On Monday evening as the sun set and the lights from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) blared onto the street, ask over a hundred protesters gathered to call for an end to government subsidies on biofuels.
Joining the demo were a range of musicians that kept up spirits and entertained with witty biofuel songs, as well as several speakers highlighting the issue.
John Stewart,Fight The Flights, spoke about the aviation industry plans to incorporate biofuels. Companies like BA complain about the increasing tax on fuel consumption using the inequality agenda as an argument. But when considering how agrofuels are largely made by exploiting poor countries while the rich benefit, their argument is quickly invalidated.
The police set up a pen as per usual, making sure the left hand side pavement wasn’t blocked which would obviously have a huge detrimental effect. Instead they crammed us all inside the narrow fences; health and safety you know, can’t have a protest stopping people from having to cross the road to the other pavement to get passed. Anyway we all managed to listen and rally in any little space we could find and as darkness fell continued to put pressure on the energy department in the 100-watt bulb luminous lit rooms above.
‘Catwalk designer’ and ‘ethically friendly’ are two terms that usually do not go hand-in-hand. As awful as it sounds, malady doing your bit for the environment or the community rarely scores you fashion brownies points. Using fur and starved models, stuff however, search often conversely puts you somewhere near the top of the leader board.
However, there are fashion designers, and successful ones at that, who care about the greater good. Design couple Clements Ribeiro are two such people, working on projects that aim to give something back through upcycling.
A year after their collaboration with Karen Nicol in 2008, an embroidery star who stitches for the likes of Chanel and Marc Jacobs, the team have created the obscurely titled project 3. The inspiration behind the projects was the recycling of ‘rubbish’ materials to make them into something beautiful; surely a key goal and undeniably rewarding challenge for any fashion designer.
The Karen Nicol collection , proved extremely popular on release with its range of delicately embroidered antique cashmere cardigans made from one-of-a-kind lost-and-found fabrics. Garnished with a dash of flower motif and beading, the designs were snapped up by net-a-porter, Dover Street Market and Barneys USA.
From projects 1 to 3, the capsule collections celebrate Clements Ribeiro’s innate eye for design and their unique ability to source materials. Trawling Brick Lane better than Kate Moss, the pair know what they are looking for and how to adapt the found materials into their designs. Handcrafting unique pieces for each collection, there is an undeniable element of fondness and care in their upcycling of individually cherished items.
Inspired by Marcel Duchamp’s “objets trouveés”, each piece of found fabric is transformed into works of art. Duchamp’s theory of modern art rested on the claim that artists project meaning onto the found object giving it validity as an art object. Clements Ribeiro’s collection however, is artistic in its own right without the imposition of meaning. If any meaning were to be enforced, it would presumably be to encourage the reusing of the past to secure a healthier sustainable future.
A fashion compost heap if you like. On the other slightly less in-depth, artistic-spieled hand, the designers green concerns are apparent, through their use of good old fashioned recycling.
The second project capsule favoured the use of antique lace and luxury Italian knits, the pair had a lot to live up to with number 3. An ambitious project, with slim fit, v-neck dresses constructed half and half from brocade skirts and sequin busts. Each dress features the same simple shape but in a rich variety of fabrics and colours. Aptly termed ‘collage dresses’ these works of art combine radically different skirts and tops to produce a dress, which as the project code name suggests are “Half & Half”.
These limited pieces are available from Matches and Couture Lab in the not too distant future. If you are to invest in a single piece this season, try Clements Ribeiro’s project 3 and show your support for innovative ethical fashion.
Written by Becky Cope on Wednesday October 14th, 2009 2:53 pm
What is the No 9 Bus to Utopia about and why should people support the project?
It’s a book that chronicles a year spent visiting seven extraordinary communities in Europe and America after a relationship breakup. It was undertaken partly to learn how to be better at sharing and also just for the sheer adventure. Over the twelve months I visited sexual arcadias, a new city being built in the Arizona Desert, ashrams, anarchist communes and a place in the Italian Alps straight out of the pages of a sci-fi novel. I returned home full of inspiration from the people I’d met and wanting to make a difference in my hometown of Brighton by helping strengthen my local community through an event called Zocalo. Zocalo takes place one day each year when we encourage people to leave their houses and sit on a chair outside as a way of saying: I’m a friendly neighbour, come and have a natter. It’s been steadily growing over the years and is an informal street party all over the city. Better still it’s mercifully free of fund-raising, council approval, red tape or Union Jack bunting. It was dreamt up by a local guy, David Burke, and is a simple way of getting people talking to their neighbours again and re-kindling a sense of community. There’s lots of good will for it in Brighton and I can honestly say I now consider many of the people in my street as friends as a consequence. We hope that Zocalo will spread around the country. I learned from my adventures and experiences in communities that generosity and compromise are at the heart of all good relationships.
What kind of people do you hope will read it?
I love humorous travel writers like Bill Bryson and hope people will find it entertaining, personable and funny. It’s for anyone who’s ever wondered if the way they live could be better and how we can make a difference as individuals in the way our cities function (as well as our relationships). I was offered the chance to do the No9 Bus to Utopia as a TED talk last year which might be a good way for readers to get a taster of what the full story is about.
What was your biggest surprise discovery from visiting all these utopian communities?
A place in Italy called Damanhur which has built the world’s largest underground temple. It’s the most incredible place I’ve ever visited. The temple is about the size of St Paul’s Cathedral and was built in secret at night with little professional knowledge in how to accomplish such a feat. There are chambers where, if you press a certain stone slab in the wall, there’s a great whooshing sound and the wall slides away to reveal more secret rooms. It’s real Indiana Jones material. Visiting it took my breath away. Ok, if I’m really honest it actually moved me to tears!
Would you go back to any of them for any length of time, if so which one?
I’d return to all of them given the chance. The one I have been back to is Damanhur. I went a second time with a friend, Teowa, and we got to take part in some incredible rituals deep inside the temple. I even got the chance to jam with a rubber plant called Hellie, who the Damanhurians claim to have taught to make music. Hellie has even released a seven inch single. And no, I’m not making this stuff up.
What has the process of publishing your book been like and how did you hook up with Unbound?
Unbound was recommended by my friend Tom Hodgkinson from the Idler. They’re a hugely supportive and personable publishing company run on a crowd-funding ethos. We’ve raised a quarter of the money for the book so far in a short space of time, made a promotional video and I’m currently looking for opportunities to do the No9 Bus as a storytelling show/lecture. I’ve already spoken about it on TED, 5×15, Alain de Botton’s School of Life and the Idler Academy and it seems the best way to get people interested in reading the book.
You’re a bit of a Renaissance Man – how do you divide your time up between all of your different activities?
I made a conscious decision to get rid of my telly many years ago and no longer read papers or follow the news. I felt I could do better things with my time and fill my head with more life-affirming information and ideas, rather than that sense of righteous indignation the news headlines seem to instil in us. I admit, I’d struggle to identify Nick Clegg in an identity parade but I do have more time now to dedicate to pursue my passions and causes like Zocalo. I also teach music part time so I’m blessed with lots of paid holidays and free time.
Any news about Zocalo? Is it spreading around the country yet?
This year Zocalo has spread out of our neighbourhood of 3,000 houses to several other areas of Brighton. We’re hoping for our biggest ever turnout (weather permitting!) and have had lots of offers from local people wanting to run Zocalos in their streets. It’s yet to spread around the country but our long-term plan is a national holiday called Zocalo Day where everyone in the UK takes the day off work to sit outside their houses drinking tea and eating cake with their neighbours. OK, it’s an ambitious dream but why not?!
Are there any special festivities planned this Sep 9th?
To keep it simple we encourage people to bring their own entertainment to Zocalo on the day. We’ve had spontaneous table football tournaments, families cooking and sharing dinners out in the streets and sometimes people dragging their entire living room out onto the pavement, complete with stag’s head and Persian rug.
Why have you made Brighton your home? (I studied there and love it)
I grew up in Doncaster and studied in Coventry, so coming to Brighton for the first time was like stumbling upon an oasis. I’ve been here twenty years and still feel like I’m on some extended family holiday. It’s a liberal, bohemian party town where anything goes and to top it all, there’s a beach. Sure it’s also overcrowded and expensive but I only need go back and visit my home town of Doncaster to remind myself what an exceptional city I live in.
Zocalo promo video
How would you describe your band? Oddfellow’s Casino specialise in orchestrated melancholic pop with songs about nature, death and hauntings. The music seems to evoke the bleak English landscape, both pastoral and industrial. It’s something to do with being Northern I’m sure. It’s that same ethereal sonic quality that I find appealing in bands like Joy Division. It probably comes from eating too many pies and walking the Pennines in the drizzle. We’ve been making records for ten years now and have a strong, cultish following all over Europe from Estonia to Norway. 2012 has been a good year for us. We released a new album in May, The Raven’s Empire (on the theme of death) and had terrific radio play and support from Cerys Mathews, Gideon Coe and Lauren Laverne. We just released a new single, We Will Be Here, which is an anthem for the dead and was filmed in the Shell Grotto in Margate. We’ve got a handful of videos on youtube as well as a short film on our website that we made with former Dali model Drako Zarhazar.
We Will Be Here
What has been your favourite festival experience this year?
Taking part in a Friday night spelling test at Port Eliot hosted by The Wire‘s Dominic West had to rank as the most surreal festival experience this year. I also took part in a record-breaking attempt for skinny dipping at Wilderness Festival. Sadly we were 200 people short of breaking the record. When I got out, I couldn’t find my towel and was a lone naked man wandering through crowds of fully-attired, drunk festival-goers.
Winter in a Strange Town
Have you discovered any other great acts that you could recommend to us?
Favourite festival band this year was We Were Evergreen, a Parisian trio who won over the crowds with their energy, humour and exquisite power-pop, led by ukulele. Current favourite artists are Alt J and Other Lives.
The Crows and the Rooks
Finally, what next? And have you found true love again?
I’ve just made a short program for Radio 3 about a man, David King, who provides accurate long-term weather forecasts by reading nature. I’ve got a new talk on the history of pranks and mischief coming up at the Idler Academy in October and I’m hosting TEDx Brighton on my home turf in October. True love, I hope, is waiting in the wings, armed with a box of quality biscuits and good tale to tell.
The Rag Factory, this Brick Lane, page will be playing host to The London Zine Symposium on the 29th of May, capsule an event celebrating DIY culture, promoting communal idea sharing and, naturally, selling a few zines. Inspired by the Portland Zine Symposium, it’s been running since 2005 and just keeps getting bigger. This year there are over 70 stalls dedicated to zines, small presses and comics, with crafty bits to see and do round every corner, as well as discussions, readings and workshops.
The Symposium runs from 12pm, kicking off with the kids’ comic workshop, making things nice, and monstrous, (pretend to be my guardian? Anyone?) and all through the day you can make your own artist trading cards! They’ll be providing all the ingredients you need, though you’re welcome to take along your own cutouts and magazine bits. These excite me more than necessary, probably because I always wanted to be a Pokémon…
The first discussion of the afternoon will focus on the DIY ethos of zine-making and its applications in the wider world – a must for anyone interested in subverting mainstream media and working their socks off to get heard. It’s not limited to the world of paper either, they’ll also be talking about forming bands and organising spoken word tours. Charlotte Cooper, a queer fat researcher and activist, and Josie Long, that stand- up comedian, are among those reading from selections and the event will be nicely rounded off by Tea Hvala and a collaborative writing working, taking the surrealist drawing game the exquisite corpse and translating it to writing, so that each story becomes everybody’s story.
I asked Edd Baldry, one of the organisers, about the superiority of zines to blogs, the importance of DIY culture, and whether they’ve ever been overwhelmed by care bears…
Could you tell us a bit about the beginnings of the London Zine ? Symposium? What inspired you to start it up? Was it very popular at ?first? How has it grown? Edd Baldry : I was part of a collective squatting a cool building in central ? London, which we’d called the Institute for Autonomy. I was helping to? run an infoshop in the space as well as producing a large collective ? zine – Rancid News – which we distributed across the UK and Europe. So ?I was interested in getting more zine kids involved in radical spaces and radical spaces having zines that weren’t necessarily explicitly ? political. I’ve got to acknowledge though that the name, and the ? inspiration, was taken wholesale from the Portland Zine Symposium who ? do an awesome event in the US north-west every year.? From our point of view it was really popular straight away. I wish ?all the projects I’m involved with were this easy to organise. We had ? about 400 people come, with 12 stalls, at the first event and it’s ?grown steadily each year. Last year we had about 1,400 people come along, with 64 stalls selling their wares.? ? ?
What, exactly, is a zine and what part does it play in DIY culture? ? What makes a good zine? In this techno-focused age, what’s their ?attraction? Isn’t it easier and quicker to start/read a blog?
?EB: A zine is really whatever you want it to be. The only caveat is that ?it’s something that you produce yourself for yourself – at least? that’s what I think of when I think of zines. I think that zines have ? been a vital part of DIY culture since they became prevalent in the ? punk and radical scenes in the late 70s. Riot Grrrl’s a pretty good ?example where the ideas and culture of that scene were communicated ?through zines just as much as they were through the music.? ?It’s difficult to say what makes a ‘good’ zine – there’s such a variety that there’s no magic bullet. There are zines that are amazing ?because they’re beautifully illustrated, others because the ?illustrations look like a three year-old drew them. I guess anything ?that has passion for something in them is interesting and zines are no ?exception.? ?I think the attraction of zines has grown as the internet has. Having ?something that is tangible and final is quite attractive in a world of ?24 hour rolling news and ever changing churn of the internet. Also, ?zines can be read when you’re having a bath, a definite advantage over computers!? ? ?
Does the zine scene go through fads and phases like every other scene? ?Have you ever been overwhelmed by frogophiles, or carebear ?afficionados, for instance?
?EB: No, the symposium’s yet to be overrun by carebear or frog zines. But ?yeah the zine scene does tend to go through waves every few years. A ?few years ago it felt like it was totally dominated by punk zines, in ?2007/8 it felt like a lot of people who made comics started consciously ?making them as zines. More recently it seems like a lot of ? illustration students have been really taken by making zines. Those? trends tend to be reflected in the people who apply for stalls at the? London Zine Symposium – this year we’ve had loads of applications from ? various groups of students around the country.? ? ?
What is the zine scene like in London? Do you think there’s a good ? level of community? What kind of people get into it? ? What are a few of your favourite zines? Is there anyone you’re excited about meeting ?at the symposium?
?EB: I think there’s a pretty vibrant zine scene in London. A lot of that ?has to do with the group of people running the Alternative Press ?project that’s done a bunch of small scale events at places like the ? Foundry, as well as a couple of larger ones at the St Aloysius centre ?near Euston. It’s meant that there’s now zine events happening throughout the year in London, which can only be a good thing. And yeah, there’s certainly a supportive scene amongst zinesters, there’s ?not much machismo or competiveness that you get in other scenes that ?I’ve been heavily involved with.? ?I’m not sure there’s one type of person that makes zines; it takes all sorts. I guess it’s people who feel they have something to say but ?don’t want to go through the traditional channels to express ?themselves. And I’ve discovered so many great people and great zines ?whilst being involved that that’s a pretty impossible question to ?answer. Though Maximum Rock N Roll, Punk Planet, My Evil Twin Sister, ?Inside Front, 12o5 and Scanner will always have a place close to my ? heart!? ? At the symposium I’m looking forward to meeting Matthew Murray – who’s ?running the artist trading card exchange – and Geoff – who’s running ?the kids comix workshop. And of course in general I’m just looking? forward to seeing old friends from across the continent!? ? ?
How important do you think DIY culture is? What are your views on DIY as a form of resistance to mainstream media and their messages?
?EB: I think DIY’s vital. I think it gives resources and space for radical thought to grow and exist and hopefully gives an alternative to the ?hegemony of mainstream culture. You need a radical culture to exist for any radical change to happen. DIY is, obviously, way bigger than ?just zines though. I think zines can be used by radicals as a way to quickly communicate with people, but I’m not sure that making a zine ?is necessarily inherently radical. But DIY, in general, is certainly ? a corner stone in any anti-authoritarian organising be it squatting ?social centres, taking over the streets or organising a really? awesome gig!? ? ?
I like the idea of artist trading cards! Will there be other crafty ? things to see and do around the symposium? And why is the comic ?workshop only for kids?
?EB: Yeah, the artist trading cards should be cool. And I know it’s a shame ? that the comic workshop is only for kids, but then again kids tend to ?get left out of zine culture sometimes, so it’s cool that they’re going to have their own space at this year’s Symposium.
Do you organise any events based around DIY? culture other than the LSZ? If so, what are they and how can people ? get involved? EB: There’ll be another zine in a day project at this year’s symposium, which hopefully will be printed on the day itself if all goes according to? plan. I’m afraid LZS is enough of an event to last us all a full year. ?We all put on DIY gigs, organise protests, work in social centres and ? what have you, but nothing on the scale of the Zine Symposium!? ? ?
The Individual Zine Rocks table encourages people with just one zine? to get involved, first-timers or small scale creators; do you have any? tips for people interested in getting into the zine scene on getting ?heard about?
?EB: It’s tricky to give specific pointers, though it’s worth reading Alex ?Wrekk’s ‘Stolen Sharpie Revolution’, which does a really good job of ?explaining the zine scene and all it’s myriad quirks. If you’re interested in making a zine you should just make one. Better to have tried and failed than not have tried at all! If you wanna get heard about come along to zine events, trade zines with other people and ?make sure you get copies into any shop that will have them!? ?
You heard what the man said! Come along to the London Zine Symposium, The Rag Factory, Henage Street, just off Brick Lane, Saturday 29th May 12-6pm. Our original listing is posted here.
The Rag Factory, case Brick Lane, medications will be playing host to The London Zine Symposium on the 29th of May, approved an event celebrating DIY culture, promoting communal idea sharing and, naturally, selling a few zines. Inspired by the Portland Zine Symposium, it’s been running since 2005 and just keeps getting bigger. This year there are over 70 stalls dedicated to zines, small presses and comics, with crafty bits to see and do round every corner, as well as discussions, readings and workshops.
The Symposium runs from 12pm, kicking off with the kids’ comic workshop, making things nice, and monstrous, (pretend to be my guardian? Anyone?) and all through the day you can make your own artist trading cards! They’ll be providing all the ingredients you need, though you’re welcome to take along your own cutouts and magazine bits. These excite me more than necessary, probably because I always wanted to be a Pokémon…
The first discussion of the afternoon will focus on the DIY ethos of zine-making and its applications in the wider world – a must for anyone interested in subverting mainstream media and working their socks off to get heard. It’s not limited to the world of paper either, they’ll also be talking about forming bands and organising spoken word tours. Charlotte Cooper, a queer fat researcher and activist, and Josie Long, that stand- up comedian, are among those reading from selections and the event will be nicely rounded off by Tea Hvala and a collaborative writing working, taking the surrealist drawing game the exquisite corpse and translating it to writing, so that each story becomes everybody’s story.
I asked Edd Baldry, one of the organisers, about the superiority of zines to blogs, the importance of DIY culture, and whether they’ve ever been overwhelmed by care bears…
Could you tell us a bit about the beginnings of the London Zine ? Symposium? What inspired you to start it up? Was it very popular at ?first? How has it grown? Edd Baldry: I was part of a collective squatting a cool building in central ? London, which we’d called the Institute for Autonomy. I was helping to? run an infoshop in the space as well as producing a large collective ? zine – Rancid News – which we distributed across the UK and Europe. So ?I was interested in getting more zine kids involved in radical spaces and radical spaces having zines that weren’t necessarily explicitly ? political. I’ve got to acknowledge though that the name, and the ? inspiration, was taken wholesale from the Portland Zine Symposium who ? do an awesome event in the US north-west every year.? From our point of view it was really popular straight away. I wish ?all the projects I’m involved with were this easy to organise. We had ? about 400 people come, with 12 stalls, at the first event and it’s ?grown steadily each year. Last year we had about 1,400 people come along, with 64 stalls selling their wares.? ? ?
What, exactly, is a zine and what part does it play in DIY culture? ? What makes a good zine? In this techno-focused age, what’s their ?attraction? Isn’t it easier and quicker to start/read a blog?
?EB: A zine is really whatever you want it to be. The only caveat is that ?it’s something that you produce yourself for yourself – at least? that’s what I think of when I think of zines. I think that zines have ? been a vital part of DIY culture since they became prevalent in the ? punk and radical scenes in the late 70s. Riot Grrrl’s a pretty good ?example where the ideas and culture of that scene were communicated ?through zines just as much as they were through the music.? ?It’s difficult to say what makes a ‘good’ zine – there’s such a variety that there’s no magic bullet. There are zines that are amazing ?because they’re beautifully illustrated, others because the ?illustrations look like a three year-old drew them. I guess anything ?that has passion for something in them is interesting and zines are no ?exception.? ?I think the attraction of zines has grown as the internet has. Having ?something that is tangible and final is quite attractive in a world of ?24 hour rolling news and ever changing churn of the internet. Also, ?zines can be read when you’re having a bath, a definite advantage over computers!? ? ?
