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Nick Flowers facebook.com/NickFlowersArt
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EDITORS NOTE We had such an overwhelming reaction to issue 19, that I couldn’t possibly not say anything about it. In 4 days we had 56,000 people read tribe, a figure we have never had before for that period of time. I think it proves to us that we are doing the right thing; making sure each month that the artist takes centre stage, and that we make sure we bring our readers the best work from around the world, work that perhaps, you may never have seen anywhere else on the internet. Well, that’s the aim anyway. Articles from our writers are also proving to be popular too, and I am keen to make sure that also opens out tribe to our readers if you would like to contribute art or an article to us, then why not drop us a line? Who knows where it could lead? Mark Doyle editor in chief and founder of tribe
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TRIBE MAGAZINE | ISSUE 20 | 28 AUGUST 2013
COVER: Andy Kehoe
Artists have given permission for their work to be displayed in tribe magazine. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the permission of the copyright holder(s) If you would like to contribute art or articles to tribe magazine, then please send us an outline of your article to our main contact email. If you would like to submit your artwork, then please send us up to 8 samples of your work to the submit email. We have a rolling submissions policy and accept work at all times and throughout the year. Further details can be found on the contact section of our main website, or by emailing us at: contact@tribemagazine.org To submit work directly: submit@tribemagazine.org (C) 2013 The Word Machine
tribe: international creative arts published by The Word Machine, Thorn Park Lodge, Plymouth, PL3 4TF
ISSN: 2050-‐2352
www.tribemagazine.org contact@tribemagazine.org
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[art] 08 Andy Kehoe [sculpture] 24 Karen Akester [photography] 32 Project AA [music] 56 PJP Band [article] 68 COLLECTING CUBA by Christine Platt [article] 84 PRINTS AND PATTERNS OF EVERYDAY LIFE by Sarah Ahmad [photography] 92 Satoki Nagata
CONTENTS
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Editor In Chief Mark Doyle
Contributors Andy Kehoe. Karen Akester, PJP
mark@tribemagazine.org
Band, Kerry Gerdes, Chloe O’Brien, Eric Carbrey, Nick Flowers, Amy &
Editors-at-Large Hope Grimson hope@tribemagazine.org
Helen Moore helen@tribemagazine.org
Marianne Jarvis marianne@tribemagazine.org
Alani, The Dirty Fabulous, Satoki Nagata, Susanne Wawra, Hazel Gore Publisher Simon Petherick simon@thewordmachine.org
Richard Thomas richard@tribemagazine.org
Emily Pickthall emily@tribemagazine.org
www.tribemagazine.org www.thewordmachine.org
Writers Glyn Davies
Submissions to:
glyn@tribemagazine.org
General queries to:
Sarah Ahmad
submit@tribemagazine.org
contact@tribemagazine.org
sarah@tribemagazine.org
Contributing Editor
tribe is published monthly
Christine Platt artventurestoronto.com
twitter.com/TribeZine
rebelmouse.com/Tribe
http://on.fb.me/zrhLpk
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Interview: Mark Doyle mark@tribemagazine.org
ANDY KEHOE American artist Andy Kehoe creates wonderful mythic landscapes, inhabited by creatures from half-remembered dreams. He talks to tribe about his work.
Where does the creative process
realized concept and made eye
solitude, contemplation but also
start for you? Miraculously, I happen to paint magical and fantastical imagery for a living, so I guess my creative
contact with a lady on the street outside of 3rd story studio. She put her head down and moved along. I felt like some creepy man staring out at people from his attic window.
of loss. What do you think your work communicates? Is it a reaction against the modern world?
process is kind of ongoing. At this moment in my life, my job is to make interesting and engaging paintings that connects with people from all over the world. That’s some
I just do my best to phase out the world. Someday I plan on moving further out of the city, where the probability of something like that happening again is very slim. I can
I’m definitely trying to evoke an emotional response with my work. A kind of magical nostalgia for creatures never met and places never seen. I feel like most of my
seriously amazing shit! And it’s a job I take seriously. If I’m fortunate enough to have a venue and audience with which I can share my work, I really want to give people
just be a man and his thoughts, meandering out into some great unknown. Once I come up with an initial idea, I’ll jot it down in my sketchbook. I
work is more emotionally based than narratively based. I love that inexplicable feeling in your gut when you see something that is completely awe-inspiring. Like
something they haven’t seen before. Something that has some emotional resonance and heart to it. I’m constantly working out concepts, researching techniques,
usually draw a very quick sketch to work out composition, but most of my sketchbook is actually written. The initial concept is usually pretty rough, so I’ll keep working it out as I
some old stone ruins in a forgotten stretch of jungle or a satellite image of an impossibly huge nebula millions of light years away. Something mysterious and larger
looking for new materials, jotting down weird story ideas, and just trying to think of ways to push my work into more ambitious territory.
go, recording any thoughts on the best way to progress. Making a painting is like solving a long, protracted problem. What steps do I
than life. I’m not saying my work captures the entirety of that awe, but I’m hoping to evoke something in the general vicinity of that
Most of this is done with me wearing headphones, staring out of the window or just staring at a blank drafting table. For hours. It would probably seem strange to
need to take do to bring this idea to life? I love the challenge and unpredictable nature of it. Thematically your work has a very
particular feeling. For me, those times of indescribable awe are usually very personal events that I experience on my own, or that I share with someone close
anyone observing me during these times. Once I came out of some half-
strong mythic, dreamlike quality to it. There are themes, for me, of
to me. That’s why my paintings usually consist of one or two
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characters. I understand why this is
Sounds a bit horrifying actually. Haha.
perceived as solitary and lonely, and there is something to be said for that. I find open and isolated places very peaceful; I love the thought of being this one person completely immersed
This presents a whole different set of guidelines on how people live and go about their lives. Maybe in that world, scary stories would revolve around something mundanely human like an
in some kind of wondrous happening. I definitely try to push the immensity of the scenes in some of my work, and having only one small character really helps magnify that sense of scale,
itemized tax return. Can you talk us through your workflow - what materials do you use and why?
