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Amelia’s Magazine | Metric Collective Jewellery Pop Up Exhibition at 94 Columbia Road

Metric Collective show 2011-Myia Bonner
Jewellery by Myia Bonner.

Metric Collective describes itself as a ‘collective of thinkers and doers, troche designers and makers who use co-creativity to engage and empower.’

Metric Collective show 2011-Myia Bonner
Pendant from The Diamond Collection by Myia Bonner.

I went along to the opening event a few weeks back, but the first Metric Collective pop up exhibition runs till 28th August so you still have plenty of time to pop on down. The exhibition has been made possible by Simon, a long time jeweller and owner of the store at 94 Columbia Road, who wants to encourage fresh young talent as well as invigorate interest in his own work. Metric Collective was put together primarily by jewellers Emma Madden and Myia Bonner.

Metric Collective show 2011-Emma Madden and Myia Bonner
Metric Collective creators, Emma Madden and Myia Bonner.

Shimell and Madden are showcasing some delicious gold and silver jewellery that play on the patterns created by gem facets and traditional stone setting skills. Luke Shimell provides the technical diamond cutting brains whilst Emma Madden provides the creative know how – by day she’s a PR for another jeweller in the local area and for the Metric Collective project she brings those skills to the fore.

Shimmell and Madden
Metric Collective show 2011-Emma Madden and Luke Shimmell
Emma Madden and Luke Shimmell.

Myia Bonner graduated from the brilliant Jewellery degree at Middlesex in 2010 and The Diamond Collection is an accomplished series of large diamond inspired cutwork rings and necklaces. Each piece has been hand finished to make it unique. You can also see Myia Bonner at New Designers this weekend.

Metric Collective show 2011-Myia Bonner
Myia Bonner in front of her collection.

As well as jewellery from Shimell and Madden there is also abstract wallpaper and illustrations from Jake Ambridge and a string window installation from Lora Avedian, all based on the geometric theme.

Jake Ambridge Metric Collective
Artwork by Jake Ambridge.

Perhaps most interesting of all are the collaborations – Emma Madden has worked with local school children to come up with some interesting geometric designs which are shown on the wall and the best of which will soon be made up into a piece of jewellery. Metric Collective is also providing a space for work by the Esther Benjamins Trust, set up to help disadvantaged girls in Nepal to make a living.

Metric Collective show 2011-Esther Benjaimins trust
Jewellery by the Esther Benjaimins Trust.

It’s a great idea to pull together creatives from different disciplines so that they can aid and encourage each other in the form of a collective, and it’s one of the first times that I’ve discovered a PR and journalist included in such a line up, their valuable expertise acknowledged for the part they play in promoting small events. You can never have enough help from those who specialise in these subjects, and for those of you still at college it’s well worth bearing in mind – when I teach I always encourage my students to make the most of the varied art and design networks they have available to them at university… contacts that it can be hard to come by once the big bad world beckons.

Metric Collective show 2011-Shimmell and Madden

If you find yourself in Columbia Road anytime soon make sure you take a trip down to 94 Columbia Road and check out the talent for yourself. The Metric Collective pop up exhibition runs between 5th June – 28th August 2011. I warn you though… you are likely to want it all. But if you do splash the cash you will be safe in the knowledge that you’ll be supporting some great new talent in the process.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Monday June 27th, 2011 9:47 pm

Categories ,Cerise, ,collective, ,Columbia Road, ,craft, ,Diamonds, ,Emma Madden, ,Esther Benjamins Trust, ,Given, ,illustrations, ,installation, ,Jake Ambridge, ,jewellery, ,Lora Avedian, ,Luke Shimmell, ,Metric Collective, ,Myia Bonner, ,New Designers, ,Precious Stones, ,Simon, ,The Diamond Collection, ,Wallpaper

Amelia’s Magazine | Nuclear: Art and Radioactivity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Global Day of Action
6th December 2008
This will be the Saturday midway through the next round of UN Climate Talks and our best chance to influence the decisions of delegates ahead of the critical UN talks in 2009 at which a post-Kyoto treaty agreement will be decided.

LONDON

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

pleated%20clutch.jpg
“The Kelsey”; a pleated clutch in paisley mocha
This handmade clutch is one of many adorable bags created by GraceyBags; get in touch through etsy.com to custom order a clutch and choose from a rainbow of fabrics.
Featured is ‘The Kelsey’ in a paisley mocha print on the outside in greens, blues, pinks, yellows and browns. The inside has been sewn from a silky brown fabric and the bag closes with a small magnet.

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

French Bulldog cotton tote bag

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

TREEFORT
http://treefortkids.myshopify.com

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

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

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

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

Beyond Retro Christmas Party!

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

Made In Clerkenwell

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Written by Lucy Jones & Saven Chadha on Thursday November 27th, 2008 5:49 pm

Categories ,Chris Oakley, ,Earth, ,Installation, ,Kypros Kyprianou, ,Simon Hollington, ,The Nicholls and Clarke Building, ,Video

Amelia’s Magazine | Oxfam taking action with a city of tents and Jamie Hewlett of Gorillaz lending a hand

If you walked over the Millennium Bridge today you might happen upon a small city of tents, cost cure this is in fact not a new city of borrowers or a miniature tourist town as a few people were in under the impression, price but a new campaign by Oxfam to get people involved with the fight against climate change.

Oxfam have teamed up with a German artist Herman Josef Hack who has meticulously produced hundreds of tents that aim to highlight some of the 26 million people forced from their homes around the world. Human impact and wars have misplaced millions and now the evil of climate change is creating droughts and flooding around the world that is forcing huge numbers of people into temporary accommodation.

