Amelia’s Magazine | Just Do It Film: Review

Just Do It by Gareth A Hopkins
Just Do It by Gareth A Hopkins.

Last weekend I went to the premiere of Just Do It in a central London squat: a beautiful old chapel on Shaftesbury Avenue that once housed a nightclub and a Walkabout pub. It was a fitting venue for the big official screening of this amazing film, healing one which I feel closely involved in – my photos have been used for publicity, pharm I was at almost every direct action or event that is shown in the film and we’ve written about it many times on these pages as they’ve struggled to raise funds to finish it over the past few years.

Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

The fact that I only spotted my arse three times in Just Do It (taking photos, always) is a miracle, frankly. Thankfully you will only know it is me if you know my bottom well, but for its appearance I did have to sign my very only release form when I viewed the final rushes a few months ago.

Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011-a taste of freedom
We had popcorn, goodie bags and delicious alcoholic smoothies and ice cream made from unwanted fruit by A Taste of Freedom.

It’s hard to write subjectively about a film that features so many people that I know. A film that follows the thoughts and actions of a bunch of friends that I have taken action alongside for many years… and for awhile I worried that Just Do It would seem insular, knowing, and wouldn’t really appeal to those outside our inner circle of activists.

Just Do It Film premiere 2011-Marina Pepper
Marina Pepper.

Just Do It Film premiere 2011-Emily James
Emily James.

But I was wrong: I am so proud of what director Emily James has managed to produce, admirably aided and abetted by producer Lauren Simpson, editor James Leadbitter and a huge team of creative volunteers including our very own Sally Mumby-Croft. It’s even got an amazing soundtrack, featuring music from former art editor Luisa Gerstein’s Lulu and the Lampshades.

Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011
Tamsin Omond of Climate Rush.

When she first started filming Just Do It we didn’t know how it would turn out, and I don’t think Emily did either… she just knew that she wanted to tell the inside story of activism, particularly around Climate Camp – something which has been enormously influential in climate activism and activism in general over the past few years.

Just-do-it-by-Roberta-Zeta
Just Do It by Roberta Zeta.

Just Do It is personalised through following the stories of a few figures, including some very dear friends of mine… but it is undoubtedly Marina Pepper‘s unique way with words and hilarious delivery that makes her the film’s star.

Marina pepper

By showing the human face of activism it is made more accessible – proving that activists are far from scary and unapproachable as often portrayed by the media, but rather some of the most amazing, inspiring people I know. I hope Just Do It will prompt many more people across the world to stand up for what they believe in to make a better world.

Watch the trailer here:YouTube Preview Image

Please please go watch this film – it hits cinemas nationwide this week and you should tell all your friends about it to make sure that it shown and seen as widely as possible. Find your local Just Do It screening here. It’s fast, it’s fun, and most of all it’s inspiring. There’s never been a more important time to stand up for well, just about everything, really.

Just Do It Film premiere 2011-017

YouTube Preview ImageWatch interviews from the premiere here.

Categories ,A Taste of Freedom, ,activism, ,Climate Camp, ,Climate Change, ,Emily James, ,film, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Just Do It, ,Left Field Films, ,Luisa Gerstein, ,Lulu and the Lampshades, ,Marina Pepper, ,review, ,Roberta Zeta, ,Sally Mumby-Croft, ,Shaftesbury Avenue, ,squat, ,Tamsin Omond, ,Trailer

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Amelia’s Magazine | Just Do It Film: Review

Just Do It by Gareth A Hopkins
Just Do It by Gareth A Hopkins.

Last weekend I went to the premiere of Just Do It in a central London squat: a beautiful old chapel on Shaftesbury Avenue that once housed a nightclub and a Walkabout pub. It was a fitting venue for the big official screening of this amazing film, healing one which I feel closely involved in – my photos have been used for publicity, pharm I was at almost every direct action or event that is shown in the film and we’ve written about it many times on these pages as they’ve struggled to raise funds to finish it over the past few years.

Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

The fact that I only spotted my arse three times in Just Do It (taking photos, always) is a miracle, frankly. Thankfully you will only know it is me if you know my bottom well, but for its appearance I did have to sign my very only release form when I viewed the final rushes a few months ago.

Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011-a taste of freedom
We had popcorn, goodie bags and delicious alcoholic smoothies and ice cream made from unwanted fruit by A Taste of Freedom.

