PROCESS
exploring the process of creating art
April 2015
JEKKAH
Gaz Whelan
Luke Wright Charlotte Elizabeth oliver coates
hello
and a big fat thank you for picking up the first issue of Process. The concept behind this magazine began as a tiny seedling in my mind before it grew into what you are holding in your hands today. The story of Process began with myself – a freelance music journalist – sitting listening to an album of which I’d been asked to write a review. I was struggling for words to enable me to compliment or criticise the music when an unshakeable thought sprung into my headspace. How could I be expected to pick holes in a piece of music when I am far from capable of creating a song myself? Who am I to review a piece of art when I do not know what it is like to create it? When I say the word ‘art’ I refer to any kind of art form, not just the kind with a paintbrush. Art encompasses music, poetry, fashion design and basically anything that involves some kind of creative process. That illusive concept of the creative process is what this magazine is all about. I realised that even if I dislike a song, or a painting or novel, that shouldn’t take my focus away from the amount of work that has gone into creating that artwork. Someone could slave away for years making a record with pure integrity and artistic vision, only to create something that is absolutely slated by reviewers. The final product shouldn’t be the most interesting part of an artistic journey; it is the journey itself that makes the artwork so interesting. It is fun to be nosey too, to delve into the inner workings of a creative brain and answer the ultimate question of curiosity - ‘why?’ This magazine consists mostly of interviews. I hoped to give each featured artist the space to talk about their own process of creation. Within these pages, I visit the head cutter at a vinyl making company, pick the mind of visionary poet Luke Wright and speak to the director of African inspired clothing company Jekkah. I even get to have a chat with Happy Mondays drummer Gaz Whelan. You’ll also notice that there are no adverts in the magazine. Where there’s spare space I’ve tried to fill it with the work of creative people.
Illustrated Pattern: Laurel Hemming
This very issue has been a creative process for myself too. Aside from photography, I have been the creator behind everything else that you see – the writing, design and the layout. I hope that you enjoy reading Process as much as I have enjoyed creating it. I’ve met some of the most fascinating and driven people, whilst uncovering their individual and intriguing creative processes. I’ve learnt that being creative isn’t always a choice and that some people need to create just as much as they need to eat and sleep, and that makes this world an extremely intriguing place to be. Merci beaucoup, Hana Barten Creator of Process
Contents.. What inspires you to be creative?
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Six creatives talk about their inspiratons
Woodblock 8 Illustrator Ollie St Clair Terry speaks about carving into woodblock
Summer of Love 10 An interview with fashion designer Charlotte Elizabeth
Meeting the mondeo man... 16 A conversation with poet Luke Wright
Q and A 23 Cartoonist and illustrator Morgan Twiston Davies has all the answers
Vinyl Carver 30 Cutting vinyl with craftsman Aaron Northmore
Jekkah 35 Co-owner Petros Solomou talks about the African inspired brand
“Step On...� 48 A chat with Gaz Whelan
Innocent love 52 Classical cellist Oliver Coates muses on his own creativity
Gallery Day 56 Visits to Grayson Perry and Damien Hirst art exhibitions
“Dont think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.� - Andy Warhol
What inspires you to be creative? 1 2
3 4
5
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Natalie Miller: Artist
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When every part of my being is absorbed in a sea of ever evolving ideas and I’m on a high and in flow, that’s when I feel creative. When I wake with purposeful energy and sleep on a bed of meaning, that is what makes me want to create.
Molly Bridger: Photographer & Stylist
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What makes me creative is my need to surround myself with creative people, visuals and new ideas. I live in the present and see beauty in all of the world around me. Creativity in a modern world creates freedom and this is something I seek. And I love glitter.
Lara Watkins: Fashion Film Director
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As people get older, they mature and tend to loose their sense of childlike wonder. I strive to maintain a feeling of freedom and to delve into my own imagination. This keeps my creative juices flowing.
Will Harris: Writer
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Open spaces and happy faces are what inspire me to be creative. Beautiful scenery that’s vast and open, in the trees or at sea. The sun and the wondrous state of the unknown. And people - happy, free people that show love, care and fascination.
Charlie Evaristo-Boyce: Artist
I am inspired to be creative because I like to make things that I want to see in the world. Things that don’t already exist.
Charlotte Anstey: Illustrator
Photography: Interviewee’s Own
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I enjoy the freedom of being creative and the fact that it’s an expression of my mind and of all of the weird things that go on in there. I can’t ever see myself settling into a desk job so I feel I have to push myself to be creative in order to succeed.
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woodblock Illustrator Ollie St Clair Terry carves his work into woodblocks, creating intricate details and fascinating imagery. He speaks to Process about his art and the underlying elements of his creativity‌
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B
efore embarking on a university degree in Illustration, Ollie St Clair Terry worked mainly with the essentials in every illustrator’s toolkit - Fineliner pens and pencils. In his first year of study, Ollie was introduced to the print room in his university and hasn’t looked back since. It was in the print room where Ollie discovered the concept of working with woodblocks and the possibility of combining wood with his own illustrative work.
composition,” he says. “Some people ask why I don’t just use lino rather than wood but I love the texture you get from the wood grain, I feel it adds another layer to the prints,” Ollie adds.
Photography: Ollie St Clair Terry
It took a while to get used to the carving process, so he began his woodblock journey carving out large abstract shapes to get used to the feel of working with the new material. “Over time I got used to the carving process and started to carve more detailed blocks with meaning and
When musing on creativity, Ollie believes that there is no set time of the day in which he feels most creative and instead refers to the process as “erratic”. It’s the experimentation with printing that keeps up his creative flow. Ollie designs the prints straight onto the woodblock so he never knows exactly how each print will turn out. It takes confidence and skill to print straight onto a woodblock without a thumbnail for reference. “I can spend hours in the print room because I love the process so much,” he smiles.
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Summer of LOVE
Designer Charlotte Elizabeth breaks the trend of throwaway fashion fads in favour of eclectic Sixties inspired hand made clothing that stands the test of time. She speaks about the creation of her first collection for this spring/summer...
