Rapport by Jurate Gacionyte

A rt

cult ur e

st y le

May 2015

Evan Robarts

Plant People

Eddie O â&#x20AC;&#x2122; K ee f f e

Playing with Elementary Particles

Staying Close to Nature in a Fast Paced World

Corners of The States through Photography

May 2015

Editor in Chief Stefano Weir Managing Editor Frank Hyland Ar t D i rec t o r Jack Tor

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Aram Wenders

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Copy Editors Rachel Binks Edward Solomon S t a f f P h o t o g r a p h er Francesca Coppola J r me d i a re l a t i o n s C o o r d i n a t o r Joanna Dawson A d v er t i s i n g S a l e s Carson Dunn I n t er n s Courtney Maclean Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Loraine Smith Mark Wong Robert Rapuch

Published by Awarehouse Publishing Reproduction of any part of this publication must be authorised by the publisher and credited to Humble Report magazineand the contributors involved ISSN 1927-7849 (print) ISSN 1927-7857 (online) Rapport 513 Avenue of Americas New York, 11213 NY

May 2015

CULTURE Films to Watch p 25 On the Shelf p 25 May the forest be with you p 25 Kyle MacLachlan confirms his return to Twin Peaks. David Lynch will direct every episode of the show, which is set to return in 2016 by Kory Grow Inner Essence of a Landscape p 25 Werner Herzog Offers 24 Pieces of Filmmaking & Life Advice in His New Book by Jason Kottke Species of Spaces p 25 Brief notes on the art and manner of arranging one’s books by Georges Perec

FEATURES

An Escape Artist, Unlocking Door After Door p 25 Miranda July Blurs Fiction and Reality to Promote a Novel by Alexandra Alter

ART

Playing with elementary particles p 25 The Sculptural Collages of Evan Robarts by Hannah Greggory

Not to miss p 25 In the Studio p 25 Fancy and Simple p 25 Cosy Interiors, Food Aesthetics and Basic Daily Clothes of Japanese Illustrator Fumi Koike by Liv Siddal Don’t Take these Drawings Seriously p 25 Nathalie du Pasquier is Your Design Hero by Chrissy Mahlmeister

Plant People p 25 Small communities – big goals. Slowed-down suburban life and gardening in a fast paced world by Hannah Greggory

STYLE Things to have p 25 Places to go p 25 Species of Spaces p 25 Brief notes on the art and manner of arranging one’s books by Georges Perec An Escape Artist, Unlocking Door After Door p 25 Miranda July Blurs Fiction and Reality to Promote a Novel by Alexandra Alter

Contents March 2015

Corners of the States p 25 Two photographers set out to visit and document remote places in America by Hannah Greggory

May 2015

M i r a n d a J u l y p 15–19

Ge o r g e s P erec p 21–23

Born 15 February 1974

7 March 1936 – 3 March 1982

American film director, screenwriter, actor, author and artist. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital media presentations, and live performance art. She wrote, directed and starred in the films Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) and The Future (2011). Her most recent book, a debut novel The First Bad Man, was published in January 2015.

French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group.

N a t h a l i e D u P a s q u i re p 33–37 Born 15 February 1974 American film director, screenwriter, actor, author and artist. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital media presentations, and live performance art. She wrote, directed and starred in the films Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) and The Future (2011). Her most recent book, a debut novel The First Bad Man, was published in January 2015.

T a t i a n a He i f e t z p 21–23 7 March 1936 – 3 March 1982 French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group.

F u m i K o i ke p 25–31 Born 3 March 1982

J er o me O ’ h a r a p 15–19

Japanese illustrator. Living and working in London, UK.

Born 15 February 1974 French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group.

Contributors March 2015

May 2015

et me introduce myself: I am Humble Report’s new Editor in Chief. And beginning with the September issue—redesigned and reimagined—we will learn from one another what a magazine is, and what it can be, in our always changing new world. To start, let me say that I am a magazine enthusiast, a junkie who from my earliest school days has been obsessed with flipping though the pages of magazines, first absorbed in their images and stories, later assigning and editing my own. I really believe that no matter whether a magazine is delivered to your doorstep or to your computer, printed on glossy stock or on cheap tabloid paper, appearing on your iPad or your cellphone screen, it is still and foremost the work of an editorial team for a discerning audience, a beautiful and meaningful— we hope—package of ideas, words and images that a group of experts prepares for its readers. While technology efficiently delivers news stories to our desktops, laptops and mobile devices, magazines are all about context—how ideas and images are presented in relation to one another and within a larger point of view. Magazines are about trust and partnership: We, the editors, will strive always to keep you engaged; you, the readers, are free to engage with us or to reject us. But enough theory: Let me tell you about this transitional August issue of Humble Report. There is a story this month that I particularly like because it combines a great read with intriguing photographs. The very talented Lauren Collins, a staff writer at The New Yorker, profiles a woman at the top of her game: Gucci Creative Director Frida Giannini. In her spirited and often funny narrative, Collins captures the strengths and doubts of many successful women. She paints, with brave