The installation pushes the message home with the backdrop of St Paul’s and the Millennium Bridge creating a contrast with the tents that millions worldwide are forced to live in. It was all a bit lost on the rush hour commuters as they kept their heads down, sidestepping all the shelters that blocked their way. As the day progresses, however, people are showing a real interest, stopping to chat and having a look around. As it is on the path of the tourist walk and with the half term break it looks like it will attract plenty of people, which makes it a shame that it is only a temporary exhibition.

The event, however, is being replicated today in four other cities – Dublin, Berlin, Madrid and Brussels – hoping to get hundreds of people to sign up on their website and send messages to governments. The aim is to put pressure on the European heads of state that will meet tomorrow in Brussels to decide what they can take to the table at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit in December.

Oxfam have another exhibition, Under Water Colours, being held at the Truman Brewery at the Dray Walk Gallery, which I popped into today. The free exhibition focuses on the human cost of climate change in Bangladesh and features nine watercolours by Jamie Hewlett, the artist who produces the artwork for the GORILLAZ.

He took a trip to the country with Oxfam and documented what the devastation facing the communities that he saw to produce some amazing watercolour images. It will be on until Saturday (31st) so make sure you get down. You can also buy some of the limited edition prints if you’re feeling a bit flush.

Oxfam are also urging people to attend ‘The Wave’, one of the UK’s biggest ever demonstrations in support of action on climate change, held by Stop Climate Chaos Coalition on 5th December. At this event thousands of people will flow through the streets of London to put pressure on the government to kick start a green economy and safeguard the world’s poorest communities around the world. It’s going to be an empowering day so make sure you put it in your diary.

Written by Adam S on Wednesday October 28th, 2009 3:55 pm

Categories ,art, ,Bangladesh, ,campaign, ,Climate Change, ,Gorillaz, ,Herman Josef Hack, ,installation, ,Jamie Hewlett, ,london, ,Millennium Bridge, ,miniature, ,oxfam, ,oxfam campaign, ,shelter, ,St Pauls, ,tents, ,the Wave, ,Truman Brewery, ,water colours

Amelia’s Magazine | The 2009 Freedom To Create Prize Awards at the V&A

Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa Front cover - The 99 Illustration by Naif Al-Mutawa courtesy of PagetBaker Associates

What do you do when your freedom of expression has been seriously hampered? What happens when an artist has to muster all the courage and strength in the world to plough on amidst censorship, viagra buy opposition, intimidation and threats? The Freedom to Create Prize aims to encourage and support artists all over the world who operate in a stifling climate where they are isolated. Created as “a celebration of the courage and creativity of artists around the world who use their talent to build the foundation of open societies, promote social justice and inspire the human spirit”1., this prize is unique in that it celebrates the power of art to fight oppression, break down stereotypes and build trust in societies broken by conflict, violence and misunderstanding.

Photograph of Moshen Makhmalbaf courtesy of PagetBaker Associates

There are more than 1,000 entrants from Africa, Asia, Latin America, eastern Europe and the Middle East and Human Rights advocate Bianca Jagger presented the main prize yesterday night to Moshen Makhmalbaf, the Iranian filmmaker dedicated to the Green Movement. “People of my country (Iran) are killed, imprisoned, tortured and raped just for their votes. Every award I receive means an opportunity for me to echo their voices to the world, asking for democracy for Iran and peace for the world.” Guests from the worlds of art and the human rights attended the reception in the grand surroundings of the Victoria and Albert museum. The prize is worth $50,000, but they give half to an organization that will advance the cause their work highlights. Representatives from Burmese refugee women’s group The Kumjing Storytellers who use giant paper maché dolls to represent their stories of ethnic persecution in Burma and the plight of migrants and refugees from around the world received the second place prize winner, The director from The Zugdidi Shalva Dadiani State Drama Theatre, David Alan Harris from Poimboi Veeyah Koindu and Sheenkai Alam Stanikzai were all there along with last year’s inaugural winner, the Zimbabwean dramatist Cont Mhlanga.

Logo courtesy of PagetBaker Associates

Set up by Richard Chandler, a billionaire New Zealand-born philanthropist based in Singapore, the arts prize shines a light into those parts of the world where creative freedom is not a given. This year alone, we have had the Obama cartoon in The New Yorker and Osama Bin Laden as a cameo on family Guy; there are societies in greatest need but these awards is a reminder that we must always remember not to take for granted the civil liberties we enjoy in this country. In 2006, a Kuwaiti doctor, Naif Al-Mutawa, launched a comic called The 99, featuring 99 superheroes, each based on a virtue expounded in the Koran. “Some of the more conservative places in the world weren’t so happy to let The 99 in,” he says.

Artist Sheenkai Alam Stanikzai. Photograph courtesy of PagetBaker Associates

Women artists are showing strong pieces this year; Third- prize winner Sheenkai Alam Stanikzai has created an installation piece about the traditional suicide method of abused Afghan women: “I recognized the similarity between these ancient events and contemporary world events, so I decided to show my feelings about what is happening: more than 40 women are dying every day.” Pakistan’s Sheema Kermani entered a series of dance and theatre pieces about the veil, polygamy, sexual abuse and honor killings: For long periods, it has been almost like a life underground,” she says.

Installation by Sheenkai Alam Stanikzai. Photograph courtesy of PagetBaker Associates

Judges in attendance included leading international human rights lawyer and jurist on the UN’s Internal Justice Council Geoffrey Robertson QC, BBC arts correspondent Razia Iqbal, Time Out founder and chair of Human Rights Watch Tony Elliot, and award-winning Anglo-Indian artist Sacha Jafri. Nick Broomfield presented the Imprisoned Artist Prize; Geoffrey Robertson QC presented the Youth Prize. And there was an enjoyable performance by Emmanuel Jal.

