A R T F A R T FASHIO P A R T
Y Y N Y
ISSUE TWO Summer 2011
TED VASIN
AWE INSPIRING MIXED MEDIA ART
THE VARIETY OF LIFE PHOTOGRAPHED BY HANNAH BETH
GET BENT
POP POSE PLAY SING SWING SWAY
london
BURLESQUE WEEK LBW
PRODUCER,
CHAZ
ROYAL
INTERVIEWED
Photo by Hari Datta
CONTENTS 3
UberBrum
4-11
Get Bent!
12-17
Mike Winnard The Things You Own
18-25
Dan Moore Origami
26-29
Craftspace
31
London Burlesque Week
32-37
Corinne Perry Inner Thoughts
38-43
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ISSUE TWO has arrived and it’s so full of creative juice it’s practically oozing, the perfect accompaniment to a summer of sun, sex and partying. Now we have submissions from all over the U.K. - long may it continue. Not only that but we have our first international artist featured, in the form of Ted Vasin. To the underground club scene we go, delving into the sleaze of Burlesque and bending our way to Trevor Pitt’s event, ‘Get Bent!’. After the success of London Burlesque Week in April, we present an interview with Chaz Royal, producer of the fantastic fest. I think you should follow Magpie on Facebook YES! For the latest news, pics, vids, and any other glorious extras:
facebook.com/magpiemagazine The Variety of Life by Hannah Beth
44-47
Ted Vasin Mixed Media Artist
50-57
Hari Datta
58-61
Daniel James Underwood
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A Magpie is a collector of stuff, with a penchant for shiny things. Magpie Magazine collects people and their ideas and puts everything into it’s nest for people to see. Be it fabulous or foul, if it’s interesting we like to show the world. JOEY VIVO EDITOR
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ÜBER
Jack Adams’s blog ‘Über Brum’ explores the Birmingham style scene
He has photographed the Cum Clubbing and Get Bent! events which Magpie have reported on. Often we cities in the UK. Here is a selection of his collections. To see more of his street style photography you sho there!
BRUM
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e see him out and about collecting the brilliant styles that make Birmingham one of the most stylish ould go visit his site at: www.uberbrum.blogspot.com. If you’ve got a wicked style you may well be on
POP POSE PLAY SING SWING SWAY
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Deep in the heart of Birmingham’s Eastside, boys and girls and those in between gathered to party and play. The occasion? Get Bent! The second in a trilogy of events by Trevor Pitt and
hosted, like the first, at Vivid Gallery in Birmingham, the event included live music, a filthy gorgeous intervention by performance group New Macho, and a pop-up studio by none other than Magpie’s own Joey Vivo.
The portraits are a result of the intervention cross over between the tres cool New Macho and the studio space environment, giving a real feel of The Factory Gang at work.
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To see the full selection visit Joey Vivo’s site: www.joeyvivo.co.uk www.newmacho.com www.podprojects.org
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Mike’s work revolves around a fascination with the dualities, hypocrisies and visual codes which saturate modern culture. He responds to this visual deluge by collating an eclectic mix of imagery directly from advertising, popular culture and mass media, whilst juxtaposing this with conflicting samples of objects and events. These elements are carefully drawn into coherent forms in an attempt to foster questions about the vision of the world which we are presented with every day. Every time you look at a piece you will see something different in as much detail as the whole. To see his further magnificent works:
mike
winnard www.mikewinnard.co.uk
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Daniel Ellyot Moore PHOTOGRAPHS ADAM HEMINGWAY IN MOORE’S OWN DESIGNED AND CREATED HEADGEAR IN ORIGAMI.
Daniel Ellyot Moor seems to be a man of many talents. He is a craftivist, photographer and makeup artist. Currently based in Leeds he shares his time between there and London and is relocating there soon. The designs for his origami headpieces were born from a very early lesson in Origami when very young. He now creates pieces for numerous club kids and is in talks with Daniel Lismore to create a stunning origami commission for him. Images of his work on the following pages. www.danielellyot.co.uk
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THE CRAFTSPACE COLLECTIVE words: Megan Russel
CRAFTSPACE is an exciting and innovative
crafts development organization that strives to push the boundaries and perceptions of craft.
Over the last year Craftspace have been recruiting members for the Collective via workshops for 16 – 25 year olds. These have been held in various areas around Birmingham, particularly in Pigeon Park (Cathedral square) with the help of professional makers and artists to bring together young people and promote craft through guerilla activities, DIY craft and Craftivism to address social and environmental issues. At the beginning of this year the Collective group was formed; seven young people from very different creative backgrounds brought together by their passion for craft. The variety of skills and creative methods we share is very diverse which has proven to be a huge advantage when both developing projects and delivering them. This year the Collective have planned and delivered a week long programme of workshops that took place in seven different areas of Birmingham on the Craftspace ‘Curious about Craft’ bus, which invited young people to get involved and join the tag making activities taking place. It proved to be a huge
MAKE A (basic) ‘WISH TAG’ IN 10 9 EASY STEPS: 1] 2] 3] 4]
cut along the dotted lines. fold along the solid ones. glue along the wavey’s. fold the wish tag and stick tabs to the oppposite side. 5] write down a wish.
success. That has allowed the group to aim for bigger and better things, such as applying for funding opportunities and involving recent graduates in order to establish a foundation for future events. Look out for us this year! We’ll be delivering workshops at: National Play Day at Kings Heath Park on Wednesday 3rd August, Collective Summer Recruitment programme in Cathedral Square (22nd- 27th August, 29th August) as well as The Clothes Show Live at Birmingham NEC from Monday 5th December- Wednesday 7th December.
