his dark materials – AmeliasMagazine

Amelia’s Magazine | An Interview with Yang Du, Surrealist Fashion Designer.

No rest for the wicked or the socially and politically minded, seek this week ends with another action packed weekend with the anarchist bookfair and the 350: International Day of Climate Action as well as plenty to keep you occupied during the week.

All Illustrations by Hannah Lewis

Positive Change
Tuesday 20th October 2009 ?

Positive Change is a careers seminar for people interested in environmental, order conservation and sustainable development careers. You’ll also learn about the fair trade movement and just where the opportunities lie.

Venue: SOAS, erectile University of London
Time: 5:30pm
Website: http://www.forum3.co.uk/positivechange/

Wild Law in Action at Gaia Foundation
Wednesday 21st October 2009

A talk held at the Gaia Foundation by Polly Higgins about a journey to the United Nations to deliver the ‘hard law’ – the Universal Declaration of Planetary Rights. The rolling out of the ‘soft law’ – the Universal Declaration of All Beings, more commonly referred to as the Peoples’ Declaration will also be highlighted.
?
Venue: Gaia Foundation, 6 Heathgate Place, Agincourt Road, London NW3 2NU?
Time: 6.30pm?
Tickets: £10
Website: http://www.gaiafoundation.org/

Climate Change Academy
Wednesday 21st October 2009

A one day workshop for all the family to help encourage families to learn more about living low carbon lives as well as give them handy advice on how to save energy in their own home. The workshop is free and includes lunch.

Venue: The Window 13 Windsor Street
Time: 10am until 3.30pm
Website: www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

Get involved in Guerilla Gardening
Thursday 22nd October and Saturday 24th October

Help to enhance a community nature garden, create a nature trail and plant a monster hedge in Markfield Park, N15. The group meets fortnightly Thursdays and monthly Saturdays. Wear appropriate clothing for outdoor work and weather conditions.

Venue: Markfield Park cafe, N15?Located on River Lee, between Tottenham Hale station and Springfield Park, just off Seven Sisters High Road.
Date: Thursday -?Starts 1-4pm, & fourtnightly Saturdays -?2-4pm

A workshop on Pedal-powered generators
Saturday 24th October

Want to make your own emissions-free electricity, independent of fossil fuels and expensive solar arrays and wind turbines? Discover how to use your own bike as part of a small power station, capable of powering computers, stereos, TVs and other small household appliances. This method makes a great use of your bike when you’re not riding it around town. In just one day find out all you need to know to assemble a bike-powered generator. The classroom will be bike-powered throughout the day.

Venue: Hackney City Farm, London
Address: http://www.lowimpact.org/

Anarchist Bookfair 2009
Saturday 24th October 2009 ?

For all your anarchist requirements: books, pamphlets, t-shirts, videos, badges, posters and the rest. Veggies will be doing vegan food from outside the venue; a huge selection of groups and individuals will be holding talks, sure to be a very informative day.

Venue: Queen Mary & Westfield College, Mile End Rd. E1 4NS
Time: 10-7pm
Website: http://www.anarchistbookfair.org/

March Against the War in Afghanistan
Saturday 24th October 2009

?The march is called by Stop the War Coalition, CND and BMI?.The march will be lead by anti-war military families & soldiers and will include speakers Peter Brierley, who recently refused to shake Tony Blair’s hand because it had his sons blood on it; Lance Cpl Joe Glenton, serving soldier facing court martial for refusing to return to Afghanistan and George Galloway MP; musician and poet

Assemble 12 noon Hyde Park: March to Trafalgar Square
Website: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/

The Bigger Picture: Festival of Interdependence
Saturday 24th October 2009

Festival of Interdependence is a free interactive, living exhibition staged in the dramatic post-industrial setting of the Bargehouse on London’s South Bank. There is 3 floors of talks, workshops and exhibitions as well as a talk on Copenhagen from 2pm and a report from the swoop at 5pm.
The main exhibition will be opened for one day only. The event coincides with 350: an International Day of Climate Action which aims to highlight the importance of getting back to 350 ppm carbon dioxide he safe limit for humanity.

Time: 10.30 – 19.30
?Venue: Bargehouse, South Bank
Website: http://thebiggerpicture2009.org/

No rest for the wicked or the socially and politically minded, medical this week ends with another action packed weekend with the anarchist bookfair and the 350: International Day of Climate Action as well as plenty to keep you occupied during the week.

All Illustrations by Hannah Lewis

Positive Change
Tuesday 20th October 2009 ?

