Quarter-life Creative | By Karen Buckley.

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2014-12-09T19:43:00.001Z

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#instaartist – Skulls, Dots and Skateboard Decks

2014-10-03T15:31:00.000+01:00

Original Post: http://www.cassfashion.co.uk/instaartist-skulls-dots-skateboard-decks/

I started using Instagram, according to my first post, 63 weeks ago! I find Instagram really useful for sharing your art work with the world quickly and easily, and it is also a good way to find other artists and inspiration from all over the globe. Also the need to post a photo, my aim at least one daily becomes slightly addictive, and notably receiving some likes and a collection of super awesome comments from other Instagrammers is always great and a really good source of motivation.
Below I have a selection of posts from my Instagram, starting with the most recent a pointilist skateboard that I have been working on. As you can see from the photos below, I like to show the process behind the pieces and give my followers a little insight into how I work and how my pieces develop and come together.
If you want to see more just pop over to Instagram my username is @karenbuckley_

The Writing on the Wall – Charting Londons Early Graffiti Scene

2014-09-30T15:26:00.000+01:00

Original Post: http://www.cassfashion.co.uk/writing-wall/

I recently came across an article on Vice entitled ‘London’s Original Graffiti Artists Were Poets and Political Revolutionaries‘, I have a strong interest in graffiti and street art and really enjoy looking into its history and exploring and learning more about what graffiti used to be, and understanding how street art and graffiti as we know it now has shaped and influenced by the past.
The article explores a collection of images ‘charting London’s early graffiti scene’ which were taken by the photographer Rodger Perry (1944-1991) during the early 70’s. The book was printed back in ‘76 and has unfortunately been out of print since. But George Stewart-Lockhart an art historian and publisher, alongside Kate Bindloss, Perrys widow, currently has a Kickstarter up and running which is incredibly exciting, in order to get his 1976 book republished! At the time of me writing this post his project still had 20 days remaining and has been pledged £8,240 of his £6,500 goal, which is awesome and I think it’s pretty safe to say that his project will be successful and I definitely want to try and get my hands on a copy when its published!
Below is a bit of information on the book which will be entitled ‘The Writing on The Wall’ from the Kickstarter page and I recommend heading over there to read the rest, and also have a read of the Vice article if you can and by all means if show some support and give a donation!

“The original book of London graffiti. Out of print since 1976, now reissued and expanded, with new text and unseen photographs.

After 38 years out of print, Roger Perry’s unique survey of London graffiti of the mid ’70s is finally going to be available once more. Just as relevant nearly forty years on, Perry’s book is as much a cultural history of London at the time as it is a graffiti book. Before the ‘wildstyles’ of New York came over to this fair isle, graffiti was the reserve of poets, comedians and counterculturalists. The graffiti in this book has more in common with Blake than Basquiat. Through Perry’s lens, we are offered a glimpse of a Notting Hill that gave rise to the counterculture movements and underground press of the ’70s.

The high prices commanded for original copies of the book, coupled with the opportunity to really do the photos justice through the use of modern printing technologies, were the main drive for getting this project launched.

The Writing On The Wall is a book of London graffiti, last published in 1976. The main body of the book is made up of Roger Perry’s black and white photographs of ’70s London. It’s a unique glimpse of a multicultural London, with narratives told through poetic statements daubed on squatted houses and corrugated iron fences. These statements would be forever lost to decay and demolition if it weren’t for Perry’s obsessive documentation of them.

The book was originally published just as graffiti books were beginning to be in vogue. Norman Mailer and Jon Naar’s The Faith of Graffiti had just come out, covering the scene in New York at the time. The Writing On The Wall, though, was the first one really dedicated to London graffiti. The majority of the graffiti here could be described as ‘Pre-Renaissance’ in many ways. No one would be describing this stuff as ‘art’ until Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant’s Subway Art made it across to these shores in 1984. This work was mostly anonymous, and to paraphrase Marshall McLughan, the medium was the message. It wasn’t important how it had been written, it was simply the fact that one person felt it important enough that it should be painted on a wall for all and sundry to see.”

These photos have been taken from the Vice website and from The Writing on The wall Kickstarter page, all rights go thier owners.

Art VS Machine.

2014-09-25T15:24:00.000+01:00

Original Post: http://www.cassfashion.co.uk/art-vs-machine/

Recently while at 100% Design I met and exhibited alongside two incredible designers who work together under the moniker Lucky Escape. One half of which also a recent London Metropolitan Graduate, told me that they were going to paint a section of the Shoreditch Art Wall on Great Eastern Street. This is certainly a wall that I had heard of before and from what I’d already seen painted there on passing several times and the style of Lucky Escapes work and their level of creativity I was looking forward to seeing the final outcome!

“Shoreditch Art Wall hosts Art Against Machine

22^nd September 2014 – 4^th October 2014

Self-taught artists, graduates, students and professional craftsman have come together to produce a public Street art with a 3D Twist.

Art Vs Machine the Shoreditch Art Wall will feature: Fine Art, Illustration, Recycled Jewellery, light and 3D Design.

Art Against Machine (ARTAM) is an East London collective designed to engage public, industry and artists. We are a not for profit collective of cross disciplinary artists with the core desire to build a sustainable and flexible portfolio that is adaptable across arts industries.

Come and support this free community event. Visit: 17-19 Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch, London EC2

WWW.ARTAGAINSTMACHINE.COM”

Alongside Lucky Escapes (@LuckyEscapes ) you will find work by illustrator Bea Kovesi (@beakovesi ), light box art by Dijon Hierlehy (@thisisdijon), jewellery design by Yolanda Benitez and poetry by Annameka Porter-Sinclair, curated by Roxanne Reynolds. There are some photographs below for you to enjoy and hopefully you will manage to find some time to take a trip down to Shoreditch and have a look for yourself and as Art Against Machine recommend catch the works light during the night! : ) Enjoy!

Fashion East.