Does the zine scene go through fads and phases like every other scene? ?Have you ever been overwhelmed by frogophiles, or carebear ?afficionados, for instance?
? EB: No, the symposium’s yet to be overrun by carebear or frog zines. But ?yeah the zine scene does tend to go through waves every few years. A ?few years ago it felt like it was totally dominated by punk zines, in ?2007/8 it felt like a lot of people who made comics started consciously ?making them as zines. More recently it seems like a lot of ? illustration students have been really taken by making zines. Those? trends tend to be reflected in the people who apply for stalls at the? London Zine Symposium – this year we’ve had loads of applications from ? various groups of students around the country.? ? ?
What is the zine scene like in London? Do you think there’s a good ? level of community? What kind of people get into it? ? What are a few of your favourite zines? Is there anyone you’re excited about meeting ?at the symposium?
? EB: I think there’s a pretty vibrant zine scene in London. A lot of that ?has to do with the group of people running the Alternative Press ?project that’s done a bunch of small scale events at places like the ? Foundry, as well as a couple of larger ones at the St Aloysius centre ?near Euston. It’s meant that there’s now zine events happening throughout the year in London, which can only be a good thing. And yeah, there’s certainly a supportive scene amongst zinesters, there’s ?not much machismo or competiveness that you get in other scenes that ?I’ve been heavily involved with.? ?I’m not sure there’s one type of person that makes zines; it takes all sorts. I guess it’s people who feel they have something to say but ?don’t want to go through the traditional channels to express ?themselves. And I’ve discovered so many great people and great zines ?whilst being involved that that’s a pretty impossible question to ?answer. Though Maximum Rock N Roll, Punk Planet, My Evil Twin Sister, ?Inside Front, 12o5 and Scanner will always have a place close to my ? heart!? ? At the symposium I’m looking forward to meeting Matthew Murray – who’s ?running the artist trading card exchange – and Geoff – who’s running ?the kids comix workshop. And of course in general I’m just looking? forward to seeing old friends from across the continent!? ? ?
How important do you think DIY culture is? What are your views on DIY as a form of resistance to mainstream media and their messages?
?EB: I think DIY’s vital. I think it gives resources and space for radical thought to grow and exist and hopefully gives an alternative to the ?hegemony of mainstream culture. You need a radical culture to exist for any radical change to happen. DIY is, obviously, way bigger than ?just zines though. I think zines can be used by radicals as a way to quickly communicate with people, but I’m not sure that making a zine ?is necessarily inherently radical. But DIY, in general, is certainly ? a corner stone in any anti-authoritarian organising be it squatting ?social centres, taking over the streets or organising a really? awesome gig!? ? ?
I like the idea of artist trading cards! Will there be other crafty ? things to see and do around the symposium? And why is the comic ?workshop only for kids?
? EB: Yeah, the artist trading cards should be cool. And I know it’s a shame ? that the comic workshop is only for kids, but then again kids tend to ?get left out of zine culture sometimes, so it’s cool that they’re going to have their own space at this year’s Symposium.
Do you organise any events based around DIY? culture other than the LSZ? If so, what are they and how can people ? get involved? EB: There’ll be another zine in a day project at this year’s symposium, which hopefully will be printed on the day itself if all goes according to? plan. I’m afraid LZS is enough of an event to last us all a full year. ?We all put on DIY gigs, organise protests, work in social centres and ? what have you, but nothing on the scale of the Zine Symposium!? ? ?
The Individual Zine Rocks table encourages people with just one zine? to get involved, first-timers or small scale creators; do you have any? tips for people interested in getting into the zine scene on getting ?heard about?
? EB: It’s tricky to give specific pointers, though it’s worth reading Alex ?Wrekk’s ‘Stolen Sharpie Revolution’, which does a really good job of ?explaining the zine scene and all it’s myriad quirks. If you’re interested in making a zine you should just make one. Better to have tried and failed than not have tried at all! If you wanna get heard about come along to zine events, trade zines with other people and ?make sure you get copies into any shop that will have them!? ?
You heard what the man said! Come along to the London Zine Symposium, The Rag Factory, Henage Street, just off Brick Lane, Saturday 29th May 12-6pm.
The Symposium runs from 12pm, kicking off with the kids’ comic workshop, making things nice, and monstrous, (pretend to be my guardian? Anyone?) and all through the day you can make your own artist trading cards! They’ll be providing all the ingredients you need, though you’re welcome to take along your own cutouts and magazine bits. These excite me more than necessary, probably because I always wanted to be a Pokémon…
The first discussion of the afternoon will focus on the DIY ethos of zine-making and its applications in the wider world – a must for anyone interested in subverting mainstream media and working their socks off to get heard. It’s not limited to the world of paper either, they’ll also be talking about forming bands and organising spoken word tours. Charlotte Cooper, a queer fat researcher and activist, and Josie Long, that stand- up comedian, are among those reading from selections and the event will be nicely rounded off by Tea Hvala and a collaborative writing working, taking the surrealist drawing game the exquisite corpse and translating it to writing, so that each story becomes everybody’s story.
I asked Edd Baldry, one of the organisers, about the superiority of zines to blogs, the importance of DIY culture, and whether they’ve ever been overwhelmed by care bears…
Amelia Wells: Could you tell us a bit about the beginnings of the London Zine ? Symposium? What inspired you to start it up? Was it very popular at ?first? How has it grown?? ? Edd Baldry: I was part of a collective squatting a cool building in central ? London, which we’d called the Institute for Autonomy. I was helping to ? run an infoshop in the space as well as producing a large collective ? zine – Rancid News – which we distributed across the UK and Europe. So ? I was interested in getting more zine kids involved in radical spaces ? and radical spaces having zines that weren’t necessarily explicitly ? political. I’ve got to acknowledge though that the name, and the ? inspiration, was taken wholesale from the Portland Zine Symposium who ? do an awesome event in the US north-west every year.? ? ? From our point of view it was really popular straight away. I wish ? all the projects I’m involved with were this easy to organise. We had ? about 400 people come, with 12 stalls, at the first event and it’s ? grown steadily each year. Last year we had about 1,400 people come ? along, with 64 stalls selling their wares.? ? ? AW: What, exactly, is a zine and what part does it play in DIY culture? ? What makes a good zine? In this techno-focused age, what’s their ? attraction? Isn’t it easier and quicker to start/read a blog?
? EB:A zine is really whatever you want it to be. The only caveat is that ? it’s something that you produce yourself for yourself – at least ? that’s what I think of when I think of zines. I think that zines have ? been a vital part of DIY culture since they became prevalent in the ? punk and radical scenes in the late 70s. Riot Grrrl’s a pretty good ? example where the ideas and culture of that scene were communicated ? through zines just as much as they were through the music.? ? It’s difficult to say what makes a ‘good’ zine – there’s such a ? variety that there’s no magic bullet. There are zines that are amazing ? because they’re beautifully illustrated, others because the ? illustrations look like a three year-old drew them. I guess anything ? that has passion for something in them is interesting and zines are no ? exception.? ? I think the attraction of zines has grown as the internet has. Having ? something that is tangible and final is quite attractive in a world of ? 24 hour rolling news and ever changing churn of the internet. Also, ? zines can be read when you’re having a bath, a definite advantage over ? computers!? ? ? AW: Does the zine scene go through fads and phases like every other scene? ? Have you ever been overwhelmed by frogophiles, or carebear ? afficionados, for instance?
? EB:No, the symposium’s yet to be overrun by carebear or frog zines. But ? yeah the zine scene does tend to go through waves every few years. A ? few years ago it felt like it was totally dominated by punk zines, in ? 2007/8 it felt like a lot of people who made comics started consciously ? making them as zines. More recently it seems like a lot of ? illustration students have been really taken by making zines. Those ? trends tend to be reflected in the people who apply for stalls at the ? London Zine Symposium – this year we’ve had loads of applications from ? various groups of students around the country.? ? ? AW: What is the zine scene like in London? Do you think there’s a good ? level of community? What kind of people get into it? ? What are a few of your favourite zines? Is there anyone you’re excited about meeting ? at the symposium?
? EB:I think there’s a pretty vibrant zine scene in London. A lot of that ? has to do with the group of people running the Alternative Press ? project that’s done a bunch of small scale events at places like the ? Foundry, as well as a couple of larger ones at the St Aloysius centre ? near Euston. It’s meant that there’s now zine events happening ? throughout the year in London, which can only be a good thing. And ? yeah, there’s certainly a supportive scene amongst zinesters, there’s ? not much machismo or competiveness that you get in other scenes that ? I’ve been heavily involved with.? ? I’m not sure there’s one type of person that makes zines; it takes all ? sorts. I guess it’s people who feel they have something to say but ? don’t want to go through the traditional channels to express ? themselves. And I’ve discovered so many great people and great zines ? whilst being involved that that’s a pretty impossible question to ? answer. Though Maximum Rock N Roll, Punk Planet, My Evil Twin Sister, ? Inside Front, 12o5 and Scanner will always have a place close to my ? heart!? ? At the symposium I’m looking forward to meeting Matthew Murray – who’s ? running the artist trading card exchange – and Geoff – who’s running ? the kids comix workshop. And of course in general I’m just looking ? forward to seeing old friends from across the continent!? ? ?AW: How important do you think DIY culture is? What are your views on DIY as a form of resistance to mainstream media and their messages?
?EB: I think DIY’s vital. I think it gives resources and space for radical ? thought to grow and exist and hopefully gives an alternative to the ? hegemony of mainstream culture. You need a radical culture to exist ? for any radical change to happen. DIY is, obviously, way bigger than ? just zines though. I think zines can be used by radicals as a way to ? quickly communicate with people, but I’m not sure that making a zine ? is necessarily inherently radical. But DIY, in general, is certainly ? a corner stone in any anti-authoritarian organising be it squatting ? social centres, taking over the streets or organising a really? awesome gig!? ? ?
AW: I like the idea of artist trading cards! Will there be other crafty ? things to see and do around the symposium? And why is the comic ? workshop only for kids?
? EB:Yeah, the artist trading cards should be cool. And I know it’s a shame ? that the comic workshop is only for kids, but then again kids tend to ? get left out of zine culture sometimes, so it’s cool that they’re ? going to have their own space at this year’s Symposium.
AW: Do you organise any events based around DIY? culture other than the LSZ? If so, what are they and how can people ? get involved?
EB:There’ll be another zine in a day project at this year’s symposium, which ? hopefully will be printed on the day itself if all goes according to ? plan. I’m afraid LZS is enough of an event to last us all a full year. ? We all put on DIY gigs, organise protests, work in social centres and ? what have you, but nothing on the scale of the Zine Symposium!? ? ? AW: The Individual Zine Rocks table encourages people with just one zine ? to get involved, first-timers or small scale creators; do you have any ? tips for people interested in getting into the zine scene on getting ? heard about?
? EB:It’s tricky to give specific pointers, though it’s worth reading Alex ? Wrekk’s ‘Stolen Sharpie Revolution’, which does a really good job of ? explaining the zine scene and all it’s myriad quirks. If you’re ? interested in making a zine you should just make one. Better to have ? tried and failed than not have tried at all! If you wanna get heard ? about come along to zine events, trade zines with other people and ? make sure you get copies into any shop that will have them!? ?
You heard what the man said! Come along to the London Zine Symposium, The Rag Factory, Henage Street, just off Brick Lane, Saturday 29th May 12-6pm.
The Rag Factory, ask Brick Lane, will be playing host to The London Zine Symposium on the 29th of May, an event celebrating DIY culture, promoting communal idea sharing and, naturally, selling a few zines. Inspired by the Portland Zine Symposium, it’s been running since 2005 and just keeps getting bigger. This year there are over 70 stalls dedicated to zines, small presses and comics, with crafty bits to see and do round every corner, as well as discussions, readings and workshops.
The Symposium runs from 12pm, kicking off with the kids’ comic workshop, making things nice, and monstrous, (pretend to be my guardian? Anyone?) and all through the day you can make your own artist trading cards! They’ll be providing all the ingredients you need, though you’re welcome to take along your own cutouts and magazine bits. These excite me more than necessary, probably because I always wanted to be a Pokémon…
The first discussion of the afternoon will focus on the DIY ethos of zine-making and its applications in the wider world – a must for anyone interested in subverting mainstream media and working their socks off to get heard. It’s not limited to the world of paper either, they’ll also be talking about forming bands and organising spoken word tours. Charlotte Cooper, a queer fat researcher and activist, and Josie Long, that stand- up comedian, are among those reading from selections and the event will be nicely rounded off by Tea Hvala and a collaborative writing working, taking the surrealist drawing game the exquisite corpse and translating it to writing, so that each story becomes everybody’s story.
I asked Edd Baldry, one of the organisers, about the superiority of zines to blogs, the importance of DIY culture, and whether they’ve ever been overwhelmed by care bears…
Amelia Wells: Could you tell us a bit about the beginnings of the London Zine ? Symposium? What inspired you to start it up? Was it very popular at ?first? How has it grown?? ? Edd Baldry: I was part of a collective squatting a cool building in central ? London, which we’d called the Institute for Autonomy. I was helping to ? run an infoshop in the space as well as producing a large collective ? zine – Rancid News – which we distributed across the UK and Europe. So ? I was interested in getting more zine kids involved in radical spaces ? and radical spaces having zines that weren’t necessarily explicitly ? political. I’ve got to acknowledge though that the name, and the ? inspiration, was taken wholesale from the Portland Zine Symposium who ? do an awesome event in the US north-west every year.? ? ? From our point of view it was really popular straight away. I wish ? all the projects I’m involved with were this easy to organise. We had ? about 400 people come, with 12 stalls, at the first event and it’s ? grown steadily each year. Last year we had about 1,400 people come ? along, with 64 stalls selling their wares.? ? ? AW: What, exactly, is a zine and what part does it play in DIY culture? ? What makes a good zine? In this techno-focused age, what’s their ? attraction? Isn’t it easier and quicker to start/read a blog?
? EB:A zine is really whatever you want it to be. The only caveat is that ? it’s something that you produce yourself for yourself – at least ? that’s what I think of when I think of zines. I think that zines have ? been a vital part of DIY culture since they became prevalent in the ? punk and radical scenes in the late 70s. Riot Grrrl’s a pretty good ? example where the ideas and culture of that scene were communicated ? through zines just as much as they were through the music.? ? It’s difficult to say what makes a ‘good’ zine – there’s such a ? variety that there’s no magic bullet. There are zines that are amazing ? because they’re beautifully illustrated, others because the ? illustrations look like a three year-old drew them. I guess anything ? that has passion for something in them is interesting and zines are no ? exception.? ? I think the attraction of zines has grown as the internet has. Having ? something that is tangible and final is quite attractive in a world of ? 24 hour rolling news and ever changing churn of the internet. Also, ? zines can be read when you’re having a bath, a definite advantage over ? computers!? ? ? AW: Does the zine scene go through fads and phases like every other scene? ? Have you ever been overwhelmed by frogophiles, or carebear ? afficionados, for instance?
? EB:No, the symposium’s yet to be overrun by carebear or frog zines. But ? yeah the zine scene does tend to go through waves every few years. A ? few years ago it felt like it was totally dominated by punk zines, in ? 2007/8 it felt like a lot of people who made comics started consciously ? making them as zines. More recently it seems like a lot of ? illustration students have been really taken by making zines. Those ? trends tend to be reflected in the people who apply for stalls at the ? London Zine Symposium – this year we’ve had loads of applications from ? various groups of students around the country.? ? ? AW: What is the zine scene like in London? Do you think there’s a good ? level of community? What kind of people get into it? ? What are a few of your favourite zines? Is there anyone you’re excited about meeting ? at the symposium?
? EB:I think there’s a pretty vibrant zine scene in London. A lot of that ? has to do with the group of people running the Alternative Press ? project that’s done a bunch of small scale events at places like the ? Foundry, as well as a couple of larger ones at the St Aloysius centre ? near Euston. It’s meant that there’s now zine events happening ? throughout the year in London, which can only be a good thing. And ? yeah, there’s certainly a supportive scene amongst zinesters, there’s ? not much machismo or competiveness that you get in other scenes that ? I’ve been heavily involved with.? ? I’m not sure there’s one type of person that makes zines; it takes all ? sorts. I guess it’s people who feel they have something to say but ? don’t want to go through the traditional channels to express ? themselves. And I’ve discovered so many great people and great zines ? whilst being involved that that’s a pretty impossible question to ? answer. Though Maximum Rock N Roll, Punk Planet, My Evil Twin Sister, ? Inside Front, 12o5 and Scanner will always have a place close to my ? heart!? ? At the symposium I’m looking forward to meeting Matthew Murray – who’s ? running the artist trading card exchange – and Geoff – who’s running ? the kids comix workshop. And of course in general I’m just looking ? forward to seeing old friends from across the continent!? ? ?AW: How important do you think DIY culture is? What are your views on DIY as a form of resistance to mainstream media and their messages?
?EB: I think DIY’s vital. I think it gives resources and space for radical ? thought to grow and exist and hopefully gives an alternative to the ? hegemony of mainstream culture. You need a radical culture to exist ? for any radical change to happen. DIY is, obviously, way bigger than ? just zines though. I think zines can be used by radicals as a way to ? quickly communicate with people, but I’m not sure that making a zine ? is necessarily inherently radical. But DIY, in general, is certainly ? a corner stone in any anti-authoritarian organising be it squatting ? social centres, taking over the streets or organising a really? awesome gig!? ? ?
AW: I like the idea of artist trading cards! Will there be other crafty ? things to see and do around the symposium? And why is the comic ? workshop only for kids?
? EB:Yeah, the artist trading cards should be cool. And I know it’s a shame ? that the comic workshop is only for kids, but then again kids tend to ? get left out of zine culture sometimes, so it’s cool that they’re ? going to have their own space at this year’s Symposium.
AW: Do you organise any events based around DIY? culture other than the LSZ? If so, what are they and how can people ? get involved?
EB:There’ll be another zine in a day project at this year’s symposium, which ? hopefully will be printed on the day itself if all goes according to ? plan. I’m afraid LZS is enough of an event to last us all a full year. ? We all put on DIY gigs, organise protests, work in social centres and ? what have you, but nothing on the scale of the Zine Symposium!? ? ? AW: The Individual Zine Rocks table encourages people with just one zine ? to get involved, first-timers or small scale creators; do you have any ? tips for people interested in getting into the zine scene on getting ? heard about?
? EB:It’s tricky to give specific pointers, though it’s worth reading Alex ? Wrekk’s ‘Stolen Sharpie Revolution’, which does a really good job of ? explaining the zine scene and all it’s myriad quirks. If you’re ? interested in making a zine you should just make one. Better to have ? tried and failed than not have tried at all! If you wanna get heard ? about come along to zine events, trade zines with other people and ? make sure you get copies into any shop that will have them!? ?
You heard what the man said! Come along to the London Zine Symposium, The Rag Factory, Henage Street, just off Brick Lane, Saturday 29th May 12-6pm.
The Rag Factory, visit this Brick Lane, clinic will be playing host to The London Zine Symposium on the 29th of May, medical an event celebrating DIY culture, promoting communal idea sharing and, naturally, selling a few zines. Inspired by the Portland Zine Symposium, it’s been running since 2005 and just keeps getting bigger. This year there are over 70 stalls dedicated to zines, small presses and comics, with crafty bits to see and do round every corner, as well as discussions, readings and workshops.
The Symposium runs from 12pm, kicking off with the kids’ comic workshop, making things nice, and monstrous, (pretend to be my guardian? Anyone?) and all through the day you can make your own artist trading cards! They’ll be providing all the ingredients you need, though you’re welcome to take along your own cutouts and magazine bits. These excite me more than necessary, probably because I always wanted to be a Pokémon…
The first discussion of the afternoon will focus on the DIY ethos of zine-making and its applications in the wider world – a must for anyone interested in subverting mainstream media and working their socks off to get heard. It’s not limited to the world of paper either, they’ll also be talking about forming bands and organising spoken word tours. Charlotte Cooper, a queer fat researcher and activist, and Josie Long, that stand- up comedian, are among those reading from selections and the event will be nicely rounded off by Tea Hvala and a collaborative writing working, taking the surrealist drawing game the exquisite corpse and translating it to writing, so that each story becomes everybody’s story.
