Daily Archives: March 29, 2017

Posted by Samantha Sanders on Mar 29, 2017 | 0 comments

Overview: Years of conflict between a communal Black Liberation group, its neighbors, and the city of Philadelphia came to a head with disastrous consequences in 1985. Zeitgeist Films; 2013; NR; 88 minutes.

Long-Simmering Conflict: America in the 1970s was a particularly movement-driven time, with the idealism of the 60s giving way to a new righteous pragmatism. Determinism was out, and self-determination, often in the form of conscious and strategic organizing, was in. It was in this context that MOVE was was founded in 1972. Led by the charismatic leader John Africa, MOVE was a separatist collective of largely Black young people who lived communally and espoused a hard-to-categorize philosophy emphasizing a return to the natural world. Their headquarters was a home in West Philadelphia, in a dense, blue-collar neighborhood. Initially their lifestyle was largely accepted in the neighborhood as harmless, if eccentric, but that soon changed. Conflicts with neighbors led to increasingly volatile relations with the police that escalated first to a 1978 shootout, and ultimately, to an armed standoff on May 13, 1985. The way the police chose to end the conflict was swift, forceful, and highly controversial. The events of that day and the controversy that followed form the narrative backbone of this meticulous and often riveting documentary.

Sifting Through the Rubble: Let the Fire Burn tells its story simply, without narration and with only a few title cards to orient you. Filmmaker Jason Osder uses a mixture of raw footage, interviews, and testimony, much of it pulled directly from the televised public hearings of the Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission, created by the citys mayor in an attempt to make sense of the bombing. For those civic-minded or bored enough to have watched city council meetings on public access, these proceedings might at first seem empty procedural theater, toothless and ineffectual. But with such an emotionally charged event, instead the film captures moments of raw anger, bold truth-telling and surprisingly vulnerable exchanges between witnesses and those on the commission to which theyre reporting. Osders editing decisions and narrative framing choices are masterful, ensuring the tension is palpable on film, even more than 30 years later. Your only respite is an occasional shift to news footage but even those, so often featuring children, offer few moments to breathe deeply. Even if you dont know the story beforehand, the title is enough to let you guess how this will end.

At the end of the documentary, we learn the more about the very real consequences the neighborhood, police, and MOVE members dealt with in the months and years after May 13. While not played for sensationalism, there are several gasp-worthy reveals. This is a film that sheds light on an event largely forgotten outside of Philadelphia, and while it doesnt offer answers it brings up critical questions. May marks an anniversary of the event, the 32nd. Not a landmark date by any means, but still significant when the scars havent yet fully healed. Let the Fire Burnwith all the wounds it re-opens and its grime that shows in the lightproves that sometimes the closest we can come to a palliative remedy to pain is an honest reckoning. In this way, it does its duty honorably.

Overall: The availability of extensive archival footage is a treasure for the documentary filmmaker, but while its exclusive use here is intentional and respectful, the viewer might yearn for moremore context, more texture, more to hold on to. However, Let the Fire Burn is a brave and clear-eyed, if sometimes dry, look at the events that took the lives of 11 people (five of them children), left more than 250 people homeless and permanently altered the emotional and physical landscape of Philadelphia.

Grade: B

Let the Fire Burn is available for streaming rental on iTunes and Amazon Video

Featured Image: Zeitgeist Films

Samantha Sanders lives and writes in Brooklyn, but don't hold that against her.

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Discovery Process Review: Let the Fire Burn is a Soberand SoberingLook at a Nearly Forgotten Chapter - Audiences Everywhere (press release) (blog)

Every time I swipe my debit card to buy something that I dont necessarily need, but that I want, I cant help but feel guilty. I feel worse when I realize that the four people standing behind me in line at the cashier desk are also guilty of the same behaviour.

So, in 2017, lets talk about Vancouvers battle with capitalism. The city is trying to establish an economy based on mutual utilization and benefit the movement is slow, but growing. Vancouver, a growing hub of multiculturalism, has already started to challenge the zeitgeist of ownership and consumption methods by nurturing spaces that encourage the sharing of goods and services.

Sharing through donation, public goods, lending and borrowing, co-owning, and bartering are manifestations of this earthly trend. Such manifestations are, in fact, occurring in our metropolis as you read between neighbours, families, and other community organizations.

The fundamentals of sharing

The origin of the word sharing comes from the Old English scearu, which means division, or to break into parts. Fast-forward, and today this word can be used in multiple contexts with varying connotations. For a lot of us, sharing is more about togetherness than division. From sharing tangible goods to ideas and spaces, sharing economies maximize on collective interest and benefit, rather than self-interest and profit.

