* Actually, this is true of artists in general (not just art school students). Let me be clear here: I am one of the people celebrating this attitude. Maybe it sounds like I’m making fun of it, and if so my apologies because I’m totally not! People who take themselves and their art super seriously make me really happy. Because there is something awesome about reading someone’s explanation of how their painting of a hand with legs is a post-feminist critique of the way women are portrayed in the media. Like, YES. Go on! Tell me more!
*I would like to note that I mean no disrespect to my friend, because he is very down-to-earth and awesome so I would never include him in the category of pretentious artists.
I actually think one of the best jobs in the whole world would be that of an art critic. I would like to tour around galleries all day making up blurbs about what the artist was trying to convey and how their treatment of light and dark elements on the canvas is a representation of the inner struggle between good and evil that resides in the human psyche…
…Obviously I am just totally BS’ing here — because really, when you get right down to it, isn’t everything about the struggle between good and evil that resides in the human psyche? I mean, I could say that about Mad Men (which I’ve never watched), or Macbeth (which I’ve never read), and you would kind of believe me, right? But it doesn’t even matter, does it? No! And that’s the beauty of it. I love it how art is celebrated as being so important, when it is essentially kind of unimportant*…but that’s what makes it probably the MOST important thing we do, as human beings. Does that make sense at all? Not really. I know. I have no clue what I’m saying, either. This is what thinking about art school does to me! I LOVE IT!!
*For example, everything I have written here – not just in this post, but on this entire blog — is basically of no consequence to anyone or anything, in the grand scheme of things. And yet it is super important to me, and probably critical to my development as a person. So it is simultaneously completely vital and totally unnecessary.
Anyway. Enough of this foolishness. Below, please find a few snapshots of the art that I witnessed on display last night.
First of all, here’s my friend’s awesome project. He’s in Industrial Design and he created what is essentially high-tech, digital, streamlined system for guitar effect pedals:
My 15 minutes of fame (that’s me in the pictures!)
More art school amazingness:
Machine vs. Man: a visual dissertation on how technology and nature struggle to co-exist in a tentative, restless balance.
I almost wore this exact outfit, but changed at the last minute. Thank god. That would have been embarrassing.
Isn’t it, though?
You guys…I think the man is going out to shoot the deer? Or maybe he’s going to chop down the tree. I love the ambivalence here.
Fuck. I knew it! Time to start looking for a new job…
Hello, friend!
At art school, even the graffiti in the stairwells is awesome:
This door is reserved for vampires.
Heh.
Swearing is an art form.
As a bonus, Thaddeus and I discovered our art school dopplegangers — i.e. what we would look like if we were turned into art school projects:
Art School Thaddeus
Art School MSkillz
When I was 9 or 10 I got the idea in my head that I wanted a pair of plaid Converse high tops. Believe it or not, they weren’t such an easy thing to find back then. I mean, nowadays you can get all sorts of crazy prints, colors and styles, but at the time it was the mid-’80s, and I wanted a pretty specific color scheme — dark blue and turquoise plaid. I was a very particular 5th grader. I searched for ages but couldn’t find what I was looking for, and finally settled for a classic pair of bubblegum pink ones (whether you are a guy or a girl, 10 years old or 50, you cannot go wrong with pink Converse).
So began my love affair with Converse All Stars. Since then, not a year has gone by that I haven’t worn them. I’ve had numerous pairs — navy, kelly green, black (of course), silver zebra print, turquoise velvet, and most recently white leather. My favourite pair ever were black and white checkered canvas. I bought them in grade 10 and I still have them to this day. They are pretty beat-up by now, as you can see:
At some point I inexplicably decided it would be a good idea to color them in black with a magic marker. I regretted this move later, but luckily the black wore off some and you can still see the checkered pattern underneath. I have been wearing them for 20 years and they are still one of the best pairs of shoes I’ve ever had.
Not surprisingly, I love it when guys wear Converse. It’s just such a great look. Gets me every time.
To this day I have still never stumbled upon a pair that are dark blue and turquoise plaid, but I’ve always got my eyes open. I am confident they will find their way into my life someday.
MSkillz
Thaddeus