Welcome to the Wunderkammer of Kafka Vodka

HOME SERIES: COMPLETE

2011-12-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

Since i left you off with piece #006, much has evolved and developed! Here are the last four drawings in my series of intergalactic landscapes. the originals will soon be available through my website, there will be no prints or copies made. also currently looking for new galleries, venues, coffeehouses, shops, bars and alternative art spaces for future shows. i'm open to collaborations as well with legit creatives and entrepreneurs.

in other news i've just been getting settled into the new house, playing around with djing and producing and enjoying the solitude of this chilly desert winter.

much love and winter solstice holiday blessings,

-kafka

HOME Series #010: The Shaman's Quest preview

(better quality images coming soon as well, some of my photography equipment got misplaced during the move)

HOME Series #009: Starbloods

HOME Series #008: Moonlit Circuitry

HOME Series #007: Divine Intervention

NEWS & EVENTS ::: GLOW! full moon art festival

2011-09-04T01:31:00.004-07:00

come out friday, sept 9th to GLOW! a moonlit nighttime glow artfestival under the desert stars <3
i will be showing a few pieces from my new series of illustrations HOME and have outfits in the fashion show too :D tell your friends and hope to see you there, its looking to be quite the magical night.

lets rage, team tigerblood!

more info at: http://trianglelranch.com/glow.htm

or at the GLOW! FACEBOOK PAGE: http://www.facebook.com/pages/GLOW/124545914252493

TICKETS
$10 adults
$5 under 18 with guardian
under 3 free
Advance tickets now at
Bohemia Artist Emporium
2920 E. Broadway or cash at the GLOW gate
Join us in the moonlit desert of Oracle's Triangle L Ranch for a two night extravaganza of illuminated sculpture, multi-media installations, video projections, performance art, live music and food.
Walk the road to the GLOW gate under a galaxy of color changing lanterns created especially for the event. Stop by the "star party" to view the Moon, Jupiter and deep space objects through telescopes in an art/science exhibit sponsored by the U of A Astronomy Dept.Orbital Evolution will light up the performance stage with beautiful flowing hoop dancers, impressive glowing hoops, and a tantalizing display of their latest invention. Poi-Zen illuminates the night with fire dancing, Saguaro Strutters line dance and Flight School Acrobatics dazzle with their correographed moves. The a cappella quartet, Chile Con Carne, performs their song on the hour from their festive alcove. Watch Blacksmiths hammer steel by the light of the forge near the old corral.
Everyone is invited to join in the fun and participate by wearing GLOWing outfits. At 8 pm on Friday evening there will be an illuminated runway fashion show featuring the looks of Arizona designers. Immediately following there will be a costume contest for attendees to strut their stuff.
Interactive exhibits for kids and adults include The Physics Bus- presenting physics experiments and demos featuring lights, colors and electrical discharges. Ironwood Ridge High School students help you create your own fluorescent painted paper flying saucer to take home. Design your own cardboard puppet cut-out and join in the spontaneous shadow puppet theater. A big red LED TV screen allows visitors to play games of PONG.Tarot Card readers and astrologers have set up a "gypsy camp" where you can get your fortune told.
Stroll the sculpture path and five acre GLOW grounds and discover Illuminated sculpture and multi-media creations by dozens of artists. Move through a land of mixed-media and poetry to a place of illuminated respite created by Ruth Hillman. Karen Medleys' fluorescent clay desert botanicals come to life under blacklight. View light shows and projections combined with live music by Jim Hewitt, Drumscape and Oracle Art Ensemble. Hadji Banjovi projects vintage 16mm cartoons and educational shorts from his extensive film collection. Visit the ADOBE barn for an exhibition of GLOWing artwork.
The Triangle L Gift Shop will be open with a limited number of GLOW t-shirts and other items available. Embellish yourself at the GLOW products booth with lots of glowsticks for sale. BICAS will have a merchandise table along with their illuminated bikes and sculpture.
There will be food and soft drinks available for sale. Oracle's Casa Rivera has mexican dishes, - Nonna Maria's pizza by the slice - Sweet treats and Coffee available. Stop by the Main Ranch house and enjoy a piece of pie on the porch.


FRIDAY NIGHT SEPT. 9, 2011 MAIN MUSIC STAGE 7 Billy Sedlmayr 8 Rey 9 Kevin Pakulis Band PERFORMANCE STAGE 7 The Cardells 8 GLOWing Fashion Show followed by a costume contest for attendees. 9 Flight School Acrobatics	SATURDAY NIGHT SEPT. 10, 2011 MAIN MUSIC STAGE SCHEDULE 7 DJ Kidd Squidd 8 Imperial Blue Bloods 9:30 Carnivaleros PERFORMANCE STAGE 7-7:30 Saguaro Strutters 7-30-8 Hoopers glow and hoopers fire 8-9 Fire by Poi-Zen 9-9:30 Hoopers glow and Hoopers fire 9:45 Danielle Chavez

The Solar Store from Tucson is one of the most sought-after renewable energy suppliers in the Southwest and generously provides solar power from their mobile cart for GLOW.
FOOD
Oracle's Casa Rivera serves Mexican Food
Nonna' Maria's Pizza
Sweet treats, Pies and baked goods
Coffee, soft drinks, water and non-alchoholic beverages
RULES OF GLOW
Bring a flashlight. Stay on designated pathways, wear comfortable walking shoes and watch your footing! Under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Follow signs to parking on Oracle Ranch Road and walk in to the GLOW grounds. We reserve the right to remove anyone at any time for any reason. You may BYOB.

NO PETS!!! Be safe and have fun!

FLYER: ART & ALE @ THE TEMPE TAVERN, TUESDAY JULY 19TH

2011-07-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

:))

HOME SERIES: #6 PREVIEW

2011-07-13T14:21:00.000-07:00

HOME SERIES, illustration #6 of otherworldly landscapes: DYSTOPIAN FLOW preview.

in-progress

full size on twitpic: http://twitpic.com/5poocq

-kafka

ART SHOW: ART & ALE @ THE TEMPE TAVERN, JULY 19TH

2011-07-13T10:30:00.001-07:00

i will be showing select pieces from my new series of illustrations called HOME: INTERGALACTIC LANDSCAPES at the tempe tavern in tempe,az next week on july 19th. custom pieces from my jewelry line JUNKERJEWELS & my accessory line DOOMBLUMEN will be available for purchase as well, you can catch a preview of the illustrations & check out the wearables at: http://www.kafkavodkalovesyou.com/

FB EVENT PAGE HERE: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123627514391285

****

FREE Group Art Show at TEMPE TAVERN on the North/East corner of McClintock and Apache in Tempe, AZ. Conveniently located across the street from Metro Bus and Light Rail stops.

