Amelia’s Magazine | Taylor Made Menagerie

With many universities leaning heavily towards womenswear – in some cases wholly – Epsom pleased many with several of its strongest collections coming from menswear designers. One of the running themes throughout the Epsom show seemed to be an obsession with blood, advice buy the body and corporal violence (you’ve got to wonder what’s going on down there) with one dress revealing a Westwood-esque red, cialis 40mg jewelled wound-like gape on its back.

Not pandering to this was Antigone Pavlou, viagra buy who opened the show with loud, bold and funky collection for the streetsmart city boy, with bomber jackets, tracksuits and distressed denim (the latter a phrase that struck fear into my heart when I first read it in the notes, only to be pleasantly surprised). With coloured headphones carelessly slung around the models’ necks, the designer plainly had a clear lifestyle in mind and played to its strengths in all the right ways, combining strong block primary colours with clashing graphic prints.

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If some previous designers during GFW have shown a tendency to elevate and romanticise the pastoral, I think Pavlou successfully did the same for the city, offering an attractively laid-back vision of urban life where you pull on some comfortable but sharp threads, plug into your walkman and swagger down the street, content to shut the outside world away for a moment, a sentiment I’ve evidently been drawn to in featuring CTRL and Daniel Palillo in recent weeks. Another menswear designer of note was James E Tutton, whose reversible designs (addressing the issue of functionality in contemporary fashion) we’ll be featuring later in the week.

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Soozi Welland’s ‘Geeks Know Style’ penultimate menswear collection was best received by the audience, with an endearing ode to all things geeky: spectacles, anoraks, bobbled hats, bow ties, and socks tucked into trousers. The geek has oft been described as the personification of a roll of duct tape, with functional apparel that will always get you out of a sticky situation, and Welland’s designs seem to celebrate this idea, with an abundance of oversized pockets, accessorising her looks with binoculars and cameras.

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By the last look, though, this geek had got himself a makeover, and was now spec-free, with the bow tie sexily hanging loose and sporting a satin and velvet playboy jacket. An endearing and humorous collection that I thought was commercially viable too, and that’s no mean feat.

Amongst the womenswear Stephanie Moran gave us a hard-hitting collection about desire, fabulously quoting Mae West ‘s ‘Ten men waiting for me at the door?…send one of them home I’m tired’, and a vision of the glamorous dominatrix. One of the standout pieces was a cream PVC dress with a cinched feather corset around the waist, and for better or worse, one of the most popular trends during GFW was feathers. This was certainly one of the better examples:

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Considering Epsom had given us notes on each designer and their collection, I think it was admirable that Moran’s designs needed no explaining whatsoever, with her models bombing down the runway dressed in all manner of things naughty.

A particularly well-crafted collection was April Schmitz’s, who gave us a series of garments with some serious work put into unusual fabrics including hardware, folded leather and metal rings and eyelets. Entitled ‘Visions of the Future’ it gave a throwback to 1930s aviation with leather flight caps, a retro colour palette and the repetition of some swinging circles, with panels ejecting out of the garments providing strange contraption-esque silhouettes that you expected to take off at any moment.

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Feathers popped up again, this time from Lucie Vincini with a stunning jacket from an eclectic menswear collection. Mixing embroidered jumpers with carrier bag trousers, basket weave coats with a jacket constructed out of Royal Mail bags, it showed that it is possible to draw from resources across the board and still construct a cohesive collection. A thrifty delight, and with its recycling sensibilities, obviously an Amelia’s Magazine favourite!

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Photos: Catwalking.com

Radical Nature: Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet 1969–2009

Barbican Art Gallery
Barbican Centre
Silk Street
London EC2Y 8DS
19 June – 18 October

Daily 11am-8pm except Tue & Wed 11am-6pm
Open until 10pm every Thursday

Tickets: £8/£6 concs, ailment £6 online

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A new season of ecologically focused exhibits, talks, events and screenings is taking place over the Summer at the Barbican. Kicking off the proceedings is this fascinating exhibition which deals with land art, environmental activism, experimental architecture, and inspiring ideas about utopian solutions to the urgent matter of climate change.
See the Barbican website for full details of all events over the next few months.

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Sarah Bridgland: In Place- New Collage Works

Man and Eve Gallery
131 Kennington Park Road
London SE11 4JJ
19th June – 1st August

Thursday – Saturday, 12 – 6pm

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Bridging the gap between sculpture and collage, Sarah Bridgland’s intricate paper creations combine her own made printed media with junk shop treasure to form nostalgic pieces of meticulous craftsmenship. Simultaneously dreamlike and miniature while remaining technically genius, Bridgland’s collection of new work will transport you to other colourful, playful worlds.

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Various Artists: Two Degrees 2009

Toynbee Studios
28 Commercial Street
London E1 6AB
16-21 June

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The opening night of Two Degrees, Artadmin’s week long programme of politically, socially and environmentally charged events, is this Tuesday. Getting it’s name from last month’s report that a hugely damaging global temperature rise of 2C could be a mere 40 years away, the 20 or so artists involved are putting the issue of climate change at the forefront of our concerns.
The opening night features among other things Daniel Gosling’s video installation ‘I Can Feel the Ice Melting’ and the forward thinking London based group Magnificent Revolution generating music for the evening with a live bicycle-powered DJ set.

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R-art assist BASH@The Sustainable Art Awards 2009

BASH STudios
65-71 Scrutton Street
London EC2A 4PJ
June 16th

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Open Sailing by Cesar Harada

“The Sustainable Art Awards are open to any UK artist working within on the themes of sustainability, environmental issues, climate change and ecology. R-art will provide the awards for the SAA, these mini eco sculptures are the oscars of eco art! Sustainable Art Awards are a 2 week showcase of eco talent @ BASH Studios.
The Sustainable Art Awards is part of Respond! who aim to engage arts audiences in discussing and questioning environmental change. Respond! highlights how the arts industries are in a unique position to communicate environmental issues. Featuring exhibitions, talks, programmes, workshops and other activities. Respond! is an initiative co-founded by the Arts and Ecology center at The Royal Society of The Arts and BASH Creations.”

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Swapshop

Camden Arts Centre
Arkwright Road
London NW3 6DG
20th June
12:00 – 5:30pm

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Current artist in residence Alexandre da Cunha is putting together a Swapshop, which is becoming an ever increasingly popular means for people to get together and shed some of their unwanted belongings in exchange for new. Anything goes at this particular exchange; buttons, furniture- even art. To book your own stall please contact Ben Roberts on 0207 472 5500.

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Out of Range

The Rag Factory
16-18 Heneage Street
London E1 5LJ

12th June 22nd June
12-6pm daily, Saturdays 10-6pm
Free

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Tigran Asatrjan

If the extensive material on show at Brick Lane’s Free Range isn’t enough to satisfy your graduate show cravings, hop along to The Rag Factory to catch Out of Range where work from 29 emerging UK and European photographic artists recently set free from the University for the Creative Arts at Rochester is on display. The work promises to be fresh, innovative, exciting and diverse.

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Dominic Allan: The Irresistible Lure of Fatty Gingo 

Transition Gallery
Unit 25a Regent Studios
8 Andrews Road
London E8 4QN

13th June – 5th July
Fri – Sun, 12-6 pm
Free

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With what might just be the best title of an exhibition I’ve ever heard, Allan’s work is self described as ‘a world of rotten teeth, bubble and squeak and uncommon sense.’ With an unhealthy interest in British seaside culture and the bizarre link-ins local holiday getaways have with sugar coated junk we feast on, Allan’s work is repelling, alluring, mysterious and addictive all at once.

Monday 15th June
The Freewheeling Yo La Tengo at the Southbank Centre, sales London.

Tonight’s gig is one not to be missed- The Jonas Brothers at Wembley, health only joking of course. If you like your music a little more deflowered and lots more awesome, then I excitedly announce that Yo La Tengo will be playing the Southbank Centre tonight as part of Ornette Coleman’s Meltdown Festival. Yo La Tengo have shaped what is almost the last 20 years with their beautiful music which moves between eerie girl boy woozy vocals and minimal keyboards, to rocking genre bashing highs. Also ‘I’m Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass’ is the best album title ever!

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Tuesday 16th June
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs at Pure Groove, London.

I really love dinosaurs, so imagine my delight when I saw that a band called Totally Enormous Extinct Dinousaurs are playing Pure Groove on Tuesday evening. Being a music editor and planing gig going around loving extinct creatures is never the best idea so I checked their myspace and I can conclude my top 3 favourite things about this band, in descending order are:
3. They dress as dinosaurs a lot!
2. They have the longest list of alphabetised dinosaurs listed as their band members (Alphabetisation being my second favourite thing after fore-mentioned dinsosaurs)
1. Their keyboard tinged synthy-fun electro sounds so fun it makes me want to make up all kinds of dances called things like the ‘Triceratops Jive’ and the ‘Stegosaurus Shake’.
What’s your favourite dinosaur?

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Wednesday 17th June
Jolie Holland at Dingwalls, London.

When Tom Waits says he likes something you can pretty much tell it’s going to be good and Jolie Holland doesn’t disappoint. This Texan singer has had Waits’ outspoken support since the very beginning of her career, and her fresh take on traditional folk, country, blues and jazz place her as a definite protegée of Waits, as well as a talented musician in her own right.

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Thursday 18th June
A Hawk and a Hacksaw at Cecil Sharp House, London.

A Hawk and Hacksaw have skittered and clattered their way into my heart with their Klezmer- Indie hybrid loveable mess music. It sound like if Neutral Milk Hotel (indeed they share a drummer) got lost in the Baltic States for several decades in the early 20th century, armed only with a full brass band and a trusty band of wolves who were also in their own Mariachi band- and quite frankly how could that not sound amazing?

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Friday 19th June
Clinic at The Lexington, London.

I was lucky enough to see Clinic play last year and they are terrifying (they wear surgical masks) and brilliant in equal measure- like a melodic nightmare, lots of keyboards, creepy samples, garage-y clatters and wails are a-given, yet they manage to be as enjoyable as they are creepy.

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Saturday 20th June
Kitsuné Maison Party at La Scala, London.

We reviewed the Kitsune Maison 7 compilation a while back and liked it, they’re having a party at La Scala featuring Delphic (pictured below underwater), Chew Lips, We Have Band and Autokratz to name but a few. I can’t help but compare it to the Strictly Come Dancing tour that happens after the show ends; with everyone’s favourites appearing live, so maybe it’ll be like that but a very hip, French version.

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Continuing our festival preview adventure

I don’t like camping. Going to bed shivering and waking up sweating doesn’t appeal to me much, mind and claustrophobia in a two-man tent isn’t fun either. Don’t even mention the word ‘porta-loo’…But all this I will get over for Lounge on the Farm.

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For the past four years, sickness thousands of people have invaded Merton Farm in Canterbury, with a view to enjoying laid-back choons and getting down to some serious lounging. Despite it’s status as a ’boutique’ festival (one of The Time’s top twelve Boutique festivals, dontchaknow), there’s plenty to muck in with, down on the Farm.
Each of the six stages caters to a different taste, The Cow Shed hosting The Horrors, Edwyn Collins and The King Blues (as well as whoever you want, thanks to the You Say, They Play initiative – just mind the dung), Farm Folk, leaning towards a more acoustic experience and The Bandstand, rockin’ out the opera and punk rock karaoke.

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I’ll be spending most of the weekend with Gong, Canterbrerians of the ’60s who sing of teapot taxies, and the Wolf People, hairiest band I’ve ever seen who weren’t actually animals, down at the psychedelic Furthur Tent, and doubtlessly joining Mr. Scruff for an epic six hour afternoon tea mash-up at the Hoedown – blanket and thermos a!
requisite.
Lounge is foremost a local festival (for local people…) and it wouldn’t be, well, right, without Psychotic Reaction, Amber Room, Cocos Lovers, Syd Arthur, Electric River and Zoo For You, to name but a meagre few of the Kentish best performing this year.

It’s not all about the music though, in fact, in the Meadows area it’s not even about the music. New for 2009, the Meadows contains an outdoor theatre, petting zoo (pigs or partay?!) and The Red Tent if you feel in need of some spiritual healing after all the exhausting lounging about. Natural Pathways will be providing bushcraft courses, fulfilling all your wild wo/man fantasies and the Make do and Mend lane focuses on local craftsmen and their skills, with workshops running all weekend.

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Whatever tickles your pickle, solar powered cinema or life-drawing class – and music too – Lounge on the Farm is the perfect place to do exactly that.

Lounge on the Farm runs from the 10th to the 12th of July, at Merton Farm, Canterbury. Weekend tickets £85, day tickets, £35

Free Range at The Old Truman Brewery is Europe’s largest graduate art and design show with free admission. Graduates of everything from interior design to fine art who studied outside of London finally get a chance to showcase their talents in the countries capital.
I’ve been to a few Free Range shows this summer already, approved but last Thursday’s exhibition of photography graduates was the one I was most excited about.

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In this age art can really be anything, web Kant has been moved to the back seat and nobody thinks art has to be beautiful anymore. That said it’s almost impossible for photographers not to take images that look good. Just by being photographed the most mundane subject is rendered interesting and the most ugly object or person becomes so lovely that you just want to lick their glossy surface.

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The best of all the exhibitions on that week had to be Swansea, stuff Farnham and Maidstone. With so many photographers on show it seems pointless to make a reductive comment on whether entire graduate years were good or bad so I’ve decided to create a contact sheet if you will, of the people whose photographs looked that bit extra special.

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Jack Davis

I spent my first ten minutes in Free Range looking at Jack Davis’ landscape photographs. In them great colour and composition immediately makes the viewer forget that the scenes are completely empty.

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Lauren Eldekvist

In Lauren Eldekvist’s evocative series Landscapes, unmade beds are photographed and shown huge on the Truman Brewery’s walls. For the artist the bed “connotes the human condition; birth, life, sex, sleep, illness and death”. The pieces remind me very much of one of my favourite artists Felix Gonzalez Torres and his billboard photographs of an empty, but obviously slept in, bed.

Also intriguing were James Rugg’s photographs, which aim to capture small instances, chance meetings and gestures. In them the simple act of a girl twirling string around her fingers becomes something we should give our undivided attention to.

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James Rugg

Over at Maidstone University College of the Arts there were some strong conceptual works.
Lee Gavin presented an installation of Mapping a project that he undertook after the death of his Grandfather, he decided to cycle to Elvington in Kent, the birthplace of his Grandfather. Lee showed as his work the tent and bike he used for the trip and an interactive google map of the journey (available from his website and well worth a look.)

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Lee Gavin

As a lover of old box televisions and a distruster of 40” LCD monstrosities I almost cheered when I saw Jack Quick’s work. The artist is stepping into Nam June Paik rather large shoes with his television manipulation photographs and sculptures in which he attempts to challenge uses for, sadly, now defunct technologies.

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Jack Quick

Cassandra Vervoort questions the role of the photographer and the weight of their influence and command over the photographed. In these “social experiments” she asks subjects to have a five-minute sleep in her bed while she is naked underneath the covers.

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Cassandra Vervoort

There were other photographers creating situations for their unwitting volunteers to perform in. Gemma Bringloe was one, “Can you turn around, sit down, stand up and sit down” … “Can you take off as many clothes as possible”.

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Gemma Bringloe

And finally Laura Jenkins, who produced my favourite project of the entire show. The Tender Interval is brilliant in it’s simplicity. Actors were called forward in complete darkness and instructed to kiss. The photographs provide a record of the interval immediately before the kiss.

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Laura Jenkins

Free Range exhibitions continue until the middle of July. The Private view for the next group of photography shows is 6PM on Thursday. For a full list check out the Free Range website.

Words like ‘buzz’ and ‘hype’ sometimes transpire to be untrustworthy words bandied around by desperate press offices, ed but with the mid-afternoon Ravensbourne show the anticipation is undeniably huge. And rightly so – after rave reviews (two more alarm words) as well as producing the winner for the past two years, search we’re expecting an awful lot, ambulance and luckily we were not disappointed. In fact, far from it – it would be easy to ramble hyperbolically about how consistently brilliant the show was, or to point out how as a university it’s completely isolated in GFW by its galactically high standard, as elitist as that sounds, so I’ll try and keep focused.

If you’ve been following our reports (and you will have done if you know what’s good for you) you’ll have been aware of this years’ output of some truly outstanding menswear. Ravensbourne, of course, was no exception, with menswear designers Calum Harvey and Hannah Taylor opening and closing the show respectively (both of whom I’ll be interviewing in the coming days). Harvey had made a collection constructed from raw materials scavenged from car interiors, attesting to the strengths of the transformative powers of recycled fashion and making something beautiful – and indeed, wearable – out of something normally perceived as solely functional.

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A selection of huge knits (the oversized scarf on the opening look was a favourite) were followed by jackets layered with woven and shredded seatbelts worn over sheer shirts and gold pinstripe trousers. Making it no surprise that he later won the http://www.gfw.org.uk/event/winners.aspxTextile Award, Harvey had created a gorgeous paisley pattern on a shirt out of frayed gold zips, while seatbelts also served to layer and tier to help create voluminous silhouettes, in one case a high collar for a knitted jumper, whilst continuously coupling the industrial looking wool with plaid and tweed to neutralise the effect.

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The last look – an enormous tulle tiered cape in grey and black – seemed to typify a collection that was eminently wearable whilst staying on the right side of theatrical, and as for the patent leather bag with seatbelt fastener – yes please.

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Mehmet Ali’s menswear (which later won the Menswear Award) was a gorgeously sophisticated collection in a neutral palette of pink, cream and wine, layering summer jackets and waistcoats for the occasional Brideshead-lite feel. A series of simple and exquistively crafted designs that was lent a sweet personal touch by the use of Ali’s own suitcase with his initials emblazoned across.

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A strong showing for the womenswear came from Hannah Buswell ‘s collection of Missoni-esque knits, combining multi-patterned cardigans with knitted dresses for a beautiful and commercial winter collection.

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Laura Yiannakou was girly, quirky and unusual, working with digital prints and synthetic fabrics to create a colourful and seriously modern collection for the fashion forward woman.

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Yasmina Siddiqui also impressed with a series of Viktor & Rolf-style illustrated prints tied to ordinary silk dresses; surrealist prints that created unusual silhouettes, attempting to understand and rebrand perceptions of art and fashion:

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Hannah Taylor’s knitwear as the closer was easily the evening’s most enjoyable and surprising. Entitled ‘You’ll Grow Into It!’ it was a selection of oversized knits covered in animals ranging from tiny ducks to guinea pigs to foxes, paired with multicoloured balaclavas and enormous pom-pom headpieces (what did I tell you last month?)

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It successfully recreated the endearing sense of childlike fun in trying on something too big and it falling around your knees; combining loud designs with mustard-colour Rupert Bear pants, tweed trousers and enormous pom-pom collars. I especially loved the knitted balaclavas (creating an ironic sense of menace that could never be fully realised when you’ve got a massive guinea pig plastered across your body).

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Aside from this, irony is something that would elude such a collection that by nature was so ostensibly warm and affectionate, with a strong sense of sentiment that I think appealed to an awful lot of people (including Erin O’Connor who was whooping in the crowd). Hannah was later nominated for the Gold Award, and despite missing out was given a special mention by the judges, and currently has her collection on display in River Island.

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A truly fantastic show and a great way to finish Amelia’s Magazine’s stint at Graduate Fashion Week – look out for our interviews with a few of the graduates over the next couple of weeks!

Photos: Catwalking.com

Way back in 2006, view Neil Boorman lit a bonfire in Finsbury Square and burnt all of his branded possessions. Of course, there was a back story to this, rather than it simply being a case of a pyromaniac getting one over on the City of London council. Neil made this bold statement for two reasons. To protest the all pervasive consumer culture and to address his own issues and addictions to branded and labelled goods. In one fell swoop, £20,000 worth of designer products were incinerated. Since then, Neil has been living his life brand-free, and documenting the results on his blog, and in his book, Bonfire Of The Brands.

While this bonfire took place three years ago, the argument about consumer culture, and the willingness of the general public to spend money that they don’t have on something simply because it ‘looks cool’ is as pertinent now as it was then. Few people in 2006 could have predicted the economic and environmental mess that we are now in. By raising concerns over the irresponsible actions of large corporations who would use every trick in the bag to entice us to buy their products, Neil was already drawing attention to the cracks in the system. As often happens, a prophet is never appreciated in his time, and Neil’s actions were met with a flood of negative responses, many from people who argued that his posessions should have been donated to charity rather than burnt. Exploring the reasons behind the criticism, he suggested that “this reaction has less to do with charity than the overall value that we have come to place on branded things; nowadays, to willingly destroy an expensive bag amounts to the same moral and cultural neglect as burning a book.”

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Having seen that Neil was going to be speaking recently at the Arcola Theatre’s Green Sundays event in Dalston, I was interested to hear an update on how his brand-free life is working out, and what he made of the new, paired down version of consumerism that is being peddled to us. While brands are wising up to the facts that a) we don’t have much money to spend on non-essential items and b) we are savvier about how these products are being produced, many labels are going out of their way to champion phrases in their marketing, such as ‘fair trade‘, ‘ethically produced’, ‘locally sourced’ etc, but is this all a white wash? And if we continue buying from the big brands – no matter what placatory words they might throw at us – are we still missing the point?

When you came up with the idea for the book in 2006, consumerism was still king. Now in 2009, the Bonfire of The Brands manifesto has become all the more apparent in the current economic climate and environmental chaos. Do you feel a element of schadenfreude seeing that you were one of the first to voice your concerns?

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It does feel like the country’s mood towards shopping has changed in the last few years. Recently someone confessed to me that they used to nip out to buy a new pair of sunglasses whenever they felt down, but now that money was tight, they felt stupid about it all. I get a lot of people confessing their consumer sins to me. I’m not sure how I feel about that – I didn’t write the book to make people feel embarrassed. If anything, I wanted people to feel angry that consumer culture is rammed down our throats so often. I definitely would have sold more copies of the book had it come out this year. But what would I spend the money on? There’s only so many non-branded plimsolls a person can buy.

Are people more responsive to your message now then when your book was first published?

People think I’m slightly less bonkers than before, but they’ve not stuck my poster on the wall in Selfridges just yet. We all got sidetracked by the boom a few years back, and most sensible people have snapped out of it for the time being. It’s the legions of people still flooding into Primark that I can’t work out. So many people buy gear on the never-never that the recession is meaningless to them. People laughed at me when I suggested that we are a nation hooked on shopping, but you can see it for your own eyes on the high street every day. The world might be on meltdown, but there’s still time to buy a pair of deck shoes.

