Live Now

Live Stream from Le Printemps - GMT

Navigate Blog

Nick Knight

VIOLENCE: The first T-shirt arrives.

The first of the T-shirts for the fighters has arrived from Berlin. Sealed in its plastic bag, it is now just waiting for the date of Ryan's fight.

Make a Comment

Log into my account | Sign up

CAPTCHARefresh

23 comments

  • bamia
    15:12 22 Oct 2008
    urgh this project is so nineties
  • marian
    17:01 22 Oct 2008
    i really cant wait to smell violence. its such a clever idea. how is this project 90's when it's never been done before?
  • dromedary
    17:01 23 Oct 2008
    forgive my ignorance but how are you going to make the smell of sweat etc smell good? or is that not important? i am so excited to find out what violence actually smells like but i cant imagine it being a "pleasant" scent- perhaps this is to do with the fact that i once watched a documentary program that had accounts of American soldiers that were fighting in Iraq and even though I only watched 3 mens accounts, all three of the men mentioned SMELL in one way or another. Smell in all 3 cases was mentioned in a negative context, referring to some kind of "SMELL OF VIOLENCE" or stenches of the fighting and peoples' wounds
  • dromedary
    17:37 23 Oct 2008
    nowsmellthis.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2006/3/24/1838693.html
    This book talks about how peoples raw contents eg bile, sweat etc all smell the same regardless of where they are from or how old they are or what they do... I havent read it but it got tons of great reviews
  • dromedary
    17:48 23 Oct 2008
    also Suskind's book - Das Parfum is quite an amazing story about SCENT AND VIOLENCE. The main character thinks he is born lacking a personal odour so he gets obsessed with making the perfect scent that will make him fully human. He creates perfumes—based on pheromones—that manipulate human emotions, murdering 25 girls to take their scent.
  • bamia
    09:05 24 Oct 2008
    i think i saw the same programme - this guy was talking about how the smell of war and combat is akin to rotting flesh, blood and shit. Nice. Sorry Nick, but I think you picked the wrong time for this: this ain't exactly no credit crunch perfume!
  • unnamedproducer
    21:16 24 Oct 2008
    hey, you guys have got me thinking, how about a perfume called 'RAPE'?!!
    You could send a hooker a pair of vacuum-fresh knickers, pay someone to rape her and sample the quimmy tones her vag secretes on enforced penetration! Then you could get mad Sissel to develop it in a white pseudo-lab with *process* pictures of her grimacing, 'thatz good cunt, good cunt, do you smell zat?!!' Another trademark loooong and pointless interview will follow for a legion of poor education-starved fashion students to take notes on for their po-mo theses - talk about a service to education. And don't forget, it would all be for free!!!
    Then you could flog the stuff online while keeping us all informed on the challenges to face anyone selling ugly smell-concepts during periods of economic downturn.. and even have a studio back-and-forth blog about it...and perhaps a party where everyone can wear the perfume and with any luck, induce sexual predation on the way home! Yay!
    I guess we'll have to settle for 'violence' perfume instead because it's so much more tasteful. It's just the kind of thing I'll be buying my daughter for Xmas - no doubt you too?
  • GalileosUniverse
    06:06 25 Oct 2008
    FASCINATING , IMAGINATIVE , CLEVER and TOTALLY FULL of eloquence at its best !... I'm wondering whether you enjoy writing such denigrating 'fantasy' or if you indeed care about your daughter's choice of perfume .... let's hope she doesn't have to read such a " CHEERFUL " ..... " taste " and "CONCERN" about VIOLENCE against woman ..... and in the matters of what her father ' doesn't enjoy ' writing in a public forums, when it comes to disagree with someone's else RIGHT to PRODUCE what he or she wants ........ never mind who is involved in the project .
    GOT me curious about what you produce ? ... Not that it matters at all .... LOL !!
    I'm wondering what is worst .... your depicting of gory details or the
    fact that you seem to be a rather VIOLENT character as in ... full of ANGER as to commit verbal VIOLENCE for whatever reason hiding in TOTAL ANONYMITY ....
