London Fashion Week is a breeze by bike, askmind after starting the day super early at My Beautiful Fashion, shop Fashion Editor Matt Bramford and I hot-stepped it via bike to see Craig Lawrence’s beautiful collection (see Matt’s review here) in the elegant setting of the Portico rooms. Afterwards I dashed up to Covent Garden before returning for Betty Jackson at 1pm in the BFC tent, buy more about Somerset House. I can’t put my finger on it but something really entrigued me about what it was that Betty Jackson would present, a long standing figure on the London Fashion Week on schedule, this is a designer I know incredibly little about. I appeared to be the only one either, the tent located in the Courtyard of Somerset house was packed to the rafters and there appeared to be a pile up as people dashed towards the front row.
The collection was beautiful simplicity with Jackson updating 1940′s land girl outfits, the essence of which was most recently seen on Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller in the Dylan Thomas Biopic “The Edge of Love”
It is -especially on a cold London September day- easy to forget you are watching Spring Summer, especially when designers tempt you with instead beautifully thick knits and wool infused trousers.
Luckily after lulling me into a gentle consideration of how warm those knit would be. Jackson threw a curve ball with the appearance of a swimsuit and blouse adorned with club tropicana prints before the collection returned to soft muted browns, mind you was rather partial to the above jumpsuit illustrated by Gemma Randall. At this point I glanced around the room – fashion fhows are a great place to watch people’s expressions – I noticed a very beautiful Jo Wood standing (looking completely unperturbed) by the photographers, it must have been a real scrum at the door for Rock Royalty to be left standing.
A luxurious collection, the shapes were simple but well made and the designer certainly knows how to maintain a crowds attention with the occasional loud print or teeny tiny swimming costumes, interdispersed within sophisticated summer glamour of long simply cut black skirts. Mind you, what is it about all designers obsession with lots of flesh (mainly leg) and teeny tiny shorts? They LOVE it, as showcased in our excellent coverage of Charlie Le Mindu seen here and here!
London Fashion Week is a breeze by bike, web after starting the day super early at My Beautiful Fashion, troche Fashion Editor Matt Bramford and I hot-stepped it via bike to see Craig Lawrence’s beautiful collection (see Matt’s review here) in the elegant setting of the Portico rooms.
Afterwards I dashed up to Covent Garden before returning for Betty Jackson at 1pm in the BFC tent, ambulance Somerset House. I can’t put my finger on it but something really entrigued me about what it was that Betty Jackson would present, a long standing figure on the London Fashion Week on schedule, this is a designer I know incredibly little about. I appeared to be the only one either, the tent located in the Courtyard of Somerset house was packed to the rafters and there appeared to be a pile up as people dashed towards the front row.
The collection was beautiful simplicity with Jackson updating 1940′s land girl outfits, the essence of which was most recently seen on Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller in the Dylan Thomas Biopic “The Edge of Love”
It is -especially on a cold London September day- easy to forget you are watching Spring Summer, especially when designers tempt you with instead beautifully thick knits and wool infused trousers.
Luckily after lulling me into a gentle consideration of how warm those knit would be. Jackson threw a curve ball with the appearance of a swimsuit and blouse adorned with club tropicana prints before the collection returned to soft muted browns, mind you was rather partial to the above jumpsuit illustrated by Gemma Randall. At this point I glanced around the room – fashion fhows are a great place to watch people’s expressions – I noticed a very beautiful Jo Wood standing (looking completely unperturbed) by the photographers, it must have been a real scrum at the door for Rock Royalty to be left standing.
A luxurious collection, the shapes were simple but well made and the designer certainly knows how to maintain a crowds attention with the occasional loud print or teeny tiny swimming costumes, interdispersed within sophisticated summer glamour of long simply cut black skirts. Mind you, what is it about all designers obsession with lots of flesh (mainly leg) and teeny tiny shorts? They LOVE it, as showcased in our excellent coverage of Charlie Le Mindu seen here and here!
London Fashion Week is a breeze by bike, click after starting the day super early at My Beautiful Fashion, price Fashion Editor Matt Bramford and I hot-peddled it to Craig Lawrence’s beautiful collection (see Matt’s review here) in the elegant setting of the Portico rooms.
After dashing back up to Covent Garden, I returned easily in time for my appointment with Betty Jackson at 1pm in the BFC tent, Somerset House. For reasons I can’t put my finger on, I was (and still am) strangely intrigued about what Betty Jackson would present. A long standing figure on the London Fashion Week on schedule, this is a designer whose name I am familiar with, but whose work I know incredibly little about. It appears I am the only one who is so clueless as the tent was packed to the rafters and the usual dash to seat the VIP’s as the catwalk covering is removed and the lights start to dim caused something of a pile up as people jumped into their alloted positions.
After the door scrum was settled and the late comers quietly ushered in, the removal of the overhead lighting plunged everyone into darkness as the first model stepped out onto the catwalk. A strange hush descends upon the crowd, the murmur is instantly replaced by scribbling pens, tapping on phones and the constant wizz of a camera’s flash. For S/S 2011 Betty Jackson presented a collection that was beautiful simplicity in her update of 1940′s land girl outfits, the essence of which was most recently seen on Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller in the Dylan Thomas Biopic “The Edge of Love”
It is -especially on a cold London September day- easy to forget you are watching Spring Summer, especially when designers tempt you with instead beautifully thick knits and wool infused trousers.
Luckily after lulling me into a gentle consideration of how warm those knit would be. Jackson threw a curve ball with the appearance of a swimsuit and blouse adorned with club tropicana prints before the collection returned to soft muted browns, mind you was rather partial to the above jumpsuit illustrated by Gemma Randall. At this point I glanced around the room – fashion fhows are a great place to watch people’s expressions – I noticed a very beautiful Jo Wood standing (looking completely unperturbed) by the photographers, it must have been a real scrum at the door for Rock Royalty to be left standing.
A luxurious collection, the shapes were simple but well made and the designer certainly knows how to maintain a crowds attention with the occasional loud print or teeny tiny swimming costumes, interdispersed within sophisticated summer glamour of long simply cut black skirts. Mind you, what is it about all designers obsession with lots of flesh (mainly leg) and teeny tiny shorts? They LOVE it, as showcased in our excellent coverage of Charlie Le Mindu seen here and here!
London Fashion Week is a breeze by bike, there after starting the day super early at My Beautiful Fashion, Fashion Editor Matt Bramford and I hot-peddled it to Craig Lawrence’s beautiful collection (see Matt’s review here) in the elegant setting of the Portico rooms.
After dashing back up to Covent Garden, I returned easily in time for my appointment with Betty Jackson at 1pm in the BFC tent, Somerset House. For reasons I can’t put my finger on, I was (and still am) strangely intrigued about what Betty Jackson would present. A long standing figure on the London Fashion Week on schedule, this is a designer whose name I am familiar with, but whose work I know incredibly little about. It appears I am the only one who is so clueless as the tent was packed to the rafters and the usual dash to seat the VIP’s as the catwalk covering is removed and the lights start to dim caused something of a pile up as people jumped into their alloted positions.
After the door scrum was settled and the late comers quietly ushered in, the removal of the overhead lighting plunged everyone into darkness as the first model stepped out onto the catwalk. A strange hush descends upon the crowd, the murmur is instantly replaced by scribbling pens, tapping on phones and the constant wizz of a camera’s flash. For S/S 2011 Betty Jackson presented a collection that was beautiful simplicity in her update of 1940′s land girl outfits, the essence of which was most recently seen on Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller in the Dylan Thomas Biopic “The Edge of Love”
It is -especially on a cold London September day- easy to forget you are watching Spring Summer, especially when designers tempt you with instead beautifully thick knits and wool infused trousers.
Luckily after lulling me into a gentle consideration of how warm those knit would be. Jackson threw a curve ball with the appearance of a swimsuit and blouse adorned with club tropicana prints before the collection returned to soft muted browns, mind you was rather partial to the above jumpsuit illustrated by Gemma Randall. At this point I glanced around the room – fashion fhows are a great place to watch people’s expressions – I noticed a very beautiful Jo Wood standing (looking completely unperturbed) by the photographers, it must have been a real scrum at the door for Rock Royalty to be left standing.
A luxurious collection, the shapes were simple but well made and the designer certainly knows how to maintain a crowds attention with the occasional loud print or teeny tiny swimming costumes, interdispersed within sophisticated summer glamour of long simply cut black skirts. Mind you, what is it about all designers obsession with lots of flesh (mainly leg) and teeny tiny shorts? They LOVE it, as showcased in our excellent coverage of Charlie Le Mindu seen here and here!
London Fashion Week is a breeze by bike and is thoroughly recommended for hot tailing it between the various venues dotted around Bloomsbury. Actually I throughly recommend traveling London by bike, generic one word of warning, once you start it becomes increasingly difficult to pour yourself into the tube. Anyway, I digress and their are posts dedicated to the joys of cycling in the web archive of Amelia’s Magazine, in fact why not read Amelia’s interview with Bobbin Bicycles? But back to day two of London Fashion Week, in which Fashion Editor Matt Bramford and I met super early at My Beautiful Fashion for Bernard Chandran, we hot-peddled it to Craig Lawrence’s beautiful collection in the elegant settings of the Portico Rooms.
After dashing back up to Covent Garden via the trusty bike, I easily returned in time for my first ever appointment with Betty Jackson at 1pm in the BFC tent, Somerset House. For reasons I can’t put my finger on, I was strangely intrigued about what Betty Jackson would present. A long standing figure on the London Fashion Week on schedule, this is a designer whose name I am familiar with, but whose work I know incredibly little about. It appears I am the only one who is so clueless as the tent was packed to the rafters and the usual dash to seat the VIP’s as the catwalk covering is removed and the lights start to dim caused something of a pile up as people jumped into their alloted positions.
After the door scrum was settled and the late comers quietly ushered in, the removal of the overhead lighting plunged everyone into darkness as the first model stepped out onto the catwalk. A strange hush descends upon the crowd, the murmur is instantly replaced by scribbling pens, tapping on phones and the constant wizz of a camera’s flash. For S/S 2011 Betty Jackson presented a collection that was beautiful simplicity in her update of 1940′s land girl outfits, the essence of which was most recently seen on Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller in the Dylan Thomas Biopic “The Edge of Love”
It is -especially on a cold London September day- easy to forget you are watching Spring Summer, especially when designers tempt you with instead beautifully thick knits and wool infused trousers.
Luckily after lulling me into a gentle consideration of how warm those knit would be. Jackson threw a curve ball with the appearance of a swimsuit and blouse adorned with club tropicana prints before the collection returned to soft muted browns, mind you was rather partial to the above jumpsuit illustrated by Gemma Randall. At this point I glanced around the room – fashion fhows are a great place to watch people’s expressions – I noticed a very beautiful Jo Wood standing (looking completely unperturbed) by the photographers, it must have been a real scrum at the door for Rock Royalty to be left standing.
A luxurious collection, the shapes were simple but well made and the designer certainly knows how to maintain a crowds attention with the occasional loud print or teeny tiny swimming costumes, interdispersed within sophisticated summer glamour of long simply cut black skirts. Mind you, what is it about all designers obsession with lots of flesh (mainly leg) and teeny tiny shorts? They LOVE it, as showcased in our excellent coverage of Charlie Le Mindu seen here and here!
It was a bum fight at Vauxhall Fashion Scout, viagra 60mg as hoards of people turned out for one of the most highly anticipated collections of the schedule – Lako Bukia’s first runway collection ‘Surati’ S/S 11.
Lako Bukia looked to her homeland, with a collection that was ‘dedicated to Georgian culture’ (as in the country, not Jane Austen) and inspired by Soviet Union Architecture. The obligatory Soviet Red was there in full swing, with bold, all-red outfits opening the show.
But this was a romantic collection, despite the model’s severe slicked-back buns. Instead of brutal tower blocks we had sharp, structured shoulders on every jacket, and instead of a bleak grey landscape, she gave us a soft palette of blue, pink and beige. I was whisked away by the dreamy drop-waist dresses, and full skirts in chiffon, crepe and organza, and can see why her pieces have been snapped up by buyers already – the organza ‘cage’ dress – sheer but with leather trimming was divine.