Positive Change is a careers seminar for people interested in environmental, visit conservation and sustainable development careers. You’ll also learn about the fair trade movement and just where the opportunities lie.

Venue: SOAS, University of London
Time: 5:30pm
Website: http://www.forum3.co.uk/positivechange/

Wild Law in Action at Gaia Foundation
Wednesday 21st October 2009

Climate Change Academy
Wednesday 21st October 2009

Venue: The Window 13 Windsor Street
Time: 10am until 3.30pm
Website: www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

Get involved in Guerilla Gardening
Thursday 22nd October and Saturday 24th October

A workshop on Pedal-powered generators
Saturday 24th October

Venue: Hackney City Farm, London
Address: http://www.lowimpact.org/

Anarchist Bookfair 2009
Saturday 24th October 2009 ?

Venue: Queen Mary & Westfield College, Mile End Rd. E1 4NS
Time: 10-7pm
Website: http://www.anarchistbookfair.org/

March Against the War in Afghanistan
Saturday 24th October 2009

Assemble 12 noon Hyde Park: March to Trafalgar Square
Website: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/

The Bigger Picture: Festival of Interdependence
Saturday 24th October 2009

Time: 10.30 – 19.30
?Venue: Bargehouse, South Bank
Website: http://thebiggerpicture2009.org/

Amelia’s Magazine interviews CSM MA Womenswear Graduate Yang Du about the research and process behind producing a runway collection. Unsurprisingly for one who has studied with Vivienne Westwood, ailment Giles Deacon and John Galliano and whose inspirations are Victor & Rolf and Castelbajac, cialis 40mg Yang Du’s collections are the epitome of surrealist fashion design.

Yang Du presented her SS10 collection as part of On|Off (see previous Amelia’s Magazine coverage at London Fashion Week). The collection of bold coloured oversized dresses are an eclectic interpretation of everyday clothes, this whilst representing the possibility of fun to be had when adorned in the following garmets.

The press release mentions that her “previous two collections are like my travel diaries…” Subsequently this interview started with the following question:

What was the inspiration behind the new collection and did it involve an aspect of your recent travels?

In April I visited Ecuador for three weeks; I spent a few days in the rainforest and hung out with the local children. We sang, danced and drew together, it was wonderfully peaceful. Those kids live in very basic condition; they all were these over-sized T-shirts which were left by previous visitors. These discarded and re-used t-shirts were the starting point of my collection. They are fun designs that I see people wearing.

How was London Fashion Week as part of On|Off?

It was a great experience to work with OnlOff and they have been incredibly supportive through the whole process of Fashion Week, I was able to go to Paris as of the On|Off showroom. There has been great encouragement to work with someone who are special and inspirational to you.

How was Paris?

The high light for me would be going to the JCDC Show, and meeting Castelbajac back stage.

Can you expand on the influence of Franco Moschino for me?

I love the idea of fashion sending a message into life, the possibility of it it making a statement.

How did the exhibition Soho happen?

A friend of mine Tian Tian Zhu, a sound artist who runs the organisation TIEN, who I had met a few times accidently as we both went to the same gigs, the last being Yoko Ono. We started to talk about working together at the some point in the future and now she is curating my solo exhibition at Assembly Room, it is a very sweet place.

You were previously a Painter, studying at Central Saint Martins, how was the transition to Fashion Design?

Like many designers I trained at art school first, but I have always been interested in fashion. My mum studied pattern cutting, and made all my clothes when I was young.

Where did the ideas of the hats in the SS10 Collection spring from?

I was in the flower market, taking photos of everyday people and there was suddenly a moment where carton images appeared in my head. Everyone became a different kind of plant according to their look and what they wearing. It is from this place of imagination, that the cacti hats came from.

May I ask about your design ideology?

My ideology… I am very open-minded to new things, and mostly, look at things from a very different angle. I often go on trips, where I take lots of photos and meet lots of people. When I come back to London, I always have so much in my mind, some of them like stories which I really want to share through the clothes I design.

How did you decide to produce your designs through knitwear?

It was the right material to work with at the time according to the concept. The use of wool produced the right mood for that collection. I want to find a media that translates my painting without literally knowing what it is that is being translated.

Yang Du currently has an exhibition titled “Falling in Love is a Risk” at the Assembly Rooms in Soho, I thoughly recommend a trip that provides the opportunity to view her sketchbooks and most recent designs. The exhibition runs until November 27 2009.