It is suitably symbolic that the awards ceremony took place in the UK, home of the Magna Charta as it shows that engaged artists are not alone in this fight. Prosperous societies are founded upon creativity. Britain has a history of encouraging artistic expression and is a leader in showing other countries how to build strong foundations for economic, political and cultural development in order to lead tomorrow’s world. Political cartooning is a great British institution that prides itself in rocking the boat and rightfully getting away with it! Freedom to Create is a worthy initiative; their desire to seek to improve lives by addressing society’s ability to support and sustain creativity is to be commended. In the end, everyone was a winner!

Written by Valerie Pezeron on Thursday November 26th, 2009 7:11 pm

Categories ,activism, ,art, ,Awards, ,bianca jagger, ,exhibition, ,film, ,freedom to create, ,green movement, ,installation, ,Kumjing Storytellers, ,london, ,Magna charta, ,Moshen Makhmalbaf, ,Naif Al-Mutawa, ,nick broomfield, ,protest, ,richard chandler, ,Sheenkai Alam Stanikza, ,victoria and albert museum, ,women, ,women’s rights

Amelia’s Magazine | The House of Books Has No Windows

You know those rainy afternoons when you sit indoors, dosage information pills flicking through the pages of any number of trashy magazines and getting suddenly, order inexplicably excited at the idea of fashion? Or, try more accurately, at the idea of brilliant style. It’s enough to make you want to plunge head first into the glossy pages and never return. That’s the effect it has on me, anyway. I trace my fingers around the outline of a beautiful silk bolero, sigh wistfully over the idea of a chunky knotted belt and a chiffon dress. ‘If only,’ I think ‘if only I could own all of these things, perhaps then my life would be complete’ (did I mention that I also have a mild tendency towards hyperbolic exaggeration?)

In the cold light of day, of course, I would not be more complete with these things, what I would actually be is more like everybody else. It is so rare that I find something that isn’t run-of-the-mill, that when I do I feel it my duty to shout about it from the rooftops. Only I heard rooftops were dangerous, so I decided to use Amelia’s blog instead.

Projects Design Wear is a perfect little gem nestled in the heart of Nottingham city centre among the style-seekers and just left of the cool kids. For years this little boutique has been charming all and it’s not just because of the effervescent mixture of clothing. Walking into Projects is like being folded into an enormous bear-hug by a large and much-loved Uncle. Their staff are friendly, remember who you are and are always on hand to personal-shop for you until one of you drops.

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Settled in amongst the dark wood furnishings and lashings of vibrant paint is a sartorial feast for men and women alike. The first floor houses menswear. If you like bright colours and bold statements, ask for House of Gods and !Solid t-shirts. If casual with a twist is more your style, then you’ll be happy to pore over the offerings from Raygun. And an absolute must is their selection of denim. Now, I’m not a man, but I know some, and I have been shopping with a few. I know how maddening guys find it searching for individual jeans. Made out of proper denim, and in proper denim washes, Projects’ selection is perfect for boys who don’t want a tag on their arse, but still want their togs durable and fashionable. What more could you ask?

projects%20jeans.jpg

Well, you could ask for another floor, laden with women’s clothing so pretty you could cry. Lovely changing rooms with real curtains (none of this fabric-not-quite-meeting-cubicle tosh) are waited on by lovely ladies. Stock ranges from cute cardigans to chic evening wear and takes in everything in between as well. There are printed t-shirts and slouchy knits from Numph and high-end gloss from Naughty (check out the black sheen dress). There are these things sitting happily alongside the sort of effortlessly elegant dresses that you always see on other people and can never actually find for yourself. I found them, and I am bequeathing them to you.

Not only this, but there is (be still my beating heart) a glorious range of jewellery. Not just any jewellery mind, but pieces from none other than her majesty; Vivienne Westwood. A rare find indeed among the usual gaggle of costume pieces, and a fine way to top an otherwise genius little store. Ladies must also be sure to check out the selection of men’s scarves downstairs. I have several, and I love them all, equally.

Projects is not only a clothes shop, it is also a platform for new talent, happily selling for local designers, like Bantum (the I Love Notts t-shirts continue to fly of the shelves). It is this commitment to innovation and this willingness to give a leg-up to emerging new talent that has planted the shop firmly in the hard hearts of all of us Midlanders. I offer wild applause to Projects for its unique take on fashion and for delivering what we all secretly want: simple, affordable, wonderful clothes that not everybody else will have. And when recession looms, it’s ever-more important to invest in the interesting, independent places.

Images courtesy of Projects Design Wear
Have a greener Christmas!

Thursday 20th – Sunday 23rd November

side effects +Bargehouse+Street%E2%80%A8+South+Bank, malady +%E2%80%A8London, this +SE1+9PH&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=44.60973,74.794922&ie=UTF8&z=16″target=”_blank”>Bargehouse, ?Oxo Tower Wharf?, Bargehouse Street? South Bank, ?London, SE1 9PH

11am – 7pm
?Entry £1: Kids go free!

Not feeling particularly Christmassy just yet? A visit to the Bargehouse this weekend may change all that…With three floors boasting over forty stalls, the Ethical Christmas Emporium will include the likes of Divine Chocolate, RSPB, Shared Earth, Zaytoun, The World Music Network, Malika, Jump 4 Timbuktu, Earthscan Publishing, Pants to Poverty, Planet Silver Chilli, Manumit and The Hemp Trading Company. The event will bring together the very best in Fairtrade, ethical, sustainable and environmental gift ideas around!

Enjoying this magical time of year can be wonderfully eco-friendly; Shopping here not only provides an escape from the busy high streets, but the secure knowledge that every stall is working under a Fairtrade ethos, making sure producers around the world all have something to celebrate this Christmas.
The atmosphere is lovely, and everyone seems to be smiling as the event opens on the Thursday. Discounts are available as many stalls have cut their prices specially for this event.

