Mind Breath Magazine Issue I

A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR CONTENTS RICHARD HELL GREG MONCADA KARA + OJ ALEX MINITELLO BARON VON FANCY DAN FLAVIN #THISISARIGHT

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CONTRIBUTORS ERICA VAN RABENSWAAY HANNAH JUPITER ROLAND KUNOS MIND BREATH MAGAZINE

LAYOUT DESIGN LOGO DESIGN EDITOR PHOTO

Thank you so much for taking an interest in Mind Breath Magazine!

Mind Breath Magazine started in 2014 with the approach to bring eyes upon artists who are connected mostly to New York City, but more importantly artist from all different backgrounds and levels of notability. It is a critique-based magazine. I chose to include a variety of individuals for my first issue. As you flip page by page you will find honesty, fashion, art, love, politics, New York thoughts, and dreams. Mind Breath Magazine is a magazine that brings attention to certain conversations. I critique and review all the artist’s work in this magazine. In many ways the goal was to gain more awareness into mind waves that you might have not picked up on before. As you read, you will find six different people, with six different stories, and a couple of writings on popular topics. I hope you enjoy the first issue of Mind Breath Magazine!

I would love to hear from you! Please don’t hesitate to contact me at: mindbreathmagazine@gmail.com Warm wishes, Elizabeth Scholnick Editor in Chief

Let’s connect on Instagram: @MINDBREATHMAG + @SHOLNYCK 3

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RICHARD HELL WRITER

Richard Hell is a writer, and musician known for playing hits back in the day, such as: Blank Generation, with his band: Richard Hell & the Voidoids, released in the year 1977.

Primarily though he has devoted his creative energy to writing. He grew up in Kentucky, and made his way to New York City in his teens to start his creative endeavors. About a year ago he wrote and published an autobiography called: ‘I Dreamed I was A Very Clean Tramp’ which was a huge success. The book talks about his life growing up, and how he came to New York City, what it was like for him here, and being in the music scene, as well as writing, and dealing with the ups and downs of being an adolescent in New York. I sat with him one afternoon in his East Village apartment, and we spoke about what it was like for him now and then.

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E: Do you walk around Downtown, NYC and still have that same magical feeling you did when you were young walking around the city streets being young wild and free? Does NY still hold that sense of adventure for you?

R: When I was a kid in New York it was really unfamiliar, mysterious and stimulating because it was all a mystery.

I would wonder what people were secretly doing, and all these blocks, and blocks of buildings. New York was this unexplored territory, and now it’s different for sure. I know how to navigate now. I like it better now, because it was bewildering when I was a kid. Yeah, I was inspired when I was a kid and was full of ideas I wanted to carry out, but it was a long difficult learning process too. I made a lot of mistakes learning as I went a long. It wasn’t some magical adventure; there was plenty of boredom. There was a sense of failure at times, and frustration. But, I got what I came to New York for; which was all that stimulation and all that feeling of possibility. I prefer the relationship I have with New York now. It might not have that overwhelming kind of feeling of unknown possibility that it had when I was a kid, but it’s become kind of my own territory. I have a better grip now on what ideas are useful and practical, and which ones aren’t.

E: Do you have a sense of freedom now than you did then?

R: I don’t think the amount of freedom has really changed.

I have more self-awareness now. I have tried enough things, and have seen what has worked and what hasn’t, so I have saved a lot of floundering around now, because I have a better idea of what is fruitful, and that is probably the biggest benefit of age, is that you learn for what you are suited for, and what is likely to be more fulfilling.

E: In your book you talk about society and what it was like back then. As an artist living in NYC I connect with parts of society and the vision, and if other people can get there, you can get there. You had a vision, and you wanted it to come to life, and you did. Is there any advice you would give young artists today?

R: I really don’t believe in advice too much because I don’t think it’s practical, and then people are going to do what they want to do. You’re not really changed by somebody recommending something. You have to find out everything for yourself. That’s what I have learned through out life is that you can only learn from your own experience. You only can hear the advice that your open to. I will say that from my own life, and also what I have seen, that things work out better if you take initiative. I hear all the time, and people say to me, “I would give anything to have been a kid when you were a kid.” There is this fantasy about how

life was like in New York, in the East Village in the 70’s, and these people are already defeated if that’s the case.

What we did back then, and what the point was, was to create your own environment. It’s about you making the moves to have the results that you want. We weren’t just born into some magical paradise of art. We didn’t like our environment, and we did everything we could to make it somewhere that we liked. Don’t complain about not being in the poetry magazine, start the damn poetry magazine!

WE WEREN’T JUST BORN INTO SOME MAGICAL PARADISE OF ART.

E: When you were conceiving the Neon Boys, which later changed with your friend Tom, when you guys were creating, did you ever in the process think it would be such a success?

R: I wasn’t writing those songs for that purpose. I was writing them to do something interesting, and to hopefully find an audience out there who was excited by the same things I was. Sure I hoped for that, but it wasn’t about being commercial, or being famous.

It was more a matter of hoping the songs worked for people 7

who I respected. In the course of 35 years I have a bigger public profile than I did then, but even then its esoteric, and that’s fine with me. I feel lucky. It happens all the time when I get this question, but to me it just seems deluded. It’s taken me 35 years for me to get to a different level of public presence that I have now.

The thing that I did want and that I tried to do what I could was to get myself in a position where I could do the work that interested me, and not have to think of anything else, and that happened.

That was the main thing that I wanted to achieve, was to write books, and make records without the material parts of it being a horrible struggle.

you must be selfish to be self aware to get to the top?

Or, would you say people should be truthful even if it hurts, to get to the top.

