pre-computer workspace

Another picture from the past... how can I tell?

...on my work table in my apartment in Zurich circa 1991...

photo by Chrigel Braun

Well, while I already seem to be a rock 'n' roll junkie (I have a Suzi Quatro in silver leather body suit poster), my now ever so present laptop is missing in this shot and where is my cell phone, my ipod??!
Plus, I'm still smoking "Parisienne Mild" Cigarettes (A Swiss cigarette brand of British American tobacco) and what about that Heintje poster??! I forgot about Heintje in the meantime, but I am just reminded that he is a cult figure in Europe, at the very least in Germany.

Get a taste of Heintje! It's "Kitsch" as one would label it in Germany.

And yes, I hate to say: that cool 70's hippie leather jacket (purchased at the Bangkok Weekend Market, I'd say it's the very best in the world) does not fit anymore (come on, it was tight then!) - my bad - it would be right on target this season!

There are other indications of times past, such as the corner of the Adriano Celentano movie poster "Innamorate Pazzo" starring Ornella Muti. Hillarious!

Get a taste of Italian Comedy!

I was not a fashion designer yet and working as a graphic designer (my original masters degree) for the Ad Agency Young & Rubicam in Zurich. We were still ordering text, cut and paste it with 3M spray can glue (also on the table) and then took a repro photo. This process is so old school, unimaginable today! But that's all we knew and I loved it...

Now it's time I go check my email, which undoubtedly must have come in while I was re-searching the past.

wave-gotik treffen in deutschland

...a participant of the annual wave-gotik treffen festival in leipzig, eastern germany...

As a reader of this blog you may be bored to be told - yet again - about goth style in past and present posts (goth patches, did I say goth?, dark glamour, black, blythe rocks). Then again, this may be why you are reading this blog... in any case: Of course I have got more goth for you! This time from Leipzig, Eastern Germany. Check out this participant at the annual Wave-Gotik Treffen. More than 20'000 fans of gothic art, metal music enjoy concert, theater, cinema, exhibitions, readings and parties.

did i say goth?

Well, yes. I said it was all around me, did I not? Here we go with some Nordic goth from Scandinavia which is happening right now:

Ingmar Bergman may be dead, but his spirit lives on in Sweden. After a couple of decades of the Swedes trying to be upbeat, morose has become chic again. In particular, a group of young women are promoting a sexy new gothic vibe that seems inspired by horror movies and long dark winter nights.

...hanna liden’s images exude a raw and primal sense of threat and fear...

Hanna Liden (above)
The Sweedish-born New York-based art photographer (and Whitney Biennial alumna) Hanna Liden works with ominous imagery of strange figures in stark and barren landscapes that exude a raw and primal sense of threat and fear. She is also preparing to direct her first horror movie.



Helena Horstedt
The fledging designer Helena Horstedt creates extremely elaborate, all-black clothes for women that look as if they’re costumes for a sexed-up remake of “The Seventh Seal.” Her collections have names like Broken Shadow and the Black Whole and are made-to-measure in her Stockholm studio.


Hanna Hedman
The jewelry artist Hanna Hedman’s debut collection of floor-length oxidized metal necklaces and synthetic twig brooches is called Enough Tears to Cry for Two and is based on feelings of loss and grief and artifacts of mourning, including condolence letters and decaying flowers.

Karin Dreijer
Formerly the Knife, the electronic musician Karin Dreijer just released an album as Fever Ray. It’s a dark and moody record in which a voice transmitter makes her voice sound male and ghoulish. The video for the single “If I Had a Heart” shows children floating on a dark river and wandering through an abandoned castle.