Madame Emch – AmeliasMagazine

Amelia’s Magazine | Swatch Watches Over the Rainbow and Be Black, designed by artist Jean-Michel Othoniel

Jean-Michel Othoniel Over the Rainbow Swatch by Catherine Stone.

Last week I was invited to Venice to find out about the newest Swatch watch: created by the artist Jean-Michel Othoniel. Swatch fell in love with his decorative use of Murano glass in incredible jewelled artworks that began life for an exhibition at the Peggy Guggenheim gallery in Venice itself. Jean-Michel was told there was no official space in which he was able to showcase artworks due to strict instructions left in Peggy Guggenheim‘s will, viagra but looking around he wondered whether the branches of a tree in the gallery courtyard could be exempt from this rule and his aerial bound sculptures began to take shape. Jean-Michel Othoniel draped strung baubles in the tree at the Guggenheim and the rest, as they say, is history. He has continued to work in the same way using all the colours of the Murano glass rainbow to create ethereal installations more akin to giant jewellery than art.

Jean-Michel Othoniel jewels
Jean-Michel Othoniel sculpture

Jean-Michel Othoniel Guggenheim
Some of Jean-Michel Othoniel‘s art, including the necklace draped over the Guggenheim Venice.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review

Jean-Michel Othoniel showcases his Over the Rainbow watch.

On the glorious sunny rooftop of the Biennale building in Venice the soft spoken artist described how pleased he was to be asked to create a little piece of art that will be available to lots of people. Ever the romantic he hopes that wearing one of his watches will offer the wearer that bit of otherworldly magic and wonder that he aims for in his sculptures. He described how using Murano glass within the design was key, because the beads look like beautiful precious stones.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-jean michel othoniel over the rainbow

I can certainly appreciate this in the sparkling Murano beads of the colourful Over the Rainbow limited edition version which is slightly oversized so that it can be worn on the wrist the wrong way round – as Jean-Michel demonstrated this to me I was most taken (as a non watch wearer myself) with the idea of wearing a private timepiece which on the exterior just looks like a pretty bracelet. It comes presented in a beautiful blown glass bubble – difficult to achieve but an absolute necessity for Jean-Michel Othoniel, who conceives his watch as art. The Be Black version sports slightly bigger and more manly black beads with a clasp, though both are unisex watches.

SWATCH in Venice Be Black by Abi Heyneke jean michel othoniel
SWATCH in Venice. Jean-Michel Othoniel‘s Be Black by Abi Heyneke.

Swatch Be Black by Laura Godfrey.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review Madame Emch wears Jean Michel Othoniel
Swatch president Madame Emch wears Jean-Michel Othoniel’s Be Black watch.

Even though the watches (which use the Swatch Skin model as a base) cost a very reasonable £190.50 for Over the Rainbow and £76 for Be Black, both Swatch and Jean-Michel very much hope that these will be more than throwaway watches – instead they are designed to become fetishistic charms, reminders of the need for fantasy and fairytales. Sound far-fetched? With the light glinting gleefully off the Murano beads in the Venice sunshine, a world of enchantment doesn’t seem that far away.

Swatch by Daria Hlazatova.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday October 7th, 2011 3:21 pm

Categories ,Abi Heyneke, ,artist, ,Be Black, ,Beads, ,Bracelet, ,Catherine Stone, ,Daria Hlazatova, ,Glass, ,Jean-Michel Othoniel, ,jewellery, ,Launch, ,Laura Godfrey, ,Limited Edition, ,Madame Emch, ,Murano, ,Over the Rainbow, ,Peggy Guggenheim, ,review, ,Swatch, ,Swatch Skin, ,Venice, ,Venice Biennale, ,Watch

Amelia’s Magazine | Open Brief: Design a Watch for Swatch Art Rules TTR World Snowboard Tour Competition 2012

Announcing a very exciting open brief that illustrators might want to check out: the Swatch Art Rules design competition is open to artists across the world, and offers a brilliant opportunity, not only to get your work emblazoned across an iconic watch, but also to travel to Los Angeles for the prize giving, and then to New York for two weeks on an all expenses paid holiday for two people (yes please!)

Swatch-Cristales-by-Marco-Fragozo-Mejia-of-Afghanistan
Cristales by Marco Fragozo Mejia of Afghanistan.

