Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with writer and fashion designer Lira Leirner

Initiating a relationship over the Internet is an age-old tale and I have friends who have successfully trodden this path, side effects medications but not without some initial trepidation. There’s always the joke about boys being deluded about their height, patient often adding an inch or four to their profiles (or being axe-murderers), ask and girls uploading old photos when they were a good few pounds lighter (or being bunny boilers). However, beyond the aesthetics, how much do you really know about the person you are communicating with online? And turning the spotlight on you, how far are you willing to stretch the truth to ensure that you are presenting yourself in the best light, without being branded a liar?

Produced by filmmaker Andrew Jarecki, who directed the brilliant docu-film “Capturing the Friedmans” in 2003, Catfish is the directorial feature film debut of Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, which explores these themes, human psychology and the social networking, mobile and electronic technological landscape as a medium for communication, closely following a ‘virtual’ relationship as it unfolds over Facebook and phone calls. Made with a budget of only around $30,000, the film was an unlikely hit at the Sundance Film Festival back in January, which had audience members and critics alike hyperventilating with excitement.

When I received my invite to the press screening, I was urged to read as little about Catfish as possible to avoid spoiling my experience of the film. As I would urge you to do the same, I can tell you that writing this review is going to prove difficult but here goes…

Filmed using a grainy handheld camera, the story goes like this: the film’s protagonist is Nev Schulman, a young, charismatic, sleepy-eyed New-York based photographer who becomes involved, via Facebook, with an eight-year-old art prodigy named Abby who lives in Michigan. Abby approaches Nev to ask for his permission to use a photograph for a painting and a fraternal relationship ensues between Nev and Abby, which becomes increasingly complex as Nev becomes involved with the rest of her family: Abby’s mother, Angela, and Abby’s attractive horse-riding, guitar-playing, party-loving 19-year-old sister, Megan, along with Megan’s intricate network of friends.  Needless to say, a less fraternal relationship develops between Nev and Megan and before we know it, they are “sexting”, amalgamating naked photos of themselves and speaking every night via the plethora of the latest electronic technology that we have at our disposal today. Nothing, however, is quite as it seems as the film takes several unexpected twists and turns to reach a not entirely surprising yet poignant conclusion. 

 
One of the film’s key strengths lies in Nev’s engaging hopeless romantic, drawing empathy from his viewers as we are taken on a journey of his evolving feelings for Megan and her family. Throughout the course of the film, we see Nev experience infatuation, doubt, anger, disappointment, betrayal and then sympathy – feelings of which are all doubtless familiar to us, whether in the virtual or real world. The way in which the film is shot, where Nev talks directly to the camera as if we were talking to a family member or a close friend (fitting really seeing as Schulman is Nev’s brother and Joost is one of his best friends), makes us feel as if we are there, as a confidante to Nev, which helps us to bond and identify with his character.

Where David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin’sThe Social Network” is about the creation of Facebook, Catfish is a film about the consequences of such creations, which may explain why its subject matter has resonated so strongly with audiences, seeing as approximately 5 billion people of us across the globe have a mobile phone subscription and 500 million of us are active users of Facebook (although I exclude myself from the latter).

 
At the risk of revealing too much, “Catfish” goes far deeper than simply being “another film about Facebook”. It throws up moral questions such as to what extent one can engage in innocent harmless fantasies before they start to infringe on the wellbeing of others. This issue, however, is not strictly confined to the realms of an online environment, although it can be argued that modern technological advances, especially social networking, has made this deception somewhat easier to play out and sustain.

There has been much debate about the authenticity of “Catfish” and I for one am not completely convinced that we are all being taken for a ride, however, regardless of whether or not the movie is a hoax, Catfish is an absorbing, thought-provoking and affecting indie about hope, crushed dreams and the society that we live in where social media and modern technology provides a platform for our inner-narcissist, potential to deceive or desire to escape reality to a fictional world where life is less grim. In Joost’s own words, “Our profiles are a chance to present ourselves to the world in a way we can completely control…”

Read our exclusive interview with the director of Catfish, Henry Joost, here.

Catfish is out at selected cinemas across the UK now.

(All images courtesy of Rogue)

Lira Leirner is a Goldsmith’s Sociology and Culture graduate and the writer behind the wonderful blog: The Portmanteau. Recently Lira has delved into the world of fashion design with her self titled label: Lira Leirner. Amelia’s Magazine had the pleasure of discussing Lira’s multiple interests ranging from cultural sociology to fashion via white collar crime and art, decease whilst exploring the reasons behind a collection that consists almost entirely of dresses…

Who is Lira Leirner and what do you do?

Like many who do what they love, health I’m a little bit of a Jack of all trades. First and foremost, 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.

Illustrations by Danielle Andrews

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.

Having graduated from Goldsmiths Sociology and Cultural Studies BA, what were your thoughts on the course?

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.

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?

Aside from your musings on Fashion and Culture, you are also researching white collar crime – what is about white collar crime that 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.

Illustrations by Danielle Andrews

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 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:
Tavi -> to keep tabs on the industry’s favourite witty girl
The Sartorialist -> for street style and photography
Style Bubble -> for hunting down small and quirky fashion lines
Fashion Foie Gras -> for fashion from a consumer’s point of view
Styleite -> for fashion news, big and small
The Clothes Whisperer -> 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.

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 Philip 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.

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.

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.

All photographs courtesy of: Jemma Austin, Terence Webb and Steve Bliss

Categories ,Covent Garden, ,Danielle Andrews, ,Dresses, ,Fashion Design, ,Fashion Fete, ,goldsmiths, ,his dark materials, ,Lira Leirner, ,London Fashion Week, ,LSE, ,Royal Mail, ,Sociology, ,Stuart Bannocks

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Amelia’s Magazine | Sunrise Off Grid 2010: Festival Review

Triumph Inspiration Award Xu Yi
Triumph Inspiration Award
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

So, information pills you’re a sports celebrity, buy but your sporting career has long since ended. What to do to keep in the spotlight? Why, turn up to a fashion show. And watch pretty models parade around in their keks. Purfect! And so it was that I found myself sitting behind not only Nicky Hambleton-Jones (fabulous skin since you ask, and a forehead as smooth as a baby’s bottom) but that well known fan of underwear Linford Christie. Well, he’s a man isn’t he?

Triumph Inspiration Award

I got to the awards as people were being seated, so just had a chance to whisk past a clutch of uncomfortable looking models posing in underwear beneath coloured lights as guests blithely sipped vodka tonics in front of them, and men (only men, and me) snapped them for posterity.

Triumph Inspiration Award presented by someone
Triumph Inspiration Award presented by someone I’ve never heard of.

Triumph Inspiration Award

And so I sat behind the celebs as they had a suitably celeb-y chit chat, and then we were subjected to a bombastic intro which involved a lengthy and dramatic collage of lady silhouettes and then some misogynistic words from a male dancer who I’ve never heard of, and then the judges arrived. Helena Christensen looked vaguely uncomfortable as she was introduced and Matthew Williamson, Rankin and her passed notes like giggly schoolkids. I wonder how much they all got paid for this little shindig? A pretty penny I shouldn’t wonder.

Triumph Inspiration Award judges
Triumph Inspiration Award judges.

In the goodie bags were the first of many hair products that I expect to receive this week, a pair of pants that might fit around my thigh if I’m lucky, and a very glossy brochure of Helena wearing the outfits designed by the 27 finalists chosen from 2300 students from countries all over the globe. And how old is Helena Christensen anyway? A cheese lover apparently, no less, she’s still outrageously good looking in the flesh, though of course she has been airbrushed to oblivion in the promo shots.

Triumph Inspiration Award Helena Christensen

Luckily the actual show was short and sweet, and some of the designs – based on the theme Shape Sensation – were really rather good. It was all over very quickly as we finished with a nod to burlesque; a girl exploding balloons full of coloured paint powder all over the catwalk.

Triumph Inspiration Award

The winners were announced in a manner reminiscent of the Eurovision contest, Ludovico Loffreda of Italy, then Amaya Carcamo of Spain, both designs that I liked. Unsurprisingly the first prize went to a design that clearly had commercial potential, though I would have picked Amaya’s beautiful armoured contraption myself. The winner, Nikolay Bojilov of Bulgaria looked utterly dazed as he paraded down the catwalk with Helena Christensen on one arm.

Triumph Inspiration Award 2010 winner Nikolay Bojilov of Bulgaria
Triumph Inspiration Award 2010 winner Nikolay Bojilov of Bulgaria.

Here then, are my favourites, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

The Sublime:
Triumph Inspiration Award Suzanne Ferncombe
Suzanne Ferncombe.

Triumph Inspiration Award Justin Singh
Justin Singh.

Triumph Inspiration Award runner up Ludovico Loffreda of Italy
Triumph Inspiration Award runner up Ludovico Loffreda of Italy.

Grace Eliana Sugiarto.

Triumph Inspiration Award winner
The winning design by Nikolay Bojilov.

Triumph Inspiration Award Eugenia Dimopoulou
Eugenia Dimopoulou.

Triumph Inspiration Award Isolde Mayer
Isolde Mayer.

Triumph Inspiration Award Anette Boman
Anette Boman.

Triumph Inspiration Award Dennis Lyngso
Dennis Lyngso.

Triumph Inspiration Award Benjamin Blarer
Benjamin Blarer.

Triumph Inspiration Award runner up Amaya Carcamo
Triumph Inspiration Award runner up Amaya Carcamo.

Triumph Inspiration Award Manuel Marte
Manuel Marte.

Triumph Inspiration Award Tovah Cottle
Tovah Cottle.

Onward, London Fashion Week here I come. Look out for a live sketch blog from the awards from the wonderful Jenny Robins coming up soon.