strokes, Giannini’s rise to power in a man’s world, professionally and personally, while at the same time delighting in the pleasures and ironies of celebrity and stardom. Artist and photographer Paolo Roversi renders his own portrait of Giannini—naked beneath her mannish suit—and brings Gucci’s fall collection out into the streets of Rome, with mirrors, monuments and more than a touch of Fellini. From the Eternal City we travel to the City of Angels, where Jon Hamm and Rebecca Hall act out our cover story, shot in downtown L.A. The Mad Men star doffs Don Draper’s perfect suit and tie to get intimate with Hall, the Vicky of Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Having just worked on The Town, a drama directed by and starring Ben Affleck—in theaters in September—the pair complain about the dearth of movies aimed at adults, and address rumors of Hall’s romance with a certain director. These days Los Angeles wants to be more than a movie set, and the city is making a serious bid to become a world capital of contemporary art. Many well-known New York art figures have decamped for L.A., most recently art impresario Jeffrey Deitch, now at the Museum of Contemporary Art. A crop of East Coast galleries—L&M Arts and Matthew Marks among them—are establishing West Coast outposts. And a cluster of new galleries has sprung up in Culver City. “It’s not just a coincidence. S—’s on fire,” declares one longtime gallerist. To document the change, photographer Jason Schmidt takes us for a ride along the Angeleno avenues to discover the people and places behind this exploding art scene. Stay with us—and expect more.

S t e f a n o W e i r Editor-in-Chief

Five Minutes with Stefano March 2015

15 M a y t h e F o re s t

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25 A n E s c a pe Ar t i s t, 19 R e a d t h e I n n er E s s e n s e

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CULTURE • ART • STYLE • FEATURES

May 2015

MAY THE FOREST BE WITH YOU Kyle MacLachlan confirms his return to Twin Peaks. David Lynch will direct every episode of the show, which is set to return in 2016 KORY GROW

t’s official: Kyle MacLachlan is set to return to Twin Peaks to reprise his role as the ever-curious Special Agent Dale Cooper when the show returns as a limited-run Showtime series next year. The actor announced the news during the channel’s Television Critics Association presentation and one of the series’ creators, David Lynch, quickly shared the news online with a tweet. “I’m very excited to return to the strange and wonderful world of Twin Peaks,” MacLachlan said at the event, according to Deadline. And, in a way mysterious enough for the show, added “May the forest be with you.” (Show creators Lynch and Mark Frost both wrote that line in their own tweets when they announced the show’s return last October.) HitFix reports the actor also reportedly approached Showtime president David Nevins and referenced a popular line from the show, telling him, “I think you need a damn good cup of coffee.” The nine-episode run will go into production this year with an eye toward premiering in 2016,

CULTURE • ART • STYLE • FEATURES

May 2015

May the Forest be with You • Continued from page 15

Be s t re a d s o n Tw i n P e a k s p u b l i s h e d o v er t h e y e a r s : 1 W r a ppe d i n P l a s t i c Mark Frost Penguin 2014 2 W e l c o me t o Tw i n P e a k s : A n Acce s s G u i d e t o t h e T o w n David Lynch Random House 1999 3 T h e A u t o b i o g r a p h y o f FBI Spec i a l A g e n t D a l e C o o per Scott Frost Penguin 2001 4 T h e Secre t D i a r y o f L a u r a P a l mer Francis Lynch

Random House 1999

5 R e f l ec t i o n s : a n Or a l H i s t o r y o f Tw i n P e a k s Brad Dukes Random House 2014

3 the year that marks the 25th anniversary of the final installment of the beloved cult drama’s original run. Lynch and Frost are writing and producing the series, and Lynch will direct each episode. Beyond MacLachlan, no other cast members have confirmed involvement on the new run. Appropriately, Nevins described his role in the making of the new Twin Peaks as “More or less writing checks and leaving them alone.” He added, “It’s David’s show; it’s Mark’s show. I will be the grateful recipient of it.” He also attempted to explain just why the show is returning 25 years later: “25 years was the magic number [for Lynch],” Nevins said, according to IndieWire. “He pays attention to that numerology in a big way.” “I’m very excited to return to the strange and wonderful world of Twin Peaks,” MacLachlan said at the event, according to Deadline. And, in a way mysterious enough for the show, added “May the forest be with you.” (Show creators Lynch and Mark Frost both wrote that line in their own tweets when they announced the show’s return last October.) HitFix reports the actor also reportedly approached Showtime president David Nevins and referenced a popular line from the show, telling him, “I think you need a damn good cup of coffee.”

More gems on Twin Peaks bit.ly/rapport-twin-peaks 15

CULTURE • ART • STYLE • FEATURES

May 2015

INNER ESSENCE OF A LANDSCAPE Werner Herzog Offers 24 Pieces of Filmmaking & Life Advice in His New Book JASON KOTTKE

here are few filmmakers alive today who have the mystique of Werner Herzog. His feature films and his documentaries are brilliant and messy, depicting both the ecstasies and the agonies of life in a chaotic and fundamentally hostile universe. And his movies seem very much to reflect his personality – uncompromising, enigmatic and quite possibly crazy. How else can you explain his willingness to risk life and limb to shoot in such forbidding places as the Amazonian rain forest or Antarctica? In perhaps his greatest film, Fitzcarraldo — which is about a dreamer who hatches a scheme to drag a riverboat over a mountain — Herzog

Werner Herzog’s new epic biographical drama The Queen of the Desert premiered at Berlinale in February. It is reviewed on page 21.