physically and emotionally. The single character also helps the viewer transport themselves into the scene and that is really important to me. It’s something you can attach yourself to in
I start by priming and sealing a bunch of wood boxes, each around 1.5 inches deep. I work in resin, so I use a box to enclose the resin as I work up though
the face of all the strangeness around it. If someone can look at one of my paintings and have it carry them out of the confines of reality and the modern world for even a second, I’m pretty
the layers. Even before working with resin, I've always worked in layers to build the painting from background to foreground, so this seemed like a logical progression for me. With the
happy with it. I wouldn’t say that my work is a reaction against the modern world. I wanted to create a world that didn’t
resin, I can make the layers much thicker, adding a significant amount of depth to each piece. It also creates a 3D look as the piece progresses, like a
adhere to the laws of the modern world. You can see a certain desire in people for something that’s under the surface of modern life. I think most people would like to believe there is
diorama or shadow box. I love it. It's like making a tiny, tangible little world. Resin is also great for me, because I've been able to add a whole bunch of new elements to my work. There are less
some unseen magic and mystery happening around them. In this sense, I wanted a world where none of these mysteries are in question, but just a part of everyday life. Spirits are real,
restrictions to what I can do, and it opens up a whole new level of experimentation. For instance, I recently finished a painting in which the background was a few layers in wet
monsters are real, and magic is certainly real. Everyday is witness to something that defies rational thought.
oil paint, glitter and broken glass. I built the rest of the piece around that background and it turned out quite
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eerie and magical. I’ve also been able to
ended up with great and unexpected
include some sculptural elements that I submerge into the resin. I paint on them and all around them. After a while, it's hard to tell what's 3D and what's 2D. I love when someone looks
results. This changed the direction of a lot of pieces that were in progress. I also used that technique for most of the remaining pieces. It’s a pretty strange and organic way to
at one of my paintings and can't really tell what is going on or how it was made. The possibilities seem pretty endless with this format and that's exactly what I'm looking for creatively.
work that’s equally liberating and terrifying. I love the freedom to improvise and experiment through out the whole process, but there are times when I reach a point where I feel like
I tend to work on around 12 paintings at once, so there will be no lag in work flow as a painting dries. Plus I love being able to jump around to a bunch of different ideas in a single work day.
I’m about to jump off of a cliff. As much as I plan this stuff in my head and on paper, I never really know how it’s all going to turn out until all of the elements come together. This process
My attention span isn’t the greatest, so this helps to keep me constantly interested and inspired. Of course, with the resin I have to work from back to front, so the first few
of multiple layers takes a while, so it usually takes a few months to find out if the plan is coming together. Most times, I’ll reach a point in a painting where I’ve put 3 months in, and
layers are used for the background. It’s almost like making a backdrop for a play. I tend to be pretty loose and abstract in this stage of the painting
everything revolves around this main element I have to paint, usually a character, and it has to go on top of all of that work. Since it’s on resin, I can’t
and experiment as much as I can. This is a major reason I don’t like to make very detailed sketches for my pieces, because there is no way for me to know exactly how this stage will turn out. I
really sketch it out so I just have to start painting and hope for the best. Sometimes I’ll stare at the painting and hesitate a bit, but once I start going, it always seems to fall into place.
have a pretty good idea which elements will be on which layer, but I don’t determine the exact execution of those elements until I see how the painting grows. This also leaves room
Everyday is an adventure.
for life and happy accidents to influence me along the way as well. For my last show, I put resin on top of wet oil paint to see what would happen. I
How has the internet and digital design changed the way you work? Has it changed anything for you? It hasn’t changed all that much for me in regards to making work with the exception of research and reference.
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There are a lot of techniques out there that I
Sometimes, I’ll make a piece with a character or
would like to explore, and they are all somewhere on the internet. More importantly, the Internet is an amazing resource for artists and how they share their work. There are more ways than ever for people to showcase work and broadcast it to a
characters, and I’ll become a bit attached to them and end up thinking of new adventures for them. And other times, I’ll have a pretty realized story in mind and a character will take off from there. Mostly, it’s a random collection of stories and
larger audience outside of conventional manners such as galleries and printed media. The ability for me to post work on the web and have it to spread to the far reaches of world is astounding. And most of it is spread from one person to
ideas, but I hope to bring them all together in a more cohesive format one day. Maybe in the form of a book or a short movie. That’s something I think of everyday, and I plan on really exploring those options in the future.
another. It’s amazing to get an email from someone in Russia or Australia and have them connect with my work in such a strong and meaningful way. It really does make it all worth it, and it certainly makes the world seem like a smaller place. Where do you draw your sources of inspiration from?
What's on the horizon for you? What are you working on currently? I just finished up a solo show at Jonathan LeVine Gallery in May. The show ran through June. I really put a lot into it, physically and emotionally, and it was extremely satisfying. It was my proudest show to date.
Inspiration comes to me from all over. Getting back to the internet, I always stumble across something inspiring while browsing the web, whether it be a story, a photograph, a video, a
This summer I’m working on a few commissions and group show submissions. The first is the Copro Gallery 20th Anniversary show at Copro Gallery on August 17th and the second is the
painting, or anything at all mind bending and creative. Sometimes I’ll be driving or walking and I’ll see a cloud formation or an old, gnarled tree that influences a piece I’m working on. I just try to keep my eyes open to whatever wonders are
BLAB! 2013 Show, also at Copro Gallery on September 14th. My next solo show is in June, 2014 at Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle. Then I’ll be showing with Esau Andrews at Art Basel Miami in December, 2014
thrown my way.
for Thinkspace Gallery. Both of which I am extremely excited for and should be amazing. Plenty to do! <
There are recurring characters in your work do they signify anything in particular? Have you constructed a narrative for them, or does each appearance happen in isolation? There are definitely some back stories and ongoing stories with my reoccurring characters.