Tuesday, July 19th at 8:00 PM

WHAT TO EXPECT: A diverse and highly talented group of local artist's, live music and/or DJ's, lavish libations, and a whole lot of inspiration!

::CONFIRMED ARTISTS::

BUNNY

CANO

DEBRA LEE MURROW

EDGAR CANO LEYVA

ERIKA JAYNES

GEOFF GILDNER

HEATHER EDGAR

JAMES B. HUNT

JAMESON LINGER

JEAN-PAUL MANZANARES

JULES DEMETRIUS

KAFKA ZVEZDANA VODKAA

MATT CRUX

RAY RIVAS

SAM NELSON

SEAN DAVID WRIGHT

SINCE DAY ONE

STEVE CABALLERO

TRACY PERDUE

::MUSIC::

CECILA SATORI - opening acoustic set.

DJ ALEX HINTZ

DJ BRADLEY RODGERS

::INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION/VENDORS::

ELENA THORNTON - Arizona Consortium For the Arts.

KATIE DIGAN - hand made jewelry.

KERI MOSIER - hand made jewelry.

TAYLOR GRACE - Tarot readings, crafts.

POLYVORE: NEONATIVE / LE DISKO

2011-05-22T21:18:00.001-07:00

listed under: current obsessions

come visit me! http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/profile?id=2361355

lots of love,
kafka

NEONATIVE by kafka zvezdana featuring spiked jewelry

LEDISKO by kafka zvezdana featuring a boatneck dress

style/boreds BLACK SERIES

2011-05-13T11:30:00.002-07:00

posted this once already but it mysteriously disappeared a day after....
thanks blogger :(

here is the first styleboard of ideas and inspiration collage for THE BLACK SERIES:
THELEMA/ARCANA/HERMETICA AW 2011
BY KAFKA VODKA
blasting off from the intergalactic starportal on 11.11.11

CONCEPTS:

mysterious forces

hidden knowledge

arcane magick

darkness & light

secret wisdom

the occult and unseen

phenomena/nomena: things as they "are" and things as they "appear to be"

ELEMENTS:

coverings: overcoats, cloaks, hoods, capes, shrouds

surface texture: layers, embellishments, studs

fabric types: BLACK/GREY, rough & shine, sequins, spandex, pleather, thick loose knits, solid cottons in b&w or monochrome

headpieces: eyepatches, mouthcoverings, hair clips, headbands, oversize geometric hair pieces

detailing: aztec, triangles, circles

xxo
-kafka

fading away

2010-12-11T13:11:00.001-07:00

new photo: plastic shamans of a synthetic nature, playgrounds of infinite treasure. step forward and fade away.

also on twitpic... and forever always on www.kafkavodkalovesyou.com <3

its not very often, if ever, that i post photos on here of myself. this is the first one i've had taken in at least 4-5 months and i must say i'm very pleased with it. energetically, visually, aesthetically...its all where i'm at right now in these wonderful galactic times! hope you all have a magical 12.12 tomorrow and i'll catch you crazy creatures on the other side ;)

xoxox
-kafka

Sea Angels

2010-12-02T17:16:00.001-07:00

and the expanses of the deep seas were plastered to my limbs, beneath the shores where dynamite and electricity cradeled the ascent. ethereal veins of algae spiraled upwards, starbound...our growth patterns entranced by cosmic glow. these coral bones, spongey and malcontent... neurons of spiked urchins probed the unchartered abysses of lung cavaties. peaked in a tangled mess, the transmissions warped into themselves. as sunken ships and shooting stars we crashed through timelines unchartered, a ripple effect outside of karma. with each breath we could sink and soar, in non-linear time we lived in the manner of cystals...multi-faceted and sparkling. as the anchor of humanity pulled our inner jungles into weighted pits, we found solace in its depths. the great cosmic us of you and i, the great transcendent we of us plus time....

****

its that hibernating time of the year again.

the path to being covered in the most beautiful underwater and deep sea tattoos has begun....
the path to aligning the outside with the inside is neverending: colors, beauty, life, freedom <3

stillness, lights and blessings this holiday season and beyond,
-kafka

Within Illusion, Everything Has A Reason

2010-10-17T14:52:00.006-07:00

Some recent writing, for your consumption:

INSPIRATIONS <3

photo: flickr

photo: photobucket

we unfolded the roadmap that bridged the head & the heart in a divine union of sorts. intensities are always found in mirrors, the zero point between new memories and the vacancy of the spotted, rocky canyons. your eyes were always mine, i never had much use for the earthbound kind because they could never "see" much of me anyways. in the realm of vision i could always feel two ways at once without getting too deep into either polarity. fresh opportunities are such strange beasts, creatures of their own electricity. rainbows rage in me while the stars dot every vein with a new wave brillance, a locomotive bloodstained from the intensity of our youth. as young galaxies we lived in those realms of vision.

i found myself suddenly awake in the earthbound plane, the weight of it all cusped neatly in the flesh of my stomach, a churning monster of its own accord. the dreamstate is simply another reality, the reminder shakes the opaque dollhouseland around this physicality that never felt mine. so brand new, i found myself down by the railways where trains jumped tracks just to avoid me. as expansive as i was energetically, to these mortals i was the intergalatic equivalent of a dead end, a stone cold crash into a great wall head on. around me all the energies simply dissapated. when its not your time the universe will find a way to make you survive no matter how hard you demand an early exit point. step up, spin the wheel of the great re-arranger!

everything you could ever imagine or desire will arrive to you crumbled on your metaphorical doorsteps, trembling and weakened in the dead of the night. reclusive and once removed, at least fed-ex deliveries can be timely. out here our hearts are the only metronomes spitting the icing on the cupcakes in the most backwards of ways. a new memory suddenly swelled up in the center of my chest. our heart's desires danced in shadows, favoring the corners of the eye's peripheal visions to dancefloors and slutty discotheques. pulsing in our skulls, we all sang "we are the music, it is us!" a frequency never intended to be heard outside ourselves.