CULTURE • ART • STYLE • FEATURES

May 2015

W er n er Her z o g s h a re s a d v i ce f o m h i s o w n v er y s pec i a l e x per i e n ce : 1

for forgiveness, not permission.

T a ke

Le a r n

institutional cowardice.

your fate into your own hands.

to read the inner essence of a landscape.

Ignite

the fire within and explore unknown territory.

Walk

straight ahead, never detour.

M a n o e u v re and m i s l e a d , but always d e l i v er .

Don’t

be fearful of rejection.

De v e l o p

your own voice.

Day one is the point of

fa i l

a film theory class.

is the lifeblood of cinema.

G u err i l l a

T a ke 24

n o re t u r n .

A badge of honor is to

C h a n ce 22

a film.

bolt cutters everywhere.

Ask

20 21

finish

There is never an excuse not to

Thwart

18 19

your knowledge and understanding of music and literature, old and modern.

to live with your mistakes.

E x pa n d

C a rr y

Never w a l l o w in your troubles; despair must be kept private and brief.

That roll of unexposed celluloid you have in your hand might be the last in existence, so d o something impressive with it. 8

out all your dogs and one might return with prey.

Le a r n 6

the Initiative.

There is nothing wrong with s pe n d i n g a night in jail if it means getting the shot you need.

Se n d 4

t a ke

Always

tactics are best.

revenge if need be.

Ge t u s e d

to the bear behind you.

No studios. In the middle of the Peruvian jungle. The production, perhaps the most miserable in the history of film, is the subject of the documentary The Burden of Dreams. After six punishing months, a weary-looking Herzog described his surroundings:

‘I see it more full of obscenity. It’s just – Nature here is vile and base. I wouldn’t see anything erotical here. I would see fornication and asphyxiation and choking and fighting for survival and… growing and… just rotting away. Of course, there’s a lot of misery. But it is the same misery that is all around us. The trees here are in misery, and the birds are in misery. I don’t think they – they sing. They just screech in pain. […] But when I say this, I say this all full of admiration for the jungle. It is not that I hate it, I love it. I love it very much. But I love it against my better judgment.’ His worldview brims with a heroic pessimism that is pulled straight out of the German Romantic poets. Nature is not some harmonious anthropomorphized playground. It is instead nothing but “chaos, hostility and murder.” For those sick of the cynical dishonesty of Hollywood’s current crop of Award-ready fare (hello, The Imitation Game), Herzog comes as a bracing tonic. An icon of what independent cinema should be rather than what it has largely become. Below is Herzog’s list of advice for filmmakers, found on the back of his latest book Werner Herzog – A Guide for the Perplexed. (Hat tip goes to Jason Kottke for bringing it to our attention.) Some maxims are pretty specific to the world of moviemaking – “That roll of unexposed celluloid you have in your hand might be the last in existence, so do something impressive with it.” Other points are just plain good lessons for life — “Always take the initiative,” “Learn to live with your mistakes.” Read along and you can almost hear Herzog’s malevolent Teutonic lilt

AweekendREAD

CULTURE • ART • STYLE • FEATURES

May 2015

SPECIES OF SPACES Brief notes on the art and manner of arranging one’s books GEORGES PEREC

very library answers a twofold need, which is often also a twofold obsession: that of conserving certain objects (books) and that of organizing them in certain ways. One of my friends had the idea one day of stopping his library at 361 books. The plan was as follows: having attained, by addition or subtraction, and starting from a given number n of books, the number K = 361, deemed as corresponding to a library—if not an ideal then at least a sufficient library—he would undertake to acquire on a permanent basis a new book X only after having eliminated (by giving away, throwing out, selling, or any other appropriate means) an old book Z, so that the total number K of works should remain constant and equal to 361:

K + X > 361 > K—Z As it evolved, this seductive scheme came up against predictable obstacles for which the unavoidable solutions were found. First, a volume was to be seen as counting as one (1) book even if it contained three (3) novels (or collections of poems, essays, etc.); from which it was deduced that three (3) or four (4) or n (n) novels by the same author counted (implicitly) as one (1) volume by that author, as fragments not yet brought together but ineluctably bringable 15

