Hidden Eggs is a not-for-profit magazine made in Brighton which aims to be a good informative read for those who pick it up on purpose or by accident. If you are interested in contributing hidden interests to the next issue contact: hiddeneggsmag@hotmail.co.uk
Thank you to all contributors, of artwork, writing and interviews. And thank you to Christian Joy, Van Stanholdt and Louise Downie for the interviews and the Jersey Heritage Trust for the use of the Claude Cahun image.
Interv
r Christian me Designe u st o C rk o wY iew with Ne
Joy
Interview with musician Van Stonholdt
Interview w it
h Louise Do wnie curato r of Claude
Cahun exhib ition
Review of pavement gum art in London
nd-up from Amy Donell Booze and Don’ts- written sta
Artwork and illustration pag es
CHRISTIAN
JOY
Christian Joy’s costumes are a combination of alien shape and unapologetic colour, often using expressive graphic prints, which emphasize the energy of the performers who wear her costumes. With a DIY approach to creating and an evidently vast imagination, Christian Joy has carved her own career path in the creative industries. From her continuous collaboration with the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s front-woman Karen O, to her exhibitions in New York and Tokyo her work brings together art, design and performance in a truly unique way.
-How much does the city you live in -New York- influence your designs? I’d say quite a bit. Since my designs tend to be geared more towards people living in cities I try to observe how men and women in NY dress, the shapes they like to wear etc. I also tend to delve quite a bit into NY history for ideas for costume ideas. I especially love the 70’s and 80’s with punk and graffiti. -What is the most unusual thing you are influenced or inspired by? Last night in the middle of the night I realized how influenced I was by the nursery rhymes my mom read to me when I was a kid and all of the funny songs she would sing to us. Most nursery rhymes and kids stories and songs in general have a bit of absurdity to them. There are a lot of odd combinations. Like for instance we had the Mother Goose nursery rhyme book and there is a rhyme that goes “ Barber, barber shave a pig, how many hairs to make a wig, four and twenty, that’s enough, give the barber a pinch of snuff ” and then the drawing is of this giant pig getting a shave by a man in a powdered wig! -What spurred you on when you first started making clothes? Actually moving to NY and discovering that the Ramones and many of the other people creating at that moment had no formal training or even knew how to play their instruments. I figured if they could do it then I could teach myself fashion design.
-You seem to have found a balance between artist and designer, exhibiting your creations in a gallery setting as well as when they are worn on stage. Does this mean your work is seen by different types of audience? I feel like it’s seen more or less by the same audience. Maybe it attracts new viewers but I think most of it is people that know about my past work. -Where would you place yourself in the fashion world, or would you not? Maybe on the fringe. I think what I do definitely influences fashion. I’ve seen many mood boards with pictures of Karen in pieces I’ve made and have also noticed things being worn that were not worn before Karen was seen in them.
Karen O costumes, ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Shrimp’ Exhibition. Photograph by Ken Kato, www.kensimagination.com
Wall Hanging by Christian Joy ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Shrimp’ exhibition. Photograph by Ken Kato, www.kensimagination.com
I like being on the outside. I think by not defining exactly what it is I do, I have more freedom. -Most of your costumes (and also your line of clothing) has an androgynous quality to them. Is this important to your work? Yes, I love the idea that you can be alien like. However, quite a few people have told me recently that they thought my work was very feminine. Haha, so who knows! -How much creative freedom do you have in your projects? There is obviously a lot of imagination that goes into each piece, what do you find you have to kick against, if anything? Well basically Karen and I will talk at the beginning of each record about a direction or maybe she’ll ask for something specific like a leather jacket or suit but after that I’m solely on my own. I mean for this record cycle we have to do fittings so she’ll kind of know what the piece will look like but she won’t know the total look till a few days or even the day of the show. It’s a lot of fun revealing new work to her. -The suits you have made for Karen O recently look incredibly detailed and well tailored (like a lot of skill was involved in the making!) what was the most DIY costume you made for a YYY’s performance? Haha, well I actually have a tailor now. Creating a suit is a whole other skill level that I don’t really have. The most DIY are probably the prom dresses. They were pretty slapped together. Some of them had staples in them. -You designed the costumes for a psycho-opera called ‘Stop the Virgens’, which must have been a huge job. For big projects like this do you have a Christian Joy team? If so how much do they contribute to the creative process? I do have a team and yes they do contribute. I think you need contributors. It’s difficult to think out everything on your own. I design each piece, but then I have help choosing fabrics and trims, working out if the design will work and then of course everyone has suggestions on how to make each piece even more spectacular. -Lastly, do you consider humour to play an important part in your work? YES! Without humour my work would be nothing. If I can start laughing about something I can usually bring my mind into really absurd places. It’s like one funny idea begets another and by the end I have this really off the wall idea. To see more of Christian Joy’s work take a look at her website! www.christianjoy.us.com
VA N S T O N HOLDT Interview by Liam from Sealings
Van Stonholdt’s debut release came out last year via Where To Now Records, and is very good. He is a multi-instrumentalist from Brighton and uses everything from guitar to double bass on his EP, as well as playing with Gross Magic and recording with Keel Her. He has lovely long hair.
