About a week ago on Thursday, I came back to my room at around 6pm after a long day of classes, during which I had intentionally deprived myself of both internet and my cell in an attempt to focus more on lectures. As I was going through my blog feed to wind down the stress of the hectic day, I was shocked by the words I saw in every single feed.
First came denial; I thought of the news as just another buzz of idle gossip on the web. But then again, the news had spread in the morning and it would have already burst if it was a bubble. I threw a glimpse at the magazine editorial featuring the red-feather-fronted it-dress of fall 2008, a precious inspiration which I put up on my wall at the beginning of the term. And I felt empty as I thought of the creator of that exquisitely sweet dress, and many others. I didn’t want to believe Alexander McQueen was dead.
Last Saturday was Lathrop’s Love Hurts event, as previewed in the last issue of the Miscellany News by Esther Clowney (“Love Hurts band expo to address Valentine’s Day woes“). Held in the high-ceilinged Lathrop MPR, students brought new use to the space, while setting precedent for what could become a great new tradition of musical performances.
Vassar students and members of The Facts and Figures Ben Conant and Ricky Goldman were both pleased with the turn out of the event, “It was great, we had about one hundred and fifty people in there at one point,” Conant revealed. Read the rest of this entry »
The whole campus seemed overwhelmed by the snow this week. Students drudged through the snow in their heartiest, warmest winter attire, and the anticipation of storm even left some teachers cancelling classes and staying at home. Although the affects of the snow were not as detrimental as predicted, that didn’t mean Vassar students didn’t enjoy the snow that did grace the campus. A little goes a long way, especially when you add imagination and determination to have fun.
One group of students gathered late Wednesday night atop the hill at Sunset Lake, trays, plastic bags and an assortment of sleds in hand, determined to conjure up childhood memories of sledding fun.
One of Leksi’s most challenging pieces, as she hand stitched on every sequin, shows true dedication to her craft.
If you didn’t really get to know Leksi Kolanko, you might not know that some of the clothes she wears are her own. Leksi, a sophomore Studio Art major at Vassar, holds a great passion for design. Sewing since the fifth grade, Leksi is completely self-taught, with only a few classes under her belt. This considered, her talent is unbelievable.
Leksi hopes to further her formal fashion education either the fall of her Junior year in London, or in a graduate program after Vassar, and has recently put together a portfolio of her work to apply for fashion and design programs abroad. With this she hopes to further her techniques and gain invaluable experience. The portfolio consists of countless dresses, leotards, shorts, jackets, blouses and accessories, all modeled and photographed by Leksi herself.
For Leksi, her garment making is highly based on function. Possessing a vastly creative mind as an artist, Leksi feels as if her art and her clothes are very separate from one another at this point, while hoping to harmonizing the two eventually. One thing her painting and design have in common is that they both intricately involve the self. Leksi’s paintings are largely self-portraits, and her clothing is all tailored to her own body and aesthetic.
In this self-portrait, Leksi combines her passion for painting and her design, displaying two of her hand-sewn bows, which you can see her wearing on a daily basis.
She describes her own style as feminine and simple. Drawing inspiration from favorite designer Marc Jacobs, Leksi revels in Jacob’s creative and daring mixture of color and pattern. As far as inspiration for individual garments, Leksi says, “A lot of times I go into a store not knowing what I’m going to make, and get ideas from the patterns and textures of the fabrics.” Leksi finds this inspiration mainly from the Project Runway famed fabric store Mood, in New York City. Leksi favors a very specific silhouette in her work and in her personal wardrobe. All efforts must be made to flatter the bottom half of the body (“I HATE flares,”) while the top half might sport a more flouncy, looser shape. Besides her own work, Leksi wears clothes from Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, and occasionally eBay or her mother’s closet. Read the rest of this entry »
The space opera is coming back, bitches. Note the trends in all artistic media: Avatar grossed a small country’s GDP and is taking award season by storm, a slick Star Trek remake revitalized the famous series, two acclaimed new Flaming Lips albums (Christmas on Mars and Embryonic) boasted intergalactic narrative and sounds, and a sci-fi-adventure video game called Mass Effect 2 just sold two million copies in its first week and is already being hailed as the game of the year.
Vassar has a super cool opportunity to explore the roots of the sci-fi sub-genre that has made such a resurgence. The director of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Nicholas Meyer, will visit and lead a Q&A session about his production career and the filmmaking process after a screening of his 1982 classic film.
When I say classic, I mean it: The Wrath of Khan is widely considered the best Star Trek film of the lot (sans remake) by film critics, consequently making it one of the most celebrated sci-fi films period. Truth: I have never seen this movie. Which is why I am SO going to this screening/lecture and you should too; not only will you get around to seeing one of the most important space operas out there, you will totally get insight on the film from the source.
I shouldn’t just frame this as a sci-fi event. It is also a screenwriting workshop, and for all aspiring filmmakers out there, know that Nicholas Meyer has chops. He was involved in the writing process for The Wrath of Khan, which sports the legendary and oft-quoted line from a dying Spock: “I have been, and always shall be, your friend.” Idk if Meyers actually came up with that line, but maaaaaaan that would be cool.
But of course he has racked up more credentials than Star Trek. He got an Oscar nom back in 1976 for his screenplay for The Seven Per-Cent Solution, and has received accolades for his writing on Somersby (1993) and Elegy (2008). Oh, and he directed the most-watched TV movie of all-time, a freaky nuclear apocalyptic drama called The Day After. I saw it in middle school, and its imagery still freaks me out to this day.
This is all part of an top-notch series by the Film Department on screen-writing. Professor James Steerman will be giving a workshop tomorrow evening, and Kelly Reichardt, who penned the charming Wendy and Lucy, will be swinging by for a lecture on Feb 24th.
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