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MAU MAU mau-‐mau.co.uk
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Andy Kehoe andykehoe.net/home.html
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Joot jootdraws.com
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In the last few years I have worked on a series of group sculptures in glass, bronze, aluminium and wood. In these pieces I aim to encapsulate a particular moment in time, usually sprung from a childhood memory, which I attempt to distil into a narrative. I look at the complex, social groupings of children and find there an individual's response to their society. The awkward, lost looking figures can find themselves in situations both farcical and distressing. The works infused with my own memories borrow much from folklore, literature and found imagery of the Victorian and Edwardian era. I strive to capture the fragile nature of these thoughts in my work, the figures I sculpt (initially in clay and wax) are often incomplete, the surfaces distressed and uneven suggesting an incomplete picture. Here the viewer is invited to fill in the gaps and make complete a picture in their own mind - they too can unwittingly become part of the story. They evoke a response, not always predictable, in the viewer. Karen Akester
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Karen Akester karenakester.com
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Interview: Mark Doyle mark@tribemagazine.org
PROJECT AA Amy and Alani talk to tribe about a rather unusual but wonderful photographic collaboration involving old film camera’s and the internet... Can you tell us what Project AA is and how it came about? Alani: Project AA is a collaborative photography project between two strangers (Amy and I) that has been going on for almost three years now. I came across Amy’s work on Flickr and it really spoke to me. I felt like our images together would be a perfect combination based on the traveling we do and the lives that we live. I mailed Amy and asked if she’d be interested in snail mailing rolls of film to each other that were already exposed by one of us and double exposed by the other to see what we come up with. Amy: We found each other in Ricoh GR group of flickr I guess. When Alani sent me the first flickr mail, I was still studying in Paris, but we didn’t really keep on writing each other since that time, just two to three mails after the first one. A year later, I was already back in Taiwan, and he asked me if I’m interested in doing this project with him. That’s how we started. In the beginning we were just doing it for fun. In these three years, we thought of many different names for our project. Through this we talked about the meaning behind what we were doing, we had like “3 way mirror”. Because the photos we have seem like two way mirror reflections but created by Alani, myself and the viewers. But we never really decide one name that we both really liked and could represent us, so in the end we thought ok, let’s just simplify it as Project AA for “Project of Amy and Alani”, haha!
我們是在flickr的Ricoh GR群組認識的，Alani寫第一封信給我的時候我還在巴黎唸書，在那之後我們其實沒有很 常聯絡，大概只有寫過兩三封信 劃，於是我們就
樣開始了。剛開始我們沒有想太多，只是為了好玩而做
個計畫想了一些名稱，並試著從 鏡“，
樣，大概一年後我回到台灣了，他寫信問我要不要一起玩玩看
裡來討論我們正在做的
個名字是從“雙向鏡”來的，就是警匪電影裡偵
件事，而在
個拍攝計
三年之中，我們幫
件事背後的意義，我們想過像是“3 way mirror三向
室用來隔開犯人和證人與警察兩個房間的那塊玻璃，因
為我們的照片就像是從那塊玻璃反射出的影像，但我們的影像是由我、Alani、觀看者三個方向所堆疊與反射出 來的，所以有“三向鏡”的想法，但我們從來沒有想到一個我們真正非常喜歡也具代表性的名字，所以就決定一 切從簡叫做Project A&A，Amy和Alani的計劃，哈！
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How do each of you work? Do you work thematically with each roll of film, or is each roll of film completely unplanned? Alani: We decided in the beginning that we wouldn't tell each other what we shot on the rolls so that it would be a surprise when we developed and viewed the photos. All the photos were completely unplanned and some of the results were pretty amazing to see after developing. We did try one themed roll where I only shot in the morning and Amy at night, but it didn't turn out too well so we went back to the the original plan haha. Amy: I think all of the images we took are random things in our daily lives, like our travels, our party with friends… etc. It’s just too random; sometimes I couldn’t recognize which image was from whom, this is another thing that amazed me!
我們所有的照片都是生活中很隨機的東西，像是我們各自的旅行或是跟朋友的聚會等等，但就是太隨機了，有 時候我看到照片後甚至認不出
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件事令我覺得非常驚
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How do you react to the results of each others work? How does if feel being one half of a collaborative process? Alani: In the beginning I wanted this project to be a way of communication between Amy and myself. We sent emails here and there, but we never called each other or video chatted, so our main form of communication was through our photos. I felt I got to know Amy through the photos and it was almost as if we were shared memories of moments together even though we were in two entirely different countries. Basically this was a way of breaking down language barriers between two people (even though Amy speaks great English) and expressing ourselves to each other in a deeper sense than what speaking can do at times. Amy: From my side is pretty much the same. It feels like we are sharing our daily lives, talking to each other through photos. The thing that surprised me so much was the connections between us, or maybe I should say between people. I mean the whole process showed me that the connections between people are beyond countries, cultures and races. It might be a cliché to say so, just to see it from my own eyes amazed me so much, even scared me. Then I have a feeling that maybe it’s not just me, for most of people too, I mean maybe there are always connections between everyone in a way, and we just don’t see it, so we ignore it.