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Do you think that the big brands have responded appropriately to the economic crisis and new wave of consumer awareness about where their products are coming from?

Recessions strike at the heart of big brands. Not just at the till, but at the value of the brand. Luxury is based on the principle that more is more – the more you spend, the more luxury you get. As soon as you start to discount your stock, that myth goes out of the window.  And all those uber-luxe ads you see in Sunday Supplements look ridiculous next to reports of mass unemployment. Luxury is a house of cards like that. The best they can hope for is that the economy picks up, and consumers forget about all this ‘ethical nonsense’.

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Are there any brands that you would consider buying from again?

I’m slightly less militant now than I was after the bonfire. I’d be happy to buy something from a brand that has it’s house in order – a brand that looks after it’s staff and doesn’t needlessly pollute. But there’s no way I’d wear their logo on my chest ever again. Looking back, I was like a human billboard. Back in the 1920′s, companies used to pay people to pin company slogans on their clothes. Now we do it for free – in fact we pay for the privilege. How on earth did we get here?

Amelia’s Magazine are always keen to support ethical designers and products. Do you find that a non-brand generally equals something ethical? I would think that on the one hand you can spot the holes in a large brand, and it is easier to find out information about them, but if you were to pick up, say, a plain t-shirt from a charity shop, you would have no way of knowing if it had potentially come from a sweat shop. What are your thoughts on this? 

You’ve found the gaping hole in my argument – brands do help us to identify which product does what, and how it was made. But then there’s so much greenwash about right now its difficult to decide which brand is telling the truth. I mean, American Apparel boasts that it only uses American labour. But as far as I know, they still pay a rock bottom minimum wage and only Mexican immigrants on skid row that can afford to work in their factories. Those kooky young things in the ads – they don’t stitch liquid tights for a living.

The easiest way to cut through all these dilemmas is to concentrate on wants and needs. Every time I’m tempted to buy something new, I ask myself if I really need it. If the answer is no, then I put it back on the shelf and walk out the store a richer man. Life goes on. 

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Going back a few years ago, you founded the infamous Shoreditch Twat; having experienced many Londoners in perhaps their least appealing and most pretentious forms, do you ever doubt the sincerity of those who are now jumping on the anti consumerism bandwagon?  And if so, is this necessarily a bad thing if the outcome of non brand buying is still a positive one? 

I don’t know about people in Shoreditch, but I do slightly worry about all the Sloaney fashion journalists that have started banging on about frugal chic. Alarm bells have got to start ringing when people at The Sunday Times call something ‘chic’. They’re terrified of committing to anything meaningful in case it goes out of style. And then where would they be? Trust me, they’ll be back down to Hermes when the economy picks up. But what the hell, I reckon its better to dip in and out of anti-consumerism than not at all.

What is news with your blog now? Will this remain an ongoing issue for you, and will you continue to write about your experiences with anti-consumerism?

I’m writing less but campaigning more. I’ve got a few stunts that I’m going to pull later in the year, and a big push in the run up to the election. Right now, I feel like less talk and more action. When shopping isn’t a Saturday afternoon leisure option, you have to find other things to do.
How important is the relationship between an artist and her aunt? For Miriam Zadik Gold, approved whose latest exhibition ‘Who is Mary Jane’ opens at Prick Your Finger on June 18, online it’s a pretty damn important relationship.

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Photo by Kirsty Hall

In fact, visit this it’s fair to say that the work in the show wouldn’t exist without Miriam’s Aunt Sue, a car-boot sale connoisseur who runs a stall selling buttons, badges and old Ladybird books every Saturday at Broadway Market. It was Aunt Sue who found six old ceramic dolls heads in a charity shop and bought them for her niece whom she thought would like them. Miriam did like them, but couldn’t think what to do with them and put them high on a shelf in her studio for a few years.

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It wasn’t until she was crocheting a pair of Mary Jane shoes for her own daughter that Miriam began to wonder about Mary Jane – why were the shoes named after her? Who was she? And why did so many musicians name-check her in their songs?

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Things began to take shape. Miriam spent hours on the internet, noting down every Mary Jane-related song lyric she could find, from Nick Drake through to John Lennon to Mary J. Blige. Taking the lyrics as her inspiration she created a different Mary Jane persona for each of the dolls’ heads, and began to craft bodies, clothes and backgrounds for each one. When she came across things she couldn’t make, such as a tiny denim jacket, she turned to dolls’ clothes makers on etsy.com and commissioned miniature pieces for her band of tiny muses.

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Miriam hopes that by giving these dolls a little more of an identity, she will bestow more of an inner life to the somewhat submissive Mary Janes described in the songs: ‘There was something quite passive about the way the dolls were waiting on the shelf for me to give them a story, to give them a life. For each one, I quickly had a clear sense of a little story of my own that sat behind the lyrics.’

Click here for more information about Prick Your Finger and their upcoming events.
It was Daniel Almeroth’s “The Birth of Feminism” series that formed an entry into Dazed & Confused’s Free Range competition that first caught my eye and drew me in. These sparsely yet beautifully constructed collages are not only visually pleasing but make a bold statement about the feminist movement too. He explains the work as “moments of metaphorical and symbolical events before and after this dramatic political movement. The point of the series is to highlight the tight control Men had over Women throughout our past; through religion, symptoms marriage and general social attitudes.”

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Delving deeper into Almeroth’s work, I notice a similar thread of stunning aesthetics teamed with clever insights running through his artistic repertoire. The Injured Body, for example, “tries to highlight the factor of deformities due to accidents and incidents. It comments on the relationship of a figure of heroism and the true reception they may receive.”

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The sign of a good artist in my opinion is one who can create work with meaning or a message, yet leave it up to the audience to form their own perspectives, drawing on individual personal references and experiences. Nothing is less attractive then artists who dictate your reactions and responses. Almeroth concurs, saying “I want to leave these images open to interpretation, to challenge the observer to reach a personal conclusion of the images intent.”
It was a pleasure to get to know him a bit better and find out what makes him tick.

When did you first realise you were creative?

I first got into illustration when I was a little’n, I use to draw landscapes of cities being destroyed by dinosaurs, covering it in glitter and dry macaroni. I like to think I’ve changed since then!

Tell me about your school days.

I completed my A’levels at Shenfield High School (where Richard from Richard and Judy, and Des from Diggit went to school!). I then studied my foundation at Thurrock & Basildon College, Essex. Then got into the Arts Institute at Bournemouth studying the Ba Hons Animation Production course, changing to Ba Hons Illustration at the Arts Institute at Bournemouth in my second year.

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Which artists or illustrators do you most admire?
Klaus Voorman is top notch, Tara Donovan is definitely my artist of the hour and the illustrator Meyoko is particularly phenomenal.

Who or what is Crabwolf and what is your involvement?

Recently I have joined a collective with four other illustrators/designers under the name of CRABWOLF. Crabwolf was born one night over dinner, beers, drawings, some roulette and a scorpion. All consisting of graduates from the illustration course at the Bournemouth Arts Institute. We commonly all collaborate on projects such as our recent Limehouse Magazine front covers, greeting cards, promotional posters/materials, possible exhibitions in London and Dublin are lined up, a zine or two in the pipeline and discussing ideas for t-shirt ranges and hand screen printed posters that are just so good for the environment. Today Bournemouth, tomorrow? …The world.

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Tell us something about Daniel Almeroth that we didn’t know already.

I’m an Essex boy, born and raised, at Eastgate shopping centre is where I spent most of my days.

If you could time travel back or forward to any era, where would you go?

I’d go back to the Victorian times, making a couple of stop offs along the way. Firstly the 90′s and don an under cut then the 70′s to acquire a taste for free love, then become the most insanely popular/rich/famous man that ever lived in the Victorian era.

If you weren’t an artist, what would you be doing?

Probably get started on making that time machine.

Which band past or present would provide the soundtrack to your life?

Mulatu Astatke. Brilliant.

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I say Modern Art is Rubbish, you say…?

“MODERN ART = I COULD DO THAT + YEAH BUT YOU DIDNT” Craig Damrauer.

What would your pub quiz specialist subject be?

Probably a mixture of Arts, Entertainment, Geography, History, Sports, Nature, Food and Miscellaneous. They call me the quiz meister, a necessity for every team!

Who or what is your nemesis?

Tomato Ketchup & Moths.

What piece of modern technology can you not live without?

My desktop iMac. Her name is Selina.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Having a pint, a rollie and drawing in the garden.

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What has been keeping you busy of late?

I’ve recently received briefs for editorial work in a few magazines, promotional posters and flyers for events, I also had my work exhibited in a local exhibition named Ishihara (which is possibly branching out to London in the near future). Me and fellow illustrator Selina Kerley also have produced a three edition Fanzine named Chien Schuanz that promoted ourselves and other local artists, selling them on the internet and local events in Bournemouth. I have also produced a limited stock of screen printed t-shirts and jumpers that are selling like hot cakes that’s keeping me warm from the recession!

What advice would you give up and coming artists?

Shameless self promotion, self initiated projects, collaborating, spending all day on the internet and with a pencil in your hand.

Who would your top five dream dinner guests be? Who would do the washing up?

I think it would have to be in a Come Dine With Me layout with Frieda Kahlo, Jean Claude Van Damme, Ghandi, Sir Alan Sugar and Picasso. I’d make Ghandi and Sir Alan Sugar wrestle, the loser would do the washing up.

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What’s next for you then?

At the beginning of July some friends and I are exhibiting and manning a stool at the next D&AD space in Earl’s Court, so pop along for a chat and some freebies! I also plan to help create and brand a Fashion magazine which is currently starting to emerge on the drawing boards.

All hail Daniel Almeroth and The Crabwolf Collective. You heard it here first.
All good superheroes have an alter ego; Peter Parker/ Spiderman, doctor Clark Kent/ Superman, Bruce Wayne/ Batman, and now Randolph J. Shabot/ Deastro. As super-hero names go it’s a pretty good one, and his new album ‘Moondagger’ plays like a soundtrack to an epic sky scraper top battle between ultimate super-powered nemesis, whist retaining a bashful sweetness of a superhero’s geeky quotidian alter-ego.
What’s more Deastro is exactly the same age as me, which on a personal level makes him all the more awesome, whilst I get finger cramps from trying to play my ukulele, he has created an epic synth-driven outer space soundscape; of course it’s not a competition but if it was he’d win.

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How did you get into music?
My Uncle bought me a guitar when I was 5 and taught me to play ’3 Little Indians’, and I’ve been singing in choirs since about then too, and so I guess I’ve always been into it.

If you had to pick someone as a main influence who would it be?
It’s really a tie between Brian Wilson and Steve Reich.

Ok, good choices! Who would provide the soundtrack to your life?
I would have to say Starflyer 59, they’re like this Christian shoegaze band and they have these lyrics that are about really simple things. It’s great, I love it.

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If you weren’t making music right now what do you think you’d be doing?
I’d be a teacher.

What piece of modern technology could you not live without?
Probably my laptop, it’s what I make music on so it’d be hard to live without it.

Who or what is your nemesis?
(laughs) My guitar player is my nemesis.

Really? Is he a secret nemesis or is it quite an open thing?
It’s pretty open, We love each other but we fight all the time.

What is your guilty pleasure?
Chocolate ice-cream, you can’t put me in front of a thing of chocolate ice-cream, I’ll eat the whole thing!

If you were making a mixtape for me which 5 songs would you put on it?
‘Come on, Let’s Go’ by Broadcast

Ahh I love Broadcast!
‘God Only Knows’ by the Beach Boys
‘I Drive A Lot’ by Starflyer 59
‘California Shake’ by Margo Guryan
‘Teenager’ by Department of Eagles
That would be a really fun mix.

If you had a time machine which era in the past or future would you travel to?
This is going to sound really lame, but I’d probably go back to the dinosaur era.

That’s not lame at all! Dinosaurs are ah-mazing…
Yeah, it would be really interesting to see another evolutionary path, just mind-blowing.

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What would be your quiz specialist subject?
Bible trivia, I went to school to be a pastor when I was 17, I’m not really a Chrisitan anymore but I was the 10th ranked Bible quizzer for a short minute there when I was a kid.

Wow! Do you have any good Bible trivia for me?
Who was the oldest man in the Bible?

Errm…God?
(laughs) God’s not technically a man…It’s Metheuselah who lived to 969 allegedly…

Which 5 people would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Socrates, Michael Jackson, Jesus…ermm this sounds ridiculous Michael Jackson and Jesus!, Chris Martin just because I’d like to see him in a room with those people and Mahatma Gandhi.

…and who would do the washing up?
Chris Martin (laughs) no, I’d probably end up doing it myself actually.

Tell us a secret…
A lot of mine are really disgusting, I’m trying to think of one that’s kosher…both my front teeth are fake, I fell of my bike and chipped them as a kid.

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After a week of technicolored, malady although not always technical, capsule undergraduate shows, ailment rife with misdirected or altogether unmanned piloting of a laser cutter, and occasionally some superior sparks of creative genius, we come to the much anticipated collections of MA graduates from the Royal College of Art. A troop of fine tailoring, sophisticated textiles and stellar styling, this year’s cadets are ready for the fray. Recurring in various forms were the bow tie a la 1920′s, pom poms which echoed the catwalks overseas, silicone, galaxy prints and leather in more variations than you can shake a needle at.

WOMENSWEAR

johanne%20andersonX.jpgJohanne Kappel Anderson

Johanne Kappel Anderson’s magpie inspired collection was full voluminous fabrics and illustrative prints, solar dust blasted leathers and super oversized graphic pastels on black. Digitally printed leotards flashed patterns comprised of jewelry, spoons, bolts and found objects just the kind of shiny thing a magpie might take home to his nest. A few prints and shapes seemed to conjure up another winged creature…moths.
Some earthy prints with contrasty ‘eyes’ fluttered down the catwalk… there was even a cocoon jacket!

Heidi-WikarX.jpgHeidi Wikar

Heidi Wikar ‘s collection ‘Singing Silence’ was a series of diaphorous clouds said to be inspired by a Scandinavian landscape’s emptiness. Makes sense…if you were planning to experience it through a window, from the downy comfort of your bed. Puffy duvets appeared trapped in spiderwebs of muted greys, ochres, creams and white. All the shape and volume of modern silhouettes but without the overly structured and cresting shoulders prevalent in so many other collections this year. What resembled a bright orange parachute with clever gathers and seaming became a dress filled with pockets of air and completely weightless. Air itself acted as a material, giving shape and structure to the pieces. Apparently part of a design challenge the entire collection can be packed into one 20 kg rucksack. As if those rosey cheeked fraus needed anymore help looking amazing in the dead of winter.

siofraX.jpgSiofra Murphy

Up from the realm of textiles rose an innovative take on shibori by Siofra Murphy. What seems to have started as a super large muted floral print soon condensed into a rippled shell of body-con dresses with necklines that rose around from behind the shoulders like neck supports. Paired with stretchy basics the nuanced surface went from bold to muted but remained incredibly intriguing.

liamX.jpgLiam Evans

Liam Evans presented one the best examples of laser cutting in a year rife with its abuse. Transcending the weighty characteristics of leather, he exploited the laser cutter for the impossible precision it was made to do. With the aid of sturdy zips Evans jigsawed his garments into a collage of ultrafine leathers. Loose motorcycle jackets were studded with an organic arrangement of thorny spikes and paired with chiffon dresses a la 90′s.

rachaelX.jpgRachael Barrett

Inspired by photos in Corinne Day‘s Diary, Rachael Barrett’s collection was a modern assortment of soft feminine silhouettes constructed of a soft silicone rubber. Conservative hemlines and generous shaping gave the illusion of transparent shells revealing moments of black chiffon lace. Clever cutting allowed for ease of movement and portrayed the designers interest in the “trapped space between body and dress”.

MENSWEAR

AlexMattsonX.jpgAlex Mattson

Based on a post-apocolyptic Mexican hi-tech tribal gang in LA (that explains the Hollywood flash) that has reverted to Aztec/Mayan rituals and beliefs (still with me?) Alex Mattson’s collection is like a well tailored Malibu super hero’s wardrobe. Full of comic book colors and supple leathers the foam helmets and neckpieces were a cartoony take on the tooth-n-claw talismans of ancient Incans. Only a matter of time before they make their way onto the set of an ‘Empire of the Sun’ video, yes?

keith%20grayX.jpgKeith Gray

These delicately squiggly pinstriped suits made for one hot ice cream parlor attendant. Keith Gray presented a series of bright and fresh menswear in expertly tailored shirts and snug trousers with tromp l’oeil knits. Dropped crotches and retreating hems kept the whole look impossibly modern 20′s chic.

LouiseX.jpgLouise Loubatieres

The only textiles MA graduate to send a collection down the runway did not disappoint. Louise Loubatieres juggled an exotic mix of bold ikat prints and roomy knits. A rich palette and roomy shapes complete with a 20′s beachsuit. Wonder if Walter Van Beirendonck will be knocking on this one’s door.

luis%20lopez-smithX.jpg Luis Lopez-Smith

As this was a show it’s safe to say that Luis Lopez-Smith was the circus leader. Marching band jackets in various forms and a few green googly-eyed caterpillars adorned a few torsos with the piece de resistance being a puffy vest that looked as though it’d walked right off the set of Terry Gilliam ‘s ‘Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen’
A fantastic display of craftsmanship and impeccable tailoring lent it’s support to an impressively balanced offering of innovative textiles and experimental shapes. All the intelligent risk taking one can continue to expect from such a world class school.
Have you got a favorite of your own?
Browsing old PhD theses, this as you do of the odd grey Sunday evening, you might come across the quiet mindbend that is Stephen Stirling’s ‘Whole Systems Thinking as a Basis for Paradigm Change in Education: Explorations in the Context of Sustainability’. Gosh. Well, you made it past quiet armchair moments (not quite The Foundry of a Friday night) and the obligatory don-speak of Stephen’s title – and somehow you’re still reading, and maybe you’re starting to get the problem I see before us in this article : that, shrouded in the ivory mist of academia, someone has written clearly and thoughtfully about changing the way we think, but a first glance all too easily sees a glut of Greek and runs away. Instead, try putting your head into a mindset quite different:

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Illustrations by Rui Sousa

Everyone tells themselves stories about the world. I’m a student, a writer, a brother. Don’t worry, you’ll not have my life story – not tonight, anyway – but there is one, or several, smoothly edited to my audience’s appetite for imaginary journeys around the world, or encounters with mad professors. But before you pin me down as some grand raconteur, check yourself out, last time you introduced yourself or got chatting to someone new.

Here’s the story-about-the-world jam. We look at the world, then we have a think about it, then we decide what to do.

Mostly, we look at the world bit by bit. Everything has a reason, and we try to find *the* reason. When something needs to be done, the straight way is best. Results delivered, satisfaction guaranteed. Kiss frog, find prince, all shiny.

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Thing is, this doesn’t quite do our complex world justice, and imagining the world inadequately means we’ll make wrong decisions. Instead, Stephen suggests we look at everything all together, relations and systems rather than objects and actions. Be much more sensitive to all of the causes and consequences – the stone scudded across a river sends ripples in all directions, cheers me up a moment, and sinks, tickling a snoozing whiskered fish. Turns up a hundred years later, tumbled bumped and rounded to perfection, and stubs a distant relative’s toe on Brighton beach.

This systems approach was pioneered in, amongst other works, Limits to Growth by Dana Meadows, Dennis Meadows and Jorgen Randers – an awesome book, classic of eco-lit, stuffed with graphs from the future that go shwoop-kerbang as people and pollution go up, food and farmland go down, and all the balance of the world’s systems are shown together. There’s a new edition out, a thirty-years-on update, which I haven’t read yet, but is high up on my list, just after ‘The Italian’s Defiant Mistress’.

Stephen Stirling is concerned with getting this kind of joined-up thinking a matter of course, throughout design education, but also throughout education in the more general, lifelong way. There’s a way to go, I can tell you from a wee bit of personal experience. Sat in the back of a GCSE Electronic Products class six or seven years ago, the three marks of my coursework dedicated to sustainability caught my attention for a long three minutes as I knocked off a paragraph to tack on to my project, jumping another hoop. This is about as far as sustainability in design education goes for now.

First off, says Stephen, is changing things we do without changing how we think. So, less waste makes more sense because I’ll save money, whether I care about where it goes or not. Similarly, not growing one single kind of crop year in year out won’t wear out the soil, and helps against pests and disease – good business plan.

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Next level is the change in the way of thinking that goes along with this. Understanding our relation with the world not in the straight ‘man conquer forest’ way but ‘man use a bit of forest but is careful before his greed comes back and kicks him in the teeth’. Stephen Stirling calls it the ‘postmodern ecological worldview’ and suggests it as the best way forward from mechanical modernism and text- and sign- obsessed postmodernism. The 2012 imperative Teach-in, which Amelia’s magazine blogged about back in January, puts sustainability right at the centre of design education in this way.

Finally there’s the kind of wondering that Stephen’s thesis looks to – thinking about thinking about thinking, if you’re that way inclined. Wondering about how we tell stories about the world, and how our ways of telling might change, how they might need to change if we are to learn to live many many moons longer under these skies.

‘Whole Systems Thinking’ and ecological literacy are no longer just things to know about. They should certainly not be mere buzzwords tacked on a Corporate Social Responsibility statement or curriculum check-box and forgotten about. They need to start informing our every action. Eventually, they’ll be as mundane as sitting in a quiet armchair of a grey Sunday evening, flicking through a history of the early twenty-first century green-shift. Here’s to that.

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For anybody out there who ever got given a jumper that was too big for them by doting aunt or grandparent – Hannah Taylor, order the Ravensbourne graduate whose praises I was singing on Tuesday, there is right there with you. Her collection is a paene to the nostalgia attached to the big old jumper, when things were less complicated, when the hemline fell below your knees and when somebody had to tie your shoelaces for you (velcro was always easier, no?). Sometimes, though, you wouldn’t be caught dead in said jumper. Spare a thought for the Weasley children. Mrs Weasley WISHES she could knit this good.

Tell me about making your collection.

Well, most of them I knitted using my domestic knitting machine, and the two with the ‘balaclava faces’ on them, including the balaclavas themselves are hand knitted. Everything is either oversized somehow or has shrunken sleeves, the collection is called “You’ll Grow Into It!”

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Why animals?

