Amelia’s Magazine | Stuart Semple: Cult of Denim

Monday 20th October
Design Museum, ailment website Alan Aldridge: Until Jan 25th
28 Butlers Wharf, try Shad Thames
Retrospective of Aldridge, an illustrator and graphic designer whose work includes album covers such as the Who and Elton John.

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Tuesday 21st
Rich Gallery, ‘Reflect Refract’: Pilita Garcia, Daniel Medina, Esperanza Mayobre, Eduardo Padilha, Lucia Pizzani, Dafna Talmor: Until 30th October
111 Mount Street, London W1K 2TT
Bringing emerging Brazilian, Chilean and Venezulan artists to the forefront, with photos, drawings and objects focusing on the themes on reflection and refraction, spaces and urban environments.

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Wednesday 22nd
Jaguar Shoes, ‘Something for nothing’: 7pm onwards
What it says on the poster:

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Thursday 23rd
Beyond Retro, ‘Rob Flowers Vs East End Lights’ at beyond Retro: 6-8pm
100-112 Cheshire St, E2 6EJ
The opening of the new East End Lights exhibition promises Halloweeny frocks, tricks and drinks as well as macabre illustrations and films by Flowers. His influences include Victorian sideshows, seaside images, owls and circus posters.

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Friday 24th
b Store, 24a Saville Row, ‘ONGALOO’: Yamataka EYE, Paperback Magazine and Magical Artroom: Until 13th November
24a Saville Row, W1S 3PR
PAPERBACK magazine, b store and Magical Artroom present the first London exhibition of artworks by Yamataka EYE.

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Conway Hall, ‘Small Publishers Fair 08‘:Fri 24th-Sat 25th 11am-7pm: Admission Free
Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL
Celebrating books by contemporary artists, poets, writers, composers, book designers and their publishers, together with a programme of readings and talks. Keep an eye out for ‘Pick and mix’ press publications.

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Saturday 25th
ICA, ‘Incredibly Strange Comics’: Until 26th Nov
The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH
The world’s weirdest comics: Amputee Love! Hansi, The Girl Who Loved The Swastika! Trucker Fags in Denial! My Friend Dahmer! Mod Love! are all here for your viewing pleasure. American presidents as musclebound superheroes, warnings about the perils of smoking, communism and the A-bomb and promotions for popsicles, prunes and poultry feed.

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Having a minor obsession with denim, cost and more specifically, decease 7 For All Mankind, doctor I couldn’t be more enthused to see what 28-year-old, pop artist, Stuart Semple has created using my favorite brand, along with others including, Levi’s and J brand, as the canvas for his latest exhibition, Cult of Denim.

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©Emily Mann, courtesy Stuart Semple Industries

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©Emily Mann, courtesy Stuart Semple Industries

Last Thursday evening, I strolled into Selfridges for the quite impressive opening. I was expecting the usual, small, crowded room filled with art and free drinks along with a bit of live entertainment if we’re lucky, but this far surpassed my assumptions, as we were graciously ushered from one floor to the next to tour Semple’s work displayed throughout the store. Using mixed-media, his contemporary images can be found on square, denim canvases as well as directly on pairs of jeans. Giving off a street-art vibe, he explores the exponential influence denim has, not only in the fashion industry, but in everyday culture, as he considers jeans a “ perfect second skin for billions of people worldwide.”

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©Ellis Scott Jeans, courtesy Stuart Semple Industries

It was quite impossible to get bored throughout the night, as we were served a variety of beverages and had an interesting line-up of musicians including an acoustic set by Zac Harris, and ending the evening with a lively performance by the Subliminal Girls, who have worked with Stuart Semple on projects in the past including a music video for their Hungry Like the Wolf remix.

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Zac Harris

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Subliminal Girls

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Subliminal Girls

The Cult of Denim will be on display in Selfridges from October 17 through November 15, so be sure to head down to Oxford Street to check it out. If interested in making any purchases, the limited edition prints and apparel are for sale, with 20% of the proceeds going to Refuge, a charity campaign to stop domestic violence.

Categories ,Art, ,Cult of Denim, ,Denim, ,Fashion, ,J Brand, ,Levi’s, ,Oxford Street, ,Stuart Semple, ,Subliminal GirlsRefuge, ,Zac Harris

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Amelia’s Magazine | Pretty Taxing Fashion Collection

If you try to describe this to someone (which you shouldn’t, this web sales don’t give anything away), doctor medications you will sound like you are conjuring from memory a nonsensical and fantastical dream; not something remotely tangible that actually happened in a 25-minute journey through a Shorditch warehouse.

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Enter the ride and find yourself wheeled through 15 distinct scenarios with over 70 artists acting out micro-performances. “Designed to mentally and visually astound”, check; “leaving you overwhelmed and exhilarated’, check and check; and finishing the ride “in a totally different emotional state from the one you were in when you embarked on the journey”, most definitely true: utterly elated, mesmerised, and psychologically discombobulated.

The You Me Bum Bum train represents a new branch of experimental live art where the line between performer and audience is not just blurred, but utterly turned on it’s head; interaction is integral to the experience, and how far you take this is up to you. It’s creators Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd, intend to strip individuals of decision-making, giving passengers the would-be ordinary experience of somebody else’s shoes. You are left with fleeting slices of alternate realities, one moment you might be a drummer, the next a translator (I really don’t want to say much!). It’s real human experience through the prism of the utterly surreal, and it will take you some time to reclaim your grasp on the two, a most marvellous and novel experience.

The venue is essential to the experience, and they describe Cordy House as their dream venue, lending itself to the most ambitious event they’ve held yet.
There isn’t much time to go, and I whole-heartedly recommend it as an unforgettable experience. It runs every Saturday from now until the 20th of December between 7pm and 11pm.

