£2
€2 EST. 2003
BOOBIS Edition I
March|April
2019
Edition I APRIL / MAY 2019 Price: ÂŁ2 Damian Rayne
Editors Gosia Malawska
From a friend... Tragedy hits people in different ways. Bradford Boobis was a composer and artist from the start, tragedy hit him and he withdrew into private space where he taught himself to express all the saddest feelings through his paintings. He was an artist from an area , with an everlasting talent. The 1960s were the years of hippies, Vietnam, Kennedy’s, self evaluation and reflection. Bradford died at the beginning of his period of art expression a novice with the brush but a sage and philosopher in so many other ways.
BRADFORD BOOBIS
STATE OF THE ART In each edition, The Museletter will invite a guest to share a word on their expertise or interests, technology and the planet; or, the state of the human condition in under 500 words. ‘The dawn of Soul Fiction is upon us.’ By Cynthia Green PhD When asked to write about something current for the Museletter, I chose an idea inspired by an artist’s portal I often enjoy (www.soulfiction.co.uk); what is Soul Fiction?
Soul Fiction Noun: Soul Fiction; Plural noun: Soul Fictions 1. Literature in the form of prose, especially novels, that describe the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal. 2. An idea of a psychic to physical connection, or a non-local universe beyond human detection. 3. The act of investigation into the creative mind and or a conjectural path. The dawn of Soul Fiction is upon us; a psychic to physical style of (artistic) expression that explores a spiritual consciousness. In my opinion this is something essential, if humans are going to survive the ultimate dominion of artificial intelligence. After all, what else will we have to offer in the eyes of a superior intelligence; what will justify our existence as a species, if not evidence of consciousness impossible for a machine* to emulate? How does one go about creating a Soul Fiction you may ask? Well, it’s simple; make time with your thoughts. Go for a walk, a run, a swim for more than an hour. Do some yoga, let go that way; take a class, a crowd often gilds the mental mirror? Whatever you choose from this list, you’ll find silence in focus, repetition, movement, breathing, our inherent biorhythmic metronome. Maybe not immediately, but over time; this type of active meditation will present an inner-verse for inspiration. The remanence of processed or unprocessed information, memories of people, places, experiences you thought wasted. There you will find your cast, in memories you will find your backdrops. These are unlimited resources, yours to direct. Whether an image to paint or draw, a play, a story to write or sing. Don’t be dissuaded by the clichés of social commentary that saturate social and mass media; this is more personal, less derivative – you-nique. Even if only by a fraction your perspective is your own; neurological relativism is afoot wherever you may tred.
Your creative life isn’t something prosaic, an indulgent self-expression; or a misappropriation of resources, as the state picks up the bill for society’s wasted attempts at self-realisation. Your creative life is essential, it is the breath of humanity; the only true reflection and means of sharing a collective consciousness honestly, negative or positive. As Ku Lang’s anarchic epigrammatic thesis stated so masterfully, ‘You must express yourself through any means necessary, your silence will cast a shadow on your neighbour and drive the mass delusion of consumerism to one day substitute our sense of self.’ We are at the end of a reliance on religious inference, along with the need for external validation from one deity or another; our immediate future will be led by an inner exploration, tending to our gardens in order that the collective Earth-species survives. Only once there is an inner focus, can our lives affect our immediate environment in a positive way; offer an antidote to the toxins of comparative living and the dogma of more-ism. To me, Soul Fiction means an honesty with oneself as a human being, an allegiance to life. Anything that contradicts that edict, will lead to a deserved and untimely end. Heresy, perhaps; but not entirely. Soul Fiction isn’t sacrilege, nor is it a preachy self-help genre offering hollow promises masqueraded as metaphysical profundity. Soul Fiction is, put simply, the act of investigation into the creative mind; a small step out of your routine and onto a conjectural path – our future. This was my definition of Soul Fiction, why not find yours. Love Cynthia Green PhD
* (Machine - the algorithmic simulation of a homo sapiens consciousness; ironically a project that may end the very species it was built to immortalise).
