The Brooklyn Brothers Brainfood Newsletter - February 2012 issue

ISSUE ONE BRAINFOOD ISSUE ONE FEATURING: WORLD OF COLOUR#01 TWISTED TALES#02HERO TAKEOVER#03 CHINA COOL#04 THINK SMALL#05 SHINE A LIGHT#06 published by The Brooklyn Brothers FEBRUARY 2012

WERE THE BROOKLYN BROTHERS. BRAINFOODA PICK-N-MIX OF CREATIVE AND PASSIONATE DOERSWHO ARE OBSESSED WITH DOING THINGS IN A NEW WAY. CULTURE, YEAHWE LOVE A GOOD CHALLENGE AND WE SPRING OUT OF BED EVERY DAYTO TACKLE THEM UNLIKE ANYONE’S DONE BEFORE. WE DIG ITWE THINK A GREAT IDEA CAN COME FROM ANYWHERE,AS LONG AS IT’S TRULY SMART, EFFICIENT, INNOVATIVE AND ENGAGING.BUT THIS IS NOT ENOUGH. AHHH, THAT WOULD BE TOO EASY.WE BELIEVE OUR IDEAS MUST MOVE PEOPLE TOO.WE WON’T REST UNTIL WE GET PEOPLE LAUGHING, CRYING, SINGING,DANCING, PLAYING, WOWING AND WOOHOO-ING.BECAUSE THIS IS WHEN AN IDEA CUTS THROUGH.THIS IS WHEN IT GETS TALKED ABOUT.AND THEN, THAT’S RIGHT, MAKES YOU MONEY AND WINS YOU FANS.AND TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN, WE’LL DON ANY HAT NECESSARY: #2012WE’LLBEWRITERS,PRODUCERS,PHOTOGRAPHERS,CHOCOLATEMAKERS,DIRECTORS, DESIGNERS, COMEDIANS, MUSICIANS AND MAGICIANS.BECAUSE IF WE’RE NOT CONSTANTLY CHANGING TO FIND THESE IDEAS,THEN WE’RE NOT DOING OUR JOB.

CULTURE, YEAH WE DIG IT HELLO NEW YEARHello there you creative soul you. 2012 is shaping up to be a super-duper year. Yes it is. Welcome to the first ever Brooklyn Brothers Brainfood; a Teenagers across the world will be adjusting to life after Twi-review of interesting stuff that we’ve spotted in contemporary light and Harry Potter, wiping off their talced faces and discard-culture. Exciting isn’t it? ing their glasses. But in the UK we’ll have plenty to celebrate As members, groupies and dare we say it, slaves to the with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, The Olympics and Euro 2012.creative industry we think it’s important to be able to flex your We’re kind of a big deal.knowledge of the following: film, music, art, fashion, architec- Picasso and Damien Hirst will draw huge crowds at Theture, dance, theatre, design and television. We reckon that if Tate Modern whilst David Hockney is showing at The Royalyou’ve got a good understanding of what’s going on in culture, Academy. It’s Charles Dickens’ 200th Anniversary and Shake-you can understand the mood of our times and that’s important speare’s verse and prose will shine in all its glory in three bigin everything we do. Plus it makes you look good. budget BBC plays this summer and in Coriolanus, the directorial We’re living in a remarkable age and culture is responding debut of Ralph Fiennes. Matthew Bourne will celebrate 25 yearsby creating fascinating new expressions from which we can all as the nation’s favourite choreographer, The Muppets return tolearn something. Or at least have a great time trying. the big screen and Anish Kapoor’s bright red orbit (London’s Our approach to Brainfood is simple; we want to identify 21st century answer to the Eiffel Tower) will be unveiled. Yup,patterns in culture, make interesting connections and bring them just your average year here in the United Kingdom.to life for your pleasure. Because we’re nice like that. For our As we look towards the next 12 months we’ve identified sixlaunch issue we’ve identified the most exciting cultural themes cultural themes that we believe will make people think and feelthat we think will be big news in the coming year. in new ways. Are you ready? Ok then... 2011 was an extraordinary year for culture and 2012 looksset to be another unforgettable vintage. We would love you to p. 4 − 5take a few minutes out of your day to immerse yourself in theexciting world of tomorrow. #01 #02 #03 We hope you draw as much inspiration from reading our paperof news as we have in putting it together. So what are you waiting for? Get stuck in and enjoy. The Brooklyn Brothers London #04 #05 #06 Contents Fig.01 World of Colour p. 8—9 Fig.02 Twisted Tales p. 12—13 Fig.03 Hero Takeover p. 16—17 Fig.04 China Cool p. 20—21 Fig.05 Think Small p. 24—25 Fig.06 Shine a Light p. 28—29

