If Bruno Mars were here in Hawai‘i right now, he’d immediately head to Zippy’s for a Korean chicken plate, a chili and rice and an orange bang. Already the 24-year-old Roosevelt High School graduate has written and produced for Adam Levine, Flo Rida, Sean Kingston and Matisyahu, to name a few. Of late, he’s lent his smooth vocals to the hooks for top ten hits with Travie McCoy and B.o.B. Now, he is finally ready to introduce the world to Bruno Mars, the solo artist. Given his ability to cross musical genres, what can fans expect of his full-length album, which he’s looking to release early next year? “I’m in the studio every day working on it, so it’s going to be the best it can be. If you like ‘Nothing On You’ and ‘Billionaire’ that’s what you’re going to get.”

What are you hiding under that fedora of yours?
Gold. My hair follicles just grow gold … Nah, I’m not hiding anything! I may be a little lazy to do the hair so I just throw the hat on and rock.

Your solo EP is called “It’s Better If You Don’t Understand.” Explain that.
When I got to Los Angeles, everyone was like, What is he? Where is he from? What kind of music does he do? And they weren’t saying that in an interested way. You listen to “Billionaire” and “Nothing on You” – they’re completely opposite. A lot of people told me, you can’t mix hip-hop, reggae, rock, R&B because people won’t know who you are. You have to define yourself with this one sound. And that would bug the shit outta me, because I just want to write what I feel. That slogan “it’s better if you don’t understand,” means to me, just listen and you make of it what you want.

Has fame been what you expected?
I just got word today that we got two songs in the top ten on The Billboard Hot 100. It’s hard to expect those kind of things, so no, you never know what to expect.

What would you buy if you were a billionaire?
You know I never really thought of that … I would buy everybody in my family a mansion.

I heard your mom works at 8 Fat Fat 8. If you could sing any song with her what would it be?
Hell yeah she works there! Every time I go down there, she forces me to sing with her. She doesn’t learn any current songs, so I’m always forced to sing Disney songs. It always ends up being me and her, drinking and singing “A Whole New World” from Aladdin. Straight-up karaoke style, with Heinekens and poke.

Do you believe in love at first sight?
I feel like you could be blown away. Don’t know if you could emotionally love somebody at first sight.

As a producer and songwriter do you ever fear you’ll run out of creative juices?
It happens all the time. I wish I could say everything I wrote and produced is going to be a number one hit. I’ve probably wrote a gazillion songs, but to come up with that hit song, the one that the world is gonna sing, that’s a big task.

What do you miss most about Hawai‘i?
The lifestyle. Everyone is so happy and content. It’s not like the hustle out here in LA, where the pressure’s one, the competition is on. Everyone is like, “Yah I live in Hawai‘i and it’s paradise. I miss that paradise mentality. And Zippy’s!

Kate Ruggiero’s line of underwear is cute enough to be worn in public. Or on the beach, at least.

Hand-sewn in Hawai‘i using soft, stretchy cotton jersey, Gypsy hits in all the right places, sitting low across the hip like a Brazilian, but providing just enough coverage in the rear. So girls can kiss the pinching panty line goodbye! The days of the awkwardly uncomfortable wedgie are over. The barely-there panty is the perfect fit, and it evokes that toes-in-the-sand, waves-lapping-at-your ankles sort of feel.

Kate wanted her collection to evoke the carefree spirit she embodied herself. Before she came to Hawai‘i, Kate had been working for a fashion photographer in New York, but it had always been her dream to live by the ocean and design her own collection of swimwear. Overwhelmed by the bustle of the big city, Kate felt it time to uproot and that if she didn’t move at that moment, she wouldn’t ever. So, at the bewilderment of her family and friends, the bright-eyed, freckled free-spirit hopped on a plane bound for Honolulu, full of smiles all the way there. “Moving to Hawai‘i I felt like a traveling gypsy, so my line is really about being free-spirited and following your heart,” she says, explaining why she settled on the name Gypsy. “Plus, it’s my favorite Fleetwood Mac song.”

Always the dreamer, Kate hopes one day to open up a lingerie boutique that would carry a select line of her intimates, as well as swim and sleepwear, and it seems Hawai‘i is just the place for that. “Hawai‘i is still evolving, as far as fashion and art, and that actually is a really good thing,” she says. “It’s what allowed me to start my own collection. In New York, it’s so intimidating I would’ve never thought about starting something of my own. People here are open, to knowing about new designers and trying them out. I definitely see there’s a community here, and that’s a positive thing.”

