ISSUE 31 | January 2015
tribe is an international creative digital publishing platform. 'An Index Of Possibilities'
Founder Mark Doyle Editor - tribe magazine Emma Scott Sub Editor Rosemary Long Editors Helen Moore Peter Griffiths Dani Parry Dan McClusky
www.tribemagazine.org youtube.com/tribezine ISSN: 2050-2352
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Writers Glyn Davies Aimee Dewar Kerry Gerdes Marketing and PR Steve Clement-Large Rebecca Sharpe Sam Rowe Kate Morgan
Fashion Editor Stacie Clark Email: assisted by TIffany Fishleigh [firstname]@tribemagazine.org
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Correspondents Natalie Wetzel - USA Sarah Ahmad - India Christine Platt - Canada
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Creative Writing Editor Richard Thomas
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THE START OF A BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY.....
CAST MARIANIC PARRA SHINING ELVIRA DAYEL JADE MOON CRISTINA VENEDICT LOVE RULES OKAY - SUSIE DAVID MICHAEL JULINGS FUGGART DESIGN BOZ MUGABE GORDON JAMES WILLIAMS STABBINS SAM WALKER SMART DIMITRINA KUTRIANSKY AMANDA MENDIANT NATIVE MAKERS KEITH DILLON KATERINA BELKINA RODNEY NELSON KATARZYNA JABLONSKA GUSTO ROBUSTO ALICE HARRISON NATHANIEL HALL SATCH DOBREY CANE DOJCILOVIC FRESH GHOST STEIN ROHNER RYOTA MATSUMOTO
MARIANIC PARRA
ARTIST'S STATEMENT I follow the footsteps of painters who were interested at the end of the 19th century by discovering secrets of living light, namely by laying it on canvas. Referring to the Impressionists, I speak specifically of pointillists and visionnists. Light is not painted anymore; it is no longer an illusion of light. It is light created. Optically, when Seurat paints a touch of green, he put a touch of blue next to a touch of yellow, and optically at a few meters from the viewer's eye it created green. This green reconstructed by the eye is a brighter green than the green painted, greener than the green obtained by mixing painting. These artists were qualified scientists who relied on Chevreuil techniques; they used all the theories of simultaneous contrasts, etc. They succeeded, for the first time in art history, to optically create Light. It is no more light illusion, but a real light. It is the beginning of a great adventure which continued by artists of Optical art, and others like Dan Flavin, Soto, etc. But this living light remained fixed, static, it was not moving; it was posed on canvas. Dan Flavin, for example, gives us a great chance to look at the light. We are not used to watching light; light fills up space. With this type of artist, audience looks at light through installations. In my work (tableaux are not lit from the back) which associates natural materials (volcanic sand or coal) in their original state and contemporary materials such as plexiglass, the viewer has the privilege of seeing a living and moving light. My kinetic tableaux react permanently with the variations of the sun, with variations of natural or artificial light. The work changes with the light that it is exposed to and in the setting in which it is placed. Thus, there is a completely new contribution in this large family of artists who were interested in light. It is a contemporary vision by, of course, use of contemporary materials, and by the eye capturing moving light. It is a new approach.
www.parra-art.com
SHINING AN INTERVIEW BY SAM ROWE
"It's damn good thing I'm ok with strobe lighting!' were the first words I spoke as I stumbled into the venue, late as ever. As I flung open the doors I was greeted by the chaos that I would later learn was 'The Madness and the Damage Done'. My inner fan boy gushed at the sight of a Dillinger Escape Plan t-shirt AND their cover of 21st Century Schizoid Man. I had never heard of Shining at this point but after watching their spectacle of a live show in Ultrecht, I needed to interview them." - Sam Rowe
How did the band form originally?
We started as an acoustic jazz quartet back in 1999, when I was studying jazz saxophone at the Norwegian State Academy of Music in Oslo. I had some tunes and needed a band for a gig, so I picked the best guys I could find at the school and started the band.
You guys sound very different from Where the Ragged People
Yes, we have indeed made quite a few changes in our music since our first
Go and Sweet Shanghai Devil, how did this change come
album in 2001! I grew up with metal music when I was a kid, so even when I
about? was it a concious change or was the change
was studying jazz music for ten years at the academy, I still had this unique
unplanned?
background from metal music. Shining started out playing acoustic jazz music in the vein of the mid and late era of John Coltrane, but after two pretty strict jazz albums we got tired of sticking to so many rules, so we decided we were just going to do whatever we wanted to do! So we fucked around with synthesizers, I picked up the electric guitar that I hadn't played since I was 13 years old, and while our first two albums were recorded live in the studio, with no overdubs or edits or anything, we now started experimenting with modern studio techniques and had a lot of fun with it. Elements of rock, metal and contemporary classic music started sneaking into our music on our third and fourth album, and on our fifth album, Blackjazz which was released in 2010, we had completed a full blown metamorphosis and had become a great and new mix of metal and jazz which we just called Blackjazz. Even though these changes might seem sudden and abrupt when you compare albums, they still were gradual changes over long periods of time. Some were conscious and planned changes, but most of all it was just about us doing whatever the hell we wanted to do, not abiding by what our fans or people around us hoped or expected us to do.
The band has experience a lot of line-up changes since it's
When a band changes its musical direction so drastically that we've done, it's
inception, was this to experiment with different combinations
natural that some musicians in the band might not feel comfortable with a
of instruments and sounds?
particular new direction. In that aspect I feel it's been natural for Shining to have had some changes in line-up along the way. We all get older, we all change, but we do not all change in the same direction. The result has always been that the new person coming into the band is super enthusiastic about where the band is and where it's heading at that moment, which gives a great boost in energy and enthusiasm to all the other members, and also makes the band a better band all over.
Are there any elements you would consider bringing back in
We are currently in the process of making and recording new music, and on
future records?
some tracks we feel we want to bring back some of the darker and aggressive vibes from the Blackjazz album, along with some of the more expanded and longer forms. But it's still hard to say. We still just keep doing what we want, and it's hard to predict what we would like to do in the future.
