Tor Dahlin is a creative from Norway specialising in photography, I’m really into his photography now because as I’ve said before I am a big fan of black and white photos. I really liek this collection because the photos are really detailed in that you can see loads of different shades of the black and white and grey. You can see more of his work by visiting his profile on the Behance Network here, but check these out!

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]]> http://yinnyang.co.uk/2010/08/photography-by-tor-dahlin/feed/ 0 http://yinnyang.co.uk/2010/07/indaba-music/ http://yinnyang.co.uk/2010/07/indaba-music/#comments Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:19:37 +0000 Yang http://yinnyang.co.uk/?p=10514

Indaba Music is a site where musicians/aspiring musicians from all over the world can work together to explore the depths of different types of music, here you have an online community of people who I would say are quite passionate about music. The main purpose of Indaba Music is get people from all over the world to collaborate and explore other realms of music but creating a place where they can interact with each other.

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I think the site is quite interesting because the idea of being able to create music over the net with other people across the world is pretty unique and its a great way to mingle with others who share the same interests music wise. Regular competitions are hosted by the likes of Snoop Dogg, Roisin Murphy (the lady in Moloko), Linkin Park, Matisyahu and T-Pain *shudders*. These competitions require musicians to submit their remixes of a specific track which will usually be judged by an experienced panel- the winner can win prizes that span from signed copies of albums to state of the art “kit”.

If your someone who is really passionate about music and fancy some online collaboration then visit Indaba Music and take the tour now!

Iconic American bike company Harley-Davidson have teamed up with Pharell for this new video featuring the N.E.R.D. frontman explaining the story behind the creation of his custom motorcycle. He never fails to impress me, I swear this guy has his hands in every industry, music, fashion to interior design and now bikes! Also after a cut a recent interview of his with Interview Magazine.

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“Some people just have that innate thing that allows them to express themselves in a way the majority can follow. That’s when you’re affecting culture”

- Pharrell Williams

So well shot, if you haven’t realised by now – I’m a big fan of B&W videography.

Interview Magazine features the multi-talented Williams in a topic that’s never discussed, his love for science. The questions focus on his friendship with Dr. V.S. Ramachandran (INDIAN! pow), a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California. Pharrell also talks about his fabric company, how Nigo has inspired him to venture into new things and his interest in science.

DIMITRI EHRLICH: Dr. Ramachandran, let’s begin with you. I’m assuming Pharrell’s music is not on the playlists of the majority of your colleagues in neuroscience. How did you first become aware of him?

DR. V.s. RAMACHANDRAN: Through my son, Jaya. He showed me some videos on YouTube.

EHRLICH: And Pharrell, how did you first become aware of Dr. Ramachandran and what drew you to him?

PHARRELL WILLIAMS: I think my first time seeing him was probably also on YouTube. But I’d seen him on the Discovery Channel a couple times before, and I was just so intrigued by the way he approached neuroscience. Sometimes when you’re listening to a neuroscientist, they have a tendency to use a particular type of jargon that works in their world perfectly but that would lose the average layman. And while I can keep up with most of them, he just had an eloquent way with his words and I understood it. I mean, it was like listening to [the late astronomer] Carl Sagan or [astrophysicist] Neil deGrasse Tyson. Both of those guys just have this thing, and that’s why they’re rock stars in my opinion, because they have the ability to translate genius to the masses. What we all do is art, you know? We are noticers, we’re sensitives, we notice the rhythms in certain things and we identify them, and then we coin terms for them, and most of the world is not able to keep up. But some people just have that innate thing that allows them to express themselves in a way the majority can follow. That’s when you’re affecting culture.

EHRLICH: A couple of years ago, Pharrell released an album with N.E.R.D called Seeing Sounds [2008] which was loosely organized around the concept of synesthesia—the mixing of sense consciousnesses, like “hearing” colors and so forth. Dr. Ramachandran, you’ve also done some experiments in the field of synesthesia, right?