Gypsy Hawaii from Daeja Fallas on Vimeo.

GYPSY LINGERIE IS AVAILABLE ON O‘AHU AT OLIVE BOUTIQUE IN KAILUA, ON MAUI AT PINK BY NATURE IN MAKAWAO, AND ONLINE AT WWW.MADEBYGYPSY.COM

To see the full article, check out our “Perception” issue, on stands July 11.

Vine installation by Maika‘i Tubbs

“Tsunami” by Scott Yoell.

The Contemporary Museum hosts countless exhibits geared to its namesake genre annually. The museum’s Biennial is perhaps one of the most significant, showcasing some of Hawai‘i’s most innovative and talented contemporary artists. TCM’s pilot biennial was launched in 1993, conceived to offer a plenary perspective of the island’s annual juried shows. Over the years it has become one of Hawai‘i’s most important exhibitions, serving as a snapshot of some of the most influential and substantial contemporary art being created in the islands today.

In the wake of enthusiastic preparations, I couldn’t help but return to the age-old question: What is art? As TCM gears up for their fourth round this September, I was lucky enough to get a chance to sit down with two participating artists, Scott Yoell and Maika‘i Tubbs with hopes of answering the enigmatic question.

FLUX: What are your personal definitions of art? No pressure.
Maika‘i Tubbs: Can we just look it up on Wikipedia?   
[Laughter]
Scott Yoell: The definitions are endless! For me art is just a means for human expression. I’ve always found that I could speak better with my hands than with my words. Art is definitely about getting my ideas across to people as well.
MT: Art for me is a great visual language to getting a point across. It doesn’t discriminate, and that’s one of the best things about it. You can find some way to relate to art no matter what your background. That makes it an incredibly powerful medium. Art traverses boundaries and permeates barriers to get to people. I can’t think of any other field that can do that.

FLUX: I’m sure we’ve all heard someone say, “I could’ve done that!” in reference to a contemporary work of art. If art is becoming more and more conceptual, that means it’s increasingly being based off of concepts, theories and ideas. Everyone has those. Does that mean anyone can be an artist?
MT: When art becomes institutionalized, people begin searching for ways to measure things. They are essentially searching for a standard set of rules. Like you just said, if you don’t have these, anything can be art. Quite frankly, I don’t see anything wrong with that. I wish that was how it was! I think there would be tremendous benefits to this kind of shift in mindset. But I understand why people would want to put restrictions on it. Like anything else, to make it measurable.

FLUX: Can you talk a little about your installations at TCM’s upcoming Biennial exhibition?
SY: “Tsunami” is going to be a giant wave-form constructed from 5,000 four-inch tall, business-men shaped figurines. A tsunami is really similar to our present economic state, symbolic of this massive force that comes down and destroys everything in its path. The sheer volume of the same business-man figure is symbolic as well, as if we’ve mass produced all of these things and ideas.
MT: I’ve been really interested with plastic as a material. It’s an excellent representation of the world that we live in. It’s the material of our time, where I can go to the store and an entire aisle is dedicated to plastic cutlery. Both of my installations are made from plastic utensils. My vine installation is inspired by the wood rose, which has become an invasive species in Hawai‘i. People tend to find that it strangles other plants. I’m also doing a snail installation outside based on the apple snail, which finds its way in to kalo fields, leaving the fields open to infection.

FLUX: Where do you think art is headed?
SY: Who knows? I’m going to have to quote Mel Chin on this one: “Art is always the same. It’s the same as it was a hundred years ago: That is, it’s never the same.” Art is always changing and evolving. We’re in a constant state of flux!

The Contemporary Museum’s Biennial exhibition features contemporary works by local artists reflecting the range and diversity of work being done in Hawai‘i today. The exhibition runs from August 28 through November 14. For more information click here.

For more information on the artists visit:
www.scottyoell.com
www.maikaitubbs.com

We all know that monsters stomp Japanese cities into smithereens, strike fear into the tiny palpitating hearts of disobedient children, and wreak havoc the world over. What may come as a surprise, though, is that one monster – clad in pink, with a spiky Mohawk that’s apt to impale curious onlookers – is hell-bent on bringing new meaning to the word. And he’s doing it with art.

