Featuring.... Emma Dajska Born Ruffians Benjamin Francis Leftwich & more
with work by... Anna Gregg, Lauren Withrow, Anna Hollow, Ellie Forrest, & more
atwood magazine issue no. 3/�roots�
Masthead Editor-In-Chief & Founder Liza Pittard Features Editor Annie Stokes Creative Director Anna Gregg Photography Editor Anna Peters Music Editor Hope Mackenzie Literary Editor Jeannine Erasmus Advertising Enquiries contact@atwoodmagazine.com Contact atwoodmag@gmail.com www.atwoodmagazine.com www.facebook.com/atwoodmag atwoodmag.wordpress.com We are currently looking for contributors for both Atwood Magazine and Atwood Blog. Email us for more information.
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Covers by: Anna Hollow
“Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.” - Theodore Roethke
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Photography Anna Hollow: http://annahollow.tumblr.com Franey Miller: http://www.franeymiller.net Rebekah Seok: http://www.rebekahseok.com Anna Gregg: http://www.annakayphoto.com Anna Peters: http://cargocollective.com/annapeters Lauren Withrow: http://www.laurenwithrow.com Literary J. Scott Brownlee, Matthew Wimberly, Ellie Forrest, Brittany Walters, Michael Gray Art Erin Borzak Thanks to.. Victoria Jin, Emma Dajska, Elisa Mandelbaum, Lily Mandelbaum, Benjamin Leftwich, Born Ruffians, Tarmac Adam, Alexia Blackhurst Flickr Submissions http://www.flickr.com/photos/pitzeria/ pgs. 54-55, 80-81 Submit your photos to be featured in an upcoming issue here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/atwoodmagazine/
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CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLIGHT J. Scott Brownlee
see pg. 26-27 J. Scott Brownlee is a Writers in the Public Schools Fellow at NYU. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Hayden’s Ferry Review, RATTLE, Beloit Poetry Journal, Ninth Letter, BOXCAR Poetry Review, Tar River Poetry, Pebble Lake Review, Front Porch, South Dakota Review, THRUSH, and elsewhere. His book-length manuscript, Disappearing Town, was also recently named a semifinalist for the 2012 University of Wisconsin Press Brittingham Prize. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR This issue’s theme is shortly and simply “roots”. The idea came to me as I was rereading interviews from the two previous issues. The responses that intrigued me the most were ones regarding the interviewee’s origins, their backgrounds, what inspired them, why they are the way they are—their roots. As humans, we are constantly establishing affinities to places, people, ideas; these things begin to define who we are and keep us grounded. Roots also are what exist when excess is stripped away and all that is left is the true, the raw. I would like to thank the amazing contributors that took part in this issue and our readers for supporting Atwood as we grow our own roots.
XO, Liza Pittard editor-in-chief
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photos by Laura Withrow
photos by Lauren Withrow wardrobe: I.O.S. by Yasmina Johnston
EMMA DAJSKA Emma Dajska sees art where other people see tomorrow’s recycling haul. The Polish art student creates her surreal, evocative works from bits of old paper. Her ability to both shape a vision from collected media – and let the vision grow organically – has landed her in the pages of Rookie Mag and gained her an online following of fans who love her strange juxtapositions (a tiger in the embrace of a sleeping person, or a silky bobbed head surrounded by antique butterflies). But for right now, the college student is just trying to live in the moment and avoid a 9-5.
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT interview by Annie Stokes
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Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where did you grow up? Where do you go to school?
I grew up in Sopot, a seaside resort in Poland. Right now I study graphic design at the University of Arts in Poznań, in the central part of the country and I miss the sea a lot.
How did you become interested in art, and specifically collage art?
As a teenager I started a visual diary, inspired by the shetchbook of Enid from “Ghost World”. At the beginning it was filled mostly with doodles and random scraps like concert tickets and photos of friends. With time I began to turn my diary entries into more thoughtful compositions and, knowing almost nothing about the history of art, I fell in love with collage.
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“THERE ARE
NO RULES”
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Collage artistry is so interesting because the artist re-purposes found art. Where do you find your material? I’m obsessed with paper in general so I keep almost every scrap that gets to my hands.
Like a lot of collage artists, I buy vintage magazines and books in secondhand bookshops, junk stores and flea markets. The shabbier the place looks the better my trophies are! Still, you’d be surprised how many of my images are cut-outs from plain, contemporary women’s magazines.
Tell us about your creative process. How to you build a project?
There are no rules. It’s playful and chaotic. I surround myself with paper mess and leave a lot of space for accident. At the same time, I like to work in series. When the first collage emerges, I select the material and build the rest of the project more deliberately.
When you see some source material, do you immediately have an idea of what the finished product should look like, or is it more improvisational?
I’m often attracted to visually strong photos, but they turn to be too powerful to be collaged - they’re perfect on their own. Inconspicuous scraps and accidental cutouts work better for me. Even if I plan, the outcomes always surprise me.
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What inspires you?
Accidents, coincidences and substitutes. But most of all, language - the hidden poetics of drunk texts, tabloid headlines and overheard train conversations.
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http://cargocollective.com/emmadajska/
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What are some of your proudest artistic achievements? Is there anything that stands out in your memory?