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C
harlotte Elizabeth has her sights set toward handmade and affordable clothing for young women who have become disillusioned with the throwaway fashion culture of high street stores. Influenced by the music and style of her hometown Wigan - the birthplace of Northern Soul - and citing Edie Sedgwick as her muse, her first collection echoes classic shapes from the Sixties with a modern twist in the form of interesting patterns and textures. With her first collection launched in late February, Process explores Charlotte’s creative journey from idea and cloth, to design and the finished product. Charlotte’s designing roots originate from a Fashion degree at the University for the Creative Arts in Surrey. Although this gave her the confidence to go it alone in the form of her own label, she describes the experience of leaving the restrictions of a higher education syllabus as more “free flowing” when it came to coming up with inspiration for her designs. “At university you are expected to find research from an art exhibition or something of interest but not from existing fashion trends or predicted trends,” she says. “I found this so frustrating as this is the way the actual fashion industry works. When I started designing [the pieces for the new collection] I realised I wanted brighter colours than I originally thought. At university you couldn’t just change the colours of a design because every creative decision had to have evidence of why it had been changed. That’s just too restrictive.”
Photgraphy: Charlotte Elizabeth Designs
Going it alone has been a liberating experience for Charlotte, as well as an intensely creative one. When designing a new collection, she maintains a free flowing, messy outlook on her workspace, which helps keeps structure in her mind. “[When designing] my work is all around me like a whirlwind. Everyone says it looks like a giant mess but to me it makes sense”, she muses, “I guess I’m quite impulsive. If I have an idea I have to get it on paper there and then.” Once an idea has manifested itself, she follows her designs throughout the whole process of creation, and even makes the garments herself. This gives her label an organic and personal feel, which is a world away from the six-week throwaway fashion cycle adopted by much of the high street. The muse for the collection is Sixties It-girl Edie Sedgwick; “I first noticed a building trend for Sixties pop culture, especially in my hometown of Wigan where Northern Soul began. I then watched the recent ‘Northern Soul’ film and combined it with one of my favourite films, ‘Factory Girl’ [which focuses on the life of Edie Sedgwick]. These influences became the basis of my collection,” Charlotte explains. The classic Sixties shape of dress is the fundamental basis of the Charlotte Elizabeth spring/summer 2015 collection. “I sketched the iconic Sixties shaped garments from the films I had been watching [‘Factory Girl’ and ‘Northern Soul’] and then looked into what colours and themes were being produced for
spring/summer 2015. I went shopping and saw what fabrics and prints were available for the collection,� she speaks of the creation process. “After getting samples and finalizing the fabrics, I began hand sketching the Sixties shapes and altering aspects such as lengths for a more modern appeal. I took my favourites from the first set of designs and developed them further, so they began to work together as a coherent collection.� Once the collection had been developed, Charlotte separated the brand into two sections: day and evening. After creating clothing samples, Charlotte planned a photo and video shoot to accompany the collection launch. The video is split into two sections to reflect the two aspects of night and day. The spring/summer collection launched 27 February. Find out more: www.charlotte-elizabeth.co.uk
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meeting the mondeo man...
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Critically acclaimed and stupidly witty poet Luke Wright talks about his creative process, his inspirations and stealing bottles of wine from John Cooper Clarke’s rider…
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averick poet Luke Wright has come a long way since writing lyrics for songs that didn’t exist in his bedroom at 15 years old. A chance meeting with John Cooper Clarke, eight one-man shows and over a decade later, he is a household name. He operates under various different monikers of performer, poet, author, publisher and co-programmer of Latitude Festival’s poetry arena. He’s currently in the midst of touring his most recent one-man show; a semi autobiographical group of poems entitled ‘Stay At Home Dandy’. Alongside his own tour, Luke is also currently touring with wiry haired poetry veteran John Cooper Clarke, as the legend’s support act. Luke is speaking to Process in the food court of a shopping mall, which is a change of scenery from his home office while he’s working on a series of vignettes about loneliness. “I like big bright open spaces, it’s something about the background noise of people that gives you an energy,” he says. “I know that sounds a bit wanky and new age. I’m not in any way new age-y but there’s just something about being in a big public space that works. You feel more alone and kind of lost in the work.” And there’s plenty to get lost in. His first book ‘Who Writes This Crap?’ was co-written with Joel Stickley and published in 2007 and he also wrote verse for short film ‘Crash! Bang! Wallow!’ which won the NFBC short film competition at Cannes Film Festival. Alongside these endeavours, Luke’s poetry has been a constant on his creative path. His debut collection of poems ‘Mondeo Man’ was published two years ago to huge praise. He’s been described as “one of the funniest and most brilliant poets of his generation” by The Independent, “visceral, poignant and riotously funny” by The Scotsman and has even had rocker and punk poet Patti Smith refer to his work as “cool poems”. In this sea of praise,
Luke stays afloat by keeping humble. “You’ve got to take all praise with a pinch of salt,” he says. “It’s obviously lovely to hear nice things about you, but they are reviewers and they do deal in superlatives. It is useful having good reviews because it gets more people coming to your shows and that’s really big. A lot of people love the stuff but a lot of people hate it too so I guess its subjective.” Various characters and everyday events inspire Luke’s poetry - from Tory MPs to schoolboys and teachers - and there’s a certain realness that he adds to his characters as you get sucked into their different worlds. It’s difficult to speak from different voices without sounding contrived, but Luke manages to keep his poetry natural and authentic. Perhaps each separate character is exploring different aspects of Luke’s personality. “There’s that old quote that every portrait is a self-portrait, and I guess that rings true. I’ve only ever been inside one head in my lifetime, but I think the characters probably all have a bit of me in them,” he muses. “We all know what its like to feel isolated, lonely, sad, happy, elated or scared. So you take your own feelings and put them into different contexts. I lean on my own experiences and gain what I can from talking to other people.” When it comes to writing, there’s a fine line between being original and falling into clichéd territory. “Something has to have happened in your life for you to be able to write about it convincingly. It’s actually much better to have a bash at writing something that sounds a bit weird and unrealistic rather than lapsing into cliché,” he adds. Within his writing, it can sometimes take a while before an idea fully manifests. “An idea will sit in my notebook for many weeks. Some things just take a while and you have to think about them. It’s
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Photography: Steve Ullathorne
almost like you’re building up the energy to tackle them,” he says. Being creative is vital to Luke, even though sometimes building up the energy to write can be a struggle. Although, he is keen to remind us that a job in the creative industry isn’t as physically draining as other careers. “I have friends who are farmers who get up at four in the morning to milk their cows and they work all day. But writing is mentally taxing, I feel that there is a little bit of alchemy – sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Maybe that’s why writers build up rituals that help them create. It’s like I’m out of the house right now and I guess it shouldn’t make a difference but I feel like I’m getting more done with a change of space. Maybe there is a little bit of voodoo involved.” When the alchemy pays off, Luke reaps the benefits. His eighth one-man show ‘Stay At Home Dandy’ is now well into its run of tour dates and a trip to Edinburgh Fringe Festival is scheduled into his diary. His latest show is based on an idea of domesticity that came from Luke’s personal life. When he’s not on tour, he’s a stay-at-home dad, doing the school run and looking after his two young kids, who are obviously a big presence in his life. The stay at home dandy character is in fact based loosely on himself. “There’s not many dads who turn up at the school everyday, and I stand out a bit, quite often in last night’s make up and spray-on jeans,” he laughs.