And the accessories! Bukia collaborated with Georgian artist Aleksandre Mikadza to create handmade glass and stone pendants, and the models strutted down the catwalk on a very soviet take on Mary Janes – finally someone paid attention to the shoes!
Written by Lauren Smith on Tuesday September 21st, 2010 6:00 pm
An eclectic mix of art work by a group of like minded people exploring expressionism through art.
Peckham Square, tadalafilpage 28th of March 2- 6pm
In the Pines
Jack Strange Limoncello 2 Hoxton St London, rx opening 27th of March 6.30 – 8.30pm, case exhibition: 26th – 28th of March 11am – 6pm and by appointment until 2nd May 2009.
Order and Disorder
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
A look at a very unique collection of paintings and prints, several have never been publicly exhibited before. Art first in Cork street, 24th March – 23rd April
One or Several Wolves
Priya Chohan, Coral Churchill, Annelie Fawke, Kwang-Sung Hong, Heidi Locher and Anne E Wilson.
A group of artists look at conceptual motivations within Art, using a variety of media each artist explores the relationship between concept, material and final work created. Kingsgate Gallery, 20th March – 5th April Free
Bandits present
New installation work from Glaswegian artists littlewhitehead. The Bun House Bandits, 96 Peckham High Street London. Preview: 15th March 2009, 4pm. Exhibition: 16th March 2009 – 29 March 2009, 11am–11pm
Being and nothing-ness
Youngmi Kim, Kiwoun Shin and Seunghyun Woo
Three Korean artists explore the notion of “being” through various multi media methods, the exhibition includes paintings, videos and sculptures. Nolias Gallery, 60 Great Suffolk St SE1. Private view: 26thMarch at 6pm- 9pm, exhibition: 27th March- 7TH April 200 10:30Am-6pm,
We are his body
installation art work inspired by the artist’s exploration of the cross in today’s society.
Viewing at Christ Church URC 663 Barking rd Plaistow E13 9EX, 25th March 6pm
Kate Marshall: Live Painting.
This dextrous figurative painter will be doing a live drawing and painting gig at Movida, Argyll Street on April 2nd. Arrive at 9.30pm, you might get a free drinky. She’ll be starting work at 10pm. Check out the event on facebook.
I just woke up from the best nightmare I ever had, store at least I think it was a nightmare. I mean, side effects I’ve heard of mutton dressed as lamb and a wolf in sheep’s clothing, health but last night I saw a couple of ladies, dressed as a wolf and a sheep respectively, among other things.
But what was this, what had I stepped into? Well I found the best person to ask, Annie Oldfield. A lovely young lady from Leeds, dressed as a wolf! I thought it would be fun to create a one-off themed party where you can listen to music all night that`s in some way related to animals: Animal Collective (Panda Bear), Deerhunter, Modest Mouse (the list is endless), eat crackers and, of course, what themed party is complete without fancy dresses. Shark, tiger, zebra, duck, crab, swan, cat (there were lots of cats) all had turned out.
After Annie along with friend Bonnie Wan came up with the idea they went to
DJ/Promoter friend Dave Bassinder (Underachievers) and Filthy animals! was born.
Not one for getting down on the dance floor, that was no problem here, you could keep yourself occupied by making animal balloons or watching films played on a big screen, obviously starring our fantastic furry friends. Or grab a piece of paper and give origami a go, make some sort of flapping pterodactyl. Of course the term filthy suggests more than balloon modeling so a few cheap drinks and many tunes later and the dance floor got the attention it deserved, well you spend all day making a costume you gotta show it off, right?
It`s a real shame it had to end as there are no plans for further repercussions. If you read this Underachievers “BRING BACK THE ANIMALS and KEEP EM FILTHY”!
I have something to admit, viagra sale I am a warehouse party virgin. By warehouse parties I mean not-really legal parties, treat which announce their locations via facebook messages about five minute before they start and you quickly have to get yourself to some remote north London spot in Zone 4. For me there is nothing fun about the obvious issue of trekking all the way out there just for the police to shut it down at twelve. Or 11.30 PM on New Years Eve, rx which is what happened to one of my friends!
After one of our writers posted about their last exhibition I decided i couldn’t miss the LuckyPDF warehouse party, even better it was all above board and legal. There were rather fancy gold flyers promoting the event and they even hired their own bouncers, who were at the door all night checking ID. While this might take some of the thrill away for regular warehouse party goers I rather enjoyed being somewhere with plumbing and electricity. My favourite part was not having to trail across London to a Saw-esk industrial park, because the event was just off Peckham high street. As the LuckyPDF people boldly proclaimed before the event, “The people of South London shalt need to travel to East London any longer for their Huge Party needs.”
I arrived at eleven and the queue to get in was absolutely insane, luckly i’d sent a RSVP email, but I still had to wait a good fifteen minutes to get into the rooms even once I was through the main gate. This was no thrown together event, they had obviously put a lot of effort into sound and lighting, which was refreshing and very welcome. As I entered the bottom room floor I was immediately hit with throbbing lights and heavy bass. There were hoards of people, I couldn’t even begin to count how many attended the event, but nothing was too serious. I think something about the fact it was in a warehouse just made the whole event more relaxed, there was a lot less people there just to smoke and be seen than there were people just wanting to have fun. No “this is the dance floor, this is the bar” locations usually explicit in gig venues meant people were just doing what they wanted where they wanted.
The LuckyPDF warehouse party aimed to be “a rampant music/art extravaganza that will continue til the early morn..” The music was definitely there with the order of the day being, “Bass, Bass, Garage, Electro, Bass, Drum n Bass, Swing, Tango, Nintendocore and Bass”. There were Dj sets from 10 PM – 4AM from South London party circuit favourites, XXX, My Panda Shall Fly and Tomb Crew, plus many, many more. These Dj’s were well selected and well received (apart from whoever kept cutting tracks short in the top room!) effortlessly mixing cutting edge bass tracks with forgotten classics.
However, I was completely perplexed about the other bit, you know the art. Unless really, really small (microscopic) art has come in fashion since the last exhibition I went to I would swear that there wasn’t any. It could have been hidden by the hoards of people there, but still if you’re going to advertise art it would be helpful if people could see it. Previously this would have annoyed me, but I feel i’m just starting to get the point of collectives such as LuckyPDF and it’s peers. Although these guys are artists, they’re not together to try and promote a certain type of art or medium over any other. With the exception perhaps being Off Modern who have a whole Off Modern manifesto on their website. As far as I know there is no particular theme or common interests in the work of the organisers of these events and if there were it would be purely incidental. It’s more a case of getting people excited about South London. Which something that hasn’t happened since (dare i say it) the YBA’s, and they all rushed off to live in the East End or houses in the country as soon as they could anyway.
I will forgive the LuckyPDF guys just this once having an event light of the art and heavy on the music (which draws people in and allows them to charge entry fee), because they have stated that they’re a not for profit organisation, and I hope the money they made will be going into more exhibitions. And when they do I’ll be there, pen in hand, because I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do next. Photography by Ted Williams
Monday 23th
The Rakes release their third album, symptoms KLANG, buy information pills today and to celebrate the band will play a special gig at London’s Rough Trade East at 6pm tonight.
The follow up to ‘Ten New Messages’ is pure and the best of The Rakes as you can check out on lead track ‘1989‘.
Wristband collection 1 hour prior to gig, first-come-first-served basis-one per person.
The Rakes
Tuesday 24th
It`s crunch time at The Social and the venue welcomes Kid Carpet to promote his new single, followed by Moonfish Rhumba with their electro beats and peculiar lyrics.
If great music is not enough to take your mind of recession, this month the venue provides the Crunch Time Rant where you can take your anger to the stage, step on to a soapbox and speak out your thoughts.
Doors 6pm, 99p.
Moonfish Rhumba
Wednesday 25th
Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen receives Joseph Mount, aka Metronomy and DJs, including the opulent pop of Your Twenties (whose harmonious frontman is Metronomy’s former bassist).
8pm, £7, adv £6.
The three new yorkers forming The Virgins land in town for some dance rock at Koko London.
9:30pm, £7, £5 before 11pm, concs £4.
The Virgins
Saturday 28th
Up for some healthy girlie pop? Betty and the Werewolves bring their female fronted indie-ditty-pop vocals (they do count with one boy on the drums!) to Bardens Boudoir next Saturday.
8pm, £6.
Betty and the Werewolves
Sunday 29th
Close (or begin?) your week with the Society of New Music – an avant garde event featuring Wet Dog live at The Social.
7pm, £2.
Wet Dog
To all you vintage addicts I bring you salvation!
On April the 4th a vintage bonanza will be hitting the streets of Bethnal Green to bombard you with their scandalously cheap vintage, viagra 40mg so prepare yourself Shoreditch! I understand if you are dubious, case “what makes it unique in comparison to the endless array of oversaturated vintage fairs and markets in London” I hear you say? Well, the differentiation is that at this event you won’t be leaving empty handed if you left the house with a mere twenty pounds. This is vintage on an extremely tight shoestring, for any savvy shopper the affordable vintage fair is akin to the sensation of being a child in a sweet shop again!
Heralded as the largest vintage fair in north England, the organizers have delved the nation with their noble quest for affordable vintage, leaving no stone unturned. Our loyal travellers have unearthed hidden gems and want to bring you the fruits of their labour! So cast aside the idle and banal window shopper, let your hair down and embrace your style hungry primordial urges. The fair is an emporium of vintage wonderment; there are style advisors, a customisation and alternations area, swapping area as well as bundles of vintage clothes and furniture.
But the most exciting element of the fair has to be the pay by kilo vintage stall. This really is vintage paradise; trawl to your heart’s content safe in the knowledge it’s not going to cost you much more then your weekly grocery shop. The phenomena is commonplace with our European counterparts, but kilo shopping will be making its debut here in the UK. So get trawling and scout some hidden gems, this might just be your chance to revive your wardrobe from the brink of darkness and inject a whole new burst of life. What other chances would you get to weigh out your clothes, just like you would weigh out your sugar?
They have catered for your every whim feeding your ears and taste buds with a nostalgic trip down memory lane. With music spanning the decades from the bohemian 60s to the energetic 80s, not forgetting a whole host of cake stalls and beverages to whet your appetite.
So don’t miss out, get down there 11am pronto on the 4th of April, I for one will be installing my vintage bargain radar and heading down myself!
Everyday at the office here, treatment while we`re writing our articles and drinking our teas, we try to go through the many cd`s we receive daily and now and then there`s one that catches everybody`s attention, making everyone in the room ask “who`s this”?
That`s exactly what happened when Cari put on the single from up and coming group My Tiger My Timing. In less than 30 seconds heads were bopping and legs were shaking unanimously. This Is Not The Fire is so catchy that I`ve been listening to it non stop since Tuesday.
They play a delightful, totally danceable afro beat, electro-pop and still they compare themselves with bands like Metronomy and Casio Kids. While most of the groups desperately run away from extreme pop and commercial tracks, MTMT does exactly the opposite, recognizing their will for creating easy listening and fluid beats.
The foursome was formed in 2008 in south east London and their debut single was produced by Andy Spence of New Young Pony Club and will be released April 6th 2009 downloadable through Silver Music Machine.
Tuesday I had the chance to see them live at Cargo and I`m definitely looking forward to the entire album, it was quite an electrifying performance. Here`s a little video of the last song:
Yesterday, buy a few of the Amelia’s Magazine girls went along to witness the G20 protests in the City of London. The day had dawned to brilliant sunshine, and clear blue skies, which meant that the sight and sound of the police helicopters hovering overhead was even more pronounced. The events which were due to unfold promised to be extraordinary, and I was keen to see what was going to happen. It was hard to know what to expect, but here was the run down. Four different carnival parades, were to converge around the Bank Of England, and protest the current economic and environmental climate. We were guided there by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, leading the processions from four rail stations. We were setting off from Liverpool Street, led by the Green Horse – representing climate chaos. Walking from Brick Lane to the station, I was struck at how different the city seemed. Spitalfields Market, and all the restaurants around it were closed. There were not many city workers around, but those who were out and about were dressed down. I didn’t see a single suit around me.