the thought pollution of our minds never fail to send untimely reminders when the distractions became great enough....the people of earth are so quick to disregard how to listen to the symphonies built into the makeup of their souls. each wooden tie, each shrapnel nail, the screeching of tiresome metals and panting of coal coated lungs were distinct pockets of celluar memory. in the timeline of persona the cult of personality was born. it was the dawn of the great distraction, the decided disarray, using chaos to control. i stood in those trainyards outside of duality, me myself and an undone you, gazing into the full color spectrum. our rainbows have always had many colors ourside the rainbows their eyes can see. perception transfers to timeless moments in multiple dimensions where visions are in so many ways beyond eyesight. provocative and unquestionable, the luminious sparkling depth to the energies of ordinary things. the burdensome, slow moving locomotives that were the poster childen of a distant physical sanctuary. they creeped on by as i rode out the tremors of release. the only constant in my life was that the shifting waves always returned to the freedom and release.

one thing i learned, or remembered is that reliance on external teachings will often throw you off your own path and the voice of your own essence as soul. you cannot be free if you are subscribed to anything other than your own inner divinity. there is freedom in destruction...the destruction of illusions, the illusory 3d forgery that glues together perception of this world. the realms of the heart are fluidly inaccessible through intellectual devices of the mind. the struggle no longer applies when you are aware of your unity, the interconnectedness of all because everything existing in the realms of illusion falls to the wayside.

tarot readings. larger version on twitpic

Legitimate pictures from last weekend's circus festival are coming soon too, here's a few sneak peeks. My tent was so busy I hardly had any time to photograph!

Special thanks and love to anyone & everyone who came out for a reading from the mystical Wunderkammer Gypsy Den, picked up some jewelry or just brought their electric colorfield love out in full force for a magical and surreal evening under the stars.

Wunderkammer vendor area

all the people standing in line for tarot/intuitive readings!

inside the tent. special thanks to leandra drumm for making such a wonderful sign!

patchwork tent and lightshow...

the queen and king of hearts made an appearance...

treats from the cupcake peddlers...

our lovely stilt-walking arachnid girl...

and fairyland performers. let them eat cake <3

peace, love and rainbow rays,

-Kafka Vodka

fingers pointing at a gilded sun.

2010-10-07T15:35:00.001-07:00

that sense of release resembled a construct, a postmodern icarus.
how dare you find your freedom soaring through sunrays!
a synapse in the false logic of eathbound restriction.
new and improved, wingspan handcrafted from the finest dreams.
apathy and sympathy can't melt these.
without their waxing i'd always known i'd find a way...

love and lights,

kafka

pre-sent presents of the dream-reality-matrix

2010-08-30T19:13:00.002-07:00

HOME SERIES, illustration number five // ELECTRIC OCTOSKY in progress.

full size on twitpic: http://twitpic.com/2js2j5

at the halfway mark, going for 10 in this series.

and a handful of deadly delights from my Junker Jewels and Doomblumen lines, should have pics of the first batch of bows up for sale in a few days but until then:

DOOMBLUMEN: Harmonic Convergence Hairpiece

DOOMBLUMEN: Madame Déficit Hairpiece

JUNKER JEWELS: 018 Karmic Absolution Necklace

jump on over to www.kafkavodkalovesyou.com to check out all the updates, new merchandise and purchasing information.

in other news, the Wunderkammer has been out on the road peddling enchanted wares, multidimensional curiosities, epic hair bows, tarot readings and more....here it is in action, lime green tent and all :)

stay gold, my hearts <3

love, kafka

boys and girls, boys and bows.

2010-08-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

pretty monsters, beautiful creepers.

****

STREET ART/installations.

Impact point, soul star: a splattering of interglactic tidalwaves & braindance sonatas

mmm, brains.....hungry yet? :p

HOME

2010-08-01T19:13:00.003-07:00

A mixed media series of otherworldly landscapes and celestial illumination: the meaning of life is the evolution of consciousness.

MEMORYCLOAKS, starstruck....in progress?

(full size on twitpic)

LIGHTBODIES, final.

view the rest so far on my website and on facebook.

xo
kafka

character development: junkyards, halls of mirrors and energy shifts

2010-07-16T16:58:00.004-07:00

"soo... what's your film about?"

notes on the little screenplay that has become my personal pet project in the past few months.

a haunting girl with jet black hair and exquisite taste who doubles as a personified metaphor for promaja (a folktale from mycountry of spirits that bring illness and negative energies through "drafts" in open windows)..... a wolfman who is a hoarder of physical objects, in addition to emotional woes....anelderly mystic who recalls her lifetime's tales from her secluded mountain/astral haven that may be on a whole different plane of existence entirely (think: the stories of shamballa), a lovesick guy and his mysterious masked lover....it is never revealed to the viewer if the partner is real, a twin, part of another life's external experience ...or even just a figment of torture in his mental hall of mirrors. it is a contemplation on identity and the concept of a love that goes beyond simple human notions of ownership, procreation and duality, a surreal and provocatively woven tale of past lives and future lore intersecting at spaces outsideof linear time. multiple things seems to happen at once on a hollow earth, in an eternal string of now, timeles chaos, synchronicity. i hope to question these masks we wear, the other selves we create tofunction within the demands of this earthly plane, the beasts we choose to tameor embrace...and how universal love, soul love and a cosmic heritage really does heal all wounds, earthbound or otherwise.

now i'd like to introduce you to the main characters!

ANALOG & MONOLOGUE, THE TWIN FLAMES.androgynous lovers/fractured identities. unable to tell if they are one and the same or entirely separate entities. Analog often pulls away, playing the role of the waning moon and Monologue is magnetically drawn in, waxing towards fullness. they carry out a rather intricate but fragilely explosive dance of hot and cold, back and forth, lessening and letting go only to tightly pull the reins back in when fate demands. they have similar physical appearances, their life stories echo each others, they resonate in ways they've never known before but there's been this block between them that neither has been able to place...they are both trembling on the edge between two worlds, the spiritual and the physical. at what point do they converge? is this a love frequency expressed in a dream or has dna created physicality in waking life?