It’s hard to write subjectively about a film that features so many people that I know. A film that follows the thoughts and actions of a bunch of friends that I have taken action alongside for many years… and for awhile I worried that Just Do It would seem insular, knowing, and wouldn’t really appeal to those outside our inner circle of activists.

Just Do It Film premiere 2011-Marina Pepper
Marina Pepper.

Just Do It Film premiere 2011-Emily James
Emily James.

But I was wrong: I am so proud of what director Emily James has managed to produce, admirably aided and abetted by producer Lauren Simpson, editor James Leadbitter and a huge team of creative volunteers including our very own Sally Mumby-Croft. It’s even got an amazing soundtrack, featuring music from former art editor Luisa Gerstein’s Lulu and the Lampshades.

Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011Just Do It Film premiere 2011
Tamsin Omond of Climate Rush.

When she first started filming Just Do It we didn’t know how it would turn out, and I don’t think Emily did either… she just knew that she wanted to tell the inside story of activism, particularly around Climate Camp – something which has been enormously influential in climate activism and activism in general over the past few years.

Just-do-it-by-Roberta-Zeta
Just Do It by Roberta Zeta.

Just Do It is personalised through following the stories of a few figures, including some very dear friends of mine… but it is undoubtedly Marina Pepper‘s unique way with words and hilarious delivery that makes her the film’s star.

Marina pepper

By showing the human face of activism it is made more accessible – proving that activists are far from scary and unapproachable as often portrayed by the media, but rather some of the most amazing, inspiring people I know. I hope Just Do It will prompt many more people across the world to stand up for what they believe in to make a better world.

Watch the trailer here:YouTube Preview Image

Please please go watch this film – it hits cinemas nationwide this week and you should tell all your friends about it to make sure that it shown and seen as widely as possible. Find your local Just Do It screening here. It’s fast, it’s fun, and most of all it’s inspiring. There’s never been a more important time to stand up for well, just about everything, really.

Just Do It Film premiere 2011-017

YouTube Preview ImageWatch interviews from the premiere here.

Categories ,A Taste of Freedom, ,activism, ,Climate Camp, ,Climate Change, ,Emily James, ,film, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Just Do It, ,Left Field Films, ,Luisa Gerstein, ,Lulu and the Lampshades, ,Marina Pepper, ,review, ,Roberta Zeta, ,Sally Mumby-Croft, ,Shaftesbury Avenue, ,squat, ,Tamsin Omond, ,Trailer

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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 | Royal College of Art Show One 2010: Photography and Printmaking

aniela-murphy_yeslab
Illustration by Aniela Murphy/NeltonMandelton.

The Yes Men began when founders Mike and Andy received an invitation intended for the director-general of the World Trade Organisation – via their fake WTO website – to attend a gala event. They emailed Michael Moore to take the invite up, unhealthy approved but when a reply was not forthcoming went themselves, and thus their legendary actions began. Now they’re looking to spread the joy of their ‘Yes-tivism’ with the creation of the Yes Lab project to train others in their headline-provoking methods. Though they deplore the media, drowning us in “fake information, spun by those who follow the profit motive in order to sell us on crazy ideas that we all sort of believe even though we know better,” they believe that HEADLINES MATTER when they’re used to tell the truth. Well. Not the truth. The version of reality so completely opposite to the truth that the truth is forced to come out of hiding and wave its pale head above the parapet. Ironically, they’ve recently been accused of “devaluing information, making it hard to tell what is real from what is fake.” Because the mainstream media is the bastion of truth and objective reporting. Yeah, right.

The Yes Men defend their devious behaviour by saying that it’s needed to achieve “a condition of honesty”. When they interrupt meetings and conferences to highlight the failed logic of the free market they push their actions to the most “sinister, corrupt and disgusting” lengths to force people to confront their own twisted morals. To then have audiences simply agree has taught them just how much needs to be done. So, after twelve years of faux-press releases, bumbling around in Survivaballs and campaigning continuously against Dow on behalf of Bhopal, the Yes Men want to get the rest of the population involved and for this they’ve instead created the Yes Lab to help activists all over the world bring our most crazed creations to life.

aniela-murphy-yesmen
Illustration by Aniela Murphy/NeltonMandelton.