SHAPESHIFTER_Ricardo-Santos-of-Portugal-swatch
Shapeshifter, by Ricardo Santos of Portugal.

For the third time the competition is held in conjunction with the TTR World Snowboard Tour and the winning design will be featured on the 2012-13 trophy as well as on the matching Swatch Tour Watch, which will be distributed worldwide. The TTR trophy is one of the most coveted awards in the world of freestyle snowboarding, and is presented to the champions live on stage at all the biggest events in the sport.

Swatch Momentous Celebration by Peter Cheok of Malaysia
Momentous Celebration by Peter Cheok of Malaysia.

Swatch tour watch - things for live by Eduard Ganahi of Austria
Things for Life by Eduard Ganahi of Austria.

This year the theme for the watch is Progression and Style, which are both key elements of snowboarding. The jury of snowboarding experts is joined by Romain Colin, otherwise known as Fubiz – the acclaimed French blogger whom I met during my trip to Venice with Swatch late last year – who will judge the final designs alongside the supremely knowledgeable president of Swatch, Madame Emch. The top three nominees will also be invited to Los Angeles during May 2012, on a trip of a lifetime to discover which design will be unveiled as overall winner. I was also invited to LA to cover the event, but I am gutted because I will be too busy with my new baby to come along. I cannot tell you how jealous I will be! And I hope that at least one of my readers will be one of the lucky ones to make this trip.

SWATCH_Pixel Attitude by Joyce Liew of Singapore
Pixel Attitude by Joyce Liew of Singapore.

swatchTTR_trophy_Ice-and-Fire-Marco-Magni-from-Italy
Ice and Fire by Marco Magni of Italy.

It’s possibly a little known fact that I am a keen snowboarder – I spent three seasons working in the Austrian Alps during my 20s, and returned a few winters ago to snowboard the slopes of Val d’Isere. It’s one of my great loves – oh how I miss whooshing down those immense powder runs on a beautiful crisp morning – but even if you aren’t a snowboarder yourself this is a great opportunity to get involved with a fabulous brief that will give the winner worldwide exposure.

Swatch_TTR_Trophy_Design_surface pressure by benjamin brewis of the UK
Surface Pressure by Benjamin Brewis of the UK.

swatch-Colorhood by Marili Nikoli of Greece
Colorhood by Marili Nikoli of Greece.

I’ve included a few of the current entries here for your perusal – to see more examples of the entries that have already been received check out this link. You have just a few weeks in which to submit your designs, for the competition closes on March 27th 2012. If you are submitting some artwork then please also send your submissions to me (not just to me though, that would be a bad idea!) as I’d like to upload my favourites in a future blog post for all my readers to enjoy. I look forward to seeing your work online, and hopefully on the winning Swatch Tour Watch.

Watch a video about the choosing of the winning design in 2011 here. Last year Chi Fong Leong (a Central Saint Martins student) won, so what are you waiting for? Find out all you need to know at the Swatch Art Rules website.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday March 9th, 2012 2:15 pm

Categories ,Benjamin Brewis, ,competition, ,Eduard Ganahi, ,Freestyle, ,Fubiz, ,Joyce Liew, ,Los Angeles, ,Madame Emch, ,Marco Fragozo Mejia, ,Marco Magni, ,Marili Nikoli, ,new york, ,Peter Cheok, ,Prize, ,Progression, ,Ricardo Santos, ,Romain Colin, ,Snowboarding, ,Style, ,Swatch, ,Swatch Tour Watch, ,TTR World Snowboard Tour, ,Val d’Isere, ,Venice

Amelia’s Magazine | A Trip to Venice with Swatch

Venice by Sally Jane Thompson.

It’s quite something to be utterly spoilt on a press trip. It doesn’t happen to me often and in fact it’s only in the last year that people have started to invite me places… a mere eight years since I started Amelia’s Magazine: these perks of the job have not exactly fallen in my lap. But it says something about the rise of blogging (which my website is undeniably in the form of, recipe even if I still like to think of it as a magazine) that bloggers of all persuasions are now being offered similar opportunities to mainstream journalists.

Venice by Madalina Andronic.

Venice-Biennale-by-Alia-Gargum
Venice by Alia Gargum.

