Issue N ยบ 3
Quarantasia
11/20
Social Distance by Stefano Dili
Quarantasia
2
Issue N ยบ 3
3
Issue N º 3
Quarantasia
Quarantasia Magazine 22/11/20 Issue º 3
FOUNDER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Elisa Mantovani
MANAGING EDITOR Neil Hampshire
DESIGN EDITOR Nikki Ritmeijer
LAYOUT AND ART DIRECTION Elisa Mantovani
CONTACT
invictus@invictusartmag.com www.invictusmagazine.com All content © 2020 INVICT/US Magazine
~
Cover: Christopher Maxwell
Left: Elspeth Diederix
Right: Olof Grind
CONTRIBUTORS AIICHIRO UNO Phorographer Japan BETH MACIOROWSKI Film Photographer United States of America CADHLA KENNEDY KO Filmmaker, Photographer Spain/Ireland/Philippines CAT WOOD/ CANIS CHROMATIS Photographer, Ecologist, Evolutionary & Organismal Biologist United States of America CHIARA VIVALDI Photographer, Entrepreneur Italy CHRISTOPHER MAXWELL Photographer Australia CLAUDIA SERRAHIMA Photographer, Artist, Cultural Manager Spain/Catalan DAISY JORGENSEN Actor, Poet England/Norway
GREGORY GREGORI Scientist, Alchemist, Mystic & Artist Cyprus
JIMENA GARCÍA ÁLVAREZ-BUYLLA Artist Mexico LAUREN DRESCHER Artist United States of America LESLEY BRÜGGER Photographer Switzerland/South Africa/ Iceland LIA WEINMAN Artist United States of America LIAM MEREDITH Filmmaker, Photographer England LOÏS LOW Artist France MARI WESTENG SØRENSEN Artist Norway MONICA VACCARI Multimedia Artist, Sculptor, Photographer Italy MUTI MUSAFIRI & NUSCHOOL Community England PABLO RODRÍQUEZ Mechanical Design Engineer R&D Spain
PETER VAN EGEREN Writer, Poet, Teacher United States of America POL VENTURA Photographer, Designer Spain RIAQ MIUQ (Mural) Artist, Agriculturist Spain REBECCA MASTROROCCO Culturalist, Multidisciplinary Writer Italy ROMÁN CADAFALCH Living ‘Til the End Spain SARP KAYALI Art Director, Photographer Turkey/Austria/ Greece/Italy STEFANO DILI Photographer Italys SIMON MCANDREW Writer, Hairstylist, Photographer England VILLA FRANKOVA Musician, Poet England ZURITO Musician Spain
Quarantine by Stefano Dili
ELENA VIVALDI Fashion Designer, Artist, Model Italy
IGOR MARTYNOWSKI Comic Author, Illustrator Poland
Kotka, Finland 2020, 120mm by Ysatis Batal
Quarantasia
Issue N ยบ 3
Your Skin Against Mine by Cat Wood/Canis Chromatis @canischromatis
Quarantasia
8
Issue N º 3
ZOONOTIC SERIES
22
by Lauren Drescher
I TURN TO NATURE AND IN SILENCE SPRING PUSHES ON by Beth Maciorowski
28 BODY CHRONICLES by Rebecca Mastrorocco 30 CORONA CONFINEMENT by Loïs Low
85 CLICHÉS by Igor Martynowski 92 A PLOR THE PELL by Claudia Serrahima &
Cadhla Kennedy Ko
98 SOCIAL DISTANCING by Peter van Egeren 100 MMXX
by Monica Vaccari
106 38 OMGRA by Pol Ventura &
Riaq Miuq 52
DREAMSONG by Villa Frankova 54
DYSTOPIAN by Stefano Dili
66 UPSIDE-LOCK-
DOWN
by Chiara Vivaldi & Elena Vivaldi 73 ILLUSIONS by Sarp Kayali 80 WHEN
THE REAPER COMES
by Daisy Jorgensen
130
by Lesley Brügger
136
NU SCHOOL EVENT REVIEW
by Elisa Mantovani
142
MASKS by Aiichiro Uno
146
ZURITO TAMESIS ALBUM REVIEW by Elisa Mantovani
THE VALLEY OF A THOUSAND HILLS
108
by Mari Westeng Sørensen
151 PAN
by Christopher Maxwell
ENDANGERED EARTH
118
PROGS-19
by Pablo Rodriquez
148
BLACK LIVES MATTER by Levi Hoffmeier & Driely Carter
SECO & DOCUMENTARY REVIEW
by Román Cadafalch, Cadhla Kennedy Ko, Review by Dick Edelstein
120
MESSAGE(S) IN A BOTTLE
154
by Liam Meredith
by Jimena García Álvarez-Buylla
126
156
ALCHEMY: THE UNION OF OPPOSITES
by Gregory Gregori
DISPUTE PARTICULARS POLICIES AND PROCEDURAL ANOMALIES HEREIN by Simon McAndrews & Villa Frankova
LA REJA
156
MOUNTAIN ESCAPADES
by Lia Weinman
MINIMALISM WITH A SENSE OF COMFORT
CONTENT S
14
Quarantasia
EDITOR’S LETTER Dear Reader,
As 2020 is coming to an end, we are filled with wonder, anticipation and perhaps with a sense of careful dread for what traces this year will leave behind – but not without first commemorating the valuable lessons & creations that sprouted within the darkness: Quarantasia is a dedication to the fantasia that was born in this humbling and devastating, inward-looking, insane, yet teaching year – filled with contradictions, uncertainty and hope lurking around every corner.