DACIANA KATJA PROMAJA.creator of universes, femme fatale, force of reckoning. becoming aware of her own power of destruction in the process. she's challenging but her potential is oddly charming. aesthetically she's the classic "dark" female, ghostly in red lipstick and italian heels but on this path of transformation, how much room is there for shadows when you're a madwoman suddenly infused with light? she's harnesses a great power of command between bouts of instability and erratic emotions.....little does she know she's also part wolf.

KALEB ELERIM.washed up dj and musician, tortured human, desperately seeking teenage girls in a futile attempt to hold on to fading youth never reconciled. somewhere beneath this showman's exterior is a pure soul passionate for his craft but this is often lost in the self-deception he dabbles in, in the fading realizations of an empire built on the act of denying. between the drug use, all nighters and casual sex, he's aged drastically in the past two years...but a few frown lines might be the least of his problems. his open bed, open window policy may have let a little more in than the harlots he's invited....

VUKASIN, THE ANTHROPOMORPHIC WOLF.hoarder, keeper of junk. interested in the emotional life of objects. his insides don't match his outsides because he's built up too many walls, literal and metaphorical. he's got the cunning swiftness of his wolf brethren infused with a human emotional blueprint that he's never fully integrated, causing him to manifest human emotions inappropriately: disproportionate attachments to material things. beyond this slight, he's mastered the art of skin-walking and shape-shifting. he often wears a costume wolf mask to enhance the polarity of his humanness. in his wake he leaves clumps of hair behind or tiny red strings, often regurgitated.

BABA RAJA.master storyteller, a warm-hearted keeper of wisdom. guides others through the hardships of lifetimes laced with karma. the crone archetype. she has one glass eye and a pacemaker for a heart but her knowledge comes from seeing and feeling in ways others don't. she's as old as methuselah, her mastery of magic has altered her perspectives on time, exposing it as the cosmic illusion it really is. soaked in folklore and the spirits of a long forgotten past, she's created her own private fountain of youth off the dalmatian coast which has become a safe haven for spiritual seekers and vagrant creatures alike.

i leave you with a few images from my massive collection, the "inspiration folder"

XXXXX

....and two new illustrations-in-progress from my HOME series:

HOME: GALACTIC BORDERLANDS (larger version posted up on twitpic)

WAYSHOWERS: LIGHTBODIES (larger version posted up on twitpic)

feel free to share any feedback, comments, stories, thoughts and lore: kafka@kafkavodkalovesyou.com

blessings and light,

kafka <3

RITUAL OF TIDES

2010-06-24T20:28:00.001-07:00

hi, i like run on sentences, still get my cases confused and make up words...just to make you think. please?

friedrich nietzsche wrote:
"if our senses were fine enough, we would perceive the slumbering cliff as dancing chaos:
life is an immaculately choreographed dance carried out by eternal flames, vibrating frantically. if our senses were so finely attuned we'd become aware of this cosmic dance, the glory and wonder of it all between moments of timelessness, chaos and mythic flavor. "

in the meantime, here's some recent writings of my own:

i want to take you to the woods, where the straight paths vanish into nothingness and the oblivion of chance haunts every potential step you may take. these branches are lifelines, spread out amongst ashes of your old self . arteries chugging, puffing along through planes of bloodlust. its the gipsy's fervor, a drunkship of bloated desire, these continents of obscured parts awake from the abysmal planes. we appear to be lost, debauchery in the forest of the dark knight, hazy indigo nights...its a play on words dusted with the ashes of peripheral lusts and curses spoke under hushed breaths, monotone whispers. shadows can't be subtle, they lure and draw us to awaken from a temptress otherwise unknown, i draw my ace of swords, fragile constructed scenarios. abstraction is one guise, the sweet lure of metaphors is the other. the surface leads you to judge solely on appearance. this looks a bitter pill but my forest holds no gag reflex...a slight of hand into a regurgitated voyage over shallow waters, cavernous in its emptiness, adventurous binging for phosphorescent times. if i can't live with myself, i can't live with anyone's safety glasses either. i want to get lost on those forest paths squarely between the comforting whiteness that is also the instigator of lunacy, the intimacy of falsity, all together now....let's lurk between the shadowy mists. lets climb the branches of expansion from americana to our kinship of soul hunger. dig deeper, get clearer, dive right into the real world. truth is a stronghold, a rundown shanty, a desolate beach of narcissistic desires and our soul's forgotten lore.

i stand.
alone in the fortress of you.

in being here, love and life the only constants. everything else is peripherals.
through an uncompromising love you find life worth living. and through an uncompromising desire for life you find love in its purest form. therefore they are one in the same, unified through creating purpose. why have a lovelife when you can LOVE LIFE?

last time that stomach panged, it felt once removed and i remembered to finally look up the recipe for forgetting. as structured thought intricately crafted out the nuances of the leading lady, subtle movements played backup roles of hot and cold.

alcohol traded off with hormones in a deafening crescendo of mixed messages, intercepted signals and every other moment of third dimensional restriction. awkwardness situated itself neatly between sliced wraps of time and that extra layer of cortisone. this hunger had less to do with expiration dates stamped neatly into plasticized styrafoam and more to do with all those places food couldn't satisfy. nope, this time the target was shelf life and the hunger came from soul level. how long could we live like this, how can i possibly go on knowing what i know now? the worst part of it all was i asked for it, nonchalantly and unspecified of course. be careful what you wish for, this experiment in rebirth didn't go as predicted. the container wasn't sized in heavy duty or jumbo for all the luggage i'd hauled pass the finish line....and when the extra duty reinforcements were needed the most, the backups were on binge diets. i mused on taking my sharpened heart up with the marketing department, the whole bloody, thumping echoing beast. a bloody embodiment of this visceral awareness...dropping the damned thing down on the supervisor's crystalline desktop as it choked on the beats of its own drum, in tandem with a clock of rage barking 2:22....the ongoing hunger strike would eventually dissipate. 200 ml release, half a liter white light, 350 ml emotional manipulation and a pinch of passive aggressiveness. grill till well done and remove from heat. salt to preference....or were these symptoms of some otherworldly decadence, entranced by subtle stares?