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May 2015

together in a Collected Works. Whence it was adjudged that this or that recently acquired novel by this or that English-language novelist of the second half of the 19th century could not logically count as a new work X but as a work Z belonging to a series under construction: the set T of all the novels written by the aforesaid novelist (and God knows there are some!). This did not alter the original scheme in any way at all: only instead of talking about 361 books, it was decided that the sufficient library was ideally made up of 361 authors, whether they had written a slender opuscule or enough to fill a truck. This modification proved effective over several years. But it soon became apparent that certain works, romances of chivalry, for example, had no author or else had several authors, and that certain authors—the Dadaists, for example—could not be kept separate from one another without automatically losing 90 per cent of what made them interesting. The idea was thus reached of a library restricted to 361 subjects—the term is vague but the groups it covers are also vague at times—and up until now that limitation has been strictly observed. So then, one of the chief problems encountered by the man who keeps the books he has read or promises himself that he will one day read is that of the increase in his library. Not everyone has the good fortune to be Captain Nemo: “The world ended for me the day my Nautilus dived for the first time beneath the waves. On that day I bought my last volumes, my last pamphlets, my last newspapers, and since that time I would like to believe that mankind has neither thought nor written.” Captain Nemo’s 12,000 volumes, uniformly bound, were thus classified once and for all—and all the more simply because the classification, as is made clear to us, was uncertain, at least from the linguistic point of view (a detail which does not at all concern the art of arranging a library but is meant simply to remind us that Captain Nemo speaks all languages indiscriminately). But for us, who continue to have to do with a human race that insists on thinking, writing, and above all publishing, the increasing size of our libraries tends to become the one real problem. For it is not too difficult, very obviously, to keep ten or 20 or let us say even a hundred books; but once you start to have 361, or a thousand, or three thousand, and especially when the total starts to increase every day or thereabouts, the problem arises, first of all of arranging all those books somewhere and then of being able to lay your hand on them one day when, for whatever reason, you either want or need to read them at last or even to reread them. Thus the problem of a library is shown to be twofold: a problem of space first of all, then a problem of order. M o re : Spec i e s o f Sp a ce s a n d O t h er P i ece s ed. and trans. by John Sturrock London: Penguin, 1997; rev. ed. 1999

Ge o r g e s P erec was a highly-regarded French novelist, filmmaker and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group. Many of his novels and essays abound with experimental wordplay, lists and attempts at classification, and they are usually tinged with melancholy. Perec’s first novel, Les Choses (Things: A Story of the Sixties) was awarded the Prix Renaudot in 1965. In 1978, Perec won the prix Médicis for Life: A User’s Manual (French title, La Vie mode d’emploi), possibly his best-known work. The 99 chapters of this 600 page piece move like a knight’s tour of a chessboard around the room plan of a Paris apartment building, describing the rooms and stairwell and telling the stories of the inhabitants. Cantatrix Sopranica L. is a spoof scientific paper detailing experiments on the “yelling reaction” provoked in sopranos by pelting them with rotten tomatoes. All the references in the paper are multi-lingual puns and jokes, e.g. “(Karybb et Scyla, 1973)”. Perec is also noted for his constrained writing: his 300-page novel La disparition (1969) is a lipogram, written without ever using the letter “e”. It has been translated into English by Gilbert Adair under the title A Void (1994). The silent disappearance of the letter might be considered a metaphor for the Jewish experience during the Second World War. Since the name ‘Georges Perec’ is full of ‘e’s, the disappearance of the letter also ensures the author’s own ‘disappearance’.

CULTURE • ART • STYLE • FEATURES

May 2015

PHOTOGRAPH: STELLA BERKOFSKY

An Escape Artist, Unlocking Door After Door Miranda July Blurs Fiction and Reality to Promote a Novel A L E X A N D R A A LT E R

he objects for sale on Miranda July’s website seem entirely ordinary and even deliberately random. A pink hairbrush. An envelope. A painted vase. A bag of popcorn. On closer inspection, each item becomes mysterious and potentially meaningful, like a clue in a crime novel. The brush is clotted with blond hair. The vase is in pieces. The envelope holds a secret — the name of an unborn child’s father. The popcorn, bizarrely, is bubble-gum-flavored. Each of the 50 objects has a fictional counterpart in Ms. July’s debut novel, “The First Bad Man,” which Scribner will release on Tuesday. The novel’s narrator, a lonely, eccentric middle-aged woman named Cheryl, unexpectedly falls into a relationship with a callous younger woman, a blond bombshell named Clee, and finds her compulsively ordered life upended. Although Ms. July created the website to promote the novel, it’s as much an art project as a marketing stunt. By allowing fans and readers to own items that previously existed only in her imagination and

CULTURE • ART • STYLE • FEATURES

May 2015

PIN-STRIPED MEN’S DRESS SHIRT

I put on a pin-striped men’s dress shirt that I’d been saving. Seeing me in this would unconsciously make him feel like we’d just woken up together and I’d thrown on his shirt. A relaxing feeling, I would think. T h e F i r s t B a d M a n , page 29

BROKEN VASE

She ran alongside me and pried a vase out of my hand, too ignorant to understand the system of counterbalances I was using. One was slipping now, thanks to her help, and I let her catch it, which she did not. T h e F i r s t B a d M a n | page 12