I asked Edd Baldry, one of the organisers, about the superiority of zines to blogs, the importance of DIY culture, and whether they’ve ever been overwhelmed by care bears…
Amelia Wells: Could you tell us a bit about the beginnings of the London Zine ? Symposium? What inspired you to start it up? Was it very popular at ?first? How has it grown?? ? Edd Baldry: I was part of a collective squatting a cool building in central ? London, which we’d called the Institute for Autonomy. I was helping to ? run an infoshop in the space as well as producing a large collective ? zine – Rancid News – which we distributed across the UK and Europe. So ? I was interested in getting more zine kids involved in radical spaces ? and radical spaces having zines that weren’t necessarily explicitly ? political. I’ve got to acknowledge though that the name, and the ? inspiration, was taken wholesale from the Portland Zine Symposium who ? do an awesome event in the US north-west every year.? ? ? From our point of view it was really popular straight away. I wish ? all the projects I’m involved with were this easy to organise. We had ? about 400 people come, with 12 stalls, at the first event and it’s ? grown steadily each year. Last year we had about 1,400 people come ? along, with 64 stalls selling their wares.? ? ? AW: What, exactly, is a zine and what part does it play in DIY culture? ? What makes a good zine? In this techno-focused age, what’s their ? attraction? Isn’t it easier and quicker to start/read a blog?
? EB:A zine is really whatever you want it to be. The only caveat is that ? it’s something that you produce yourself for yourself – at least ? that’s what I think of when I think of zines. I think that zines have ? been a vital part of DIY culture since they became prevalent in the ? punk and radical scenes in the late 70s. Riot Grrrl’s a pretty good ? example where the ideas and culture of that scene were communicated ? through zines just as much as they were through the music.? ? It’s difficult to say what makes a ‘good’ zine – there’s such a ? variety that there’s no magic bullet. There are zines that are amazing ? because they’re beautifully illustrated, others because the ? illustrations look like a three year-old drew them. I guess anything ? that has passion for something in them is interesting and zines are no ? exception.? ? I think the attraction of zines has grown as the internet has. Having ? something that is tangible and final is quite attractive in a world of ? 24 hour rolling news and ever changing churn of the internet. Also, ? zines can be read when you’re having a bath, a definite advantage over ? computers!? ? ? AW: Does the zine scene go through fads and phases like every other scene? ? Have you ever been overwhelmed by frogophiles, or carebear ? afficionados, for instance?
? EB:No, the symposium’s yet to be overrun by carebear or frog zines. But ? yeah the zine scene does tend to go through waves every few years. A ? few years ago it felt like it was totally dominated by punk zines, in ? 2007/8 it felt like a lot of people who made comics started consciously ? making them as zines. More recently it seems like a lot of ? illustration students have been really taken by making zines. Those ? trends tend to be reflected in the people who apply for stalls at the ? London Zine Symposium – this year we’ve had loads of applications from ? various groups of students around the country.? ? ? AW: What is the zine scene like in London? Do you think there’s a good ? level of community? What kind of people get into it? ? What are a few of your favourite zines? Is there anyone you’re excited about meeting ? at the symposium?
? EB:I think there’s a pretty vibrant zine scene in London. A lot of that ? has to do with the group of people running the Alternative Press ? project that’s done a bunch of small scale events at places like the ? Foundry, as well as a couple of larger ones at the St Aloysius centre ? near Euston. It’s meant that there’s now zine events happening ? throughout the year in London, which can only be a good thing. And ? yeah, there’s certainly a supportive scene amongst zinesters, there’s ? not much machismo or competiveness that you get in other scenes that ? I’ve been heavily involved with.? ? I’m not sure there’s one type of person that makes zines; it takes all ? sorts. I guess it’s people who feel they have something to say but ? don’t want to go through the traditional channels to express ? themselves. And I’ve discovered so many great people and great zines ? whilst being involved that that’s a pretty impossible question to ? answer. Though Maximum Rock N Roll, Punk Planet, My Evil Twin Sister, ? Inside Front, 12o5 and Scanner will always have a place close to my ? heart!? ? At the symposium I’m looking forward to meeting Matthew Murray – who’s ? running the artist trading card exchange – and Geoff – who’s running ? the kids comix workshop. And of course in general I’m just looking ? forward to seeing old friends from across the continent!? ? ?AW: How important do you think DIY culture is? What are your views on DIY as a form of resistance to mainstream media and their messages?
?EB: I think DIY’s vital. I think it gives resources and space for radical ? thought to grow and exist and hopefully gives an alternative to the ? hegemony of mainstream culture. You need a radical culture to exist ? for any radical change to happen. DIY is, obviously, way bigger than ? just zines though. I think zines can be used by radicals as a way to ? quickly communicate with people, but I’m not sure that making a zine ? is necessarily inherently radical. But DIY, in general, is certainly ? a corner stone in any anti-authoritarian organising be it squatting ? social centres, taking over the streets or organising a really? awesome gig!? ? ?
AW: I like the idea of artist trading cards! Will there be other crafty ? things to see and do around the symposium? And why is the comic ? workshop only for kids?
? EB:Yeah, the artist trading cards should be cool. And I know it’s a shame ? that the comic workshop is only for kids, but then again kids tend to ? get left out of zine culture sometimes, so it’s cool that they’re ? going to have their own space at this year’s Symposium.
AW: Do you organise any events based around DIY? culture other than the LSZ? If so, what are they and how can people ? get involved?
EB:There’ll be another zine in a day project at this year’s symposium, which ? hopefully will be printed on the day itself if all goes according to ? plan. I’m afraid LZS is enough of an event to last us all a full year. ? We all put on DIY gigs, organise protests, work in social centres and ? what have you, but nothing on the scale of the Zine Symposium!? ? ? AW: The Individual Zine Rocks table encourages people with just one zine ? to get involved, first-timers or small scale creators; do you have any ? tips for people interested in getting into the zine scene on getting ? heard about?
? EB:It’s tricky to give specific pointers, though it’s worth reading Alex ? Wrekk’s ‘Stolen Sharpie Revolution’, which does a really good job of ? explaining the zine scene and all it’s myriad quirks. If you’re ? interested in making a zine you should just make one. Better to have ? tried and failed than not have tried at all! If you wanna get heard ? about come along to zine events, trade zines with other people and ? make sure you get copies into any shop that will have them!? ?
You heard what the man said! Come along to the London Zine Symposium, The Rag Factory, Henage Street, just off Brick Lane, Saturday 29th May 12-6pm.
The Rag Factory, order Brick Lane, order will be playing host to The London Zine Symposium on the 29th of May, salve an event celebrating DIY culture, promoting communal idea sharing and, naturally, selling a few zines. Inspired by the Portland Zine Symposium, it’s been running since 2005 and just keeps getting bigger. This year there are over 70 stalls dedicated to zines, small presses and comics, with crafty bits to see and do round every corner, as well as discussions, readings and workshops.
The Symposium runs from 12pm, kicking off with the kids’ comic workshop, making things nice, and monstrous, (pretend to be my guardian? Anyone?) and all through the day you can make your own artist trading cards! They’ll be providing all the ingredients you need, though you’re welcome to take along your own cutouts and magazine bits. These excite me more than necessary, probably because I always wanted to be a Pokémon…
The first discussion of the afternoon will focus on the DIY ethos of zine-making and its applications in the wider world – a must for anyone interested in subverting mainstream media and working their socks off to get heard. It’s not limited to the world of paper either, they’ll also be talking about forming bands and organising spoken word tours. Charlotte Cooper, a queer fat researcher and activist, and Josie Long, that stand- up comedian, are among those reading from selections and the event will be nicely rounded off by Tea Hvala and a collaborative writing working, taking the surrealist drawing game the exquisite corpse and translating it to writing, so that each story becomes everybody’s story.
I asked Edd Baldry, one of the organisers, about the superiority of zines to blogs, the importance of DIY culture, and whether they’ve ever been overwhelmed by care bears…
Amelia Wells: Could you tell us a bit about the beginnings of the London Zine ? Symposium? What inspired you to start it up? Was it very popular at ?first? How has it grown?? ? Edd Baldry: I was part of a collective squatting a cool building in central ? London, which we’d called the Institute for Autonomy. I was helping to ? run an infoshop in the space as well as producing a large collective ? zine – Rancid News – which we distributed across the UK and Europe. So ? I was interested in getting more zine kids involved in radical spaces ? and radical spaces having zines that weren’t necessarily explicitly ? political. I’ve got to acknowledge though that the name, and the ? inspiration, was taken wholesale from the Portland Zine Symposium who ? do an awesome event in the US north-west every year.? ? ? From our point of view it was really popular straight away. I wish ? all the projects I’m involved with were this easy to organise. We had ? about 400 people come, with 12 stalls, at the first event and it’s ? grown steadily each year. Last year we had about 1,400 people come ? along, with 64 stalls selling their wares.? ? ? AW: What, exactly, is a zine and what part does it play in DIY culture? ? What makes a good zine? In this techno-focused age, what’s their ? attraction? Isn’t it easier and quicker to start/read a blog?
? EB:A zine is really whatever you want it to be. The only caveat is that ? it’s something that you produce yourself for yourself – at least ? that’s what I think of when I think of zines. I think that zines have ? been a vital part of DIY culture since they became prevalent in the ? punk and radical scenes in the late 70s. Riot Grrrl’s a pretty good ? example where the ideas and culture of that scene were communicated ? through zines just as much as they were through the music.? ? It’s difficult to say what makes a ‘good’ zine – there’s such a ? variety that there’s no magic bullet. There are zines that are amazing ? because they’re beautifully illustrated, others because the ? illustrations look like a three year-old drew them. I guess anything ? that has passion for something in them is interesting and zines are no ? exception.? ? I think the attraction of zines has grown as the internet has. Having ? something that is tangible and final is quite attractive in a world of ? 24 hour rolling news and ever changing churn of the internet. Also, ? zines can be read when you’re having a bath, a definite advantage over ? computers!? ? ? AW: Does the zine scene go through fads and phases like every other scene? ? Have you ever been overwhelmed by frogophiles, or carebear ? afficionados, for instance?
? EB:No, the symposium’s yet to be overrun by carebear or frog zines. But ? yeah the zine scene does tend to go through waves every few years. A ? few years ago it felt like it was totally dominated by punk zines, in ? 2007/8 it felt like a lot of people who made comics started consciously ? making them as zines. More recently it seems like a lot of ? illustration students have been really taken by making zines. Those ? trends tend to be reflected in the people who apply for stalls at the ? London Zine Symposium – this year we’ve had loads of applications from ? various groups of students around the country.? ? ? AW: What is the zine scene like in London? Do you think there’s a good ? level of community? What kind of people get into it? ? What are a few of your favourite zines? Is there anyone you’re excited about meeting ? at the symposium?
? EB:I think there’s a pretty vibrant zine scene in London. A lot of that ? has to do with the group of people running the Alternative Press ? project that’s done a bunch of small scale events at places like the ? Foundry, as well as a couple of larger ones at the St Aloysius centre ? near Euston. It’s meant that there’s now zine events happening ? throughout the year in London, which can only be a good thing. And ? yeah, there’s certainly a supportive scene amongst zinesters, there’s ? not much machismo or competiveness that you get in other scenes that ? I’ve been heavily involved with.? ? I’m not sure there’s one type of person that makes zines; it takes all ? sorts. I guess it’s people who feel they have something to say but ? don’t want to go through the traditional channels to express ? themselves. And I’ve discovered so many great people and great zines ? whilst being involved that that’s a pretty impossible question to ? answer. Though Maximum Rock N Roll, Punk Planet, My Evil Twin Sister, ? Inside Front, 12o5 and Scanner will always have a place close to my ? heart!? ? At the symposium I’m looking forward to meeting Matthew Murray – who’s ? running the artist trading card exchange – and Geoff – who’s running ? the kids comix workshop. And of course in general I’m just looking ? forward to seeing old friends from across the continent!? ? ?AW: How important do you think DIY culture is? What are your views on DIY as a form of resistance to mainstream media and their messages?
?EB: I think DIY’s vital. I think it gives resources and space for radical ? thought to grow and exist and hopefully gives an alternative to the ? hegemony of mainstream culture. You need a radical culture to exist ? for any radical change to happen. DIY is, obviously, way bigger than ? just zines though. I think zines can be used by radicals as a way to ? quickly communicate with people, but I’m not sure that making a zine ? is necessarily inherently radical. But DIY, in general, is certainly ? a corner stone in any anti-authoritarian organising be it squatting ? social centres, taking over the streets or organising a really? awesome gig!? ? ?
AW: I like the idea of artist trading cards! Will there be other crafty ? things to see and do around the symposium? And why is the comic ? workshop only for kids?
? EB:Yeah, the artist trading cards should be cool. And I know it’s a shame ? that the comic workshop is only for kids, but then again kids tend to ? get left out of zine culture sometimes, so it’s cool that they’re ? going to have their own space at this year’s Symposium.
AW: Do you organise any events based around DIY? culture other than the LSZ? If so, what are they and how can people ? get involved?
EB:There’ll be another zine in a day project at this year’s symposium, which ? hopefully will be printed on the day itself if all goes according to ? plan. I’m afraid LZS is enough of an event to last us all a full year. ? We all put on DIY gigs, organise protests, work in social centres and ? what have you, but nothing on the scale of the Zine Symposium!? ? ? AW: The Individual Zine Rocks table encourages people with just one zine ? to get involved, first-timers or small scale creators; do you have any ? tips for people interested in getting into the zine scene on getting ? heard about?
? EB:It’s tricky to give specific pointers, though it’s worth reading Alex ? Wrekk’s ‘Stolen Sharpie Revolution’, which does a really good job of ? explaining the zine scene and all it’s myriad quirks. If you’re ? interested in making a zine you should just make one. Better to have ? tried and failed than not have tried at all! If you wanna get heard ? about come along to zine events, trade zines with other people and ? make sure you get copies into any shop that will have them!? ?
You heard what the man said! Come along to the London Zine Symposium, The Rag Factory, Henage Street, just off Brick Lane, Saturday 29th May 12-6pm.
Thuva-Lisa Ceder is the creator and star of her own little world where the strange is praised and practiced. Since discovering her now defunct blog, site Le Petit Nuage, a year and half (ish) ago, I have been drawn to that world, peeking in with a morbid wide eyed curiosity, entranced by the peculiarities and oddities put on display. Ceder, a nineteen year old Swede, shares her art via Flickr and Tumblr – photographs, illustrations and collages- showcasing a style distinctly her own. A startling kaleidoscope of the strange and the darkly erotic, all seemingly from another time and a faraway world, which holds the ability to both perplex and charm a viewer-if they aren’t easily offended. Perhaps most surprising to the unsuspecting may be Ceder’s illustrations.
Drawn and coloured in felt pens or pencil, the illustrations appear to the less observant eye to be a child’s drawings (Glitter! Shiny star stickers! Flowers! Polka Dots!), artwork of which any parent of a small child would be proud. That is, until Mom and Dad realize that the people (notably, very well-endowed in the eyebrow department) rarely have any on pants…and they are often touching each other or themselves in those special places. Graphic enough a child psychologist would likely proclaim them as the troubling doodles of a “disturbed child” with the utmost bewilderment, prompting him to exclaim, “Kids today! Harrumph!” while running his hand over his graying unruly beard. Naturally, I was intrigued. It’s not the first time stylistically childlike art has featured adult subjects, but Ceder owns her style and keeps it fresh.
I caught up with the Miss Thuva-Lisa Ceder to see just what is going on inside that brain of hers.
When did you first start experimenting with art?
From the day I was born. I made many dolls and lots of clothes out of curtains. I loved making my own toys.
The themes in your artwork, both photography and drawings, suggest you gravitate toward the dark and morbid, the openly erotic, and the bizarre and experimental- what inspires this point of view?
The World: society, how it works, my life, old people and asexuality. I am also inspired by a desire to be loved and a disgust for certain parts of society.
This point of view is intriguingly filtered through childlike imagery in your drawings. Glitter, star stickers, and flowers combined with pubic hair, nipples and fishnet stockings seem like an unlikely pairing. Can you tell us more about the subjects of your illustrations?
I mostly draw females/males that are like me in one way or another. I want them to express some feeling, and I don’t always know what that is so sometimes my hand just decides what it’s going to be so I don’t think that much about it.
How did you start to develop your style?
A friend of mine inspired me with the eyebrows. Before I drew more stuff like cute cats (when I was younger) but now I prefer to draw elderly sweet male/females that are angry.
I really like the collaged pieces- the mixture of your drawings or pieces of photographs layered on top of other photographs is really neat. What type of images do you look for when you make your collages?
Images that I think would be great together – whatever that is- my mouth, an old lady, whatever, stuff that will express something.
My particular favorite is the very endearing image of the unicorn venturing up an older woman’s arm. How did you come up with this?
Oh, it was only by pure chance. I found the lady who I cut out from a newspaper and loved the picture, also I loved unicorns… and suddenly it became a collage.
About your photography: You are often the subject of your photography: self-portraits of everyday activities such as you smoking or holding your pet bunny to nude images of yourself huddled inside a suitcase or topless in your bathtub. Why does nudity play such an important role in your work?
We were born nude.
Self-portraits, photographs of friends and family, nature, creepy old houses, etc… What is your favorite to shoot?
Definitely old people, they have a whole life behind them and are knowledgeable about things. They will soon die. I just like that they are much more interesting than stupid young people or 40-year-old men who shout insults after you when they are drunk. They are so calm, waiting to die. Also, we all will get old someday and it feels like we don’t give a shit for the old ones. We just bundle them together in a house and let them rot until they are in the earth.
What camera do you use?
A C905, my cell phone, a Sony HD, a small handy movie camera and a digital camera.
Alongside your artwork and photography, you also make very sweet and dreamy instrumental music with a piano under the name of Petit Soleil. What creative medium do you find the most satisfaction in?
Right now it’s drawing and photography, but I really want to create music. It is the greatest art of them all! Anthony of Anthony and the Johnsons: now he really makes music. He will die happy because he sings so beautifully.
What are your artistic tastes? What art, films and music do you draw inspiration from? Joy Division, and lots of movies. I get a bit inspired of Derek Jarman, and I love the art from 1500-1700.
What creative outlet have you not tried yet that you would like to?
Feminist porn, stage performances and I’d like to make a feature film.
You present a unique and strange world for those who view your work to step into – what would be the sights and sounds of your dream world?
I dream of a totally gray world: there’s a gray house on top of a hill and an avenue up to the house that is surrounded by many giant bare black trees. Or alternatively I’d like to live inside one of Oscar Wilde’s stories…
Written by Aimee O’Neill on Monday May 24th, 2010 5:50 pm
Since the first protest over two weeks ago -to use a slightly naff cliche- there has been something in the air; occupation, trochemalady occupation, buy occupation! Across Britain students have left the streets and occupied their university halls in protest against the outcome of Lord Browne’s report: tuition fees to rise, the abolishment of EMA’s and the suggested removal of the state funding received by Universities to aid their research and teaching. At the beginning, in the face of the Coalition’s seemingly never ending barrage of cuts, there have been the inevitable attempts to label the student protests as self indulgent, (though what is self indulgent about fighting to preserve access to higher education for all in perpetuity?!) I was disappointed to see this article from Polly Toynbee, personally we should avoid turning the terrifying breadth and width of the cuts into a hierarchical system of which are more deserving to be saved. Yet the students are proving their opposers wrong, one of the demands of the UCLOccupation is for everyone who works in the university to be paid the London Living Wage, which is to be two pounds higher than the minimum wage. The inclusion of this demand has lead to increased support from Toynbee, as they are using their platform not only to campaign for themselves, but to join forces with other groups protesting against these draconian, unnecessary and dogmatic cuts.
Personally, I completely support the occupations of Universities, I’ve tasted the education cuts proposed by the Coalition and the impact they had on my student body was terrible, morale was low, people questioned why there were plunging into debt when they were receiving so little. Which is the inevitable problem when turning education into a market rather than a social right – it becomes about outcomes and fixed measurable points, rather than the continued development and sharing of knowledge. Maybe I was idealistic at what university would offer, but a sly cut in teaching, space and access to workshops was not what I was expecting. During my second year at Goldsmiths we spent the year fighting bigger class sizes on a third of the teachers, the loss of workshops and the loss of studio space to the point where people stopped coming to the studios because there was no room. Goldsmiths was the second university I tried, I left my first in protest against their education cuts. I bring up my experiences because despite Clegg’s lame protestations, it is not only the higher fees that would put me off if I was applying now, it is the slow destruction of our higher education system. The forcing of universities to act like businesses is not working and nor should it. Education is not a marketable commodity and we need to protect it alongside our incredible welfare state (the first hospital has already been all but privatised – Andrew Lansley’s white paper is a slippery slope), why are we allowing free universal access to medical care slip through our fingers? No-one in the Cabinet paid for their higher education and they experienced the best it had and still has to offer. We need to support the student occupations, we need to support the preservation of higher education.
I visited the UCL occupation on Saturday and it was amazing hive of activity (as I am sure all the occupied universities are). This weekend the Slade are mobilising art against the cuts, you can see their manifesto here.