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Hip Parisian fahion and electro label, buy Kitsuné, what is ed are fast becoming as well known for their associated music as they are for their fashion. In fact, there is a clear cut three-way divide at Heaven tonight: scenesters, dressed for the fashion blog photographers collide en masse with those who know Kitsuné for the music and are quite unprepared for the additional rooms full of said scenesters, and with the regular Heaven clubbers, used to G-A-Y Camp Attack on Friday nights and probably the most bemused of everyone here.

Within the four rooms there’s a frustrating mix of real djs and acts like Autokratz, whose Pet Shop Boys go big beat set was a joy to behold and left me humming ‘Stay The Same’ for the rest of the night. Hearts Revolution, Punks Jump Up and Kitsuné house band Digitalism all turned out in force to impress and did so, although at times the acts felt a little repetitive. Alas, alongside these quality acts, we also got a number of vanity djs, including various models and boutique owners, which all blurred into the same set as the night progressed and seemed to play to rooms full of people aiming to get to the bar and move on.

It transpired that the ‘Don’t Panic’ room was the place to be. Inspired by K-Tron, blasting bass heavy No-Wave, they held me and the room in near divine rapture. The highlight of the night however, was Matthew Stone who dragged us back to 1985 via The KLF, his effortlessly sublime musical compass taking us on a seemingly random adventure, fitting perfectly with the tone of the night. There were some true high points tonight, but Kitsuné are probably best enjoyed via one of their compilations than live, based on tonight’s evidence.

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Global Day of Action is a direct action environmentalism initiative that started in 2005 Global Climate Campaign to focus world attention on the anthropogenic effect that humans are having on global warming.
Actions take place on this day to coincide with a Climate Change convention; a meeting of world leaders from 189 nations, viagra dosage that meet every year to discuss climate change.
We have the listings for the actions taking place on the 6th in London, viagra 100mg for a list of other cities actions click here.

Global Day of Action
6th December 2008

This will be the Saturday midway through the next round of UN Climate Talks and our best chance to influence the decisions of delegates ahead of the critical UN talks in 2009 at which a post-Kyoto treaty agreement will be decided.

LONDON

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Climate Bike Ride 2008
Assemble 10.30 am Lincolns Inn Fields for a mass bike ride around Central London joining up with the National Climate March at Grosvenor Square (see next listing for National Climate March info)
The three stops on the route are:
-Outside Greenergy, 198 High Holborn – for an agrofuels protest organised by Biofuelswatch
-Outside E.On 100 Pall Mall – for a speaker on NO NEW COAL
-Outside the Department of Transport – for a speaker on sustainable transport
Everyone welcome; decorate your bikes, bring whistles, bring music!
Want to help out for this action? Contact Jeremy Hill on 07816 839883 or jeremy.hill1@btopenworld.com

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National Climate March and Global Day of Action on Climate
The march starts at 12noon at Grosvenor Square and will move via Carlos Place and Mount Street to Berkley Square and Berkley street to Picacadily, Picadilly Circus, Lower Regent street, Pall Mall and Cockspur street to Trafalgar Square and Whitehall to Parliament Square.
We will bring the UK issues of Aviation, New coal and Biofuels to the streets of London, along with a call for more investment in renewable energy, more energy efficiency and more green jobs.
Speakers will include Nick Clegg (leader Liberal Democrat Party), Caroline Lucas (leader, Green party), Michael Meacher (ex-Environment Minister) and George Monbiot (Honorary President, Campaign against Climate Change).
Contact: 020 7833 9311
www.campaigncc.org

There will also be an After-Party in the Synergy Centre from 5.00 pm till late.

The March on Parliament has four main themes –
1) NO to a 3rd runway at Heathrow and the runaway expansion in aviation expansion.
2) NO new coal – no new coal-fired power stations as planned at eg Kingsnorth in Kent
3) NO to the expansion of agrofuels – with negative impacts on forests, the climate and world food supply.
4) YES to a renewable energy revolution and green jobs – a “Green new Deal”
Come with your own banners, costumes on one of these themes and join up with others pushing that theme……

The March on Parliament for the Climate marks the Saturday midway through the UN Climate Talks in Poznan, Poland and we make our demands on the UK government in solidarity with the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities that will suffer worst and most immediately from climate change caused overwhelmingly by the rich long-industrialised countries.

We need the government to act now on climate, to stop building coal-fired power stations and new runways – and to begin the renewable energy revolution. We need a tidal wave of people outside parliament to make them act to stop climate catastrophe now! Be part of that tidal wave, be there! Next year may be too late.

for more information:
http://www.globalclimatecampaign.org/ – for a list of cities and actions!
www.campaigncc.org

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BUST Magazine Christmas Craftacular
6th – 7th December, St Aloysius Social Club, 20 Phoenix Road, Euston, NW1 1TA
craftacular-uk@bust.com

BUST is a magazine devoted to the female. Providing an unapologetic view of life in the female lane, they break down stereotypes! Based in the US and established in 1993, the magazine addresses a variety of different issues within pop sulture, including music, fashion, art & crafts and news.
Editor-in-Chief, Debbie Stoller, decided to call the magazine BUST, because it was “aggressive and sexy and funny… It was a title that could belong to a men’s porn magazine.”
For Women With Something To Get Off Their Chests!
Click here for the Christmas Craftacular’s Facebook Page


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Jumble Fever
Under the bridge on Beck Road, E8
Saturday 6th December
Midday-4pm, Entry £1
A fabulous jumble sale with a boogie twist! There will be a great deal to see and do and buy.. See you there!

ETSY
An online shopping bazaar; Etsy is a cross between eBay and Amazon with a humble handmade twist. Launched in June 2005 by Robert Kalin, for sale Chris Maguire and Haim Schoppik, the site has grown to be incredibly popular, with tens of thousands of people selling their handmade goods (90% of whom are women!).
As Christmas draws nearer and greener, we have chosen our favorite handmade things to inspire your presents list.
www.etsy.com

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“The Kelsey”; a pleated clutch in paisley mocha
This handmade clutch is one of many adorable bags created by GraceyBags; get in touch through etsy.com to custom order a clutch and choose from a rainbow of fabrics.
Featured is ‘The Kelsey’ in a paisley mocha print on the outside in greens, blues, pinks, yellows and browns. The inside has been sewn from a silky brown fabric and the bag closes with a small magnet.

