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March 29, 2011
Six-Hundred & Seventy Mile Stereo
Six-Hundred & Seventy Mile Stereo A Visual Travelogue & Love-letter to Instragram by Jory Dayne
Last week I got back from a quick weekender to Los Angeles with Dave, Jac, and Jac’s brother-in-law Mason. We drove out to see our friend Josh get a $30,000 scholarship to FIDM’s Debut program, to photograph some dresses from a collection he’s been working on, and to just get the hell away from this relentless chill.
While we were out there, we stopped in at James Jean’s Rebus exhibition at the Martha Otero gallery in Melrose, shopped around at Suru and Crimie, drifted from shop to shop in Silverlake, and wandered around the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on the way back. When Jac and I travel, more than seeing the sites, we’re there to eat the food. Last time we were out there we were introduced to the Pantry and Fred 62 (Thanks, Kyle!) — this time we drug Dave and Mason to those again and added a few favorites to our roster: Casita del Campo was a campy delight, and BerlinCurryWurst was an absolute dream. Plus, the waitstaff at both are extremely easy on the eyes, to put it mildly.
One thing I was glad to play around with throughout the trip was the Instagram app on my iphone. Acejet 170 recently published an entry about the app’s ability to “polish a turd,” and while I woudn’t go that far — I’ve taken more than a few unpolishable shots — it does save, for me anyway, more than a few pics from the bin. It manages to make the mundane lovable, and seems to encourage keeping a visual accounting of your comings and going. Pair it with Momento, and you have a well-designed, dynamic daily record.
If you’re on Instagram, look me up: I’m under the user name “jorydayne”
All in all it was a visual smörgåsbord: inspiring and arresting; it left me not a little overwhelmed, but on the whole deeply satisfied. Back at home it’s still blustery and frigid, but there are tell-tale signs of spring popping up everywhere. This is the busiest time of year for me, and I’ve got projects coming out of my ears.
Posted by Jory at 5:09 AM
March 9, 2011
Illustration: Robyn
The Girl & the Robot Written & Illustrated by Jory Dayne
Look, this much is certain, Robyn is a busy, busy woman. I don’t know how she does it, but she is everywhere, on every track, and she is killing it every time — and I, for one, welcome our new robotic overload.
If she isn’t teaming up with the Savage Skulls, she’s singing in the background of a Likke Li video — if she’s not recording with Royksöpp, she’s laying down tracks with Snoop Dogg. I’ve had Body Talk in all its incarnations on a near constant rotation since it came out last year (or frankly, well before) and I still haven’t tired of it.
One moment she’s making punch-dancing look cool, the next she looks like she’s jumped straight out of The Littles. She’s impish but elegant, and ballsy as all hell.
Over at These Roving Eyes, Jason’s gone so far as to mark her as this generation’s Björk, and if you need confirmation, check B’s own stone-faced observation during Robyn’s gorgeous performance of “Hyperballad” at the 2010 Polar Music Prize.
Anyway, all of this to say that “Fembot” is the jam, y’all — and that when that Swedish android rolls up into Salt Lake, I am going to be there with bells on.
Posted by Jory at 5:26 AM
Photo: Antelope Island
Antelope Island Photograph by Jory Dayne
This past Saturday, Dave and I drove out to the shore of the Great Salt Lake. The whole area is a study in gorgeous desolation: a bizarre amalgamation of a long-forgotten Coney Island-esqe amusements, Soviet-style refineries, and blasted heaths. A plywood billboard, barely 10 feet tall declares that the Great Saltair is closed, but the beach is still open. A half a mile away at the deserted marina, boats float noiselessly in the harbor, heavy under snowy blankets. The wind whips over the shore, through the masts, and pulls the clouds down low over everything. But out there on Antelope Island, where you can just imagine the buffalo hunkered down in their giant herds for the winter, the sun is cutting through the dusk…
It feels like it’s been winter forever. And while I can handle a strong winter, it’s the intermittent sunny days — breaking 50°F at midday, only to plummet hours later into the low 20s, accompanied with freezing rain and snow — that really get me. I’m leaving next week for a trip to the coast, to Los Angeles, a trip that I seem to be making more and more often. Hopefully a little sun will tide me over ‘til Utah decides it’s done with all this blustery nonsense.
Posted by Jory at 5:23 AM