Triumph Inspiration Award
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

So, visit you’re a sports celebrity, but your sporting career has long since ended. What to do to keep in the spotlight? Why, turn up to a fashion show. And watch pretty models parade around in their keks. Purfect! And so it was that I found myself sitting behind not only Nicky Hambleton-Jones (fabulous skin since you ask, and a forehead as smooth as a baby’s bottom) but that well known fan of underwear Linford Christie. Well, he’s a man isn’t he?

Triumph Inspiration Award

I got to the awards as people were being seated, so just had a chance to whisk past a clutch of uncomfortable looking models posing in underwear beneath coloured lights as guests blithely sipped vodka tonics in front of them, and men (only men, and me) snapped them for posterity.

Triumph Inspiration Award presented by someone
Triumph Inspiration Award presented by someone I’ve never heard of.

Triumph Inspiration Award

And so I sat behind the celebs as they had a suitably celeb-y chit chat, and then we were subjected to a bombastic intro which involved a lengthy and dramatic collage of lady silhouettes and then some misogynistic words from a male dancer who I’ve never heard of, and then the judges arrived. Helena Christensen looked vaguely uncomfortable as she was introduced and Matthew Williamson, Rankin and her passed notes like giggly schoolkids. I wonder how much they all got paid for this little shindig? A pretty penny I shouldn’t wonder.

Triumph Inspiration Award judges
Triumph Inspiration Award judges.

In the goodie bags were the first of many hair products that I expect to receive this week, a pair of pants that might fit around my thigh if I’m lucky, and a very glossy brochure of Helena wearing the outfits designed by the 27 finalists chosen from 2300 students from countries all over the globe. And how old is Helena Christensen anyway? A cheese lover apparently, no less, she’s still outrageously good looking in the flesh, though of course she has been airbrushed to oblivion in the promo shots.

Triumph Inspiration Award Helena Christensen

Luckily the actual show was short and sweet, and some of the designs – based on the theme Shape Sensation – were really rather good. It was all over very quickly as we finished with a nod to burlesque; a girl exploding balloons full of coloured paint powder all over the catwalk.

Triumph Inspiration Award

The winners were announced in a manner reminiscent of the Eurovision contest, Ludovico Loffreda of Italy, then Amaya Carcamo of Spain, both designs that I liked. Unsurprisingly the first prize went to a design that clearly had commercial potential, though I would have picked Amaya’s beautiful armoured contraption myself. The winner, Nikolay Bojilov of Bulgaria looked utterly dazed as he paraded down the catwalk with Helena Christensen on one arm.

Triumph Inspiration Award 2010 winner Nikolay Bojilov of Bulgaria
Triumph Inspiration Award 2010 winner Nikolay Bojilov of Bulgaria.

Here then, are my favourites, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

The Sublime:

Triumph Inspiration Award Suzanne Ferncombe
Suzanne Ferncombe.

Triumph Inspiration Award Justin Singh
Justin Singh.

Triumph Inspiration Award runner up Ludovico Loffreda of Italy
Triumph Inspiration Award runner up Ludovico Loffreda of Italy.

Grace Eliana Sugiarto.

Triumph Inspiration Award winner
The winning design by Nikolay Bojilov.

Triumph Inspiration Award Eugenia Dimopoulou
Eugenia Dimopoulou.

Triumph Inspiration Award Isolde Mayer
Isolde Mayer.

Triumph Inspiration Award Anette Boman
Anette Boman.

Triumph Inspiration Award Dennis Lyngso
Dennis Lyngso.

Triumph Inspiration Award Benjamin Blarer
Benjamin Blarer.

Triumph Inspiration Award runner up Amaya Carcamo
Triumph Inspiration Award runner up Amaya Carcamo.

Triumph Inspiration Award Manuel Marte
Manuel Marte.

Triumph Inspiration Award Tovah Cottle
Tovah Cottle.

The Ridiculous:

Triumph Inspiration Award Da Da Tang Sze Man
Da Da Tang Sze Man.

Triumph Inspiration Award Peet Dullaert
Peet Dullaert.

Triumph Inspiration Award Pha Thi Cam Tu
Pha Thi Cam Tu.

Triumph Inspiration Award Karine Feldman
Karine Feldman.

Triumph Inspiration Award Cristina Homen de Gouveia
Cristina Homen de Gouveia.

Triumph Inspiration Award Caroline du Chastel
Caroline du Chastel.

Triumph Inspiration Award Yadvi Aggarwal
Yadvi Aggarwal.

Triumph Inspiration Award Ayumi Kawase
Ayumi Kawase.

Triumph Inspiration Award Elin Engstrom
Elin Engstrom.

Triumph Inspiration Award Xu Yi
Xu Yi.

Onward, London Fashion Week here I come. Look out for a live sketch blog from the awards from the wonderful Jenny Robins coming up soon.

Sunrise Offgrid

Having been to each and every Sunrise festival since it started in 2006 I became one of the Sunrise Off Grid organising team this year. It’s only the second time this offshoot has happened but as I watched the site take shape with a mix of anxiety and hope I realised that of course it would be a wonderful event. Sunrise has never failed me, see so why would it now?

Us Brits we love to talk about the weather right? Well, Off Grid was WET and I saw this as a healthy test of how good the event really was; sunshine softens the edges but water is transparent. If people could leave the rainy site saying they had the best weekend ever then we had done it, and they did! An incredible display of enthusiasm and participation took place: people made soap under an umbrella over a fire with one of the guys from Lush, went for rainy walkabouts to find herbal remedies and hacked away at tin cans to make rocket stoves – there was a constant crowd of students at the Off Grid college in the Transition Towns Tin Village, all studying an alternative lifestyle.

Sunrise Offgrid view

There is nothing more gratifying after months of work than to know that something is going well. A momentous moment for me was dropping in on the Future Farming Conference and witnessing of key agriculturalists moving towards sustainability and co-operation in the South West. A Transition Towns phrase used by Sunrise was echoed by Tamsin Omond of Climate Rush, who gave an inspirational talk on the direct action side of things. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world – it’s the only thing that ever does.”

Sunrise Offgrid indoor workshop

Not only did the event inspire me and many others in practical ways, but the emotional aspect was also huge. The Kindness Offensive gave a talk which further deepened my faith in human action, offering a simple insight into why doing good and being kind is infinitely powerful. Mark Boyle explained why living free doesn’t come at such a high cost as we sometimes think, and venues all over this tiny and manageable site gave forums to those with bright ideas and amazing initiatives into ‘Spiritual activism’ – ways to be happy, healthy, helping each other and the planet.

Sunrise Offgrid workshop

Obviously a festival wouldn’t be a festival without any music, and even though Off Grid is a small festival of 500 punters, the music played a large part, as tends to happen at Sunrise. The Zia Solar main stage, in the barn, was powered entirely by wind and sun (along with the rest of the festival) and had a great line up of local and distant musicians who gave performances as valued contributions to the event. Thursday started things off with a harmonica and the amazing vocal talents of Phillip Henry of The Roots Union (watch that one), followed by some Afrocelt treats from Simon Emmerson DJ-ing (after his talk on bird species and bird song, a pastime of his outside of AfroCelt Soundsystem). The weekend continued in the same exciting fashion with funky soul 10-piece, Glastonbury-based Gente, easy-skanking Avalon Roots, foot-stomping Celtech, circus-swinging, slightly spooky, theatrical showmen Spanner Jazz Punks (!), modern traditional folk from Forcenra, musical activsts, Seize The Day and many many more marvelous minstrels about whom I could ramble for hours!

Sunrise Offgrid weave

Poetry didn’t miss a beat at Off Grid and dance workshops prepped people for the lively nights. However, all of this I know and trust will come from Sunrise each year. What really moved me, personally, was the display of determination to make something beautiful in the rain, to learn something essential and gather together to discuss and network over something truly important: our relationship with this planet. I work for Sunrise because I don’t think that a single person leaves either Sunrise Celebration in June (check out www.sunrisecelebration.com), or Off Grid (www.sunrise-offgrid.com), unaffected by the energy in the heart of the event, which drives us to reassess our lives, our actions, and to love it all just a little bit, even a lot, more.

Categories ,AfroCelt Soundsystem, ,Avalon Roots, ,Celtech, ,Climate Rush, ,dance, ,Forcenra, ,Future Farming Conference, ,glastonbury, ,lush, ,Mark Boyle, ,poetry, ,Seize the Day, ,Simon Emmerson, ,Spanner Jazz Punks, ,Sunrise Festival, ,Sunrise Off Grid, ,Tamsin Omond, ,The Kindness Offensive, ,The Roots Union, ,transition towns, ,workshops

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Amelia’s Magazine | Lazy Gramophone Press: The Book of Apertures

teebobmarley

All Images Courtesy of African Apparel

After recieving African Apparel’s Freddie Mercury T-shirt for Christmas I became interested in the company. I liked the playful name and the artwork that they have on their t-shirts. I got in touch with them and find out a little bit more about the label.

Andy Devine. African Apparel originally started as a band, thumb what happened to that?

African Apparell. Our act still exist under different names, see lately we’ve been called Postman Pat and Goblin Comb . We started the project as we wanted to play raw fucked up ethnic music. I got into the Sublime Frequencies label thing and was researching loads of different folk music from around the world but what I prefer was always the raw stuff, viagra buy old tribal chief grawling playing a one string luth. The real stuff, no pissing about. So we tried to recreate that in our own style. It sounds funny but we’re pretty serious about  it.

DSC_1626

AD. Is the name just a dig at American Apparell or is there something else behind it?

AA. Well I needed a name for this band. Our music doesnt sound anything near what guys who are into American Apparel would like  so I  just thought African Apparel would be a good name for it so yeah I guess it is a dig  in a way

FREDDIE 1

AD. Was it always intended to become a clothing label or did it happen organically?

AA. Not at all, it was only when I posted the Bob Marley design online and everybody asked me where they could buy it , that I decided to print it. From then, I used the cash to print other shirts from others artists I like. It was more our band t shirt at the beginnning.

DSC_1686

AD. Is there any sort of philosophy behind the label?