6] fold and place inside the wish tag. 7] secure with string threaded through the holes. 8] tie to a tree or an object or a person. 9] wait to see if it comes true.
LONDON BURLESQUE WEEK
THE ‘LONDON BURLESQUE WEEK’ GALA EVENT WAS HOSTED ON THE HMS PRESIDENT WAR BOAT ALONG THE RIVER THAMES ON LONDON. MAGPIE EDITOR, JOEY VIVO HEADED THERE WITH JOURNALIST KATIA GANFIELD TO SEE JUST HOW THE BOAT ROCKED. On entering the HMS President War Boat, you were met with two large busted (by large I mean each boob approximately amounting to the side of your head), their tits pushed up to their neck, a bemusing sight to say the least – and probably leaving men with a bit more ‘padding’ down below. From amidst the glitz and glamour, Magpie was lucky to catch the brains and provocation behind it all; Chaz Royal, a prominent figure in the Burlesque business with such finds as Dita Von Teese. Enough said. So what does Burlesque personally mean to you?
Text and interview by Katia Ganfield. Contributing Music Editor at Super Super magazine and a writer who has worked for Vice, Sweet and Sound, NME and has had work in Grazia. Currently based in London. twitter.com/katiaganfield
It’s something incredibly up front, drawing elements from striptease, comedy, social satire…essentially it’s a parody. It’s taking on modern culture by recruiting the past but also taking on a little more edgy caricature. But for me, I really try to create my own scene, create something that’s new, innovative and exciting in this world of burlesque - something that not a lot of other producers are doing in general at the moment (and if they are I don’t really know about it). LBW is really something I’ve created to try and push the boundaries a little further
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How did you originally get involved in all this stuff ? I was involved in the music scene for most of the 90s, promoting shows, booking tours, band management, that sort of thing and was really fascinated by pin ups from the 50s that we used in the posters. Then, I went around trying to find tapes of stag videos from the 40s and 50s, it was sort of my introduction, finding these old tapes….Then I started hearing about a few companies staging burlesque shows in the late 90s, which is when I roughly decided to get into it, but it took me a few years to actually get into it and deciding what to do. I decided to aim big, straight from when I started out. Many people say there are stark similarities between porn and burlesque. As the movement evolves, and people want to dig deeper and go further, do you think the gap between the two will eventually close up? There is porn out there that’s burlesque themed – I’ve come across it but I personally I definitely can say it won’t go down the porn route. If anything, it will go down the opposite route, some performers are wearing skimpier clothes and revealing more in their routines with c-strings and the rest of it. I want to maintain a high element of glamour, class, sophistication and again burlesque is all about poking fun at culture in general so you’re always going to have that comedic edge to it.
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Obviously Dita Von Teese made it pretty big. Do you see anyone following in her steps? No, I think a lot of people reach a certain level in their careers but I can’t see there being anyone who’s going to be able to achieve that level of success – and I think it’s mainly her body of work – she’s been a model for the indie industry for 15 – 20 years and there’s no-one that can claim that body of work. If they do, their image and popularity will probably be very short lived. What qualities do you look for when you’re searching for Burlesque talent? I think attitude is the most important thing, it doesn’t matter how adequate you are on stage, or what you’re doing for your act. If you’re not a classy person off stage and you can’t maintain a level of professionalism on and off stage then it’s not someone I want to work with. This is the fifth year of LBW, what plans do you have for future years? There’s a part of me that felt I didn’t want to continue the festival after this year …I really don’t know where the whole industry is going from here but I think from the past few weeks, with the festival selling out and the amount of interest we’ve had, there’s still huge potential for burlesque and its presence and is something we’re definitely going to continue on with next year.
London Burlesque week was probably the ideal man’s wet dream; Stunning women casually strutting around the HMS boat in tight corsets and elegant gowns looking like something taken out of a late 60s film.
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INNER THOUGHTS A hand crafted study of dreams by photographer Corinne Perry, that presents chilling but beautifully enticing images.
Corinne Perry is a second year photography student at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design.
