Amelia’s Magazine | Latitude 2010: Central Saint Martins Catwalk Review

Latitude 2010-Matthew Inett by Amelia gregory
Bethan Smith Latitude Festival by Krister Selin
Bethan Smith by Krister Selin.

I nestled in rushes amongst the clacking grasshoppers and giggling tweenies to watch the Latitude graduate fashion shows, what is ed played out along a catwalk linked to the Waterfront Stage. A selection of new faces from Elite formed a somewhat confusing parade between two stop offs on either side of the lake, not helped by a complete lack of clarity in announcements of each designer – What follows is the best of what I managed to catch, so if I’ve got any wrong please do let me know.

Latitude 2010-kids Amelia gregory
Latitude 2010-happy teen by Amelia Gregory
Photography by Amelia Gregory.

First up came the students from Chelsea College of Art and Design:

Latitude 2010-Ellen Chatelain by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Ellen Chatelain by Amelia Gregory
Ellen Chatelain didn’t disappoint with her patchwork knitwear.

Latitude 2010-Sorcha Herbert by Amelia Gregory
More colourful knitwear, or is it weave, from Sorcha Herbert?

Latitude 2010 fashion by Amelia Gregory
Gorgeous printed textiles by Charmaine Dresser worked perfectly shooting into the sun.

Latitude 2010 fashion by Amelia Gregory
Spectacular lasercut tailoring.

Latitude fashion Michelle Urvall Nyrén
Latitude fashion Michelle Urvall Nyrén
Ruched swimwear in mustard and greens. Illustration by Michelle Urvall Nyrén.

Latitude 2010 fashion by Amelia Gregory
More patchworked style.

Latitude 2010 fashion by Amelia Gregory
Subtle tones of caramel and slate.

Latitude 2010-fashion by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-fashion by Amelia Gregory
Padded and stitched capes combined with strange animal and psychedelic prints.

Bethan Smith Latitude Festival by Krister Selin
Bethan Smith by Krister Selin.

Sadly the wonderful creations of Bethan Smith never crossed the lake – I guess the models were worried they might fall in. Fair play.

Latitude 2010-fashion by Amelia Gregory

More monochrome geometrics and slate shades from Helen Lawrence.

Latitude 2010-Shawana Grosvenor by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Shawana Grosvenor by Amelia Gregory
For Shawana Grosvenor creamy circular layers rule.

Latitude 2010-Matthew Inett by Amelia Gregory
Tagged onto the end of the first half Matthew Inett reprised his 2008 London College of Fashion catwalk show, which featured almighty curved shoulders and exaggerated hips in pastel checks.
Bethan Smith Latitude Festival by Krister Selin
Bethan Smith by Krister Selin.

I nestled in rushes amongst the clacking grasshoppers and giggling tweenies to watch the Latitude graduate fashion shows, seek played out along a catwalk linked to the Waterfront Stage. A selection of new faces from Elite formed a somewhat confusing parade between two stop offs on either side of the lake, story not helped by a complete lack of clarity in announcements of each designer – What follows is the best of what I managed to catch, so if I’ve got any wrong please do let me know.

Latitude 2010-kids Amelia gregory
Latitude 2010-happy teen by Amelia Gregory
Photography by Amelia Gregory.

First up came the students from Chelsea College of Art and Design:

Latitude 2010-Ellen Chatelain by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Ellen Chatelain by Amelia Gregory
Ellen Chatelain didn’t disappoint with her patchwork knitwear.

Latitude 2010-Sorcha Herbert by Amelia Gregory
More colourful knitwear, or is it weave, from Sorcha Herbert?

Latitude 2010 fashion by Amelia Gregory
Gorgeous printed textiles by Charmaine Dresser worked perfectly shooting into the sun.

Latitude 2010 fashion by Amelia Gregory
Spectacular lasercut tailoring.

Latitude fashion Michelle Urvall Nyrén
Latitude fashion Michelle Urvall Nyrén
Ruched swimwear in mustard and greens. Illustration by Michelle Urvall Nyrén.

Latitude 2010 fashion by Amelia Gregory
More patchworked style.

Latitude 2010 fashion by Amelia Gregory
Subtle tones of caramel and slate.

Latitude 2010-fashion by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-fashion by Amelia Gregory
Padded and stitched capes combined with strange animal and psychedelic prints.

Bethan Smith Latitude Festival by Krister Selin
Bethan Smith by Krister Selin.

Sadly the wonderful creations of Bethan Smith never crossed the lake – I guess the models were worried they might fall in. Fair play.

Latitude 2010-fashion by Amelia Gregory

More monochrome geometrics and slate shades from Helen Lawrence.

Latitude 2010-Shawana Grosvenor by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Shawana Grosvenor by Amelia Gregory
For Shawana Grosvenor creamy circular layers rule.

Latitude 2010-Matthew Inett by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Matthew Inett by Amelia gregory
Tagged onto the end of the first half Matthew Inett reprised his 2008 London College of Fashion catwalk show, which featured almighty curved shoulders and exaggerated hips in pastel checks.


Illustrations by Jenny Costello

With businesses struggling to survive through the recession armageddon, pilule a few innovative individuals are thriving, using their imagination and collaborations with other creatives to succeed. Sarah Bagner, or ‘Supermarket Sarah‘ transformed a wall of her own home into a window dresser’s dream; featuring both vintage finds and handmade creations from the likes of Donna Wilson. Inviting shoppers into her home for tea and cake has gained her such a following that Selfridges even invited her to curate a wall for them.


Supermarket Sarah, illustrated by Emma Block

Her latest collaboration is with the queens of cool, Tatty Devine, whose Brick Lane store has been transformed into an Aladdin’s cave of Sarah’s goodies. Tatty Devine is also famous for pioneering the collaborative spirit, teaming up with the likes of Rob Ryan, Charlie le Mindu and Mrs Jones to make their iconic statement jewellery ranges. Last night fellow creatives Fred Butler and Anna Murray were spinning some tunes on the decks, whilst cupcakes were supplied by Fifi and Lola.

I snapped Sarah wearing her Tatty Devine ‘Supermarket Sarah’ necklace in front of her wall which will soon be online here. The installation will be in store until the 16th August, alongside Tatty Devine’s regular stock which is currently on sale. This is your one stop shop for sorting your festival outfits; grab some neck candy from Tatty Devine and something from Sarah’s vintage dressing up box and you’re set! 

Photographs by Katie Antoniou

Central Saint Martins followed swiftly on from the Chelsea College of Art and Design’s graduate collections. Again, information pills lemme know if I’ve not credited your designs!

Latitude 2010-Central St Martins by Amelia Gregory
I loved the big fluffy creations of this designer. According to our previous blog these are by Helen Price, although she wasn’t listed on the line up. You see my difficulty? All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Latitude 2010-Felipe Rojas Llanos by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Felipe Rojas Llanos by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Felipe Rojas Llanos by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Felipe Rojas Llanos by Amelia Gregory
Felipe Rojas Llanos presented gorgeous blue and purple silk tailoring on pouty youths, a welcome diversion from the preceeding womenswear.

Latitude 2010-Anne Karine Thorbjoernsen by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Anne Karine Thorbjoernsen by Amelia Gregory
Michelle Urvall Nyrén Anne Karine Thorbjoernsen
Anne Karine Thorbjoernsen by Michelle Urvall Nyrén.

Anne Karine Thorbjoernsen‘s spiked dresses and jackets were dramatically sensual and dangerous.

LatitudeCentral_AmyMartino
Illustration by Amy Martino.

Latitude 2010-fashion hat  by Amelia Gregory
Half hats, asymmetrical tailoring and shaggy Mr. Tumnus trousers.

Latitude 2010-Sabrina Bryntesson by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Sabrina Bryntesson by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Sabrina Bryntesson by Amelia Gregory
Fabulous curled entwined knitwear from Sabrina Bryntesson.

caroline-coates-Sabrina Bryntesson
Illustration by Caroline Coates.

Latitude 2010 Lee Brown by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010 Lee Brown by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010 Lee Brown by Amelia Gregory
Sports influenced tailoring from Lee Brown.

Latitude-Fashion-Show-by-Mina-Bach
Illustration by Mina Bach.

felice-perkins-Latitude fashion
Illustration by Felice Perkins.

Latitude 2010-Sorcha O’Raghallaigh by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Sorcha O’Raghallaigh by Amelia Gregory
The 80s influenced bulky layers shown by Sorcha O’Raghallaigh were eminently wearable, but the star of her collection was the stilt walker – I didn’t get a decent photo but you can check out the outfit on the homepage of her website.

felice-perkins-sorcha o'raghallaigh
Sorcha O’Raghallaigh by Felice Perkins.

Isabel Greenberg-Sorcha O’Raghallaigh
Sorcha O’Raghallaigh by Isabel Greenberg.

Latitude 2010-Zoe Sherwood by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Zoe Sherwood by Amelia Gregory
Sadly I only caught the best headdress from Zoe Sherwood‘s feathery collection from the back. However, if there’s one thing for sure Zoe does backs well, as this turquoise dress proves.

Latitude 2010-Zoe Sherwood by Amelia Gregory

The fashion shows were delightfully laid back, and enjoyed by plenty of families and young girls who would otherwise not get to see such calibre of upcoming design talent. Despite the lack of information about the presenting designers and the sometimes klutzy new models (Elite, you might want to give a few of them some catwalk training) this was a brilliant addition to Latitude, and with a bit of fine-tuning will hopefully become a festival staple.

Latitude fashion 2010-family fun by Amelia Gregory

Categories ,abina Bryntesson, ,Amy Martino, ,Anne Karine Thorbjoernsen, ,Caroline Coates, ,Central Saint Martins, ,Elite Models, ,Felice Perkins, ,Felipe Rojas Llanos, ,Helen Price, ,Isabel Greenberg, ,Latitude Festival, ,Lee Brown, ,Michelle Urvall Nyrén, ,Mina Bach., ,Mr. Tumnus, ,Sorcha O’Raghallaigh, ,Waterfront Stage S, ,Zoe Sherwood

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Amelia’s Magazine | Fashion designers’ New Year’s Resolutions!

Explain who Lira is… What she studied etc…

Who is Lira Leirner and what do you do?

Like many who do what they love, viagra I’m a little bit of a Jack of all trades. First and foremost, for sale whichever way my career takes me, more about I’m a writer. However, the name has become detached from myself and when I hear what used to be my name and surname I tend to think not of myself but the fashion line it labels. Said fashion line offers mainly quirky yet classically cut dresses. I focus on luxurious materials and a classic youthful look which is more playful than preppy but continuously carries a demure elegance without losing a hint of sexiness.

Have you always known what you wanted to do?

I had an amazing primary school teacher who supported my writing heavily. I went to a Waldorf School for my primary school years, and we had to write an essay every day. It never felt like homework to me, so I had a lot of fun with it, exploring the different formats ranging from reportage to theatre pieces to poetry to absurdist writing. My fellow students would actually mock my teacher’s end-of-day catch phrase: “And remember – two pages minimum. Lira, ten pages maximum”, which was quite funny. I knew I was going to become a writer from a very early age. As much as the topics of interest may have varied over time – from philosophy and law to white collar crime to fashion – writing was always at the core of my actions. Even when I started working, writing was still at the core in some form or another, ranging from content manager to translator to copywriter.

Fashion, on the other hand, slowly crept into my life although I tried to ignore it for a long time as I enjoyed being the black sheep in the family, the non-artist, non-designer who was leaning towards academic subjects. I started creating pieces because I couldn’t find anything that fitted my petite frame as well as my classic yet quirky and high maintenance taste and in doing so I opened the floodgates of ideas. I started for practical reasons but it became quite quickly apparent that there were other people out there who liked what I was doing, which pushed me, of course.

Where can we find your writing?

Most of my writing that is accessible online you can find on my blog www.lltheportmanteau.com, including pieces I’ve written for other websites. I have a small portfolio of poems and old articles uploaded to www.liraleirner.co.uk, however, some of it is in German. I am currently writing a book, so my online writing has decreased accordingly.

Detail! What were your thoughts on the Goldsmiths course “sociology and cultural studies?”

In comparison to Cambridge University or LSE, Goldsmiths focuses on the cultural aspect rather than the political aspect of sociology. This allows for an approach closer to the way I see the world, that is, to take into account, among other criteria of course, language, media and style to understand a certain phenomena. However, I must say, sociology requires you to spend a lot of time on your own and is not the most sociable of courses. I spent a lot of time with the design ‘crew’ as my partner Stuart Bannocks is a designer – so much so, in fact, that I now still interact with the teachers and students from that course, while my sociology tutors and lecturers barely recognize me when I happen to run into them.

Fill in detail here… read previous interviews where this has been mentioned. What is it do you think about white collar crime which has gripped your attention?

It’s difficult to answer this question without delving too deeply into very personal and psychological reasons. Due to certain circumstances in my life and certain people that I’ve been exposed to from a young age, which worked very well as a deterrent role model, I guess I’ve developed an almost obsessive, deeply rooted disgust for dishonesty, greed and exploitation of trust. That, more than anything else, is at the root of white collar crime. It fascinates me because it’s behavior I don’t understand although I can objectively follow its logic.

Any book recommendations?