R: The outlaw success is almost more exciting than the more conventional play by the rules type of success. You have to find your own level within the mix of integrity, vs. success by any means. I was pointing out that in America it seems to me that it’s more pronounced that there is more admiration for people who get away with stuff. Even if it’s really dirty and nasty, but there are reasonable arguments you can make with that too. There has to be police in society, but when you look at it there isn’t much difference between the police and the criminals. This is the fundamental thing, that you are considered a fool if you fail for lack of playing dirty enough. I do think that is kind of unfortunate. I’m not really a moralist, or a prude, but I think that’s a shame. That

WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT THERE ISN’T MUCH DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE POLICE AND THE CRIMINALS

E: When you say quote “In America, losers are considered fools if they haven’t played dirty enough.

Winning justifies everything.” Are you implying that

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you’re thought of a fool if you didn’t win because you didn’t cheat. In America money is everything. How you are judged is by how rich you get. Working in music I was astounded at the acclaim that music acts would get just because they’re bad enough to be popular. That whole concept is treated as if it was admirable, and it’s ridiculous. A lot of it is such a bunch of shit, and people enjoy it.

to talk about what I would have done differently because they know they have you, and they take advantage of it. It still happens. The music business is so different now. You don’t even need the record companies. In fact, the record companies hardly even exist anymore. They’re only really there for the huge superstars, otherwise everything is on such a different scale.

E: In the music industry it seems very cut - throat.

When you explain it in your book. It seems like you won a pretty fair fight, but is there anything that you would have done differently with contracts if you were to do it over again?

E: Your working on another project, tell me about that.

R: Sure. I was really ignorant in the beginning. It was so exciting at the time, and I was so eager to make a record that in some sense I did take into account how this wasn’t the ideal terms of agreement in the music industry, but it allowed me to make a record, and the trade off was worth it. The music business basically survives in profits. Just like the army, the amount of testosterone that’s raging through these teenage kids willing to prove themselves by going out and learning how to kill, and be killed. In the same way I was so excited as a teenager being able to see my record be in a record store that it’s probably not even reasonable

R: I am working on a third novel, and lots of side projects.

I was just yesterday in the studio doing this fun concept for a benefit. It’s with White Colum Gallery. It’s this great institution that goes back to the 70’s. They are really smart and have a great generous spirit because their whole purpose is to give shows to artists that don’t have galleries.

They just have a really great history of helping out artists who need any kind of help. Their shows are fantastic, and they have benefits every year.

CRITIQUE / REVIEW Richard Hell has a way with words, especially when it comes to his writing as he makes you think in a different way than you did before. In his autobiography ‘I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp’ which came out in 2013. Richard describes certain circumstances throughout the book that there was always this sense that he felt something greater within himself, and wanted to explore the world around him. That intention and lust for the new world landed him in NYC, and in the poetry scene, as well as later on in the rock scene, which he writes about. His words and sentences in which he conducts are fluid and complex all at once. His autobiography is an honest and beautiful read. It’s a piece that when you read it you are forced to read in between the lines. You can’t put it down. Growing up and feeling everything he felt is something young artists can relate to growing up anywhere, but especially in a place like New York. Where it’s busy and un-conducted. He speaks the truth of his life and how he came to be as a writer, his first love. Check his website: www. richardhell.com He has a new book coming out too now, which is a book of essays. Make sure to look out for it: “Massive Pissed Love” !

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GREG MONCADA MIXED MEDIA ARTIST INSTAGRAM @badpedestrian

Greg Moncada is a mix media artist working and living in New York City. His art hangs in major networking companies, like: Twitter and Tumblr, who commissioned him to make work for their New York offices. He makes his way around the city streets looking for inspiration wherever he finds it, whether it’s a thrift store, or a market, or even on a sidewalk. His inspirations are taken mostly from old New York City, and his ancestors who immigrated from Italy. He is constantly finding new inspiration, as the city is a never-ending gold mind of history and new history being made everyday. One night I went to his apartment: Downtown, where he also works, and I was surrounded by his dreams of color and New York landscape. We sat and spoke about it.

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WITHOUT GRAFFITI THE CITY WOULD BE A BLANK CANVAS

E: Where are you originally from?

E: I agree. When did you start drawing?

G: I am originally from New York. My family is from Sicily.

They came to New York in the 1960’s. I grew up in Queens, then I moved out to LI, and I’ve been in Manhattan since college.

G: I remember being interested in art really early on.

Coloring in the first grade; just coloring in and just doodling on my notebooks. Doodling was basically my art education until I went to art school for college. It was just always something that helped me pass the time, and it just felt right.

E: Why is graffiti a medium that you are attracted to?

G: Graffiti has inspired my work for a very long time. I’m attracted to graffiti because I feel that it dictates the pulse of a city, and so I have always been attracted to cities with graffiti, because it shows there are people out there that have to make their mark and say something. I’m interested in layers and textures, and these are two things that happen over time with graffiti. It’s also something I just grew up seeing, and I have always been attracted to it.

Without graffiti the city would be a blank canvas. Where’s the fun in that?

E: Was there some therapeutic aspect to it too?

G: Yeah, I think the feeling I got from coloring something… that I thought was right. I new from very early on that I had felt good from having done it--so coloring books, and activities that involved art. I was always into it. It’s always been in my life.

E: When did you start mixing mediums, or was it always like that for you when you set out to create on a 11

project? For instance your new body of work…

G: I didn’t start doing mix media art until 2007. This is where I started to experiment with art in a different way.

The past is something I am very interested in. I always have one foot in a history book. I then started getting attracted to collage work and mix media. It reminded me of the textures I would see on the street, and that was always something that interested me. I didn’t really realize it until I started perfecting my technique about 3 or 4 years ago, until I owned my style. I needed to explore first, make mistakes, I needed to be really frustrated. A big reason also why I do mix media collage comes back to my love for collecting, and for gathering source material and then re-appropriating it into my own piece of fine art.

E: Would you say you’re strict with your esthetic?

G: I like to set rules for myself with different pieces. I don’t think strict is a word that really applies to anything I do because I like to let things happen, and I never want to rule anything out and hinder myself from creating a tangible expression. I’m not strict about having it come out a certain way, but I work with intention.