    BRAVE VERY BRAVE ! ... A very BRAVE PRODUCER !.... I suppose the man's fragrance " MANLY and COURAGEOUS " is your preference and choice .... Perhaps you would care to tell us where can we find that one for FATHER"S DAY ? ...
    I wonder , indeed , what is the difference between PHYSICAL VIOLENCE and VERBAL VIOLENCE ... I suppose verbal violence must have the smell of bad breath as to make you sick ... or not ?
  • GalileosUniverse
    08:41 25 Oct 2008
    May 11, 2007,
    THE NEW YORK TIMES
    Cocaine (the Drink) Banned; Is Opium (the Perfume) Next?
    By STEPHEN J. DUBNER
    Several months ago, we blogged about a controversy over a high-caffeine drink called Cocaine. Now it has been pulled from shelves nationwide. Its producer, Redux Beverages of Las Vegas, was disappointed — and, based on this quote Redux partner Clegg Ivey gave to the Associated Press, a bit confused: “[W]e intended for Cocaine energy drink to be a legal alternative the same way that celibacy is an alternative to premarital sex.” Huh?
    Anyway … shortly after blogging about Cocaine, I came across an expensive little ad insert for Opium, a line of perfume created in 1977 by Yves Saint-Laurent. Here is one description of its allure: “Opium arouses the senses with an exotic blend of lush florals, rich spices, and deep wood notes.”
    While it is true that Opium has been the source of controversy — see this Wikipedia article — that controversy was in fact centered on an ad picturing a naked woman, and not the druggy name.
    So here’s my question: If Cocaine the energy drink is pulled because it’s supposed to have a bad influence on the teenagers who drink it, shouldn’t Opium the perfume be pulled because it’s supposed to have a bad influence — deep wood notes, remember — on the well-heeled women who anoint their bodies with it?
  • GalileosUniverse
    09:35 25 Oct 2008
    Nothing is ever PERFECT EVER of course .... but I'm really puzzled by certain minds that attribute themselves the label of being an "ARTIST ' and yet do manage to interpret such concept as the fragrance in the making titled VIOLENCE so literally that any space for using a little fantasy seems to be banished from every space in their ability to reinterpret things .... I personally don't believe that anything is absolutely " ORIGINAL' .... Rembrandt was a GENIUS of a painter and yet all his themes were never that 'original' or were they ? ..... The key lies on how can you make something look new , refreshing, inspiring, different, etc ... but before one can judge ANYTHING the best is to give any ARTIST the benefit of the doubt ..... at least be a little 'generous' .... however much anyone dislikes the project or might disagree with it ... without RUSHING TO CONCLUSIONS before using the senses to factually judge the final product !!
    When I heard of the project , details of t-shirts, sweat , fights,blood, etc aside ... my first thought was .... ok let's wait and see what will the result be ! .... And by using my personal imagination I was thinking .. the result must be something that doesn't stimulate VIOLENCE but on the contrary .... it must work against violence !!..... totally the opposite . But what I found even more interesting is the attention that is being given to the subject as to make us reflect on our behaviour towards how we treat our fellow humans ...
    What is the point of pretending to care about what the scent smells like while
    being verbally abusive towards others just because we don't like them or can agree with them? .... rather contradictory and DOUBLE STANDARDS .... isn't it ????
    -------------------------------------
    THE SMELL OF OPIUM ???
    Opium caused a stir with its controversial name and brought accusations that brand designer Yves Saint Laurent was condoning drug use.[5] In the United States, a group of Chinese Americans demanded a change of the name and a public apology from Saint Laurent for "his insensivity to Chinese history and Chinese American concerns." They formed a commitee called the American Coalition Against Opium and Drug Abuse, which expressed outrage at the choice of a name representing "a menace that destroyed many lives in China."