COVID and its representation in the public arena undoubtedly raised questions on the outflux of information and their validity. COVID has caused more than 1.3 million deaths worldwide by November 2020. Losing a loved one is a profound pain – there many causes of death that should not be neglected: year-on-year the deaths from diseases like cancer, or heart disease rise. The numbers of deaths in the world from hunger or malnutrition are tremendous.
We fell asleep in one world, and woke up in another: Hugs and kisses suddenly became weapons, not visiting friends and family an act of love. The development of the pandemic took a similar trajectory as it spread through the globe, inducing incredulity at first, followed by fear and uncertainty. On a large scale, it’s disarmed humanity completely. What it exposed was human fragility – every privileged Western country was caught off guard: politicians, scientists, healthcare systems & individuals were groping in the dark for answers. As Carlo Rovelli, an Italian theoretical physicist noted, what came to light, is that we still belong in the hands of Nature. Even science, and our most inventive tools and technology, remained frail and incompetent in defence of a sovereign and indifferent Nature. As Western arrogance was being put to a hard test, many individuals had the opportunity to turn inward, reconnecting to the rich treasures of their inner worlds. Earth was breathing calmly through the Lockdown, whilst our humanity trembled on the loosening clutches of our actions and mistakes, as we were forced to embrace simplicity and meet small moral dilemmas every single day.
What did become clear in these times of difficulty, is that collaboration is our only chance at survival – and we hope this to be the positive light sprouting when we turn over these stones. Let Human beings surface from this hurdle with vigour, weaving a future that radiates a newfound unity: Individuals living in respectful coexistence, recognising that there is no shame in revealing one’s vulnerability.
10
While the world is at a still point from the eyes of a human, let us travel, immersing into these pages– Quarantasia is an ode to us as part of this magnificent and finely tuned support machine Nature: In the words of Rovelli “our knowledge is incomplete, but it’s organic: it is constantly growing, and every part of it has influence over every other part.”
One surprising reflection on the submissions collected for this issue centres around the frequent recurrence of the reflexive ‘one’ and ‘oneself’. The lockdowns, and break in ways of living and thinking that they have entailed, have certainly caused many of us to begin thinking more introspectively considering and reconsidering our place in the world, and I see this reflected again and again in the content collected here.
Unfinished by Elisa Mantovani
This issue gathers splendid depictions of internal worlds: it represents an array of coping mechanisms, threaded together, bound by some fantastic imagery of nature, by the photographer Cat Wood. Quarantasia continues to gather aesthetic work about social problematics and global issues like climate change, or ecological and medical emergencies.
Oil painting made during Lockdown Chameleon Soul by Elisa Mantovani
Issue N ยบ 3
11
Quarantasia
12
13
by Cat Wood @canischromatis
Issue N ยบ 3
3. Bat – COVID-19 and SARS-CoV suspected vector
Quarantasia
14
Issue N º 3
ZOONOTIC SERIES Lauren Drescher
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic I found myself thinking frequently of the animals being sold in the wet markets of Asia. Deeply saddened by the abhorrent treatment of wild and domesticated animals across the world, I began a series of relief prints to illustrate them. Each represents a zoonotic origin of human disease, which in most cases would not occur if our relationship with these creatures was not based on exploitation, slaughter, and habitat destruction. We need to act now to preserve the natural world: Adopting a plant based diet is a good place to start.