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Recycled Journal – handbound
Find a lovely selection of hand bound recycled books by Rhonda; bookbinder and book artist.
This particularly wonderful journal is made with a variety of recycled scrap papers ranging from large envelopes, posters, junk mail, blank paper, lined and graph paper, covers from old sketch books, old maps, discarded photocopies, misprints from the computer printer to paper bags.
Perfect as an art journal, the book is covered with an old map of the world, the one pictured above showing the islands of Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
There are 256 pages (when you count both sides of each sheet). The pages are handbound using green and brown linen threads, visible on the spine in 4 rows of chain stitches.
The book size is approximately 4″ x 4¼” and 1″ thick (or 10.5cm x 11cm x 2.5cm).

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French Bulldog cotton tote bag

This adorable cotton tote is the perfect carry-all for any occasion. BellaBlu Designs signature French Bulldog silhouette has been cut from Heather Bailey‘s ‘Sway in Brown’ Pop Garden print and appliquéd to this cotton canvas bag. It is 100% 10 oz. cotton, measures 15 x 13 x 3 inches and can be customized with most other dog breeds.

TREEFORT
http://treefortkids.myshopify.com

We’ve also had a browse round treefort.myshopify.com, for some gift ideas for those of you with little ones in your life!

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Dreamlets Dolls
These cute little creatures would make an adorable gift this season, and as a product that gives 1% back to Artworks, Bridges to Understanding, or Poncho, they’re doing a lot more than making a loved one happy! The dolls come in a variety of shapes and colours, each with their own quirky personality. You are also able to choose which organization will benefit from your gift by registering your doll online.

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Nikki McClure’s Mama & Baby Things
Treefort also sell many of Nikki Mcclure‘s prints, books, cards, and calendars. Nikki McClure creates complex, yet natural designs by cutting away from a single piece of black construction paper with an x-acto knife. Her works are printed on 100% Recycled, 100% Post-Consumer Waste, Processed Chlorine Free paper that was manufactured with electricity that is offset with Green-e® certified renewable energy. Her work is printed by a small family-owned press in Portland, Oregon, US- and uses soy-based inks.

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Kids On Roof “House”
is made of Eco friendly-100% recycled cardboard and is 100% biodegradable. These houses are the perfect gift for creative children, as they’re meant to be decorated and personalised! (see below for examples from treefort) Kidsonroof donates 5% of its profits to specific Unicef projects; €24,000 has now been collected for the Unicef project for building better, small-scale housing for HIV/Aids inflicted orphans in Russia.
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Beyond Retro Christmas Party!

This evening Beyond Retro is throwing it’s annual seasonal gathering – in both it’s shops, viagra buy the original Cheshire St warehouse and new sibling store in Soho – from 6pm – 8pm, there’ll be lots of exclusive goodies for you to browse through and they’ll even throw in some mulled wine and mince pies. Good times.

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Made In Clerkenwell

This evening and all weekend, the Clerkenwell Green Association open their studios for Made in Clerkenwell, an event that showcases the work of over 70 designers they support through providing them with studio space, mentoring and business advice to help them create their work.

The fruits of their labors are exhibited and available for purchase, so you can hunt out that unique Christmas gift and buy all kinds of original and creative wares – ranging from fashion designs to jewellery, accessories, textiles and even ceramics.
What makes this shopping experience so different is that you can mingle with and chat to the designers and find out about their craft, inspirations, working method, becoming a designer, anything you want to know! So pop down, get a great gift and support new designers.

Open 6pm to 8pm, Thursday 27th November 2008 and
12pm to 6pm on Friday 28th, Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th November 2008.
£2.50 entrance – free to the under 16s.

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It’s no secret that Brooklyn’s the place to be for smart indie pop these days, view but look a little closer to home and you might be surprised. Take tonight’s superb support acts, advice for example. First up is Pens, erectile a cute lo-fi local trio who, despite playing to only a handful of people, put on a wonderfully frantic and ramshackle performance – think Karen O‘s kid sisters gleefully bashing at snare, guitar and synths.

Fellow Londoners Chew Lips are up next and are nothing short of a revelation. The threesome cater in captivatingly melancholy electronic music and boast a bona fide icon-in-waiting in singer Tigs; she prowls and creeps around the venue, all black bob and wide eyes, unleashing powerful vocals and jumping on the bar to serenade us, while the boys whip up a glitchy synth and bass storm in the background. ‘Solo’ is the band’s set-closer and an undeniable highlight – scuzzy and danceable yet strangely sad, it will be one of your anthems of 2009, no question.

This bunch are hard to follow, but Telepathe just about manage it. Dave Sitek-produced debut ‘Dance Mother’ is on the way in January, and recreating its majesty live is clearly still a tricky undertaking for the Brooklyn duo. They do their best, unleashing a stream of cluttered soundscapes, layered harmonies and clipped rhythms, and while the effect is hypnotic at times, barely a word is uttered between songs – resulting in a distinct lack of atmosphere. This could of course be due, in part, to the fact that they are playing to a room full of typically disinterested Shoreditch types. Whatever the reason the performance falls a little flat, until final effort ‘Chromes On It’ that is, its spine-tingling beats waking the crowd from its stupor and climaxing with speakers shaking and half the band hanging from the ceiling as the hysterical throng down the front excitedly punch the air. It’s just enough to convince us that we’re not quite prepared to give up on Telepathe as a live proposition yet. More like this please.
Nuclear: Art and Radioactivity
discount -4.064941&sspn=16.764146, visit this site 39.418945&ie=UTF8&ll=51.524712,-0.079694&spn=0.008598,0.019248&z=16&g=E1+6PG&iwloc=addr”target=”_blank”>Nicholls and Clarke Building, 3-10 Shoreditch High Street, Spitalfields, London E1.