Shopping is not the only thing on the agenda at this event, a local Youth Club Choir from Ghana will be entertaining the crowds via live satellite link-up. Kids entry is free and while there they can enjoy lots of specially created activities- Green Santa will be there too to spread some ethical Christmas joy! Grown ups will also be able to delight in food tasting, films, informative talks, music and much more…

The Ethical Christmas Emporium is being hosted by Hand Up Media , the ethical publishing & media company which promotes Fair Trade and ethical lifestyle issues in a positive, stylish and empowering way to consumers across the UK and beyond.

oxo%20tower%20wharf.jpg
The Oxo Tower Wharf

Monday 24th November
Anything that makes the art world seem a little more accessible is always nice, cure and an open-submission painting competition is one such an opportunity. The Marmite Prize for Painting is a biannual exhibition at Studio 1.1 in East London. Perhaps you’ve entered yourself, or you’d like to get a glance at some of the entries before the winners are selected. The exhibition opens today and runs until the end of the week.

Tuesday 25th November
There will be dancing, there will be porcelain deer skulls, and there will be bird houses, a hundred of them in fact. The Wapping Project, a Hydraulic Power Station turned multi-purpose exhibition space that now hosts an exploration on the social and cultural phenomenon of the British Season. Turning the Season will run until the 28th of February, and it’s free.

Wednesday 26th November
You know how there’s always a kid in a film who’s Lego creations far out-strip the usual tower blocks of most children, well James Johnson-Perkins was certainly one such child, “I spent my whole life building imaginary universes with children’s building blocks”. At EXHIBIT until the 28th of December, he presents his solo show, 50 Robots. Come and see what one man can do with 2,800 construction blocks. Free.

Thursday 27th November
Starting today, a group show put together by Stella Dore begins in their new gallery space at 42 Rivington Street, featuring the artists on their roster. It’s between 6 and 9 pm, and it’s called ‘Make-Over”.

Friday 28th November
The Guardian has named him “Britain’s greatest cultural asset”, and after some 12 years of “painting on the doll”, amongst many other things, there’s no end to the volume work to show for this artist/author/poet/film-maker/singer and guitarist, phew! If you haven’t guessed, we’re talking about Billy Childish. Heroes of the British Art Resistance runs until the 23rd of December at the Aquarium L-13.

Saturday 29th November
The You Me Bum Bum Train – like nothing you’ve experienced!
If you try to describe this to someone (which you shouldn’t, don’t give anything away), you will sound like you are drawing from memory a nonsensical and fantastical dream, not something remotely tangible that could have actually happened in a 25 minute journey through a Shorditch warehouse. Reality is turned upside down as you are wheeled (as the sole participant) through fifteen distinct interactive scenarios, where over 70 artists act out micro-performances, leaving you to get as involved as you much as feel compelled to. “Designed to mentally and visually astound”, check, “leaving you overwhelmed and exhilarated” check, and check, and finishing the ride “in a totally different emotional state from the one you were in when you embarked on the journey”, most definitely true. It’s fifteen pound price is money well spent, and it runs every Saturday until the 20th of December. Go!

Sunday 30th November
Behind the Shutters – muTATE Britain
The Shutters were lifted this Thursday to the three story disused warehouse that is the largest non-corporate exhibition space in London. With Mutoid Waste taking the ground floor, I got my first whiff of nostalgia for muddy fields (Trash City at Glastonbury), a sentiment of bubbling creativity that runs through the entire event. It’s a multi-media circus, lots of interactive art, and it’s set to change every week through it’s lifespan. This weekend the theme is “Deface Value”, featuring the likes of Tracy Emin and David Cameron alike (yup, the Conservative leader). It opens Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 1.30 and 10 pm.

‘The House of Books Has No Windows’, this site a touring exhibition by Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller kicked off at the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh- now on at Modern Art Oxford– is an apt title for a show in this most literary of cities. The eponymous installation is a wendy house made from an array of books, this from novels to travel guides. Climbing inside feels safe, like entering a childhood den, and evocatively musty yet also claustrophobic and imposing.

The other six installations in the show see the pair entwine sound and movement. ‘The Dark Pool’, the couple’s first project together back in 1995, is a ramshackle room of seemingly disparate objects and speakers pouring out snatches of conversation. From this wellspring of vintage clothes, tattered books, old records, tea leaves and wax hands, a creeping sense of tension emanates; a pregnancy in the air as if something has happened or is about to. The pivot of the piece is a leather trunk, in which a scene has been constructed with miniature plastic model figures. They stand looking into a dark pool, a car lies abandoned while miniature lights twinkle overhead.

‘The Dark Pool’ anaesthetises you from looking for concrete connections between the objects and sounds in the room. Strands of meaning do coalesce and emerge, nudged along by snatches of conversation and the physical ephemera but, like an abstract poem, the whole hangs together without needing to be fully explained.

The Killing Machine
Partly this stems from duo’s ability to make the viewer suspend disbelief. This is repeated, most devastatingly, in ‘The Killing Machine’ (2007); a Kafka-inspired, kitschly sinister torture chamber, where robotic arms move as elegantly as long-necked birds, prodding and poking a dentists chair covered in pink fur, all sound tracked by screeching electric guitars. Again this bizarre scenario hangs together completely. The audience (mostly…) seemed to accept it on its own terms, becoming compelled by a murky narrative that so easily could have just baffled.

The less successful installations are the more explained ones. The slide show ‘Road Trip’(2004) for example, rambles without the sense of magic or theatre of other scenarios.

Opera for Small Room
One installation on its own justifies a visit. ‘Opera for a Small Room’(2008), a shed piled high with records and lights that synchronise to a chopped up soundtrack which covers everything from wolves howling to a full blown rock opera. It is the couple’s most recent work and sees them continue to generate the mysterious wonder that characterises the best of their earlier work.