1. The Plague Doctor attended to victims of Bubonic plague, aka the Black Plague. The bacterium, Yersinia pestis, was transmitted by infected fleas who left their rat hosts and jumped to humans. This pandemic has reccurred throughout history.
1. Plague Doctor – Bubonic plague
Words and Prints by
2. Rat: vector of the Bubonic plague: The pathogen, Yersinia pestis caused a pandemic of epic proportions, occurring in several waves thoughout history. In 1665, the Great Plague swept through Europe and killed a third of the population. The word quarantine is derived from the Venetian, quarentena meaning forty days. This referred to the period that all ships were required to be isolated before the crew were allowed ashore during the time of the epidemic. Still endemic in parts of the world, the Bubonic plague is now treatable with antibiotics. 3. Bat: probable vector for SARSCoV and COVID-19. The virus was traced to wet markets in Wuhan, China, where wild animals are sold.
2. Rat – Bubonic plague
15
Quarantasia
4. Snake: COVID-19 suspected vector. Trapped in the wild, farmed and sold for meat. 5. Pangolin: COVID-19 suspected vector. Pangolins are gentle, shy creatures and, globally, the most trafficked animal. They are at risk of extinction due to demands for their meat and scales. 6. Monkey: Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) originated in Africa and was introduced to humans by eating bush meat. Humans ingested chimps who had eaten various species of monkeys. The transmission of SIV from chimps to humans was responsible for the onset of HIV/AIDS epidemic.
4. Snake – COVID-19 suspected vector
16
Issue N º 3
5. Pangolin – COVID-19 suspected vector
6. Monkey – Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) 17
Quarantasia
18
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Issue N ยบ 3
7. Mink: tens of millions cruelly farmed for their fur are the latest victims of COVID-19 which they acquired from infected farm workers. In minks, the virus mutated to COVID-20 which has re-infected hundreds of workers. This may have serious ramifications for the development of vaccines to treat COVID-19. Denmark alone ordered slaughter of 15 million minks, but many farms continue to operate.
13.
8. Cow: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or Mad Cow Disease, also tuberculosis vector. 9. Deer: do not transmit Lyme disease but are sometimes a host for black legged ticks aka deer ticks or Borrelia burgdorferi. Sadly, deer have suffered a significant loss of natural habitat which brings them and humans into more frequent contact. However, studies show that culling them does not decrease incidence of infection. 10. Sheep: Anthrax is another zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Anthracis. Most common in Africa and central and southern Asia, sheep, horses and cattle are carriers. In the 19th century Louis Pasteur created the first successful vaccine. 11. Badger: contracts Bovine Tuberculosis from cows. This has arisen with the intensification of dairy farming. Cows can also transmit the infection through unpasteurized milk. Tens of thousands of badgers are cruelly culled each year. Only 15% of badgers carry BTB.
14.
12. Cat: the definitive host of the parasite Toxoplasmosis gondii. Humans may contract this through contact with infected cat feces. Toxoplasmosis can cause severe illness in infants when the mother experiences a primary infection during pregnancy. It can also affect those with a weakened immune system. 13. Pig: Swine Flu H1N1 and trichinosis. 14. Swan and geese: prone to many pathogens including the Avian Influenza virus, West Nile Virus and Yersina. In addition, there are a long list of bacterial illnesses including Salmonella and Campylobacter. The threat to humans comes mainly from the intensive farming of birds.
15.
15. Camel: Camel Flu, or MERS (Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome) first diagnosed in 2012 caused by the beta Coronavirus.
19
by Cat Wood @canischromatis
Quarantasia
20
Issue N ยบ 3
21
Quarantasia
I TURN TO NATURE AND IN SILENCE SPRING PUSHES ON by
Trust the Process
22
Beth Maciorowski
Issue N ยบ 3
I Turn to Nature
23
Quarantasia
Spring Pushes On
24
Issue N ยบ 3
Renewal
25
Quarantasia
26
27
by Cat Wood @canischromatis
Issue N ยบ 3
Quarantasia
BODY CHRONICLES Words by
Rebecca Mastrorocco
An imperative need to move, a desperate call to stay active. My body aches with stagnating resilience and opposition to step out the house and walk. It has been a few months, on and off, my body is aching. Good food, plenty of water, various mixes of juicy fruits, homebased activities just don’t seem enough. Familiar conversations remotely held with friends and relatives reveal that other people’s bodies are aching too. The perception of traditional notions of time evince through this shift in our lives, how do we cope with this lockdown, sucking energies from our needs and pleasures, and satisfaction calling. Staying alive, ah – ah – ah.