The Yes Lab runs in part like the current Fix the World Challenge website, where most of Andy and Mikes’ tips and tricks are given away and you can find like-minded individuals around the world to work with, but this time the Yes Men plan to work directly with the groups and organizations who come to them, providing guidance and training, linking them up with other useful people and checking in with projects until they succeed. The aim is to provide resistance so that when Obama or Cleggeron find themselves cornered by industrial lobbyists they will be able to point out of the window, where we’ll all be camped, naturally, and say “Sorry, I can’t do what you’re asking me to do – those people won’t let me.” It’s no secret after all, that if we all get it together and push in the same direction, even under different names, the government has to listen, and change does get made. The main focus of the Yes Lab, and the Yes Men, is to pressure elected officials, companies and corporations until they make the changes we want to see happen.

With the $50,000 they hope to raise through generous donations the Yes Lab could run for an initial period of six months, with actual staff doing the leg work involved in organising the facilitation of these projects. The Yes Men aren’t just begging for money though, oh no. If you’re not already motivated to give a little after reading about the dangers of the “policies that place the rights of capital before the needs of people and the environment” and the Yes Men’s plans to “kill capitalism before it kills us… before the next generations inherit a world where hunger and violence are the norm in a rapidly fraying civilization” then perhaps a few Yes Men goodies might perk your interest. For a mere $10 you can have a sincere, if mother-scaring, thank you. $25-$100 helps clear out their office, if you fancy a heap of junk alongside copies of The Yes Men Save The World (read our review here) and the Good News edition of The New York Times. $400 is a date with Survivaball model Rocco Ferrer. $1000 for a brainstorming session. $5,000 gets you a Survivaball. $30,000, really, turns into a 2-3 day retreat in the secret catacombs of Paris, checking out underground murals, chilling out with heaps of bones if you’re into that sort of thing. (Guess I’d better start saving.)

If you can’t quite jingle that out of your sofa, then even if you only have a few minutes per day the Yes Men suggest you can make a difference. Taking the time to write to elected officials, joining protests, giving money to great organisations (ahem, cough, etc) and joining social networks to spread the word of these great organisations (cough, cough, ahem, etc) all help, so head over to the Yes Lab, sign up for the newsletter and start telling all your friends to turn over their couch cushions and drop some pennies into the Yes Men’s piggy bank. You never know, you might win a Survivaball. Then who’ll be laughing when England floods, huh? Oh wait. Yeah. No-one.

Amelia met the Yes Men last year when they came to London town. You can read all about it here. And remember to check in with the Yes Lab.

You can also follow the Yes Men on twitter. Of course.

aniela-murphy_yeslab
Illustration by Aniela Murphy/NeltonMandelton.

The Yes Men began when founders Mike and Andy received an invitation intended for the director-general of the World Trade Organisation – via their fake WTO website – to attend a gala event. They emailed Michael Moore to take the invite up, viagra but when a reply was not forthcoming went themselves, and thus their legendary actions began. Now they’re looking to spread the joy of their ‘Yes-tivism’ with the creation of the Yes Lab project to train others in their headline-provoking methods. Though they deplore the media, drowning us in “fake information, spun by those who follow the profit motive in order to sell us on crazy ideas that we all sort of believe even though we know better,” they believe that HEADLINES MATTER when they’re used to tell the truth. Well. Not the truth. The version of reality so completely opposite to the truth that the truth is forced to come out of hiding and wave its pale head above the parapet. Ironically, they’ve recently been accused of “devaluing information, making it hard to tell what is real from what is fake.” Because the mainstream media is the bastion of truth and objective reporting. Yeah, right.

The Yes Men defend their devious behaviour by saying that it’s needed to achieve “a condition of honesty”. When they interrupt meetings and conferences to highlight the failed logic of the free market they push their actions to the most “sinister, corrupt and disgusting” lengths to force people to confront their own twisted morals. To then have audiences simply agree has taught them just how much needs to be done. So, after twelve years of faux-press releases, bumbling around in Survivaballs and campaigning continuously against Dow on behalf of Bhopal, the Yes Men want to get the rest of the population involved and for this they’ve created the Yes Lab to help activists all over the world bring our most crazed creations to life.

aniela-murphy-yesmen
Illustration by Aniela Murphy/NeltonMandelton.