2014-09-24T15:20:00.000+01:00

Original post: http://www.cassfashion.co.uk/fashion-east/

A while back I completed an internship at Fashion East, its an amazing company run by the amazing Lulu Kennedy. I really admire the support that they provide new designers with and I admit I’m not always 100% clued up with whats happening in the whole Fashion Week circle but I do like to take some time to have a loook at thier london Fashion Week collection and have a look at what new deisgners they are supporting!
Heres a bit about Fashion East from thier website, www.fashioneast.co.uk

“Fashion East is a pioneering non-profit initiative established by the Old Truman Brewery in 2000 to nurture emerging young designers through the difficult early stages of their career. It receives sponsorship funding from Topshop, TOPMAN and The Greater London Authority.
Each season we offer three womenswear and three menswear designers the opportunity to present a catwalk collection to the international press and buyers attending London Fashion Week. Designers receive a bursary, free venue and complete catwalk show production, professional catwalk photographs and video. Designers are also given mentoring, guidance and in-house PR throughout the season from Lulu Kennedy and her team. Designers are selected by Lulu Kennedy and a panel of fashion industry experts. Successes include Richard Nicoll, Holly Fulton, Jonathan Saunders, House of Holland, Gareth Pugh, Marios Schwab, Louise Goldin, Roksanda Ilincic and Meadham Kirchhoff.
In 2005 the team behind Fashion East initiated MAN, an identical support scheme for emerging menswear designers, sponsored by TOPMAN. Successes include Cassette Playa, Christopher Shannon, James Long, JW Anderson, Katie Eary and Jaiden Rva James. Since 2009 we have staged menswear installations on menswear day at London Fashion Week, giving up to ten menswear designers a platform to showcase their collections to UK and international press and buyers. Designers we have worked with include H by Harris, Husam El Odeh, Mr Hare, SIBLING, Lou Dalton, Mattew Miller and Gosha Rubchinskiy.
We also take our designers to a sales show room in Paris each season, giving them the opportunity to showcase their collections to top international buyers.”

Heres is a few snaps of thier latest collection at LFW, and also the show review from Vogue…

“EXPERIMENTAL and free-range, the designers on the Fashion East line-up are known for their boundary-busting creations. The Fashion East alumni reads like a who’s who of London Fashion week talent; Meadham Kirchhoff, Roksanda Ilincic and Jonathan Saunders have all been cooked up in the design incubator that is Fashion East by its founder Lulu Kennedy. And so, to spring/summer 2015, and the trio of designers who are next up to showcase their collections.

Helen Lawrence: Textiles designer Helen Lawrence hit a home run with her taped and stitched pastel jumpers last season, and her collection this time around was a neat follow on. For spring she played with latex layers on jackets and capes, her signature giant stitching still evident, meshing together hems on tops giving the clothes a deconstructed DIY appeal.

Louise Alsop: Tailoring seen through a Nineties prism was the vibe here, even the belly chain made a comeback. Long skater shorts and halter neck dresses got a rework with skull prints and fishnet fabrics. Matted dreads and kohl black eyes completed the trip back in time.

Ed Marler: All hail the reign of the show off, Ed Marler closed the Fashion East show with an army of vampires; opulent in bandana crowns, sunglasses dripping in jewels and crucifix festooned Victoriana dresses, with thigh-high splits and lace-trimmed trains – this was the highlight. “

Enjoy!

The Art of Skateboarding.

2014-09-19T15:17:00.000+01:00

Today while hanging out at The Cass stand at 100% Design I did a bit of research to find out what other interesting things were happening as part of the London Design Festival. While exploring some Instagram hashtags I came across an exhibition taking place at Goodhood London as part of the LDF and in conjunction with Long Live Southbank. Called The Art of Skateboarding, Goodhood provided a number of artists with a blank skateboard deck and told them to let thier creative juices flow with only one restriction, that the outcome must be strictly monochrome. You can see some of the work below.
I also found out from the Long Live Southbank website the fantastic news that Southbank has been saved which is awesome,”Following talks that have taken place over the last three months, Long Live Southbank and Southbank Centre are delighted to have reached an agreement that secures the Queen Elizabeth Hall undercroft as the long-term home of British skateboarding and the other urban activities for which it is famous. The agreement has been formalised in a binding planning agreement with Lambeth Council. In the agreement, Southbank Centre agrees to keep the undercroft open for use without charge for skateboarding, BMX riding, street writing and other urban activities.” – See more at: http://www.llsb.com/southbank-is-saved/#sthash.JxTKBOmv.dpuf

The Art of Skateboarding

A monochromatic exhibition

“With our roots lying in subcultures, one of which is skateboarding, we pay homage to a culture that spawned a generation of creatives by asking leading artists and designers to contribute to the creation of a series of skateboards.

Guests are welcome to bid on the artworks through a silent bidding process either in store or by filling out the bidding form at the bottom of this page with your details and maximum bid. If you win we will contact you to make payment. All proceeds from the auction will go to the Long Live Southbank Charity.”

http://goodhoodstore.com/mens/news/1610

All photos below have been taken from the Goodhood website, link above!

100% Design

2014-09-18T15:15:00.000+01:00

Original Post: http://www.cassfashion.co.uk/100-design/

A selection of Cass Graduates, including myself, are currently exhibiting a selection of work at 100% Design as part of the London Design Festival.

“100% Design is officially the UK’s largest design trade event with over 27,000 visitors including architects, interior designers, retailers and designers. The event is held between the 17-20 September and is the biggest event during the London Design Festival. 100% Design is expected to attract over 30,000 visitors in 2014.”
Here are a few snaps of our exhibition space, if your about do some and say hi!

Stand IP602
Earls Court Exhibition Centre 2
Warwick Road
London
SW5 9TA
United Kingdom

Dephect is a product of the lifestyle.

2014-09-16T15:10:00.000+01:00

Original Post: http://www.cassfashion.co.uk/dephect-london/

As part of my final year dissertation I completed a bit of research on one of my favorite London based brands Dephect. Dephect is an awesome brand, with some really interesting designs and they provide a number of artists and designers with a really good platform to show off their skills and showcase it on some great quality apparel. I decided to post about this brand at this time, as during the hustle and bustle of fashion week we need to remember the smaller brands!! Here is a bit about the brand below taken from their website, www.dephect.com and some information about some of the amazing artists they support. Have a read, appreciate, head over their site and show some support!
“Founded by friends from London in 1999, Dephect is a product of the lifestyle and culture that has inspired us from a young age. Growing up as skaters and listening to Hip Hop in the 90’s paved our way for a love of underground art, music and sport, and a passion for drawing, painting and graphic design. While remaining under the radar of the masses, Dephect is now an international brand in its own right, progressing via collaborations with unknown and established artists alike.”