love/light,
-kafka

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

2010-06-13T01:39:00.006-07:00

now available on www.kafkavodkalovesyou.com

May Mixtape: CHAKRA

2010-03-07T19:11:00.008-07:00

CHAKRA mixtape set to drop from the higher dimensions of non-linear time and space to blast you straight through the astral plane! Check out a sneek peek of the cover art and tracklist here, it will be the first installment of a mixtape series called NEON ICONS:

CHAKRA MIXTAPE

Little Boots - New In Town (A1 Bassline Attack Mix)

Robyn - Konichiwa Bitches (Lanzier & Lemethy Remix)

Fukkk Off - Famous (Dirty Disco Youth Remix)
Alex Kidd - Unholy Grail (Lazy Rich Remix)

Fedde le Grand - Put Your Hands Up For Detroit (DJ Sidney Edit)

Nujax - Super Duper Fly (Barletta and Ernold Sane Edit)

Simian Mobile Disco - Hustler (Dirty Noise Remix)

The Disco Villains - We Just Came To Get The Party Started (Night Drugs Remix)

Lolene - Sexy People (Static Revenger Club Mix)

Urchins and Spoek - Tickets (Blatta & Inesha mix)

Aquaksy feat Sporty O - Outta Control (Kelevra Remix)

Udachi - Pfunk Skank (Original Mix)

Bryan Cox - All You Bitches

The Rogue Element - Panic Attacks (Arrow's Jack Tech Remix)

Sawtooth Sucka - Letting Go (Mick Matias Boom Tee Boom Booty)

RAGE!

Love/LIGHT,
-kafka

MORE NEW NEW NEXT LEVEL SHIT!

2010-03-04T21:31:00.006-07:00

WELL.

I've been keeping busy lately and I'm excited to tell you my new website is up at www.kafkavodkalovesyou.com!

Its part resetcouture/fashion work but also includes my new jewelry line JUNKER JEWELS, my new series of wearable toxic flowers DOOMBLUMEN (both are up for sale now too so head on over and pick up a gorgeous neon explosion of toxic blooms!)....plus lots of other fun things like drawings and illustrations. Soon enough I'll have even more epic madness which will include a shitload of raging electro tracks and videos for you filthy pretty things! But until then check out this teaser of one of my up and coming music projects:
Two previews of album artwork from my next level electro dj/performance duo project with my homeboy Spencer, who is also IDM artist Ersatz Modem. We're called ICONOPLASTIX and we make skanky filthy basslines. The end.

Preview #1: Ninjas vs. Velociraptors

Preview #2: Fluorescent Facades Slutty Money re-fix

Comin' straight at you from the dirty south, you can expect our demo and mixtapes to drop before the month is over. Your ears are safe until then!!

Love/Light xoxo

-Kafka

New Jewelry and Accessory Lines: Junker Jewels & DOOMBLUMEN

2010-02-24T15:47:00.018-07:00

Project 1: DOOMBLUMEN

This is my new accessory line.

Flowers of Doom: A series of wearable, perilous perennials from the apocalypse.

Flowering toxicity with blossoms of circumstance and pockets full of paragons!

DOOMBLUMEN Groupshot

Nonpareil Paragon Pin

Junglechrome Syndromes Pin

Effloresce Medusae Hairclip

Currently available in two styles: Hair clip/Barrette and Pins.

Project 2: JUNKER JEWELS: A Meditation on Opportunity and Potential

This is my new jewelry line.

These pieces are made mostly from found objects. What began as making cute "junk necklaces" turned into so much more: a question on the nature of value, an elaborate meditation on mental illness and a dialogue on the emotional life of attachments.

Counterclockwise from top:
Junker Jewels 011: Mystical Vertebra and Junker Jewels 010: Prophetic Capacitor with Earthbound Repeaters Hairclip from my accessory line DOOMBLUMEN

Junker Jewels 0 0 3: Medusa Labyrinth Necklace

Junker Jewels 0 0 8: Redemption Uninhibited Necklace

Junker Jewels 0 0 5: Mainframe, Multidimensionality Necklace

Junker Jewels 0 0 2: Release Current Necklace

Junker Jewels 0 0 1: Monarch Project

Hoarding is "a mental disorder marked by an obsessive need to acquire (and failure to use or discard) a significant amount of possessions, even if the items are worthless, hazardous, or unsanitary."

My mother is a hoarder.

With every trip to her house over the past few years I began to collect bits and pieces of her "collections." Hoarders seem to create their own value systems, one where a rusty old paperclip or a beat up sweater have just as much value as objects socially accepted to be valuable. Discount outlets, thrift stores and television shopping channels are havens for compulsive purchasing; not because the items are actually needed but because they are on sale or a good deal.

I wanted to question this idea of "value" and how these alternative systems are created. Here I create my own system but one where the objects live up to their inherent "potential" (although subverted). Where is the line drawn between "usefulness" and "excessive"? I sought to question the nature of emotions and possessions: how a mother could deprive a daughter of natural emotional development but attribute emotional lives to objects otherwise incapable of experiencing them? When you grow up with mental illness, everything is backwards. There is no normal. My mother's ownership and possession issues have extended beyond a house full of stuff into a full blow other world built around the emotional lives of objects. Its a delicate dance between these worlds...and I ask you: Where's the line drawn between beauty and squalor? Treasure, trash, its all perspective. Where's yours?

- - -

More photos and information on both lines can be found on my site: Junker Jewels Official

and

DOOMBLUMEN Official

Love and light,

Kafka Vodka

on fashion, fascism and giving offense.