I’m devoted to collage, but I experiment also in different media and I’m the happiest when I’m successful in the unfamiliar area - comics, writing, or more conceptual art projects. I feel very lucky that through my creative activity I can meet (and collaborate with) a lot of talented people and have a glimpse of how their minds work.
What are you up to now?
Right now I’m preparing my BA in graphic design I’ll be curating a collective exhibition of collage-illustration and preparing its visual identity. Besides the creative work I have to master my organizational skills for this project so it’s a big challenge!
What are your plans for the future?
“Adult life” still scares me so much that I stick to “here and now”. As for now, the chances of making a living from my creative activity are still not high, but I’ll work hard and do my best not to end up in a nine-to-five job.
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literary submission 26
My scent is sweet, but I am poisonous. I’m Selenium-filled, which means—at root— I’m a metallic plant. You wouldn’t think it from a gaze. At first glance, I seem welcoming, sprite —now don’t I? With my red petals rising up out of the dust, you can’t see that beneath them I’m pure parasite—feasting on grasses’ roots. I require a host to make my beauty seem the illusion it is. I distract you to steal other plants’ nourishment. Take me jealous—the way that I always have been— and accept me for it. I have wanted to bloom and bleed and be— survive at any price 100-plus days of heat where a place in the shade, even, might just kill you. Here in this country of the damned, where drought plagues every living thing, can you blame me for it?
Indian Paintbrush J. Scott Brownlee 27
nature photos by Rebekah Seok
vs.
n u r t u re
images by Rebekah seok
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BENJAMIN FRANCIS LEFTWICH MUSIC SPOTLIGHT interview by Annie stokes
There is something undeniably homegrown and intimate about Benjamin Francis Leftwich’s music that appeals to all sorts of people – even if they don’t know him or didn’t grow up anywhere near his home. His lilting, acoustic songs hold the listener in gentle captivity, while minute sensations and nostalgic recollections rise to the surface and swirl away. Listening to “Pictures” from his debut album Last Smoke Before the Snowstorm (2011) feels a little bit like sitting in someone’s dark living room while they sleep upstairs. “Butterfly Culture”, a song about a neon sign above a club in his small hometown, still speaks in melancholic and universal tones to young people in the far-away American South......
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....In concert, he’s just as open and honest as his lyrics, bantering with the audience about his home in York and explaining the often funny, often poignant inspirations for his songs. When I spoke with him, he was enjoying the comforts of a Holiday Inn Express in Minneapolis while on his recent North American tour. He opened up about his latest EP, In the Open, his journey as a musician, and his plans for the future.
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Where are you from? I’m from Yorkshire, in the northeast of England. It’s a pretty place. How did you begin your musical career? I’ve always loved music, you know, I’ve always loved listening to bands and buying CDs. Ever since I can remember, like five or six, I always loved listening to the radio. I’ve always loved listening to the melody and the way a song makes me feel, even if I don’t understand it. I picked up lessons, didn’t like lessons so I quit for a few years, then picked up again when I was fourteen and kind of taught myself from there. So you’re largely self-taught? Pretty much, yeah.
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Is the guitar your primary instrument? Yeah, I mean I don’t – I love playing guitar, but I’ve never wanted to be – I’ve wanted to be as good as I can be at guitar, but guitar was always a tool for songwriting. I’ve never wanted to be an extra-specially good guitarist. I want to be as good a guitarist as the song needs. What sort of aesthetics do you turn to when you’re songwriting? Anything that makes me feel something. I can write a song about – sometimes I’ll set out a certain message I want the song to get out but sometimes, a song will just come of its own accord. But I think anyone, you know, anything that makes me feel anything or that affects me emotionally I want to write about and songwriting I guess is kind of an outlet for me. Describe the songwriting process a little. Do you collaborate? Which comes first, the lyrics or the melody? Up till now, I’ve written all my own songs. I’ve worked with different producers on stuff to help out in areas, but again there’s no real rule to it. But usually I’ll sit down with a guitar and I’ll start jamming some chord ideas and some lyrics ideas, and if a lyric comes and sticks the song will kind of work around that. Like if I see something on television or meet someone attractive, I’ll be like, okay I’m going to write a song about this situation. But most of the time it starts with me sitting down and jamming and playing guitar by myself for a couple of hours.
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What were your motivations or muses for your latest EP? One of the songs, “In the Open”, which is the title track, I started writing in Los Angeles, when I was on tour, about being on tour – kind of about being a long way away from everything that has come before. The second song on the EP, “Break the Day Open”, I wrote in the Lake District, and the song’s about feeling confident and moving forward and being happy with your actions. “Manchester Snow” is about a monster in Manchester – like a dragon. And “Is That You On That Plane” is about my grandma passing away.
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When were you working on the EP? We did it kind of through last summer. We started working on it around June and we finished it about September. But I was on tour so much so I was always going away to different countries and flying around so it took a bit longer than I expected it would. But I recorded most of it at home in Yorkshire at my friend’s house. Which was nice for me, because I don’t get to go back there too much.
