E K A T W A NE TIME OUT ON
LL BY OBIE CAMPBE
WELCOME TO A UNIQUE TAKE ON TIME OUT. To reflect the idea behind the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative,we set up our own mentoring scheme. We selected five young,up-and-coming creatives and tasked them with producing half of this supplement – choosing the stories,creating the images and doing all the design. They were each assigned a mentor from Time Out – but all the ideas came from the young people themselves. Three writers were asked to produce their own take on the theme of ‘inspiration’. Working with Time Out’s Art section editor Ossian Ward, Jennifer Lipman interviewed architecture students about their inspirations,aspirations and work (p4). Dominic Sowa,mentored by critic Tamara Gausi,looked at the influences on his generation (p3,right). And Justina Ogunseitan wrote about her passion for jazz,with guidance from Online editor Alan Rutter (p7). This half of the supplement was designed by Obie Campbell,mentored by art director Lisa Buirski and designer Christian Tate. And Bhav Mistry worked closely with Time Out’s staff photographer Rob Greig to create all the imagery – from the portraits on page 8 to the abstract cover image. The project has been hugely rewarding (if typically hectic) for everyone involved. All our mentors have enjoyed the experience and we have been thoroughly impressed by the ideas,talent and sheer hard work of these creative young people.
Alan Rutter, Time Out
ILLUSTRATION
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N O I T A R E N E G Y M tions firing up young people in the UK pira ins the at ks loo wa So ic min Do CULTURE
As I leafed through a magazine, I came across the tagline for Diesel clothing, ‘When life sucks ask for more’, and I was struck with the realisation that these six simple words are my generation. What defines Generation Y, or Generation Next as we are sometimes called, is a giant self-confidence. We demand so much from the world we live in. We do not see the need to follow the normal path, working to achieve success once we’ve reached the top of our business at the age of 50; if we have talent we crave immediate success. But, fundamentally, it is a success created by ourselves for ourselves. When life sucks we really do ask for more. Though it doesn’t sound revolutionary, it is so ingrained in my generation that it makes me wonder: What has inspired us to be like that? Inspiration Talking to soon-to-be-published author and poet Noor Alsabagh about inspiration, I learnt that her motivation was personal happiness, not money. She began by posting her poems on a blog, and received so many positive responses that she decided to get published herself. ‘Though I received no money from the blog, it gave me definite recognition and a feeling that even at the age of 17 I can be significant,’ she says. Blogs range from the quirky to the world-changing. Write out your thoughts, click ‘Send’ and anyone of the world’s 1.5 billion internet users can read your words. This has affected Gen Y in a huge way: there is bound to be someone out there who thinks as you do! And because there is always another person in this world who shares your opinion, any and all opinions are validated, making each of us right in our own eyes.
Instant internet success Kids born in the ’90s and maturing in the noughties know that they can become a huge instant success because of the internet, and are taking advantage of this knowledge. Recently Tavi, known by her first name only, has become a huge internet sensation. This 13-year-old – and I stress, 13! – has a following of millions for her blog devoted to what’s hot and what’s not in fashion. People all over the world look up to her to answer the big question: What should I wear today? At her young age she has set her future up for success. Creating a business on the high street is an expensive task well out of reach for most young entrepreneurs, yet talking to 18-year-olds Ricardo Nunes and his cousin Silas Osei-Tutu I was struck by how significant the internet is to their aspirations. They have many sites and blogs, but the jewel in their crown is SWAGGER – what may become a trendsetting internet-based clothing line. The internet is cheap and allows them to open up their products and ideas to a whole world rather than the small corner of London they call home. I asked them why they believe they can become a success. The response was simple: as young consumers they know what they want better than the 50-year-olds making the decisions for them.
need is a camera, a computer and a good idea to become the next hit sensation. Gen Y’s belief in instant fame was also nurtured by TV talent and reality shows. By placing people – whether talented or untalented – in the spotlight, celebrity culture moved in a new direction, namely the idea that anyone can become famous overnight. It’s a belief that Gen Y, as huge consumers of all thing celebrity, has devoured. People like Cheryl Cole, brought into the limelight by ‘Popstars’, and Jade Goody, the queen of ‘BB’, were created by television, and have not only inspired a generation into believing that we can be famous, but also showed us the ease with which we can achieve fame. Culture of fear However, not all that has inspired Gen Y is positive. We have grown up in a culture of fear. We have been taught to find enemies behind every corner after the world-changing events of 9/11 and 7/7 left a dark mark of fear on society. Climate change is our greatest threat, but it is one that draws young people into action. We have become far more political. If you were to witness any anti-BNP, Stop the War or environmental demonstration, you would be struck by the young age of the demonstrators. I am one of those political demonstrators, and what we share is a total disregard for the older generation who placed us in this mess. What drives us is the belief that we can solve our problems better than you can. You just need to have faith in us. Every generation, for better or worse, leaves a legacy, and I believe Gen Y will be seen as the ‘moxie generation’ – one with the courage to say: ‘Wait a minute, I have talent, why can’t I be a success now?’ I hope our legacy will inspire people to take their future in their own hands and be an individual, at any age.