G: I’m looking at things that are utility items, so things that just exist that haven’t been brought to life as a design element, or put together as a particularly beautiful thing. I often find what I am looking for on the street. Things are left discarded and unaccounted for, but those are my treasures.

I am looking out for signs, papers, and typography. I am also very interested in the way things feel. I am also listening to my intuition and trusting that what I am feeling for, what is in front of me, will be worth taking home. I am not really setting out to look for anything that specific, but when I see something that I know I want, I know I’ll need it for a piece at some point. The times when I hit the jackpot--I’ve never been searching for it. I am just at the right place at the right time. New York City just keeps replenishing its gifts as much as it’s going away little by little, I can still find incredible inspiration.

THINGS ARE LEFT DISCARDED AND UNACCOUNTED FOR BUT THOSE ARE MY TREASURES.

E: What is your creative process when you start a new piece?

When I start a new piece I like to think about where and what the purpose of the piece is. I keep that in the back of my mind, and when I need to start it; I usually just make a mark, and with this random mark I make I let that tell me what my next step is, and then I just follow that with the entire process. I rarely work from a sketch, not to say that I don’t do a lot of planning, or sourcing for different information, but I let the pieces just happen. I let the previous move dictate my next move.

My influence from early on has been music, so their would be often times that I would listen to a new album or new track, or mix, or something that would be my inspiration to really start working, because I love music so much. It seems often that when I listen to music it becomes part of what I am creating. Music is really important for me.

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E: The city so to speak is your scrap yard. What are you looking for when you go out to find something to enhance a project you are working on?

E: Your art name is: badpedestrian, is there any special reasoning behind this?

G: Pedestrian means commonplace and the bad doesn’t make it negative it doesn’t negate this, but it sort of represents this person with underground interest. I use the image of a man in a suit using a paint bucket because this is how I’ve always felt as a perfect reflection of how I am. I have always been a worker, and I have always had my influence of underground culture dictate my life. I try to express myself and create these projects under the name badpedestrian in order to inspire and expose, and show people that art is something that can be accessible. That is what badpedestrian is all about, an authentic expressional approach to art and culture.

I try to take what I am seeing through my travels, and education, through the people that I meet and translate this all into a tangible expression that these people can see and gain joy out of it.

E: I see a lot of old NY in your work, especially in your

NEW YORK CITY JUST KEEPS REPLENISHING ITS GIFTS AS MUCH AS IT’S GOING AWAY LITTLE BY LITTLE

collages. Can you elaborate on why that is?

G: I’m very much interested in the esthetic of old NY. When my cousins, aunts and uncles moved to New York they were the people who were building this city. They were the blue collared workers. For example my uncle Sal was building the water tunnels that go under the city. Started on Delancey, and worked all the way through up to the Bronx.

He worked on that for 7 years. The people that have built this city (NY) I have always been interested in, because it’s so classic and timeless. It never gets old, and in a way maybe it’s my way of preserving it. Maybe it’s also my way of accessing a time that I wasn’t apart of. I think New York history, and my families’ connections to old NYs history, and this longing is to preserve and be apart of something greater.

G: I am a collector. So when I am traveling I am collecting and I need a place to put the things I am collecting. So putting them into a scrapbook is a logical and organized solution. I’m constantly collecting and working on these books, because especially when I travel my inspiration is through the roof and I don’t hold back. During this time while I travel is a really great time for me to try new things on a smaller scale that aren’t for an exhibition, or a commissioned work. It gives me momentum to make something really great. There isn’t as much pressure on the outcome when I travel and do these sketchbooks, it’s more about what I see and collect. I’m learning as I am experiencing this new way of looking at things. It also helps me remember the places I’ve been and the people I have met. They get really personal. I would never sell them.

They are my physical objects that represent the places I have been.

E: You travel quite often, and make scrapbooks of your memories, can you share some of your insight on what it is to preserve such a time and place?

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CRITIQUE / REVIEW I had been following (on Instagram) Greg for a while AKA badpedestrian, and when I had the idea for this magazine I decided to DM (direct message) him and see if he would be down for an interview, and he immediately replied with a yes. I desperately wanted to understand the layering in his work, and in his mind of what he really thought, and what his process was when thinking of setting out an intention for his next piece of work. Old New York is in his work and often influences his piece, and that of course made me even more curious. The feeling of watching his work and making sense of it usually sets a nostalgic tone with great colors and madness. There is almost a romantic aspect to his work. To collage is a very beautiful and creative act. When you watch his work up close you have to just fully jump in and experience his world. It makes you feel something. That is what art is supposed to be about.

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KARA & OJ OWNERS OF LA PETITE MORT INSTAGRAM @lapetitemortnyc @slutlust

Kara and OJ are co-owners of La Petite Mort located at 37 Orchard Street in the Lower East Side. They both are married to the vintage game and art scene as well as to themselves. Their love grows everyday as they make their shop La Petite Mort grow with creativity. La Petite Mort is the definition of what New York was and is really all about. With their doors open to everyone and the scene they attract, it is with no surprise that they have garnered so much attention within such a short period of time. They both are collaborators within their shop as well as with their friends.

You walk in their store and immediately feel a sense of fun and old school vibe and New York City spirit, selling vintage with a touch of modern fashion. They opened their doors to me one night, and I got to get to know the brains behind the operation.

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E: I know you both have been asked this multiple times, but La Petite Mort means the little death and an idiom for orgasm. Any special reasoning behind this when you opened up LPM? K: It’s mostly about how you feel about the clothes and the merchandise inside. You might get a little excited when you see what is going on inside the store.

OJ: The orgasm could be anything. Whether it’s a wink of an eye, or a smile, or a compliment. It’s that thing in your mind that triggers emotion of elation. Our store isn’t exactly for everybody either. Even though our door is open for everyone. Everything is curated for a particular individual that we have in mind. We are your stylists. There might be a shirt there that will sit there for maybe a month, but we know someone out there will walk in and see it and be like, “this is what I have been looking for!” and that’s the orgasm.