Image by Simon Whybray, www.simonwhybray.com
-what are you wearing? I will leave it to people’s imagination -how much of your work is inspired, musically or lyrically, by the internet? Well, musically the same as everyone else - which is still loads... It’s very easy to develop a pretty rounded taste in music these days with little social interaction. I think there is a heightened lack of concentration that comes from social networking; I wanted to make a bulky concept EP maybe as a way to really to work against tumblr-digestion. I mean, I didn’t think I would/want to ‘break tumblr’... I just wanted people to listen to a ‘piece’ because I think it’s increasingly harder to find the time for them. I hate when music is referred to as a ‘piece’ btw. As for lyrics, music for so many decades has references to cars and telephones. I felt like I should sing about technology related more to my time. I feel like when popular modern acts talk about these phone conversation break-ups I’m pretty convinced they had skyped or just got dumped by text or something...
-what are your thoughts on the role of the internet in the 21st century? It’s pretty double sided. I like how it’s putting all art on a level playing field though. I think in a way it almost shares an affinity with folk music before journalism started making ‘stars’. I don’t like what it’s doing to social interaction. I guess there is a concern of reduced budget for artists, but usually the budget is given to the wrong people anyway... the egoistical part of the artists scared of not being heard by millions is what needs to go. -you said that your first EP was exploring the sonic capabilities of your limited musical equipment; what equipment was that and how is the equipment you are working with now different? Alesis drum machine, Double Bass, there is a pretty characteristic 12-string acoustic in it too, all recorded on a very cheap microphone from Maplins. It’s been about a year since I finished, and now I’ve got a nicer condenser and a shure sm57, I also have a keyboard which I’m excited about. Feels nice to have a broader range of fidelity.
-how did you grow such nice hair? Any maintenance tips? I’ll take full credit for my genetic code. I soak it for two hours a day in fabric softener, it’s important to get as much in your eyes as possible. -how many live shows have you played now, and do you have any planned? I don’t think I’ve seen you playing since you supported bobby conn. Only 6, one last year with Parakeet, this year I did shows with Mazes, Molly Nilsson & Bobby Conn and for some reason a headline show in Glasgow, which were all really great. -what are the best and worst things about playing live as van stonholdt? It’s nice to play with a drummer, and it’s also nice on my own, I like playing new acoustic songs, I like it when people don’t like it. The problem is when you record songs with 60 different tracks on them the translation to live can be nothing but ‘stripped back’. The rehearsed nature of live music also kind of parodies what were very split second decisions whilst making the songs.
-how are you enjoying Brighton? I like Brighton a lot of the time, and if I don’t I can just go on the internet and d/l the latest James Ferraro mixtape. I like you too Liam if that’s what you’re asking. (ed- it is) I like variety and sometimes I feel Brighton falls a bit short there... but I think that’s just due to the size or me not paying attention. -what bands/artists do you enjoy at the moment, and is there anything you HATE? I try my hardest not to hate, but generally speaking when art direction and fashion overrule with no correlation to the music I get quite disinterested but I do try to ‘get’ whatever is worth getting from it. -would you like to give David Cameron a piece of your mind? I think anyone who wants to lead a country has to have a lot of psychopathic issues. I heard recently that he thinks the country should ‘get behind’ fracking. Which is a weird choice of words because I think it’s the closest thing to raping the Earth.
