Arts London News, Heavy metal article

Heavy metal on the rise

by Evie Jeffreys

Kerry King of Slayer rocks it out [Mark Coatsworth]Walk through Dalston or Shoreditch on a Friday night and you'll feel as you are in an ‘80s metal time warp.

The genre that started as an underground scene has been dragged by its straggly pony tail right into the mainstream.

Whether the trendies wearing Municipal Waste and Slayer t-shirts, leather and ripped denim are actually fans is debatable, but it is safe to say the look is officially ‘in’.

True metal fans inhabit every corner of the globe: from frustrated teenagers in Southend, enthusiasts in Japan, to defiant headbangers in Baghdad; literally risking their lives for the metal.

The music itself is often criticised for being obscene and inciting hatred and violence.

But if that is true, why does everyone listening to it seem to be filled with such unadulterated joy?

Bit of fun

Perhaps we should look at lyrics such as “F*** your God, Holy mother for the whore she is,” as just a bit of fun and not instructions on how to kill Christians and worship the devil, as many metal fans do.

The bands themselves often approach the music with a tongue-in-cheek attitude.

Though on stage they can be bleak or aggressive, it is often an act for the audience.

There are those artists who are deadly serious about the subject matter of their songs, but most certainly do not seem dangerous and quite a few of them even seem geeky or mundane.

When interviewed, the members of Slayer seem like very nice chaps, making bad dad jokes and chuckling with one another.

It is hard to imagine them singing lines like “Flesh starts to burn, twist and deform, eyes dripping blood realisation of death” with genuine fervour.

'Love their mothers'

A documentary was even made proving that members of black metal band, Cradle of Filth, were not as evil and hateful as their performances suggest.

The mother of a teenage fan of the band went on tour with them to find out if they were as bad as they seem.

It resulted in hugs and kisses and the decision that they are “just a bunch of young men that love their mothers just like anybody else.”

Lovely.

On the whole, it seems that the fans take the bands far more seriously than the bands take themselves.

Pioneers are encouraging fellow metalheads to fill out the religion section of their next census questionnaire as ‘Heavy metal’, arguing that it is a real faith and if Jedis can do it, why not them?

Aside from love of the actual music, perhaps it is the desire to shock, or the comfort of the identity created by wearing certain clothes or make-up that is so attractive about the metal scene.

God's metal

Even Christians have jumped on the bandwagon with their own pro-God version of the genre, where Christian beliefs are put across as a counterbalance to the dark messages of mainstream metal.

For whatever reason, the true fans or ‘disciples’ seem to be in it for the long haul.

Despite the stigma surrounding it, heavy metal is a product that has a global consumer audience.

Though some people are appalled by the genre’s devil-worshipping subject matter, inexplicably speedy rhythms and dress code, it gives the youth of today and past youth generations something to be part of.

And for those who disapprove, it may be of interest to know that studies have shown that the characteristics of heavy metal fans are in fact virtually identical to those of classical music fans.

Apparently those who listen to either of the genres are more creative, introvert and at ease than other people.

So whether it’s Mozart you are into or Decapitated Midget Fetus, you can be reassured, perhaps, by the knowledge that you are one and the same.

http://www.artslondonnews.co.uk/20100225-heavy-metal-on-the-rise

Arts London News supplement article: Heavy Metal

Heavy metal on the rise

by Evie Jeffreys

Kerry King of Slayer rocks it out [Mark Coatsworth]Walk through Dalston or Shoreditch on a Friday night and it is likely you will feel as you are in an ‘80s metal time warp.

The genre that started as an underground scene has been dragged by its straggly pony tail right into the mainstream.

Whether the trendies wearing Municipal Waste and Slayer t-shirts, leather and ripped denim are actually fans is debatable, but it is safe to say the look is officially ‘in’.

True metal fans inhabit every corner of the globe: from frustrated teenagers in Southend, enthusiasts in Japan, to defiant headbangers in Baghdad; literally risking their lives for the metal.

The music itself is often criticised for being obscene and inciting hatred and violence.

But if that is true, why does everyone listening to it seem to be filled with such unadulterated joy?