>>
"I THINK A LOT OF SHINING'S MUSIC HAS BEEN DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY INSPIRED BY MOVIES. I LOVE MOVIES, ESPECIALLY SCIENCE FICTIONS STUFF! I ALSO GET INSPIRED BY PHILOSOPHY AND MATHEMATICS." What bands and musicians would you say are your main
That list is very long, but from the top of my head I'd like to mention
influences?
the following: John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Michael Brecker, Entombed, Death, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Meshuggah, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Olivier Messiaen, Gustav Mahler and Arnold SchĂśnberg.
Are you influenced by any other forms of art? e.g. paintings,
I think a lot of Shining's music has been directly or indirectly
illustrations or sculpture?
inspired by movies. I love movies, especially science fictions stuff! I also get inspired by philosophy and mathematics. When I say "philosophy" I mean in a very broad term. I'm not talking about Descartes or Kant, but often more modern works about thinking in general, often on the edge between science and philosophy. This could be anything from simplified books on relativity theory and quantum physics to modern classics such as Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking Fast and Slow". But here are a few specific books and movies that have directly inspired some of Shining's music: David Lynch's Dune and Twin Peaks, Kubrick's The Shining and 2010: The Year We Made Contact, Aleister Crowley's many books (Magick Without Tears, Book Of Thoth, Book Of The Law, Book Of Lies etc.), Fellini's 8 ½ and Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness Of Being.
When I saw you supporting Devin Townsend in Ultrecht the genres
We've always been a band that want our live sound to be arranged
in your sound work together without without one overbearing the
in a balanced way without having to rely on backing tracks. So we
other? How have you achieved this balance?
try our best to arrange the songs and instrumentation so that it sounds great in the rehearsal room as it is. That might contribute to the balance you mention. But thanks anyway for such a great compliment!
What inspired you to mix all these musical styles together?
It's really the two musical styles I like the best, metal and jazz, mixed together. Who wouldn't want to do their favorite two things all at once?
How do you guys go about creating a record? do you go in with a
It's different every time. Our first albums were recorded live in the
plan and a sound in mind or do you just let the creative juices flow?
studio. The very first was even recorded directly to tape with only two mics! Others have been cut, pasted and pieced together in the studio, while the Blackjazz album was a slight return to a more live oriented way of playing and writing.The common formula is really just me writing songs and ideas, and then seeing how we can make a great recording out of them. >>
FOR SHINING IT'S BEEN IMPORTANT TO FOCUS ON MAKING GREAT MUSIC FIRST, AND THEN TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW THE MUSIC BUSINESS WORKS AFTER THAT. What is your favourite country to tour?
I must admit that The Netherlands is one of the best countries to tour in the whole world! The distances are small, the venues are super well run, and you a met by the smell of soap upon arrival! Also the people seem to love great and adventurous music. I hope we'll get to tour a lot in The Netherlands in the near future!
What makes the perfect live performance?
A great venue, and great audience, a great local crew, a great band, and great music.
How do you prepare for a live show? Do you have any
We try to live healthily while on tour, so our pre-show rituals often include a
interesting pre-show rituals?
good and nutritious meal, a run around the local area, a trip to the nearest swimming pool, or just some quiet and relaxing time in the bus or backstage.
Can you give any advice to any bands and musicians
For Shining it's been important to focus on making great music first, and then
starting out?
try to figure out how the music business works after that. But who knows, maybe it's better the other way around for other bands? Anyway, I still think that great music wins in the long run, even though the journey might be a very long and heavy one. Good luck! Stick to it and stay strong!
Interview By Sam Rowe sam@tribemagazine.org soundcloud.com/shining
ELVIRA DAYEL
www.elvira-artist.com
BEAT POEM BY JADE MOON That long distant beat, traveling in on the breeze, I'm you-tubing you and those cronies, some kind of smoke haze drifters, watching your faces silently, moving between the beats, speaking. There are a host of characters amongst you, the beatniks and the blinkered, and you roaming on between the saxophone and the be-ats, keeping the heart beating, talking like you know everything of nothing, humbling all those who hear it. You trace the history of the beat and have one of those faces that reads words in everything, the beats and the multitude of meanings in that phrase. I guess they slam things in this era of mine, torrents of meaningless rhymes, but you, Jack, are languid, like smoke caught in cloth, your scent remains rambling. The beats don't complain, they phrase all of these neon lights and headlights and darkness in the shallows into some kind of song of freedom. Shirts loose and dirty jeans, hair swept or falling, voice smooth like a river running through the jazz drifting. That long distant beat, you, and one special smoke haze crony wayfaring on fat roads over vast pregnant hills, through smoky bars and beat people. A typewriter tapping, a keyboard clacking, They say you're slacking but we know differently, your songs of a slouch hat, your mother, cats crooning to the moon and you drifting in the beatitude. Jade Moon
Illustration by Juan Pattino Herraiz
CRISTINA VENEDICT
www.cristinavenedict.ro
LOVE RULES OK THE WORK OF MEGAN CALVER BY SUSIE DAVID Before you go in you notice the glass doors havebeen very thinly white washed as if to slightly obscure the exhibition inside.Shops do this when they're doing something inside that they don't wantyou to see, but here it is only a faint wash - a veil, which has broken inplaces into a delicate filigree. You can see through, but you have to reallylook. You are invited to 'declareyour love ' bydrawing on the glass. There is a heart, names, initials and a few random marks. Megan Calver likes them: "theyare a sort of love message too". Everything here is a token, a message, of love. There is a twig that had been dropped by twopigeons whilst being passed from beak to beak, now it is held by the beaks oftwo clothes pegs as it hovers still in the air, poking out of the wall as ifthe story continues out of sight on the other side. Three measuring rules, or rulers, given to her by her grandfather, her father and her daughter initiated these process-based investigations in which Calver began by exploring the rulers' functions and how they demanded to be used - she had to discover their set of 'rules'. She says of this first stage: "I began by wanting to touch every calibration that my grandfather and father would have touched, using repetition and copying to keep an emotional response in check." Her grandfather died some twenty odd years ago. Her father is becoming very frail. Her daughter has moved away for her work.
