Popshot - Issue # 4 by David Evans

popshot

POET R Y & ILLUS T R AT I O N

THE MODERN LIVING ISSU E

THE THEDITORIAL E A F T E RS H O C K An accepted portal for spouting nonsense.

Poem by Mike Swain Illustration by Sam Green

Welcome then my wired up cherubs to the 4th edition of Popshot. In the interest of progression and evolution, we’ve added, taken away and changed a few things around for this issue which in our stupidly biased opinion, is a vast A modern man, like cellophane improvement. It may be cliche, but upon reflection of the hundreds of collective Like belly fluff, like daisy chain hours that went into making this issue, we reckon it’s our finest yet with the Superfluous and trouble free standard of poetry and illustration taking a rather considerable leap into the Like plumbers with a PHD canyon of excellence. Naturally, outrageous statements such as these are entirely Too much to give, too late to take objective due to the openly interpretive nature of both poetry and illustration, A sedative, a well-earned break but we hope that on some level you’ll agree.

Responsible for all the ills Of rape and plunder, porn and pills We’ve also treated you to a series of interviews with some genuinely influential Like rubber bullets, ricochet wordsmiths and mark makers, to offer you an insight into their working processes Bouncing mullets, Groundhog day and to hear their opinions on the state of both poetry and illustration today. If For modern life, reflects the past gentle voyeurism is your thing, you might want to listen in and learn from some Informs the future, man surpassed of the hardest working and talented souls in the industry. By all that he had hoped to conquer Yearned to free, sought to saver As advised in previous issues, this magazine doesn’t benefit from being skim A modern man, like lemon juice read - it’s no gossip magazine. Should you possess the freedom, pop yourself up Like sour grapes, a man obtuse against your favourite radiator or on your most adored train route and allow the Devoured by his bitter haste biro markings and pencil scratchings of some of our most talented contemporary The aftershock; the aftertaste poets and illustrators to wash over you. As always, we would love to hear what you think of the magazine, so should you find the inspiration, please drop a few well chosen words to hello@popshotpopshot.com.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the magazine. Support your local poet.

The Aftershock looks at the modern man, whose role has been redefined by the recognition of women’s rights, and the death in many parts of the world of the traditional hunter/gatherer.

POETRY. IT’S NOT JUST FOR FUNER AL READIN GS.

SOTH THIS E AIS F T E RS H O C K MODERN LIVING? Poem by Mike Swain Illustration by Sam Green

Illustration by Sanna Dyker

Despite A themodern fact thatman, eachlike andcellophane every one of us participates in and endorses modern Like living, evenfluff, if unintentionally, what is apparent is that we are all just belly like daisy chain as baffled by what surrounds us as free the next person. Modern living is an utterly Superfluous and trouble bizarre Like concept made even so when you’re reminded that it has always plumbers with more a PHD Ten much years ago, at the just as much about modern living as existed. Too to give, tootime, late was to take this yearAissedative, and in tenayears time, it still will be. It is one of the most established well-earned break and dated concepts,for yetallis the continually updating itself on a day to day, Responsible ills minute by basis. New products, discoveries and ideas are constantly Of minute rape and plunder, porn and pills being founded and created, all at a pace that leaves most of us slightly Like rubber bullets, and ricochet floundering. It is still with childlike bewilderment Bouncing mullets, Groundhog day that one observes giant lumps of metalFor hurtling through skies, the trains that run underground, tunnels that run modern life,the reflects past under the sea and ability to speak to someone thousands of miles away, Informs thethe future, man surpassed within aBy matter of seconds. can to access virtually anything, at anytime, from all that he had We hoped conquer anywhere. Information thatsought once wetotoiled Yearned to free, saverfor, is now acquired by the punch of a few buttons and consequently forgotten A modern man, like lemon juiceas easily as it was discovered. Our brains are with afacts and information that come from a whole host Likeoverloaded sour grapes, man obtuse of differing avenuesbyand a result, our necessity for memory is dramatically Devoured hisasbitter haste reduced.The An aftershock; anonymous soul said ‘the half of knowledge is to know where the once aftertaste to find knowledge’. Hilariously, Google rendered this quote fairly redundant a few years ago. Relationships have also changed. We now have more ‘friends’ than ever thanks to social networking sites but perhaps spend more of our time isolated than we ever have done before. In the western world we are more connected and in turn, more disconnected than we ever have been. However, don’t let me topple you into a gadget filled, Wi-Filooks readyatpitthe of modern pessimismman, - it’s whose not all bad The Aftershock roleand hasas a few of our rather poets there’s something slightly laughable beeneloquent redefined bydiscover, the recognition of women’s rights, and about this modern living melee. the death in many parts of the world of the traditional