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‘Half-life’
Chris Oakley, 2008
High-definition video, 15 minutes

‘The Nightwatchman’
Simon Hollington & Kypros Kyprianou, 2008
Installation

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The Nicholls and Clarke Building hosts an exhibition that explores the changing perceptions of nuclear power. In our rapidly deteriorating climate, the effects of nuclear development from the past have come to haunt us. ‘The Nightwatchman,’ by Simon Hollington and Kypros Kyprianou, captures this disturbing predicament.

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As we entered the installation there was something immediately unsettling about it. A board-meeting table situated in the centre of a large dilapidated storeroom indicated recent activity, and as we crept further through the exhibition space there was more evidence of some night watchmen. But they are no where to be found…

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Together with the film ‘Half-life’ by Chris Oakley, there was a sense of being caught in a crossfire of two different eras: the naïvely optimistic 80′s and the knowledgeable cynicism of the present day.

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The film showed a series of paradoxical images of nature vs. technology, and through it we were reminded of how our idea of what is progressive has been turned on it’s head.

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If you’d like to have something of yours across the chests of music aficionados throughout the country, viagra you might like to apply for this. 100% music, cheap 100% recycled paper (well done), sildenafil Bearded Magazine is preparing for the re-launch of the printed magazine on January 29th, and they’re throwing in a t-shirt as well.

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When it came to deciding what should go on the front of said t-shirt, they mumbled gibberish into their beards and drew blanks, and so they’ve put the task out to you the reader to help them out. In fact, they might be so filled with indecision that there could be four winners, so better chances for you! Have a look at the criteria and send in a design soon, you have until the 15th of December.

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The Wellcome Collection’s new temporary exhibition is entitled ‘War and Medicine’ and focuses on the individual human consequences of war rather than the overall statistics of death and destruction that impersonalise and almost glorify military combat and which we are most often presented with. Soldiers are heroes when they die for their country but uncomfortable representatives of horror when they return wounded and disfigured.

Installation artist David Cotterrell‘s film, sales specially commissioned for the exhibition, salve attempts to rectify this. Covering three walls of a darkened room, more about the film shows wounded soldiers, with varying degrees of injury, being loaded onto a flight back to England from Helmand Province in Afghanistan. The only soundtrack is the constant hum of the plane’s engine, an eerie backdrop to the calm, efficient activity taking place on screen. There is an unsettling disjunction between our inclusion in the scene through the way it is presented to us and the alienness of the sight before our eyes. This slightly dreamlike atmosphere helps separate the artwork from the realms of documentary photography and helps us understand the confusion of this homeward flight, which we are told in the information outside, is often only partially remembered by the soldiers.

What is most striking about this piece is the individual humanity behind the uniforms of the men and women depicted. On the left are the walking wounded with a variety of arm slings and facial injuries being tended to by medical staff and waiting patiently for their journey to begin, on the right, more distressingly, a person is carried in on a stretcher, connected to breathing apparatus. It is heartbreaking to realise that although most of these people will probably survive, and so not register in the public consciousness, they will have been scarred for life both physically and emotionally. I began to see them as people beyond whatever my personal attitudes to their profession and the war they are fighting in was.
A harrowing counterpart to this work is Cotterrell’s written diary, where he describes with civilian horror, the daily minutiae of life amongst the medical staff in Camp Bastion. The exhibition’s mission statement is to explore the dichotomies in a society that is simultaneously developing ever more sophisticated means of destroying life and protecting it. The stalemate futility of this situation is given a human face by Cotterrell’s work.

David Cotterrell is featured in issue 10 of the magazine, out shortly.

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Hurrying through the lights and sounds of Soho, stuff the words ‘bloody hell it’s cold’ rattled my skull. I was heading to see the Canadian singer and illustrator Chad VanGaalen, this known for rarely leaving his basement. In this weather, who would blame him?
Once inside Borderline I was able to thaw out and to take in the cosy surroundings. Kindly folk in chequered shirts patiently waited as they sipped Guinness. But there was something odd about this fresh-faced crowd. Moustaches, I realised. There were loads of them.
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It’s Mo-vember, apparently. The time of year for all socially conscious gentlemen to grow out their fluff to raise money for testicular cancer. ‘That’s nice,’ I thought.
This playful and boyish act of sincerity seemed fitting for the night in store as there’s something of the fourteen-year-old boy about Chad VanGaalen. Deceptively awkward and immediately charming, he’ll break your heart.
Together with a hairy-faced accordionist he delivered a homemade and reflective sound. It was as if we had wandered into his basement, and he seemed a little surprised to see us there.
His hesitancy on stage draws you nearer, and his tight and masterful song-writing capabilities took a hold of my senses like a sedative.
That uneasy fluidity reminded me of Beach House and the unexpectedly punchier tunes provided an excitable energy that twanged some of those moustaches.
Listening to Chad is like putting on a pair of earmuffs and skate boarding down smooth suburban streets.
There’s a yearning to be free and limitless but it only slightly ventures out of the comfortable. A girl behind me whispered excitedly ‘It’s the kind of music I’d ride my bike to.’
It is difficult for any set at the Borderline to not feel intimate and Chad VanGaalen’s was by no means revolutionary.
But the evening was all together thoughtful and enchanting, and as I braved the bitter London streets once more, the words of Electric City wrapped me up like a duvet.

Soft Airplane is available on Flemish Eye.

Photographs by Ro Cemm
for more pictures of the night click here

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At 8am on Friday 28th November on a wet and grizzly morning, stuff the Greenwash Guerillas and a band of allies rallied together outside the E-On Head Office at 100 Pall Mall. We were there to protest against the planned government-approved scheme to build 7 new coal fired power stations. E-on will be responsible for the first of these havoc wreaking death chambers (no hyperbole here) at Kingsnorth, Kent. This power station alone will emit between 6 and 8 million tones of CO2 every year. If all 7 are built, treatment their collective emissions would be approximately 50 million tones of CO2 a year. This would make the Climate Change Committee’s proposal to cut back on CO2 emissions an average of 2% per annum so that by 2050 we’ll have an 80% reduction well… impossible.