我的想法跟Alani差不多，那感覺像是我們透過照片分享我們的生活、跟彼此對話，最讓我覺得驚奇的東西莫過 於我們之間的聯結了，或者我應該說人與人之間的聯結。我的意思是說， 人與人之間的連結是超越國家、文化與種族的， 過照片呈現在我眼前的時候，還是讓我非常驚 是
整個拍攝計劃的過程，讓我看到了
個想法可能有點陳腔濫調了，但是當我親眼看到那個連結透 ，甚至有點驚嚇。因此我想也許不只是我，也許大部分的人也
樣，意思是說我們都聽過人與人之間的神秘連結等等各種說法，而也許在隨機的兩個人之間真的存在著某
些連結，可是因為我們的肉眼看不見，所以我們就忘記了、忽略了。 TRIBE MAGAZINE ISSUE 20 37
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Do you ever plan to meet and collaborate face to face? Alani: We actually just met for our first exhibition for the project in Berlin, Germany this past May. We created a second half of the project where we shot photos together in Berlin. It was a bit of a crazy experience for me because I flew from Japan to Berlin, met Amy for the first time, set up for the show, walked around Berlin and shot as many photos as I could, opened the exhibition and met some amazing people and then flew back to Japan all within 5 days. Oh and I was jet lagged the entire trip. It all felt like a dream. Amy: During this 3 years time we’ve tried to meet in Taiwan or NYC, but never succeed. Then finally until 2 days before our first exhibition opening in Berlin, we met in person for the first time. The first meet for me was more like I met an old friend who I haven’t seen for a long time, haha! After our first meet, Alani stayed 5 days in Berlin, and we shot another 5 rolls of film together in these days. We said this part of photos was the ending of Project AA and was exhibited in Berlin in June for art festival “48 Stunden Neukölln”.
在
三年之中我們有試著要在台灣或是紐約見面，可是一直都沒有成功，就
樣到我們在柏林的第一個展覽開
幕前兩天，Alani從東京飛到柏林，我們才第一次親眼見到對方，不過雖然是第一次見面，但感覺對我來說好像 比較像是跟一個很久沒見的朋友見面，哈哈！在那之後，Alani在柏林待了五天，我們一起繼續 拍了五卷照片，我們決定在柏林一起拍的
些就是
個攝影計劃的終點了，而
個計畫，交換
個部分的照片也在六月於柏林
的48 Stunden Neukölln藝術節展出。
I guess the Internet has played a massive role in allowing this project to happen. How has the internet and digital media changed the way you work and engage with your audience? Alani: The Internet definitely had a big role in starting this project, but I find it pretty funny, as I don't consider Amy and myself “digital friendly” people. I’m still very analog when it comes to a lot of things. The Internet was very useful in setting up and promoting the exhibitions though. It would have been impossible without it as we didn't meet until a day before the opening to our exhibition. Amy: I think the Internet and digital media played the role of communication and promotion. I’m still a very analog person; I just can’t give up film cameras, papers, books, stamps and postcards, haha! But without the Internet, we wouldn’t find each other in the first place. And because of all those digital media, we managed to make our first exhibition “together” without meeting each other, and share our work to the rest of the world.
我想網路與數位媒體扮演的角色是溝通與宣傳，我到現在都還是一個很“類比”的人，無法放棄底片、紙本、郵票 和名信片
類東西，哈哈！但是如果沒有網路我們根本從一開始就不會遇到彼此，也因為
們也得以在真正見到對方之前“一起”完成我們的第一個展覽，把我們的作品分享給世界。
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What’s the appeal of film photography? Alani: For me it's the organic feel of the whole process. How the chemicals react to the light you expose it to, how they render after developing and the finalization of it when the negatives are created. The quality of film is still unmatched and the discipline you develop shooting film makes you a better photographer in the long run. Amy: It’s very slow and mysterious. It seems like a chemical between the exposure and the feelings from the photographer. Of course we have a theoretical explanation for either analog or digital photography, either chemical or physical way. But besides the scientific part, somehow the film brings more atmospheres, like every grain on the film carries part of it. You feel the temperature, the humidity from where the photo was taken. I always like to say that you can see air on analog photos. It’s magic.
那是一個非常緩慢與神秘的過程，像是一種存在於曝光過程與攝影者感覺之間的化學變化。當然不管在化學上 或物理上，我們可以從各種理論的角度來解釋底片或是數位攝影，但屏除科學的部分，底片不知為何就是能夠 承載比較多的氛圍，感覺就像是底片上的每一個粒子都幫忙帶了一點，讓人可以感覺到照片中空間的溫度與濕 度，我很喜歡說我覺得在底片拍出來的照片裡可以看到空氣，那是一種魔法。
How have people reacted to your work? Alani: Very positively. It’s always nice to hear people reactions to the work and the story. Some people didn't believe the shots were unplanned because of how perfectly the photos matched up at times, but it was nice to see they were as surprised as we were when we saw the photos for the first time. Amy: They reacted like how I’ve reacted when I saw our work, haha. I think the way we worked was very simple and random, almost no photographic skills. So it was very easy for people to understand the concept, so that they didn’t feel any boundary of art. Therefore they were just as amazed as we were our first time to see it and to hear how these accidents could be possible. It really touched me when I saw people really understood and also were touched by our work. I always tell people try to find someone to do this, and then they will truly feel the magic.