hunter/gatherer.

So, this is modern living as we know it, broken up, down and across by 20 brilliant poets and 20 brilliant illustrators who are about to take you on a journey through the confusions, compulsions and complexities of this delightfully bizarre age we live in. Enjoy.

T H E A F T E R S H OC K Poem by Mike Swain Illustration by Sam Green

A modern man, like cellophane Like belly fluff, like daisy chain Superfluous and trouble free Like plumbers with a PHD Too much to give, too late to take A sedative, a well-earned break Responsible for all the ills Of rape and plunder, porn and pills Like rubber bullets, ricochet Bouncing mullets, Groundhog day For modern life, reflects the past Informs the future, man surpassed By all that he had hoped to conquer Yearned to free, sought to saver A modern man, like lemon juice Like sour grapes, a man obtuse Devoured by his bitter haste The aftershock; the aftertaste

The Aftershock looks at the modern man, whose role has been redefined by the recognition of womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rights, and the death in many parts of the world of the traditional hunter/gatherer.

Illustration by Masha Rumyantseva

AN INT E RV I EW W IT H -

TH E A F T E RS H O C K PAUL FARLEY Poem by Mike Swain Illustration by Sam Green

Described as ‘Paul McCartney meets Philip Larkin’ by The Independent, Paul Farley is modern man, like cellophane arguably one of Britain’sA most distinguished practicing poets. Born inLike Liverpool in 1965, belly fluff, like daisy chain he studied at the Chelsea School of and Art before Superfluous trouble free finding his way into writing. Since then he’s Like plumbers with a PHD won the Sunday Times Young Writer of thetoo late to take Too much to give, Year award, the Whitbread Poetry Award and A sedative, a well-earned break the Forward Prize. Tom Chatfield spoke to him Responsible all theofills about life in poetry, teaching and theforimpact Of rape and plunder, porn and pills Liverpool. Like rubber bullets, ricochet Bouncing mullets, Groundhog day For modern life, reflects the past often lead into that kind of landscape. You studied painting at the Informs Chelsea the School of Art. How future, man surpassed do you feel going to art college has he influenced your to conquer By all that had hoped writing? Yearned to free, sought to saver Do you feel there are some things contemporary poetry should do, or should try to do? A modern man, like lemon juice It’s hard to tell. I could give an ex negativo justification, Like study sour English grapes,Literature, a man obtuse It should try and be itself. Whatever that is, depending and say that it meant I didn’t Devoured his of bitter haste on who’s doing the talking. But that needn’t mean it has which I think must usually strangle anyby hope poetry. to start talking to itself. I simply stopped making artThe andaftershock; started writing. I liked the aftertaste