Our issue is about roots, so I’d love it if you told me about your heritage and how that influences your songwriting. Where you grew up, where you came from, how you were raised – that sort of thing. I think definitely, being raised in Yorkshire, I feel calm there and it is home, and I’ve never written a song specifically about Yorkshire but I definitely feel calm when I go back there. That sense of peace from having a home that you like and enjoy being in. So that’s an important part of the songwriting process, not necessarily consciously. When I was nineteen I started touring and I was away from home a lot, and even though I never like to write songs about being on tour, it definitely gives me a good understanding of what it is to be away from a place that’s your comfort zone. And not just geographically also – like, spiritually. Friends and girls and whatnot.
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Is there a performance that’s particularly memorable to you? Yeah, there are a couple. I loved – we recently did our biggest headline show to date at a venue called KOKO in London, which I think is about a 2,000-capacity venue. We sold out and it was amazing and I never thought we’d get to play there, you know? Three years, and we’ve played 100-capacity venues, and then 400, then 600, then 1,000, and it always grows and you never think you’re going to play the next one up. So KOKO was a great gig and opening one of the stages at Glastonbury (Festival) two years ago was amazing. I’d never played to too many people before then, so it was a great moment. So how do you see yourself evolving as an artist, especially with the release of your latest EP? Do you see yourself moving in a different direction or expanding on what you’ve already built? I think acoustic guitar will always be my main instrument. I want to learn some other instruments and experiment with stuff. But primarily I always just want to write the best songs possible – the ones that mean the most to me, the best sonically, lyrically, and melodically. And that’s all I really aim to achieve, you know? I don’t want to dive into another genre straight away. I feel happy with the way I write songs and the way I record my music and release my music and the songs will dictate how I move forward; it’s not really up to What are you favorite and least favorite parts of touring? My favorite part of touring is being able to play music every night and share my songs with people and see new countries and new places. My least favorite part is never being able to get all my washing done when I need to do it.
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Are you working on anything new right now? Yeah, I’ve written probably fifty-plus new songs in the past couple of months and I’m playing a couple of them live on tour and I’m happy with the lot of them. I’m still writing, I’m trying to write every day and listen to new music every day, and when I’m home I’ll be writing for the three weeks that I’m home before we go to Australia, and hopefully we’ll start recording a new album this year. But again, I don’t really feel too much pressure – I want to be proud of my next album, and whether that means taking my time, I don’t really mind. It’s the beginning of a new year – do you have any goals or aspirations? I want to start swimming. You want to start swimming? Yeah, I like swimming. I joined a gym for a couple weeks when I was home but then I didn’t go anymore, so I want to take that more seriously. And I want to get better at cooking, and I want to have written a hundred new songs by next Christmas. How would you describe your own music? (laughs) The ultimate question. Um, I would describe it as songs played on acoustic guitar that I’m really proud of and that I want to share with as many people as possible.
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VICTORIA JIN Founder & Editor-in-Chief of KNEON Magazine Photographer, Blogger, Student
Victoria Jin might seem a little intimidating to some readers: she is, after all, the globetrotting blogger who started the incredible zine KNEON in between Chinese studies classes (in Scotland!) and breaking into the world of professional photography. But underneath all of her accomplishments, Victoria is just a sweet, self-possessed girl intent on pursuing her passions. Her fresh accessibility shines through her work, creating an alluring, candid space in which readers and subjects feel comfortable being honest. It’s as if her pieces happily declare: “This is me – now tell me about you.”
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interview by Annie Stokes
photos by Victoria Jin
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Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from, and where are you now?
I’m Victoria, originally from China, born and raised in Vienna, and now reading History of Art with Chinese Studies in Edinburgh. Sometimes I get confused by the concept of ‘home’.
How did you get into fashion and photography?
I always liked to take pictures; it helps me remember events and people way better. When I started my blog, I got more into portrait photography and post-editing. I finally did my first ‘official’ with an agency model in 2010, which was for the first issue of KNEON. Now I work closely with Stellamodels in Vienna, shooting book photos of the New Faces.
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“Everything and anything is the
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possibility – novelty is exciting.�
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Tell us about your journey from blogger to EIC of Kneon.
The latter would not have been possible without the former. I think blogging really warms you up to this new expanse of space– the possibilities of the internet are endless, but there are invisible rules, ways of navigating around that gets you to places easier, and blogging is the best place to start. I started with Livejournal, moving on to Blogger, which is way more public. And after posting material for an audience of potentially anyone, it made starting KNEON feel like just another new blog, with just more creative collaboration. Of course, running guilds in Neopets – no joke – was also invaluable for picking up HTML and basic Photoshop skills!
Are there any issues of Kneon that you are particularly proud of?
The latest one – number six -- for sure. The magazine has reached a more mature and stable art direction, still quintessentially ‘KNEON’ but with a more fixed personality. Also, I’m really happy that there is almost a family spirit around it; it’s still just Julia and I running it, but there are a growing number of static photographers, writers, and artists who contribute towards each issue, such as Yuji Watanabe in Paris and Clarens Tyson in Montreal. I’m just glad that people respond to KNEON as an idea and are willing to add more to the pot.
Tell us about some of your accomplishments as a photographer. Are there any shoots or experiences that are particularly memorable or that you are especially proud of?
One of my favourite shoots is actually one I did very early on, with the stylist Raffaela Loebl. It was taken in her dad’s apartment with model Belinda Hirt of Wienermodels. I basically had no fancy lens, working with my mom’s standard Canon 20d and my external flash. I also did the makeup – it was all quite chilled. And the result is one of my all-time favourites.