The Barbican towards The Bank of England. It was enjoyable to be part of such a good natured crowd and it was fun to watch all the shop owners standing outside their establishments, watching with fascination at the colourful carnival proceeding past them.
As we walked towards Bank we passed Northern Rock. Some clever jokers had hung a sign inside their office entitled ‘We Love Money”. As I went to take a picture they hastily pulled the sign down. I could only marvel at the thoughtlessness of that statement, wasn’t it hundreds of thousands of pensioners money that they had lost – was that the money in question that they loved so much? After a brief stop, we marched into the space around The Bank Of England. I was shocked by the amount of people who were here. Estimates at 4,000 are not an exaggeration. The place was packed. Having only ever seen this section in London as a thoroughfare for busy, frantic city workers, and crammed to the gills with buses, it was surreal to see it filled with so many protesters. No cars, just people.
After about 45 minutes, we were ready to head back to the office. I went to walk past a row of police and quickly found that I couldn’t get through. Not quite understanding the situation I was unconcerned, thinking that they were guarding just one exit. Knowing there were plenty more exits around Bank station we wandered back to the road that we had come in on. Again, we were met with a throng of police. They stood arms locked. Still assuming that this was something that would be resolved soon, we sat down and scrounged some crisps off a girl sat next to us. (Not expecting to be there for long, we didn’t take any food, and not much water.)
Then some of the police vans next to us started to move through the police and drive away. We thought that this was our cue to leave as well, and strode towards the police. They immediately closed ranks. It was at this moment that I took in the situation. They had cordoned us all in; we had unwittingly become kettled. (This word now chills me to the bone). No one was going anywhere without their say so. the crowds started to fill up and began asking questions. As I was nearest the front I asked how long this situation would last for. “Don’t know” came the response. Many people started asking why this was happening, but the police would not respond. Our crowd was large, and there was not an ‘anarchist’ in sight. Many tried to squeeze towards the police and told them that this was violating their human rights, and was against the law. Again, no response.
We were soon packed so tightly that it was like being at the front of a gig, but instead of watching a band, we were staring into the hard faces of men who refused to talk to us, and would sooner beat and arrest us then let us get past them. At this point the crowd surged and we fell into each other. The police shouted at us “Get back!” a woman shouted “Where to?!” We were trapped in a scrum, and the police were pushing us back while we were being pushed forward. I saw riot police walk towards us and I felt a surge of panic. We had been trapped by the police and there was nothing that we could do. I pleaded with the officer in front of me to let us go (I can now see how futile that was). I said that we were scared, and asked if a riot were to kick off, who are they going to protect? “I can’t answer that” was the response. Women started shouting that they had children from school to pick up, jobs to get to. The most common cry to the police was “Why won’t you speak to us?” I got so fed up from this feeling of powerlessness that I phoned the news desk at BBC News. I shared my feelings of worry to the reporter on the other end of the phone; and told her the scenario. I relayed what the officers had told one girl to do who said that she needed the toilet – “you can go in the street”; what they told one boy who said that he wasn’t even part of the protest – “You are now”. The BBC reporter told us that this situation was happening at every exit of the march. She said, “You are all being tarred with the same anarchist brush, this is their tactic”.
Around an hour later, still in the same position, a man passed out in front of me. He had been standing quietly, not trying to defy the police, and his only movement for the two hours that we were held was to quietly read a peace of paper that he had in his hands. I had looked at it at one point and could see that it was a Psalm. Thankfully, the officers took him away and led him to an ambulance. Just as I started to feel that it was going to be an all night cordon, my friends phone rang. A friend of hers told her that they had just opened one of the exits round the corner and we bolted for it. Walking to the tube, we were jumping up and down with exhilaration. We began receiving updates that the RBS building was being stormed, and that the police were beating protesters. What had started off as a peaceful and well meaning protest was quickly turning into something much darker, but who was at fault? If you asked anyone in the 4,000 strong crowd they would have no trouble telling you. The police’s tactic of kettling us, purposely providing us with no information and locking us in for two and half hours was easily going to generate the mayhem that they had predicted. Nonetheless, I am so pleased that I attended. It was always going to be an interesting day, I just wish that the peaceful protesters would have been treated better and not denied their basic human rights. Monday March 23rd.
WE CAN postcards to Ed Miliband and MPs: Monday 23rd March
On Monday 23rd March, pills hundreds of children dressed as endangered animals will write postcards to Secretary of State Ed Miliband and to their MPs, in an effort to make the government call a halt to plans to build a third runway at Heathrow and a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth.
According to NASA scientist James Hansen, who is now advising President Obama, up to 400 species of animals are threatened with extinction by the emissions from Kingsnorth.
Filmmaker, mother of three and founding member of WE CAN, Rebecca Frayn said, ‘The children are horrified that so many animals could be wiped out. Ed Miliband has said that carbon capture and storage will be introduced to clean up the emissions, but nobody knows when, or if the technology is even practical.’
The postcards will be coloured in and presented after a gathering in Old Palace Yard at 5pm on Monday 23rd March. Several MPs including Andy Slaughter and John McDonnell have agreed to meet children in the lobby of the House of Commons
Forests and Climate Change: an Amazonian Perspective for Copenhagen
Date: Tuesday, 24 March, 2009 – 17:30
Chatham House?
10 St James’s Square
?London
?SW1Y 4LE
A joint IIED and Chatham House event, the debate will be led by Professor Virgílio Viana, Director General, Amazon Sustainability Foundation.
Doors open 5.30pm?Event starts 6.00pm?Reception to 8.30pm
Venue:?email: Alessandra.Giuliani@iied.org Tel: 0207 388 2117
Professor Virgílio Viana is one of Brazil’s leading academics and practitioners on forestry, environment and sustainable development. Prof. Viana served as Secretary of State for Environment and Sustainable Development, Amazonas, Brazil, between 2003 and 2008. He stepped down from the position of Secretary of State for Environment and Sustainable Development, Amazonas, in March 2008 in order to devote his time to new challenges and projects. He is currently the Director General of the new Amazon Sustainability Foundation, and is presently in London as part of a 3 month sabbatical with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
Wednesday 25th March
St James’s Church
197 Piccadilly
London W1J 9LL?
7.00pm GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT FORUM – Governments; friends or foes of development?
Contact 020 7734 4511 for further details
The Age of Stupid (PG)
Genre: Drama/Documentary
Dir: Franny Armstrong
The Age Of Stupid is the documentary-drama-animation hybrid from director Franny Armstrong (McLibel, Drowned Out) and Oscar-winning Producer John Battsek (One Day In September, Live Forever, In the Shadow of the Moon).
Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father, Brassed Off, The Usual Suspects) stars as an old man living in the devastated world of 2055. He watches ‘archive’ footage from 2008 and asks: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?
Plus Q+A with
Thurs 26 March after 6.45pm screening- Lizzie Gillet (The Age of Stupid film producer)
Forests and Climate Change,
7pm, Royal Geographical Society,
1 Kensington Gore, SW1 London
The world’s forests are home to an extraordinary range of species, and are arguably one of our greatest safeguards against climate change. Yet deforestation, whether for timber, farming or human settlement, continues at an alarming rate. Climate Change, Canopies, and Wildlife
Dr. Mika Peck, University of Sussex
What are the impacts of climate change on the cloudforests of north-west Ecuador? Are existing reserves in one of the richest and most diverse of all biodiversity hotspots big enough to protect large charismatic mammals like the spectacled bear and big cats? How much do carbon offset programmes really benefit wildlife? Can technology such as Google Earth help us to identify canopy tree species and biologically diverse areas from space? These are just some of the questions that will be addressed during this lecture, which is based on data collected by Earthwatch volunteers in the mountains of Ecuador.
“Hell and High water: Climate Change as a spiritual challenge.” An evening talk with Alastair McIntosh
6.30pm drinks & light buffet at Gaia House, (18 Well Walk, Hampstead, NW3 1LD)
7.30pm Talk & discussion at Burgh House (Opposite Gaia House, New End Square, Hampstead, NW3 1LT)
Alastair McIntosh’s recent book, “Hell and High Water: Climate Change, Hope and the Human Condition” has been described on Radio 4′s Open Book programme as one of the best on climate change “because of its rage and optimism.” But Alastair’s “optimism” is not of a conventional type that relies on political, technical and economic solutions. His book is about hope, and how our response must also be psychological and spiritual. During the course of this evening, Alastair will introduce the book exploring why he thinks climate change is as much about our inner lives as outer realities, and discuss here this leaves us as campaigners for change.
Saturday 28th March 2009
“Climate Change, Consumerism and the Decolonisation of the Soul.”
10am – 4.30pm at the Gaia Learning Centre
18 Well Walk, Hampstead, NW3 1LD
Alastair will build on his presentation from the previous evening, focussing in particular on the role that consumerism plays as the driving force of climate change. He will unpack the history of consumerism and demonstrate how it has “colonised the soul” in an addictive manner, that needs to be responded to in a manner akin to other addictions. This will bring us back to the need, discussed the previous evening, to understand climate change as a call to deepen our inner lives, as well as come up with outer solutions. Many of these solutions will touch on the need for “Rekindling Community” – the title of his other recent book (a Schumacher Briefing) which he will introduce in the latter part of the workshop.
Alastair McIntosh is a writer, broadcaster and campaigning academic best known for his work on land reform on Eigg, in helping to stop the Harris super quarry; also for pioneering human ecology as an applied academic discipline in Scotland. He is a Fellow of Scotland’s Centre for Human Ecology, a Visiting Fellow of the Academy of Irish Cultural Heritages at the University of Ulster, and in 2006 was appointed to an honorary position in Strathclyde University as Scotland’s first Visiting Professor of Human Ecology. He is the author of many books, including the critically acclaimed “Soil and Soul: People versus corporate power“.
Booking for either the talk, workshop, or both is essential. Evening talk £10 / One-day workshop £45.
Reserve your place online at: www.gaiafoundation.org
Or send a cheque made payable to The Gaia Foundation.
For further details contact Vicky at: vicky@gaianet.org or 020 7428 0055.
Put People First march for Jobs, Justice and the Climate
11am Victoria Embankment, London
Please come along and add your voice to the Put People First march for Jobs, Justice and the Climate in London on Saturday 28th March.
Global leaders are meeting in London on 2nd April for the G20 meeting, and we want them to Put People First and focus on jobs, justice and the climate. Greenpeace is one of the 50 organisations supporting the march, which is calling for — among other things — a green new deal to help rebuild the economy and create green jobs. To see the full list of demands visit www.putpeoplefirst.org.uk.
Put People First is a coalition of organisations ranging from environmental and development charities to unions, churches and mosques, and we are expecting thousands of people from all walks of life to take to the streets and send a strong message to the G20 leaders. If you can make it to London, please join them.
The march will start at 11am at Victoria Embankment and head to Hyde Park for a rally with speakers and entertainment including comedian Mark Thomas and environmentalist Tony Juniper. Visit the website for more details including a route map.
We’re sorry if you’re not based in or around London and can’t make it, but if you do want to travel down for the march, Put People First are organising coaches from various places around the UK.
Hope to see you there, http://www.putpeoplefirst.org.uk/
Timothy M Duong is a fine artist searching for something extra ordinary to put “the ordinary on blast”. He as no interest in the ideal beauty, pilule finding that painting from life poses a challenge that often results in mistakes which can change simple art works into timeless pieces. This week I had a chance to find out what inspires his creativity.
What inspires you?
People inspire me. The space around us inspires me. What fills that space and our relationships to it inspire me. Anything that sparks a resonance inside of me to ask the question “why” is probably the reason why I continue my work. So I guess you could say what I am making at the current moment is a documentation of how I perceive the world or my view of it and this is constantly changing as for my work also.
How did you get into Art?
My cousin who passed away several years ago introduced me to comic book art when I was very young and for years until high school that was all I was doing. While I was deep into the world of comics and the linear art, cure I bumped into “Kabuki” a book written and illustrated by David Mack and that was probably one of the most pivotal points in my artistic development. I didn’t even know that it was possible to bring such a way of communication with such a medium as comics. From then and there I abandoned comics and ventured into fine art.
Who do you aspire to be like and who inspires you at present?