大家的反應就像我看到我們的作品一樣驚
，哈哈！我想因為我們創作的方式非常簡單與隨性，幾乎可以說是
沒有任何攝影技巧，整個創作概念對他們來說是可以理解可以觸 就如同我們兩人第一次看到
些照片一樣，驚
於
的，沒有高築難懂的概念與藝術門檻，他們
些巧合與意外存在的可能性，當我看到大家真的瞭解我們
的作品並也一樣受到感動與啟發時，讓我覺得非常感動，我總是會告訴他們試著找另一個人跟他們一起做做看 個創作計畫，
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個魔法了。
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What do you have planned for the future? Alani: At the moment we don’t have any collaborative projects with each right now other than Project AA, which has opened a few doors for us. We’re both very busy working full time as photographers/artist so I will keep that going. I’ve learned a lot from the ongoing experience and it’s changed a lot of things for me in a very positive way, so much so that I decided to move and live in Berlin by September. This was just the start of things to come. Amy: We don’t have any new collaboration at the moment, just continuing what we were doing in life I guess. But after these two exhibitions in Berlin, we received some other opportunities in other cities for this project, like exhibitions or even publications. Theoretically the project itself is done, but since we started exhibiting it; I actually felt more like we started something new. Like learning how people think about this project, how much it would influence people. It’s very inspiring to me. I feel I learned something from it. So maybe I’d say we just start a new journey with this project. <
我們目前並沒有新的合作計劃，可能就是繼續回到我們原本生活中在做的事情。不過經過柏林 後，我們在其他的城市也得到了一些展出或是出版的機會，雖然說理論上 始展出，我其實覺得我們是在開始一個新的東西，像是學習別人如何看 的想法等等，我覺得我從中學到了新的東西，
兩個展覽之
個計劃已經結束了，但自從我們開 個創作計畫、
個計畫怎麼影響他們
對我來說是很大的啟發，所以也許我會說我們的創作計劃才剛
剛開始了新的旅程。
amyyang.havefun.tw/projectaa/main.html
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The Dirty Fabulous thedirtyfabulous.tumblr.com TRIBE MAGAZINE ISSUE 20 55
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Interview: Richard Thomas
PJP BAND With gigs at Glastonbury Festival and The Eden Sessions, as well as a UK tour with the likes of Hard-Fi, The PJP Band are causing a serious stir amongst the UK’s underground music scene with their unique brand of infectious art-pop. Their music is reminiscent of Bowie and Lennon as much as it is of Cobain and MacKaye, and like these cultural icons and pioneers, their attitude is that of self-belief, self-development and selfsufficiency. The PJP Band released their debut album ‘And So It Goes’ back in June this year on a limited run of hand-numbered vinyl, and they did it completely off their own backs, through their own label, OUF Records. I caught up with PJP Band founder and songwriter, Patrick, to find out a little more about the band, their ethos and why they chose to release the record themselves
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Could you tell us how The PJP Band came to be? Initially we wanted to extend songs that I was writing at the time, without any specific goal other than to try and justify them live, and have a project outside of work. Its now developed as all things do I guess, but the sentiment still stays that way. We’re friends looking to find something to do, and music is one of those things we enjoy sharing. In listening to your music, I can hear a very eclectic mix of influences from right across the boardwhere do you draw your inspiration from? I’ve always been attracted to music with energy, something that can emotionally and physically move you like a landscape. Bands like At The Drive- In and Les Savy Fav will always be close to my heart. Writers like Carol King, Elton John, Lennon/McCartney, good songwriting ya know? I’m a sucker for it. More recently I’ve been enjoying artists like Father John Misty, Tartufi and Marnie Stern. You are notably a very intense and powerful live band, how did you go about transferring this raw energy onto your debut album, ‘And So It Goes’? Ah that was easy man, we just placed some mics in front of us and pretty much played as if we were on stage, with a few added extras. That’s the only way to capture it. We didn’t wish to play with crazy overdubs
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or edits, nor did we have the time. Songs like Chalk Divide and Stone Cold Cinema were first takers, and there was a point where I blindfolded myself during a vocal take... The album was released initially on limited edition vinyl through your own record label, OUF – what were your reasons for using this classic medium? We wanted the album to obviously exist in a tangible form, as well as digitally. There’s a big market in vinyl, it’s not so immediate, but it certainly has shelf life. We wanted to validate ourselves on record; we buy and listen to music primarily on vinyl, so it made sense. And what swayed you to release the album through your own label, as opposed to an already established label? Desperation probably! We did have a few labels who were interested, but ultimately, nothing happened quick enough. I didn’t want to sit on it too long, we needed it out there as quickly as possible, and it made the most sense. We built a little press team around the album and put it out there with the help of a credit card. If you have half a brain, it’s pretty easy to achieve, however big or small. I guess the pro-action of it all is appealing, you see your work leave your hands and into others on a more personal level - something which fitted the albums ethos.
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And what would you say is the general ethos behind OUF? To help share the music of people I like, in conjunction with the artist, and letting them have a hands on approach. Eventually I would love to make the label a charity, which could help musical projects here in the South West. It’s only a pipe dream, but you gotta start somewhere. Are there any record labels OUF and The PJP Band look up to as role models? Dischord and Subpop are great favorites of mine, not just because of their roster but their history and the reasons why they started. BSM in the UK are great, and have helped expose some really important bands. As far as bit indies go, Beggar’s is pretty sweet. Do you plan to release more stuff by yourselves or other bands?
Ah I’m no expert on the industry, nor do I want to be. If you want to put out your own record, just do it. A computer, a phone, and some creative tools help. A camera and some friends are also useful. Some coffee, patience and belief and you can put out a record. It’s a labour of love for sure, so don’t expect for it to pay out. You can catch The PJP Band live at the following places over the coming months: 29th August at New Inn, Tywardreath, Cornwall, 30th August at Over The Hill Festival, Newquay, Cornwall and 28th September at Looe Festival, Looe, Cornwall. ‘And So It Goes’ is available on vinyl and CD from www.oufrecords.bigcartel.com The PJP Band on the web: www.thepjpband.com Twitter: THEPJPBAND Facebook: PjpBand ‘And So It Goes’ video link: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=wQhA3L6WaBA
Yeah sure, if I can help I will. I don’t regard it as a business or as work, so I have no idea how it will grow. Just naturally I hope. For anyone wanting to get into the music industry, could you tell us a bit about the stages of setting up your own label and putting out a successful album?
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I am interested in connecting people together despite distance. The means through narrative to engage viewers and create stories with new wearers. A fascination of language and handwriting inspires me to appreciate how we interact with each other, in particular the old fashioned ways before modern technology took over social communication. I love foraging and sourcing things old. Finding snippets of history which tell a previous story, have a person’s touch or that may have traveled far and wide. Discarded old postcards, letters and telegrams inspire my latest pieces which remember a particular person or place and are written in a way which evokes gentleness from another time telling beautiful stories of empathy and capturing precious memories. Chloe O’Brien
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COLLECTING CUBA Contributing Editor Christine Platt on a journey through Cubaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s burgeoning art scene.
