Artist Matt Stromberg is literally creating a stir in the art world by using everything from explosives and rocket fuel to submachine guns in his volatile, nonobjective sculpture. He’s careful to stress, however, that his unique art form is not really about explosives but kinetic energy—more specifically, the release of it. The result is somewhat unpredictable. What is predictable, after he conducts trench warfare across his many canvasses, is his ability to produce interesting and spontaneous mark making—marks created through applied texture that create volume.

Tony Allen, Savannah native and front man for the punk rock band Dead Stays Alive, comes with all the accoutrements of a rock star: blue hair, studded and outrageous jewelry, tats, an entourage, and a killer voice that shakes whatever space, no matter the size, in which he wields a microphone. However, Google his name and more photos of Lindsay Lohan pop up than mention of his music, which, despite not being Jack Johnson catchy, has a decent fan base and, more importantly, is constantly evolving and improving.

If you take a walk down River Street today, you may spot a celebrity or two. The American Idol team arrived in Savannah yesterday morning to film auditions for the next season of the popular television show.

Sitting on one of the most prized pieces of land at South Beach, The Setai is sexy, sleek and the perfect place for a quick trip to Miami. Notably, this sublime tropical hideaway has been a fixture on Conde Nast Traveler’s “Gold List” for the last five years running and Forbes Traveler has dubbed it one of the “sexiest hotels in America.”

The A-lister hot spot is situated in the art deco hub of South Beach, with modern nods to the era with its use of Shanghai brick and bronze, teak, stone and art. The rooms and suites feature in-room bathtubs for personal spa treatments, rain showers, teak floors, Lavazza espresso machines, personalized housekeeping service and a 24-hour concierge, among other luxury amenities.
It’s off-season during the hot, summer months, and deals are easy to find. The Setai’s Girls’ Getaway and Gentleman’s Retreat packages offer private shopping experiences, spa treatments, breakfast, complimentary spirits and VIP access to Miami’s nightlife. (Rates begin at $595 per night with a minimum two-night stay.)

To tone down on price, but not on style, stay at TownHouse Hotel. Smack dab in the middle of South Beach, flanked by high-end neighboring hotels, sits TownHouse. “It’s great because of the location,” says Colleen Graham, director of sales. “It’s nestled in with the big guns [and is a real] home away from home.”

Highly utilized for studio and magazine production shoots, TownHouse is as much appreciated for its creative, minimalist lines, and all-around fun and flirty decor as it is for its comfort and unassuming prices.
Brought to South Beach at the turn of the millennium by Jonathan Morr, who is well-known for his Manhattan eateries, Republic and BondST, this 69-room, two-suite, Parisian-designed boutique hotel is frankly a steal at $145 a night midweek, and $175 a night on the weekends, through August and September. A Parisian breakfast is included.
The rooms are clad in white, with striking pops of color, and hallways, specked with benches, comics and other good reads, are engulfed with cool soundtracks. The rooftop, fitted with various table settings and lounge chairs, transforms at night into one of South Beach’s hottest weekend hangouts, and the highlight is sushi sent up from the ground floor BondST Lounge. Zagat Miami has named its tuna “the best on the planet.”

Images by Sean Murdock
Written by Melanie Bowden Simón
Read more on our August/September Issue now!

At 20 mph, barely a sound is audible save for the dirt road crunching beneath the tires and the good-natured voice from the driver’s seat. The voice belongs to Charles Davis, president of The Earth Comfort Company, and the tires to his Chevrolet Volt, which is one of two in the state of Georgia. As he drives slowly around his Guyton, Georgia, property, Davis explains the many perks of the electrically powered car: one of the catchiest being its incredibly low maintenance requirements, as in an oil-change-after-24,000-miles low maintenance. After parking beside his house, Davis removes a cord from the vehicle and connects it to a charging station on the exterior wall noting that it’s “the same charger Jay Leno installed in his garage.”

Davis’ house is far from typical of other homes in Southeast Georgia. It’s a customizable, prefab structure and, like his car, it exhibits his commitment to renewable energy. After purchasing it as a foreclosure in the Atlanta area, Davis had the house delivered to his one-and-a-half-acre property in Guyton. The property is one of nine and the first step toward the goal of creating a zero-energy community (a working organic farm already exists on site). The prefabricated, modular “i-house” is a model made by Clayton Homes, the largest manufacturer of modular homes in the United States. With clean lines and a modern sensibility, the i-home is advertised as being “built from the ground up to be environmentally friendly” without sacrificing aesthetics or comfort. From its specialized roof designed for the collection of rainwater and the installation of solar panels to energy efficient windows and insulation, the i-house is clearly geared toward efficiency aficionados. But that’s only the framework upon which Davis crafted a system that allows him to bring the first net-zero energy home to Savannah.