While the origins of most monsters are rooted in provincial folklore and mythology, much is known about Buff Monster, the pop culture chimera in question. Originally from Honolulu, Buff left O‘ahu for Los Angeles in 1997, where he began candy-coating the city with posters bearing his adopted moniker and character: a bulbous icon with X’s for eyes and devilish horns protruding from its head. For years, he inundated the streets of Los Angeles with his iconographic street art – inspired, in equal measures, by heavy metal music, ice cream, and Japanese culture – and his violently fluorescent shade of pink. His work quickly garnered the attention of everyone from Nike to Scion to Hello Kitty, all of whom he worked with on collaborative projects.

Lettering by Evil Genius.

The ocean is the epitome of artistry and adrenaline for those who choose to participate in it. For the past 30 years, Jim Russi has been capturing these moments, freezing them in time and place, for a snapshot into the spirit of what happens when mortals and mother nature collide.

Russi has been a senior staff photographer for every major U.S. surf publication, yet his imagery might be most well known for the vivacious Roxy ads that have inspired females to get in the water for over a decade now. And beyond surf mags and industry ads, Russi’s imagery now steps on to canvas at the Thomadro Art Gallery in Hale‘iwa. A book is also in the works. Russi does not simply record images, he creates them. 

Every role Russi takes on — artist, mentor, father, fellow — is met with fierce discipline and dedication. To see a tattooed and tanned Russi riding one of his choppers around the island, surfing one of his favorite neighborhood breaks on the North Shore, or setting up to shoot on the beach with his face shielded by a trucker hat — always with the enthusiasm of a fresh-faced grom — it seems he has got it wired. But this life was won by many mistakes that he is not ashamed to admit, which is what makes him so refreshing and inspiring.

“I made a lot of life decisions that set me back a lot,” he recalls. “I can’t go back and change it. I would have put a lot more energy into my craft than drugs and alcohol if I could go back. But it’s not as wasteful if I can share that with other young people. I’m not preaching to anyone, but if someone asks. … If you can learn from other people’s mistakes, you’re ahead of the game. At my age I’ve made so many mistakes, I’m not embarrassed to talk about them to help somebody else.”

Read the rest of this article in Issue II, on stands April 12, 2010.  

Singer-songwriter David Tamaoka finds God in almost everything.

Three years ago, when his wife was pregnant with their first child, he had a dream: “We had a boy and his name was going to be Pax, which means peace. And I took it as a sign from God,” he said. Tamaoka took a sip of coffee.

“And then we had a girl!”

He managed to find a quirky moniker for his daughter: Pennylane, named after both the Beatles song and his former band, in which he sang and played the electric bass. However the sign from God stuck and in January Paxton Jude Tamaoka — his middle name inspired by “Hey Jude,” another Beatles song — was born. Eight days after his birth, Tamaoka, sitting outside of the Starbucks in Aiea shopping center, was beaming. “I haven’t slept in weeks but it’s wonderful,” he said. “I’m way more prepared than the first time around.”

God also has an odd way of finding Tamaoka. If you pop his debut LP, Canefield Hero, into iTunes, the program categorizes the eight, largely acoustic pop songs as “Gospel & Religious” — a misnomer that catches the Moanalua high school graduate off guard.“It’s not really intended to be in that genre so I don’t know how that happened,” Tamaoka, a youth pastor at Faith Christian Fellowship, said. “If you mean religion in terms of expressing a point of view, how do you ever separate a person from their point of view? I guess my faith is inherent to me. So everything I do that comes out will somehow be touched by that,” he said.

Canefield Hero, which was released in October by Mix808, is a radical departure from Tamaoka’s last project, PennyLane, a Kaua‘i-based quartet that split in 2005. Syrupy lyrics and serene melodies take the place of the heavy guitars that thrashed on PennyLane songs like “Violent Remedy,” reminiscent of something you’d hear while shopping for a studded collar at Hot Topic. Instead, Canefield Hero takes cues from Jason Mraz and Dashboard Confessional, with Tamaoka’s lithe vocals sliding sweetly through refined pop productions about love and love-lost, all of which he’s had a hand in writing. In short, Tamaoka has settled down.

David Tamaoka – “Eventually” (DoReMi) from KAIMEDIA on Vimeo.

David Tamaoka – Hopelessly In Love (Live) from KAIMEDIA on Vimeo.

Heather Brown does not just use water as a subject for the paintings she exhibits in galleries around the world, she lives in it. The 36-year-old artist from California has called Hawai‘i home for 10 years, has surfed for nine and is even a bona fide scuba dive master. If that isn’t enough, she works in her two story house in Maunalani Heights, where she lives with her boyfriend-slash-manager Chris and their 1-year-old English bulldog Marley, and regularly paints in front of a vertigo-inducing view of the Honolulu coastline.