Crew, http://www.dephect.com/crew

“The crew section is dedicated to the people that are connected to Dephect, from international artists and DJ’s to underground beat makers and up and coming skaters. They are a combination of friends and people that we respect and have come to know over the years, and above all they are passionate about what they do. Take a look at their profile pages for a sneak peak at their skills and an insight into some of the inspiration behind Dephect.”

Paul Kemp

“Paul Kemp (aka Keshone) co-founded Dephect back in 1999.
I first got into graffiti at school when I was 14. There was a group of guys in the year above me that were really into the scene at the time, I think that’s what fuelled my ambition to go out and try it myself, and since then I’ve been hooked. Through graffiti I started to explore new mediums and that’s how I got into graphic design and illustration.
I love playing around with different concepts; like merging nature with technology and robots with instruments. I’m always drawing and trying to develop new ideas along these lines, but I get inspired by most things in my day to day life, taking in my surroundings, buildings, people, lighting, different textures and plants etc.”
I also recommend that you head over to the Dephect YouTube page, and watch a few of thier videos, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc7tYcjrLeSy43CfDGk91ig

Hang-Up Collections

2014-09-01T15:05:00.000+01:00

Original Post: http://www.cassfashion.co.uk/hang-collections/

I recently came across a gallery called Hang-Up while exploring the ever great world wide web. It is located at number 56 Stoke Newington Highstreet and I have decided to share it with you guys as they currenty have an exhibition on called ‘Hang-Up Collections’ which seems pretty interesting.

“Hang-Up is a London based contemporary art gallery located in the vibrant and bohemian neighbourhood of Stoke Newington. The gallery presents a dynamic exhibition program of fresh and forward thinking work from our roster of artists, photographers and makers. We show both young artists at the early stages of their careers alongside established names from the art world. We tie it together by seeking out and showing only those who are inherently creative, artists whom in some way break the mould from the traditional, pushing the boundaries either in terms of their work, their message or both.
Hang-Up Gallery is delighted to introduce the launch of a new series of exhibitions entitled ‘Hang-Up Collections’. Expect to see key works from leading international urban and contemporary artists alongside super-fresh releases and exciting rare finds from the Hang-Up artist roster.
Adopting a slightly unconventional approach to the traditional exhibition format, new work will be added and removed throughout the exhibition duration allowing it to evolve and change over the weeks. Whether it’s straight from the artist’s studio, a unique and rare piece from Banksy or from the gallery’s own private collection, Hang-Up Collections will promise to bring you something new, different and exciting each time you visit.
The first ‘Hang-Up Collections: Volume 1’ will exhibit previously unseen work from talent such as Stanley Donwood, Mark Powell, Lauren Baker, Joe Webb, Russell Marshall, Magnus Gjoen, Mason Storm and The Connor Brothers, as well as rare pieces and one-offs from artists including Banksy, David Choe, Futura, Faile, Herakut, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Jeff Koons and Sir Peter Blake.” www.hanguppictures.com

I competely love finding new galleries, visiting interesting exhibitions and discovering new artists; especially in such an interesting part of town. So, hopefully I will manage to get around to the exhibition before it closes! Below are a few peices of work from Hang-Up’s website and they should be able to give you an idea of what sort of stuff you can expect from the exhibition.

Russell Marshall, Elvis Gun Cheque on Canvas.

Mark Powell, Carbon Emotion (KAR-ben).

Banksy, Toxic Mary Unsigned.

Chapman Brothers Supreme Skate Decks.

The Connor Brothers, End of a Dream

Give Smile Pussycat!

2014-08-26T15:01:00.000+01:00

Original Post: http://www.cassfashion.co.uk/give-us-smile-pussycat/

I recently picked up the latest issue of Very Nearly Almost Magazine, widely known as VNA, it is in my opinion the best London based art and design managine you can buy!

‘Very Nearly Almost is a UK-based independent magazine printed quarterly which features interviews with some of the world’s best urban artists, illustrators and photographers. Launched in 2006, VNA tracks everything from the wheatpastes, paint and stencils out there on the streets through to gallery shows and events that bring together artists from around the world.
Each issue brings you in-depth feature articles and interviews with the biggest names on the scene, as well as up and coming artists. Previous cover artists include Shepard Fairey, Retna, Invader, Eine, Sickboy, ROA, Insa, Anthony Lister, Conor Harrington, The London Police, D*Face & Kid Acne.
VNA gets up close and personal with the artists we cover – we document recent work, visit artists’ studios and provide sneak previews of new work.
Everyone involved in VNA has a shared love of street art and the culture that’s grown up around it and we hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy putting it together.
Distributed globally, with a print run of 7,000, you can find VNA at a range of stockists.’ www.verynearlyalmost.com

The latest VNA, issue 27, featured the four man graffiti crew Broken Fingaz from Israel, I have been aware of thier graffiti for quite a while after seeing some of thier work around the Brick Lane area. Broken Fingaz create art work which to say the least, ruffles a few feathers; VNA explained in their article that TBFC’s work ‘often appears to tell a story – generally involving naked chicks, skeletons, fat dudes and other outlandish characters’.
As you will see from the examples of thier work, they have come under attack for being sexist and sexually objectifying women. Their work definitely ticks one massive box of what I like art to do, and thats provoke a reaction. It raises and highlights an issue, which like many we face in modern society still plays a massive part in our lives and in my opinion is often overloooked and not taken as seriously as it should be.
But then on the conitary as highlighted in this really awesome post on Vandalog, TBFC’s murals don’t exactly depict men in the best manner either, showing them as skeletons and ultimately ‘brainless’ or as ‘fat dudes’. I’m going to try not and rant too much about my veiws and opinions, but I do urge you to go and take a look at some more of The Broken Fingaz Crew’s work and if you like it, and fancy offending some poeple on the tube, go and grab a super sexy TBFC T-shirt from Ghostown.