PIECE O F PA P E R

He calmly examined my cheeks while ferociously stabbing a piece of paper with a red pen. There was a face on the paper, a generic face labeled CHERYL GLICKMAN. ‘Those marks are . . . ?’ ‘Your rosacea.’ T h e F i r s t B a d M a n | page 3

on the page, Ms. July is attempting to blur the line between fiction and reality, a boundary that she’s constantly puncturing through her performance art and writing. “Often, these marketing-type projects are just a millimeter away from my actual work,” said Ms. July, 40, who lives in Los Angeles with her husband, the artist and director Mike Mills, and their 2-yearold son, Hopper. “I like people feeling like they could almost be that person in the story, crossing this line that’s not supposed to be permeable.” As a hyphenate artist who makes movies, performance art, plays, purses, interactive web projects and, recently, a digital app, Ms. July occupies an odd niche in the literary landscape. Her fiction, like the rest of her work, defies easy genre categorization. It mixes off-kilter humor, eccentric characters and weird sexual fetishes with weightier themes like isolation, aging and loneliness. Find the rest of the items from The First Bad Man online shop: thefirstbadman.com

The Last Of The Unjust

Claude Lanzmann’s devastating appendix to his epochal Holocaust documentary, Shoah, is a vital piece of cinema.

Birdman

Whipsplash Da m ie n Ch a ze lle 2 0 1 4

C l au de La nzma nn 201 3

Shake, rattle and brawl. A student drummer faces off with his psycho teacher in Damien Chazelle’s pulsating drama.

The Green Ray

This ambling French tale from 1986 about a woman deciding where to go on holiday is one of modern cinema’s high pinnacles.

Archive online: rapport.com/moviereviews

Stations of the Cross

Dietri ch Br üggem an n 20 14

A brilliant and subtle comedy about teenage martyrdom argues that extremism has no place in the modern world. From the outset, Dietrich Brüggemann’s Stations of the Cross appears to be entering into a spiky dialogue with modern religious doctrine. It might even be construed as a barbed and mordantly funny

Eric rohmer 1986

Alejand ro G onz á l e z I ñá rri tu 20 14

Michael Keaton soars in director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s triumphant return to form.

take-down of fundamentalist religion and its antiquated place in the modern world. Yet there’s a case to suggest that the religious aspect to the film is just a superficial outer casing set around more nourishing innards. The structure of the film is based around and inspired by the 14 “stations” through which Christ transported the cross en route to his crucifixion, and the family at the centre of the film are practicing Catholics who belong to a “pure”, orthodox branch of the church.

FILMStoWATCH

CULTURE • ART • STYLE • FEATURES

May 2015

WHO

David Lane

What

The Gourmand co-founder

Where

London, UK

Further

thegourmand.co.uk

I f y o u ’ v e p a s s e d an independent magazine stand or stepped into a newsagents of late then without a doubt you’ll have some idea of what The Gourmand is. The biannual journal focuses on food in all its guises, and it’s invariably too enticing not to pick up. Founded by David Lane and Marina Tweed, the magazine is something of a pulsating hub for cultural references, with every page bearing the kind of striking imagery that challenges accepted patterns of independent publishing, urging the whole industry forward. You can see why we decided to grab co-founder and creative director David Lane to run us through his five favourite inspirational books from the studio Bookshelf.

Kinetics: Catalogue of an Exhibition held at Hayward Gallery, London, 1970

This beautifully designed catalogue hails from a hugely labour intensive pre-computer era of editorial design. It definitely has the book design X factor—that perfect, undefinable synergy that sits in the invisible spaces between design, physical/material form and functionality—that only the best books possess. It is a compilation of folded sheets, unbound, and inserted into a slip case. The movement of the sheets and infinite possibilities of the ordering perfectly reflect the kinetic theme of the show. Designed by Crosby/Fletcher/ Forbes—the earliest iteration of Pentagram, and in my mind, up there with the best British design studio of all time—this catalogue embodies a golden era where graphic design was truly a learned craft, where PR, advertising and marketing departments were yet to be invented, and where a small studio of three could create work for international institutions and companies without the inevitable dilution of concept that is so apparent today. The exhibition too was a tour de force of brilliant, concise, optimistic modernism.

Cyril Ray: The Compleat Imbiber

The below is taken from the introduction to Patrick Baglee’s brilliant essay in Issue #1 of The Gourmand on The Compleat Imbiber series. It was a true inspiration when we started the magazine, and remains one of my absolute favourite book series for its eccentricity and eclectic content. Myself and Patrick both collect these incredible volumes and being a far better writer I thought I would let him introduce it. “From how to best pair sardines with Sauternes to William McGonagall’s tale of his assault by vegetables at the local (from which this modest homage takes its title (The First Man Who Threw Peas at me was a Publican), The Compleat Imbiber laid before its loyal readers a remarkable collection of culinary and literary morsels. Published irregularly between 1956 and 1992 and edited by the remarkable Cyril Ray, this epicurean charivari combined practical advice on fine wines and seasonal ingredients with esoteric musings on the effects and benefits of an appetite for the finer things in life.”