    [6] But such controversies rather helped the perfume to be well-publicized, which soon became a best-selling scent.[4]
    For its launch party in 1977, a tall ship Peking was rented from the South Street Seaport Museum in New York's East Harbor, and writer Truman Capote sat at the helm of the ship at the party.[4] The ship was draped with banners of gold, red, and purple, and the Oriental theme was displayed with a thousand-pound bronze statue of the Buddha, laden with white cattleya orchids.
    [4] YSL carried the Oriental theme into its packaging design as well—the red plastic container holding the perfume's glass vial, designed by Pierre Dinand,[2] was inspired by inro (印籠, いんろう?), the small Japanese lacquered cases that were worn under kimonos and held perfumes, herbs and medicines.[7]
    REF>: WIKIPEDIA
  • unnamedproducer
    00:50 26 Oct 2008
    it's so kind and honorable of someone to think of naming a perfume 'violence'.lets not forget, we've already had, 'obsession' from calvin klein, 'envy' from tom ford and 'opium' from ysl. glamorising social ills has long been a lucrative game for the industry so trust Nick Knight, arbiter of sick shit for chic giggles, to cum up with a new number to knock all the old ones dead. now we can have a perfume that represents death and war, and all, sigh, in the name of vanity. Jesus Christ, someone give this man some recognition, god knows he needs it. Is the Nobel Prize still kicking around anywhere?
  • GalileosUniverse
    06:31 26 Oct 2008
    " Her young son was seen walking with a litte girl.
    For this offense the mother is killed. "
    www.islamanazi.com/ society.htm
    Now that you have made such a moralistic point and taking the time to put your view across for us to understand your rage and anger about ' glamorising social ills ' , allow me to put the following question to you .... and I do hope one HONEST and simple answer from you ... please :
    What do you think is far, far, far worse in today's world .... being furious about the name VIOLENCE for a perfume OR the atrocities that are commited in countries with such backwards CONVICTIONS about WOMEN as to consider them so inferior that they have NO RIGHTS as to NOT even being able to chose to wear a perfume with the name 'CHASTITY ' should that perfume exist.... WOMEN who are burned alive, decapitated, mutilated, humiliated, treated less than animals ... and so on and so on ? ... Please do tell us which CAUSE is worth SHOUTING to...... "sick shit" ?
    I did POST an article of AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL about atrocities of the worst discriminatory kind, abominable practices perpetrated against HUMANS and yet NO ONE in this forum and that includes YOU ... seemed to show to care . ( that is unless the word America comes up as the experience has shown ) ...... SO I'm curious again
    what makes NICK KNIGHT' s perfume VIOLENCE ... 1000 times more disgusting and despicable than REAL BLOOD, REAL EVIL VIOLENCE, REAL SUFFERING that is going today against WOMEN ...... the very moment as we are writing our posts from our very comfortable macs ?
    Or has the POLITICALLY CORRECT ......... 'SCENT' .......... made us totally NUMB , INDIFFERENT or TOTALLY AFRAID as to be able to think CLEARLY and LOGICALLY ???
  • nickknight
    16:44 26 Oct 2008
    Dear Unnamed producer and Bamia,
    it is always deeply unpleasant and hurtful to be attacked or criticized. Rejection is just as painful for me as anyone else. That being said I would have been incredibly naive if I had thought that the Violence project was not going to draw some pretty harsh criticism. You may indeed hate my work and feel that what i produce is out of date or not up to your standards or that it is generally not to your liking and taste. I am sorry but you can appreciate I can do very little about that.
    God knows there are times when i want to give up and that I don't achieve the goals i set for myself, I would say I fail more than i succeed.
    I could stop the Violence project but just giving up because it is a difficult project to explain really does seem feeble. Like a lot on SHOWstudio it is an experiment and without trying things it is hard to progress.Some experiments are better than others but it is hard to tell that until you have completed them.
    I could stop SHOWstudio , live my life quite happily saving the money I make elsewhere for myself, I could be thinking "do I really need this grief?"However that just doesn't seem right either.