In order to recommend a book, I need to know the reader. There’s no recommendation one can do without starting with “If you like…” so I’m going to take some of my favourite books and explain why and who I would suggest them to.

“Down and Out in Paris and London” by George Orwell I would recommend to snobs who create a classic hierarchy into human experience. I create it, but it’s probably reversed as I care more about what I learn from an experience than what the symbolic value of that experience is in a social situation.

I’d recommend “Orientalism” by Edward Said to anybody I’d like to explain the xenophobia I had to deal with anywhere I went as a result of growing up in an almost constant stage of flux having lived in as many houses as I’m old, in five countries and many, many cities.

“Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste” by Pierre Bordieu I’d recommend to anybody that works in the fashion industry.

Although fantasy books are a guilty pleasure for me, I did particularly enjoy the dark material trilogy by Phillip Pullman (whose main character was names Lyra, go figure). I remember reading the first Harry Potter book from cover to cover on the evening of my birthday (such a cool kid, huh?) in 1998, years before it became so big, which didn’t hinder me from abandoning all life every time the next book came out.
The inheritance cycle by Christopher Paolini was one that had me running to the book store with every book that came out and spend the day cut off from the outside world as well. The Wheel of Time series, as I started reading it when quite a few books were published, came dangerously close to being abusive to my health as I would not move from my chosen spot for drink nor food nor toilet nor people coming in and out of the room until I had read all the books, which, despite being a very fast reader, took me a few days (there are 13 books, each ca. 500 – 900 pages long). This might sound extreme, but I approach fashion in the same manner; I created twenty pieces the week before fashion week. That’s not healthy, but was the only way I could keep up with my ideas – seeing them completed.

Why did you start Lira Leirner?

Contributing to a field that interests you I find to be an undertaking a lot more satisfying and noble than mere consumption, so sharing my steps into fashion design was the natural development in that direction. And, as Confucius pointed out… Do a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.

How is Lira Leirner (the company) doing?

Well, lets put it this way – at the moment I get more press attention than sales.

Your collections entirely consist of dresses, what attracts you to this particular garment?

A dress can be both simple yet complex in terms of cut, which allows for a big playground and to explore the shapes of the wearer. It is one of the biggest garment canvas in terms of the surface it covers, apart from the coat. A dress is also an entire outfit and therefore a lot more satisfying to put thought into – it finishes as a complete piece, and I can be almost certain that it will be used as a statement rather than accompanying piece in any outfit. In the end, I just love wearing dresses. It’s the garment which makes me smile the most, so why not focus on that?

What are your thoughts on menswear?

It’s difficult and quite frustrating. I’ve tried, but even the most fashion forward men I know were taken back by the pieces I created, the only ones they seemed to like were incredibly simple with just a tiny twist (such as a standard tie with a funky stripe), and quite frankly that’s just too boring for me. I know fashionistos will not be very happy with me saying this, but it made me realize that most of them have bigger mouths than the will to be experimental. Most of them have gotten so used to the (infuriatingly) small range of choice, that they have become naturally born stylists, and prefer to take a few relatively simple pieces and put together their own look – to which they stick. There’s not much room for experimentation for me as a designer, as they’re very specific about what they want and even half an inch down or up is a deal breaker. Hopefully I can be proven wrong one day.

Where did the idea come from to use actual royal mail sacs?

I participated in a RAG fashion show at Goldsmiths many years ago now, and had just received a big load of packages following a shopping spree, which meant I had just spent the funds I needed. My eyes fell on the Royal Mail sack in the corner of my room, sadly entailing the contents of the money I had spent, and the idea became quite apparent. In a way, that money went into the right direction, after all. I sew a coat/ dress by hand, using packaging rope to create the details and voila… a few ripped and bleeding fingers and days without sleep later, this was my very first piece. The image of the model wearing it during the show ended up being used on the cover of a magazine. I loved the iconic implication but most of all, the fact that it was up-cycled. I spent many days making sure I was there when the postmen came to collect their letters form the mailboxes – they would even shift some letters spread across bags into one in order to give the empty ones to me once I told them my plans. My favourite source was the office at my old job, though. The bags tended to be brand new and just left in the locker in heaps, from years and months of collecting them and not knowing what to do with them. Finding a sack full of different colors was quite a score. It’s notoriously frustrating to work with as it frays quite quickly so the pieces need to be prepared, but it’s worth it.

What advice would you have for designers interested in starting up their own label?

Just do it. Don’t wait for someone else to tell you what to do or for that perfect financial situation. When you have the idea and the drive, go for it. It may fail, it may turn out wonderfully, the important thing is to get going because if you don’t create it yourself, nothing can happen in the first place. Be the most excited person in the room – it’s your own thing, you can’t expect anybody else to be as excited as you are. The more excited you are, the more excited other people will be. Both these statements have seeped into my being over the years as it rubbed off from my partner Stuart Bannocks, who lives and breathes these with great success.

Follow a single person’s own vision. This is less obvious than it sounds. No matter how many people get involved, as long as it’s one person having the last say in all details, the taste and style will be a coherent one even when you’re experimenting. This makes it easier to specify the direction and to market the brand as a whole.

How was it to show a capsule collection during London Fashion Week?

A bit surreal. I was invited to be part of a Fashion Fete in Covent Garden, which in itself was a lovely idea. However, it meant that the majority of people around were not my target buyers at all, which resulted in situations such as having a deluded mother trying to haggle a £200 100% silk, handmade one-off dress down to £8.50 because “that’s how much her daughter spends on dresses in Primark”. I couldn’t help but laugh. Bitterly.

Where do you source the materials for your clothes?

A lot of the materials I use are one off, end of the roll finds from a local market stall or from clear outs I came across online. I pride myself in working with what I call “real” materials only; such as silk, leather, tweed, wool, cotton, or in the case of Royal Mails sacks, the actual sacks themselves. The quality of the fabric is important to me because it’s one of the issues I had with garments that can be found in most high street shops. The way in which I source my material, as I’ve pointed out before [link to previous Amelia’s Magazine article], is environmentally friendly because I focus on local production, which cuts out transportation, and use “left overs” that aren’t really left overs, I’m not exactly dealing with snippets but yards and yards of gorgeous fabric that would be simply wasted otherwise.

As a blogger, what are your thoughts on blogging and do you have any favourites you would like to recommend?

A blog without content appropriate distribution is like a diary without a publisher. There might be a potential Anne Frank lurking in the ocean of being able to be found via google keywords, but until then, it is a private pool of potential only. The key is in the distribution through micro blogging (aka Twitter) and social media. As was pointed out in an article recently, google identified fashion to be the industry which uses social media to its advantage better than any other. In other words, fashion bloggers fit into the construction and intent of social media perfectly, making it quite a natural process. In the end a blog is just a medium, and it’s up to you to use it properly.

The big fashion blogs in the industry I’d recommend are:
http://www.thestylerookie.com/ -> to keep tabs on the industry’s favourite witty girl
http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/ -> for street style and photography
http://stylebubble.typepad.com/ -> for hunting down small and quirky fashion lines
http://www.fashionfoiegras.com/ -> for fashion from a consumer’s point of view
http://www.styleite.com/ -> for fashion news, big and small
http://www.theclotheswhisperer.co.uk/ -> for literature quality fashion wit and style whispering

Who are your favourite fashion designers or artists?

I have a split personality when it comes to favourite fashion designers but in all my preferences you can find a meticulously balanced symmetry of sorts. Asymmetry makes me nervous, in anything. On one hand I like fashion designers who manage to create simplicity within an architectural precision such as Calvin Klein, Valentino and Jil Sanders. On the other hand, I adore the theatrical statement pieces with intense attention to detail which you can often find in the vision of smaller designers such as Alberto Sinpatron but also in Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood.

When it comes to art, my preferences lies quite heavily within the environment I have grown up in – concrete art and framed concrete poetry. I think that when deciding what goes on your wall you need to be utterly personal – it’s you who will look at it day in and day out. Purchasing art the way I think it should be purchased, that is without the weaves of pretentiousness and hierarchy of value that I’m unfortunately all too familiar with in the art world, should take into account merely the immediate, personal reaction to a piece before you. I understand the intelligent purchase of art as an investment or logical, historical or poignant contribution to a collection but I don’t have much patience with such purchases in the privacy of a home.

Among others, I have pieces by Duval Timothy, Jose Resende, Kathryn Hall, Sarah Leirner, Pablo Picasso, Antonio Dias, Peter Keler, Doerte Helm, Betty Leirner and Jemma Austin gracing my wall.

You gathered a lot of attention in a short amount of time…

I was lucky enough to pique the attention of some major fashion bloggers in London by coincidence, which eased the snowball into rolling on a steep hill. I do think that being a fashion blogger myself may have had an impact as I wear my own pieces out and about. This is turn meant they were exposed during events and meetings I was invited to as a blogger and attracted coverage as well as requests for interviews that way.

What are you plans for the upcoming year? Do you plan on returning to LFW for AW11?

I have been creating a more solid and bigger collection than the ones I’ve done so far and I think this is a collection whose production is likely to stretch into spring, especially with the winter months freezing my shackles into hibernation.

Explain who Lira is… What she studied etc…

Who is Lira Leirner and what do you do?

Like many who do what they love, mind I’m a little bit of a Jack of all trades. First and foremost, price whichever way my career takes me, I’m a writer. However, the name has become detached from myself and when I hear what used to be my name and surname I tend to think not of myself but the fashion line it labels. Said fashion line offers mainly quirky yet classically cut dresses. I focus on luxurious materials and a classic youthful look which is more playful than preppy but continuously carries a demure elegance without losing a hint of sexiness.

Have you always known what you wanted to do?

I had an amazing primary school teacher who supported my writing heavily. I went to a Waldorf School for my primary school years, and we had to write an essay every day. It never felt like homework to me, so I had a lot of fun with it, exploring the different formats ranging from reportage to theatre pieces to poetry to absurdist writing. My fellow students would actually mock my teacher’s end-of-day catch phrase: “And remember – two pages minimum. Lira, ten pages maximum”, which was quite funny. I knew I was going to become a writer from a very early age. As much as the topics of interest may have varied over time – from philosophy and law to white collar crime to fashion – writing was always at the core of my actions. Even when I started working, writing was still at the core in some form or another, ranging from content manager to translator to copywriter.

Fashion, on the other hand, slowly crept into my life although I tried to ignore it for a long time as I enjoyed being the black sheep in the family, the non-artist, non-designer who was leaning towards academic subjects. I started creating pieces because I couldn’t find anything that fitted my petite frame as well as my classic yet quirky and high maintenance taste and in doing so I opened the floodgates of ideas. I started for practical reasons but it became quite quickly apparent that there were other people out there who liked what I was doing, which pushed me, of course.

Where can we find your writing?

Most of my writing that is accessible online you can find on my blog www.lltheportmanteau.com, including pieces I’ve written for other websites. I have a small portfolio of poems and old articles uploaded to www.liraleirner.co.uk, however, some of it is in German. I am currently writing a book, so my online writing has decreased accordingly.

Detail! What were your thoughts on the Goldsmiths course “sociology and cultural studies?”

In comparison to Cambridge University or LSE, Goldsmiths focuses on the cultural aspect rather than the political aspect of sociology. This allows for an approach closer to the way I see the world, that is, to take into account, among other criteria of course, language, media and style to understand a certain phenomena. However, I must say, sociology requires you to spend a lot of time on your own and is not the most sociable of courses. I spent a lot of time with the design ‘crew’ as my partner Stuart Bannocks is a designer – so much so, in fact, that I now still interact with the teachers and students from that course, while my sociology tutors and lecturers barely recognize me when I happen to run into them.

Fill in detail here… read previous interviews where this has been mentioned. What is it do you think about white collar crime which has gripped your attention?

It’s difficult to answer this question without delving too deeply into very personal and psychological reasons. Due to certain circumstances in my life and certain people that I’ve been exposed to from a young age, which worked very well as a deterrent role model, I guess I’ve developed an almost obsessive, deeply rooted disgust for dishonesty, greed and exploitation of trust. That, more than anything else, is at the root of white collar crime. It fascinates me because it’s behavior I don’t understand although I can objectively follow its logic.

Any book recommendations?

In order to recommend a book, I need to know the reader. There’s no recommendation one can do without starting with “If you like…” so I’m going to take some of my favourite books and explain why and who I would suggest them to.

“Down and Out in Paris and London” by George Orwell I would recommend to snobs who create a classic hierarchy into human experience. I create it, but it’s probably reversed as I care more about what I learn from an experience than what the symbolic value of that experience is in a social situation.

I’d recommend “Orientalism” by Edward Said to anybody I’d like to explain the xenophobia I had to deal with anywhere I went as a result of growing up in an almost constant stage of flux having lived in as many houses as I’m old, in five countries and many, many cities.

“Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste” by Pierre Bordieu I’d recommend to anybody that works in the fashion industry.