Since the first protest over two weeks ago -to use a slightly naff cliche- there has been something in the air; occupation, illness occupation, approved occupation! Across Britain students have left the streets and occupied their university halls in protest against the outcome of Lord Browne’s report: tuition fees to rise, the abolishment of EMA’s and the suggested removal of the state funding received by Universities to aid their research and teaching. At the beginning, in the face of the Coalition’s seemingly never ending barrage of cuts, there have been the inevitable attempts to label the student protests as self indulgent, (though what is self indulgent about fighting to preserve access to higher education for all in perpetuity?!) I was disappointed to see this article from Polly Toynbee, personally we should avoid turning the terrifying breadth and width of the cuts into a hierarchical system of which are more deserving to be saved. Yet the students are proving their opposers wrong, one of the demands of the UCLOccupation is for everyone who works in the university to be paid the London Living Wage, which is to be two pounds higher than the minimum wage. The inclusion of this demand has lead to increased support from Toynbee, as they are using their platform not only to campaign for themselves, but to join forces with other groups protesting against these draconian, unnecessary and dogmatic cuts.
Personally, I completely support the occupations of Universities, I’ve tasted the education cuts proposed by the Coalition and the impact they had on my student body was terrible, morale was low, people questioned why there were plunging into debt when they were receiving so little. Which is the inevitable problem when turning education into a market rather than a social right – it becomes about outcomes and fixed measurable points, rather than the continued development and sharing of knowledge. Maybe I was idealistic at what university would offer, but a sly cut in teaching, space and access to workshops was not what I was expecting. During my second year at Goldsmiths we spent the year fighting bigger class sizes on a third of the teachers, the loss of workshops and the loss of studio space to the point where people stopped coming to the studios because there was no room. Goldsmiths was the second university I tried, I left my first in protest against their education cuts. I bring up my experiences because despite Clegg’s lame protestations, it is not only the higher fees that would put me off if I was applying now, it is the slow destruction of our higher education system. The forcing of universities to act like businesses is not working and nor should it. Education is not a marketable commodity and we need to protect it alongside our incredible welfare state (the first hospital has already been all but privatised – Andrew Lansley’s white paper is a slippery slope), why are we allowing free universal access to medical care slip through our fingers? No-one in the Cabinet paid for their higher education and they experienced the best it had and still has to offer. We need to support the student occupations, we need to support the preservation of higher education.
I visited the UCL occupation on Saturday and it was amazing hive of activity (as I am sure all the occupied universities are). This weekend the Slade are mobilising art against the cuts, you can see their manifesto here. Since visiting the protestors marched again on tuesday and there are many excellent accounts of what happened available on the internet, this Saturday sees a national day of action against the cuts and I believe there is another protest happening on the 9th. These occupations matter because the students are using their platform to join forces with other public sectors impacted from the lose of Mental Heath workers to the drastic cuts in legal aids that are happening at the same time as the benefit system is being overhauled. This was a banking crisis, this is a banking crisis, the government bailed out the banks and are still paying the price. This type of capitalism continually fails to work, unregulated markets failed. Why would we let people involved in this crisis, advise us that the best model for Universities is one based on the market??
Rather disappointingly UCL Lawyers have been called in to secure an injunction to evict the students. On the 9th December another day of protest – this time with parents and teachers joining in- will be held to oppose the Government’s to raise tuition fees.
During my visit to UCL I caught the end of Billy Bragg, saw the support of the National Union of Journalists in support of the occupation, sat through a book reading and the tutor’s support for the plight of students across Britain and had the opportunity to listen to David Wearing and Dan Hind discuss the history of capitalism and … It was a rather amazing day and if you are free this weekend or at any time, please check out an occupation near you events and the opportunity to speak to the students.
Since the first protest took place over two weeks ago -to use a slightly naff cliche- there has been something palatable in the air; occupation, capsule occupation, stuff occupation! Across Britain students have left the streets and occupied their university halls in protest against the outcome of Lord Browne’s report: tuition fees to rise, what is ed the abolishment of EMA’s and the suggested removal of the state funding received by Universities to aid their research and teaching budgets.
In the face of the Coalition’s seemingly never-ending barrage of cuts targeting every section of the welfare state, there have been the inevitable attempts to label the student protests as self indulgent, (though what is self indulgent about fighting to preserve access to higher education for all, in perpetuity?!) I was disappointed to see the always readable Polly Toynbee state: personally we should avoid turning the terrifying breadth and width of the cuts into a hierarchical system of the most deserving. Yet the students are proving their opposers wrong, one of the demands of the UCLOccupation is for everyone who works in the university to be paid the London Living Wage, which is to be two pounds higher than the minimum wage. The inclusion of this demand has lead to increased support from Toynbee, as they are using their platform not only to campaign for themselves, but to join forces with other groups protesting against these draconian, unnecessary and dogmatic cuts.
Personally, I completely support the occupations of Universities, I’ve tasted the education cuts proposed by the Coalition and the impact they had on my student body was terrible, morale was low, people questioned why there were plunging into debt when they were receiving so little. Which is the inevitable problem when turning education into a market rather than a social right – it becomes about outcomes and fixed measurable points, rather than the continued development and sharing of knowledge. Maybe I was idealistic at what university would offer, but a sly cut in teaching, space and access to workshops was not what I was expecting. During my second year at Goldsmiths we spent the year fighting bigger class sizes on a third of the teachers, the loss of workshops and the loss of studio space to the point where people stopped coming to the studios because there was no room. Goldsmiths was the second university I tried, I left my first in protest against their education cuts. I bring up my experiences because despite Clegg’s lame protestations, it is not only the higher fees that would put me off if I was applying now, it is the slow destruction of our higher education system. The forcing of universities to act like businesses is not working and nor should it. Education is not a marketable commodity and we need to protect it alongside our incredible welfare state (the first hospital has already been all but privatised – Andrew Lansley’s white paper is a slippery slope), why are we allowing free universal access to medical care slip through our fingers? No-one in the Cabinet paid for their higher education and they experienced the best it had and still has to offer. We need to support the student occupations, we need to support the preservation of higher education.
I visited the UCL occupation on Saturday and it was amazing hive of activity (as I am sure all the occupied universities are). This weekend the Slade are mobilising art against the cuts, you can see their manifesto here. Since visiting the protestors marched again on tuesday and there are many excellent accounts of what happened available on the internet, this Saturday sees a national day of action against the cuts and I believe there is another protest happening on the 9th. These occupations matter because the students are using their platform to join forces with other public sectors impacted from the lose of Mental Heath workers to the drastic cuts in legal aids that are happening at the same time as the benefit system is being overhauled. This was a banking crisis, this is a banking crisis, the government bailed out the banks and are still paying the price. This type of capitalism continually fails to work, unregulated markets failed. Why would we let people involved in this crisis, advise us that the best model for Universities is one based on the market??
Rather disappointingly UCL Lawyers have been called in to secure an injunction to evict the students. On the 9th December another day of protest – this time with parents and teachers joining in- will be held to oppose the Government’s to raise tuition fees.
During my visit to UCL I caught the end of Billy Bragg, saw the support of the National Union of Journalists in support of the occupation, sat through a book reading and the tutor’s support for the plight of students across Britain and had the opportunity to listen to David Wearing and Dan Hind discuss the history of capitalism and … It was a rather amazing day and if you are free this weekend or at any time, please check out an occupation near you events and the opportunity to speak to the students.
Since the first protest over two weeks ago, buy information pills there has been something palatable in the air; occupation, viagra approved occupation, approved occupation! Across Britain students have left the streets and occupied their University halls in protest against the outcome of Lord Browne’s report: tuition fees to rise, the abolishment of EMA’s and the suggested removal of the state funding Universities receive to aid their research and teaching budgets.
In the face of the Coalition’s seemingly never-ending barrage of cuts targeting every section of the welfare state, there has been the inevitable attempts to label the student protests as self indulgent (though what is self indulgent about fighting to preserve access to higher education for all, in perpetuity?!). I was disappointed to see the always readable Polly Toynbee state: personally we should avoid turning the terrifying breadth and width of the cuts into a hierarchical system of the most deserving.
Yet the students are fighting back against charges of indulgency, one of the demands made by the UCLOccupation is for all University employees to be paid the London Living Wage. The inclusion of this demand has lead to increased support from Toynbee and her more recent article signaled a change in approach. The Studetns are using their platform of occupation not only to campaign against sweeping changes to the perception of Higher Education, but to join forces with other groups (NHS, Library Workers, Legal Aid etc) to protest against these draconian, unnecessary and dogmatic cuts.
Personally, I completely support the occupations of Universities, I’ve tasted the education cuts proposed by the Coalition and the impact they had on my student body was terrible, morale was low, people questioned why they were plunging into debt when they were receiving so little in return. It made many students question the worth of their courses, which is exactly what this report wants to achieve. Education is not about financial worth, society will quickly become lacking if this thinking becomes the norm.
For me, this is the inevitable problem when turning education into a competitive market rather than an individual’s choice – it becomes about outcomes and fixed measurable points, rather than the continued development and sharing of knowledge. Maybe I was idealistic at what university would offer, but the sly cuts in teaching, space and access to workshops was not what I was expecting. During my second year at Goldsmiths we spent the year fighting against bigger class sizes on a third of the teachers, compounded by the loss of workshops and studio space so small, people stopped coming into the studios. Luckily for our third year, we managed to claw back studio space and instigate a system of visiting tutors, but the depth of knowledge we lost with tutors was unmistakable.
Goldsmiths was the second university I tried, I left my first in protest against their education cuts. I bring up my experiences because despite Clegg’s lame protestations, it is not only the higher fees that would put me off if I was applying now, it is the slow destruction of our higher education system. The forcing of universities to act like businesses is not working and nor should it. Education is not a marketable commodity and we need to protect it alongside our incredible welfare state (the first hospital has already been all but privatised – Andrew Lansley’s white paper is a slippery slope), why are we allowing free universal access to medical care slip through our fingers? No-one in the Cabinet paid for their higher education and they experienced the best it had and still has to offer. We need to support the student occupations, we need to support the preservation of higher education.
I visited the UCL occupation on Saturday and it was amazing hive of activity (as I am sure all the occupied universities are). This weekend the Slade are mobilising art against the cuts, you can see their manifesto here. Since visiting the protestors marched again on tuesday and there are many excellent accounts of what happened available on the internet, this Saturday sees a national day of action against the cuts and I believe there is another protest happening on the 9th. These occupations matter because the students are using their platform to join forces with other public sectors impacted from the lose of Mental Heath workers to the drastic cuts in legal aids that are happening at the same time as the benefit system is being overhauled. This was a banking crisis, this is a banking crisis, the government bailed out the banks and are still paying the price. This type of capitalism continually fails to work, unregulated markets failed. Why would we let people involved in this crisis, advise us that the best model for Universities is one based on the market??
Rather disappointingly UCL Lawyers have been called in to secure an injunction to evict the students. On the 9th December another day of protest – this time with parents and teachers joining in- will be held to oppose the Government’s to raise tuition fees.
During my visit to UCL I caught the end of Billy Bragg, saw the support of the National Union of Journalists in support of the occupation, sat through a book reading and the tutor’s support for the plight of students across Britain and had the opportunity to listen to David Wearing and Dan Hind discuss the history of capitalism and … It was a rather amazing day and if you are free this weekend or at any time, please check out an occupation near you events and the opportunity to speak to the students.
Since the first protest over two weeks ago, store there has been something palatable in the air; occupation, occupation, occupation! Across Britain students have left the streets and occupied their University halls in protest against the outcome of Lord Browne’s report: tuition fees to rise, the abolishment of EMA’s and the suggested removal of the state funding Universities receive to aid their research and teaching budgets.
In the face of the Coalition’s seemingly never-ending barrage of cuts targeting every section of the welfare state, there has been the inevitable attempts to label the student protests as self indulgent (though what is self indulgent about fighting to preserve access to higher education for all, in perpetuity?!). I was disappointed to see the always readable Polly Toynbee state: we should be avoiding the desire to turn the terrifying breadth and width of the cuts into a hierarchical system of the most deserving.
Yet the students are fighting back against charges of indulgency, one of the demands made by the UCLOccupation is for all University employees to be paid the London Living Wage. The inclusion of this demand has lead to increased support from Toynbee and her more recent article signaled a change in approach. The Students are using their platform of occupation not only to campaign against sweeping changes to the perception of Higher Education, but to join forces -as I learnt whilst visiting UCLOccupation- with other groups (NHS, Library Workers, Legal Aid etc) to protest against these draconian, unnecessary and dogmatic cuts.
Personally, I completely support the occupations of Universities, I’ve tasted the education cuts proposed by the Coalition and the impact they had on my student body was terrible, morale was low, people questioned why they were plunging into debt when they were receiving so little in return. It made many students question the worth of their courses, which is what The Browne report wants to achieve – the commodification of learning. Education is not about financial worth and society will quickly become lacking in innovation and discussion if this thinking becomes the norm.
This is the inevitable problem when turning education into a competitive market rather than an individual choice about whether or not to further their learning. Maybe I was idealistic at what university would offer, but the sly cuts in teaching, space and access to workshops was not what I was expecting. During my second year at Goldsmiths we spent the year fighting against bigger class sizes on a third of the teachers, compounded by the loss of workshops and studio space so small, people stopped coming into the studios. Luckily for our third year, we managed to claw back studio space and instigate a system of visiting tutors, but the depth of knowledge we lost with the axed tutors was unmistakable.
Goldsmiths was the second university I tried, I left my first in protest against their education cuts. I bring up my experiences because despite Clegg’s lame protestations, it is not only the higher fees that would put me off if I was applying now, it is the slow destruction of our higher education system. The forcing of universities to act like businesses is not working and nor should it. Education is not a marketable commodity and we need to protect it alongside our incredible welfare state (the first hospital has already been all but privatised – Andrew Lansley’s white paper is a slippery slope), why are we allowing free universal access to medical care slip through our fingers? No-one in the Cabinet paid for their higher education and they experienced the best it had and still has to offer. We need to support the student occupations, we need to support the preservation of higher education.
I visited the UCL occupation on Saturday and it was amazing hive of activity (as all the occupied universities will be). This weekend the Slade are mobilising art against the cuts, you can see their manifesto here. Since my visit the protestors marched again on tuesday and ran circles around the police’s attempt to kettle them or in the words of newspeak, ‘detain.’ There are many excellent accounts of what happened available across the internet or join twitter for live updates.
Rather disappointingly UCL Lawyers have been called in to secure an injunction to evict the students, a move being instigated no doubt by all Universities currently occupied. It would be a breath of fresh air for the University bodies to support the students who fill their halls.
Do check out what events are happening at the various spaces, during my visit to UCL I caught the end of Billy Bragg, saw the rousing support of the National Union of Journalists, sat through a book reading and the tutor’s rallying support for the plight of students across Britain and had the opportunity to listen to David Wearing and Dan Hind discuss the history of capitalism and …
For me the Occupation’s summerise Education, the ability to move between disciplines and try out new lectures on whatever subject that interests you. It should not be the continued separation of courses or a separation of thinking between the Humanities and the Sciences. We should strive for a University model in which debate happens across disciplines.
This Saturday (4th) sees a national day of action against ALL cuts proposed by the coalition and another protest with teachers, students and parents is being planned for the 9th. This was originally and remains banking crisis, a crisis of capitalism, we can negotiate a new space if we work together. The government bailed out the banks and populations across the world are paying the price. This type of capitalism continually fails as do the unchecked belief in unregulated markets. Why would we let people involved in this crisis, advise us that the best model for Universities is one based on the market??
Since the first protest over two weeks ago, discount there has been something palatable in the air; occupation, sildenafil occupation, occupation! Across Britain students have left the streets and occupied their University halls in protest against the outcome of Lord Browne’s report: tuition fees to rise, the abolishment of EMA’s and the suggested removal of the state funding Universities receive to aid their research and teaching budgets.
In the face of the Coalition’s seemingly never-ending barrage of cuts targeting every section of the welfare state, there has been the inevitable attempts to label the student protests as self indulgent (though what is self indulgent about fighting to preserve access to higher education for all, in perpetuity?!). I was disappointed to see the always readable Polly Toynbee state: we should be avoiding the desire to turn the terrifying breadth and width of the cuts into a hierarchical system of the most deserving.
Yet the students are fighting back against charges of indulgency, one of the demands made by the UCLOccupation is for all University employees to be paid the London Living Wage. The inclusion of this demand has lead to increased support from Toynbee and her more recent article signaled a change in approach. The Students are using their platform of occupation not only to campaign against sweeping changes to the perception of Higher Education, but to join forces -as I learnt whilst visiting UCLOccupation- with other groups (NHS, Library Workers, Legal Aid etc) to protest against these draconian, unnecessary and dogmatic cuts.
Personally, I completely support the occupations of Universities, I’ve tasted the education cuts proposed by the Coalition and the impact they had on my student body was terrible, morale was low, people questioned why they were plunging into debt when they were receiving so little in return. It made many students question the worth of their courses, which is what The Browne report wants to achieve – the commodification of learning. Education is not about financial worth and society will quickly become lacking in innovation and discussion if this thinking becomes the norm.
This is the inevitable problem when turning education into a competitive market rather than an individual choice about whether or not to further their learning. Maybe I was idealistic at what university would offer, but the sly cuts in teaching, space and access to workshops was not what I was expecting. During my second year at Goldsmiths we spent the year fighting against bigger class sizes on a third of the teachers, compounded by the loss of workshops and studio space so small, people stopped coming into the studios. Luckily for our third year, we managed to claw back studio space and instigate a system of visiting tutors, but the depth of knowledge we lost with the axed tutors was unmistakable.
Goldsmiths was the second university I tried, I left my first in protest against their education cuts. I bring up my experiences because despite Clegg’s lame protestations, it is not only the higher fees that would put me off if I was applying now, it is the slow destruction of our higher education system. The forcing of universities to act like businesses is not working and nor should it. Education is not a marketable commodity and we need to protect it alongside our incredible welfare state (the first hospital has already been all but privatised – Andrew Lansley’s white paper is a slippery slope), why are we allowing free universal access to medical care slip through our fingers? No-one in the Cabinet paid for their higher education and they experienced the best it had and still has to offer. We need to support the student occupations, we need to support the preservation of higher education.
I visited the UCL occupation on Saturday and it was amazing hive of activity (as all the occupied universities will be). This weekend the Slade are mobilising art against the cuts, you can see their manifesto here. Since my visit the protestors marched again on tuesday and ran circles around the police’s attempt to kettle them or in the words of newspeak, ‘detain.’ There are many excellent accounts of what happened available across the internet or join twitter for live updates.
This Saturday (4th) sees a national day of action against ALL the cuts and another protest with teachers, students and parents is being planned for the 9th. These occupations matter because the students are using their platform to join forces with other public sectors impacted from the lose of Mental Heath workers to the drastic cuts in legal aids that are happening at the same time as the benefit system is being overhauled. This was a banking crisis, this is a banking crisis, the government bailed out the banks and are still paying the price. This type of capitalism continually fails to work, unregulated markets failed. Why would we let people involved in this crisis, advise us that the best model for Universities is one based on the market??
Rather disappointingly UCL Lawyers have been called in to secure an injunction to evict the students, a move being instigated no doubt by all Universities currently occupied. It would be a breath of fresh air for the University bodies to support the students who fill their halls.
Do check out what events are happening at the various spaces, during my visit to UCL I caught the end of Billy Bragg, saw the rousing support of the National Union of Journalists, sat through a book reading and the tutor’s rallying support for the plight of students across Britain and had the opportunity to listen to David Wearing and Dan Hind discuss the history of capitalism and …
For me the Occupation’s summerise Education, the ability to move between disciplines and try out new lectures on whatever subject that interests you. It should not be the continued separation of courses or a separation of thinking between the Humanities and the Sciences. We should strive for a University model in which debate happens across disciplines.
Illustration by Daria Hlazatowa
It was a cold Thursday night twixt Angel and Kings Cross, link but about to warm the cockles of our hearts were Kotki Dwa, order opening a sold out RockFeedback night at the Lexington. This was their second “comeback” gig in the space of a week (having appeared at the Hobby Horse the previous Saturday), price after a spot of extra-curricular activity by the trio. I’d never caught Kotki Dwa (so named after a Polish lullaby involving two little kittens) before, though I know that regular readers of Amelia’s Magazine will be familiar with them (they also contributed a song to the Amelia’s Tunes compilation a couple of years ago).
With singer and guitarist Alex Ostrowski bedecked in a decorated waistcoat (possibly homemade, as I believe the guys are a bit partial to the DIY approach), Kotki Dwa kicked off the proceedings in a typically quirky fashion. Musically, they energetically mix up the guitar chops with some beep-tastic synth action, occasionally resulting in some spectacular freakouts, such as on frenetic Kiss and Make Up. I was really impressed by them, and they were cheered on by the faithful who crowded to the front of the stage ahead of the other bands sets. We even got a cordial invitation to a free Wycinanki workshop that they’re running at the Topolski Century Gallery on the South Bank! See our listing here.
Photo courtesy of Still Corners.
Still Corners provided quite a contrast when they took the stage. With the lights down low and myriad images being played behind them, this was a band going for atmosphere with a capital A. And, to be fair, they succeeded. With a lead guitar so drowned in reverb that it sounded like it was coming from another dimension, Still Corners purveyed a woozy kind of 60’s influenced psychedelic pop, like Some Velvet Morning by Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra covered by My Bloody Valentine. Like Kotki Dwa, they too are no strangers to Amelia’s Magazine, having recently been caught supporting Our Broken Garden.