Written by Priya Umachandran

Written by on Monday November 24th, 2008 1:53 pm

Categories ,Art, ,exhibition, ,George Bures Miller, ,Installation, ,Janet Cardiff, ,Modern Art Oxford, ,The House of Books Has No Windows

Amelia’s Magazine | University College Falmouth Ba Photography Graduate Show 2011 Review

Falmouth Photography degree show Free Range 2011-Josie Ainscough
University College Falmouth took up the basement area at the Truman Brewery. Josie Ainscough was next to the entrance with four very strong images exploring how clothes create identity in the west, doctor even to the point of taking over our facial features in these floral skirt and shirt veils.

Falmouth Photography degree show Free Range 2011-Amy Behrens Clark
Amy Behrens Clark got busy with photoshop to create intricate patterns out of human bodies that remind us that we have we been digitalised to the point of disconnection. ‘In our culture we have been educated to see our selves as individual and separate beings, treatment when we need to start seeing the earth and all life as a whole.’

Falmouth Photography degree show Free Range 2011-Tessa Pearson Tessa Pearson Postcards from Afar

Tessa Pearson showed Postcards from Afar – composite images made up of ephemera and tourist photos.

Matthew Fessey sex_objects
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.vimeo.com/20422339" rel="noopener">http://www.vimeo.com/20422339</a>
Sixty Seven People, Sex Objects by Matthew Fessey was an unnerving photographic project and moving installation where pornographic sex shots were layered on top of each other to create a blurred orgy of limbs. Stills were displayed next to a mundane break down of objects in the room where the sex act was taking place.

Combining photography with illustration, Proprioception by Tamzin Plummer was a series of intriguing ‘cyborgs’ designed to showcase our intricate entwinement with technology.

Consumed by Kim Clarke_bikeride Falmouth Photography degree show Free Range 2011-Consumed by Kim Clarke
Kim Clarke created mini installations out of old photographs pasted onto deconstructed cardboard packaging. Consumed was a critique of the way we consume huge amounts of empty commodities in the desperate need to achieve some fictitious reality. By imprinting images of great natural beauty on the inside of these boxes she hopes to alter how we ‘perceive and interpret a photograph.’

Falmouth Photography degree show Free Range 2011-Mark King
I was immediately attracted to Mark King‘s depiction of England’s Green and Pleasant Land because it featured an image of a place called Herne Hill, which is where I grew up. My Herne Hill was in South London but this Herne Hill was a leafy vista – only the title gave the game away: Plastic. Under other beautiful black and white shots were written the location and Cheese Strings, Gulp Thatchers Carlsberg and Diamond White or Coca-Cola. One can only guess at what happened in these serene beauty spots.

Falmouth Photography degree show Free Range 2011-sophie turner boxhand
Sophie Turner works under the name Boxhand. I must confess that I have no idea what was going on in her bonkers collage of glittery characters in a dilapidated warehouse, but it was very fun.

Aidan Rumble Beechings Axe

Aidan Rumble was transfixed by the legacy of Beeching’s Axe in 1963, and how the loss of branch railway lines affected the Cornish mining industry. He layered acetates images with the faint ghost of trains past over the top of current photos to great effect.

It was notable that all Falmouth students had their own photography websites, however basic. Hurrah! At bleedin’ last!

Written by Amelia Gregory on Tuesday July 5th, 2011 12:03 pm

Categories ,2011, ,Aidan Rumble, ,Amy Behrens-Clark, ,Beeching’s Axe, ,Boxhand, ,Cheese Strings, ,Coca-Cola, ,Consumed, ,England’s Green and Pleasant Land, ,Free Range, ,Graduate Shows, ,Gulp Thatchers Carlsberg and Diamond White, ,Herne Hill, ,installation, ,Josie Ainscough, ,Kim Clarke, ,Mark King, ,Matthew Fessey, ,photography, ,Plastic, ,Postcards from Afar, ,Proprioception, ,Sex Objects, ,Sixty Seven People, ,Sophie Turner, ,Tamzin Plummer, ,Tessa Pearson, ,Truman Brewery, ,University College Falmouth

Amelia’s Magazine | University of Brighton Illustration Graduate Show 2011 Review: Fine Techniques

rocks-katie-scott
You’ve already read about the Collagists and the 80s influenced illustrators right? There was also some exceptional drawing and printmaking at the Brighton Graphic Design and Illustration Graduate Show. Here then is the rest of the best.

Brighton University illustration graduate show 2011-Katie Scott

Katie Scott‘s beautiful work appropriated the look of old fashioned botanical engravings, view but a closer look revealed her imagery to be a little more bizarre and out of this world – strange dinosaur like animals, birds with paws, frog legged hedgehogs. Her work showcased amazing technical drawing ability, as did the following few illustrators. Follow Katie Scott on Twitter.

Brighton University illustration graduate show 2011-Megan Pearce

Megan Pearce looked towards religion for her richly textured black and white drawings, combining symbolic references to God with visual metaphors of Haitian beliefs.

Sam ashton hoxton view
Sam Ashton Olympic site

Sam Ashton had done some delightful drawings of deepest darkest Hackney – somehow managing to make this most urban of settings seem gloriously exotic in a swirl of colour and mark making. Many of the local views are being affected by guess what? Why, the Olympic development of course.

bradley jay WOLF
bradley jay Lion

Bradley Jay worked in fine black lines to create surreal narrative pictures featuring lions, kings, floating swords and severed paws. Amazing stuff, would love a print for my wall.

Mark Matcham future crufts

Brighton University illustration graduate show 2011-Mark Matcham
I was recommended to keep an eye out for Mark Matcham, who had worked on the theme of a Future Crufts – mutant dogs being the order of the day. I particularly liked his business cards on thin wood.

Brighton University illustration graduate show 2011-Joseph Gough
Joseph Gough was influenced by film noir to create a series of narrative vignettes in stark monochrome.

