Flowerpot – AmeliasMagazine

Amelia’s Magazine | Bebe and Paolo: An Interview

The Christmas festive season is now upon us and many artists are selling festive products. However few are initiated to help the poor, what is ed the downtrodden and the destitute. All I Want For Christmas Cards 2009 is one such group of creatives whose latest project is in support of the Bristol based charity ‘Young Bristol’. 20 local artists’ and illustrators’ specific works for the project are being used to create a limited edition run of Christmas cards that will be sold as packs containing each of the 20 cards.A competition, price with the brief to create a piece of work based on the phrase ‘All I want for Christmas’ took place and after receiving an overwhelming response, shop the final 20 artworks were chosen, each on their individual merits and included in the final 20 cards. Initially created with the idea of promoting the charity Young Bristol, All I Want For Christmas Cards has also brought together artists and illustrators local to Bristol for this exciting illustrative project. Here is an opportunity to support those who need! We are today interviewing a few of those illustrators who very kindly lent their creativity to a good cause.

Valerie Pezeron: Hello all. I would like to know who came up with the idea for such a wonderful project and could they tell our readers a little bit about themselves?

Creator/Organiser Ben Steers: The idea for a project like this had been rolling around in my head for a while but I just didn’t know how to best implement the concept. After moving to Bristol to kick start my illustration career and spending some time building contacts with local artists and illustrators I realised the huge concentration of talent that Bristol had to offer and after doing some voluntary work for Young Bristol I saw the opportunity to launch the idea and bring established and aspiring artists together and at the same time help benefit a really worthwhile cause. We have been really blown away by the response from everyone involved and have thoroughly enjoyed the whole process and having the pleasure of meeting so many positive and friendly people.

VP: There are many charities out there? Why pick “Young Bristol” charity for this project? What is the aim of the charity?

Ben Steers: I have recently helped Young Bristol put together a quarterly magazine on volunteer work and events in the area. There are so many great charities out there doing outstanding work every day but I think in the case of Young Bristol I felt that I could offer my creative services in some way and they also focus on helping disadvantaged individuals of my sort of age through media and arts courses. They aim to give those who didn’t have the opportunities that a lot of us take for granted, the chance to further themselves in creative fields and I think that is really something.

VP: The competition was very popular. Was there a jury and how did you select the final 20?

B S: It was a really difficult selective process as we didn’t want to turn any of the designs away simply because people had made a real effort and in the end we had over 40 design submissions to choose from. We both sat down and went through all the designs trying to select 20 on their individual merits and on how well they would sit against the other 19 as a collection. We were very aware of how all 20 cards would look if we sat them all next to each other. In the end we were very lucky in the response we got and selected 20 great designs which are varied in both style and content.

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VP: What motivated you to apply for the competition?

Ben Steers: Ben’s enthusiasm made it very difficult to say no and it’s always fun to take part in Bristol projects especially when it’s for a good cause.

VP: Have any of you ever been involved with charities before?

Illustrator Ben Newman: I’ve been involved in a few charity projects raising money for hospitals and endangered animals but my involvement always depends on whether my other projects allow me enough time. I’m really pleased that sometimes I can use a skill to help raise money.

VP: It is so easy to fall into cliches when coming up with a concept for Christmas cards? Those cards are truly original and infused with humor. How did you find inspiration for those cards?

BN: My card was inspired by some of the designs on Record company advertising banners from the 1950’s.

VP: I know what I want for Christmas and it is to welcome lovely kittens into my home. What about you, lovely people?

BN: Booze, food, friends and lot’s of sleeping.

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Illustration by Bjorn Lie

Name of Illustrator: Bjorn Lie

VP: What motivated you to apply for the competition?

BL: The fact that it was for a local charity. I normally do work for clients in other countries, which is nice, but makes me feel a bit detached from where I actually am, Bristol. This was a chance to be a part of something positive, by just doing my own thing.

VP: Have any of you ever been involved with charities before?

BL: Not actively, no. I would like to do more of it in the future though.