Image by Rachel Hodgson www.rachellouh.blogspot.co.uk
Community, Philippe Nash
Carne, Sjalu, Skallebank, Henrik Hjorth
Cherries in Portici, Cicely Drew
L ouise Do w nie on C lau d e C a hun Louise Downie, Curator of Art at the Jersey Heritage Museum recently put together an exhibition of the work of the surrealist artist Claude Cahun - a less well known contributor to the movement- but one whose work engages with issues and ideas around gender, politics and identity that are relevant today. Cahun spent a large part of her life living on the Island of Jersey (from 1937), and the Museum has a large collection of the work she produced with her stepsister and life partner Marcel Moore, which mainly comprises of black and white photographic images, manipulated through use of costume and illusion. -How did you come to be curator at the Jersey Heritage Museum? I have a degree in art history and an MA in Museum Studies. I worked for Jersey Heritage as a volunteer, then covered some maternity leave and was in Jersey when this job came up. -What interests you about Claude Cahun’s work? The thoroughly innovative nature of the material. A huge contrast to the rest of the art in the JH collection. -A few sources (including the Jersey Heritage website) describe a ‘rediscovery’ of Cahun’s work over a decade ago, what caused her work to go unnoticed for so long? Cahun exhibited sparsely during her lifetime and was more known as a writer than an artist. It was only when Francois Leperlier began to research her writing that he discovered her photography. -How was her work ‘rediscovered’? Leperlier learnt that Lucy Schwob (Cahun) had died in Jersey. advertised in the local newspaper for anyone who might have known her to get in touch, which John Wakeham did. He had bought a variety of material from the Marcel Moore house sale in 1972, having an interest in surrealist literature. Leperlier subsequently published a book on Cahun which started the ball rolling.
Claude Cahun, Masks. Image Property of the Jersey Heritage Museum
-Manipulation of female identity and image is quite common in popular visual culture currently, was Cahun’s work shocking at the time? As I mentioned earlier not much as actually exhibited. For Cahun her work was a creation for herself and her stepsister Marcel Moore, not really for public consumption. She wished to be known as a writer. So her work was not about shocking people of the time, it was about her exploring herself. -There are many unusual and interesting aspects to Cahun’s life, her relationships, her political activism, did you focus on any particular element when you were curating the exhibition? One of our key jobs is the long term care of the collections. As part of a conservation plan for the collection we restrict their light exposure to three months in 12 at 50 lux. Therefore we rotate the collection on display. I try to show the various aspects of Cahun’s life and work and the interpretaion we provide gives a fairly broad sweep at this.
-Would you consider Cahun part of the surrealist, or any other movement of her time? I think she would consider herself a surrealist. -How do you see her work fitting into the art world now? Is she an outsider? She is now compared to many other contemporary artists exploring self portraiture - Cindy Sherman for example and is seen as a precursor of them. I would not say so much outsider as different, principally beacuse she was not producing for an audience but for herself; her work is small in scale and black and white and it comes from the 1920s/30s
The Claude Cahun exhibition is on at the Jersey Heritage Museum till 31/12/2013 Louise Downie’s paper on Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore can be found at: www.jerseyheritage.org
BEN W ILSON G U M PA PAV E M E N T INTING S Ben Wilson is an unusual street artist who paints on the gum that stains the paving stones of London. He painted on the streets of High Barnet in North London when I was at school, I’d often see him stretched out on the ground with his paints and blowtorch, sometimes getting asked requests from passers by to dedicate a gum painting to them and their friends. Despite his popularity with the public he was not welcomed by the local council, who took him to court for criminal damage. However, his work can now be seen in many boroughs of London, including Muswell Hill, Chelsea and even on the Millennium Bridge (very close to the Tate Modern, but not inside the Tate Modern). His work has particular strength in London’s dust grey suburbs where the brightly coloured gum might catch the eye of a passing pedestrian, especially where more than one painting clusters on a pavingstone. The painted gum decorates the floor in varying states of being worn away after erosion caused by footfall and pollution. An unconventional and thoughtful way to exhibit art.