Also heres a little snippet of that Vandalog post,
‘Defacing two walls and writing “Kill all men” over BFC’s work is not a route I would promote, but the dialogue it provoked is important. Much like the commenters on BFC’s Facebook, my knee-jerk reaction was to write this act off as an overly-aggressive reaction from a radical feminist. In all likelihood, “Kill all men” is a derivative of the Twitter hashtag that was turning heads last month, which feminists were using as a space to vent their experiences with misogyny. Yet in closer consideration of this particular incident, this person isn’t saying anything that BFC didn’t say themselves first. Why should we take offense from the statement “Kill all men” when this was written on top of a BFC mural that literally depicted a group of dead men having sex with women?‘ www.blog.vandalog.com

Peace and Love,,,,

Low Tolerance Level for Bullshit.

2014-08-20T14:57:00.000+01:00

Original Post: http://www.cassfashion.co.uk/low-tolerance-level-bullshit/

“Would you say that the unfortunate events that happened in your childhood were one’s that are highly influential, as well as visible in your art nowadays?
I’d say that having both my mother and only brother both pass away before I was 18 definitely gave me a hyper-awareness for the brevity of life, so yeah I’d say that those events were highly influential. My mom had cancer and was sick for most of my childhood (or at least the part I remember) and she passed away when I was 15. My brother died two years later from an asthma attack. As a result I have a really low tolerance level for bullshit. Life’s short. Do your thing at all costs and never give up. As far as those events being visible in my art I’d say there’s probably some truth to that. The characters in my drawings and paintings definitely look like they’re carrying some heavy weights."

I have began this post with a question from an interveiw I read once on a blog called Nephew Marcus, it was published quite a while back in 2012 and you can read the whole interveiw here. If you haven’t already guessed from this posts cover photo, the amazing talent at the centre of this post is Michael Sieben. The first time I saw a skateboard deck with Siebens work on I was instantly attracted to it, I love his use of line and the overall incredible, instantly recogniseable style of his work. Then when I read about Sieben’s childhood and learn’t about his work values, my respect for him began to grow further beyond his aesthetic creations. Enjoy!

“Was working in the skate industry a goal of yours from the get-go?
Yes. It has always been a dream of mine to work within the skateboard industry. As I get older I have dreams of working on projects outside of skateboarding but that probably has to do with the fact that I’m almost 40 and have a love/hate affair with my skateboard at this point. I love to play skateboards, but I just wish my skateboard cooperated with me that way it did when I was younger. I feel like it’s just a battle these days. But a battle that I love.
Thrasher didn’t come along until 2004, which was five years after you graduated.What did you do before you landed a job over there?
Made tons of zines, got a full time job, opened an art gallery, got married, skated tons of ditches, got a tattoo, and cried a few times.”

The examples of Michael Siebens work below have been taken from his website, www.msieben.com

It's a Stick UP!

2014-08-13T14:53:00.000+01:00

Original Post: http://www.cassfashion.co.uk/stick/

So what exactly is it that makes the sticker so alluring to the creative type? You see an influx of creative’s in a specific area, because of cheap rent and large spaces or whatever it may be, and you will inevitably see the clean street signs alongside pretty much any flat surface, become collaged with a myriad of adhesive backed printed paper and vinyl.
Street stickers have obviously been around for way longer than I have even been alive, so I’m not going to sit here for starters and claim to be some kind of sticker bombing assassin, but more just explore the idea a little and look into how it all started and how it developed. I find it quite interesting and hopefully at least one other person who is remotely interested in street art, skate culture or design will too!

So I’m going to begin with Shepard Fairey. It seems that almost everybody on the planet is aware of Shepard’s work, even if they don’t know about the whole Andre the Giant revolution they would definitely recognise the Obey logo. Shepard explained in his book ‘Supply & Demand’ that as a youngster with an interest in punk rock and skateboarding he found the occasional sticker sighting as ‘an encouraging sign that there were more dedicated proponents of punk and skate culture lurking in the city. Stickers were a sign that I wasn’t living in a total void. I wanted stickers as badges of my culture.’

Stickers can give you a feeling of belonging and allow you to share or even force your interests and the type of stuff that you like onto other people, especially in aspects to graphics related to punk rock and skate culture, which is something that is still not completely socially acceptable, even though it is becoming a lot more commercial. Plastering the front of your shiny new nondescript branded laptop or whatever personal effects with an awesome collage of stickers suddenly differentiates your stuff from all the millions of people who have that exact same one, it also looks totally awesome and makes you feel pretty cool, individual and slightly rebellious.
Going back to the Obey stickers here is Shepard fairey’s Obey ‘manifesto’.
Have a read, its really interesting stuff.
A nonsensical visual pleasure or an underground cult? I urge you to go buy Shepard’s book, or do a good bit of research on the internet (theres a number of really interesting documentary’s about Shepards work) because theres so much more interesting stuff in relation to Obey that I can’t even begin to cover in one blog post and then you can make up your own mind!