Secondary school was a time when we never questioned the demand meets supply and a market is created theory of economics, but as we go through university, more and more questions arise about the gaps in capitalist theory.

Now, some are abandoning the capitalist thought entirely, but every new initiative is accompanied by multiple raised eyebrows. For many traditional businesses, the sharing economy model appears as an epidemic that is taking away business opportunities. On the other hand, a lot of debate exists on the nature and social impact of sharing.

A sharing economy model is used differently by every organization, which makes it difficult to appreciate its cause. Airbnb is a multi-billion dollar company that quickly rose to success by connecting short-term renters to house-owners.

However, Airbnb has been recently tagged as an anti-sharing model due to its exclusivity, its profit margins, and its lack of social impact. Recently, it was announced that Uber and other ride-share services were coming to Vancouver its clear that Vancouver is interested in growing the sharing is caring network.

Then, what really defines sharing? What constitutes a sharing economy? What type of sharing organizations contrast existing business models? Despite being heavily contested, there are a couple things that could be agreed on: a sharing economy provides goods/services that can be utilized by many people either economically or free of cost.

Property, services, transportation, and material objects are just a few examples of parts of everyday life undergoing mass transformation.

Understanding sharing

Chris Diplock, co-founder of the Vancouver Tool Library Co-operative, breaks down what a sharing economy means for Vancouverites. His perspective on an ideal sharing economy model consists of, briefly put, financial stability, social impact/welfare, community integration, and environmental sustainability.

Vancouver Tool Library is a co-operative where tools can be borrowed for barely any cost so that locals do not have to buy a tool they would use once in a blue moon. In this process, people are brought together, consumption is reduced, and its easy on the wallet.

Looking to the success of Vancouver Tool Library, a co-operative library that lends tools acquired through donations, Diplock has well-informed arguments to make for sharing economies.

When asked whether the sharing economy is an alternative to capitalism, Diplocks response confused me at first: It depends on our definition of these models and the structures in place, he explained. If we have large corporate enterprises such as Airbnb maximizing on rentals, nothing is going to change.

Im not saying that these corporations havent had any positive impact. But if we were to evaluate these models based on social impact, they could do a lot better, he elaborated.

Diplock used the word social impact frequently during our discussion. But social impact is one of those nebulous terms that is often misinterpreted. It is important that we gauge the purpose of an enterprise before we include it in a sharing economy. We have to understand how to measure the social impact of an organization, he continued.

For example, a co-operative model, like the Vancouver Tool Library, exists within a capitalistic economy. However, they are financially, socially, and environmentally sustainable, Diplock added. Large corporations cannot achieve these on their own. They could provide a large platform, however, to co-operatives to realize and actualize the true social benefit.

Non-monetary, peer-to-peer lending is an appealing aspect of [a] sharing economy and acts as a driving force against capitalism, said Diplock. People dont engage in a sharing economy to make money, but rather to maximize the use of goods and to connect with people.

After the Vancouver Tool Library, we wanted to develop a model that can share and benefit the community, he said, referring to Thingery, a micro-lending library. Thingery embodies the epitome of sharing wherein neighbours can donate excess goods that could be used by others. The truth is, people want to share within proximity and want to share many different things; they are only waiting for an opportunity.

Vancouvers very own

For every person in search of a sharing model, there is an initiative that exists in Vancouver to meet their shareable demands. Vancouver has its very own spectrum of sharing economy models that range on a scale of low-end to high-end goods and services.

Outlets such as the Vancouver Tool Library and Modo, a car co-op, have been taxing on commercial orientation of goods and services. An exciting aspect of this budding sharing economy within Vancouver is that it resolves the issue of increasing living costs. Fatter wallets make everyone happy but, when delving a little deeper, sharing economies contribute to sustainable economies. Sustainability is directly opposed to capitalism, and hence, sharing economy models become our new best friends.

The research report that Diplock collaborated and found Thingery on, The Sharing Project, thrives on the social capital that can be accumulated through sharing. The Hive in Vancouver is an exemplary organization that works towards harbouring social impact of sharing by providing free work-spaces or hosting events to build a sense of community.

Simbi is another model which is an online platform to trade services, and one that highlights Diplocks statement of a non-monetary model. One-of-a-kind, every individual can set Simbi prices on their service and can receive credits when their service is used. These credits could be, in turn, used to receive services from someone else.