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How would you describe your particular aesthetic, both in terms of your photography and your personal style? For photos, I generally like a natural look, a caught-in-the-moment feel that brings out true beauty and emotions. I don’t like studio shoots too much. For my personal style, I just wear what fits my ‘type’ – I rarely follow trends, and am mostly inspired by streetstyle photos based in bigger cities and 90s romcoms (buns and high-waisted everythings = love). Everything and anything is the possibility – novelty is exciting.
Who and/or what are your inspirations and muses?
My art teacher at school, Herb Holzinger, is such an inspiration to me. His life story, his passion for art, and his never-ending patience for conversations and talk about ideas – it’s love of the visuals to a new level. He has eyes through which anyone would want to see the world.
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What are your plans for the future?
Turning 21, going to the US of A for the first time, getting KNEON printed, visiting my friends in Dubai and Abu Dhabi this summer, moving to Shanghai, and moving into my first very own flat in Edinburgh.
You had an international upbringing and are now a student in Scotland. How do you feel like your past/heritage/culture has informed your art?
I think the international environment of our high school really molded my aims and interests in life. There were so many things I was able to get involved with, such as editing the school magazine and yearbook, and being on the fashion show committee, that played a big role in where and who I am now.
http://ellevictoire.blogspot.com/
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And though you may lack fur, you have a reasoning mind and the ability to improvise. And sometimes you have to make your own spring. Forget how many watts are in a light bulb or the sun, there are photon receptors in the human eye. Quit planting tears in tissues when there is more surface area in the soil. Melt the snow with your breath.
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literary submission
Untitled Ellie Forrest
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images by anna hollow
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literary submission Wandflower
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-A colloquial name for Galax, a plant common in Appalachia that grows from a rhizome which is a delicate stem that spreads laterally underground and sends spikes up through the earth to flower and colonize.
Wandflower Matthew Wimberly
In the final hours of oblivion December twenty first, two thousand twelve the moon is slouched behind snow-clouds. No light touches the forest. In my house dogs howl to the wind as it crashes from all sides into the scrub-trees. A mantle of snow buries the ground as my breath rolls against frosted glass. Because the lights went out and the rooms are black and empty from the electric hum of television I write words in the fog; one by one until they decay. At last I stare out to where the road had been defined in gravel now swallowed in snow-drifts. The land devastated with tree limbs. What looms isn’t a new truth but the old prophecy: all roads lead to death. If tomorrow the wind dies and Winter goes on toward Spring, Galax will sprout again and call beetles up through ash and silt. Each exoskeleton dark obsidian balanced on blades of dew-grass in mimic of the milky way galaxy’s eye; wreathed with the shine of solar systems. If we wake tomorrow, we will be changed. Clouds will linger like bone-dust over the furrowed valleys in the red morning as sun beams cut the sky like a knife’s edge against the throat of a deer. I turn from the slatted blinds, press my palms against my forehead. look back on my life like a seer of the past. How I’ve lived through car wrecks, toxic inhalation of smoke and asbestos angst of the heart broken and re-made.
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Born Ruffians interview by Hope Mackenzie intro by annie stokes
MUSIC SPOTLIGHT The indie rock band Born Ruffians was formed in Canada, but their online presence coupled with homegrown word-of-mouth popularity has led them all around the world. Their dreamy, hypnotic sound -- the combination of Luke Lalonde’s vocals and guitar, Andy Lloyd’s guitar and keyboard, Mitch Derosier’s bass, and Steven Hamelin’s drums -- is captured on their fourth studio album, Birthmark, which was released earlier this month. Luke gave us the answers to the questions we were dying to ask.
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Describe the technical aspects of the album (producer, studio, time in the studio, etc.) We recorded this record in Toronto with Roger Leavens at BoomBox sound. We spent the better part of a year working on it. I helped to produce the album with Roger which is something I hadn’t done in the past. We started writing after writing for about two years, in solitude and with the band. We had a lot more time to record this album so we could really get into the production and the details.
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What sets aside Birthmarks from previous BR albums? The first two albums were recorded fairly quickly, about 2 weeks for each. It didn’t really allow for a lot of ideas to be embellished or even tried out. Something like trying a slide guitar part and spending an hour on it wouldn’t have been an option before, we had to really push through everything with no time to go back and try different ideas. We spent the better part of a year recording this album so we had the time to get into fine details. I think when you’re just trying to get something done it’s stressful and not a good environment for recording. This time we didn’t really have to stress about deadlines. How has the band changed since The Makeshift Metric Catastrophe? Wow, well that was a very long time ago. We were all living in Midland still going to high school. Since then we moved out of our parent’s houses to Toronto, got signed to a label and toured all over the world. I think we were really starting to find our sound and what we wanted to do with more confidence when we made those albums at home. It’s just been a process of refining and progressing since then.
What was the inspiration for Birthmarks? Just to make the best album of the year. We wanted to make a really big album, something that was thicker, louder, tighter and bigger than anything we’d done before. We spent a long time writing in different ways, a long time recording, trying to get something we were really proud of.