We have such a vast array of different friends, like we know people who like music and art, and when we shop we’re thinking of our friends. So, for example when we are shopping we will be like, “this would be good for a Roxy Cottontail, or this would be good for a Harruka Salt type.”

So when we shop, we shop with those types of people in mind.

THE ORGASM COULD BE ANYTHING WHETHER IT’S A WINK OF AN EYE, OR A SMILE, OR A COMPLIMENT. E: Why vintage?

K: We both grew up in the 90’s. So to re-live that, and to see other people re-live that is great!

OJ: Our backgrounds are totally different. I grew up in New York in the 90’s. For me it’s more of a feeling of nostalgia to bring back the feel of the old NY, and people always

bring back what it was like to be in the old NY. It was a road defining time in New York City. Where as Kara grew up, it was a bit more strict.

K: That’s true. I was never allowed to have half this stuff you see in our store. I hid a Boys II Men shirt once so my parents wouldn’t find it and take it away. I remember I had a slumber party and someone got me a Boys II Men cassette tape, and my mom threw it out because I was only allowed to listen to Christian music. So, I guess I have an infinity towards these pieces because I wasn’t allowed to have them growing up.

OJ: It works between us, because she didn’t have that growing up, as where I had it in abundance.

E: In a sense is it collaboration between you both?

OJ: Or you could say a sense of discovery between us.

This is our love story. If Kara finds something that I find amazing, she might say, “well I missed this, explain it to me more.” It’s basically like a different way for us to communicate. We don’t get bored of each other, and this is where we communicate, through these pieces.

E: What is it that you both share, as in similarities/ differences when it comes to LPM selling vintage clothes and showcasing art?

OJ: Art is everything. Art is fashion. Art is design. Art is culture. Art is the way you carry yourself, how you speak, the music you listen to, so we didn’t want to be like one of those shops that had mad racks of clothes with no soul.

We wanted to have everything be together. Our art is a representation of the 80’s and 90’s mostly and the clothes we pick are a reflection of the 80’s and 90’s. Even from the music we play, we also have a modern twist of what is out now and current. They say that there is nothing new under the sun, but then again you know life is full of shade. So, we are here to bring that light to those dark parts. There is no shade here.

K: I also think the art is also the vintage pieces we carry.

They are collector items. They are special pieces. So the art that we carry and hang here isn’t necessarily vintage, but down the road they are going to be special important pieces just like the vintage clothes we sell.

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he handles the art. So I have a very specific idea of what I want for the clothes, and he wont get it sometimes. Same with the art, but we are both very passionate about both, so I think it shows through, and then it always turns out great at the end.

E: I think so! You guys have something pretty exciting coming up for your next collaboration. Which involves a launch! Tell me about that.

K: Well, we are launching UPNY, the designer; he makes shirts that have collars that are in a square shape. So, we are launching his brand and then we are also going to be adding a few other modern lines to the store soon in the next few months! UPNY also does a lot of artist collaborations, so his way of thinking really fits with what we are all about.

E: So you have a blog. I enjoyed reading the one about ‘The Winter War’ and ‘This Is Not Another Black History Month Post’ tell me more about it.

OJ: The artist that we have currently is CHICO. He basically invented the R.I.P memorial murals in the Lower East Side. This is what I saw growing up. Everything we sell is collaborative down to the gloves that we sell here.

You can’t have black without white, you can’t have left without right. You can’t have design without structure. We have a little bit of everything to compliment what’s next to it.

E: Some recent artists that have been showcased like CHICO, Jake Smith, SMURFO, mostly graffiti artists who now do more contemporary art. Do you look for anything specific when you’re looking for an artist to show at LPM? OJ: We don’t look as much as with our eyes, as much as we do with our hearts. We’ve been lucky that we have a group of friends in the community that are all creative and that are all into different things. We feel a certain spark with something we run with it.

K: I handle most of the clothes and the merchandise, and MIND BREATH MAGAZINE

OJ: I have been a writer for a while. Since we have been focusing so much on the store, I haven’t really been focusing on my writing. This is basically like our show room, people buy here but we also have a strong online presence. This was a website before it was anything. I just want to continue to keep the constant interaction. We have friends and customers all over the world, and now all of them can come by here and experience this. The writing is just a way to illustrate what this life is and to reach out.

People remember what they read, and they internalize it.

K: This is a lifestyle brand. We have music performances at LPM, we mix with a lot of different mediums. I think the blog is our reflection of what we find interesting whether it be a new music artist, song, a book, art, anything that catches our eye might show up on the blog.

E: Because I feel like a lot of vintage stores, or stores in general, that carry fashion designers, or vintage and what not, it’s not as a collaborative process as you both have made this store to be. Your working with artists, your friends, people of NY, you give people a voice, and I think that is so rare to find especially in this day in age where everything seems to be a competition and a hustle. You guys give some air to the lungs.

OJ: We create everything in here like art. We don’t treat it like fashion. Even though it is fashion, but we also treat it like art. I’ve always said if I ever had a super power I would be able to touch a fabric, or a floor, or a table and I can get the story behind it. It’s one of the best things you could ever know. Is to know where it’s from. That’s why I started that blog, and to also incorporate New York City. It’s the greatest city in the world, and there are about 8 million stories here.

E: There was major buzz about the piece CHICO did on your front about Taylor Swift becoming ambassador of New York City. Did you guys expect that amount of traffic? And who do you think should run for New York City?

K: I think we expected a little bit of controversy, like obviously we knew it was going to be something, but I don’t think we realized how much press we were going to get. 62 individual people, magazines, and blogs wrote about it. It was cool.

OJ: To be honest with you, the whole Taylor Swift idea came from a couple of days before the mural was painted.

