Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Even IG Times made it to Sotheby's

Not a bad price for the whole set actually












David Schmidlapp founded the IGTimes in 1984, making it the first magazine devoted to 
aerosol art and culture. Schmidlapp first approached the project as an outsider, but soon 
became a collaborator with the various artists of the movement. 

In 1986, he teamed up with with legendary "writer" and Hip Hop pioneer Phase 2 (starting
with volume 8), with circulation growing from 2000 to 5000. In 1998, two years after
production ended, an edition of 100 complete sets were issued, or which this is number 2.
David Schmidlapp has been a New York City photography-based artist for the past five decades. 
Photography has been the binding thread for all his artistic endeavors, which have included 
projection, installation, photomontage, filmmaking, publishing and performance.

The IGTimes archive, consisting of thousands of pre-digital artifacts, was acquired Cornell 
University's Library to become part of their Hip Hop collection.
Complete sets have also been acquired by institutions such as MoMA, Getty, Stanford and Yale 
University.
Via Sotheby's








Monday, February 22, 2021

Monday, February 15, 2021

The Collection at the Adidas Originals Store Berlin Pt II

Here's part II of my selection for the Adidas originals Store's reopening after an 
intense remodeling.
So the fact that I chose these models, probably comes to no surprise for many.
These three definitely represented the American influence on Berlin fashion. Because 
Basketball was not the most popular sport in the city and sport shoes where just 
becoming a fashion statement, if you wore one of the following models in the 80s or 
90s in Berlin, you had some sort of connection to the states. 
Either you lived in the American sector, went to an American school, had American 
relatives or just watched this crazy rap video on MTV and had a good connection to 
someone at PX.




















One pair is pretty special in this trio. 
Not only because it is not mine, but mainly because it belongs to my older sister Laura 
and it is the very same pair, that fueled my love for sneaker in my teenage years, when 
she rocked these.
That baby blue Adidas Forum hi and more infos after the jump

Monday, February 8, 2021

The Collection at the Adidas Originals Store Berlin Pt I

In the past 3 month I exhibited 9 pairs of Adidas shoes from my archive, that represent 
certain scenes or specific aspects of sneaker culture in Berlin before the year 2000. 
Since I was asked for my personal selection, I decided to allow myself a subjective view 
and chose the sneakers I grew up around. 
Whether they were worn by my gym teacher in grade school, or on the court at the Yaam 
in the summer.

These models might not be the most famous (although there are of course some classic 
burners in the mix) or flamboyant models, but they do deserve a certain shine, as they 
have been part of every person that grew up in Berlin at some point or another.
I'd even go as far as to state; Every Berliner (and I men that in a sense of: every person 
born and/or raised in Berlin) owned at least one of these pairs or had a pair in the family 
shoe closed at some point.

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, all of the shoes I selected where reinterpreted in 
ceramic by Sebastian Haslauer and are exhibited in the store window.
I decided to give you a little insight into my working process, how this selection came
about.
I will upload these in 3 parts, to keep the posts shorter, as there is so much to tell 
about this project.

When I made my selection, I wanted to cover as many scenes and facets of Berlin as
possible. For my presentation I jotted down subcultures and personal experiences I 
thought were relevant. Adidas liked my remarks, so they asked me to add these infos
to the display. They produced some cards to go with the shoes and we placed them next 
to the archive boxes.