As in traditional knitwear which features ‘motifs’ of animals or objects, each animal is a motif to represent ‘Victor’ (my dad) and the North, and kind of tells its own little story. For example, there’s a pigeon because stereotypically everybody up North keeps pigeons in a shed next door to their outside toilet.. The 3 flying ducks are after Hilda Ogden’s living room wall in Coronation Street, and also at home where Victor lives, we had 3 pet ducks. The Fox is a symbol of English Heritage and the sad fact that Victor only now has two ducks because at Christmas one was eaten by, yep, a fox, and the guinea pig is there because i used to keep them when I was younger, and Victor would tell me off for never cleaning them out as much as I should have done. Oops.

What’s your favourite piece?

I love each one you know, they’ve all got their own little stories to tell! However I think it has to be Nigel the Guinea Pig jumper as he is the first one I knitted in the collection.

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It was probably one of the best received in the whole of Graduate Fashion Week – why do you think it appealed to people so much?

Aw thank you! I am really glad people enjoyed it, people were probably a bit surprised by it to be honest, and weren’t expecting that to come out on the catwalk! I had fun with my collection, in both the designing and the making, and hope the light-hearted element was was portrayed as I think everyone has an affinity with knitting in some way, shape or form, be it jumpers knitted for them by relatives or someone else they know. I think in the past few decades knitting has become percieved as ‘humorous’ too, so that tends to make people laugh whereas in the past knitters (and knitting) were taken much more seriously.

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What was it that drew you to knitwear initially?

I just love knitting! I was shown when I was younger by my mum but I was AWFUL – I lost my patience with it but picked it up again when I got a bit older and taught myself. Before I started at Ravensbourne I used to run knitting groups in my hometown of Warrington! I think there’s alot of potential in men’s knitwear, I like to think of a boy and ‘dress’ him in a certain way or feeling. I am looking forward to continuing with it.

There seemed to be a massive amount of knitwear at GFW – have you noticed an increase too and why do you think it’s becoming more popular?

Knitting is becoming more popular, especially the social aspect of it and I wonder if it’s going to die down again at some point. If more people are learning the techniques and processes then they will use this for constructing a garment. I also wonder if it is because people are wanting something hand-made or hand-finished, one offs.

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Apparently Giles Deacon was trying on your stuff afterwards – what did you make of that?

Surprising to say the least! It was quite a fast paced few days going from a bit of last-minute linking an hour before it was due to start(!) to then being put forward for the Gala Shows – I wonder if Giles is reading this? I’m taking orders soon if you want one!

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In the aftermath, would you have alterered anything at all?

No I don’t think so – if it’s not broken don’t fix it.

Where next from here? Where could you see yourself working?

I like Walter Van Beirendonck‘s work, I think he’d be great to work for, although there’s a couple of people i’d knit for as it’s the knitting I enjoy the most. I wouldn’t mind my own studio actually, and be able to do all the knitting there. I’ll be starting at the Royal College of Art in September to do my MA in Men’s Knitwear, a 2 year course in which I’m really looking forward to and eventually knitting up another collection!

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To keep up with Hannah, make sure to keep checking both her website and her blog.

Categories ,Animals, ,English Heritage, ,Graduate Fashion Week, ,Knitting, ,Ravensbourne

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Amelia’s Magazine | Ravensbourne: Graduate Fashion Week 2013 Catwalk Review


Illustration by Francesca Valorsa

As Northumbria University alumni, I haven’t missed one of their Graduate Fashion Week shows in the last eight years. Sadly, I broke this record this time around due to a rather tedious, but completely incapacitating 30th birthday hangover.

On top of this, I’ve had a holiday on the brink of collapse and a molar having a disco in my mouth. My chances of having any fun at GFW this year, thus, were minimal, but I couldn’t resist hot-footing along to Ravensbourne‘s outing on Monday. I had to get my fix of the latest fashion talent somewhere.

The A/W 2013 womenswear shows feel like only days ago and London Collections: Men kicks off in a couple of weeks. I always forget that it’s bloody hard work with the graduates: Ravensbourne presented no less than 25 collections, covering womenswear, menswear and textiles; all capable of catwalk conquering away from Earl’s Court. What I’m trying to say is that it’s like viewing 25 on-schedule shows at once – pretty exhausting.

Do you care? Probably not, so here’s a fruity rundown of some of my favourite graduates:


Graduate illustration by Phiney Pet

Josephine Pettman, aka Phiney Pet, opened the show with a stunning display of vibrant, illustrated textiles, sporty cuts and badge-emblazoned jackets.

Sofie Malmgren swiftly followed with a collection that couldn’t have been more different: a futuristic set of white, linear pieces with contrasting panels in varying materials and rectangular transparent clutch bags:

Tabitha Williamson‘s ethereal collection followed. Floor-sweeping numbers with balaclava hoods and masses of thick fabrics enveloped her models:


Illustration by Jack Bebbington

Menswear was abundant, with as much emphasis on radical fashion as well as commercial viability. William Baxter was the first to bring menswear to this show, presenting a selection of sharply tailored suits with an enlarged herringbone pattern, styled with a Great Gatsby influence:

Jane Swansbury‘s men were covered in tropical prints, featuring gorilla faces, hibiscus leaves and fruit and vegetables:


Illustration by Jane Swansbury

Sarah Frances Ratcliffe‘s expedition aesthetic proved popular, particularly metallic overcoats with hoods:

Jack Bebbington‘s oversized faux fur jackets and shorts also favoured the A/W season – I liked this a lot:


Illustration by Leanne Warren

Leanne Warren‘s capes featured intricate illustrations in vibrant colours:


Illustration by Chen-Yu Wang

…whilst Chen-Yu Wang drew inspiration from childhood, with this playful collection mastering oversized silhouettes. Knitted eyeballs and doll-like frayed hems featured:

Clio Peppiatt‘s collection was one of my favourites. Plastics, acid prints, chavvy styling, ridiculous blingy heels, burger handbags on chains and graffiti-esque burger patterns – what’s not to love?

In stark contrast, Madeleine Ayers‘ sleek collection drew comparisons to Japanese couturiers, with straight lines, unfinished hems and a monochrome colour palette:


Illustration by Anne Lina Dingsor Uudelepp

Anne Lina Dingsor Uudelepp‘s street fashion featured lots of striking prints and textures, styled with gold hoops and ghetto-gold jewellery:

Francesca Valorsa‘s ethereal veils, decorated with obscure faces, created drama and complimented her collection of intricate, haphazard fabrics:


Illustration by Charlotte Harris

…but it was to Charlotte Harris to close the show, whose collection of chunky knitwear, vibrant colours and metallic jackets brought whoops and cheers.

Categories ,2013, ,Anne Lina Dingsor Uudelepp, ,catwalk, ,Charlotte Harris, ,Chen-Yu Wang, ,Clio Peppiatt, ,Earls Court, ,Francesca Valorsa, ,Graduate Fashion Week, ,Great Gatsby, ,Jack Bebbington, ,Jane Swansbury, ,Leanne Warren, ,london, ,Madeleine Ayers, ,menswear, ,Phiney Pet, ,ravensbourne, ,review, ,Sarah Frances Ratcliffe, ,Sofie Malmgren, ,Tabitha Williamson, ,textiles, ,William Baxter, ,Womenswear

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Amelia’s Magazine | Graduate Fashion Week 2010: A Preview

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It has been twelve years since Far released Water and Solutions, drug unwittingly creating the blueprint for post hardcore music and making lead singer Jonah Matranga the godfather of every sensitive boy with a guitar. Thursday, ed Biffy Clyro and Funeral for a Friend cite Far as one of their biggest influences and regularly cover their songs at live shows. After a decade apart, Sacramento’s post hardcore pioneers return with their impressive new album, At Night We Live.

The album is dedicated to close friend and bassist of seminal hard rock outfit Deftones, Chi Cheng, who is currently in a semi-conscious state after a near fatal car accident last year.

As soon as Matranga’s menacing whisper introduces the opening track, Deafening, it is obvious that the masters are back with a renewed enthusiasm for the movement they helped create all those years ago. Shawn Lopez’s growling riffs sound just as potent as they did on previous tracks like Bury White and I Like It.

If You Cared Enough is classic Far at their best. The tension builds with Matranga’s bitter sweet vocals until the satisfying breakdown complete with gloriously catchy chorus erupts like a little earthquake. Far have always been great at making heavy music with radio friendly lyrics and it is perfectly executed here.

A pleasant surprise appears in the form of When I Could See. The bass is sparse meaning the song simply relies on minimalist guitars and haunting vocals to create an unnerving nocturnal atmosphere that has been missing from their previous efforts. It is reassuring to know that the band are not afraid to venture into unknown territory and the results are nothing short of breathtaking.

It is clear that Matranga’s previous outfit, Newendoriginal, have had an effect on their new sound as Give Me a Reason and Burns sound like they could easily have been b-sides from their Thriller album. Not that this is a bad thing: In fact, it shows that the quartet have taken their experiences to create a much more diverse record.

Far were once signed to Sony and touring the world alongside Deftones and Incubus, but somewhere along the lines band tensions and major label pressures forced the group apart. Dear Enemy seems to discuss past problems as Jonah declares: “If our words were guns we would be dead and gone. Why do we fight like this, dear enemy?” This is by far one of the strongest tracks on the album and proves that Far have always found a way to appeal to the mosh pit and the mind simultaneously.

The only track that seems to miss the mark is Fight Song, as it displays none of the band’s most endearing characteristics and sounds like diluted emo rock that you are likely to find on Radio One. The drum rhythm is monotonous throughout and the lyrics simply don’t stand up to poetic prowess of their back catalogue.
The title track, At Night We Live, is a dedication to Deftones bassist Chi Cheng and Matranga’s quivering vocals steal the air from a room as he tells himself, “There was no car crash. There was no blood.” The touching honesty of the lyricism is a fitting tribute to their critically ill friend and a tasteful ode to anyone who has ever lost someone they love.

One of Far’s greatest attributes is that they have always been able to effortlessly combine punishing riffs and tender vocals without sounding insincere. Perhaps Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and every other band that has attempted to imitate their formula over the years should have been paying closer attention because no one does it like the Sacramento based veterans.

The album is equal parts nostalgia for their past releases and snippets of musical ventures each member has worked on since the Far’s initial split back in 2002. All of the aspect that made Water and Solutions so influential are firmly in place but their willingness to tread new ground means that At Night We Live has a lot to offer rock fans that are too young to remember Far from the first time round. Let’s hope Matranga and his reunited band mates bring their brilliant new material to the UK sometime soon.

It has been twelve years since Far released Water and Solutions, more about unwittingly creating the blueprint for post hardcore music and making lead singer Jonah Matranga the godfather of every sensitive boy with a guitar. Thursday, discount Biffy Clyro and Funeral for a Friend cite Far as one of their biggest influences and regularly cover their songs at live shows. After a decade apart, dosage Sacramento’s post hardcore pioneers return with their impressive new album, At Night We Live.

The album is dedicated to close friend and bassist of seminal hard rock outfit Deftones, Chi Cheng, who is currently in a semi-conscious state after a near fatal car accident last year.

As soon as Matranga’s menacing whisper introduces the opening track, Deafening, it is obvious that the masters are back with a renewed enthusiasm for the movement they helped create all those years ago. Shawn Lopez’s growling riffs sound just as potent as they did on previous tracks like Bury White and I Like It.

If You Cared Enough is classic Far at their best. The tension builds with Matranga’s bitter sweet vocals until the satisfying breakdown complete with gloriously catchy chorus erupts like a little earthquake. Far have always been great at making heavy music with radio friendly lyrics and it is perfectly executed here.

A pleasant surprise appears in the form of When I Could See. The bass is sparse meaning the song simply relies on minimalist guitars and haunting vocals to create an unnerving nocturnal atmosphere that has been missing from their previous efforts. It is reassuring to know that the band are not afraid to venture into unknown territory and the results are nothing short of breathtaking.

It is clear that Matranga’s previous outfit, Newendoriginal, have had an effect on their new sound as Give Me a Reason and Burns sound like they could easily have been b-sides from their Thriller album. Not that this is a bad thing: In fact, it shows that the quartet have taken their experiences to create a much more diverse record.

Far were once signed to Sony and touring the world alongside Deftones and Incubus, but somewhere along the lines band tensions and major label pressures forced the group apart. Dear Enemy seems to discuss past problems as Jonah declares: “If our words were guns we would be dead and gone. Why do we fight like this, dear enemy?” This is by far one of the strongest tracks on the album and proves that Far have always found a way to appeal to the mosh pit and the mind simultaneously.

The only track that seems to miss the mark is Fight Song, as it displays none of the band’s most endearing characteristics and sounds like diluted emo rock that you are likely to find on Radio One. The drum rhythm is monotonous throughout and the lyrics simply don’t stand up to poetic prowess of their back catalogue.
The title track, At Night We Live, is a dedication to Deftones bassist Chi Cheng and Matranga’s quivering vocals steal the air from a room as he tells himself, “There was no car crash. There was no blood.” The touching honesty of the lyricism is a fitting tribute to their critically ill friend and a tasteful ode to anyone who has ever lost someone they love.

One of Far’s greatest attributes is that they have always been able to effortlessly combine punishing riffs and tender vocals without sounding insincere. Perhaps Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and every other band that has attempted to imitate their formula over the years should have been paying closer attention because no one does it like the Sacramento based veterans.

The album is equal parts nostalgia for their past releases and snippets of musical ventures each member has worked on since the Far’s initial split back in 2002. All of the aspect that made Water and Solutions so influential are firmly in place but their willingness to tread new ground means that At Night We Live has a lot to offer rock fans that are too young to remember Far from the first time round. Let’s hope Matranga and his reunited band mates bring their brilliant new material to the UK sometime soon.

It has been twelve years since Far released Water and Solutions, store unwittingly creating the blueprint for post hardcore music and making lead singer Jonah Matranga the godfather of every sensitive boy with a guitar. Thursday, search Biffy Clyro and Funeral for a Friend cite Far as one of their biggest influences and regularly cover their songs at live shows. After a decade apart, Sacramento’s post hardcore pioneers return with their impressive new album, At Night We Live.

The album is dedicated to close friend and bassist of seminal hard rock outfit Deftones, Chi Cheng, who is currently in a semi-conscious state after a near fatal car accident last year.

As soon as Matranga’s menacing whisper introduces the opening track, Deafening, it is obvious that the masters are back with a renewed enthusiasm for the movement they helped create all those years ago. Shawn Lopez’s growling riffs sound just as potent as they did on previous tracks like Bury White and I Like It.

If You Cared Enough is classic Far at their best. The tension builds with Matranga’s bitter sweet vocals until the satisfying breakdown complete with gloriously catchy chorus erupts like a little earthquake. Far have always been great at making heavy music with radio friendly lyrics and it is perfectly executed here.

A pleasant surprise appears in the form of When I Could See. The bass is sparse meaning the song simply relies on minimalist guitars and haunting vocals to create an unnerving nocturnal atmosphere that has been missing from their previous efforts. It is reassuring to know that the band are not afraid to venture into unknown territory and the results are nothing short of breathtaking.

It is clear that Matranga’s previous outfit, Newendoriginal, have had an effect on their new sound as Give Me a Reason and Burns sound like they could easily have been b-sides from their Thriller album. Not that this is a bad thing: In fact, it shows that the quartet have taken their experiences to create a much more diverse record.

Far were once signed to Sony and touring the world alongside Deftones and Incubus, but somewhere along the lines band tensions and major label pressures forced the group apart. Dear Enemy seems to discuss past problems as Jonah declares: “If our words were guns we would be dead and gone. Why do we fight like this, dear enemy?” This is by far one of the strongest tracks on the album and proves that Far have always found a way to appeal to the mosh pit and the mind simultaneously.

The only track that seems to miss the mark is Fight Song, as it displays none of the band’s most endearing characteristics and sounds like diluted emo rock that you are likely to find on Radio One. The drum rhythm is monotonous throughout and the lyrics simply don’t stand up to poetic prowess of their back catalogue.
The title track, At Night We Live, is a dedication to Deftones bassist Chi Cheng and Matranga’s quivering vocals steal the air from a room as he tells himself, “There was no car crash. There was no blood.” The touching honesty of the lyricism is a fitting tribute to their critically ill friend and a tasteful ode to anyone who has ever lost someone they love.

One of Far’s greatest attributes is that they have always been able to effortlessly combine punishing riffs and tender vocals without sounding insincere. Perhaps Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and every other band that has attempted to imitate their formula over the years should have been paying closer attention because no one does it like the Sacramento based veterans.

The album is equal parts nostalgia for their past releases and snippets of musical ventures each member has worked on since the Far’s initial split back in 2002. All of the aspect that made Water and Solutions so influential are firmly in place but their willingness to tread new ground means that At Night We Live has a lot to offer rock fans that are too young to remember Far from the first time round. Let’s hope Matranga and his reunited band mates bring their brilliant new material to the UK sometime soon.

Ayroza Dobson 2009, price photographed by Matt Bramford

It’s that time of year again when graduating fashion students up and down the country prepare to showcase their hard work from the previous three years, cialis 40mg in front of industry professionals, journalists and fashionistas for the first time.

The event takes place from Sunday to Wednesday, with over 20 catwalk shows and countless exhibitions. The best part is, everybody can go! You can pay to visit the exhibition and pay for the shows on an individual basis – it’s a little expensive but the quality and craftsmanship on display is well worth a bit of your cash. It’s also a unique insight into what might happen in the fashion industry in the coming years – you never know, you might see a show featuring the next John Galliano or Vivienne Westwood.

Here’s a look at a few of the highlights from last year, and a selection of colleges and universities we’re looking forward to seeing this year…


Myrto Stamou, image courtesy of Catwalking

UCA Rochester
The students at UCA Rochester have their work cut out this year, defending their crown – last year womenswear student Myrto Stamou scooped the top prize Gold Award. Her collection will soon be hitting the high street thanks to principal GFW sponsors River Island. Myrto, originally from Greece, presented a Grecian-inspired collection. This year looks set to be even better for the students at UCA.

Ravensbourne
Ravensbourne is always high on the list of ones to watch, and the fact that their graduate show this year has already sold out is a testament to the hype surrounding this award-winning college (it was Ravensbourne who took home the accolade of the Gold Award in 2008).


Mehmet Ali, image courtesy of Catwalking

Ravensbourne has a reputation for nurturing exemplary menswear designers, and 2009 was no exception. Mehmet Ali’s highly sophisticated collection, in neutral pink and pale colours, deservedly secured him the 2009 Menswear Award, whilst Calum Harvey‘s knitwear collection, consisting of gigantic scarves and tulle tiered capes, bagged a second prize for the college. Womenswear isn’t to be overlooked either, with a range of quirky digital prints on offer this time last year.


Calum Harvey, image courtesy of Catwalking

Northumbria
Okay, I’m biased – I studied at Northumbria and will always follow the progression of students’ work closely. But, having said that, year after year the university and her students produce strong collections with emphasis on style and craftsmanship. I was delighted last year when the course bagged three awards – Charlotte Simpson won the Zandra Rhodes Catwalk Textiles Award, whilst the Fashion Innovation Award and the Creative Marketing Award were won by Nicola Morgan and Christina Duggan respectively.

What I like most about Northumbria is that they are always fashion-forward in their thinking, and technical engineering is married with the aesthetic properties of materials: Steph Butler’s laser-cut numbers and Holly Storer’s cute origami flowers…


Steph Butler, photographed by Matt Bramford


Holly Storer, photographed by Matt Bramford

Manchester
At Manchester, they always mix things up a bit, and you’re certain to find things here that you don’t see anywhere else. Last year, the runway was transformed into a Hollywood-esque theatre with swirling spotlights dramatically lighting up the models. They cover all bases, too – their knitwear, menswear, womenswear and print is all astounding. Romy Townsend’s menswear knit collection featured oversized cape/cardigan hybrids…


Romy Townsend, photographed by Matt Bramford

…while Rosie Keating’s intriguing shapeless smocks, using the latest laser-cutting techniques, were a real treat.


Rosie Keating, photographed by Matt Bramford

International Show
This year sees the intervention of graduating designers from around the world, presented together in the rather unimaginatively titled ‘The International Show’. This will feature colleges from Amsterdam, Hamburg, Basel, Saint-Petersburg and Singapore, and should provide a welcome relief sandwiched in the middle of the week.


Student’s work from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute

Tickets for shows are available here and it’s advisable you book in advance as they will sell out very quickly on the day. If you fancy a nose around the exhibition, though, you can pay on the door! Enjoy!

Categories ,Calum Harvey, ,Charlotte Simpson, ,Christina Duggan, ,Earls Court, ,Gold Award, ,Graduate Fashion Week, ,Greece, ,International designers, ,John Galliano, ,knitwear, ,london, ,manchester, ,Mehmet Ali, ,menswear, ,Myrto Stamou, ,Nicola Morgan, ,Northumbria, ,print, ,ravensbourne, ,River Island, ,Romy Townsend, ,Rosie Keating, ,Steph Butler, ,students, ,textiles, ,UCA Rochester, ,University, ,Vivienne Westwood, ,Womenswear, ,Zandra Rhodes

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Amelia’s Magazine | Graduate Fashion Week Day 3: Ravensbourne

With many universities leaning heavily towards womenswear – in some cases wholly – Epsom pleased many with several of its strongest collections coming from menswear designers. One of the running themes throughout the Epsom show seemed to be an obsession with blood, advice buy the body and corporal violence (you’ve got to wonder what’s going on down there) with one dress revealing a Westwood-esque red, cialis 40mg jewelled wound-like gape on its back.

Not pandering to this was Antigone Pavlou, viagra buy who opened the show with loud, bold and funky collection for the streetsmart city boy, with bomber jackets, tracksuits and distressed denim (the latter a phrase that struck fear into my heart when I first read it in the notes, only to be pleasantly surprised). With coloured headphones carelessly slung around the models’ necks, the designer plainly had a clear lifestyle in mind and played to its strengths in all the right ways, combining strong block primary colours with clashing graphic prints.

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If some previous designers during GFW have shown a tendency to elevate and romanticise the pastoral, I think Pavlou successfully did the same for the city, offering an attractively laid-back vision of urban life where you pull on some comfortable but sharp threads, plug into your walkman and swagger down the street, content to shut the outside world away for a moment, a sentiment I’ve evidently been drawn to in featuring CTRL and Daniel Palillo in recent weeks. Another menswear designer of note was James E Tutton, whose reversible designs (addressing the issue of functionality in contemporary fashion) we’ll be featuring later in the week.