Souls ache as bodies are held accountable for people’s safety – our own too. All the missed gatherings, opportunities, ways out, ways in; realizing what we had whilst missing it so bad, the most natural human form of adaptation. And so, we go through similar individual and collective processes, all-embracing daily dynamics of inner reflection and world contemplation at the same time. We take wonders indoor; we observe our nest till we get to a crossroad of ideas where the most penetrating trains of thoughts dock into reality/fantasy of quarantinereasoning. It is as if we are in a museum or library, sanctuaries of timeless feeling like Foucault’s definition of ‘indefinite accumulation of time in an immobile place’, bless monsieur. That is, as if we do not recall why books follow one another in a way on that shelf, but we swing with it. Suddenly a frame occupies too much space on that tiny little wall, but it’s cute.
Reactions, conversations with space, many of them taking place in our present.
Maybe too many, or maybe just the needed ones to cope with the alteration of perception of inner
changes and outside physical dynamics. Space is speaking to me, and I respond
by realizing what I can do beyond my body.
Listening to space makes me wanna move move move. As if friends were sitting all around me.
Need to let off steam. So I read, so I draw, so I clean, so I pray, no I do not,
so I play, so I write, so I cook, so I listen, and I move.
Bodies reveal true mind’s empowerment in compliance with change - a beloved friend. I choose to adapt, to work around fixed ideas and constipated tenderness for the release of love in present moments. Mind and body are mediums to feel the most vast and numerous interpretations of pleasures and blurred or vivid pain.
We miss live music so bad; we miss dancing so bad; we miss hanging out in public spaces so very bad. In the context of togetherness, with the people, where the raw experience of collective sound and art experience heightens the sense of space and time, of awareness and pleasure, and community. Stay patient, stay focused.
Feeling the mind’s creative reaction to internal and external factors, jumping in spatial and temporal circumstances seemingly static, but multifaceted to our senses. Employing the power to engage, allowing the engagement to take place – even now, locked indoors – to each there goes his/her/their own gift of present living.
Written during Lockdown in Italy
28
Issue N ยบ 3
~~~ Duane Michals 29
Quarantasia
CORONA CONFINEMENT Words and Images by
LoĂŻs Low
Corona Confinement
As an artist, but moreover as a human with a concern for others, at the onset of the pandemic I felt concerned and affected and wanted to express this through my art. I began drawing everyday representing the confinement I felt during the Lockdown in France. My aim was to make one drawing a day.
30
Issue N ยบ 3
Nuageman
31
Quarantasia
Fauteuil
32
Issue N º 3
Boîte
33
Quarantasia
34
Issue N ยบ 3
Cosmo
35
by Cat Wood @canischromatis Quarantasia
36
Issue N ยบ 3
37
Quarantasia
OMGRA Collaboration by
Pol Ventura & Riaq Miuq
Riaq Miuq (born in Sant Just Desvern, Barcelona, 1994) is a visual artist whose work is based on a fascination with the natural world, spirituality and its contrast with industrial reality. He studied Applied Mural Arts and Organic Agriculture. The contrast of these doctrines gave him the necessary tools and knowledge to explore his ideals in a plastic way. His work has been shown in Barcelona, Tanger and in GKo Gallery, Tolosa, Basque Country.
Every mask correspond to one part of the natural and agrarian cycle. The four together are protected by the force of the OMGRA constellation.
Riaq looks for simple techniques using materials available in surroundings, such as collected vegetal fibres and mineral pigments, and industrial materials like garbage, paint, ink or bleach. He is currently part of a group called Neo-Rupestres that works and researches with natural materials, collected from the environment.
•Soil (Earth): root, decomposition, mineralization. Black colour.
His last project is called OMGRA. The shadows under the stars. Omgra is a vivant project that is still growing. It focuses on the creation of four entities representing the four natural elements.
The idea that this project pursues is -through ritual and symbolic experimentation- to build bridges between the industrial world and the natural or ancestral world. Another purpose is the ambient and social complaint of the degradation of the landscape by our industrial society. Specifically in the mediterranean areas ‘Baix Llobragat’, ‘Collserola’, and ‘Montserrat’. All of them places that served as inspiration and where the different materials used come from.
Using the masks as the physical body, the analog photographs provide them with movement, and the drawings give a symbolic explanation.
•Harvest (Fire): seed, fructification, reproduction. Red colour.
•Rain (Water): leaf and stem, hydration, two faces: storm-drought. Blue colour. •Light (air): flower, oxygen, subtlety. White colour.