Ben Wilson’s work is being exhibited at the Julian Hartnoll Gallery in central London (37 Duke Street) from the 30th Nov - 7th Dec 2013 Photographs of Ben Wilson’s paintings in the High Street at Muswell Hill
BOOZE Amy Donnell’s stand-up
and
D ON’ TS
I reckon most people’s secret worst nightmare is a friend telling them they’re “not drinking tonight” when they’re meant to be going out. I personally immediately void my bowels and cry uncontrollably for 45 minutes. Then I pick myself up, wipe my little bum and try my best to persuade them why it’s a better idea to not be a pussy and fucking DOWN IT. Recently though, I myself have been considering giving up the juice. This has caused a major internal conflict over whether or not I should let a delicious vodka orange pass my lips again. I’m a happy drunk 99% of the time. I’m a pleasure and a delight. I love to dance, sing, hug people I’ve just met and regale stories of other times I’ve been tanked up - like the time I asked the clerk at a late night petrol station to show me the full range of condoms they stocked and discussed which ones would be best. I was there for a full 15 minutes and eventually chose “Pleasure Me” because it kind of rhymes with my name. I used to enjoy being hungover too; lounging about, eating food that makes people question if you’re obliviously up the duff, watching Full Metal Jousting and Real Housewives, putting Simon & Garfunkel on full volume and reminiscing on the hilarious hijinks from the previous night. HOWEVER. In the last 2 years or so, remembering the night before has brought on a physical form of cringing so powerful that people think I’m dancing in the street and throw loose change at me. I embarrass myself to a level I didn’t realise existed. It’s mainly to do with the things I say to people. Boys. I keep a list on my phone of the things I REMEMBER saying. I keep this list so that I may read upon it thus deterring me from committing the offences again, lest I feel the pain the next day. It hasn’t worked; the list has become a tragic fucking collection of reasons why I am single. I get my (magical) breasts out occasionally, but I figure I might as well do that now, for in 20 years time they will require the aid of industrial scaffolding simply to keep them in their intended region. I can be quite aggressive when I’ve had a drink. For example, I was in the toilets of a club that plays the sort of 80’s music that makes you yell “THIS IS MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE SONG!” after the opening bars of each and every track. I had been dancing like your Uncle Alan at a wedding when
Illustration by Isobel Reddington
I needed a wee. Post-piss, I was looking in the mirror but I knew I couldn’t effectively judge the situation that was my face. I asked the girl next to me if I looked OK. She politely told me I looked beautiful (an overstatement as I had just been blasted in the face with dry ice); I refused to accept her answer. Again she told me I looked lovely. I would not relent, and in my drunkenness I assumed she was trying to sabotage me. So I gave her dirty looks in the smoking area and caught her with a few “dance elbows” back in the club. I recently discovered a frightening new sign that indicates I made a diabolical tit out of myself the night before - when I get up in the morning and the muscles in my legs are taut and aching, it can only mean one thing: I tried to dance like Beyoncé. When I realise this, I make a face that can only be described as Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” with the added dread of someone who recently ate a Tindaloo and agreed to go to a beach that has no facilities. While a war rages in my head, each side with strong arguments concerning my situation with alcohol, I can only wonder whether or not my life would be different if I hadn’t said the silly things, hadn’t exposed my boobs and didn’t put Rihanna on at a party and yell “Oh My God let’s sexy dance”. I imagine I would be a part-time employed mother-of-2 whose friends discuss “relationships” and constantly post photos of their new-born babies on Facebook because they made a face or laughed or did something every fucking other baby does, “Awwwh he’s smiling, love him xxx”. UNFRIEND. But who knows? Alcohol knows.
More from Amy Donn at www.twitter.com/wait_whut
Augbergine Dough Balls, Eugene Noble
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Florence Reddington
Cat Pat, Jonathan Taylor
Hell Hound, Pippa Toole
Highly Realistic Simulated Image, Rufus Day
The Kappa, Joel Macpherson
Art con tribut
ers’
tails contact de
Community, Philippe Nash www.philippenash.tumblr.com Carne, Sjalu, Skallebank, Henrik Hjorth hestemand.tumblr.com, hehjau@gmail.com Cherries in Portici, Cicely Drew www.thealmondtree.tumblr.com Booze and Don’ts, Amy Donnell www.twitter.com/wait_whut Aubergine Dough Balls, Eugene Noble www.eugenenoble.tumblr.com Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Florence Reddington www.florencereddington.tumblr.com Cat Pat, Jonathan Taylor www.jonathanandrewtaylor.com Hell Hound, Pippa Toole www.pippatoole.co.uk Highly Realistic Simulated Image, Rufus Day www.rufusday.co.uk The Kappa, Joel Macpherson macpherson.joel@googlemail.com