The Lexington had really started to fill up by this point, and the newcomers were treated to the ethereal delights of songs like Don’t Fall In Love and Endless Summer, the latter eerily recalling Joy Division’s Decades. There was even an instrumental number which allowed the band a bit of a Neu! styled workout. Still Corners are being hotly tipped at the moment, and they certainly stand out from the current crop of bands riding the C86 revival. Most definitely worth checking out live, if you get the chance.
Another hotly tipped band are Long Island’s Twin Sister, currently in the midst of a jaunt around Europe. The five-piece took to the stage with breathy-voiced singer Andrea Estella adorned in a voluminous green wig (for reasons never actually explained) and the bass guitar of Gabel D’Amico sporting what looked like a bit of shrubbery.
Twin Sister are a bit more difficult to pigeonhole than a lot of their US contemporaries, navigating a path between the 60’s garage sound of Vivian Girls or Dum Dum Girls and the My Bloody Valentine influenced indie pop of Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Playing a selection of tracks from the EPs Vampires with Dreaming Kids and Color Your Life, they mix up cool guitar pop with an electronic edge though, if anything, they reminded me of the Cardigans (I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not!). Current single All Around and Away We Go throws in another stylistic twist, with a New Wave disco beat sounding not unlike Blondie produced by Barry White. A packed out Lexington was certainly getting its collective groove on by this point, whilst onstage guitarist and co-vocalist Eric Cardona proved to be a master of multi-tasking by taking on some electronic drum pads.
I think there were a few doubters in the audience to begin with, and I certainly didn’t know what to expect as I wasn’t that familiar with them, but after seeing Twin Sister in action, I think they can certainly justify the excitement that’s followed them cross the Atlantic.
Written by Richard Pearmain on Thursday December 2nd, 2010 11:35 am
Having spearheaded the new London folk scene with their debut album, theremedicalNoah and the Whale are back with their hands full up, releasing a new single, album and film out this summer. We talk school plays, Daisy Lowe, weddings, gardening, Werner Herzog in the studio with the effortlessly charming frontman, Charlie Fink.
Photos by Katie Weatherall
Amelia’s Mag: You’ve got a whole host of new releases coming up – single, album, film – how are you feeling about it all, happy/nervous/excited?
Charlie Fink: All of the above… I dunno, we did the album so long ago… From the last album, I realised the only satisfying feeling you’re going to get is the feeling you get when you’ve finished it and you think it’s good, that’s the best it gets. Reading a review of somebody else saying it’s good is good to show off to your mum, but it doesn’t really mean anything. Likewise, if there’s something you believe in and someone says it’s bad, you’re still going to believe in it.
AM: And the live shows must add another dimension to that?
CF: Yeah. What I’m excited about really is that this record realises us as a band more than the previous one. So that’s going to be really exciting to go out and play that live to people.
AM: And is there anything in particular that has done this or has it been the natural progression of the band?
CF: It’s a million small things, from us playing together more, us growing up, learning our trade a bit better, from what happens in lives and the records you listen to. I very much try to rely as much as I can on instinct and satisfying myself. And this is not a selfish thing because the only way you can supply something worthwhile to somebody else, is if you’re totally satisfied with it yourself. Doing the right things for us and hoping that’ll transfer to the audience.
AM: Was there anything in particular you were listening to whilst making the record?
CF: The things I’m listening to now are different from the things I was listening to when I wrote the record. When I first started the record, I was listening to ‘Spirit of Eden’ by Talk Talk, which is a different sounding record to what we did. Nick Cave, lots by Wilco…
AM: So tell me about the film, ‘The First Days Of Spring’, that accompanies the album (of the same name)… which came first?
CF: The first thing was the idea of a film where the background and the pace was defined by an album. But it totally overtook my whole life. It’s one of those things you start for a certain reason and then you keep going for different reasons. The inspiration was sort of how people don’t really listen to albums anymore, they listen to songs. We wanted to try making an all emersive record where the film puts people into it. We’re not dictating that this should be the only way people listen to music, we just wanted to offer something alternative. On a lot of records these days, you don’t feel like the unity of the album gives it more strength than each individual song. Whereas with this record, the whole thing is worth more than the individual parts. That’s how I see it anyway.
There’s this quote from I think W. G. Collingwood that says, ‘art is dead, amusement is all that’s left.’ I like the idea that this project, in the best possible way, is commercially and in lots of other ways pointless. It’s a length that doesn’t exist. It’s not a short film or a feature, it’s 15 minutes and the nature of it is that it’s entirely led by its soundtrack. It’s created for the sake of becoming something that I thought was beautiful.
AM: And Daisy Lowe stars in it, how was that?
CF: She’s an incredibly nice and intelligent person. I met with her in New York when we were mixing the album and I told her I was doing this film… She was immediately interested. And her gave her the record as one whole track which is how I originally wanted it to be released. Just one track on iTunes that had to be listened to as a whole and not just dipped into. She sent me an email two weeks later, because she’s obviously a very busy person. With her listening to the album, a kind of live feed of what she thought of it. Making a film and having her was really good because she kept me motivated and passionate. She genuinely really took to this project. The whole cast as well, everyone really supported it and it was a pleasure to make. I had to fight to get it made and understood. It’s one of those things that people either passionately disagree with or agree with. From thinking it’s absurdly pretentious or beautiful. Fortunately all the people working on the film were passionate people.
AM: So is film making something you want to continue with?
CF: Yeah, definitely! At some point I’d like to make a more conventional film. The thing that really stuck with me about making a film was surround sound. When you’re mixing a film, you’re mixing the sound in surround because you’re mixing for cinemas. You realise the potential of having five speakers around you as opposed to just two in front of you. The complexity of what you can do is vast. So I’d love to something with that. If you record in surround sound you need to hear it in surround sound, so maybe some kind of installation… Then another film after that…
AM: You’ve been put into a folk bracket with your first album, is that something you’re ok with?
CF: I like folk music, I listen to folk music but then every folk artist I like denies they’re folk. It’s one of those things, it doesn’t really matter. We played last year at the Cambridge Folk Festival and I felt really proud to be a part of that. It’s a real music lovers festival. That was a really proud moment so I can’t be that bothered.
AM: I recently sang your first single, ‘5 Years Time’, at a wedding, do you ever imagine the direction your songs may go after you write them?
CF: Wow. That’s really funny. I’ve had a few stories like that actually. It’s touching but it’s not what I’d imagine.
AM: Do you write songs in that way? Some bands set out to write a love song, dance song etc…
CF: I can’t really remember how I write… I was writing last night but… do you drive?
AM: I just recently failed my test.
CF: Perfect! Well, you know when you start driving you have to think through everything – put my foot on the clutch, take it off the clutch etc. Then when you’ve been doing it a while, you just do all those things without even knowing you’ve done them. That’s how it feels with songwriting, I can’t really remember doing it. It just happens how it happens. Or like gardening… you’ve just gotta chop through and it’ll come.
AM: Is being in a band everything you imagined it to be?
CF: For me it’s more about being creative. I do some production for people, the band, the writing and now the film. I just love what I do and just keep doing it. I follow it wherever it goes. The capacity I have for doing what I do is enough to make it feel precious.
AM: So are there any untapped creative pursuits left for you?
CF: At the moment what I’m doing feels right. I never had any ambitions to paint. I don’t have that skill. I think film and music have always been the two things that have touched me the most.
AM: So how about acting?
CF: I did once at school when I was 13. I played the chancellor in a play the teacher wrote called ‘Suspense and a Dragon Called Norris.’ Which had rapturous reactions from my mum. I don’t think I could do that either. When you direct though you need to understand how acting works. It’s a really fascinating thing but I don’t I’d be any good at it.
AM: Do you prefer the full creative potential a director has?
CF: The best directors are the ones that build a character. Building a character is as important as understanding it. It needs major input from both the director and the actor. You can’t just give an actor the script and expect it to be exactly right. You need to be there to create the little details. The way they eat, the way they smoke… That’s an important skill.
At this point, Charlie asks me about a note I’d made on my reporter’s pad, which was actually a reminder about a friend’s birthday present. Which draws the conservation to a close as we recite our favourite Werner Herzog films. Turns out, he shares the same taste in film directors as my friend.
If Charlie from Noah and the Whale tells us he likes Wilco, then we like Wilco. It’s as simple as that. It’s time to get educated.
Wednesday 26th August
The Hot Rats
The Old Blue Last, London
Otherwise known as half of Supergrass plus hot shot Radiohead producer, The Hot Rats get their kicks taking pop classics by, amongst others, The Beatles and The Kinks and infusing their own alt-rock psychedelica – worth a gander.
Thursday 27th August
KILL IT KID Madam Jo Jos, London
Their blend of durge blues, barndance and freestyle frenzy jazz blues make KILL IT KID a gem to behold in a live setting.
Friday 28th August
Swanton Bombs Old Blue Last, London
If you like your indie adorned in Mod and brimming with angularity, then Swanton Bombs will be pushing the trigger on your buttons.
Saturday 29th August
South East in East Festival – Teenagers In Tokyo, Tronik Youth, Ali Love, Publicist Vibe Bar, London
It’s all about South East London – full stop. In this cunning event, it up sticks to East London, where synth-pop Gossip descendents, Teenagers In Tokyo headline a night of New X Rave.
Sunday 30th August
The Gladstone Open Mic Night The Gladstone, London
As it’s Bank Holiday Weekend and all the bands are at Reading/Leeds Festival, London is starved of big gigs. No fear, The Glad is here – A little known drinking hole in Borough that continually serves up a plethora of folkey talent… and pies!
Sunderland born designer Rosie Upright is truly passionate about design. Aren’t we all I hear you say? Well, health she’s up, recipe all hours, medical day or night… cutting away with her trusty stanley knife… stopping only when her numb fingertips plead for rest. Do your fingertips bleed? I thought not! Rosie developed her unique hand-crafted techniques whilst at university in Epsom, where she learnt all the usual computer design programs… and then decided to steer clear of them. She’s fled the suburbs of Epsom now, to live in London town with all the other hopeful new freelancers. She spends her days photographing, drawing, organising balls of string… and deciding what hat to wear.
We caught up with Rosie for a little chat…
Hi, how are you today?
I’ve got a bit of a sore throat coming on, the irritating children over the road are noisily playing some kind of shooting game, a car is beeping its horn continuously just below my window, itunes is refusing to play anything other than Billy Idol (which I’m not in the mood for), my coloured ink cartridge has just ran out, I’ve got a blister from my favourite pink shoes, an uninvited wasp is stuck in my blinds, my ginger hair has faded to a weird brown, I forgot to buy milk and Ronnie Mitchell is still crying on Eastenders – but apart from that I’m topper thanks.
What have you been up to lately?
Fingers in pies, fingers in pies!
Including…cross-stitch and a week in a cottage in Norfolk (no telephone signal or internet connection, bloody lovely!)
Which artists or illustrators do you most admire?
I don’t think I would have done a degree in graphic design if my ever-encouraging parents hadn’t taken me to a Peter Saville exhibition at the Urbis in Manchester many moons ago. Made me see the ideas process at its very best and the crucial-ness (that’s not even a word!) of initial doodles and sketchbooks.
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” Where would any of us be if it weren’t for Dr Seuss?
I really love a bit of Russian Constructivism, in particular Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova, bloody genius. Mr Vaughan Oliver, for making us all think differently about where to crop the image, for being an ongoing influence and for that opportunity. Harry Beck, Robert Doisneau and most recently Philippe Petit.
If we visited you in your hometown, where would you take us?
Stroll down to Seaburn beach because when you don’t live next to the sea anymore you really miss it, and it has really nice sand. Then to my very best friend Sarah Bowman’s house, to play with Peggy Sue the kitten, have mental vegetarian sandwiches off a cake stand, and a glass of red wine, ice cubes and coke. We should pop to an art shop in Darlington and then to The Borough, the best pub for tunes, a pint of cider and a Jaeger bomb.
Who would most love to collaborate with creatively?
Mike Perry and YES art studio please. Thank you.
When did you realise you had creative talent?
When some hippy artist came into my junior school to create banners for some event at the local library with us. I was told after five minutes of colouring it in that I had to go away and read because I couldn’t keep within the lines.
If you weren’t an artist, what would you be doing?
A teenage Mam or an actress, haven’t decided which yet.
Where would you like to be in 10 years time?
I’d like to be the designer than graphic design students hate because their tutors always tell them to get their book out of the Uni library. And I’d quite like to have my own shop in London, Brighton or maybe Newcastle (or all three, and maybe Paris then if we’re going crazy) selling things made by me!
What advice would you give up and coming artists such as yourself?
Take other peoples advice but make your own mistakes, don’t be a dick and always colour outside of the lines.
How would you describe your art in five words?
Hand made/ typography/ narrative/ personal/ I’d like to say idiosyncratic too but don’t want to sound like a twat.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Seeing people fall over.
(and cake)
If you could time travel back or forward to any era, where would you go?
It was horrific enough moving away to University and into London and trying to find a job and start my life up. I think if I had to go backward or forward to another era I would probably just straight up die. Having said that though I would like to be a highwayman’s assistant.
Tell us something about Rosie Upright that we didn’t know already.
I can’t wait till I’m an old lady so I can wear those lacy nighties from Marks & Sparks and I love animals in clothes.
What are you up to next?
Going to make a cuppa tea, kill this wasp and then take over the world.
While most of us at the tender age of 19 rooted our existence in smacking down vodka jelly shots at the bar with kebabs at four in the morning and the Hollyoaks omnibus on a Sunday, pilule some people, of course, are born to shine in different ways. Take, for instance, London College of Fashion student Millie Cockton, somebody who has already had their work featured in a shoot for Dazed and Confused, styled by Robbie Spencer.
As a lover of clean lines and beautiful silhouettes, Millie looks for the wearer to bring their own identity to her gender non-specific pieces. At the moment under new label Euphemia, with her AW09/10 about to be stocked in London boutique and gallery space Digitaria, after being chosen to be the first guest designer at the Soho store. Check out the Dazed piece to see some brilliant Shakespearian-style ruffs that Millie has also created working with paper (a material proving popular as with Petra Storrs, who I featured last week).
Each to their own, mind you. I could totally do all that, if I wanted to.
At the age of 19 you’ve already received quite a lot of attention – how has that been?
It’s been great so far! It’s very flattering but its also very daunting! I am on a constant learning curve and my work is developing all the time so although the attention is great it creates a lot of pressure!
Describe your design aesthetic in three words.
Clean, sculptural, understated.
Who do you see wearing your designs? Are they reflective of your own personality?
I like to think of a real mixture of people wearing my designs. I love the way that the same garment can look completely different on different people- for me its all about the individual and how they carry themselves, bringing their own identity to the piece.
I don’t think that my designs are necessarily a true representation of my personality and personal style. I feel that my designs are more of a reflection of the aesthetic that i find desirable and aspirational.
Thinking about the ruffs featured in Dazed, people have touched on the theatrical nature of your designs – is the idea of performance important to you in fashion?
The idea of performance within fashion is something that interests me but I wouldn’t say that it’s a key element within my own designs. I like the notion of a performative element within a piece or a collection as i think that it helps gain a further understanding and insight of the designers thought process and inspiration.
What else do you respond to?
I am constantly discovering new sources of inspiration, being so young I know that I still have so much to learn!
I like to use elements of craft within my designs, such as origami style folding. Craft elements can add interesting details to simple pieces.
What are your plans for the future? Who would you like to work for?
I am about to launch my new collection which will be stocked in Digitaria, recently opened on Berwick St, Soho. I have just started to work with Digitaria’s creative director , Stavros Karelis and stylist Paul Joyce on some future projects which are really exciting and I am thoroughly enjoying. I want to continue learning and developing my ideas, challenging myself and most importantly keep having fun!
‘Having fun’ of course might well translate to ‘becoming future fashion empress of the galaxy’. This is a talent to watch out for.
The Camp for Climate Action 2009 is almost upon us – now’s the time to gather ourselves and prepare to swoop. Convinced that the response to climate change needs more? Ready to share skills, stomach knowledge and experiences? To be part of the grassroots swell of people demanding a difference? To get out there and do something?
Be ready next Wednesday, 12th August, from noon, in London. We’re going to swoop on the camp location together. The more people the better. Secret until the last moment, you can sign up for text alerts and join one of the groups meeting scattered about central London before moving together to the camp.
Why Camp? We can all meet each other and learn stuff – reason enough? – I mean, an enormous, public, activist-friendly child-friendly student-friendly climate-friendly gathering with an ambitious and well-prepared programme of workshops covering all things from Tai Chi for those of us up early enough, through histories student activism, DIY radio, pedal-powered sound systems, legal briefings, stepping into direct action, singing, dancing, jumping and waving.
Why London? Climate Campers have listed ten reasons to focus on London – right up the top of that list is : tall buildings and low flood plains. London is big corporate central, the City square mile itself accounting for a huge proportion of the UK economy, that FTSE100-flavoured slice of barely accountable, shareholder driven pie. And yet, as the Thames Barrier should always remind us, the whole city sits low on the ground. Just check out what the centre looks like with a few metres rise in sea level.
So what’s first? The Climate Camp Benefit party/shindig/jamboree/palooza/knee’s-up/gala ball/discotheque/rave/soiree at RampART, 9pm-3am this Friday 21st August. Consisting of fun/revelry/ribaldry/tomfoolery/jocularity/jive/merriment/high kinks, low jinks, jinks of all stature/cheer/gambol/horseplay & frolic. With bands & DJ’s including Rob the Rub & Sarah Bear & those amazing skiffle kids ‘The Severed Limb’. That’s at:
9pm-3am
rampART, 15 -17 Rampart Street,
London E1 2LA (near Whitechapel, off Commercial Rd)
Donations on the door much appreciated (and needed!) – all going straight to Climate Camp
And then? The Swoop – Night Before – Londoners and out-of-town visitors are welcome to ‘the night before the swoop’ – near the bandstand in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 7-8.30pm, Tuesday 25th August – for any last minute info, a legal briefing and an opportunity to join an affinity group and get excited. Lincoln’s Inn Fields is just behind Holborn tube station – this map here might help.
Awesome. See you soon.
Ctrl.Alt.Shift dropped us a line to let us know about a comics-making competition so get your promarkers and layout pads at the ready. Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmarks Corruption is giving you the opportunity to design a unique comic style story. Ctrl.Alt.Shift is the experimental youth initiative politicising a new generation of activists for social justice and global change. The competition hopes to raise awareness of the Ctrl.Alt.Shift and Lightspeed Champion goals and views by inspiring this generation of designers to work together.
Oscar nominated Marjane Satrapi, medical V V Brown and Lightspeed Champion are amongst the judges for the Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption competition launched today. Corruption is both a cause of poverty, and a barrier to overcoming it. It is one of the most serious obstacles to eradicate.
Entrants to the competition will be in with the chance to create a unique comic style story in collaboration with acclaimed musician and writer Dev Hynes aka Lightspeed Champion. After the first round of judging at the end of September, shortlisted entrants will be given Lightspeed Champion’s comic script as inspiration and asked to create a visual adaptation of the story.
The winning commission will be published in a comic alongside new work exploring the issue of Corruption by some of comic’s greatest talents. The work will also be showcased as part of a new exhibition, Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption, later this year at Lazarides Gallery, Soho.
To enter the competition please send relevant examples of your visual work along with your contact details to Ctrl.Alt.Shift by Friday 25th September by visiting www.ctrlaltshift.co.uk/unmaskscorruption.
Five short listed artists will then be given a comic brief to respond to and a winner chosen by a panel of judges including: Marjane Satrapi (Writer and Director of Academy Award Nominated Animated Film Persepolis) Paul Gravett (Comica founder), V V Brown and David Allain (Musician and Comic Book Writer/Artist duo), Lightspeed Champion and Ctrl.Alt.Shift.
The competition is restricted to UK Residents only
For further information about the competition please contact John Doe on 020 7749 7530 or Hannah@johndoehub.com / Jo.bartlett@johndoehub.com Brooke Roberts is my favourite new designer. Why? Well, more about after exchanging several emails with her over the last few weeks, for sale for a young designer making such waves in the industry, her witty and playful personality has impressed even via my inbox! Having worked with such characters such as Louise Goldin and Giles, her avant- garde aesthetic really shines through in her highly tailored and retro-feel designs. Miss Roberts is going places, and she’s more than willing to take us along with her!
What made you want to be a designer? What’s your design background?
I’m definitely not one of those designers who always knew that’s what they wanted to do. I did a degree in Applied Science at Sydney University (I’m from Australia) and worked as a radiographer for a year before moving to London to find out what I wanted to do. I did some work as a stylist with a fashion photographer (random hook-up). I knew his girlfriend and she knew my massive extensive collection of vintage clothes and shoes. My mum had a boutique when I was growing up and I loved clothes – I just never knew it was going to be my career.
