The library of a young dandy

16 year old Zhenya Danylyuk shares his favorite movies, authors, musicians and books. He also explains how Robert Downey Jr. turned a real english gentleman into a drinker, bully and narcistic bastard. What is a modern Bible in the face of a sixteen year old, and how a hooligan (in the Soviet Union) became an author of a classic literature.  

Movies:
Pulp Fiction - Why Pulp Fiction? Cause it’s Quentin Tarantino. It’s a very unusual chronology of scenes, amazing cast of actors, and many details that people don’t usually even notice (cigarettes “Red Apple”, that he uses in each film, or Big Kahuna burgers, that appear from time to time). But mainly, what makes A Tarantino The Tarantino – he is a bit mad and in love with Uma Thurman’s feet (jokingly), which by the way are eastern european 42^nd (damn serious).  

Snatch & Rock'n'Rolla – Guy Richi has an incredible sence of humor. His movies are very true-life, but full of irregular coincidences.

21 – I'm mathematician. I study at a mathematical school. So for me this movie is more a mix of curiousity and new aproach to the use of mathematical calculations.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson – the Soviet version was officially admited the best one made. Vasily Livanov (as Sherlock Holmes) and Vitaly Solomin (as Dr. Watson) were honored a medal from Queen Elizabeth II for the great screen adaptation of the great English classic. So what was Robert Downey Jr. thinking when he turned an english gentleman into a drinker, bully and narcistic bastard? What he’s done to the character is unforgivable.

The Bucket List – the great remake of the «Knockin' on Heavan's Door». Two fellas living their dream, trying to achive something, and than been buried in the coffee cans on the Everest Mountain. Who can boast of doing the same?

Authors and book:

Chuck Palahniuk – he is honest, truthful and frank spit in the face of our generation. His “Fight Club”, “Invisible Monsters” and “Choke” are like the modern Bible for sixteen years old.

О. Henry – with all the shit that he's been through, with irony and sometimes naked sorcasm, he makes you smile through tears. His «The last leaf» is a short masterpiece.

N. Gogol «The Inspektor-General» - is  a great exemple of greediness and duality of people.

S. Yesenin – i like his bravery, honesty, his anti-hero. I like that in a very conservative Soviet Union the hooligan and the drinker became the most well-known Russian poet of the 20th century. And even after he wrote «It's noisy and dirty and drunken, But nobody there drinks alone – The bartenders buy me a vodka, And the hookers cry at my poem» he still managed to get into all the school books of russian classics.

Music:

The White Stripes, The Black Keys, Nirvana, Arctic Monkeys, Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Don’t ask me why, you can’t explain music, you can only enjoy it.  

Mattias Brundin for the thinking factory

Mattias Brundin is a creative director who's worked with trend-based communication in Stockholm, London, Milan and New York. Currently he is launching a video-communication project in the EU. Explains why people choose to be stupid. Why without the influences from Situationism there would be no Banksy, no “I Fucked Gisele Bundchen” t-shirts, no Ousler projections, no Sex Pistols, no Futura 2000, no Warhol, no Vivienne Westwood. And why you better choose Guy Debort over “Jersey Shore” tonight.

Just like a bullet through cardiovascular tissue

“True force. No copyright. No rights reserved. No motorcycle emptiness. No modern life is rubbish. No time. No history. The time of life is short, and if we live, we tread on kings”.

Richey James Edwards (Written as an obituary to Guy Debord)

November 30^th, 1994, a bullet tore Guy Debord’s heart apart and death was probably instant. That is the likely outcome of a suicide elevated to the sublime symbolism of firing a revolver straight into one’s heart. Death is never fair, but some deaths are sadder than others. Personally I find Guy Debord’s suicide on pair with the passing of Bambi’s mom as well as Peggy Entwistle’s suicide jump from the “H” in the “HOLLYWOOD” sign. It hurts every time it slips into my mind.

Debord – the visionary behind the Situationist International movement and the author of the groundbreaking “The Society of the Spectacle” – felt his vision had died. His dreams faded to oblivion white and the vacuum created by loss was too much to handle. But with hindsight the basic principles of the Situationist movement is more relevant than arguably any other theory to frame our zeitgeist. Just perform a liposuction of all 68-stylee letter-leftism from the linguistics and “The Society of the Spectacle” is predicting each and every faux pas we are slipping into while dancing stupidly in the tragedy known as modern times.