RAMACHANDRAN: Yes, I’ve long been interested in the creative process, whether in art or in science. People think of art and science as being fundamentally opposed to each other, because art is about celebrating individual human creativity, and science is about discovering general principles, not about individual people. But in fact, the two have a lot in common, and the creative spirit is similar in both. It’s about seeing hidden links, which nobody else has discovered before. And in synesthesia, what’s going on is the brain sees all these amazing links, which you and I can barely glimpse. With grapheme-color synesthesia, every time a person sees a number, a letter, or hears a note, he sees a particular color. For most of us, that doesn’t happen. But some people, maybe one in a hundred, have this ability. And it’s been believed to mean that you’re crazy. But now we’ve shown in our lab, using brain imaging, and also by doing psychological testing, that, in fact, it’s a perfectly real, legitimate phenomenon, and it’s also eight or nine times more common among artists, poets, and novelists than in the general population. The question is why does that happen? Well, it turns out that synesthesia is caused by excessive cross-wiring in the brain. In the fetus, or a really young child, all the different brain areas are connected to each other, diffusely. And as the brain develops, the excess connections are turned off, so you get very specialized areas. So most people have really specialized talents. What happens in creative people is this pooling doesn’t take place. This creates a propensity to link seemingly unrelated things, like tones and colors. But also, because of the excess links, it makes them see hidden connections, made just between things that are seemingly unrelated to most of us. Like when Shakespeare says, “It is the East, and Juliet is the sun.” That’s a beautiful metaphor. You think, She’s radiant like the sun, she’s warm like the sun, she’s nurturing like the sun. Shakespeare’s brain probably had more of these connections that enabled him to make these amazingly, hauntingly beautiful connections, which most of us can’t. So my interest in synesthesia is trying to find the link between art and science, and trying to get a scientific understanding of things like creativity and artistic talent. I was invited to watch Pharrell work in the studio, and I was absolutely mesmerized—Pharrell, fill him in on it.

WILLIAMS: Well, he just kind of watched me make a song and how, as a musician, we react to something being right, how we react to something being wrong, and we go searching for it out of what’s seemingly thin air. But for us, we’re noticing rhythms, we’re catching something. My explanation is that curiosity illuminates the correct path to anything in life. If you’re not curious, that’s when your brain is starting to die. And discovering, I think, that’s what separates us from the rest of the other species. It’s that we discover and pioneer, we don’t forget from whence we came. My parents played a lot of Earth, Wind, & Fire, and the lead singer, Maurice White, was part of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, so he had an extensive jazz background, and so all of the songs had very interesting changes that I was privy to as a child. But at the same time, I used to see those colors as a kid. I thought everyone saw music in that way: That’s kind of burgundy, or, This is baby blue! But you start to notice when your friends are like, “Okay . . .” I just kind of blew it off, but what Dr. Ramachandran witnessed with me in the studio was, I’m just the average musician but I was just allowing my GPS to do what it does.

The entire interview can be read here. He’s heavily inspiring for me, especially being so multi-talented. I have big dreams and I don’t really want to stick with one industry either, even though it’s easier said than done. One step at a time, Niran.

I came across this interesting article on BBC on how to change the world. I know everyone wants to leave a mark on the world and this article tries to summarise the key qualities required for a human being to change the world. These don’t apply to me as I’m a post robot. This piece after the cut is not written by me, I’m simply sharing it for you to read. All credit to Stephen Sackur, excerpts from the article after the cut.

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I haven’t posted the full article here but I fully suggest you click here and read it all. I think I fit into one of these categories. *big headed*

Transforming society is a feat that only a select few of us will ever accomplish. In the second of a series of articles about innovation, Stephen Sackur looks for common qualities that unite the genuine revolutionaries he has encountered.

An indestructible will

True innovators know how to take a punch. When they get knocked down they come back stronger.

Passion beyond reason

Innovators have to have passion. Something more than greed, or a lust for power; they need to believe heart and soul in the value of the change they’re seeking.

Outrageous optimism

Innovators have to be optimists. And not just about their own ability to triumph over adversity. Consciously or not, they have to have faith in the human race. Otherwise, why bother?

A super-sized ego

Innovators do not suffer from low self-esteem. You want living proof? Spend an hour in the company of controversial bio-scientist Craig Venter. He has the bulk and the macho presence of an ageing military veteran. Which he is. He has an ego powerful enough to penetrate an underground nuclear bunker.

Some scientists agonise about the ethical issues raised by genetic engineering; Venter appears to relish the prospect of “playing God”.

The rebel yell

At its crudest innovation delivers a loud **** you” to the status quo.

This past year Gourmet have become a dominant force in the sneaker world with their simplistic designs. The silhouettes may not be original but they take them, add their own touch and make them wearable. This new collection features a few new models with a mixed colour pallete of conservative toned down colours and more unconventional colours. They’re set to drop towards the end of next month, check out the Gourmet site to find your local stockist.

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22 and a day old. An year ago, I’d think these kicks were far too simple and ‘boring’ but now I’d only rock sneakers like these. Complex simplicity.

