Use the blue truck!

Boxes and foam peanuts and packing tape! We’ve moved (and are already unpacked) at our new location, www.2dmblogazine.it ! Update your browsers, change up those bookmarks, subscribe to the new feed and don’t miss a beat. See you all at the new pad – and as always, keep abreast with daily updates on Facebook and Twitter. Ciao!

Hero / Bruna Kazinoti

Way forward and out on the fringe, yet front, centre and on beat in a way only a Brit-zine can seem to pull off, Hero Magazine is a gem. It is at once bombastic, sexual, cooler-than-you and so pungently British that a hunk of stilton’s origins might be less clear at first glance. Beyond its very compelling art direction (with a notably excellent structural use of type), non-sequitur treasures abound in each issue, such as behind-the-scenes photos by Harry Lambert of shoots styled by Stevie Westgarth, a cheeky tribute to vintage Versace, and one helluva lineup of well-curated talent.

The biannual zine, which reads a lot like a really, really long mood board, portends to be a barometer on progressive men’s fashion. Its sinewy combination of high fashion, dirty English ostentation, hot models and seemingly effortless ability to exude cool mostly makes it just that.

Their forthcoming issue features an editorial shot by a relatively new and welcome addition to 2DM, the brilliant Bruna Kazinoti. Tease! Check out Hero’s latest issue for the full experience.

By Tag Christof, Photos courtesy Hero

Illustrative’s Night in Berlin

Today’s Berlin is probably today’s definitive melting pot, the most raw, creative place on earth today. Word on the street is that it uncannily resembles the unchained New York of 20 years ago. In Berlin people worship tradition and destroy convention; it is truly the city where the vintage of the future is being made. It therefore comes as no surprise that the German capital is playing host to the largest festival for contemporary illustration and graphic arts, which will take place for the sixth time in May 2011.

The illustrators night presented by Swatch and Illustrative e.V. will award a winning illustrator, animator or book artist with the world’s foremost prize for contemporary illustration on November 5th 2010 at Direktorenhaus, a space for contemporary applied arts and experimental design in Berlin developed by Illustrative’s initiators Pascal Johanssen and Katja Kleiss. The winning artist will gain (in addition to a €6000 prize in publications and contracts with agencies) the opportunity to showcase his or her work during next year’s event, and will additionally play part in the design process of a limited edition Swatch.

The blueprint for this event is a platform for the exchange of ideas between illustrators, animators, book artists, art directors, journalists. While enjoying a grand gala dinner including performances, the new exhibition, an after-party, this event most importantly allows creatives to discuss and celebrate illustration in the word’s purer sense, enlightenment through visualization. The Swatch Young Illustrators Award gives an alluring sample of what is sure to be an excellent showcase at Illustrative 2011.

By Safia Brown

Germ Free Adolescents / RADIO

One way to experience genuine punk is to associate with such a person, which might create an intense series of reactions from one’s friends, co-workers, the police and concerned citizens. Another way, easier yet nonetheless interesting, is to catch what Germ Free Adolescents exposition is laying out for the world: the long-standing link between pornography and punk. Just as black and the white complement one other, nothing is quite as obvious as the formula of teens + rebellion = the need to transform, acombination that has driven the culture we have lived in, generation after generation.

The mix couldn’t be more intriguing: young Ukrainians artists who have photographed punk adolescents in a porn mood. Although this may seem disturbing for some, but for many, pornography and punk together is a blast-off topic for new ideas, rule breaking points and meaningful thoughts. More than an apogee of the 60s idea of sexual freedom, the exposition, brought together by friends who want to share their personal shows and shoots, represents a raw vision of what it was like to be an adolescent – and punk – with all its essence, doubt, desire… and mistakes in the former Soviet block.

Exalted opening this Thursday, November 4th from 7pm to 11pm at RADIO Gallery, Via Pestalozzi 4 in Milano.

By Rafaella Carvalho

Flair / Vittoria Cerciello

2DM’s Vittoria Cerciello has been a busy cosmopolitan bee lately. In this month’s sweetly perfumed issue of Flair, she styled two editorials alongside photographer Jean-François Campos. The first, shot on location in Iceland, is a hot cup of tea as winter sets in. Its stark, edge-of-the-earth environs are tamed by sumptuous fur.

The second is a gorgeous cross section of the future of New York talent. The striking and intimate portraits of these models, rock stars, globetrotters and all-around cool kids include upward bound Argentine fashion performer Naomi and Swedish rock dreamer Charlie.

These are definitely faces to remember.

By Tag Christof

Secret by Dossier Magazine

“Another secret: this is what photographs do. They whisper in your ear, saying, ‘You were there.’ This is no lullaby, no sleepy remembering. Instead, it is a jolt of recognition. ‘I was there,’ you think to yourself, amazed. ‘I was there, and so were you.’” – Emma Straub

It comes as no surprise that 2DM photographer Skye Parrot in collaboration with Alec Friedman, co-founders of Dossier Journal, curate a photographic exhibition around the brainchild secrets from October 29 to November 14, at Space 15 Twenty in Los Angeles,CA.

Just as the inception of Dossier Journal in May 2008, which was born around the theme of having no theme, using images that evoke raw emotions and playing around the method of filing interesting ideas that are usually left in the dark, this exhibition is portraying the one thing that we all have the urge to do in the end of the day: tell secrets.

So why not ask 39 photographers to give a visual response when asked to tell a secret, which evokes the essence of the photographic medium, capturing ones most personal and hidden thoughts and turning it into something visually creative yet showcasing it to the rest of the world as dark, delightful, or occasionally both, as is the case with Friedman’s bittersweet portrait of a sunburned back.