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Soozi Welland’s ‘Geeks Know Style’ penultimate menswear collection was best received by the audience, with an endearing ode to all things geeky: spectacles, anoraks, bobbled hats, bow ties, and socks tucked into trousers. The geek has oft been described as the personification of a roll of duct tape, with functional apparel that will always get you out of a sticky situation, and Welland’s designs seem to celebrate this idea, with an abundance of oversized pockets, accessorising her looks with binoculars and cameras.

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By the last look, though, this geek had got himself a makeover, and was now spec-free, with the bow tie sexily hanging loose and sporting a satin and velvet playboy jacket. An endearing and humorous collection that I thought was commercially viable too, and that’s no mean feat.

Amongst the womenswear Stephanie Moran gave us a hard-hitting collection about desire, fabulously quoting Mae West ‘s ‘Ten men waiting for me at the door?…send one of them home I’m tired’, and a vision of the glamorous dominatrix. One of the standout pieces was a cream PVC dress with a cinched feather corset around the waist, and for better or worse, one of the most popular trends during GFW was feathers. This was certainly one of the better examples:

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Considering Epsom had given us notes on each designer and their collection, I think it was admirable that Moran’s designs needed no explaining whatsoever, with her models bombing down the runway dressed in all manner of things naughty.

A particularly well-crafted collection was April Schmitz’s, who gave us a series of garments with some serious work put into unusual fabrics including hardware, folded leather and metal rings and eyelets. Entitled ‘Visions of the Future’ it gave a throwback to 1930s aviation with leather flight caps, a retro colour palette and the repetition of some swinging circles, with panels ejecting out of the garments providing strange contraption-esque silhouettes that you expected to take off at any moment.

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Feathers popped up again, this time from Lucie Vincini with a stunning jacket from an eclectic menswear collection. Mixing embroidered jumpers with carrier bag trousers, basket weave coats with a jacket constructed out of Royal Mail bags, it showed that it is possible to draw from resources across the board and still construct a cohesive collection. A thrifty delight, and with its recycling sensibilities, obviously an Amelia’s Magazine favourite!

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Photos: Catwalking.com

Radical Nature: Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet 1969–2009

Barbican Art Gallery
Barbican Centre
Silk Street
London EC2Y 8DS
19 June – 18 October

Daily 11am-8pm except Tue & Wed 11am-6pm
Open until 10pm every Thursday

Tickets: £8/£6 concs, ailment £6 online

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A new season of ecologically focused exhibits, talks, events and screenings is taking place over the Summer at the Barbican. Kicking off the proceedings is this fascinating exhibition which deals with land art, environmental activism, experimental architecture, and inspiring ideas about utopian solutions to the urgent matter of climate change.
See the Barbican website for full details of all events over the next few months.

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Sarah Bridgland: In Place- New Collage Works

Man and Eve Gallery
131 Kennington Park Road
London SE11 4JJ
19th June – 1st August

Thursday – Saturday, 12 – 6pm

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Bridging the gap between sculpture and collage, Sarah Bridgland’s intricate paper creations combine her own made printed media with junk shop treasure to form nostalgic pieces of meticulous craftsmenship. Simultaneously dreamlike and miniature while remaining technically genius, Bridgland’s collection of new work will transport you to other colourful, playful worlds.

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Various Artists: Two Degrees 2009

Toynbee Studios
28 Commercial Street
London E1 6AB
16-21 June

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The opening night of Two Degrees, Artadmin’s week long programme of politically, socially and environmentally charged events, is this Tuesday. Getting it’s name from last month’s report that a hugely damaging global temperature rise of 2C could be a mere 40 years away, the 20 or so artists involved are putting the issue of climate change at the forefront of our concerns.
The opening night features among other things Daniel Gosling’s video installation ‘I Can Feel the Ice Melting’ and the forward thinking London based group Magnificent Revolution generating music for the evening with a live bicycle-powered DJ set.

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R-art assist BASH@The Sustainable Art Awards 2009

BASH STudios
65-71 Scrutton Street
London EC2A 4PJ
June 16th

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Open Sailing by Cesar Harada

“The Sustainable Art Awards are open to any UK artist working within on the themes of sustainability, environmental issues, climate change and ecology. R-art will provide the awards for the SAA, these mini eco sculptures are the oscars of eco art! Sustainable Art Awards are a 2 week showcase of eco talent @ BASH Studios.
The Sustainable Art Awards is part of Respond! who aim to engage arts audiences in discussing and questioning environmental change. Respond! highlights how the arts industries are in a unique position to communicate environmental issues. Featuring exhibitions, talks, programmes, workshops and other activities. Respond! is an initiative co-founded by the Arts and Ecology center at The Royal Society of The Arts and BASH Creations.”

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Swapshop

Camden Arts Centre
Arkwright Road
London NW3 6DG
20th June
12:00 – 5:30pm

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Current artist in residence Alexandre da Cunha is putting together a Swapshop, which is becoming an ever increasingly popular means for people to get together and shed some of their unwanted belongings in exchange for new. Anything goes at this particular exchange; buttons, furniture- even art. To book your own stall please contact Ben Roberts on 0207 472 5500.

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Out of Range

The Rag Factory
16-18 Heneage Street
London E1 5LJ

12th June 22nd June
12-6pm daily, Saturdays 10-6pm
Free

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Tigran Asatrjan

If the extensive material on show at Brick Lane’s Free Range isn’t enough to satisfy your graduate show cravings, hop along to The Rag Factory to catch Out of Range where work from 29 emerging UK and European photographic artists recently set free from the University for the Creative Arts at Rochester is on display. The work promises to be fresh, innovative, exciting and diverse.

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Dominic Allan: The Irresistible Lure of Fatty Gingo 

Transition Gallery
Unit 25a Regent Studios
8 Andrews Road
London E8 4QN

13th June – 5th July
Fri – Sun, 12-6 pm
Free

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With what might just be the best title of an exhibition I’ve ever heard, Allan’s work is self described as ‘a world of rotten teeth, bubble and squeak and uncommon sense.’ With an unhealthy interest in British seaside culture and the bizarre link-ins local holiday getaways have with sugar coated junk we feast on, Allan’s work is repelling, alluring, mysterious and addictive all at once.

Monday 15th June
The Freewheeling Yo La Tengo at the Southbank Centre, sales London.

Tonight’s gig is one not to be missed- The Jonas Brothers at Wembley, health only joking of course. If you like your music a little more deflowered and lots more awesome, then I excitedly announce that Yo La Tengo will be playing the Southbank Centre tonight as part of Ornette Coleman’s Meltdown Festival. Yo La Tengo have shaped what is almost the last 20 years with their beautiful music which moves between eerie girl boy woozy vocals and minimal keyboards, to rocking genre bashing highs. Also ‘I’m Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass’ is the best album title ever!

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Tuesday 16th June
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs at Pure Groove, London.

I really love dinosaurs, so imagine my delight when I saw that a band called Totally Enormous Extinct Dinousaurs are playing Pure Groove on Tuesday evening. Being a music editor and planing gig going around loving extinct creatures is never the best idea so I checked their myspace and I can conclude my top 3 favourite things about this band, in descending order are:
3. They dress as dinosaurs a lot!
2. They have the longest list of alphabetised dinosaurs listed as their band members (Alphabetisation being my second favourite thing after fore-mentioned dinsosaurs)
1. Their keyboard tinged synthy-fun electro sounds so fun it makes me want to make up all kinds of dances called things like the ‘Triceratops Jive’ and the ‘Stegosaurus Shake’.
What’s your favourite dinosaur?

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Wednesday 17th June
Jolie Holland at Dingwalls, London.

When Tom Waits says he likes something you can pretty much tell it’s going to be good and Jolie Holland doesn’t disappoint. This Texan singer has had Waits’ outspoken support since the very beginning of her career, and her fresh take on traditional folk, country, blues and jazz place her as a definite protegée of Waits, as well as a talented musician in her own right.

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Thursday 18th June
A Hawk and a Hacksaw at Cecil Sharp House, London.

A Hawk and Hacksaw have skittered and clattered their way into my heart with their Klezmer- Indie hybrid loveable mess music. It sound like if Neutral Milk Hotel (indeed they share a drummer) got lost in the Baltic States for several decades in the early 20th century, armed only with a full brass band and a trusty band of wolves who were also in their own Mariachi band- and quite frankly how could that not sound amazing?

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Friday 19th June
Clinic at The Lexington, London.

I was lucky enough to see Clinic play last year and they are terrifying (they wear surgical masks) and brilliant in equal measure- like a melodic nightmare, lots of keyboards, creepy samples, garage-y clatters and wails are a-given, yet they manage to be as enjoyable as they are creepy.

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Saturday 20th June
Kitsuné Maison Party at La Scala, London.

We reviewed the Kitsune Maison 7 compilation a while back and liked it, they’re having a party at La Scala featuring Delphic (pictured below underwater), Chew Lips, We Have Band and Autokratz to name but a few. I can’t help but compare it to the Strictly Come Dancing tour that happens after the show ends; with everyone’s favourites appearing live, so maybe it’ll be like that but a very hip, French version.

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Continuing our festival preview adventure

I don’t like camping. Going to bed shivering and waking up sweating doesn’t appeal to me much, mind and claustrophobia in a two-man tent isn’t fun either. Don’t even mention the word ‘porta-loo’…But all this I will get over for Lounge on the Farm.

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For the past four years, sickness thousands of people have invaded Merton Farm in Canterbury, with a view to enjoying laid-back choons and getting down to some serious lounging. Despite it’s status as a ’boutique’ festival (one of The Time’s top twelve Boutique festivals, dontchaknow), there’s plenty to muck in with, down on the Farm.
Each of the six stages caters to a different taste, The Cow Shed hosting The Horrors, Edwyn Collins and The King Blues (as well as whoever you want, thanks to the You Say, They Play initiative – just mind the dung), Farm Folk, leaning towards a more acoustic experience and The Bandstand, rockin’ out the opera and punk rock karaoke.

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I’ll be spending most of the weekend with Gong, Canterbrerians of the ’60s who sing of teapot taxies, and the Wolf People, hairiest band I’ve ever seen who weren’t actually animals, down at the psychedelic Furthur Tent, and doubtlessly joining Mr. Scruff for an epic six hour afternoon tea mash-up at the Hoedown – blanket and thermos a!
requisite.
Lounge is foremost a local festival (for local people…) and it wouldn’t be, well, right, without Psychotic Reaction, Amber Room, Cocos Lovers, Syd Arthur, Electric River and Zoo For You, to name but a meagre few of the Kentish best performing this year.

It’s not all about the music though, in fact, in the Meadows area it’s not even about the music. New for 2009, the Meadows contains an outdoor theatre, petting zoo (pigs or partay?!) and The Red Tent if you feel in need of some spiritual healing after all the exhausting lounging about. Natural Pathways will be providing bushcraft courses, fulfilling all your wild wo/man fantasies and the Make do and Mend lane focuses on local craftsmen and their skills, with workshops running all weekend.

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Whatever tickles your pickle, solar powered cinema or life-drawing class – and music too – Lounge on the Farm is the perfect place to do exactly that.

Lounge on the Farm runs from the 10th to the 12th of July, at Merton Farm, Canterbury. Weekend tickets £85, day tickets, £35

Free Range at The Old Truman Brewery is Europe’s largest graduate art and design show with free admission. Graduates of everything from interior design to fine art who studied outside of London finally get a chance to showcase their talents in the countries capital.
I’ve been to a few Free Range shows this summer already, approved but last Thursday’s exhibition of photography graduates was the one I was most excited about.

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In this age art can really be anything, web Kant has been moved to the back seat and nobody thinks art has to be beautiful anymore. That said it’s almost impossible for photographers not to take images that look good. Just by being photographed the most mundane subject is rendered interesting and the most ugly object or person becomes so lovely that you just want to lick their glossy surface.

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The best of all the exhibitions on that week had to be Swansea, stuff Farnham and Maidstone. With so many photographers on show it seems pointless to make a reductive comment on whether entire graduate years were good or bad so I’ve decided to create a contact sheet if you will, of the people whose photographs looked that bit extra special.

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Jack Davis

I spent my first ten minutes in Free Range looking at Jack Davis’ landscape photographs. In them great colour and composition immediately makes the viewer forget that the scenes are completely empty.

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Lauren Eldekvist

In Lauren Eldekvist’s evocative series Landscapes, unmade beds are photographed and shown huge on the Truman Brewery’s walls. For the artist the bed “connotes the human condition; birth, life, sex, sleep, illness and death”. The pieces remind me very much of one of my favourite artists Felix Gonzalez Torres and his billboard photographs of an empty, but obviously slept in, bed.

Also intriguing were James Rugg’s photographs, which aim to capture small instances, chance meetings and gestures. In them the simple act of a girl twirling string around her fingers becomes something we should give our undivided attention to.

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James Rugg

Over at Maidstone University College of the Arts there were some strong conceptual works.
Lee Gavin presented an installation of Mapping a project that he undertook after the death of his Grandfather, he decided to cycle to Elvington in Kent, the birthplace of his Grandfather. Lee showed as his work the tent and bike he used for the trip and an interactive google map of the journey (available from his website and well worth a look.)

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Lee Gavin

As a lover of old box televisions and a distruster of 40” LCD monstrosities I almost cheered when I saw Jack Quick’s work. The artist is stepping into Nam June Paik rather large shoes with his television manipulation photographs and sculptures in which he attempts to challenge uses for, sadly, now defunct technologies.

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Jack Quick

Cassandra Vervoort questions the role of the photographer and the weight of their influence and command over the photographed. In these “social experiments” she asks subjects to have a five-minute sleep in her bed while she is naked underneath the covers.

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Cassandra Vervoort

There were other photographers creating situations for their unwitting volunteers to perform in. Gemma Bringloe was one, “Can you turn around, sit down, stand up and sit down” … “Can you take off as many clothes as possible”.

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Gemma Bringloe

And finally Laura Jenkins, who produced my favourite project of the entire show. The Tender Interval is brilliant in it’s simplicity. Actors were called forward in complete darkness and instructed to kiss. The photographs provide a record of the interval immediately before the kiss.

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Laura Jenkins

Free Range exhibitions continue until the middle of July. The Private view for the next group of photography shows is 6PM on Thursday. For a full list check out the Free Range website.

Words like ‘buzz’ and ‘hype’ sometimes transpire to be untrustworthy words bandied around by desperate press offices, ed but with the mid-afternoon Ravensbourne show the anticipation is undeniably huge. And rightly so – after rave reviews (two more alarm words) as well as producing the winner for the past two years, search we’re expecting an awful lot, ambulance and luckily we were not disappointed. In fact, far from it – it would be easy to ramble hyperbolically about how consistently brilliant the show was, or to point out how as a university it’s completely isolated in GFW by its galactically high standard, as elitist as that sounds, so I’ll try and keep focused.

If you’ve been following our reports (and you will have done if you know what’s good for you) you’ll have been aware of this years’ output of some truly outstanding menswear. Ravensbourne, of course, was no exception, with menswear designers Calum Harvey and Hannah Taylor opening and closing the show respectively (both of whom I’ll be interviewing in the coming days). Harvey had made a collection constructed from raw materials scavenged from car interiors, attesting to the strengths of the transformative powers of recycled fashion and making something beautiful – and indeed, wearable – out of something normally perceived as solely functional.

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A selection of huge knits (the oversized scarf on the opening look was a favourite) were followed by jackets layered with woven and shredded seatbelts worn over sheer shirts and gold pinstripe trousers. Making it no surprise that he later won the http://www.gfw.org.uk/event/winners.aspxTextile Award, Harvey had created a gorgeous paisley pattern on a shirt out of frayed gold zips, while seatbelts also served to layer and tier to help create voluminous silhouettes, in one case a high collar for a knitted jumper, whilst continuously coupling the industrial looking wool with plaid and tweed to neutralise the effect.

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The last look – an enormous tulle tiered cape in grey and black – seemed to typify a collection that was eminently wearable whilst staying on the right side of theatrical, and as for the patent leather bag with seatbelt fastener – yes please.

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Mehmet Ali’s menswear (which later won the Menswear Award) was a gorgeously sophisticated collection in a neutral palette of pink, cream and wine, layering summer jackets and waistcoats for the occasional Brideshead-lite feel. A series of simple and exquistively crafted designs that was lent a sweet personal touch by the use of Ali’s own suitcase with his initials emblazoned across.

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A strong showing for the womenswear came from Hannah Buswell ‘s collection of Missoni-esque knits, combining multi-patterned cardigans with knitted dresses for a beautiful and commercial winter collection.

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Laura Yiannakou was girly, quirky and unusual, working with digital prints and synthetic fabrics to create a colourful and seriously modern collection for the fashion forward woman.

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Yasmina Siddiqui also impressed with a series of Viktor & Rolf-style illustrated prints tied to ordinary silk dresses; surrealist prints that created unusual silhouettes, attempting to understand and rebrand perceptions of art and fashion:

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Hannah Taylor’s knitwear as the closer was easily the evening’s most enjoyable and surprising. Entitled ‘You’ll Grow Into It!’ it was a selection of oversized knits covered in animals ranging from tiny ducks to guinea pigs to foxes, paired with multicoloured balaclavas and enormous pom-pom headpieces (what did I tell you last month?)

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It successfully recreated the endearing sense of childlike fun in trying on something too big and it falling around your knees; combining loud designs with mustard-colour Rupert Bear pants, tweed trousers and enormous pom-pom collars. I especially loved the knitted balaclavas (creating an ironic sense of menace that could never be fully realised when you’ve got a massive guinea pig plastered across your body).

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Aside from this, irony is something that would elude such a collection that by nature was so ostensibly warm and affectionate, with a strong sense of sentiment that I think appealed to an awful lot of people (including Erin O’Connor who was whooping in the crowd). Hannah was later nominated for the Gold Award, and despite missing out was given a special mention by the judges, and currently has her collection on display in River Island.

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A truly fantastic show and a great way to finish Amelia’s Magazine’s stint at Graduate Fashion Week – look out for our interviews with a few of the graduates over the next couple of weeks!

Photos: Catwalking.com

Categories ,Graduates, ,Graphic Print, ,Knitwear, ,Ravensbourne, ,Recycled Fabrics, ,Surrealism

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Amelia’s Magazine | Graduate Fashion Week: Ravensbourne

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Le Temps du Sommeil
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern La Ronde
La Ronde by Francis Alÿs

Last week Francis Alÿs: A Story of Deception opened at the Tate Modern. In the first room we are faced with the artwork that inspired the exhibition’s name: a film of a flickering mirage in the Patagonian desert. Water appears to flood across a dusty highway… vanishing into the distance in a hypnotising shimmer. Originally from Belgium, viagra 40mg Alÿs has been a resident of Mexico City since the mid 1980s, sickness although his work often explores the politics of a worldwide diaspora. Each room encapsulates a particular project, remedy often showcasing the original source material, such as news clippings, and the tiny but beautifully formed oil paintings that Alÿs produces alongside films and other ephemera.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 newsclippings
news clippings collected by Francis Alÿs.

Life in teeming Mexico City has provided rich material to plunder – especially in the constant walking walking walking of the city’s street vendors, echoed in the delicate collages displayed in a light box – and the casual violence which Alÿs imitates by carrying his own gun on prominent display through the streets (in Re-enactments) until he is arrested.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 ambulantes
 Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 ambulantes
collaged images by Francis Alÿs, featuring ambulantes.

Paradox of Praxis 1 (Sometimes Doing Something Leads to Nothing) is one of the most famous pieces created by Alÿs. In it Alÿs pushes a block of ice around the streets until it is completely melted. Constant movement is a constant theme: whether kicking a can endlessly around the streets (a performance that ended when the absorbed Alÿs stepped in front of a car) leading sheep in a circle or pouring green paint out of a can to retrace the armistice border between Israel and Jordan.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Paradox of Praxis
Still from Paradox of Praxis by Francis Alÿs.
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010
Still from The Loop by Francis Alÿs.
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 The Green Line
Still from The Green Line by Francis Alÿs.

Through all his methods of creation Alÿs never reaches a single point of resolution, an idea which is explored in the Rehearsal series, wherein a Beetle car is driven up a hill to the tune of a brass band, rolling backwards every time the music reaches a pause, much like Latin American modernisation, which always seems to find some reason for delay.

Alÿs questions the role of the artist in the political, transforming everyday objects into new roles. Half way through the exhibition the floor of a room is covered with rubber car mats decorated with a pop art graphic of a silenced mouth, and Camguns are created out of scrap wood, metal and film canisters. Since 2000 Alÿs has been throwing himself into the eye of the tornadoes that he chases through the countryside, seeing in these natural phenomena an echo of political chaos. If peace is found in the centre will it be possible for change?

Some of the newest work by Alÿs revolves around the concept of the tornado, implosions and explosions – a work in progress which is presented complete with post it notes on a wall in the last room. Some of the beautiful oils in this collection echo the delicate work of ongoing series Le Temps du Sommeil, which features 111 miniature oil paintings on recycled wood that feature dreamlike scenes reminiscent of the actions that crop up time and again in his other work. Not only does Alÿs enjoy the privacy of working in a traditional medium, he also uses the money from the sales of such paintings to finance his larger and less houseworthy projects.

A must see exhibition for anyone with an interest in how multimedia can be to used to effectively tackle difficult political subjects. It runs until 5th September 2010.
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern La Ronde
La Ronde by Francis Alÿs

Last week Francis Alÿs: A Story of Deception opened at the Tate Modern. In the first room we are faced with the artwork that inspired the exhibition’s name: a film of a flickering mirage in the Patagonian desert. Water appears to flood across a dusty highway… vanishing into the distance in a hypnotising shimmer. Originally from Belgium, try Alÿs has been a resident of Mexico City since the mid 1980s, cheapest although his work often explores the politics of a worldwide diaspora. Each room encapsulates a particular project, often showcasing the original source material, such as news clippings, and the tiny but beautifully formed oil paintings that Alÿs produces alongside films and other ephemera.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 newsclippings
news clippings collected by Francis Alÿs.

Life in teeming Mexico City has provided rich material to plunder – especially in the constant walking walking walking of the city’s street vendors, echoed in the delicate collages displayed in a light box – and the casual violence which Alÿs imitates by carrying his own gun on prominent display through the streets (in Re-enactments) until he is arrested.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 ambulantes
 Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 ambulantes
collaged images by Francis Alÿs, featuring ambulantes.