the way writing felt portable and didn’t require much You’re the Professor of Poetry at Lancaster University. in the way of equipment or studio space, and this was How do you feel teaching writing influences your work, important to me: between 1988 and now I’ve lived in and vice versa? a dozen different places all over the country, so my twenties and thirties turned- out to be pretty peripatetic. It’s hard to say. I get a kick out of introducing students But beyond all of these practical considerations, I can to poems, hearing how they approach them and only say that I still feel as though I’m making something negotiate them. It reminds you of what the reader every time I write, and it’s the same way I once felt about does, the reader’s parthas of the contract. I try and keep paintings or short films. In The my head there’s looks barelyat any Aftershock the modern man, whose role teaching and writing but it’s easier said than difference. I get all the same feelings of concentration been redefined by the recognition of women’s rights,separate, and done, and the border between the two has all kinds of and immersion and pleasure and frustration that I the death in many parts of the world of the traditional microtonal traffic. I would say that teaching reminds you remember from making a painting. I don’t know how of how pleasurable a poem can be, and how frustrating much any of this shows. hunter/gatherer. when the reader feels locked out. You seem drawn to places and landscape in your work: Do you have a favourite line or poem of your own that is this fair, and if so, what do you think is it that draws you’re especially glad you wrote? you on? No, I tend to get more excited – I’m sure a lot of writers would say this – about the next thing. I have poems that I like to revisit when I’m giving readings and so on. I think – I hope – audiences like that, a sense of where you’ve been as well as what direction you’re headed in. But apart from that kind of occasion, I don’t go back and look very often. I’m glad I wrote them all, even though I couldn’t or wouldn’t write in those ways about those things now.

Yes, it would be fair to say that. Often it’s where I grew up, Liverpool. I have a very strong, very definite sense of that place at that particular time. It’s not simply a memory, more a vivid mental map, and it’s never left me. All poets have their own private mythology, someone said. I’ve written about other places as well of course. It just so happened, especially so in the early poems, that all lines of enquiry, in that way you reach ahead of yourself and follow a thought or a tune, would oft 8

THE AFTERSHOCK Poem by Mike Swain Illustration by Sam Green

UNB O U N D Poem by Steven Uttley Illustration by Amy Dover

snatch away steal yourself right now if you can somehow somehow step away from this play of pretension this visceral detention this gigantic media sow on which our mind daily suckles my mind daily buckles under the weight of sight through screens we live our lives between TV and PC between touch phones and hidden scenery beyond a reinforced windscreen, decry the dwindling of overt communication at the checkout, the texting of each other as another shoddy get out I try to get out and engage intentionally with the world my mind teased slightly open by the fern yet unfurled or birdy formations high up overhead beneath wispy cloud form swirls disconnect, turn off, unplug and you will see freedom you good peoples freedom to simply be

Unbound is a poem about technology screening us from reality and the joy of disconnecting from it every once in a while. The poem is dedicated to the recently departed Graham and Christine Uttley.

MDMA

Poem by Daniel Sluman Illustration by Devin McGrath

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re floored like snow angels on the carpet; I show you how to roll a cigarette the delicate origami of tongues and fingers reflected in the glitter-heaped mirror. Lilly has met you in her dreams before paranoia or white witch, she has seen your eyes fizz like coke in a clean glass your shower fun smile on display and legs apart like your profile pic an invitation to hold that slippery bundle of thighs and slide a hand to the headboard. A razor-fine line rushes through arteries to the air eating heart; a thousand drops of water burst onto skin flutter tattoos of light from the pores shadows flinging themselves on the wall. In the dark the red of our roll-ups swing from lips like fireflies she would hurl at the sight of our hands whilst our feet stuck to the floor of the bar how I flicked line after heavy line your way.

MDMA is an attempt to write an honest poem about drugs, with neither glorification, nor demonisation of the vast culture that surrounds it.

TH E A F T E RS H O C K Poem by Mike Swain Illustration by Sam Green

Hello Von at Selfridges - Photo by Jane Stockdale

showing, it’s really opening us up to a new crowd completely. Hopefully that will only be the beginning of things! With this growth in respect has come a growing opinion that being an illustrator is somewhat of a glamorous career spurring on an ever increasing plethora of new doodlers graduating every year. It saddens me greatly to see with that has come an increase in people who pick up on a “style”, call themselves an illustrator/artist/designer and dilute the work of people who work so hard to find that voice in the first place. I know it happens in every creative field to one extent or another but that practise only serves to the detriment of the industry and in some cases it staggers me people have such little inclination for originality. Having said that - I think the future for illustration is going to get even brighter.