BRAINFOODWORLD OF COLOUR #01

WORLD OF COLOUR #012012 will bring us a Skittle bag of colour to inspire our dailylives with bright lights, online projects, art installations on citystreets across the world and pastel shades and retro dyes forhair, clothes and bathrooms. Colour has taken a new stand in the world of fashion anddesign, it has become more sophisticated and civilised (asnothing is black and white anymore). But most importantlyseeing things in colour makes us feel happy and uplifted andinspires us to want to join in and have fun with things. Even ifthat means silly string, purple eye shadow and neon. Ah, neon. As the seemingly never-ending cloud of gloomy news aboutrecession and spending cuts continue to hang over us, colouris creating a natural antidote to the mainstream shades of oureveryday greys and thankfully it looks like it’ll inspire us thewhole year through. Woohoo. p. 8 − 9 Fig.01 Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s piece ‘The Obliteration Room” reconstructed a room painted entirely in white. For a few weeks, children who visited were given coloured dot stickers and encouraged to transform the space into an explosion of colour. Fig.02 Meredith Ostrom, featured in Hunger Maga- zine, is a recently acclaimed actress also known for creating art with her body using multiple colours. Fig.03 “Stacking Vessels” is a colourful series of functional sculptures for the home by German industrial designer Pia Wustenberg. Fig.04 Unicef’s latest campaign lets people buy and name their own colour, or give the chosen colour to some- body as a gift, with all the proceeds donated to charity. Fig.05 Colour has become a popular addition to interior design and architecture. Here is the National Technical Library in Prague. Fig.06 California-based artist Michael Ifland used digital photgraphy for the Pantone Street Project, street art found around town which inspired painting ideas.

BRAINFOODTWISTED TALES #02

TWISTED TALES #02The need to escape is nothing new for 2012, but it’s playing aneven more important role in our lives. But what has changed isthe way escapism is being packaged. Instead of creating sugarcoated fairyland stories there is a darker and more sinister toneto fantasy worlds. Muhahahaha. “Edgy escapism” could summarise the fairytale frenzy thatwill come into force in 2012 and childhood classics have takena darker twist, so has the world of fashion, turning to the darkside and portraying evil queens, Alice in Wonderland girls andugly sisters with big feet. Eww. p. 12 − 13 Fig.01 Designer duo Viktor & Rolf have written and illustrated an original fairytale book, which contains 12 original stories. Fig.02 Mulberry has also focused on tales projecting an Alice in Wonderland feel to their winter/spring collection 2011/2012. Fig.03 Fairytale films will reach their peak during 2012 with several films being released including Snow White and the Huntsman starring Twilight super star Kirsten Stewart and Charlize Theron as the Evil stepmother. Fig.04 Bill Nighy and Ewan McGregor star in 2012’s ver- sion of Jack And The Beanstalk, “Jack The Giant Killer” Fig.05 Prada have created a lookbook for Autumn/Winter 2011 called Tilted Real Fantasies that has inspired weird, psychedelic visions. Fig.06 The magazine Noi.se dedicat- ed their 27th copy to Fairytales including a snow queen/evil stepmother like spread.

BRAINFOOD HEROTAKEOVER #03

HERO TAKEOVER #03Superheroes are back to save the day. Batman, Spiderman andeven the anti-heroes have returned to promote a world of peace,safety and freedom. They’re good like that. Traditionally children were the ones who looked up to Super-heroes as they encouraged them to be “brave” during timesof despair. Today, comic books, Superheroes and science fictionhave gained their cool amongst adults as well, proudly pro-claiming to be part of the rising mainstream geek culture. We’ve seen the rise in real life Superheroes carrying outanonymous and unselfish acts to help make a difference in theworld around them. Despite their dubious penchant for lycra. Expect an explosion of Superhero movies launching in 2012and everything from the design of upscale superhero costumes,to creating your own “Superhero-workshops”. LEGO Super-hero figures will be a hot new kids toy and a slew of heroinspired products and activities will encourage people to staystrong and brave no matter how tough life gets. *Air punch*. p. 16 − 17 Fig.01 LEGO will be launching their new Superhero collection. FIg.02 Phoenix Jones, 23, from Seattle, Washington is one of Americas most famous real-life superheroes. Fig.03 Fashion is hot for superheroes in 2012 and will let you represent your favourite superhero character in a variety of ways. FIg.04 Several films featuring super-heroes return in 2012. The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider- Man and The Avengers. Fig.05 Victoria’s secret fashion show featured a superhero theme. Fig.06 Frugaldad.com recently designed an infographic called "Redefining Action Hero: Bill Gates Is Better Than Batman." The Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation have donated 48% of their net worth to charity which is helping to save millions of lives.