The house is bright and open, with surf boards propped up in every corner and gicleés – advanced reproductions of her oil paintings – lining high white walls. The totally unpretentious artist, who is building a name for herself in Hawai‘i, California, New York and Tokyo for her deconstructed illustrations of surfers and waterscapes, has gone from selling her first painting on eBay for “$30 or $40 bucks” to commanding up to $15,000 for an original piece.

The super smiley and laid-back artist talked to FLUX about traveling to tropical destinations, why time machines are superior to teleporters and how she loves sharing a piece of Hawai‘i with the rest of the world. The more we talked with her, the cool breeze coming in through the window on a perfectly clear Saturday afternoon, the more we realized – the girl has a lot to smile about.

In the early days of statehood, despite their commercial paychecks, a few influential Honolulu designers fought a war against ugliness. Famed local architect Vladimir Ossipoff and other modernists knew that much of the city’s future was still unoccupied, and at risk to onerous tenants. As Honolulu grew, commercial tourism, relaxed building standards, and an eager building boom spelled aesthetic ruin. In the slow bleed that precedes the death of empire, the Ugliness won. Now 50 years after Hawaii became a state with Honolulu its cultural and political center, a new generation of designers and artists move beyond the commercial and into the occupied void, post-war.

Designers, like the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain, shape both what we see in a city and the way we see it. Unlike Oz, designers are ordinarily removed from their creation by the fundamental quantity of time, leaving behind their visuals and skylines as markers of generation and community. From their second story space in Kaimuki — as the space warms and the street rumbles from an afternoon bus below — Hawaiians Chris Kalima and Josh Lake of the design firm Airspace Workshop try to imagine the future. “I hate the word ‘visionary’” Lake explains, using the Chris Farley air-quotes to mock the term. “Man, think of something else.” The yang to Lake’s yin, Kalima clarifies while tensing his fingers, “we DON’T want to throw a party, just another excuse for everybody to drink and say ‘wassup.’ That is NOT what this is about.” Expounding in another controlled blast, “we’re here to talk about… getting to the big ideas.”

It’s those big ideas that make 2059 something more than an art collective. The editors call the project a “Future Retrospective,” a looking back from a place we have yet to arrive. They are doing this with a website as a platform, hoping artists will use the opportunity to get involved in the discussion. In trying to answer the questions needed to save the beauty of a growing city, they are renewing a spirit of resistance and path to change paved by optimistic modernists of the past. Unlike their aesthetic forebears however, the present futurists’ concepts are restrained by the reality of 50 years of statehood and over 100 years of American consumer and military culture.

The format of the project includes work from contributors on five “critical issues,” which will be discussed on the website. The editors will create a publication as an extension of the site, most likely at the conclusion of the project in a year or so. The topics are: transportation, agriculture, culture, development and industry. The organizers are unsure if there will be a full gallery presentation at the completion of the project. Either way, the completed works are guaranteed to inspire dialogue with the contributors who are already on board. The editors are looking for more voices, and interested artists with something to say are still welcome to join.

It’s a city with a population of over eight million people. It’s home to Broadway, to the Museum of Modern Art, to Carnegie Hall. It’s given birth to hip-hop, to abstract expressionism, to the beat generation. It’s the home of Jim Jarmusch, of Thomas Pynchon, of Jay-Z. Its landmarks, like the Statue of Liberty, are emblematic of its endless opportunities. It’s a city with an alluring slogan (“If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere”). It’s a city that never sleeps and dreams big. It is, undoubtedly, the cultural capitol of the world: New York City.

It comes as no surprise, then, that thousands move to this glittering metropolis, year after year, to make their mark in the city that exercises a cultural hegemony over the rest of the world. Hawaii denizens, too, are involved in this migration, and these portraits offer a glimpse into the lives of Hawaii’s creative transplants who now call NYC their home.

Name: Leah Renee Evans

Occupation: Costume Design Assistant to Christian Joy & Buyer at Beacon’s Closet

Originally From:
Kaneohe

Now Residing In:
Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Reason For Moving:
For adventure, opportunity, and a change of scenery.

The Best Thing About NYC: There are amazing museums, free concerts, it’s bike friendly, and sometimes you see dogs wearing snow boots. You can find Kombucha in almost every bodega. Also, nobody stares at you if you dress up just to go to the pharmacy.