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Who has been your favorite artist to tour with/open for/play with? We’ve had a lot of good experiences opening for really amazing bands. Caribou were really awesome to tour with, we did a North American and a UK/Europe tour with them. Franz Ferdinand were awesome, really down to earth, nice guys who liked hanging out after shows. I learned a lot watching them play every night. Young Rival toured with us a bunch, they are just the best. The Elwins, Moon King... I really can’t say we’ve had a bad tour or a bad experience with any band we’ve toured with. How do you react to music criticism? I don’t know, for my own stuff I try not to read it. Even if a review is 99% positive I will focus in on that 1%, blow it out of proportion and dwell on it. It’s hard working on something for 3 years, putting it into someone’s hands who listens to it a few times and bases a bad review on false facts/assumptions. I often have the urge to write retorts just to clarify errors but it’s obviously best to leave it alone. I don’t read a lot of reviews for other artists. I think it’s sourcing out an opinion you can’t figure out on your own, which can be nice I guess, but I like to make up my own mind. I hate reading about paintings, books and films too. Art for me is a personal experience and it’s more special to me to maintain a unique perspective on it. I think sharing those perspectives are nice when they’re positive. What has been the hardest thing about making Birthmarks? The best and worst part was time. I was so happy to have the luxury of time with this album but it was also a very slow process that, at times, I wished would speed up. I get anxious to release music and share it with people.
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Where there songs written that didn’t make the album? I think we probably went through 40 to 50 songs during the writing and recording. A lot just died along the way because they didn’t have the right feeling or lyrics. We recorded 15 songs and put 12 on the album. What song on the album are you most proud of? Why? I am pretty evenly proud of the album as a whole.
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Why the name Birthmarks for the album? I think it’s a fresh start for us. It’s a step in a new direction and the amount of time between Say It and Birthmarks was enough to feel like we’d fell off the radar a bit. It was nice to go back to a feeling of anonymity and solitude. We were really making the album for ourselves, music we wanted to hear. What do you think this album says about the future of the band? Where do you see the band going? I’m not sure, one step at a time.
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Elisa and Lily Mandelbaum Creators of Style Like U
Elisa and Lily Mandelbaum love fashion.
Elisa spent twenty years working in the fashion industry, and her daughter Lily grew up around stylish and inspiring humans. One thing they don’t love is how commercialized and homogeneous the fashion industry has become. What was once an outlet for creativity and individuality suddenly seemed, at the turn of the millennium, to be a hotbed of commercialism. So this mother-daughter team created StyleLikeU, a fashion blog dedicated to reclaiming what they love about clothes. Which is, essentially, the people who wear them. interview by Annie Stokes
Tell us a little bit about yourselves. Where did you grow up, and where are you now?
Elisa: I grew up in Rye, which is a suburb of New York City, and I live on the Lower East Side now, and Lily grew up in Westchester on the Hudson, which is also a suburb of New York City, and she lives in the East Village. What sorts of jobs and hobbies did you explore before launching StyleLikeU?
E: I was a fashion editor and stylist for about 20-plus years and I taught yoga and… hobbies? Lily: (whispers) Shopping! E: Well, mmm, there are few hobbies in New York City. All you do is work! (pauses) Motherhood. L: I did a million things in high school, but they weren’t really relevant to StyleLikeU for the most part. I would say that the only thing that – the couple things that were super relevant are that I was the editor of a yearbook in high school, which now I look back and I realize there was a little bit of a connection between those interests. And I also studied documentary film a bit in college. And right when we started StyleLikeU I made a documentary in Kenya. So those are the few things that I would think kind of overlap with StyleLikeU, or maybe contributed to StyleLikeU. How did yoga contribute to StyleLikeU?
E: Well, it has a very spiritual side, like StyleLikeU does, in that it gave me the perspective of connecting to people and not judging them on the outside.
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What is StyleLikeU? How would you describe the project? E: It’s a community of communities, and it’s a platform where people with exceptional style can be inspirations and empower other people to be more themselves in all aspects of their lives, including dressing and clothing.
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What are some inspirations and muses that you turn to? E: Well, definitely all the people that we feature. Oh, okay --someone like Patti Smith. That’s a really standard answer, but it’s so true. She’s just so her own person and doesn’t give a shit! She never caves to any commercialism or anything that’s outside of herself in terms of her style. Hands down for me, she’s someone that I really look up to. Diana Vreeland is another one for similar reasons. L: Not big-name fashion industry people, generally.
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How did StyleLikeU begin? What was the motivation behind it, and what were the processes in terms of launching it? L: My mom left the fashion industry to teach yoga and to raise my brother and I for ten-plus years, and then she reentered the industry when I was a teenager only to find a place that was very different than before she had left, in that it had become very corporate and celebrity-oriented and name-brand oriented versus what she had known in the eighties, which was more about individuality and creativity. So, she was very frustrated with what she was doing, creatively. E: It was no longer a place where there was a voice for the subculture or authenticity or anything other than -- things that were related to money, ultimately. L: Simultaneously, I was in my late teens, and obviously I had grown up around my mom and people that she was friends with who had amazing style. But, I was kind of like, not very into fashion in terms of the magazine and everything because I felt like it – it was confusing to me because I felt like it wasn’t what inspired me about people that I would see with style. I was also curvier and not really seeing curvy girls represented at all. So we both shared this passion for the people in our lives with awesome style, and people watching, and we just sort of one day merged our paths and interests. We didn’t know what our goal was, but it was very organic, and we just started interviewing. And, we just started talking to them with my dad’s old video camera about their style and their passion for it and right away it was very, very inspiring because none of these people had been given an outlet to share this passion and it was kind of something that they’d kept to themselves their whole lives.It really quickly became this never-ending community of really inspiring and open people.