Although fantasy books are a guilty pleasure for me, I did particularly enjoy the dark material trilogy by Phillip Pullman (whose main character was names Lyra, go figure). I remember reading the first Harry Potter book from cover to cover on the evening of my birthday (such a cool kid, huh?) in 1998, years before it became so big, which didn’t hinder me from abandoning all life every time the next book came out.
The inheritance cycle by Christopher Paolini was one that had me running to the book store with every book that came out and spend the day cut off from the outside world as well. The Wheel of Time series, as I started reading it when quite a few books were published, came dangerously close to being abusive to my health as I would not move from my chosen spot for drink nor food nor toilet nor people coming in and out of the room until I had read all the books, which, despite being a very fast reader, took me a few days (there are 13 books, each ca. 500 – 900 pages long). This might sound extreme, but I approach fashion in the same manner; I created twenty pieces the week before fashion week. That’s not healthy, but was the only way I could keep up with my ideas – seeing them completed.

Why did you start Lira Leirner?

Contributing to a field that interests you I find to be an undertaking a lot more satisfying and noble than mere consumption, so sharing my steps into fashion design was the natural development in that direction. And, as Confucius pointed out… Do a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.

How is Lira Leirner (the company) doing?

Well, lets put it this way – at the moment I get more press attention than sales.

Your collections entirely consist of dresses, what attracts you to this particular garment?

A dress can be both simple yet complex in terms of cut, which allows for a big playground and to explore the shapes of the wearer. It is one of the biggest garment canvas in terms of the surface it covers, apart from the coat. A dress is also an entire outfit and therefore a lot more satisfying to put thought into – it finishes as a complete piece, and I can be almost certain that it will be used as a statement rather than accompanying piece in any outfit. In the end, I just love wearing dresses. It’s the garment which makes me smile the most, so why not focus on that?

What are your thoughts on menswear?

It’s difficult and quite frustrating. I’ve tried, but even the most fashion forward men I know were taken back by the pieces I created, the only ones they seemed to like were incredibly simple with just a tiny twist (such as a standard tie with a funky stripe), and quite frankly that’s just too boring for me. I know fashionistos will not be very happy with me saying this, but it made me realize that most of them have bigger mouths than the will to be experimental. Most of them have gotten so used to the (infuriatingly) small range of choice, that they have become naturally born stylists, and prefer to take a few relatively simple pieces and put together their own look – to which they stick. There’s not much room for experimentation for me as a designer, as they’re very specific about what they want and even half an inch down or up is a deal breaker. Hopefully I can be proven wrong one day.

Where did the idea come from to use actual royal mail sacs?

I participated in a RAG fashion show at Goldsmiths many years ago now, and had just received a big load of packages following a shopping spree, which meant I had just spent the funds I needed. My eyes fell on the Royal Mail sack in the corner of my room, sadly entailing the contents of the money I had spent, and the idea became quite apparent. In a way, that money went into the right direction, after all. I sew a coat/ dress by hand, using packaging rope to create the details and voila… a few ripped and bleeding fingers and days without sleep later, this was my very first piece. The image of the model wearing it during the show ended up being used on the cover of a magazine. I loved the iconic implication but most of all, the fact that it was up-cycled. I spent many days making sure I was there when the postmen came to collect their letters form the mailboxes – they would even shift some letters spread across bags into one in order to give the empty ones to me once I told them my plans. My favourite source was the office at my old job, though. The bags tended to be brand new and just left in the locker in heaps, from years and months of collecting them and not knowing what to do with them. Finding a sack full of different colors was quite a score. It’s notoriously frustrating to work with as it frays quite quickly so the pieces need to be prepared, but it’s worth it.

What advice would you have for designers interested in starting up their own label?

Just do it. Don’t wait for someone else to tell you what to do or for that perfect financial situation. When you have the idea and the drive, go for it. It may fail, it may turn out wonderfully, the important thing is to get going because if you don’t create it yourself, nothing can happen in the first place. Be the most excited person in the room – it’s your own thing, you can’t expect anybody else to be as excited as you are. The more excited you are, the more excited other people will be. Both these statements have seeped into my being over the years as it rubbed off from my partner Stuart Bannocks, who lives and breathes these with great success.

Follow a single person’s own vision. This is less obvious than it sounds. No matter how many people get involved, as long as it’s one person having the last say in all details, the taste and style will be a coherent one even when you’re experimenting. This makes it easier to specify the direction and to market the brand as a whole.

How was it to show a capsule collection during London Fashion Week?

A bit surreal. I was invited to be part of a Fashion Fete in Covent Garden, which in itself was a lovely idea. However, it meant that the majority of people around were not my target buyers at all, which resulted in situations such as having a deluded mother trying to haggle a £200 100% silk, handmade one-off dress down to £8.50 because “that’s how much her daughter spends on dresses in Primark”. I couldn’t help but laugh. Bitterly.

Where do you source the materials for your clothes?

A lot of the materials I use are one off, end of the roll finds from a local market stall or from clear outs I came across online. I pride myself in working with what I call “real” materials only; such as silk, leather, tweed, wool, cotton, or in the case of Royal Mails sacks, the actual sacks themselves. The quality of the fabric is important to me because it’s one of the issues I had with garments that can be found in most high street shops. The way in which I source my material, as I’ve pointed out before [link to previous Amelia’s Magazine article], is environmentally friendly because I focus on local production, which cuts out transportation, and use “left overs” that aren’t really left overs, I’m not exactly dealing with snippets but yards and yards of gorgeous fabric that would be simply wasted otherwise.

As a blogger, what are your thoughts on blogging and do you have any favourites you would like to recommend?

A blog without content appropriate distribution is like a diary without a publisher. There might be a potential Anne Frank lurking in the ocean of being able to be found via google keywords, but until then, it is a private pool of potential only. The key is in the distribution through micro blogging (aka Twitter) and social media. As was pointed out in an article recently, google identified fashion to be the industry which uses social media to its advantage better than any other. In other words, fashion bloggers fit into the construction and intent of social media perfectly, making it quite a natural process. In the end a blog is just a medium, and it’s up to you to use it properly.

The big fashion blogs in the industry I’d recommend are:
http://www.thestylerookie.com/ -> to keep tabs on the industry’s favourite witty girl
http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/ -> for street style and photography
http://stylebubble.typepad.com/ -> for hunting down small and quirky fashion lines
http://www.fashionfoiegras.com/ -> for fashion from a consumer’s point of view
http://www.styleite.com/ -> for fashion news, big and small
http://www.theclotheswhisperer.co.uk/ -> for literature quality fashion wit and style whispering

Who are your favourite fashion designers or artists?

I have a split personality when it comes to favourite fashion designers but in all my preferences you can find a meticulously balanced symmetry of sorts. Asymmetry makes me nervous, in anything. On one hand I like fashion designers who manage to create simplicity within an architectural precision such as Calvin Klein, Valentino and Jil Sanders. On the other hand, I adore the theatrical statement pieces with intense attention to detail which you can often find in the vision of smaller designers such as Alberto Sinpatron but also in Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood.

When it comes to art, my preferences lies quite heavily within the environment I have grown up in – concrete art and framed concrete poetry. I think that when deciding what goes on your wall you need to be utterly personal – it’s you who will look at it day in and day out. Purchasing art the way I think it should be purchased, that is without the weaves of pretentiousness and hierarchy of value that I’m unfortunately all too familiar with in the art world, should take into account merely the immediate, personal reaction to a piece before you. I understand the intelligent purchase of art as an investment or logical, historical or poignant contribution to a collection but I don’t have much patience with such purchases in the privacy of a home.

Among others, I have pieces by Duval Timothy, Jose Resende, Kathryn Hall, Sarah Leirner, Pablo Picasso, Antonio Dias, Peter Keler, Doerte Helm, Betty Leirner and Jemma Austin gracing my wall.

You gathered a lot of attention in a short amount of time…

I was lucky enough to pique the attention of some major fashion bloggers in London by coincidence, which eased the snowball into rolling on a steep hill. I do think that being a fashion blogger myself may have had an impact as I wear my own pieces out and about. This is turn meant they were exposed during events and meetings I was invited to as a blogger and attracted coverage as well as requests for interviews that way.

What are you plans for the upcoming year? Do you plan on returning to LFW for AW11?

I have been creating a more solid and bigger collection than the ones I’ve done so far and I think this is a collection whose production is likely to stretch into spring, especially with the winter months freezing my shackles into hibernation.


Eugene Lin, malady illustrated by Gareth A Hopkins

Happy New Year! It’s that time of year again when we all set about making resolutions and miraculously changing our lives for the better. So far, approved for 2011, view I’ve set myself the insurmountable tasks of quitting smoking (again), getting fit (again) and saving money (AGAIN), as well as to make more of an effort to contact friends who I don’t see regularly, get through that list of books I buy on recommendation that is quickly becoming a floor-to-celing pile, learn to cook more than just beans on toast. Oh, sure!

Here at Amelia’s Magazine, we thought it might be interesting to find out what some of our favourite fashion designers plan to do in 2011. I spoke to a few of them, who we interviewed in 2010, about their plans, hopes, ambitions, dreams and everything in between. I posed the question suggesting the response could be hopes for their labels, their personal lives or something more philosophical. I’m so glad one of our designer friends, amidst economic recession and doom and gloom, prioritises ‘more sex’ on their agenda for this coming year…

Here’s a little round-up, with as always, fabulous illustrations… and I’ve linked each designer’s name to our original interview so you can read more about them if you wish!

Ada Zanditon

Illustration by Caroline Coates

‘My main resolution for 2010 is to keep growing and evolving as a brand, creatively and as a business with the vision to bring awareness to conservation and also increase the percentage of my profit margin that can go towards conservation charities, completing the circle between what inspires me as a designer and helping to sustain it in a creative, innovative way that results in sculptural, desirable, uniquely embellished fashion.

‘I would also like to find some time between all of that to spend more time gardening…’

Read a full interview with Ada with even more amazing illustrations in Amelia’s new book!

Eugene Lin

Eugene Lin, illustrated by Gareth A Hopkins

1. Keep perfecting the cut of my clothes
2. Remember to ‘TAKE A BREAK’ at least once a month
3. Eat healthy. Run more.

Imogen Belfield

Illustration by Caroline Coates

‘My New Year resolutions are… well, quite honestly, I have to stop injuring myself in the workshop. I had two rather nasty accidents within the last 2 months. And secondly, it would be to have more Skype dates with my overseas friends and family. 2010 has been beyond incredible, and to wish for the same again would be enough in itself, I cannot wait for 2011 to begin, bring it on!’

Makepiece

Illustration by Genie Espinosa

Whilst we’ve developed new cute tags to help our garments last longer (it’s a nice little wooden tag holding yarn so you can fix your garments), launched knitwear shrugs for winter brides and taken on a small concession in Harveys, (the Halifax department store) I’ve also been struggling to feed the poor snowbound sheep.

I’ve been using sledges, mountain bikes and my own two feet to defeat the snow. I’ve never felt so popular as when I’m spotted from afar by my sheep so that they’re already forming a welcoming committee by the gate. It’s difficult, but exhilarating when, once the sheep are cheerfully surrounding their bale of haylage, I can look out over the snowbound valley. It’s beautiful!

Looking forward to the new year though, we’re hoping for a sunny spring. Lots of lambs, picnics in the hay meadow and summer balls. The new collection is coloured like the sun on a misty spring morning and is frilled and ruched and rippled into delicate dresses, tops, cardis and scarves.

Olivia Rubin

Illustration by Lisa Stannard

‘2011 already holds some exciting opportunities for the label including a lot more hard work! I’m looking forward to my collaborations with very.co.uk and my new accessory line for Dune at the start of the year. I’m hoping to broaden my collections and expand the brand by introducing printed knitwear as well as building on the success of the jersey line Oli Rubi… I have a very determined attitude for 2011!

On a personal level one of my New Year’s resolutions is to continue with my running and possibly attempt a half marathon – eeek!’

(Stefan) Orschel-Read

Illustration by Rachel Clare Price

’2011 will be a busy year for me. I will be producing three collections for Orschel-Read. A small A/W 2011/12, the summer 2012 collection for London Fashion Week in September, and also a couture collection for the end of May. A New Year’s resolution for me is to stop working Sundays! And to enjoy the wonderful city we live in a little more. I also hope to spend more time with friends and family, and finally learn something totally new.’

New Year’s Day is every man’s birthday” (Charles Lamb)

Ziad Ghanem

Illustration by Rukmunal Hakim

‘Professionally: In January 2011 I am launching the wedding collection during Couture Fashion Week. So from now on its “strictly sex after marriage…” In February 2011 I am producing an amazing show during London Fashion Week, inspired by Islamic Art, and Maiden Britain tees and sweats will be launched to buy online soon. I am also hoping to do a lot of new collaborations with artists from all over the world this year.

Personally: I hope and wish for peace of mind, good health and more sex. This year I am open for love! I hope everybody’s New Year wishes will come true.’

Do let us know if you’ve made any interesting resolutions for 2011, I’d love to hear them!

Categories ,2011, ,Ada Zanditon, ,Caroline Coates, ,Charles Lamb, ,Couture Fashion Week, ,Dune, ,Eugene Lin, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Genie Espinosa, ,Imogen Belfield, ,Islamic Art, ,Lambs, ,Lisa Stannard, ,London Fashion Week, ,Maiden Britain, ,Makepiece, ,New Year, ,Olivia Rubin, ,Rachel Clare Price, ,Resolutions, ,Rukmunal Hakim, ,SEX, ,sheep, ,Skype, ,Stefan Orschel-Read, ,Very.co.uk, ,wool, ,Ziad Ghanem

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Amelia’s Magazine | London 2012 Paralympics Games Illustrated

Ellie Simmonds by Daniel Castrogiovanni
Ellie Simmonds by Daniel Castrogiovanni.