Brighton University illustration graduate show 2011-Harry Bloom Teenage Kicks
Loved Harry Bloom‘s intricate narrative drawings and large scale panoramas, with more than a nod to Richard Scarry and ilk. I was particularly taken by his mini book, Teenage Kicks, featuring teenagers in all their angst with amusing captions.

Brighton University illustration graduate show 2011-Noriko Sato
Noriko Sato‘s sign said Hello, Bowwow, Meow, And the earth rotates. How very enigmatic! I loved her little miniature characters and tiny portraits of animals.

Brighton University illustration graduate show 2011-Miho Toyooka
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.vimeo.com/24458273" rel="noopener">http://www.vimeo.com/24458273</a>
Miho Toyooka was influenced by the worlds of mysticism and rituals to create a constantly shifting kaleidoscope that was viewed from above – I couldn’t stop returning to see where the images went next. Most engaging.

Brighton University illustration graduate show 2011-Thomas Bird
Thomas Bird played with paper to create colourful sculpture and sets. Follow Thomas Bird on Twitter.

Brighton University illustration graduate show 2011-Tom Duxbury

Tom Duxbury was inspired by Shirley Jackson‘s novel We Have Always Lived in a Castle, to create two tone narrative illustrations with a hint of Rob Ryan to them.

Still to come… Best of Graphic Design.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday July 21st, 2011 6:58 pm

Categories ,2011, ,Botanical Engravings, ,Bradley Jay, ,Brighton Graphic Design and Illustration Graduate Show, ,Fine Line, ,Future Crufts, ,Graduate Show, ,hackney, ,Harry Bloom, ,installation, ,Joseph Gough, ,Katie Scott, ,Mark Matcham, ,Megan Pearce, ,Miho Toyooka, ,Noriko Sato, ,Papercut, ,Religious, ,Richard Scarry, ,rob ryan, ,Rochelle School, ,Sam Ashton, ,Shirley Jackson, ,Teenage Kicks, ,Thomas Bird, ,Tom Duxbury

Amelia’s Magazine | Urs Fischer: Molding Objects to Imperfection

All Photographs courtesy of New Museum, viagra buy except where otherwise stated

It is now time for the absurd to take center stage. Swiss-born “imperfectionist” Urs Ficher makes the gallery goer rethink his or her own reality and I am grateful to the New Museum for introducing me to this brilliant artist. Ficher is an artist renown for his non-traditional creations. Thinking the world as a populated center of objects that interact and create an artificial reality, his aim is to call the viewer’s attention to his singular inner realm; his interpretations of what this life is are conveyed through different types of installations. New productions and iconic works are aplenty and together compose a series of gigantic still life and walk-in tableaux choreographed entirely by the artist. I find myself exploring neither a traditional survey nor a retrospective but the culmination of four years of work. These new productions reveal the true scope of Fischer’s universe and I am enthralled by what I am discovering.

Above photograph courtesy of Vanesa Krongold

Fischer has taken over all the three floors of the museum. Illusion and reality are intertwined in the artist ‘s show thanks to a game of trading places and multiple reflections. Chrome boxes are arranged in a grid of monoliths that create a cityscape of mirrored cubes onto which the artist has silk screened a dizzying array of images. I think it’s perfect; It’s just how I’ve been feeling when walking about New York city – drunk from trying to take it all in! It is very interesting how the artist plays with bi dimensions; I am strangely attracted by some disregarded toys. Its all about combining the reality through dimensions, perspectives, and collage. The viewer is thrust into an uneasy place, trying to understand how to walk in this new world. The hyper real state of the objects are meant to represent your and my reality…

2009 Plaster, paint, bread 10 x 21 x 15 cm.

Urs Fischer presents an installation that turns the Museum’s architecture into an image of itself—a site-specific trompe l’oeil environment. In a maddening reproduction exercise, each square inch of the Museum architecture has been photographed and reprinted as a wallpaper that covers these very same walls and ceiling it is meant to portray. A piano occupies the room, appearing to melt under the pressure of some invisible force. Simultaneously solid and soft like a Salvador Dalí painting in three dimensions, this sculpture seems to succumb to a dramatic process of metamorphosis.

Marguerite de Ponty.

On the fourth floor, Fischer presents five new aluminum sculptures cast from small clays and hand-molded by the artist. Hanging from the ceiling or balancing awkwardly in space, these massive abstractions resemble strange cocoons or a gathering of enigmatic monuments. Fischer is an engineer of imaginary worlds who has in the past created sculptures in a rich variety of materials, including unstable substances such as melting wax and rotting vegetables. In a continuous search for new plastic solutions, Fischer has built houses out of bread and given life to animated puppets; he has dissected objects or blown them out of proportion in order to reinvent our relationship to them.

In 2007, in a now-legendary exhibition, he excavated the floor of his New York gallery, digging a crater within the exhibition space. Throughout his work, with ambitious gestures and irreverent panache, Fischer explores the secret mechanisms of perception, combining a Pop immediacy with a Neo-Baroque sense for the absurd. And I am glad a taste of it!

The exhibition Urs Fischer: Marguerite de Ponty is ending on February the 7th, 2010. The New Museum is a modern building located in 235 Bowery Street, New-York.