AA. Put out tees by artists I like who do stuff differently. Taking risks.

emperortee

AD. How/why did you choose the artists/designs you’ve released so far?

AA. Some of them are people I know and like, some of them are people I have discovered through zines, net or books. There is not a recipe, just people who I think are good and do things their own way.

emperor teee

AD. Could you tell us a little bit about the two new designs you have coming out?

AA. I have three actually. One by Milo Brennan, a piece he did for an exhibition which is a collage inspired by Beavis & Butthead called SkullRockDeath. Another design is by Belgian Artist Brecht Vandenbroucke, I really dig his stuff,  awesome paintings and drawings. Google him! Finally, the third one by Ryan Riss a.k.a Craptical from Seattle who is really pissed off cos Lil Wayne has been jailed. Same again google him, mindblowing stuff.

AD. Do you think you’ll start producing other clothing items other than t-shirts?

AA. I’m not sure really, I’m thinking of having sweaters too and balaclavas but dunno when that’ll happen. I like to keep it simple.

newborn

AD. Can any artists submit ideas to you or do you have a specific idea of who you want to work with next?

AA. Well, I do have a specific idea of what I want but if people think they’ll fit they can submit stuff  but we’re already collaborating with others artists for upcoming releases.

AD. If they can where would they send them?

AA. Afroapparatus@gmail.com

lil weezy

AD. How succesful have you been so far, I own two of the three t-shirts you’ve done so far and they always get a great reaction from people?

AA. I’m not sure what you mean by “successful”. We’ve been selling our tees around the globe from Rio de Janeiro to Tokyo, Moscow , Berlin , NY , Melbourne, Paris etc… So i guess people do like them and its pretty satisfying to think people are wearing your tees around the world . Financially I get enough money to get new tees done and promoting them, thats all that counts so far.

All T-shirts can be purchased from the African Apparel site here.

teebobmarley

All Images Courtesy of African Apparel

After recieving African Apparel’s Freddie Mercury T-shirt for Christmas I became interested in the company. I liked the playful name and the artwork that they have on their t-shirts. I got in touch with them and find out a little bit more about the label.

Andy Devine. African Apparel originally started as a band, order what happened to that?

African Apparell. Our act still exist under different names, cost lately we’ve been called Postman Pat and Goblin Comb . We started the project as we wanted to play raw fucked up ethnic music. I got into the Sublime Frequencies label thing and was researching loads of different folk music from around the world but what I prefer was always the raw stuff, old tribal chief grawling playing a one string luth. The real stuff, no pissing about. So we tried to recreate that in our own style. It sounds funny but we’re pretty serious about  it.

DSC_1626

AD. Is the name just a dig at American Apparell or is there something else behind it?

AA. Well I needed a name for this band. Our music doesnt sound anything near what guys who are into American Apparel would like  so I  just thought African Apparel would be a good name for it so yeah I guess it is a dig  in a way

FREDDIE 1

AD. Was it always intended to become a clothing label or did it happen organically?

AA. Not at all, it was only when I posted the Bob Marley design online and everybody asked me where they could buy it , that I decided to print it. From then, I used the cash to print other shirts from others artists I like. It was more our band t shirt at the beginnning.

DSC_1686

AD. Is there any sort of philosophy behind the label?

AA. Put out tees by artists I like who do stuff differently. Taking risks.

emperortee

AD. How/why did you choose the artists/designs you’ve released so far?

AA. Some of them are people I know and like, some of them are people I have discovered through zines, net or books. There is not a recipe, just people who I think are good and do things their own way.

et

AD. Could you tell us a little bit about the two new designs you have coming out?

AA. I have three actually. One by Milo Brennan, a piece he did for an exhibition which is a collage inspired by Beavis & Butthead called SkullRockDeath. Another design is by Belgian Artist Brecht Vandenbroucke, I really dig his stuff,  awesome paintings and drawings. Google him! Finally, the third one by Ryan Riss a.k.a Craptical from Seattle who is really pissed off cos Lil Wayne has been jailed. Same again google him, mindblowing stuff.

AD. Do you think you’ll start producing other clothing items other than t-shirts?

AA. I’m not sure really, I’m thinking of having sweaters too and balaclavas but dunno when that’ll happen. I like to keep it simple.

newborn

AD. Can any artists submit ideas to you or do you have a specific idea of who you want to work with next?

AA. Well, I do have a specific idea of what I want but if people think they’ll fit they can submit stuff  but we’re already collaborating with others artists for upcoming releases.

AD. If they can where would they send them?

AA. Afroapparatus@gmail.com

lil weezy

AD. How succesful have you been so far, I own two of the three t-shirts you’ve done so far and they always get a great reaction from people?

AA. I’m not sure what you mean by “successful”. We’ve been selling our tees around the globe from Rio de Janeiro to Tokyo, Moscow , Berlin , NY , Melbourne, Paris etc… So i guess people do like them and its pretty satisfying to think people are wearing your tees around the world . Financially I get enough money to get new tees done and promoting them, thats all that counts so far.

All T-shirts can be purchased from the African Apparel site here.

5All images courtesy of Lazy Gramophone Press

Two years in production, cost The Book of Apertures is the fourth publication by Lazy Gramophone Press; an arts collective whose emphasis lies embedded in collaboration – as a process to produce original, nurse personal, prescription and pragmatic works – by any aspiring artist or writer who feels like getting involved.

1

At the launch of The Book of Apertures, there was an honest and reverent sense of a team effort, with a mutual respect for each contributor’s offering; be it a short story, an illustration, or a poem. As Phil Levine, a founding member of Lazy Gramophone explained of the project, “it feels like everyone has had their own part in it, like an original hand-made arts and crafts feel.” And it is this sort of grassroots method that has combined and juxtaposed creativity to make for a wonderful environment of ideas and imaginings.

4

The premise of the group’s new book was that each contributor was given the theme of the unexplainable; focusing on elements of life that just don’t make sense… and to run with it. What was produced were some fantastically remarkable works. Some to make you laugh – The Kidnapping of Little Wallet, by Guy J Jackson had me giggling away in inappropriate circumstances; and some will make you cry, or muse, or just smile (the opening poem, Moment’s Notice by Helena Santos is just lovely). It is this variety that makes the book – the personality of each contributor is exhumed, as Levine reflected proudly (and rightly so). “There is such a wide variety of people that everyone’s got their own style so you can’t directly compare any of the stories, they are all very individual.”

3

Sam Rawlings, who edited the collection, was equally beaming with the end result. Of particular significance seemed to be the fluidity with which the whole process evolved. Speaking at the launch, Rawlings elucidated that “the idea went out and we didn’t know how many people would respond, it could have been one or two or it could have been more – it turned out that we had about 22 or 23 people, so it was great. It wasn’t everyone at the start – people heard about what was going on and kind of joined in half way, and it started growing and morphing.”

2

Illustrated throughout, The Book of Apertures combines artists renditions; another dais by which talent seeps from the pages. The book is aesthetically pleasing to the extreme, a myriad of perfectionists jigsawed together amidst a slightly obscure semiotic whole. Dan Prescott, who designed and typeset the book, has produced an impeccable labour of love.

6

The Lazy Gramophone group as a collective have demonstrated a remarkable and inspiring ethos throughout this project, and their willingness to provide a means of expression is second to none – as Levine said: “there should be a platform for where it would be easier to put work out there, so our work can get out to a wider audience… The emphasis is really on collaborations, anyone who wants to get involved, be it the creative side, the technical side, or even the business side, anything, a mixture of people doing their own thing, and we want as many people involved as possible.”

7

Several of the writers in The Book of Apertures will be holding readings in and around London prior to the official on sale date, April 6th. Filled with intricacies, I would happily recommend the book to anyone. On asking about their next project, it appears there are more collaborative projects to come – however, as Rawlings joked, “this took two years so don’t hold your breath!”

Categories ,Arts, ,Arts Collective, ,book launch, ,books, ,illustration, ,illustrators, ,Lazy Gramophone, ,limited edition prints, ,literature, ,poetry, ,press, ,print, ,Sam Rawlings, ,Small press

Similar Posts:






Amelia’s Magazine | Lazy Gramophone Press: The Book of Apertures

teebobmarley

All Images Courtesy of African Apparel

After recieving African Apparel’s Freddie Mercury T-shirt for Christmas I became interested in the company. I liked the playful name and the artwork that they have on their t-shirts. I got in touch with them and find out a little bit more about the label.

Andy Devine. African Apparel originally started as a band, thumb what happened to that?

African Apparell. Our act still exist under different names, see lately we’ve been called Postman Pat and Goblin Comb . We started the project as we wanted to play raw fucked up ethnic music. I got into the Sublime Frequencies label thing and was researching loads of different folk music from around the world but what I prefer was always the raw stuff, viagra buy old tribal chief grawling playing a one string luth. The real stuff, no pissing about. So we tried to recreate that in our own style. It sounds funny but we’re pretty serious about  it.

DSC_1626

AD. Is the name just a dig at American Apparell or is there something else behind it?

AA. Well I needed a name for this band. Our music doesnt sound anything near what guys who are into American Apparel would like  so I  just thought African Apparel would be a good name for it so yeah I guess it is a dig  in a way

FREDDIE 1

AD. Was it always intended to become a clothing label or did it happen organically?

AA. Not at all, it was only when I posted the Bob Marley design online and everybody asked me where they could buy it , that I decided to print it. From then, I used the cash to print other shirts from others artists I like. It was more our band t shirt at the beginnning.

DSC_1686

AD. Is there any sort of philosophy behind the label?

AA. Put out tees by artists I like who do stuff differently. Taking risks.

emperortee

AD. How/why did you choose the artists/designs you’ve released so far?

AA. Some of them are people I know and like, some of them are people I have discovered through zines, net or books. There is not a recipe, just people who I think are good and do things their own way.

emperor teee

AD. Could you tell us a little bit about the two new designs you have coming out?