So the drawing of thelines with a fine mechanical pencil began - each repeated reverentially andtenderly, carried out according to the ruler'sincrements and capabilities in order to draw lines or grids. Calver talks about the oddnessof using Skype to communicate with her daughter. Her daughter, a writer, had given her a rolling ruler that is designed to helpdraw lines parallel to one another. She explains: "The conceit is that I'dmake these lines for her to write on, but they're too tight. Maybe I'mtalking too much and she can'tget a word in edgeways?"Perhaps the drawing implies thebetween-the-lines-writing that could be done, or perhaps the lines speak of closing the distance between them. On a piece of marker paper using the ruler fromher mathematician father, Calverattempted to make a premium piece of graph paper byfollowing the guides. She glances askance at her graph paper: "It's laughing at me". After the first attempt she went to visit her father and sherealised she had to do it again: "itwas too hard. The line needed to be lighter. The emotion wasaffecting the weight of the pencil".For in amongst all this repetition, strict line-following, rule abiding andregimented line drawing, there is a softness she is searching for. She is hoping for somethingother to show through. >>
On one sheet of A4 paper a pair of inverted commas have been drawn in very fine repeated pencil lines, so that each curve is slightly shifted from the next and two arcs of crescents result. These have been reversed slightly obliquely on the other side of the paper and they ghost through. The edges of the paper curl up slightly encouraging you to lift the page and see the other side. These are empty inverted commas and Calver suggests they can't find the words, they are potential, they are at a loss for words. A painting by her grandfather, a carpenter by trade, is perched on top of a small step laddertopped with flesh-pink felt - which makes a subliminal link to Beuys' restorative felt and fat. The felt softensthe utilitarian nature of the step ladder and makes it a gentle perch for thisprecious object. The painting is further protected by being shrouded in tracingpaper, which may be lifted to see beneath. The protection may be from any harshgazes that casually ricochet around an art school (where thisexhibition is housed). There are signs that a ruler was used in the painting's making. On a nearby wall there are twopieces of A4 black-edged card upon which seemingly inconsequential parts of thepainting, a patch of water say, where the light hits, have been transferredwith the most delicate of fragile, shaking lines. This pale knotted tracerydances off-centre on each sheet. They are achingly exquisite. "These are beautiful" says Calver"to stop people intheir tracks - to make them look". Looking at her works is always rewarding. Many are made whilst attempting apparently impossible tasks, and a further performative element involves endurance, in the spirit of Bergson's durĂŠe, rather than duress. She remembers her grandmother in cafĂŠs, and the way she would save her paper serviette, smoothing it out to be re-used later, sometimes offering it to her grand-daughter as a hanky (another love token). In homage Calver set about exploring this gesture by repeatedly crumpling up and smoothing out a single paper serviette over a period of 24 hours. For display, the serviette's three layers have been carefully peeled apart, a form of emotional dissection, and each then draped over its own cut-glass cutlery rest, which animate the scene with motes of light glinting in the facets. All three mounds lie on a plain Ikea trestle table covered neatly with the same pale flesh-pink felt as before. The tissue paper is so worn, so smoothed, ...so loved! at first sight it could be the most delicate lace, it could have been made, or tatted, by her grandmother. Each see-through and delicate ply lies there in its fragile, vulnerable state, exposed to gusts of wind or an over-curious viewer's clumsy touch Focused on simple repetitive tasks arising fromspecific sets of tools and apparatus given as love tokens, Calver searches for closeness. It becameevident to me that each of the many lines in the exhibition is attempting tospan the distance between the artist and her loved ones, to calibrate and tocelebrate emotion. This strategy is not a measure of love but a marking of itsincrements, through the time and the distance that has accrued between. In aworld that seems too hard, too governed by rules, the artist works through these rules in orderto arrive at the inverse, softness of emotion. This journey, through thedictates of apparatus and routine, is a form of longing that hopes to arrivethrough her love to their love, on the other side. For, in all these works, you can see throughand catch glimpses of things behind or on the other side - through the door,the paper, the tracing paper, the serviette. Althoughall these works are left vulnerable, with no frames or display cases, nevertheless they appear cocooned from the harshworld: by the wash on the windows, the cut-glass rests, the sheets of tracingpaper, and the cushioning felt. Calver laments: "There is so much horrific stuff going on in the world". She moves a thin white carpenter's folding rule from one wall to another,trying several times to prop it between the wall and the slippery floor where smallorange adhesive spots have been placed to mark potential places of rest. "Does love rule? I don't know" she sighs wistfully. The spots give just the merest hint ofpurchase, enough to hold the ruler as it curves like a cupid's bow about to spring. LOVE RULES OK Process drawings generated from familial objects Megan Calver 22 September - 3 October 2014 artspace 101 Roland Levinsky Building, Plymouth University
MICHAEL JULINGS
www.julings.com
FUGGART DESIGN INTERVIEW BY RICHARD THOMAS
Fuggart Design has been working alongside the music industry for over five years, building up an impressive list of clients in such a short space of time, to provide them with graphics for their merchandise that is not only eye-catching and contemporary, but complimentary to the music instrumentally and aesthetically. I wanted to find out more about what makes music-art what it is, and how and why it differs to other art forms. I caught up with Fuggart Design's sole founder and artist Tom Gordon to pick his brains a bit.
Hey Tom, what have you been working on today?
Today I was drawing up a few type options for a Queens of the Stone Age project I am working on, which has been fun. I was also doing a few photo based pieces for an American band who I'm not really into, but it's relaxing work, so I don't mind that.