has been since the festival started ten years ago. He is entirely humble about the task, assuring us that he merely stumbled into the role and enjoys doing it because he likes “putting on parties”. What makes the Latitude poetry arena so special is that anyone in the festival can become an audience member, regardless of whether or not the listener is a fan of poetry. That makes Luke’s task of programming the tent a difficult one, as not only has he got to keep seasoned poetry attendees happy but also has to grab the attention of new and curious ears. “You’re going to get people walking in for the first time who have never seen poetry and you kind of want to grab them. So yeah, I need to have lots of grab-y poems. I don’t mean that in a Yew Tree sense…” he laughs. “We’re one of the few who can have a beat boxer and Andrew Motion on the same bill and I think that’s quite cool.”
Putting together a show can be difficult, as all of the spoken word poetry has to somehow hang on the same narrative peg. “I’m interested in the idea that most of us have these safe lives, like family life. But you get frustrated with it, you say ‘my life’s boring’ but it’s also quite precarious. That safety net could vanish very quickly so a lot of the poems [for ‘Stay At Home Dandy’] are about people who are flirting with oblivion. Whether life is grinding them down and they just want to escape or something has happened to them, those moments where you step out of a normal domestic situation and things seem a bit darker.”
The world of poetry was opened up for Luke after he attended a poetry gig in 1998 at an Arts Centre in Colchester, where he grew up. On the bill were John Cooper Clarke and Martin Newell, two of the best spoken-word poets alive. He describes the experience of watching these two legends at work as “mind blowing”, which resulted in him embarking on a journey towards becoming a poet at the age of 16. Over a decade later, Luke regularly performs alongside Martin Newell and John Cooper Clarke and is currently supporting Clarke on tour. “I’ll walk off stage and he’ll say [adopts surprisingly convincing version of Clarke’s distinctive Mancunian accent] ‘they’re fookin’ lovin’ you out there today kid’. To be honest I try and see John when we’re off tour, when we’ll just sit down and have a smoke and a catch up properly, without the pressure of a gig around the corner. On tour we normally just hang around and drink the rider.” And what does John Cooper Clarke have on his rider? “John always has a bottle of Sancerre and a bottle of gin,” Luke says and then, under his breath he whispers, “I often nick his wine.”
Luke is also the co-programmer of the poetry arena at Latitude Festival and
Find out more: www.lukewright.co.uk
All poetry: Luke Wright - Mondeo Man, 2013, Published by Penned in the Margins. Picture credit: Luke Wright
Take a wander through Luke Wright’s poetry...
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Mondeo Man Last week I walked through Maidenhead suburbs. Good old boys stooping to check their tyre pressures, mums hauling kids in car seats like they’re shopping, bins standing to attention by well-kept lawns neat as parade grounds, a Valium hush and a blue door that made me think of a lido I visited before we were together, before the life we made swelled in your belly. I walked there every evening for a week and watched the lido, jutting out to sea; I ate my chips and imagined it crammed full of tan-lined, knobbly British bodies
You can’t just be what other people aren’t. You can’t plot your life like a misery memoir or wait to hang smiles on the whims of strangers or put out to tender your dictionary entry. Ambition used to haunt me like a zombie till I’d throw it bits of my poems like flesh; I’d stare at my inbox hitting refresh; I’d get places early just to catch my breath. But now, I think of those ruddy-cheeked weavers in lopsided seventeenth century towns who when they’d earned enough money that week declared a Saint’s Day and went down the pub.
and wondered why my new romantic life at mic stands felt perpetually out of season. Yet last week in Maidenhead (of all places) I felt strangely at ease with normality.
Centuries from the boy on his Blackberry at Broadcasting House writing poems to go, crying and wanking on fringe theatre stages, twanging his id like a diddely-bo.
There was a time I’d walk through here scolding, tutting, talking in quotes and references; too clever for nice weather and caravans; too clever, too smart to be taken in.
Motorways from a boy in a visor trying to make it all mean something more, wistfully staring at swimming pool: the lido is a metaphor for… for… for…
Who’d want 2.4 children? I’d say, in visor and asymmetrical fringe. Or, What dickhead works nine to five? slurping Spaghetti Hoops straight from the tin.
Last week I walked through Maidenhead suburbs and though I knew I wouldn’t find an ending, I realised that I’ve learnt something new: that sometimes it’s ok just to blend in.
Disgusted at people who had settled, shaking my dust till my fingers bleed, shaking my dust till it got up my nose and I’d cough and sneeze for weeks on end. Maybe it’s because I drive a Mondeo and have started wearing trousers that fit that I’ve realised that we do not die with our affections; if anything we live.
Jeremy, Who Drew Penises on Everything
the legs. While later in some muggy class he’d pounce upon the steamed-up glass and then to whoops from all his mates he’d make his work ejaculate. Yes, all the boys were straight up fans of Jeremy’s artistic hand and masters, far from scolding him, would praise the young lad for his vim and feisty creativity (not one suggested therapy). The teachers saw no real malice in Jezzer when he sketched a phallus.
