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Art

When the Sky Blooms With Sakura

July 10, 2023

On June 26, Japan saw its first daytime fireworks in the sky above Yotuskura Beach in Iwaki City, an area previously devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Commissioned by Antony Vaccarello for SAINT LAURENT’s latest initiative to support excellence in creative fields beyond fashion, Issue 11 cover star and artist Cai Guo-Qian created When the Sky Blooms with Sakura, a half-hour spectacle of 40,000 choreographed firework shells spanning from 400 meters wide to 130 meters high. Guo-Qian expertly plays with fire, employing the scale of explosion and a jarring pop of color to reflect radical hope in the face of a bleak environmental present. The piece starts as a solemn requiem for the departed but ends as a romantic and optimistic view of a brighter future, one where land decimated by nuclear disaster transforms into a sea of cherry blossoms, able to be seen from afar.

On the day of the fireworks, Guo-Qiang dedicated his piece to the setting, saying, “Thank you to the beautiful sea and sky of Yotsukura, and the rare cooperation and companionship of the sound of the wind and waves in this worrisome June... Mankind today is facing various challenges such as coexisting with the pandemic, economic decline, deglobalization, and increased national and cultural conflicts. Through the sakura in the sky, I was expressing the story of the friendship between the people of Iwaki and me, which transcends politics and history, and I hope that the artwork will inspire the world with faith and hope.”

Text Izzy Capulong
Photos courtesy of Cai Guo-Qiang

The display is marked by scenes. In the beginning, “Black Waves” uses literal darkness to confront the pain of the past and the harm that humans have inflicted upon nature. A bright white display in “Memorial Monument” serves as a grand mourning for the suffering experienced since the 2011 disaster.

But, the latter half of the display shocks viewers with a romantic pink explosion of specially-designed fireworks. With an instant bloom of color above Fukushima, the pink clouds symbolize collective hope and dreams— for peace, a return to a thriving nature, and for a future of visible cherry blossoms. The second half of When the Sky Blooms with Sakura calls on the ongoing Project to Plant Ten Thousand Cherry Blossom Trees, initiated by Guo-Qiang’s friends in Iwaki and carried out by Guo-Qiang after the earthquake.

Guo-Qiang is no stranger to earthshaking art. While some artists prefer to work on smaller, more manageable scales, Guo-Qiang takes to the skies, engaging with the uncontrollable forces of nature to display the inherent beauty of the unpredictable. Having lived in Yotsukura in 1993, he’d previously collaborated with the locals on a similar piece titled The Horizon from the Pan-Pacific. Another explosion spectacle, the piece was a 5000-meter line of fire in pitch black night, aiming to display the beauty in the contours of the earth.

Part of the beauty of the piece was in its collective nature— the fact that locals were encouraged to participate in its creation through the purchase of gunpowder, and the collective action of everyone turning off their lights to make the fire more visible along the earth’s outline. Guo-Qiang honored the people living in Yotsukura, coming up with a motto that explained his motivations behind his art: “to create work here, to have a dialogue with the universe from here, to create a story of the era with the people living here.”

Art

Danny Moon, Haircolorist

July 04, 2023

Though he’s now known as the “King of Bleach and Color,” Pasadena-born Danny Moon didn’t always know that being a celebrity hair colorist would be his path. But cutting his teeth as a marine stationed in Okinawa at age 18 – with only the experience of bleaching a wrestling teammate’s hair back in high school, and his girlfriend back home sending him pictures of her weekly hairstyles – there was an inherent pull he felt toward the world of cosmetology. It wasn’t until he left the service and returned home to Los Angeles that he began apprenticing at salons. A few years after swiftly earning a chair with his natural talent and noticeable eye for color, Moon founded HAIR, his very own salon in Downtown LA. Upon entering the space, which since opening in 2018 has been host to Moon’s impressive clientele, including the likes of Kid Cudi, Zoe Kravitz, Kanye West, and Madonna, it becomes very clear why his work claims to blur the lines between beauty and art. The eccentric white space is a calculated rainbow explosion of Murakami-esque color, from fine art pieces hanging on every surface to flower-shaped stations. And while the space itself cries out for well-deserved attention, and Hair’s booking schedule reads like a “who's who” of Los Angeles, it’s arguably Moon’s own authentic, generous demeanor and fast friendship that keeps us all coming back.