In the dark forest soil, between leaves, branches and the humus full of tiny life forms, we can find objects such as rusty bottle caps and nails, shotgun cartridges, old plastic ropes... The harvest of these forgotten human traces and other natural materials (vegetable fibres, pumpkins, wood, pigments ...) is a very important part of the process, since these materials are part of two communicating worlds. In this way masks, dresses, mobile pendants and the OMGRA temple were built.
38
Issue N ยบ 3
Photographs by Pol Ventura
39
Quarantasia
40
Issue N ยบ 3
41
Quarantasia
42
Issue N ยบ 3
43
Quarantasia
44
Issue N ยบ 3
45
Quarantasia
O Xardineiro by Riaq Miuq
46
Issue N ยบ 3
Silvestre by Riaq Miuq
47
Quarantasia
48
Issue N ยบ 3
Plorar by Riaq Miuq 49
by Cat Wood @canischromatis
Quarantasia
50
Issue N ยบ 3
51
Quarantasia
DREAMSONG Words by
Villa Frankova
In a sleepless circling morass malaise a world of dreams meets a world of days. A faint sun rests in your bloody hands and way out there on a little orb circling the skinny white gurus hobble in their bungalows, their hands alight, their beards weightless, their daughters bursting gently open, empty, broken. Your dreams of balance fade to fragrant whispers of petal-strewn paths doubling back along the streams, trailed by childish tribes. Everything is falling. And everything else is rising, rising, expanding, inflating. Spheres adrift on threads of light. The ancient ones. Their smiles, their breasts, their mountain homes at night. Pushed through by nothing into nothing. And their loves are nothing but darkness in this formless vase of eternal decay. The tree in a single berry, the night in a single breath.
And their loves are as clear as darkness, and their eyes are as bright as death. But would you do it? Would you be that terrible?
52
Issue N º 3
Vortex of creation, you’ll pull us all through and out and through in a single breath. When your chest clicks the sun will leave us.
When your stomach rises like a wave we will cast out across the abyssal sea leaving the scriptures written on the walls of your gut eroding the shore forever. Out there at night when we’ll sing your song while the moon watches straining to hear above the pristine silence of
the wind stops wide-eyed the roar of the void, the starfield.
Out here at the edge of the world we’ll slip right off it like thieves or mischievous children leaving dreams and death behind never to be seen again.
53
Quarantasia
DYSTOPIAN by Stefano Dili
54
Issue N ยบ 3
It refers to an imaginary state or society where there is great suffering or injustice. Dystopias are often characterized by dehumanization, tyrannical governments, environmental disasters or other characteristics associated with a cataclysmic decline of society. Dystopian societies appear in many works of fiction and artistic representations, particularly in stories set in the future, although today we are not so far off from fiction on many occasions.
55
Quarantasia
56
Issue N ยบ 3
Spotlight 57
Quarantasia
Quarantine Self-Portrait
58
Issue N º 3
Empathy is the main focus of these photographs, “universal empathy” if something universal really exists. It explores the relationship between beings, the revision and application of social obligations, the subjectivity of morality. The changing of one’s perspective without losing identity. Listen, observe and grow.
59
Quarantasia
60
Issue N ยบ 3
From Archives Ritual 61
by Cat Wood @canischromatis
Quarantasia
62
Issue N ยบ 3
63
Quarantasia
by Victor Costa
64
Issue N ยบ 3
Rainbow Mountain, Peru by Emmett Sparling
65
Quarantasia
UPSIDE-LOCK-DOWN by Elena & Chiara Vivaldi
~~~
Photographs by Chiara Vivaldi
66
Issue N ยบ 3
Knitwear made and worn by Elena Vivaldi
67
Quarantasia
Two talented Vivaldi sisters collaborating and keeping creative during quarantine in a groovy upside down photoshoot. This photography series was inspired by the knitwear Elena is wearing. It seeks to capture the dynamism of the falling strings of the piece itself, but also reflect and contrast the static and monotone quarantine environment in the background. The knitwear piece is entirely made of wool, the boxers are in cotton. The knitwear piece is hand-crocheted and intertwined by Elena.