BRAINFOODCHINACOOL#04

CHINA COOL #04China’s new culture of cool is inspiring the Western world withtheir restless ambitions. Visionaries from the new generation of China are being em-braced by the West and are thriving within art, fashion, designand architecture. The country is now one of the world’s largest luxury mar-kets and is seeing a big cultural shift, realising that it’s moreimportant to show off good taste than showing off wealth. Thisnew attitude is being reflected in the cultural creations they areinventing. Though we say there’s nothing wrong with a littlebling. And maybe the odd sovereign ring. Their eagerness to adapt to the Western world while stillmaintaining their own traditions has resulted in astonishingprojects ranging form Zaha Hadid’s opening of the GuangzhouOpera House to artist Ai Weiwei’s most recent work, “ForeverBicycles”, to pop up fashion shows and theatres. There is a new, open-minded and experimental gene-ration that are contributing to the economic and cultural growthnot only of China but of the Western world as well. They area generation of early adopters, embracing new business andtechnology with optimism and a newfound confidence. p. 20 − 21 It’s exciting times for China and 2012 will bring us even moreinteresting cultural highlights. Ooo. Fig.01 The first large scale solo exhibition of Ai Weiwei’s most recent work “Forever Bicycles” installs 1,200 bicycles. Fig.02 As part of Shanghai’s campaign to become culturally relevant across the world, they are aiming to launch 100 mu- seums in a decade. One of them is the shiny new Museum of Glass that opened in late 2011. Fig.03 The Guangzhou Opera House, designed by architect Zaha Hadid has been acclaimed as one of the world’s most spectacular opera houses on the planet. Fig.04 Burberry created a digital experience for the launch of their first store in Beijing. Fig.05 Nike is set to release a collection centered around the Chinese Zodiac for the 11th year in a row, a tradition that’s highlighted this time around with the auspicious Year of the Dragon. Fig.06 Accidental Chinese Hipsters, is a blog casting a loving gaze upon Chinese fashion. Fig.07 Ma Yansong, one of the youngest and most successful architects from Beijing. His futuristic designs represent the new wave of Chinese experimental architecture and have become renowned around the world.

BRAINFOODTHINKSMALL #05

THINK SMALL #05Its no longer about a quick fix or reaching out to as many peopleas possible through social media, instead the focus in 2012 liesin reaching out to the right people and offering them an intimateexperience they’ll never forget. Like me and you. We’re in the midst of a growing “small culture” where thereare rewards for regulars and an immaculate attention to detailwithin design and user experience. Small can be beautifuland when we focus our attention on the small things in lifethey change our perspective of the world and bring us a senseof joy. Ahh. Small experiences can make a big difference when presentedin a way that makes us feel special and unique. The world hasseen the arrival of personalised gadgets, miniature books,microphotography and Adele, the singer who won her title as thiscentury’s best selling artist simply through thinking small. She has famously declined performing at Glastonbury and theO2 Arena and has refused to let her name be associated with aperfume or a TV show. She has continuously fought for her fans notto be exploited by money driven record labels and her approachmeans she is now one of the world’s most successful pop stars. 2012 is the year which proves more than ever, that it’s the little p. 24 − 25things in life that make us happy. Fig.01 A tiny 1938 children’s book by Gertrude Stein. Fig.02 Little Printer is a new product from BERG which aims to reinvent personalised publish- ing, with printed news from Foursquare, Facebook, and The Guardian. Fig.03 We will be seeing an in- crease in credit card payments with Square as you can pay anywhere with your iPhone, iPad or Android phone. Fig.04 Little Bets by Peter Sims, on how thinking small can make us great. Fig.05 Mogees (Mosa- icing Gestural Surface) is a tiny mic that turns any surface into a touch interface, created by Bruno Zamborlin. Fig.06 Mini hipster caps made to be worn over your ears, this is the hippest pair of earmuffs you’ll ever own. designed by Beckman students Tove Greitz and Minna Magnusson, Sweden. Fig.07 Adele.