All you need is a camera, a computer and a good idea to become the next hit sensation
Social networking Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are unique to Generation Y and have changed the way we think and communicate. We have developed a sense that our words are important, that people are actually interested in what we have to say. YouTube has had a huge influence on Gen Y. It’s seen as a place to make a name for yourself and so has acted as a springboard for numerous entertainment careers. Successes like Tay Zonday’s comic song ‘Chocolate Rain’ have inspired a generation of eager-to-succeed, eager-to-get-rich kids with the idea that all you
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BUILDING ON IDEAS ARCHITECTURE Jennifer Lipmantalks to three people designing the future. Photography Bhav Mistry
Kai
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2003 J. PAUL GETTY TRUST
Gabriel Morales, 27, from Mexico, along with 25-year-olds Kai Sun Lok from Hong Kong and Californian Bryan Oknyansky, are all studying for a Masters degree at London’s renowned Design Research Laboratory at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, whose famous alumni include Zaha Hadid. When Time Out spoke to the three globetrotters to find out what inspired them to come to London and study architecture, they were barely off the plane and in their first week of their course, using a laser cutter to slice up materials into strange and wonderful shapes. The task? To connect these individual shapes to create a new piece that you couldn’t have predicted beforehand.
Explain the method to this madness. Gabriel: We were asked to find a new system of assembling pieces and connecting them to each other, using only one material. We had no idea what was going to happen, just intuition and an idea. One piece looks like a piece of paper folded in on itself, called a bubble curvature. Another has more of the look of a bird’s nest. It will do anything you have in mind. It can be made into a table or a wall, or can take any shape. The original idea was to use it for a pavilion. Bryan: We were trying to evolve the form through the component, to get something without preconceived notions, by engaging with the material to ask what it can do. 4 www.timeout.com/london
Have you always aspired to work as an architect? Gabriel: Always – all my family are. But I didn’t like the kind of thing they did. I wanted the opportunity to do something more interesting. Bryan: In high school I was interested in art and making things. I got into architecture because one day I realised that buildings and the environment around us really affect how we live. I aim in my life to make big changes and this is something that does. Kai: I was originally studying engineering [at the University of Kansas]. But I took a design studio with the architecture students for a couple of years. I found it very inspiring. What is it about architecture that inspires you? Gabriel: There is a book called ‘S, M, L, XL’ by Rem Koolhaas, which I read as an undergraduate. It showed me architecture could be more than what I thought it could be, relevant to more things. I’m inspired by architects who experiment and are doing stuff that I would never have through they could do. When I opened my own office [in Mexico City] the simple fact of doing work inspired me. Kai: I’m always inspired by natural life. Architecture is about creating a space that can inspire people and create joy.
Architecture is about creating a space that can inspire people and create joy
Which architects inspire you? Gabriel: No one in particular – it depends on the project. In Mexico I interviewed famous young architects, which was an inspiration in itself – to speak to them, see them at work and see how passionate they were about what they were doing. Bryan: At college I met an architect from Beijing called Ma Yansong from MAD
Br yan
My inspir The Abso ation…
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I’m really interested in the new stuff, in working towards newness and something that is not able to be foreseen
RHYTHM & MUSE
Architects, famous for building the Absolute Tower in Canada. I already spoke some Chinese so I talked to him after, then met him for breakfast and showed him my portfolio. He flew me over to Beijing to work there for a year – I was very fortunate. But my mind changes all the time. I’m more interested in substance than who designed the building. I’m not restricted by the big names. There are lots of architects; we barely see what else is out there.
What other things are you inspired by? Gabriel: I’m a huge Liverpool fan. I was one of the few fans who followed them in Mexico. People ask why a Liverpool fan chose to study in London, but I hope I’ll go to Anfield one day. I’m a big fan of Michel Gondry’s films. He plays with the concept of time in such an interesting way. From an aesthetic point of view, I’m a fan of [music video director and video artist] Chris Cunningham. He knows how to keep an atmosphere of being dark and playing with your senses. My favourite phrase and signature for everything is ‘have fun’, because if you are not, you are doing it wrong, or you should be doing something else. Bryan: In my school there was a culture of thinking in various fields. I have designed an armchair and before I graduated architecture school I won a competition to design women’s shoes, which I brought with me to London. I speak Russian, English, Spanish and Chinese and am very interested in travelling around 6 www.timeout.com/london
My in CTV Build Koolhaas The C g by Rem Beijin
ARUP
What buildings are you particularly inspired by? Gabriel: Koolhaas changed the face of architecture with the Seattle Public Library. He found a new way of creating public space and it worked beyond the boundaries of architecture to interest people in the library. No one expected the amount of visitors it has. Also the CCTV building in China, which flies outwards at you, is really amazing to look at. I’ve only seen it in pictures, I’d like to see it in real life. Bryan: I like anything innovative, anything that takes something mundane and makes it exciting. It’s important architecture relates to its environment. Kai: The building that I find most inspirational is the Getty Centre in Los Angeles.
iel ion… r b a G spirat ing in
cultural performance. It performs on many levels, for people who use the building and because it harnesses the energy from the sun, and also because it’s amazing from far away and close up. Kai: I like London and Hong Kong, but not the architecture there!