Visit the archive of Bookshelf bit.ly/rapport-books

ONtheSHELF

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May 2015

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May 2015

FANCY AND SIMPLE Cosy Interiors, Food Aesthetics and Basic Daily Clothes of Japanese Illustrator Fumi Koike LIV SIDDALL

emember the feeling when you’ve come in from the cold and your hands have got chilblains, your cheeks are red and your toes are numb, but then one bite of a crumpet or a sip of sugary tea just defrosts you in the dreamiest way ever? Well, Fumi Koike seems to have latched on to that feeling and managed to illustrate it in this wonderful series of paintings. Big wooden beds, eggs for breakfast and cold hands around hot mugs are just some of the seasonal imagery featured in her work, not forgetting the brilliant collection of dog paintings on her Flickr page. So thank you Fumi, you have come along just in time to make us genuinely excited for the imminent cold weather. Hoorah!Although Ms. July created the website to promote the novel, it’s as much an art project as a marketing stunt. By allowing fans and read

WHO

Kaye Blegvad

What

Designer, illustrator, maker-of-things Where

London / New York

Further

kayeblegvad.com

Kaye Blegvad is an illustrator, designer, and general maker-of-things. Born and raised in London, she studied illustration at the University of Brighton, moved to NYC shortly after, and has spent the majority of her time between the two cities ever since. Besides making rad drawings, Kaye has tried her hand at every creative pursuit she possibly could, including a line of handmade jewelry, a much celebrated collection of ceramics, self-publishing quirky book and zines, and has proved equally as awesome at all feats. Her whimsical drawing style seamlessly carries over to other materials, making for intricate detailed pieces with a quirky narrative. Her whimsical drawing style seamlessly carries over to other materials, making for intricate detailed pieces with a quirky narrative. Her whimsical drawing style seamlessly carries over to other materials, making for intricate detailed pieces with a quirky narrative.

INtheSTUDIO

CULTURE • ART • STYLE • FEATURES

May 2015

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May 2015

$15 each

These custom key tags, made in New York City by Various Projects, each say something fun about you and your love of books, while saying it on a smart, useful little object that’s a treat to own. All keytags measure approximately 2″ x 0.75″ (51 x 19 mm) and are made from 100% Microsurfaced Impact Acrylic. In all cases, the edges and back of each tag are the same color as the engraved lettering

$300-500

variouskeytags.com

Pétrifications is a collection by Swiss designer Krzysztof J. Lukasik of five triangular geometrical forms of several different dimensions, made of various kinds of stones, and destined to be used as bookmarks for various types of books, magazines and newspapers. His material choices were prompted by a desire to echo the marbled paper used for the covers of old books in traditional bookbinding. krzysztofjlukasik.com “Book Baag” is a limited edition tote bag by OK-RM for Antenne. antennebooks.com

$i99 Whether used as a single shelf or in a seamless-looking row, the Slotted System Bookcase keeps everything from small paperbacks to large art books and lps. The design of these beauties is the only thing simple about them. They’re made in California of custom American natural birch ply, each unit is cut and trimmed by hand to ensure an exact fit, then matte clear-coated, meticulously edge-banded, then sanded again before shipping out to you. book---shop.com

THISNGStoHAVE

BOOKS GOODS

Playing

with Elementary Particles

The Sculptural Collages of Evan Robarts HANNAH GREGORY

CULTURE • ART • STYLE • FEATURES

May 2015

‘

reality, matter and energy show themselves in their most simple and pure state

’

It’s here that “reality, matter and energy show themselves in their most simple and pure state”, Evan tells us. “It is from this level that I try to build, directing the essence of my memories and my emotions towards positive scenarios”. Tricycles, basket balls, popsicles, chairs, television sets and other objects of the artist’s past life are represented like vibrant souls that we try to hold back by casting them in cement, but that inevitably slip through our fingers. In the latest attempt to contain and appropriate them in their intimacy, Evan tries to use a pseudo-scientific approach. Starting from the physical configuration, as if he played with the quantic borders of their materiality, transforming the objects into sculptural collages, making their beauty no longer ephemeral.

HG : Can you tell Humble Report about yourself and creative background? E R : I grew up in Miami Beach and moved to Brooklyn in 2001 to study at Pratt Institute. I initially started out as a Painting major and later switched to Graphic Design, back to Painting, and then finally ended up in the Sculpture department. It was difficult for me to commit to one major because I enjoyed all disciplines, and I still feel that my work blurs these boundaries. I currently have a studio space located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard that is funded by a group of private investors known as the Artha Project. The other two members of the project are my two good friends and fellow artists; Tyler Healy and Dean Levin. We collaborate by curating shows, organizing studio visits and constantly bouncing ideas off one another. HG : When did your interest within the arts begin? E R : From as early as I can remember I’ve been drawing and painting, eventually branching out into collage. It wasn’t until college that I began sculpting. My early artistic interests revolved around the figure, with the intent to interpret the human form through a variety of materials. As time passed I moved on to embrace a much more diverse range of media. HG : Can you discuss your day-to-day creative process? E R : I am unfortunately not able to be in my studio full-time so I try to take advantage of any available moments I have. When I am not in my studio I keep myself engaged creatively and open to new inspirations and ideas I encounter on a daily basis. I am constantly writing and reflecting in addition to taking photos of happenstance compositions and materials I see on the street. Oftentimes these observations find their way into the studio and into my creative vernacular. HG : Sentimentalism and nostalgia are prominent themes that run through out your work, for you explore and manipulate objects most commonly associated with childhood. One work in particular, Maturation (2012), metaphorically suggests the fossilization of time passing through casting the wheels of a child’s bicycle within cement. Can you discuss this work within the wider context of your oeuvre? E R : I began working on Maturation in the beginning of 2011 but just recently finished it in the fall of 2012, over a year later. It was one of those pieces that literally had to mature in the sense that over time the relationship between the materials became congruent. Overall, it’s a simple piece and not as ostensibly dynamic or bold as some my earlier sculptures. There is a clear narrative to the piece, which is not typical of my work. Usually, I try to say as little as possible so that the piece can speak for itself, but with Maturation, it felt appropriate to work in reverse and take a literal approach with my subject matter.