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Browsing through E-on’s website, it might be easy to be fooled into thinking they are an environmentally conscientious company promoting ‘clean, green energy that never runs out.’ But it doesn’t take long to realize that their wind farms and claims of boosting local employment are cleverly marketed to cast a rosy sheen over more profitable projects that use coal.

Coal is the grimiest of fossil fuels. It’s carbon-intensity is higher than oil and double that of natural gas. Yet, as the driving force behind the industrial revolution, it has been the primary source of power for the electricity generation. Gathered outside the E-on head office, we are no longer in the 19th century but in the 21st century and in the midst of a climatic crisis. With sea ice disappearing at a never-before-seen rapidity now is the time to use new greener sources of power, not to revert to the practices of the past.

So why is the government supporting what seems a disastrously archaic project?
The government’s answer is that by increasing the cost of carbon, power stations will be forced to use a process of carbon capture and storage (CCS) whereby the harmful carbon dioxide produced by coal is extracted from the air and buried underground.
However, a presentation made by the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee concluded that this reasoning is implausible. Voicing research from the U.K. Energy Research Centre and Climate Change Capital, it showed that using a process of CCS would in fact be the least cost effective option for power stations. The research they gathered predicted that CCS will cost power companies like E-On 70-100 or 90-155 Euros per ton of CO2, while the government estimates that the price of carbon between 2013 and 2020 will be less at approximately 39 Euros per ton.

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It’s fair to say that it is extremely unlikely that power companies will go for the more expensive option, especially when the margin is as large as it is. In short, the government’s criteria for approving E- On’s power station at Kingsnorth is worryingly unsatisfactory.

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If our government is failing to alleviate the catastrophic predicament of climate change that is costing lives then it is up to us as citizens to take action against the construction of Kingsnorth and others like it. For more information on what you can do please click here and please go to the national climate march on Saturday 6th December, bring your mates and make it fun. This is a serious issue and we need to get the message across but optimism is always the best the way of creating change, in my view anyway.
Klimax is a network for climate activists that started in 2007 by environmentalists who wanted a platform for people with more radical ideas about direct actions. Well known in Sweden for their campaigns against private motorism and the meat industry, viagra sale the group has spread to a number of Swedish cities, cialis 40mg and in Gothenburg they consist of 20 active members.

On the 12th November 2008, capsule after being inspired by Climate Rush, six Klimax members stormed a municipal city council meeting in Gothenburg dressed as suffragettes to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the British Sufragette Action.

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Members of Klimax initially wanted to protest on the 13th October, which is the actual date of the anniversary, but after finding out there were no meetings that day, postponed to the 12th November. This allowed them the much needed time to plan their action in detail; the first few weeks consisted of a few hours of planning and as the time drew nearer members were working five hours a day to make sure everything was finished. Among writing speeches, making banners and establishing contact with the media, they had to prepare their costumes!
Our contact at Klimax said “We do not always dress up for events but we believe that it is a good way to spice up an action! We sometimes dress up as penguins or polar bears because they are the two types of animal that are severely affected by Climate Change; it is also fun and looks nice!”

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Their aims with the action was threefold; firstly to pay tribute to the work done by the suffragettes- strong women fighting for women’s right to vote, secondly to make the politicians aware that there was strong opposition to the building of another tunnel under the river in Gothenburg; Miahabo Berkelder from Klimax in Gothenberg says that the group believe this to be an awful way to spend a large amount of money, just so that more cars can be on the road; asking ‘What if the money was invested in buses instead? New roads simply lead to more traffic and that is a disaster for our climate.’
The third reason for the protest was to make sure that politicians knew that climate change isn’t just a moral topic, it is a political topic.

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On the day, members were shocked to see the six activists storm the meeting,
but after the action Klimax joked that if they had been politicians sitting there during long and boring meetings, they would have been happy with the distraction!

They certainly created a buzz, and definitely caught the attention of the council! After a short while the six were asked to leave the building and did so with little fuss.
In reaction to the protest, a woman from the Swedish environmental party said Klimax had a valid point, but a man from the conservative party was more concerned about security, wondering what would have happened if terrorists had stormed the meeting instead!

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The plans for the tunnel are still up in the air. The initial decision to build the tunnel was made solely by Göran Johansson, the chairman of the Municipal Council. Because this wasn’t a democratic way of deciding, the case has been reported to the county administrative court.

According to Miahabo, there are a lot of plans in Klimax’s future; new actions will take place during the spring and there will be a new regular event called Climate Café- where anyone can attend to share coffee and discuss climate change, sometimes including an expert on the subject to answer any questions.

klimax5.jpg

The next big event for Klimax is on the Global Day of Action, taking place in cities all over the world on the 6th of December. At the same time as the leaders of the world will be discussing the climate problems, demonstrations will be arranged all over the world including London and of course Gothenberg.
Klimax have come together with several other groups to arrange a huge demonstration, Miahabo says that Klimax are organising a “Climate Clash” which is a wide spread Klimax phenomenon; they will walk out in the middle of a busy road and block the traffic; a perfect and simple way to make people aware of the climate problems.

klimax1.jpg

Anyone who is interested in joining Klimax is welcome- it is a flat organization with no board of directors, anyone who wants to be a member is simply one.

This article was written with the help of Miahabo Berkelder of Klimax in Gothenburg, Sweden. Thank you for your contribution and for the photos!