VP: It is so easy to fall into cliches when coming up with a concept for Christmas cards? Those cards are truly original and infused with humor. How did you find inspiration for those cards?

BL: I’ve been doing a lot of wintry scenes recently for a picture book, so I was already in that frame of mind! My card features a guy on a “spark støtting’, which is an old school means of transportation back in Norway where I’m from.

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Name of Illustrator: Rich T

VP: What motivated you to apply for the competition?

Rich T: I thought it was a great idea for a project, a good brief and most importantly fun. If you want people to do stuff for free you have to make it fun, you can’t rely on good will. Kids today….

VP: Have any of you ever been involved with charities before?

Rich T: I have donated artwork for charity auctions in the past.

VP: It is so easy to fall into cliches when coming up with a concept for Christmas cards? Those cards are truly original and infused with humor. How did you find inspiration for those cards?

Rich T: I didn’t want to draw anything to do with Christmas so for me the opposite of Christmas is probably Pepsi, always forgotten in the festive period along with Jesus, job done.

VP: I know what I want for Christmas and it is to welcome lovely kittens into my home. What about you, lovely people?

Rich T: All I want for Christmas is loads of expensive gifts, preferably ones I can sell on E bay, and a dog but I don’t want it forever, just Christmas.

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Name of Illustrator: Chris Dickason

CD: More than anything else the brief sounded like a fun way to spend some time away from commercial work and a chance to get a little Christmas over nostalgic whilst I looked for inspiration. There’s a fantastic wealth of talent in Bristol and consistently the artists and designs here produce work that’s as innovative as it is clever, funny and engaging. I’m really interested in being involved with projects that help promote the city as a creative hub. And obviously it’s great to be involved with a local charity as well.

VP: Have any of you ever been involved with charities before?

CD: I’ve worked commercially for charities and raised a bit of money from sponsorship for just about plodding myself around some marathons but I’d been looking for a project that consolidated my own discourse and a worthy cause. The ‘All I Want for Christmas’ project ticked a lot of boxes in my head when I received the email. It’s very much a win-win situation for the artists. Projects like this offer creative freedom are chance to see work viewed along side your contemporaries as well as providing a healthy dose of the ‘feel good factor’ as you get to support a charity to boot.

VP: It is so easy to fall into cliches when coming up with a concept for Christmas cards? Those cards are truly original and infused with humor. How did you find inspiration for those cards?

CD: Christmas is a great time of year because it provides some very personal memories but these experiences are similar to that shared by most other people. I was motivated to create an image that was based on occurrences that are typical of my Christmas experiences (over indulgence, goodnatured gluttony, sharing & caring) and hoped that these ideas would resonate with the audience.

VP: I know what I want for Christmas and it is to welcome lovely kittens into my home. What about you, lovely people?

CD: The main thing I want for Christmas is in fact free and that is a nice chunk of uninterrupted sleep. If I had my may I’d turn into a big grizzly bear and snooze all winter long and wake back up when the temperature is back in double figures. Alas I’m yet to master this skill.

So now you know what these chaps all want for Christmas. How about you? You might just want to escape the usual uninspiring, tacky and overdone festive art on display this season and treat yourself to fun, cheeky and sustainable charity cards. The Christmas card packs are a limited edition of 500, each containing 20 cards individually designed by 20 of Bristol’s finest illustrators, litho printed on 100% recycled card, 20 envelopes and an A2 poster. They cam be purchased on www.alliwantforchristmascards.com. Price per pack: £15 + £2.99 p&p

Bebe and Paolo are a rockabilly and jazz inspired duo from Weymouth. Just 5 months into starting out they played Camp Bestival, ed after winning a local Battle of the Bands contest. I ventured down to the Flowerpot, see Kentish Town, to see the dynamic duo play…what a gig! I got chatting to front woman, Bebe Black afterward…

How did you two meet and decide to start making music together?
We met about seven or eight years ago in Weymouth, and used to hang around the place drinking and smoking and generally being a nuisance like teenagers are. Eventually Bebe moved away to Bournemouth and then London and Paolo went to study at the ACM. We didn’t meet again until Christmas 2008 at an Eighties Matchbox B-line Disaster gig back home. We started chatting about our love of jazz and 50’s rockabilly, and within a week Paolo had written a piece for Bebe to sing over. We finally got it together in February 2009, and have been gigging and writing non-stop since then.