Could you tell us a little more about how you got in to graphic
Graphic design was never really something I aspired to do, at least
design? Where did it all start from?
not in a serious way. Back when Myspace kicked off in 2004, I saw a lot of people making their own banners and stuff for their profiles, which prompted me to work out some basic stuff that would help me copy-cat that. A few years later I was putting on a few shows in my area and playing in bands, etc, and I never had the money to pay people to do our artwork for us, so I just made stuff myself. After a while I guess I got OK at it, because before long I had other people asking me to do their stuff. Fast forward a year or two and I was at a point where I noticed I was making a few hundred a month on my side hobby and decided to take it seriously. I think it's fair to say that I've always enjoyed art in general. I remember, even at a young age, people would complement me on my drawing ability. In retrospect, I think I sucked at fine art, but I do know that the feeling I got when people would tell me my drawings were awesome was addictive and kept me wanting to create.
So, the business side of it came about quite naturally, then.
As I mentioned before, the whole business started very organically as a hobby. I managed to earn some side cash whilst doing it, but my focus was always on music at the time. The only real jump business-wise was after my son was born. Before that, I spent a lot of my time touring, partying and avoiding my coursework for university by smoking a lot. When my wife and I found out that she was pregnant I quit my band, knuckled down with my coursework and turned into a work machine. I knew that I had nine months to make it as a designer or end up stacking shelves, and the latter wasn't an option.
What about influences? Are there any designers out there that you
There are a tonne of incredible merchandise designers out there
particularly admire, or bands whose merchandise designs you find
and artists in general, but if I had to name a company who inspired
you often favour?
me to begin with, it would be Sons of Nero (now called Forefathers). They were the biggest inspiration for me starting out, and fortunately I now chat to a couple of the guys from Forefathers, and there is a great deal of mutual respect between us. It's a surreal feeling when the people you looked up to for so long turn around and give you compliments on your own work. Band wise, again, there are so many with styles/branding that I love. I am fortunate enough to work with a few of them. Nine Inch Nails and Deftones have a good taste in merchandise, as do Queens of the Stone Age. Recently I made some artwork for a band called Empress AD (Roadrunner Records), and I got to do some really fun psychedelic style stuff for that.
"EVEN THOUGH IT'S MY JOB I LIKE TO ONLY TAKE ON PROJECTS THAT I THINK I WILL LIKE, BECAUSE THE MINUTE YOU SEE A PROJECT AS 'WORK' IT BRINGS YOUR PERFORMANCE LEVELS DOWN." Great. So, can you tell us a bit more about your process of creating
If I am working on a rush project, a lot of this goes out of the
a design?
window and I just go into full steam mode, but ordinarily I will work to a strict schedule. I always start off by really reading the project brief and making sure I have understood what the client needs. Once I am certain of that I move onto research. Research consists of two tasks: the first task being to check out the clients existing range of artwork to understand what they have approved in the past, and the second task is to make a mood board of imagery so I have a very good reference point. I'll usually soak it in for a minute before coming up with ideas on paper. Anyone who's seen my concept sheets has laughed at how awful my sketch-ups are, but all that matters is that I get the idea down with a rough layout so that I am creating something special without needing to use every Photoshop trick in the book. If you just storm about in Photoshop trying to make something, it usually looks rubbish, because you've not spent long enough on the concept and layout. All of my artwork looks horrendous up until the final five minutes of creating it, mainly because I don't do any colouring or textures, etc (all of the finishing touches), until everything else is perfect. I like to have the feel and layout right before I fuss over the smaller details. I also never stick to one colour theme, so it makes sense for me to worry about that last. Once I wrap everything up, I like to be organised, so I tidy up layers, give specific design codes to find files easily, and mock up the art on t-shirts and whatever else to show clients. I like to think I'm very organised with my design process, but I know a lot of people are better at it than me!
I have watched Fuggart Design grow, from designing for local
It's a funny one because it all happened so fast and I can't really
bands to huge names like Foo Fighters, Blink-182 and of course
explain how/why it happened. I remember having this one crazy
Queens of the Stone Age. How have you got to where you are now,
week, where one minute I was wrapping up some mind numbing
designing for internationally acclaimed acts?
local show poster for ÂŁ20, to being on the phone with Rolling Stones' team talking big bucks and London meetings. The day after that, Underoath's manager, Randy, emailed me and introduced to their guitarist, Tim. All of a sudden I was doing all of the artwork for their farewell tour. That's a lot to take in all in one week! After those projects went through and I pulled off some good art, word of mouth did what it does best. Now, a new years later, word of mouth is all I need because I have built up such a strong reputation or what I do, and have a group of clients that are happy to pass my info on to others.
Wow, that was a good week for you then! Predominantly your clientele fall
It's interesting you say this, because in reality I do more pop stuff
under the alternative banner, but you've designed for people like Katy Perry,
than rock! I think the reason people presume that I am more rock is
The Backstreet Boys and Rod Stewart, too. Do you find much difference in
because I tend to showcase that more. Pop acts tend to need a lot
working for acts so different musically?
of photo based artwork, which is actually enjoyable for the most part, but every now and then you'll get a really interesting brief. Rock stuff can go both ways. I can either have an awesome brief where I get to do some crazy out-there piece, or I can get lumped with some has-been rock band who just want stars and skulls. Both ends of the spectrum have their pros and cons, you just have to learn to love them both! Recently I've been doing a tonne of artwork for 5 Seconds of Summer, and I would say it's one of the most enjoyable projects I have ever worked on, and the guys have been really into all of my ideas. For me that's the most important thing to have in a client, because you feel more comfortable putting some crazy idea out there.
Is there much difference in designing for bands compared to other types of clients?
I don't work with non-music related clients any more, but when I did, I would spend a lot of time researching, because it wasn't the world I knew. You could ask for more money, but overall it was fairly unenjoyable. Even though it's my job I like to only take on projects that I think I will like, because the minute you see a project as 'work' it brings your performance levels down.