Paradox of Praxis 1 (Sometimes Doing Something Leads to Nothing) is one of the most famous pieces created by Alÿs. In it Alÿs pushes a block of ice around the streets until it is completely melted. Constant movement is a constant theme: whether kicking a can endlessly around the streets (a performance that ended when the absorbed Alÿs stepped in front of a car) leading sheep in a circle or pouring green paint out of a can to retrace the armistice border between Israel and Jordan.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Paradox of Praxis
Still from Paradox of Praxis by Francis Alÿs.
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010
Still from The Loop by Francis Alÿs.
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 The Green Line
Still from The Green Line by Francis Alÿs.

Through all his methods of creation Alÿs never reaches a single point of resolution, an idea which is explored in the Rehearsal series, wherein a Beetle car is driven up a hill to the tune of a brass band, rolling backwards every time the music reaches a pause, much like Latin American modernisation, which always seems to find some reason for delay.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern Rehearsal
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern Rehearsal
Stills from Rehearsal by Francis Alÿs.

Alÿs questions the role of the artist in the political, transforming everyday objects into new roles. Half way through the exhibition the floor of a room is covered with rubber car mats decorated with a pop art graphic of a silenced mouth, and Camguns are created out of scrap wood, metal and film canisters. Since 2000 Alÿs has been throwing himself into the eye of the tornadoes that he chases through the countryside, seeing in these natural phenomena an echo of political chaos. If peace is found in the centre will it be possible for change?

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Silencio
Silencio by Francis Alÿs.
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Camguns
Camguns by Francis Alÿs.

Some of the newest work by Alÿs revolves around the concept of the tornado, implosions and explosions – a work in progress which is presented complete with post it notes on a wall in the last room. Some of the beautiful oils in this collection echo the delicate work of ongoing series Le Temps du Sommeil, which features 111 miniature oil paintings on recycled wood that feature dreamlike scenes reminiscent of the actions that crop up time and again in his other work. Not only does Alÿs enjoy the privacy of working in a traditional medium, he also uses the money from the sales of such paintings to finance his larger and less houseworthy projects.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern Tornado
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Le Temps du Sommeil
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Le Temps du Sommeil
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Le Temps du Sommeil
Details from Le Temps du Sommeil by Francis Alÿs.
A must see exhibition for anyone with an interest in how multimedia can be to used to effectively tackle difficult political subjects. It runs until 5th September 2010.
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern La Ronde
La Ronde by Francis Alÿs

Last week Francis Alÿs: A Story of Deception opened at the Tate Modern. In the first room we are faced with the artwork that inspired the exhibition’s name: a film of a flickering mirage in the Patagonian desert. Water appears to flood across a dusty highway… vanishing into the distance in a hypnotising shimmer. Originally from Belgium, this web Alÿs has been a resident of Mexico City since the mid 1980s, information pills although his work often explores the politics of a worldwide diaspora. Each room encapsulates a particular project, often showcasing the original source material, such as news clippings, and the tiny but beautifully formed oil paintings that Alÿs produces alongside films and other ephemera.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 newsclippings
news clippings collected by Francis Alÿs.

Life in teeming Mexico City has provided rich material to plunder – especially in the constant walking walking walking of the city’s street vendors, echoed in the delicate collages displayed in a light box – and the casual violence which Alÿs imitates by carrying his own gun on prominent display through the streets (in Re-enactments) until he is arrested.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 ambulantes
 Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 ambulantes
collaged images by Francis Alÿs, featuring ambulantes.

Paradox of Praxis 1 (Sometimes Doing Something Leads to Nothing) is one of the most famous pieces created by Alÿs. In it Alÿs pushes a block of ice around the streets until it is completely melted. Constant movement is a constant theme: whether kicking a can endlessly around the streets (a performance that ended when the absorbed Alÿs stepped in front of a car) leading sheep in a circle or pouring green paint out of a can to retrace the armistice border between Israel and Jordan.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Paradox of Praxis
Still from Paradox of Praxis by Francis Alÿs.
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010
Still from The Loop by Francis Alÿs.
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 The Green Line
Still from The Green Line by Francis Alÿs.

Through all his methods of creation Alÿs never reaches a single point of resolution, an idea which is explored in the Rehearsal series, wherein a Beetle car is driven up a hill to the tune of a brass band, rolling backwards every time the music reaches a pause, much like Latin American modernisation, which always seems to find some reason for delay.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern Rehearsal
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern Rehearsal
Stills from Rehearsal by Francis Alÿs.

Alÿs questions the role of the artist in the political, transforming everyday objects into new roles. Half way through the exhibition the floor of a room is covered with rubber car mats decorated with a pop art graphic of a silenced mouth, and Camguns are created out of scrap wood, metal and film canisters. Since 2000 Alÿs has been throwing himself into the eye of the tornadoes that he chases through the countryside, seeing in these natural phenomena an echo of political chaos. If peace is found in the centre will it be possible for change?

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Silencio
Silencio by Francis Alÿs.
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Camguns
Camguns by Francis Alÿs.

Some of the newest work by Alÿs revolves around the concept of the tornado, implosions and explosions – a work in progress which is presented complete with post it notes on a wall in the last room. Some of the beautiful oils in this collection echo the delicate work of ongoing series Le Temps du Sommeil, which features 111 miniature oil paintings on recycled wood that feature dreamlike scenes reminiscent of the actions that crop up time and again in his other work. Not only does Alÿs enjoy the privacy of working in a traditional medium, he also uses the money from the sales of such paintings to finance his larger and less houseworthy projects.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern Tornado
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Le Temps du Sommeil
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Le Temps du Sommeil
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Le Temps du Sommeil
Details from Le Temps du Sommeil by Francis Alÿs.
A must see exhibition for anyone with an interest in how multimedia can be to used to effectively tackle difficult political subjects. It runs until 5th September 2010.
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern La Ronde
La Ronde by Francis Alÿs

Last week Francis Alÿs: A Story of Deception opened at the Tate Modern. In the first room we are faced with the artwork that inspired the exhibition’s name: a film of a flickering mirage in the Patagonian desert. Water appears to flood across a dusty highway… vanishing into the distance in a hypnotising shimmer. Originally from Belgium, recipe Alÿs has been a resident of Mexico City since the mid 1980s, healing although his work often explores the politics of a worldwide diaspora. Each room encapsulates a particular project, this often showcasing the original source material, such as news clippings, and the tiny but beautifully formed oil paintings that Alÿs produces alongside films and other ephemera.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 newsclippings
news clippings collected by Francis Alÿs.

Life in teeming Mexico City has provided rich material to plunder – especially in the constant walking walking walking of the city’s street vendors, echoed in the delicate collages displayed in a light box – and the casual violence which Alÿs imitates by carrying his own gun on prominent display through the streets (in Re-enactments) until he is arrested.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 ambulantes
 Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 ambulantes
collaged images by Francis Alÿs, featuring ambulantes.

Paradox of Praxis 1 (Sometimes Doing Something Leads to Nothing) is one of the most famous pieces created by Alÿs. In it Alÿs pushes a block of ice around the streets until it is completely melted. Constant movement is a constant theme: whether kicking a can endlessly around the streets (a performance that ended when the absorbed Alÿs stepped in front of a car) leading sheep in a circle or pouring green paint out of a can to retrace the armistice border between Israel and Jordan.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Paradox of Praxis
Still from Paradox of Praxis by Francis Alÿs.
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010
Still from The Loop by Francis Alÿs.
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 The Green Line
Still from The Green Line by Francis Alÿs.

Through all his methods of creation Alÿs never reaches a single point of resolution, an idea which is explored in the Rehearsal series, wherein a Beetle car is driven up a hill to the tune of a brass band, rolling backwards every time the music reaches a pause, much like Latin American modernisation, which always seems to find some reason for delay.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern Rehearsal
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern Rehearsal
Stills from Rehearsal by Francis Alÿs.

Alÿs questions the role of the artist in the political, transforming everyday objects into new roles. Half way through the exhibition the floor of a room is covered with rubber car mats decorated with a pop art graphic of a silenced mouth, and Camguns are created out of scrap wood, metal and film canisters. Since 2000 Alÿs has been throwing himself into the eye of the tornadoes that he chases through the countryside, seeing in these natural phenomena an echo of political chaos. If peace is found in the centre will it be possible for change?

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Silencio
Silencio by Francis Alÿs.
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Camguns
Camguns by Francis Alÿs.

Some of the newest work by Alÿs revolves around the concept of the tornado, implosions and explosions – a work in progress which is presented complete with post it notes on a wall in the last room. Some of the beautiful oils in this collection echo the delicate work of ongoing series Le Temps du Sommeil, which features 111 miniature oil paintings on recycled wood that feature dreamlike scenes reminiscent of the actions that crop up time and again in his other work. Not only does Alÿs enjoy the privacy of working in a traditional medium, he also uses the money from the sales of such paintings to finance his larger and less houseworthy projects.

Francis Alÿs Tate Modern Tornado
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Le Temps du Sommeil
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Le Temps du Sommeil
Francis Alÿs Tate Modern 2010 Le Temps du Sommeil
Details from Le Temps du Sommeil by Francis Alÿs.

Worth it to see these paintings alone, this is a must see exhibition for anyone with an interest in how multimedia can be to used to effectively tackle difficult political subjects. It runs until 5th September 2010.

Vivienne Westwood, viagra 100mg illustrated by Kerry Lemon

While things like free booze and miniature pies are thoroughly good perks of a fashion week, buy information pills it is also completely inevitable that you somehow manage to end up with hundreds of bits of paper and about six half-drunk bottles of water rolling around in your bag, and sure enough by the time I reached the Ravensbourne show I had unwittingly acquired three in the space of forty five minutes. Out of all the shows at Graduate Fashion Week, Ravensbourne is the hottest ticket – so hot, in fact, that only Vivienne bloody Westwood was in the audience. We found out afterwards that she’s working on a climate change television project with the college’s media course and went to support the fashion students. Her presence proved a bit of a personal distraction during the show and I seemed less concerned about what I was thinking than what she was thinking. It was a bit difficult to tell though.
 
Judging by the pleasantly psychotic combinations of ideas on show one can only presume that the class of Ravensbourne BA 2010 took a trip to the zoo on a cocktail of hallucinogens and then sat down to design their collections. With the extensive parade of animals on show it was like the four-footed refugees of Noah’s Ark had washed up on the beaches of Graduate Fashion Week – after a more muted and minimalist BA show from Central St Martins, it was a eye-popping joy to watch, with cartoons and pop art emerging as other pungent themes. The show was opened by Bobby Charles Abley with a menswear collection that proved children’s cartoons and bondage need not be two mutually alienating concepts, even if they are more than a little disturbing when thrown together. Speech bubble printed trousers, stuffed teddy bears and hoods with animal ears were paired with bondage straps in innocuous looking primary colours.
 
While Ravensbourne is particularly well known for producing amazing digital prints, Sera Ulger’s womenswear collection featured beautifully hand painted animal motifs on silk, featuring a crow, a lemur, a tarsier and an owl with its eyes in suggestive places on a selection of mohair dresses.


 
Ravensbourne took the Menswear Award for the second year in a row with Thomas Crisp’s elegantly tailored collection of leather and velvet jackets, based on Parisian street gangs in the late 1800s.


 
Amy Addison’s designs featured digital prints, miniskirts, thigh high socks and sleeves ending in boxing gloves…

…while Jessica Holmes’s cocktail dresses were emblazoned with ducks and Dumbos.


 
We’ve also come to expect a lot of accomplished knitwear. Harriet Clinch’s retro knitwear was basically a walking seventies ski lodge – simple jumpers and a star-spangled poncho with a vast selection of different knits thrown into the mix – stripes, bobbles, fair isle and cables, accessorised with sheepskin oven mitts and even a knitted camera. 

photographs courtesy of catwalking.com

Categories ,1800s, ,Amy Addison, ,Bobby Charles Abley, ,cartoons, ,Central Saint Martins, ,Climate Change, ,Digital Prints, ,ducks, ,Earls Court, ,fashion, ,Graduate Fashion Week 2010, ,Harriet Clinch, ,knitwear, ,london, ,menswear, ,Pop Art, ,ravensbourne, ,Sera Ulger, ,Ski, ,Teddy Bears, ,Thomas Crisp, ,Velvet, ,Womenswear

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Amelia’s Magazine | Get Belt. Wear Belt. Fly

With many universities leaning heavily towards womenswear – in some cases wholly – Epsom pleased many with several of its strongest collections coming from menswear designers. One of the running themes throughout the Epsom show seemed to be an obsession with blood, advice buy the body and corporal violence (you’ve got to wonder what’s going on down there) with one dress revealing a Westwood-esque red, cialis 40mg jewelled wound-like gape on its back.

Not pandering to this was Antigone Pavlou, viagra buy who opened the show with loud, bold and funky collection for the streetsmart city boy, with bomber jackets, tracksuits and distressed denim (the latter a phrase that struck fear into my heart when I first read it in the notes, only to be pleasantly surprised). With coloured headphones carelessly slung around the models’ necks, the designer plainly had a clear lifestyle in mind and played to its strengths in all the right ways, combining strong block primary colours with clashing graphic prints.

antig.jpg

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If some previous designers during GFW have shown a tendency to elevate and romanticise the pastoral, I think Pavlou successfully did the same for the city, offering an attractively laid-back vision of urban life where you pull on some comfortable but sharp threads, plug into your walkman and swagger down the street, content to shut the outside world away for a moment, a sentiment I’ve evidently been drawn to in featuring CTRL and Daniel Palillo in recent weeks. Another menswear designer of note was James E Tutton, whose reversible designs (addressing the issue of functionality in contemporary fashion) we’ll be featuring later in the week.

james.jpg

Soozi Welland’s ‘Geeks Know Style’ penultimate menswear collection was best received by the audience, with an endearing ode to all things geeky: spectacles, anoraks, bobbled hats, bow ties, and socks tucked into trousers. The geek has oft been described as the personification of a roll of duct tape, with functional apparel that will always get you out of a sticky situation, and Welland’s designs seem to celebrate this idea, with an abundance of oversized pockets, accessorising her looks with binoculars and cameras.

soozigeek.jpg

soozi.jpg

By the last look, though, this geek had got himself a makeover, and was now spec-free, with the bow tie sexily hanging loose and sporting a satin and velvet playboy jacket. An endearing and humorous collection that I thought was commercially viable too, and that’s no mean feat.

Amongst the womenswear Stephanie Moran gave us a hard-hitting collection about desire, fabulously quoting Mae West ‘s ‘Ten men waiting for me at the door?…send one of them home I’m tired’, and a vision of the glamorous dominatrix. One of the standout pieces was a cream PVC dress with a cinched feather corset around the waist, and for better or worse, one of the most popular trends during GFW was feathers. This was certainly one of the better examples:

moran.jpg

Considering Epsom had given us notes on each designer and their collection, I think it was admirable that Moran’s designs needed no explaining whatsoever, with her models bombing down the runway dressed in all manner of things naughty.

A particularly well-crafted collection was April Schmitz’s, who gave us a series of garments with some serious work put into unusual fabrics including hardware, folded leather and metal rings and eyelets. Entitled ‘Visions of the Future’ it gave a throwback to 1930s aviation with leather flight caps, a retro colour palette and the repetition of some swinging circles, with panels ejecting out of the garments providing strange contraption-esque silhouettes that you expected to take off at any moment.

april1.jpg

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Feathers popped up again, this time from Lucie Vincini with a stunning jacket from an eclectic menswear collection. Mixing embroidered jumpers with carrier bag trousers, basket weave coats with a jacket constructed out of Royal Mail bags, it showed that it is possible to draw from resources across the board and still construct a cohesive collection. A thrifty delight, and with its recycling sensibilities, obviously an Amelia’s Magazine favourite!

luciev.jpg

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Photos: Catwalking.com

Radical Nature: Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet 1969–2009

Barbican Art Gallery
Barbican Centre
Silk Street
London EC2Y 8DS
19 June – 18 October

Daily 11am-8pm except Tue & Wed 11am-6pm
Open until 10pm every Thursday

Tickets: £8/£6 concs, ailment £6 online

barbican1.jpg

A new season of ecologically focused exhibits, talks, events and screenings is taking place over the Summer at the Barbican. Kicking off the proceedings is this fascinating exhibition which deals with land art, environmental activism, experimental architecture, and inspiring ideas about utopian solutions to the urgent matter of climate change.
See the Barbican website for full details of all events over the next few months.

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Sarah Bridgland: In Place- New Collage Works

Man and Eve Gallery
131 Kennington Park Road
London SE11 4JJ
19th June – 1st August

Thursday – Saturday, 12 – 6pm

sarahlisting2.jpg

Bridging the gap between sculpture and collage, Sarah Bridgland’s intricate paper creations combine her own made printed media with junk shop treasure to form nostalgic pieces of meticulous craftsmenship. Simultaneously dreamlike and miniature while remaining technically genius, Bridgland’s collection of new work will transport you to other colourful, playful worlds.

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Various Artists: Two Degrees 2009

Toynbee Studios
28 Commercial Street
London E1 6AB
16-21 June

listings52degrees.jpg

The opening night of Two Degrees, Artadmin’s week long programme of politically, socially and environmentally charged events, is this Tuesday. Getting it’s name from last month’s report that a hugely damaging global temperature rise of 2C could be a mere 40 years away, the 20 or so artists involved are putting the issue of climate change at the forefront of our concerns.
The opening night features among other things Daniel Gosling’s video installation ‘I Can Feel the Ice Melting’ and the forward thinking London based group Magnificent Revolution generating music for the evening with a live bicycle-powered DJ set.

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R-art assist BASH@The Sustainable Art Awards 2009

BASH STudios
65-71 Scrutton Street
London EC2A 4PJ
June 16th

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Open Sailing by Cesar Harada

“The Sustainable Art Awards are open to any UK artist working within on the themes of sustainability, environmental issues, climate change and ecology. R-art will provide the awards for the SAA, these mini eco sculptures are the oscars of eco art! Sustainable Art Awards are a 2 week showcase of eco talent @ BASH Studios.
The Sustainable Art Awards is part of Respond! who aim to engage arts audiences in discussing and questioning environmental change. Respond! highlights how the arts industries are in a unique position to communicate environmental issues. Featuring exhibitions, talks, programmes, workshops and other activities. Respond! is an initiative co-founded by the Arts and Ecology center at The Royal Society of The Arts and BASH Creations.”

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Swapshop

Camden Arts Centre
Arkwright Road
London NW3 6DG
20th June
12:00 – 5:30pm

listings7cunha.jpg

Current artist in residence Alexandre da Cunha is putting together a Swapshop, which is becoming an ever increasingly popular means for people to get together and shed some of their unwanted belongings in exchange for new. Anything goes at this particular exchange; buttons, furniture- even art. To book your own stall please contact Ben Roberts on 0207 472 5500.

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Out of Range

The Rag Factory
16-18 Heneage Street
London E1 5LJ

12th June 22nd June
12-6pm daily, Saturdays 10-6pm
Free

outofrangelisting3.jpg

Tigran Asatrjan

If the extensive material on show at Brick Lane’s Free Range isn’t enough to satisfy your graduate show cravings, hop along to The Rag Factory to catch Out of Range where work from 29 emerging UK and European photographic artists recently set free from the University for the Creative Arts at Rochester is on display. The work promises to be fresh, innovative, exciting and diverse.

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Dominic Allan: The Irresistible Lure of Fatty Gingo 

Transition Gallery
Unit 25a Regent Studios
8 Andrews Road
London E8 4QN

13th June – 5th July
Fri – Sun, 12-6 pm
Free

listings4fattygingo.jpg

With what might just be the best title of an exhibition I’ve ever heard, Allan’s work is self described as ‘a world of rotten teeth, bubble and squeak and uncommon sense.’ With an unhealthy interest in British seaside culture and the bizarre link-ins local holiday getaways have with sugar coated junk we feast on, Allan’s work is repelling, alluring, mysterious and addictive all at once.

Monday 15th June
The Freewheeling Yo La Tengo at the Southbank Centre, sales London.

Tonight’s gig is one not to be missed- The Jonas Brothers at Wembley, health only joking of course. If you like your music a little more deflowered and lots more awesome, then I excitedly announce that Yo La Tengo will be playing the Southbank Centre tonight as part of Ornette Coleman’s Meltdown Festival. Yo La Tengo have shaped what is almost the last 20 years with their beautiful music which moves between eerie girl boy woozy vocals and minimal keyboards, to rocking genre bashing highs. Also ‘I’m Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass’ is the best album title ever!

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Tuesday 16th June
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs at Pure Groove, London.

I really love dinosaurs, so imagine my delight when I saw that a band called Totally Enormous Extinct Dinousaurs are playing Pure Groove on Tuesday evening. Being a music editor and planing gig going around loving extinct creatures is never the best idea so I checked their myspace and I can conclude my top 3 favourite things about this band, in descending order are:
3. They dress as dinosaurs a lot!
2. They have the longest list of alphabetised dinosaurs listed as their band members (Alphabetisation being my second favourite thing after fore-mentioned dinsosaurs)
1. Their keyboard tinged synthy-fun electro sounds so fun it makes me want to make up all kinds of dances called things like the ‘Triceratops Jive’ and the ‘Stegosaurus Shake’.
What’s your favourite dinosaur?

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Wednesday 17th June
Jolie Holland at Dingwalls, London.

When Tom Waits says he likes something you can pretty much tell it’s going to be good and Jolie Holland doesn’t disappoint. This Texan singer has had Waits’ outspoken support since the very beginning of her career, and her fresh take on traditional folk, country, blues and jazz place her as a definite protegée of Waits, as well as a talented musician in her own right.

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Thursday 18th June
A Hawk and a Hacksaw at Cecil Sharp House, London.

A Hawk and Hacksaw have skittered and clattered their way into my heart with their Klezmer- Indie hybrid loveable mess music. It sound like if Neutral Milk Hotel (indeed they share a drummer) got lost in the Baltic States for several decades in the early 20th century, armed only with a full brass band and a trusty band of wolves who were also in their own Mariachi band- and quite frankly how could that not sound amazing?

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Friday 19th June
Clinic at The Lexington, London.

I was lucky enough to see Clinic play last year and they are terrifying (they wear surgical masks) and brilliant in equal measure- like a melodic nightmare, lots of keyboards, creepy samples, garage-y clatters and wails are a-given, yet they manage to be as enjoyable as they are creepy.

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Saturday 20th June
Kitsuné Maison Party at La Scala, London.