Meet Jeremy, a sporty youth, whose pressing need to leave some proof of his existence on this earth would cause his friends much glee and mirth. They’d shake and howl at Jez’s feats and claim his presence quite a treat – as sure as Welshmen like to sing, young Jez draws cocks on everything.
At home his parents did the same, Refused to dole out any blame, although their walls were covered in a thousand sketchy ding-a-lings and Jez had scared off friends and lodgers with likenesses of spurting todgers. No, mum & dad just praised the boy for drawing willies on his toys.
Poetry: Luke Wright. Illustration: Charlotte Anstey
On books, on blackboards, desks and chairs, he carved them into Camembert, he scribbled them on toilet doors, left penile prints in chests of drawers; he crayoned dongs on Bibles and drew tiny ones upon his hand until no stretch of schoolyard wall was free from Jez’s cartoon balls.
And Jezzer with the naughty pen grew up and then became PM! And now that boy who liked to draw has led us into countless wars. The moral of this ghastly tale: beware of cocksure thrusting males. For blokes like Jez, if free and able, will always put their dicks on tables.
All day he sketched crude diagrams, drew shlongs upon his toast with jam, arranged his sausage with his eggs to emulate between
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Q & A Cartoonist and animator Morgan Twiston Davies works freelance and posts daily cartoons on his Tumblr. He talks to Process about elephants going to the moon, his own brand of creativity and about how drawing a teapot can free you from a mental block...
How did you first get into animation? I’ve always fiddled around with animation, but I recall it being a 10 second film about an elephant going to the moon that really got me into it. When I showed it to people, it was so satisfying when they seemed to be genuinely impressed by what I’d done and asked me all sorts of questions about how I did it, regardless of their age. I enjoyed telling people about the animation just as much as I did making it, so I started working my way through all the related books in the surrounding libraries. The more I learned about it the more passionate I became and it just felt like what I was supposed to do. Still does. What does it feel like when you draw? I love to draw, it’s as though I’ve taken a
stupid to draw. Or sometimes it’s more a case of remembering the idea I had whilst I was doing that thing the day before, so I wouldn’t say vital but it’s certainly a useful process. How do you think of what to draw and come up with concepts for your animation? I try to be as observant as I can of what’s around me. Pay attention to all the little things going on and let them sit around in my head if they amuse me. To think of what to draw, I wonder around whatever’s left on my mind and try to figure out why it’s still there. What it is specifically that's so funny or interesting to me. Ideas peel off as I’m pondering. My animation concepts are sort of an extension of this,
“We’re an endless pool of stupidity and genius, proud individuals with mindless mob mentality, just billions of contadictions on legs. It means whatever we do, people will fall on either side of, so the standards we have to meet are fundamentally our own.”
step to the side of everything. A rather intense, involuntary focus decides what I’m paying attention to, washes out whatever’s left over and it all becomes simple. Time stops being relevant so it gets away from me. It’s a mighty fine feeling but I end up drinking a lot of cold coffee. I think blissfully detached is how I’d phrase it. On your Tumblr you post a cartoon a day, do you find this a chore or is creating a daily cartoon a vital process for you as a creative? I suppose there have been times, when I’ve deadlines to meet, the daily cartoon felt like a chore. But I’ve never been reluctant to do it. They’re not as funny if I’m panicking, so it forces me to calm down a little and think of something
something small will get stuck at the forefront of my brain and absorb all the relevant thoughts passing through until I can see it as a film. I don’t know why, but they seem to form themselves. What keeps you creative? An urge to make sense of everything, and this urge feels like it can never possibly be fulfilled. I like to understand why things are the way they are, or work the way they do rather than just accept it. There's so much to tease apart and I just can’t help it. Do you have any specific rituals that help you create? If I’ve been staring at a blank piece of paper for too long I’ll draw a teapot and take it from there. I’m unsure as to the
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significance of the teapot but my favourite ideas often start as one. It’s a kind of familiar foothold to get me going. What inspires you? Most of all, I’d say it’s people. We’re an endless pool of stupidity and genius, proud individuals with mindless mob mentality, just billions of contractions on legs. It means whatever we do, people will fall on either side of, so the standards we have to meet are fundamentally our own. Observing (and being part of) the struggle to realise who we are fascinates me. There’s so much to talk about, I feel like a have to say something, somehow. You’re experiencing a creative block, what do you do?
see it. Some people are born with it, some people work very hard to be able to and I believe that anyone can be. If you look at a roll of tape and think up a whole load of ways to use it that doesn’t involve sticking things together, that’s being creative. It’s using tools as you haven’t been told to. Being original is the tricky part. Talk me through the creative process from idea to cartoon/animation Once I’ve got an idea, I need to figure out the best way of communicating it. With all my work this means creating as many options as possible to chose from, then continuously making the decision as to what is essential and what is not. Something can be hilarious or beautiful, but if it does’t suit the idea then it has no
“If you look at a roll of tape and think up a whole load of ways to use it that doesn’t involve sticking things together, that’s being creative. It’s using tools as you haven’t been told to. Being original is the tricky part.”
Well, if drawing a teapot hasn’t done the trick, I find it best to wait it out. Worrying about it won’t help, forced ideas are rarely any good so what’s the point? Remain calm and it’ll be over when it’s over. Easier in theory than practice. What’s your plan, career-wise? At the moment I’m seeking freelance animation and illustration work, but I’d like to learn the workings of a commercial company with the hopes of running my own one day. The aim being to generate opportunities for the creative folk who deserve them. Essentially, keep making films. What makes a creative person? I think a large part of it is the capacity to recognise potential where others don’t
business being there. That’s pretty much it really. I make things simple. If you were never allowed to create anything again, what would you do/how would you feel? I think I’d immediately strap myself to a rock and tumble into oblivion. Although, if I’m being a little less melodramatic, I’d really love to teach people how to create. That feels like a bit of a cheaty answer but I rarely pass up the opportunity to try and get people as enthusiastic about my interests as I am. If I can’t start my own fire, I may as well give all my logs to someone else. Find out more: www.morgantwistondavies.com
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Illustration: Morgan Twiston Davies
VINYL
CARVER
Aaron Northemore is the head cutting engineer at Vinyl Carvers in Hackney. He speaks to Process about creating bespoke vinyl records...