I really don’t aspire to be like anyone. I aspire to be more my self, if that can be an answer. People that do inspire me at the moment are artists like Phil Hale, Alex Kanevsky, Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, Degas, Egon Schiele, Richard Diebenkorn and anyone that has a way with the brush and pencil.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
I see myself living comfortably from what I love doing. I can’t really put it any others words other than that…but I guess we’ll see how the economy goes eh.
What advice would you give to someone trying to get into the Art?
My advice would be to have an open-mind and be forgiving of your mistakes, yet be your harshest critique. Our experiences are what makes us and to be afraid of consequences generated by our “experience” is to neglect ourselves. It’s all about trial and error in my book.
Do you have a muse?
I have no muse. Although I do hire models and try to work with some friends but no one on a regular basis, at least for now. I need constant change and revision so for me to have a regular muse would probably bore me, but you never know…maybe I haven’t found the “one”.
Jeremy is self-obsessed. Jeremy is pop. Jeremy overdoes things. Gratuitously. Jeremy indulges ostentatious musical whims. And Jeremy has just made his first great piece of work: How We Became is his masterpiece.
I’ve been checking out this half-French fop’s work for a few years, click since I caught him at one of the Mystery Jets’ Eel Pie Island Bandpies, site spooling tales of rentboys and such, side effects strumming his guitar, while his voice fought for attention. Interesting stuff, but not compelling. Then he progressed, churning out a couple of decent tunes, like 5 Verses. He was obviously a talented chap, but I couldn’t obsess over what felt to me like dry and bloodless songs. Jeremy, where’s your passion? I asked. And then I went and listened to something else.
Imagine my surprise then, putting on this CD and being forced to let Jeremy fully into my heart. He is the same Jeremy, but more knowing, now. There is a lot of really beautiful music here, as though he’s been suddenly possessed by the spirit of Brian Wilson in his prime. There are chord progressions that tighten tendons, and make you want to do some parkour in a balletic frenzy.
He’s also very canny at matching lyric to music. “I heard that it’s true that everything is made of tiny bits of nothing. There’s music in the gaps and colour in the cracks, as the sirens wail and car alarms ring” is delivered so delicately in Waiting Room, a lullaby of electronic drums and oboes and flutes. You can’t help but become as soppy as the man himself.
The record is very much a studio thing. It sounds as if he’s laid everything out to click track, layered in his keyboards and vocals, then got his servants to fill in their designated parts, with utter precision and exactitude. There isn’t a slid or bent note, not even a spaghetti hoop of a solo. The only emotional expression on the whole CD comes from Jeremy’s uncannily skilful songwriting, and his boyish note-perfect vocal squeaks, whimpers, and entreaties. It’s testament to the power of those factors that they’re enough to keep you in for the whole shebang.
There are some surprisingly rocked-out moments, too. Just slipped into the mix. Jeremy still warbles on top, the ghost of the click track still hovers, but just with distorted guitar riffing away and driving drums pounding a strange imitation of rock bands. The rest of the time, we are left with a world of synths, round bass tones, gentle acoustic guitar samba-chords, robo-tight drumbeats, and really sexy wind instruments. Check the stunning horns on Dancing with The Enemy. And production about as perfect as it gets.
I must admit my mind started to wander as the last track drawled into verse three and a half, and then I realised why it had to be the last track. A sequence of pure musical wizardry divides the song in two. Debussy duetting with King Crimson, followed by a one minute piano and snare crescendo. “What a surprise! We grew up,” realises Jeremy. Truly.
This isn’t an experimental record, at all, but I’m still fairly stumped for unqualified comparisons. Let’s try, err… The Divine Comedy, but no… it’s more earnest. Fugu, but no… less ironic. Or Patrick Wolf, maybe, but no… much less masturbatory. Essentially, this is its own beast. That’s what makes it great. Jeremy Warmsley’s vision has finally borne fruit. Very juicy fruit.
You can buy “How We Became” through roughtrade.com, and there’s a free download of “If He Breaks Your Heart” on his own site, jeremywarmsley.com. See him live at Barden’s Boudoir this Saturday, March 28,, when he plays alongside Betty and The Werewolves, or on his tour of the UK and Germany, as listed on his myspace. Tatty Devine are so prolific it’s hard to keep up – legions ahead of their counterparts who must surely feel as though they are lugging behind them gasping for breath. Never ones for being complacent, pharm Tatty Devine are consistently striving to push the boundaries in accessory design.
The innovative duo have enjoyed a cult following, web and their list of collaborators is long enough to struggle in the recollection. There was the infamous Gilbert and George, the master craftsman Robert Ryan, eccentric electric group Robots in Disguise, and then the zany Mark Pawson. Not to mention their bizarre projects. One of their latest was undertaking a pendant replica of the angel of the North. As a proud Northern lady myself, this holds a particular sentimental place in my heart!
Tatty Devine have recently joined forces with artists Phil and Galia Kollectiv in a conceptual project for their Brick Lane store. The exhibition comprises of a series of photographs to coincide with the launch of their capsule jewelry collection. Inspired by Cold War Design, the pieces play with the concept of espionage and the clash between ideology and human emotion.
The collection has a distinct three-dimensional allusion, drawing influence from emissary tools used within the Second World War. The pieces range from acrylic brooches to pendants, my distinct favourite would have to be the pendant of Oskar Schlemmer a prestigious figurehead in the Bauhaus theatre workshop.
So head on down and catch the collection at the Brick Lane store which runs till May 3rd
In conjunction with their work with minimalist duo Kollectiv, Tatty Devine has been dipping their toes into the world of music. Their latest collaboration is with new kids on the indie block Betty and the Werewolves. This quartet are bursting with flair, injecting a healthy dose of saccharine laden pop. But don’t discard these girls as entirely sickly sweet, they pack a real punch. With racing punk rock guitars and scandalous lyrics these girls don’t adhere to the usual pop group ethic.
The accessory collection comprises of bold graphic pendants rather reminiscent of the font of an 80s action comic, you almost expect the words POW! The red acrylic pendant is gloriously kitsch, a perfect outlet to announce your passion for these cool cats to the unsuspecting public. Their next piece pays homage to 70s star David Cassidy, which aptly is the title of the bands debut album. This charming heart pendant is a perfect piece of 70s nostalgia.
With the prices starting from a mere £15 pounds, now is your chance to grab yours. I have a sneaking suspicion these girls will be making waves in the music sphere in the foreseeable future. Infact they will be playing this Saturday at Bardens Boudior with Jeremy Warmsley, The Duloks, and the Bobby McGee’s, a perfect chance to experience this energic bunch first hand.
Like it or not (and I bet they don’t), dosage the Government are now being hit from all sides over the issue of Climate Change. Yesterday, approved the harsh criticism came from a determined and impassioned group of kids dressed as lions, tigers and polar bears who stood outside Parliament and protested the plans for new coal fired power stations, and the building of Runway Three at Heathrow Airport. It was a double-whammy kind of point. First, the children wanted to show that they too are as concerned as any group of adults about the issues of global warming, and want their voices to be heard too. Secondly, they wanted to represent the many animals who face extinction if climate change isn’t halted. And who can say no to a kid dressed up as a polar bear?
Thankfully, the dire rainstorm which had threatened to send everyone running cleared and made way for blue skies. I pitched up at around 4.30pm to find more police standing around then children. Being fully aware of the planned protest, there were quite a few clusters of armed police standing guard. Is that justifiable when you consider that the event consisted of under 10 year olds singing “We’ve got the whole world in our hands” while they threw an inflatable globe around? I’m not so sure.
Sipson, near Heathrow, whose primary school will be demolished if Heathrow’s third runway goes ahead. (I especially liked their teacher who instructed her pupils to wriggle their bums at Parliament). So while this seemed like a light hearted affair, the message was serious. Especially as these are the type of age range who will have to deal with the devastating impact of global warming.
Several MP’s came along to show solidarity, including environmental campaigner and editor of The Ecologist, Zac Goldsmith. His speech highlighted the disparities between other countries commitment to using alternative energy and our country. An example he gave was the town of Marburg in Germany, which requires all homes and renovation project built to be fitted with solar systems – a policy which has means that this small town produces more solar energy than the whole of Britain.
Once the kids/polar bears had done a few photo-calls, they trooped off on mass into Parliament. The aim being to meet and tell their MP’s they want two things – No new coal fired power stations unless CO2 is captured and stored, and no aviation expansion. What we weren’t planning on was being made to wait outside for 45 minutes while each parent and child was given the same stringent screening of their bags and clothes that is usually reserved for suspicious looking men boarding planes. For any other group this would have been tolerable, but there seemed something especially pedantic about doing this to a mass of children who were doing their very best to stand patiently in icy winds.
The guards had no intention of speeding up the process, even for the children who were getting cold, tired, and letting us all know how much they needed the loo. I stuck around too. Even though it was absolutely freezing, I knew that if these children could give up their tea time to wait for three quarters of an hour to meet their MP’s then so can I!
By the time I got in, the kids had disbanded to every section of Parliament, so it was hard to keep track of them. I spotted a couple of kids who looked like they were at the end of a long day, and the only option left was to slide through the lobby. I was so envious.
Talking with the organisers later, I was heartened to hear that the several politicians came down to meet and talk with the children, including Simon Hughes,Glenda Jackson, Andy Slaughter and John McDonnall. The protest appeared to have fired them up, because the kids were all eager to talk about the realms of global issues which were affecting them. I have heard politicians claim many times that young people are apathetic to governmental policies, and I hope that Monday’s protest showed them how wrong they are.
Yet again I have been utilising the joys of the World Wide Web, information pills the latest hidden gem to grab my attention is gifted photographer Cari Ann Waymen. It’s a wonder this lady has lasted so long undetected on our radar; at the tender at of 20, ampoule Waymen has talent that precedes her years.
A self professed novice she has never taken a single photography class. Subsequently her work exudes a naïve expressionism deriving purely from her love for capturing ambiance. Not tainted by over processing, viagra approved her pieces portray all the distilled qualities of 70′s cinematography.
I caught up with Waymen in the far- flung realms of the other side of the pond for a quick email interview.
Tell me a bit about yourself Cari?
Hi, my name is Cari Ann Wayman, but a lot of people know me as “yyellowbird.”. I currently live in chicago, illinois, but I have a hard time picturing myself staying anywhere for long. I love taking pictures so much i’m afraid to take it seriously, so much that I call it “taking pictures” instead of “photography”. I would like to be an explorer in the most victorian sense of the word, my interests include abandoned buildings, russian royalty, the beautiful and strange, wilderness and ruins, carnivals and the moon.
??How do you find all those abandoned buildings??
Just wandering around, the amount of abandoned buildings has a lot to do with the area you’re in, if you’re in a nice, big, wealthy city, you’re not going to find much. But mostly I just keep my eye open for them whenever i’m out, make a note, and come back later. Eventually you develop a sort of sixth sense for it. (note: i do not recommend or endorse anyone breaking and entering or otherwise disobeying the law to get inside of these places, what I do myself has nothing to do with what I think you should do, so if you get caught, don’t blame me!)
What sort of camera do you use in your work?
?A nikon d50, truthfully I don’t know much about cameras, I really only use the most basic of capabilities on my camera, I prefer to be expressive in different ways.
What lenses do you use??
Just the one my camera came with, so pretty standard. I don’t know what kind it is or anything.
How do you get those light spots on your pictures?
?I take a broken image of faraway lights at night and overlay them in photoshop.
You use of colour is particularly interesting, is the blanched effect achieved through digital altering?
?Yes my work is highly digitally altered, but all I do is slightly change colour/saturation/brightness/contrast settings in photoshop.
Your work seems heavily inspired by hazy 70s cinematography, are you inspired by films in your work?
Actually, I don’t watch very many films, I have a hard time sitting still long enough to sit through a whole movie! But I would like to maybe make films one day. I am very inspired by music though that evokes that similar dreamy nostalgic qualities to it, if that makes sense?
What other photographers have inspired you?
I really try to keep myself as influence-free as possible. I like to look at other photographers’ work sometimes, of course, but I want my work to come strictly from my head..
What do you aim to achieve from your photography?