2009-11-26T18:00:00.005-07:00

it may be old news to you but since i've been mostly offline for a few days now, i feel the need to address all this recent hype on a fashion editorial shot at berlin's holocaust memorial for easyjet airlines' in-flight magazine. the few articles i read begged so many unanswered questions, and i found myself fuming....
but not for the obvious 'offenses' you'd expect either.
i dare say i remember when the memorial first opened, i felt like a naughty child as the first thought to sneak in my mind was:
if the rectangular blocks were primary colors, they'd be like real time tetris blocks!! and the second swiftly followed...how great would it be to do a fashion shoot there!
not only for aesthetic reasons but to create a fashion space existing on multiple levels of meaning and document the process....a way to go beyond the surface while tackling ideas of time, humanity and the use of space through clothing....an act always discredited, watered down as trivial and frivolous.

would any other artistic piece with the intent of "generating awareness" for this location and period of time be received with such a huff and cold shoulder?
had this piece been executed in any other medium, would it be received with more validity? would it even be a question of "taste" if it wasn't fashion?
why is 'fashion' not considered an appropriate medium to address social issues or the ghosts of them, current or past?
who says that fashion must be a trivial, vain platform incapable of addressing the darkness that is such a vital part of human nature?
isn't the concept of fashion itself a very primal conflict between fascination of the flesh and the desire to hide it, shame it, cover it away?
why is it such a horrific offense to take photographs at a location deemed by a specific group of individuals (white first world europeans) to be a physical representation of tragedy?
how does technology transcend physicality?
what about the auras and energies imprinted in a physical place, especially after destruction that linger there regardless of the uses humanity designates as "proper" for them?
why can't the fashioned self or site be a platform for exploring anger, extremity, darkness?
what is it here that confronts notions of perceived vulnerability, reality and possession?
is it this destruction of notions that makes the critics so uncomfortable to begin with? or are they made to be uncomfortable because this forces them to confront their own bourgeoisie ideas on death, beauty, morality, brutality?

who writes the rules that state things along the lines of "when has anyone in the fashion industry ever been acused of having depth, they are shallow insubstantial waves turning to the next wave contributing...nothing!" ? who is to judge a creative project's level of creative contribution and so-called good taste to begin with? why is contemporary europe still so haunted by its past?

i challenge those critics to answer these questions. will they then, with any sincerity, be able to claim that the act of dressing means and contributes nothing to society, history or creativity as a whole?

i don't buy it that anyone is really so shocked and awed by all of this...is society, especially european society that puritanical and touchy? or is this just a product of media hype, over-saturation of information and the resultant need to ooze with excessive drama for attention or other forms of gratification?

***

this year we also saw numerous articles and racism complaints over the "offensiveness" of models painted with black faces in french vogue....

viktor & rolf's fall 2001-02 line based on black holes featured solid black structured garments, razor cut angles and models with painted black bodies. years before. by using the solid darkness and shapes they addressed various issues from flatness, depth, space and depression. offensive? racist? not hardly. a new idea that just happened last month? don't think so either. and i never heard one complaint of racism towards v&r's collection. when it comes to offense, its more offensive to be bombarded by the righteousness of these creative dictators who use the internet as a platform for their pompous insecurities and biased historical viewpoints than it is to see an artist address a social issue such as race or history by using fashion in a thought provoking and innovative manner (if that is even the purpose to begin with!).

how long will it be before they crucify me as a racist for the black series i've been working on? and as a war-mongering bigot for planning to use old soviet war tanks in upcoming projects or doing a line based on the ethnic/political crises of the former yugoslavia? some people just don't get it!

fear and love come from the same place. a few things to think about.

love, light and offense,

-kafkavodka

CLEARSEA

2009-11-13T11:51:00.003-07:00

Around september/oct, more recent, an unbiased glance. my writing style in its purest so far.

on clarity:
the sword is lifted, i want to test its edge....wether we are tightrope walkers over abysses without safety nets or we delicately tiptoe on the edge of that sharp blade willfully knowing that one false slip will surely cut us in two (this time literally)...
we no longer have the fear.
but are we really sure either?
its been long forgotten in favor of mindstrike lightning vision, where no thought is ever finished but merely a transition forging pathways into the next deprivation. clarity is usually the first to be let go, somehow the imposing crevices and widening rifts become a more comfortable place to reside. in the shadows of this veil its shockingly comforting (even though we may never admit to it).
so what if i've become ungrounded, lost in a chorus that no longer sings my tunes, a vision that reflects nothing that i see. i'll still scream from the rooftops even if it benefits only the turquoise veins of my own throat chakra. seeing is no longer believing but constructing, with every sight we transmit a brand new world built on aural spectrums and tactile curses. ahoy mate, this manifestation thunders inside of me, churning waves of simultaneous future life crash one by one against the rocks of my sharpest fears....which should have been forced to walk the plank a lifetime ago at least.
we are lost at sea, circling in the whirlpools so similar to the ones inside our minds, where the end result is obviously so contrary to our natures but so recognizably familiar, so comforting in that strange diametrical sort of way. in this paradox we sink down to the deep sea, another far away land where the blackness settles in, we may as well as cut out our own eyes. underneath we've learnt to flash but have yet to understand how to perceive the flashes of others.

Distance makes a heart grow....wiser?

2009-11-12T15:04:00.002-07:00

Hello distance, it's been awhile!
now that i've had adequate time to recover and realign, its well past due that i address a lot of specters that have been haunting and lurking in these parts.
as you may or may not already know by this point, resetcouture and many of my other fashion projects are on hiatus until further notice. i'm still working on a few things behind the scenes, like interviewing interns for the spring, working on the webpage and smoothing out glitches in these editorials but i won't be releasing any new lines for the time being or restocking any sold out items. i will be available for *some* wardrobe styling commissions and custom orders on a case by case basis. email any inquiries to resetcouture@gmail.com and don't forget to follow our twitter, myspace and facebook pages so you will know when we're up and running full speed again.

on to the whys!

i really wish i had a simple answer for all the 'whys' many people have asked but i don't. all i can say is sometimes life throws a mean right hook straight to the teeth of your impeccably constructed plans and you have to take an alternate route. situations change suddenly, you realize things aren't exactly how they appear to be, other unexpected creative opportunities pop up in various disguises when you are least expecting it....and you realize finally have the strength built up inside you to make some epically huge improvements to the little empire you've created, otherwise known as life.

there is a magickal quality about purging oneself, those intuitive energies that you cant describe in words, that feeling you get when you are on top of the world and your mind is on fire, even when you are drowning in an indistinguishable sorrow there is a strange purity in the whole process. this year has been a wicked roller coaster and i've run the spectrum of emotions, being shot from the lowest of lows to the highest peaks.
it all comes down to being happy and if i'm no longer feeling what i'm doing, it's well past due for some reconsideration. i'll be eventually posting some of my writings from the past few months along with updates and other random cool shit. in the meantime i've finally got my turntables and mixer, been working on some blazin' new wobbly dance beats for all you crunk kids out there and getting into the blood and guts of writing a very surreal, cryptic, dream-like screenplay. i need to play catch up to the other parts of my life that i've neglected for too long now.