I’m inspired by architects who experiment and are doing stuff I never thought they could do and seeing cultures, in how different we are and how are we are becoming similar. How does London’s cityscape measure up to other cities around the world? Gabriel: The only building I knew about before was Tate Modern. I like some of the contemporary buildings on Oxford Street, but I don’t usually like old-fashioned buildings. London is a funny place for me. Mexico City is also old-fashioned but in a different way. This is not what I am used to. Bryan: The Gherkin is nice because it merges structural innovation and ingenuity with
Have you found a favourite spot in the city yet? Gabriel: So far, I love the city centre, especially between Tottenham Court Road and Piccadilly – not aesthetically, but I always like packed streets full of people and stuff happening. Bryan: I live in Camden and I haven’t had too much time to explore, but the East End seems exciting. There are lots of places to discover. What are you hoping to achieve in the future? Gabriel: I don’t know what area I want to go into. I don’t like to have an idea in my head before I do something. I will learn from the people I’m surrounded by and am always very open. There is always so much to find out about. If I could design any building, it would be something experimental in the digital world. Now with computers you can test a lot more stuff that you wouldn’t have thought to try. Bryan: I’m really interested in the new stuff, in conceptual architecture. In modern architectural history there have been distinct paradigm shifts, like when they started to use steels, and different directions have emerged. I’m interested in working towards newness and something that is not able to be foreseen. I’m really interested in conceptual architecture and to arrive at something that isn’t known yet.
MUSIC Justina K Ogunseitanriffs on her personal passion – jazz Jazz is the pure expression of music that is captured in an intuitive moment. It began in the early twentieth century, incorporating the beauty of the American soul, while building on African foundations. The only music to come purely out of the US, jazz is the forefather of music that is still affecting, inspiring and changing us to this day. Jazz was an expression of freedom; as music released the soul, it beckoned the body to follow, and the foot couldn’t help but tap along. New sounds Plenty of new artists have arisen recently. One I’ve followed with great enjoyment is Laura Izibor – a young Nigerian-Irish singer-songwriter, whose new album ‘Let the Truth Be Told’ is so heartfelt and soulful you can’t help but feel, in her own lyrics, ‘the sun shine on your face’. Another big talent is a group with so much funk and joie de vivre that they get your bones moving before you’re even aware. The Youngblood Brass Band, formed in 1995 by a group of school friends from Oregon, Wisconsin, fuse brass band music with jazz, punk, funk and hip hop in a bright, eclectic mêlée of sound that they call ‘riot jazz’ on their newest album, ‘Is That a Riot’. They are merely the latest to demonstrate the inspiration of jazz in stirring the soul to create something new. Inspiration When I asked my brother, a young flautist, guitarist and composer, what jazz meant to him, he pursed his lips and crinkled his brow, before his words overflowed like a rushing brook as the passion overcame him. ‘What inspires me about jazz is its beauty, reflected not only in its complexity but also its simplicity,’ he said. ‘Those extended chord harmonies, with fifths, diminished sevenths, ninths; it all inspires me. Yet at times that lone
the epitome of simplicity and yet reflects a silent complexity. A still beauty. Today, when being slow is a social taboo, jazz becomes a quiet oasis of peace. We’ve become bogged down with pop’s verse-chorusbridge and rock’s heavy beat and crazy instrumentals. Music has become so complex that it’s lost its personal voice, its subtle message. We so easily forget its heart. Jazz, however, has the power to simplify and brings us back into its bosom – the quiet place filled with noise.
saxophone wailing gently over a softly moving bass line also reminds me of jazz’s simple purity…’ His words coincided with my own thoughts. Jazz is a reminder that life itself can be simple yet beautiful. The tender-sweet melody of Acker Bilk playing ‘Stranger on the Shore’ is
Jazz as a musical form is the expression of passion and creativity. It was born to inspire
Fusion and crossover Even in its crossover forms, jazz still retains its individual voice, while opening its doors to other genres – take Baaba Maal and Salif Keita, highly influential West African artists who have fused jazz with traditional native sounds and rhythms, maintaining their differences yet bringing them harmoniously together. Jazz can put on many faces, but inside each one is a strain of the whole. It can be soulful yet earthy and grounded, with the joyful brassiness of colour, fun and wild nights where ecstasy and excitement are gulped in a single breath. Passion Jazz as a musical form is the expression of passion and creativity. It was born to inspire. It’s grown into a tree with many branches, from acid jazz to jazz-rock fusion, and yet at its core is that improvisational, impromptu spirit filled with colour and personality. Jazz moves me to relax, urges me to enjoy life to its limits and enter into a better, brighter more inspired frame of mind. www.timeout.com/london 7
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