The Yes Lab runs in part like the current Fix the World Challenge website, where most of Andy and Mikes’ tips and tricks are given away and you can find like-minded individuals around the world to work with, but this time the Yes Men plan to work directly with the groups and organizations who come to them, providing guidance and training, linking them up with other useful people and checking in with projects until they succeed. The aim is to provide resistance so that when Obama or Cleggeron find themselves cornered by industrial lobbyists they will be able to point out of the window, where we’ll all be camped, naturally, and say “Sorry, I can’t do what you’re asking me to do – those people won’t let me.” It’s no secret after all, that if we all get it together and push in the same direction, even under different names, the government has to listen, and change does get made. The main focus of the Yes Lab, and the Yes Men, is to pressure elected officials, companies and corporations until they make the changes we want to see happen.

With the $50,000 they hope to raise through generous donations the Yes Lab could run for an initial period of six months, with actual staff doing the leg work involved in organising the facilitation of these projects. The Yes Men aren’t just begging for money though, oh no. If you’re not already motivated to give a little after reading about the dangers of the “policies that place the rights of capital before the needs of people and the environment” and the Yes Men’s plans to “kill capitalism before it kills us… before the next generations inherit a world where hunger and violence are the norm in a rapidly fraying civilization” then perhaps a few Yes Men goodies might perk your interest. For a mere $10 you can have a sincere, if mother-scaring, thank you. $25-$100 helps clear out their office, if you fancy a heap of junk alongside copies of The Yes Men Save The World (read our review here) and the Good News edition of The New York Times. $400 is a date with Survivaball model Rocco Ferrer. $1000 for a brainstorming session. $5,000 gets you a Survivaball. $30,000, really, turns into a 2-3 day retreat in the secret catacombs of Paris, checking out underground murals, chilling out with heaps of bones if you’re into that sort of thing. (Guess I’d better start saving.)

If you can’t quite jingle that out of your sofa, then even if you only have a few minutes per day the Yes Men suggest you can make a difference. Taking the time to write to elected officials, joining protests, giving money to great organisations (ahem, cough, etc) and joining social networks to spread the word of these great organisations (cough, cough, ahem, etc) all help, so head over to the Yes Lab, sign up for the newsletter and start telling all your friends to turn over their couch cushions and drop some pennies into the Yes Men’s piggy bank. You never know, you might win a Survivaball. Then who’ll be laughing when England floods, huh? Oh wait. Yeah. No-one.

Amelia met the Yes Men last year when they came to London town. You can read all about it here. And remember to check in with the Yes Lab.

You can also follow the Yes Men on twitter. Of course.

aniela-murphy_yeslab
Illustration by Aniela Murphy/NeltonMandelton.

The Yes Men began when founders Mike and Andy received an invitation intended for the director-general of the World Trade Organisation – via their fake WTO website – to attend a gala event. They emailed Michael Moore to take the invite up, there but when a reply was not forthcoming went themselves, healing and thus their legendary actions began. Now they’re looking to spread the joy of their ‘Yes-tivism’ with the creation of the Yes Lab project to train others in their headline-provoking methods. Though they deplore the media, drowning us in “fake information, spun by those who follow the profit motive in order to sell us on crazy ideas that we all sort of believe even though we know better,” they believe that HEADLINES MATTER when they’re used to tell the truth. Well. Not the truth. The version of reality so completely opposite to the truth that the truth is forced to come out of hiding and wave its pale head above the parapet. Ironically, they’ve recently been accused of “devaluing information, making it hard to tell what is real from what is fake.” Because the mainstream media is the bastion of truth and objective reporting. Yeah, right.

The Yes Men defend their devious behaviour by saying that it’s needed to achieve “a condition of honesty”. When they interrupt meetings and conferences to highlight the failed logic of the free market they push their actions to the most “sinister, corrupt and disgusting” lengths to force people to confront their own twisted morals. To then have audiences simply agree has taught them just how much needs to be done. So, after twelve years of faux-press releases, bumbling around in Survivaballs and campaigning continuously against Dow on behalf of Bhopal, the Yes Men want to get the rest of the population involved and for this they’ve created the Yes Lab to help activists all over the world bring our most crazed creations to life.

aniela-murphy-yesmen
Illustration by Aniela Murphy/NeltonMandelton.