Written by Vanesa krongold on Wednesday February 3rd, 2010 1:21 pm

Categories ,Absurd, ,Aluminium, ,art, ,Art space, ,baroque, ,Clay, ,contemporary art, ,Exhibition Review, ,Hand molded, ,installation, ,Material, ,New Museum, ,new york, ,organic, ,review, ,Salvator Dali, ,sculpture, ,Still Life, ,surrealism, ,toy, ,Urs Fischer

Amelia’s Magazine | Visual Music

This work may not be reproduced without the permission of Matteo Patocchi, viagra order try info@matteopatocchi.com
All photography by Matteo Patocchi

When coming to chose a degree upon my emancipation from the grim steely hell that I refer to as ‘high school’ I had had intended to pursue Fine Art. But whilst browsing courses in the UCAS guide, pill I came across a course entitled ‘Live Art’ that struck my fancy, diagnosis due to it’s proclivity towards video art and installation, which I considered to be a very interesting and an undervalued aspect of art that was mostly overlooked in favour of more traditional art. Never one to turn away from the chance to do something weird and different, I launched into Live Art with all the necessary zest and fauna that such an establishment which heralds self mutilation as the curriculum can be given. It probably was an error in judgement. The course was a sham, filled up with luddites who had flunked getting into proper art courses and had been sectioned away onto this course for the financial gain of the university. Regardless of this, I enjoyed it, as it exposed me to the underbelly of the art world. Marina Abramovi?, Gina Pane, Vito Acconci – we studied them intently and they were my fast favourites. Although those names have been recognised and given a place in the ‘academy’ of modern art, most of the video artists, composers and performers that I dug up from the bowels of the library had been marginalised into nothingness.

Oskar Fischinger ‘Studie No. 7′

HST can sum up the majority of video art quite succinctly. ‘Too weird to live, too rare to die.’ They’re kicking about, in the crevices of galleries – quite literally in Acconci’s case, but in general, the media furore and deification is usually reserved for those artists who still can fit it with the status quo of the art community. Yet still, after graduation, moving image in art has always been close to my heart. There is something incredibly fresh and alternative about it, yet it’s never quite hit the same success, as it’s static predecessors. Which is precisely how ‘Visual Music’ at The Book Club came about. Alex Marshall has collected footage from avant-garde film-makers who have been pushed into anomie by not quite fitting the mould, then playing live original music to recontextualise the work. So I make the necessary steps to organise an interview with Alex Marshall at The Book Club, where Visual Music takes place. “Everything I say could well be bullshit.” He warns me prior to the interview. “Excellent. In that case, I’ll order a drink.” I reply, deciding that if one is going to be shrugging off the pompous ‘we are artistes’ shtick so early on, I may as well check my ‘I am ze journalist’ routine at the door and get drunk.

So maybe start off by telling me what you’re doing with Visual Music at The Book Club? I was asked to do something to do with film in a very arbitrary way. This freedom encouraged me to experiment with some ideas I’d been wrestling with for a while. I had become very interested in the contiguity between text and image, but this phrase doesn’t mean very much to anyone, it didn’t mean very much to me at the time I came across it, but they mean a lot to me now. Oskar Fischinger was the first person who sprung to mind when I began to conceptualise the night. I came across him by chance, as my flatmate had an old documentary about him. What I found fascinating about Fischinger was his background as a musician and how his work was an attempt to visualise what music is, what it feels like. And that fascinated me as it wasn’t a contrived analysis of musical form, or filmic form, it was more an attempt to show people what he felt about music, something that could be shared, but only through abstraction. And in order to show someone something, he wanted them to feel it, through this abstraction, rather than see it. I don’t think people see music, we don’t even see the words we say to each other, what we’re doing when we’re talking is exchanging visual references. This table is only a table because I tell you it’s a table.

Like Saussure? It’s not Saussure.

Lacan? It’s not Lacan! It’s not Wittgenstein either, it’s not labels; it’s that consciousness comes to us through a fictional fashioning. Our understanding of the world is created by the stories that we tell through our relationship to things. It’s a table because I’ve been told that this noise “table” signifies this thing that means all tables everywhere, their table-ness, which is a massive abstraction. The word abstraction is itself a massive abstraction from the meaning of abstraction.

Like Saussure. Fuck Saussure! I mean, this is all bullshit obviously…to anyone with a real job, this is all bullshit, but it’s something we’re involved with all the time.

Did your paid work as a projectionist and cameraman influence your choices? Well, I’ve worked as a projectionist, and I’ve worked as a cameraman, I graduated in film, so I felt I was in a good position to try and understand why people come to the cinema. People tend to talk about films in term of their meanings and their symbols. It’s the age of psychoanalysis really, just reading into everything. But on a deeper level we’re constantly in the process of exchanging complete abstractions. I wouldn’t say we’re deluding each other, but we’re never truly questioning, or maybe we’re incapable of questioning, what it is that our consciousness is processing, what that process is. I chose Fischinger and I chose Norman McLaren for these reasons.

Neighbours by Norman McLaren

Tell me about Norman McLaren? He was a Scottish born Canadian art student with no money and no camera, all he had was film. So not only was he scribbling on the actual frame of a 35mm film, but he was also drawing the soundtrack. As a projectionist, this meant a lot to me; this physical touch that takes place. Which takes me back to contiguity, the physical inscription of the idea of language.

I take it that you have a real love of film. The 35mm type. I find its conservativism fascinating. From the moment we could, we’ve tried to ‘fix’ something and make it this permanent thing. However, all the substance of 35mm convinces you of, is that it isn’t a perfect material. The nature of it, is that it damages itself through it’s own reading. I find that really interesting.

Why did you chose Fischinger and Norman McLaren? I chose Fischinger because he was making music visual, and Norman McLaren for the second night because he saw Fischinger’s shorts in Glasgow. McLaren understood what Fischinger was doing and saw it as the perfect way to express visually how he felt about music. I think music is very important. It’s the one art form that can’t be explained away. People don’t know how to watch films in the way that we all listen to music. We all listen to music and don’t ask questions about it, we just accept its abstraction. A film should be viewed as a classical piece of music. How does it move you and why should be an afterthought. If you’re moved by something and you don’t understand it, that’s fine.

