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KEEP IT CONSTANT
LIVE IT TO DEATH
TEXT MICHELLE CONSTANT
Let’s talk about life today. No, let’s talk about death. Let’s talk about the paperthin line that cuts between our first and last breath. How through diverse cultural offerings we are able to engage with the great human dilemma — life and death, and how we live it. The recent ‘performance’ of a hologram of the late 2Pac at the Coachella Festival in the US, gives new meaning to the Henry Miller quote: “Death doesn’t exist.” The show headlined 2Pac (who was gunned down in 1996) alongside a living Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg. Watching the Youtube footage of the event left me more than a little weirded out. The hologram is all too real, and the communication between the living and the dead in that performance certainly suggests that John Edward may soon be out of a job. Indeed, why would we need to attend the real thing, when this performance is as near as human as it gets. What if I watched a hologram of Kurt Cobain who, performing at the Hollywood Bowl, in a moment of fury, self-loathing, and admittedly junkie-dom, spins around smashing his guitar into the set, destroying all? I saw the ‘real’ thing, and wonder, can that life be replicated again and again? As poet Lebo Mashile (@lebomashile) tweeted: “So in theory, with holograms an artist can perform in an infinite number of venues at the same time. Is this the future of ‘touring?” More to the point, is this the future — a blurring of the lines between human and technology, between the living and the dead? In much the same way, the film The Hunger Games talks to a future that is short on empathy for the living or the dead. With a storyline that takes reality TV to its obvious conclusion — one where youngsters are forced to kill one another for the vicarious viewing pleasure of an over-dressed, thrill-hunting urban class — the over-arching and simplistic message of the film is one commonly attributed to Nietzsche, “what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger”. And yet, it was writer Christopher Hitchens who highlighted how ludicrous that phrase truly is. As he wrote, prior to his death from cancer, “in the brute physical world… there are all too many things that could kill you, don’t kill you, and then leave you considerably weaker”. (I have no doubt, the same could be said of Kurt Cobain’s pharmacological tastes in life, until of course, he really did manage to kill himself.) Which brings me to the rather disturbing but brilliant AME TV series Breaking Bad, a homage to the nature of evil. Breaking Bad is Heart of Darkness circa 21st century, a journey into the shadows of the soul. In the series the protagonist, Walter White, discovering he has cancer and will die within months, ‘cooks’ and sells methamphetamine as a means of financing his family’s future. It is the spectre of death that ostensibly allows him to ‘live’ his choices, without any moral comeback. But, as the series evolves, and White finds himself in remission and no longer facing his own death, he discovers himself unable, and indeed unwilling, to escape his choice of ‘breaking bad’. It’s a moral dilemma fed by the knowledge of time rushing towards us. How the story ends, I don’t know — I still have quite a few seasons to tackle… How the story ends, I have no doubt. It ends the way it ends for everyone — not with a bang but a whimper. And ultimately how it ends, it would appear, depends on how we live it.
QUALITY TIME IWC Big Pilot’s
Watch Top Gun Miramar
TEXT MATT MORLEY
IWC’s CEO Georges Kern was in fine form at this year’s Salon Internationale de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva, and it wasn’t just because of the flight simulator he had hired for his stand either. After 10 years with the company he has the wind in his sails and is determined to leave his imprint on the new collections. Cue a major relaunch of IWC’s entire Pilot line and an all-new Top Gun collection. Kern bullishly announced a “significant increase” in the average price of all Pilot watches this year. “This reflects the introduction of in-house manufacture movements in all the Top Gun watches, just as we have done previously with the Portuguese and Portofino lines. We’re also using ceramic here, a notoriously expensive material that pushes the price up further.” Inspired by the elite pilots who graduate from the US Navy Fighter Weapons School in Miramar, California, known as Top Guns, this is a sporty, retro watch with bags of individuality. A polished grey ceramic case 48mm in diameter and 15mm in height will make its presence known under even the most generous of shirt cuffs. Team it with a white tee, jeans and a set of dog tags around your neck though, and you’ll be fine. An over-sized titanium crown allows for easy timechanges even when at a 10 000ft mid-aerial manoeuvre. Similarly, the large, clear anthracite grey dial and contrasting peach coloured hour/minute hands are designed to maximise legibility even in adverse conditions. Notice how the Arabic numerals around the exterior of the dial refer to minutes, while an inner dial in red houses the hour markers, a detail common in classic pilot’s watches. A power reserve display at 3 o’clock has to accommodate a seven-day countdown,
a huge number for any watch and an impressive feat from IWC. In the version shown here, the date display sits at 6 o’clock, whereas in the chronograph version the power reserve display is removed in favour of minutes and seconds sub-dials at 12 and 6 o’clock, with the date display now at 3 o’clock. All in all, this is a man’s watch for a highly functional man and stands out with its vintageinspired aesthetics and tough military style strap. For Kern though, that’s not enough. For him it’s about selling the dream as much as the product: “You have to tell a story, you need evocative names and histories; it’s a fundamental element of our business.”
Case: 48mm, polished ceramic Movement: IWC Calibre 51111 Features: date display, 168-hour power reserve Strap: green textile with steel pin buckle Price: R165 000 Distributor: Vendome Distributors, 011 666 2800
To celebrate World Oceans Day on June 8, and seven years of partnering with Oceana, La Mer has created a limited edition 100ml World Oceans Day Crème in a specially-designed jar inspired by the tones of the sea. R3 200, available at La Mer counters nationwide
Michelle Constant is the CEO of Business and Arts SA (BASA), and presenter of SAFM Lifestyle (Saturdays, 9am-12pm)
42 MAY 2012
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