It has also been a manual for art and creative expressions. Because it offers a modus operandi aiming for tomorrow, always tomorrow. That is probably why so many brilliant musicians, artists, writers and creative contemporary minds have found inspiration in Guy Debord. Punk was virtually a Situationist Manual, but less known is that key elements in hip-hop once draw inspiration from Situationism. Obviously almost all street art and urban couture have been rooted in the movement. No Banksy, no “I Fucked Gisele Bundchen” t-shirts, no Oursler projections, no Sex Pistols, no Futura 2000, no Warhol, no Vivienne Westwood, and maybe – just maybe – no Internet and social media as we know it today. Without the influences from Situationism the patchwork of contemporary culture would have been a lot thinner and substantially less interesting.

The delicate contours of Situationism are as discreetly present in haute couture designs as in the house beats at the club. On a personal note I can confess a big part of my career to Guy Debord. Some of my best work – with internationally acknowledged advertising campaigns as well as creatively exciting art concepts for the communication of opinions – has been blatantly nicked from the Situationism. I have used the slogan “Advertising is dead. Do not consume its corpse.” And I have owned a company called Moral Little Shitkickers. Go figure…

Situationism also tells us why young minds have chosen to commodify shallow stupidity and cloned themselves in Paris Hilton caricatures. This silicone lips Pierrot mask – sadly incarnated in millions of young boys and girls striving to mimic the absolute idiots from reality shows and media’s menagerie of nonsense celebrity – is nothing but a desperate way of adjusting to the hyper-reality of force-fed images in a chaotic spectacle. Acceptance is no longer in love, in sex, in intelligence or in individuality. It can only be found mindless hedonism bereft of intellect and individuality. The images of stupidity are setting a norm – blessed with a Rothko-esque acceptance of mute iconography – and this norm is starring into the abyss with a cow’s lukewarm and detached eyes. People are choosing to be stupid – to look like a plastic surgery train-wreck and hide in the narcissistically mute’s anorectic semantics – because that is the normalized way to be seen in the abattoir known as Today. It is intensely sad and long-term the cult of stupidity will kill more than medicine patents, the gun industry and religious wars combined. Do not choose “Jersey Shore” tonight, just give Guy Debord an hour of your life. He will make you live again.

Mattias Brundin

the intelligent and sexy Barbara answering modern proust

Barbara Kuhno

owner of the model agency, 27, Moscow/Hong Kong 

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Life without love; or when your beloved ones have serious health problems.

What is your idea of earthly happiness? Being balanced in mind yet able to plunge into deep emotions, but know how to swim out of these deep waters again to your quiet shore, that's the true art of happy life.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent? Unhealthy food treats; thinking of people better than they are.

Who are your favorite characters in history?  Chingiz-han, Alexander Macedonian. I admire all the strong people, who could change the history or hold enormous power in their hands. 

Who are your favorite heroines/heroes in real life? My close friends, I admire all of them and learn from them. 

Who are your favorite heroines/heroes of fiction? Haruki Murakami main hero in each of his book.

Your favorite painter? Salvador Dali and a lot of modern painters.

Your favorite musician? Zemfira (russian rock-singer). Love her songs so much that I could marry her.

The quality you most admire in a man? Inner strength and honesty.

The quality you most admire in a woman? Same, inner strength, independence as a result.

Who would you have liked to be? I'm trying hard to be the best myself that i could ever be.

Your most marked characteristic? Open-minded.

How do you like to spend your free time? Friends, lover, books, traveling (better all in one pack).

What do you most value in your friends? That they take me as I am and are loyal to me.

What is your principle defect? Too trusting, and talking too much.

Who are your favorite writers? Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Haruki Murakami.

What is it you most dislike? When people disappoint me. Also i hate scary movies.

What thing you learned the hardest way? To keep some things private.

What event in history do you most admire?  First man in space (Yury Gagarin), people in Soviet Union were so happy and proud, that you could see complete strangers on the street hugging and kissing each other, i'd like to see something like that in our days. Also, end of the war, any war, is an admirable history event.