Oh, I don’t really know! I’m not dim enough to think i’m going to change the world or anything, but at the same time I think there’s secretly a tiny part of me that hopes for that. I don’t know, it’s not like i have this agenda or message or concept i’m forcing on the mases. If I just want to make beautiful things and hope they affect someone in even the smallest way.
What is your main stimulus when your seeking out locations to shoot?
Location is one of the most important things in my pictures. I’m always in this mindset where i’m looking at everything as a potential picture. I just wander around all the time and think, “oh that should be in a picture! that too!” wandering is sort of my hobby, and I think after awhile, you develop this sixth sense for special wonderful places.
Written by Melodie Ash on Thursday March 26th, 2009 1:09 pm
Blythe House, order once a colossal bustling post office savings bank full of clerks’ activity now stands (almost) empty as a memorial to times past. Currently the home of not only the Victoria and Albert Archives but the British and Science Museum it double doors remain closed even to those who work in the museums. It takes a special request to get inside these vaults.
Luckily for a limited time (these doors swing back tight at the end of June) the V&A section has had its doors pushed slightly ajar by fashion curator Judith Clark and psychoanalyst Adam Philips. Together they have curated a delicate show examining ideas and understandings of dress alongside concepts of preservation in the midst of a vast archive that documents humanity’s progression.
Titled The Concise Dictionary of a Dress, the exhibition consists of 11 exhibits nestling amongst the archives, taking up position in the nooks and crannies of the ghostly building. The audience is shepherded silently though the sections of the building we were allowed to see, at times overwhelmed by the space and the delicate nature of the objects it protects. The wondrous treasures awaiting selection by V&A curators, their position elevated from extensive hoard into status objects, indicative (so stated) of the human condition, all too often caught ones eye.
Loose
11 exhibits accompanied by 11 pieces of card form a mini-lexicon of dress or a concise representation of ideas of what it is to ‘dress’:
Is it as Comfortable suggests: 1 A Refuge; a nostalgia; the calm before or after. 5. Space protected to forget that protection is required. or do you find yourself agreeing with Loose: 1. Never knowingly over-attached; a disappearing act. 3 Of Uncertain Boundary? Or do the words fall flat?
Pretentious
Words and their meanings can provide a point of conflict: at times the words on the card and the image of dress produced a harmonious moment of why people chose particular items of dress. In this moment the dictionary of a dress becomes clear as the exhibition mirrors the dictionary’s almost circular nature of providing two meanings for one word.
The curators have invited the audience into a hidden world; the vast depths of the museum. The audiences’ eye drawn to objects not in the exhibition but whose presence demands attention: Why is it there? Why did they choose this room or that cupboard? Can meanings be created between the juxtaposition of dress and the objects in the room?
Measured
A weekly definition taken from the website: MEASURED 1. Against chaos; a way of thinking about disarray; calculated excess. 2. The fitted as fitting. 3. Proportion as the mother of virtue. 4. The milder ecstasies of the considered. 5. Contained by the idea of containment.
The word and their phrases present one idea of what it is you are viewing, whilst the objects potentially visualise and neuter simultaneously. The sentences add conflict as they embellish the meaning of the single word and the idea of why we dress, collect and preserve.
Comfortable
No word is mealy a word, it becomes heavy through each individual understanding of it’s context. Each interpretation of the exhibits arrived upon by our unique thought processes formed by our own experiences. It is an oddly lonely experience wandering though the locked archives looking at how meaning is embedded into objects. Can meanings be created from the idea that a function of the archive is personal, an act of preservation and eventually historical.
The final exhibit; Creased presented a Junya Watanabe dress behind the bars of an old coal bunker open to the outside world. The end mimicing the beginning; the first exhibit high on the roof stands a ghostly gown open to the elements, it’s resin skeleton delicate in the glare and heat of the sun. These two decisions scream against the museum’s usual desire to keep everything hidden and preserved in temperature controlled rooms.
Seen against the sky scape of London, the resin dress showed just how delicate the human body, our sense of dress and concepts of who we are can be against the hard bustling ever moving city.
Take yourself on a guided walk through an unseen section of our national museums, question the ideas of preservation and the difference between the museum’s archive and your personal ‘hoard’.
Hedgespoken is a vehicle for the imagination: a travelling off-grid theatre, storytelling project and home created on the chassis of an old Bedford lorry by artist Rima Staines and poet Tom Hirons. It’s an ambitious and wondrous plan, from two amazing people who want to share a more authentic way of life with as many people as possible.
Hedgespoken is very much a partnership, when did you first meet and how did you chance across the idea so early in your relationship? R: We met four and a half years ago in a Dartmoor wood, our paths having crossed via a Lithuanian folktale, a drawing, two poems and a very long journey. In that wood our creative selves immediately began the dance that they have continued to do these following years, and imagined into being a phantasmagoria of liminal story and otherness that has grown into Hedgespoken, which has at its heart our common deep love for the old magic that we are so drawn to, and a keen desire to reconjure and rewild it. T: Rima lured me from South Wales with a gorgeous map, tucked into one of her paintings. Under the illusion that I was collaborating on a Lithuanian folktale about a hedgehog, I found myself drawn deeper and deeper into a spiralling Chinese-box-world of the imagination, a simulacrum of reality in which myth, reality and the tricky edge between them gyred and waved. I woke up in Devon. I’m still not sure what happened. Hedgespoken emerged as our best shared dream in the heady early days of our courtship.
When did a desire to live an authentic life first start to impact your choices? and in what way? R: For me, there has always been a stubbornness to live a life that makes my heart sing, and to not let my soul die a slow grey death on the conveyor belt of mediocrity. I grew up with artist parents who always struggled to make a living but did what they loved to do, and so I learnt that it was OK to follow your creative desire in life, and that poverty wasn’t worth fearing for the sake of fulfillment. After I finished art college, I was spat out into the London world with no clue about how to make my living from my art, and have been trying to figure it out ever since. I did all sorts of supplementary jobs to pay the rent and feed myself but was adamant I couldn’t and wouldn’t work in an office or call centre or some similar scenario where my soul would have to wear a grey suit. I was pretty sure that would have sent me mad, and so, instead, I worked in a museum as a Victorian kitchen maid, I taught art lessons, I busked accordion, I was poor, and all the while I painted away and tried to sell my work, slowly building up a portfolio and a sense of the life I wanted to create for myself. This is the compass by which I have continued to navigate – the waymarker of the heart and the hand – and it hasn’t always been easy by any means, but I couldn’t do it any other way. T: An authentic life? I learned to navigate towards it in the depths of chronic depression in my late teens. It seemed like the best shot at staying both physically and emotionally alive. I can still remember grappling with all those difficult questions like ‘what is a meaningful life?’ and ‘what is beauty?’ – I looked in all the wrong places, just like you’re meant to, and it took a very long time to learn the right soul-language to be able to hear the answers. I think I heard the words most clearly in a whale’s tail and a dewdrop on a Welsh leaf, and more often at the bottom of the well than on the mountain-top.
What is the most important thing that my readers should know about your indiegogo crowdfunding project? R: This is our first foray into crowdfunding, and its a bold leap into a dream: “Hedgespoken is our best shot, our way of taking our skills and our love of story, of art and magic, and living in a way that means we’re using all of that, all the time. And, it’s our promise, to ourselves and to our children, that we will refuse to live half-lives…” Both of us are well used to living well below the breadline, and so this time, we wanted that poverty not to hold back the possibility of making something really well, and making it beautiful and making it soon! We love the idea of crowdfunding being a kind of People’s Arts Council when funding for the arts in mainstream society is being cut left right and centre. We love the fact that this way people can choose the kinds of art and wonder that they want to have in their lives by supporting projects like Hedgespoken with whatever pennies they can. T: we are crafting a device for creating enchantment and for spreading wonder. This is what a portal into the soul – and spirit-worlds looks like – it’s proper magic. It’s a travelling off-grid theatre, but more than that, it’s a node of condensed conjury around which the miraculous can occur. Join us…
The Alchemist, watercolour & gold wax 2012, by Rima Staines.
What kind of rewards can backers pledge for? R: We have a unique and generous array of wonderful artful things to be got in return for supporting us – they range from handwritten thank yous through print bundles of my work (rimastaines.com), illustrated books of Tom’s poetry (coyopa.net), handmade clocks, calendars, paintings, drawing lessons, storytelling workshops, golden tickets to the first ever Hedgespoken show in an unspecified woodland on an unspecified evening, to becoming a Hedgefather or Hedgemother – a patron of the liminal arts, with your name hand-carved into the travelling Hedgespoken stage! T: not to forget Smickelgrim handmade carnival masks!
Baba Yaga, watercolour 2010, by Rima Staines.
Rima, where did you learn your art and what have been your influences over the years? R: I think my first and foremost and most influential art school was my childhood. I grew up watching my sculptor parents making art around me all the time and learnt a lot about image-making that way. I have always drawn and painted; it seemed like I had no other choice. After A-levels I studied for a degree in Book Arts & Crafts at the London College of Printing, where I got to make my own illustrated books for three years, but I feel I’m still painting and learning, painting and learning…
I’m inspired by many visual artists – from medieval illuminators to women surrealists, to outsider and folk artists, to 19th century children’s book illustrators, to peasant craftspeople, to many East European illustrators and artists working today. But I also find inspiration in the roots and moors and trees and birdsong and in other people living their truths creatively and boldly, and music – that’s really important to me too.
Wing Giver, oils on wood 2013, by Rima Staines.
You are also an accordionist and puppeteer, how do you juggle your various loves? R: I don’t really see my various arts as very separate, I feel like my life is lived expressing these creative urges, which sometimes come out in paint, sometimes in music, sometimes in three dimensions… But on a more practical level, time-managing my work is something I really struggle with. There’s the ongoing niggle of needing to earn money and be an expert in accounting, self promotion, web design and marketing, when all I want to do is paint! Juggling is something you have to get really good at if you want to work as a self-employed artist in this digital age! I do love how the various strands of my work feed each other, though. There’s tunes in my paintings, and puppetry too… All the strands weave together to make my inner world a kind of minor-keyed folktale, and that is the old, melancholic, snow-blanketed, wonder-sung place from which I’m trying to express my truth.
Tom, how did you become a poet and storyteller? What path led you to this place? T: I’m learning to be a poet – it’s going alright so far, but I think I’ll get good at it in about twenty years time. This word-apprenticeship to wild nature is a strange and wonderous process – learning to let the land speak more loudly than all the annoying cleverness in me is tricky. Currently, I’m working on writing very, very slowly. But, I began writing because I believed that I could – one Scottish May day in 1994, I thought I could write a novel, about a boy who becomes a falcon. By some grace or youthful bravado, I seized the moment, dropped out of university (for the second time) and began. That was some kind of strong commitment to the Word – I learned to storytell a few years later, embarrassed that I, as a word-worker, had nothing to offer in the way of poetry or song at an old-style ceilidh. Ashamed, I recollected Russian folk-tales I’d been told as a boy. Cue all kinds of trouble with Baba Yaga and firebirds and iron shoes and the thrice-nine lands… Storytelling began as the most terrifying thing I could imagine, me who was painfully shy and wracked with self-doubt – now, I can’t get away from it. I’m trapped. I surrender.
Dark Mountain, oils on wood 2011, by Rima Staines.
What led you to Dartmoor, and what is your favourite bit about that part of the world? R: I arrived on Dartmoor when I was living on wheels the last time. I’d come to visit someone and only intended to stay for a week. Five years later I am still here! The grey-green singing land grabbed me straight away, and I fell in love with this place – with the granite and moss and gnarled oaks, with the wide, wild spaces and hidden nooks, with the artistic and supportive community we have here, and with the spirit of milk and honey I felt in the land. It has become beloved to me. T: see above about being lured here! I had no idea what to expect – I was brought up in Suffolk and then lived for almost 20 years in Scotland. I never expected to live in England again – it’s too crowded and owned and full of No Trespassing signs. Having the good fortune to be lured here, I then found that this bit of Devonian land is extraordinary. It’s a great beast, brooding, singing, whispering. I’ve never loved an area like I love this one. I can’t begin to explain or understand it, but it’s the community around us here that’s the true gold. There’s amazing land all over – as Wendell Berry writes, ‘There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places.’ But when you find a community that really, really works for you – that’s the grail, or one of them… Hold it preciously to your chest. Ask the right questions. Treasure it, serve it.