Photography by Camraface
Interview by Anna Zanes

What is your ideal office?

My salon HAIR Los Angeles is the most colorful place in the world. We’re surrounded by flooding natural light, our favorite painters hanging on the walls, Dorothy Draper prints, and our new flower hair stations custom designed by Luc Fuller of Spiritual Objects. Everything we have in the salon brings me inspiration.

If you could only see the world in two colors, which would you choose and why?

Salmon and sky blue because they remind me of Taos, New Mexico, one of our favorite places. The energy is so pure and sacred.

What was the best bite you took this year?

The chef’s tasting menu at the Stubborn Seed in Miami, which was paired with exquisite rum drinks by Vlad the bartender. The flavors were so colorful, and the hamachi crudo ranks as some of the best fish I've ever tasted.

What is your evening ritual?

I love to come home and look at the work that was created that day in the salon and reflect on the moments I had with my clients and team. I’m always looking to improve the experience and teamwork, and having a daily moment to reflect is really important to me.

Where is the most spiritual place in Los Angeles?

Sunset Blvd at midnight on my motorcycle.

If you were a cartoon character, which one would you be?

Spongebob.

What is your "nails on a chalkboard”?

People that think color is not for them – that goes beyond hair to clothing, the way your house looks, product packaging, all of it. I couldn’t live without color, and I don’t understand the all-beige trend. Life’s too short to be neutral.

What is the most inspiring smell?

Flamingo Estate candles – I love the Adriatic Sage.

When was the last time you were really angry?

When the dry cleaners messed up my Jacquemus suit.

Who is the youngest person you trust?

My fiancé, Nicole Reber. She’s been on the internet since she was five.

How do you define family?

There’s the family you grew up with and love, then there’s your office family you grow up with and go through things with. We get really close in the salon because we all sacrifice for the craft and share that spark of making people feel good. We have the same end game that comes from a really giving place. It’s a unique dynamic, and I’m grateful for that.

If you had a personal theme song, what would it be and why?

“Personal Jesus” by Depeche Mode because people ask me to do hair miracles all the time and I have to be up to the task.

If it wasn't hair, what would it be?

Probably a Formula One race car driver. I always want to go faster than I am.

What is one hairstyle or trend you followed that you regret?

No regrets, it’s all been pretty fun. If you’re expressing yourself through your hair, you’re living in the moment. I did go pretty hard on the mini flat iron in 2002, and I probably wouldn’t do that again.

If you could do anyone’s hair, alive or dead, who would it be?

Thom Yorke. I have this memory of when I walked into the salon that would be the real start of my career and “All I Need” off In Rainbows was playing. I knew I found the right place.

Art

On the Wings of Hermès

July 03, 2023

Hermès is the ultimate heritage brand, established in 1837, influencing culture through magnificent craftsmanship and intentionality. After years of innovative designs, tremendous offerings, and deep-rooted values that are sewn into every piece they produce, the French house has tapped director Jaco Van Dormael and choreographer Michèle Anne De Mey, including the Astragales dance company to create an imaginative performance speaking to the brands' ethos. Through fantastical storytelling, Hermès presents, On the Wings of Hermès.

This otherwordly traveling performance has made its way from Japan, France, and Taiwan, now arriving at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, running July 15 through July 23.

Text by Michael Anthony Hall
Photos courtesy of Hermès, Photographer Benjamin Schmuck

As viewers enter the hangar, they are presented with seven distinctively unique performances. A dream-like state is elicited within the audience, and mystical worlds act as backdrops for Norweign fables, a Pegagus, and anthropomorphic Kelley bags. Captured poetically through a multi-media approach, where each scene of dance and opera numbers are projected, in real-time, on a giant screen, the immersive show speaks directly to the magic Hermès' possesses.

Stringing together themes of delicacy, fantasy, and playfulness, each sonic and visual element creates a one-of-a-kind experience. Told through poetics and a strong narrative, On the Wings of Hermès bears an account of the daydreaming that occurs among everyone, sometimes with a bit of encouragement.

Check out the incredible traveling show on view from July 15 through July 23 at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California. To reserve your time slot, please register at Hermes.com/Wings.