>>
"YOU HAVE TO DO BAND ART BECAUSE YOU REALLY LOVE DOING IT. THE REASON FOR THIS IS THAT IT IS ONE OF THE TOUGHEST INDUSTRIES TO MAKE A NAME FOR YOURSELF IN, AND EVEN HARDER TO MAKE A GOOD WAGE IN." Sure, I can definitely understand that. How about the differences
Surprisingly, there is a huge difference. When you are working on a
between designing a poster or album artwork in comparison to a
square canvas like a poster or a CD cover, you are able to go all the
t-shirt – are there any?
way to the edge and whatever you see on the canvas is what you will see on the end product. With t-shirts, you have two complications. The first complication with t-shirts is that they are printed (mostly) using the method of screen printing. With screen printing, you have colour limitations, and you can't always get all of the detail from your screen onto the garment. It's a print process you really have to understand before smashing out a load of art for a client. The other complication is that you can't just take a rectangular design and slap it on a t-shirt. You need to be able to design something that interacts with the garment in a way that people will want to wear it.
Have there been any favourite briefs, or favourite clients you have
I always enjoy working on Queens of the Stone Age! Recently, I've
worked with?
been asked to make some heat-responsive artwork for a band (I can't name names at this point). I haven't started that yet but I'm very excited. Generally speaking, you can win my heart by asking me to work on lithographs (a type of high quality art print). That is my speciality!
Heat-responsive artwork sounds fun! You're certainly doing some big and interesting things. Where do you see Fuggart Design going from here?
In my niche of band merch, I have already achieved so much that it is hard to picture a next step, but I've always loved the idea of working in a studio with other creatives. It'd be really fun to bounce ideas around and have people to give me instant feedback. It's also incredibly motivating to be around other strong creatives, as it makes you push yourself so much harder. Short term, my list of goals is very simple, and involves mostly ticking off more names on my bucket list! One day I would really love to spend more time talking about design and teaching people.
Talking of a bucket list, then, who are some bands you would like to work with?
A few bands I really wanted to work with in 2014 have been ticked off already (Foo Fighters, Ryan Adams, All American Rejects, Lorde, Paramore, and a few others). There are plenty left though. My favourite band of all time is Brand New, and I'm desperate to do some art for them. Sigur Ros, Daughter, Fleetwood Mac, Band of Horses, Basement, Citizen, Jimmy Eat World and Linkin Park are all bands I am desperate to work with. Some because I'm a big fan and some because I like their art style, and then finally Linkin Park because of the nostalgia!
Lastly, do you have any advice you can share with readers
You have to do band art because you really love doing it. The reason
interested in getting in to this type of work?
for this is that it is one of the toughest industries to make a name for yourself in, and even harder to make a good wage in. My typical week involves over seventy hours of work, and anti-social business hours to accommodate my global clientele. If you don't have a strong work ethic then it probably won't work out for you, so make sure you go into it with your head focused. Despite how hard it is and how much it will DEFINITELY kill your social life, it's honestly the best feeling in the world to do it for a living, so if you really want it, work hard to get there.
Cheers, Tom!
Interview by Richard Thomas richard@tribemagazine.org Find out more about Tom's work at Fuggart Design elsewhere on the web: www.fuggartdesign.com www.facebook.com/fuggartdesign www.instagram.com/fuggartdesign
www.bozgallery.com
GORDON JAMES WILLIAM STABBINS AND SAM WALKER SMART
Boy: The touch you keep, is not yours to store, they give it freely, no price, no fall.
Girl Smoking: Joy tastes sweeter on the 15th floor, young smoke, young guns, and a suited figure, operating the cellar door.
Hommerton Street Scene: In a town where truth and honesty, proof such a rare commodity, treat each other well. Bicker not, with man or clock, Nor abandon child's will.
Lady Corgi: As the days turn into steam and rectangle rooms fill with finery, a medicinal canine, to pal and paw, helps ease the creaking, of times door. Yet tonight, tonight intros and invites, knuckle down, own the light.
Scooter: Fear not deer heart, Outside awaits a new teacher, To nurture your greatest mistake, That beautiful demand. Not all eyes are hungry, Not all words are harsh, A tomorrow offered, An option nursed.
Sheik Sheriff: He stood ready for tides of teachers, under kindly moons, the 5am saints, would visit, would visit very soon.
Whiskers: A boy who cast a vile eye on sand, sea and mother, a man who read too many texts, on the underground, the other, Now an older gent, who circumstance, left like so many others, Jack of the green, a friend or fiend, full of rum hopes, full of hollows.
DIMITRINA KUTRIANSKY
www.dimitrinakutriansky.com
AMANDA MENDIANT
amandamendiant.com
NATIVE MAKERS INTERVIEW BY AIMEE DEWAR
Towards the end of 2014, Native Makers ventured into the world as the brainchild of two talented art graduates, designer Rosie Drake-Knight and illustrator Emily Dymond. With the focus of supporting young and upcoming artists in Plymouth and the South West, the duo debuted their business with a beautifully designed and organised Christmas Market at Plymouth's unique Rumpus Cosy/Radiant Space tearoom and art gallery, with a stunning turnout. I think this is just what Plymouth needs and am personally very excited to see how Native Makers grows over time. Their first event perfectly set the scene for their future work and it is very much a case of watch this space with this fledgling venture. They took some time out to chat with me about their journey so far. Pictures: Dom Moore Photography
Hi ladies, thanks for taking the time to speak to us here at tribe.
R - Hello! Thanks for having us! I'm Rosie, I'm a textile designer and
Can you introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about Native
2013 graduate of Falmouth University.
Makers? E - And I'm Emily, an illustrator and 2013 graduate of Plymouth College of Art. Native Makers is designed as a quality selling platform and social hub for local artists. We provide low-cost high-quality selling spaces at events, to encourage skilled professional artists and designers to trust in group exhibitions and to break the 'craft fair' norm. We hope that providing this environment for our designer makers, puts them and their work in an appropriate setting, attracting the right buyers and increasing the awareness of their craft.