Much has been written of the Paralympics: with the press dwelling on life stories of ‘inspiring’ athletes and the athletes in turn pleading with fans to concentrate on their physical achievements in sport. Between my family and friends we simply expressed our utmost admiration: for, like Olympic athletes the Paralympics athletes, are in awesome physical condition. They can boast a level of fitness that most of us can only dream of (or work extremely extremely hard for) and their sporting feats outstripped what the ordinary person is capable of, despite any physical or mental shortcomings.

David Weir by Ruth Joyce
David Weir by Ruth Joyce.

Like many others I’ve never paid much attention to the Paralympics before, but then again I’ve never watched the Olympics either. I’m glad that despite sponsorship failings (protestors attacked the hypocrisy of Atos, a major sponsor who is also behind cuts in disability benefits) this Paralympics has raised the profile of what people with disabilities are capable of. Let’s just hope there’s a trickle down effect: firstly to those who don’t have such easy access to professional sports training (some countries won many events in the Olympics but were unable to afford equipment and training for Paralympics athletes) and secondly in the public perception of all people with disabilities, including those who are crap at sport (like me, I am sure there are many) but brilliant at other stuff that may go unrecognised or supported. We’re all human after all, and every individual, whether disabled or able-bodied, has something to offer. Here’s to a celebration of diversity within loving community, long may the effects be felt.

Paralympian by Tara Anne Bush
Paralympian by Tara Anne Bush.

Pistorius Victorious by claire jones art
Pistorius Victorious by Claire Jones Art.

Pallers by Caroline Coates
Pallers by Caroline Coates.

Oscar Pistorius by Daniel Castrogiovanni
Oscar Pistorius by Daniel Castrogiovanni.

You can see what illustrators made of the Olympics here, here and here.

Categories ,Atos, ,Caroline Coates, ,Claire Jones Art, ,Daniel Castrogiovanni, ,David Weir, ,Ellie Simmonds, ,Olympics, ,Oscar Pistorius, ,Pallers, ,Paralympics, ,Ruth Joyce, ,Tara Anne Bush

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Amelia’s Magazine | London 2012 Paralympics Games Illustrated

Ellie Simmonds by Daniel Castrogiovanni
Ellie Simmonds by Daniel Castrogiovanni.

Much has been written of the Paralympics: with the press dwelling on life stories of ‘inspiring’ athletes and the athletes in turn pleading with fans to concentrate on their physical achievements in sport. Between my family and friends we simply expressed our utmost admiration: for, like Olympic athletes the Paralympics athletes, are in awesome physical condition. They can boast a level of fitness that most of us can only dream of (or work extremely extremely hard for) and their sporting feats outstripped what the ordinary person is capable of, despite any physical or mental shortcomings.

David Weir by Ruth Joyce
David Weir by Ruth Joyce.

Like many others I’ve never paid much attention to the Paralympics before, but then again I’ve never watched the Olympics either. I’m glad that despite sponsorship failings (protestors attacked the hypocrisy of Atos, a major sponsor who is also behind cuts in disability benefits) this Paralympics has raised the profile of what people with disabilities are capable of. Let’s just hope there’s a trickle down effect: firstly to those who don’t have such easy access to professional sports training (some countries won many events in the Olympics but were unable to afford equipment and training for Paralympics athletes) and secondly in the public perception of all people with disabilities, including those who are crap at sport (like me, I am sure there are many) but brilliant at other stuff that may go unrecognised or supported. We’re all human after all, and every individual, whether disabled or able-bodied, has something to offer. Here’s to a celebration of diversity within loving community, long may the effects be felt.

Paralympian by Tara Anne Bush
Paralympian by Tara Anne Bush.

Pistorius Victorious by claire jones art
Pistorius Victorious by Claire Jones Art.

Pallers by Caroline Coates
Pallers by Caroline Coates.

Oscar Pistorius by Daniel Castrogiovanni
Oscar Pistorius by Daniel Castrogiovanni.

You can see what illustrators made of the Olympics here, here and here.

Categories ,Atos, ,Caroline Coates, ,Claire Jones Art, ,Daniel Castrogiovanni, ,David Weir, ,Ellie Simmonds, ,Olympics, ,Oscar Pistorius, ,Pallers, ,Paralympics, ,Ruth Joyce, ,Tara Anne Bush

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Amelia’s Magazine | Latitude Festival 2010: A Review of the Poetry, Ballet and Cabaret.

Sometimes, find Jenny Robins wears all the necklaces she owns at the same time.

She hails from a medium sized village near Brighton, help where people greet each other on the street. She studied illustration at Southampton Solent where she mostly got away with drawing what she wanted, honing a strong immediate style specialising in birds and hand-drawn text. Then she went travelling round the world for a bit, doing plenty of drawing on the way. She has been living in London for a while now.

She has done comics for Bedlam Magazine and Patchwork Comics, plenty of editorial work mostly for Amelia’s magazine, T-shirt designs for the Social Fabric at Topman and collaborative projects with small labels, posters for Fairtrade societies and sought after live drawings of bands. She makes really amazing greetings cards too.

Currently she is doing an epic project drawing every single one of her facebook friends.
www.jennyrobins.co.uk
Twitter: @jennyrobins

Sometimes, click Jenny Robins wears all the necklaces she owns at the same time.

She hails from a medium sized village near Brighton, discount where people greet each other on the street. She studied illustration at Southampton Solent where she mostly got away with drawing what she wanted, approved honing a strong immediate style specialising in birds and hand-drawn text. Then she went travelling round the world for a bit, doing plenty of drawing on the way. She has been living in London for a while now.

She has done comics for Bedlam Magazine and Patchwork Comics, plenty of editorial work mostly for Amelia’s magazine, T-shirt designs for the Social Fabric at Topman and collaborative projects with small labels, posters for Fairtrade societies and sought after live drawings of bands. She makes really amazing greetings cards too.

Currently she is doing an epic project drawing every single one of her facebook friends.
www.jennyrobins.co.uk
Twitter: @jennyrobins

Sometimes, medications Jenny Robins wears all the necklaces she owns at the same time.

She hails from a medium sized village near Brighton, case where people greet each other on the street. She studied illustration at Southampton Solent where she mostly got away with drawing what she wanted, try honing a strong immediate style specialising in birds and hand-drawn text. Then she went travelling round the world for a bit, doing plenty of drawing on the way. She has been living in London for a while now.

She has done comics for Bedlam Magazine and Patchwork Comics, plenty of editorial work mostly for Amelia’s magazine, T-shirt designs for the Social Fabric at Topman and collaborative projects with small labels, posters for Fairtrade societies and sought after live drawings of bands. She makes really amazing greetings cards too.

Currently she is doing an epic project drawing every single one of her facebook friends.
www.jennyrobins.co.uk
Twitter: @jennyrobins

Natasha-Thompson-Kissaway-Trail-Latitude-2010
The Kissaway Trail by Natasha Thompson.

The music at Latitude can feel like a bit of a byline given that there are so many other options for entertainment. But that doesn’t stop the calibre being suitably high. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Latitude 2010-Martin Creed by Amelia Gregory
Paul-Shinn-Martin-Creed
Martin Creed by Paul Shinn.

Our first stop on Friday was a musical performance piece from Turner Prize winner Martin Creed and his merry band of sexy young things. Notably all female. I was initially sceptical – I’ve seen Bob and Roberta Smith perform at the ICA and was less than impressed by the cacophony. But this was actually entertaining, symptoms especially when Martin sang “What’s the point of it” and “If you’re lonely then this is for you” and “I don’t know what I feel, what I want” against a projection of smashing flower pots, a penis in the process of erecting and a man’s bottom. Combine this with the random movements of a ballet dancer and you pretty much had the ultimate manifestation of middle aged male angst. Brilliant.

Latitude 2010-Kissaway Trail by Amelia gregory
Latitude 2010-Kissaway Trail by Amelia gregory
Natasha-Thompson-Kissaway-Trail-Latitude-2010
The Kissaway Trail by Natasha Thompson.

The Kissaway Trail were a band I’ve not really warmed to on CD, but the live performance was a whole different deal. This unbearably cute bunch of Danish boys smashed the Word Arena with their Scandinavian take on epic indie pop. And they even have their very own version of Bez – a hyper excited braces-wearing tambourine player. A real find.

Latitude 2010-Kominas by Amelia gregory
Latitude 2010-Kominas by Amelia gregory
middle age mosh pit by Matthew Ellero
Middle Age Mosh Pit by Matthew Ellero.

Back in the Film and Music Arena US punk Muslim outfit The Kominas entertained a load of rowdy young men… and a very enthusiastic middle-aged woman, who proceeded to fend off the moshpit with the legs of a chair, before beating the youth to the free t-shirt thrown into the crowd. Thoroughly entertaining.

Abi Daker - The Villagers
Villagers by Abigail Daker.

I recently gave the Villagers’ debut album a glowing review, so I went to check out the imp-like Conor J. O’Brien and his merry band of men – of particular note was Conor’s live rendition of Pieces, his wolf howls given that much more stamina in the flesh. Conor has the air of someone heading for major success.

Andrea Peterson Empire of the Sun
Andrea Peterson Latitude Swordfish
Empire of the Sun by Andrea Peterson.

I was thoroughly miffed to have missed an early promo of the Empire of the Sun album- discovered during a clearout to have made it no further than the interns’ office: if I’d heard the album back then I would definitely have been more on the case of this fabulously over the top retro 90s pop electro… down on the Obelisk Stage lead singer Luke Steele looked resplendent in smeary facepaint and a range of over the top Samurai and Aztec/Inca influenced accessories. No expense was spared on the production of this show, which wasn’t even a headline act. The four dancers went through frequent costume changes, my favourite of which was some very cool blonde swordfish. A lot of fun.

Latitude 2010-empire of the sun
Latitude 2010-Florence crowd by Amelia gregory

I’ve always had mixed feelings about Florence and the Machine. I sort of think I don’t like her very much and then I realise I’ve been listening to her album on repeat all day. So a little conflicted then. This was the first time I’ve seen her perform live since I first met her as a bolshy unsigned artist doing a solo acoustic performance at a PPQ store party. Which doesn’t actually feel like it was that long ago. Three years?

Natasha-Thompson-Florence-and-the-Machine-Latitude-Festival-2010
Florence and The Machine by Natasha Thompson.

The curtain dropped and there she was: flowing vermillion locks, check, flowing cream dress, check, massive drum, check. Without further ado she launched into a bunch of songs that I could happily hum along to (I’ve never really been one to listen closely and learn lyrics) pausing only to sing happy birthday to her little sister Grace, who was dragged on stage with their brother – both dressed in animal costumes. It was really rather cute. Predictably You’ve Got the Love was the biggest crowd pleaser. Isn’t it funny how the 90s have crept up on us again without us even realising it? One new song got an airing, and sounded, well, typically Florence. That girl has a super powerful pair of lungs but you’ve got to wonder – does all that caterwauling ever render her speechless?
Latitude 2010-Mumford and sons by AMELIA GREGORY
Photography by Amelia Gregory.

Sunday afternoon belonged to Mumford and Sons – it was an absolutely glorious summer afternoon and it felt like the whole festival had turned out to see the current darlings of the indie folk crossover scene.

Latitude 2010-Mumford and sons by AMELIA GREGORY
Latitude 2010-Mumford and sons by AMELIA GREGORY
mumford and sons by fritha strickland
Mumford and Sons by Fritha Strickland.

I haven’t seen them live before and was massively impressed by lead singer Marcus Mumford, cost who appears to be able to play every instrument under the sun.

Latitude 2010-Kirstin Hersh by Amelia gregory

I decided to see Kirstin Hersh after a tip off from Robin Ince (in this interview) but I guess you would need to be a serious Throwing Muses fan to enjoy her particular brand of melancholic guitar grunge. She didn’t really float my boat.

Latitude 2010-rodrigo y gabriela by Amelia gregory
Rodrigo y Gabriela by Sine Skau
Rodrigo y Gabriela by Sine Skau.

I first discovered Rodrigo y Gabriela at Latitude in 2007, capsule and this year they brought they virtuoso guitar playing to the main stage. Although it dwarfed their tiny figures they more than held their own and no doubt converted a whole new batch of fans with their awesome musicianship. To watch those calloused hands up close is something else.

jonsi birgisson by jenny costello
Jónsi by Jenny Costello.

In order to miss the traffic our last stop of the day was Sigur Ros front man Jónsi, playing in the Word Arena. Once again showcasing a popular propensity for the wearing of tribal influenced regalia, Jónsi created a falsetto wall of sound that was the perfect end to a pretty damn near perfect festival. Just gorgeous.
Latitude 2010-Active Child by Amelia Gregory
Active Child. Photography by Amelia Gregory.

The falsetto sounds of Active Child were our new discovery for Saturday morning. American Pat Grossi alone on stage with just his mixer and computer, decease another lone electro maestro. Soporifically beautiful.

JAMES-LATITUDE-JENNY-GOLDSTONE
James by Jenny Goldstone.