    Everybody does what they think is the right thing to do with the money they earn and with me I wanted to create a platform across which people could express themselves and that includes you.
    Bamia you describe yourself as an artist so please lets have you contribute to SHOWstudio. Many of the projects have open submissions .
    Unnamed producer we all want our children to grow up reflecting the world as we want it to be, but realistically our children reflect the world that is really out there in all its beauty and in all its ugliness.
    Specifically with Violence I can offer more explanation perhaps that is my first failure with this project, but I am not trying to win you over or convince you just I would like to be judged fairly.
    Over the years I have worked on the imagery for many perfumes that you might indeed wear or have bought for someone else.
    Nearly all these perfumes are based on a highly romantic vision all smelling of flowers,like jasmine,and rose,or with undertones of sandalwood or citrus and evoke dreamlike memories.(You should really see the descriptions we get sent!) Well all that is fine but I simply feel that life has got to be more interesting and varied than that somewhat Mills and Boon type of approach.
    Surely you would agree ?
    Violence is so much a part of our culture and to ignore its presence or not try and understand our love of it does appear blinkered .
    This weekend for example in Britain we are inundated with the imagery from the latest Bond film, its in every weekend papers . on t.v. everywhere. Now you could hardly get a more violent portrayal of a man than the latest Bond.
    On Friday night I watched fights breaking out in my local town center that are accepted now with total normality and i came home and watched the reports of more deaths in Afghanistan on the BBC 24 news.
    So to turn my back on all that and just to keep on creating images of pretty floral memories would be like being fashions version of a Stepford wife, and to be truthful with you that is what certain parts of the fashion world all to often makes me feel like. Stupid irrelevant and dumb!
    You might indeed be thinking "yeah yeah that is all fine but he's just doing this to make some money by doing an 'outrageous' and attention grabbing project ". My guess is that we will probably will not sell more than a 10 bottles if that.
    However in the highly unlikely case that somehow this does surprise everybody and become a huge commercial success it would be entirely fitting to donate part of the proceeds to Amnesty International or a safe house for battered wives for example, and use any thing else to help SHOWstudio become the amazing platform I think it so richly deserves to be. And i would very much hope you would be part of that.
  • KaWai
    19:28 26 Oct 2008
    I think with the name Violence, you could and should expect controversies. You are walking a fine line when you try to intellectualize violence, especially trying to tie it within the context of fashion, it takes the seriousness off of so many issues that have to do with violence. I sort of see the nasty reactions this could arouse in some people.
  • KaWai
    21:33 26 Oct 2008
    Of course violence has been used in art very often, in old paintings, in motion pictures, theaters, music. Fashion has toyed with the idea of violence, but compare to other mediums such as theater, paintings, literature, fashion has not been able to address the depth of violence, but of course fashion has not been able to break the nature of the beast-the lightness and even shallowness perceived by many people, when it's trying to address the issue, no one has ever examined that, that fashion by its own nature perhaps lacks the facility when it tries to address serious issues, and that if there was a serious intention behind the project, that intention always gets lost by its' presentation. Or perhaps the intention behind this project is to present violence in a different way, it's not meant to be deep, and we as the audience are left to deal with our feelings, however shallow or complexed they'd be.
  • KaWai
    21:40 26 Oct 2008
    I think when they launched Opium, with the Oriental theme, many Chinese were offended by it.
  • GalileosUniverse
    07:36 27 Oct 2008
    IMAGE>: forum.computertotaal.nl/ phpBB2/viewtopic.php?...
    You see that is what I find interesting .... The Chinese were offended by the use of the name because of the connotation attached to it ... read the ills caused to Chinese society by the MAN's MADE drug ... ills not cause by the unprocessed plant itself !.... and yet the name OPIUM somehow has acquired a rather different connotation since YSL use it to name his highly glamourous perfume but did that daring move contribute to the increase of the use of opium drug in CHINA since ?.... I'm wondering !