knitwear & model: @ellivivaldi // photography: @vivavivachiara //
68
Issue N ยบ 3
69
Quarantasia
70
Issue N ยบ 3
71
Quarantasia
72
Issue N º 3
ILLUSIONS Words and Images by Sarp Kayali
Wounded in the hazy bright sun. Saved dreams eaten by the big, lazy wolf. Lingering on other’s mirrors. Big, lazy wolf is cruel, sly and slick. Ate all saved dreams for supper. Happily delivered for others. The Ones under the sunny bright sun. No fears and tears. Happy and busy. Busy to lick, dead for love. Lost for words. Rabbits in the cage. Sheep in the conquest. Wolves in shallows. Always hoping, fucking and yelling. Hugely flesh, nevertheless dreamer. Others stole untouched dreams to cook in a pot. Didn’t know how to swallow. Ate them live and raw. Grumpy mass had no bowels and lizards. They cuddle, and fuck with the hope to digest. Drank precious wines with a hole in their bellies. Dead grapes cried loudly by rebelling their faiths. Uncouth ones cheered their gathering in worthless shining saturated desires. Ate and ate more with a hole in their bellies. Eyes were shaped as filthy jaws . Innocents’ blood on their willing tongues. Wildly sensual but malcontent yet. Kept eating virgins, eagles and snakes, words and love with a hole in their bellies. Hunger was infinite to putrefy one’s desires, The ones with a hole in their bellies. Lifeless Jaws Ate every possible prey on promised sunny abundance. Kept eating till they crave for their own mirrors. Soulless blind jaws with no mirrors, finally ate their former loves which, promised to be infinite.
73
Quarantasia
74
Issue N ยบ 3
75
Quarantasia
76
Issue N ยบ 3
77
Quarantasia
78
Issue N ยบ 3
79
Quarantasia
WHEN THE REAPER COMES Words by
Daisy Jorgensen
When the reaper comes, I would like my corpse thrown out to sea, Like my flesh to become a three course meal to strange creatures of the deep, Like my eyes to roll round pebbles in the tide, Like my breasts to cushion the blow for a salty fellow shipwrecked off shore, Like my hair to tangle and plait with kelp and wash from substance into nothingness. Like my bloody to drift away from self as a mermaid’s tears Like my last breath to bubble joyfully to the surface, Weightless, simply hung in the balance between life and death, Fragile, oh how fragile are we, So when the reaper comes, yes when the reaper comes, When the reaper comes I would like my corpse thrown out to sea.
80
Issue N ยบ 3
by Rob Tuck written during the first lockdown while I was thinking about my own mortality - Daisy
81
by Cat Wood @canischromatis Quarantasia
82
Issue N ยบ 3
83
Under the Sea
Quarantasia
84
Issue N º 3
Words and Comic by Igor Martynowski
My name is Igor and for a few years I have been working as a building caretaker. What it means is that I have to let the right people in and keep the wrong people off the property. Like security, with the twist that I actually occupy the buildings I take care of. Needless to say, self-isolation is my bread and butter. It took many turns for me; liberation, depression, bliss, apathy, etc... All in all, turns out that self-isolation is one of the greatest tests of our selfdiscipline and an opportunity to discover ourselves and work on our daily routine. Once you don’t have to do (virtually) anything, everything is totally up to you. In my case, across these years I had better and worse moments of selfdisciplining and creativity. I started to work on my own comic which is supposed to become more of a comic book franchise with many crossing plot lines. I’d love to invite other authors to participate: So contact me somehow if you’d like to know more and participate,
Ok, I’m done plugging my project here. Let’s get back to the relevance of this content to what Quarantasia is about. It’s simple - this is what I do now during the lockdown. But wait, there’s a twist to it! See, as I mentioned I had many ups and downs with my discipline and thus my creativity. My comic went through many hiatuses and the last one finished recently after many months of me trying to just get on with it (yeah, I know, phrased this way it’s not a very good motivation to do anything xD). And what actually made me stop being a little crybaby and do my thing? All these amazing people that suddenly found themselves in a position similar to my dayto-day routine, staying at home all the time and showing me how to handle my shit like a badass mofo! It’s thanks to YOU being put in such extraordinary circumstances that I finally found my misplaced motivation. Anyway, hope you’re staying safe people, keep being awesome end expressive and make art no matter how big or small, it all matters!
85
Quarantasia
86
Issue N ยบ 3
87
Quarantasia
88
Issue N ยบ 3
89
by Cat Wood @canischromatis Quarantasia
90
Issue N ยบ 3
91
92
Issue N º 3
A PLOR DE PELL by Claudia Serrahima and Cadhla Kennedy Ko There is a Catalan expression, ‘a flor de pell’, which would literally translate as ‘skin in bloom’. Figuratively, one uses this expression to describe the state of being overwhelmed by emotions that can barely be contained within one’s own body. In Catalan language, only one letter separates the word flower/bloom ‘flor’ from the word cry, ‘plor’. So this project, named ‘A plor de pell’, is a play on words that could translate as ‘The skin weeps’. Crying is an action that can take place in many a situations; it can be triggered by a moment of sadness, anger or happiness. In spite of this, it is most uncommon to see people cry in public spaces. This project seeks to hold a space for this feeling by creating different artistic interventions that enable us to raise awareness on this genuine emotion.
