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Things We Like: The Astors

Miscellaneous 07/11/10 | 
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John Jacob Astor, fur trader, opium dealer, style maven

We at Base have become exhausted by the exhaustive coverage that many of our preferred fashion titles give to underachieving high-society types. In fact let this be a formal plea: Editors of Vogue and W, if you are presented with the idea of doing a story on a socialite whose biggest attribute is his or her name, no matter how tempting the story may seem, instead please write about someone meaningful. Someone with substance. Someone as stylish as John Jacob Astor.

Despite John Jacob’s PETA and DEA-friendly origins as a trader of fur and opium, the Astors were the real deal. New Yorkers can’t help but be entranced by their story, their elegance, their cultural contributions.

New York Social Diary gives us a Cliff’s Notes summary of the Astors. A fun and interesting read.

Things We Like: OFFF Festival

Miscellaneous 07/10/10 | 

main_pictureOn June 24 some of us Basers (Jirka, Olga, and Edgar) traveled to Paris to attend OFFF , the International Festival for the Post-Digital Creation Culture.

La Grande Halle de la Villette was the place to see industry insiders like Universal Everything, Hillman Curtis, Neville Brody, Non Format, and Project Inc., talk about design, interactivity, and audiovisuals, among other things. … more

Base Staff Picks The Best Music Videos Ever

Miscellaneous 07/8/10 | ,


picked by Tom

… more

World Cup 2010: Base Bets, Threats, And A Bit Of Trash-Talking

Base, Miscellaneous 07/4/10 | 
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The prediction template. The winner at Base has been promised “a wonderful surprise prize.”

The week before the World Cup began, Basers from all five studios registered their predictions for what the top four teams would be. As we head now to the semi-finals, let’s check in and see who at Base is doing best. … more

Este verano en La Casa…

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Para los meses de julio y agosto, La Casa Encendida nos propone tres de sus eventos: La Terraza suena, Cine en La Terraza y la exposición “Quinquis de los 80: cine, prensa y calle”. … more

La Casa Encendida en el Día Europeo de la Música

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Durante los días 20 y 21 de junio se ha celebrado en el Teatro Circo Price de Madrid el Día Europeo de la Música. Grupos como The Popopopops, Band of Skulls, Sr. Chinarro, Daily Bread, Christina Rosenvinge, Manel + Nacho Vegas, Delorean formaban parte de una programación que se vio clausurada con actuación de The XX en la que estuvieron presentes Aketza, David (”el suizo”)
y José, invitados VIP de Alejandro, socio-fundador de Sello Salvaje, de BaseMadrid. … more

Things We Like: John Cage’s Organ 2/ASLSP

Miscellaneous 06/2/10 | 
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The organ at St. Burchardi, with bellows at far end (photos: Jan-Pieter Fuhr)

In 1985 John Cage wrote a piece for piano entitled “ASLSP”. At the top of the score, he wrote, “The title is an abbreviation of ‘as slow as possible.’” This provacatively vague tempo designation, combined with a lack of indication of dynamics, left room for personal interpretation—or indeterminacy, as Mr. Cage would likely have preferred to think of it—and ensured the piece would be different every time it was performed.

Two years later Cage transcribed “ASLSP” for organ (“Organ 2/ASLSP”), an instrument that could, in theory, sustain the tones indefinitely. While the piece for piano had raised the question, this revision begged it: Just how slow is “as slow as possible”?

The piece’s debut organ performance lasted 29 minutes; subsequent readings have been longer and shorter. But on September 5, 2001—what would have been the 89th birthday of Mr. Cage, who died in 1992—the longest performance yet was begun. Barring any global disasters, local disruptions, or organ breakdowns, it will continue until the year 2640. … more

Kristen Wentrcek’s To-Do List for Monday, May 10

Kristen Wentrcek

Kristen Wentrcek.

To-Do Lists is exactly what it sounds like. With these daily tasks, we offer a glimpse into the everyday lives of people we know.

With a degree from NYU and four years’ experience in real estate development, Kristen Wentrcek started Wintercheck Factory in June 2009, in Brooklyn, with the idea of creating accessible, cost-effective design produced in the U.S. You are maybe wondering why the name “Wintercheck” Factory? In fact, the name is derived from her own last name, Wentrcek, and an official attempt to have her name finally pronounced correctly.

Today, the multi-tasking, multi-skilled young woman behind design company Wintercheck Factory shares with us her ambitious to-do list for Monday, May 10, 2010. … more

Things We Like: Summer Music Festival Poster

Miscellaneous 05/12/10 | 

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Credits (and more posters) here.

Nine Contemporary Artists To Watch (Or Keep Watching)

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The work of Kendell Geers

It’s that time again, art fans. Following up on his post last fall of 11 Artists to Watch, Base partner & CEO and avid contemporary art collector Dimitri Jeurissen presents us with nine more artists not to miss. … more