    The way I see is that it is all in the power of the word .... perhaps the
    use of a glamour PERFUME with the name VIOLENCE may make us
    to reflect on it and somehow empower the user in a rather different way .... and that is that to use VIOLENCE as we know it is not really COOL ! ..... the key is to transform the perceptions of our innate tendency and nature to be NEGATIVE , DESTRUCTIVE into a rather POSITIVE PERCEPTION.... don't know how to explain but you can get the picture .... it should be a SCENT that makes us feel positive and mind you Nick Knight does have something interesting going on, in my very personal opinion of course, but as everything you have to convince the non believers .... well miracles do occur and the SCIENCES do have the capability to modify us, as we have discovered recently .... so who knows !
    Perhaps the chemical composition of VIOLENCE when spreading ourselves
    with it , it might work its magic and make us hate VIOLENCE ....... then again I do have a vivid imagination ! ....:):):)
    I'm really curious about the design of the bottle !...... wouldn't it be
    great to use an abstract pigeon of peace as the bottle .... the total opposite of what to expect of the connotation of the word ..................................... VIOLENCE !
    FICTION does have the ability to become SCIENCE very often ... doesn't it ?
  • GalileosUniverse
    08:48 27 Oct 2008
    " However in the highly unlikely case that somehow this does surprise everybody and become a huge commercial success it would be entirely fitting to donate part of the proceeds to Amnesty International or a safe house for battered wives "
    An ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC gesture ! To donate part of the revenue to Amnesty International or a safe house for battered wives ... that adds an extra value to the project .... and somehow makes the name ..... VIOLENCE even more fit and appropriate for the perfume ! ..... who says fashion and politics however far fetched and paradoxically glamourous cannot join together in a good cause ? .... but then again I'm an incurable optimistic !
  • KaWai
    16:38 27 Oct 2008
    Perhaps all of the proceeds should go to Amnesty International. But that's the reaction to some of the nasty comments. I think whatever the cause of the motive to do this project, stick with it, owe up to it. This project is destined to be criticized by some people, because it takes a literal, almost scientific approach and an existential approach, with such an emotional and complexed topic. What if-the name of the perfume was called something else, something conventional, without telling us that the ingredients were made up of human sweats....then review the source after people have reacted to the result?
    Yoko Ono had done some controversial art in her days, viewed by many as sometimes absurd, weird, existential, senseless, odd, yet she has stuck by her gut. I don't find this project to be particularly offensive, perhaps we are conditioned by now, our tolerance for the absurd is a lot higher than people in the past. Art has always been an observant to our reality. This project is beyond fashion, it's bit of installation art, performing art, in the realm of reality show, and I think all of our reactions are part of this project-that's what this project is supposed to bring up, in terms of discussions and criticisms.
  • Salwa
    13:05 28 Oct 2008
    of course, when we watch nature programmes, it becomes entertainment the nature of violence animals do to each other.
    We have amphitheatres that used to celebrate torture of slaves and captives, where whole societies found it acceptible to revel in violence against another person.
    There is a computer game culture, where it is acceptable to shoot countless virtual reality people, innocent or aggressive alike.
    We watch TV shows showing CCTV footage of gang fights, pub brawls and serious GBH, even murder, all in the name of entertainment.
    So when Nick Knight, via Showstudio, comes up with this concept, I don't take offense, I think, What does he have to say, what is his take on this phenomena of humanity?
    Distilling the essence of this issue and making it for sale is a brave act in itself, but it is not necessarily how many bottles will be sold that is the end result - I hope I am right in saying that part will be more intellectual curiosity.
    The Violence distilled is specific, it is fighters scent, not friday night barf-fuck-punch scent, and so comparisons with rape to me, are disgusting and the person suggesting that might need to obtain some "calm and centered" scent for themselves first. With a project like this I think specificity is key to ward off detractors and as Nick has stated, this is more in reaction to the opposite of "everything is sparkly an perfect" scents abounding today. If you can't make a strong statement, don't bother!