How do you feel about being based in Plymouth? Do you see the
R - Plymouth is a funny place. Having grown up on the Isle of Wight,
city as a cultural hub?
you can imagine moving to Plymouth was a bit odd! I've been here for nearly two years and I've realised that actually, Plymouth has loads of culture. The problem is that its so hidden, its never seen by those who don't already know about it. Nobody knows about it, and some people don't want to know about it. Having said this, there is a huge community of people who are constantly searching for it, and its those people that Native Makers has been created for! I had this realisation after a poor start to my post grad life. I got so fed up of attending low-rate stuffy craft fairs, time after time people walking right past my elaborately designed stall, that I thought i'd better just get my act together and create the kind of market I was looking for. I pitched the Idea to Emily and she immediately got onboard. We realised that between us we knew so many local artists and designers who were looking for the same thing. I think this in itself shows that Plymouth is destined to be a cultural hub. It's getting there!
How do you think Native Makers will impact on the South West?
E - I think the most significant impact will be the encouragement for graduates to stick around in the South West. The arts education down here is excellent, but so often graduates head back to larger more classically cultural cities like Bristol and London. We're hoping to give practicing designer makers a reason to stay put, subsequently creating jobs in the Arts in the South West and nurturing the growth of culture in Plymouth.
Can you outline the importance of buying local and handmade
R - Theres a quote that a lot of designer-makers would recognise...
products for young artists such as yourselves?
"When you buy from an independent artist, you are buying more than just a painting. You are buying hundreds of hours of experimentation and thousands of failures. You are buying days, weeks, months, years of frustration and moments of pure joy. You are buying nights of worry about paying the rent, having enough money to eat, having enough money to feed the children, the birds, the dog. Most importantly, you are buying that artist more time to do something they are truly passionate about; something that makes all the above worth the fear and the doubt; something that puts the life into the living". I think that says it all!
What are your plans for Native Makers in 2015?
E - We had some incredible feedback from the last event, so much so that we have to do it again! It was always an intention to put the Christmas Market on again this year, but we would love to do another one in the summer. Keep your eyes peeled for more details on this!
Lastly, do you have any tips for anyone starting their own creative
R - Keep your eyes on the prize! Its tough, and stressful, and
business?
sometimes you think its not worth it, but don't give up! When you get back just a little bit of praise, or someone recognises why you're doing it, or says thank you, its so worth it.
KEITH DILLON
ARTIST STATEMENT My work in one word, questions. It is super surreal, very graphic, with complex composition, and heavy use of perspective. Coming from dreams and visions, some make a statement, others tell a story, and some are just for fun. I shoot all the objects, with a Canon SLR digital camera, and put them together. Taking trips to locations to shoot stock images. I shoot all kinds of things, at the time not knowing how I'm going to put them to use. I also shoot models, and objects in the studio, that are needed to create a image. I cut and paste the images on to a background, in some cases, using filters, or painting them to create, a collage As we all know a photograph shows us a real thing, we been told that all our lives. By using my process, it looks like a photograph, but something is out of sink. And by having them printed on archival stretched canvas prints, are they a photograph or a painting. The viewer is drawn in, and then it starts a questioning of what is real. The hook brings you in, and then a story begins to develops. That's why I call it super surreal art, Art That Makes You Think !
dillonphotoartist.carbonmade.com
KATERINA BELKINA
www.belkina.ru
RODNEY NELSON
STEWERSHIP and the place is no longer ours DHL heat cabbage in a pot of cleanser to make the right chemical stew and serve it tomorrow with a side plate of burnt-out mineral garbage you will need to be an it creature to eat the earth you're on and survive with an omnifarious diet the oven never going out the arm that you got amputated did not belong to you anyhow and letting go the earth will not hurt if you are its main infection Robinson Jeffers had to inveigh and Edward Abbey to laugh when they spotted what you were turning into but the ears on you went foreign
YOUR COUNTRY wide trail a foot avenue rounding the lake in woods of green and once-green leaf autumn not quite in the sky or here only an intent the scent of old wet vegetable went with obliquity yet a crow was heard staccato in woods that would have muffled it a month ago had not much other calling in them were hollowed now rain only an aspergillum and one minute of sun enough to undo a crow's obloquy
SNOW IN APRIL not the right look or smell to the two-week mild but we had not wanted to let on and when cold hit again we put out more suet because what had only seemed to go away could only seem to return the river upped and would be greatening anyhow but we knew the prairie was still in town and did not want to let on
Illustrations by Hannah Mae
KATARZYNA JABLONSKA Drawing has always been dominant in her practice. Line, light, shadow and composition play as much a fundamental part of her work as the content and story behind it. Her artist's perception, sensitivity and receptivity are exemplified in technically and formally rewarding study and the acquired technical skills are the bridge to dynamic approach resembling artist's life experience and a foundation for a natural, conscious, genuine creative process (as opposed to what's uncontrolled and accidental). Drawing from the concept of portraying genuine passion and emotions through a figure she creates images narrated through identity, expression and imagination. Looking for that critical moment to convey her vision is a challenge and an assertive experimentation with the composition. It is an intellectual and intuitive process drawing on her attention to details, her skills and experience. With a camera and then on paper she penetrates the core of musicians', dancers' and other artists' spiritual life, lifted vibration, exhilarating energy.
katarzynajablonska.wix.com/visual-artist
GUSTO ROBUSTO INTERVIEW BY EMMA SCOTT
Nowadays society is predominantly ruled and influenced by technology, putting pressure on the world of art and design to adapt and keep up with what some would call 'the digital age.' In recent years digital illustration, or vector art has become increasingly poplular, and design company Gusto Robusto have embraced this, with a mission to produce limited edition digital artworks. I caught up with Anna Rado of Gusto Robusto to find out more.
So firstly can you tell me a bit about Gusto Robusto? What is it
Gusto Robusto deals with producing, promoting and selling art
exactly?
prints in limited edition. The artworks are printed with the highest quality (5 Pantone colors). All the illustrations are exclusively realized by selected artists. The project started from the desire of Manifactory, an Italian communications agency, to promote vector art in its highest and purest form.