James were our mid afternoon treat over at the Obelisk Arena – but we didn’t just sit down, we lay spark out and enjoyed a full tour through their back catalogue of hits from a horizontal position. I was somewhat surprised to note that the lead singer is now bald of bounce and goatee of beard when I am sure he used to have lots of curly locks and a clean shave – oh the perils of ageing.

Latitude 2010-kids by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-family by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-girls by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-chips by Amelia Gregory

We were surrounded by lots of families, parents obviously revelling in a favourite from their youth, whilst even the teens next to us could sing along to the band’s most famous tune. And it seems we weren’t the only ones having a relaxing time.

Latitude 2010-gaggle choir by Amelia Gregory

In the woods we encountered a bunch of singing girls in wonderful outfits. Now why don’t all choirs dress like the Gaggle? I couldn’t really hear them, but darn it, who cares when they look this good?!

faye skinner FIRST AID kit
First Aid Kit, protected by a burly security man, by Faye Skinner.

I love it when a band I’ve loved forever starts to gain widespread success, and First Aid Kit have now reached a stage where they could draw suitably impressive crowds to the wooded environs of the Sunrise Arena. If you haven’t yet seen them live, then why the hell not? You can read a previous review of their gig at the Union Chapel here.

Crystal-Castles-Latitude-2010-by-Mina-Bach
Crystal Castles by Mina Bach.

Over on the other side Crystal Castles arrived to a cascading wall of squelching beats that had the middle aged couple next to me pulling somewhat bemused faces at each other. Goodness knows what they made of Alice’s performance thereafter. Whilst slugging on a bottle of Jim Beam *rock n roll* she declared that gang bangers should “all be castrated” – the first inkling I had that all was not well at Latitude. Thereafter she was hellbent on crowdsurfing through the entire set, which mainly involved flinging herself into the rather excited male audience down front and then punching them if they grabbed her inappropriately, before being dragged back by security. Oh how the burly men in uniform love it when the singer does that. Rather inexplicably one fan insisted on giving Alice a sign featuring the word TOAST and, yup, you got it, a picture of a piece of toast. There’s been much grumbling online about Alice’s performance but I thoroughly enjoyed it, even if it did look rather like she had to yak at one point.

Latitude 2010-belle and sebastian by Amelia Gregory
sarah martin belle and sebastain by kate blandford
Sarah Martin of Belle and Sebastain by Kate Blandford.

The pace changed down a gear with the arrival of headliners Belle and Sebastian, playing their first gig in many years. First comment from those next to me? “She looks a bit mumsy.” And so what if Sarah does? Belle and Sebastian are not exactly in the first flush of youth, a fact which frontman Stuart Murdoch picked up repeatedly as he declared “they promised us an old crowd” – as usual the front was of course packed out with teenagers whilst the oldies (that seems to include me these days) hung back for a bit of air. Not that I’ve ever been a massive fan of the mosh pit. At one point Stuart threatened to take his top off (he was looking rather fit) which caused a fresh round of adolescent screaming “it would be like walking in on your dad in the shower” he laughed. It was a delightful set that featured an impromptu rendition of the Rolling Stones Jumping Jack Flash and finished with a gaggle of very happy teenagers dancing around on stage in front of the wrinkles and their orchestra. “You just made an old man very happy,” laughed Stuart in his lilting Scottish brogue, “now get off.” You show them who’s boss round here!

Read my Sunday music review here.
Latitude 2010-Active Child by Amelia Gregory
Active Child. Photography by Amelia Gregory.

The falsetto sounds of Active Child were our new discovery for Saturday morning. American Pat Grossi alone on stage with just his mixer and computer, sildenafil another lone electro maestro. Soporifically beautiful.

JAMES-LATITUDE-JENNY-GOLDSTONE
James by Jenny Goldstone.

James were our mid afternoon treat over at the Obelisk Arena – but we didn’t just sit down, help we lay spark out and enjoyed a full tour through their back catalogue of hits from a horizontal position. I was somewhat surprised to note that the lead singer is now bald of bounce and goatee of beard when I am sure he used to have lots of curly locks and a clean shave – oh the perils of ageing.

Latitude 2010-kids by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-family by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-girls by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-chips by Amelia Gregory

We were surrounded by lots of families, parents obviously revelling in a favourite from their youth, whilst even the teens next to us could sing along to the band’s most famous tune. And it seems we weren’t the only ones having a relaxing time.

Latitude 2010-gaggle choir by Amelia Gregory

In the woods we encountered a bunch of singing girls in wonderful outfits. Now why don’t all choirs dress like the Gaggle? I couldn’t really hear them, but darn it, who cares when they look this good?!

faye skinner FIRST AID kit
First Aid Kit, protected by a burly security man, by Faye Skinner.

I love it when a band I’ve loved forever starts to gain widespread success, and First Aid Kit have now reached a stage where they could draw suitably impressive crowds to the wooded environs of the Sunrise Arena. If you haven’t yet seen them live, then why the hell not? You can read a previous review of their gig at the Union Chapel here.

Crystal-Castles-Latitude-2010-by-Mina-Bach
Crystal Castles by Mina Bach.

Over on the other side Crystal Castles arrived to a cascading wall of squelching beats that had the middle aged couple next to me pulling somewhat bemused faces at each other. Goodness knows what they made of Alice’s performance thereafter. Whilst slugging on a bottle of Jim Beam *rock n roll* she declared that gang bangers should “all be castrated” – the first inkling I had that all was not well at Latitude. Thereafter she was hellbent on crowdsurfing through the entire set, which mainly involved flinging herself into the rather excited male audience down front and then punching them if they grabbed her inappropriately, before being dragged back by security. Oh how the burly men in uniform love it when the singer does that. Rather inexplicably one fan insisted on giving Alice a placard featuring the immortal word TOAST and, yup, you got it, a picture of a piece of toast. There’s been much grumbling online about Alice’s performance but I thoroughly enjoyed it, even if it did look rather like she had to yak at one point.

Latitude 2010-belle and sebastian by Amelia Gregory
sarah martin belle and sebastain by kate blandford
Sarah Martin of Belle and Sebastain by Kate Blandford.

The pace changed down a gear with the arrival of headliners Belle and Sebastian, playing their first gig in many years. First comment from those next to me? “She looks a bit mumsy.” And so what if Sarah does? Belle and Sebastian are not exactly in the first flush of youth, a fact which frontman Stuart Murdoch picked up repeatedly as he declared “they promised us an old crowd” – as usual the front was of course packed out with teenagers whilst the oldies (that seems to include me these days) hung back for a bit of air. Not that I’ve ever been a massive fan of the mosh pit. At one point Stuart threatened to take his top off (he was looking rather fit) which caused a fresh round of adolescent screaming “it would be like walking in on your dad in the shower” he laughed. It was a delightful set that featured an impromptu rendition of the Rolling Stones Jumping Jack Flash and finished with a gaggle of very happy teenagers dancing around on stage in front of the wrinkles and their orchestra. “You just made an old man very happy,” laughed Stuart in his lilting Scottish brogue, “now get off.” You show them who’s boss round here!

Read my Sunday music review here.
Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer burlesque dancer by Amelia Gregory
Photography by Amelia Gregory.

Following the Graduate Fashion Shows Coco de Mer also hit the Latitude Waterfront catwalk with a range of fun sequinned swimsuits, order little tailored jackets and hats by Victoria Grant. Inspired by a Victorian circus ringmaster, store sales of this bespoke collection will raise funds for the Circus Child charity.

Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer Circus Child by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer Circus Child by Amelia Gregory
Coco-de-Mer-Circus-Child-by-Mina-Bach
Illustration by Mina Bach.

Andrea Peterson Latitude waterfront fashion coco de mer
Illustration by Andrea Peterson.

Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer Circus Child by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer Circus Child by Amelia Gregory
james_clare_Coco_De_Mer
Illustration by James Clare.

Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer Circus Child by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer Circus Child by Amelia Gregory
james_clare_Coco_De_Mer
Illustration by James Clare.

The skinny Elite new faces were completely overshadowed by the fabulous wriggling coquetry of the Burlesque artist who flounced down the catwalk with a pair of huge red feathered fans and a whole lot of sassiness. Now that’s what fit and healthy girls should look like with their clothes off.

Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer burlesque dancer by Amelia Gregory
Olivia Haigh Literary luminaries
Literary Luminaries Sebastian Faulks, visit web Paul Greengrass and Richard Curtis by Olivia Haigh.

On the downside I saw less talks, clinic performance and poetry at Latitude than I would have liked, link but on the plus side festivals are a great leveller so I got to hang out with the literary glitterati in the same morning coffee queue. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Latitude 2010-Sabrina Mahfouz by Amelia Gregory
Alexis-West-Sabrina-Mahfouz
Sabrina Mahfouz by Alexis West.

Of the spoken word that I caught in the Poetry Arena one standout was the sleek Sabrina Mahfouz, who adopts character voices to describe girls in nightclub loos and the pressure to physically conform to mens’ desires.

emma_block_latitude_alex_gwyther
Alex Gwyther by Emma Block.

Another poet that caught my ear was Alex Gwyther, a chirpy lad from Staines with a caustically observed view of male youths in the suburbs. Cheap pints, brawls, visits to the chip shop. It could only be the UK.

Latitude 2010-alex gwyther by Amelia Gregory

Most of the time I simply couldn’t be bothered to brave the huge crowds spilling out of the Literary Arena, but we did manage to catch the tail end of David Aaronovitch (I’ve looked after his kids on Forest School Camps, fact fans) talking about his new book Voodoo Histories which takes a look at “The Role of Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History”. David ascertains that the paranoia of conspiracy theorists is fuelled by a desire to think that someone, anyone cares about them. During the Q&A someone made the very good point that no one bothers to uncover the “dull mundane local government” fuckups that are probably happening year in year out. No, they usually go for the biggies: 9/11 being the most recent and well known. “It tends to be a guy thing,” said David. I’ve met a few conspiracy theorists and he’s right about that. Voodoo Histories sounds like a thoroughly good read.

Latitude 2010-mark thomas by Amelia Gregory
Abi Daker - Mark Thomas
Mark Thomas by Abigail Daker.

Now, I tend to think that I have a large amount of knowledge when it comes to certain things. Like the best new indie bands, or the most talented up and coming illustrators, for instance. But when it comes to general knowledge I know shit all. Yup. Put me in your Trivial Pursuit team and watch us loose. So it was with heavy heart that I agreed to be part of a team at the Mark Thomas Community Quiz, held in the Literary Tent on Friday night. Needless to say we managed a particularly unimpressive score, but I did learn one extremely interesting fact: 23 of 29 out of our current cabinet MPs are millionaires. Oh yes, chomp on that one. It certainly got a collective gasp from the audience.

Latitude 2010-ballet black by Amelia Gregory
It’s like Where’s Wally? isn’t it?

caroline coates ballet black
Ballet Black by Caroline Coates.

The Waterfront Stage hosts an odd variety of things, but it’s limitations as a venue were highlighted by the Ballet Black performance. We watched from the far side, where our view was marred with… well… how can I put this? Too many happy shiny festival faces creating too much visual noise. It makes you realise why ballet is usually staged against a plain backdrop: so you can see the damn thing! I’m sure it was a virtuoso performance but I had to concentrate way too hard for it to be fun.

Frisky and Mannish by Amelia Gregory

Cabaret act Frisky and Mannish were another of my top tips from Robin Ince and are cut from a similar mould to the fabulous duo Bourgeois and Maurice. Against a background of plinky plunky synth they picked apart the construction of famous pop songs with brisk aplomb. Frisky has a stunning voice that brought the house down on more than one occasion, but some of the humour was lost in the speed of their approach.

Latitude 2010-duckies hostess by Amelia Gregory

On Saturday night the Cabaret tent hosted Duckie’s Masked Ball. Duckie “purveyors of progressive working class entertainment” famously hail from the Vauxhall Tavern and our hostess seemed most bemused to find herself in rural Suffolk.

Latitude 2010-hulahoop duckies by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-hulahoop duckies by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-hulahoop duckies by Amelia Gregory

We were treated to a hulahooping stripper, a rapping granny in the form of Ida Barr, (another) striptease by Ursula Martinez *oooh, were’s my red hanky gone now?* and a revolting release of blood and guts from the stuffed breast of Scotee – who most definitely pushed to the limit my definition of entertaining, but then I guess that was the idea.

Latitude 2010-ida barr by Amelia Gregory
Ida Barr.

Latitude 2010-ursula martinez by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-ursula martinez by Amelia Gregory
Ursula Martinez.

Latitude 2010-Scottee by Amelia Gregory
Scottee.

We were then all led, hushed, outside; where we gathered around a huge lit up oak tree as the heavily pregnant and magnificent Burlesque performer Lucifire stripped to her nipple tassels and cracked a firey whip across the arse of her lover. The denouement saw fellow performer Fancy Chance hoisted by her hair into the air, where she twirled like a magical geisha doll in a slowly unravelling white kimono.

Latitude 2010-lucifire by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-lucifire by Amelia Gregory
Lucifire.

Latitude 2010-fancy chance by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-fancy chance by Amelia Gregory
Fancy Chance.