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Do you feel like you are making inroads in the fashion industry? Are you changing things? L: We definitely don’t attempt to be outside the industry. We try to find people who are authentic within the industry. We aren’t anti-fashion; we’re just against the way it’s being presented today. One of our main goals is to really have input in the fashion industry, like casting campaigns and shows with the types of people we shoot. That’s one change we think would be very powerful because I personally believe that clothes look the best when they’re being worn by someone who actually wears it their own way, as opposed to a model who’s being styled by someone. I think another important change would be seeing the actual process of a designer’s work as opposed to just the end product presented because I find the inspiration and process and journey of what they do and the emotional connection to the person behind the brand attracts me much more to the clothes than the clothes themselves. So, we don’t want to be outside the industry—we want to put our stamp on it and change things. E: That would also revive the industry, so it’s not exclusive or homogenous. We feel that we fill a space that’s the opposite of that, that’s aspirational and inclusive. We want to make fashion less of a dirty word. It’s something we all need to do, which is get dressed, and we want people to feel interested in that.
“Everyone can be an artist” 78
http://stylelikeu.com
What are your plans for the future? L: We released out mission video this last month this year; we’re breaking up content into different themes that start in April. One is body image, one is sexuality, one is Afropunk, one is age, and one is community. These are categories we feel really strongly about representing and breaking down certain stereotypes and issues that people might be hesitant to embrace. All of our content will address those issues. We’ve also launched [an] agency side of what we do which is casting and making videos of brands E: We have a dream that’s hopefully not too far off in the future to be able to make it a platform that all people can participate in. It will still be curated, in that content will still have to meet certain requirements so we can continue to make it something that’s special, but inclusive. It can sort of broaden the message not necessarily about the style, but style is everything. Like, however you find your humanity through art. We really encourage that everyone has that side of them. Everyone can be an artist.
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THIS IS
AMERICAN photos by Anna Gregg model: Nikola Anderson @ Major Model Management
Hair/Makeup: Victoria Martin Clothing provided by Flutter Boutique (Pennington, NJ)
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the root
You’re an interesting root, one that grew with such speed I, from barely knowing you to harboring such need. Do you recall the moments when you weren’t near? I don’t have those memories anymore, my dear. You walked in and took over with brazen stride
by Brittany Walters
Quoting Ginsberg and living largely and wearing your pride Endlessly validating my thoughts and my heart beats and my fears Taking pause only to tell me it was ok to deal in tears. And that it was all real, Or at least real enough and no need to explain, So quick to acknowledge my clandestine shame. Do you recall the moments when you weren’t near? I don’t have those memories anymore, my dear. Never before did I jump to intimate Funny habits and art installations I’d like to create. Novels I’d write and places I’d go
And would I rather be always hot or always in the snow. But you, turning up the radio with a grin, Reminded me you loved my thoughts, you loved my whims. Remember the wind and the sky that ate the sea? Winding roads and Lynchian melodies? We crawled along streets, hands skimming in the cool
Driving alongside shapes and shadows, in time with the ghouls. Remember loving so much that time and space disappeared? I don’t have those memories anymore, my dear. Ruminating and laughing and saying not much at all And star-gazing and star wondering and bedroom crawls. And you became me and I became you And we slipped dangerously into the world we had tried to eschew. Remember losing yourself in affection and fear? I don’t have those memories anymore, my dear. Then what of the dark and lugubrious days When our paths stopped colliding and started parting ways?
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What of the moments of emotional debris
literary submission
When we lost its meaning to you and me. All of the sudden words had meanings they never bore before And certainty was replaced with “I don’t know” and “I’m not sure” And movies like Rushmore stopped making you laugh Because it just wasn’t good to laugh at stuff like that. Do you recall when you used your silence as a spear? I don’t have those memories anymore, my dear. And then that goodbye, I remember it as clearly as the minute passed. Endless and ruthless and sad and bombast But only to prolong, to preserve a failed state Because how could we face the shambles of what we worked to create? But we did and we do And we did and its done. And memories, with time, seem to dim and run. So, what of it, my root? You’re one of many more. I keep collecting, keep coveting, keeping an ample store. The more roots, the more grounding, as far as I can see. The memories falter, yes, but the roots remain for me.
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SPRING AWAKENING photos by Anna Peters model: Lauren Reed
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Alexia Blackhurst ARTIST SPOTLIGHT interview by Liza pittard
Alexia is no stranger to Atwood. You may have noticed her illustrations for the previous issue of the zine, but, what you may not know is that she’s a phenomenal artist who specializes in dramatic shadows and whimsical brushstrokes.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m twenty years old and I’m from Delaware. Right now I’m living outside of Boston for school. Aside from art, I love astrology (seriously), reading about psychology, and hanging out with my family.
Where are you in school? What are you studying?
I’m a sophomore at Boston College. I’m double majoring in Biology and Studio Art.
How would you describe your art for someone who hasn’t seen it?
