AVRA | FRESH| Issue #7 by AVRA

Issue #7 Fresh

AN INTRODUCTION TO AVRA THEMES

Lara guys, issue 7 theme ideas??

Laina fresh

Lara fresh like new, water, plants, cool. idk that's what comes to mind ???

Skye That's cool Change is quite broad too. I like fresh tho

CONTRIBUTORS BRYAN

LOGAN

IG: @jackofalltrxdes

IG: @yoryban

SEIGAR

LARA

IG: @jseigar

IG: @lxra_media

LIV

MATHUSHAA IG: @mathuxphotos

IG: @oliviamelkonian_

SONAILI

JENNIFER

IG: @sonailiwrites

IG: @jeapples

TOMMY

VERTIGES

IG: @tommy_sissons TW: @tommysissons

IG: @vertiges_ www.vertiges.bigcartel.com

SKYE

MARSHALL

IG: @skye_k_illustration

IG: @marshallmandianguofficial

LAINA

OTKO

IG: @lainadeene

IG: @_otko

THAIS

MISTER ZINESTER

IG: @shuffleplaycomics www.satellitetowns.wordpress.com

IG: @thaisjacquet

CHARLOTTEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CUPBOARD [Online]

IG: @charlottes_cupboard https://www.charlottescupboard.com/

Editors note

that continues with online video content covering a ‘Fresh Perspective on Waste’ with a his has been one of the the feature on Charlotte’s Cupmost exciting issues to create as board, the UK’s first packit’s brought together a variety age-free shop on wheels. of fresh, creative individuals. The front cover also falls under Many of us are at univer- the theme of fresh perspecsity or starting a new sea- tives with what Skye, our resison of life, constantly driv- dent artist, calls ‘The Anti-fresh’. ing new projects to become part of creative communities With a grungy, rebellious across the country and world. feel of spray cans and young people in masks, it plays AVRA FRESH aims to show- with the ideas of youth. case the different ways in which we channel creativi- ‘Something New’ focuses on ty to make something fresh. falling in love with something We’ve split it into three parts: you never thought you would. ‘The Fresh’, ‘A Fresh Perspective’ and ‘Something New’. It reminds me of the quote by John C Maxwell, ‘When ‘The Fresh’ explores what it was the last time you did means to have be fresh and something for the first time?’ everyone’s interpretations of the subject. It also welcomes We see Seigar experimentnew fashion brand Vertiges with ing with nature photography their second collection 13.13.13. in the Canary Islands and Jennifer resurfacing her love for ‘A Fresh Perspective’ looks into photography with model, Mina new ideas around different top- Jones. Both of which are purics such as, mental health, grief, suing what they love , fearlessly empathy and women’s roles. as they explore something new.

It’s the only part of this zine

Letter Lara Antoine Photography Thais Jacquet

AVRA ZINE

Photography Thais Jacquet

AVRA ZINE

THE FRESH “Freshness whispers, dirt shouts” - Tommy Sissons

Photography Lara Antoine

AVRA ZINE

Anything that helps you stay young, healthy or happy and anything that boosts your mood.

AVRA ZINE

When I hear the word 'fresh' I picture a glass of fresh orange juice or a smoothie - a cold fruity drink.

Illustration Laina Deene Photography Thais Jacquet Liv Melkonian

Something clean and unaffected by the past

A fresh start

All that is new and green.

A clear future

FRESH FROM THE SEAS

AVRA ZINE

ART Mister Zinester

AVRA ZINE

MODEL Savana Rose PHOTOGRAPHY Logan Charles

AVRA ZINE

Freshness whispers dirt shouts Freshness whispers to you Where dirt shouts, Carry it on your shoulder As you spread yourself out On the chair in your back garden, Absorbing the Sun mother As she licks your face clean And the Milky bellflowers and Catmints Nibble at your ears and tell you what it means to be pristine, As the beer dribbles loudly down your chin And settles on the floor by the filth on the bottom of your sandals It hisses back at you And could you hear you would know There are spirits at war - Tommy Sissons

AVRA ZINE

ART Lara Antoine

17 15

AVRA ZINE

VERTIGES

AVRA ZINE

ARTICLE Lara Antoine PHOTOGRAPHY Bryan 21

Fashion has always been a way to express yourself in a fresh and unique way showcasing an individual’s style. But what happens when you mix fashion with influences of hip-hop and philosophy filled with hidden meanings?