Flabby men dancing in pink spandex leggings, art in the woods, knitting clubs and so much more was never fully experienced or found at Latitude. But hey, that’s the beauty of a festival – everyone’s experience will be totally different and unique.

latitude pink spandex by Amelia Gregory
latitude art in the woods by Amelia Gregory
latitude art in the woods by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-knit by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-knit by Amelia Gregory

Aided and abetted by the fantastic weather Latitude 2010 was an absolute blinder – but please, organisers, limit your greed (numbers) next year, or think properly about how you’re going to accommodate us all comfortably. Oh, and what was with the lack of food options for veggies and the £8 souvenir *book* with no cheaper way to know the line-up? Sort it out.

latitude sheep by Amelia Gregory
latitude waterfront by Amelia Gregory
That’s all now folks. Phew.

Categories ,Abigail Daker, ,Alexis West, ,Ballet Black, ,Bourgeois and Maurice, ,Cabaret Arena, ,Caroline Coates, ,David Aaronovitch, ,Duckies, ,Emma Block, ,Fancy Chance, ,Frisky and Mannish, ,Latitude Festival, ,Literary Arena, ,Lucifire, ,Mark Thomas, ,Oliva Haigh, ,Ursula Martinez, ,Waterfront Stage

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Amelia’s Magazine | Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2011 – Blood and Roses Review

Blood and Roses by Caroline Coates
Illustration by Caroline Coates.

It’s hard to know how to talk about Blood and Roses. Before witnessing it, I had been referring to it as an ‘audio play’ but I now realise what an understatement that was, as what I witnessed last Saturday afternoon was genre-defying, much more than what the former description suggests. Yes, there is an audio component, consisting of dialogue and a soundtrack by composer and director Alex Attwood. It manifests itself through the MP3 player and headphones given to each audience member.

Blood and Roses, Photo by Caitlin Sinclair
All photography by Caitlin Sinclair.

There are also visual elements, as while listening, the audience strolls through Edinburgh’s streets and takes in architecture, shop fronts, street art, pubs, gardens and a host of unique sites designed by visual artist Jen Robson. Then, a tangible quality becomes noticeable—we are offered the opportunity to wander through rooms, consult maps and diagrams, and to take in the dreamy atmosphere. It’s surprising, exhilarating, and not like any theatre I’ve seen, heard or felt before.

Blood and Roses by Carne Griffiths
Illustration by Carne Griffiths.

The play originated as a wedding gift, written by Poorboy’s Artistic Director Sandy Thomson for one of the company’s Artistic Associates, Brian Ferguson. Marriage is at the story’s heart, and in real life the last of the performances coincidentally takes place on Ferguson’s wedding day.

Blood and Roses, Photo by Caitlin Sinclair

In the present day, 22-year-old Scotswoman Alexandra has announced her engagement to Anatoly, a Russian man she recently met while studying in Moscow. Interwoven with her emotionally charged story are her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother’s narratives, ranging as far back as 1662. We also hear from the women in Anatoly’s family, struggling to survive around the time of the Siege of Leningrad. A final thread is the haunting Baba Yaga fairytale, relating to Alexandra’s Slavic folktale studies.

Blood and Roses, Photo by Caitlin Sinclair

The audio alone makes for compelling storytelling, touching on women’s experiences, marriage and the sacrifices made for family. Dialogue is interspersed with urban sounds, singing, a heartbeat, and a recurring Celtic fiddle tune. Towards the play’s end, we learn about how difficult Alexandra’s birth was for her mother, and I see audience members’ eyes well up. There’s no denying the lump in our throats.

Blood and Roses by Claire Kearns
Illustration by Claire Kearns.

Adding to the complexity of this audio experience is the fact that all the while, we are soaking up the atmosphere of a sunny weekend afternoon. It’s interesting to observe the public’s reaction to our headphoned group’s presence. Despite it being Festival-time, heads still swivel. At one stage we are seated in a pub when our table is approached by a gentleman who mouths, ‘what are you doing?!’ We shrug and smile, but we aren’t about to spoil the secret.

Blood and Roses, Photo by Caitlin Sinclair

Each site we stop at has a special significance to the story, most incredible for me is a back garden decorated with hanging family photos, antique bedroom furniture and Baba Yaga dolls created from the unlikely sources. It’s a delight to wander through, peeking past branches and leaves to glimpse at all manner of crafted treasures.

Blood and Roses by Gareth A Hopkins
Blood and Roses by Gareth A Hopkins.

The variedness of the play is appealing, however at times it is also overwhelming. On a couple of occasions I missed the guide’s motioned signals to move on because I was busy examining the artwork, and the displays at some sites were so detailed that I couldn’t concentrate on what I was hearing. Despite these problems with pace and concentration, this is largely a clever and engrossing production, worth watching, listening and talking about.

Blood and Roses opens today as part of the Edinburgh Fringe, full details in our listing.

Categories ,Alex Attwood, ,Baba Yaga, ,Blood and Roses, ,Brian Ferguson, ,Carne Griffiths, ,Caroline Coates, ,Claire Kearns, ,Edinburgh Festival, ,edinburgh fringe festival, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Jennifer Robson, ,Poorboy, ,Sandy Thomson, ,Siege of Leningrad, ,St George’s West

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Amelia’s Magazine | Album review and interview with Swedish duo Pallers: The Sea of Memories


Pallers by Shauna McGowan.

The upcoming album from Swedish duo Pallers is a blissed out slice of wonder. The Sea of Memories opens with Another Heaven and indeed listening to this is a license to float away to another place, viagra buy where chilled out beats back dreamy vocals. Lush melodies remain integral even on mini tunes such as Tropical Fishbowl, nurse with pop music a key inspiration for the boys behind the sounds. Wicked, information pills all bleeps and glitches, soon morphs into a super danceable melody with guest female vocals. The Kiss is one of my favourite tracks, tribal beats heralding a story of love and yearning. But to be honest I love the album as a whole. Scandinavian Chillwave, you have me hooked. Let’s meet Henrik Mårtensson and Johan Angergård.

pallers-cover artwork

How did you first meet each other and what do you remember about that day?
Henrik: I was classmate of Karolina, Johan’s girlfriend at that time, this was a long time ago and I don’t have any specific memories from the first encounter. We shared the same taste in music but Johan had tons of records and I didn’t so I borrowed tapes from Karolina that Johan had recorded for her. Lots of Sarah Records stuff and Television Personalities on these tapes…

YouTube Preview ImageThe Kiss

How have your locations over the past few years… across Sweden and the rest of Europe, Miami and South Africa… affected your approach to music making?
Henrik: It has probably inspired us a lot, both the fact that these places are very different and shape your thoughts and impressions alot and also the fact that it is possible to bring a computer and create music everywhere. It’s very comfortable doing music in a hotel room and not have to sit in a studio. After a mellow day in the sun it’s pretty difficult making uptempo breakcore or something like that so I guess the environment affects me.

Pallers by Chris R Wright
Pallers by Chris R Wright.

Your music has been described as ‘shimmering‘ – how is this effect achieved with the use of instrumentation and has it be a conscious decision to achieve it and if so why?
Henrik: I dunno about the specific term ‘shimmering‘ but we try to make our rather monotone music come alive in different ways, for instance by adding sounds that slide in and out of focus. Or using way too many sounds at once. Personally I think the term shimmering is used as soon as there is some reverb and a stereo-delay or an echo involved.
Johan: I always use the word ‘three-dimensional‘ to describe our music. That’s where I’m aiming and that’s what effects the instrumentation I want to use. Most songs have ridiculously many channels and a large amount of effects to create a musical mystical world of it’s own where the sounds surround you and absorb you.

pallers
What inspires you? Are there key themes that you keep returning to in lyrics and if so what are they?
Henrik: Musicwise I get inspired by artists making music that takes me away in my mind and also makes my feet move. Not necessarily dance but to me it’s rather important that there is a nice rhythm. But mostly music doesn’t inspire me that much, I tend to think about it in a more technical way nowadays and that spoils alot of the fun. Nice sceneries and nice daylight inspires me though, the yellow evening light is one of my greatest loves.
Johan: Death and desolation are recurring themes. Death has been a fixation of mine since I was very young. I got rid of some of the less pleasant sides of it a couple of years ago through therapy, but the shadowy, desolate sensation of non-existance still seems to creep into the lyrics. And the music.

Pallers
Pallers
Which of you is the photographer and are you responsible for your press shots? How do you set these up?
Henrik: I am the photographer and responsible for those moody faces that represent Pallers. (see Henrik’s website here) We usually discuss what we want in terms of colors and light; then we take our shirts off and take turns pressing the button on the camera that we’ve put on a tripod.

Pallers_duo
What is your involvement in the world of pop? What do you like most about a great pop tune?
Johan: It’s where I live. I’ve always been fond of melancholia in music, anti-macho expressions and I’ve always loved a great pop melody. For a long time a great pop melody on it’s own could more or less do the trick for me, but now I tend to demand more and more. A great pop tune should be a world of it’s own.

pallers by chloe bonfield
Pallers by Chloe Bonfield.

How do you balance your other commitments with making music with Pallers? Is there ever any conflict and how do you resolve this?
Henrik: There’s a constant conflict for me since I feel a bit bad doing music when I should be working on pictures and also the other way around. But I know at the same time that there is the a reason I like doing both, if I only did music there would eventually be this pressure around it and then creating wouldn’t be as playful as it is now.
Johan: I haven’t really thought of it. Perhaps that means there hasn’t been any conflicts with other commitments?

pallers art
Will we be able to see you in the UK anytime soon? What can we expect from a live show?
Johan: I don’t think we expect a live show at all. I think live shows are terribly overrated.

The Sea of Memories is out on September 28th 2011 on Labrador Records.

Pallers by Caroline Coates
Pallers by Caroline Coates.

Categories ,Another Heaven, ,Caroline Coates, ,Chillwave, ,Chloe Bonfield, ,Chris R Wright, ,Duo, ,Henrik Martensson, ,interview, ,Johan Angergård, ,Labrador, ,Labrador Records, ,Melody, ,Pallers, ,photography, ,pop, ,Revier, ,Sarah Records, ,Scandinavian, ,Shauna McGowan, ,Swedish, ,Television Personalities, ,The Kiss, ,The Sea of Memories, ,Tropical Fishbowl, ,Wicked

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Amelia’s Magazine | Glastonbury 2010 Climate Camp Tripod Stage Review: Thursday

june-chanoomidole-jon-young art of mentoring
Jon Young by June Chanpoomidole.

Next week I am away yet again, drug generic this time on the Art of Mentoring course being run for the very first time in the UK by tracker Jon Young, information pills medical founder of the Wilderness Awareness School. Jon Young was personally mentored by the American wilderness guru Tom Brown, help Jr. and is an expert in bird language, alongside an old friend of mine Alex Travers (known as Feathers) who will also be on the course.

For the past 25 years Jon Young has taught groups and individuals how to create a positive vision for the future through a deeper sense of community and connection to nature. To say I am excited about the opportunity to spend a week learning mentoring skills from Jon Young alongside fellow teachers, Mark Morey and Evan McGown, (a nature based poet and musician who co-authored The Coyote’s Guide to Connecting With Nature with Jon Young) would be an understatement.

june-chanpoomidole-jon-young gerry brady
Jon Young plays the bones with Gerry Brady, by June Chanpoomidole.

I got to meet the sparkly eyed Jon Young – who like me is a big fan of barn dancing as a way of bringing people together – when he visited London a few months ago to give a talk in a darkened room at the top of a pub in north london.

The evening was an informal occasion peppered with frequent anecdotes from Jon’s Native American friend Paul Raphael, Peacemaker of the Odawa tribe, and finishing with some acapella singing accompanied on the “bones” by long lost Irish friend Gerry Brady.

june-chanpoomidole-jon-young maeve gavin
Organiser Maeve Gavin with Paul Raphael, by June Chanpoomidole.

Here is what I learnt…

Nature connection works best in a community setting.
Many of us have lost touch with animals and the earth but it’s easy to trigger subconscious feelings of connection. This is not about passing an ecology literacy test because everyone loves trees on an energetic level… but the woods can be scary so we need people with us along the way. How can we recreate these communities?

Greetings customs and rituals matter.
Greetings have been profoundly important for many eons of humanity – sometimes being so elaborate they could take days. Even though you are lucky if you get much of a greeting in New Jersey they have become more careful, sincere and authentic since 9/1, even from those you might expect to be grumpy. Everyone feels that needs to be welcomed and able to express themselves without pressure.

WillaGebbie_baggyclothes
Illustration by Willa Gebbie.

It is possible to create new rituals to suit us today.
The youth today carry the subconscious weight of their woes in over-sized clothes, but Jon has mentored both privileged and deprived children and all of them thrive when given space to express themselves. He recounts the story of a scholar from the best family and school in town, forever struggling to stay the best in his class, and thoroughly depressed as a result. After a few months of mentorship with Jon he tearfully declared that he was finally able to be himself and went on to became a mentor to the younger kids. Greeting customs can forge strong bonds and that is why the elaborate bonding rituals of gangs are so successful.

Everyone needs to feel recognised and blessed, at every age.
Young people need affirmation but so do their parents, many of whom will have missed out on it themselves as youngsters. If all generations are not cared for there are likely to be cultural gaps that can cause problems; for example a whole generation can feel threatened or alienated, and the worst outcome of this could be the sabotaging of change.