We had already commissioned CHICO to come do a mural, but two days before that I was at an opening, and a friend of mine told me about what was happening with Taylor Swift. Like, “They are bugging! You should be the ambassador!” and I laughed it off. Even though I would definitely kill it. I love New York, but when I talk about New York I really like to glorify and romanticize its flaws. Our flaws are what make us different. Those scars that we have. Those things do not hurt, those aren’t wounds, that’s what separates us from everybody else. We’re all pretty scars.

CRITIQUE / REVIEW One sunny afternoon walking on Orchard Street, I saw a new store that I hadn’t seen before. Normally all I see are 7-elevens, or Starbuck’s popping up.

So, when I saw LPM I was immediately drawn to it. There was an unexplainable energy to it. A big smile greeted me and, Kara said, “Welcome!”

“You’re one of the first to come in, we just opened up this week!” As I spoke to her for a while, she told me that LPM was mostly just a vintage store, but they had other plans in the works for later on.

It was exciting, almost as if I felt the energy of the place becoming something it already was, it just needed some water to grow. How many vintage stores are in NYC alone? A lot. But something about LPM struck me, and so I welcomed her, and the store to the neighborhood and said I would be back again. After that I kept returning, and bringing friends, and showing up to their openings, because it felt collaborative. Collaboration is a huge part of what makes art great sometimes. I loved seeing what they birthed every other month, continuing to show artists, and getting more clothes in. They started selling more, and gaining notability. Later I found out that OJ and Kara were partners in crime with LPM, and I had known of OJ from his ties and involvement with his friends and family of the Peter Pan Posse of New York, and of his writings. The city is a small Island, and many forget that. It has been amazing to see them flourish in the way they so much deserve. The colors in their store, and the New York vibe come alive when you are there.

There is a sense of home when you walk in as you pass through the racks of the never-ending history, and look up and around to see the art that pierces the walls. They brought a little bit of Old NY back.

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ALEX MIRITELLO PHOTOGRAPHER INSTAGRAM @sayholaalex

Alex Miritello is an emerging photographer living in Brooklyn, New York. Her phone is her camera, but not exactly for finding the right lighting for the perfect “selfie”. She treats it as her source of documenting everyday life. She is attracted to people, and what they might do at any given second. You can see it in her Instagram. Capturing the essence, humor, and peculiar ways of what New York, and New York’s characters can be about on a day-to-day basis. She sees what we don’t.

While following her eye for about a year I decided that she would fit perfectly in this first issue of MBM. I met up with her one sunny day in Brooklyn on the promenade, and we spoke about how she got into street photography as her escape, and how much the city inspires her work.

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E: So tell me a bit about yourself, and how you became interested in photographing what you photograph now specifically. This is the first time I meet you outside Instagram. This is definitely the new age!

A: Totally. Well, I moved to New York about two and a half years ago. I was working a nanny job part time, and I was walking around a lot. With my free time I started walking more and more, and started taking pictures, because I saw so much was catching my eye, and it became an outlet for me to express myself. I started getting more interested in people. I remember taking a close up of this one woman, and after that is when I saw that maybe I could do something with this.

E: Where did you grow up?

A: I grew up in Westchester, New York. I have 5 years of street cred on the Upper West side though!

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E: What inspires you?

A: I love taking photos. I hide behind my camera a lot. Not to sound cheesy, but it’s true. When I lived in Westchester my focuses were on nature, and macro shots of bugs.

When I moved to New York, my work changed dramatically and I started taking pictures of just people mostly.

E: Do you only use your iPhone to shoot?

A: Yes. It’s much easier for me, also for what I am doing it’s perfect because it’s a more sneaky way of getting the photos I want. I can look like I am on my phone, but really I am trying to get the photo I want. Recently I was in Coney Island and I saw a guy taking a picture of the same thing I was photographing, but with a professional camera, and I went up to him and was like, “oh, you’re a street photographer?” and we started talking. He then sounded like he was very against street photography with an

iPhone. He said, “A camera gives you more purpose.” And I disagree, but I understand where he’s coming from.

E: I agree. I am a photographer too, and I use to only use my Canon or Rebel to take photos, and then the iPhone started becoming more readily handed. So, I started slowly just using my iPhone for photography.

I use both, but in art school they scold you away from that idea, because the argument is you’re not a real photographer if you’re shooting with your phone, because everyone has a camera now a days because of the iPhone. Then it becomes an argument about money, and that the iPhone has diminished what photography is all about and putting people out of the job, and while I see that as somewhat of a problem, with cases like you it’s not about that at all. There are exceptions made. Just because you shoot with your iPhone doesn’t make you less of a photographer. If you’re good you’re good.

A: It’s super accessible. Everyone has access to taking photos. I love technology in that respect. I mean it’s more about your eye and composition, and shadows and what you observe. People tell me a lot. “You have such a good eye! How do you see that?” I’m like, how do you not see that? I don’t know, if I walk pass a situation with a lot of people I’ll wait for a moment where I know if this person turns; their shadow will be really cool, and then I’ll snap it.

E: Explain a specific moment you remember where you knew a moment was coming that would be great for a shot.

A: Walking around I see moments unfold in front of me.

I kind of wait it out. I drive my friends crazy sometimes, because we’ll be walking and I’ll see something, or feel that something will happen if I wait for it. With shadows, and light specifically. I wait. If someone is walking, I will wait for a person to walk where I want the person to walk where the light will hit that individual just perfectly. I just took a picture where this guy was blowing these huge bubbles and this little girl was just charging into them, and I was there just clicking away because I knew one of them I would be able to use. There is a lot to see in the city, and I don’t want to exploit people, but I like finding the humor in my photography. People tend to gravitate to that more. There is so much to explore here. I am still just trying to find my way, and what I like.

E: What inspires you?

A: New York. Everyone is having the conversation, like, I am so sick of NY, and I am just like, HELL NO! I want to stay here! I love it here. I always want to walk around. In the nice weather it’s nice, because more people are out.