There are so many other companies pushing for and thriving in this new zeitgeist. Sustainable fashion is being achieved by Flaunt Fashion Library in Vancouver, an online platform that lends clothing. Sustainable environment is being rooted for through the Vancouver Bike Share with approximately 1,500 bicycles stationed at 150 posts around downtown for cleaner transportation. Garage is another organisation that attempts to build communal spaces by enabling owners to rent out private parking spaces to other drivers. The sharing isnt about to stop or slow down.

Shortcomings of sharing?

Alienation by and subordination to machines have become underpinning pillars of our society. But sharing economies tear down these walls between us. Neighbours that never interacted before could possibly become peers in such an environment.

We have communities that believe in the virtues of sharing. The only shortcoming might be that it isnt pushed forward effectively. The Sharing Projects report indicates that different understandings of what sharing means can impede the growth of the economy and a cohesive network between organizations, an awareness among people that there are alternatives to ownership would boom the economy. Vancouver has an affinity for sharing and it needs to be channelled productively.

Is it possible, then, if promoted effectively, that this economic concept could possibly overtake capitalism? I think so. The key viewpoint is to look at capitalistic notions as being artificial and recognizing that they are subject to change with time.

We share stories; we share our happiness and sorrows. Perhaps now we could learn to introduce practices of sharing things that liberate ideas of private ownership. What makes sharing economies so appealing is their applicability through economic textbook theory. Comparative advantage is when two agents trade certain goods voluntarily at a gain as each of them are specialized to produce that specific good. Sharing economies behave similarly while bridging connections whats not to love?

Interested in sharing goods and services? Check out the following groups:

Vancouver Bike Share

A recent addition to Vancouver, Vancouver Bike Share has 1,500 bicycles strategically distributed at 150 stations in and around downtown. Whether youre commuting, touring the city, changing up your routine, or just wanting a fun activity to do with your friends, you can now borrow a bike owned by everyone for a day.

Flaunt Fashion Library

Wanting to make fashion affordable, sustainable, and accessible, this online clothing sharing initiative is helping locals look fly.

ShareShed

Renting outdoor gear to others has never been so easy. Profit from the gear you own or rent other gear you need for trips.

HitchPlanet

What started as a BC ride-share organization is now connecting people across North America.

Garage

Help the city go green by renting out your parking space and maximizing space.

See the rest here:

When it comes to the economy, sharing is caring - The Peak

TOKYO, Japan Masataka Hattori knows that his taste captures the zeitgeist like no other and he isnt afraid to say so. To put it bluntly, I only trust myself. As long as I think its good, it must be good, says the unlikely tough guy whose sensual styling was a highlight of Tokyos Amazon Fashion Week, which wrapped up this weekend.

In a rare display of offbeat elegance, Hattori styled the show for designer Shinpei Yamagishis label Bed J.W. Ford. At a time when Tokyos runways are awash with brands that reflect a sensible aesthetic in contrast to the increasingly vibrant designs on show in competing Asian cities like Seoul and Jakarta it is left to fastidious stylists like Hattori to keep Japanese fashion eye-catching and internationally relevant.

According to Daisuke Gemma, the creative director of Sacai, Japanese stylists are particularly good at knowing how to coordinate because the bar is set high by the public. The way they mix clothes is unique [because] in Japan even normal people on the street have interesting style [so] our stylists are influenced by them, he says.

Yet while Japanese style is famous the world over, Japanese stylists are a relatively enigmatic bunch to the outside world. Few have enjoyed the international spotlight like their designer compatriots. It is curious because, collectively, they are known for their unparalleled commitment to the craft.

Perhaps more importantly, some of Japans stylists have propelled important historical style movements forward. And others continue to push boundaries in ways that would surprise and delight the international fashion industry, if more were known about them.

Styling by Kumiko Iijima, December 2016 | Source: So-en magazine

From Bowie to Cutie

Yacco Takahashi is regarded as one of Japan's first professional stylists, and is best known for her work with designer Kansai Yamamoto; together they created David Bowies exotic androgyne Ziggy Stardust in the mid-1970s.

Sonya Park, the Korean-born, Japan-based founder of the brand Arts & Science, is often credited alongside leading menswear stylists like Tomoki Sukezane for putting Japanese style on the map in its 90s heyday, when brands like Nobuhiko Kitamuras Hysteric Glamour were all the rage.

