Son of a beach

So I swore a long time ago that when I grew up I would live by the ocean. And unless the Baltic Sea qualifies as an ocean it seems I will end up in hell not having lived up to my oath. Back then I probably just imagined a cottage on a beach, and don’t get me wrong, that would surely be suffice for me. But one can’t be blamed for aiming a little higher… Just a tiny bit… And you know what? Weirdly enough it seems the case that there are some other people that want to live by the ocean too. Wealthy people at that. With the good taste of hiring a talented architect. Who would have thought? As amazing as these houses are however, give me that cottage and I wont complain. And what’s better, hell can wait because I’m still learning in life, hence I’m not grown up yet.

Jackmataz

Jackmataz is our hot new star creative duo. Jack and Taz are really moving up in the world in true Madmen style. With a fair dose of arrogance and irreverence they have taken the agency by storm, moving about it like they own the place. And doing so with full right. The creative output from these guys is out of the ordinary. Literally chewing up client briefs and spitting out ingenious ideas like there was no tomorrow.

A rare moment where Jack (right) and Taz (left)
are actually following what the Account Director
is writing on the whiteboard. With some evident
scepticism though...

"The next Steve Jobs will be a chick"

I’ve for quite a while had this theory that the present millennium belongs to the woman. I’ve often brought up my reasoning for this, but have had a tough time to get people to agree with me. Men or women regardless weirdly enough. But perhaps I just haven’t articulated this idea the right way. In the December 2011 issue of Fast Company Louis C.K. seems to share my viewpoint: The Next Steve Jobs Will Be A Chick. Given that he must be brighter than me, his explanation is a lot more convincing (and entertaining) than mine:

“Overall, I think it’s a good time to have a girl in the 21st century because things are changing, with more opportunities for women. But girls are still the underdog, which means they’ll work harder, and everybody loves an underdog. The next Steve Jobs will totally be a chick, because girls are No. 2 – and No. 2 always wins in America. Apple was a No. 2 company for years, and Apple embodies a lot of what have been defined as feminine traits: an emphasis on intuitive design, intellect, a strong sense of creativity, and that striving to always make the greatest version of something. Traditionally, men are more like Microsoft, where they’ll just make a fake version of what that chick made, then beat the shit out of her and try to intimidate everybody into using their product.”

Louis C.K. (here with actress Hadley Delany) uses interactions with
his real-life daughters as fodder for his Emmy-nominated series.

Hello X-mas chaos!

The X-mas atmos bluntly entered and filled my place in a major way today. Ginger bread in all its forms was on the agenda and in a matter of seconds my kitchen was transformed into a chaotic, creative and extremely loud environment. Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin and Elvis did their best to make themselves heard through the speakers, but to no avail. There was more dough on the floor and in my kid’s tummies than on the table where it should be. Ivar managed to violently fall of his chair no less than three times in all the excitement and finally retired to the other room to watch Cars 2 when it all became a little bit too much for him. Diana, on the other hand proved quite the architect, building a cosy little cottage with impressive skill and focus on the task at hand. For my part I had repeated close encounters with the melted sugar that welds the house together, being left with several burns that act as a blissful reminder right now as to what an amazingly great day this has been so far.

Original Ivy

If one has had the misfortune of getting to know me a little better one may have concluded that when it comes to apparel I tend to be quite consistent. In an attempt to label the style, perhaps “preppy” would be it. Personally I hate labels, and “preppy” just sounds silly, so on second thought let’s not do that. In any case this is what I feel most comfortable in. Maybe not so strange considering my schooling up until year 11 involved wearing a school uniform consisting of black Clark’s (if not well polished one would be straightened out by our school sergeant) grey flannel trousers (not so great in a climate that tends to be between 30 to 40 degrees Celsius), white shirt, blue tie with yellow and red stripes, navy blue blazer and a boater (!?). On the weekends it was basically a wetsuit that was worn, so my wardrobe was probably not very diverse throughout my teenage years to say the least.

None the less I’ve held on to wearing my “school uniform” over the years and as it seems more and more brands are adopting the style on a broader scale. Considering that these brands draw most of their inspiration from the Ivy League schools of the US, pretty much everywhere you turn these days it feels like one is surrounded by Harvard, Brown or Princeton University dropouts. Brooks Brothers was one of the early authentic pioneers, but Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger probably led the way in a more deliberate manner. RL Rugby really adopting this concept in a major way recently. From Sweden Gant and Oscar Jacobson do a good job too, OJ with a more interesting and less expected line than Gant in my opinion. Regardless of how they choose to execute the style in a more contemporized manner today, the inspiration comes from the same source. I would not be surprised if some of the pics below have been pinned up as part of moodboards on the walls of the above brands design studios. My assumption is that they will be pinned up for another 100 years to go. It’s not a trend. It’s a celebration of heritage and classicism. Perhaps I’ll be proven wrong, but in any case it wont have much effect on me.

Me not sticking out in the crowd. My year 10 photo

Current state of mind

This beautiful image is quite descriptive of my state
of mind right now. Interpret it how you will...

Kennedy kicking back moving up

One of my favorite images of JFK is this one. The picture is taken when he is only 28 years old and I can't help but wander if he knew what impact he would have on the world as his political career moved on. An impact so great that his own government thought it best to rid themselves of him. Okaaaaay, it may not be proven, but that's what I choose to believe at least. Speaking of conspiracy theories... The whole moon landing thing in '69. Forget it! I just need to drive my Pontiac from '68 to be reminded that there is no way we had the technology at hand back in those days to pull a stunt like that off. Whatever... Guess I got a bit sidetracked here. Point of the matter, 28 years old, Ivy league stylish and about to lay the world at his feet.

The Art of Selling Out

Andy Warhol was a complete sell-out! He literally made it into an artform in itself. He was even quoted in saying “Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art”.

In general the credibility of an artist who sells out to the degree of which Warhol did, would be extremely doubted. But since he went beyond the boundaries of it the art world not only forgave him, it basically worshipped him for it. I for one love the fact that he did, and that he did it so bluntly and consistently. I honestly wish I had it in me to push my own work the way he did his.

However, today a chimpanzee would basically instantly recognize an image of the man himself or one depicting his work. We’ve seen it a million times over and one is forgiven for being fed up with it. However, not everyone has seen the last of his sell-outs, the works he created which were a series of car paintings commissioned in 1986 by Daimler-Benz (a.k.a. Mercedez-Benz) in honor of the company's centennial. Though Warhol died of a heart attack before finishing the series, he did complete 35 silkscreens and 12 large-scale drawings of the automaker's most famous models. I’m not a big Mercedes fan myself, and it's far from his best work, but I would not complain if some eccentric art collector decided to give me a couple of these to hang on my walls at home.

Andy hanging out on my mantelpiece featuring the
cover of an issue of New York Magazine published
shortly after his death.