Bit of fun

Perhaps we should look at lyrics such as “F*** your God, Holy mother for the whore she is,” as just a bit of fun and not instructions on how to kill Christians and worship the devil, as many metal fans do.

The bands themselves often approach the music with a tongue-in-cheek attitude.

Though on stage they can be bleak or aggressive, it is often an act for the audience.

There are those artists who are deadly serious about the subject matter of their songs, but most certainly do not seem dangerous and quite a few of them even seem geeky or mundane.

When interviewed, the members of Slayer seem like very nice chaps, making bad dad jokes and chuckling with one another.

It is hard to imagine them singing lines like “Flesh starts to burn, twist and deform, eyes dripping blood realisation of death” with genuine fervour.

'Love their mothers'

A documentary was even made proving that members of black metal band, Cradle of Filth, were not as evil and hateful as their performances suggest.

The mother of a teenage fan of the band went on tour with them to find out if they were as bad as they seem.

It resulted in hugs and kisses and the decision that they are “just a bunch of young men that love their mothers just like anybody else.”

Lovely.

On the whole, it seems that the fans take the bands far more seriously than the bands take themselves.

Pioneers are fellow metalheads to fill out the religion section of their next census questionnaire as ‘Heavy metal’, arguing that it is a real faith and if Jedis can do it, why not them?

Aside from love of the actual music, perhaps it is the desire to shock, or the comfort of the identity created by wearing certain clothes or make-up that is so attractive about the metal scene.

God's metal

Even Christians have jumped on the bandwagon with their own pro-God version of the genre, where Christian beliefs are put across as a counterbalance to the dark messages of mainstream metal.

For whatever reason, the true fans or ‘disciples’ seem to be in it for the long haul.

Despite the stigma surrounding it, heavy metal is a product that has a global consumer audience.

Though some people are appalled by the genre’s devil-worshipping subject matter, inexplicably speedy rhythms and dress code it gives the youth of today and past youth generations something to be part of.

And for those who disapprove, it may be of interest to know that studies have shown that the characteristics of heavy metal fans are in fact virtually identical to those of classical music fans.

Apparently those who listen to either of the genres are more creative, introvert and at ease than other people.

So whether it’s Mozart you are into or Decapitated Midget Fetus, you can be reassured, perhaps, by the knowledge that you are one and the same.

http://www.artslondonnews.co.uk/20100225-heavy-metal-on-the-rise

Nothing Bad Magazine, Catorialist feature

The Sartorialist fashion blog has set the standard for street style pages, but why should we stop at trends from mere humans?

Maxwell Krivitzky, LA based cat enthusiast, but unfortunately allergic to the creatures, saunters onto the scene with his own blog 'The Catorialist' which beautifully documents cats' styles from different countries. "Any cat can be stylish, they just need to find the style that suits them best, be it grunge, groomed, disheveled..."

On the blog Krivitzky features cats such as Minow, an old friend of his sporting the 'Gentlemen's style': "To this day I am impressed with the way he carries himself; he is from an age where cats learned to wear their fur instead of letting their fur wear them."


Giving us 'real' cats as opposed to the pretentious, showroom prize-winners and pure breeds we may see on tv, Krivitzky is breaking fashion boundaries in the name of the previously unappreciated domestic and street felines of today.

Photo compliments of http://thecatorialist.blogspot.com/

http://nothingbadmag.com/index.php/mag/

Nothing Bad Magazine, fashion recycling article

Fashion Recycling

In the wake of the Noughties: the decade of recycling, many of us are trying to do our bit for the environment. Remembering to bring your 'bag for life' on a quick run to Tescos is more difficult than it should be. But we can compensate for the pang of guilt that comes when the cashier produces yet another flimsy plastic bag that we'll save in our stash but never use.

Let's get creative. As we are already recycling fashion trends from eras gone past why not recycle our everyday paraphernalia of life too?

Open your mind (and possibly lower your standards of your own appearance) and your home can become a free of charge shop.

Think about it. After Christmas, if you have any seemingly obsolete plastic toys from a cracker why not transform them into a necklace pendant or brooch? Unless you are particularly unlucky, no one will have the same one as you. Do the same with nice looking beer bottle caps. While educating your taste buds with a new beer advertised by an interesting image, you also instantly have something to liven up a gold chain. Lovely.