“FALL ONCE LOSE ME FOREVER”

Geneva-born brand Vertiges do exactly that with their clothing line. Initially made ‘by creative minds for creative minds,’ co-founders Bryan and Pablo joined forces as a dancer and beat-maker with a keen interest in clothing. This initial connection kickstarted the duos fashion collaborative, later to be joined videographers, graphic designers and other creatives. Bryan describes this warm homegrown talent, “it’s very familial which I like; everyone plays a part and we can share honest opinions.” At their most recent pop-up store, everyone on their team came together to make it happen from their resident DJ Fabregue to their co-host Lobos, who sell vintage clothing. There’s something rather admirable about Vertiges’ team ethic. There are three main concepts that are the driving force behind the unique intricate theories hidden within Vertiges’ clothing: ‘contradiction’, ‘double identity’ and a ‘dark side’.

Contradiction Primarily the theme ‘contradiction’ resides in the 1st collection - Sentences which uses a range of text on the clothing that contradicts itself to make people think twice about what statement is being made from the person wearing the clothing. Bryan expands, “Travelling has been useful for us, everyone in the UK all seem to be creating the same thing but for us, in Geneva, this has never been done before which I guess makes it fresh. We also design our clothes with the words in both French and English.” In the Sentences collection we see that striking bilingual concept with the ‘Hier c’est trop tard’ (‘Yesterday is too late’) hoodie which focuses on how people reflect on the time they are given. The ‘SeeU’ shirt, also from ‘Sentences’, is also more than meets the eye. Off-the-back of their logo, which is the eye of horus, ‘SeeU’ is all about vision, surveillance and how someone is always watching. Playing with words isn’t unfamiliar territory

for these fashion pioneers, whilst the first collection focuses on seeing words before images, the second is all about seeing images before words and has a lot more intricate designs open to interpretation. Double Identity Double identity looks at how we all have two sides: a good side and a bad side. It’s like we’re two different people. This concept uses the idea that we shouldn’t take people at face value and there’s always another side to a person deep down and we may not see it immediately. It’s very prominent throughout all their products including some unreleased content. Mystery lies within these pieces and it’s never obvious which side is the correct side to interpret its meaning. Dark Side Very closely linked to the idea of ‘double identity’, ‘Dark side’ plays with pessimism plunging further in with the idea that we have two sides: one we put out to the world and one that we hide.

“In Geneva, this has never been done before.”

It’s the stem of the new collection ‘13.13.13’ which is lost in time. It’s a unique time, captured in a unique moment that never existed and therefore can never exist again which could be both a good and bad thing. Bryan and Pablo delve back to the initial roots in this collection with Vertiges meaning ‘vertigo’ which by definition is a loss of balance. 13.13.13 plays with a primary loss of balance between space and time filled with regret as you can never go back to that moment. ‘The World is Yours’ white long sleeve t-shirt shows a graphic (designed by Bryan and Marc) with an empty world and full hands controlling it. After selling out at the 13.13.13 collection at the pop-up, and having just launched their latest items online, they’re off to a flying start in this new stage of their journey; this is only the start. Cop their new collection at vertiges.bigcartel.com and follow them on Instagram @vertiges_ for all the latest clothing drops and updates.

AVRA ZINE

DESIGN Bowo Adejuyigbe

AVRA ZINE

The Girl Child All she wants is for her cries to be heard, For it is her that is endangered. It is her who is looked down upon by society, But the males are treated like royalty. It is her who must eternally feel inferior, Whilst he is made to feel superior. In India they kill her upon birth, For they fail to see her worth. In Africa they wed her off when tender, And to the superior she must surrender. In Europe they call her fragile and weak, And she is not heard when she speaks. But enough I say, it is enough! Times have changed and she is tough. She too represents voices of the present and future, And she has had enough of this torture. Equality from society is what she craves, For she too is brave.

AVRA ZINE

Her name is the girl child And gone are the days she was exiled; From society and the nation. She demands an education! She has the right to flourish And youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll see the wonders she will accomplish. This is the message we want to share, We need everyone to care. If we unite, she can strive, And like the rising sun she will thrive; And courage within us we shall find, To protect the girl child! - Sonaili Vasta

AVRA ZINE

PHOTOGRAPHY Mathushaa Sagthidas

AVRA ZINE A Fresh Perspective on Empathy By otko Whenever I think about the word Empathy, I tend to think about the word Sympathy as well, and then I get confused trying to distinguish the difference between them. Do other people really know the difference between Empathy and Sympathy, or are these words seen as easily interchangeable in modern day contexts?

“Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes ...is something people rarely seem to consider these days.”

Well according to Dictionary.com there is a difference. The root of both words is found in the Greek term "páthos" which means "the feeling of suffering", but this meaning diverges down two slightly different paths when prefixes are added. The prefix of Sympathy (sym) means "with" or "together with" and derives from the Greek term sýn, and the prefix of Empathy (em) comes from the Greek en and means "within" or "in".