Manifesto

“The OBEY sticker campaign can be explained as an experiment in Phenomenology. Heidegger describes Phenomenology as “the process of letting things manifest themselves.” Phenomenology attempts to enable people to see clearly something that is right before their eyes but obscured; things that are so taken for granted that they are muted by abstract observation.
The FIRST AIM OF PHENOMENOLOGY is to reawaken a sense of wonder about one’s environment. The OBEY sticker attempts to stimulate curiosity and bring people to question both the sticker and their relationship with their surroundings. Because people are not used to seeing advertisements or propaganda for which the product or motive is not obvious, frequent and novel encounters with the sticker provoke thought and possible frustration, nevertheless revitalizing the viewer’s perception and attention to detail. The sticker has no meaning but exists only to cause people to react, to contemplate and search for meaning in the sticker. Because OBEY has no actual meaning, the various reactions and interpretations of those who view it reflect their personality and the nature of their sensibilities.
Many people who are familiar with the sticker find the image itself amusing, recognizing it as nonsensical, and are able to derive straightforward visual pleasure without burdening themselves with an explanation. The PARANOID OR CONSERVATIVE VIEWER however may be confused by the sticker’s persistent presence and condemn it as an underground cult with subversive intentions. Many stickers have been peeled down by people who were annoyed by them, considering them an eye sore and an act of petty vandalism, which is ironic considering the number of commercial graphic images everyone in American society is assaulted with daily.
Another phenomenon the sticker has brought to light is the trendy and CONSPICUOUSLY CONSUMPTIVE nature of many members of society. For those who have been surrounded by the sticker, its familiarity and cultural resonance is comforting and owning a sticker provides a souvenir or keepsake, a memento. People have often demanded the sticker merely because they have seen it everywhere and possessing a sticker provides a sense of belonging. The Giant sticker seems mostly to be embraced by those who are (or at least want to seem to be) rebellious. Even though these people may not know the meaning of the sticker, they enjoy its slightly disruptive underground quality and wish to contribute to the furthering of its humorous and absurd presence which seems to somehow be antiestablishment/societal convention. Giant stickers are both embraced and rejected, the reason behind which, upon examination reflects the psyche of the viewer. Whether the reaction be positive or negative, the stickers existence is worthy as long as it causes people to consider the details and meanings of their surroundings. In the name of fun and observation.”
Shepard Fairey, 1990, WWW.OBEYGIANT.COM (go check it out!)

All images used are Copyright© 1989 - 2014. All Rights Reserved by OBEY GIANT.

Street Sketchbook

2014-08-08T14:48:00.000+01:00

Original Post: http://www.cassfashion.co.uk/street-sketchbook/

This post is to introduce you to a selection of my favourite illustrators, artists and designers. All these images are pages from my final major project sketchbook and are my own reproductions of the artists work. I find that it is very important to keep researching, finding and being inspired by new artists as your own work develops. You will probably notice a similarity between the works of those that I will introduce you to below; I am very much a fan of the black line. Reproducing and dissecting the work of some artists I find inspiring helps me think of new ways to work with the black line myself and understand how other artists work with their images and create their own unique style and texture within their art.
The majority of the artists I am going to introduce you to are featured in a book called ‘Street Sketchbook’ my Tristan Manco. I purchased this book during my second year of studies because it featured some sketchbook pages of some artists that I like, many of which are below and others such as Banksy, Blu, Showchicken, and Andy Rementer to name a few. As I mentioned in my last post, Juxtaposing Cessation, I am a diehard lover of the sketchbook. I could spend hours upon hours simply sketching out images, doodling and creating reproductions in my sketchbooks. I think the process of the sketchbook is incredibly important as it gives you as an artist a massive insight into your creative direction, and also works as a really easy way for you to experiment, and create some interesting starting points for something potentially awesome!
Here is a little extract from the introduction of Street Sketchbook and then I shall fire away with my little list of great artists and have inspired me and I think you should know about.
“You are about to enter the secret world of the sketchbook… we are lucky enought to have been granted access to book that usually remain private, were anything and everything goes. Declarations of love, typographic experiments, travel journals, mythological creatures, u-boats and pandas are just some of the visuals gems set loose of the pages ahead.”

Erone

San

Guy McKinley

Hello Monsters

Fumi Nakamura

Tim Burton

Juxtaposing Cessation.

2014-08-05T14:37:00.000+01:00

Original Post Here: http://www.cassfashion.co.uk/juxtaposing-cessation/

As a continuation from my last post ‘Bam. You’re a Graduate.’ I decided to create a post, soon to be a series of posts, which I hope collectively will give readers an insight into my creative process and how I personally work from turning an idea into a finished product. I want to introduce you all to some of my sketchbook drawings, as in my opinion these small experimental, development pieces are just as interesting as the final outcome. I really enjoy seeing the journey the artist has gone through and I like to try and understand different creative processes and see how they work in relation to myself.
I began the project looking at surrealism and explorations of the unconscious.
“The surrealists aimed to liberate the human imagination, and their vision, expressed in the works of some of the greatest artists and writers of the twentieth century, has had a major influence on modern life.”
Surrealism explores ideas behind and including, objective chance, dreams and eroticism and aimed to depict and visually explore the deeper recesses of the human psyche, especially the sexual aspects.
As I began looking at surrealism I began to notice the careful use of juxtaposing imagery and how it was being used to tell a story. It was at this point that I decided that I wanted to create some imagery that told a story and had another meaning beyond its aesthetic. Therefore I had the idea to take two juxtaposing objects, in this case bones and flowers and see how they could work together to tell a story. The first thing that came to me to explore was that of life and death, so I tried playing around with the imagery in different ways such as within a tarot card or within a circle (which I will explore further in another post).
It was very important to me from the beginning of this project that all the work was hand drawn, as I wanted to try and create a collection of prints as hand-made as possible.
I created these line drawings from a collection of photographs I took at Kew Gardens. I tried simplifying the structure of the flowers as much as possible without losing too much structural detail, so that I could potentially create some more abstract prints using the line forms and so that it would create a clean and graphic image.

The following drawings are from photographs of some interesting animal skeletons that I took recently at the National History Museum. As explained above after doing some research into the surrelists I wanted to find some imagery that was juxtaposing in relation to form, colour and meaning to the flowers above.

I began drawing these skulls in a similar manner to the flowers but then developed them by beginning to explore different lines and textures in order to see which I felt represented the texture of the skulls best and worked well alongside the line drawings of the flowers I had created.
I then created some sketches and illustrations placing the images together. I wanted to place them together in a way that represented a process or cycle. After looking at images of Tarot cards I began to notice a repetition of circular imagery, as the circle ‘commonly represents unity, wholeness, and infinity’ and so it emphasises the idea of having a narrative behind my images. I also began to develop some of my own tarot card images, which I can also explore in another post.

BAM. you’re a Graduate.