We reviewed the Kitsune Maison 7 compilation a while back and liked it, they’re having a party at La Scala featuring Delphic (pictured below underwater), Chew Lips, We Have Band and Autokratz to name but a few. I can’t help but compare it to the Strictly Come Dancing tour that happens after the show ends; with everyone’s favourites appearing live, so maybe it’ll be like that but a very hip, French version.

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Continuing our festival preview adventure

I don’t like camping. Going to bed shivering and waking up sweating doesn’t appeal to me much, mind and claustrophobia in a two-man tent isn’t fun either. Don’t even mention the word ‘porta-loo’…But all this I will get over for Lounge on the Farm.

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For the past four years, sickness thousands of people have invaded Merton Farm in Canterbury, with a view to enjoying laid-back choons and getting down to some serious lounging. Despite it’s status as a ’boutique’ festival (one of The Time’s top twelve Boutique festivals, dontchaknow), there’s plenty to muck in with, down on the Farm.
Each of the six stages caters to a different taste, The Cow Shed hosting The Horrors, Edwyn Collins and The King Blues (as well as whoever you want, thanks to the You Say, They Play initiative – just mind the dung), Farm Folk, leaning towards a more acoustic experience and The Bandstand, rockin’ out the opera and punk rock karaoke.

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I’ll be spending most of the weekend with Gong, Canterbrerians of the ’60s who sing of teapot taxies, and the Wolf People, hairiest band I’ve ever seen who weren’t actually animals, down at the psychedelic Furthur Tent, and doubtlessly joining Mr. Scruff for an epic six hour afternoon tea mash-up at the Hoedown – blanket and thermos a!
requisite.
Lounge is foremost a local festival (for local people…) and it wouldn’t be, well, right, without Psychotic Reaction, Amber Room, Cocos Lovers, Syd Arthur, Electric River and Zoo For You, to name but a meagre few of the Kentish best performing this year.

It’s not all about the music though, in fact, in the Meadows area it’s not even about the music. New for 2009, the Meadows contains an outdoor theatre, petting zoo (pigs or partay?!) and The Red Tent if you feel in need of some spiritual healing after all the exhausting lounging about. Natural Pathways will be providing bushcraft courses, fulfilling all your wild wo/man fantasies and the Make do and Mend lane focuses on local craftsmen and their skills, with workshops running all weekend.

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Whatever tickles your pickle, solar powered cinema or life-drawing class – and music too – Lounge on the Farm is the perfect place to do exactly that.

Lounge on the Farm runs from the 10th to the 12th of July, at Merton Farm, Canterbury. Weekend tickets £85, day tickets, £35

Free Range at The Old Truman Brewery is Europe’s largest graduate art and design show with free admission. Graduates of everything from interior design to fine art who studied outside of London finally get a chance to showcase their talents in the countries capital.
I’ve been to a few Free Range shows this summer already, approved but last Thursday’s exhibition of photography graduates was the one I was most excited about.

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In this age art can really be anything, web Kant has been moved to the back seat and nobody thinks art has to be beautiful anymore. That said it’s almost impossible for photographers not to take images that look good. Just by being photographed the most mundane subject is rendered interesting and the most ugly object or person becomes so lovely that you just want to lick their glossy surface.

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The best of all the exhibitions on that week had to be Swansea, stuff Farnham and Maidstone. With so many photographers on show it seems pointless to make a reductive comment on whether entire graduate years were good or bad so I’ve decided to create a contact sheet if you will, of the people whose photographs looked that bit extra special.

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Jack Davis

I spent my first ten minutes in Free Range looking at Jack Davis’ landscape photographs. In them great colour and composition immediately makes the viewer forget that the scenes are completely empty.

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Lauren Eldekvist

In Lauren Eldekvist’s evocative series Landscapes, unmade beds are photographed and shown huge on the Truman Brewery’s walls. For the artist the bed “connotes the human condition; birth, life, sex, sleep, illness and death”. The pieces remind me very much of one of my favourite artists Felix Gonzalez Torres and his billboard photographs of an empty, but obviously slept in, bed.

Also intriguing were James Rugg’s photographs, which aim to capture small instances, chance meetings and gestures. In them the simple act of a girl twirling string around her fingers becomes something we should give our undivided attention to.

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James Rugg

Over at Maidstone University College of the Arts there were some strong conceptual works.
Lee Gavin presented an installation of Mapping a project that he undertook after the death of his Grandfather, he decided to cycle to Elvington in Kent, the birthplace of his Grandfather. Lee showed as his work the tent and bike he used for the trip and an interactive google map of the journey (available from his website and well worth a look.)

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Lee Gavin

As a lover of old box televisions and a distruster of 40” LCD monstrosities I almost cheered when I saw Jack Quick’s work. The artist is stepping into Nam June Paik rather large shoes with his television manipulation photographs and sculptures in which he attempts to challenge uses for, sadly, now defunct technologies.

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Jack Quick

Cassandra Vervoort questions the role of the photographer and the weight of their influence and command over the photographed. In these “social experiments” she asks subjects to have a five-minute sleep in her bed while she is naked underneath the covers.

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Cassandra Vervoort

There were other photographers creating situations for their unwitting volunteers to perform in. Gemma Bringloe was one, “Can you turn around, sit down, stand up and sit down” … “Can you take off as many clothes as possible”.

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Gemma Bringloe

And finally Laura Jenkins, who produced my favourite project of the entire show. The Tender Interval is brilliant in it’s simplicity. Actors were called forward in complete darkness and instructed to kiss. The photographs provide a record of the interval immediately before the kiss.

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Laura Jenkins

Free Range exhibitions continue until the middle of July. The Private view for the next group of photography shows is 6PM on Thursday. For a full list check out the Free Range website.

Words like ‘buzz’ and ‘hype’ sometimes transpire to be untrustworthy words bandied around by desperate press offices, ed but with the mid-afternoon Ravensbourne show the anticipation is undeniably huge. And rightly so – after rave reviews (two more alarm words) as well as producing the winner for the past two years, search we’re expecting an awful lot, ambulance and luckily we were not disappointed. In fact, far from it – it would be easy to ramble hyperbolically about how consistently brilliant the show was, or to point out how as a university it’s completely isolated in GFW by its galactically high standard, as elitist as that sounds, so I’ll try and keep focused.

If you’ve been following our reports (and you will have done if you know what’s good for you) you’ll have been aware of this years’ output of some truly outstanding menswear. Ravensbourne, of course, was no exception, with menswear designers Calum Harvey and Hannah Taylor opening and closing the show respectively (both of whom I’ll be interviewing in the coming days). Harvey had made a collection constructed from raw materials scavenged from car interiors, attesting to the strengths of the transformative powers of recycled fashion and making something beautiful – and indeed, wearable – out of something normally perceived as solely functional.

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A selection of huge knits (the oversized scarf on the opening look was a favourite) were followed by jackets layered with woven and shredded seatbelts worn over sheer shirts and gold pinstripe trousers. Making it no surprise that he later won the http://www.gfw.org.uk/event/winners.aspxTextile Award, Harvey had created a gorgeous paisley pattern on a shirt out of frayed gold zips, while seatbelts also served to layer and tier to help create voluminous silhouettes, in one case a high collar for a knitted jumper, whilst continuously coupling the industrial looking wool with plaid and tweed to neutralise the effect.

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The last look – an enormous tulle tiered cape in grey and black – seemed to typify a collection that was eminently wearable whilst staying on the right side of theatrical, and as for the patent leather bag with seatbelt fastener – yes please.

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Mehmet Ali’s menswear (which later won the Menswear Award) was a gorgeously sophisticated collection in a neutral palette of pink, cream and wine, layering summer jackets and waistcoats for the occasional Brideshead-lite feel. A series of simple and exquistively crafted designs that was lent a sweet personal touch by the use of Ali’s own suitcase with his initials emblazoned across.

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A strong showing for the womenswear came from Hannah Buswell ‘s collection of Missoni-esque knits, combining multi-patterned cardigans with knitted dresses for a beautiful and commercial winter collection.

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Laura Yiannakou was girly, quirky and unusual, working with digital prints and synthetic fabrics to create a colourful and seriously modern collection for the fashion forward woman.

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Yasmina Siddiqui also impressed with a series of Viktor & Rolf-style illustrated prints tied to ordinary silk dresses; surrealist prints that created unusual silhouettes, attempting to understand and rebrand perceptions of art and fashion:

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Hannah Taylor’s knitwear as the closer was easily the evening’s most enjoyable and surprising. Entitled ‘You’ll Grow Into It!’ it was a selection of oversized knits covered in animals ranging from tiny ducks to guinea pigs to foxes, paired with multicoloured balaclavas and enormous pom-pom headpieces (what did I tell you last month?)

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It successfully recreated the endearing sense of childlike fun in trying on something too big and it falling around your knees; combining loud designs with mustard-colour Rupert Bear pants, tweed trousers and enormous pom-pom collars. I especially loved the knitted balaclavas (creating an ironic sense of menace that could never be fully realised when you’ve got a massive guinea pig plastered across your body).

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Aside from this, irony is something that would elude such a collection that by nature was so ostensibly warm and affectionate, with a strong sense of sentiment that I think appealed to an awful lot of people (including Erin O’Connor who was whooping in the crowd). Hannah was later nominated for the Gold Award, and despite missing out was given a special mention by the judges, and currently has her collection on display in River Island.

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A truly fantastic show and a great way to finish Amelia’s Magazine’s stint at Graduate Fashion Week – look out for our interviews with a few of the graduates over the next couple of weeks!

Photos: Catwalking.com

Way back in 2006, view Neil Boorman lit a bonfire in Finsbury Square and burnt all of his branded possessions. Of course, there was a back story to this, rather than it simply being a case of a pyromaniac getting one over on the City of London council. Neil made this bold statement for two reasons. To protest the all pervasive consumer culture and to address his own issues and addictions to branded and labelled goods. In one fell swoop, £20,000 worth of designer products were incinerated. Since then, Neil has been living his life brand-free, and documenting the results on his blog, and in his book, Bonfire Of The Brands.

While this bonfire took place three years ago, the argument about consumer culture, and the willingness of the general public to spend money that they don’t have on something simply because it ‘looks cool’ is as pertinent now as it was then. Few people in 2006 could have predicted the economic and environmental mess that we are now in. By raising concerns over the irresponsible actions of large corporations who would use every trick in the bag to entice us to buy their products, Neil was already drawing attention to the cracks in the system. As often happens, a prophet is never appreciated in his time, and Neil’s actions were met with a flood of negative responses, many from people who argued that his posessions should have been donated to charity rather than burnt. Exploring the reasons behind the criticism, he suggested that “this reaction has less to do with charity than the overall value that we have come to place on branded things; nowadays, to willingly destroy an expensive bag amounts to the same moral and cultural neglect as burning a book.”

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Having seen that Neil was going to be speaking recently at the Arcola Theatre’s Green Sundays event in Dalston, I was interested to hear an update on how his brand-free life is working out, and what he made of the new, paired down version of consumerism that is being peddled to us. While brands are wising up to the facts that a) we don’t have much money to spend on non-essential items and b) we are savvier about how these products are being produced, many labels are going out of their way to champion phrases in their marketing, such as ‘fair trade‘, ‘ethically produced’, ‘locally sourced’ etc, but is this all a white wash? And if we continue buying from the big brands – no matter what placatory words they might throw at us – are we still missing the point?

When you came up with the idea for the book in 2006, consumerism was still king. Now in 2009, the Bonfire of The Brands manifesto has become all the more apparent in the current economic climate and environmental chaos. Do you feel a element of schadenfreude seeing that you were one of the first to voice your concerns?

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It does feel like the country’s mood towards shopping has changed in the last few years. Recently someone confessed to me that they used to nip out to buy a new pair of sunglasses whenever they felt down, but now that money was tight, they felt stupid about it all. I get a lot of people confessing their consumer sins to me. I’m not sure how I feel about that – I didn’t write the book to make people feel embarrassed. If anything, I wanted people to feel angry that consumer culture is rammed down our throats so often. I definitely would have sold more copies of the book had it come out this year. But what would I spend the money on? There’s only so many non-branded plimsolls a person can buy.

Are people more responsive to your message now then when your book was first published?

People think I’m slightly less bonkers than before, but they’ve not stuck my poster on the wall in Selfridges just yet. We all got sidetracked by the boom a few years back, and most sensible people have snapped out of it for the time being. It’s the legions of people still flooding into Primark that I can’t work out. So many people buy gear on the never-never that the recession is meaningless to them. People laughed at me when I suggested that we are a nation hooked on shopping, but you can see it for your own eyes on the high street every day. The world might be on meltdown, but there’s still time to buy a pair of deck shoes.

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Do you think that the big brands have responded appropriately to the economic crisis and new wave of consumer awareness about where their products are coming from?

Recessions strike at the heart of big brands. Not just at the till, but at the value of the brand. Luxury is based on the principle that more is more – the more you spend, the more luxury you get. As soon as you start to discount your stock, that myth goes out of the window.  And all those uber-luxe ads you see in Sunday Supplements look ridiculous next to reports of mass unemployment. Luxury is a house of cards like that. The best they can hope for is that the economy picks up, and consumers forget about all this ‘ethical nonsense’.

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Are there any brands that you would consider buying from again?

I’m slightly less militant now than I was after the bonfire. I’d be happy to buy something from a brand that has it’s house in order – a brand that looks after it’s staff and doesn’t needlessly pollute. But there’s no way I’d wear their logo on my chest ever again. Looking back, I was like a human billboard. Back in the 1920′s, companies used to pay people to pin company slogans on their clothes. Now we do it for free – in fact we pay for the privilege. How on earth did we get here?

Amelia’s Magazine are always keen to support ethical designers and products. Do you find that a non-brand generally equals something ethical? I would think that on the one hand you can spot the holes in a large brand, and it is easier to find out information about them, but if you were to pick up, say, a plain t-shirt from a charity shop, you would have no way of knowing if it had potentially come from a sweat shop. What are your thoughts on this? 

You’ve found the gaping hole in my argument – brands do help us to identify which product does what, and how it was made. But then there’s so much greenwash about right now its difficult to decide which brand is telling the truth. I mean, American Apparel boasts that it only uses American labour. But as far as I know, they still pay a rock bottom minimum wage and only Mexican immigrants on skid row that can afford to work in their factories. Those kooky young things in the ads – they don’t stitch liquid tights for a living.

The easiest way to cut through all these dilemmas is to concentrate on wants and needs. Every time I’m tempted to buy something new, I ask myself if I really need it. If the answer is no, then I put it back on the shelf and walk out the store a richer man. Life goes on. 

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Going back a few years ago, you founded the infamous Shoreditch Twat; having experienced many Londoners in perhaps their least appealing and most pretentious forms, do you ever doubt the sincerity of those who are now jumping on the anti consumerism bandwagon?  And if so, is this necessarily a bad thing if the outcome of non brand buying is still a positive one? 

I don’t know about people in Shoreditch, but I do slightly worry about all the Sloaney fashion journalists that have started banging on about frugal chic. Alarm bells have got to start ringing when people at The Sunday Times call something ‘chic’. They’re terrified of committing to anything meaningful in case it goes out of style. And then where would they be? Trust me, they’ll be back down to Hermes when the economy picks up. But what the hell, I reckon its better to dip in and out of anti-consumerism than not at all.

What is news with your blog now? Will this remain an ongoing issue for you, and will you continue to write about your experiences with anti-consumerism?

I’m writing less but campaigning more. I’ve got a few stunts that I’m going to pull later in the year, and a big push in the run up to the election. Right now, I feel like less talk and more action. When shopping isn’t a Saturday afternoon leisure option, you have to find other things to do.
How important is the relationship between an artist and her aunt? For Miriam Zadik Gold, approved whose latest exhibition ‘Who is Mary Jane’ opens at Prick Your Finger on June 18, online it’s a pretty damn important relationship.

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Photo by Kirsty Hall

In fact, visit this it’s fair to say that the work in the show wouldn’t exist without Miriam’s Aunt Sue, a car-boot sale connoisseur who runs a stall selling buttons, badges and old Ladybird books every Saturday at Broadway Market. It was Aunt Sue who found six old ceramic dolls heads in a charity shop and bought them for her niece whom she thought would like them. Miriam did like them, but couldn’t think what to do with them and put them high on a shelf in her studio for a few years.

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It wasn’t until she was crocheting a pair of Mary Jane shoes for her own daughter that Miriam began to wonder about Mary Jane – why were the shoes named after her? Who was she? And why did so many musicians name-check her in their songs?

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Things began to take shape. Miriam spent hours on the internet, noting down every Mary Jane-related song lyric she could find, from Nick Drake through to John Lennon to Mary J. Blige. Taking the lyrics as her inspiration she created a different Mary Jane persona for each of the dolls’ heads, and began to craft bodies, clothes and backgrounds for each one. When she came across things she couldn’t make, such as a tiny denim jacket, she turned to dolls’ clothes makers on etsy.com and commissioned miniature pieces for her band of tiny muses.

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Miriam hopes that by giving these dolls a little more of an identity, she will bestow more of an inner life to the somewhat submissive Mary Janes described in the songs: ‘There was something quite passive about the way the dolls were waiting on the shelf for me to give them a story, to give them a life. For each one, I quickly had a clear sense of a little story of my own that sat behind the lyrics.’

Click here for more information about Prick Your Finger and their upcoming events.
It was Daniel Almeroth’s “The Birth of Feminism” series that formed an entry into Dazed & Confused’s Free Range competition that first caught my eye and drew me in. These sparsely yet beautifully constructed collages are not only visually pleasing but make a bold statement about the feminist movement too. He explains the work as “moments of metaphorical and symbolical events before and after this dramatic political movement. The point of the series is to highlight the tight control Men had over Women throughout our past; through religion, symptoms marriage and general social attitudes.”

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Delving deeper into Almeroth’s work, I notice a similar thread of stunning aesthetics teamed with clever insights running through his artistic repertoire. The Injured Body, for example, “tries to highlight the factor of deformities due to accidents and incidents. It comments on the relationship of a figure of heroism and the true reception they may receive.”

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The sign of a good artist in my opinion is one who can create work with meaning or a message, yet leave it up to the audience to form their own perspectives, drawing on individual personal references and experiences. Nothing is less attractive then artists who dictate your reactions and responses. Almeroth concurs, saying “I want to leave these images open to interpretation, to challenge the observer to reach a personal conclusion of the images intent.”
It was a pleasure to get to know him a bit better and find out what makes him tick.

When did you first realise you were creative?

I first got into illustration when I was a little’n, I use to draw landscapes of cities being destroyed by dinosaurs, covering it in glitter and dry macaroni. I like to think I’ve changed since then!

Tell me about your school days.

I completed my A’levels at Shenfield High School (where Richard from Richard and Judy, and Des from Diggit went to school!). I then studied my foundation at Thurrock & Basildon College, Essex. Then got into the Arts Institute at Bournemouth studying the Ba Hons Animation Production course, changing to Ba Hons Illustration at the Arts Institute at Bournemouth in my second year.

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Which artists or illustrators do you most admire?
Klaus Voorman is top notch, Tara Donovan is definitely my artist of the hour and the illustrator Meyoko is particularly phenomenal.

Who or what is Crabwolf and what is your involvement?

Recently I have joined a collective with four other illustrators/designers under the name of CRABWOLF. Crabwolf was born one night over dinner, beers, drawings, some roulette and a scorpion. All consisting of graduates from the illustration course at the Bournemouth Arts Institute. We commonly all collaborate on projects such as our recent Limehouse Magazine front covers, greeting cards, promotional posters/materials, possible exhibitions in London and Dublin are lined up, a zine or two in the pipeline and discussing ideas for t-shirt ranges and hand screen printed posters that are just so good for the environment. Today Bournemouth, tomorrow? …The world.

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Tell us something about Daniel Almeroth that we didn’t know already.

I’m an Essex boy, born and raised, at Eastgate shopping centre is where I spent most of my days.

If you could time travel back or forward to any era, where would you go?

I’d go back to the Victorian times, making a couple of stop offs along the way. Firstly the 90′s and don an under cut then the 70′s to acquire a taste for free love, then become the most insanely popular/rich/famous man that ever lived in the Victorian era.

If you weren’t an artist, what would you be doing?

Probably get started on making that time machine.

Which band past or present would provide the soundtrack to your life?

Mulatu Astatke. Brilliant.

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I say Modern Art is Rubbish, you say…?

“MODERN ART = I COULD DO THAT + YEAH BUT YOU DIDNT” Craig Damrauer.

What would your pub quiz specialist subject be?

Probably a mixture of Arts, Entertainment, Geography, History, Sports, Nature, Food and Miscellaneous. They call me the quiz meister, a necessity for every team!

Who or what is your nemesis?

Tomato Ketchup & Moths.

What piece of modern technology can you not live without?

My desktop iMac. Her name is Selina.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Having a pint, a rollie and drawing in the garden.

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What has been keeping you busy of late?

I’ve recently received briefs for editorial work in a few magazines, promotional posters and flyers for events, I also had my work exhibited in a local exhibition named Ishihara (which is possibly branching out to London in the near future). Me and fellow illustrator Selina Kerley also have produced a three edition Fanzine named Chien Schuanz that promoted ourselves and other local artists, selling them on the internet and local events in Bournemouth. I have also produced a limited stock of screen printed t-shirts and jumpers that are selling like hot cakes that’s keeping me warm from the recession!

What advice would you give up and coming artists?

Shameless self promotion, self initiated projects, collaborating, spending all day on the internet and with a pencil in your hand.

Who would your top five dream dinner guests be? Who would do the washing up?

I think it would have to be in a Come Dine With Me layout with Frieda Kahlo, Jean Claude Van Damme, Ghandi, Sir Alan Sugar and Picasso. I’d make Ghandi and Sir Alan Sugar wrestle, the loser would do the washing up.

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What’s next for you then?

At the beginning of July some friends and I are exhibiting and manning a stool at the next D&AD space in Earl’s Court, so pop along for a chat and some freebies! I also plan to help create and brand a Fashion magazine which is currently starting to emerge on the drawing boards.

All hail Daniel Almeroth and The Crabwolf Collective. You heard it here first.
All good superheroes have an alter ego; Peter Parker/ Spiderman, doctor Clark Kent/ Superman, Bruce Wayne/ Batman, and now Randolph J. Shabot/ Deastro. As super-hero names go it’s a pretty good one, and his new album ‘Moondagger’ plays like a soundtrack to an epic sky scraper top battle between ultimate super-powered nemesis, whist retaining a bashful sweetness of a superhero’s geeky quotidian alter-ego.
What’s more Deastro is exactly the same age as me, which on a personal level makes him all the more awesome, whilst I get finger cramps from trying to play my ukulele, he has created an epic synth-driven outer space soundscape; of course it’s not a competition but if it was he’d win.