W
andering up the stairs in a nondescript warehouse in Hackney, I enter a hot and stuffy room inhabited by piles of records, curious light installations made out of paper cups and an intimidating vinyl making machine covered in wires. Aaron Northmore is at the centre of the muggy organised chaos; he is the master of the complicated machine at Vinyl Carvers - a company creating one bespoke vinyl record at a time. Aaron’s personality is as warm as the room itself as he begins to divulge the machine’s
be pulled off and used to stamp into more records to create vinyl on a large scale. The difference with the machine at Vinyl Carvers is the process of creating each bespoke vinyl, rather than on a mass produced scale. Using the machine is a real craft. Aaron trained for a year with a man called Werner, a master sound engineer, and is now head of cutting at Vinyl Carvers. “I talked to the guy who made the machine and he said you need about ten years to learn it. I’ve been doing it for three now. I’ve got seven to go and hopefully I’ll be a master!” he chuckles.
“What I do is great. It’s crafty, like doing pottery or something. There’s a lot of satisfaction from doing it.” secrets. He explains that the heat is for the benefit of the sensitive vinyl record maker, which was hand built by a man in Germany who used to fix pinball machines and juke boxes. “He thought that his jukebox customers would probably like records made as well so he sort of sussed this out,” explains Aaron as he fiddles around with the wires. This specific machine is different to a generic vinyl record maker, which normally involves the creation of a metal master plate. The plate is covered in acetone and then dropped into a bath of acid. Nickel plate electrifies and sticks to the acetone, which can then
Having previously been a share holder in Curved Pressings, a vinyl pressing plant which was also in Hackney, Aaron knows all too well the difference between creating masses of vinyl to the service the machine he works with now offers. “It was a nightmare, horrible. Fascinating but it was just heavy,” he says of the time at the vinyl pressing plant. “Its heavy plastic industries. But what I do now is great. It’s crafty, like doing pottery or something. There’s a lot of satisfaction from doing it.” Vinyl Carvers are not the only ones offering this bespoke vinyl cutting service. There are other companies who own the same
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Photography: Charlotte Anstey
machine but they each differ slightly in the way that they run their businesses. “I knew a guy with this machine that went for maximising as many records as he could cut and anyone who was pissing him about, he just fucked them off,” says Aaron. “Whereas we’re all about customer service, we talk them through the process and we try and get exactly what they want from a record. So we’re not going to be arse-y with you if you don’t really know about the machine, we’re actually going to try and help you.” Patience seems key when dealing with requests as Aaron describes some particularly excruciating customer demands, such as asking if a vinyl can be cut without any visible grooves. Vinyl Carvers’ record cutter consists of cooled magnets, which create a microphone, and then send a signal to a very sharp diamond needle. The needle cuts the grooves into the record and is so miniscule that it has to be viewed with a microscope when checking for damage. The needle cuts the sound into a fine layer of polymer that sits on top of the rest of the plastic record. The fine layer of polymer is clear, which allows for clear vinyl on specific projects. There’s a suction pipe at the back of the machine to pull out the excess polymer whilst it is being cut, a bundle of which looks like wire-y hair. The polymer is cut out according to the specific sound, which gets transposed down through the needle from a computer that is connected to the machine. All of the energy gets pushed into the needle, thus creating the groove as it is manipulated with the computer. As it goes around the record, the needle needs to be steady, so the machine has a lot of sensitive controls to ensure for a smooth cut. With a slightly older
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machine like the one at Vinyl Carvers, little differences such as temperature can completely throw it out of whack. It is placed on top of a Technics record deck so that Aaron can hear the record as it is being cut, due to it being half a turn behind the cutting process. While he explains the record cutting process, Aaron is pulling at wires and tapping away at his keyboard as he’s having difficulties with a test cut of a record for an art installation. He lets me listen through headphones and a barrage of overlapping voices hits my ears. He explains that cutting vinyl for art installations is a regular occurrence at Vinyl Carvers, especially for students. “It’s quite trendy to have a record player in the gallery playing soundscapes. Some of it is terrible and I can’t cut it because they want horrendous white noise and it completely blows the needle up,” he explains. “After blowing up so many needles I’ve had to start saying no.” The artist who is requesting the vinyl that Aaron is working on at the moment wants the sound as loud as possible because he has built his own record deck. The hand built deck is so noisy that audio cannot be heard unless it is super loud. Aaron keeps a steady eye on a meter showing sound levels so as not to go too high and blow up yet another needle. Wanting to show me the full richness of sound that the machine can create, he switches to a different vinyl that had been cut the day before. Handing me the headphones, you can see that Aaron is immensely proud of his craft. And quite rightly so, as ska beats fill my ears, you start to appreciate the richness of vinyl - something that the digital age seems so have lost but are now pining
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for again. Aaron speaks about vinyl as a listening platform; “When you buy records, you remember where you bought them or even a particular moment in time. I never think about mp3s like that, we all just have thousands of albums on our iTunes. In a way it’s good, because going digital gives us access to everything. There’s so many bands and there’s so much music, I can’t get my head around it.” Throughout our conversation, it becomes predictably obvious that Aaron’s music
according to the BBC. Aaron also does graphic design and offers a fully designed label for the record as part of the gift package. “It’s very personal, we’re doing a lot of wedding stuff and playlists of favourite tunes for boyfriends and girlfriends, like a mixtape,” he explains. When it comes to the playlists, I ask Aaron if he finds himself cutting the same sort of tracks over and over again, “I swear I’ve cut loads of Kings of Leon. If it’s a boyfriend/girlfriend thing then
“When you buy records, you remember where you bought them or even a particular moment in time. I never think about mp3s like that...” loving heart is firmly rooted in vinyl. Standing in his environment and listening to the richness of sound, you would be hard pressed not to agree with him. Vinyl Carvers are also trying to push the gift aesthetic to customers. The idea of sending a loved one a personalised bespoke vinyl record should be an attractive one, especially as vinyl record sales hit an 18-year high last year,
there’ll always be a fucking Kings of Leon track in there! And Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ – that gets in a lot.” Find out more: www.vinylcarvers.com
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J E K K A H
Petros Solomou, co-owner of African inspired clothing store Jekkah speaks about the creative process behind the brand‌
H
eading to clothing store Jekkah on a rainy day in Camden is like stepping into the sunshine. Garments in bright African prints draw in the eye, made from thick wax cotton and cut in directional shapes; you wander around as if swirling in a sun soaked day dream. The brand gets even better when you hear its story; Jekkah definitely weaves a good yarn. Kamil Farage was a young schoolboy studying in England but his Gambian roots led to journeys south in summer school holidays. With a family business in the import and export of African fabrics, Kamil would return to Blighty laden with brilliant, bold, pyjamalike trousers for eager school friends. “He used to come back with these colourful trousers that none of us had ever seen before”, says Jekkah
predominantly a British label, with a permanent shop in Camden, but its roots will always be firmly in The Gambia. The word “Jekkah” originates from (the spoken-word language) Wolof, which is spoken by over 10 million West African people, mainly in Senegal and The Gambia. It means to be beautiful or elegant, to be well dressed. As well as the name, all garments are sourced, designed and created in The Gambia by highly skilled tailors. Employing local workers has made an amazing difference to the Gambian people, and provides Jekkah with an admirable ethical standpoint. “They’re all incredibly happy and grateful to be able to work with the fabrics they love. I think everybody appreciates that we’re creating more work, and doing better with the economy out there,” Petros explains. “In a country like The Gambia where tailoring is probably one of the major industries, you know clothing is something
“I’ve always had an affinity towards colourful clothing and African culture and heritage.”