EVAN ROBARTS I N H I S S T U D I O I N B R O O K LY N PHOTOGRAPH: STELLA BERKOFSKY

O P P O S I T E : M O P PA I N T I N G I

PLAYGROUND I PHOTOGRAPH: STELLA BERKOFSKY

PHOTOGRAPH: STELLA BERKOFSKY

‘

I am trying to evoke both happiness and sadness: an emotional yin-yang

’

EXHIBITION VIEW AT T H E H O L E G A L L E R Y PHOTOGRAPH: STELLA BERKOFSKY

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Usually, I try to say as little as possible

HG : Can you discuss your day-to-day creative process?

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E R : I am unfortunately not able to be in my studio full-time so I try to take advantage of any available moments I have. When I am not in my studio I keep myself engaged creatively and open to new inspirations and ideas I encounter on a daily basis. I am constantly writing and reflecting in addition to taking photos of happenstance compositions and materials I see on the street. Oftentimes these observations find their way into the studio and into my creative vernacular.

CULTURE • ART • STYLE • FEATURES

May 2015

HG : When did your interest within the arts begin? E R : From as early as I can remember I’ve been drawing and painting, eventually branching out into collage. It wasn’t until college that I began sculpting. My early artistic interests revolved around the figure, with the intent to interpret the human form through a variety of materials. As time passed I moved on to embrace a much more diverse range of media. HG : Can you discuss your day-to-day creative process? E R : I am unfortunately not able to be in my studio full-time so I try to take advantage of any available moments I have. When I am not in my studio I keep myself engaged creatively and open to new inspirations and ideas I encounter on a daily basis. I am constantly writing and reflecting in addition to taking photos of happenstance compositions and materials I see on the street. Oftentimes these observations find their way into the studio and into my creative vernacular.

D E TA I L : M O P PA I N T I N G I I PHOTOGRAPH: STELLA BERKOFSKY

HG : Sentimentalism and nostalgia are prominent themes that run through out your work, for you explore and manipulate objects most commonly associated with childhood. One work in particular, Maturation (2012), metaphorically suggests the fossilization of time passing through casting the wheels of a child’s bicycle within cement. Can you discuss this work within the wider context of your oeuvre? E R : I began working on Maturation in the beginning of 2011 but just recently finished it in the fall of 2012, over a year later. It was one of those pieces that literally had to mature in the sense that over time the relationship between the materials became congruent. Overall, it’s a simple piece and not as ostensibly dynamic or bold as some my earlier sculptures. There is a clear narrative to the piece, which is not typical of my work. Usually, I try to say as little as possible so that the piece can speak for itself, but with Maturation, it felt appropriate to work in reverse and take a literal approach with my subject matter. HG : Was this work left in the background of your studio for yourself to return to when you felt the time was right? E R : Yes, this happened twice actually. I keep multiple projects going on at the same time in order to build up a body of work simultaneously as opposed to committing to one piece. This process may be more time-consuming but allows me greater perspective and the opportunity to consider my technique. The practice of detachment allows me to meditate and re-approach each piece with a clear mind. Many of the materials I use are found and have a particular patina and history, which requires me to take a unique approach with each work.

BLEEDING I PHOTOGRAPH: STELLA BERKOFSKY

EXHIBITION VIEW AT T H E H O L E G A L L E R Y PHOTOGRAPH: STELLA BERKOFSKY

LANT PEOPLE Small communities â&#x20AC;&#x201C; big goals. Slowed-down suburban life and gardening in a fast paced world. HANNAH GREGORY

CULTURE • ART • STYLE • FEATURES

May 2015

Are r o s e s re d ?

I N T H E L AT E ST AT T E M P T TO CO N TA I N A N D A P P R O P R I AT E T H E M I N T H E I R I N T I M A C Y, E V A N TRIES TO USE A PSEUDOSCIENTIFIC APPROACH. PHOTOGRAPH: STELLA BERKOFSKY