While the mainstream Japanese fashion industry didnt rate Park's style at first, before long her aesthetic in magazines like Cutie had captured the burgeoning energy of the Japanese street scene, and today she is widely regarded as the stylist responsible for the Western perception of kawaii fashion.

Kyoko Fushimi, a stylist who curates The Happening, a collective of avant-garde designers who have gained attention for putting on guerrilla shows on Shibuya streets, takes inspiration from Parks approach which celebrated the native talent around her.

Sonya Park worked with the Japanese photographer Takashi Honma, and started using more Japanese models. She did away with international brands and promoted Japanese clothes by Japanese designers, and so created street style [in Japan]."

Nowhere has Japanese fashion flashed between such extremities as it has in Tokyos Harajuku district where the over-styled subcultures that gave the area its reputation as a fashion mecca are often difficult to disentangle.

They have this innate sense of fashion thats so different. In the West its very sexy and more about the body, whereas here its not.

From the Ura-Hara streetwear scene to Decora devotees, it was up to Japanese stylists to make sense of it all. Minako Milly Yoshihara, for example, is the stylist responsible for much of the Visual Kei aesthetic. By styling influential '90sVisual Kei bands like Pierrot, a subculture centred around pop-goth androgynous style was born.

Kumiko Iijima, a former Vogue Japan employee, is well-known in Tokyo as the stylist behind singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's hyperbolic Harajuku saccharine look. Iijima's protge, Miki Aizawa, has inherited that rainbow spirit, and is a successful stylist in her own right, working closely with Punyus, the cheerful marshmallow girl label created by the plus-size model and comedian Naomi Watanabe.

Iijima and Aizawa use lots of props with the clothes in their shoots, promoting that pop shojo [young girl] style, which was perfect for when Kyary came on the scene [in Harajuku], says Misha Janette, the founder of bilingual fashion blog Tokyo Fashion Diaries.

Styling by Masataka Hattori | Source: Eyes Cream magazine

[They] work with what is known as So-En style [named after the Bunka Fashion College magazine], which means very layered styling, and focuses on big volume. They have this innate sense of fashion thats so different. In the West its very sexy and more about the body, whereas here its notYou might have young girls looking like grandmas. Its very much a fairytale that sells a story.

Tension between creativity and protocol

Surprisingly, the colourful aesthetic of this type of Japanese styling is often at odds with Japans relatively conservative mainstream fashion industry. A common frustration among Japans creatives is the many stipulations and limitations that high-end brands put in place. While this happens in most other markets, it can be particularly strict in Japan.

As a stylist, I believe my job is create images by mixing high-brands, street, vintage and everything [but] Japanese magazines have strict policies about this. Most high-end brands require you to shoot a total look, and youre not allowed to mix with other brands, says Shun Watanabe, the fashion director of Nicola Formichettis Japan-based contemporary publication Free magazine, and stylist to model Kiko Mizuhara.

I think it's a shame to have those restrictions [and] I find it stressful. Young people are not interested in pages full of total looks from high-end brands. It holds no attraction to them either, because they cant buy a total high-end look anyway, adds Watanabe, citing his love of layering, genderless looks and homegrown brands like Toga, G.V.G.V. and Kapital.

Some who have found Japanese protocol creatively stifling have simply gone elsewhere. Nobuko Tannawa, senior fashion editor at TANK magazine, moved to London in her 20s: The reason I wanted to start fashion in London was that Japanese magazines are mostly very commercial. European magazines like The Face and i-D felt like they had a cultural message, a form of expression, whereas most Japanese magazines often looked like catalogues for the materialistic consumer.

Takashi Kumagai, one of Japans leading photographers as well as a top stylist, branding expert, and fashion designer, agrees: The Japanese stylists who prefer to work more freely with their work go abroad, he says, naming stylists Kanako B. Koga and Mika Mizutani, who have both carved out successful careers in Paris. Other exports include Yuji Takenaka, a former fashion editor for Commons & Sense who has spent the last decade working in New York with brands like Robert Geller.

I admit that I like the Japanese stylists who work on a global level, says Kumagai. They make the world their stage. But all Japanese stylists are unique in that they have a deep understanding of the history and background of clothing. They are, in a way, artisans. Styling in Japan might best be understood as descriptive in the way that it pays closer attention to the clothing, rather than focusing on the final photograph.

Styling by Shun Watanabe | Source: Nylon Japan

Being meticulous is a quality that many Japanese stylists have become famous for. Take Kanako B. Koga who has been helping to create Uniqlo U advertisements for the past two seasons, lending her hallmark sensuality to the commercial brands identity.

