Section 7 Books

Currently up the Kadist Art Foundation, www.kadist.org, in Montmartre is a project titled Societe Anonyme, which is in large part an installation/ bookstore of small press, art publications. Section 7 books was developed by writers/curators Thomas Boutoux and Francois Piron, along with artist Oscar Tuazon and art critic, Benjamin Thorzel. Societe Anonyme consists of Section 7 Books, as well as a series of lectures, presentations and events that will take place for the duration of the store. It is an expansion and continuation of a similar project mounted at the contemporary art space, Le Plateau in 2007. Organizers have brought together a sampling of fantastic books, catalogs and magazines that are rare finds, particulary in the French art/publication scene, and which are typically small edition sized productions. Included among them are the publication Dot Dot Dot, by Dexter Sinister, based in NYC, 16 beaver st. (NYC), b-books (Berlin), and tranzit (Prague). Throughout the exhibition/installation new books will be added and replaced. Paris is full of great art bookstores, but the group has entirely succeeded in bringing in alternative names to the scene, highlighting some interesting, independent projects happening across the globe. The project runs through March 16. Cash Only.

Discovered: Irmgard Keun

In the Guardian Book Review last Saturday there was a brief essay about Irmgard Keun, a German author who wrote mainly in the early-middle part of the last century. The title of the essay was "Bridget Jones of the 1930s," perhaps semi-trite of a title, but it relates directly to her female characters who struggled with career and life. In any event, it was a revelatory essay about a woman I had never heard of and look forward now to reading. Keun was born in Berlin in 1905 She began writing in 1920, after feeling defeated in her attempts to be an actress, and was soon printed worldwide, with titles such as "Gilgi,"(1931), "The Artifical Silk Girl," (1932), and "Child of All Nations,"(1938). Her subjects included the rising power and place of women during the war years, the reality of women feeling torn between seeking their own goals/desires and taking the required route of marriage and kids. Her work was subversive enough to cause unwanted attention and she was firmly anti-Nazi, so you see where the story goes...she was blacklisted, her books removed from the shelves and in 1936 she fled Germany. She continued to write in exile, during the late 1930s, a time in which she had left her husband and began living with the Austrian Jewish writer, Joseph Roth, up to his untimely death in 1939. After his death, she moved around quite a bit, including a brief time in America, but returned to Germany just before the end of the war, living very undercover. She continued to write after the war was over but she slipped into obscurity, in part because of a heavy problem with alcohol and hospitalization, until the 1970s when several European feminists, including the Nobel prize winning author, Elfriede Jelinek, rediscovered her work. She refused to ever write an autobiography and died in 1982 at the age of 77. The author of this essay, Michael Hofman, has translated one of her novels into English recently and he states firmly that had she been a man, her work would be in box sets and collected editions. As it is, they are not, but hopefully that will soon change.

Shoe PJUX

I am filling in a few days at Plagg, the great little boutique at 41, rue Charlot, which features all Scandinavian designers, the majority of whom practice an eco-friendly approach, and they are having great sales by the way...hint hint to any Parisians reading this and in the mood for shopping...However, wanted to share a new discovery, shoe designers PJUX, who design sustainable shoes using vegetable tanned and chrome-free leathers, wood is solid beech wood which is sourced from sustainable forests in Europe. The designers live and work in Copenhagen but the shoes are made in Spain--which is not only famous for its long history of quality shoe production, but this is where they found an artisan shoemaker who would adhere to their eco-requests. The A/W 07 collection featured short boots (bottines in french; i love that word), heels and flats that have a semi 1940s or 50s feel. Also a line of mens wear is available. Plagg has a great pair of the black leather bottines available..I think the only store in Paris that carries them as well or visit their website www.pjux.com

Modern Design in the 18th

K.O.P.F is a tiny boutique in the hilly rue Lamarck, on the non-touristy side of Montmartre.
I don't actually know what the name stands for, but the store stocks
second-hand, mostly mid-century modern furniture, including a lovely
square, glass coffee table, a laMies Van der Rohe , a beautiful
Danish-style writing table, a slick, black leather lounge chair and
more. Also on hand is a small selection of vintage clothing and
accessories. The only non-vintage aspect is the contemporary jewelery
by a local designer which uses leather and silver. The owner is in the
process of moving to Brussels to start a store, therefore, all the
pieces are not only on sale forles soldes, but are marked down further (maybe even negotiable?) until all of the stock is gone. You don't find deals like this on classic modern furniture. KOPF- 87, rue Lamarck. metro: lamarck. www.kopfparis.canalblog.com