I did a few jobs in London (pub, bank – more randomness) before realising I wanted to study fashion. I went to London College of Fashion and Central St.Martins (graduated 2005) wanting to be a pattern-cutter or tailor. I really wanted to create, rather than design. I get most satisfaction from making beautiful things and being involved in the whole process. I have a close working relationship with my suppliers, and go to the factories to develop my garments. I cut them all myself, which is probably bordering on control freakery, but I feel it shows in the final product and I can realise my designs exactly as I imagine them.
I’m waffling. I worked for Giles for two seasons after I left Uni, and started with Louise Goldin when she launched her label. We worked together for three years (until last October when I launched my label).
What are your inspirations for your collections?
I get lots of inspiration from my radiography job (I do that part-time to fund my label). So I’m running between the hospital and my studio all the time. I have used CT (cat) brain scans this season to create knit fabrics and digital prints. My obsession with reptile skins never seems to go away, and I have worked with Anwen Jenkins (awesome print designer) to create skull slice python skin prints. Basically, the python scales are replaced with multi-dimensional skull slices.
Apart from that, I research at museums and LCF Library. This season went to the British Museum and discovered Yoruba sculpture and traditional costumes. I researched these for silhouette and style lines. I also looked at Niger garments. They’re beautifully colourful, vibrant and flamboyant.
What are your favourite pieces from your latest collection?
Umm. I wear the cat suit most. I actually met my boyfriend the first time I wore it. So I’m renaming it Lucky cat suit. I also love the Flex jacket in red snakeskin. The razor sharp points make me feel like I am ready for world domination!
What was it like working with Giles Deacon and Louise Goldin? What did you learn from them?
I learnt that I hate taking orders from others! I’m really not one to toe-the-line. I am a perfectionist and this drives other people mad sometimes. I was a pattern-cutter at Giles, doing mostly tailoring, which suited me fine. Most people wanted to do the showpieces, but I was most happy cutting jackets. Giles is a really lovely bloke. Working with him was really my first experience of doing shows and the pressure and stress of getting everything done.
With Louise, my job was broader because in the beginning it was just the two of us. I learnt so much, I can’t even write it down. I worked in the London studio and the knitwear factory in Italy. I had the opportunity to learn knitwear programming, selecting yarns and cutting and constructing knit. I still work in the factory for my own label and really love it. The other big thing was learning about running a business and starting from scratch. The hoops you have to jump through, the process of getting sponsorship, doing shows, sales and production… It’s a massive undertaking starting your own label. And I still chose to do it! Bonkers.
Who do you think are the most important designers of your generation?
Hmm. Well, I like the work of Tina Kalivas and Gareth Pugh. If we’re talking most important, it has to be Gareth.
What do you think are the problems facing young designers at the moment?
The biggest problems are funding and dealing with suppliers, particularly for production. Creating a beautiful product that you can reproduce is actually really difficult! You need to understand the technicalities of fabrics and construction (or hire someone who does) otherwise it all goes wrong.
What’s next for Brooke Roberts?
In fantasy land, what’s next for Brooke Roberts is a holiday. In reality, I’m working hard on marketing and sales for London Fashion Week. I’m collaborating with jewellery designer Chris Edwards and shoe and bag designer Laura Villasenin on side projects for the label. Look out for skull slice stacked rings and metal bone-fixation embellished super-soft bags for SS10!!
Not slim tomatoes, viagra dosage narrow cucumbers or squashed, um, squashes – no, we’re talking about digging for victory in our own meagre abodes. With allotment waiting lists stretching beyond a century in Hackney and not many of us owning the half-county some how-to books seem to assume, options on grow-your-own approaches might look limited. But before you get the howling fantods at the piling impossibilities. As those of you who read the Amelia’s Magazine review of Growing Stuff (an Alternative Guide to Gardening) will know well, even the meagrest city apartment can burst forth in cornucopic life.
And but so then it seems the thing to do is simply to get a pack of seeds and a container and get growing, no hesitation about it. If a brief pause in favour of screenreading sounds like it could lead to better inspiration, I entreat you, read on. There’s a glut of blogs and enthusiasts all over the place to speak to or read up upon. Here are just a few of our favourites.
Life on the Balcony tells Fern Richardson’s encounters with gardens small and smaller, great for fresh faces and old hands alike, with an awesome friendly dirt cheap ways to garden.
Carrie, of Concrete Gardening blogging fame (true in a juster world), digs organic urban gardening, and has gotten into gardening without the erm, garden, since buying a house in the city (Philadelphia) and sees all the possibilities of planting up, sideways and over – just recently blogging about taking things to the next level and climbing up on her roof to plant out veggies, seedlings to sit and soak up sun.
Herbs and Dragonflies is written by a group set up by Kathy Marshall back in 2008 for the Pudsey Carnival and have been creatively, craftily planting since, encouraging others to get their green fingers dirty – doing activities with children and volunteering about the place. Most recently, they encouraged us blog-readers to leave the comfort of plastic planters and terracotta pots – most anything can sit with some soil in it. They suggest novelty Cadbury’s Fingers tins, I’ve used fancy jamjars, and seen anything from skips to wellington boots enlisted in the service of greenery.
Emma Cooper (I’m cribbing now from the ‘Growing Stuff’ contributor biogs page) lives in Oxfordshire with two pet chickens – Hen Solo and Princess Layer – and six compost bins. She has written an ‘Alternative A-Z of Kitchen Gardening’, which Karen Cannard The Rubbish Diet reckons is ‘an inspirational tour of an edible garden that can be recreated in the smallest of backyards. An essential guide for a new generation of gardeners who are keen to join the kitchen garden revolution.’And she blogs about anything from compost to pod plants to the future of food…
Madeleine Giddens loves herbs, which I guess you’d guess from the name of her blog – Mad About Herbs. But there’s nothing off the wall about any of it, she’s plunged into an obsession and come out smelling of roses and lavender, buzzing about bees too, recently, and their favourite flowers.
So there you have it, just a few spots and pointers. Good evening, and wishes for a fruitful weekend from Amelia’s Magazine.
The Royal Bank of Scotland. RBS. Formally known with pride as the “oil and gas bank” due to their close alliance with the fossil fuel industries. What on earth would I have to do with them? They may have lost the unfortunate moniker, treat partly due to a hugely successful campaign by People and Planet student activists who launched a spoof ad campaign and website named the Oyal Bank of Scotland before delivering a host of greenwashing awards – but they’re certainly not due for any special ethical mentions yet.
Not yet.
There was of course a massive £33 billion bank bailout from the taxpayer for RBS last year. But RBS didn’t spend the money on anything worthwhile. Oh no, the truth is that RBS still has oily blackened hands. Most people will remember the Fred Goodwin debacle, he who managed to retire at the age of 50 on a £16 million pension funded by taxpayers. But that’s not the whole of it – since the bailout some of our money has been used to arrange loans for the fossil fuel industries worth a staggering £10 billion, including a substantial sum for E.ON, the company that wants to build a new coal fired power station at Kingsnorth. Despite the best efforts of activists – there was an impromptu snowball fight during the winter, Climate Rush held a luncheon dance and Climate Camp set up camp down the road at Bishopsgate – RBS continues to invest in unsustainable resources.
But the good news is there is hope for change!
As I’ve got more and more involved with activism I’ve got to know members of PLATFORM, who together with People and Planet and the World Development Movement have launched a legal challenge against our government to make sure that public money used for bailouts is put towards building sustainability. PLATFORM is an organisation that combines art with activism, research and campaigning, so in many ways we are perfect partners and I was really excited when they recently approached me to collaborate on an exciting new project at the Arnolfini gallery in Bristol.
As part of a wider festival named 100 Days, PLATFORM will be co-producing over 50 events, installations, performances, actions, walks, discussions and skill shares over a period of two months. This season is called “C words: Carbon, Climate, Capital, Culture” and is intended to highlight what needs to be done to change the world in the run-up to the incredibly important (but unlikely to solve anything) COP 15 conference (think Kyoto 2 – it failed first time around so why would it succeed now?) in Copenhagen in December.
Your part in this audacious experiment?
We’re going to re-envision RBS as a bastion of sustainability – the Royal Bank of Sustainability in fact. And it will be down to you to create the artwork… once more I will be running one of my becoming-somewhat-regular open briefs. We would like you to submit either a logo or a poster (or both) that will suggest a swing in the direction of all things sustainable in the most imaginative way possible. Around ten of the best artworks will be shown for a week at the prestigious Arnolfini gallery in Bristol as part of the whole shebang, culminating with a public judging and prize-giving overseen by yours truly and helped out by the folk at PLATFORM and no less than the Marketing Manager of the Arnolfini, Rob Webster, and Fiona Hamilton of Soma Gallery (Bristol), a woman with great taste in the arts who runs a cult art shop that has been a long standing supplier of my print magazine. We might even invite someone powerful from RBS! (invite being the operative word) After the event PLATFORM will profile you on their website with links to yours, and prior to the actual event I’ll be posting the best entries onto my website – one good reason to get your artwork in as quickly as possible.
If you are interested read on:
What you need to know:
Ideas:
Yeah yeah – we all know wind turbines are great news and polar bears are having a terrible time, but for this brief we’d like you to think a bit outside the box. We’ll be looking for the most refreshing ways of thinking about how we can live in the most sustainable way possible, and most importantly how RBS could play a possible role in aiding this transition to a low carbon world. Don’t forget that we, the taxpayers, own 70% of RBS – why not make it into the people’s bank? You should make clear in your chosen design the re-imagining of the old RBS into the new. Instead of investing in carbon-intensive industries the new RBS will serve the public interest by investing only in socially conscious, ethically driven, and environmentally sound projects.
Style:
Think serious or earnest, kitsch or ironic, warm and fluffy, abstract or illustrative; whatever best communicates the concept and appeals to the broader public, the press and perhaps even people in government. It should engage and inspire. You can collage photography on your computer or paint with your fingers and toes – what matters is the outcome. We want to see imagery that speaks of something new, radical and POSSIBLE. Think positive social force. We love the Obama image that was used in the run up to his election – the reworking of his image in a simple pop art style somehow speaks volumes about new, positive change – and has fast become an iconic piece of graphic design, so we thought we’d use it here to demonstrate that you don’t have to be too literal in your interpretation of the brief to create a successful image. If you choose to create a poster remember that it could be made as an advert.
Technical specifications:
your image should be created to these sizes and scannable or put together on a computer:
A1 for the poster.
A2 or squared off A2 for the logo.
Please send me a lo resolution version but make sure you work to these sizes. We will arrange for the printing of your image should it be chosen.
Deadline:
We need your submissions to reach me by Monday 2nd November. Please send lo res versions of your design to info@ameliasmagazine.com
Future projects:
Please bear in mind that if we really love your work we might want to use it in further literature and exhibitions. Just think, your work really could persuade RBS to change course at a pivotal point in our history. What a fabulous idea!
Join the facebook event here to stay in touch with updates
And join the “Stop RBS using public money to finance climate change” facebook group here
Below is a list of links you might want to peruse for inspiration:
Get scribbling folks! Any queries please contact me directly via email rather than on the comments below.
If you have been to a UK festival in the last few years, pharm chances are that at some point you found yourself dancing in the OneTaste tent. Having residency at Glastonbury, sicknessBig Chill and Secret Garden Party to name but a mere few, OneTaste have acquired a devoted fan base of festival goers who want a guarantee that when they walk into a tent they will get the following components; top quality live music, an high-spirited and friendly crowd, and twenty four hour revelry.
OneTaste in Hyde Park, London
Yet their festival appearances are just one aspect of the multifaceted music troupe. When they are appearing at say, SGP or Glasto, they perform as a collective of musicians, poets and artists who, for many of the festivals, break bread and share space with Chai Wallahs. When they put on events in Greater London and Brighton, (where every night is different from the last), their roots run deep, towards diverse and innovative singers, performers and spoken word artists. They are fiercely proud of their reputation of facilitating and nurturing emerging talent; promoting, not exploiting it, connecting with the audience and creating a true OneTaste family, both onstage and off.
I have known of OneTaste for years, being friends with some of the artists who have performed with them. Having shamelessly utalised their tent at this years Secret Garden Party to dance, drink, chill, detox and then re-tox, I felt it was time to get to know them a little better. The perfect opportunity came at the recent OneTaste night at the Bedford in Balham which I attended recently on a balmy Thursday night. The vaudeville past of the Globe Theatre within the Bedford was an apposite setting for the style of event that OneTaste puts on. As the preparation for the evenings entertainment began in this deeply historical building, I managed to catch a quick chat with the creator of OneTaste, Dannii Evans, where we talked about the rhymes, reasons and the meaning behind this unique and innovative event.
photograph by Kim Leng Hills
When I saw OneTaste’s excellent night in the Jazz Cafe a while back, I saw a lot of different styles of music and spoken word. What would you say is the one common thread that unites everyone?
We’ve always been trying to find out what the thread is! It is definitely not genre, we do every single style and welcome every style, probably the only genre we haven’t booked yet is heavy metal! The thing that links us all together .. (pauses)… is that everyone has got a massive social conscience; it is not always explicit, but it is implicit within a person, it’s in their art. It’s something that holds us all together, everyone at OneTaste has that in mind – that there is a bigger picture and that we need to better ourselves in everything that we do.
The OneTaste music and spoken word night, started four and a half years ago by myself, and Jamie Woon. We basically started it in order that these musicians can do something where they could get paid.
You pay the performers? That’s so rare!
Definitely. We wanted to put on a night where the quality of every single act was really high and it could be where musicians could start their career, so that was the premise. Also the concept is that the event is always half music, half spoken word.
So is it a collective, a record label, an event? I’m kind of confused!
It started off as an event, with us meeting a number of artists and acts that we got on really well and gelled with, who we took on tour around festivals, and then out of spending three months together we formed the OneTaste collective. It started becoming an artist run collective where people would help with the actual event production and then it ended with them all collaborating on material together.
How do artists become part of OneTaste? Is it something that they can dip in and out of?
Absolutely, it’s not exclusive. It grew organically, it’s not an in or out thing – it happens more naturally than that.
Do you have to audition to get in?
To take part in the OneTaste night, either myself or someone running it have to have seen them live. Audience engagement is very important to us, to reach out and to be able to communicate with the audience is really vital. The live aspect and their live dynamic with the crowd is so important, so while they don’t audition, we do need to see how they will perform.
So it seems to have grown hugely in the last four years; Can you give me an idea of the numbers of acts that you have worked with?
In the collective, we have around 30 acts that we are currently championing, but in the last four years we have worked with around 300 artists. The audiences have grown from 40 people to 300 here at the Bedford, 500 at the Jazz Cafe, and 5,000 at the recent gig we did in Hyde Park.
How does OneTaste promote its artists?
It has always been very grass roots, we’ve never done an advert, it’s always just been people coming down and then telling their friends and from that it grew really quickly.
Are there many of the artists signed to labels, and do you help them along their way?
We do, we give them industry advice – we develop their music, or spoken word, we try to help where we can. Some of the artists like Jamie Woon or Portico Quartet have gone on to get more media attention and they kind of carry the OneTaste name with them and still do gigs for us.
What is the direction that OneTaste is heading in?
Potentially, we might have our own venue at festivals next year, which is really exciting. We have a digital compilation coming out, the first one will be coming out in September, and eventually we may form a OneTaste record label.
Gideon Conn performs at OneTaste Bedford.
Dannii and I continue chatting for a short while, and after this she has tasks to do. The audience is filling up, and the night is about to start. Sitting on a bench in the back with a big glass of red wine, I watch the event unfold. The performers are electric, and completely different from one another, yet equally complimentary. Most appear to be old friends, and loudly cheer each others performances. The atmosphere is infectious, I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed myself so much at a gig (and it’s not because of the wine!). I’m quite au fait with the open mic nights and acoustic gigs of London, but I haven’t been to a night which is as cohesive and inclusive as OneTaste. If you want to experience it for yourself, OneTaste are easy to find. Check out their Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Flickr for images, articles, and dates about upcoming shows, which include a September 8th gig at The Distillers in Hammersmith and 27th September at The Hanbury Club in Brighton.
This week Climate Camp 2009 swoops on London, this site aiming to pressure politicians ahead of the Copenhagen climate change summit in December. Climate Camp will achieve this by encouraging individuals to think about lifestyle changes possible both collectively and personally to prevent climate change.
Sharing these sensibilities, the French Collective Andrea Crews encourage a new life philosophy outside the corporate rat race so often associated with London and other major cities. Being introduced to the fashion/art/activist collective Andrea Crews felt like a breath of fresh air often associated with Amelia’s magazine, a long time supporter of sustainable fashion, craft, activism and individual design.
Andrea Crews Collective express their desire for economic and social change through “the use and the reinterpretation of the second-hand garment” calling it “a social, economic and ethical choice.” A choice displayed by the sheer volume of abandoned second hand garments used throughout the catwalk shows, art exhibitions and activist events. The group criticise the relentless waste of modern consumption, fast fashion has helped to create, through visualising the stress on land fill sites around the world in their staged events. Subsequently by ignoring market pressures: mass seduction and seasonal calendars, Andrea Crews re-introduces a slower, more individual fashion culture through the processes of sorting and recycling.
The Crews Collective march to the same tune as Climate Camp, not only by caring for the environment but in their dedication towards an alternative developed sustainable economy. Andrea Crews encourages mass involvement stating that the project “answers to a current request for creative energy and social engagement. Recycling, Salvaging, Sorting out, are civic models of behaviour we assert.” Thus the power of low-level activism or grass roots activism becomes apparent, if enough people participated with Climate Camp or The Andrea Crews Collective. The pressure on governments to look for an alternative way of living would be undeniable.
The ever-expanding coverage of ethical, eco fashion on the internet plays testimony to the idea that the individual is changing. The Andreas Collective through their exquisite catwalks –particularly the Marevee show with the appearance of clothes mountains which the models scrambled over to reach the runway- draw attention to the powerful position regarding sustainability, fashion can occupy if it so chooses.
All quotes and images are from the Andrea Crews website. DIY LONDON SEEN The Market Building
Covent Garden, doctor London WC2 8RF
Until 5th September
DIY LONDON SEEN hopes to illustrate the growth of the movement inspired by the ‘Beautiful Losers’, doctor which is now a global phenomenon, generic by showcasing the work of local artists whose work takes the ethos of the Alleged gallery Artists and runs with it.
Show runs from: 28th August- 2nd September ’09,
with a preview on the 27th September from 6.00-9.00pm
Artists: Ellen Burroughs presents intricate technical drawings of a surreal nature, Sophie Axford-Hawkins shows bespoke jewelery that follows an identical theme.
The Jake-OF Debut UK Solo Show
Austin Gallery
119A Bethnal Green Road,
Shoreditch London E2 7DG
Running from the 3rd-16th September.
The opening evening is on the 3rd at 6:30pm.
Featuring a collection of his best print, sculpture and instillation work from the past four years. The show will include prints from the Quink series and the first original Quink painting to be exhibited.
So Long Utopia East Gallery
214 Brick Lane
?London ?E1 6SA
Until 2nd September
EASTGALLERY is proud to present the first solo exhibition of UK artist Sichi. ‘So Long Utopia’ will feature a thematic collection of new paintings and drawings. ??‘So Long Utopia’ is an energetic exhibition focusing on the theme of the lost Utopian dream. The artworks in this collection are of portraits, statements and imagined characters, where any premonition of ‘Utopia’ is quickly dispelled by the creatures inhabiting Sichi’s dystopian world.
Opening 19 August 6:30 – 8:30
20th – 31st August
Free
A busy August Bank holiday weekend is almost upon us, dosage and if you cant make it to Climate Camp starting on Wednesday there is plenty of other events to keep you occupied this week.
Festival of The Tree 2009
Delve into the world of wood and trees with sculptors, workshops, walks, art exhibitions and more with all proceeds going to treeaid, a charity that is enabling communities in Africa’s drylands to fight poverty and become self-reliant, while improving the environment. Weston Arboretum has a week long run of activities, with the organisers calling it a radical transformation from last year with exciting new additions.
Check the full programme of events here.
From Monday 24 – Monday 31 August…
Open daily from 9am-5pm?Admission: Adult £8, Concession £7, Child £3.?
Camp for Climate Action
A week long event kicking of this wednesday with with a public co-ordinated swoop on a secret location within the M25, make sure you sign up for text alerts and watch Amelias twitter for updates. Join your swoop group here, the locations have been revealed so get planning your route.
Check the great list of workshops here, and get ready for some climate action.
There’s workshops to suit everyone from direct action training to consensus decision making for kids, as well as evening entertainment from the Mystery Jets among others. Come along for a day or the whole week.
Wednesday 26 Aug 2009 to Wednesday 02 Sep 2009
E-mail: info@climatecamp.org.uk
Website: www.climatecamp.org.uk
Carshalton Environmental Fair
The Environmental Fair is one of the biggest events in the London Borough of Sutton. 10,000 people attend with over 100 stalls with environmental information, arts and local crafts, with stages showcasing local musical talent, a Music cafe and a Performing Arts Marquee. Food stalls and a bar thats also showcasing some local talent. There is a free bus operating from Sutton.