What type of music would you say you make?
We’ve named it “Jazz Punk Erotica”

Which bands have influenced your music?
Kate Bush, Edith Piaf, Robert Johnson, Eddie Lang, Ruth Etting, Billie Holiday.

Who would you love to cover one of your songs?
I would like to hear Phoebe Legere covering “Good Boys” live with an accordion.

What has been your best live experience so far?
Playing at Camp Bestival was wild, the running order went something along the lines of: “Spongebob SquarePants, Bebe and Paolo, PJ Harvey.” You can’t beat that!
We also played on Sark, in the Channel Islands. It’s a little island with no cars, no streetlamps – only horse and carts and torches! We had a great time, but we were banned from singing some of our more risqué songs!

If you could play live, at any venue in the world, where would you choose and why?
We want to play Ronnie Scott’s, and we want to wear Nike air max whilst we’re doing it! Also the Luminaire would be amazing and of course the Jools Holland Show for reasons that do not need to be explained…

Bebe, Your outfits are always very cool and you express a very distinct style. Are your outfits always well thought out? or do you just chuck anything on that looks good?
I think it’s a bit of both! I studied and worked in fashion, so the way I put things together is probably fairly programmed by now in the way that I like wearing one striking piece of clothing and keeping the rest simple. I only buy items that I think will stand the test of time, and usually those kind of clothes stand out on-stage. I’m about to start collaborating with up-and-coming designer, Sam Membury, who’s pieces are simple but beautiful. My mum says “Look rich, Live Poor” so that’s my motto when it comes to how I dress!

What is your favourite item of clothing/ accessory at the moment?
A vintage studded belt that I forgot I owned until I found it hiding out in the back of my wardrobe last week and a Butler and Wilson skeleton brooch that I paid too much money for, but love endlessly.

Images by Briony Warren

See Bebe and Paolo play this Friday 27th, at the ‘Swinging Sixties Night’ at the Fashion and Textiles Museum.

Written by Briony Warren on Wednesday November 25th, 2009 2:09 pm

Categories ,Billie Holiday, ,Camp Bestival, ,Eddie Lang, ,Edith Piaf, ,Eighties Matchbox B-line Disaster, ,Erotica, ,Fashion and Textiles Museum, ,Flowerpot, ,gig, ,interview, ,jazz, ,Jools Holland, ,Kate Bush, ,live, ,london, ,luminaire, ,music, ,Phoebe Legere, ,PJ Harvey, ,punk, ,Robert Johnson, ,Ronnie Scott’s, ,Ruth Etting, ,Sam Membury, ,Spongebob SquarePants

Amelia’s Magazine | Music Listings November 23rd – 29th

In June 2009 Zoe Paul graduated from Camberwell BA Sculpture. Whilst at college Zoe participated in numerous shows around London from the group exhibition Factory at the James Taylor Gallery organised by Royal College MA Curation graduate Dean Kissick to ‘Between the Eyes’ at Coleman Road. Zoe Paul has recently been selected to participate in ‘Future Map 09’. Amelia’s Magazine spoke to Zoe Paul about her creative processes and the development of a sculpture from idea to creation.

What is it in particular about sculpture that interests you?

I am interested in the form and mass that is sculpture. I like the way we as humans relate ourselves to objects through their three dimensionalism. We are given the option to walk around and view the object from multiple angles and vantage points, clinic creating our own image from that object. We judge the object as being larger or smaller than human scale and this plays a large role in our perception of the object.

You have made numerous paintings, have interests crossed over from painting into sculpture?