AA. I have three actually. One by Milo Brennan, a piece he did for an exhibition which is a collage inspired by Beavis & Butthead called SkullRockDeath. Another design is by Belgian Artist Brecht Vandenbroucke, I really dig his stuff,  awesome paintings and drawings. Google him! Finally, the third one by Ryan Riss a.k.a Craptical from Seattle who is really pissed off cos Lil Wayne has been jailed. Same again google him, mindblowing stuff.

AD. Do you think you’ll start producing other clothing items other than t-shirts?

AA. I’m not sure really, I’m thinking of having sweaters too and balaclavas but dunno when that’ll happen. I like to keep it simple.

newborn

AD. Can any artists submit ideas to you or do you have a specific idea of who you want to work with next?

AA. Well, I do have a specific idea of what I want but if people think they’ll fit they can submit stuff  but we’re already collaborating with others artists for upcoming releases.

AD. If they can where would they send them?

AA. Afroapparatus@gmail.com

lil weezy

AD. How succesful have you been so far, I own two of the three t-shirts you’ve done so far and they always get a great reaction from people?

AA. I’m not sure what you mean by “successful”. We’ve been selling our tees around the globe from Rio de Janeiro to Tokyo, Moscow , Berlin , NY , Melbourne, Paris etc… So i guess people do like them and its pretty satisfying to think people are wearing your tees around the world . Financially I get enough money to get new tees done and promoting them, thats all that counts so far.

All T-shirts can be purchased from the African Apparel site here.

teebobmarley

All Images Courtesy of African Apparel

After recieving African Apparel’s Freddie Mercury T-shirt for Christmas I became interested in the company. I liked the playful name and the artwork that they have on their t-shirts. I got in touch with them and find out a little bit more about the label.

Andy Devine. African Apparel originally started as a band, order what happened to that?

African Apparell. Our act still exist under different names, cost lately we’ve been called Postman Pat and Goblin Comb . We started the project as we wanted to play raw fucked up ethnic music. I got into the Sublime Frequencies label thing and was researching loads of different folk music from around the world but what I prefer was always the raw stuff, old tribal chief grawling playing a one string luth. The real stuff, no pissing about. So we tried to recreate that in our own style. It sounds funny but we’re pretty serious about  it.

DSC_1626

AD. Is the name just a dig at American Apparell or is there something else behind it?

AA. Well I needed a name for this band. Our music doesnt sound anything near what guys who are into American Apparel would like  so I  just thought African Apparel would be a good name for it so yeah I guess it is a dig  in a way

FREDDIE 1

AD. Was it always intended to become a clothing label or did it happen organically?

AA. Not at all, it was only when I posted the Bob Marley design online and everybody asked me where they could buy it , that I decided to print it. From then, I used the cash to print other shirts from others artists I like. It was more our band t shirt at the beginnning.

DSC_1686

AD. Is there any sort of philosophy behind the label?

AA. Put out tees by artists I like who do stuff differently. Taking risks.

emperortee

AD. How/why did you choose the artists/designs you’ve released so far?

AA. Some of them are people I know and like, some of them are people I have discovered through zines, net or books. There is not a recipe, just people who I think are good and do things their own way.

et

AD. Could you tell us a little bit about the two new designs you have coming out?

AA. I have three actually. One by Milo Brennan, a piece he did for an exhibition which is a collage inspired by Beavis & Butthead called SkullRockDeath. Another design is by Belgian Artist Brecht Vandenbroucke, I really dig his stuff,  awesome paintings and drawings. Google him! Finally, the third one by Ryan Riss a.k.a Craptical from Seattle who is really pissed off cos Lil Wayne has been jailed. Same again google him, mindblowing stuff.

AD. Do you think you’ll start producing other clothing items other than t-shirts?

AA. I’m not sure really, I’m thinking of having sweaters too and balaclavas but dunno when that’ll happen. I like to keep it simple.

newborn

AD. Can any artists submit ideas to you or do you have a specific idea of who you want to work with next?

AA. Well, I do have a specific idea of what I want but if people think they’ll fit they can submit stuff  but we’re already collaborating with others artists for upcoming releases.

AD. If they can where would they send them?

AA. Afroapparatus@gmail.com

lil weezy

AD. How succesful have you been so far, I own two of the three t-shirts you’ve done so far and they always get a great reaction from people?

AA. I’m not sure what you mean by “successful”. We’ve been selling our tees around the globe from Rio de Janeiro to Tokyo, Moscow , Berlin , NY , Melbourne, Paris etc… So i guess people do like them and its pretty satisfying to think people are wearing your tees around the world . Financially I get enough money to get new tees done and promoting them, thats all that counts so far.

All T-shirts can be purchased from the African Apparel site here.

5All images courtesy of Lazy Gramophone Press

Two years in production, cost The Book of Apertures is the fourth publication by Lazy Gramophone Press; an arts collective whose emphasis lies embedded in collaboration – as a process to produce original, nurse personal, prescription and pragmatic works – by any aspiring artist or writer who feels like getting involved.

1

At the launch of The Book of Apertures, there was an honest and reverent sense of a team effort, with a mutual respect for each contributor’s offering; be it a short story, an illustration, or a poem. As Phil Levine, a founding member of Lazy Gramophone explained of the project, “it feels like everyone has had their own part in it, like an original hand-made arts and crafts feel.” And it is this sort of grassroots method that has combined and juxtaposed creativity to make for a wonderful environment of ideas and imaginings.

4

The premise of the group’s new book was that each contributor was given the theme of the unexplainable; focusing on elements of life that just don’t make sense… and to run with it. What was produced were some fantastically remarkable works. Some to make you laugh – The Kidnapping of Little Wallet, by Guy J Jackson had me giggling away in inappropriate circumstances; and some will make you cry, or muse, or just smile (the opening poem, Moment’s Notice by Helena Santos is just lovely). It is this variety that makes the book – the personality of each contributor is exhumed, as Levine reflected proudly (and rightly so). “There is such a wide variety of people that everyone’s got their own style so you can’t directly compare any of the stories, they are all very individual.”

3

Sam Rawlings, who edited the collection, was equally beaming with the end result. Of particular significance seemed to be the fluidity with which the whole process evolved. Speaking at the launch, Rawlings elucidated that “the idea went out and we didn’t know how many people would respond, it could have been one or two or it could have been more – it turned out that we had about 22 or 23 people, so it was great. It wasn’t everyone at the start – people heard about what was going on and kind of joined in half way, and it started growing and morphing.”

2

Illustrated throughout, The Book of Apertures combines artists renditions; another dais by which talent seeps from the pages. The book is aesthetically pleasing to the extreme, a myriad of perfectionists jigsawed together amidst a slightly obscure semiotic whole. Dan Prescott, who designed and typeset the book, has produced an impeccable labour of love.

6

The Lazy Gramophone group as a collective have demonstrated a remarkable and inspiring ethos throughout this project, and their willingness to provide a means of expression is second to none – as Levine said: “there should be a platform for where it would be easier to put work out there, so our work can get out to a wider audience… The emphasis is really on collaborations, anyone who wants to get involved, be it the creative side, the technical side, or even the business side, anything, a mixture of people doing their own thing, and we want as many people involved as possible.”

7

Several of the writers in The Book of Apertures will be holding readings in and around London prior to the official on sale date, April 6th. Filled with intricacies, I would happily recommend the book to anyone. On asking about their next project, it appears there are more collaborative projects to come – however, as Rawlings joked, “this took two years so don’t hold your breath!”

Categories ,Arts, ,Arts Collective, ,book launch, ,books, ,illustration, ,illustrators, ,Lazy Gramophone, ,limited edition prints, ,literature, ,poetry, ,press, ,print, ,Sam Rawlings, ,Small press

Similar Posts:






Amelia’s Magazine | Celebrate your inner gawker as Sideshow Stories kicks off Yarn Fest storytelling festival


The bearded lady by Genie Espinosa

It’s a bunch of freaks, cheapest really, online that are lining the walls of ‘The Social’ venue right now. The big mustaches, case the hairy backs, the bushy nipples (eugh) and some folks with no discernable flaw but are still just … weird. Artist Jason Butler has drawn them all quite small, so you have to lean in to take in the details. Get in there for a good gawk, and back off again half wishing you hadn’t seen that, half keen to see more.


Jason Butler


Circus troupe by Avril Kelly

‘They take on a life of their own,’ says Jason Butler, the man responsible for these oddities. The Jersey-based artist has drawn 300 of them over seven years, but over time, he says, it has become less about the characters and more about the audience: ‘People have very different reactions. Some people think they are funny, and some can’t bear to be in the same room as them. So now it’s more about the viewers, and how we see them’


Jason Butler


Fortuneteller by Antonia Parker

On show alongside Butler’s art is poetry by Will Burns – rich with imagery and storytelling tradition. ‘The images suggested characters to me,’ says Burns, who enjoyed the digression from his usual nature themes. ‘These little vignettes came partially from having grown up in the country, hearing snippets of lives seemingly connected to these images.’

“She thought she had forgotten
his greased-back, curly hair,
the filthy greatcoat and the prematurely rotten
teeth. He said he owned the bear,

and joked that her bark
was not as bad as his bite.”
(The Barker by Will Burns)


Twins by Avril Kelly

The Butler and Burns collaboration was dreamt up by their mutual friend and the show’s curator, Nina Hervé. ‘I don’t think they are that freaky,’ she says, before conceding, ‘Well I suppose some of them are. But the thing with sideshows is they were often con-artists, or had small deformities they extenuated in order to get cash.’ We get talking about modern day versions of sideshows, such as tabloid magazines and those people making fools of themselves on X Factor and how people love watching it. ‘It’s curiosity I guess,’ says Nina.


Sideshow by Mina Bach

So while it’s probably a good thing we don’t have sideshows anymore, the hunger to study the freaky, exotic, or sexually divergent, is still there. Maybe we like seeing the grotesque because it takes us out of ourselves for a moment, or it could be we just like feeling shudders down our backs. Or maybe it’s because in the midst of the strangeness, strong or subtle, there is something almost beautiful.