For more information about Climate Rush, please visit: www.climaterush.co.uk
Monday 1st Dec
The Ashni Art Gallery specialises in Indian Art that is both contemporary and of the past. They will be exhibiting the best of their collection from now until the 19th of December.
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Tuesday 2nd Dec

Live in Bristol? Feeling somewhat alarmed by the continued transformation of the city centre to all things consumerist (with 120 new shops having just opened)? Slipping between the gap of reality and fantasy, and Somewhere Here are hijacking advertisement space to provide shoppers with a brief respite during the fall of capitalism. Nine artists take nine advertising hoardings (billboards) until the 3rd of December only. Catch them before they are swallowed by Advertisement Beast.
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Wednesday 3rd Dec
Opening today at the ICA: Dispersion; an exploration by seven artists of the appropriation and circulation of images in contemporary society. They examine money, desire, and power in our accelerated image economy. It runs until Feb 1st.
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Thursday 4th Dec

First Thursdays of the month is here! But aren’t galleries open most Thursdays anyway? It would be silly tell you a single thing to go and see, 100 galleries will be opening their doors until 9pm, so there will plenty to satiate your creative appetites, but if you perhaps feel so inspired that you are driven to the pencil yourself, The Princess Studios will be hosting free life-drawing drop-in sessions throughout the evening.
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Friday 5th Dec

Vauxhall’s best kept secret-art-laboratory, Beaconsfield, curates Late at Tate this Friday, adapting Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries and transitory places to create a terminal space, with an array of arrival and departure points, in which only the surreal applies …

Satuday 6th Dec
Colin McKenzie senses that art ought to be more like a day at Woodstock, or at least what he imagines Woodstock to be like: electric, dynamic, smooth, and mind-expanding. At the Red Gate Gallery. McKenzie strives against order and sense, aiming to manoeuvre without restriction.
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Monday 1st December

The Lady: A Tribute to Sandy Denny, page Royal Festival Hall, treat London
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An evening of songs from the back catalogue of one of the most influential female folk singers, approved Sandy Denny. Various artists including Marc Almond, P.P. Arnold and Johnny Flynn will be performing songs from her Fairport Convention days as well as her solo career. Should be a really interesting night in light of the current trend for new female folkies and a timely tribute to one of the godmothers of the genre.

Asobi Seksu, Hoxton Bar and Grill, London

Sweet, fun indie-pop from Brooklyn. Should be a good one for dancing.

Gallows, The Macbeth, London

Noisy punks celebrate collaboration with Atticus clothing range.

Slow Club, Jay Jay Pistolet and special guests, Union Chapel, London

A lovely gentle way to start the week with this folky-country duo who will hopefully be celebrating the first day of December with a performance of their Christmas single, released next week.

Tuesday 2nd December

Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed and the Trueloves, Oran Mor, Glasgow
2.jpg
Big-voiced retro soul.

Deerhoof, ULU, London

In the UK for one night only, this much-loved San Francisco band’s staccato, rough-round-the-edges punk pop is even better live.

Ten Kens, The Duchess, York

Anyone who has a blurry picture of people snogging on their record sleeve is a good bet for a messy live show and these Canadian grungers are reportedly no exception. Should be good in this small venue too.

Baby Dee, Union Chapel, London

New album produced by Will Oldham, harpist on Anthony and the Johnsons first album and with Andrew W.K. providing bass on her new record, this transsexual musician’s musical pedigree is assured.

Wednesday 3rd December

Kitty, Daisy and Lewis single launch, Madame JoJos, London
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Snappily dressed, hearse-driving siblings playing rockabilly at their single launch party.

Liam Finn, Night and Day, Manchester

Introspective folk.

The Wave Pictures, Club Fandango, St Aloysius Social Club, London

Thursday 4th December

Vivian Girls, The Social, Nottingham
up-vivian.jpg
Uber-hyped Brooklyn girl group bring their shoe-gaze tinged grunge-pop to the UK. Time to see if they live up to their recorded promise as a live act.

The Unbending Trees, The Luminaire, London

Leonard Cohen-influenced Hungarians.

Dirtbombs, Faversham, Leeds

Fuzzed out rock and soul. Catch them before they play at the weekend’s All Tomorrow’s Parties.

Friday 5th December

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Princess Charlotte, Leicester
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Fuzzy pop from yet another hip hyped Brooklyn band.

Dan Black, Barfly, London

New single ‘Yours’ has been receiving lots of radio play.

Saturday 6th December

Dead Kids, single launch ‘Into the Fire’, Push, Astoria 2
DeadKidsLIVEPIC3.jpg
Should be pretty sweaty and heavy.

I Am Ghost, White Rabbit, Plymouth

Bringing some metal to the South West.

Under One Sky, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

John McCusker’s diverse folk composition.

Sunday 7th December

Tanlines, Old Blue Last, London

The Brooklyn invasion continues. Did they all club together and hijack a plane from JFK International?

Bon Iver, Victoria Apollo, Dublin

Really bummed about breaking up with some girl called Emma, he headed into the woods alone and wrote an album about it. He must be feeling a bit better as he’s spreading the heartache on a UK tour.

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, Rock City, Nottingham

Lovely duets from surprisingly compatible artists.

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Pretty Taxing is a fashion collection with a twist, stuff as the end product is not clothes but car tax discs. Unusual – yes, sick but we all know how important accessorising is…

It would seem like a bad idea if such creatively interesting designers hadn’t contributed to the cause. They include Emma Bell, who has twice shown at London Fashion Week, David David and Pam Hogg. Along with artists Natasha Law and Stuart Semple, they have all created unique collectable pieces of fashion memorabilia.

You can pick up these discs of fashion-random-brilliance at Matches or at the pop-up shop KIN in Kingly Court, Carnaby Street. Abiding the law has never looked so good.

Categories ,David David, ,Emma Bell, ,Fashion, ,Matches, ,Natasha Law, ,Pam Hogg, ,Pretty Taxing, ,Stuart Semple

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Amelia’s Magazine | THE NANCYBOY DECADE 1999-2009

thumbemitbloch
Emit Bloch - Dictaphones Vol 1

Creaturemag’s Matt Witt and Emma Tucker recently spent the afternoon talking to lo-fi folk songwriter Emit Bloch. They were kindly invited to his house for a friendly chat about his new album, information pills his influences and his past.

