e-mail antidote

Over the last period of time I have been receiving mail. Real mail. Snail mail. Real letters from real people. 

I know some people that I would call letter artists, whenever I receive a letter from them, they have clearly spend considerable time writing me something that makes sense, and decorating the letter with illustrations and clippings. Impressive and one of the only reasons I look forward to my birthday every year.

But lately I have also been receiving real letters from people, institutes and companies that want my attention. It's very different from e-mail. It's so much more tangible. First of all, you might find your own name and address in handwriting as well as maybe a real stamp on the envelope! Then there is the un-packing or opening experience, you have to tear or cut through the paper to open the letter. Inside you find carefully curated, tactile paper-sorts, finely handwritten with a real pen, or typed in type-faces originating from a pre-computer era. It causes an emotional reaction; I feel nostalgia of those passed days when messages where passed on with care. When they where sincere and really meant for me. Me only. I'm touched.

Invitation from the Future Laboratory for their Luxury Forum

Catalogue from Fattoria la Villa

This makes me think that this is the opportunity that internet and mail-order companies like Amazon and Yoox could grab. Because there is nothing more un-personal to receive than your book-order from Amazon. There is a huge opportunity for them to connect with their consumers in a highly personal way by just paying a little bit more attention to the way they package and ship their goods. Make it personal, make people feel that they are receiving something from their best friend Amazon, instead of just a big anonymous internet company; Amazon. Then for sure they will remember you.

Slow Coffee, a contradictio in terminis?

It seems a contradiction in terminis? How could coffee possibly be slow? Coffee has grown to be a symbol of a lifestyle in the fast lane. So when the quintessence of our fast living society becomes slow, is that a symbol of a whole society that is slowing down? One where the intimate and local creates a new sense of being and belonging?

Ever since I lived in Italy in the beginning of the nineties, have I sworn to espresso coffee. The Italian way. When I lived in London (also in the beginning of the nineties) I would go out of my way to find a decent cup of coffee. Later life got easier because the espresso hype caught up with me, and it seems espresso is now everywhere to be found; on my kitchen counter, in the kitchen of the office, and even when I visited Shanghai in 2008, there was an espresso bar at every corner. For a long time Star Bucks even had a cafe inside the Forbidden City in Beijing. It was closed in 2007. The world-master barrista of 2006 was Danish, Copenhagen and Stockholm has some of the finest coffee bars.

Coffee has gone through a number of loops of reinvention and upgrading since the beginning of the nineties. Much like in other gourmet categories like wine and cheese a whole army of connoisseurs, experts and barristas have popped out of nowhere, and have taught us about coffee; understanding the fine details leading to a perfect cup; how important freshly grind beans are, exactly which pressure is right, and about the importance of the origins, type and treatment of the beans. Starbucks even gives Coffee masterclasses in HongKong. Coffee is no longer confined to being the social lubricant @ home that it used to be, it is now a culinary experience best enjoyed in specialized coffee houses. Coffee is no longer a bitter drink for old folks, it's almost a cocktail, and Starbucks will make it any way you want it. Caffeine has gone from being evil, to being an excellent provider of anti-oxidants, which makes it almost healthy.

So now when espresso has finally established itself in the mindset of mr. Average, automatic espresso machines have penetrated into even the most provincial kitchens, then comes slow coffee and turns the world upside down. The new Slow Coffee is made with drip filters. Cup by cup. The freshly grind beans are given time to soak in boiling water, until all the fine essences are extracted, then it slowly drips into the cup. That brewing process becomes a slow ritual of waiting and contemplation. The cups are big like tea-mugs, which turns drinking into sipping and carefully tasting every mouthful, to discover all the layers of the flavors. 

Now when coffee has slowed down, will we all slow down?

The Village Coffee serving Slow Coffee @ opening Cris

The Village Coffee serving Slow Coffee @ opening Cris

The Village Coffee serving Slow Coffee @ opening Cris

The Village Coffee serving Slow Coffee @ opening Cris

De jongens van de koffee

Filterkoffie weer hip?

screamingbeans

thevillagecoffee

Reshaping attitudes

Shape is literally present in Arnhem. The research for new shapes was everywhere; researching new form and sculpting new materials. The symposium Reshaping attitudes chose substance over matter; reshaping attitudes was feeding the debate about the fashion industry or even the fashion system itself.

The economic crunch has made clear to everybody what was maybe previously only visible to some sparsely spread initiated people; the fashion system is sick, it has suicidal tendencies. The speed of change is so high, that even fashionistas can’t keep up. Fashion insiders have long ago chosen not to try to keep up, they just dress in Black. The fashion system is depleting our planet, every season it produces an overload of new styles to wear for too short and it’s so poorly made, that before you know it, it ends up in a heap for sale on Queensday. So something has got to change. The crisis turns out to be a welcome catalyst for change.

In the Reshaping attitudes symposium, different speakers had been invited to give their opinion about the crisis in the fashion industry (and system) and to launch their ideas about what alternatives the fashion industry (and system) has.

Some like Otto van Busch has been onto it for long. He has challenged the existing system with artistic happenings for long; organizing huge swap parties and repair & remake workshops in galleries and museums. All his initiatives seem to directed at exposing the over-stretched fashion-system, and his initiatives also demonstrate that attractive alternatives are possible.

Beyond Green, Amsterdam, November 12th

Beyond Green, Amsterdam Nov 12th

Anne Chapelle, CEO of a Belgian fashion conglomerate BVBA32 gave us a very personal account of her breakdown after the oct 2008 shows, after which she shut herself up for 2 weeks to rethink the system. She resurrected herself by creating a fashion platform, a brand that will be made up of the curated collections by selected individuals, but not around one star designer.

Monique van Heist’s Hello Fashion is probably the most grown-up and serious attempt at attacking the fashion system in it’s heart. It will not renew every season. It will have a growing collection of items that stay in production for a long time. Also Moniques idea has grown out of dissatisfaction with the current speed of change and the creation of waste.

For Liam Maher it seems to be more accidental that he’s challenging the fashion system. Liam focuses on the well-crafted and well-made jeanswear, Denham. He just likes the idea of creating something enduring, being a craftsman that knows his craft. That of course is in sharp contrast with the throwaway fashion that most of us dress-up in.

The conclusion of the symposium was somewhat disappointing because Anne Chapelle turned out to have little faith in that we will be able to change the fashion industry or system in the near future.

I choose to believe that we can. It’s up to us, us that consume fashion, to make different choices and to stop sponsoring the irresponsible and waste-producing brands. If anything this symposium has made clear that it is possible to act differently, and we just need to stand up and start doing it.