Jason Butler


Tattooed woman by Antonia Parker

Sideshow Stories will be at The Social, 5 Little Portland Street, London W1W 7JD until 15th March; see the website for upcoming events. Sideshow Stories is part of storytelling festival Yarn Fest, which runs 19-23 February at various locations in East London. For more information see our listing.

Categories ,Antonia Parker, ,art, ,Avril Kelly, ,Genie Espinosa, ,Jason Butler, ,london, ,Mina Bach., ,Nina Hervé, ,poetry, ,Sideshow Stories, ,storytelling, ,The Social, ,Will Burns, ,Yarn Fest

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Amelia’s Magazine | Circus Bookazine Launch and London Blog Slam

the crowd at circus bookazine blog slam
The crowd at circus bookazine blog slam, minimalist cake catering, Asahi etc. the awesome tights belong to Muireann Carey-Campbell of Bangs and a Bun.

Amelia judged and I sketched history in the making at the Rag Factory last week. Well, almost: the first event was in Germany the week before so this was not an actual first. The concept I’m sure already has your mind a-boggling. I’m allways fascinated by how random little scenes and pockets of interlapping creativity and culture come together in these sorts of things. Circus explore the rich territory between print and web, passion and fashion and er, people and other people. I’ll talk more about the beautiful bookazine itself a bit later.

The competing bloggers were somewhat of a motley crew, in that the content was a little inconsistently weighted, a lot of fashion and two examples of male dating based humour blogging, a genre of which I was previously unaware. This was fair enough in a sense, the theme of the Bookazine issue is fashion, but it did make the handfull of bloggers on other themes seem a little incongruous.

The slammers were judged based on the scoring categories of originality, concept, delivery and “blogability”, a made up word. Aside from our own Amelia the jury consisted of Wafa from Sketchbook Magazine, Ben from quality Sheffield based Article Magazine, and Chris Osburn from the Londonist. All small press stars of substance and style of course. The competing bloggers performed from an old school church pulpit – a nice touch I think, sort of makes you think about how we choose who we listen to and respect these days, or it just looked pretty anyway – and were also interspersed with some readings from contributors from the bookazine.

marian librarian or Schmbari
Marian Schembari telling it like it isn’t but should be.

First up was Marian Librarian, a high flying international proffesional social media blogger of sorts, who talked affectingly about why she refuses to censor her blog, even after she was detained at immigration for swearing. You can read the entry she read here She has a healthy and sensible attitude to the importance of reality and personality in online content.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - kate ironside
Next up was a brief reading from fashion haiku‘s Kate Ironside who was rocking a serious classy jersey and pearls type ensemble.

I cannot express the perfection of the fashion haiku as a form of art, it’s such the perfect medium for expressing the wry mix of beauty, meaning and superficiality that is fashion – anyway I can’t express it like I said so if you follow one link today, make it this one and go read some. Your day will be enhanced.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - toast and biscuit - thewedordeadwager
Toast and Biscuit from the Wed or Dead Wager.

Second actual competing slammers (btw, I can’t type the word slammers without thinking about pogs) were a blog double act who use fake names as a matter of neccesity since they write with warts and all accuracy about their manic dating life in a race to get married. It’s a bit like an unrealistic romcom, but much much longer. They were very funny with self deprecating anecdotes, definite crowd pleasers. I think they had the advantage too of having an actual real life story to tell in their blog, it’s engaging and sympathetic and fresh.

I’m so used to hearing the female perspective on the frustrations of dating from my friends, the cliches that men who are confident enough to come on to you are usually after just one thing, or worse turn out to be creepy stalkers seem all too often to come true. So it’s quite nice to get the male perspective and hear about women’s strange behaviours in the dating arena with some pragmatism, while still coming from what is essentially an aim to settle down with someone nice, which creates a sort of reverse cliche.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - godwyns onwuchekwa
The next blogger, Godwyns Onwuchekwa “We are united to say: Never again, at least not by our own action.”

Godwyns is a serious political and LGBT rights blogger who performed a very moving blog post he had written to mark world AIDS day this year. He began by saying that following the Toast and Biscuit performance he would be boring us with serious stuff. He wasn’t boring, but he wasn’t wrong that it was a contrast. Escpecially as the next to stand up was in a similar romantic comedy vein;

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - scalene
Scalene.

Alright, maybe this is not news to you, but if you thought that the Wed or Dead Wager was a dose enough of apparently brutaly honest but at the same time surreally romcomesque male dating bloggery, Scalene may actually take you a step further. His blog allows internet strangers (the same people who comment on youtube videos) to make multiple “choose your own adventure” style decisions about his actual real life love life. In the recent post he read out he ended up actually honest to goodness chasing a girl to the airport. If there’s any justice this project will end in him being voted into not showing up for his own wedding. That’s the other thing that always happens in movies but NEVER ACTUALLY HAPPENS IN REAL LIFE. RIGHT?

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - tejasvi

Tejasvi looked particularly angelic in her floaty white top (sorry I lack the fashion nause to describe it accurately) in the pulpit. Her blog Clandestine Cigarettes is perhaps a more serious and romantic take on fashion, she read a very poetic piece but was sadly I think too nervous and lacked the projection to do it justice.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - lilly smiles Lilly Smiles of Laughter Lines, diary of a “fleet street fox”.

Lilly Smiles trod an interesting line between the serious and comic camps with her reading, which was from a blog post written at an extremely raw and hard time in her life – the details were hazy (understandably) but it was during an episode in which she was charged with attempted murder. It was heart rending, clear, honest and well written, but still witty. She almost painted tabloid journalism (her background) as a caring profession and she pre-empted her reading by telling us she burps when nervous. In a way this was the perfect piece for the evening: managing to keep the tone seperate and yet compelling, honest but sensationalist. Possibly this is what blogability means.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - bangs and a bun
Muireann Carey-Campbell or Bangs and a Bun.

Another reading from the Circus Bookazine; Muireann described herself as a humour fashion blogger but the piece she read was quite serious, looking at issues of the fashion industry’s epic denial the fatness of society. It was pretty interesting and she was a charismatic speaker, I’ve since started following her on twitter and she is an avid tweeter. She looked fabulous and clearly knew her stuff.

The final contestent in the blog-off arrived just in time to perform. She’d been in Norwich and rocked straight up to the pulpit and started channeling Lady Gaga, actually interspersing the reading from her blog ‘musings of an innapropriate woman’ with bouts of karaoke style singing.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - rachel hills
Rachel Hills with gold slit sunglasses – when they were down she was Gaga.

This is the blog post she read, but like all of the night’s blogs, it’s the tip of an iceberg. Rachel’s blog is a smart mix of gender, popular culture, creativity and general life observations; I like her because she’s not afraid to mix pop culture references with theory and critique. If I didn’t have an essay to write I might spend my whole weekend reading her back catalogue.

So with that the blog slam was concluded, there was some complex vote counting while I mused on the variety of performances. Really the variety of different styles and subject matters didn’t lend itself to a fair comparison, ideally there could have been a number of bloggers from certain categories and an award for each. But it wasn’t the Oscars, it was an experiment and to have done so might have made the whole thing seem overworked. In the end we were treated to a slice of a mix of what the blogosphere has to offer.

ameliasmagazine - blog slam - circus 2
the four minds and bodies behind the event and circus bookazine, preparing to award the prizes.

Rachel nabbed third place, probably as much for having rocked up at the last minute and being memorable in golden glasses and singing as anything else. The two top spots went to the romcom boys, Scalene in second place and Toast and Biscuit nabbing the top spot. There were a lot of qualities on show at the Rag Factory that night, but ultimately entertainment value probably bagged the biggest points. The number of people at the end of the night wearing the AIDS ribbons Godwins had given out is testament to the fact that the serious content was most surely not swept under the carpet.

The Bookazine (which, strangely, is somewhere between a book and a magazine) is a thing of beauty divine from a design point of view. You can see the love and thought that has gone into the project. The content is given room to breath and interspersed with sumptiously simple printed patterns. There are little nods to the web format of the blog that the book connects with, like the love you link page and tag cloud at the back. Part of the reason it’s so thick of course, is that all of the content is in English and German, which makes the project even more impressive – working with so many bloggers, writers, artists and translators must have been an epic undertaking. If only I had time to actually read it.

circus bookazine - Merily Leis
circus bookazine - Artikel von Digital Diamonds
images courtesy of Circus Bookazine

Categories ,bangs and a bun, ,blog, ,blog slam, ,Bloggers, ,Circus, ,Circus Bookazine, ,design, ,event, ,fashion, ,fashion haiku, ,london, ,poetry, ,rachel hills, ,review, ,scalene, ,Sketch, ,Sketchbook mag, ,the londonist, ,the rag factory, ,the wed or dead wager

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Amelia’s Magazine | Circus Bookazine Launch and London Blog Slam

the crowd at circus bookazine blog slam
The crowd at circus bookazine blog slam, see buy minimalist cake catering, Asahi etc. the awesome tights belong to Muireann Carey-Campbell of Bangs and a Bun.

Amelia judged and I sketched history in the making at the Rag Factory last week. Well, almost: the first event was in Germany the week before so this was not an actual first. The concept I’m sure already has your mind a-boggling. I’m allways fascinated by how random little scenes and pockets of interlapping creativity and culture come together in these sorts of things. Circus explore the rich territory between print and web, passion and fashion and er, people and other people. I’ll talk more about the beautiful bookazine itself a bit later.

The competing bloggers were somewhat of a motley crew, in that the content was a little inconsistently weighted, a lot of fashion and two examples of male dating based humour blogging, a genre of which I was previously unaware. This was fair enough in a sense, the theme of the Bookazine issue is fashion, but it did make the handfull of bloggers on other themes seem a little incongruous.