2014-07-31T14:25:00.000+01:00

Hi all! Shock Horror, I'm back on the blog.
I had a notably long 'break' from blogging, while which I was busy stressing and ripping my hair out during my last year of uni, trying to remain sane while creating a final collection which I could hopefully graduate with and be proud of.
Well now I can say that I successfully completed my degree, remained sane, and while I have the most awful habit of in hindsight never being completely satisfied with anything I have done, I made a collection that I was very much proud of. I also want to point out that as much as my need to nit pick work I have done, I very much like to view this a good thing. It simply means that I have this kind of personal expectation that each 'next thing' I do, which I might not be completely aware of at the time, will be a progression and improvement on my last creation and ultimately on my creative self so to say.

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, there's links in the side bar if you don't and would like to (I'd very much like it if you did too) you would know that I started blogging with three of my uni colleague's on our university's Fashion and Textiles Blog 'Cass Fashion'. We were selected by the course leader and were given pretty much a free reign to create content on pretty much anything we wanted, obviously bearing in mind the purpose and function of the blog we didn't decide to write articles on horse riding and astronauts.

Anyway, I have decided to post the content that I created on the Cass Fashion blog here to as a way to get myself back into the flow of blogging! We will only be blogging there for a short period of time anyway so I would like to continue blogging here thereafter as I create my new works and collections! Enjoy!

Original post: http://www.cassfashion.co.uk/bam-youre-a-graduate/

Writing this post for the new Cass Fashion blog just one day after graduation and whilst also just beginning to come to terms with the fact that my time as a student at London Metropolitan University is officially over is a slightly strange mix of feelings, somewhere between incredible excitement, achievement and slight disbelief. The past three years of my life spent at London Met have been undeniably rewarding. Studying has provided me with some of the most incredible moments, and unquestionably some of the most difficult. It has been three years of some incredibly hard work and a few sleepless nights, and for sure with this in mind graduation is a huge relief.

Although, finishing the arguably easy life of a student and being thrown head first into the real world is definitely something of a massive shock. Suddenly you have to refer to yourself as ‘the young professional’ and the immediate pressure to put yourself out there in the real world can be extremely difficult.
From my experience the most difficult aspect upon graduating as a creative is being able to believe in your own work and creative abilities; finally being able to accept the fact that your work is as good as your competitors and co-workers. This is the time to come to terms with the fact that you before anyone else has to believe in yourself as much as you possibly can, there’s no room in the real world for doubting yourself and your capabilities. I have a gut wrenchingly annoying tendency to never be completely happy with pretty much everything I do, but during my studies I have learnt to translate this as a good way for me to push myself and carry on trying to make my work better and better, even if it does at times cause me a lot of stress and pressure. But overall I think as a graduate the most important thing you have to learn is to be confident!
One of the biggest achievements so far is definitely my first exhibition outside of a school show. Exhibiting recently alongside other Cass Students at New Designers was incredible, while networking with other students and people from industry was quite daunting, hearing people talking about, complement and tell you their opinion about your work is really exciting and has definitely helped me to be more confident in showing my work to other people.

Since graduating I have also met a collection of three other recent design graduates and after discussing the daunting feeling of going it alone we have decided to create our own collective called The Feral Line. I am incredibly excited to start working with a collection of such amazing designers. And so alongside looking for a studio (it definitely wasn’t until graduation that I really started to appreciate the awesome printing facilities at the Cass!) and getting ready for exhibiting with the Cass at the London Design Festival in September, we can spread the pressure of both finding exhibitions and the financial pressure that goes in hand. It’s also really great to be able to have some other creative’s to keep you going, we can all work off each other, help each other to keep going in the right direction and keeping this ball rolling!

Internship | Jonathan Saunders | Fashion Week!

2013-09-23T20:26:00.000+01:00

Hi all! Once again its been a while..... :)

I have one week left of my internship at Jonathan Saunders, and the past three weeks have flew by.
The weekend before last was the Jonathan Saunders London Fashion Week show at the Tate Britain.
The venue was incredible and to see one of the galleries turned into a backstage frenzy surrounded by beautiful artwork was incredibly exciting! It was really great to be in the studio two weeks before and two weeks after fashion week as you get a really good understanding of how the studio works pre and post fashion show!

The pictures below some backstage shots and some of the catwalk, I have taken from the vogue website. I completely love the Louboutin's, the sunglasses and the backless purple poppy print shirt!

Exhibition | Blumenfeld Studio

2013-08-30T22:16:00.001+01:00

I must admit firstly that I have probably been the worst blogger on the planet.

But during the time I have spent not blogging, I have finished my placement with Anna Kompaniets (I am now one step closer to becoming an embroidery extraordinaire) and I am looking forward to starting at Jonathan Saunders on Monday!(Yay)
*** You may have also noticed that I have updated my ancient mobile and I now have instagram !!!!!
(There are some pictures on the side somewhere, I guess if you want to follow me you can just click on one of the images or something?)

I have been kind of thinking about stuff and life in general and going into my third and final year of my degree (I seriously can't fucking believe how fast time has gone) I have been getting questions such as 'So, what are you going to do when you graduate?' pretty often. :||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

But not to bore (In answer to the question, if you hadn't gathered already I have completely no idea),
I have something nice to share with you all.

On Wednesday Anna sent me and the other intern Treeney off to see the Blumenfeld Studio exhibition at Somerset House.
(This also involved getting slightly lost, some sightseeing and an hours walk in search of chocolate cake)
Basically the exhibition was incredible! My Mum told me ages ago about this documentary on C4 called 'The Man Who Shot Beautiful Women', I obviously took the title way too literally and never watched it.
But, it turned out they had a part of the documentary playing at center of the exhibition, evidently its about Blumenfeld and not the bludgeoning massacre of which I had imagined.

The exhibition has already finished............ I didn't actually know that when I started writing and it does make this who post feel find of pointless now but hey, here is a little about Blumenfeld and a selection of his incredible images!

"Berlin-born photographer Erwin Blumenfeld (1897–1969) was one of the most internationally sought-after portrait and fashion photographers in the 1940s and 1950s. America’s leading magazines, including Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar hired him for his imaginative and highly individual shots. The show focuses on the little-known history of his photography studio at 222 Central Park South in New York. Around 100 colour photographs and originals of Erwin Blumenfeld’s works in fashion magazines provide insights into this key artistic phase in his life." Taken from here.