I’m not sure really. I find inspiration more outside of the industry than in it and I try to avoid raking through all the main industry blogs every day. Having said that, I couldn’t recommend the work of the following people more strongly: Sam Weber, Mario Hugo, Emily Forgot, Parra, Jesse Auersalo, Mat Maitland, Ian Wright, Melvin Galapon, Kustaa Saksi, Non-Format and PeepShow Collective.

What’s the most exciting project you’ve ever worked on?

Once I have cleared my current commercial schedule I will be working on some new originals for a show coming up at Mall Galleries in Central London and StolenSpace in East London. I’m also finalising big plans for ShopVon (www.shopvon.com) which will take effect towards the end of the year.

This is the ‘Modern Living’ issue so it only seems appropriate to ask you - what is the greatest thing about modern living? The internet and strong coffee. What’s next for Hello Von?

Commercially - the 17 windows for Selfridges & Nike for the World Cup earlier this year. Personally - my NY solo show in 2007 at Espeis Gallery as it was my first taste of that world.

Finally, is there anyone you wish to thank or mention?

How do you spend your time when you get round to having a day off?

I didn’t realise this was an acceptance speech! I shall bow out shamefully unprepared.

Getting out of London is always great. I find travelling on trains a catalyst for ideas.

You can find out more about Hello Von at his website (www.hellovon.com) and purchase originals and prints from the Hello Von shop - (www.shopvon.com)

Are there any other illustrators that have an impact on your work or have had an impact on your work? 17

ROT

Poem by Andrew Cannon Illustration by Alessandro Maffioletti

A flush of rusty dishes, mysterious as mushrooms Has sprouted from the houses’ rotting trunks. I’m sure they were not here yesterday. A crop of dusty bins has popped up from the underworld. Cockily, they prop each other up like drunks, The seed pods of a deep decay. Fat plastic bags ripen from our hands, Dangling like branded elephantiasis. Hanging helpless, heavy, in the way. Alarming graphics barnacle our apparel. Logo melanomas, random as bird shit. No-one understands what they say. The deep mycelium of greed, infective, Burgeons with extravagant and weird fruit. Shooting with the urgent fecundity of wheat It’s load of regurgitated all-you-can-eat. And a used chocolate-flavoured protective Is staining the pocket of a cheap suit.

This poem came to fruition in a town centre as a result of observing the consumerism and involuntary behaviour of shoppers going about their daily business.

L I F E BY R E MOT E CO N T RO L Poem by Mark William Jackson Illustration by David Lemm

Ensconced in the images. Injections from the 40 inch frame across the room. Bourgeois buttocks comfortable on a lounge cut from old growth forest by third world underaged. Watch the news for sports updates, interspersed with messages of the latest products, requirements for a new and improved reduced fat life. Abject images are quickly flicked. Reality TV is an oxymoron.

Life by Remote Control was written to reflect the disconnection that we in the developed world, have with less fortunate nations. We quickly change channels to avoid any confrontation.

AN INT E RV I EW W IT H -

TH E A F T E RS H O C K DAVID FOLDVARI Poem by Mike Swain Illustration by Sam Green

David Foldvari is arguably one of the finest editorial illustrators working today. Hard hitting, political and deeply influenced by his Hungarian roots, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s created work for a phenomenally long list ofAclients and manages to produce modern man, like cellophane consistently beautiful illustrations. up with him to Like belly We fluff,caught like daisy chain find out his views on the Superfluous state of illustration, plagiarism and trouble free and how he deals with mental blocks. Like plumbers with a PHD Too much to give, too late to take A sedative, a well-earned break Responsible for all the ills Of rape and plunder, porn and pills Like rubber bullets, ricochet Bouncing mullets, Groundhog day For modern life, reflects the past Informs the future, man surpassed By all that he had hoped to conquer Yearned to free, sought to saver A modern man, like lemon juice Like sour grapes, a man obtuse Devoured by his bitter haste The aftershock; the aftertaste

years ago, there was this massive backlash against all that, where everyone rediscovered hand-made stuff and turned against computers. The weird thing is that now, a lot of new illustrators just can’t use any of the digital stuff. They don’t work on computers at all, not through a conscious decision, but more because they can’t be bothered to learn the software which I think is really funny - it’s like going back to the late 80s.