CULTURE • ART • STYLE • FEATURES

May 2015

T h ree C o u s i n s 0 n a f a rm

I N T H E L AT E ST AT T E M P T TO C O N TA I N A N D A P P R O P R I AT E T H E M I N T H E I R I N T I M A C Y, E V A N TRIES TO USE A PSEUDOSCIENTIFIC APPROACH. PHOTOGRAPH: STELLA BERKOFSKY

s each day goes by, we accumulate an enormous database on our lives: images, sounds and text projected towards the past. If on one hand we feel like archeologists that dig out immaterial sediments, on the other we seem to be losing them like sand through our fingers. Evan Roberts, an artist born in 1982 in Miami Beach, observes his past by deconstructing it into elementary and invisible particles. Like grains of infantile memories he uses as the basic recipe for his poetic, a conceptual zipper between art and science. It’s here that “reality, matter and energy show themselves in their most simple and pure state”, Evan tells us. “It is from this level that I try to build, directing the essence of my memories and my emotions towards positive scenarios”. Tricycles, basket balls, popsicles, chairs, television sets and other objects of the artist’s past life are represented like vibrant souls that we try to hold back by casting them in cement, but that inevitably slip through our fingers. In the latest attempt to contain and appropriate them in their intimacy, Evan tries to use a pseudo-scientific approach. Starting from the physical configuration, as if he played with the quantic borders of their materiality, transforming the objects into sculptural collages, making their beauty no longer ephemeral. Tricycles, basket balls, popsicles, chairs, television sets and other objects of the artist’s past life are represented like vibrant souls that we try to hold back by casting them in cement, but that inevitably slip through our fingers. In the latest attempt to contain and appropriate them in their intimacy, Evan tries to use a pseudo-scientific approach. Starting from the physical configuration, as if he played with the quantic borders of their materiality, transforming the objects into sculptural collages, making their beauty no longer ephemeral.

I N T H E L AT E ST AT T E M P T TO CO N TA I N A N D A P P R O P R I AT E T H E M I N T H E I R I N T I M A C Y, EVAN TRIES TO USE A PSEUDOSCIENTIFIC APPROACH. PHOTOGRAPH: STELLA BERKOFSKY

CULTURE • ART • STYLE • FEATURES

May 2015

I N T H E L AT E ST AT T E M P T TO C O N TA I N A N D A P P R O P R I AT E T H E M I N T H E I R I N T I M A C Y. PHOTOGRAPH: STELLA BERKOFSKY

I N T H E L AT E ST AT T E M P T TO CO N TA I N A N D A P P R O P R I AT E T H E M I N T H E I R I N T I M A C Y. PHOTOGRAPH: STELLA BERKOFSKY

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;

Being able to grow Some of your own food is badass

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;

Such a classic thing: a city person moves into the woods

and becomes a really annoying environmentalist.

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

CULTURE • ART • STYLE • FEATURES

May 2015

I N T H E L AT E ST AT T E M P T TO C O N TA I N A N D A P P R O P R I AT E T H E M I N T H E I R I N T I M A C Y, E V A N T R I E S TO USE A PSEUDO-SCIENTIFIC APPROACH. PHOTOGRAPH: STELLA BERKOFSKY

Foraging in the woods Ne x t d o o r s

How to Dry Herbs An easy way of drying herbs in the oven Herbs can be dried in an oven and will be suitable for culinary and medicinal purposes.

Se t t h e o v e n to a very low temperature, the lowest it will go. Leave the door open.

Arr a n g e the picked herbs across a baking sheet.

P l a ce t h e s h ee t in the lowest level of the oven. Let dry but turn the herbs frequently. When they appear a little crisp, remove from the oven.

F o r t h o s e w i t h a w o o d o v e n , screen

ch day goes by, we accumulate an enormous database on our lives: images, sounds and text projected towards the past. If on one hand we feel like archeologists that dig out immaterial sediments, on the other we seem to be losing them like sand through our fingers. Evan Roberts, an artist born in 1982 in Miami Beach, observes his past by deconstructing it into elementary and invisible particles. Like grains of infantile memories he uses as the basic recipe for his poetic, a conceptual zipper between art and science. It’s here that “reality, matter and energy show themselves in their most simple and pure state”, Evan tells us. “It is from this level that I try to build, directing the essence of my memories and my emotions towards positive scenarios”. Tricycles, basket balls, popsicles, chairs, television sets and other objects of the artist’s past life are represented like vibrant souls that we try to hold back by casting them in cement, but that inevitably slip through our fingers. In the latest attempt to contain and appropriate them in their intimacy, Evan tries to use a pseudo-scientific approach. Starting from the physical configuration, as if he played with the quantic borders of their materiality, transforming the objects into sculptural collages, making their beauty no longer ephemeral. Tricycles, basket balls, popsicles, chairs, television sets and other objects of the artist’s past life are represented like vibrant souls that we try to hold back by casting them in cement, but that inevitably slip through our fingers. In the latest attempt to contain and appropriate them in their intimacy, Evan tries to use a pseudo-scientific approach. Starting from the physical configuration, as if he played with the quantic borders of their materiality, transforming the objects into sculptural collages, making their beauty no longer ephemeral.

racks can be placed on top of the wood stove. Lay the herbs across it to dry in their own time.

I N T H E L AT E ST AT T E M P T TO CO N TA I N A N D A P P R O P R I AT E T H E M I N T H E I R I N T I M A C Y. PHOTOGRAPH: STELLA BERKOFSKY

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The intense perfumes of the wild herbs as we trod them underfoot made us feel almost drunk

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

AthousandWORDS

May 2015

A M E L I E F O N TA I N E