Despite your love of the natural world and a very grassroots way of living you are also both very good at connecting on the internet. What tension do you feel between the new and the old, and how do you manage do you manage such different modes of communication so well? R: I’m glad you think we do this well! I actually feel a great ambivalence toward the internet because it is a soul-sucking addiction that is too big for our primitive brains and spirits to cope with, and which I feel takes the space of our necessary spirit-dreaming, though this causes much tension for me as without it I wouldn’t be able to live the life I’ve described! It has enabled me to reach other folks worldwide who connect with what I do, and buy my work, it has enabled me to make a creative living inspite of not having an agent, publisher or gallery representing me. The internet enables us to reach out directly to people, and to network with likeminded folks no matter where we or they are, it democratizes information and brings much inspiration and learning. But in the long run I dream of living in the woods far from any cables or wifi, where the only communications I have with people (of all species) are face to face, heart to heart, dream to dream… T: We’re both communicators, like you – we love words, and speech and song and shaping letters of all sorts on all manner of media – and so we do well on the internet. And we’re massively grateful for that – and also very aware that we’re in a privileged position of being tech-savvy, articulate and possessed of the right equipment to do what we do. But, here at the tail-end of this age, it’s the medium that’s available to communicate with a large number of people – if we were in another era, it might be through pamphlets or posters or graffiti or murals on town hall walls… So, we’re using it to let people know about our dreams and aspirations for a life that’s less tied to a computer screen and a wireless connection – we are both, essentially, creatures of the woods and the hills and the river, and that’s what we’re trying to return to. If the internet collapsed and disappeared tomorrow, my mourning would last about as long as it took me to walk to the moor from here. We’d forget about facebook and news feeds and we’d congregate on village greens and wastelands to tell and hear stories, perhaps from a stage on the side of a beautiful vintage vehicle. We’d look at the stars more and diffuse ourselves less across the thousand worlds of the web. The hour is late, but we’re ready! See you there?
You can back the Hedgespoken dream here. I have, will you?
Written by Amelia Gregory on Sunday November 16th, 2014 2:49 pm
Jean-Michel Othoniel Over the Rainbow Swatch by Catherine Stone.
Last week I was invited to Venice to find out about the newest Swatch watch: created by the artist Jean-Michel Othoniel. Swatch fell in love with his decorative use of Murano glass in incredible jewelled artworks that began life for an exhibition at the Peggy Guggenheim gallery in Venice itself. Jean-Michel was told there was no official space in which he was able to showcase artworks due to strict instructions left in Peggy Guggenheim‘s will, viagra but looking around he wondered whether the branches of a tree in the gallery courtyard could be exempt from this rule and his aerial bound sculptures began to take shape. Jean-Michel Othoniel draped strung baubles in the tree at the Guggenheim and the rest, as they say, is history. He has continued to work in the same way using all the colours of the Murano glass rainbow to create ethereal installations more akin to giant jewellery than art.
Some of Jean-Michel Othoniel‘s art, including the necklace draped over the Guggenheim Venice.
Jean-Michel Othoniel showcases his Over the Rainbow watch.
On the glorious sunny rooftop of the Biennale building in Venice the soft spoken artist described how pleased he was to be asked to create a little piece of art that will be available to lots of people. Ever the romantic he hopes that wearing one of his watches will offer the wearer that bit of otherworldly magic and wonder that he aims for in his sculptures. He described how using Murano glass within the design was key, because the beads look like beautiful precious stones.
I can certainly appreciate this in the sparkling Murano beads of the colourful Over the Rainbow limited edition version which is slightly oversized so that it can be worn on the wrist the wrong way round – as Jean-Michel demonstrated this to me I was most taken (as a non watch wearer myself) with the idea of wearing a private timepiece which on the exterior just looks like a pretty bracelet. It comes presented in a beautiful blown glass bubble – difficult to achieve but an absolute necessity for Jean-Michel Othoniel, who conceives his watch as art. The Be Black version sports slightly bigger and more manly black beads with a clasp, though both are unisex watches.
SWATCH in Venice. Jean-Michel Othoniel‘s Be Black by Abi Heyneke.
Swatch president Madame Emch wears Jean-Michel Othoniel’s Be Black watch.
Even though the watches (which use the Swatch Skin model as a base) cost a very reasonable £190.50 for Over the Rainbow and £76 for Be Black, both Swatch and Jean-Michel very much hope that these will be more than throwaway watches – instead they are designed to become fetishistic charms, reminders of the need for fantasy and fairytales. Sound far-fetched? With the light glinting gleefully off the Murano beads in the Venice sunshine, a world of enchantment doesn’t seem that far away.
Artist Beccy McCray has created a new poster series titled Make Friends With Food In 5 Easy Steps… fun images that challenge our perceptions of food waste.
I explore playful, socially engaged art and design using a diverse approach that includes intervention, installation, participation, print, paint or whatever media necessary to create imaginative acts of resistance and more human moments in the world.
Through my work I seek to break down boundaries between art, activism and every day life, ultimately aiming to spread joy and inspire positive change, using creativity to raise awareness of environmental issues and social ideals.
I’m also slightly obsessed with food – not just eating it but sourcing, growing, making and composting it …and I do like to play with my food too..!
My latest series of self-initiated posters, ‘Make Friends With Food In 5 Easy Steps‘, is a fun call to arms and a friendly reminder of some of the simple sustainable actions we can all take when sourcing and disposing of our food. Using 3D type made from sugar cubes, sandwich crusts and live mustard sprouts amongst other things, I’ve spelled out playful solutions such as ‘Small Is Sweet – Steer Clear Of Supermarkets‘, ‘Eat More Biscuits – Bid Adieu To Beef‘, and ‘Grow Stuff – Give Packaged Products A Miss‘.
You can see more of Beccy McCray‘s work on her website here.
Written by Beccy McCray on Thursday June 18th, 2015 11:18 am
Stephanie Jayne Price‘s slick, more about futuristic collection at Northumbria University‘s Graduate Fashion Week show was a real winner – combining masculine tailoring with feminine quirks. I loved the lines that the creations formed, stuff and the sophistication of each of the pieces – so much so that I couldn’t wait to have a chat with Miss Price and find out what is was all about.
What are the benefits of showing at Graduate Fashion Week?
GFW is an excellent platform for young designers to exhibit work to the industry. It’s a great opportunity to see what the other schools have been up to and ultimately the future of British fashion. For the individual it provides a chance to show your collection to a much wider audience. After spending a year putting your heart and soul into your work, and GFW offers a prestigious and professional setting to exhibit your work. It’s a real honour!
?Northumbria students put on a show at the Baltic in Newcastle before heading for Earl’s Court – how did the two venues compare?
Oh the Baltic is a wonderful space! I have such a soft spot for it! It was our first fashion show, and it was the entire year; only 25 show at GFW, so it was a really nice way to see all the collections together. After seeing bits and bobs around the studio it is so exciting to see everything and everyone come together! We were really fortunate to have such a good location in Newcastle and it was done really well.
On the other hand, Graduate Fashion Week is on a far larger scale – the catwalk and the space is set up a lot differently. The raised runway, the models, the lighting – they are more professional I guess. But, I don’t know really. I enjoyed both immensely!
? What’s your fashion history?
My Grandma was a tailoress, she taught me to sew and it went from there. I always wanted to study fashion. I was in primary school drawing cartoons of my friends, in secondary school drawing ball gowns and making business cards for my future self! And from textiles in school, I became fascinated by it all!
?Did you get the chance to work alongside anybody in the industry during your studies?
I’ve been very lucky and done a few placements, and no doubt I’ll be doing a few more! After 1st year, I worked for a month at Philip Treacy. I’ve always had a passion for hats! To be able to meet Philip and work there was amazing! I loved it! Then during our placement year I spent three months working with [friends of Amelia’s Magazine] Emilio de la Morena. Then I worked for The Collection, a sampling and textile company, Tatty Devine and Gareth Pugh. Now, I’m really hoping to get involved with another studio before fashion week in September. I’m a bit of a geek for pattern cutting and toiling so I’d like to get stuck in to that!
What inspires you, both for this collection and generally?
Inspiration can come from just about anywhere, but for my own work I am very concept led. There is something very exciting about capturing a meaning, telling a story, and watching it direct ideas. Imagination is a wonderful thing. Generally, it can be when I’m out and about, reading, having a coffee, chatting up with friends… endless possibilities! I love visiting museums and exhibitions… My collection captures the idea of being trapped in a kaleidoscope, which stemmed from considering how we see, travelling light, and light reflecting… I ended up eventually, asking lots of people how they’d feel if they were trapped in a kaleidoscope! I’d initially been focused on building lights into the garments, and it happened for the Newcastle show – sadly there wasn’t time for the London show, but this fusion with technology is something I’d like to further.
? Your collection mixes masculine tailoring with feminine quirks. Why did you choose the cuts/techniques that you worked with?
Until recently I never really thought about it, but you’re right! It is a bit masculine; you’ve captured it well! I’m not sure really, I think that’s my own personal taste, I’m a bit boyish in my own dress. All the geometric shapes stemmed from cutting, and distorting the body, as though being looked upon inside that kaleidoscopic world. There were lots of triangles too! Kaleidoscopes are triangular mirrors, so the cutting used triangular inserts to push and pull the cloth, and then you put it on a body and you get a whole new dimension!
The colour palette is very simple – why didn’t you use colour? (This is a question, not a criticism!)
This was inspired by the concept as well. Since it was based on light, I avoided black – black absorbs light. I wear a lot of black, so I wanted to stay clear of it for this concept. White was too clinical, too bright, so everything was toned down. I wanted it to be soft and unobtrusive and to be honest colour stresses me out a bit! I’m learning to deal with it haha!
What did you like about Northumbria and Newcastle? How’s the fashion scene in the Toon?
Well, when I was looking to choose a University, Northumbria was the last place on my mind. I was set on getting far away from home, until I reluctantly came to the open day for Northumbria 5 years ago, and from that day it felt like home. I sat in the old design school and was inspired. I thought, ‘I actually quite like this place… can I stay?!’
I don’t know, is there a scene?!? I haven’t really left the studio much this year to know! Haha!
? Which fashion designers do you look to for inspiration?
Years ago I started reading about ‘conceptual’ designers, and I have a fascination with Viktor & Rolf. I’d really like to meet them. I think we’d have nice chats! Haha! I’d really like to work for them! I also have admiration for Hussein Chalayan and Rei Kawakubo. Heroes I guess! I’d like to work for both of these as well. I’m a bit of a dreamer!
Did your collection receive positive attention at GFW?
Well I’ve had some lovely blogs and feedback at GFW. On a different occasion I’d been able to present it to a small panel at the BFC and they gave me some really good advice and said some really lovely things. I was flattered they liked my cutting, and I’ve had feedback from other names from industry with similar comments and interest.
?What do the next few months hold for Stephanie Jayne Price?
At the minute I’m looking into undertaking an MA at the University of Kingston. I met the course leader the other day and she is wonderful! I’m really hoping to continue with the integration of lights and technology fused with this style of cutting and silhouette I’ve developed over the year. Fingers crossed for that! Hopefully I’ll also get involved with some studios to get some more experience – doing some cutting for them, maybe some freelance work. There are a few things to consider really. The world is my oyster!
Stephanie Jayne Price‘s slick, adiposity futuristic collection at Northumbria University‘s Graduate Fashion Week show was a real winner – combining masculine tailoring with feminine quirks. I loved the lines that the creations formed, and the sophistication of each of the pieces – so much so that I couldn’t wait to have a chat with Miss Price and find out what is was all about.
What are the benefits of showing at Graduate Fashion Week?
GFW is an excellent platform for young designers to exhibit work to the industry. It’s a great opportunity to see what the other schools have been up to and ultimately the future of British fashion. For the individual it provides a chance to show your collection to a much wider audience. After spending a year putting your heart and soul into your work, GFW offers a prestigious and professional setting to exhibit your work. It’s a real honour!