All photographs (except the last image) are from the SS10 collection: Mr Right Town. Look book by Bella Howard and styled by Grace Woodward, make-up, Andrew Gallimore, hair, Bianca Tuovi and was produced by Platform

Written by Sally Mumby-Croft on Wednesday October 21st, 2009 2:03 pm

Categories ,Central Saint Martins, ,Falling in Love is a Risk, ,Giles, ,JCDC, ,John Galliano, ,knitwear, ,London Fashion Week, ,onoff, ,painting, ,surrealism, ,surrealist, ,The Assembly Rooms, ,TIEN, ,Victor & Rolf, ,Vivienne Westwood, ,Yang Du

Amelia’s Magazine | Meet Daria Hlazatova: Featured Artist from That Which We Do Not Understand

Amelias_magazine_TWWDNU_daria_hlazatova_the_empress
Daria Hlazatova is a Ukraine based artist who has contributed to Amelia’s Magazine for many years. Her wonderful hand drawn pen and ink artworks are full of beautiful detail, creating a dream like world that the viewer can get lost in. Daria is inspired by music and folk tales because she believes that music and stories create paths to the deepest realms of the imagination and self-cognition. She hopes that her vision of The Empress will have a meditative, calming effect on the viewer, helping to untie the knots of anxiety as easily as she disentangles the red ribbon in her hands. Daria is also showing with Atomica Gallery as part of a group exhibition this December.

of the oceans blue by daria hlazatova

Your piece The Empress was inspired by many different ideas. How did you piece them all together and how long did it take to draw?
The Empress took me a week to draw (what with my 3 jobs and other interruptions), adding details as I went along. It’s pretty much a nocturnal drawing – that’s when I had time to complete it.

team by daria hlazatova

Much of your artwork is inspired by your love of music, what are you listening to at the moment and how is it influencing your drawing?
I have been listening to Radiohead and Atoms for Peace a lot – it was an epic return to my teenage love of Thom Yorke’s music. I think he knows a little more about emotions than the others. Also, a lot of medieval chant and polyphony.

serafina by daria hlazatova

What new zines have you got in the pipeline?
I’m accumulating illustrations based on Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. If I get a chance and have funds to get them printed, I’ll be very happy.

Lyra by daria hlazatova

I know the economic situation is quite bad in Ukraine at the moment (not to mention everything else that is going on) – how has this changed the way you are able to live and work at the present time?
The situation has always been like that. We have always had a huge gap between the poor and the very rich. It’s only recently that Ukraine has come up in the news due to the revolutionary movement. I’d rather not talk about the economic situation, as it will only look like complaining. Still, Ukrainian people are known to be able to adapt to even the strictest conditions and that’s what we are doing now – everyone’s trying to carry on. After all, it depends on how you look at it. For some, our situation will appear dystopian, for those with the sense of humour and optimistic nature it will look like another challenge. It could be worse, right? And anyway, everybody’s more concerned now about the war rather than money or food or art, unfortunately.

dream energy by daria hlazatova

How did you get involved with the Prisma collective and what will you be exhibiting at the upcoming group show?
I was with PRISMA from the very beginning, when Kaspian Shore had this wonderful idea to create an artist collective. PRISMA is a great company to be in, a diverse and uber-talented bunch of people; I am very proud to be part of it. I have one artwork for our upcoming group show Wonder Winterland at the Atomica gallery.

get it on by daria hlazatova

You recently visited the UK to talk with Atomica Gallery about your show, what was the highlight of your visit?
The whole visit was a highlight. Working part-time in a travel agency, I have this priceless opportunity to travel on business once in a while. It’s a wonderful chance to see the world. As I didn’t have much free time, I only sneaked up to meet the lovely girls at the Atomica Gallery and leave my artwork there – I’m very excited about taking part in PRISMA group show this December.

Read more about The Empress on Daria’s blog here and secure your copy of The Empress featuring real gold leaf now, it’s selling fast… with 50% of profits going to the artist.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Sunday November 16th, 2014 12:00 am

Categories ,Atomica Gallery, ,Atoms for Peace, ,Daria Hlazatova, ,his dark materials, ,Kaspian Shore, ,PRISMA, ,radiohead, ,That Which We Do Not Understand, ,The Empress, ,TTWDNU, ,Ukraine, ,Wonder Winterland

Amelia’s Magazine | Art is Proof Presents: All My Best Friends Are…

All images courtesy of ‘Art is Proof’