At The Muse Gallery
Chris Dawes Infinity Mirror 4 - 20 April Opening Night 4th April, 6.30-9.00pm
Chris Dawes, Black Birds, photography
Where to start with selecting works for an exhibition when you have forty years of photography to choose from? The title perhaps … ‘Infinity Mirror’ refers to the creative freedom of the photograph as a shifting mirror of infinite possibility, a constantly changing record of human perception. Different subjects evoke a different response, and often that response changes with time and experience. A work is always subject to shifts in temporal and cultural perception, not least from its creator. With a couple of exceptions, Chris Dawes has selected mainly non-commissioned work. The selection is an intimate representation of a multiplicity of choices; from the click of the shutter to the final place – very human.
YAMBE TAM
Being an extremely private person, the public and shared nature of the studio space at the Muse was admittedly a concern of mine before starting the residency in January. My last experience of sharing a studio was not ideal, so ‘self-contained’ has held a firm place on my list of studio requirements ever since. However, getting to know the other residents, Daisy and Yuichiro, as well as Damian and Gosia, I have found myself not only able to work comfortably in their presence, but in fact more productive than usual. Perhaps it’s the sense of accountability to others, the inspiration from seeing other processes, the sense of comradery and support. It could also be the fact that a lot of things have shifted within myself and my creative practice since that first experience, but I think the ideal working environment for myself and many other artists has always been one that offers privacy, but not isolation. Sounds of indirect company – footsteps, a boiling kettle, distant muffled conversation - serve as a tether to humanity whilst the mind falls ever deeper into strange contemplations about things like time, space, and existence. Such is the environment I’ve found at the Muse; like Ariadne’s thread, the combination of public gallery and private studio space connects the labyrinth of my creative process – which, considering my research topics that centre around the evolution of consciousness and the nature of reality, can be extremely convoluted and esoteric - to the rest of the world. My workspace at the back of the Muse is scattered with things in various stages of completion – sculptures, paintings, technology, and hybrids of all three. This residency has been invaluable for working, experimenting, and generally messing about. The subjects in my work continue to refine themselves through research, experiences, and chance encounters inside and outside of the studio; currently, I’m building a body of work around waves (i.e. the invisible, frequencies, gravitational waves, the ocean, breaching the subconscious) as forms that conceal and reveal information in turns, making sixty-one paintings of Chladni figures that I 3D-modelled, and collaborating with a composer/sound designer to enable my sculptures to generate sound using Arduino and circuitry. These works will be exhibited for the first time in a solo show opening at the end of March in Raum Z13 in Germany, and a couple will be shown here in London at the end of April in a collective show at Maverick Projects in Peckham. Serendipitously, while working on these, Damian introduced me to Solfeggio frequencies, something akin to crystal bowl healing but digitised. I’ve experimented with crystal bowl sound healing, which seemed to have a real moment in the art world last year, so this immediately made sense. I find these kinds of synchronicities appearing more frequently as I find a state of flow – an energetic of floating, buoyed by complete surrender and trust in the process – and am grateful to the Muse for providing the support and structure to help reach this state of being/working. Yambe Tam 5 March 2019
Yambe Tam, Cultivation, 2017-18, gold plated cast bronze and brass
Corinne Charton Lips and satire 7-24 February
WHAGWAAN?