Until then, the travel bug has bitten once again and I'm off to Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa for the 4th annual David Lynch weekend!

The upcoming weekend's seminar focuses around the topics of creativity, consciousness and transformation. speakers include the infamous Mr. Lynch himself, quantum physicist Dr. John Hagelin (from The Secret and What the Bleep Do We Know?) and Dr. Fred Travis, director of the university's center for brain, consciousness and cognition. sign up at the dlf.tv site to receive a link to the webcast once it airs!

along with being a forerunner in the transcendental meditation technique and consciousness-based education, the university is one of the first schools in the united states to offer a full organic vegetarian/vegan meal program for its students!

how cool is that?
so shoot me a msg if you plan on attending and let's get our small town groove on!
love and light,
kafka

resetcouture featured in Cry Havoc Mag: the LA Fashion Issue

2009-07-17T18:00:00.005-07:00

What was Kill/Destroy is now Cry Havoc!
(really hoping that name change is a warcraft reference...yeah i'm a super nerd at heart (:

Check out our new feature in Cry Havoc Mag #1: LA fashion issue with Destroy Inc & Glamourkill Studio

Get it at www.cryhavocmag.com! or click the previews below to go to the site:

RE: DARKNIGHT

2009-04-22T22:01:00.003-07:00

this is a repost of something i put on myspace early april:

in numerology, the number nine represents the cycle of returns. the number multiplied by any other number then reduced is always nine. the nine is the untouchable ideal, ending and beginning all in one, before and after the result is the same regardless of the path: the place you begin and the place you end, the filler stuffed between can be just about anything. it cannot be destroyed, reduced, diminished by any other force in nature or systematic frame of reference.

so i'm stuck on repeat in the filler stuck between, the most insignificant part of the whole damn process, double stuck, doubletime, double trouble.

do we choose to be victims of our predatory minds under moonlight, disillusioned by lurking shadows and remain unaware of our potential to escape. do we subconsciously choose in the darkness to become unsavory bedfellows with those bottomless wells and black holes that we are constantly prowling through, searching endlessly on an eternal loop. an infestation of destructive intellect, a short in the circuit, the shipwreck is going under, oh no there's bugs in the wires. they hatch in that seldom touched space between whats filled in with shades of grey in a warm 9x8=72 7+2= 9 percent, now immune to the current that runs through the wires.

tonight is one of many nights spent laying down in a dark room, eyes burning and mind on fire. shooting stars of anguish are completely unprovoked...it is unnecessary. they flash for a quick second, tiny haunting monsters cutting through the air screeching, the glimmer of knives and the sounds that sparkle. the only dreamworld i know is the concept of sleep, so foreign and strange. the life around me has become the dream but someone else is the ringleader of this circus of irony and twisted fate. the longer you ignore or refuse to confront the monsters, the more of a significance they take on...the larger they grow. the nine giant swords of anguish and self imposed cruelty once again loom over the bed i comfort in.... this midnight train to self destruction has jumped the tracks.

when a light worker walks the shadowlands one too many times....

in the absence of light, we destroy. enchance the detrimental, we prefer anonymity. in one moment we can surrender to the abyss so we no longer visually see ourselves or others....we must learn another way to see. despite all the shadows lurking and after effects glowing hauntingly, in all the detriment the darkness brings it forces us to experience in a whole new way. subconscious thoughts come to the surface in strange new ways, the recurring themes of destruction become so obviously bright in our newly begun double lives. sometimes destruction is the only way to bring about awareness, while at other times consciousness must be thrown upon us in the most unpleasant ways before we are able to gain the necessary awareness to be able to finally move on.

so i've moved on, am i still haunted?

how much longer can i destroy myself when there's hardly anything left to destroy....

anyways.

i got some fckin issues these days

xoxo

resetcouture: KILL/DESTROY Promo Shots for Binary/Duality 09

2009-04-21T19:02:00.007-07:00

from the upcoming Kill/Destroy mag :)

with our fabulous team:

Photos: Jesse/DestroyInc

MUA: Alisha/GlamourKill FX

Hair: Cici Anderson

Models: Dominic Andrew, Isaac Mascote, Lani T and Heather

more Sea Gipsy shots coming soon, until then i'm going to wage further war with this nonexistent notion of sleep, which will probably result in drinking vino and watching korean horror until daylight comes.

the rains are so strange, winding countryside roads, the damp chills, i feel like i'm in final fantasy...

2009-04-20T15:03:00.008-07:00

here i am, perched upon hilltops, in strange lands speaking in devil's tongues, gathered around bonfires with fire breathers and the ghosts of consciousness past....

the destruction is still so evident, sometimes i feel like the war is still on.

the cafe i spent hours in, chain smoking through ridiculous conversations and way too many books on topics i had no interest in...

the dark little pub owned by a sweet greek baba who made the best spanakopita ever...

the pagan magick shop that was pretty much in the living room of someone's house...

all gone.

and the rains...

how long has it been since i've experienced the chilly, dark rains?

it seems that i'm slightly disconnected from the world around me, from myself, so ungrounded and dare say confused, no attachment to any place, its just another transition pulled via tiny nano stings filled with the here and now. its bittersweet since i crave change so strongly but its also a bit sad to see so many things go. there is no permanence but instead a sense of place-lessness, everything and everyone is the same. the perfect complement to my desire for non being.

i felt nothing leaving LA.

i wear my masks like its carnivale in venice, floating on rickety cut outs of moral support plagued through dark tunnels of avarice and vindication. an elaborate structure to engulf one's face in feathers and flame, gliding in false gestures to an ever discerning public. the gaze of judgement, a touch of chiffon convoluted to put flesh on the bones of a baroque simplicity, waking elasticity, shadows enhanced in a customary glow.

bridged by time zones, my offbeat, erratic sleep schedule fits in just fine, intertwined land with the clinical flaw of insomnia, oh my lack of timepiece, time sense...i have no where to be, i even sometimes like those strange places my mind wanders off to after days without true sleep. now the self reclaiming wakefulness takes precedence over busybody scheduling, i've lost the need for control, for time, this whole 'whenever you like' time has transformed into the ebb and flow of productivity and natural existence. the witching hour, the place inbetween and my ever growing existential doubting.