My sense of direction is legendary. Legendary for being almost impressively abysmal. So when I go to Superette’s ‘All my best friend are’ exhibition on Thursday, sildenafil it didn’t take me long to get horribly lost. Despite my well crafted, order yet flawed map, I ended up pacing up and down Brick Lane like a fool before I spotted a gaggle of well dressed art student types strolling down a side street, that had somehow rendered itself invisible a few moments earlier. ‘A ha’ I thought ‘This looks promising.’ In retrospect it was pure luck that upon following them, I ended up at Superette, given that everyone in Brick Lane looks like a well dressed art student. Admittedly, after walking past a large car park, I did doubt as to whether I’d made the right judgement call, but then out the mists of East London, the low rumble of music and lights drew me to my destination, complete with the obligatory large crowd of smokers hovering outside. You come to learn after going to a few opening nights, that anywhere can be found by following the right looking people and looking for the smoking crowd. Tip: the right looking people can often mistake you for a mugger or a sex pest, so pretending to talk on the phone loudly about visiting an exhibition can usually put such doubts at ease. This invaluable advice aside, I happily wondered into the freshly decorated gallery to take in the sights and sounds.

One of my favourite artworks of the evening came courtesy of Francesca Williams, entitled ‘Corpsepaint’. Francesca is the brain behind ‘Wonder League’, which will be opening a pop up shop at Superette on the 28^th of March for one day only. I love Corpsepaint because I’m very partial to pen and ink based illustration. That, and I’ve never quite moved beyond my obsession with The Crow, that lead to much of my teenage years being spent kicking around Cranford wearing a trench coat and pretending to be dead. So it’s refreshing to see it referenced in cool art work, as it vindicates said actions. ‘And they used to call me a demented weirdo! Whose laughing now?’

Leah Stewart’s illustrations are magical and stylish. There is something about the above polar bear illustration that reminds me of the atmosphere of ‘His Dark Materials’ before Chris Weitz came along and fucked it all up. Leah Stewart has previously displayed her collection of enchanted forests and owls at Topshop in Oxford Street.

William Exley, above, is another member of the ‘Art is Proof’ collective, displaying a collection of playful illustrations that have almost a graphic novel sentimentality to them.

By Mark Pavey

Transitioning from graphic novel references into Zines, Superette features a whole bunch of cool low-fi Zines from a collection of artists. I love Zine culture, and it’s always exciting to find new ones to add to my collection. Well priced, I’d definitely recommend a shopping spree whilst visiting Superette.

Superette is located at 66a Sclater Street (beyond the car park) just off Brick Lane (the Bethnal Green end) and for your googlemap lovin’, the postcode is E1 6HR.

Written by Amica Lane on Monday March 22nd, 2010 3:51 pm

Categories ,amica lane, ,art is proof, ,francesca williams, ,his dark materials, ,leah stewart, ,mark pavey, ,polar bears, ,superette, ,the crow, ,weirdopower, ,william exley, ,wonder league, ,zines

Amelia’s Magazine | Art is Proof Presents: All My Best Friends Are…

All images courtesy of ‘Art is Proof’

My sense of direction is legendary. Legendary for being almost impressively abysmal. So when I go to Superette’s ‘All my best friend are’ exhibition on Thursday, it didn’t take me long to get horribly lost. Despite my well crafted, yet flawed map, I ended up pacing up and down Brick Lane like a fool before I spotted a gaggle of well dressed art student types strolling down a side street, that had somehow rendered itself invisible a few moments earlier. ‘A ha’ I thought ‘This looks promising.’ In retrospect it was pure luck that upon following them, I ended up at Superette, given that everyone in Brick Lane looks like a well dressed art student. Admittedly, after walking past a large car park, I did doubt as to whether I’d made the right judgement call, but then out the mists of East London, the low rumble of music and lights drew me to my destination, complete with the obligatory large crowd of smokers hovering outside. You come to learn after going to a few opening nights, that anywhere can be found by following the right looking people and looking for the smoking crowd. Tip: the right looking people can often mistake you for a mugger or a sex pest, so pretending to talk on the phone loudly about visiting an exhibition can usually put such doubts at ease. This invaluable advice aside, I happily wondered into the freshly decorated gallery to take in the sights and sounds.

William Exley, above, is another member of the ‘Art is Proof’ collective, displaying a collection of playful illustrations that have almost a graphic novel sentimentality to them.

By Mark Pavey

Superette is located at 66a Sclater Street (beyond the car park) just off Brick Lane (the Bethnal Green end) and for your googlemap lovin’, the postcode is E1 6HR.

Written by Amica Lane on Monday March 22nd, 2010 3:51 pm

Categories ,amica lane, ,art is proof, ,francesca williams, ,his dark materials, ,leah stewart, ,mark pavey, ,polar bears, ,superette, ,the crow, ,weirdopower, ,william exley, ,wonder league, ,zines