The Man Behind the Plan

Originally from the Macon area, Davis points to his college days as the beginning of his passion for renewable energy. “I was in college years ago and Jimmy Carter was going to have a war on energy; that got me fired up. This was going to be the future and the next thing you know it’s never mind.” While some of the social and governmental drive toward renewable energy may have lost some steam, since those days, Davis’ interest in putting the concept into action hasn’t flagged.
The Earth Comfort Company was born 18 years ago while Davis was working for a LaGrange based electric cooperative and travelled to Washington, D.C., to learn about geothermal heat pumps with the goal of returning to teach Georgia companies about the technology. Geothermal heat pumps are a renewable energy technology that have existed since the late 1940s and function by taking advantage of the fact that the earth’s underground temperature is constantly around 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
With several different variations, the pumps circulate water or fluid through a piping system placed a few feet underground, often in a series of loops, by means of an electric pump. Using 40 to 60 percent less energy than conventional systems, geothermal heat pumps pay for their installation within five to ten years and have an estimated 25-year service life, with the underground components extending to 50 plus years, according the U.S. Department of Energy. As an added bonus, enough hot water is produced as a free by-product to cover 60 percent of usage. Owners of geothermal heat pumps also receive a 30 percent federal energy tax credit, which Davis points out almost pays for the additional cost of installation.
After learning about geothermal technology, Davis put his passion for energy efficiency to work and began The Earth Comfort Company, basing it in Savannah. Today the company provides a variety of energy efficient installation services, including solar, wind and insulation, and prides itself on being “the go-to source” for geothermal heat loop systems. Focusing primarily on larger scale commercial projects, The Earth Comfort Company has completed numerous projects including the installation of a geothermal system for Florida State University’s Sustainable Energy Science and Engineering Center, one of 14 off-grid zero emissions buildings in the country.
In 2008, Davis joined The University of Georgia’s Marine Extension Service in Brunswick in an ongoing effort to provide a tangible example of efficient energy use through various renewable energy equipment. He helped get geothermal, solar, and energy efficient lighting technologies on a 16,000-square-foot building built in 1991. With the bulk of construction finished in December of 2010, the associate director for the Marine Extension Service, Keith Gates, who has since retired, says of the project, “The geothermal [heat pump] is fantastic; it dropped our electric bill around 50 percent, which is pretty amazing. And not only were we improving energy, the idea was to teach folks down the road about the whole operation.”

Photography by Shawn Heifert
Read more on our August/September Issue now!

Savannah’s music scene is heating up, and these are the musicians that are fueling the fire. Today, beats and chords mingle down Savannah streets alongside tourists’ carriages and warm summer currents. A city once rife with musical goings-on, Savannah is again working overtime to appease a populace demanding, with revitalized enthusiasm, the fever and authenticity of the live show.
The Hostess City’s recommitment to being a live music destination and to cultivating a rich local music scene comes as the result of a collective push by area venues, promoters, musicians, and concertgoers. But it is, perhaps, the local musicians who carry the weight of the load—playing night after night to crowds or empty rooms, even after a full day of work or class—reminding the rest of us that Savannah’s got talent.

Kidsyc

Hometown to notable hip-hop artists Big Boi (OutKast) and DJ Lord (Public Enemy), Savannah has long held its place in the world of hip-hop. But this year, Savannah’s hip-hop face got a makeover, compliments of Lloyd “KidSyc” Harold.

KidSyc is known around town for his affability, passion for music, and commitment to youth and education. With signature red cap and his unique merger of hip-hop with a live band, KidSyc was barely a year into playing together with KidSyc@Brandywine when they decidedly upstaged the overhyped national-touring Das Racist on opening night of the 2011 Savannah Stopover Music Festival. Having won the Georgia Lottery All-Access Music Search competition in early 2011 with his band KidSyc@Brandywine, he is now known far beyond Savannah for his talent as a songwriter, rapper, and front man.

KidSyc’s inaugural music video, “Fire,” was recently released to great fanfare. “The ‘Fire’ video is taking off quite nicely,” says Harold. “We’ve gotten almost 2000 views (between Vimeo and YouTube) since it was posted a month ago.” “Fire” is off of The Kid, produced by Alex Goose. The video was created by Savannah Film Company Production and Meddin Studios. But the best, it seems, is yet to come. “Next up is the KidSyc@Brandywine EP release with the tracks recorded at Capitol Records,” says Harold, “and a music video by Savannah Film Company for the crowd favorite ‘Forever.’” facebook.com/kidsycmusic

Images by Josh Branstetter
Read more on our August/September Issue now!

Although every individual on this article’s stage is, by nature and circumstance, a soloist, South’s Hottest Singles of 2011 declared in chorus that they did not nominate themselves for their title. For the most part, they had no idea who did. Also, each hot single holds confidence and honesty as their prized qualities, so one must take their word for it. Therefore, South would like to thoroughly thank their furtive patrons for casting the extraordinary protagonists of the following few pages.

W Magazine, the contemporary publication that pledges to provide fashion and pop culture enthusiasts with the who, what, when, where and why of the world of style, is making a splash in the fashion magazine scene. Recently, the magazine has created a stir with something doing that South magazine has been doing for over five years: releasing multiple covers with every issue.

South’s First-ever Greatest Pet Contest is a celebration of Savannahians’s deep-rooted love for their pets. Readers submitted pictures of their animals to compete in four categories: Best Looking, best dressed, ugliest Mug, and Like Owner, Like Pet. With thousands of votes over the course of a month, a few good winners finally emerged from the pack.

The highly anticipated SCAD fashion on Saturday was nothing short of spectacular. The university presented the collections of the top graduating seniors at Trustees Theatre at 4p.m. and then again at 8:00p.m.. The evening show presented footwear design legend Manolo Blahnik with the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award. Special guests also included SCAD’s SCAD Style Lab mentors and designers Chris Benz and Christian Cota, runway coach Miss J and Elle magazine executives, making Savannah seem like the New York, Milan and Paris of the South.

For the full runway collections check out the video here.