First off, name, age, place of residence, years illustrating etc? David Foldvari, 36, London. I started working as an illustrator around 1998 I think - been at it a little while now. Before that I was designing flyers and record covers for my friends in Brighton and before that I was on the dole.

Do you see illustration returning more to hand drawn work as a positive thing or a step backwards?

You’re probably one of the better known Hungarian illustrators. Does being Hungarian have much, if any impact on your work?

I think there’s room for everyone whether they choose to work digitally or by hand. It’s great that everyone is drawing and painting and printing again, those are skills that are important, but I also think it’s dangerous to reject the technology that’s there without at least exploring the possibilities. For me it’s definitely a combination of the two things - a computer is just another tool that helps you visualise ideas. If you expect it to make you a pretty picture, it will never work but if you use it as another tool, it opens up what you can do.

I guess there’s not been too many Hungarian illustrators getting noticed recently. There used to be so many Eastern European illustrators working in the 60s and 70s and there was some amazing work around back then. In terms of impact on my work, being from there has definitely influenced what I do but as far as getting work is concerned, I’ve rarely worked for anyone over there. Whenever I do, it’s always a bit of a letdown. In what sense is it a letdown?

There are so many blogs and websites around showcasing illustrators work and a vast number of influences flying in from various portals. Do you ever worry about plagiarism or feel at risk of people duplicating your work?

It’s always been one of my aspirations to try to do something with my work in Hungary and just generally in that part of the world but it usually ends up being a nightmare. People are crap at paying and the general state of the design industry over there means that you are given very little creative freedom. Things are changing there now though and there are signs of interesting things starting to happen. It’s easy to forget how good we have it in London, in creative terms anyway. We still have asshole clients of course but it’s nothing compared to what goes on in some other parts of the world.

This is a difficult question. I had a rant about this on my blog a while ago because I found the amount of plagiarism going on to be unbelievable. More than anything, I thought it was depressing that so many people who had this opportunity to create stuff just chose to rip off someone else instead. It’s still a mystery to me as to why people do that. However, I also think that if people are ripping you off, it’s a clear sign that you need to move forward. There’s really only two things that you can do - either moan about it or switch up a gear and go away and invent something new. So on one hand, it’s crap that you can’t just carry on doing the things you love doing because kids are ripping you off but on the other hand, that’s also a sign that you need to be doing something new. By something new, I don’t mean ‘change everything completely’ - it’s more a case of evolution.

Since you became involved in illustration, how do you feel illustration as a whole, has changed? When I graduated in the mid 90’s there was hardly anything around at all, illustration was more or less dead. We had just come out of a recession so everyone was talking about how illustration was dead and nobody had any work etc. But then a whole new bunch of people came along and changed the rules and at the end of the 90’s there was a massive re-emergence. I guess I was lucky in a sense because that’s the exact time that I started out. I think that boom happened mainly because illustrators were really slow to pick up on the whole digital/desktop publishing thing and got left behind. So when the new guys came along, and used all that digital stuff within their work, they kind of re-invented illustration at the same time - people like James Jarvis, Graham Ranthwaite, The Scrawl Collective etc. That illustration boom is what we’re still riding on now...although I think it’s been going a little stale for a while now.

Good point. When responding to briefs, do you have a particular method of working through thoughts and ideas? Yes, I don’t really have a magic formula, it’s always the same thing. I do research to familiarise myself with the subject matter, which normally leads to ideas, then more research based on those specific ideas and that normally leads me to where I want to be. Usually, if the final piece is shit, it’s because one of those steps is flawed.

What do you mean by ‘stale’?

Do you get many chances to create personal work and if so, do you prefer to work on personal projects or do you like the boundaries of commissioned pieces?

I’ve noticed a weird thing happening recently. For a few years in the late 90s/early 00’s, everyone was doing digital illustration, vector stuff, and that’s the work that was considered the ‘coolest’ and best. Then a few

I do have more time to spend on personal work now, 23