Corinne Charton’s video practice explores altered narratives and involves experimenting with fragments of footage from Movies and TV series and footage she filmed such as in “(Paroxysms erupting because) Mr Rochester does not quite get it” These brief clips are deeply influence by the artist Martin Arnold’s work, especially Passage à l’acte from 1993, a short clip from the film “To Kill a Mockingbird” that he re-edited and made in to 12 minutes piece. She splices her chosen clips into small fragments usually between 1-5 frames each, then repeat and repositions the frames in a different order from how they was originally meant to be viewed, often resulting in a small visual vignettes that disturb, disrupt and even discombobulate. Her aim is to remove her short films from the usual rather passive event of watching a Movie where one sits down and enjoy (or not) what is occurring on the screen. The plot is laid out, nothing much to do except to follow it. The repetitive repositioning of the frames produces work that is rhythmic both on the visual and audio level with at times quite funny results. On some clips she removes the original sound and adds a new soundtrack as in “Cock fight”. This emphasises the obvious resentment the two male characters have towards each other in the original footage and adds a salient sense of unfortunate fate to the edited piece and conversely made the resulting short film where the men now are implicated in a strange disjointed macho “Dance Macabre”, ludicrously silly. Two films are shot concurrently on two cameras, each frame serve as representation of an individual/s space/s. Here the positioning of the frames next to each other and the black space surrounding both frames on the screen is an attempt to negate the “out-of-field; that which exists elsewhere, to one side or around” (Deleuze 1986: 17) The out-of-field that potentially could be considered threatening as it cannot be observed. Corinne Charton was part of the first four AIR fifteen years ago and during her period at the Gallery her art practice involved childhood memories and iconography. Her collage characters created by painting figures, then gluing on eyes, lips and hair, then “dress” them up in cut outs from magazines are still associated with memories, butthis time not as far gone; her time as a Fashion Model and one could easily see her using the collages as substitute for playing with and dressing old fashioned paper dolls.
Sam Hodge Vital Matter 28 February - 10 March Sam Hodge is an artist who uses paint and print processes to investigate our shifting and tangled relationship with matter. Materials are constantly transforming; new forms emerge from simple physical processes such as erosion, compression, fracture and flow. Complex, self-organising patterns are repeated, but always different – matter is vital. In this body of work, She has been interacting with the dynamic, generative properties of paint. Choosing colours that make reference to bodies and their representation (particularly anatomical illustration), She allows the paint to flow, erode, fracture or diffuse as it dries and respond to the patterns that emerge. These patterns of ridges, rivulets and pools appear biological, reminding us that we too are made of stuff that actively generates, morphs and disintegrates. Even after they are ‘finished’ paintings are not static, passive objects and they continue to change slowly throughout their lifetimes. In some of these works she has encouraged this instability by choosing materials that will fade at different speeds over time.
Louisa Crispin Never Alone 14-31 March 2019 “Lost in a world of intricate observations from Nature” Entranced by the cycle of growth and decay, Louisa captures the details on beautiful smooth Strathmore bristol board using ultra sharp pencils and graphite powder. It’s quiet in the studio, distanced from the world as she looks ever closer at plants, insects and birds. Texture, shadows, silhouettes and movement created with marks and tone, it’s rarely about the colour. Louisa is a partner at Artichoke Gallery in Ticehurst, a member of the Free Painters and Sculptors, an associate of the Society of Graphic Fine Art and a network member of the Royal West of England Academy. Actively involved in supporting artist careers Louisa is Creative Consultant for Pure Arts Group and has links to Sevenoaks Visual Arts Forum amongst others. She regularly exhibits in London Open Exhibitions including the Mall Galleries and currently shows with Kevis House Gallery Petworth, Gallery57 in Arundel and Rye Art Gallery.
The Other Side of Notting Hill From Wartime to the Westway Roger Rogowski, History Press Limited, 2018
Chris Dawes, photography
Notting Hill has inspired a large number of books and films over the years and it has often made national news, not always for the right reasons. It’s always been an area of contrasts between rich and poor, which has undergone almost constant change since the current urban landscape was developed from farmland in the mid-nineteenth century. This book records the memories of people who lived in working-class Notting Hill in their own words, before huge change took place in the 1960s, including the mass demolition of slums, the construction of the Westway, the growth of the Notting Hill carnival and the area’s embrace of the swinging 60s. It records everyday urban working-class life as it was, which in many respects is almost unrecognisable today, and it also records how people began to be affected by the changes that were starting to take place.