“I shoot my images on 35mm black and white film. They are then traditionally darkroom printed and then I hand Working primarily colour them. I do this with self portraiture, because I have always she tackles the idea of been interested in art what her unconscious and studied it a lot at thoughts reveal about college and found that, herself. combining both the medium of traditional Her latest work “Inner art and photography Thoughts”, seem so together is what I am personal. Achieved most interested in and through the delicate what seems to be a and vivid way she natural thing for me creates each piece. She to do. I am interested thrusts her insecurities in texture this gives out for the viewer to me and like to blend respond to. It is like my own colours using each image pulls at the different materials, viewer for reassurance. ranging from soft chalk to water colour The full series is and graphite sticks. compiled of 23 My colour palette is images, which can be normally consists of seen at: vivid, acidic pastel www.corinneperry.co.uk colours.”
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THE VARIETY OF LIFE
p h o t o g r a p h y
b y
h a n n a h
b e t h
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www.hannah-beth.com
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TED VASIN Ted Vasin was born in Russia and currently lives and works in San Francisco. Vasin has exhibited internationally and participated in residencies through programs at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, exhibiting at the Palace of the Legion of Honor and the De Young Art Center. Vasin is a recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. It is easy to get lost in the surreal hyper reality that Vasin presents in each piece. He keeps the viewer in awe of these pieces whilst drawing them in through the intense detail in subject. Born to a painter father in Moscow, he cites Russian icons as a influencing factor on his works. At Magpie, we can see the gentle creep of American culture winding subtly though, in his use of bold colour and occasional juxtaposing of subject. It is easy to see why Vasin has been widely exhibited during the past decade, and we are pleased to share with you some of our favorite images of his. Please visit his website for more details, works, and how to contact: www.tedvasin.com
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HARI DATTA Young Midlands based creative, HARI DATTA is currently working on a commission for Magnum Photos and Colmore Business District. The image on the Contents page is from this talented photographer who we hope you will agree has some beautiful imagery. A photographer who works throughout many genres including documentary, fashion and still life, we suggest you look at his works online to see the full talent of this up and coming artist.
For more work and to get in contact: www.haridatta,co.uk hari_datta@hotmail.co.uk
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6 6 6 8 0 6 1 2 1 0 n o e c a a at Craftsp cques@craftspace.co.uk email l.ja
m o c . s s e r p d r o w . e v i t c e ll
mac birmingham press release :: 12 May
mac birmingham calls out for West Midland art Open Day – Sat 9 Jul 2011, 11am – 6pm
Exhibitions – Wed 3 Aug – Sun 7 Sep 2011 On Sat 9 Jul mac birmingham will transform into an Antique Road Show style space and call upon artists from the West Midlands to bring their art and pitch to a panel of anticurators. Artists will be pitching for a chance to have their work chosen and exhibited in mac birmingham’s first floor gallery. All part of a project titled anticurate, the Open Day begins what is mac birmingham’s version of an open exhibition. In association with mac bimringham, artist Trevor Pitt has devised the anticurate project as a platform to explore democratic and collective approaches to exhibition curating. Over six weeks mac birmingham’s main gallery will host six unquie exhibitions that will be selected from artworks submitted at the Open Day on Sat 9 Jul. Each exhibition will be organised by groups, called anticurators, who have been invited by mac birmingham to curate an exhibition. They include -
young people from Project Platform and Ikon Youth programme a group of older people from Young at Heart members of the Extra Special People professional development programme at Eastside Projects a selection of mac birmingham staff
anticurators will be on hand throughout the Open Day and artists will be asked to influence them in an attempt to ensure their artwork is chosen for exhibition. All works submitted during the Open Day will be shown in the final exhibition on Thu 8 to Sun 11 Sep but if artists use their time well and deliver a great pitch to the anticurators they may find their artwork taking centre stage in a variety of the anticurate exhibitions throughout August and September. For those who can’t make it on Sat 9 Jul there will also be an opportunity to submit artwork between 4pm and 8pm on Wed 13 Jul at mac birmingham’s Sales and Information desk. To create their unique exhibitions the anticurators will be using a flexible exhibition structure and space that has been specially designed by Juneau Projects, and their work will be supported by independent curators Charlie Levine and Trevor Pitt, the exhibition team and mac birmingham. Local artist Trevor Pitt comments “I devised the project to break down some of the barriers that people face when they try to get their artwork seen in a gallery. So, whether you make paintings, sound, sculpture, performance, photography, knitting, video or community projects my message to you is - as long as you define what you're doing as art then WE WANT YOUR ART!“ -ENDS-
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Daniel James Underwood A FINAL YEAR FASHION PHOTOGRAPHER STUDYING IN BIRMINGHAM.
We really like Daniel J Underwood’s fashion and editorial work here at magpie. He captures beauty in a striking and often provoking way. Please follow him on facebook for further works and information: www.facebook.com/daniel.james.underwood.photography
ISSUE TWO. EDITOR - JOEY VIVO ONLINE EDITOR - BIANCA HARVEY
TO ADVERTISE IN THE NEXT ISSUE: MAGPIEMAG@YMAIL.COM SUBMISSIONS FOR ISSUE THREE NOW WELCOME:
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