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Words & Images: Christine Platt artventurestoronto.com
IT
has been a few years since I worked with Cuban artist Inti Hernandez on a group exhibition of his art in Amsterdam. Hernandez’s work is technically brilliant: detailed, well-crafted and beautifully executed. Many of his works engage the viewer in a participative, community-building exercise where discussion and
contemplative beauty intermix harmoniously. For instance, his Shared Experience (Amsterdam version, 2005) performance was created using a mold of the decorative tiles from his home in Cuba, beautiful tiles in myriad designs ubiquitous in Cuba, which he stamps into the dirt around construction sites in Amsterdam as temporary interventions. The work is both beautiful and meditative to watch, in addition to engaging the viewer in a discussion of the mixing of cultures in Amsterdam and the memory and assimilation of immigrants into Dutch life. Experiencing his work peeked my interest in Cuban art, and living back in Canada meant I could take a relatively inexpensive trip to discover more. Mid-summer I set off to Havana with an itinerary composed of visiting museums, galleries and artist studios, many of which required concerted effort to find through online research and personal art contacts. However, friends informed me that this had more to do with the slow internet in Cuba than the availability of art. I wondered at how the market would function in one of the last communist countries in the world. My experience in China, a currently less communist cousin of Cuba, taught me that “Fine” art generally remains a financially viable collectible no matter what the socio-political environment, due to its entrenched position in the global luxury markets. Additionally, I knew that art is an important aspect of both historic and contemporary Cuban culture at the very least through their various artistic exports (Buena Vista Social Club anybody).
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Here is what I learned on my visit: Unlike the Chinese communist government, the Cuban communist government hails their support of Cuban art as one of their greatest achievements. Indeed art is everywhere in Cuba at least in part due to government policies supporting general art education and cuban artists. Schools, such as Higher Institute of the Arts (ISA) provide excellent education for visual artists, musicians and dancers. Further government support continues artistic development through regular shows in state museums and performance venues in Cuba, and around Havana we came across numerous exhibitions and smaller specialized art centres. The Artistic Ceramic Museum was of particular note with stunning, skillful works surprisingly critical of both past and present socio-political realities in the country. The government also supports art tours around the world. Artists in Havana explained the relative ease with which they traveled for these tours as well as private exhibitions abroad, to continue their studies and often to work on long-term projects outside the country. One taxi driver envied the artists their privileged status. Walking the streets of any city in Cuba you will also find a great deal of public art, from revolutionary propaganda billboards to sculptures of historical heroes and works of individual artists installed at little interludes in back alleys. The propaganda billboards show revolutionary heroes like Che Guevera and Fidel Castro painted in the Soviet Socialist Realist style often with communist slogans. Unlike most of the current art on view, these artworks remind Cubans and the visiting tourists of old ties with the USSR and the more common forms communist communications and art took globally in recent history. The public sculptures on view are similar to those political tools of commemoration used in most nations around the world figuring national heroes (in Cuba men like General Antonio Maceo and General Maximo Gomez), albeit more permanent in stone and metal with plaques alluding to their allegiance. There are also sculptures made by local artists installed in front of their studios or on their streets. We excitedly came across one such sculpture in a small Havana side street: a slew of red doors open and closed to play through. Unfortunately we had no success finding the artist who created and installed the work. Art in Cuba is easy to access for your viewing pleasure and purchase, unless you are Cuban causing the latter to become relatively challenging. Cubans widely participate in creating
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their art, showcasing their art, viewing their art and selling their art, but collecting their art requires ingenuity as their markets focus largely on global audiences. This all became apparent on our first day visiting the studio of Angel Ramirez, whose assistant explained that the prices were internationally based, so that the least expensive print in his studio cost $900CUC (USD). Note that Ramirez has no gallery representation, which makes the price unusually high by international art market standards. Associates at Galeria Habana and Galeria Villa Manuela confirmed the international pricing and explained that this prices most locals out of the market altogether; their collectors are generally international and occasionally locally institutional. Let me qualify this statement with most of their collectors are wealthy internationals. In other words, if you live outside of Cuba and want to collect artists like Yoan and Ivan Capote, Carlos Quintana, and Roberto Fabelo whose works top the Cuban art world in market value and critical attention (understandably given their talent both in technique and insight) then you better have knowledge about who they are and pockets at least on average $6000 to $30 000 USD deep. Nevertheless, emerging Cuban artists are priced lower, as is the case in most art markets, and collectors can purchase the works at relatively affordable prices. In fact, an emerging artist like Lisandra Isabel Garcia sells works for as low as $400 USD, which is much below starting gallery rates for an emerging artist with their first gallery solo in Toronto (average $600-$1000 for small works and $1500-up for larger works) and about equal to a similar artist in Montreal. Still, it is not low enough for the majority of Cubans to purchase a piece, who live on less than $100USD per month. (see note) You will also find art in shops along most streets in major tourist areas. This art tends to be folk styled art featuring scenes of everyday life in Cuba cast in vibrant colours. Themes repeat from shop to shop and often the exact same faces and places recur. This art is mostly produced for tourists as souvenir art. Currently you can collect a piece of this art for anywhere between $20-$200 USD. Based on Cuban salaries, this relatively affordable art would be closer to the ratio we might pay for affordable art in most capitalist, western economies. However, it is not necessarily the art most Cubans want to collect... The one type of art appearing most frequently in local Cuban homes is prints. The prints in Havana homes likely came from Taller Experimental Grafica (Experimental Graphic Arts Studio), where a group of 30 artists use old fashioned printing presses to make experimental works, as well as some souvenir art. In the casa particular (guest-house, recently made legal in Cuba) where we stayed, the various works surveyed themes of sexuality, identity and politics. The family owned a handful of prints, which they bought slowly and with the extra money they have been able to save since opening their home as a casa particular. They bought these pieces for special Cuban prices instead of the tourist prices. I would describe it as a grassroots market for Cubans collecting art. They work together to build their collections and share in their material culture both publicly and privately. Most families interested in art must rely on what is free to view by public and private institutions, unless they have the good fortune of communal art, such as when an artist
Note: This salary estimate is based on the Cuban system of state-paid salaries averaging $20USD/month according to national statistics and the often additional fees received through extra sources, such as renting property,using their cars as weekend taxis, etc.; additionally some jobs provide higher salaries, including high-level government oďŹ&#x192;cials and celebrities.