co-business owner Petros Solomou, who went to school with Kamil. “Everyone would ask if he could bring them back and they became very popular amongst my friends. That’s essentially where the idea for Jekkah came from.”
that everybody needs and always has been. I think the tailors appreciate the work and the volume. It’s a guarantee and forms a kind of safety net for them.”
Petros Solomou and Kamil Farage now run Jekkah together, with Petros taking care of the UK side of business and Kamil running things in The Gambia. “It grew from a mutual interest. I’ve always had an affinity towards colourful clothing and African culture and heritage,” says Petros. When Process speaks to Petros he’s working in the Jekkah store, and customers occasionally interrupt him during the interview. There’s something quite heartwarming about how involved he is in the company, with the brand remaining a small team despite it soaring in popularity. Today, Jekkah is
As creative director, Petros designed the striking casual street wear shapes that make the brand so distinctive. Through picking the brains of family, friends and girlfriends, Petros designed shapes that are simple, but striking enough to stand out in a sea of high street predictability. Once the initial ideas have been drawn up, they are taken to the tailors to see what could work when using 100% wax cotton material. “It’s a fantastic fabric, its breathable and the quality is strong. It will last a long time but the only problem is that it’s not stretchy,” he says. “So, as a result, we’ve got to be very aware of its capabilities as we’re not using any synthetic fabrics. You know, when you go into Topshop, I’d say that generally around 95% of the clothes are made up
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Clothes: Jekkah. Photography and Styling: Molly Bridger. Model: Keisha-Paris Banya. Shoot Director: Hana Barten.
of synthetic fabric that can stretch and mold around your body shape. We’ve just got to be very careful about the shapes that we use, to make sure that the un-stretchiness of the fabric will work well.” As well as striking street wear shapes, it’s the bold African prints that make Jekkah garments so distinctive. Sourced in The Gambia, the one-off nature of the material designs means that all of the clothes are limited edition. Once the specific design has run out, it cannot be reproduced due to its originality. “The shapes are not limited edition, we repeat the tops, and we repeat the trousers and shirts, but the print designs are,” explains Petros. Jekkah can be found in the heart of Camden Lock Market in a space adorned with curious wooden African-style tribal faces and authentic African beats playing out into the street. But it wasn’t always this
getting outfits done for her 15 piece band. So we did it, which was fantastic. Our celebrity connections also tend to form long lasting relationships. We still speak to Paloma herself, and continue to be her sponsor.” As well as Paloma Faith, Jekkah also work with other music acts such as Grammy nominated singer MNEK and reggae influenced Brighton band Will And The People. “We obviously try to align ourselves with music culture, and we do that purely because the brand and the type of clothing works very well for the kind of casual wear that you’d wear to festivals. We’re always on the look out for any new music acts that we feel have the right style. This also enables us to reach out into different markets of various styles of musical influence,” he adds. As far as creativity and the creative process are concerned, Petros sees this as the most important
“We try to align ourselves with music culture, and we do that purely because the brand and the type of clothing works very well for the kind of casual wear that you’d wear to festivals.”
way. Like most independent fashion brands, Jekkah began as an internet business before progressing to market stalls in various London spots, including Portobello and Brick Lane. Selling in a market environment made sense for Petros, “we started to realise that the impact of having a physical presence was huge. Not just from a selling point but also from a marketing perspective. Meeting people, networking, wholesalers.” It was whilst selling stock on Portobello Market that Petros met one of Jekkah’s biggest celebrity clients. “So, I met Paloma Faith at Portobello Market. She came over to our market stall and bought some clothes. I didn’t actually know who she was while I was serving her. My girlfriend told me afterwards so I obviously realised my mistake and tweeted her to say how fantastic it was to meet her,” he explains. “Then actually her stylist got in touch with us and asked us if we’d be interested in
aspect of Jekkah. “There are a million fashion brands out there, so there’s a million places to buy clothes. Generally speaking you could go to Topshop or ASOS and buy things for five pounds in the sale, so nobody needs to come to an indie brand and pay 25 or 30 pounds unless they really like it. So I’d say that being creative with how we present ourselves is completely fundamental,” says Petros. Jekkah is an exciting brand with striking designs, a hugely admirable ethical standpoint and popular celebrity influence. Despite the already saturated fashion market, our prediction is that just like its colourful fabrics, the future of Jekkah looks bright. Find out more: www.jekkah.com
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“Step On...”