Unthinkable What the World’s Most Extraordinary Brains Can Teach Us About Our Own Helen Thomson Hodder & Stoughton General Division 2018 Our brains are far stranger than we think. We take for granted that we can remember, feel emotion, navigate, empathize, and understand the world around us, but how would our lives change if these abilities were dramatically enhanced--or disappeared overnight? Helen Thomson has spent years traveling the world, tracking down incredibly rare brain disorders. In Unthinkable she tells the stories of nine extraordinary people she encountered along the way. From the man who thinks he’s a tiger to the doctor who feels the pain of others just by looking at them to a woman who hears music that’s not there, their experiences illustrate how the brain can shape our lives in unexpected and, in some cases, brilliant and alarming ways.
Nicholas Cheeseman, Untitled Wood and Unfired Clay 140x50x50cm
Story by remarkable story, Unthinkable takes us on an unforgettable journey through the human brain. Discover how to forge memories that never disappear, how to grow an alien limb, and how to make better decisions. Learn how to hallucinate and how to make yourself happier in a split second. Find out how to avoid getting lost, how to see more of your reality, even how exactly you can confirm you are alive. Think the unthinkable.
Piers, what’s on your mind? (Transcribed Verbatim 01.03.19) Present: (TM) The Museletter (PT) Piers Thompson (SB) Some Bloke (PT) Spring is in the air which, on the one hand is fabulous; on the other hand, it does make you a fear for global warming. On the other hand, we ate outside over by Latimer road tube station yesterday lunch time for the first time this year, and that’s always a great moment in the calendar. (TM) Where was that? (PT) That was at home in our garden; the tower looms over but that’s been covered, so that is good for business. There’s a lot of local meetings going on, I’ve been to a number this week; but more I should be going to next week, so… (TM) This is going to go out every two months. (PT) Every two months (TM) Every two months, so anything... anything that’s on your mind or anything that’s going on in February or March that we should know about? (PT) Ok. (SB) Sorry I got to butt in. Look... the blues brothers. (Pointing to two passers by) (PT) Over the next two months at Portobello Radio, we’re taking a little bit of a break. We will be… ‘Saturday Sessions’ is going to take a break from being at The West Bank while we regroup, though we will be at the Tabernacle twice. (TM) Are you going to be on the buses on the 23rd of March? (PT) The bus…the next bus on the 23rd of march, … are we going to Elephant west? (MT) We’re going to find out, but we’re definitely going to be shouting for the people’s march on the 23rd that will be on in parliament square. (PT) Is that right? (TM) Hmmmmm. (PT) So the next bus trip is on the 23rd March, we will be coinciding with the people’s March for the word that cannot be mentioned or to reverse the word that coannot be mentioned. (TM) Tixerb, Tixerb (PT) Can I say Brexit on this show? (TM) Tixerb, you can say… (PT) Uhmmm. And we’ll be, we had Uhmm. What’s Birch’s, Rob Birch (sorry). (TM) Yuh yuh. (PT) We had Rob birch on the bus the other day and he reassured, well he wasn’t very reassuring. We asked him whether art could swage the tensions and irritations caused by Brexit (TM) That’s right… (PT) And he didn’t really give us a very positive answer. (TM) Fly on the wall (PT) Yup, Art is art Brexit is Brexit, so we don’t know what to make of that. (TM) Hmmm. (PT) We look forward to the real summer starting, the bus after that is on ‘Record Store Day’. So, I don’t know what we’re going to conjure up for that one. (TM) In light of the shift in society, is there anything we can do – what’s to be done? (PT) Well, I think the most important thing we could be doing, is everyone has to start being a little bit nicer to everyone else. Because the discourse has become very course, everyone’s dissing each other. So I think if we turned that around, that would put us in a more positive position in terms of finding a way forward. Because frankly, the way ahead is cloudy (TM) Hmmm, yes thank you very much.