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paints all the way up the staircases of an apartment building, which we happened upon, or when your home is chosen for a performance or public exhibition such as those for the Four Pedagogical Pragmatics project through Factoria Habana. The Cuban economy is shifting with reorganizations increasing revenue generation possibilities and the sign of rapprochement with the United States. This could signal a shift in the collecting ability and habits of Cubans, as it so clearly did when China opened up and a boom in local buying brought prices to new heights. This scenario resulted in many changes to the artists garnering the most attention, which would likely occur in Cuba as well, since local tastes usually differ from global tastes to some extent. Overall, I learned that Cubans express a great appreciation for art, particularly at the government level, but also as practitioners and private consumers. There are numerous spaces to enjoy art and to purchase art from. Collecting art as a foreigner in Cuba is similar to most places connected with the global art market. Prices are set by an international body of core collectors. It differs in that Cubans themselves can rarely afford to purchase most visual arts currently produced in the country. However, the market is set to change soon... Christineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collecting tip: If you are interested in Cuban art, now is the time to visit and find the piece you love! <
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Sylwia Kubus
Hazel Gore hazelgoreart.co.uk
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Eric Carbrey exit27b.comwordemup
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Words & Images: Sarah Ahmad sarah@tribemagazine.org
PRINTS AND PATTERNS OF EVERYDAY LIFE AS
a child birthdays meant colourful streamers from one end of the wall to the other, twisted and crossing colours of blue, red and yellow, memories of freshly decorated chocolate cakes and bow tied frocks. People who came were no different, in crisply pressed shirts and big clunky shoes, the
baker with his brown shirt, the best friend with her colourful shiny, pointed conical hat, tiny ones with funny blowing whistles, that flipped open and back, almost giant like people with their witty smiles and plaid shirts. There was this pleasant air, a smell, of often a sense of belonging, of the joy of recentness, those little tied laces, funky blue striped socks, gown like streamers, that crissed and crossed, white iced cakes, pink balloons, globe shaped bowls and a green trimmed platter with crinkly potato chips. My mind travels to the past and often to the affable memories of stripes, plaids and ripples, to the big dog ears printed on her t-shirt, to that boy with a little polka dotted tie, friendly faces, that never to be forgotten blue and yellow gift wrap, a frill, a mango drink pack and metallic printed cola caps by bloated stacks of masala potato chips. Art succeeds in becoming a part of everyday through manmade things of stitches and prints, creamy soft icing and block printed shirts on a hot summer day. Art often takes me to the past, a trail of people, a trail of thoughts and things, printed posters on bulletin boards, yellow and bright green board pins in a random line, race cars on television screens with bold big stickers, childhood memories of ironed on fabric prints, bears and kittens, blue berry trees and patterned knits, grandma’s sweater tricks and colourful buttons on mushy winter days. Association, a word often carried with a thought, relating things to quieter moments of prints and patterns, graffiti walls we had seen on that day one year ago and a scatter of postcards from years back, from Mockba. We often let a child be in her childhood, free, of pleated skirts and bolero plaids, of school time walks and rows of green line buses by that tall iron gate, bold big memories of sun shining canvas shoes, ploughing its way through to mosaic chip floors and red brick lined walls, people with patterns on their sleeves, a trick or two up ours, only clearer in dots and stripes, ripples and crinkles, on shirts and road signs, up the hill and through the classrooms, corridors and printed wall posters, words reading “Kaleidoscope”, bold capital, italic sub text and a watermarked background. School: A typical summer it had been, a grade above three, a point more than her, a sprint of a few seconds and a dream long away. Playgrounds were places to find a friend; you would know, the one who maniacally
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used the slide, the one who sat on the bench and observed or the one who peacefully strolled down the road, then those ones, the innovative ones, triple ice cream ones, the party planning one, somersaulting ones, and the long story ones. Yet on most days they were alike, out in a similar world, often at one place, a spitting image of each other in their white skirts and shirt, a red belt and white canvas shoes. And often when they stood in a row, it was a sea of patterned whites and reds, their brown paper covered copies in a stack carried around to staff rooms, school chairs of varnished camel brown, boards in green and black, chalk marks in white and pink, note books in checks and stripes, patterns of manmade things moving around, prints of yesteryears now memories descriptive enough in words, in pleats and seats, in helms and seams, as buttons and tritons, fences and menaces. Journey: An airplane was just that, a bulky capsule with seats. Capsulated in a shell, a shell which took its turn to fly when another had left, up above in the sky, food on trolleys, printed no-smoking signs and other signs and laminated booklets, and next to each row were little windows to life; a platform of people growled around, moving across and above houses and chimneys, farmers and theme parks, scanty patches and street lights. And when we looked down below, suddenly the whole world was there, and it did not mind, swatches of little houses, cars of all shapes and sizes, little printed patterned lands and light green spotted trees; while at night, a descent with sparkling city lights. That is how I remember the absolute power of gong away, up and above it all, associating a sudden escalation to a sprawling world, then a blanket of white clouds over this commanding landscape of life. Art manages to come in as a piece of land, carefully planned cities, visible as dots, squares and passages from above. The view from up here, the chaos gives way to little patterns of people and moving objects and concrete structures, which turn to be a distant canvas of longing and awe. The solidity of the earth is left behind, yet images of distance and going away pertain in our mind as colour coded zones of green, brown and blue. If there was a little trip in plains and trains of a silent earth, we could still be, a little distant from it all, a little above the sound and spree, then tracks and steam, velvet trees and orange lakes could be seen, printed bypass signs and rows of telephone lines, moving on the side, fast and wild, moments as this, of a little trip by the land, above and below, yet units of sand and sea; we could still be, a trip on a plane, train or by any means, printed and patterned memories in our mind, that is how this pasture of sun, sand and sea, would only be. Horizons and places: I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how so many people fit into this muzzled puzzle of cars, carts and rickshaws, trucks and trams and trees. A recent trip to Agra was just that, yet road markers managed to divide a sprawling expressway, agricultural land flanking both sides and a sight of a few cars here and there. Though the city itself was a jumble of traffic jams, things moving towards you from every possible direction, too many colourful people, too many drops of rain, honking and wielding the car through, the possibility of escaping it quite a distant thought. The river Yamuna is dotted with forts and houses, bridges and people, and through