BRAINFOODSHINE A LIGHT #06

SHINE A LIGHT #06As we gingerly step out of the January darkness, 2012 looks likeit will continue to shed rays of light on our day-to-day life andinspire us to see things in new ways. Soberly at least. Light has always played a central part in spreading hope andpositivity and it has become more prominent in art, design andarchitecture during the past year and has been featured in ev-erything from interactive music videos, interior design and fes-tivals, to bouncing off walls and inspiring fashion shows. Portraying light in contemporary ways will flourish during2012, driven by new technologies that will allow light to open upa brilliant world of optimism and opportunity for us all to enjoy. p. 28 − 29 Fig.01 MOMA, New York has commissioned a new multime- dia work by Antony Hegarty, including a performance of Antony And The Johnsons; the production will be mounted at Radio City Music Hall on 26th January 2012. Fig.02 Brit- ish designer Samuel Wilkinson and product design company Hulger won the Brit Insurance Design Of The Year 2011 for their redesign of the low energy light bulb The Plummen 001. Fig.03 Ellie Goulding recently launched her new single “Lights” together with an interactive music video where the viewer can steer the light beam in different directions, deter- mining the speed of it. You are also encouraged to tweet your name and it will appear as you fly past colourful shapes and forms. Fig.04 The living Disco ball Bella Berlin is an avant-garde dance performance artist who was disco- vered in an underground club by graphic designer Bruno Kolberg. Fig.05 Reykjavik’s new concert hall designed by artist Olafur Eliasson featured in MARK magazine. Fig.06 A litre of light is a sustainable lighting project that aims to bring the eco-friendly Solar Bottle Bulb to underprivileged communities nationwide. Using recycled plastic bottles, bleach and water, the bottles illuminate the room with the help of sunlight. Fig.07 Speed of Light is a tremen- dous fusion of sport and innovative culture. It is one of Scotland’s official artistic contributions to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

WERE THE BROOKLYN BROTHERS. THE BROOKLYN BROTHERSWere The Brooklyn Brothers.A PICK-N-MIX OFnew way.A pick-n-mix of creative and passionate doerswho are obsessed with doing things in a CREATIVE AND PASSIONATE DOERSWHO ARE OBSESSED WITH DOING THINGS IN A NEW WAY.We love a good challenge and we spring out of bed every dayto tackle them unlike anyone’s done before.We think a great idea can come from anywhere,WE isLOVE Ahhh,GOOD too easy. A that would be CHALLENGE AND WE SPRING OUT OF BED EVERY DAYas long as it’s truly smart, efficient, innovative and engaging.But this not enough.TO TACKLE people laughing,UNLIKE ANYONE’S DONE BEFORE. THEM crying, singing,We believe our ideas must move people too.We won’t rest until we getWE THINK A GREAT IDEA CAN COME FROM ANYWHERE,dancing, playing, wowing and woohoo-ing.Because this is when an idea cuts through.This is when it gets talked about.AS make this happen, we’ll don any hat necessary: SMART, EFFICIENT, INNOVATIVE AND ENGAGING. LONG AS IT’S TRULYAnd then, that’s right, makes you money and wins you fans.And toBUTdesigners, comedians, musicians and magicians. AHHH, THAT WOULD BE TOO EASY.directors, THIS IS NOT ENOUGH.We’ll be writers, producers, photographers, chocolate makers,Because if we’re not constantly changing to find these ideas,then we’re not doing our job. OUR IDEAS MUST MOVE PEOPLE TOO.WE BELIEVEWE WON’T REST UNTIL WE GET PEOPLE LAUGHING, CRYING, SINGING, End.DANCING, PLAYING, WOWING AND WOOHOO-ING.BECAUSE THIS IS WHEN AN IDEA CUTS THROUGH.THIS IS WHEN IT GETS TALKED ABOUT.AND THEN, THAT’S RIGHT, MAKES YOU MONEY AND WINS YOU FANS.AND TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN, WE’LL DON ANY HAT NECESSARY:WE’LLBEWRITERS,PRODUCERS,PHOTOGRAPHERS,CHOCOLATEMAKERS,DIRECTORS, DESIGNERS, COMEDIANS, MUSICIANS AND MAGICIANS. If you would like to know more about The Brooklyn Brothers, please contact Jackie Stevenson.BECAUSE IF WE’RE NOT CONSTANTLY CHANGING TO FIND THESE IDEAS, Email jackie@thebrooklynbrothers.com Address 11—29 Smiths Court, Soho, London, W1D 7DPTHEN WE’RE NOT DOING OUR JOB. Phone +44 (0)20 7292 6200 thebrooklynbrothers.com

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The Brooklyn Brothers Brainfood Newsletter - February 2012 issue

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