Photographs by Matt Bramford
?Northumbria students put on a show at the Baltic in Newcastle before heading for Earl’s Court – how did the two venues compare?
Oh the Baltic is a wonderful space! I have such a soft spot for it! It was our first fashion show, and it was the entire year; only 25 show at GFW, so it was a really nice way to see all the collections together. After seeing bits and bobs around the studio it is so exciting to see everything and everyone come together! We were really fortunate to have such a good location in Newcastle and it was done really well.
On the other hand, Graduate Fashion Week is on a far larger scale – the catwalk and the space is set up a lot differently. The raised runway, the models, the lighting – they are more professional I guess. But, I don’t know really. I enjoyed both immensely!
? What’s your fashion history?
My Grandma was a tailoress, she taught me to sew and it went from there. I always wanted to study fashion. I was in primary school drawing cartoons of my friends, in secondary school drawing ball gowns and making business cards for my future self! And from textiles in school, I became fascinated by it all!
?Did you get the chance to work alongside anybody in the industry during your studies?
I’ve been very lucky and done a few placements, and no doubt I’ll be doing a few more! After 1st year, I worked for a month at Philip Treacy. I’ve always had a passion for hats! To be able to meet Philip and work there was amazing! I loved it! Then during our placement year I spent three months working with [friends of Amelia’s Magazine] Emilio de la Morena. Then I worked for The Collection, a sampling and textile company, Tatty Devine and Gareth Pugh. Now, I’m really hoping to get involved with another studio before fashion week in September. I’m a bit of a geek for pattern cutting and toiling so I’d like to get stuck in to that!
What inspires you, both for this collection and generally?
Inspiration can come from just about anywhere, but for my own work I am very concept led. There is something very exciting about capturing a meaning, telling a story, and watching it direct ideas. Imagination is a wonderful thing. Generally, it can be when I’m out and about, reading, having a coffee, chatting up with friends… endless possibilities! I love visiting museums and exhibitions… My collection captures the idea of being trapped in a kaleidoscope, which stemmed from considering how we see, travelling light, and light reflecting… I ended up eventually, asking lots of people how they’d feel if they were trapped in a kaleidoscope! I’d initially been focused on building lights into the garments, and it happened for the Newcastle show – sadly there wasn’t time for the London show, but this fusion with technology is something I’d like to further.
? Your collection mixes masculine tailoring with feminine quirks. Why did you choose the cuts/techniques that you worked with?
Until recently I never really thought about it, but you’re right! It is a bit masculine; you’ve captured it well! I’m not sure really, I think that’s my own personal taste, I’m a bit boyish in my own dress. All the geometric shapes stemmed from cutting, and distorting the body, as though being looked upon inside that kaleidoscopic world. There were lots of triangles too! Kaleidoscopes are triangular mirrors, so the cutting used triangular inserts to push and pull the cloth, and then you put it on a body and you get a whole new dimension!
The colour palette is very simple – why didn’t you use colour? (This is a question, not a criticism!)
This was inspired by the concept as well. Since it was based on light, I avoided black – black absorbs light. I wear a lot of black, so I wanted to stay clear of it for this concept. White was too clinical, too bright, so everything was toned down. I wanted it to be soft and unobtrusive and to be honest colour stresses me out a bit! I’m learning to deal with it haha!
What did you like about Northumbria and Newcastle? How’s the fashion scene in the Toon?
Well, when I was looking to choose a University, Northumbria was the last place on my mind. I was set on getting far away from home, until I reluctantly came to the open day for Northumbria 5 years ago, and from that day it felt like home. I sat in the old design school and was inspired. I thought, ‘I actually quite like this place… can I stay?!’
I don’t know, is there a scene?!? I haven’t really left the studio much this year to know! Haha!
? Which fashion designers do you look to for inspiration?
Years ago I started reading about ‘conceptual’ designers, and I have a fascination with Viktor & Rolf. I’d really like to meet them. I think we’d have nice chats! Haha! I’d really like to work for them! I also have admiration for Hussein Chalayan and Rei Kawakubo. Heroes I guess! I’d like to work for both of these as well. I’m a bit of a dreamer!
Did your collection receive positive attention at GFW?
Well I’ve had some lovely blogs and feedback at GFW. On a different occasion I’d been able to present it to a small panel at the BFC and they gave me some really good advice and said some really lovely things. I was flattered they liked my cutting, and I’ve had feedback from other names from industry with similar comments and interest.
?What do the next few months hold for Stephanie Jayne Price?
At the minute I’m looking into undertaking an MA at the University of Kingston. I met the course leader the other day and she is wonderful! I’m really hoping to continue with the integration of lights and technology fused with this style of cutting and silhouette I’ve developed over the year. Fingers crossed for that! Hopefully I’ll also get involved with some studios to get some more experience – doing some cutting for them, maybe some freelance work. There are a few things to consider really. The world is my oyster!
Stephanie Jayne Price‘s slick, buy futuristic collection at Northumbria University‘s Graduate Fashion Week show was a real winner – combining masculine tailoring with feminine quirks. I loved the lines that the creations formed, and the sophistication of each of the pieces – so much so that I couldn’t wait to have a chat with Miss Price and find out what is was all about.
What are the benefits of showing at Graduate Fashion Week?
GFW is an excellent platform for young designers to exhibit work to the industry. It’s a great opportunity to see what the other schools have been up to and ultimately the future of British fashion. For the individual it provides a chance to show your collection to a much wider audience. After spending a year putting your heart and soul into your work, GFW offers a prestigious and professional setting to exhibit your work. It’s a real honour!
Photographs by Matt Bramford
?Northumbria students put on a show at the Baltic in Newcastle before heading for Earl’s Court – how did the two venues compare?
Oh the Baltic is a wonderful space! I have such a soft spot for it! It was our first fashion show, and it was the entire year; only 25 show at GFW, so it was a really nice way to see all the collections together. After seeing bits and bobs around the studio it is so exciting to see everything and everyone come together! We were really fortunate to have such a good location in Newcastle and it was done really well.
On the other hand, Graduate Fashion Week is on a far larger scale – the catwalk and the space is set up a lot differently. The raised runway, the models, the lighting – they are more professional I guess. But, I don’t know really. I enjoyed both immensely!
? What’s your fashion history?
My Grandma was a tailoress, she taught me to sew and it went from there. I always wanted to study fashion. I was in primary school drawing cartoons of my friends, in secondary school drawing ball gowns and making business cards for my future self! And from textiles in school, I became fascinated by it all!
?Did you get the chance to work alongside anybody in the industry during your studies?
I’ve been very lucky and done a few placements, and no doubt I’ll be doing a few more! After 1st year, I worked for a month at Philip Treacy. I’ve always had a passion for hats! To be able to meet Philip and work there was amazing! I loved it! Then during our placement year I spent three months working with [friends of Amelia’s Magazine] Emilio de la Morena. Then I worked for The Collection, a sampling and textile company, Tatty Devine and Gareth Pugh. Now, I’m really hoping to get involved with another studio before fashion week in September. I’m a bit of a geek for pattern cutting and toiling so I’d like to get stuck in to that!
What inspires you, both for this collection and generally?
Inspiration can come from just about anywhere, but for my own work I am very concept led. There is something very exciting about capturing a meaning, telling a story, and watching it direct ideas. Imagination is a wonderful thing. Generally, it can be when I’m out and about, reading, having a coffee, chatting up with friends… endless possibilities! I love visiting museums and exhibitions… My collection captures the idea of being trapped in a kaleidoscope, which stemmed from considering how we see, travelling light, and light reflecting… I ended up eventually, asking lots of people how they’d feel if they were trapped in a kaleidoscope! I’d initially been focused on building lights into the garments, and it happened for the Newcastle show – sadly there wasn’t time for the London show, but this fusion with technology is something I’d like to further.
? Your collection mixes masculine tailoring with feminine quirks. Why did you choose the cuts/techniques that you worked with?
Until recently I never really thought about it, but you’re right! It is a bit masculine; you’ve captured it well! I’m not sure really, I think that’s my own personal taste, I’m a bit boyish in my own dress. All the geometric shapes stemmed from cutting, and distorting the body, as though being looked upon inside that kaleidoscopic world. There were lots of triangles too! Kaleidoscopes are triangular mirrors, so the cutting used triangular inserts to push and pull the cloth, and then you put it on a body and you get a whole new dimension!
The colour palette is very simple – why didn’t you use colour? (This is a question, not a criticism!)
This was inspired by the concept as well. Since it was based on light, I avoided black – black absorbs light. I wear a lot of black, so I wanted to stay clear of it for this concept. White was too clinical, too bright, so everything was toned down. I wanted it to be soft and unobtrusive and to be honest colour stresses me out a bit! I’m learning to deal with it haha!
What did you like about Northumbria and Newcastle? How’s the fashion scene in the Toon?
Well, when I was looking to choose a University, Northumbria was the last place on my mind. I was set on getting far away from home, until I reluctantly came to the open day for Northumbria 5 years ago, and from that day it felt like home. I sat in the old design school and was inspired. I thought, ‘I actually quite like this place… can I stay?!’
I don’t know, is there a scene?!? I haven’t really left the studio much this year to know! Haha!
? Which fashion designers do you look to for inspiration?
Years ago I started reading about ‘conceptual’ designers, and I have a fascination with Viktor & Rolf. I’d really like to meet them. I think we’d have nice chats! Haha! I’d really like to work for them! I also have admiration for Hussein Chalayan and Rei Kawakubo. Heroes I guess! I’d like to work for both of these as well. I’m a bit of a dreamer!
Did your collection receive positive attention at GFW?
Well I’ve had some lovely blogs and feedback at GFW. On a different occasion I’d been able to present it to a small panel at the BFC and they gave me some really good advice and said some really lovely things. I was flattered they liked my cutting, and I’ve had feedback from other names from industry with similar comments and interest.
?What do the next few months hold for Stephanie Jayne Price?
At the minute I’m looking into undertaking an MA at the University of Kingston. I met the course leader the other day and she is wonderful! I’m really hoping to continue with the integration of lights and technology fused with this style of cutting and silhouette I’ve developed over the year. Fingers crossed for that! Hopefully I’ll also get involved with some studios to get some more experience – doing some cutting for them, maybe some freelance work. There are a few things to consider really. The world is my oyster!
Illustrator Johan Björkegren talks to Amelia’s Magazine about his relationship to Robert Crumb and the organic nature of drawing landscapes. As Johan’s production is nearly entirely composed of detailed black and white charcoaled drawings, thumb this appeared to be the logical place to start our conversation…
Do you mainly draw with a black and white colour scheme?
Yes I almost always only work in black and white. The use of lines and textures to describe the form and expressions are the things I am interested in and not so much the colours. A few months ago I bought some oilcolors and started to paint, cheap which I have not done in years. I think working with colours is really hard.
What do you find harder about working with colours than in black and white?
I think Colours are harder becouse its another choice to make. Its a whole other thing to consider when describing form, side effects expression or a texture with lines. And I really have not found the right material that I like. I have worked with colours, but I dont think I have really found the right way to use them yet.
How did the series of portraitse develop?
As I worked with people and their expressions in some of my landscape drawings, I began to find it interesting to focus only on their faces.
Are these characters based on people from life?
Both yes and no. The faces are not portraits of a real life person, but they are inspired by people I know or have seen. I like how you fantasise about pictures of people you never have or will meet. You make their personality up yourself. I make them and their personalities out while i work. I am also fascinated by hair and and the structure of it and how to draw it. I also like the way it expresses ones idea of your personality.
What is it that interests you about populated and unpopulated landscapes?
Faces and landscapes are the same I think. Even when I draw pictures from my mind, its something all can relate to. In the populated landscapes I work with the people in the drawings and their relation to the landscape. In the unpopulated it is more of yourself going into the landscape and another dimension. Now I work more with the unfinished picture as a way to also step into the picture and make the drawing process more alive in the picture.
Which artists or illustrators inspire you?
Many people say that my work reminds about Robert Crumb, and thats right. Im a big fan of him and his technique. I also like Henry Darger and Edward Kienholz. I also get a lot of inpiration from film makers such as Werner Herzog. People who live tough for their works and for whom its a question about life and death.