What natural gift would you most like to possess? I'd like to have total control over my emotions. It seems that the older I get, the more emotional I am, I always thought it's supposed to be other way around. 

What habit or characteristic you picked up during your early years? To really concentrate on something, that I'm doing in this very moment.

What books or movies had a very strong impact on you? Books: Buddhist books, "Unbearable Lightness of being" by Milan Kundera.

How do you think, what is the biggest achievement of our time? Globalization and making world smaller.

What person or character can you call the role model or example for your generation? It should be some spiritual leader, a person who will implement spiritual values, as world had become too material lately. I don't see a person like that on the international scene yet. I know some, and they are role models for people around them, but no global impact.

What is your present state of mind? Peace and confidence.

the intelligent and sexy Farryl answering modern proust

Farryl Purkiss

singer-songwriter, musician, 30, South Africa

                                                                                                   photo by Deon Maritz

"The times they are a changin’"

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? To live a life in fear of love. The ultimate contradiction.

What is your idea of earthly happiness? Been blissfully unaware and uninfluenced to the "faults" the world has tagged you with. As well as learning how to be open to give more love than you are even able to receive.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent? Laziness. Criticism. KFC.

Who are your favorite characters in history? Jesus Christ, Mahatma Ghandi, Robert Johnson, Dr. Seuss.

Who are your favorite heroines/heroes in real life? Nelson Mandela, Bob Dylan, my mother.

Who are your favorite heroines/heroes of fiction? The Three Musketeers.

Your favorite painter? Van Gogh.

Your favorite musician? Bob Dylan.

The quality you most admire in a man? Friendship.

The quality you most admire in a woman? Motherhood.

Who would you have liked to be? Robert Johnson's best friend.

Your most marked characteristic? The inability to come up with an honest answer to this question.

How do you like to spend your free time? Lots of BBQ's, surfing, chasing chickens on the farm I live on, vinyls, and wondering around the farm with a cup of coffee, and a serious look of contemplation on my face.

What do you most value in your friends? Their loyalty.

What is your principle defect? My ability to cast judgment on others. I have absolutely no right.

Who are your favorite writers? Dr Seuss, Roald Dahl, John van der Ruit.

What is it you most dislike? Politics, bad drivers, tax.

What thing you learned the hardest way? To gain ones respect you have to earn it.

What event in history do you most admire? Any man or women who, without question or hesitation, gave their lives in pursuit of making the world a better place.

What natural gift would you most like to possess? The ability to be able to play any instrument I lay my hands on well.

What habit or characteristic you picked up during your early years? To raise one eyebrow when ever in deep thought, contemplation, or doubt.

What books or movies had a very strong impact on you? All movies by Wes Anderson. The Bible

How do you think, what is the biggest achievement of our time? The internet. Never again will we be bothered at our homes by encyclopedia salesmen.

What person or character can you call the role model or example for your generation? Nelson Mandela. A man who can be locked away for 27 years for simply defending human rights, and then be released as the new leader of a country, and not want revenge, takes a discipline I can't even imagine. He is the face of forgiveness and unity of our time.

What is your present state of mind? Hopeful.

the intelligent and sexy Katya answering modern proust

Ekaterina Zalitko

model, actress, Russia

                            photo by Anoushka Menon

Understanding your mistakes halfway to success

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Lost of closer.

What is your idea of earthly happiness? Being in harmony with yourself, each other, nature and space.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent? Self-indulgence. 

Who are your favorite characters in history? Leonardo da Vinci. 

Who are your favorite heroines/heroes in real life? Queen Victoria. 

Who are your favorite heroines/heroes of fiction? Angelique by Anne Golon. 

Your favorite painter? Theodore Gericault, Michelangelo.

Your favorite musician? Classics - Vivaldi, Mozart; new age - Michel Cretu. 

The quality you most admire in a man? Success. 

The quality you most admire in a woman? Independence. 

Your most marked characteristic? Versatility. 

How do you like to spend your free time? Dance. When I dance I feel alive. Read. When I read I learn. Write. When I write I reveal my inner voice.

What do you most value in your friends? Honesty and being yourself. 

What is your principle defect? No tolerance to people’s weaknesses. 