What’s on in April & May
Rough Trade Record Store Iconic, Much Adored Rough Trade West 130 Talbot Road, London W11 1JA
At the ORANGERY HOLLAND PARK
Kensington High Street London W8
Admission Free (Open over 9 days)
Saturday 6th April 1.00pm - 6.00pm Sunday 7th April - Sunday 14th April 10.30am - 6.00pm In Association with The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea Car Park Entrance: Abbotsbury Road, W14 Charity No: 281348
Ilchester Estates are delighted to sponsor The Friends of Holland Park Annual Art Exhibition for another year The Cloth Shop 290 Portobello Road, London W10 5TE
PEDLARS GENERAL STORE + CAFÉ Pedlars offers offer a curated, considered and beautifully designed range of homewares, stationery and gifts. Our brand new café menu includes a variety of top-notch sandwiches and cakes made fresh every day, as well as homemade cold and hot drinks, amazing Allpress coffee + good music, fast Wi-Fi and comfy chairs. 128 Talbot Road, London W11 1JA
Illustration By Ihor Ropyanyk
Faire Sans Dire
WE RECOMMEND
Tracey Emin A Fortnight of Tears White Cube Bermondsey 6 February 2019 – 7 April 2019 144 – 152 Bermondsey Street London SE1 3TQ
Gillian Hyland Moments In Time, A Reflection On Life’s Stories After Nyne Gallery 14 - 30 March 2019 10 Portland Road London W11 4LA
Living Colours: Kasane – the Language of Japanese Colour Combinations 5 April – 19 May Japan House 101-111 Kensington High Street London W8 5SA
Sam Herman Retrospective: 1965 - present 20 March - 11 May Frestonian Gallery 2 Olaf Street London W11 4BE
Masaki Yada Recently, I have settled in Prague, the city of Kundera and Saudek. The city has a rich history. Several Holy Roman emperors were resident in Prague, the likes of Charles IV, and the architecture shows the mixture of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque influences. Since the Velvet Revolution in 1989, it’s been three decades, and yet, the traces of the communist days are still discernible across the city. The contemporary art scene there is still in a nascent form and thus it may not be the obvious choice for many artists. I was born in Tokyo where I spent my formative years. I received higher education in London. Then, I moved to Berlin, and there I had continued my creative journey for a few years before moving to Prague. They were not always the choices of my own, and often I was forced to start all over. However, the greatest benefit that I have derived from such an eclectic and zigzagged path was to have encountered different cultural values, whereby I’ve come to have a better grasp of human nature. Needless to say, depending on cultures, there are variations as to customs and ways of doing things, whilst certain things as to people are also constant. Even though Descartes defined us as a conscious being with free will, we are perhaps captive of our nature. To deepen my understanding of human nature has recently been my primary concern. The Muse Residency Program Alumni 2006/2007 www.masakiyada.org
Masaki Yada, Still Life with Lost Images op.2, Oil & Acrylic on Panel
WINTER 2018
THE GALLERIES ASSOCIATION
After Nyne Gallery 10 Portland Road Holland Park London W11 4LA afternynegallery.com
Daniel Benjamin Gallery 120 Kensington Park Road London W11 2PW db-gallery.com
www.thegalleriesassociation.co.uk
The Galleries Association was established to celebrate visual arts in London through collaborative free monthly events. We offer an open invitation to all enthusiasts to come and visit a list of galleries and meet the abundance of talent behind them. So please check our events for up and coming experiences found deep in the Art of London’s contemporary culture and counter-culture.