When doing these nights is there a particular theme that you want to convey to the audience, or is it very much inviting them into a creative process and allowing them to take from it what they will? Certainly both. I certainly have my viewpoint when I put something in front of someone. The next night is going to be very different and I hope people remain open. The Fischinger shorts were totally abstract and the music is abstract and I feel that it shouldn’t be a difficult thing to tap into. That’s my main drive, that you should be able to sit and experience these things. By watching it you should be asking questions to do with consciousness, and if you’re not then you should. That’s the only dogmatic point of view that I have, if you’re not questioning yourself as an audience you’re susceptible to real dangers.

Elaborate on real dangers. In the world of 24-hour news and the excess of information; you’re going to absorb it. Not necessarily as fact, people can differentiate between propaganda and fact. I mean, I’m fine with propaganda, I find it very honest – but to think of propaganda as negative spiel is very naïve. Anything anyone ever says to you is propaganda, as they’re reflecting their viewpoint onto you. It can be honest and true, but it’s still propaganda. The more we can expose it, the better. I think art should be asking questions to question people’s mode of questioning. Art should be the most powerful mirror in the world.

So you don’t try and create a singular message with any particular night? No. I try to keep it loose, so people can make from it what they will. And most of the audience isn’t even aware of these films and their creators. There’s a film maker that I would love to work with called Peter Watkins, I’d love to get him down but then it would be a Q and A type of thing and I’d fucking hate it, but I did three years of film studies and then years as a cameraman and I’d never heard of Peter Watkins, and I find that terrifying. I’m going to do a show with some of his work at some point. He’s the most marginalized filmmaker I’ve ever come across and his films are extraordinary. The point I’m trying to make is that with this night I wanted to expose filmmakers who had been marginalized by the popular media. Oskar Fischinger, for example. Everyone knows Fantasia. It wouldn’t have been made without him and Disney stole his ideas and shunned him. The work outside of that was vastly superior to anything that Disney ever made; although there are some great Disney movies.

What’s your favorite Disney movie? Fantasia by Oskar Fischinger.

I know you’re a creator yourself, as a filmmaker and photographer. Are you going to showcase your own work in the future? I have thought about that a lot, I did the first night and when I did the second night I talked to people who wanted me to showcase more of my work. It’s something in my mind but I’m quite self-effacing and it would also have to be the right piece of work. If I did it, it would be a surprise. I’m awful at promotion. I find the idea of showing my own work uncomfortable. It would no longer be subjective.

How did you find the musicians to work with you on this? For the first one it was totally by chance. I knew a guy called Jacob who was a friend of mine and plays in a band called Victoria and Jacob and they’re wonderful. So I asked him to contribute a live score. I can’t give a job over to someone if I don’t trust in what they’re doing. With Jacob, it was so easy and obvious. And we have very different viewpoints, which is great. I’m a pretentious academic, and he’s not. We got together to discuss it over a few beers, and I left it to him. I didn’t even know what he would play until the night. There was a two-minute rehearsal before the event, but I left to have a cigarette. So the first time I heard it was with everyone else.

(At this point, to conclude the interview I decide to switch tack probably based upon my blood alcohol levels.)

What is your favourite word? Skopos or Contiguity, I suppose. I don’t really have favourites. But I do like words.

What is your least favourite word? “Like, random”

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Contact

What turns you off? Self-importance.

What is your favourite curse word? Fuck

What sound or noise do you love? The HBO tag these days – excellence generally follows.

What sound or noise do you hate? The buzzer to my front door, especially when unexpected.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Er, what’s my profession?

What profession would you not like to do? Insurance salesman, because I’d have to kill myself in a painful and humiliating way.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Told you so.

And there you have it. Check out The Book Club’s website for details of the next ‘Visual Music’ night.

Written by Amica Lane on Thursday March 25th, 2010 1:20 am

Categories ,alex marshall, ,amica lane, ,animation, ,art bollocks, ,Disney, ,East London, ,fantasia, ,gina pane, ,Hunter S. Thompson, ,installation, ,marina abramovic, ,oskar fischinger, ,peter watkins, ,The Book Club, ,victoria and jacob, ,Video Art, ,visual music

Amelia’s Magazine | Wiltshire College: Photography Graduate Show 2011 Review

Wiltshire college photography graduate exhibition 2011 Danielle McDonald
Installation by Danielle McDonald.

The most interesting part of the Wiltshire College Photography degree show was the clever installations that some of the students had put together.

Wiltshire college photography graduate exhibition 2011 Laura Haskell
Laura Haskell had imagined the interior of an Asian household.

Wiltshire college photography graduate exhibition 2011 Kiri Nicholetts

Kiri Nicholetts had gone completely to town with a whole interior featuring photographs on easels and photos on the wall which emulated famous shots of famous women using fairly ordinary subjects. It’s been done before and it will be done again, approved but the detail of the whole installation was really quite wonderful.

Wiltshire college photography graduate exhibition 2011 Sharon Smith
Sharon Smith Wiltshire college
Sharon Smith only displayed a couple of large portraits on her wall making her Sharon Smith St. a bold and arresting affair. Good photography too.

Wiltshire college photography graduate exhibition 2011 Danielle McDonald
Danielle McDonald showed her fashion photos on the walls of a lemon yellow 50s style dressing room come entrance hallway.

Wiltshire college photography graduate exhibition 2011 Laura Holmes
Laura Holmes had pinned records to the wall above a table atop of which sat an old fashioned portable record player.

Wiltshire college photography graduate exhibition 2011 Liz Daziel
Liz Daziel had pole position at the entrance to showcase her beautiful fashion portraits, faces posed through layers of gauzy fabric.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Tuesday June 21st, 2011 8:36 am

Categories ,Danielle McDonald, ,Free Range, ,Graduate Shows, ,installation, ,Kiri Nicholetts, ,Laura Haskell, ,Laura Holmes, ,Liz Daziel, ,photography, ,Sharon Smith, ,Wiltshire College

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