The slammers were judged based on the scoring categories of originality, concept, delivery and “blogability”, a made up word. Aside from our own Amelia the jury consisted of Wafa from Sketchbook Magazine, Ben from quality Sheffield based Article Magazine, and Chris Osburn from the Londonist. All small press stars of substance and style of course. The competing bloggers performed from an old school church pulpit – a nice touch I think, sort of makes you think about how we choose who we listen to and respect these days, or it just looked pretty anyway – and were also interspersed with some readings from contributors from the bookazine.

marian librarian or Schmbari
Marian Schembari telling it like it isn’t but should be.

First up was Marian Librarian, a high flying international proffesional social media blogger of sorts, who talked affectingly about why she refuses to censor her blog, even after she was detained at immigration for swearing. You can read the entry she read here She has a healthy and sensible attitude to the importance of reality and personality in online content.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - kate ironside
Next up was a brief reading from fashion haiku‘s Kate Ironside who was rocking a serious classy jersey and pearls type ensemble.

I cannot express the perfection of the fashion haiku as a form of art, it’s such the perfect medium for expressing the wry mix of beauty, meaning and superficiality that is fashion – anyway I can’t express it like I said so if you follow one link today, make it this one and go read some. Your day will be enhanced.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - toast and biscuit - thewedordeadwager
Toast and Biscuit from the Wed or Dead Wager.

Second actual competing slammers (btw, I can’t type the word slammers without thinking about pogs) were a blog double act who use fake names as a matter of neccesity since they write with warts and all accuracy about their manic dating life in a race to get married. It’s a bit like an unrealistic romcom, but much much longer. They were very funny with self deprecating anecdotes, definite crowd pleasers. I think they had the advantage too of having an actual real life story to tell in their blog, it’s engaging and sympathetic and fresh.

I’m so used to hearing the female perspective on the frustrations of dating from my friends, the cliches that men who are confident enough to come on to you are usually after just one thing, or worse turn out to be creepy stalkers seem all too often to come true. So it’s quite nice to get the male perspective and hear about women’s strange behaviours in the dating arena with some pragmatism, while still coming from what is essentially an aim to settle down with someone nice, which creates a sort of reverse cliche.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - godwyns onwuchekwa
The next blogger, Godwyns Onwuchekwa “We are united to say: Never again, at least not by our own action.”

Godwyns is a serious political and LGBT rights blogger who performed a very moving blog post he had written to mark world AIDS day this year. He began by saying that following the Toast and Biscuit performance he would be boring us with serious stuff. He wasn’t boring, but he wasn’t wrong that it was a contrast. Escpecially as the next to stand up was in a similar romantic comedy vein;

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - scalene
Scalene.

Alright, maybe this is not news to you, but if you thought that the Wed or Dead Wager was a dose enough of apparently brutaly honest but at the same time surreally romcomesque male dating bloggery, Scalene may actually take you a step further. His blog allows internet strangers (the same people who comment on youtube videos) to make multiple “choose your own adventure” style decisions about his actual real life love life. In the recent post he read out he ended up actually honest to goodness chasing a girl to the airport. If there’s any justice this project will end in him being voted into not showing up for his own wedding. That’s the other thing that always happens in movies but NEVER ACTUALLY HAPPENS IN REAL LIFE. RIGHT?

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - tejasvi

Tejasvi looked particularly angelic in her floaty white top (sorry I lack the fashion nause to describe it accurately) in the pulpit. Her blog Clandestine Cigarettes is perhaps a more serious and romantic take on fashion, she read a very poetic piece but was sadly I think too nervous and lacked the projection to do it justice.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - lilly smiles Lilly Smiles of Laughter Lines, diary of a “fleet street fox”.

Lilly Smiles trod an interesting line between the serious and comic camps with her reading, which was from a blog post written at an extremely raw and hard time in her life – the details were hazy (understandably) but it was during an episode in which she was charged with attempted murder. It was heart rending, clear, honest and well written, but still witty. She almost painted tabloid journalism (her background) as a caring profession and she pre-empted her reading by telling us she burps when nervous. In a way this was the perfect piece for the evening: managing to keep the tone seperate and yet compelling, honest but sensationalist. Possibly this is what blogability means.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - bangs and a bun
Muireann Carey-Campbell or Bangs and a Bun.

Another reading from the Circus Bookazine; Muireann described herself as a humour fashion blogger but the piece she read was quite serious, looking at issues of the fashion industry’s epic denial the fatness of society. It was pretty interesting and she was a charismatic speaker, I’ve since started following her on twitter and she is an avid tweeter. She looked fabulous and clearly knew her stuff.

The final contestent in the blog-off arrived just in time to perform. She’d been in Norwich and rocked straight up to the pulpit and started channeling Lady Gaga, actually interspersing the reading from her blog ‘musings of an innapropriate woman’ with bouts of karaoke style singing.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - rachel hills
Rachel Hills with gold slit sunglasses – when they were down she was Gaga.

This is the blog post she read, but like all of the night’s blogs, it’s the tip of an iceberg. Rachel’s blog is a smart mix of gender, popular culture, creativity and general life observations; I like her because she’s not afraid to mix pop culture references with theory and critique. If I didn’t have an essay to write I might spend my whole weekend reading her back catalogue.

So with that the blog slam was concluded, there was some complex vote counting while I mused on the variety of performances. Really the variety of different styles and subject matters didn’t lend itself to a fair comparison, ideally there could have been a number of bloggers from certain categories and an award for each. But it wasn’t the Oscars, it was an experiment and to have done so might have made the whole thing seem overworked. In the end we were treated to a slice of a mix of what the blogosphere has to offer.

ameliasmagazine - blog slam - circus 2
the four minds and bodies behind the event and circus bookazine, preparing to award the prizes.

Rachel nabbed third place, probably as much for having rocked up at the last minute and being memorable in golden glasses and singing as anything else. The two top spots went to the romcom boys, Scalene in second place and Toast and Biscuit nabbing the top spot. There were a lot of qualities on show at the Rag Factory that night, but ultimately entertainment value probably bagged the biggest points. The number of people at the end of the night wearing the AIDS ribbons Godwins had given out is testament to the fact that the serious content was most surely not swept under the carpet.

The Bookazine (which, strangely, is somewhere between a book and a magazine) is a thing of beauty divine from a design point of view. You can see the love and thought that has gone into the project. The content is given room to breath and interspersed with sumptiously simple printed patterns. There are little nods to the web format of the blog that the book connects with, like the love you link page and tag cloud at the back. Part of the reason it’s so thick of course, is that all of the content is in English and German, which makes the project even more impressive – working with so many bloggers, writers, artists and translators must have been an epic undertaking. If only I had time to actually read it.

circus bookazine - Merily Leis
circus bookazine - Artikel von Digital Diamonds
images courtesy of Circus Bookazine

Categories ,bangs and a bun, ,blog, ,blog slam, ,Bloggers, ,Circus, ,Circus Bookazine, ,design, ,event, ,fashion, ,fashion haiku, ,london, ,poetry, ,rachel hills, ,review, ,scalene, ,Sketch, ,Sketchbook mag, ,the londonist, ,the rag factory, ,the wed or dead wager

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Amelia’s Magazine | Circus Bookazine Launch and London Blog Slam

the crowd at circus bookazine blog slam
The crowd at circus bookazine blog slam, see buy minimalist cake catering, Asahi etc. the awesome tights belong to Muireann Carey-Campbell of Bangs and a Bun.

Amelia judged and I sketched history in the making at the Rag Factory last week. Well, almost: the first event was in Germany the week before so this was not an actual first. The concept I’m sure already has your mind a-boggling. I’m allways fascinated by how random little scenes and pockets of interlapping creativity and culture come together in these sorts of things. Circus explore the rich territory between print and web, passion and fashion and er, people and other people. I’ll talk more about the beautiful bookazine itself a bit later.

The competing bloggers were somewhat of a motley crew, in that the content was a little inconsistently weighted, a lot of fashion and two examples of male dating based humour blogging, a genre of which I was previously unaware. This was fair enough in a sense, the theme of the Bookazine issue is fashion, but it did make the handfull of bloggers on other themes seem a little incongruous.

The slammers were judged based on the scoring categories of originality, concept, delivery and “blogability”, a made up word. Aside from our own Amelia the jury consisted of Wafa from Sketchbook Magazine, Ben from quality Sheffield based Article Magazine, and Chris Osburn from the Londonist. All small press stars of substance and style of course. The competing bloggers performed from an old school church pulpit – a nice touch I think, sort of makes you think about how we choose who we listen to and respect these days, or it just looked pretty anyway – and were also interspersed with some readings from contributors from the bookazine.

marian librarian or Schmbari
Marian Schembari telling it like it isn’t but should be.

First up was Marian Librarian, a high flying international proffesional social media blogger of sorts, who talked affectingly about why she refuses to censor her blog, even after she was detained at immigration for swearing. You can read the entry she read here She has a healthy and sensible attitude to the importance of reality and personality in online content.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - kate ironside
Next up was a brief reading from fashion haiku‘s Kate Ironside who was rocking a serious classy jersey and pearls type ensemble.

I cannot express the perfection of the fashion haiku as a form of art, it’s such the perfect medium for expressing the wry mix of beauty, meaning and superficiality that is fashion – anyway I can’t express it like I said so if you follow one link today, make it this one and go read some. Your day will be enhanced.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - toast and biscuit - thewedordeadwager
Toast and Biscuit from the Wed or Dead Wager.

Second actual competing slammers (btw, I can’t type the word slammers without thinking about pogs) were a blog double act who use fake names as a matter of neccesity since they write with warts and all accuracy about their manic dating life in a race to get married. It’s a bit like an unrealistic romcom, but much much longer. They were very funny with self deprecating anecdotes, definite crowd pleasers. I think they had the advantage too of having an actual real life story to tell in their blog, it’s engaging and sympathetic and fresh.