The Yes Lab runs in part like the current Fix the World Challenge website, where most of Andy and Mikes’ tips and tricks are given away and you can find like-minded individuals around the world to work with, but this time the Yes Men plan to work directly with the groups and organizations who come to them, providing guidance and training, linking them up with other useful people and checking in with projects until they succeed. The aim is to provide resistance so that when Obama or Cleggeron find themselves cornered by industrial lobbyists they will be able to point out of the window, where we’ll all be camped, naturally, and say “Sorry, I can’t do what you’re asking me to do – those people won’t let me.” It’s no secret after all, that if we all get in together and push in the same direction, governments will eventually have to listen, and changes will happen. The main focus of the Yes Lab, and the Yes Men, is to pressure elected officials, companies and corporations until they make the changes we want to see happen.

With the $50,000 they hope to raise through generous donations the Yes Lab could run for an initial period of six months, with actual staff doing the leg work involved in organising the facilitation of these projects. The Yes Men aren’t just begging for money though, oh no. If you’re not already motivated to give a little after reading about the dangers of the “policies that place the rights of capital before the needs of people and the environment” and the Yes Men’s plans to “kill capitalism before it kills us… before the next generations inherit a world where hunger and violence are the norm in a rapidly fraying civilization” then perhaps a few Yes Men goodies might perk your interest. For a mere $10 you can have a sincere, if mother-scaring, thank you. $25-$100 helps clear out their office, if you fancy a heap of junk alongside copies of The Yes Men Save The World (read our review here) and the Good News edition of The New York Times. $400 is a date with Survivaball model Rocco Ferrer. $1000 for a brainstorming session. $5,000 gets you a Survivaball. $30,000, really, turns into a 2-3 day retreat in the secret catacombs of Paris, checking out underground murals, chilling out with heaps of bones if you’re into that sort of thing. (Guess I’d better start saving.)

If you can’t quite jingle that out of your sofa, then even if you only have a few minutes per day the Yes Men suggest you can make a difference. Taking the time to write to elected officials, joining protests, giving money to great organisations (ahem, cough, etc) and joining social networks to spread the word of these great organisations (cough, cough, ahem, etc) all help, so head over to the Yes Lab, sign up for the newsletter and start telling all your friends to turn over their couch cushions and drop some pennies into the Yes Men’s piggy bank. You never know, you might win a Survivaball. Then who’ll be laughing when England floods, huh? Oh wait. Yeah. No-one.

Amelia met the Yes Men last year when they came to London town. You can read all about it here. And remember to check in with the Yes Lab.

You can also follow the Yes Men on twitter. Of course.

RCA show 2010 entrance
Wowser! the entrance to the 2010 RCA graduate show.

The Royal College of Art has really gone to town for the graduate shows this year: there’s a huge SHOW sculpture around the entrance to the college in the same neon orange as their invite that ensures you’re not gonna miss the location if you’ve never been before.

The MA graduation shows are always a very mixed bag – the RCA lays claim to the pick of the creative crop, symptoms but despite much lauded links with the creative industries I find that many of its students still very much have their head in the clouds when it comes to producing something that will appeal to more than a few people. This morning I only had time to get around the printmaking and photography exhibitions so will leave the rest to another time, if I find it. Within the photography section I was only really moved by the work of Noemie Goudal – who had pole position right next to the free teas for press in the entrance hall stage right. Her strongest piece is Les Amants (Cascade), which shows a waterfall in a woodland artfully recreated with some draped plastic. I won’t try to paraphrase the abysmal entry in the RCA catalogue describing her work but it’s obviously a commentary on the presence of humans in nature, and I always like that kind of thing.

Noemie Goudal Les Amants (Cascade)
Les Amants (Cascade) by Noemie Goudal.

In printmaking I walked straight past the work of Cordelia Cembrowicz, though I should have seen her giant Climate Rush inspired print straight away – it’s an event I remember well. The last big Climate Rush action to inspire the masses took place in June 2009 when we organised a huge bike rush which ended with a blockade of Westminster Bridge right outside Parliament (read about it here), and the print depicts Cordelia astride the famous statue of Boudicca. It makes me sad to see work inspired by Climate Rush and these artworks feel a bit like a memorial to a certain place and time that has now passed. Still, they serve as a reminder of how much we achieved before the group (as it was then) imploded under Tamsin Omond’s drive to reach her next goal – becoming MP for the constituency of Hampstead and Kilburn as head of her own political party, To The Commons. She failed, but I’m sure she has a new plan in the pipeline.

boudicca Cordelia Cembrowicz
Boudicca (Deeds Not Words) by Cordelia Cembrowicz.