Who are your favorite writers? Dostoyevsky, Gogol, S. King, Louis de Bernières, Roger Zelazny and many many more. 

What is it you most dislike? Dumb flocks. 

What thing you learned the hardest way? Put everything in order: your cupboard, your mind, your life. 

What event in history do you most admire? World victory over fascism. 

What natural gift would you most like to possess? Good ears and voice (I’m horrible at singing, but I love it so much). 

What habit or characteristic you picked up during your early years? “When a man sees the goal, he grows wings to reach it “ Gogol. 

What books or movies had a very strong impact on you? Book by Dostoyevsky “Idiot” and  movie “Time” by Kim Ki-duk. 

How do you think, what is the biggest achievement of our time? Braking distance. 

What person or character can you call the role model or example for your generation? You build it yourself in long way of experiencing!

What is your present state of mind? Overflowing with love. 

The intelligent and sexy Chris answering modern proust

Christopher John Hills V 

22, model, poet, painter, Los Angeles

“The most beautiful of a women, Is when they are induced to awaken the morning, Watching the rise and fall of air, The breath of life breathing”

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Loosing loved ones.

What is your idea of earthly happiness? A child’s aura & unconditional love.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent? Keeping distance.

Who are your favorite characters in history? Galileo Galilei. 

Who are your favorite heroines/heroes in real life? My two sisters.

Your favorite painter? Zdzislaw Beksinski, Gustav Klimt and Leonardo Da Vinci. 

Your favorite musician? David Gray. 

The quality you most admire in a man? Independence. 

The quality you most admire in a woman? Compassion. 

Who would you have liked to be? An unaltered self, completely one with my own heart.

Your most marked characteristic? Empathy. 

How do you like to spend your free time? Constant creations and delicate affection.

What do you most value in your friends? Kindred spirits.

What is your principle defect? Hiding within myself. 

Who are your favorite writers? Percy Bysshe Shelley, E.E. Cummings and Suzzan Collins. 

What is it you most dislike? Corruption. 

What thing you learned the hardest way? Hardship strength never withdraws its sword.

What event in history do you most admire? The Renaissance.

What natural gift would you most like to possess? Purify the wicked.

What habit or characteristic you picked up during your early years? Absorbing feelings, accepting and forgiving. Never backing down and always standing up for what you believe in.

What books or movies had a very strong impact on you? Books: The Poetical works of Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Alchemist, The Hunger Games. Movies: Ondine.

How do you think, what is the biggest achievement of our time? Ever opening minds. 

What person or character can you call the role model or example for your generation? Mother Nature. 

What is your present state of mind? In a cocoon awaiting the awakening.

The intelligent and sexy Olga answering modern proust

Olga Grbich

22, PR manager, model, Ukraine

                               photo by Dima Romas                             

“Oh well… whatever… never mind” Kurt Сobain

What event in history do you most admire? The seventh day of creation.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? To feel the pain of people I love.

What is your idea of earthly happiness? Happiness happens sometimes. It’s unpredictable.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent? Faults that caused by good intentions.

Who are your favorite heroines/heroes in real life? The great optimists.

Who are your favorite heroines/heroes of fiction? Kolobok. So daring and fatal!

Your favorite painter? Claude Monet.

The quality you most admire in a man? Charisma and intelligence.

The quality you most admire in a woman? I love the way they love.

Who would you have liked to be? Sometimes I want to be a little child again.

Your most marked characteristic? Softness, I guess.

How do you like to spend your free time? Dreaming.

What do you most value in your friends? Faith, sincerity, forgiveness.

What is your principle defect? Softness. Sometimes it is a real trouble.

Who are your favorite writers? Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Vladimir Nabokov.

What is it you most dislike? Human’s arrogance.

What thing you learned the hardest way? Math. 

What natural gift would you most like to possess? Super memory. I need it so much!

What habit or characteristic you picked up during your early years? Empathy.

What movies had a very strong impact on you? The movie “The Fountain” (directed by Darren Aronofsky), it’s absolutely beautiful.

How do you think, what is the biggest achievement of our time? Cyberspace.

What person or character can you call the role model or example for your generation? Kids of flowers, they were very nice, you know! Even if it caused by LSD only.

What is your present state of mind? Calm and peaceful.