Emit Bloch has recently released an album, viagra 60mgDictaphones Vol 1”. An endearing and off kilter selection of country songs recorded entirely on dictaphone cassette and released by One Little Indian. The album is raw, ampoule uncluttered and accessible, full of inventive lyrical content that contrasts the vintage sound produced by the dictaphone with more modern day references.

Emit grew up on a ranch in Utah before heading to Berkeley, California then more recently making his home in North London. The following interview includes discussion on, amongst other things, Emit’s Dictaphone mash-ups, (rough recordings of well known songs mashed together), his new album, his views on song writing, evolution and a little delve into his past.

That is enough from us, this wonderful encounter is to be discovered in the following videos.

View the rest of this interview on You tube using the following links:

Emit Bloch interview – pt2 – Dictaphones Vol1
Emit Bloch interview – pt3 – Emit on songwriting
Emit Bloch interview – pt4 – Emit on evolution
Emit Bloch interview – pt5 – Emit on his past

Or check it out on Creaturemag… www.creaturemag.com

We hope you enjoy the show!

I’ve never been to the Book Club before, information pills it’s a nice place you know; high ceilings, visit this exposed brickwork, viagra buy excitingly erratic cone shaped lampshades.
On your left as you come in there’s a load of pot plants stuck to the wall like they are hovering there. Opposite and tucked away behind the door currently is Nancyboy aka Stuart Semple’s self portrait bearing the legend:

CONCRETE FOR THE BOYS
PILLOWS FOR THE GIRLS
THIS IS THE REAL WORLD
NOTHING IS TRUE

Somewhere in the territory between Banksy and Basquiat, the Nancyboy paintings collected here say everything about nothing, or nothing about everything, depending on which way you prefer it.
The paintings are a mashup of cultural and personal references, littered with bittersweet cynical catchphrases and copywrite symbols; cartoon characters, collage, self deprecating and esoteric test. Also, a pair of wonder pants. In a perfect reflection of the high end cultural recycling aesthetic of the work, curator Liat Chen was wearing a fabulous dress previously owned by Lady Gaga.
The tagline to the exhibition is “a retrospective of early works by a leading cultural phenomenon” and I think that says it really, it’s the story behind these paintings that’s really on show. Klaus Bruecker, who I met at the Pop up Pirates launch last month (after Amelia went home) was one of the earliest collectors of Nancyboy paintings on ebay way back in the heady nineties. More recently imagine his surprise when he realised the artist was in fact living in the same building as him!

Stuart Semple has done a lot of things as an artist, in the real life artworld that is, like sneak a painting into Saatchi Gallery, and be a real artist who’s critically acclaimed and stuff. But I think this show is more about his presence in the less artworld world, if that makes sense. “He got me into collecting, he got a lot of different people from lots of different backgrounds collecting.” Says Klaus. Because in the early noughties everything seemed possible and local on the internet, we were more aware of the smallness of the new connected world. Nancyboy launched his e-art career in 2000, and went on to sell over 3000 works exclusively on ebay. His work attracted much attention, celebrity collectors and spawned many imitators, combining his pop and urban decay aesthetic to express their own cultural angst in what has been called a pre-emptive movement to ‘Urban Art’.

These days every sensible artist on the make works hard on their web presence, and anyone looking to buy some great value beautiful art barely has to stretch their mousclicking finger beyond the front page of websites like etsy and society6. But even now it’s still possible to make amazing connections and to grow chance encounters into new interests and audiences. Like in the real world I guess.

The paintings here are not that different from the blog output of a witty teenager. They remind me quite a lot of the work I used to love on www.themanwhofellasleep.com when I was doing my A-levels, and also of Athena posters. Those are my circular cultural references, real pop art should do that I think; remind us infinitely of ourselves. Being an institution is not easy though. It takes love and it takes A LOT of work. The works brought together at The Book Club by the Nancyboy community are obviously loved and valued. These are not the high-profile works that have been in the big shows. These are the ebay artworks, from the homes of real humans.
And I hope what it means is that high flying pop artists don’t have to lose their roots. That all the little little art communities all over the world in small towns and small webspaces that no-one else knows about matter, and are all a part of the bigger dialogue of art forever. And at the same time are nothing, and your life work is just your hobby. One of Nancyboy’s paintings calls his standing into question:
FRANKLY, I Question it’s Honesty + Doubt it’s Art.

In September I’m going back to school to qualify as an art teacher. I think I will tell my students about Nancyboy. Because it’s important, not that anyone can make it, because that’s obviously not true. And not that they can do the same, because they never can. Each artist makes their own new path. The Nancyboy
decade saw the world change forever, and he was there watching, and commenting, and selling his paintings on Ebay. That’s what’s important.

Categories ,banksy, ,Basquiat, ,exhibition, ,Lady Gaga, ,nancyboy, ,Pop Up Pirates, ,Stuart Semple, ,The Book Club

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Amelia’s Magazine | THE NANCYBOY DECADE 1999-2009

I’ve never been to the Book Club before, it’s a nice place you know; high ceilings, exposed brickwork, excitingly erratic cone shaped lampshades.
On your left as you come in there’s a load of pot plants stuck to the wall like they are hovering there. Opposite and tucked away behind the door currently is Nancyboy aka Stuart Semple’s self portrait bearing the legend:

CONCRETE FOR THE BOYS
PILLOWS FOR THE GIRLS
THIS IS THE REAL WORLD
NOTHING IS TRUE

Somewhere in the territory between Banksy and Basquiat, the Nancyboy paintings collected here say everything about nothing, or nothing about everything, depending on which way you prefer it.
The paintings are a mashup of cultural and personal references, littered with bittersweet cynical catchphrases and copywrite symbols; cartoon characters, collage, self deprecating and esoteric test. Also, a pair of wonder pants. In a perfect reflection of the high end cultural recycling aesthetic of the work, curator Liat Chen was wearing a fabulous dress previously owned by Lady Gaga.
The tagline to the exhibition is “a retrospective of early works by a leading cultural phenomenon” and I think that says it really, it’s the story behind these paintings that’s really on show. Klaus Bruecker, who I met at the Pop up Pirates launch last month (after Amelia went home) was one of the earliest collectors of Nancyboy paintings on ebay way back in the heady nineties. More recently imagine his surprise when he realised the artist was in fact living in the same building as him!