Still, our clothes and actions were always going to be ripe for artistic plundering and Cordelia (who joined us for a couple of actions) has done an admirable job of producing some wonderful lithographs inspired by photographs of various associated members of Climate Rush. I particularly love the one of Tracey – who will be well known to those who have campaigned against Heathrow in Sipson – grasping at a clutch of planes.

tracey Cordelia Cembrowicz
Tracey by Cordelia Cembrowicz.

And the print showing a crouched Brenda, fist to the sky in front of a decorative Shell rondel, is simply stunning. Just look at the detail on Brenda’s proudly displayed armpit hairs! Around her dead yellow canaries are sploshed against some psychedelic swirls; presumably inspired by our No New Coal Awards back in February 2009, *sigh* those were the days. And there’s Cadi, smoke stacks billowing out of her multiple heads on a stained glass window designed for a new look Westminster.

brenda Cordelia Cembrowicz
Brenda by Cordelia Cembrowicz.

RCA show 2010 Cadi
Detail from a stained glass window showing Cadi’s mulitple heads, by Cordelia Cembrowicz.

What a shame it all went tits up.
Moving swiftly on….

I was most intrigued by a group of tables set up with various kitchen implements and paint, but had to have the concept explained to me. In a flight of fancy the like of which you can get away with at the RCA, Helen Murgatroyd has set up her own homespun cottage printing industry utilising kitchen implements and other familiar domestic objects to create a traditional looking screenprint of a plate on a checked table cloth, rendered special by the process that produced it. She must be doing something right because she has just had her entire graduate collection bought up by Terence Conran.

RCA show 2010 Helen Murgatroyd
Part of the installation by Helen Murgatroyd.

Another printmaking graduate that caught my eye was David Orme, whose work so reminded me of Luke Best that I asked if he’d had him as a tutor. He hasn’t, but has heard the comparison before. I particularly liked his decorative use of metallic foils in a group of voyeuristic illustrations inspired by tourism, but was unable to take a decent photo. The work on his site showcases an altogether different style.

RCA show 2010 David Orme
Detail of a work by David Orme.

Next to him Olenna Mokliak showed large lithographs etchings and aquatints of weird monsters with extendable fingernails and ballet shoes. Very weird, I like a lot, but she has made the unforgivable error of not creating a website before her graduate show. Who tutors these people?! Fail!

I AM AFRAID I’VE HAD TO REMOVE THIS WORK – SEE COMMENT BELOW.
Detail of a work by RCA show 2010 Olenna Mokliak.

Downstairs my trip was curtailed still further when I bumped into a friend that I haven’t seen in over a decade. I studied fashion textiles with Philippa Wagner at the University of Brighton and she is now a top trends forecaster, living with her young family in sunny London Fields. She too was enjoying the Hackney Parks for Life festival with her kids last Saturday when a gang shot a passer by who was innocently enjoying a picnic just like us. More like Parks for Death me thinks. It was nice to catch up, albeit briefly, and I just had time to take in the work of Sun Ju Lee – stunning shadow-like prints made with great delicacy on fishing wire, almost lenticular in appearance. Unfortunately not translated well into 2D.

Sun Ju Lee RCA
A Practiced Place by Sun Ju Lee.

Part one of the RCA show continues until 6th June 2010. It’s open from 11-8 daily at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU. Admission is free.

Categories ,Bike Rush, ,Climate Rush, ,Cordelia Cembrowicz, ,hackney, ,heathrow, ,Lithograph, ,London Fields, ,MA Graduate Show, ,Noemie Goudal, ,Olenna Mokliak, ,Parks for Life, ,Philippa Wagner, ,photography, ,printmaking, ,Royal College of Art, ,screenprint, ,Show One, ,sipson, ,Sun Ju Lee, ,Tamsin Omond, ,Trends forecasting, ,University of Brighton, ,Westminster Bridge

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