Their outfits get a little more unusual, and there is more to photograph. I love New York. It’s constantly weird, and it’s always new everyday. I can walk in the same place everyday, and it will be different.

E: Are you attracted to action shots, or emotional, or both?

A: I think both. I like getting people on the move, definitely.

I mean on the subway is a great place to get people. I have probably been seen on the subway not looking too happy, but people convey how they are feeling through their face, and we’re all in it together, and spreading those energies out! Definitely both. Body language shows emotion. I love getting people on their phone and using their hands as a way of expressing ones self – that shows passion in a way that not everyone is paying attention to, but it entices me, and I want to photograph it.

I like sitting in Union Square a lot too. There was once a woman at the farmers market and she bought strawberries and they all fell on the floor, and I took a photo of her picking them up. It was just a moment of like, doh! That could happen to anyone. Faces. I am amazed at faces – the expression on someone’s face shows so much.

Everyone has a story. There are so many people here. The city is so crowded. I get sentimental. Like, if we are on a subway we are all sometimes just not feeling it, but we’re 23

all going in the same direction. How cool is that? Everyone keeps their head down, and I am looking up, trying to make eye contact. Like, who’s going to do something weird!?

E: Have you ever been yelled at for taking someone’s picture?

A: Yeah, I was yelled at once and a woman through a cane at me! It was near Grand Central. I snapped a photo, and I was walking and did it. It actually came out blurry and not good, so I didn’t end up using it, but the woman started cursing at me, and through her cane at me. I just kept walking.

E: Wow. That’s crazy! How long have you been training your eye? Or did you just start photographing when you got your iPhone?

A: In high school I had a video camera, and I would just videotape everything. I didn’t know why. I just liked being behind the camera and documenting things. Nostalgia in general is an interesting concept to me. Holding on to a moment. These special moments that happen are brief.

That moment wont happen again. It blows my mind. I tell a story, to make you think, or have your own interpretation of it.

E: What account do you like to follow?

A: Daniel Arnold. @arnold_daniel (on Isntagram) I get excited when he posts. He really inspires me. He also follows me. That notification made my day!

E: I wonder if you’ll ever move away from the iPhone and shoot with a camera.

A: I think about it a lot. I hope to at some point. I am still at a stage where I’m trying to tell myself that I am good. It’s hard. It really is a stress reliever for me to go out, and find something to photograph, or wait for a moment, and have it be what I imagined it to be in my mind. Or have it surprise me. That’s what I like about New York, it’s always surprising me.

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CRITIQUE / REVIEW I stumbled on Alex’s work randomly one day while looking at what other people were ‘liking’ on Instagram. As usual this is how I seem to find talented artists. I am sure I am not the only person who does this? When I started looking at her photographs, I couldn’t stop looking. I was just getting where she was coming from, through her eye. The way she sees a moment and frames the picture is a rare find. I could sense that she was very self-aware, and picking up these moments that are sometimes hard to catch. What she chose to capture and upload on to her feed always enticed me. I started following her immediately, and every time she post’s something, it’s like “Yes! I get it.” Everyday she sets out into the New York City streets, and collaborates with her characters that she finds on a day-to-day basis. Although she only documents through her iPhone, it is real photography, no matter what. She would be taking great shots even if she were taking them on a $6,000 dollar Canon camera. Conceptually she has it, and without the idea at hand what else is there? Her humor is visible within her work, which is refreshing and nice to see how she connects with the people that she chooses to interact with through out her day. She is an emerging artist who is one to look out for.

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BARON VON FANCY ARTIST INSTAGRAM @baronvonfancy

Gordon Stevenson, AKA Baron Von fancy is a multi media artist. His sayings that he hand writes on to paper are the realities of everyday life, and/or the feelings we so often experience. If you haven’t seen his work at some point by now, you will soon. He is everywhere and on everything from sweatshirts, socks, candles, towels, underwear, and bed sheets, to billboards around New York City, and his art appeared on Galore’s #12th magazine cover. If you’re having a day where you don’t give a fuck any more he has something for you to express it, or if love is just not going your way? There is something on his feed that makes you feel like you don’t have to write a three paragraph caption about your feelings. He has done it for you. I visited Gordon at his studio downtown one morning as he told me how it all came to be for him, and where he is at now with everything in his career.

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E: How long does it take you to finish one of your works?

E: Do people come up to you and call you Baron?

BVF: Preparation is everything. Putting ink to paper it goes pretty fast. I don’t get the success rate I want every time.

So as you see, there are marks on the paper because I do it, over and over again until it’s just right. I want to know where each letter is going to go, the spacing is super important to me. The lettering is important, but the layout is just as important.

BVF: A lot! The other day someone asked me: “Do you introduce yourself as Gordon? Or Baron?” I’m like, this is so weird… but now people call me Gordon and call me Baron in a way I never expected.

E: How did the name: Baron Von Fancy come to you?

BVF: When I was in college I first showed art under my birth name, Gordon Stevenson. I then wanted to make objects and sell them commercially. So, it came to the point where I didn’t want my Birth name on commercially sold objects. At that time I collected vintage Versace pants that had crazy patterns all over them. People started jokingly calling me ‘Fancy Pants’ and on top of that I love cartoons – there is a Simpson episode where there is a character named: Baron Von Kiss A Lot, and at the time Von Dutch was such a big thing, and everyone was wearing them, which I was not down with, so it was sort of a play on all of that, and the name Baron Von Fancy came to be.

E: How does New York City influence your artwork?

BVF: That’s easy and hard for me to answer. I was born and raised here, so in a sense all I know is NY. New York is super important to me. Where the phrases come from that I use in my art comes from everywhere from sitting on a subway, to walking down the street, or hearing something on T.V. – which essentially you could do anywhere on Earth, but the city is more dramatic. I am the person I am because of New York. I have an understanding of the world that I don’t think I would have if it wasn’t for being raised here. New York is real and raw. The idea of looking for inspiration is something I don’t even have to do. I just hop on the train and someone will say something amazing, and then I’ll go draw it.