Other Music

Yesterday I ventured over to Belleville in search of an independent music store I had read about in Monocle, www.monocle.com. The store, called Ground Zero, a reference to the diminished state of affairs in the music store/CD buying business, recently moved into a space shared with Calif, the Club Action des labels independants francais, because they couldn't afford to maintain their own space. In this way, they now have government assistance to keep going and are also teamed up with the calif sponsored music store, so there is a double bonus to those who still enjoy a browse through of CDs and vinyl. Ground Zero has an emphasis on rock and alternative music of independent labels from the 1970s-today, and the calif section is dedicated to, for lack of a better term, world music, i.e. fantastic sections of Afro-beat, Reggae, Dub, blues, jazz, latin. They have a large selection of recordings from Studio 1 in Jamaiaca, full of the best of 1960s-early 1970s reggae recordings by Sir Coxsonne Dodd, a Bob Marley album full of previously unreleased recordings, a large selection of the ever delightful series, Ethiopiques, which features recordings between 1969-1979, with each volume focusing on a different group/style/etc. I bought a fantastic Bessie Smith recording, which was part of the Martin Scorsese Blues production. Many of the labels presented are specifically recorded in France, but not all of them. But all of this is highlighted by the friendly staff who encourage you to listen to any CD you want. I was in the store for about 2 hours without realizing it, and almost missed an appointment I had that afternoon, because it was such a pleasure to take in some of these rare musical treats. Check it out. 23, rue Sainte-Marthe, 10th arrondissement. www.calif.fr

Korczynski

Korczynski is a tiny boutique-cum-gallery space that is located on a little side street in the 17th arrondissement just near Place de Clichy. This funky space has been opened for almost two years and has already made itself a destination point for fashion insiders seeking funky and fresh designs, mostly from Polish designers and artists. Beginning in 2008 it will have more of a planned, rotating program. Titled Tranzit, it will be a platform that seeks to exchange and share ideas in the process of creating between Polish and Japanese designers. The exhibitions/showings will alternate on a monthly basis. In addition, art exhibitions by young Polish and Japense artists will be organized by a young curator at the Pomopidou Center. In a press release, Korczynski states their reasons behind this cross cultural exchnage: "Both Poland and Japan represent areas of large-scale political and active cultural changement. They both were strongly influenced by Western Europe. The 90’s was a time of presentation of new tendencies in art: in Japan it was the beginning of the movement called ‘’Micropop” while in Poland it was the beginning of the new critical art concentrated not on the political past but rather the new capitalistic reality. Both of the movements were characteristic for the countries where they were born, which is why a difficulty arises to present and/or explain them abroad."
Last month featured the work of Paris based, Japanese designer Dorca, whose elegant clothing is all made with an eco-approach to fabrics and production. Korczynski, 26, rue Biot; www.korczynski08.pl

Going from one extreme to another

Earlier this week I had my winter escapism thru the lively, urban street market of Barbes. Today I took refuge from the dark and drab winter in the sumptuous bourgeoisie of the Musée Nissim de Camondo, in the 8th arrondissement, just next to the Parc Monceau. I discovered this museum while searching on the website of the Musée des Arts Decoratif (www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr), for the colorful exhibition of Christian Lacroix (highly recommend as well).

The Musée Nissim de Camondo was the private residence of Moïses de Camondo until his death in 1935, when he bequeathed the estate and all of its furnishings to the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs of France. In sum: The Camondos where an important Sephardic Jewish family who founded one of the largest banks in the Ottoman Empire. Nissim (father of Moïses), came to Paris during the reign of Napoleon III and settled in the mansion overlooking Parc Monceau. Moïses inherited the estate in 1910 and dedicated himself to building up a vast collection of 18th century furniture and art—mainly French, but also some Asian objects, which lushly decorate this incredibly beautiful museum. I forgot my camera today, unfortunately, because there are some amazing things to feast your eyes on. Definitely get the audio guide…I am typically not a fan of these and rarely use them, but today I felt like having information read to me instead of reading and it was a fortuitous choice. From the kitchen, which boasts what is clearly the precursor to the massive Viking ovens/stove tops in kitchens today, to the bedroom with the precocious Venus painting above the bed, to the shelves of delicate Sèvres porcelain, this tour was pure escapism—but it didn’t feel too much and the story of the family was profoundly interesting. No Camondo heirs exist today—the son of Moïses, who was also named Nissim, died in WWI as a fighter pilot and his sister, Beatrice, married and had two kids, but tragically, all of them were deported to Auschwitz in 1943. Despite the museum’s splendor, it was the history and the melancholic feel to all of it, which really captured my interest.