Yves Saint Laurent have previewed their upcoming 2011 Spring/Summer Footwear Collection with the release of a short video. The collection seems to mainly consist of high top sneakers and chukka boot styles, just my kind of collection. Very simple deigns with a minimalist approach but made with a variety of different materials, enough to make the collection interesting. Peep the video after the jump.

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There comes a time in ones life when the familiar saying ‘It’s not fair’ becomes relevant. I think that that time has come and it is my turn to feel hard done by. Although the saying has negative connotations I don’t want this to affect your opinion of the new Yves Saint Laurent 2011 Spring/Summer Footwear Collection.

My reasons for feeling hard done by are as follows. 1. I don’t have the money to be buying multiple YSL shoes, which judging by this collection preview I will need a lot of. 2. If I miraculously manage to save enough money any time soon (maybe Troy Von Majik can make it happen which his magic) I still wont be able to purchase one of many beauties from the collection because they wont be hitting stores until at least December 2010.

Now I know this is only a preview of the collection and we are yet to see some up close and personal pics of the kicks but this is the first time I have come across a preview of a collection and have instantly become interested in almost every thing on display. It may be camera tricks, lighting or good editing so I guess I will have to wait until we receive more information to cast an overall opinion but from what I have seen so far I will definitely be checking for this collection in December. (if i can remember)

It was the first time in my life that I visited one of London‘s most infamous districts, Brixton. The place is quite well known for the violent gang culture and drug trading but I saw none of that when during my brief visit. We were there for a meeting on a big new project that we shall soon unveil to ya’ll. More tomorrow.

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If you’re an Electro funk lover like I am you have something to rejoice about. You’ll be glad to hear that Chromeo has released their video to their latest single “Don’t Turn The Lights On“. The video features interesting visual quite reminiscent of a cheezy 80′s movie or music video. You’ll also see a lot of weird things (i.e the torn eyeballs, man spitting out grapes as if it was blood). The single is off their forthcoming third LP Business Casual. So be on the look out for the album. Video after the cut.

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I’m now 22. A year into adulthood, I’m no longer a boy but a man. This past year I’ve seen myself change. I’ve become more focused, more eager, found more desire to accomplish my dreams. More after the cut.

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Black sheep of the family, though not literally as my dad is a whole new shade of darkness compared to everyone else in the family. I’m the rebel, the different one who doesn’t study the typical ‘Indian‘ subjects. However I do owe a lot to my family, I’m blessed to be born into a stable household and parents who work their asses off so that me and my sister will one day will surpass their achievements in life. I may be a prick towards them at times and they maybe over protective but my world honestly revolves around them.

I have the best set of friends and hope they’ll stick around till the end. I don’t need to mention any specific names, one helps me with the site and the others, you know who you are! There’s one person that I definitely should give a shout out to, the most special woman in my life – my Grandma. I hope I make you proud one day.

This post is starting to sound like an Oscar Award winners speech, it shouldn’t. I haven’t won anything yet, another year has just passed. It’s been a good year for me: the birth of Y&Y, a lot of projects, made a lot of good friends, cut off a few waste ‘friends‘ and so called acquaintances, further developed my creative talent. I want to keep developing my talents till the day I die, no reason to stop. I’m in it till it’s over and it’s far from over.

- July’s very own.

Once a poser, always a poser.

This week we were invited down to Gaucho, Piccadilly by Sequal to attend Guess’s press day where we we’re given a sneak peak of the new lines of Guess watches for AW10. An afternoon well spent as we got up close and personal with the different stories that make up the new lines; was a well executed event, the venue was well suited and the presentation of the watches was on point. Read on for more info and photos from the event..

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For A/W10, Guess watches come in three very different themes: Urban Casual, Authentic and Euro Sport. Each of these lines are different in terms of style, functions and obviously target audience. Urban Casual watches are more for fashion conscious guys who prefer form over function, the detail on these watches are rather trendy and sport lightweight design with a real smooth feel- definitely a few watches in this category that caught my eye!

The Authentic line features a more classic design for a more sophisticated style. These watches are very simple at first glance in comparison to the others but can still be fashionable with their leather straps coming in a chocolate brown, black or deep blue deeming it versatile- they will go well with anything in your wardrobe. The Eurosport collection I also love because in my opinion the whole sporty watch look is fashionable, I am a fan of chunky watches and this story fuses functionality with edge and style to create the ultimate men’s watch.

Check out some of the photos we took from the event.