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E: Are you constantly wanting to create?

BVF: Yeah, I am always thinking about making stuff. In an almost compulsive way, and what is weird for me is that I love making the drawings, but the production part of it can be a nightmare. For instance I am trying to make towels right now with my art on them, and I can’t even express how time consuming it is to get it just right with the placement and color, etc. But I love it too. When I first designed socks I was working for Barney’s in New York, and from what I made there money wise, I would produce socks with my art on it. I loved how it all came together, despite the stress of it all.

E: I know in past interviews you have been asked, and have answered that a lot of your inspiration comes from your childhood. Is that still the case?

BVF: Yes. Well, It’s funny, because I recently put a Pablo Picasso quote on my art piece, and I put it up on my Instagram. Someone commented on the photo: “That’s a Pablo Picasso quote.” As if putting me on to that I had potentially stolen or taken his words.

Anything that I draw is because I like it, and it relates to me.

What I use can be a comic phrase, a famous quote, they can be things that my mom said to me that I can claim the rights to forever, but I don’t care about that. I am happy to give credit to people’s sayings, but that’s not what it’s about for me. I do it because for me it sparked something, and that’s why I draw it. The inspiration is everywhere.

also think art has a lot to do with how you market yourself.

I found Instagram, and that seems to work for me. I don’t have gallery representation the way that I want, but if I have a show in Chelsea and 20,000 people walk through the first week of its opening- that’s a lot of people. But if I put a photo up on Instagram, 60,000 people see it, and then they direct it to people. So it works out.

E: How do cartoons come to play for you and your imagination?

BVF: From a young age I always thought they were great.

My mom took me to see them in the movie theater and it brought us joy. And as an adult I still feel the same way.

Like, the person who made Toy Story, yes it is directed for a child audience, but adults can watch that movie and take things from it too. I like the idea that there is someone behind the cartoon that is doing it. Animation fascinates me, and the fact that there is someone on the other side of it creating these characters is amazing to me. It’s smart.

ART HAS A LOT TO DO WITH HOW YOU MARKET YOURSELF

E: Social media is a big platform for you, and your fan base is extensive. How do you use this to your benefit, except for the obvious…

BVF: I don’t have gallery representation, but I have a huge following of people that seem to like what I do. I love making things; to have them be appreciated is the greatest compliment ever. The fact that people love what I do and companies want to work with me is the most amazing feeling. I wake up everyday thankful. I also know a ton of people who are unbelievably talented and do not have the following that I have, and that doesn’t make any sense to me, but I am very thankful for the position that I am in. I MIND BREATH MAGAZINE

E: When I first started following your work. I was interested in the lustful expression you seemed to have. You posted many photos of couples together hash tagging it #allimafter – what exactly are you after?

BVF: We live in a pretty crazy world. I think it’s all I am after because it’s something I may never have. The idea of love to me is sort of unnatural. I swear to god. I think people who stay together for over 50 years is amazing to me. I love the idea of someone who makes you happy, and that you can confide in. The idea of a soul mate is cool. When I see a couple together and I ask them how long have you been together and their answer is 60 something years that’s fucking crazy to me. When I say #allimafter I am after that in someway.

E: Do you believe in lust at first sight, or love at first sight?

BVF: Definitely lust. Let’s just say lust first, but that doesn’t mean that lust can’t turn into love. I think that lust has to come first for there to be love. I want to see a woman and want to rip her clothes off, but I also want to have a

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conversation with her and be able to be with her. I want to love someone’s mind just as much as their body. There is 24 hours in a day. Your not having sex for all of it, you have to be able to communicate with someone. I think that is just as important.

E: You’re a big collaborator with your friends, and big time companies like Juicy, Reformation, etc… what is the first thing you collaborated on, and what is the last?

BVF: I made lighters long ago, and I still make them today with my friends, but the actual first one I ever made was a lighter for my friends film company, that I don’t think exists anymore; with contact information, and with a ruler sketched on it.

E: Do you still have it?

BVF: I have everything that I have ever made. Everything.

E: Why do you like to collaborate?

BVF: I love to collaborate because it is so interesting for me to see what other people come up with. There are things I would never be able to make if it wasn’t also for someone else’s ideas that come into play.

E: What’s your dream idea that you want to come to life?

BVF: I would love to work with high fashion companies.

Companies like Hermes, or Louis Vuitton, or even Prada would be dope! I like fashion. I like things I would use. For instance, if I were to make a travel Louis Vuitton leather bag, I would carry it. I would use it.

E: I didn’t think I would ask this, but I will. What do you consider to be fancy?

BVF: When I think of fancy, I think of regal and royal.

Which is interesting because that really isn’t what I am about. I like nice, or fancy things, but fancy could be anything to me. I don’t think my name Baron Von Fancy is about fancy things. The last few things that I have put up on my Instagram are lewd and disgusting potentially. But, I like things that are fancy. For instance if I see some dude in a Maserati with a Rolex on, that doesn’t mean that he’s super rich in my opinion. I think he had the means to rent or acquire these things… But I think people whom have a lot of money don’t always necessarily show off that they are very wealthy. So what is fancy? I don’t have an answer for it.

CRITIQUE / REVIEW When I first garnered interest in Gordon’s work AKA Baron Von Fancy, it was in 2013. People on my feed continued liking these photos of colorful and bold statements, or verses. He was gaining more popularity, and circulating the Internet a lot more. I kept seeing him pop all over. I clicked on his name, and got lost in his feed immediately. I loved reading all of them. My first repost from his work was ‘My Give A Fuck Is Broke’ I thought, “Perfect!” I don’t know if those were his words, or something he had heard on the train, or T.V. But, all I knew was that this is exactly how I feel at this very moment, and I decided to post it on my page on Instagram. BVF’s work tends to grasp your vibe of what you are feeling at any given moment. He highlights and condenses it in a fun and modern way. Whether it’s his words or not, that’s the way Baron Von Fancy works. The nostalgia and regressive vibe with his interest in cartoons is something I think a lot of people can connect with. Sometimes we have that feeling, or an urge of just wanting to watch a Disney film at night before we go to sleep, and never wanting to grow up. I know, I’ve been there! I also know that he does this because he appreciates the work that is put into those cartoons, becoming something that is alive and palpable. He inspires himself to an extent that is addictive for the individual looking at his work. His colors and boldness draw you in. He is definitely an artist of our generation. His sense of individuality is strong, and he takes his time to make the vibe just right for you.