The meanings of these two words have changed slightly over time along with the societies which have defined them, and these days sympathy is largely used to convey commiseration, pity, or feelings of sorrow for someone who is experiencing misfortune, whereas Empathy is now most often used to refer to the capacity or ability to imagine oneself in the situation of another, experiencing the emotions, ideas, or opinions of that person. The reason why I feel it’s important to focus on Empathy over Sympathy, in light of having a fresh perspective on the matter, is because putting yourself in someone else's shoes and having the ability to imagine yourself in their situation is something people rarely seem to consider these days. I decided to write on this topic because I'm often one to witness people throwing minor temper tantrums over some of the smallest of problems: "Someone cut in front of me in a queue", "my flatmate finished the all milk that was left in the fridge", "another person did something else to inconvenience me". And yeah, I get it. It's annoying. Why should you have to think about being empathic towards a person who does that. Sometimes it may seem like a lack of basic manners, or frankly sometimes it’s a dangerous situation that leaves you frustrated, like when someone's speeding to overtake you on a busy road.

AVRA ZINE It makes sense that you’d be irritated or let out a bit of road-rage, but did it ever occur to you to think about why they did it? Perhaps your flatmate, who you’re not exactly friends with, hasn’t eaten anything all day and that last slug of milk in their cereal is what stops them from collapsing? Or maybe that person rushing past who almost knocked you over actually has a life-or-death appointment to make? Or that “maniac” driving recklessly on the road has a wife in hospital who’s about to give birth six week early with no one else there to support her? Seems unlikely right? Well perhaps such situations are unlikely, but if you think about it, these things happen, every day to all types of people, including the people you may prematurely judge as being inconsiderate or irritating. And no, of course that’s not the first thing or even the second or third thing we think of. The only thing that goes through our mind in these situations is how much of an inconvenience they’ve been to us. It doesn’t matter what their reason was for doing whatever it is that they did. They should have been prepared, or left the house earlier, or just done things when they were supposed to, so we wouldn’t have to navigate through their mess. Yeah, I get that as well. But, in reality, that’s just life. And as much as it is important for people to be accountable for their

own lives, I think people should also be accountable for how they respond to others, and aim to be as understanding, compassionate and empathic one can be. Because if you're being honest with yourself, there has probably been a time when you inconvenienced someone else in a similar way, and wouldn’t you be able to pardon yourself in that situation? So, ask yourself this: "If that were me, how would I want people to treat me?" Wouldn't you hope that people could try to put themselves in your shoes and maybe walk a mile first before judging you and condemning you as an annoying inconvenience? No one is perfect, so in a world like the one we're currently living in today you're going to need some Empathy. So perhaps try being more compassionate, if not for them then for your own piece of mind. It may be easy to feel sorry for someone who you feel Sympathetic towards, but do you think you could try being Empathetic and put yourself in someone else’s shoes even when it looks like they're the one in the wrong?

Definitions taken from: http://www. dictionary.com/e/empathy-vs-sympathy/

D E

N T I

T Y

AVRA ZINE If you were given a clean slate, what image would you put out to the world?

PHOTOGRAPHY Sonaili Vasta

AVRA ZINE

Dark Turmoil It gnaws at the mind And clenches the heart The ache is one of a kind, Piercing the soul like a dart. Now, everything is wonderful; Eyes depict this joy, Celebrating all thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beautiful. Paranoia comes knocking The river begins its flood, Everything feels mocking, Begin the boiling of blood. Again, everything is beautiful; Eyes depict this joy, Celebrating all thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wonderful. But is it? It will always haunt and linger, Around the corner it will sit, Prepared to hurt like a stinger. - Sonaili Vasta

AVRA ZINE

ART Lara Antoine

In conversation with... Marshall Mandiangu INTERVIEWEE Marshall Mandiangu PHOTOGRAPHY + ARTICLE Lara Antoine

