Cool Hunting

Billed as the "definitive yearbook of popular culture for 2005," Tokion's 3rd annual Creativity Now Conference, brings together today's brightest like Antony (of Antony & the Johnsons), some of the more obscure, such as filmmaker Todd Haynes, and, on the design side, multimedia artist Julie Verhoeven. The progressive summit takes place this October 15th and 16th at Cooper Union's Great Hall in NYC. Panels stay true to Tokion's mix of culture and politics, including a line-up of Documentary-makers Bruce Sinofsky ( Metallica: Some Kind of Monster), Ondi Timoner (Dig!), and Jonathan Caouette (Tarnation), a discussion of advertising with Eric Grunbaum for iPod, Peter Wijk for Absolut, and Steve Bassett for Geico, and "Portraying War" featuring reporters Robert D. Kaplan, Evan Wright, and photojournalist Ashley Gilbertson.

As Carol reported here last year, Tokion's project (especially for such a young media outlet) is an ambitious one, but the list of speakers alone is worth checking out and promises a weekend with at least a few gems. Tickets are available (for the whole weekend or individual days) on their website or at Kim's Video located at 6 St. Marks Place between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.