TOWERS/REVIVAL

2009-04-19T21:07:00.007-07:00

ascent of transitions, destructions, never ending cycles. sometimes our precious towers of ego and vanity collapse around us in sudden, shocking nightmares....othertimes we set ourselves up to destroy by our own choices. regardless, the circle will always begin anew....and every time we scrub off one more layer of unnecessary, one less insignificant aspect that is no longer representative of our process of growth and change.
this will be a multi faceted collection of everything resetcouture, the trials, tribulations and adventures of an unconventional fashion project in a la la land of industry clone boredom tinged with a hint of metaphysical, esoteric and existential musings....a glimpse into the mind of a critical fashionist philosopher redefining and reinterpreting.

this will also be everything else that makes up my world too: all those random strange writings and thoughts that sneak up on me in the middle of the night, progress on the film i'm currently writing, all the daily oddity i encounter, party times, travel documentary and any random cool creative shit i find along the way.

i make no promises and have no expectations but...
let's see where the journey takes us this time!

with light and love,

kafkavodka

pattern language

2005-12-05T21:47:00.003-07:00

pattern language: clothing as communicator is a traveling show organized by tufts university. it is based around the idea of clothing as a communication tool with a focus on interactive wearables, along with such classics as issey miyake, lucy orta, galya rosenfeld and cat chow. in a little more than a month it will be at the krannert art museum at the university of illinois in urbana–champaign.
1.20.06–4.9.06

WHEN PIGS FLY AND BLANKETS CRAWL...

2005-09-20T15:00:00.002-07:00

the blanket project: behavioral sculpture by nicholas stedman with future physical. equipped with a wireless transceiver, a PIC microprocessor, and a camera to detect bodies in its space. data is sent to the blanket which will then scuttle across and crawl over detected objects. the blanket's skeleton includes pressure sensors which allow it to respond to physical movement from the beings it envelopes. there are two of them that i have seen, a white one shown in the picture above which appears to be a little larger and a small grey fleece one. the blanket is currently in toronto where it is being shown at the mcluhen festival of the future.

awhile ago i began to make shirts and pants that move on the wearer's body....pants that crawl up and down a leg, a shirt sleeve that slivers up an arm when a sensor is activated.....

ONE STITCH, ONE PIXEL

2005-09-07T18:00:00.003-07:00

mobile devices observation field exercise 9.8.05
recently a co-worker of mine had been preparing his knitting needles while utilizing a cellular telephone. knitting is about intermingling the same way communication devices create cycles of joined knots. knitting can also be an automatic task, the same way some individuals are so adept at text messaging that they don't be fully attuned mentally, their fingers just glide across keypads. its interesting though because while these two practices maintain numerous similarities, the striking difference is that knitting does produce a tangible output. while it may not be durable enough to maintain a sort of archive, it still is physical and material for a period of time. it would be interesting to see how these physical outcomes of automatic behavior are used and viewed on a social level.

another friend of mine expressed grievances about mobile phones, mainly he was worried about constantly misplacing or losing it. since i do that on almost a daily basis (if not the phone the charger), i could fully relate. this brought up many issues of practicality, wearability and just plain smart design. if we supposedly live in such a high-paced, infiltrated with information, never have time for anything let alone searching for my charger urban wonderland, how is it logical that our necessary communication devices are not integrated with something as vital and necessary as our garments? for the most part we don't forget to dress each day and if we did, the social order in most places would quickly reprimand a swift reminder.

last year around this time i was preoccupied with the structure of creating textiles through weaving and its numerous associations with technology, especially communications patterns such as morse code. i was fascinated by the parallels of obsolete or outdated forms of communication and using conductive fibers in weaving. i recently read an essay by sadie plant called mobile knitting, which recalled many of the ideas i had been working with then, also the essay was filled with many ideas that i has not even considered. unlike weaving, knitting is not fixed to a structural device. it is a variable, only limited by a number of stitches or weight it can hold. knitting is similar in that it involves making loops and meshes, joins and connects. throughout history there are very little fragments or remnants of knitted garments, patterns or information on processes because knitted garments were intended to be worn away by the process of time. in the essay, sadie plant draws a connection between this lack of material history and the transience of celluar communications. she points out how text messages or calls are easily forgotten, deleted and dismissed without any sort of archiving. these messages express the feeling of exactly now, something unable to be reproduced or documented, something melancholy that exists in an emotional experience. she considers the mobile phone something to be worn as a garment, even a second skin but at the current juncture the mobile phone on a widespread level is nothing of the sort.

emotional interactions between individuals and technology or communication devices has been a personal interest of mine for a period of time. while i like the idea of creating a living memory, some issues come to mind. concerning messaging, calls and documentation, the mobile telephone is contextually unaware. an individual's interaction with geographical space affects connectivity, therefore even something as simple as riding a subway or airplane places the individual in a space where such devices cannot be utilized. or even when your telephone beeps to inform you of new voicemail, only to find out that it's two days old but this is your first time hearing it. the idea of exactly now becomes lost in logistics, caught up in transmission or lack of, not even mentioning the need to charge a phone in a non-mobile location so and wouldn't it be great if your mobile communication device was intune with your emotional, mental or physiological state? when you battery runs out you once again miss the now. the mobile phone as we know it on a mainstream level is not a second skin, but rather a prosthetic: you can function without it but *somehow* it makes life more convenient, more manageable, easier to go up that ramp. a second skin implies integration, a fusion of an unobtrusive device seamlessly integrated and aware of its environment rather than a plastic hard circuit box buzzing in the bottom of your bag while you ruffle through your bag chock full of other analog devices only to miss the exactly now.

on the topic of living archives, i am reminded of a proposal to utilize the junk dna of cockroaches as a living archive of new york city. unofrtuantely the essay is in storage and i was unable to find anything online about it, but i will keep searching and post later if i find anything.

also, an article from last year on knitting carbon nanofibers to create artificial muscles for robots.