I mostly do portrait paintings of either myself or people I know. My portraits used to be more naturalistic but within the past few years I’ve been doing more expressive work. I like to think that the brushstrokes that are visible in the painting lend to a certain tension that the viewer senses when looking at a portrait. I wouldn’t call any of my work cheerful.
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When did you first discover art and when did it become more of a serious endeavor for you?
I’ve been drawing since I could hold a pencil, and then in high school I took a painting class partially out of curiosity, and partially as a way to challenge myself. I decided to take AP Art my senior year of high school, and I think that’s when I started taking myself seriously as an artistic individual, because I had to produce meaningful work that would eventually be scrutinized by the AP graders.
Who are your artistic influences? What inspires you?
There are countless artists that I look up to, but in terms of work I could relate to, Jenny Saville’s paintings are very inspiring. Our subject matter is different, but her technique is incredible.
What is the goal of your work? What are your trying to accomplish with your art?
I try to produce work that grabs the viewer. I want the people in my paintings to look thoughtful... or at least not empty of emotion. I think this is why my work tends to be heavy--I’m trying to bring out any sort of heaviness within the subject of the piece through painting techniques.
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My favorite piece of yours in the one of the face with the different sized detailed eyes--what was the thought process behind this piece? Around the time I painted that piece, I was having a fascination with the reflectiveness of eyes and how light can also pass through eyes as if they are simply glass spheres. So I knew I wanted to paint something expressing my interest in an eye’s composition. From there, I just painted a face, but decided to incorporate some exaggerated elements to emphasize my interest in eyes.
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You have a very unique style. How did you develop this style?
My style developed by accident. I get into this manic craze when I get into my painting process, and that shows in the work with all the chaotic marks visible in the paintings and the exaggerations of eyes or lights and shadows. I liked this result visually, so I’ve continued to allow myself to get stressed out when I paint.
I understand you’re also studying biology: has this had impact on your art at all? Does biology inform any of your work? Surprisingly, not yet. With each class I take, though, I get more ideas for future work. So maybe some biology-inspired paintings may be coming in the near future.
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The theme of this issue is “roots”--have their been any aspects of your growing up that has influenced your art? Any particular people in your life that inspired your work? Absolutely. Nina, my older sister, is someone I look up to, almost as a mother figure. She took care of me all throughout my childhood. In addition, we’re great friends. Oftentimes I paint portraits of Nina, and I think my appreciation of her shows through in the strength and intelligence she seems to possess in these portraits.
You’ve been working in different mediums apart from oils--collage, pen--what has this experimentation taught you? Do you have a favorite medium? Because I work with different media I’ve developed a sense of what looks appropriate where--I’ll paint an oil painting to hang up in my parent’s house, and I’ll make a card to send to a friend with collage and ink. arebutwords youalways try tobelive by? in my Overall, I definitely favor What oil paint, there will a place Don’t worry too much about what others think. heart for pen and ink because it’s such an accessible medium.
What are words to liveforby? What areyou yourtryplans the future?
Don’t worry too much To paint for theabout rest ofwhat my others life andthink. continually expand my style/content, no matter what career path I choose.
What are your plans for the future?
To paint for the rest of my life and continually expand my style/content, no matter what career path I choose.
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TARMAC ADAM interview by Hope Mackenzie intro by annie stokes
MUSIC SPOTLIGHT Tarmac Adam has only released two albums, but their journey -- as well as the combined experience of their members -- could provide material for endless songs. Formed in 2001 in Australia by Matt O’Donnell, Sean McVitty, Steve Paix, and past members Nick Seymour and Paul Hester of Crowded House, the band grew organically from songwriting and recording sessions, and their first album, “Handheld Torch” (2003), was a selfmade labor of love. Ten years later, the band is back with “The History Effect”, a sonic roadmap of the past decade. Matt O’Donnell from Tarmac Adam writes..... Why the name “Tarmac Adam”? Tarmac Adam is our play on the original name for tarmac. But also that sense of ‘Adam’ – the first man, the Everyman – on life’s journey, a journey we all travel.
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What remains the band’s biggest influence? Our respective histories.
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How did it all start? Who were the original members? Year/time of commencement? Tarmac Adam came together as a studio project over a 12 month period back in 2001/02. I’d had a break after a releasing and touring a solo record in ’98/99 and had started writing a new batch of songs. I got together with an ambient guitar whiz - Sean McVitty here in Melbourne, Australia to explore some new sonic directions. Sean knew Paul Hester, from a local Elwood haunt - The Turtle Cafe, and we asked Paul if he’d record some drum parts on the tunes. Paul had a great little studio out the back of his place - a converted ‘shed’ that we ended up recording all the drums in for that record. The project evolved further when, upon Paul’s invitation, Nick Seymour joined the recording process. Nick eventually took on production duties when we actually decided to finish that first record, Handheld Torch. Multi-instrumentalist Steve Paix came on board to complete the lineup. So - what effectively started as a “Matt O’Donnell” solo record ended up as Tarmac Adam with the unique rhythm section of the original Crowded House lineup. It became an eighteen-month project, written and recorded between Melbourne and Dublin, Ireland.