    The whole point of Showstudio is to engage in a conceptual debate, revelation, creation, so perhaps if Nick had been doing this as part of an ad campaign for a perfume house, for the usual primp and shock factor - I could imagine Galliano perhaps buying into this for instance, then it might seem cliche, or questionable- and i'm sure some would call it Brilliant either way.
    However, the thing that transforms this project is the background, the concept and the work we get to view in this particular style of Showstudio- it is not a shameless shock factor tactic, is it an intellectual exercise and judgement on it should be left until completion really, it might just turn out to be the most modern thing you've seen.
    Anyway those are my two pence on the situation, now how about a big fat group hug?
  • GalileosUniverse
    11:30 29 Oct 2008
    THE DREAM...... PABLO PICASSO
    Quote ......" I think all of our reactions are part of this project-that's what this project is supposed to bring up, in terms of discussions and criticisms."
    But that is mostly the problem, in my opinion, .... there is no real ' enlightening ' discussion on the project or any other projects for that matter ... what it should be a discussion ... is mostly an avalanche of VERBAL VIOLENCE and SNIPE ATACKS !
    People can be really sad and pitiful more often than not .... and in stead of using their self-assumption to be 'above ' the rest when it comes to carry an 'intellectual' debate they then go and turn themselves into the opposite of REASONING ...... they turn VIOLENT and that is what I find ' FASCINATING' because they do seem to be interested in ART and FASHION, as well as considering themselves to be an " ARTIST " read ....... " INTELLECTUALS " ...
    If we cannot conduct a DISCUSSION within the spirit of respect towards each other then I PERSONALLY find it highly hypocritical to be so bold and pretend wanting to teach us .... 'morons' ...... how to DO THIGS, and THINK BETTER, read applying better our 'intelligence ' and the 'perception' of things as it should be according to their highly presumed ' WISDOM ' of things . Somehow it all seems to turn into a big FARCE by pretending that they are better EQUIPPED with knowledge to digest anything concerning ' how to use our brains ' when it comes to ....... applying ...... CRITICISM !
    __________________________________________
    ON ART AND SCIENCE ........" One of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from the personal life into the world of objective perception and thought. "
    ALBERT EINSTEIN ***
  • KaWai
    18:09 29 Oct 2008
    I think if there's a moderator to gear the discussion on the productive direction, and call off bashers when they are trying to come on just to bash instead of trying to bring up provocative questions, then the discussion could become more constructive, but in the spirit of free speech, to consciously shape a discussion might not be the best thing to do as well. This project invites attackers, I think it's just the nature of this type of projects. If the bashers are so stupid as to still come on to make deliberate hurtful and abusive comments to people on the forum, they perhaps should be taken off or blacklisted. One could bash in a free speech forum, but there must be reasons and rationale behind words of bashing, that person would still needs to back up their attacks, to explain their points and rage, otherwise the words are just plain stupid and the person is just plain dumb and angry-a sad combination.
    http://fashionartandeverything.blogspot.com/
  • GalileosUniverse
    19:40 29 Oct 2008
    Gustav Klimt's HOPE, ...
    Indeed Kawai ! .... and yet I'm not very fond of 'moderators' .... it feels as if indeed "big brother is watching you" .... let ' them ' speak their minds if just because I truly believe in the freedom of speech. On the other hand one would assume that it is very obvious that this forum is being offered within the spirit of generosity to anyone who wants to take the opportunity to discuss themes from the realm of FASHIO , ARTS , MEDIA , etc ..... and that, I believe, tells us that ' normal ' codes of being civilised towards fellow posters is a must and part of wanting to participate and interact with others in a lively and enlightening discussion about the themes that are of interest to ALL VIEWERS ......
    RESPECT towards our fellow man, the owner and members of this WEBSITE is not much to ask, I believe ! ................................ or is it ?
    CRITIC ? ..................... Certainly ! .....
    MOCKERY, ridicule and false assumptions about anyone .....is indeed a total waste of energy that could be put to a productive use !
    HUMOUR ? .................Yes please !!
    :):)