And so it was that I found myself on my way to Venice last week for a two day jolly courtesy of Swatch. Swatch, look as I am sure anyone who was around in the 1980s will recall, capsule are big lovers of art. They don’t make fancy schmancy watches that cost the earth (literally, since they are often made of rapidly depleting precious metals), instead they make easily attainable fun watches, often in collaboration with artists. Back in the 80s they were really the done thing to wear, and I still treasure my much loved Swatch, even if it is a bit yellowed and deteriorated around the edges.

Swatch 80s pop
For quite a few years the brand was off my radar, but now they are firmly planted back in the centre of the art world thanks to the guidance of current president, the formidable and charismatic Madame Emch, a former fashion PR with a pure passion for art… and Venice.

Venice-by-Jessica-Knight
Venice by Jessica Knight.

Venice by Madalina Andronic.

Venice-by-Jessica-Knight
Venice by Jessica Knight.

We were in Venice because Swatch is the principal partner of the famous Venice Biennale, but also because Madame M (as her name is wont to sound and I rather like because it sounds like something out of a Bond movie) has been visiting since she was five years old and loves Venice more than any other city in the world. Finally, a triple whammy: Swatch‘s newest collaborator makes much of his artwork with the help of the Murano glass makers of Venice. Jean-Michel Othoniel creates huge glowing jewelled necklaces that he hangs from trees and drapes from buildings, and for his Swatch collaboration he has again worked with murano glass makers to create something really quite special… but more on that here.

venice_by_ada_jusic
Venice by Ada Jusic.

Venice by Madalina Andronic.

venice-by-Jessica-Knight
Venice by Jessica Knight.

Venice Treasure by Laura Frame.

During our visit we were thoroughly spoilt, staying in an infamous hotel called the Excelsior that features in the film Death in Venice, and being ferried everywhere on private speedboats or gondolas – the later being a lot better for the environment, but also more sedate (ie, less fun). We had a private guided tour of the Peggy Guggenheim museum before dining in style on the rooftop, were served lunch on the roof of the head office of the Biennale with fabulous views over the centre of Venice, ate at the Cipriani (frequented by George Clooney and ilk) and had another guided tour of the Biennale itself (read my reviews). I have only visited Venice once before when I was inter-railing, aged 17. I remember feeling overwhelmed by the crowds (which this time we avoided due to the time of year and our posh transport options) as well as the high cost of everything. By contrast this trip truly was a beautiful experience which made me dream of returning to Venice one day, although sadly I think the state of my own finances would mean anything else than what I experienced this time around would likely be far less fabulous. Still, one can dream…

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review Excelsior
Arriving at the Excelsior by speedboat.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-Veronica of Red Ant
The beautiful Veronica of Red Ant, who invited me to Venice.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review Excelsior
The art deco influenced interior of the Excelsior.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review
The view from my room.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-travelling by gondola

Travelling by gondola.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-Exterior of the Excelsior from the beach
Exterior of the Excelsior from the beach.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-madame Emch
Madame Emch charms everyone.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-Amazing Italian style
Amazing Italian style.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-Meeting the director of the Guggenheim
Meeting the director of the Guggenheim.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-speedboat

More travelling by speedboat: that’s me with some Russian journalists.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-Cinzia and Romain Colin
Italian blogger Cinzia and French blogger Romain Colin of Fubiz in the backwaters of Venice.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review

Myself with Italian blogger Cinzia of Frizzi Frizzi, Spanish blogger Marta of Dadanoias and Veronica of Red Ant on the rooftop of the Biennale offices.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday October 6th, 2011 12:42 pm

Categories ,80s, ,Ada Jusic, ,Alia Gargum, ,Bloggers, ,Blogging, ,Bond, ,Cinzia, ,Dadanoias, ,Death in Venice, ,film, ,Frizzi Frizzi, ,Fubiz, ,George Clooney, ,Glass, ,Gondola, ,Guggenheim, ,Hotel Cipriani, ,Hotel Excelsior, ,Jean-Michel Othoniel, ,Jessica Knight, ,Laura Frame, ,Madalina Andronic, ,Madame Emch, ,Madame M, ,Marta, ,Murano, ,Peggy Guggenheim, ,Red Ant, ,Romain Colin, ,Sally Jane Thompson, ,Speedboat, ,Venice, ,Venice Biennale, ,Veronica Sambonet, ,Watch