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the sight of rain drops and heavy clouds of white, right there, if only we could see, the Taj Mahal stands again, the city dots itself through these thinner roads towards larger shows; sweep aside the eyes of chaos and mystery, tripping over stones and marble and flee, it crosses to the other side till you get there, it stands still and unfettered, marvelled marble grounds and domes and minarets, gardens and gates, printed in our minds and memories, when we were smaller we had seen, a glimpse then and now of earth, awe; contradictory. Horizon, a canvas of eternal patterns and prints. Block prints of buildings, fog and clouds, bridges and invisible backyards, I think that distance provides us with a choice, to look around, prod and finally move in a direction. Agra, a city, a pattern we drove towards this summer, met with a line of people, got lost on crowded by lanes and found a whirling pattern around the city. From a distance it is quiet, it is nothing, no roads and carts or people, from a distance it is only on paper, thin white lines, indicating and speculating lands, yet letting us head that way, and this, around and beyond the markings of a city to the next, milestones, stones and domes, from a distance these are patterns, pictures and prints of still lives, still walking, but we are not in it, from a distance is what we see, now tombs and miniature trees, closer, wider, horizons, of sparkle, marble; contradictory. Safari: Strange but true, I have been to a tiger safari but never spotted a tiger. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think sooner or later there will come a time when we will see oneâ&#x20AC;?, that is what the safari guide kept telling us and sometimes when the jeep stopped, my heart stopped too, not really out of fear but excitement. Like tiger like word; excitement is an uncontrollable world of a word, it appears so suddenly, out of the blue. Tiger is a popular cat of an animal, safaris are patterned around it, the prints and pug marks, trails of dry grass, sun shade trees and monkeys, deer and birds of beaks. The Safari presents itself with a range of colours and prints, an army green jeep, strict directions to wear darker shade clothes, possibly an army green, a forest of umpteen animals, brown, stripes, spots, marks, blue birds and tiny yellow ones. Tiger, tiger, we can see, not dots and spots but feeble trees, suddenly all stopped and like imprudent ones, we yearn to see, into intricate patterns of grass and bees, pug mark trails and sounds through a gorgeous glare, tiger, tiger, lost in the wild, stripes, a glimpse, a photo, a click with you, if you come my way, tiger, do stop and gaze away. Now wallpapers have birds on them, and they come on someoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wall, now jacquard feels like leopard stripes and cushion covered in prints of wild. Those little trips to the wonder of the Taj, hung as prints on walls and in shelves as postcards to dear ones, those city lights and dimmer suns, and naughty childhood screams, messy pasted icing faces and toothpaste tubes in grocery stores, is that all art in closets and needle boxes, cartons of brown and printed green, are little trips and flicks and camera clicks now on walls and t-shirts and ties, are there memories of childhood on printed paper and as scribbles of leaves and lives, quirky prints of bow tied days, dusky hints of midtown maze, it does seem like it is about all that, all those images we went by, captured and trapped, the everyday in the early 90s and the little treks by lakes and shores, about street signs and hoardings, strings, streamers and shows. Now the horizon is a wallpapered find, and shells, snails, trails and buses, trains and buildings of eras gone by, are on mugs and cups, twisted spoons and trays, the fabric stretches to the visibility of a pattern, plaids and stripes, sometimes fuchsia polka dots and animal tights; repeating, depleting, memories of doll houses and carton carts, reminiscing of childhood days and red train ways, thin air trips and party trays. <
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Kerry Gerdes kerry.crevado.com TRIBE MAGAZINE ISSUE 20 91
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SATOKI NAGATA TRIBE MAGAZINE ISSUE 20 93
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My goal as an artist is to find and show the various connections that form the reality in which the city and its people exist. The camera is a tool that allows me not just to approach the subject, but also to capture the relationships and create new relationships between myself and my subjects. I am always trying to create intimate bonds with my subjects while photographing, and I believe that this is the only way to show their reality and their relationship to the world. I see the world based on Japanese Zen Buddhism, and its basic notion is “our existence is composed of various relationships.” This notion has inspired me to use photography to create relationships with the world.
I am Japanese and was raised in Japan. I have been documenting people and their lives in the city of Chicago, USA. At first I began by taking photographs of people on streets, then I found I wanted to document people with more intimacy. I have been doing several long-term intensive documentary projects including “Chicago Avenue near the Red Line station” and “Cabrini-Green: Frances Cabrini Rowhouses.” First I thought that if I wanted to understand and make photographs of people, just getting closer to them with an open mind was the key. It was true in the beginning, but after a certain point my understanding changed: the closer I got, the more I saw an ambivalent and complex world. It was the time I spent working on these projects that allowed me to see things in a different way. For me, it was not that photography could not capture the reality because of how complex life is, but a question of how to illustrate that complexity.
The camera captures the moment of the fraction of a second and I found that successful images show the multi-dimensional relationships of the world through symbolic and abstract forms. By searching for the elements that represent reality I see around me, I can capture them through photographic media. In "Lights in Chicago", I see the light and shadow produced by flash is the pure form of reality of people living in the city. Inside the bright light line, the significance of existence of the person appears. The image is abstract and surrealistic but also full of life and personality.
Satoki Nagata www.satoki.com
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