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How did you get into music?
My Uncle bought me a guitar when I was 5 and taught me to play ’3 Little Indians’, and I’ve been singing in choirs since about then too, and so I guess I’ve always been into it.

If you had to pick someone as a main influence who would it be?
It’s really a tie between Brian Wilson and Steve Reich.

Ok, good choices! Who would provide the soundtrack to your life?
I would have to say Starflyer 59, they’re like this Christian shoegaze band and they have these lyrics that are about really simple things. It’s great, I love it.

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If you weren’t making music right now what do you think you’d be doing?
I’d be a teacher.

What piece of modern technology could you not live without?
Probably my laptop, it’s what I make music on so it’d be hard to live without it.

Who or what is your nemesis?
(laughs) My guitar player is my nemesis.

Really? Is he a secret nemesis or is it quite an open thing?
It’s pretty open, We love each other but we fight all the time.

What is your guilty pleasure?
Chocolate ice-cream, you can’t put me in front of a thing of chocolate ice-cream, I’ll eat the whole thing!

If you were making a mixtape for me which 5 songs would you put on it?
‘Come on, Let’s Go’ by Broadcast

Ahh I love Broadcast!
‘God Only Knows’ by the Beach Boys
‘I Drive A Lot’ by Starflyer 59
‘California Shake’ by Margo Guryan
‘Teenager’ by Department of Eagles
That would be a really fun mix.

If you had a time machine which era in the past or future would you travel to?
This is going to sound really lame, but I’d probably go back to the dinosaur era.

That’s not lame at all! Dinosaurs are ah-mazing…
Yeah, it would be really interesting to see another evolutionary path, just mind-blowing.

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What would be your quiz specialist subject?
Bible trivia, I went to school to be a pastor when I was 17, I’m not really a Chrisitan anymore but I was the 10th ranked Bible quizzer for a short minute there when I was a kid.

Wow! Do you have any good Bible trivia for me?
Who was the oldest man in the Bible?

Errm…God?
(laughs) God’s not technically a man…It’s Metheuselah who lived to 969 allegedly…

Which 5 people would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Socrates, Michael Jackson, Jesus…ermm this sounds ridiculous Michael Jackson and Jesus!, Chris Martin just because I’d like to see him in a room with those people and Mahatma Gandhi.

…and who would do the washing up?
Chris Martin (laughs) no, I’d probably end up doing it myself actually.

Tell us a secret…
A lot of mine are really disgusting, I’m trying to think of one that’s kosher…both my front teeth are fake, I fell of my bike and chipped them as a kid.

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After a week of technicolored, malady although not always technical, capsule undergraduate shows, ailment rife with misdirected or altogether unmanned piloting of a laser cutter, and occasionally some superior sparks of creative genius, we come to the much anticipated collections of MA graduates from the Royal College of Art. A troop of fine tailoring, sophisticated textiles and stellar styling, this year’s cadets are ready for the fray. Recurring in various forms were the bow tie a la 1920′s, pom poms which echoed the catwalks overseas, silicone, galaxy prints and leather in more variations than you can shake a needle at.

WOMENSWEAR

johanne%20andersonX.jpgJohanne Kappel Anderson

Johanne Kappel Anderson’s magpie inspired collection was full voluminous fabrics and illustrative prints, solar dust blasted leathers and super oversized graphic pastels on black. Digitally printed leotards flashed patterns comprised of jewelry, spoons, bolts and found objects just the kind of shiny thing a magpie might take home to his nest. A few prints and shapes seemed to conjure up another winged creature…moths.
Some earthy prints with contrasty ‘eyes’ fluttered down the catwalk… there was even a cocoon jacket!

Heidi-WikarX.jpgHeidi Wikar

Heidi Wikar ‘s collection ‘Singing Silence’ was a series of diaphorous clouds said to be inspired by a Scandinavian landscape’s emptiness. Makes sense…if you were planning to experience it through a window, from the downy comfort of your bed. Puffy duvets appeared trapped in spiderwebs of muted greys, ochres, creams and white. All the shape and volume of modern silhouettes but without the overly structured and cresting shoulders prevalent in so many other collections this year. What resembled a bright orange parachute with clever gathers and seaming became a dress filled with pockets of air and completely weightless. Air itself acted as a material, giving shape and structure to the pieces. Apparently part of a design challenge the entire collection can be packed into one 20 kg rucksack. As if those rosey cheeked fraus needed anymore help looking amazing in the dead of winter.

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Up from the realm of textiles rose an innovative take on shibori by Siofra Murphy. What seems to have started as a super large muted floral print soon condensed into a rippled shell of body-con dresses with necklines that rose around from behind the shoulders like neck supports. Paired with stretchy basics the nuanced surface went from bold to muted but remained incredibly intriguing.

liamX.jpgLiam Evans

Liam Evans presented one the best examples of laser cutting in a year rife with its abuse. Transcending the weighty characteristics of leather, he exploited the laser cutter for the impossible precision it was made to do. With the aid of sturdy zips Evans jigsawed his garments into a collage of ultrafine leathers. Loose motorcycle jackets were studded with an organic arrangement of thorny spikes and paired with chiffon dresses a la 90′s.

rachaelX.jpgRachael Barrett

Inspired by photos in Corinne Day‘s Diary, Rachael Barrett’s collection was a modern assortment of soft feminine silhouettes constructed of a soft silicone rubber. Conservative hemlines and generous shaping gave the illusion of transparent shells revealing moments of black chiffon lace. Clever cutting allowed for ease of movement and portrayed the designers interest in the “trapped space between body and dress”.

MENSWEAR

AlexMattsonX.jpgAlex Mattson

Based on a post-apocolyptic Mexican hi-tech tribal gang in LA (that explains the Hollywood flash) that has reverted to Aztec/Mayan rituals and beliefs (still with me?) Alex Mattson’s collection is like a well tailored Malibu super hero’s wardrobe. Full of comic book colors and supple leathers the foam helmets and neckpieces were a cartoony take on the tooth-n-claw talismans of ancient Incans. Only a matter of time before they make their way onto the set of an ‘Empire of the Sun’ video, yes?

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These delicately squiggly pinstriped suits made for one hot ice cream parlor attendant. Keith Gray presented a series of bright and fresh menswear in expertly tailored shirts and snug trousers with tromp l’oeil knits. Dropped crotches and retreating hems kept the whole look impossibly modern 20′s chic.

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The only textiles MA graduate to send a collection down the runway did not disappoint. Louise Loubatieres juggled an exotic mix of bold ikat prints and roomy knits. A rich palette and roomy shapes complete with a 20′s beachsuit. Wonder if Walter Van Beirendonck will be knocking on this one’s door.

luis%20lopez-smithX.jpg Luis Lopez-Smith

As this was a show it’s safe to say that Luis Lopez-Smith was the circus leader. Marching band jackets in various forms and a few green googly-eyed caterpillars adorned a few torsos with the piece de resistance being a puffy vest that looked as though it’d walked right off the set of Terry Gilliam ‘s ‘Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen’
A fantastic display of craftsmanship and impeccable tailoring lent it’s support to an impressively balanced offering of innovative textiles and experimental shapes. All the intelligent risk taking one can continue to expect from such a world class school.
Have you got a favorite of your own?
Browsing old PhD theses, this as you do of the odd grey Sunday evening, you might come across the quiet mindbend that is Stephen Stirling’s ‘Whole Systems Thinking as a Basis for Paradigm Change in Education: Explorations in the Context of Sustainability’. Gosh. Well, you made it past quiet armchair moments (not quite The Foundry of a Friday night) and the obligatory don-speak of Stephen’s title – and somehow you’re still reading, and maybe you’re starting to get the problem I see before us in this article : that, shrouded in the ivory mist of academia, someone has written clearly and thoughtfully about changing the way we think, but a first glance all too easily sees a glut of Greek and runs away. Instead, try putting your head into a mindset quite different:

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Illustrations by Rui Sousa

Everyone tells themselves stories about the world. I’m a student, a writer, a brother. Don’t worry, you’ll not have my life story – not tonight, anyway – but there is one, or several, smoothly edited to my audience’s appetite for imaginary journeys around the world, or encounters with mad professors. But before you pin me down as some grand raconteur, check yourself out, last time you introduced yourself or got chatting to someone new.

Here’s the story-about-the-world jam. We look at the world, then we have a think about it, then we decide what to do.

Mostly, we look at the world bit by bit. Everything has a reason, and we try to find *the* reason. When something needs to be done, the straight way is best. Results delivered, satisfaction guaranteed. Kiss frog, find prince, all shiny.

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Thing is, this doesn’t quite do our complex world justice, and imagining the world inadequately means we’ll make wrong decisions. Instead, Stephen suggests we look at everything all together, relations and systems rather than objects and actions. Be much more sensitive to all of the causes and consequences – the stone scudded across a river sends ripples in all directions, cheers me up a moment, and sinks, tickling a snoozing whiskered fish. Turns up a hundred years later, tumbled bumped and rounded to perfection, and stubs a distant relative’s toe on Brighton beach.

This systems approach was pioneered in, amongst other works, Limits to Growth by Dana Meadows, Dennis Meadows and Jorgen Randers – an awesome book, classic of eco-lit, stuffed with graphs from the future that go shwoop-kerbang as people and pollution go up, food and farmland go down, and all the balance of the world’s systems are shown together. There’s a new edition out, a thirty-years-on update, which I haven’t read yet, but is high up on my list, just after ‘The Italian’s Defiant Mistress’.

Stephen Stirling is concerned with getting this kind of joined-up thinking a matter of course, throughout design education, but also throughout education in the more general, lifelong way. There’s a way to go, I can tell you from a wee bit of personal experience. Sat in the back of a GCSE Electronic Products class six or seven years ago, the three marks of my coursework dedicated to sustainability caught my attention for a long three minutes as I knocked off a paragraph to tack on to my project, jumping another hoop. This is about as far as sustainability in design education goes for now.

First off, says Stephen, is changing things we do without changing how we think. So, less waste makes more sense because I’ll save money, whether I care about where it goes or not. Similarly, not growing one single kind of crop year in year out won’t wear out the soil, and helps against pests and disease – good business plan.

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Next level is the change in the way of thinking that goes along with this. Understanding our relation with the world not in the straight ‘man conquer forest’ way but ‘man use a bit of forest but is careful before his greed comes back and kicks him in the teeth’. Stephen Stirling calls it the ‘postmodern ecological worldview’ and suggests it as the best way forward from mechanical modernism and text- and sign- obsessed postmodernism. The 2012 imperative Teach-in, which Amelia’s magazine blogged about back in January, puts sustainability right at the centre of design education in this way.

Finally there’s the kind of wondering that Stephen’s thesis looks to – thinking about thinking about thinking, if you’re that way inclined. Wondering about how we tell stories about the world, and how our ways of telling might change, how they might need to change if we are to learn to live many many moons longer under these skies.

‘Whole Systems Thinking’ and ecological literacy are no longer just things to know about. They should certainly not be mere buzzwords tacked on a Corporate Social Responsibility statement or curriculum check-box and forgotten about. They need to start informing our every action. Eventually, they’ll be as mundane as sitting in a quiet armchair of a grey Sunday evening, flicking through a history of the early twenty-first century green-shift. Here’s to that.

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For anybody out there who ever got given a jumper that was too big for them by doting aunt or grandparent – Hannah Taylor, order the Ravensbourne graduate whose praises I was singing on Tuesday, there is right there with you. Her collection is a paene to the nostalgia attached to the big old jumper, when things were less complicated, when the hemline fell below your knees and when somebody had to tie your shoelaces for you (velcro was always easier, no?). Sometimes, though, you wouldn’t be caught dead in said jumper. Spare a thought for the Weasley children. Mrs Weasley WISHES she could knit this good.

Tell me about making your collection.

Well, most of them I knitted using my domestic knitting machine, and the two with the ‘balaclava faces’ on them, including the balaclavas themselves are hand knitted. Everything is either oversized somehow or has shrunken sleeves, the collection is called “You’ll Grow Into It!”

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Why animals?

As in traditional knitwear which features ‘motifs’ of animals or objects, each animal is a motif to represent ‘Victor’ (my dad) and the North, and kind of tells its own little story. For example, there’s a pigeon because stereotypically everybody up North keeps pigeons in a shed next door to their outside toilet.. The 3 flying ducks are after Hilda Ogden’s living room wall in Coronation Street, and also at home where Victor lives, we had 3 pet ducks. The Fox is a symbol of English Heritage and the sad fact that Victor only now has two ducks because at Christmas one was eaten by, yep, a fox, and the guinea pig is there because i used to keep them when I was younger, and Victor would tell me off for never cleaning them out as much as I should have done. Oops.

What’s your favourite piece?

I love each one you know, they’ve all got their own little stories to tell! However I think it has to be Nigel the Guinea Pig jumper as he is the first one I knitted in the collection.

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It was probably one of the best received in the whole of Graduate Fashion Week – why do you think it appealed to people so much?

Aw thank you! I am really glad people enjoyed it, people were probably a bit surprised by it to be honest, and weren’t expecting that to come out on the catwalk! I had fun with my collection, in both the designing and the making, and hope the light-hearted element was was portrayed as I think everyone has an affinity with knitting in some way, shape or form, be it jumpers knitted for them by relatives or someone else they know. I think in the past few decades knitting has become percieved as ‘humorous’ too, so that tends to make people laugh whereas in the past knitters (and knitting) were taken much more seriously.

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What was it that drew you to knitwear initially?

I just love knitting! I was shown when I was younger by my mum but I was AWFUL – I lost my patience with it but picked it up again when I got a bit older and taught myself. Before I started at Ravensbourne I used to run knitting groups in my hometown of Warrington! I think there’s alot of potential in men’s knitwear, I like to think of a boy and ‘dress’ him in a certain way or feeling. I am looking forward to continuing with it.

There seemed to be a massive amount of knitwear at GFW – have you noticed an increase too and why do you think it’s becoming more popular?

Knitting is becoming more popular, especially the social aspect of it and I wonder if it’s going to die down again at some point. If more people are learning the techniques and processes then they will use this for constructing a garment. I also wonder if it is because people are wanting something hand-made or hand-finished, one offs.

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Apparently Giles Deacon was trying on your stuff afterwards – what did you make of that?

Surprising to say the least! It was quite a fast paced few days going from a bit of last-minute linking an hour before it was due to start(!) to then being put forward for the Gala Shows – I wonder if Giles is reading this? I’m taking orders soon if you want one!

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In the aftermath, would you have alterered anything at all?

No I don’t think so – if it’s not broken don’t fix it.

Where next from here? Where could you see yourself working?

I like Walter Van Beirendonck‘s work, I think he’d be great to work for, although there’s a couple of people i’d knit for as it’s the knitting I enjoy the most. I wouldn’t mind my own studio actually, and be able to do all the knitting there. I’ll be starting at the Royal College of Art in September to do my MA in Men’s Knitwear, a 2 year course in which I’m really looking forward to and eventually knitting up another collection!

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To keep up with Hannah, make sure to keep checking both her website and her blog.

Waking up at around half 11 the last thing that I expected I would be doing today was going to see a band that up until a few months ago I thought I had missed the boat with. But having checked the blur forums (something which has now become part of my flatmate’s and I morning routines during the last few months) I discover that Blur are playing a gig somewhere in London tonight. I should probably explain here that blur are without doubt my favourite band and have been for some time; 13 was the second album I ever bought. Details about are sketchy; all I know is that there are 170 tickets available, drugs that I have to go to Brixton to get one and that they have already been available for the past three quarters of an hour. Shit. I rush upstairs and begin shouting nonsensically to my two flatmates that we have to get to Brixton and fast, there there will be no time for showers (an unfortunate circumstance for fellow tube users given that I spent the previous day travelling and it is a warm day – apologies). Luckily they are on side so we sprint down to the station and navigate our way to towards Brixton, sprinting between tube changes only stopping when we arrive at Brixton to question someone as to where exactly the academy is from there. They give us directions and inform us that we will definitely get wristbands for tonight’s gig as they have just got some themselves. We continue sprinting never the less.
When we arrive we are given pieces of paper with numbers on them – 68, 69, 70. There is a short wait in line and as we are given our wristbands we are warned that when we are informed of the whereabouts of the gig (by email and text) that we should not reveal it to anyone as if too many people arrive it may jeopardise it taking place. Given that I have only been awake for an hour now this is all rather surreal. We reward our efforts with breakfast in a greasy spoon round the corner.
Five o’clock; showered and shaved now we get the email.
Blur will be playing a few songs for the lucky few that have passes at Rough Trade East, Dray Walk, 91 Brick Lane, E1 6QL, today, Monday 15th June.

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Please get to the venue no earlier than 6.30m otherwise you may jeopardise the gig. The band will be on stage at 7pm sharp.”
This time travelling is a much more relaxing experience, there is no panicking when the train pauses between stations and we arrive in plenty of time. Having queued up and taken our spot (front stage, to the left, in front of Coxon’s mike) I talk to someone who tells me that he has been following Blur live since 1995. He looks slightly taken aback when I tell him that this is my first gig. There is a tangible sense of anticipation in the audience, no doubt increased by the intimate setting – when the band do come on stage even though I am three deep in the crowd I rarely more than three feet away.

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The band come on stage Damon strutting, Graham looking slightly awkward, and Alex James once again taking the cool rock star mantle (as opposed to the cool cheese farmer). She’s So High is the first track and in my opinion at least the audience seems unsure of quite how to react, a little awed. Any lingering notions that this will be a quiet gig are soon dismissed though as the band launch into Girls and Boys followed by Advert, the air is thick with the sweat of not just the audience but also Damon as he jumps about the stage much in the same vein as in the mid 90′s and the audience react in kind. Following this we are treated to a version of Beetlebum with an extended muted intro. End of the Century is next, before Graham assumes lead vocals for Coffee and TV. Years of playing solo must have imbued him with an increase in confidence but he still has a tendency to sing into the microphone rather than towards the audience. I would argue that this was more endearing than an annoyance as was a moment later on in the set when Tender was played as neither Graham nor Damon appeared to be entirely sure of who should be singing but simply smiled off the mistake. Out Of time is next up, the only song which is played from Think Tank (the album Blur recorded mostly without Graham). Graham’s new guitar part for me is a welcomed edition personally, though my flatmate disagrees – perhaps it should have been a little lower in the mix. Tender’s sprawling ballad like nature is pushed out even further to include an acoustic only segment near the end before launching back into the full band version. For me this was the best song of the night for a number reasons, not because of the Freudian banter about Alex’s upturned bass functioning as a double bass “It’s anything you want it to be”, yes Damon.

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It is the final part of the gig that audience anticipation reaches its climax in though, Popscene turns the crowd into a manic, sweat filled, pulsating machine. The intensity only increases when this is followed immediately by Song 2 and Parklife. The latter of these two is almost certainly an a grade example of how to whip a crowd into a frenzy, threaten to come off the stage but don’t ever quite do it. Finally the band ends with This is a Low, a song which succeeds in leaving the audience wanting more, staying to shout for an encore which unfortunately is not forth coming.
Perhaps the best thing about last night’s gig was pointed out by my friend, Blur played with such intensive energy that it didn’t feel like you were watching a well established act. Rather a new band that was just starting up and had to make a name for themselves.
1 man. 8 weeks. 15 sites. 41 cities. 50 sofas, prostate beds and mattresses.

These are the numbers in the equation of Lithuanian Photographer Paul Paper’s latest project, unhealthy entitled Photodiaries, which took him around the continent in 2008 and make up the content of a travelling exhibition currently taking up residency at the Senko Studios in Viborg, Denmark.

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Paul explained to me that the only planning that went into the voyage consisted of printing out an A4 sized map of Europe, on which he made small dots with possible “places to stay”, though was only certain of his destinations one stop in advance. He tells me his spontaneous nature isn’t entirely to blame for this; a combination of offers from hosts coming last minute and the uncontrollable unexpected twists of fate, including rail strikes in France, all contributed to a more freeform journey.

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He took all the footage on film rather than by digital means, just how holiday snaps were done in childhood- only processed when back home and removed from the transient content in which they were taken, making one instantly nostalgic to be back on the road. When I asked Paul if travelling alone was a conscious decision he made, he explained “When you are alone you are the most vulnerable and absorbent of the environment. In my case it was really good as instead of chatting I had loads of time to write diary on the train or just reflect on the last couple of days.”

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A comfortable solitude is most definitely present in his work; even those images which contain figures still resonate a quiet contemplation of their surroundings. I find his work to so carefully and accurately capture a glimpse of a moment that may otherwise have slipped away out of memory; his photographs are not sensationalist or arrogant, but subtle and melancholic. You can smell, hear and taste them. They are at once personal and open to interpretation.

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They chiefly occupy themselves with capturing the miracle within everyday monotony. It may be a familiar practise for artists to hunt down and capitalise the rare and special from amidst the overlooked mundane, but Paper manages to use light and focus rather than say image cropping or careful composition to achieve this, which I find impossibly impressive.
Paul Paper is a man of simple pleasures. He daydreams, he sleeps, he walks and he eats. In winter he reads in bed about faraway places and long ago travellers. He finds company in animals and comfort in books. He also happens to take heartbreaking photographs, the ones of which he took around Europe late last year have been made into a zine by Cafe Royal. He cites his favourite subjects to photograph as people and awkward situations.

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Paul Paper already has invitations to stay in homes in South America and Asia if Photodiaries is to be repeated across another continent in the future. I ask him what his future plans are looking like, though I only get a vague response; “Exhibitions, exhibitions, exhibitions. And maybe a book.” This only cements my impression of Paper as someone who is fairly content with what he has; A man who is happy to be a photographic observer to life’s little miracles and common tragedies, there to enjoy the ride and document it the best he can.

And the way he can, and does, is certainly best.

A few weeks ago, stomach Amelia and I attended a conference presented by Resurgence Magazine, what is ed a publication which promotes ecological sustainability, social justice and spiritual values. It was held on a Saturday, and to be honest, it was such a glorious warm sunny day that I wondered how I was going to be able to spend seven hours indoors. I needn’t have worried, because the time flew by, and every moment was spent in the company of wise, witty and informed people. What I discovered on that day was invaluable, and I soon realised that lazying around outdoors could wait, I had some learning to do.