The Red Cross, Vogue March 1945

Eiffel Tower, Vogue Port Folio

Nude Under Wet Silk

Images taken from http://www.erwinblumenfeld.com
© 2012 - 2013 The Estate of Erwin Blumenfeld

VNA Magazine | Helping Crochet on its way to Cool.

2013-07-30T22:49:00.000+01:00

I was planning on doing a post to show you all my creations from my current placement at Anna Kompaneits (which I am still doing, plus some), but then an unavoidable urge to show you my favorite topic related artist and then the realisation that I haven't (at least I don't think I have) shared with you all one of my favorite magazines on the planet right now!

That magazine is Very Nearly Almost Magazine, I had been reading Juxtapoz for a long time ( being an American mag it teased me with way too many out of reach purchases and exhibitions) and fancied a change and thats how I came across London based VNA.

VNA is a Street Art / Graffiti / Illustration / Art Culture magazine and in currently in its 23rd issue (with the duo Faile gracing the cover), publishing 4 times a year since 2006.

Regrettably, since I am only one year into my collection I missed out on a good few awesome artists including Shepard Fairey (yes, I know), Invader, Eine, The London Police and D*Face, but the artists that have come after have pretty much made up for my loss!

If you buy this mag you sure to be introduced, through a selection of interviews, to some truly awesome talents and a read will leave you completely inspired and eagerly awaiting the next issue!

Four times a year is most certainly NOT enough.

One of the artists I was introduced to by VNA was Olek, I had seen some of her crocheted extraordinary work floating around in cyber space and a bike which I think she created near brick Lane featured on the blog a long time ago (when its main focus was pretty much visual, and along the way I somehow gained the courage to add some text), so to be able to put a name to the amazing creations I had seen was great.

And so, what does Olek have to do with my internship.....?

Well, basically for the past (almost) month while working with Anna and the other awesome intern Treeney we have been having an amazingly fun time talking about our guy crushes, death / morbid stuff, the soap opera in Anna neighbors garden, watching movies, eating LOTS of cakes (Anna is not just an amazing artist but also, unlike myself a pretty tricky cook! That's tricky in terms of an array of interesting ingredients and incredibly skillful and clever.) and CROCHETING!

We have been creating an array of little gorgeous plastic bag crocheted flowers (I don't think mine can be counted in this collection), and you can see my first (semi-successful) one below and another more ambitious one that I will get around to finishing as soon as I manage to buy myself a crochet hook!

I was also pleasantly surprised how much quicker and more fun crochet is that knitting (yeah, I'm serious), I am the worlds slowest knitter and knitting machines do a neat job of almost making my blood boil.
My Nan taught me how to knit about 245 years ago and I still haven't managed to create that tea cosy I promised her. Such a bad grand-daughter. (Wow, I actually feel kinda bad now)

We have also began decorating some of them with beads and other pretty things and they look incredible!

Internship | Anna Kompaniets

2013-07-28T16:25:00.000+01:00

I recently started an internship at costume designer and jewellery designer Anna Kompaniets.

You can have a look at some of her amazing jewellery and learn more about her here.

So far I have learnt the craft of crochet, and on Sunday 14th we held a crochet workshop in the Queen's House near Greenwich Cutty Sark.

We then headed back to the Queen's House a week later on Sunday 21st for one of Anna's performances entitled Quedenraha.

Also all this alongside work, and possibly a bit of being busy doing nothing (its needed after uni) has managed to keep me pretty far away from this blog..... apologies!

Here are some photographs from the workshop and the performance, followed by a video. Enjoy!

Pictures taken from Here

Life | Budapest's Pálvölgyi cave & Szemlőhegyi cave, Libegő & The Royal Opera House

2013-07-02T22:23:00.001+01:00

These few pictures are a pair of a lotttttt of pictures that I took in Budapest's Pálvölgyi cave and Szemlőhegyi cave, which were both incredible!
You can buy a combined ticket for both caves, I cant remember how much exactly, but was pretty cheap and they are both a short walking distance (about 10 minutes) from one another.
The weather inside the caves is a constant 10/11 degrees, and when we arrived in shorts and t-shirts and some other people waiting were wrapping themselves in scarves and putting on hats and coats we did begin to worry that we had somewhat underestimated just how cold it was going to be.
But, considering it was 37°C outside the cool was very much appreciated!

A short bus ride from the caves you can find the Children's Railway (which since the Soviets has been run by children)and then jump off and climb the rather steep and long walk up to Elizabeth Look-out tower.
The view from the top is incredible and the way back down via the chairlift or the Libegő as it is locally known is much less hard work.

Our last stop was to see a ballet production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in The Royal Opera House. The interior was incredible, and the production (also the first ballet I have ever watched) was really enjoyable.

Excuse the fact that it is a production aimed at children.....its just as enjoyable for adults!

So if you want to have a look inside the Opera House, don't book the tour, just buy some tickets to see a show.... plus they were SO cheap!

We were pretty far back, but you could still see everything jut fine, although it must be said the seats weren't exactly the most comfortable and they were considerably slim (and squeaky).

Opinion | $686

2013-06-26T15:44:00.000+01:00

I just got sent an e-mail about this from Vogue,,,,,,,,,

I find it utterly amazing.
I have to say well done to Marc Jacobs for his reaction first time around, which is detailed below, and leaves me eagerly awaiting to see if the same action is going to be taken this time around!

I think most of you will already know what I am showing you, but those of you who don't....