As for present-wrapping equipment, if you have saved it for other present-giving occasions, by which time you may well have lost it, use it now. If you have a wedding, funeral or a formal occasion coming up, and buying something like a fascinator seems a little wasteful as you're probably not going to wear it again, collect any ribbons, bows and wire, tie them together decoratively and whack them on your head with a hair pin. Perfect.

Finally, if you're feeling adventurous and not afraid of the possible ridicule you might receive, keep an eye out for attractive plastic bottles. Once you have finished drinking it and washing it out, cut a slit vertically down the side, attach a chain or leather string to top and bottom and bingo...you have a new, quirky bag.

http://nothingbadmag.com/index.php/mag/

Arts London News interview, Tattoos

Interview: Alejo Lombardi

by Evie Jeffreys

Lombardi in front of a selection of artworks available in the east London tattoo shop, Sacred Heart. [Richard Twilton]Whatever your opinion is on body illustration, it cannot be said that the art of tattooing is not a skilled craft.

The responsibility and reward felt from branding someone’s body with something they, hopefully, will treasure for life is unparalleled.

Tattoo artists all have their own reasons for choosing their occupation and it can be surprising how serious and passionate they are about it.

Alejo Lombardi, originally from Argentina, works in Sacred Art, an east London tattoo shop. At 27 years old, he has been tattooing as a profession for about seven years, and is now in his second year of a sculpture degree at Camberwell.

His parents hated tattoos and none of his older siblings had them, but he explains that his inspiration and love of tattooing is down to the admiration felt for his sisters’ boyfriends, two of whom were tattoo artists and one who was heavily covered in tattoos.

An asset

The sculpture degree does not directly relate to tattooing, but fine art is something which Lombardi considers an asset.

A heavily tattooed Lombardi. [Richard Twilton]“Fine art is different from having a craft.

"I think it is positive in terms of having a more critical point of view.”

Despite continuing from the foundation degree to the sculpture degree, there is no doubt in his mind that tattooing is primarily what he wants to do: “That’s not something that is going to change. I don’t think so. Not for a long time.”

When asked what it is he enjoys most about the art of tattooing his reply is simple: “I enjoy the technique and also the medium.

"You are working on someone else’s body - that is absolutely different from anything you can do. It’s not only about what you are tattooing.”

Despite having been a tattoo artist for many years, Lombardi still gets nervous when doing a job. Explaining that no matter how skilled you get, being aware of the responsibility you have in that role is always intimidating. He likens it to the feeling clients get when they are about to receive a tattoo: “When you are on the other side it’s about the pain.

"When people say ‘Oh you must be used to it’.

"How can you get used to it? You can’t.”

Giving a chance

The amount of care and attention employed by Lombardi and the rest of Sacred Art’s staff is encouraging: “We give the customers a chance, not forcing them, but to think about what they are going for and to do more research and to really think about what they want.

"We give them a chance to base it on things that already exist but make it a bit more personal. Individuals are unique and tattoos should be unique as well.”

He goes on to say: “There are trends with tattoos, as in anything, and many tattooists are pushing customers into getting this thing instead of that.Lombardi works at the Sacred Art tattoo parlour. [Richard Twilton]

"It’s like being a surgeon, if you push a woman to get massive boobs because you think it’s cool.

"But it shouldn’t really be like that. It’s not ethical.

"It comes to be a lot about trust.

"It’s someone else’s body, it’s not your body.

"Whether you like something or not, it is a responsibility.”

Lombardi explains that for many people it is not purely about the tattoo, but about the experience – meeting the person who is going to “mark you for life”, discussing the application of the tattoo, the healing process – and this experience can last until they next walk into the shop for another one.

“I didn’t have the chance back in my country to tattoo loads of black people. Here, sometimes, for people with really, really dark skin, I was questioning why they would get tattoos if you can’t even see them? And then I understood. They want to be part of it and they want to have the whole experience.

"It’s not only about how it looks.”

More accessible

“The middle class phenomenon is probably only the last 20 years or so," explains Alejo.

According to him, and probably many others, though the tattoo has been around forever and it has now become more accessible.