The talk was entitled “Economic and Environmental Recovery: From Downturn to Steady State: Creating A Better World To Recover From The Credit Crunch And The Nature Crunch”, and was chaired by the Editor of Resurgence Magazine, Satish Kumar; alongside was Fritjof Capra, the Director of the Centre for Ecoliteracy in California and Ann Pettifor, the Editor of the Real World Economic Outlook. What seems like a wordy title actually translated as a disarmingly simple message; in order for the worlds economic problems to be solved, we must all switch to a truly sustainable and ecological way of living. As I was soon to discover, far from being two separate entities, the issues of economics and ecology are more closely intertwined than I would ever imagined.

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Illustration by Joanna Cheung

Held in Cecil Sharpe House, Regents Park,home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. The morning began with a talk from Ann Pettifor. While I have a few holes in my knowledge of how the economic system actually works, I could easily follow the discussion because Ann was extremely engaging and explained the complex system of economics and trade in a way which everyone could understand. Beginning by describing the relationship of commerce and environmentalism; “If we want to help the ecosystem we have to start with finance” and went onto highlight the direct correlation between easy money/consumption and emissions, adding “we have been convinced that the most important things is money, but what is important is our labour and how we exchange it. Money creates activity, it is not the result of it. Banks should not be at the center of the economy, labour and trade should be.”

After a short break, Fritjof Capra explained a few home truths to the audience. Not being familiar with his work, I was unsure of what to expect. It soon was obvious that this prolific author had his finger on the pulse of sustainability and the transdisciplinary world of ecology and economics. Capra was keen to promote the importance of what he deemed as ‘qualitative growth’, and viewed the current economic system as outdated and in dire need of an overhaul so that it can run harmoniously with a brighter ecological age.

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Illustration by Sachiko

Directing his thoughts towards the current economic crisis, he opined “At the basis is an economic system without ethics. To lift people out of poverty, you need redistribution of money, not economic growth. But equally, no growth is not the answer, growth is a characteristic of all life; in nature it is not unlimited. What we need to have is ‘qualitative growth’, not ‘quantitive’ growth. Since what we call growth is largely waste, actual growth is what enhances life. The planet is a living, self regulating system, and evolution is a co-operative dance. The over expansion of financial services is parasitic on the economy, economists only recognise cash flows, but no other form of wealth. Unlimited quantitive growth is unsustainable, whereas qualitative growth can be sustainable if it combines growth and decline. ”

“We need to distinguish between good and bad growth. Bad growth degrades ecosystems, while good growth involves zero emissions and renewables. The projects which would qualify as ‘good’ growth tend to be small scale projects, community orientated and create local jobs.”

After lunch; we listened to a dialogue between Satish and Fritjof . Speaking about how we can learn from nature, instead of taking from it, Satish explained “In nature, there is always decay, death and rebirth. Businesses are petrified by these concepts. In society we fear death, we equal it with failure. Our economic system isn’t resilient. ”

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Illustration by Sachiko

Capra added to this assertion. “The economy is in the hands of half educated people. Every lesson on economy has to be balanced with ecology. Right now, everything is about the economy. When you put this first you put human interest above the rest of the world. When you look at forests, seas, lands, it is as a resource for us. We have to change our world view, and see that natural resource is our friend, our community. But right now, we all suffer from ‘speciesism’. The holistic world view says that we are ‘nature’, in that we are as much nature as the trees, flowers and mountains. So by this definition, we need to think differently. Our world view needs to be more biocentric, and needs to be driven by hope and by love. The meaning of life is in the living. The things that give us most pleasure cost us very little money.”

Discussing the issues of how our food, clothes and general accruements of life are flown in from other countries, to a detrimental cost to our environment, Satish and Fritjof both advocated a radical change. “60% of our living should be local, 20% should be regional, and the rest should come from other countries. The problem is not consumerism, but waste”

Later on, we sat outside in the gardens of Cecil House. By chance, a group of banjo players were strumming not far from our patch, which made for an enchanting experience as Satish guided us though a conversation which took in life, love and the universe. Quoting Ghandi‘s words “Be the change”, he advocated that personal transformation needs to be first before we can transform the world. “The past, present and future exist simultaneously” he said, and our every thought should be beautiful, creative, warm and positive. Not exactly your stereotypical economics lecture, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. Resurgence Magazine runs several workshops throughout the year at various locations, if they are half as insightful as this conference then I am signing myself up for many more, and urge you all to do the same.

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Illustration by Sachiko
The second Ravensbourne wunderkind I managed to have a few words with was another menswear designer Calum Harvey, help whose standout collection, cheapest constructed from mostly unwanted materials, search won him the Textiles Award and showed us innovation in recycled fashion at its most potent. It was futuristic fashion that was actually – steady yourself- forward-thinking.

At fashion shows designers are falling over themselves to give us visions of the future pulled forth from the realms of their imaginations: modern lines, silver shellsuits and sci-fi accessories. Stylistic interpretations that are otherwise meaningless and often completely disconnected from a more earthy reality. It would almost be too earth-shatteringly avant-garde to imply that sustainable fashion is the real future, and it’s a problem I wondered about when I covered TRAID a couple of weeks ago. Right on cue, Calum (with a little help from his mother) is really using his imagination and beating down that path.

First of congratulations on your win – how do you feel?

Thank you very much! Well I’m ecstatic. As a menswear designer, to be nominated alongside dedicated textile designers is overwhelming. It”s been really exciting.

Tell me about your collection – how did it come about?

Well the project first started when my Fiat Cinquecento was scrapped, and as a reminder of her I decided to keep the seat belts. I began to research the partnership of recycling and fashion for my dissertation, and it was the scrapping of my car that started the process. Usually scrapped cars get sent to Africa or Russia to create landfill, and I found out that 95% of a car can be recycled. Over the Christmas break I realised that, when de-constructed, seat belts completely change and look so different – really delicate and fragile. It’s amazing. They are all different, made in different ways, using different yarns, resulting in different colours. So it’s all unraveled (a-hem) to dictate this 9 outfit collection.

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Do you plan to continue working with recycled materials? Where do you think you could go from here?

From a young age working with unwanted materials always excited me, and this has stuck. I created a small clothing and accessories label, LONG LIFE, that dealt with ideas of recycling and re-using. These issues are both environmentally and economically important for everyone. I love the idea of altering purpose and function of materials, and I love making something new from something old. So yes, I will continue working with ideas of recycling!

How would you desribe your design signature?

I’m a bit of an OAP WANNABE. I love classic menswear with an element of risk/irony and humor.

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There was a strong showing of both craft and knitwear at GFW too, wasn’t there?

Yes, and I think there will be more of that to come. People are falling back in love with old craft techniques, perhaps as a reaction to fast/mass produced fashion. There is so much you can do with knit, and it can act as such a spring board for design. You are self sufficient as well, no more trips to Shepherds Bush!

What was your inspiration for the collection? Who are your influences?

I went to the library and got loads of books out on South Polynesia. I was amazed at their scarification techniques, raw and abstract wood carvings and ceremony costume. I think this reference was an easy relation to the material I was working with. And obviously working with shredded seatbelts was a major influence on how I wanted the collection to look.

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Which piece are you most proud of, and which caused you the most grief?

My favourite piece is the chunky knitted jumper that my mum flew over to knit. It’s a monster. It was a good chance to show Mum a week in a fashion student’s life! The most evil piece was the final fluffy coat. It took me and four friends three days to comb over three hundred shredded belt pieces. Because each belt is different some of them don’t go fluffy, and as a result I ran out and then I had to get more…it was tough!

How did you think the show went?

I was really overwhelmed when the show happened, hearing my music (Crawl by Kings of Leon) and seeing it all go out was amazing. I was running around hemming trousers and stitching on buttons minutes before they all went out and that was stressful, but it was the best moment of my life.

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What are you plans for the next 12 months?

Over this summer time I want to spend more time concentrating on the LONG LIFE brand and making a more diverse range of bags and other accessories. I’m going to start an MA in menswear at the Royal College of Art as of September, so lots of sleepless nights I’m guessing!

Categories ,Classic Menswear, ,Knitwear, ,Old Craft Techniques, ,Ravensbourne, ,Recycled Materials

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Amelia’s Magazine | Alternative Fashion Week 2010 at Spitalfields Market: more from Day 4

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Nicole Gill
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

By Day 4 at Alternative Fashion Week things start to go a little hazy – and the other bloggers who were so keen earlier in the week seem to have all gone quiet so it’s much harder for me to cross check my facts and be sure that I have the right credits for the right designers. Do let me know if I’ve got it wrong or I’ve missed out a link.

As I arrived a bevy of scantily clad beauties were lining up for a photo call at the back of one of the dressing tents. They were modelling the lingerie designs of Nicole Gill, approved cure whose collection was described as being inspired by the Balinese Barong dance, symptoms whatever that is. Now, I’m no specialist on Balinese culture but I’m fairly certain that they don’t dance in their underwear or wear corsets. Non obvious influences aside, these were sexy pieces for sure. Bemused labourers looked on.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Nicole Gill
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Nicole Gill
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Nicole Gill
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Nicole Gill
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Nicole Gill
Lingerie by Nicole Gill.

Inside Crispin Place Alex Seroge was ready to go, lined up with his models in an imposing group. Apparently an amalgamation of middle eastern and Persian influences, there was also something of the Edwardian country squire-ess to this collection, which mixed tweeds with exotic head wraps and prints in every shade of spice.

Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Alex Seroge
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Alex Seroge
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Alex Seroge
Alex Seroge.

Next up with a fabulously-over-the-top-despite-being-all-cream collection of big knitwear was George Strood; props to her models for posing so perfectly with the shaggy knitted bag. And loving the shaggy trousers, inspired by Mr Tomlinson, the fawn in Narnia?

Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 George Strood
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 George Strood
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 george Strood
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 George Strood
Knitwear by George Strood.

The University of Derby passed by without me particularly noticing – apart from this one fabulous piece, like a wearable lampshade made from a giant spidersweb. Judging by the silver make up I think the boy in the pink may have been part of the collection too.

Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Derby
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Derby
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Derby

Barnet College also showed with Zero Waste – from the title I can only presume it was all recycled. I liked this lady because as she was standing on the steps waiting to go onto the catwalk I realised that she had a cupcake tattoo on her bum. Taking the fetishising of cupcakes to a whole new level!

Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Barnet
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Barnet
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Barnet
Check the cupcake on arse!

Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Barnet
Barnet College.

I found the sports menswear collection by Thomas Lovegrove unoriginal. When Kim Jones first put the bright back into menswear a decade ago it was smart and new, but now it just looks tired and done. You can find sportswear like this in any high street shop these days.

Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Thomas Lovegrove

Alice Barcham paraded a collection of tailored whites inspired by the Sydney Opera House crossed with Audrey Hepburn and LuaSarcy showed some dreadful wedding wear. Well, not dreadful, but just weddingy. i.e. not very exciting. Certainly not what I would call fashion at any rate.

Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Alice Barcham
Alice Barcham.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 LuaSarcy
LuaSarcy.

On the knitwear front Gemma Maher showed a delightfully understated collection called Firebird, inspired by the ballet apparently. Can you see the connection? Not sure I can but anyhoo.

Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Gemma Maher
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Gemma Maher
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Gemma Maher
Gemma Maher.

At the nearby Brady Centre in Tower Hamlets a team of designers had been beavering away under the name A Team Arts and for awhile it all went a little crazy backstage. What I could deduce was theirs was quite frankly bonkers. A tiny innocuous looking blonde girl stood by her three crazy orange and brown outfits featuring pop-sock festooned polystyrene balls growing carbuncle-like in every direction.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre

To continue the costume design theme someone had decided to turn men into dragons, with one poor model entirely covered in what can only be described as a large knitted spotty body sock. The poor fella inside mumbled something to me about having been street cast and not knowing what he had let himself in for, but hey what the heck no one was going to see his face.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre

This wee girl was not so keen on having her picture taken, but she’d created some pretty amazing jewellery/accessory pieces out of laser cut shapes.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre

Someone chose to subvert traditional English tailoring, another designer created some stunning purple and green tailored dresses, and Lorraine’s batik Afrochic outfit was worn by the most amazing model – check out her absolutely loving up the camera. A photographer’s dream. Below are a few more shots too that I presume come from that creative Brady Centre bunch.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre

Elif Muzaffer hails from Turkey, but graduated from Ravensbourne last year having specialised in womenswear and textiles. Titled A Struggle Within, a love of print was obvious in this elegantly presented collection of tailored coats and long ballgowns worn by willowy models. I loved the colour range, all deep juicy oranges and sultry shades of deep blue and violet. Elif emailed me to thank me for my interest that evening and wisely set up a blog last week after I queried how I could link to more of her work. Take note, other designers that I am struggling to write about!

Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Elif Muzzafer
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Elif Muzzafer
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Elif Muzzafer
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Elif Muzzafer
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Elif Muzzafer
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Elif Muzzafer
Elif Muzzafer with her girls. Definitely one to watch.

Renata Suchanova not only has a wonderful name but her website sports a pretty fabulous collection of purple clothing. It’s a shame I can’t find any snaps of her collection at Alternative Fashion Week – did I miss it? Was it incredibly different? I’ll probably never know…

Serbian Mila Popovic was found cursing the volcano – she had travelled overland to make the catwalk on time and was sounding harassed. Next to her the make up artist Maya was sporting the most fabulous henna arm tattoos. I liked Mila’s eclectic collection The Flowers of Romance which is co-designed with sister Tijana, and featured bright patterns mixed with traditional tailoring. According to the little booklet she raced off to find for me their Cash for Trash showroom promotes “eko design” though I am not sure in what way.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Popovic
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 make up designer maya

UCreative from the University for the Creative Arts in Rochester closed the day with Metamorphosis/Transformation and another flurry of young girls in a melange of creamy ruffles. Make up artist Phoebe Dalziel explained that she used lace to spray paint directly onto the faces of the models.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Rochester
Rochester Girls. I used to teach down there. Once upon a time.
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

At the nearby Brady Centre in Tower Hamlets a team of designers have been beavering away under the name A Team Arts and for awhile it all went a little crazy backstage on day 4 of Alternative Fashion Week. What I could deduce was theirs was quite frankly bonkers. A tiny innocuous looking blonde girl stood by her three crazy orange and brown outfits featuring pop-sock festooned polystyrene balls growing carbuncle-like in every direction.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre

To continue the costume design theme someone had decided to turn men into dragons, cialis 40mg with one poor model entirely covered in what can only be described as a large knitted spotty body sock. The poor fella inside mumbled something to me about having been street cast and not knowing what he had let himself in for, but hey what the heck no one was going to see his face.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre

This wee girl was not so keen on having her picture taken, but she’d created some pretty amazing jewellery/accessory pieces out of laser cut shapes.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Gemma Maher

Lorraine’s batik Afrochic outfit was worn by the most amazing model – check out her absolutely loving up the camera. A photographer’s dream.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre

I presume the pieces below all come from that creative Brady Centre bunch. From subverted English tailoring to bold fitted dresses, there was much to admire in this group.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Brady Centre

Elif Muzaffer hails from Turkey, but graduated from Ravensbourne last year having specialised in womenswear and textiles. Titled A Struggle Within, a love of print was obvious in this elegantly presented collection of tailored coats and long ballgowns worn by willowy models. I loved the colour range, all deep juicy oranges and sultry shades of deep blue and violet. Elif emailed me to thank me for my interest that evening and wisely set up a blog last week after I queried how I could link to more of her work. Take note, other designers that I am struggling to write about!

Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Elif Muzzafer
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Elif Muzzafer
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Elif Muzzafer
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Elif Muzzafer
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Elif Muzzafer
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 Elif Muzzafer
Elif Muzzafer with her girls. Definitely one to watch.

Renata Suchanova not only has a wonderful name but her website sports a pretty fabulous collection of purple clothing. It’s a shame I can’t find any snaps of her collection at Alternative Fashion Week – did I miss it? Was it incredibly different? I’ll probably never know…

Serbian Mila Popovic was found cursing the volcano – she had travelled overland to make the catwalk on time and was sounding harassed. Next to her the make up artist Maya was sporting the most fabulous henna arm tattoos. I liked Mila’s eclectic collection The Flowers of Romance which is co-designed with sister Tijana, and featured bright patterns mixed with traditional tailoring. According to the little booklet she raced off to find for me their Cash for Trash showroom promotes “eko design” though I am not sure in what way.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Popovic
Alternative Fashion Week day 4 2010 make up designer maya

UCreative from the University for the Creative Arts in Rochester closed the day with Metamorphosis/Transformation and another flurry of young girls in a melange of creamy ruffles. Make up artist Phoebe Dalziel explained that she used lace to spray paint directly onto the faces of the models.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 UCreative Rochester
Alternative Fashion Week Day 4 2010 Rochester
Rochester Girls. I used to teach on the fashion promotion course down there. Once upon a time.

Day 4 got so out of control that I have split it into two parts: you can read part one of this post here.
You can read up on day 2 here and day 3 here.

Categories ,Alternative Fashion Week, ,Brady Centre, ,Elif Muzaffer, ,ravensbourne, ,Renata Suchanova, ,Rochester, ,spitalfields, ,Tijana and Mila Popovic, ,Tower Hamlets, ,UCreative, ,University for the Creative Arts

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Amelia’s Magazine | New Designers 2012 Product Design Graduates: Baby and Toddler Products

New Designers 2012
Products by Zoe Tynan-Campbell.

It’s funny how being a new parent suddenly changes what you see: I didn’t see any baby related design at last year’s show, and yet this was all I could see of the product design at New Designers 2012 part two.

New Designers 2012-Emma Doran
At UWE Emma Doran‘s Co-See considered all the important design issues for a new mum and I for one would certainly have loved to test her dual action cot and carry cot, which enables easy co-sleeping by attaching to the side of the bed with a drop down side. Instead I spent those difficult early days hoiking Snarfle in and out of a Moses basket on the floor when he needed to feed during the night, all the time cussing and cursing because my Caesarean section hurt so much. Now he just stays in bed with me. The Co-See was designed in collaboration with The Gro Company, and won a prestigious design award: not hard to see why! Not only is keeping baby close great for bonding between child and mother, but it also far reduces the likelihood of cot death (now known as SIDS).

New Designers 2012-Marcus Broughton
I am planning to do baby-led weaning when the time comes – offering Snarfle small steamed morsels to hold and learn to eat rather than pureeing food – but the design of Marcus Broughton‘s on the go Squeasy weaning pouches were rather delightful. He calls himself a Humanistic Industrial Designer.

New Designers 2012-Ralph Edwards
Before designing his Wholemilk storage system Ralph Edwards conducted some spot on research that identified a need to make it easier to express and store breast milk, enabling fathers to take a bigger role in feeding young babies. You can read about the process on his brilliant website diary here.

New Designers 2012-Jordan Brocklehurst
At Birmingham City University Jordan Brocklehurst had created a set of Penguin Play Safety Reins, which include an inflatable harness that ensures safety near water.

New Designers 2012-Zoe Tynan-Campbell
I loved these designs by Zoe Tynan-Campbell on the 3D Design course at Camberwell College of Arts. Her Stumped Studio makes gorgeous wooden interior accessories and toys.

New Designers 2012-Jack Hadlum
From Ravensbourne product designer Jack Hadlum had come up with the concept of Potions – ‘making mealtime magic‘ – the idea being to inspire fussy eaters to flavour their own food in a creative way with 100% natural ingredients. Fun shaped bottles contained savoury popping candy, sprayable jam and a magic colour changing milk. I can see even the fussiest eater enjoying these! He is also involved in a project called Wood Be Waste with the motto ‘do not recycle a material that can be reused‘ that has produced some lovely desk top products.

New Designers 2012-Nicola Danks
New Designers 2012-Nicola Danks
At Coventry University the Bumble range by Nicola Danksaddresses the limitations of current child transport products‘. Most pushchairs are so low slung they only afford the wee mite a view of legs and feet; she describes how it’s important for children to be raised to eye level so they can engage more with their caregiver. I have seen some very high rise prams, but Snarfle would far prefer to watch the world go by from chest height in a sling. Nicola’s transport system integrates a carrier, making it easy to transition between different modes of child transport – another brilliant idea.

New Designers 2012-Catalin-Andrei Edu
New Designers 2012-Catalin-Andrei Edu
Most of the industrial designers at Coventry fixated on cars (so not my thing) but I liked these bamboo animals by Catalin-Andrei Edu, which are made using sustainable processes.

New Designers 2012-Jose Olivierab
Jose Oliviera‘s Natures Best cot was inspired by cork production in his home country of Portugal. I love those gorgeous organic curves with a built in mobile, it puts my ancient Moses basket to shame. Jose used cork in its design not only for reasons of sustainability but also because it has qualities incomparable with any other material: it’s light weight, impermeable to liquid, acts as an excellent thermal and acoustic insulator and is resistant to abrasions because of it’s elasticity. I’d love to put my baby to sleep in this cot, but I fear he’s getting too big already.

I have mixed feelings about the quantity of stuff available for babies: when I was little there was hardly anything required to raise a child, and yet now we are drowning in ‘must have’ products. Some have undoubtedly made life easier, but I’m sure we could do without many of the items dubbed ‘mechanical mummies’ and whose production places such a burden on the environment. I am lucky to have been given so many hand me downs and we are frugal in acquiring new stuff when needed, but it’s good to see so many graduates considering both the ecological and inter-relationship implications in their clever new designs.

Categories ,2012, ,Baby, ,Birmingham City University, ,Bumble, ,Camberwell College of Arts, ,Carrier, ,Catalin-Andrei Edu, ,Co-See, ,Co-sleeping, ,Cork, ,Cot, ,Coventry University, ,eco, ,Emma Doran, ,Humanistic Industrial Designer, ,Jack Hadlum, ,Jordan Brocklehurst, ,Jose Oliviera, ,making mealtime magic, ,Marcus Broughton, ,Mechanical Mummies, ,Natures Best cot, ,New Designers, ,Nicola Danks, ,Penguin Play Safety Reins, ,Potions, ,Pram, ,Product Design, ,Ralph Edwards, ,ravensbourne, ,review, ,Sling, ,Snarfle, ,Squeasy, ,Stumped Studio, ,sustainable, ,The Gro Company, ,Toddler, ,UWE, ,Weaning, ,Wholemilk, ,Wood Be Waste, ,Zoe Tynan-Campbell

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