“Don’t you ever listen to the song of life.” – Werner Herzog

Li Xiaofeng

Beijing artist Li Xiaofeng makes clothing from ancient pottery shards. That’s about all one can dig up from the same reposted text that appears throughout the blogosphere. Here and there is the odd mention of his commission from Lacoste to brand Qing and Ming dynasty shards with the company’s trademark crocodile. Google yields little discussion of other works, except that he has been obsessed with collecting and sorting ancient pottery for a long time.

Li’s designs call to mind the seedy glamor of pre-war Shanghai, when the cityscape was a curious mix of British bankers, Chinese peasants and China Marines. One need look no further than Wong Kar-Wai’s sultry, haunting In The Mood for Love for evidence of the incredible richness of the Shanghainese aesthetic at that time.

Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung on the streets of the French Concession.

update >> Friend Juliana just posted this image from Li Xiaofeng’s current exhibit in Beijing, where it was displayed alongside the limited edition Lacoste polos it inspired.

Li Xiaofeng's October 2010 show in Beijing.

El Guincho, “Bombay”

The best part is that this phenomenal video (throughout which I thought to be unbelievably well-imagined) is actually edited from a feature length film by Nicolas Mendez (about whom the Internetz hold little information).

Despite my immediate excitement, I’m slightly reserved; what if the long-form version is just a tedious jumble of signifiers? I think what makes the video so potent is its brevity and the wonder inspired by the juxtaposition of disparate-but-aesthetically-related images, which would require a truly heroic act of creativity to conceive of in the form of a short music video. Knowing that the images were culled from a larger picture makes sense and tempers my initial feelings of awe.

Regardless, I want more of this. Lots more. Brings me back to Jodorowsky in the best way. . I’ll definitely be tracking this project, and whatever else El Guincho creates.

El Guincho with dolphin and parrot in space