“The good thing about it is that people have more acceptance about it. At the same time it becomes less special. Many of the reasons I got my tattoos is because I wanted that thing of people going ‘Oh shit, that’s disgusting’, but it’s pretty much the other way round.

"People are like ‘Oh cool, you’ve got tattoos!’ and that’s sometimes more annoying.”

He considers tattoos more middle class now. In the past they belonged to the upper and lower classes. For the former it was exotic and for the latter, it was that they could not lose.

“The middle class phenomenon is probably only the last 20 years or so. Being from a South American middle class background, the reasons why I have tattoos is because I belong to only the last two or three decades.”

He also explains that to have tattoos boldly on public display is a very western thing, whereas in eastern countries people cover them.

“It’s cultural. How you want them to be on show. In eastern countries you get people that have a whole body suit, but not their neck or hands.

"It’s something private. Sometimes they are crime related but that’s not the original background.”

On regrets he, who is a heavily illustrated gentleman himself, confesses: “I do regret all my tattoos at least once.

"But they are evidence of who you were and who you are. You can say, ‘Hey, eight years ago I was that, and nine years ago I was that’ and so on. It’s not about the tattoos, it’s about yourself.

"Even though I’m not too happy with some of them, I’m not too sure about covering them up or lasering them.

"I think I would probably actually regret that.”

http://www.artslondonnews.co.uk/20100218-body-art-interview-alejo-lomardi-tattooist

What happened in January then?

Lovely

Arts London News, Sex cults

Let's have sex, for God's sake!

by Evie Jeffreys

A popular image of a sex cult leader is one of a sleazy, unattractive but charismatic man who somehow entices followers to believe his obscure reasons for why they should join his cult, and sleep with him.

Or, a deluded, peace-asserting hippy who believes that sex will open everyone’s third eye or other such coxen claims.

Although free love and sex cults are often tied to the ‘60s, the concept dates much further back.

Venus had a Roman Catholic following and was said to be the goddess of prostitutes.The Ancient Greeks and Romans created cults dedicated to a god or goddess that would often lead to sexual rituals or organised prostitution.

The Romans had temples dedicated to the goddess Venus, who some interpreted to be the goddess of prostitutes.

It is believed that sex rituals were performed in the temples as a form of worship.

Cult mentality

These days, there is a multitude of cults and they are widely considered controversial, perhaps due to the cult mentality popularised in the 60s.

The decade’s generation developed obsessions with rock stars, and the music scene led the free love movement.

Charles Manson, mainly remembered for instigating murders using followers from the Family, also encouraged open sex among them and conducted prostitution.

Jim Jones, leader of the People’s Temple cult and orchestrator of the Jonestown massacre, was reported to have forced his followers to have sex with him – which they would because they saw him as a ‘supreme being’.

Another cult founded in the ‘60s, which still exists, is The Family International, formerly known as Children of God.

It is a cult whose reputation is defined by reports of sex, child abuse and religious prostitution.

Some blame the overwhelming dedication cult members show for their leaders, which often leads to sex or sexual attraction, on Stockholm syndrome.

That is, thinking of cult recruitment more as kidnapping and brainwashing, than a voluntary decision.

The syndrome – originating from a bank robbery in Norrmalmstorg, Stockholm in 1973 where the bank personnel developed feelings for the robbers holding them hostages for six consecutive days – is a term for the strong bond kidnap victims can develop with their captor, not only siding with but also sometimes falling in love with that person.

Communities

Established religions and religious communities can and have been surrounded by stigma over sexual corruption.

Religious laws and beliefs can be interpreted, no matter how tenuously, to mean different things and faith can prevent questioning or doubt.

Small orthodox communities are seemingly at more risk in terms of sexual corruption or exploitation.

If generations of the same families have grown up in a closed society with only like-minded others it is hard to know what is "acceptable".

The rejection of, or independence from the outside world isolates them and minimizes the risk of confrontation with diverse beliefs.

The danger of crimes – sex-related or otherwise– being committed, especially as the police are rarely involved, is theoretically high.

A small Mennonite (a branch of Christianity) community in Bolivia recently experienced a torrent of drug-assisted rapes.

A small group of men from the community allegedly used a narcotic to subdue victims and their families at night in order to rape girls and women.