Stuart Semple has done a lot of things as an artist, in the real life artworld that is, like sneak a painting into Saatchi Gallery, and be a real artist who’s critically acclaimed and stuff. But I think this show is more about his presence in the less artworld world, if that makes sense. “He got me into collecting, he got a lot of different people from lots of different backgrounds collecting.” Says Klaus. Because in the early noughties everything seemed possible and local on the internet, we were more aware of the smallness of the new connected world. Nancyboy launched his e-art career in 2000, and went on to sell over 3000 works exclusively on ebay. His work attracted much attention, celebrity collectors and spawned many imitators, combining his pop and urban decay aesthetic to express their own cultural angst in what has been called a pre-emptive movement to ‘Urban Art’.

These days every sensible artist on the make works hard on their web presence, and anyone looking to buy some great value beautiful art barely has to stretch their mousclicking finger beyond the front page of websites like etsy and society6. But even now it’s still possible to make amazing connections and to grow chance encounters into new interests and audiences. Like in the real world I guess.

The paintings here are not that different from the blog output of a witty teenager. They remind me quite a lot of the work I used to love on www.themanwhofellasleep.com when I was doing my A-levels, and also of Athena posters. Those are my circular cultural references, real pop art should do that I think; remind us infinitely of ourselves. Being an institution is not easy though. It takes love and it takes A LOT of work. The works brought together at The Book Club by the Nancyboy community are obviously loved and valued. These are not the high-profile works that have been in the big shows. These are the ebay artworks, from the homes of real humans.
And I hope what it means is that high flying pop artists don’t have to lose their roots. That all the little little art communities all over the world in small towns and small webspaces that no-one else knows about matter, and are all a part of the bigger dialogue of art forever. And at the same time are nothing, and your life work is just your hobby. One of Nancyboy’s paintings calls his standing into question:
FRANKLY, I Question it’s Honesty + Doubt it’s Art.

In September I’m going back to school to qualify as an art teacher. I think I will tell my students about Nancyboy. Because it’s important, not that anyone can make it, because that’s obviously not true. And not that they can do the same, because they never can. Each artist makes their own new path. The Nancyboy
decade saw the world change forever, and he was there watching, and commenting, and selling his paintings on Ebay. That’s what’s important.

Categories ,banksy, ,Basquiat, ,exhibition, ,Lady Gaga, ,nancyboy, ,Pop Up Pirates, ,Stuart Semple, ,The Book Club

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Amelia’s Magazine | Postcard Auction: Feminism in London

Illustration by Stephanie Thieullent

On Monday 4th October, buy The Aubin Gallery staged a fundraiser organised by artist Sarah Maple in support of the upcoming Feminism in London conference. The exhibition of postcards to be auctioned, cheap represented artists, writers, comediennes, designers and pop stars individual interpretation of contemporary Feminism.

Sarah Maple’s postcard went for the fantastic sum of 200 pounds.

The exhibition opened at 6.30 leaving plenty of time to examine the different ways feminism is understood in contemporary society, before the auction began at 8.

One postcard which struck an interesting note was David Rusbatch’s interpretation and categorising of the three rather didactic stages of feminism (as popularly played out in the press); Frieda Khalo represented Pre-Feminism, Germaine Greer is the symbol of Feminism and Post-Feminism was unsurprisingly a pornographic image.

The raucous event was compared by Jessica Stevenson (Spaced!) and Miriam Elia. These fantastic comedians ensured the audience spent the evening in stitches, through their various attempts to implore and cajole people into bidding.

Photograph by MJw Photography

Coinciding with the main event, was the Silent Auction, where you could find Miriam Elia and Jessica Haynes’ (nee Stevenson) musings on the theme…

Miriam Elia

Jessica Hynes (Nee Stevenson)

Having never been to an auction before, it definitely appears to be more fun with money in your pocket. The 14 pieces which went under the comedically inept hammer were as follows: Julie Opie, Sarah Maple, Julie Verhoeven, Stuart Semple, Jo Brand, Kat Banyard, The Girls, Bob London, Susie Orbach, Kate Nash, Viv Albertine (the Slits), Sarah Lederman, Gerald Laing and Piers Secunda. The majority of the prints went for around £70, with Julian Opie being one of the three postcards to leap over £100.

After becoming enamored with Bob London’s Emily Pankhurst, the Wilderness Years stating “it will make me laugh everyday.” Jessica
asked whether it would be ok to place a bid herself (who would say no?!) before snapping it up for 60 quid.

Jo Brand’s “Feminism is about” postcard fetched 70 pounds.

Piers Secunda’s “I love you forever” written with a broken biro (with forever crossed out) brokered an unexpected bidding war, leaving Jessica to comment that people in the auidence could obviously spot ‘real’ art. The postcard went for 125 pounds, sadly neither of two girls who started the bidding won this particular postcard. Both were pipped to the post by a late contestant.

Stuart Semple raised £65 pounds after starting at 22p.

This month sees the release of Made in Dagenham, a feature film documenting the strike action taken by 187 Ford sowing machinists who refused to work until they received equal pay. After a recent appearance of a few of the campaigners on Women’s Hour it was disclosed that the pay gap between men and women (where it occurs) is larger than the difference these women originally fought for. Could there be a more apt time to bring feminism discussion back into mainstream conciseness?

Sarah Maple produced a fantastic warm up for Feminism in London, which will be taking place on Saturday 23rd October.

Categories ,Auctions, ,feminism, ,Feminism in London, ,Germaine Greer, ,Jessica Hynes, ,Jessica Stevenson, ,Jo Brand, ,Miriam Elia, ,Postcard, ,Sarah Maple, ,Stuart Semple, ,Susie Orbach, ,The Girls, ,the slits

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