What has been the bands hardest challenge to overcome? Paul’s death in 2005 was a very difficult time. He was adored by people around the world and the outpouring of grief was extraordinary. Tarmac Adam was in a transition stage at the time as Steve and I were deciding the direction for the next record, and with Paul’s death, the project was pretty much put on hold with no certainty of another record at all. The following years saw Nick back in the Crowded House fold as they released two records and toured the world. Steve and I worked on a range of projects in film, theatre and TV, all the while keeping alive the possibility of another Tarmac Adam record. Late 2011 saw the challenges of personnel availability, and lack of time finally be overcome. As well, we found a wonderful drummer. Things fell into place to allow us to create another Tarmac Adam record - The History Effect.
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Speak a bit to the band’s song-making process. I’ll usually start with finding odd tunings and chords on an acoustic guitar that I’ll jam on for quite some time. Alternate tunings take me away from standard chord structures. They provide a whole different harmonic palette from which to create vocal melodies. I’ll start layering up parts in the studio to help define the song character, all the while writing lyric ideas and hooks around a particular theme. These sessions are often up to ten hours of really digging-in, with the studio full of instruments and effects to create layers of sound and a multiplicity of melodies. Once I’ve exhausted my ideas for that stage, the session goes over to Steve, a master arranger and shaper of sonic things. He’ll provide shape and form to make it work in perhaps a more conventional structure. From my, at times over-layered and dense sonic canvas, he finds the essence of the song. So, essentially we reset and get into the creative process again. The song will go back and forth between Steve and I maybe four or five times in this fashion. The session would then go to Nick in Dublin, Ireland. He’d sketch record his bass ideas and when he came over to Australia we recorded the bass, as well as Reuben Alexander’s drum parts. Steve and I produced The History Effect in our studio in Melbourne. We were fortunate enough to have Rob Feaster mix it at Quad Studios, Nashville.
Speak about the leadership roles within the band in terms of its members. For this record, Steve and I wrote, produced and recorded the bulk of it. Nick then came on board for studio bass duties with Reuben Alexander on drums. So, Steve and I drive the process to actually get a product finished and released. But in saying that, the times we’re all in the studio there’s definitely a sharing of ideas, directions and leadership for different parts of the process. Other people made contributions to the sound of The History Effect. Josh Barber added lots of percussion textures, Maddy Hay sang a beautiful vocal on “You As Me”, and a number of musical friends threw their hats in the ring to provide finishing touches. Allowing others to bring their creative perspective to the process means that you sometimes let others take the lead to see where it 113 moves the song to.
How did the band select the song order on the album “The History Effect”? The song order on this album was decided by song tempo, key, the “singles”, and most importantly, the album narrative. This is meant to be a whole album listening experience. We wanted to get just the right order for the ‘patient’ listener as well as cater to the ‘first 3 song’ listener. Over a period of six weeks we made various car CDs and lived with sample track orders for a few days. Then we’d tweak it, live with that for a while, tweak it again... after probably four versions and some feedback from some other trusted ears, we settled on an order before sending the album off to mastering with Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound in New York.
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Which is easier to write about - life’s successes or pitfalls? In essence, which range of experiences makes for better music? There’s probably a lot more songs written about life’s pitfalls and struggles and certain styles of music lend themselves to those themes, but I certainly don’t think that necessarily makes for ’better’ music. Music is relative to the listener and how they perceive a particular melody or lyric sentiment. We wrote this record from a fairly optimistic perspective. The themes are much more about acceptance and resolution rather than the eternal struggles of life. Don’t get me wrong, these songs acknowledge life’s pitfalls but also attempt to find an outcome (and resolution) without the earnest painful struggle of self reflection. It’s very much a journey album - where we are, looking forward, looking back. I’d like to think it’s got a hopefulness about it that provides a break from the “pitfalls of life”.
Is it difficult to juggle the responsibilities of the band with the responsibilities of being a father/family member? There’s probably a lot more songs written about life’s pitfalls and struggles and Being a parent who is creative and passionate about something has enormous benefits for kids. I’m mindful of my kids being as much a part of Tarmac Adam’s journey as I am. They listen to demos, dance in the lounge room to new songs and take part in celebrations along the way of making a record like this. Balance is the essence and there are times when music is the lesser priority to family. It seems to be working out ok. If you could tour with another band, who would it be and why? Elbow. I like their music. I like their shows.
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Eight-Year-Old Hana Gray Writes a Letter to Her Birth Mother in Nanchang, China Michael Gray Tummy mama, do you miss me? I think you loved to hold me when I cried. I think you are left-handed. When I pet my dog and kitty, I never use my right hand. Is your skin dry, or soft like mine? There’s a freckle on my finger. My nails are short, maybe like yours. Is your hair hard to curl? Mine is long. I think you wear silk clothes and slippers all day because the weather where you live is so hot. Or do you wear sneakers? I think you are pretty
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literary submission because I am pretty. I think you might like it here. We have electric toothbrushes. I think you can’t afford those. My new mama told me that when I was born you couldn’t keep me. I think you were upset you had to set me on the edge of a busy sidewalk. I think when you walked away I said goo goo ga ga because that’s what comes out of a baby’s mouth. I think you secretly celebrate my birthday every year, without letting your government know. I would like to meet you. It would be scary. If I got lost, no one could understand me.
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patchwork photos by Franey Miller models: Alida & Yams makeup/hair: Casey Ritchie
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