The first accusations cast were dismissed, but eventually the community had to take action and even involved the police, finding it too overwhelming to deal with internally.

Though the Mennonite religion is respected as deriving from one of the oldest peace churches, it was still susceptible to a type of sexual corruption.

In 2006 a cult in Darlington, Co Durham was uncovered which used women as submissive ‘slaves’, basing their views on the series of erotic science fiction novels The Chronicles of Gor.

Police could not intervene as most members were taking part willingly and it was not a criminal group.

More recently, in 2009, a sex cult in Papua New Guinea who claimed that banana produce would multiply if residents had public sex with them - this cult however was was targeted by the police.

http://www.artslondonnews.co.uk/20100204-cults-sex-religion

Arts London News supplement article

Spaces for your imagination

by Evie Jeffreys

Concrete memorial for those who died in the Hollocaust, also considered an urban playground in Berlin.Though the ‘creative use of urban space’ today usually suggests graffiti and skateboarding, it is not a modern concept.

The French were early pioneers and from the late 1700s it has been recorded that Parisians started exploring and making use of the underbelly of their city.

Apart from the sewers, or the ‘quarries’ of Paris, through which it is possible to walk the whole city, there is another underground adventure that continues to entice – the catacombs.

The catacombs were essentially a mass of underground caves for those whose families could not afford a traditional burial.

The underground graveyards have formed over the last 200 years and bones and skulls create walls and tunnels that the public can now walk through.

However, before opening to the general public, groups of Parisians, known as 'cataphiles', would illegally venture below ground to explore and even temporarily live.

Trespassers

Evidence of illegal trespassing are still found and the enigmatic culprits are often untraceable.

Books and films have been based on such ‘infiltrators’ and have whole websites dedicated to the exploration of abandoned and forbidden urban territory, inviting people to see evidence of their conquests.

More recently, in 2004, an underground cinema and restaurant was found in a previously undiscovered cavern.

It was equipped with electricity and phone lines, and on the floor was a note reading "do not try to find us."

Police could not work out the culprits and they concluded that it was a sect or secret society.

Media attention has brought urban exploration and the interesting use of city landscapes to the mainstream.

Films like Man on Wire are an example of extreme ways to make use of the cities and the environments within.

But Paris is a city that now often legally uses its environment to the best of its ability.

No walls, no barriers

Manmade urban beaches are a popular attraction in the summer, as they are in other cities such as London.

Small patches of land are sometimes transformed into examples of different environments.

Behind Notre Dame is a square that often adopts a theme.

One year it might be a beach and the next a botanical garden - no walls or no barriers.

A spot popular with Parisians and tourists alike is le pont des arts, a pedestrianised bridge over the Seine, where families and groups of friends go to picnic, booze and be merry.

A far cry from how we use the Millenium Bridge in London.

The trend for using cities for more than just going to work and shopping has caught on worldwide.

The urban landscape is now seen as a platform for art.

Berlin is a city full of contrasting architecture and wall art but in 2005 another attraction emerged.

Its Jewish memorial, designed by architect Peter Eisenman and engineer Buro Happold, comprised of hundreds of concrete slabs, was criticised for being too abstract, among other things, but is now a surreal and symbolic work of art to all who visit.

Though it is built in the memory of those who died during the Holocaust, visitors innocently use it as a playground for hide and seek or jumping from block to block.

Art installations are popular in cities often because they easily steal attention from the normality of a city street.

A blank concrete canvas is often perfect for an artist’s vision.

Urban Play

Two years ago in Amsterdam a project called Urban Play saw graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister spelling out one of his philosophical phrases, "obsessions make my life worse and my work better", using 250,000 pennies.

Part of the project was to see how the artwork would change each day due to the public stealing a penny here or there. On the first night the police were alerted to someone doing just this and decided to remove the entire artwork to "preserve" it.

Apart from the arty ideas for the city landscape there are those with a more practical function.

China’s Olympics-inspired idea for an outdoor gym is catching on so well that there is even one in Peckham Rye park.

For adventure, practicality, or for aesthetic reasons, city landscapes continue to be used in new and innovative ways and it is impossible to second guess what will come next.

http://www.artslondonnews.co.uk/20100211-urbanspace-imagination-history

Wasn't Summer nice?