"MARC JACOBS has been the target of another graffiti attack, this time covering his Paris store. French graffiti artist Kidult tagged the shop windows with "$686" in neon green paint.
The numbers reference the first run-in that the label had with Kidult in May last year, after he sprayed Jacobs' New York Soho store with the word "Art" in bright pink. Not one to miss out on an opportunity, and himself a huge art fan, Jacobs printed a photograph of the work onto a line of T-shirts and sold them for $686 (£446). Kidult's latest efforts are his personal way of fighting back against the designer - who the artist describes as a "capitalist thief".
"680? 689?...686?! How much are you going to sell this for? #kidultarmyparis #thisisnotart," Kidult tweeted about his work." http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2013/06/26/marc-jacobs-paris-graffiti-attack-by-kidult

Heres the T-Shirt,

Kidult has to be the worlds biggest hater of fashion and as you can see on his website here is is very erm,,,, how do you put it... evident?
I must admit as much as I adore Marc Jacobs, my inner appreciation of street art and graffiti (which has been fully evident here on my blog) has led me to admire Kidults perseverance.

"Kidult is the problem child who paints in a righteous, primary and no-limit way with the use of an extinguisher.
I try to remain the 14 years old kid who paints his truth in a brutal and free-minded way. I aspire to keep the creativity, the honesty and the impertinence of a kid in spite of my age to send a disturbing message in a simple, efficient and no polishing way.
Societies and cities are always evolving and as a graffiti artist, I got to adapt myself to these evolutions of my surroundings. Efficiency is one of the most important traits in a graffiti artist’s skills. It starts from a concern that I have and I send a message to everybody by intellectualizing my reasoning and finding the best spot to be the most efficient.
no matter what other people are doing or what is considered “in”, and bring something new, ugly or not."

“All these retail outlets have once used graffiti as a commercial tool to get more money and be “cool” without knowing anything about the culture.

I didn’t simply say “hello” to them. If they really like graffiti, I just gave them what they love.”

www.kidultone.com

What do you think about all this........ should Marc Jacobs hit back with another t-shirt?
Possibly something more elaborate....
Or will this need to be settled on a more serious level?

I also would like to hear what you guys make of Kidults beliefs and ideologies?

And so since I wrote this post I have found this out on Twitter!

Hooray,,,, for it turns out Marc Jacobs also has rather good perseverance in dealing with Kidult.........

p.s. If you read all that,,,, you must be wondering the same thing as me.... where does this leave Eine?
(If you don't know what I'm talking about have a quick look here)

LIfe | Ludwig Museum \ The Other Half of the Sky

2013-06-26T15:14:00.001+01:00

Hi all! Quick little post :)

These few pictures I took on a trip to the Ludwig Museum in Budapest.... I went specifically to see the two works of art specifically (the fact they have a load of Picasso's added to it too), Andy Warhol's one of many, Elvis pieces and Lichtenstein's Vicki!

I also noticed that I have managed to hide my face from all of the shots,,,, but I am sure you have seen it enough times.... heres a break.
(Basically I lost my RayBan Aviators, which I replaced with a nice new pair of Clubmasters, sooo there was too much squinting going on. Not a good look.)

As I mentioned in a previous post while we were in Budapest they were hit with some floods, the last pictures show the road slowly being revealed as the water receded from the Houses of Parliament.

Life | The erotic and the exotic.

2013-06-24T18:03:00.000+01:00

While I was in Budapest the Museum of Fine Arts (Pictured above) was holding an exhibition

showing a selection of Helmet Newtons Photographs during 1920 and 2004.

"Continuing the highly successful tradition of the past years, in the spring of 2013 the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest is again staging a photographic exhibition.

The show will feature around 250 shots by one of the greatest figures of fashion and advertising photography, Helmut Newton, reflecting his most significant creative periods.

The material will be assembled with the cooperation of the Helmut Newton Stiftung, the foundation taking care of the artist’s oeuvre in Berlin.

These selected works provide an offer a look into his most important periods through three of his key albums. PrivateProperty contains forty-five photographs from Newton’s best fashion, portrait and nude shots from 1972 to 1983. Newton published his provocative nudes between 1985 and 1995, among others in his own periodical, the four-volume HelmutNewton’s Illustrated.

The fashion and advertising photos taken between 1983 and 2003 for the major fashion labels (Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Versace, Vogue) appeared in the album A GunForHire.

Helmut Newton, one of the greatest photographers of the twentieth-century, revolutionized fashion photography with the provocative style and erotic content of his work." http://www.szepmuveszeti.hu

You can see some of his incredible work below taken from images on Tumblr.

The photographs were incredible first hand and it was interesting to be able to come to your own conclusion on the much debated sexist/feminist argument around Newtons depiction of women.

I felt the aspect of which Newton argues that is images show empowerment in women, and the women shown in his images are incredible, empowered, strong and undeniably sexy.

I am in love with Newtons images and would love to hear what you all make of them, empowered females or an accepted sexism?

After the Newton exhibition and a quick look around the gallery we made our way for a well earned break in the South-east Asian Gold Museum Tea House.

This place wasn't listed in the guide books, but I came across it the internet. The garden was amazing and there was an amazing selection of tea (Served in the cutest tea pots, cups and saucers!), at amazing prices. As you can see on the menu the prices are 990 Hungarian Forint, which are the most expensive teas on the menu and work out at around £2.80 a pot for two people sharing.

Life | Kiralyi Palota.

2013-06-21T14:41:00.000+01:00

I recently took a trip to Budapest, and its a wonderful city!

I would have happily stayed for another month in the 35°C sunshine, relaxing in the amazing thermal baths.

Budapest was one of the most beautiful places I have seen and our trip luckily wasn't effected in any way by the swelling of The Danube river. *Phewwww
(With exception of some slight travel disruptions etc as you might expect.... but the public there and the police were so amazingly helpful!!)

The pictures show our trip up to and around the Royal Palace also known as Kiralyi Palota or Buda Castle, and Fisherman's Bastion which were both so impressive!
The scale of the Royal palace was immense and the tiles on the roof of Matthias Church at Fisherman's Bastion were simply beautiful.

Wearing | Dress/Joy Cardigan/Benetton Socks/Asos Sandals/Aldo Backpack/New Look

Update | If you can use some exotic booze,,,,,,,,,,

2013-06-11T00:10:00.000+01:00

Hi all!

A quick update as tomorrow night I am off to (a flooded) Budapest, and so there wont be any blogging action for a few days!

I promise some pretty awesome blog updates as soon as I am back!

Pack up, let's fly away!!!!!! X

Image Source