a conversation with Gary Whelan
Happy Mondays drummer Gary “Gaz” Whelan talks about what is was like being at the heart of Manchester’s baggy scene and also divulges tales of his latest musical project Love & The Family Tree…
I
f the Hacienda was your local pub in the Eighties, it would have been impossible not to have been caught up in the “Madchester” baggy scene. And that’s just what happened to Mancunian lads Shaun, Paul, Bez, Mark, Paul and Gaz who became Happy Mondays. They found themselves in the eye of the storm and at the forefront of rave culture with their trademark kaleidoscopic danceable beats. Following various incarnations, Happy Mondays are still one of the most loved bands to have been spawned from their era. This year marks the 25-year anniversary of their 1990 album ‘Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches’, which included the classics ‘Step On’ and ‘Kinky Afro’. Tour dates for November and December of this year have been announced to celebrate
they generated some of the most loved tracks from the Eighties and Nineties. Gaz remembers the bands’ creative process of mainly consisting of jamming around on the drums and bass to “get a groove”. Guitarist Mark Day would then “play some incredible guitar” and frontman Shaun Ryder “would come in and sit on the floor as we played the song for hours on end, whilst he scribbled lyrics,” he remembers. Once hype for the band grew and they were spending most of their time in the Hacienda, (a nightclub and music venue in Manchester - associated with a rise in acid house and rave culture) Happy Mondays drew the attention of Tony Wilson from Factory Records. They signed to Factory, joining Joy Division and James who were
“It was like a party nack in the Nineties and we were just the jukebox.”
the anniversary of such a seminal album.
Photograph: Gary Whelan
Happy Mondays’ drummer Gaz is speaking to Process whilst in the midst of work on a solo project in a very rainy Mexico City. He is extremely humble when reminiscing about the heady days of Happy Mondays’ prime, “it was like a party back in the Nineties and we were just the jukebox,” he says. As far as the term “baggy” goes for describing Happy Mondays’ sound, Gaz tells us that he didn’t even hear the term until 1999, but maybe that’s because they were all too busy “mostly touring the world” as he so casually puts it. Although notorious for drug use and crazy escapades, Happy Mondays’ heyday was still an intensely creative time as
also signed to the label. “Tony Wilson was very hands on with us and he had great ideas,” recalls Gaz. “Factory allowed us 100% creative freedom.” Then he laughs, “in fact it was probably too much creative freedom.” Their hedonistic ways have never been a well-kept secret of music history. Moving on from Happy Mondays, and despite still playing in the band when they sporadically perform, Gaz is currently focusing on a solo project entitled Love & The Family Tree. Described as an “ego free collective”, it is not entirely a solo project as Gaz mentions rapper Sugar Mike and another member he ambiguously refers to as “Long”. They swap and change instruments freely and
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there are no lead vocals. He describes the idea behind it as “sounding like your record collection”. Sugar Mike’s rapping added another element to the sound, which Gaz originally intended to consist of entirely acoustic vocals. He now jokingly refers to the sound as “Crosby, Stills & Tupac.” The whole concept of Love & The Family Tree was dreamt up by Gaz who says he “always wanted a band with four musicians from totally different backgrounds – one from indie, one from rap, one from rock and one from folk. I wanted to put them in a room and see what happens. I have to keep the jazz musicians away though, they’re way to intrusive… and clever!” he laughs. The first track released from Love & The Family Tree, entitled ‘Phoneys & Freaks (show me the truth)’, is chilled and trippy and has been dubbed as “trip-rock”, although Gaz contests that it is “not rock at all”. The second release ‘Ballad of a Poor Man’ swings heavily toward showcasing Sugar Mike’s rap and poetry ability. The next song to be released will be called ‘The Rise & Fall of the Monkey Mafia’ and although it is not out yet, Gaz says that it has an intriguing “Beck meets Shabba Ranks” vibe. The debut album from Love & The Family tree will be called ‘Grand Theft Audio’ and is in the process of creation in various parts of the world. They’ve recorded a track in the Panama Jungle and have also been spending 16hour days in the studio in Gaz’s current hometown of Toronto. “We’ve taken influence from every style of music that we like, hence the name ‘Grand Theft Audio’,” he says. ‘Grand Theft Audio’ promises to present a complete mix of styles with a running theme to tie the songs together. The narrative runs along the idea of becoming “a statement of what a fucking mess we are currently in on an eco scale and how we think we can buy our way to
“I always wanted a band with four musicians from totally different backgrounds. I have to keep the jazz musicians away though, they’re way too intrusive... and clever!”
happiness.” He adds, “but we’re not pontificating, just venting our opinions. We would never tell anybody what to do, folk have to make their own minds up.” When Process asks Gaz about his musical influences it becomes clear that he is a complete music obsessive, which is something that he admits himself. When asked about any specific rituals that help him to create he replies, “no rituals. Just obsessive music 24/7.” After quoting Louis Armstrong in saying that there are only two kinds of music, the good and the bad, a long list of musical influences roll off Gaz’s tongue. His influences range from The Beatles to Leonard Cohen to Otis Reading and from The Beach Boys to WuTang Clan. He finishes off by stating that it was the Sex Pistols who inspired him to listen to music at the age of 11. When asked for a specific point in his life that has he felt most intensely creative and inspired, without thinking he replies “Now, most definitely” with a grin. Find out more: www.soundcloud.com/ loveandthefamilytree
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Image: www.hypergallery.com
Photography: Phil Sharp
INNOCENT LOVE
Classical cellist Oliver Coates talks about the creative process behind his music and delves into the implications of making house music on a cello‌
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O
liver Coates is a classical cellist who stands, musically indefinable, teetering between two genres - classical and dance. A well-known face in the concert hall, Oliver stepped out with his first release on experimental label PRAH recordings last year. His shift in genre was inspired by a love of making people dance, “I love it when people move and feel free to just respond to warm sounds and repetition,” he says. “I don’t think of music as being in its own abstract bubble, it’s something that humans do so that they can be together.” It was a love of dance that inspired him to rework Bryce Hackford’s house track ‘Another Fantasy’. Manipulating the cello to create house music came easy for
Oliver who’s been playing the instrument since he was seven years old. “It was really fun, lots of loops and lots of noise. Something warm, bass-y and fuzzy came out.” When creating music, Oliver has a secret weapon in his creative process that enables him to clear his mind and finalise ideas – the bus. “I take whatever music I’m working on and go on the bus to listen to the structures of things,” he reveals. “I find that the bus tells me if things are in the right proportions and then I go home and edit.” The cello allows Oliver a much-needed escape from his whirling thoughts, “as long as you’re playing you’re not thinking and I prefer not to think. [Talking about creating music] it’s not like intellectual decisions, they’re vibes.” As
“I love it when people move and feel free to just respond to warm sounds and repetition. I don’t think of music as being in its own abstract bubble, it’s something that humans do so that they can be together.”
soon as playing an instrument or dancing to a song comes to a halt, that is when people start thinking again. As Oliver explains it, the act of music – whether playing it or listening to it or dancing to it – is very “pure”. He goes on to speak of a “covenant” between the performer and listener, which is intrinsic to a feeling of freedom for both parties during a live performance.