Adults £3, concessions £1 and kids get in free.
Monday 31st August
Contact: fair@ecolocal.org.uk
Website: http://www.ecolocal.org.uk/
Green Fayre
Range of Green craft workshops where you can learn about the most pressing environmental issues and how you can live a more sustainable life, all set in the Welsh country side. Yurt making, permaculture design, spinning, screen printing, pole lathe, bird box making, cooking from the hedgerows and much more.
Date: Friday 28 Aug 2009 to Monday 31 Aug 2009
Weekend Camping for the family £40?E-mail: info@green-fayre.org
?Website: www.green-fayre.org
Benefit gig for Anarchists Against the Wall
At RampART social centre, music with Hello Bastards, Battle Of Wolf 359,Suckinim Baenaim (Israel), Julith Krishum (Germany). The AWW group works in cooperation with Palestinians in a joint popular struggle against the occupation.
Monday 24 August 2009 19:00 RampARTSocial Centre?15 -17 Rampart Street, London E1 2LA?(near Whitechapel, off Commercial Rd)
London Critical Mass
Cyclists get together to take control of the roads around London usually with a sound system in tow. The London Mass meets at 6.00pm on the last Friday of every month on the South Bank under Waterloo Bridge, by the National Film Theatre.
Not got a bike, dont worry, any self propelled people from skateboarders, rollerbladers to wheelchairs are welcome.
Friday 28 August 2009
Website: http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk/ Earth First Gathering 2009 was held over last weekend. It’s an event we’ve been looking forward to since it appeared in our diary back in July. Check out our Earth First preview for more information. We all pitched up our tents in the wettest place in Britain which unluckily lived up to its name, doctor but although it didn’t feel like summer it didn’t stop any of the numerous workshops from going ahead and there was even a handy barn where people could take refuge if their tents didn’t survive the downpours.
There were chances for people to get to grips with water activities like building rafts and kayaking on the nearby Derwent lake, help plenty of discussion groups and chances for people to learn new skills. A forge kept many enthralled, viagra me included, and it was great to see the dying trade in action and people learning from the experienced blacksmiths.
Seeds for change, a group that holds workshops for action and social change, were down at the camp, get in touch with them if you’re thinking of holding your own event and they will be willing to facilitate a range of engaging talks and discussions. Tripod, a Scottish based training collective working with grassroots and community groups is another to check out – there is plenty to benefit from with training and support that gears towards social action.
Earth First has been going for decades and with direct action at the heart of what they do, it has helped and nurtured many to get involved and start taking action themselves rather than relying on leaders and governments. Look out for the next gathering, as EF notes, “if you believe action speaks louder than words, then Earth First is for you.”
We legged it up the amazing waterfall that created a great backdrop to the camp before tea one evening to get some great views over the valley.
Joining the queue for our meals was a daily highlight, you could browse the radical bookstall along it that had numerous zines and books for sale. Then the food, put on by the Anarchist Teapot, was amazing and i was queueing up for seconds at every opportunity. Evening entertainment was put on by a ramshackle group of poets and musicians and hecklers, and sock wrestling was also a new experience for me, got to try that one again.
On cue the heavens opened on the last night, but I managed to get my tent down and joined the chickens in the barn where I literally hit the hay.
Just thought I’d say well done to the police FIT team who were able to navigate the windy and tricky road to turn up most days: good effort! The Legion in Old Street has undergone a bit of a refurb since the last time I was there. Vague recollections of dodgy sauna-style wood panelling on the walls and a Lilliputian stage awkwardly occupying one corner are now banished by what seemed like an even longer bar than was there before. The venue has had a fresh wave of new promoters which appears to have progressed it from a jack of all things club-based, website like this in an area drowning in the like, there to somewhere incorporating a broader musical palette. A case in point tonight, being the headline band, Death Cigarettes.
I’d seen Death Cigarettes a couple of times around various East London venues over the last twelve months. For a band whose reputation is in part founded on an explosive live show, the cavernous confines of the Legion seemed to take some of the sting out of them, compared to more intimate settings.
Musically, they inhabit that driving New York No Wave inspired sound – thrashing guitars, pounding drums and rumbling bass coupled with urgently delivered vocals. An obvious comparison is with early Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and there is certainly more than a touch of Karen O in enigmatic lead singer Maya.
With this band though, the music is only half the story. Coming on unusually late for a Sunday night, Maya emerges from the encaves of a slightly startled audience to take the stage to join the rest of the band as they thrash away around her. It’s not long though before she heads back out into the throng… One group of people were ensnared by her mic lead, another was treated to an intimate introduction with a flying mic stand before Maya suddenly reappears behind the audience, exhorting the crowd before her from atop a table. At this point, the guitarist also wanted a piece of the audience action and decides to go walkabout, before concluding the set with a piece of probably not premeditated Auto-Destruction, reducing his guitar to matchwood.
Death Cigarettes have certainly been making a few noises of late, with the likes of Artrocker and The Fly singing their praises, and they are set to appear at the Offset Festival (new guitar permitting). For a band with a distinct approach to their music and performance, it will be interesting to see if they will, over time, develop their sound to the same extent that NYC steadfasts, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, have so spectacularly done. Liberty prints have become something of a British Institution in the fashion world, cialis 40mg inspiring the current vintage scarf and headband trend as well as influencing designers to include whimsical prints in their own creations (basically everybody on the high street). Prints conjure up an image of refined country values, thumb and have a truly English feel to them, stomach reminding us of our grannies chicly riding their bicycles in winding country lanes after World War 2 (maybe that’s just my overactive imagination!)
Until 2nd September an entire exhibition is being dedicated to this quintessentially British item on the fourth floor of the London Liberty store, and Amelia’s Magazine think you should get in touch with your inner fifties housewife and check it out!
Aptly entitled Prints Charming, the designs at Liberty’s exhibition certainly do what they say on the tin. Six designers were invited to contribute to the show to create their own unique take on Liberty’s iconic prints. Designs span from the pottery artist Grayson Perry’s enigmatic creations featuring tombstones, teddy bears, knuckle-dusters, swings, roundabouts and bicycles mounted on fabric, to uber-famous Meg Matthews’ teeny floral print wallpaper pieces given an injection of rock and roll heritage (like Meg herself) with snakeskin and skulls motifs. Other artists involved with the project include Paul Morrison, Mike McInnerney, Michael Angove, Anj Smith and Simon Hart, each taking an individual and modern approach to the eponymous Liberty print.
The exhibition reads like a piece of installation art. In fact, art aside there is much more happening. Take note of the furniture and décor (mirrors, chairs, chandeliers and tables) coated in Liberty prints, heavily featured throughout the window display designed by Interiors company Squint. Not forgetting that the store’s entire exterior is decorated in the Betsy micro-floral print. The show also includes full size dolls dressed in Liberty rags, a Wendy house covered in strips of print by artist Helen Benigson, and vintage bicycles by classic bike-maker Skeppshult redesigned with a Liberty twist (complete with feather headdress!)
Being an exhibition, the history of the iconic print is thrown in for good measure too. Documentation of the label’s historic collaborations can be found throughout, featuring modern legends such as Chloe Sevigny for Opening Ceremony, APC, NIKE and Kate Moss for Topshop. This is an art-fashion collaborative experience not to be missed!
Everything designed is available to buy; whether that be in fabric, notebook, scarf, luggage tag, boxer short, wellie boot or lampshade form! With the endless list of talent involved, there’s no doubt something to catch anyone’s magpie eye. Several prints are one-off pieces made especially for the show, such as Matthews’ wallpaper, therefore ensuring a chance of grabbing a piece of history in the making. And who doesn’t love a bit of print patterning? After all, with the current revival of all things retro, Liberty prints are up there with shoulder padding and acid wash in fashionistas’ hearts! So get down to the exhibition before the opportunity to soak up the artistic atmosphere disappears (like most the stock will be sure to do!)
Swap shops, ampoule Freeshops, generic give away shops, visit this site they all aim to go against the capitalist framework, and often people can’t quite get their heads around the idea, that, yes it is free and you can take it!
When I dropped by the free shop near Brick Lane, I received firsthand experience of this when a woman asked the way to the ‘trendy’ Shoreditch area and when invited to look around the Freeshop declined with a shrug of the shoulders. It appears it just wasn’t hip enough, that or she couldn’t quite comprehend the idea of a piece of clothing for under 50 quid.
When speaking to some of the squatters, the Freeshop felt like an organic progression from the original squat in the building: “The idea of this Freeshop had come out from a series of workshops held in the squatted building last month. Originally, the building was opened up for a free school, and when that was over we realised we had this shop front on Commercial Street and felt it would be interesting to kind of undermine the shops down the road.” Donations from friends helped to get it off its feet and now they seem to be undated with more than enough.
With our ‘throw away society,’ Freeshops can form direct action and can engage people to think about the way they live and consume. They also see it as a chance to try and engage with the community, which means the squatters don’t get isolated in the neighborhood. They also feel the shop was an important medium of communication to people. It seems to be working well with most people having a chat or picking up leaflets when they come in to look around. The basic idea is that it should not just be about taking things, but sharing ideas too.
The squatters make efforts to engage with the community, with flyers sent out when they set up shop. Although the state has rigid bureaucratic rules to follow regarding squats they hope that support from the community will help their cause. The court date regarding an impending eviction is on 28th August, but they are hopefully looking to get it adjourned. Signatures and people giving support certainly can’t hinder their defense.
As well as offering clothes, shoes and household items, the Freeshop also has space for regular workshops and events where members of the community and network can get involved. A wind turbine course is in the pipeline so make sure you drop in to check when it’s happening.
I had a chat with one of the squatters to get a better insight into the ideas and experiences behind the Freeshop.
Have you had any experiences of Freeshops before you came here?
Berlin, Barcelona, Bristol all have set up freeshops and there are plenty more around the world. One time in Barcelona went down the main commercial road with a stall, loads of people came to pick up stuff, completely ignoring the chain stores. It was like people were just interested in consuming products wherever they came from. The cops were called of course.
Can you get moved on for that?
Maybe, I mean, but look at the number of people selling sausages in the centre of town – it depends on how big or moveable the stand is. We had the idea of maybe setting something up down in Hanbury Street, just at Spitalfields Market, but that’s just an idea so far.
What kind of people do you get coming in?
Some homeless people come in and others, how shall we say, are like the kind of people who go down Brick Lane on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. There’s a really broad range.
Can people get involved in the Freeshop?
Come along to say hello or to the meeting on Tuesdays, that’s a good place to start, talk about and organise things we want to make happen, maybe do a shift in the shop.
Do you look to publicise, and how do people find out about the Freeshop?
There’s a big difference between being on the net and Facebook/social networking, and just relying on old style traditional methods, just by being here, and it works like a shop that people can just come into. It’s good to see how far just traditional ways can get us, and if that works well, then maybe others will do the same. It’s not rocket science, there’s no big intellectual concept behind it, it’s just a free shop.
Located on Commercial Road at the end of Quaker Street, drop in to pick up some new stuff while it lasts and offer your support.
What was formerly the Lush store in Covent Garden’s main piazza is now host to the exhibition ‘DIY London Seen’, this site a homage to the subjects of the film ‘Beautiful Losers’.
The film recounts the story of a group of likeable young suburban artists who, approved despite creating work outside the established art system in 1990s NYC, more about very quickly rose to commercially vaunted fame and success.
Their ethos, borne of skateboarding, punk, graffiti and DIY living, was to be an artist without adhering to art history or education. Doing what you love whatever the rest of the world thinks. These artists, Harmony Korine, Ed Templeton, Mark Gonzales, Barry McGee, Shepard Fairey, Jo Jackson, Thomas Campbell, Deanna Templeton, Stephen Powers, Chris Johanson, Mike Mills and the late Margaret Kilgallen were united by the then curator of Alleged Gallery, Aaron Rose, now Director of the film “Beautiful Losers’.
In the 90s, the Beautiful Losers’ work was outsider. In 2009, the art exhibited at DIY London Seen is mainstream commercial fodder that is regularly used for major branding.
However, this fact doesn’t reflect negatively on the spirit of the artists’ work or the exhibition itself. It merely highlights an unprecedented support for the arts (commercial or otherwise) and a vastly adjusted attitude about what it means to be an artist where to be commercial does not mean being a ‘sell-out’.
The space is donated by Covent Garden London, which provides gallery space in the West End to diverse forms of art through part of Covent Garden’s Art Tank movement.
The exhibition is curated by Bakul Patki and Lee Johnson of ‘Watch This Space’. Their previous experience in the commercial and critical art markets spans over ten years and as a result, they know how to put together a good exhibition.
The private view, replete with canapés filling enough to make a full dinner, was packed mainly with trendy young adults in their 20s and early 30s and a few stylish characters in their 40s. The invitees milled about in the two-storey, three-roomed space, drinking free cider, looking at the art and gathering in pockets outside to chat and smoke.
The exhibition space boasts 52 pieces of mainly original art including a seven foot tall mirror-tiled bear created by 21-year-old Arran Gregory and a lightbulb suspended from the ceiling, revolving on a record as it spins (I kept hoping that the bulb would eventually melt the record but instead the record keeps endlessly spinning).
There is a lot of illustration and photography of the sort you see around in many galleries in East London and on various advertising paraphernalia and as usual, some of it is good.
What stands out most about the exhibition is how, in a decade and a half, enough has changed so that what might once have been outsider art is now perfectly at home and fully catered for in the bustling centre of one of London’s most well-trafficked areas.
Young artists and older artists, property organisations, the public and the commercial world are a blur, shaking hands in every direction.
Disused property is now the breeding ground for emerging artists and successful commercial art curators are there to provide fully functioning and well-run exhibitions.
Whether the Beautiful Losers were the seminal artists paving the way for opportunities afforded to such artists as those of London Seen or not, they were lucky enough to rise to success. The acceptance of skateboard, graffiti, DIY culture could have come earlier, later or not at all.
London Seen and Beautiful Losers are reminders that in a commercially driven market making art isn’t about how much the public loves, or ignores, what you do. As trends come and go, their message is to never forfeit the ethos of doing what you love whatever the rest of the world thinks. History will always move forward and with it, the randomness of success.
Check out DIY London Seen in Covent Garden until 5th of September at 11, The Market Building, Covent Garden, London WC2 8RF.
Beautiful Losers is now available on DVD from the ICA.
Are you a budding comic artist? By that I don’t mean stand-up of course, approved but rather someone who fancies themselves as a bit of a comic stripper…
Well, visit this if so you might fancy getting your teeth sunk into this little competition from Ctrl.Alt.Shift.http://www.myspace.com/lightspeedchampion Judged by such luminaries as Dev aka Lightspeed Champion and Paul Gravett – who directs the Comica festival at the uber cool ICA and has authored countless books on comic art – this should be an excellent chance to get your work seen by a wide audience.
So what happens then? If your work is picked as the winning entrant you will be asked to interpret a comic script written by Dev, which will then be featured in a 100 page book about corruption in politics and contributed to by all the best names in the world of comics and graphic novels. 5000 copies of the book will be sold in aid of charity and your work will feature in a month long exhibition about political comic art in the Lazerides Gallery in Soho during November.
The suggestion is that you pick as your submission something that is applicable to the theme of the competition (ie. corruption in politics), but bear in mind that the final entrants will be chosen on the basis of their visual flair rather than subject content. You can see the competition flyer below.
This is your chance to have your work included a really great project with a whole host of the best names in comic art. Plus it’s for a really worthwhile cause… Sounds like a great plan to me!
Here at Amelia’s Magazine, sales we’re aligned more with uplifting, buy information pills good time folk than gut wrenching, angst-y emo. We just think, why be so sombre? So when an album lands on the doormat like the Mariachi El Bronx‘ new output, well, we couldn’t be happier. Those formerly depressed LA lads in The Bronx, have employed a guitarrón, knocked back a heavy dose of tequila and picked up their maracas to deliver an album that is more Latino fun times than their usual emotional dirge.
A quick glance over the track listing tells you that they haven’t lifted their mood all that much, as the titles still bemoan tales of ‘Cell Mates’, ‘Litigation’ and ‘Slave Labor.’ Although tracks on this album have been masked by a scrim of vihuela solos, trumpet fanfares and accordion bellowing.
Mixing traditional music with a hardcore ethos is nothing new – think 90s Finnish folk metal of Finntroll and Moonsorrow – which blend a 6-piece folk band with paganism tales. This combination of Hispanic sounds and wailing of lyrics, such as “The dead can dance if they want romance/All I need is some air” on ‘Quinceniera’, seems to make perfect sense when you consider the Mexican celebration, Day Of The Dead, where they leave out food and gifts for the deceased.
Despite sounding like the tough LA outfit have gone soft and found God, take a closer listen to tracks like ‘Silver Or Lead’ and you’ll find they’re singing, “Quit asking Jesus for help/Go out and find it yourself.” Rather a rebellious punk rock move, when sung in the musical style of a devoutly Catholic culture.
El Bronx might not be everyone’s cup of tea (-quila), but it’s a fun, refreshingly, tongue-in-cheek album whose Mexican flight of fancy will have you in the mood for a corona and nachos in no time. I say more bands should get out of their comfort zones and explore new genres like El Bronx have – ¡Arriba!
“Why wear a skirt upside down? You do if your waistline has expanded and you can’t close it at the waist.”
The fashion community from Marc Jacobs to Ashley Olsen (The Twins are often credited with continuing to have fun and make ‘mistakes’ with fashion) has embraced little Edie’s alternative style and self-expression. Play is inherent in her choice of clothes and embellishment. It is Edie acting as herself that transformed her into a style icon. The film is a credit to Albert and David Maysles skill and compassion as documenters in how they managed to capture the two Edie’s individual spirits. For this reason the film becomes truly special as it replicates on screen their at times complex loving, resenting and co-dependent mother/daughter relationship.
The documentary is peppered with half-told remembrances to make past lives bearable, poignant for Big and Little Edie’s heartbreaking denouncement of each other’s memory. The dialogue throughout the film is often refreshing for their –intentional or unintentional- political philosophical undertones.
Near the start of the film, a five-minute conversation discusses the symbiotic relationship between freedom and support (Little Edie argues the opposite to her mother, saying without support you can’t be free). A prophetic conversation, whose sentiment is applicable to the British Government’s ever increasing reliance on business and continuing refusal to accept the pressure big business places on the climate.
Big Edie: “You can’t get any freedom when you’re supported.”
How can the Government make a rational decision on Climate Change when they build over-familiar relationships with Heathrow BAA and the aviation business?
Big Edie: “When are you going to learn Edie your part of the world?”
Whilst Big Edie’s comment is more of an undertone, this is what I hope the Government will realise this week during the Climate Camp protests. That governments and societies cannot exist without the physical world. We must be accountable for looking after the planet.
The film is beautifully composed enabling Big and Little Edie to have their moments in front of the camera, both alone and together. The film’s editing conveys an idea of a romantic time endlessly passing, though quite still and almost stagnant. It is the perfect fashion moment and Little Edie’s style becomes timeless in it’s absence.
The film watches Little Edie reminisce refuting her life choices, whilst Big Edie forever reminds of how different the past looks as one ages stating, “everyone thinks and feels differently as they get older.”
The documentary records the power struggle between the two women choosing and not choosing their unconventional decaying life style. Within each conversation, the viewer senses that Big Edie is the controlling personality and Little Edie the controlled. The relationship is summarised with the phrase “I didn’t want my child taken away, I would be entirely alone.” The sadness of the film occurs at the references to the stories off stage, which appear to surround the two Edies’ day after day. Forever acting out their parts within their own play. In front of the Maysles camera the endlessly groomed Little Edie becomes a star. Grey Gardens is a celebration of complex relationships and the unique individual, additionally highlighting the frequency at which fashion’s history is plundered to influence catwalk designs today.
“Why wear a skirt upside down? You do if your waistline has expanded and you can’t close it at the waist.”
The fashion community from Marc Jacobs to Ashley Olsen (The Twins are often credited with continuing to have fun and make ‘mistakes’ with fashion) has embraced little Edie’s alternative style and self-expression. Play is inherent in her choice of clothes and embellishment. It is Edie acting as herself that transformed her into a style icon. The film is a credit to Albert and David Maysles skill and compassion as documenters in how they managed to capture the two Edie’s individual spirits. For this reason the film becomes truly special as it replicates on screen their at times complex loving, resenting and co-dependent mother/daughter relationship.
The documentary is peppered with half-told remembrances to make past lives bearable, poignant for Big and Little Edie’s heartbreaking denouncement of each other’s memory. The dialogue throughout the film is often refreshing for their –intentional or unintentional- political philosophical undertones.