His antennas are always up, and on the prow for the next best verse.

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DAN FLAVIN THE FLUORESCENT GOD

Dan Flavin was born in Jamaica, NY in 1933 and died in Riverhead, NY in 1996. While he was alive he orchestrated a beautiful masterpiece of fluorescent light fixtures; that would be noted as sculptural objects, and instillations. Once, in an interview, he stated: “It is what it is and it ain’t nothing else.”

For some artists it is only the creating aspect as to why they do a certain piece of art, what it means to people after the fact doesn’t entice them (the artist). Dan Flavin was one of those artists.

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When I walk into a room filled with heavenly neon tones, and shades of barrier on my skin. I feel a sense of calm. A space was once empty and then filled with art. When you have a space that is empty and you fill it with someone such as Flavin’s art; it is a sense of touch, and a feeling of being aware of your surroundings that entices you. Each light fixture one by one indicates some kind of sentiment into which you are not allowed to cross. You are allowed to look, but there is a sense to not touch. When I am in a room filled with his light bracing my skin, I sense a feeling of collaboration with his work. He dresses a room for you, and then you wear it. His concepts were beyond his years. I connect his work to life at times. Where I feel things can be so beautiful, but out of reach. I can sense it and see it, but I can’t have it, and I can’t touch it.

Flavin’s work in many ways is otherworldly, as his color palette undresses you as you dress his art, and vice versa. I recently went to see him at the David Zwirner Gallery in Chelsea, NY. It will be up and running until October 24th, 2015. Though if you missed it, you are able to catch him at the DIA and MoMA among other museums, and galleries.

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#THISISLEGAL #FREETHENIPPLE #THISISARIGHT If you were to Google now ‘topless in New York City’ hundreds of articles would come up on the fact that it is in fact legal for women to be topless in New York.

Unfortunately in our society as much as it is celebrated, it is also a topic not many people are too fond of. Women for centuries have been perceived as sexual objects, or individuals who should be covered from head to toe, not to be looked at, or even at worse be treated as an ornament on the streets where men are able to cat call, and even feel free to touch a woman at times because they feel like it.

Back thousands of years ago; even in some cultures it has been a gift of beauty, and a right for women to be topless.

It is a beautiful thing to be able to embrace ones self without having the definition of being labeled, or because those of us who support this movement are “asking” for it in someway. No we’re not. We just want to be able to have the right that men have when it’s 100 degrees out, and that is to take our tops off, including our bra. They are nipples, not guns!

The Free The Nipple campaign, and movie started around 2014 when women were still getting arrested for walking around topless on a summers’ day. The Free the Nipple campaign have garnered the attention of millions to help awareness around this subject. They have managed to educate many people on this topic, and they aren’t giving up the fight anytime soon. When I went to their site I was actually shocked to know that in a less evolved state like Louisiana, a nipple that is exposed can lead to arrest, and up to three years in prison and costing over $2,000 in fines.

Outrageous? I think so. New York City legalized going topless in 1992. Though the NYPD continues to arrest women to this day.

I took a photograph in 2012 that sparked my interest to understand what this woman I saw was doing on that hot 37

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day. I also wanted other people to know, because before I had taken this photo of the woman walking topless with shopping bags. I had no idea about this right. I was amazed to know so many people didn’t know that this was actually a right. Many of my friends at first thought I was nuts for walking around the city topless, but as popularity gained around the subject it was seen as ballsy and awesome that women were actually standing up for a fundamental right.

I started my @thisislegal account on Instagram, and sold shirts with my photograph, which helped gain attention to the fact. Which all sold out! I had the account for a solid two and half years, when suddenly one day it was no longer there. Instagram had shut me down. I disclaimed it and notified them on what I thought was a mistake on their behalf. Seeing that I only posted women who were censored, and here and there, a women with her nipples showing, but in a tasteful way, not in a pornographic way.

Although, being sexy doesn’t have to be viewed as being pornographic. It’s how you view it, but if it’s porn, it’s porn.

Though they still wouldn’t grant me the wish of reactivating my account. Of course I was livid and just made another account after I knew there was no chance in getting my original account back. You can view my argument below from screenshots of when I first got the email back from Instagram, and then my reply to their absurd reasoning behind their action. Excuse for the writing errors. I was venting into the email.

THEY ARE NIPPLES, NOT GUNS!

When I took the photo in 2012… I was walking in a heat wave, and I had just gone on a 6-mile bike ride, and had gotten off to run an errand when suddenly this woman passed in a blink of an eye. I thought I was seeing things.

I had to take a look. Though she was fast, the first thing I noticed was that she was topless. It was the first time I had ever seen a woman do that in a busy street in NY, and with such ease and comfort. I stopped as she sped up.

Before I knew it she had turned the corner, and something in me said run (in her direction) and I got to her and snapped this photo you see here. This began my huge interest in the beginning of an important movement that I had no idea existed. For me it was ‪#‎thisislegal‬‬ for some its ‪#‎freethenipple‬‬, but at the end of the day it’s a right. As women we should be able to do what we want when we want and not have it be perceived as “asking for it” or being judged for stepping out of societies norms. Love the skin your in and walk freely in these streets. They love you.

Follow me on Instagram: @thisislegal_ or support @freethenipple. It’s all the same love. Peace!

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