PLASTIK 09

and then there was elissa

Yes, she is a diva. Yes, she is not exactly “easy” to work with. Doubt them no more, the legends are true! But, then again, would we ever look up to a star* were it not so high and far from within our reach? For a second year in a row, Elissa has embraced our December cover and graced our editorial pages to herald the festive season. But a lot has changed since last year; to say the least, she has added another multi-million selling album to her repertoire and a third World Music Award to her library shelves. To crown a glorious year in her life, Plastik* decided to showcase Elissa out of her usual photographic context. In “The Lady Who Stole Christmas,” (page 142) she plays a rather strong young woman who, despite her wolf-whispering skills, is susceptible to a vicious circle that conspires against her well being (not so far a cry from her reality..). But far from this dark Christmas fairytale (with arguably a happy ending), she gives a sensual, breathtaking performance in “Cry Me A River” (page 160.) Torn by her lover’s incessant betrayals and negligence, watch her float across life as she helplessly struggles to stop the waterworks and plot her escape. A melodramatic take on Roy Lichtenstein comic clichés crossed with a Guy Bourdin aesthetic, “Cry Me A River” depicts the Lebanese singing star as you have never seen her before. To learn whether fiction imitates life, discover things you may not know about Elissa on page 154. We heard it all since the dawn of time: Christmas is about giving, sharing, and all that jazz. This is the time when we call in Plastik* Santa (yes, he is real – he runs around in a pantone pink beard et al.). He has enclosed a 2011 PLASTIK* CALENDAR free with your purchase of this copy. Sponsored by Absolute Vodka, this marks our magazine’s very first calendar with 12 months to feast your eyes on all-time favorite Plastik* visuals, taken from past issues. We also heard this one: Christmas is a time to dream. But if there is any one who has been more capable of selling us dreams than Christmas, it is Walt Disney. Read about the man who turned a product of fantasy into a fantastic product, on page 128.But this we may have heard the most: Christmas is a time to forgive. And “forgive” is what they do on Desperate Housewives- of course, after dishing each other’s dirt, sleeping with each other’s husbands, and setting each other’s houses on fire. Wisteria Lane’s dirty laundry is all hung up on page 64. Yet after all what you heard, may we add this:  Christmas is a time to wish*. And so WISH UPON A STAR. For no matter how far it may be, once in a blue moon, it falls to remind us allThat sometimes it needs to be grounded. To make your wish come true.

rana salam

Feature

Under the telling title “Capturing Culture,” Rana Salam on November 24 opened BAC Design, a program dedicated to promoting creative products made by local Lebanese designers. Usually concerned with contemporary art only, it is the first time the Beirut Art Center (BAC) focuses on design, thus recognizing it as a fully grown and respectable member of the
arts family.