What do you look for when selecting artists to create work for
When we select an artist, we first search for talent and enthusiasm.
Gusto Robusto?
We give them maximum creative freedom. We just ask that they realize the illustration in a vectorial technique using the selected Pantone palette that characterizes every series. Because freedom is the necessary condition for the artist to express himself at their best (too much often illustrators are bound by the commission of a specific work and they rarely have the opportunity to fully express their potential). All the talented artists contacted, also for future series, are interested in the project. It's a joy to work with such special people!
Gusto Robusto is focused on digital/vector artwork, this is fast becoming a very popular form of illustration, why do you think it is important to promote and celebrate this as an art form?
Vector graphics is one of the most common techniques used at a professional level by many illustrators and artists. There are a lot of technical reasons for which this technique becomes suitable for many uses. For example there is not resolution limits so prints could have high quality even in a large dimension. At the same time the vector technique requires high technique, precision and dedication. Only master illustrators are able to express their vision at the best with this technique. A vector graphic for Gusto Robusto can take three weeks working time to be ready for printing. >>
GUSTO ROBUSTO'S AIM IS TO HELP VECTOR ILLUSTRATIONS IN BEING RECOGNIZED AS A FORM OF CONTEMPORARY ART.
What was the reasoning for keeping the prints the artists create as
We believe that the vectorial technique can be considered suitable
limited edition? Of course digital artwork can be easily replicated
to create original pieces. With the classical technique (as etched
and reproduced, therefore why did you decide to keep the prints
engraving) the artist incises a metal plate with various methods. The
as one of pieces?
original matrix of the artwork is inked and printed in the number of copies decided for the series. It has been like this for centuries. We believe that a plate generated by a vector file has the same value. We create a real original piece with a software, instead of by manipulation as in intaglio printing, or by chemical methods as in the photograph. If the photograph it is already accepted, why not the digital illustration? The general public struggles to understand that this kind of artwork is not anything different than a hand-made piece of art. It's just a different technique.
What is the aim within Gusto Robusto, what do you want it to
Gusto Robusto's aim is to help vector illustrations in being
achieve?
recognized as a form of contemporary art. Moreover "An artist is not paid for his labour but for his vision" (citing James Whistler). So, we're trying to offer this opportunity to those who work with us. We contact well-known artists and we have a scouting ambition. Living in Italy is not good economically at the moment, but all the consents we got prove that we have the energy to react.
You promote the artworks in exhibitions and galleries, is this open
Yes, it is. We're trying to create the possibility to expose our art
to anyone to come and view?
prints because a live experience of them is necessary to really appreciate the quality. When someone sees one of our original print live they often say: "Seeing it live it's even more amazing!". This is due mainly to the care we put for the realization of the artworks. Moreover, we love the contact with people and we think that the best way to show our project is through exhibitions. We are arranging a great exhibition for September 2015 with lots of news. It will be the beginning of an international tour ... but it's still too early to talk about it. We can only say for sure this will be a great year. Stay tuned ;)
Where do you see the future of digital art within the field of
This is a good moment for illustration in all communication field. In
illustration? Do you want to adapt/change/influence this with
Italy there is a network of new illustrators which allows us to work
Gusto Robusto?
and create interesting collaborations. As Gusto Robusto, we're trying to help this development and to facilitate the recognition of these art forms. We're promoting talented people, and we're trying to help young talents to emerge. We are planning some important exhibitions and we're also thinking to create a competition to help young illustrators to emerge. Our imagination has no limits so we keep going!
Interview by Emma Scott emma@tribemagazine.org www.gustorobusto.com
www.alicenharrison.com
NATHANIEL HALL
SCARLATTI HALL BY SATCH DOBREY
The audience in Scarlatti Hall is filing out now. After a marvelous performance of Luskus Delph, this amazing concert, the last of its kind, is brought to a close. The Montonia Symphony Orchestra thank you, the Whaling Memorial Choral Society thank you and we here at Broadside Studios and KBOX thank you and truly appreciate the support you've given us over the last sixteen years. For the last time, this is Ray Durand wishing you and yours a fantastic night and an even better tomorrow. Goodbye Louie, for the last time, goodbye... That's it, that's the last we hear. Luckily, we tracked down a former player in the orchestra who is now disabled. He has recorded every concert for the last seven years. I take it that you've listened to the other tapes. He doesn't mention Louie on them, doesn't say, 'goodbye, Louie'? That's the strange thing, sir. No, he doesn't say 'goodbye Louie' but at the end of every concert Mr. Durand says, 'goodnight Louie'. 'Goodnight', not 'goodbye'. So, this Louie fellow, you think that might be Louis Jackson? Louis Jackson, janitor at Scarlatti Hall, was found dead in the alley behind the Hall last Thursday evening by an unidentified person. Cause of death is unknown at this time. Thursday night's concert was the last in a series of bi-monthly concerts over the last sixteen years emanating from the historic venue that was once home to the Vaudeville Circuit and countless other musical acts, theater and film presentations. The local Historical Preservation Society is attempting to save the building from demolition but the St. Bernard Hospital has acquired the property and is planning to build a Center for Cancer Treatment facility on the site. An autopsy will be performed. Stevens turned things over in his head. Unsure of whether to pursue or drop, he listened again to the taped sign-off. He repeated to himself his discussion with the Chief. He took another look at the newspaper article. Was the autopsy for Scarlatti Hall or Mr. Jackson? His interview with Mrs. Seedy left him uneasy and hesitant to act yet curious to find out more. She sold tickets the night of the Concert like she had for years. While listening to the Concert on the radio, she stayed in the ticket booth till half past nine. She then helped out at the refreshment counter during intermission. As the concert ended, she finished some odd jobs and was back at the counter listening to the radio when the audience was leaving and the police were entering. He looked again at his notes. By the time I arrived at the Hall, the audience had left. When I interviewed her she was wearing a purple hat that completely hid her hair. She wore black gloves that reached to her elbows. Her skirt was too short for her hips giving the appearance that the upper half of her body was trying to escape from the lower half. Her elbows were blood red. She proceeded to tell me about Jackson and Durand. She said she was thinking he might cause problems. Meaning Jackson. "Jackson was a malcontent. He came to our meetings of the Historical Society once in awhile but all he talked about was his job - his janitorial job and his other job. He was a night watchman at some warehouse. He threatened to quit as janitor if he didn't get more hours. He really hated women, that's for sure. He didn't like me, didn't like the fact I was trying to organize things, trying to set up a non-profit." I asked her why she had phoned the police to report a murder when they were already at the Hall and had called an ambulance for the body. I stuttered a few times asking questions like, "D...iiid you know the Chinese gentleman who d...iiiscovered the body"? Or, "Wh...een was the last time you spoke with Mr. Durr...aand?" She would squint when I stuttered. I hated that.