I’m so used to hearing the female perspective on the frustrations of dating from my friends, the cliches that men who are confident enough to come on to you are usually after just one thing, or worse turn out to be creepy stalkers seem all too often to come true. So it’s quite nice to get the male perspective and hear about women’s strange behaviours in the dating arena with some pragmatism, while still coming from what is essentially an aim to settle down with someone nice, which creates a sort of reverse cliche.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - godwyns onwuchekwa
The next blogger, Godwyns Onwuchekwa “We are united to say: Never again, at least not by our own action.”

Godwyns is a serious political and LGBT rights blogger who performed a very moving blog post he had written to mark world AIDS day this year. He began by saying that following the Toast and Biscuit performance he would be boring us with serious stuff. He wasn’t boring, but he wasn’t wrong that it was a contrast. Escpecially as the next to stand up was in a similar romantic comedy vein;

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - scalene
Scalene.

Alright, maybe this is not news to you, but if you thought that the Wed or Dead Wager was a dose enough of apparently brutaly honest but at the same time surreally romcomesque male dating bloggery, Scalene may actually take you a step further. His blog allows internet strangers (the same people who comment on youtube videos) to make multiple “choose your own adventure” style decisions about his actual real life love life. In the recent post he read out he ended up actually honest to goodness chasing a girl to the airport. If there’s any justice this project will end in him being voted into not showing up for his own wedding. That’s the other thing that always happens in movies but NEVER ACTUALLY HAPPENS IN REAL LIFE. RIGHT?

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - tejasvi

Tejasvi looked particularly angelic in her floaty white top (sorry I lack the fashion nause to describe it accurately) in the pulpit. Her blog Clandestine Cigarettes is perhaps a more serious and romantic take on fashion, she read a very poetic piece but was sadly I think too nervous and lacked the projection to do it justice.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - lilly smiles Lilly Smiles of Laughter Lines, diary of a “fleet street fox”.

Lilly Smiles trod an interesting line between the serious and comic camps with her reading, which was from a blog post written at an extremely raw and hard time in her life – the details were hazy (understandably) but it was during an episode in which she was charged with attempted murder. It was heart rending, clear, honest and well written, but still witty. She almost painted tabloid journalism (her background) as a caring profession and she pre-empted her reading by telling us she burps when nervous. In a way this was the perfect piece for the evening: managing to keep the tone seperate and yet compelling, honest but sensationalist. Possibly this is what blogability means.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - bangs and a bun
Muireann Carey-Campbell or Bangs and a Bun.

Another reading from the Circus Bookazine; Muireann described herself as a humour fashion blogger but the piece she read was quite serious, looking at issues of the fashion industry’s epic denial the fatness of society. It was pretty interesting and she was a charismatic speaker, I’ve since started following her on twitter and she is an avid tweeter. She looked fabulous and clearly knew her stuff.

The final contestent in the blog-off arrived just in time to perform. She’d been in Norwich and rocked straight up to the pulpit and started channeling Lady Gaga, actually interspersing the reading from her blog ‘musings of an innapropriate woman’ with bouts of karaoke style singing.

jenny robins - blog slam - circus - rachel hills
Rachel Hills with gold slit sunglasses – when they were down she was Gaga.

This is the blog post she read, but like all of the night’s blogs, it’s the tip of an iceberg. Rachel’s blog is a smart mix of gender, popular culture, creativity and general life observations; I like her because she’s not afraid to mix pop culture references with theory and critique. If I didn’t have an essay to write I might spend my whole weekend reading her back catalogue.

So with that the blog slam was concluded, there was some complex vote counting while I mused on the variety of performances. Really the variety of different styles and subject matters didn’t lend itself to a fair comparison, ideally there could have been a number of bloggers from certain categories and an award for each. But it wasn’t the Oscars, it was an experiment and to have done so might have made the whole thing seem overworked. In the end we were treated to a slice of a mix of what the blogosphere has to offer.

ameliasmagazine - blog slam - circus 2
the four minds and bodies behind the event and circus bookazine, preparing to award the prizes.

Rachel nabbed third place, probably as much for having rocked up at the last minute and being memorable in golden glasses and singing as anything else. The two top spots went to the romcom boys, Scalene in second place and Toast and Biscuit nabbing the top spot. There were a lot of qualities on show at the Rag Factory that night, but ultimately entertainment value probably bagged the biggest points. The number of people at the end of the night wearing the AIDS ribbons Godwins had given out is testament to the fact that the serious content was most surely not swept under the carpet.

The Bookazine (which, strangely, is somewhere between a book and a magazine) is a thing of beauty divine from a design point of view. You can see the love and thought that has gone into the project. The content is given room to breath and interspersed with sumptiously simple printed patterns. There are little nods to the web format of the blog that the book connects with, like the love you link page and tag cloud at the back. Part of the reason it’s so thick of course, is that all of the content is in English and German, which makes the project even more impressive – working with so many bloggers, writers, artists and translators must have been an epic undertaking. If only I had time to actually read it.

circus bookazine - Merily Leis
circus bookazine - Artikel von Digital Diamonds
images courtesy of Circus Bookazine

Categories ,bangs and a bun, ,blog, ,blog slam, ,Bloggers, ,Circus, ,Circus Bookazine, ,design, ,event, ,fashion, ,fashion haiku, ,london, ,poetry, ,rachel hills, ,review, ,scalene, ,Sketch, ,Sketchbook mag, ,the londonist, ,the rag factory, ,the wed or dead wager

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Jacob Denno, editor of poetry and illustration magazine Popshot

popshot
Popshot is a wonderful poetry and illustration magazine and editor Jacob Denno once wrote for me, what is ed so when he contacted me recently about his new limited edition print range it seemed the perfect opportunity to find out a bit more about his inspiring ventures.

theprintshop_city abyss
Print by City Abyss.

What inspired you to set up Popshot magazine and what was your aim?
The magazine was born out of a slight frustration at the way in which poetry magazines were presenting themselves and ultimately, presenting poetry. I loved reading poetry but couldn’t find a single magazine on the shelves of Borders that was stimulating that passion. Most of them were a dark sea of Times New Roman font that made poetry really difficult to engage with. The aim was to create a magazine that I thought could engage with younger readers and dispel the myth that poetry was a bunch of outdated bollocks that had no footing in the modern day. I think there’s still a long way to go…

theprintshop_devin mcgrath
Print by Devin Mcgrath.

Have you always been into poetry… what decides which poems make the magazine?
As far back as I can remember, I’ve always had an interest in poetry. My mum used to stick up poetry quotations all over the downstairs toilet in our house so that you could memorise poetry while you were doing your thing, so it’s probably all thanks to her! As for what poems make it into the magazine – they have to be an original and interesting idea, thoughtful, beautifully written and full of imagery that allows the reader to dip into the poem’s world for the 25 lines or less. I love short poems because they’re so saturated with ideas and imagery. It’s like a shot of tequila instead of a bottle of wine.

theprintshop_esra roise
Print by Esra Røise.

How do you find your illustrators and what are you looking for in your choice of illustrators? Any top tips for places to seek out great illustration talent…
We scour blogs, websites, agencies, magazines, newspapers and exhibitions for new illustrators, as well as sorting through the hundreds of portfolios that we get sent. I could still do a better job of seeking out the relatively unknown illustrators but it’s almost a full time occupation searching for them! As for what we’re looking for – it’s usually editorial illustrators that have a knack of condensing an entire poem into one all encompassing image. It’s an art form to be able to take a story or poem or article and pull all the sentiment from it into one image. Very few people can do it well but I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of those that can. I also have a massive soft spot for illustrators who are influenced by photo realism but are able to produce pretty much anything that you can think up.

theprintshop_mydeadpony
Print by Mydeadpony.

You once wrote for Amelia’s Magazine – do you still write and do you write for other journals besides your own? And I have to ask, are you also a poet?
Most of the writing I’m doing at the moment is more informative and practical, such as updating the blog and writing the editorial etc. I don’t write for any other journals although I wouldn’t mind writing a column for The Guardian or something! I do write poetry although when you’re reading through about 4000 poems per issue, it can drain you of all your poetic inspiration so I haven’t written anything for a while. It’s such a beautiful way to use language though so whenever I get the chance or inspiration to, I love trying to condense a whirlwind of thoughts into one short poem.

As a little side note, I think seeing my name in the last printed issue of Amelia’s Magazine played a large part in my desire to be involved in magazines and print. So thanks for that!

theprintshop_sam green
Print by Sam Green.

You have six prints in your new print shop – how did you decide which ones to use?
The idea was to take six of the finest illustrations from the last 5 issues of Popshot, which meant we had a little over 100 illustrations to choose from. However, what makes for a brilliant piece of editorial illustration doesn’t necessarily make for a brilliant print, so in the end, there were only about 15 illustrations to choose from. The ones we ended up going for were the images that we felt were the most powerful, thought provoking and told a story even without the poem sitting next to them. In fact, some of them take on a whole new meaning once they’re popped onto a 675 x 550mm canvas and mounted on a wall.

theprintshop_tom hovey
Print by Tom Hovey.

Please can you tell us a little bit more about each of the featured artists and the poems they illustrated.
But of course! Sam Green‘s image accompanied a poem called The Aftershock by Mike Swain which looked at the redefinition of the male role in modern society, and the slight death of the hunter/gatherer role. Mydeadpony‘s image was created in response to Rosie Allabarton‘s poem …and this is what we call liberation which challenged the theory that pornography liberates women by breaking down taboos. Devin McGrath‘s image illustrated MDMA by Daniel Sluman which was an attempt to write a poem about drugs without glorifying or demonising it. Tom Hovey‘s piece was in response to If Black Could Shine by Mai’a Williams which spoke of the difficulties Sudanese refugees were facing in Egypt. City Abyss‘s image was actually the cover illustration for Issue two’s Us & Them issue and Esra Røise‘s image accompanied a poem called Sleepovers by Bethan Parker-Luscombe, which was a snapshot memory of a childhood spent indulging in sleepovers.