Could you talk a little bit about Robert Crumb’s Techniques and your own?
Yes, its hard to talk about your idols, I think you can see that I am influenced by the underground comics of the 60s and 70s. Robert is one of the most skilled artists I think. I’m more in to his style than the stories. I like the way he describes forms and the way he works with faces and expressions. It was when I saw the movie “Crumb” that I really got to like his work. I think that my own technique is most like his in the way to describe forms and that its all a little ugly.
What first interested you about working with charcoal? How did you come to use this material?
When I started as a illustrator, I worked only with with ink, but I grew tired of it quite fast, I think that you can get much more expression with charcoal, ink is too sharp I think, charcoal makes a much more living drawing. However I still use ink for some things I draw, typography and in my smaller sketchy works, but not for the bigger drawings.
You have had numerous commissions do you see yourself solely as an illustrator who experiments with Graphic Design?
I see myself as an artist that does comissions, rather than an illustrator sometimes doing free work. I like working with commissions becouse it is a whole other thing than free work. The free work is more meditative – you dont have to think about an assignment. Whereas with commissions you have to relate to the project and the “uppdragsgivare” which I think is fun and challenging, you have to relate to something else than yourself.
I have a bachelors degree in Graphic design from Beckmans college of design, and I’m really interested in graphic design and typography. I like commissions where I can work with both.
Do the landscapes come from your imagination or do you use photographs of places you have or have not travelled to?
I make them out as I draw. Landscapes are so organic, you can build up the structures as you draw out of your idea. I never use photos for the landscapes, some become inspired from memories of pictures I have seen and memories from my travels.
What is your process for deciding what type of landscape to draw?
If I get an idea that I think works, I start to draw, and if it is a good idea, you can get it down on paper quite fast. Otherwise I tear the paper to pieces and start all over again.
Is everything hand-drawn or do you occasionally use the computer?
Most is hand drawn, in my free works I never edit the pictures. In the illustrations I use the computer to make a good and working composition, sometimes but not often I use it for typography and graphic elements.
What interests you about typography?
Communication and how the letterforms can change the meaning of words. With illustrated text it is more abstract than my other drawings, its interesting to work with forms. I like the decorative side and the forms of more functional typefaces. The function and aesthetics of the text body itself is also interesting.
Monday 20th October Design Museum, ailmentwebsite 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Having a minor obsession with denim, cost and more specifically, decease7 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.
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.”
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.
Zac Harris
Subliminal Girls
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.
If there is a band that offer a more alluring live show, drug I’ve yet to see them. For a band to pull off costume changes and conceptual dance routines, hospital at a less than stadium sized venue seems ridiculous. That’s what they are though, tadalafil ridiculous – but in the most charming way possible.
Their live show mimics their songs in this aspect though. If of Montreal had any kind of staple philosophy to their music, it’s pretty much trying to make something absurd, but somehow make it catchier than The Muppet’s singing Mahnahmahna. They boast perhaps one of the best songwriter of the last five years, teamed with a super tight rhythm section (why does the use of two drummer always seem to work so well?). That’s not to discredit the rest of the band; they’re all just super talented.
For a band who tour endlessly, you could almost forgive them looking jaded on stage, but their show is as fresh as it could possibly have ever been. Understandably they run through a big chunk of the tracks from their new album, which is fine by me because I don’t think there is a bad song on it. It’s not like those who are yet to hear it would be left with a moment to be bored though. There’s so much going on around the band you hardly know where to look. The high point of this for me was during Gallery Piece. Every time lead singer Kevin Barnes say what he wants to do, the small group of performance artists act out a different metaphorical representation.
The only thing that detracted from my enjoyment was where we ended up having to watch the show from. A late arrival (for once not actually my fault) meant that we ended up scaling the labyrinth that is Koko looking for a decent spot. We settled on a spot right near the back, resigning to the idea that the best view we would get would be on a screen, and with a few stolen glimpses of the stage. It’s a testament to how good they were though to have still be thrilled by the entire show, even if it was probably viewable through some type of special sky+ pack.
They leave the stage to screams of adoration, before cheekily reappearing for an encore. During which they do a cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit, which strikes me as more than odd. To begin with I assume it’s going to lead into one of their own songs, but it just doesn’t. In fact, it’s just a pretty much bog standard cover of it. The best thing however was the girl we were standing by for it. She had been fairly unphased by most of the gig, but as the opening chords were banged out she started jumping like crazy and swinging her ponytail at the nearby couples that seemed to be having quite a pleasant evening. Although it was undoubtedly a fantastic show, the crazy girl was probably the most interesting thing I saw.
Instores are odd. The glare of shop lighting, view the looming displays of point-of-sale puts something as transcendental as music into its blatant retail context where no matter how tight, click how on–it the band are, and it’s hard to dispel the hard sell of this environment and invoke the magic of their sound.
No Age Photos: Maddie Woodcock
No Age look a little bleary-eyed. And of course it being three o’clock on a Sunday afternoon they bloody well have the right to be. What’s more, the LA duo has the affable US college slacker demeanour of men who may well know a great deal of Pavement B-sides. Amidst the racks of Moshi Moshi sleeve displays this is like watching the guys from High Fidelity playing in their own shop. No Age are fine, at their most average a compendium of the best bits of an impeccable set of influences. The moments they truly excel are when the psychedelic oceanic shimmer of the guitar/drumfest merges into crystallized shapes with prime melodic slacker fuzz to create something as untouchably airborn as early Jane’s Addiction.
No Age
Next we head to Beyond Retro, which has the distinct advantage of not being a record shop and therefore feeling less like a personalized free voucher. Framed in an enclave in Cheshire Street’s slightly overpriced warehouse (go to East End Thrift Store down Whitechapel for the same stuff at a much cheaper price!), Times New Viking look like crazy kids playing in a giant dressing up cupboard. I should really discuss the music here, but I have to say that Beth Murphy is the coolest and damnest most attractive front woman I have seen in ages, a vision of cool, geeky sex with perfect hair. She leads her merry pranksters through a brittle mess of slightly cutesy shambolic discordance.
Times New Viking
Times New Viking
Finally we make it to Rough Trade East, passed some kids selling stolen bikes who tell me to get a haircut, to see Cardiff’s Los Campesinos. The exposed naiveties that occasionally grate on their debut, We are Beautiful, We are Doomed, here in a live context add up to the band’s many qualities. Los Campesinos could have never existed in another period of time. The way that out of the murk of the early part of the decade – the post rock of Godspeed and even the self pitying of a countless number of arse cleavaged Emos can mutate into something as buoyant, as upliftingly trivial/epic is, like the energy flash of Rolo Tomassi, a victory sign that kids will constantly and more often than not unselfconsciously find ways to rewire and mutate, finding life in even the drabbest of situations.
Los Campesinos
Los Campesino
I received an email from an excited blog writer who is interested in Chinese culture about a new project by Common Ground. Their online showcase of digital art on the theme of the Environment allows a community of Chinese and American artists to focus on ecology whilst also raising money for projects too.
With a touring art exhibition coming up in Beijing, erectile China at the Huan Tie Art Museum on 8th November the public will get a chance to eye ball over some leafy creations. Being a non-for-profit organization, order they hope to raise the profile for sustainable projects around the world. With art works from more than 40 countries and 20 gifted Chinese artists as well as films focussed on the environment, abortion the exhibition promises to stimulate whilst raising questions. A worthy project indeed.
Written by Tanya Geddes on Wednesday October 22nd, 2008 1:14 pm
A self-proclaimed ‘illustrational hustler/graphical wizard’,Jordan Andrew Carter uses detailed pencil drawings and contrasting block shapes to ‘mystify and amaze your human see-globes’. This rising star graduated from Norwich University of the Arts last year and has just started to pencil a name for himself in the biz. While illustration is one of his big life aims, he also mentions his other aspirations: ‘my current life goal is to own a pug and live near the sea. I also have a HUGE weakness for biscuits, and believe if you replaced money with biscuits the world would be a happier place.’ Dividing his time between ‘Northamptonshire’ and Essex, pencils and Poscas are his ‘weapons of choice’.
Jordan paints what can only be described as ‘fairytales high on Posca fumes’. His detailed wildlife pencil drawings (which remind me of the work of Ohh Deer’s Jamie Mitchell ) are mixed with bright, block colours. Delightfully over the top and topped off with a sprinkling of humour, Jordan‘s illustrations are visual jokes with lashings of both elegance and fun. There’s a touch of Discworld in there too, in the sense that worlds that are balanced on top of animals crop up more than once. There’s even a smidge of Narnia in another of his drawings. Whether it’s a whale with the weight of the world on his shoulders, an orangutan on a pink bicycle, or a leopard wearing a headdress, the images all bring to mind a fantasy land with a dash of urban life. I can’t help but think that stories would have been much more fun when I was a kid if Jordan was involved. I spoke to this new kid on the block about his latest projects and love of desk clutter.
There’s a definite storytelling element to your work, were you a big reader as a kid?
As a kid I preferred to be outside causing havoc like a little ruffian rather than sitting inside reading. I’m one of those people that need visual stimulation so I don’t really read a lot. If a book doesn’t have copious amounts of imagery then my mind wanders so I tend to stick to magazines. Articles are usually short and sweet with killer images, which is perfect for me.
Does what’s happening in your life affect your illustration?
In terms of inspiration: definitely not. When I sit down to draw it’s a getaway for my brain so I would rather focus on anything except what’s happening in my life. Time and money are the things that affect it most; I can’t currently spend all day everyday drawing even though I would love to so it’s just a night-time pursuit at the moment.
Is there a singular moment that sums up why you decided to become an illustrator?
Originally I wanted to become a Fireman until I realised I was scared of heights and my dreams were dashed. I don’t think there was a specific moment when I knew I wanted to become an illustrator. I’m not really a planner, I studied Fine Art at college and then Games Art at university so I guess I only knew I wanted to be an Illustrator when people started calling me it. It’s something I’ve always done and enjoyed so I’ve kind of naturally fallen into being an Illustrator.
You use mixed-media a lot in your art, is there something that compels you to mix-it up a little?
I’ve always been able to sort of adequately draw things and people but I became a massive fan-boy of various print processes and anything hand printed when I met my Graphic Designer girlfriend at university. My abilities and influences just seem to lend themselves to creating something that is a blend of everything I know or have learnt; also, it stops me getting bored because I can play about with more ways of making an image.
There’s a lot of humour in your work, do you think funniness is important in contemporary illustration?
For sure! I think if you can make someone smile, then you’re really connecting with them, so I would rather do that as opposed to just creating something that looks nice. Humour is one of the most important things in life, I think it naturally filters through into your work if you want it to or not.
What is your dream commission?
I’d love to do some larger scale mural work in a shop!
Describe your desk
My desk is pretty standard to be honest, it’s white and surrounded by clutter and illustrative trinkets. There are shelves next to it filled with cardboard elephant heads, vinyl toys, paper toys, books, a skull, Lego people, zones and vintage illustrations. There is also a cube man called Earnesto Cubeman the First that sits on top of my iMac.
What’s your strangest influence?
Anything on the dark side of Youtube, if you just keep clicking you will eventually come out the other end feeling weird and questioning what you just watched. One time I spent an hour flicking through videos of hornets fighting wasps…
Is there a font you love to hate?
There are a lot of fonts I hate but none that I love to hate. I’m a huge sucker for pretty much anything hand-drawn, it all looks so fresh and natural.
Illustration by Lesley Barnes
Illustration by Gemma Randall 
Illustration by Lesley Barnes
Illustration by Gemma Randall 
The Barbican towards The Bank of England. It was enjoyable to be part of such a good natured crowd and it was fun to watch all the shop owners standing outside their establishments, watching with fascination at the colourful carnival proceeding past them.
Forests and Climate Change: an Amazonian Perspective for Copenhagen
Sipson, near Heathrow, whose primary school will be demolished if Heathrow’s third runway goes ahead. (I especially liked their teacher who instructed her pupils to wriggle their bums at Parliament). So while this seemed like a light hearted affair, the message was serious. Especially as these are the type of age range who will have to deal with the devastating impact of global warming.