Maple Syrup as teacher.
When Paul’s family makes maple syrup they thank the trees with a special ceremony before boiling up the sap. This is a delicate operation that takes 2-3 whole days of pan-watching, for if the sap burns it will spoil, which is tantamount to violating the laws of nature. If this happens it will haunt you, but you will learn. As such it is an ideal teaching tool, especially for young men.

WillaGebbie_Paul Raphael
Paul Raphael as mushroom picker by Willa Gebbie.

Remember to leave the seeds behind when picking morel mushrooms.
Paul lives life by the seasons, and has just two short weeks to pick morel mushrooms from a special place in the woods – unfortunately it’s impossible to keep his spot secret in a small community. He carries the mushrooms home in knitted orange bags that allow the seeds to fall to the ground; that way ensuring a crop for the following year. So much ancestral knowledge has been lost that some of the kids make huge amounts of noise crashing through the wilderness. Even in Paul’s community there is much disconnection from nature, and he spends much of his time finding ways to empower the elders.

The government can learn from Hurricane Iniki, which hit Hawaii in 1992.
This huge hurricane stripped houses from their foundations and denuded vegetation, yet only six people died. It took the government nine days to get aid out to Hawaii, but instead of panic officials were met by people at the docks who did not want to fix things too quickly, because then they would have to return to work. Everyone was relaxing, taking it easy, having BBQs and helping each other. Because of interwoven cultural relations present before the storm there was a built in community resilience that meant the people responded collectively as one living organism, instead of separate units. Here is a lesson in how to cope during disasters.

Jon was taught to play the bones twenty years ago when he last met Gerry (then working as a labourer on the East Coast), and has since taught Paul how to play the bones too. Here’s a video of the three of them singing together. Cross generational and cultural mentoring in action!

YouTube Preview Image

You can read another account of the night here. I am looking forward to learning so much more next week. See you on the other side.

Amelia’s Magazine second post on the Royal College 2010 Show Two deviates from the previous’ focus on Climate Change, adiposity finding ourselves mesmerised by Design Interaction Student, Kjen Williams’ Weather Camera.

A beautiful alternative to the avalanche of public private data currently building within the corridors of the web. The Weather Camera can be used to record a special moment’s atmospheric conditions. Subsequently producing a new method of narration.

Described as a moment of empowerment, Becky Pilditch‘s prothestics showcase how functional pieces of designs can be both a thing of beauty and self expression, that these can be extensions of the wearer’s personality.

Hand 8 the final part of the project, played with ideas of gesture and personality by creating numerous arms that related to the way Holly acted as she spoke.

In Animation I discovered the wonderful sleeplike animation of Lauri Warsta, titled ….. the animation merged the borders between surreal dream and documentary as the calming voice, not too dissimilar to the 1940′s DONT PANIC! voiceover narrated the viewer through the reporting on a global reserves of dreams.

Adnan Lalani‘s experiment with augmented reality caught my eye; the action of turning the pages of a pop up book to read the story is suplimented by additional animation narration appearing on screen placed directly behind the book and inline with the viewers eye.

The eye catching work by Louise O’Conner (Design Interaction); used experimental dance to convey the movement of Atoms as an attempt to connect us to movements beyond our awareness.

A particular lovely idea was the mapping out of the distances of the solar system along Kingsland High Street leading up to Stamford Hill.

Photography by Mark Henderson

You can find the map and information about the project here:

Katrin Baumgarten’s Aesthetics of disgust explore’s humans relationship, both emotional and physical to things that disgust them. Using inanimate objects that we take for granted, such as Light Switches, Kartin has added disturbing features as displayed in the pictures below. In the installation at the RCA a screen documents the reaction of the user.

Intimate touch or sexual disgust is also explored by Katrina

FINALLY on my second trip (yes second, it’s that big and really worth the time) I came across the brilliant work of Sivaprakash Shanmugam’s Expressive Scribble. The idea being to encourage children’s creativity and to “enrich their visual vocabulary.” Children can draw onto the projector screen (ideally this could be the kitchen floor, wall etc…) and through clicking on the ‘movie’ button enable their drawings to come to life, whilst learning a sense of narrative and the multiple possibilities drawing can conjure up….

Part two of the RCA show continues until 4th July 2010. It’s open from 11-8 daily at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU. Admission is free.

Images Courtesy of the Students and addition photographs by Sally Mumby-Croft

Amelia’s Magazine second post on the Royal College 2010 Show Two deviates from Climate Change, help finding ourselves mesmerised by Design Interaction Student, seek Kjen Wilkens’ Weather Camera.

What is the impact on our relationship to a world where mechanical objects interpret our daily surroundings through a variety of sensor monitors, subsequently producing endless streams of data? Are we moving into the final phrase of Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction? Kjen Wilkins The Weather Camera. is a response to the designers search for the human presence within this deluge of electronic readings of our environmental surroundings. Instead of taking a photograph to a record of a special moment, the user of The Weather Camera could record the atmospheric conditions instead. In time this may encourage new methods of narration, titled by the designer as “Sensor Poetics” and documented in the image below.

Described as “object of empowerment”, Becky Pilditch‘s prothestics showcase how functional pieces of designs can be both a thing of beauty an extension of the wearer’s personality. Becky worked on the project with Holly Franklin, what I really like about the project is the development of a blog that can be used by other prosthetic limb users to feed back directly into the project.

Hand 8 the final part of the project, played with ideas of gesture and personality by creating numerous arms that related to Holly’s actions as she spoke or moved around a space.

In Animation there awaited Lauri Warsta’s Traumdeutung. A wonderful animation baring the hallmarks (whatever that may mean…) of a “documentary” as the calming voiceover, not too dissimilar to the 1940′s DONT PANIC! voiceover narrated the viewer through the date currently available on the subject of the animation: The Global Reserves of Dreams. Whilst simultaneously bearing the possibility that the entire animation is a dream itself.

The subtle block coloring of the animation maintained a ‘warmth’ more similar to hand drawn animation, that can sometimes be lost in 3D animation. An outcome perhaps of the animator combining ” making the two extremes (3D and Handmade) clash and merge. For example, by bringing the uncontrollable movement of real hand-held footage to an otherwise sterile computer animation”

Adnan Lalani‘s experiment with augmented reality caught my eye; the action of turning the pages of a pop up book to read the story is suplimented by additional animation narration appearing on screen placed directly behind the book and inline with the viewers eye.

Below is the Pop Up Book’s Prototype, Adnan kindly took a few moments to explain the idea behind combining the narrative structure of a pop up book with Augmented reality: “The pop-up book felt like a natural compliment to augmented reality. I was hoping to see how AR could be used in a more tactile, playful context… i.e. take something we already know and play with, and allow it to be enhanced with animation and digital interactivity.”

RCA Work In Progress Show – Pop Up Book Prototype Documentation from adnan lalani on Vimeo.

Eventually Adnan hopes that as we grow more comfortable with the idea of Augmented Reality, ideas like the Pop Up book ” can allow a progression from the magical, novelty nature of AR, into more of a direct tool by which to communicate narratives and story telling”

The eye catching work by Louise O’Conner (Design Interaction); used experimental dance to convey the movement of Atoms as an attempt to connect us to movements beyond our awareness.

A particular lovely idea was the mapping out of the distances of the solar system along Kingsland High Street leading up to Stamford Hill. Eight Shopkeepers were asked if their shop would host one of the planets…

Photography by Mark Henderson

You can find the map and information about the project here:

Katrin Baumgarten’s Aesthetics of Disgust explore’s humans relationship, both emotional and physical to things that disgust us. Using inanimate objects that we take for granted, such as Light Switches, Kartin added disturbing features displayed in the pictures below. Thus bringing these inanimate objects to the forefront of our attention.

In the installation at the Royal College of Art a screen documents the levels of the reaction of each user.

Intimate touch or sexual disgust is and how these feelings can be created “merely by inappropriate behaviours in society, such as touching another person in an intimate or sexual way in public, even though that might comfort the two persons involved and is a part of our human nature.” Is another subject explored by Katrina producing the Intimate Touch Object, an item which enables you to touch another person secretly…

FINALLY on my second trip (yes second, it’s that big and really worth the time) I came across the brilliant work of Sivaprakash Shanmugam’s Expressive Scribble. The idea being to encourage children’s creativity and to “enrich their visual vocabulary.” Children can draw onto the projector screen (ideally this could be the kitchen floor, wall etc…) and through clicking on the ‘movie’ button enable their drawings to come to life, whilst learning a sense of narrative and the multiple possibilities drawing can conjure up….

Part two of the RCA show continues until 4th July 2010. It’s open from 11-8 daily at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU. Admission is free.

Images Courtesy of the Students and addition photographs by Sally Mumby-Croft

Amelia’s Magazine second post on the Royal College 2010 Show Two deviates from the subject of Climate Change, viagra order finding ourselves mesmerised by Design Interaction Student, this site Kjen Wilkens’ Weather Camera.

What is the impact on our relationship to a world where mechanical objects interpret our daily surroundings through a variety of sensor monitors, subsequently producing endless streams of data? Are we moving into the final phrase of Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction? Kjen Wilkins The Weather Camera. is a response to the designers search for the human presence within this deluge of electronic readings of our environmental surroundings. Instead of taking a photograph to a record of a special moment, the user of The Weather Camera could record the atmospheric conditions instead. In time this may encourage new methods of narration, titled by the designer as “Sensor Poetics” and documented in the image below.

Described as “object of empowerment”, Becky Pilditch‘s prothestics showcase how functional pieces of designs can be both a thing of beauty an extension of the wearer’s personality. Becky worked on the project with Holly Franklin, what I really like about the project is the development of a blog that can be used by other prosthetic limb users to feed back directly into the project.

Hand 8 the final part of the project, played with ideas of gesture and personality by creating numerous arms that related to Holly’s actions as she spoke or moved around a space.

In Animation there awaited Lauri Warsta’s Traumdeutung. A wonderful animation baring the hallmarks (whatever that may mean…) of a “documentary” as the calming voiceover, not too dissimilar to the 1940′s DONT PANIC! voiceover narrated the viewer through the date currently available on the subject of the animation: The Global Reserves of Dreams. Whilst simultaneously bearing the possibility that the entire animation is a dream itself.

The subtle block coloring of the animation maintained a ‘warmth’ more similar to hand drawn animation, that can sometimes be lost in 3D animation. An outcome perhaps of the animator combining ” making the two extremes (3D and Handmade) clash and merge. For example, by bringing the uncontrollable movement of real hand-held footage to an otherwise sterile computer animation”

Adnan Lalani‘s experiment with augmented reality caught my eye; the action of turning the pages of a pop up book to read the story is suplimented by additional animation narration appearing on screen placed directly behind the book and inline with the viewers eye.

Below is the Pop Up Book’s Prototype, Adnan kindly took a few moments to explain the idea behind combining the narrative structure of a pop up book with Augmented reality: “The pop-up book felt like a natural compliment to augmented reality. I was hoping to see how AR could be used in a more tactile, playful context… i.e. take something we already know and play with, and allow it to be enhanced with animation and digital interactivity.”

RCA Work In Progress Show – Pop Up Book Prototype Documentation from adnan lalani on Vimeo.

Eventually Adnan hopes that as we grow more comfortable with the idea of Augmented Reality, ideas like the Pop Up book ” can allow a progression from the magical, novelty nature of AR, into more of a direct tool by which to communicate narratives and story telling”

The eye catching work by Louise O’Conner (Design Interaction); used experimental dance to convey the movement of Atoms as an attempt to connect us to movements beyond our awareness.

A particular lovely idea was the mapping out of the distances of the solar system along Kingsland High Street leading up to Stamford Hill. Eight Shopkeepers were asked if their shop would host one of the planets…

Photography by Mark Henderson

You can find the map and information about the project here:

Katrin Baumgarten’s Aesthetics of Disgust explore’s humans relationship, both emotional and physical to things that disgust us. Using inanimate objects that we take for granted, such as Light Switches, Kartin added disturbing features displayed in the pictures below. Thus bringing these inanimate objects to the forefront of our attention.

In the installation at the Royal College of Art a screen documents the levels of the reaction of each user.

Intimate touch or sexual disgust is and how these feelings can be created “merely by inappropriate behaviours in society, such as touching another person in an intimate or sexual way in public, even though that might comfort the two persons involved and is a part of our human nature.” Is another subject explored by Katrina producing the Intimate Touch Object, an item which enables you to touch another person secretly…

FINALLY on my second trip (yes second, it’s that big and really worth the time) I came across the brilliant work of Sivaprakash Shanmugam’s Expressive Scribble. The idea being to encourage children’s creativity and to “enrich their visual vocabulary.” Children can draw onto the projector screen (ideally this could be the kitchen floor, wall etc…) and through clicking on the ‘movie’ button enable their drawings to come to life, whilst learning a sense of narrative and the multiple possibilities drawing can conjure up….

Part two of the RCA show continues until 4th July 2010. It’s open from 11-8 daily at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU. Admission is free.

Images Courtesy of the Students and addition photographs by Sally Mumby-Croft

Amelia’s Magazine second post on the Royal College 2010 Show Two deviates from the subject of Climate Change, prostate finding ourselves mesmerised by Design Interaction Student, Kjen Wilkens’ Weather Camera.

