PFF presents Current TV in conversation

WE'RE SUPPORTING

New York-based photographer Michael Lavine took the iconic photo of Kurt and Courtney for the cover of Sassy magazine back in the early 1990s. We asked him to recount the story behind the shoot: ‘We shot the photos at my Bleeker St loft on the Bowery. I remember that my friends Andrea Linett and Janet Billig were there. I remember the ridiculous twelve foot silk lighting setup I used. I remember people having to go out and score dope. I remember Kurt telling me that the reason that he loved Courtney so much was that she was the only girl he knew that would stand up at a party and smash a glass table to bits just for the hell of it. I remember thinking that was a pretty odd reason to love someone’. There’s an extensive interview with Michael Lavine on the Feature Shoot website.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, or ‘Le Corbusier’ is considered by many to be the most influential architect of the twentieth century. His designs are responsible for urban structures around the world, from the grid-city of Chandigarh in India to London’s Barbican Centre, which is currently hosting an exhibition of his work. But to peg him as an architect overlooks an awe-inspiring body of work that also takes in art, literature and even a new system of measurement. With this display, the first serious UK solo exhibition of his work for twenty years, we can finally appreciate the scale of his contributions.

WE'RE WEARING

The My Town In My Home collection of hand-knitted fashion by Yoshikazu Yamagata and Mafuyu was exhibited at this year’s Amhem Mode Biennale in Amsterdam. Sure gives a new twist to the saying, ‘wherever I lay my hat …’ [see also the Brain Bag by Jun Takahashi]

WE'RE THINKING

I love how illustrator and artist Wesley Allsbrook colors her work with pulsating acid-like washes and varied textures, setting off her gorgeous animated line work just beautifully. Read more

WE'RE READING

I am really into Hong Kong action flicks from the 1980s and 90s. When I first moved to New York, there were a handful of curious friends who were also interested in watching movies such as City on Fire by Ringo Lam, which Reservoir Dogs was based on. How did they find videos like thus? At the legendary Kim’s Video in New York City. These days, City on Fire can be find online, and Kim’s is history. But all the videos that entertained the film geeks of this city for more than twenty years have found a new home in, wait for it, Salemi, Sicily. Yes, the southern island of Italy. Kim has recently relocated there, as this sad but heartwarming story about him in yesterday’s New York Times reveals.

An intelligently told, morally complex tale with a raft of unexpected twists, Gone Baby Gone is one of the most original films of recent times. Most films give you a sense of their narrative arc and it is easy to recognise the major plot points. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Where would we be without synths and drum machines? Probably still listening to Grateful Dead jams in the alleyways of Height-Asbury. Done well, the remix is a wonderful thing. Case in point is Royksopp’s rendering of the Kings of Convenience track I Don’t Know What I Can Save You From. And then there’s Riton’s version of the Mystery Jets song, The Boy Who Ran Away. A White Lines for the 21st Century? I think so.