I feel happier thinking in three dimensions and I have always felt more successful in making objects but I highly appreciate painting and drawing. It’s a very different way of thinking. I’ve done a fair amount of life drawing and painting; which I think has helped me to appreciate form.

I strongly believe in drawing, if not as a final out come, then as a practice to learn to see. I think as a sculptor it is important to learn to look at things and see how they work formally in order for you to understand them. I always think I can see things better after I draw from life because it forces me to look and not just glance. The art school in Athens I went to for a year before my degree in London provided amazing classical training. I definitely think it gave me a different perspective.

I am a bit shy to make paintings now because I feel like I expose too much of myself, but with sculptures I rely on the materials and the mass of the objects to defend themselves.

How do your sculptures develop through the design process?

For myself the making process is a vital part of how I develop an idea. I make a lot, a lot of which, doesn’t always work but I find the action useful. I try not to think of anything as a definitive piece, the process is important.

My work is frequently based around materials. By using impoverished materials I devalue the monumentalism classical sculpture holds. Making ‘Pythia’ was an incredibly labour intensive process. I relate the carving of the polystyrene armature and the precise measuring and cutting of each individual tile to the carving of ancient marbles. It was industrial and ordered. I made the sculptures imagining I was making an architectural fitting, similar to what classical sculptures were in their day. I also spent time in the British Museum taking photographs and working on these as drawings and sketches.

Do you start with an idea or a medium or are both equally important in your work. If this is a bit vague, I mean does the medium start the idea or does the idea influence the medium used?

I think the two go together, although I pay more attention to materials than I realize. I thought up ‘Sunset Island’ whilst in LA, I wanted to represent the crummy, grimy glamour of Hollywood with the cocktail sticks and the industrial fiberglass sphere. Materials make me think of ideas, my degree show work on temporal exoticism and classical Hellenistic sculpture developed from working with tiles, trawling the isles of hardware stores, and finding cheap marble effect ceramic tiles. This cheap marble effect alludes to the wealth represented by classical marbles.

Do you prefer to work entirely on your own as you are creating a sculpture?

I need to think and write by myself, but its really boring working alone. Now I’ve finished college, my studio is really small, crammed and damp. I miss being able to find someone to get a coffee with, when I want a break.

Sculpture is a social process, I didn’t really paint at college because of the open studios and I need to be alone to paint, its much more personal. Sculpture, however, requires banter. Conversely I pretty much had to make my degree show piece, ‘Pythia’ entirely on my own. The tile cutter makes such an awful noise I was as good as exiled out the studios at college.

Who or what are your artistic inspirations

My biggest inspiration was going to Los Angeles last year when I interned as a studio assistant for Mindy Shapero. College was OK but working for Mindy made me really hungry to make and to be an artist. There was so much energy and exuberance in the approach to life. I realized that I could do it if I wanted it badly enough.

I met amazing artists out there, like Thomas Houseago. He was so inspirational and had so much energy.

I can’t help being inspired by greats such as Picasso and Brancusi. Recently I have been reading about Rodin’s love for Greek sculpture as it conveyed the ‘ravages of the time’ in its ‘fragmentary aspect’. Rodin was a pioneer of the existential being conveyed through representation of human form, which he showed through his tactile figures.

My interest in classical Hellenistic sculpture lies in the history attached to it, ‘the ravages of time’, and the wars fought around it. Also the way sculptors repeatedly revert back to it as true sculpture.

I love museums, especially the old musty sort. They contain an exoticism: a longing for a bygone age. I am interested in fragmentary discovery and understanding history, therefore museums are exciting transient spaces full of mystery and discovery.

Do the paper drawings feed the physical process of making a sculpture?

The drawings are really beautiful. I started making them as plans for sculptures to understand the anatomy and form of classical sculptures. Really, they are just spruced up working plans, but I think that’s what’s attractive about them. I tried making sculptures directly from them but it was a complete failure so in a sense they are failures at working drawings. Again they were important for my process, especially as I was making work about existing work, it was important for me to understand existing sculptures.