Illustration by Polly Morwood
"He has a marvelous voice, Mr. Durand, so fluent and sonorous. His inflections are simply rapturous and he never stutters or interrupts his timing. His timing is impeccable." She would not give me a straight answer but kept going on about her dislike of Jackson and her admiration for Durand. I decided to veer from my tact. Did you or did you not suggest that Ray Durand might have had a hand in Louis Jackson's death? I realized as soon as I spoke those words, their pathetic ring. She looked at me and smiled. She then licked her lips, not once, but twice. "I thought the police should know. When one says 'goodnight' to the listening audience and has said 'goodnight' to Louie after every concert for over a decade, and then says 'goodbye' out of the blue...well, I would think a detective should be notified. 'Goodbye' is final in this sense, no?" She punctuated the air with a large arcing question mark. Then quipped, "Stop me if I'm repeating myself, but murder is not that uncommon." I agreed to have an officer drive her home as she would have missed the last bus. Decided to interview Durand in the morning. Mr. Wong was taking a short cut home from the Chinese Restaurant where he worked. He noticed a man lying in the alley behind the Hall and noticed some men carrying equipment to a van so he told them about the body and the musicians notified the Hall staff. Jackson's apartment was four blocks from the Hall and offered no clues. Autographed pictures of black entertainers from the fifties. "Why 'goodbye' instead of 'goodnight', Mr. Durand?" "That's it. That's the end of the Hall. I was telling Louie goodbye. Of course, he never listened to my broadcasts but Mrs. Seedy did. She bungled the preservation thing." "She as much as accused you of murder." "Are you aware that Mrs. Seedy moderates the Murder Mystery Book Club at her Library?" Stevens turned red, blood red. Satch Dobrey
CANE DOJCILOVIC
ARTIST STATEMENT "...Inspiration is a human face or a body, but subject matter is inconsequential, it could be anything. Initial stage of the painting or drawing is calculated, calm and simple, with a clear subject matter. Fragmentation and chaos follows, sometimes only to lead right back to the calculated and calm beginning which would be, inevitably, fragmented again. Different "poetics" are developing in the process, intentionally or unintentionally dependent to the painting process itself. Few hours of painting today could take any direction tomorrow, either to more fragmentation and complication or to clearing and simplification of the fragmentation painted yesterday. Extremes of opposites, symbiosis of sharp and soft, stillness and motion, bright and dark and a range of different temperature grays in between are originating and becoming visible. All those opposites can find the balance only in the process of painting and they cannot be devised, formulated or arranged in advance. In that process, separate rhythms, "plays" and fragmentations of the forms, lights, shadows and structures are developing and starting to evolve and deviate to different directions, somehow becoming independent from the initial "subject" matter. It seems to me that there is never end to that process and in it I find the joy of painting that prevents me from declaring a painting "finished". That is why my paintings are only in different stages, depending on where and when I decided to stop painting them. I am aware that rational decision must be made sooner or later: when to stop? But my paintings are never "finished..."
www.saatchiart.com/CaneDojcilovic
FRESH GHOST
www.freshghostart.com
STEIN ROHNER
ARTIST STATEMENT OBSCURE Paint, stone and shards Circus and its obscure world; short, glamorous moments in front of an audience as a product of hard work, hidden behind the stage. An intense life, always on the move. Different arts combine to evoke emotions, amusement, laughter, amazement, dreaming and finally, the admiration of the spectators. The films directed by Fellini, especially "La Strada", depict such extreme and contrasting moments. The circus is brought to life through colourful characters portrayed by the artists in the ring and their distinctive costumes. The pictures of our inspiration derive from a bygone time, telling stories in black and white. Various colourful rainbow leaf beetles with their obscure shapes and silhouettes mingle among the artists. Everyone seems to play his role and character, wearing a quirky costume. We reinterpreted many of the circus costumes, such as the leg of mutton sleeves and stripes, the voluminous silhouettes and shapes of the harlequins and beetles. Also the body-hugging costumes, which embrace and accentuate the movements of the holder, but at the same time, disguise them in an obscure way with patterns, shapes, applications and fringes. Implementing our vision, we apply many technical materials, most of which we process or alienate. For example, we slotted an outdoor fabric with the help of a laser cutter in millimetre thin strips, which were then fanned out in a three-dimensional way and draped over the bust. Inspired by this, we have knitted floats, also stitched on voluminously. The yarn reinforces the round bounce through fine iridescent polyester yarn, subtly highlighting the brilliance of the beetles. The gloss is made especially apparent in the screen printing by various coloured shiny metal foils. These motifs are greatly enlarged and abstracted heads and hulls of beetles and shimmer usually on the inside of the clothing. Moreover, the foil coating shines on a fine pleated and strengthens the fabric in its two-dimensional motion. The fragile glow of the artist is reflected in the screen printing, emerging through fine pebbles and broken glass; loses itself, shimmers in the light and decays slowly in time through movement. Just like the glow of many artists used to.
steinrohner.com
ryotamatsumotostudio.blogspot.co.uk
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