Near the start of the film, a five-minute conversation discusses the symbiotic relationship between freedom and support (Little Edie argues the opposite to her mother, saying without support you can’t be free). A prophetic conversation, whose sentiment is applicable to the British Government’s ever increasing reliance on business and continuing refusal to accept the pressure big business places on the climate.
Big Edie: “You can’t get any freedom when you’re supported.”
How can the Government make a rational decision on Climate Change when they build over-familiar relationships with Heathrow BAA and the aviation business?
Big Edie: “When are you going to learn Edie your part of the world?”
Whilst Big Edie’s comment is more of an undertone, this is what I hope the Government will realise this week during the Climate Camp protests. That governments and societies cannot exist without the physical world. We must be accountable for looking after the planet.
The film is beautifully composed enabling Big and Little Edie to have their moments in front of the camera, both alone and together. The film’s editing conveys an idea of a romantic time endlessly passing, though quite still and almost stagnant. It is the perfect fashion moment and Little Edie’s style becomes timeless in it’s absence.
The film watches Little Edie reminisce refuting her life choices, whilst Big Edie forever reminds of how different the past looks as one ages stating, “everyone thinks and feels differently as they get older.”
The documentary records the power struggle between the two women choosing and not choosing their unconventional decaying life style. Within each conversation, the viewer senses that Big Edie is the controlling personality and Little Edie the controlled. The relationship is summarised with the phrase “I didn’t want my child taken away, I would be entirely alone.” The sadness of the film occurs at the references to the stories off stage, which appear to surround the two Edies’ day after day. Forever acting out their parts within their own play. In front of the Maysles camera the endlessly groomed Little Edie becomes a star. Grey Gardens is a celebration of complex relationships and the unique individual, additionally highlighting the frequency at which fashion’s history is plundered to influence catwalk designs today.
I was hoping to be able to stay away from the Joy Division comparisons while writing this review of New York band Crystal Stilt’s new album In Love With Oblivion, visit this site but like many before me I’ve found it basically impossible – the influence of Ian Curtis flows through the band’s second album like a vein of precious metal. It’s singer Brad Hargett’s drone-like vocal that does it, strongly recalling Curtis as well as the similarly enigmatic Jim Reid of The Jesus and Mary Chain. (And now I won’t mention the J D words ever again…promise.)
In fact quite a lot has been written about Hargett’s singing style, sometimes scathingly, and his vocals are a little monotonous. There are points on this record when I really wanted him to surprise me by stepping out of the echo chamber to give some these songs a bit of extra punch. On Silver Sun for instance, the whole band are doing some pretty great stuff – the guitars and the organs and the jangle of the tambourine but Hargett maintains his monotonal drawl. There are few upbeat tracks on this record and if Hargett switched his style up a bit on some of them, it would lift the whole album.
But perhaps I’m missing the point, this appears to be an album that is more concerned with creating atmospheres or feelings than totally nailing each individual track. Hargett’s obvious attachment to the echo effect and the whole lo-fi approach towards recording and production makes this album sound dreamlike, almost as if you could be listening to it underwater, and to over-produce or clean up the sound would mean losing some of this otherworldly charm.
Departure by Crystal Stilts. From first album Alight of Night.
There’s also a kind of filmic side to the album, thanks to the murky sound and doom-laden lyrics, not forgetting the use of sound effects. Songs open and end with gusts of wind, car crashes, and crickets – it’s totally atmospheric and a big hint that Crystal Stilts aren’t your average Brooklyn-based hipster garage band.
The band clearly includes some skilful musicians, the Johnny Cash-inspired guitar licks of opening track Sycamore Tree provides as good an introduction as any – this is a track that sounds like it’s been around for the last 50 years. In fact there are clear 1960s influences throughout and pretty convincing in places, like the band went to sleep in 1964 and woke up in 2011 and continued making music like nothing had changed, which for someone like me, who happens to love the music of the 1960s, makes this album a really interesting prospect.
Through the Floor from In Love With Oblivion.
There are peaks and troughs with this record though, the seven minute Alien Rivers is a needless addition but those that follow like stand-out track Flying Into the Sun is a fantastic listen and includes the inspired lyrics “There’s a black hole/ behind these eyes/ takes everything with it/ when it dies.” Like the album title suggests there is a bit of an emo vibe running through much of Hargett’s songwriting.
This is the kind of album then, that may well find itself providing the soundtrack to a whole host of late night gatherings and post-party hangouts, and I suspect could sound even better when you’re burnt out but not ready to go to bed just yet.
Tucked away behind Angel Tube Station, down a small side street, you seem to be a world away from this most respectable part of North London. Indeed, only a stone’s throw from a Jamie Oliver restaurant, Electrowerkz stands in stark contrast. Housed in an old warehouse, Electrowerkz, or more officially, the Islington Metal Works, is a slightly surreal warren of rooms that, according to the website (when it’s not hosting weddings and other functions) still operates as an actual metal works. As a venue, it’s probably better known for club nights, and its dark, almost claustrophobic interior has that late eighties/early nineties rave feel to it. I’d first been here almost a decade ago (to see a then housemate play an electro set) and, until a month or so ago, hadn’t been back since. In all that time, the place remained unchanged.
Tonight, the buzz was all about Savages, on the first night of a brief residency. First up, though, were Blue On Blue. I’d seen them a couple of years ago as a shoegazey three-piece, but now as a duo (Dee Sada on keyboards and bass, Billy Steiger on keyboards, guitar and violin), they offer a more minimal, glitchy sound. I was most impressed with them, and the crowd that had gathered to watch seemed supportive.
During the break, I went for a bit of a wander, navigating a new set of stairs I’d never noticed previously. Hidden away on the lower level, past what appeared to be a video installation of some sort, was a small screening room showing an unusual early sixties Japanese film (which I later discovered to be the avant-garde classic The Woman In The Dunes).
Back upstairs, the crowd in the main room was beginning to swell as Savages’ set approached. This is a band that has really appeared from nowhere. Despite only being together since last year (and playing live for a few months), and with one single to their name (the double A side of Flying To Berlin and Husbands), they have earned lashings of praise from the music press, featured at a number of festivals, bagged a TV spot with Jools Holland and played at packed out venues (including an audience featuring the great and the good of the major indie record labels at Dalston’s Shacklewell Arms). I’d seen singer Jehnny Beth a couple of times before, as one half of French duo John & Jehn, but the sound of Savages is much darker than their pop noir, more a lesson in post-punk back to basics.
Taking to a suitably industrial looking stage, and bathed in harsh beams of white and blue light, Savages immediately let rip. With Fay Milton pounding away on drums, the rumbling bass of Ayse Hassan and Gemma Thompson’s squalls of guitar noise behind the jittery presence of Jehnny Beth, they recall such luminaries as Public Image Ltd, Siouxsie And The Banshees and Joy Division (indeed, the bassline on Flying To Berlin tips a sizeable doff of the cap to that of Peter Hook on Joy Division’s Colony). I tend to be a bit wary when it comes to hype bands, but with songs like City’s Full and Husbands reverberating around the tiny room, it proved that Savages are the real deal. And they are loud! They certainly got the audience going, though it looked a bit too sardine-like at the front for any moshing. Most surprising thing, though, was seeing a guy in front of me actually sketching the band on his iPad!
As the set closer Husbands shuddered to an abrupt halt, Savages left the stage to roars from the crowd, but there was to be no encore. Instead, to console ourselves, there is the newly released live EP and the prospect of seeing them once more in the UK in November, after a short trip to the States and some dates around Europe. After that, we shall have to wait and see what surprises Savages spring next.
Written by Richard Pearmain on Friday October 19th, 2012 8:23 pm
Last week I had the pleasure of reviewing Petter & the Pix‘s second album, hereGood As Gold, malady an eclectic bundle of folk and rock that never sits still longer than one track at a time. I urge you to seek it out, and you can listen to the first single off the album (Never Never) here. Petter, lead singer and ringleader of the group, of sorts, is an Icelandic chap from something of a musical family – his brother, Pontus, is half of the successful pop songwriting duo Bloodshy & Avant (not sure which one), and Petter himself used to be in Iceland’s first big reggae band, Hjálmar, as well as in a few other acts making everything from house beats to jazz. The Pix is Petter’s band, consisting of Mike Svensson on piano, Andreas Gabrielsson on bass, Nils Törnqvist on drums, and Mattias Franzen and Klas Ericsson on guitars. I had a quick catch-up with him to ask about his songwriting process.
Hi, Petter. What is it that you’re trying to do with the Pix? As in, what are you aiming for?
To make music and let everyone that is involved feel as involved as we are. I see music as some sort of get together, and I don’t want to work with anyone unless I can trust them to do their very best. For me a very big part of making music is to find situations where you can create moments of trust, with both your fellow musicians and a possible audience.
How would you describe your sound?
I’d say it some sort of pop.
Your music is extremely varied in style and instrumentation – how much to do you draw upon your experience with genres other than just ‘indie’ in making music?
I don’t really know how to define indie or pop if you are referring to it as a certain style of music. There are so many different music styles that people call indie or pop. The expressions seem to change depending on the decade in which they’re used. I think that for musicians, every piece of music they participate in changes the way they think about making music. If the musical history of the members in a group is varied, the outcome will somehow be a reflection of this.
What’s it like working with such a talented range of musicians? How much do they help in achieving that semi-orchestral breadth of sound?
The musicians are everything that there is! If I would choose another constellation of musicians then I’m sure that it would sound very different, not necessarily bad, but different. The fact that we’re all old friends makes it easier to work together.
What else influences you in your work? Where do you draw your ideas from? The world around you, friends, things like that?
The fact that it’s possible to survive as a musician, and that I enjoy playing and recording music, of course, are definitely the reasons why it’s worth making the effort to finish a song. But I think that what actually triggers the ideas could be just about anything, most likely it’s a combo of different components that effects your emotional state and I believe that music is just a product of that process.
This is your second album – do you feel that you’re progressing as a band?
Yes, I think that this album sounds different from the first one, so that would be progress. We haven’t been touring with this band so we haven’t been able to evolve in terms of meeting an audience. But we’ve played together in different constellations for at least ten years so I think that gives us the comfort to play what we like, even if doesn’t happen that often.
Last week I had the pleasure of reviewing Petter & the Pix‘s second album, this siteGood As Gold, capsule an eclectic bundle of folk and rock that never sits still longer than one track at a time. I urge you to seek it out, about it and you can listen to the first single off the album (Never Never) here. Petter, lead singer and ringleader of the group, of sorts, is an Icelandic chap from something of a musical family – his brother, Pontus, is half of the successful pop songwriting duo Bloodshy & Avant (not sure which one), and Petter himself used to be in Iceland’s first big reggae band, Hjálmar, as well as in a few other acts making everything from house beats to jazz. The Pix is Petter’s band, consisting of Mike Svensson on piano, Andreas Gabrielsson on bass, Nils Törnqvist on drums, and Mattias Franzen and Klas Ericsson on guitars. I had a quick catch-up with him to ask about his songwriting process.
Hi, Petter. What is it that you’re trying to do with the Pix? As in, what are you aiming for?
To make music and let everyone that is involved feel as involved as we are. I see music as some sort of get together, and I don’t want to work with anyone unless I can trust them to do their very best. For me a very big part of making music is to find situations where you can create moments of trust, with both your fellow musicians and a possible audience.
How would you describe your sound?
I’d say it some sort of pop.
Your music is extremely varied in style and instrumentation – how much to do you draw upon your experience with genres other than just ‘indie’ in making music?
I don’t really know how to define indie or pop if you are referring to it as a certain style of music. There are so many different music styles that people call indie or pop. The expressions seem to change depending on the decade in which they’re used. I think that for musicians, every piece of music they participate in changes the way they think about making music. If the musical history of the members in a group is varied, the outcome will somehow be a reflection of this.
What’s it like working with such a talented range of musicians? How much do they help in achieving that semi-orchestral breadth of sound?
The musicians are everything that there is! If I would choose another constellation of musicians then I’m sure that it would sound very different, not necessarily bad, but different. The fact that we’re all old friends makes it easier to work together.
What else influences you in your work? Where do you draw your ideas from? The world around you, friends, things like that?
The fact that it’s possible to survive as a musician, and that I enjoy playing and recording music, of course, are definitely the reasons why it’s worth making the effort to finish a song. But I think that what actually triggers the ideas could be just about anything, most likely it’s a combo of different components that effects your emotional state and I believe that music is just a product of that process.
This is your second album – do you feel that you’re progressing as a band?
Yes, I think that this album sounds different from the first one, so that would be progress. We haven’t been touring with this band so we haven’t been able to evolve in terms of meeting an audience. But we’ve played together in different constellations for at least ten years so I think that gives us the comfort to play what we like, even if doesn’t happen that often.
The first thing that you’ll notice about O.Children is that voice. Their singer sounds like he’s singing from the crypt – hell, physician the whole band sound like they’re howling from some horrible netherworld. Their indebtedness to the production style of the late 80s is clear (just stick on ‘Floodland‘ by the Sisters of Mercy to see exactly how much), but their sound owes just as much to more modern exponents of shoegaze and noise rock.
An introductory note here: When I first ‘got’ music, when it became something more than a tinny backing tune on the radio on the school run, it was the 80s that I fell in love with. I would stay up late listening the epic squall that opens Bauhaus’ ‘In The Flat Field‘ over and over again; or I’d search the web for grainy videos of Joy Division performing before they were canonical; or I’d even stay to the very end of Nick Cave‘s solo set at Bristol’s Colston Hall, missing my train back to London and sleeping in the station just because I couldn’t bear to miss a beat. I love how dark that music all sounded, all the space between the notes and the way that the guitars seemed to shiver while some demented sage would chant into the void about bats and judgement and all that nonsense.
Thus my fascination with O.Children, who appear to be rooted in this time period. I fired off a few quick questions to Tobi, their lead singer, on the eve of the launch of their latest single.
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Can you introduce yourselves and the rest of the band?
I’m Tobi, I sing and write the songs. Gauthier plays guitar. Harry plays bass and Andrew plays drums. Collectively we’re O.Children.
I’ve been listening to your songs, and I sense an affinity with the darker sides of early 80s post-punk, and (whilst I’m not sure you’d agree with me here) especially some of those proto-goth/industrial bands like Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and Sisters of Mercy. Where are you coming from with you music – are those the kinds of bands that you draw upon?
We’re certainly inspired by 80s goth music but we’re also into the general sound of the 80s as well as early 90s noise. The production techniques in particular. We love bands like The Birthday Party, Ciccone Youth, Big Black and Ministry, so we just take bits from all those types of bands and add them to our own personal sound. A little bit of edge.
What’s with the name? Is it a Nick Cave reference?
We bonded on ‘Shivers‘ by Boys Next Door, but then we realised that Boys Next Door was already taken and Shivers just didn’t work. O.Children was the next best thing.
What is it that you’re trying to achieve with your sound?
We just want people to enjoy the music. We’re recording out album at the moment and people will hopefully be (pleasantly) surprised by the outcome. We just want people to listen and make up their own minds.
What are you recording or planning to release? Anything soon?
‘Ruins‘, our second single, is released on April 19. The album should be done and released sometime in June so look out for that also.
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Head over to our listings section for more info on the party to celebrate the launch of their latest single, ‘Ruins’.
Written by Ian Steadman on Wednesday April 21st, 2010 6:18 pm
Austra gig at The Windmill by Laura Godfrey
It may have been a typically miserable Monday night in January, viagra sale but we were safe from the elements within the hallowed hall that is the Windmill in Brixton. This unassuming little pub just off the busy thoroughfare of Brixton Hill (and in the shadow of a real windmill, pills the only one remaining in London), has seen many upcoming bands and surprise appearances from old faces grace its stage over the years. My favourite music venue in London (and my second gig there in 48 hours), I’ve had a lot of nights at the Windmill that have been great (including my second New Year’s Eve in London), hazy (ditto) and just plain bizarre.
The evening began with some haunting acoustica from Daughter, aka Elena Tonra. Plucking at an acoustic guitar, and backed by some subtle electric guitar washes, Tonra’s hushed vocals delivered some daintily dark lyrics that drew the onlookers in.
As the Windmill began to fill up, Viv Albertine took to the stage with her new band, Limerence. Once the guitarist and co-songwriter with iconic punk band The Slits, Albertine had been off the music scene for over 20 years after pursuing a career in TV and film directing, but she recently made a return to the stage (indeed, her debut was here at the Windmill) and has gone on to release an EP on the label of Sonic Youth’s very own Thurston Moore.
“Limerence” was a term coined to describe a near-obsessive form of romantic love, though Albertine joked that her songs were generally about pretty much the opposite. Limerence the band is a loose collective of musicians – I’d seen them play at the George Tavern in Stepney last year with pretty much a full compliment, but tonight it was just a pairing of violin and a combo of keyboard, guitar and ukulele. Musically, Albertine has moved on from the reggae infused sound of her old band, though her guitar is still as distinctive as it was on songs like Typical Girls. If anything, there’s a hint of Syd Barrett about songs like Fairytale and the twisted pop of Never Come, and the lyrics are as witty and spiky as you’d expect. Void references a darker part of her punk past, and was introduced with a few reminiscences of 1976. The paired down line-up actually gave an extra edge to Albertine’s songs, highlighted on the unsettling set closer, Confessions Of A Milf, which descended into a one-chord riff on suburban paranoia.
Canadian headliners Austra have been causing a bit of a buzz of late. Hailing from Toronto, and centred on vocalist Katie Stelmanis, with Maya Postepski on programming and Dorian Wolf on bass, they recently renamed themselves (having previously been going under Stelmanis’ moniker), signed to Domino and currently have a 12” single out, with an album in the pipeline for later this year.
For the UK leg of a whistle-stop European tour, starting tonight, Stelmanis and co were joined by a drummer, keyboard player and two extra vocalists. There was a bit of a shaky start with a technical hitch before things got into their stride. It would be easy to make comparisons with Fever Ray and Glasser (especially as I’d seen both live fairly recently), and Austra do fall into that category of brooding female vocals over dark electronic beats. However, they’re not as dense as Fever Ray or as spectral as Glasser, especially live. I’d read somewhere that Austra were like “Fever Ray gone disco”, which actually isn’t a million miles off the mark. The single, Beat & the Pulse, is distinctly dance-friendly, and while Stelmanis’ vocal delivery may be reminiscent of Karin Dreijer Andersson, the general vibe is more akin to the early to mid 80’s indie-dance crossover. In the confined space of the Windmill, Austra’s songs become much more organic, with the live drums and bass giving an added kick. There was also plenty of theatricality, with Stelmanis and her sidekicks whirling and dipping during each song.
It was a typically great and varied mix of bands and styles tonight, another in a long line of great nights that I’ve experienced at the Windmill, and another one I’m sure that the venue’s legendary Roof Dog would approve of.
You never see Ringo Starr and Gary Lineker in the same room. Come on, information pills think about it! Anyway, ed I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from a band called Ringo Deathstarr. Some kind of black metal/merseybeat hybrid? I can categorically state otherwise, although I would be intrigued to hear what that sounded like. The album title gives more of an insight into their trippy, lysergic sound, but the key influences here are the late 80s/early 90s Creation bands like My Bloody Valentine and the Jesus and Mary Chain, with their squalling feedback and dreamy soundscapes.
Now, terms such as Shoegaze and Cathedrals of Sound do not exactly fill me with glee, but luckily Ringo Deathstarr give us a fresh and playful take on this kind of stuff. The brilliant opener Imagine Hearts starts with distorted 8-bit drum sounds before coming on like The Breeders’ Cannonball, with it’s dizzy, swirling guitars and bass player Alex Gehring’s dreamy, Kim Deal-like voice.
Throughout the album Gehring’s pretty, girly vocals duel with guitarist Elliot Frazier’s deeper, Ian Curtis-like croon, which provides a great counterpoint. On penultimate track Never Drive the band sound like a souped-up Joy Division.
It’s clear that these three Texans (the line-up is completed by drummer Daniel Coborn) love their vintage British indie. They’ve toured with fey 80’s jangle-merchants The Wedding Present. The breakdown in Two Girls sounds exactly like the intro to The Smiths’ Stop Me if You Think You’ve Heard This One Before. And in the song Do it Every Time, Frazier sings a lyric that may or may not say “We’re falling apart again, you took my cardigan”.
But rather than coming across as foppish miserablists, Ringo Deathstarr’s music is often powerful and joyous, and they’re at their best when playing the colour-saturated, nostalgic pop of stand out tracks So High and Kaleidoscope, which are the aural equivalent of a faded Polaroid taken on a sunny day in a park. In the 80s.
The fact that much of the lyrics are unintelligible, buried as they are under feedback and reverb, adds to the whole dreamlike quality of the record. When you do catch a phrase or word here and there, it feels like a stolen snippet of a faded memory. So, a host of 80’s indie references, dreamy girl/boy vocals and sun-faded guitar hooks – what’s not to like? Gary would approve. I mean Ringo…
Colour Trip is released on 14th February 2011 on Club AC30.
Written by Rob Harris on Wednesday January 26th, 2011 3:22 pm