So, you’ve experienced a fresh start recently, can you tell us a little bit more about that? I’d call it a spiritual fresh start. To cut a long story short, I basically lost a very good friend of mine that passed away - may she rest in peace. She died during surgery because she had cancer. So it was inevitable considering she had it most of her life. It definitely changed everything both negatively but for the most part positively in the sense that it took me two months to find out about her death; at the same time where I am in life right now, I’ve not so much overcome it but I accept it. Death is a part of life and even in death there is life; she may not be with me on earth anymore but on the spiritual side of the fence, I always feel her with me. She’s everywhere I go and that’s a relationship that I’ll definitely hold near to my heart for the rest of my life. Trust me. With what’s happened, how would you say you’ve moved through that? I’ve been fortunate enough to lean on people. I remember that stage of grief where it’s literally like ‘eh’. It hit me so quickly when I found out I can remember suppressing it for two months and having this big front and being on this emotional high where I intended to forget that it happened because I was still in that bubble of ‘I don’t want to believe it. I do not want to believe it.’ It took a song that I wrote for her which I’m very very proud of which I can comfortably listen to without feeling like I’m in that grieving mode all over again. I can listen to my own songs and think of all the positive memories that I’ve had with her. If there’s anything I want to remember her for it’s that she was so smiley. I remember at the North Laine Brewhouse, it was Christmas 2017, and I had a performance... I was just up there doing my thing and she’s in the corner looking at me and she’s like ‘you’ve got something’.

AVRA ZINE It was so fun because I put her name into a freestyle and after that we exchanged numbers. I remember the last conversation I had with her I asked her when I was gonna see her again. She said she’d have to update me to find out. Then few months later I find out that she’s gone. The weird thing about death is that when it hits you; you can either feel nothing for a little while or it can hit you all at once. During that time period of me finding out to where I am now a lot changed within me and with how I approach life now as a 21 year old...I want to go through life without having that negative stigma of death following me. So, by doing what you’re doing, that’s changed your outlook on life?

Going back to the idea of grief, do you think the way that it’s portrayed and do you feel like it’s not spoken about enough so people don’t really know how to deal with it? I agree. I definitely think that from a masculine pointof-view it’s not talked about enough because men are portrayed to be strong creatures. Excuse my French but they’re meant to be like ‘Nothing’s gonna break me down,’ ‘I don’t give a **** about what you think.’ But there are those that are really sensitive, like myself, those who feel people’s energy are able to identify how it feels to hurt and how it feels to grieve.

It could literally be something like somebody’s mum, or dad, best friend or I’ve always loved doing what partner. No matter who it is I’m doing anyway but when you lose, grief is so you lose someone close to unpredictable, in the sense you. It changes everything - it that, you’re not just going to changes your perspective on feel one set of emotions. It’s how life is meant to be lived. gonna be like a wave it could Not to get too personal but be up on one day and being back in London completely down on the other. definitely was very Life is like that triggering, for the most part, in generally but grief is terms of having to relive those different as there’s awful memories of my drug really no telling in how long addiction and something should be - grief childhood trauma. hasn’t got a time limit - but you shouldn’t allow it to hold But I could definitely say there you down for too long as was a silver-lining as it allowed you’ve got to come out of it at me to see it for what is was some point. If you block it out, and let it go. When I say let it it’s only going to make things go it’s not like I’ll forget that worse and to anyone who is it happened but I can be at grieving I send my condolencpeace with it now. This is not es and also want to say that something I’m going to allow you’re human...so don’t restrict to define me. your emotions be open, be

honest. It’s a beautiful thing to be vulnerable because when you’re vulnerable and people see that, they embrace it. With society as a whole, when people go through it [grief] they need to make sure they have the right amount of support and need to allow them to get through their every day. I wouldn’t want anyone to feel like they’re going through this alone.

“People should have the courage to step forward, put their hands up in the air and be like ‘I’m not okay.’ It’s interesting you bring up the point ‘from a masculine perspective’. Some people find it hard to be vulnerable, how do you think can we break down those barriers? Don’t be afraid to speak what’s on your mind even if you think it’s a moment of weakness allow yourself to be vulnerable and say what you need to say. What you might consider weak could literally point to somebody else’s strength. People should literally have the courage to step forward, put their hands up in the air and be like it ‘I’m not okay.’

PHOTOGRAPHY Seigar POEM Skye Kember

disappear do you ever just want to evaporate disappear from a place

NEW SOMETHING

SOMETHING NEW

reappear in a new fresh place free of memories slate wiped clean for you to start again - run away

SOMETHING NEW

reappear

ILLUSTRATION Skye Kember

AVRA ZINE

PHOTOGRAPHY Jennifer Applin MODEL Mina Jones

AVRA ZINE

EXPLORE PHOTOGRAPHY Seigar

AVRA ZINE

Stretching his creative ability by branching out from urban photography to nature, Seigar aims to use this project as a way of inviting people to explore what the landscapes of the Canary islands have to offer.

URBAN WAVE AVRA ZINE

MODEL Sam Barrett PHOTOGRAPHY Lara Antoine

AVRA ZINE

These photos are from a youth project called Viral; run by organisation - Lighthouse. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Urban Waveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; uncovers a love for abstract photography and film portraiture.

AVRA ZINE