To enable us to achieve this, we’ve been gathering photographs of people crying. The first action consisted in hanging these printed images outside our balconies and up in our rooftops – spaces that belong to our homes yet are visible to other neighbours from our communities or to any passer-by. Barcelona is dotted with narrow streets and tall apartment buildings, many of which have balconies with clothing lines to hang the laundry. There was something about taking these intimate portraits outwards in such a quotidian manner that moved us in this direction, placing them in a space that pends between public and private. In time, we realised that by allowing meteorology to organically modify and weather the prints, they evolved in the same way as we evolve in face of the changes that the world experiences. During this quarantine I received many pictures of people’s cries – may this project also serve as an indicator of the social cry? May we seek to dignify the action of crying by collectivising something that has been challenged to only exist in the personal and private sphere? We are all living, sentient human beings after all; and by recognising the wisdom of our own bodies’ healing mechanisms, we can fight the stigma that condemns individuals for expressing their vulnerability.
93
Quarantasia
94
Issue N ยบ 3
The Sun, Devoured 95
Quarantasia
96
Issue N ยบ 3 by Cat Wood @canischromatis
97
Quarantasia
SOCIAL DISTANCING by
Peter van Egeren
“Unwise to leave Vienna at this time.” This is how her message read. His heart ached at the distance, and the shattered prospect of her visit. His medical studies in Edinburgh, and plain common sense, assured him of her truth. It is unwise to travel during a pandemic. The planes were in the air, but there was much afloat. Caution must prevail. All was as it needed to be, he thought. Or was it? While love and wisdom are seldom co-conspirators, technology makes them foes. Her message contained no suggestion of regret. It lay naked like a corpse, no emotional content. No salutatory Bussi, a painful omission, an Austrian slight akin to dropping a cigarette butt in a lover’s coffee when leaving a cafe. The science of emojis emerged before his eyes, like anatomy from the books he absorbed into the wee hours of the lonely Lothian nights. There emerged in him a sensitivity to nuance, but she left nothing to be examined, nothing to dissect. He understood her coyness, their love so young and new. With this message, she demanded distance, he concluded. Something in her had changed. Something in her environment had changed. No mind is capable of creating horror better than the mind of a jilted lover. The villain was a peacock, and the peacock’s name was Dylan, a bloviating fool if ever he knew one. If she wanted that stupid, rich fop, she could have him. She would rue the day that she kicked this butterfly out of her web to feast on fattened flies. “Love you” heart emoji was her second message five hours later. He would not see it for two days and a bottle of Polish vodka later.
98
@artofinvi_photo
Issue N ยบ 3
99
Quarantasia
MMXX Images by Monica Vaccari Words by Elisa Mantovani
Warriors, fighting with meditative eyes, igniting dignified sincerity and fierce determinate strength in their stillness. Faces, gently peering out of Intimate Spaces, conveying a deep sense of tranquillity. Dreamers’ gazes that have turned inward, reconnecting to the rich treasures and creativity of their inner worlds. Mother Earth is breathing calmly, whilst our humanity trembles on the loosening clutches of our actions and mistakes.
Human beings will resurface from this adversity with vigour, weaving a future that radiates a newfound unity: Individuals living in respectful coexistence, recognising that there is no shame in revealing one’s vulnerability.
100
MMXX Warrior
Monica’s world of MMXX, created before the onset of the pandemic, dramatically anticipates a fragment of our current realities ruptured by Covid-19. Yet, what Monica’s delicately moulded and elegantly adorned figures of clay exude, is a profound sense of serenity and introspection. Within the midst of this despair, we are offered a chance to embrace silence, accepting the privilege of slowing down our paces. We have been given time to reflect, and feel grateful for simplicity.
Issue N ยบ 3
101
101
Quarantasia
102
Keep the Wheel Turning
Mother Earth
Issue N ยบ 3
103
Quarantasia
104
Issue N ยบ 3 by Cat Wood @canischromatis
105
Quarantasia
THE VALLEY OF A THOUSAND HILLS Words and Image by
Christopher Maxwell
The photo was taken at a favourite area of mine to shoot called Murchison Gap. It is about an hour outside of Melbourne and is a go to of mine in Autumn and Winter for Sunrise. It also has the name “The Valley of a Thousand Hills�. I love shooting the mist amongst all the layers of hills there. I spent a lot of the year in a strict Covid lockdown so any outings were a welcome reprieve.