Image: Oliver Coates
His debut LP ‘Towards The Blessed Islands’ is a minimalistic triumph with his multi-tracked cello denoting space and contemplation. The album is a journey, depicting leaving a big city behind and heading for new mystic lands, focusing on the alluring dream of escape. During the creative process of ‘Towards The Blessed Islands’, he was spending a lot of time on remote Scottish islands where around 100 people live in self-sustaining communities. The title of the LP is from a poem by an old Scottish poet who muses that the islands are a mirage and that we are always moving towards a place of contemplation but these places never materialise. Oliver visited these tiny islands with his then fiancée and now wife, whose vocals he included on the album.
As well as his solo work, he is an artist in residence at the Southbank Centre in London, putting on shows there each year that he thinks fit the feeling of the building and counteract the “mainstream”. Although he doesn’t like to talk about it, Oliver was also the winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award in 2011. He feels uncomfortable when trying to identify with “classical” as a genre, “I found out that they used the word ‘classical’ to refer to music that’s like four centuries apart. They just had one word for everything,” he explains. “If you look at dance music and all of the micro genres and the hundreds of tiny descriptions, well it made looking at classical music depressing because it was way too vague. I never felt part of it as an industry.” He then goes on to speak of not being swayed by any particular path of music and instead staying truthful to himself and following sounds that feel right. Over the past two years, Oliver has collaborated extensively alongside the likes of Micachu, Bass Clef and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. “He’s just so nice and weird; a
really shy and humble guy. He’s got this creative restlessness about him,” he says of Jonny. He speaks of Jonny’s love of people and how flattered he was when he asked to see photos of Oliver’s wedding, of which he was going to attend before commitments with Radiohead got in the way. “He’s the kind of musician that if he thinks that something is beautiful or interesting he will sort of pour himself into it.” When Oliver speaks to Process he has recently come back from a six-week artist residency in Hong Kong to focus on his upcoming release, ‘Innocent Love’, “it’s almost like the other side of the coin to the last album. It’s really fun, with lots of loops and shakers.” The residency in Hong Kong was planned with the British Council to enable Oliver to work alongside local artists and to create new material which has been influenced by his time out there. He returned this January. Travel is a common creative theme, with inspiration for the forthcoming EP also coming from a trip last year to a New York art gallery where he saw a set of paintings by Agnes Martin – entitled Innocent Love. Whilst looking at Agnes Martin’s paintings, Oliver got pretty hung up on the title of one of them - ‘Where Babies Come From’; “I’m thinking about where babies come from, like I’m trying to forget the world and structures. That’s my genre – ‘where babies come from’.” “It’s completely abstract, just pure and not figurative at all with beautiful colours” says Oliver while describing Agnes’ art, which is – strangely – a completely apt way to describe his music too. Find out more: www.olivercoates.com
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Gallery Day Photography (L-R): Richard Ansett, NPG, Hana Barten
Grayson Perry - Who Are You? (National Portrait Gallery) As his
Process takes a look around art exhibits in London to gather inspiration…
The identities explored include a couple facing the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s disease, controversial politician Chris Huhne and a female-to-male transsexual. The way in which he articulated these individuals’ stories is incredibly inspirational and the process of getting to know the people and creating an artwork that portrays their identity is fascinating.
work is dotted around the National Portrait Gallery, hunting for Grayson Perry’s recent artworks amongst hundreds of portraiture feels like embarking on an Easter egg hunt. There’s something quite rebellious about Grayson’s portraiture, as the portrayal of all different types of identities counteract the sheer majority of white, middle class males that are depicted in most of the other classic pieces in the gallery.
Different formats are explored, from his ever present pottery to beautiful woven tapestries stretching from one side of a room to another. Grayson aims to answer the question that most affects much of today’s individuals – who are you?
With every Grayson artwork discovered, a small snippet of the inner workings of the artist’s brain becomes apparent. ‘Who Are You?’ was an exhibition accompanied by a Channel 4 series of the same name in which Grayson delves into the depths of specific group’s/people’s psyches as he attempts to create an artwork which reflects their true personality. Each group or person used was at a “cross roads” of identity.
Find out more: Although the exhibition ended at the National Portrait Gallery on March 15, you can still watch the Channel 4 series on www.channel4.com
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Damien Hirst - Love (Paul Stolper Gallery) The Paul Stolper Gallery in Holborn is
surprisingly very small. Despite a lack of space, its still a very definite gem of a venue, which exhibits some very interesting shows. Damien Hirst’s ‘Love’ ran until late February and was a series of framed hearts with butterflies in the centre, large plastic pill-type love hearts and what appeared to be an actual heart floating in a glass jar. The colours were bold reds and pinks. Walking around the space felt like Damien had perfectly summed up the commercial, stereotypical imagery of love with the use of love hearts and a romantic colour palette. It was perfect for February and Valentines Day, walking around the gallery felt like our own personal Hallmark moment.
Photography: Hana Barten
Find out more: Although the exhibition ended at the Paul Stolper Gallery on February 21, there is a Damien Hirst exhibition, entitled ‘New Religion’ at The Lightbox in Woking. It will run until July 5. Hirst combines themes of morality and faith, science and technology. There’s more information here: www.paulstolper.com
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“Live the full life of the mind, exhilarated by new ideas, intoxicated by the romance of the unusual.� - Ernest Hemingway
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Illustration: Charlotte Anstey
Illustrated pattern: Laurel Hemming
April 2015 - Process Magazine - Hana Barten