What is the impact on our relationship with the environment, when we exist in a world where mechanical objects and sensor monitors constantly interpret our daily surroundings; producing endless streams of data? Are we moving into the final phrase of Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction? Kjen Wilkins The Weather Camera. is a response to the designer’s search for a human presence within a deluge of electronic readings of the environment. Instead of taking a photograph to a record of a special moment, the user of The Weather Camera could record the atmospheric conditions instead. In time this may encourage new methods of narration, titled by the designer as “Sensor Poetics” and documented in the image below.

Described as “object of empowerment”, Becky Pilditch‘s prothestics showcase how functional pieces of designs can be both a thing of beauty an extension of the wearer’s personality. Becky worked on the project with Holly Franklin, what I really like about the project is the development of a blog that can be used by other prosthetic limb users to feed back directly into the project.

Hand 8 the final part of the project, played with ideas of gesture and personality by creating numerous arms that related to Holly’s actions as she spoke or moved around a space.

In Animation there awaited Lauri Warsta’s Traumdeutung. A wonderful animation baring the hallmarks (whatever that may mean…) of a “documentary” as the calming voiceover, not too dissimilar to the 1940′s DONT PANIC! voiceover narrated the viewer through the date currently available on the subject of the animation: The Global Reserves of Dreams. Whilst simultaneously bearing the possibility that the entire animation is a dream itself.

The subtle block coloring of the animation maintained a ‘warmth’ more similar to hand drawn animation, that can sometimes be lost in 3D animation. An outcome perhaps of the animator combining ” making the two extremes (3D and Handmade) clash and merge. For example, by bringing the uncontrollable movement of real hand-held footage to an otherwise sterile computer animation”

Adnan Lalani‘s experiment with augmented reality caught my eye; the action of turning the pages of a pop up book to read the story is suplimented by additional animation narration appearing on screen placed directly behind the book and inline with the viewers eye.

Below is the Pop Up Book’s Prototype, Adnan kindly took a few moments to explain the idea behind combining the narrative structure of a pop up book with Augmented reality: “The pop-up book felt like a natural compliment to augmented reality. I was hoping to see how AR could be used in a more tactile, playful context… i.e. take something we already know and play with, and allow it to be enhanced with animation and digital interactivity.”

RCA Work In Progress Show – Pop Up Book Prototype Documentation from adnan lalani on Vimeo.

Eventually Adnan hopes that as we grow more comfortable with the idea of Augmented Reality, ideas like the Pop Up book ” can allow a progression from the magical, novelty nature of AR, into more of a direct tool by which to communicate narratives and story telling”

The eye catching work by Louise O’Conner (Design Interaction); used experimental dance to convey the movement of Atoms as an attempt to connect us to movements beyond our awareness.

A particular lovely idea was the mapping out of the distances of the solar system along Kingsland High Street leading up to Stamford Hill. Eight Shopkeepers were asked if their shop would host one of the planets…

Photography by Mark Henderson

You can find the map and information about the project here:

Katrin Baumgarten’s Aesthetics of Disgust explore’s humans relationship, both emotional and physical to things that disgust us. Using inanimate objects that we take for granted, such as Light Switches, Kartin added disturbing features displayed in the pictures below. Thus bringing these inanimate objects to the forefront of our attention.

In the installation at the Royal College of Art a screen documents the levels of the reaction of each user.

Intimate touch or sexual disgust is and how these feelings can be created “merely by inappropriate behaviours in society, such as touching another person in an intimate or sexual way in public, even though that might comfort the two persons involved and is a part of our human nature.” Is another subject explored by Katrina producing the Intimate Touch Object, an item which enables you to touch another person secretly…

FINALLY on my second trip (yes second, it’s that big and really worth the time) I came across the brilliant work of Sivaprakash Shanmugam’s Expressive Scribble. The idea being to encourage children’s creativity and to “enrich their visual vocabulary.” Children can draw onto the projector screen (ideally this could be the kitchen floor, wall etc…) and through clicking on the ‘movie’ button enable their drawings to come to life, whilst learning a sense of narrative and the multiple possibilities drawing can conjure up….

Part two of the RCA show continues until 4th July 2010. It’s open from 11-8 daily at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU. Admission is free.

Images Courtesy of the Students and addition photographs by Sally Mumby-Croft

Amelia’s Magazine second post on the Royal College 2010 Show Two deviates from the subject of Climate Change, case finding ourselves mesmerised by Design Interaction Student, order Kjen Wilkens’ Weather Camera.

What is the impact on our relationship with the environment, page when existing in a world where mechanical objects and sensor monitors constantly interpret our daily surroundings, producing endless streams of data? Are we moving into the final phrase of Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction? Kjen Wilkins The Weather Camera. is a response to the designers search for the human presence within this deluge of electronic readings of our environmental surroundings. Instead of taking a photograph to a record of a special moment, the user of The Weather Camera could record the atmospheric conditions instead. In time this may encourage new methods of narration, titled by the designer as “Sensor Poetics” and documented in the image below.

Described as “object of empowerment”, Becky Pilditch‘s prothestics showcase how functional pieces of designs can be both a thing of beauty an extension of the wearer’s personality. Becky worked on the project with Holly Franklin, what I really like about the project is the development of a blog that can be used by other prosthetic limb users to feed back directly into the project.

Hand 8 the final part of the project, played with ideas of gesture and personality by creating numerous arms that related to Holly’s actions as she spoke or moved around a space.

In Animation there awaited Lauri Warsta’s Traumdeutung. A wonderful animation baring the hallmarks (whatever that may mean…) of a “documentary” as the calming voiceover, not too dissimilar to the 1940′s DONT PANIC! voiceover narrated the viewer through the date currently available on the subject of the animation: The Global Reserves of Dreams. Whilst simultaneously bearing the possibility that the entire animation is a dream itself.

The subtle block coloring of the animation maintained a ‘warmth’ more similar to hand drawn animation, that can sometimes be lost in 3D animation. An outcome perhaps of the animator combining ” making the two extremes (3D and Handmade) clash and merge. For example, by bringing the uncontrollable movement of real hand-held footage to an otherwise sterile computer animation”

Adnan Lalani‘s experiment with augmented reality caught my eye; the action of turning the pages of a pop up book to read the story is suplimented by additional animation narration appearing on screen placed directly behind the book and inline with the viewers eye.

Below is the Pop Up Book’s Prototype, Adnan kindly took a few moments to explain the idea behind combining the narrative structure of a pop up book with Augmented reality: “The pop-up book felt like a natural compliment to augmented reality. I was hoping to see how AR could be used in a more tactile, playful context… i.e. take something we already know and play with, and allow it to be enhanced with animation and digital interactivity.”

RCA Work In Progress Show – Pop Up Book Prototype Documentation from adnan lalani on Vimeo.

Eventually Adnan hopes that as we grow more comfortable with the idea of Augmented Reality, ideas like the Pop Up book ” can allow a progression from the magical, novelty nature of AR, into more of a direct tool by which to communicate narratives and story telling”

The eye catching work by Louise O’Conner (Design Interaction); used experimental dance to convey the movement of Atoms as an attempt to connect us to movements beyond our awareness.

A particular lovely idea was the mapping out of the distances of the solar system along Kingsland High Street leading up to Stamford Hill. Eight Shopkeepers were asked if their shop would host one of the planets…

Photography by Mark Henderson

You can find the map and information about the project here:

Katrin Baumgarten’s Aesthetics of Disgust explore’s humans relationship, both emotional and physical to things that disgust us. Using inanimate objects that we take for granted, such as Light Switches, Kartin added disturbing features displayed in the pictures below. Thus bringing these inanimate objects to the forefront of our attention.

In the installation at the Royal College of Art a screen documents the levels of the reaction of each user.

Intimate touch or sexual disgust is and how these feelings can be created “merely by inappropriate behaviours in society, such as touching another person in an intimate or sexual way in public, even though that might comfort the two persons involved and is a part of our human nature.” Is another subject explored by Katrina producing the Intimate Touch Object, an item which enables you to touch another person secretly…

FINALLY on my second trip (yes second, it’s that big and really worth the time) I came across the brilliant work of Sivaprakash Shanmugam’s Expressive Scribble. The idea being to encourage children’s creativity and to “enrich their visual vocabulary.” Children can draw onto the projector screen (ideally this could be the kitchen floor, wall etc…) and through clicking on the ‘movie’ button enable their drawings to come to life, whilst learning a sense of narrative and the multiple possibilities drawing can conjure up….

Part two of the RCA show continues until 4th July 2010. It’s open from 11-8 daily at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU. Admission is free.

Images Courtesy of the Students and addition photographs by Sally Mumby-Croft

Glastonbury 2010 Climate Camp Anna Log

Bands bands bands…. how did I luck out with such a great selection for our Climate Camp Tripod Stage? Well, I can only conclude that the universe conspired to provide so brilliantly because the PRs I speak to about music for Amelia’s Magazine are PRs who share my taste in music. Many of the bands that performed for us were not ones I had heard of before, shop but without exception they all sat on a scale of varying levels of brilliant. Some played exclusively for us – jumping at the opportunity to play at the biggest music festival in the world despite being there on a punter’s ticket or working elsewhere. Others were also due to play the BBC Introducing stage or other much bigger and more prominent stages, and I like to think that we offered a bit of a warm up for them… it was certainly toasty hot on our south facing stage.

Glastonbury 2010 Climate Camp Anna Log
Glastonbury 2010 Climate Camp Anna Log

First up on Thursday we had Anna Log, erstwhile singer and uke player with We Aeronauts. In September she moves to Oxford, where she will start at drama school and share a house with the rest of her band, who on occasion help out with her solo work. During the set she was highly entertained by the small child who proceeded to climb the tripod whilst she played, but not nearly as entertained as the crowd were when Anna perfectly impersonated an entire horn section in the absence of the rest of her band. We Aeronauts release their first EP later this summer.

donna.mckenzie.ana.log
Anna Log by Donna McKensie.

Anna’s thoughts on playing at Climate Camp: I was mega-grateful to my brother Mark and Sam for providing some background “Oooooos” and I absolutely loved playing at Climate Camp. It was such a friendly, relaxed atmosphere and no-one seemed to really mind that my suncream-covered hands were producing some extremely interesting and unintentional chords on the uke! I also really enjoyed the ceilidh – it was awesome to see lots of lush people in animal masks dancing about and laughing with each other. (I definitely sound like a massive hippy… that might be because I am…)
Anna’s Glastonbury highlights: Laura Marling‘s beautiful set on The Park stage; she really is our modern day Joni Mitchell – and a secret, acoustic Stornoway gig up in the Crow’s Nest. I flipping love Stornoway, they are one of my favourite bands and such lovely people.

Green Kite Midnight Luke Waller
Green Kite Midnight by Luke Waller.

She was followed by the best Green Kite Midnight ceilidh of the entire weekend, complete with a man doing hand stands in gold spangly pants.

Glastonbury 2010 Climate Camp Green Kite Midnight
Glastonbury 2010 Climate Camp Green Kite Midnight
Glastonbury 2010 Climate Camp Green Kite Midnight
Glastonbury 2010 Climate Camp Green Kite Midnight

Then came My Luminaries, who took a very light hearted approach to the gig and caused much amusement with their stage antics. They were the first of many to take a truly creative approach to our semi acoustic set up, and I particularly enjoyed the strategic placement of their diamante keyboard in a wheelbarrow.

my-luminaries-caroline-coates
My Luminaries by Caroline Coates.

At one point the bassist climbed on top of one of our blue painted deck chairs and pretended to stage dive, before we were treated to a rollicking scat from their drummer which proved the ultimate crowd pleaser. Despite claiming a failing voice, lead singer James sounded fantastic, and could be found enjoying our vegan fare on the grass later on.

Glastonbury 2010 Climate Camp My Luminaries
Glastonbury 2010 Climate Camp My Luminaries
Glastonbury 2010 Climate Camp My Luminaries

James liked playing on the Tripod Stage because: it was the complete opposite of the gig we’d just done on the Queens Head stage. The gig couldn’t have been more intimate and we rarely get to do such gigs. 
His favourite part of Glastonbury was: playing on the Tripod Stage (of course) and on the Queen’s Head stage (the biggest gig we’ve ever done, to 2500 people). Other than that, we met Prince Charles, we danced like idiots to the Phenomenal Handclap Band, and we stayed up all night in the Piano Bar and the Stone Circle.  

My Luminaries debut album Order From The Chaos is out now.

caroline-coates-my-luminaries-chair
My Luminaries by Caroline Coates.
Glastonbury 2010 Climate Camp My Luminaries
Glastonbury 2010 Climate Camp My Luminaries

My review of Friday is up next… read it here.

Categories ,Anna Log, ,BBC Introducing, ,Caroline Coates, ,ceilidh, ,Climate Camp, ,Crow’s Nest, ,Diamante, ,Donna Mckensie, ,glastonbury, ,Green Kite Midnight, ,Joni Mitchell, ,Laura Marling, ,Luke Waller, ,My Luminaries, ,Phenomenal Handclap Band, ,Piano Bar, ,Queen’s Head Stage, ,Scat, ,Stone Circle, ,Stornaway, ,The Park, ,Tripod Stage, ,vegan, ,We Aeronauts

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