One of the shots in the Spring/Summer 2017 campaign is of a female model standingon a dirt track. They are soft images, easy to look at, but it took Koga three days to perfect: I worked closely with the art director to study the movement of the body, to find out how we can make a nice composition of colours with 12 images, she says.

Leading publications such as Vogue Japan and Ginza are generally full to the brim with practical trend-led fashion advice, and Japans stylists are expected to achieve painstaking levels of research and detail.

Mitsuko Watanabe, the editor-in-chief of Vogue Japan, explains: Because the amount of information in Japanese fashion magazines is so extensive, its the job of our stylists to keep the magazine up-to-date by applying current trends [in their styling] and matching the intricate developments of fashion to the current period, to visually convey [these trends] to our readers.

Regarding the stylists that work with Vogue Japan, Ms. Watanabe lists Rena Semba, an experienced stylist who understands the global movements of high fashion, Michiko Kitamura, a veteran fashion editor who is involved in styling for cinema and costumes her deep knowledge of clothing enables her to do styling in a contemporary and avant-garde way, and Tsuyoshi Noguchi.

Among Japanese stylists, Noguchi is one of the most famous. He does both mens and ladies styling, and takes care of a large number of Japanese celebrities. [In fact], there are many Japanese celebrities who agree to photoshoots upon the understanding that Noguchi will be doing the styling, Ms. Watanabe adds.

Jey Perie, the creative director of Kinfolk, as well as brand development manager for Japanese menswear label Bedwin & The Heartbreakers, spent five years working with Japanese stylists in the mid-2000s.

Japanese stylists are unique in that they have a deep understanding of the history and background of clothing. They are, in a way, artisans.

Like Ms. Watanabe, Perie also mentions Tsuyoshi Noguchi as a powerful creative force: "I remember he played a big part of the [cult streetwear label] Wacko Maria collaboration with [womenswear retailer] Baroque. He made the deal, styled it, and brought his creative direction [to the project]. It was interesting to see how a stylist could be involved in the whole business and the creativity also."

Great respect for experience

Deep knowledge and experience are often more valuable than hype in Japan. Trendsetting magazines dont desperately search for the next hot stylists name like some do in other markets. Kazumi Asamura Hayashi, who was called in to oversee the recently-launched i-D Japan as its editorial director, says that the magazine initially tried working with up-and-comers, but quickly found out that it was more mature stylists who did the best jobs.

Styling by Yoko Irie for Japanese retailer Beams | Source: Courtesy

We started off working with not-so-experienced stylists. They were good and had a lot of energy, but it wasn't quite enough. Hayashi says Mana Yamamoto, Chiharu Dodo, and Keiko Hitotsuyama are names to know. Those three have stayability and consistency, a knowledge of fashion. They know what publications are looking for.

However, a few talented young names are rising to the top. In addition to established figures like Tetsuro Nagase [also known as Giant], one name to watch is Lambda Takahashi,according to Sacais Gemma.

They very much have their own style. Especially Lambda, he mixes streetwear brands like Supreme with Huntsman [from Savile Row]. I think that's a really Japanese thing to do, says Gemma. It helps that the stylists here are more connected with music and hang out in other scenes outside of fashion. It's hard to tell what makes Japanese styling different from other countries, but it is somehow. It's like a feeling, he adds.

Yoko Irie, who has multiple Nylon Japan covers under her belt, works to create scintillating shoots for the magazine and captures the punchy attitude of Japan's young female generation as well as vivid campaign imagery for iconic Japanese retailer Beams. Risa "Ribbon" Kato a homegrown stylist and another regular Nylon contributor, combines coveted western brands like Vetements with vintage sportswear, as well as gritty Tokyo labels like M.Y.O.B.

Masataka Hattoris career is taking off too. Besides runway work, Hattori is also working with Japanese magazines like Pen, Brutus, and New Order. On top of that, he styles J-pop bands like Radwimps and Exile.

Akiko Shinoda, director of international affairs for Tokyos Amazon Fashion Week, attributes Hattoris recent success to his straightforward attitude: Hattori has selected what he wants to do, and he only works with what he likes, she says.

While Shinoda is surprised that some of Japans most talented stylists havent yet found fame beyond their home market, she isnt overly concerned.

Whether theyre internationally well-known or not, the quality of work is still there, she says. And todays young stylists are doing an amazing job for Japanese fashion. That's what matters most.

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Who's Driving Japanese Style? - The Business of Fashion