The Worst Thing About NYC: It’s no stargazer’s paradise.

Is NYC Your Home Now, Or Do You Plan To Return to Hawaii?
To tell you the truth, I am not sure. I love both places immensely. Without question, Hawaii is my home in my heart, and I often can’t shut up about it!

Name:
Francis Nishida

Occupation: Server/DJ – www.theglobalelite.com

Originally From: Honolulu

Now Residing In: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Reason For Moving: Why Not?

The Best Thing About NYC: There’s always so much going on.

The Worst Thing About NYC: There’s always so much going on.

Is NYC Your Home Now, Or Do You Plan To Return to Hawaii? Haven’t thought about it much, I definitely miss Hawaii but am planning on staying out here for a while.

Name:
Stella Yi

Occupation: Student/Server

Originally From: I was born in Honolulu and grew up in Red Hill. My family and I later moved to Kapolei during my high school years.

Now Residing In: I currently live in Williamsburg Brooklyn for convenience and the old school italians. There is a definite charm in my neighborhood with the old mafia type dudes. I love it.

Reason For Moving: Living in New York has been on my to do list since I was 14. I moved when I finally had the chance to do so. I’m currently a student at Parsons The New School For Design.

The Best Thing About NYC: Best part is that the city is full of things and places to discover! You can never know the city well enough, it always surprises you. I also love that it is a pedestrian city and the best way to explore the city itself is through walking.

The Worst Thing About NYC:
Worst part of living in New york has got to be money. Everyone in New York rents. It’s a renters’ land and unless you are extremely wealthy, you don’t own shit. I don’t mind renting but a big part of me wants to have my own land. I also love the romantic big tree forest type of land and New York is a wimp in that category.

Is NYC Your Home Now, Or Do You Plan To Return to Hawaii? I definitely won’t move back to Hawaii. I don’t know if New York is the place I’ll end up for good, although I always thought that would be the case. I might end up living somewhere really green like Washington or Oregon. I’m a hippie at heart.

Name:
Kalani Fujimori

Occupation:
Designer – www.kalanifujimori.com

Originally From: Honolulu

Now Residing In: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Reason For Moving: It’s a place that has always intrigued me culturally and inspired me creatively.

The Best Thing About NYC: The food and how every restaurant has delivery.

The Worst Thing About NYC:
Riding the train when the kids get out of school

Is NYC Your Home Now, Or Do You Plan To Return to Hawaii?
Learning as much as I can and eventually bringing it back to Hawaii has always been the goal for me.

Misa Hamamoto has taken her Hawai’i roots to Los Angeles and has created a niche reputation with her unique artistic qualities. “I definitely consider my jewelry pieces as ‘wearable art.’ In fact, I also call them sculptural jewelry. I think that’s why I’ve developed such a following because my clients feel like they’re collecting pieces of art when purchasing my jewelry,” says Hamamoto.

The process she uses to create her pieces is called the “lost wax” technique, and is quite rare nowadays with modern inventions and technology. “I start off by carving out my designs from wax. This entails an open flame from a jewelry lamp, which I use to melt the wax drop by drop to form the piece I’m designing,” explains Hamamoto.

She then uses dentist tools to clean, file and further mold the wax to the design she desires. “This process is very tedious, as I’m creating a piece entirely from melted wax droplets and small tools for the detailing,” says Hamamoto. The wax sculpture then goes through a casting process, in which the design is solidified. Thus the process gets its name because the mold loses its wax material as it drips off the solid metal.

“Most jewelers now do not use this ancient method because, well, it’s ancient. I would say almost all jewelers now use computer programs to create their designs. I have nothing against this method, but I prefer the organic, imperfect look that develops from lost wax casting,” says Hamamoto.

This method of jewelry casting might be what makes Misa Jewelry so distinguishable, or it might be the inspiration of Hawaii that Hamamoto has when designing. “My pieces are influenced by different elements of nature from coral to the tree root systems to the night sky. Growing up in Hawaii definitely has an influence on my designs. I’ve always been a huge nature lover especially growing up on a beautiful island,” she explains.

Misa Jewelry’s imperfect, fluid and organic designs are true examples of craftsmanship. No matter what your style is — from Bohemian to street, Misa’s jewelry can be paired to create the perfect outfit. Some designers create a collection in which there is one must-have piece, but Misa’s jewelry has enough diversity in each of the pieces to where the entire collection is a must have.

For more information, or to see her complete collection, visit www.misajewelry.com.