It was about time that we get to take photography back to its original essence. Giving photographers the freedom of capturing something solely personal, leaving constrictions, perfection, and consciousness in the background, Secrets evokes rawness, intimacy, and most importantly emotions. In the end of the day when telling a secret it’ s less about throwing dust in somebody’s eyes but about telling the blank truth.

By Safia Brown

Young Illustrators Award  &  2DM

Illustration is at once hyperbolic, bombastic, polemic, political, and piercing. Its visceral directness and prodigious versatility have led to its splattering across media as divergent as serious museum walls, comic books, and instruction manuals. Result: its cultural and artistic relevance only continues to mushroom in tandem with its uncharted potential to maintain a degree of clarity in an exponentially more complex world.

Berlin’s Illustrative is the international crown jewel in a sea of events that each attempt to make sense of the cacophony surrounding this most relevant of mediums. Open to artists from around the world and considered a barometer for the craft, Illustrative accordingly provides an opportune platform for launching a vision to a worldwide audience and advancing the increasingly important discourse surrounding illustration. The festival, at Berlin’s Direktorenhaus and under the curatorial direction of Pascal Johanssen, will feature hundreds of works by dozens of artists, and will dive deep into the contemporary nooks and crannies of style, nuance and narrative.

2DM / Management, the always innovative Milan-based agency is a proud media partner of Italy.
The agency-cum-beehive of creative energy, along with its illustrious cast of professional talent and Wonder-Room collective at the epicenter of the Milan art scene, never takes its finger off the pulse. Its six illustrators’ provocative and fresh bodies of work, most notably in fashion, engage and continue to advance the worldwide dialogue of the craft encouraged by the likes of Illustrative.

Submissions for the Young Illustrators Award will be accepted until October 22, with an awards ceremony and a host of prizes (including the unique opportunity for a design commission of a limited edition Swatch) to follow.

Bust out those markers and tablets, kids!

by Tag Christof

STRAWBERRY EARTH: WONDERLAND

This October 17th, Dutch crusaders for all things sustainable Strawberry Earth will join the pantheon of advocates fighting for conscientiousness and conscience in fashion. The affair, whimsically billed Wonderland, is to be “an event showcasing ‘eco wonders’ from the worlds of fashion & beauty.” The Netherlands-based organization, who had a hand earlier this year in the organisation of the Dutch Environmental Film Festival, is modelling the occasion after Key.to in Berlin and Estethica in London, but charging it with a dose of Dutch. Lest we forget the fashion, the event surely wouldn’t be complete without a little runway action, and in good form there will be a group of sustainable catwalks by Studio JUX, Charlie + Mary and three independent designers from Awearness Fair Fashion. Style and meticulous, natural grooming will be served up by AVEDA and Swedish quartet The Amplifetes will be on hand for an icing-on-the-cake live performance.

Aimed towards young designers, a “Meet the Experts” panel will convene to dish out insight into the design, construction and production of sustainable clothes. Additionally, for those of you swept up in new media fever or who are interested in evolving into mind-blowing fashion bloggers yourselves, Strawberry Earth will also be hosting a capsule Fashion Blogger Camp as a compliment within the context of the larger event. The platform is designed to serve as a forum for discourse on the role, impact and future of bloggers within the fashion system. Highlights include the minds and fingers of the luminaries behind Stylescrapbook, Hiphonest, Volkskrant, and others.

October 17, 16:00-20:00 at TrouwAmsterdam, pwered by STRAWBERRYEARTH

by Tag Christof

Young Illustrators Award Berlin 2011 – be part of it!

Be a part of Illustrative in Berlin, until October 22, 2010 applications for Illustrative 2011 can be submitted!

In May 2011, the 6th Illustrative – the leading international festival for contemporary illustration and graphic arts, will take place in Berlin again. Artists from all over the world can now apply for the festival: Until October 22nd, 2010 they can submit works in order to be considered for the Young Illustrators Award.

On November 5th, 2010 the nominees will be awarded in advance and invited to the “Illustrators Night”, a celebration at Direktorenhaus in Berlin. The Young Illustrators Award is an unique competition awarding creativity and innovation in personal contemporary illustration and graphics. The award encourages and supports designers in their artistic practice and offers an international and worldwide recognized platform for them. Illustrative is the leading international festival for contemporary illustration and graphic arts. The exhibition displays an inspiring collection of fresh illustration and graphic art showcasing over 600 works from more than 60 artists.

Over the course of two weeks, the festival celebrates the illustrative arts, presents new talents and trends, exchanges ideas, marvels at progressive technologies, and rediscovers forgotten styles.

Wonder Room #5 – A funny Interview

The Beauty & Beast team after months came up again!
2DM’s photographer Vicky Trombetta recently spent some time with the minds behind Wonder Room’s June affair about their fortuitous collaboration born of chance and common inspiration. Paine Cuadrelli, a force in Milan’s electronic music scene, Matteo Mendiola and model Nina join Luca Merli, an accomplished film director whose excellent commercial work spans a clientele from Persol to Coke, in a discussion about the time-warp technique and superhuman vision that went into the creation of the exhibition’s jarring imagery.
The work compellingly evokes Thomas Eakins sense of beauty and physique and smashes it up with a thoroughly cutting-edge version of Muybridge’s photographic studies of motion from well over a century ago. Haunting and ethereal, the images re-inform beauty and force a reconsideration of time and space. The project was curated by Soda Studio and directed by Merli, with sound design by Cuadrelli.

Text By Tag Christof – video by Vicky Trombetta