David Hill Gallery 345 Ladbroke Grove, London W10 6HA davidhillgallery.net Design Museum 224-238 Kensington High St London W8 6AG designmuseum.org Frestonian Gallery 2 Olaf Street W11 4BE London frestoniangallery.com Graffik Gallery 284 Portobello Road W10 5TE London graffikgallery.co.uk 50 Golborne Road London W10 5PR 50golborne-artdesign.com Japan House 101-111 Kensington High St London W8 5SA japanhouselondon.uk The Muse Gallery 269 Portobello Road W11 1LR London themuseat269.com Serena Morton Gallery 343 Ladbroke Grove London W10 6HA serenamorton.com Unit One Gallery|Workshop 1 Bard Rd, London W10 6TP unit1gallery-workshop.com Westbank Arts 3-5 Thorpe Close London, W10 5Xl londonwestbank.com Whitewall Galleries Central 100 Westbourne Grove London W2 5RU whitewallgalleries.com
We celebrate the rich cultural diversity that is the Portobello Road and serve as a hub of the community, streaming its events, offers, news, views and developments. We offer air time to all communities, a regular Latin American show, a Spanish hour, Moroccan, African, Caribbean, Irish & more join the Portobello Radio Melting Pot. By giving airtime to all of Portobello’s varied residents we wish to bring the community together, entertain, inform and enthuse. www.portobelloradio.com
Across 1. Which famous author did Ernö Goldfinger go to Eton with? 2. Who is reading this? 3. A mystic syllable, considered the most sacred mantra in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. It appears at the beginning and end of most Sanskrit recitations, prayers, and texts. 4.That actress from Iris…what’s her first name? 5. More than one water closet . 6.The part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primary processes are manifest. 7. The edible starchy tuber of a climbing plant that is widely grown in tropical and subtropical countries. 8. (Forming nouns) denoting tumours and other abnormal growths. “carcinoma” 9. A prostitute. 10. A possible end to humanity 11. A young child who is just beginning to walk. 12. A maneuver in skateboarding in which the skater kicks the tail of the board down while jumping in order to make the board pop into the air.
CROSSWORD
Down 1. Ask me anything. 2. A nomination for an honour, award, etc. 3. _ _ _ _ Sapiens 4. The MP for RBKC. 5. Who is John Simon Ritchie? 6. Which world famous band made their debut at the now demolished All saint’s hall? 7. Laughing paradox. 8. What wing shape was used in the Concorde? 9. A member of a warlike Asiatic nomadic people who invaded and ravaged Europe in the 4th–5th centuries. 10. An edible Mediterranean plant, the bitter leaves of which may be used in salads 11. (Definition: a substance used for inoculation). 12. Francisco José de _ _ _ _. 13. Half of the Papas 14. An ancient village in the south Indian state of Karnataka. 15. A gold coin issued in France between 1640 and 1793 16. Pitiable, especially because of weak physical or mental condition : frail. 17. An indigenous settler of northern Canada Alaska and Greenland 18. An Italian preposition 19. Which city is of Angels 20. A technology enriching the real world with digital information and media, such as 3D models and videos, overlaying in real-time the camera view of your smartphone, tablet, PC or connected glasses.
MAKE YOUR MARK
Connect the dots or just use the space creatively and send us a photo of your work. If it’s good, we will publish it in the next edition. Send us a name and photographed images to info@themuseat269.com
Diego Brambilla, Unfinished Me #10, 2018
Local Legend
LEE HARRIS Lee Harris (born 1936 in Johannesburg), is a South African writer and performer who has lived and worked primarily in the United Kingdom since 1956. He was one of the few white members of the African National Congress, where he helped with the Congress of the People and met Nelson Mandela. After moving to England at the age of 20, he acted with Orson Welles and Dame Flora Robson; wrote for the British underground press, including International Times; helped found the Arts Lab, and has been an instrumental figure in the British counterculture movement since the seventies. He published Brainstorm Comix and Home Grown magazine in the 1970s.
In 1972 Harris opened a shop in the Portobello Road, London, called Alchemy – named after The Alchemical Wedding. The shop sells items such as incense, postcards, pipes and smoking accessories, vaporisers as well as others. It remains a gathering point for alternative Londoners to the present day and is London’s oldest culture shop. In 1990 Harris was sentenced to three months imprisonment for selling items such as cigarette papers and pipes ‘believed to be used for the smoking of cannabis’. The sentence was quashed on appeal, and headshops opened all over the country.