You can buy these prints from the Print Shop on the Popshot Magazine website. The prints are produced in limited edition runs of 150 each and cost just £45 apiece.

Categories ,Amelia’s Magazine, ,Bethan Parker-Luscombe, ,Borders, ,City Abyss, ,Daniel Sluman, ,Devin McGrath, ,Egypt, ,Esra Røise, ,If Black Could Shine, ,illustration, ,Jacob Denno, ,Limited Edition, ,Mai’a Williams, ,MDMA, ,Mike Swain, ,Mydeadpony, ,poetry, ,Popshot Magazine, ,prints, ,Printshop, ,Rosie Allabarton, ,Sam Green, ,Sleepovers, ,The Aftershock, ,Tom Hovey, ,Us & Them

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Amelia’s Magazine | Larmer Tree Festival 2011 Review, Friday: Bellowhead, Russell Kane, Yoga, Bane

russell-kane-by-finn-obrien
Russell Kane by Finn O’Brien.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review tom leadbetter
We woke up early on Friday at Larmer Tree Festival, order baked out of our tent by the brilliant sunshine… and turned up to witness the very end of the traditional morning yoga session on the main lawn… hundreds of people sat on mats in front of the Garden Stage in what has apparently become a Larmer Tree ritual. That was swiftly followed by Tai Chi… see if you can spot Tom Leadbetter. I’m gutted I didn’t get to sample these classes, viagra but rain was to blight Larmer for the rest of the weekend.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review Polly and the Billets Doux, <a target=hospital ” title=”Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review Polly and the Billets Doux,” width=”480″ height=”480″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-45956″ />Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review Polly and the Billets Doux,
Polly and the Billets Doux by Claire Kearns
Polly and the Billets Doux by Claire Kearns.

First act of the day for me was Polly and the Billets Doux, first encountered at Wood Festival a few months back.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 reviewLarmer Tree Festival 2011 review
Their laid back bluesy folk was the perfect accompaniment to a lazy morning with the Guardian (rather amusingly the locally run general store had heaps and heaps of the Grauniad and, for variety’s sake, about three copies each of every other paper…they know their market alright).

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 reviewLarmer Tree Festival 2011 review colour garden
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review colour garden
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review colour garden
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review colour garden
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review crochet
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review crochet
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review dish
During our daily walk through the woods we discovered more interesting stuff… natural dye techniques from foraged plants with Francesca Owen, a bell tent devoted to knitting and crochet, a lovely little cake parlour called Dish.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review HEALING
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review HEALING
Of course I looked longingly inside all the healing tents…mmmm….massage. Didn’t have one though.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review cutashineLarmer Tree Festival 2011 review cutashine
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review cutashine
Cut A Shine Barndance by Hollie McManus
Cut A Shine Barndance by Hollie McManus.

Then we popped over to see my old band Cutashine teach barndancing in the Big Top.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review the spreeLarmer Tree Festival 2011 review the spree
Outside I was intrigued by indie anthems from Devon based The Spree. Searching for them online proved a major problem though!

YouTube Preview Image
Turns out Spree is a popular band name… when I did finally locate them I rather handily found this video of them playing the ARC, which I missed

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review arts tentLarmer Tree Festival 2011 review arts tentLarmer Tree Festival 2011 review arts tentLarmer Tree Festival 2011 review arts tent
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review arts tent
A quick scout around the arts tent revealed a wealth of grassroots creativity.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review circus
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review circus
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review circusLarmer Tree Festival 2011 review circus
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review circus
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review circus
The fine weather continued as children learnt circus skills alongside parents. But we had another destination: Bane, in the Daytime Club Larmer.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review Bane Joe BoneLarmer Tree Festival 2011 review Bane Joe Bone
Performed as a one man show by Joe Bone (with a little atmospheric help from guitarist Ben Roe) this was an outstanding blend of fill noir, graphic novel, mime and comedy, as narrated by fictional hit man Bruce Bane. An absolute must see if you get the chance.


Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review The Joker & The Thief,
Back on the stage we listened to The Joker & The Thief, with some excellent sax driven blues tunes… but why the American accent? You’re from London! Someone has been listening to just a bit too much Kings of Leon

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review -Goodnight Lenin
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review -Goodnight Lenin
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review -Goodnight Lenin
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review -Goodnight Lenin
Goodnight Lenin by Sumi Senthi
Goodnight Lenin by Sumi Senthi.

Then to visit our friends Goodnight Lenin, with whom I’ve been conversing since I first heard them at Wood. They were as charming as ever ‘We never used to be a cabaret act but we’re branching out…‘ They gave away a signed Bookcrossing book… by Jeffrey Archer, and totally wowed the relatively laid back daytime audience: I had to part the crowds when I went to say hi to them in the Songlines signing tent afterwards.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review Mama Rosin
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review Mama Rosin
Mama Rosin must be one of those rare French speaking bands to appeal to Brit audiences. The Larmer Tree crowd thoroughly enjoyed the folky accordion driven tunes of this three piece.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review -Kidnap Alice
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review -Kidnap Alice
We missed My First Tooth for tea (there was a generally very high standard of food on offer at Larmer Tree) but I could hear some beautiful boisterous sounds wafting out of the ARC. Then it was time to see friends in Kidnap Alice, fronted by (unsurprisingly) a girl called Alice – whom I have known for sometime, but had absolutely no idea could sing so amazingly fiercely well. Also in the band are banjo player Joe Buirski, double bassist Felix and other assorted old time musicians who make up the current version of Cutashine. My friend Dan (also known as Danimal for reasons best not mentioned here) was present on accordion – which he seems to have taught himself in the blink of an eye. Well well impressed… particularly by their own Appalachian inspired foot stomping anthems. ‘How come no one’s dancing… are you dead?‘ importuned their dungaree clad mandolinist. I can see his point. Definitely worth checking out live.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review Bellowhead
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review Bellowhead
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review Bellowhead
Bellowhead by Amy Rogers
Bellowhead by Amy Rogers.

Friday’s big band was Bellowhead… fronted by Jon Boden, with whom I used to attend folk singing Glee camps (well before the term Glee became fashionable) It’s funny because back then he was a right stickler for sticking to prescribed folk techniques, but Bellowhead takes trad folk and blows it right out of the water with a high octane jump up and dance hoedown of a show. I think that for many festival goers this was an absolute highlight of Larmer Tree this year – it was certainly one of mine. Bellowhead have gone out on a limb with something completely unique and different and it works amazingly well. I suppose I should have known where Jon would eventually go when he turned up on camp one year and played a superb fiddle version of Hit Me Baby (One More Time) by Britney Spears.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review Kidnap Alice
Kidnap Alice by Claire Kearns
Kidnap Alice by Claire Kearns.

There’s a certain beauty in the way that both Bellowhead and Kidnap Alice have grown in part out of a love of fireside singing on FSC camps – Joe and Dan of Kidnap Alice have taken traditional American tunes of the type we sing and turned them into something totally new, whilst Jon Boden has played around with traditional British songs for Bellowhead. And at Larmer Tree they were programmed up against each other…

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review -Ozomatli
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review -Ozomatli
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review -Ozomatli
Ozomatli were something of a let down straight after Bellowhead, but then I’m not the biggest world music fan.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review -James Acaster
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review -Tom Wrigglesworth
Comedy was compered by a double hatted James AcasterTom Wrigglesworth was on first and I’m ashamed to say I can’t remember much of it… probably because I was sat squished into a small blob on the floor with no view of the stage: the tent was absolutely rammed.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review -Russell Kane
Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review -Russell Kane
Luckily I found a boyfriend’s lap in time for Russell Kane, who was my unreserved comedy highlight of the festival. He leapt on stage with a brand new look clearly prompted by a break up that formed the backbone of much of his material… a spinning whirlwind of peroxide blonde quiff and tight jeans. There were many ‘postmodern’ digressions into some hilarious anecdotal stories about the middle class Jemimas whom he had overheard at the festival and I’ve honestly not laughed so much in ages. His hyper energetic set was totally up my street, probably in part because it reminded me of my own manic presenting style (ask anyone who’s seen me talk or call a ceilidh) but also because I could relate so closely to his material… I’ve had my heart totally and utterly broken, and I recognise so many of his traits in other men who would never so honestly admit to their feelings. Want. To see. Again.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review
Overheard the next day: a group of posh Devonshire teenagers (pretending they knew how to hold a fag) discussing what Russell Kane meant by the word ‘totes’ peppered liberally through his set – they were convinced he meant Tilly or Antonia. ‘Definitely, yar.’ Hilar.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review poetry Polly Malone
Polly Malone performing in Lyrical Lostwood.

Larmer Tree Festival 2011 review tunnel vision
Before bed we took a last minute walk through a ghostly installation in the woods… bubbles of light floating past us as we negotiated the laurel tunnel to the sounds of Brian Eno. Tunnel Vision was put together by Ulf Mark Pedersen.

Categories ,Amy Rogers, ,Appalachian, ,ARC, ,Bane, ,Bellowhead, ,Ben Roe, ,Big Top, ,Bookcrossing, ,brian eno, ,Camps, ,Claire Kearns, ,Cutashine, ,Daytime Club Larmer, ,Dish, ,Finn O’Brien, ,folk, ,Francesca Owen, ,FSC, ,Garden Stage, ,Glee, ,Goodnight Lenin, ,Guardian, ,Healing, ,Hit Me Baby (One More Time), ,Hollie McManus, ,James Acaster, ,Jeffrey Archer, ,Joe Bone, ,Joe Buirski, ,Jon Boden, ,Kidnap Alice, ,Kings of Leon, ,Lyrical Lostwood, ,Mama Rosin, ,My First Tooth, ,Ozomatli, ,poetry, ,Polly Malone, ,Russell Kane, ,Songlines, ,Sumi Senthi, ,Tai Chi, ,The Joker & The Thief, ,The Spree, ,Tom Leadbetter, ,Tom Wrigglesworth, ,Tunnel Vision, ,woodland, ,World Music, ,Yoga

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