I tried to convey the museum feel in them. Displaying the images like old school posters or crumbling educational departments in museums. As museums attempt to explain history, the classical sculptures I was looking at. They are objects, which represent an exotic bygone age, but essentially are just glorified rocks

What’s next for Zoe Paul?

I’m excited to have been selected for ‘Future Map 09’, a selection of a handful of graduating students from across the University of the Arts London, of both graduates and post graduates.

In terms of work I’m excited to continue my idea of temporal exoticism and the allure objects hold. I’ve been reading an amazing book about a shipwreck containing sculptures on their way to Rome during the Roman occupation of Greece around 70BC, discovered off a Greek island in 1900. The book delivers amazing descriptions of the sculptures being gnarled and eaten by the sea. I like the idea of these vast powerful sculptures rotting at the bottom with such history attached to them.

I would like to make more tactile works that show my process. I love the way Rebecca Warren’s figures do that.

Future Map 09 will be hosted by 20 Hoxton Square Projects and will run from the 25th November 2009.

Monday 23rd November, salve Lisa Hannigan, site Royal Festival Hall

Debut album “Sea Sew” came out this summer from Miss Hannigan and she is now touring to support this. The Mercury Prize nominated album includes singles “Lille” and “I Don’t Know”. She continues the tour in Manchester and Birmingham before a string of Irish dates leading up to Christmas.

Tuesday 24th November, Pyramiddd, Flowerpot

Previously known as something that isn’t suitable for publishing at this time of day, these punk/rock/pop/disco kids tick all the boxes. They are touring in the UK for the first time to support debut single “Medicine” which is out November 30th. As well as appearing at the Flowerpot tonight they will also play ICA with those Filthy Dukes on the 25th and Notting Hill Arts Club on the 26th of November.

Wednesday November 25th, The Puppini Sisters, Pigalle

Catch jazzy pop trio The Puppini Sisters at the peak of a 5 night stint at the Pigalle club. Album “The Rise & Fall of Ruby Woo” is out now on which Beyonce, The Bangles and Take That get the unique Puppini swing-stylee treatment.

Thursday November 26th, Musee Mecanique, The Luminaire

This Portland based posse come to London to treat us with their mellow indie folk tracks that feature on the beautiful album, “Hold Your Ghost”. These guys who have been compared to Neutral Milk Hotel and Beirut are tonight performing with Laura Gibson.

Friday November 27th, Silver Odyssey Experience, Secret Location

Fancy some Friday night stimulation? The Silver Odyssey experience covers all bases with Sounds, Sights, Smells, Touch, and Tastes to please. The techno teatime sounds come courtesy of Radio Slave and The Time and Space Machine. The secret location shall be revealed 2 days before the event.

Saturday November 28th, Cinammon Chasers, Master&Servant and Glover, Proud

Listing films such as “The Never Ending Story” as one of his influences, Cinnamon Chasers says . “I try to create music that gives me the vibe those classic films gave me as a kid”. Do you need another reason to go and experience this?
Electro act Cinnamon Chasers shall perform along side Master&Servant and Glover.

Sunday 29th November, Sophie Solomon, Purcell Rooms

Learning to play the Violin by ear from the age of two Sophie Solomon combines this with her vocal skills and merges a melody of styles into her music. The album “Poison Sweet Madeira” is her most recent offering.

Written by Rebecca Milne on Monday November 23rd, 2009 3:45 pm

Categories ,beirut, ,beyonce, ,camden, ,Cinammon Chasers, ,Filthy Dukes, ,Flowerpot, ,gigs, ,Glover, ,laura gibson, ,Lisa Hannigan, ,live, ,Master & Servant, ,Musee Mecanique, ,music, ,Neutral Milk Hotel, ,Proud, ,Purcell Room, ,Pyramiddd, ,Radio Slave, ,Royal Festival Hall, ,Sophie Solomon, ,Take That, ,The Bangles, ,The Puppini Sisters, ,The Time and Space Machine, ,“The Never Ending Story”

Amelia’s Magazine | Bebe and Paolo: An Interview

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