106
Issue N ยบ 3
107
Quarantasia
ENDANGERED EARTH Words and Images by
Mari Westeng Sørensen
A consideration for nature and people lies at the heart of my creative process. Through stylized, patterned and brightly colored human figures, purposefully ambiguous in their appearance, I attempt to explore the damaging effects of man on the endangered earth, which I understand to be accelerating at this time.
My style draws inspiration from radical opposition in art, and the idea that our culturally shared images are vital to our perception of environmental, cultural and social interaction. I am interested in pattern and detail as a way to draw the viewer in, and with this I hope to highlight the often overlooked infinite detail of our surroundings. @witchtremor / / witchtremor.bigcartel.com / /
108
Issue N ยบ 3
109
Quarantasia
110
Issue N ยบ 3
111
Quarantasia
112
Issue N ยบ 3
113
Quarantasia
114
Issue N ยบ 3
115
Quarantasia
116
Issue N ยบ 3 by Cat Wood @canischromatis
117
Quarantasia
PROGS-19 by
Pablo Rodriquez
These protection glasses, ProGS-19, have been designed and manufactured by Rodríguez as an aid to help medical workers during the complex times of COVID-19 as a source of protection. Pablo, who comes from a Mechanical Design engineering background specialized in R&D Engineering and Design for manufacturing.
“Let’s share this resource with everybody to help medical workers in hospitals to reduce the future impact of Coronavirus. I ask you to collaborate with us by manufacturing the glasses and sending ProGS-19 protective glasses to the hospitals of your town.” You can download the manual, and the device is completely free to be made by any technician through several materials and a 3D printer. The exact additive parameters will depend upon the 3D printer used. In this case, we use both CrealityEnder3 and customised Prusa i3Hephestos. Bill of Material: - 3D Printer - PLA Filament - Elastic strap (75cm at least)
118
- Transparent colour laminar PVC (180-200 micrometer thickness)
Issue N ยบ 3
119
Quarantasia
MESSAGE(S) IN A BOTTLE by Liam Meredith
120
Issue N ยบ 3
121
Quarantasia
122
Issue N ยบ 3
123
Quarantasia
124
by Cat Wood @canischromatis Issue N ยบ 3
125
Quarantasia
DISPUTE PARTICULARS POLICIES AND PROCEDURAL ANOMALIES HEREIN by
Simon McAndrew & Villa Frankova
You do not have to say anything obviously But it may harm your defence if you do not mention later something which you may rely on later in court such as a stool a walking stick, companions, cups of tea, memory, a sense of justice. etc. etc. Anything you do say you may say
Anything you do not say you may also say
Anything you do not say you may not also say having not said it, however you will be given a strict 15-minute time slot for things unsaid Extensions do not apply unless [see clause 3]
You are required to attend at the end psychologically or physically in spirit or fact, time or space, emotionally or intellectually, please state your preferences textually in the provided standard box format set provided by a member of the cast.
You are not required not to attend at the beginning Punctuality explicit. Functionality implicit. However during the so-called middle part in the middle you may be required to resign your attendance before entry. [see Clause 2]
126
Issue N Âş 3
Court on the date obviously short on the hate, fraught on the wait, snort on the plate provided by a member of the cast. Past members of the cast [see Clause 1]
Time and place shown under rose, overleaf a round trunk If you fail without attendance, fail within attendance, if you fail within defence, mention something new now. Note that this is your only chance to do so [see Clause -0] Reasonable causes to surrender can be found Unreasonable unstated cannot be found but anything you may or may not have or haven’t said or not said earlier or later than this point may remain unsaid until said points at which they are said. The court procedures time. The port. Also.
Both imprisoned you may be fine, find, fined, found, funded, founded, dumbfounded, found dumb, founded dumb, found dumbfounded, or founded dumbfounded. [see clause -0] before referring to prior clause
a brief expiratory appendage on clausation will follow in small type
Clause Canterbury pink timeline S3 no duration
cannot be located during the
reception of clause 81 timeline 12,
albeit incomprehensible this table elucidating
said clause systemisation
between neither both nor either Discrepancies to be referred to triannual review of triannual review procedure Legal aid If you wish, fantastic. If you wish but cannot afford, you are due to appear, where you are as soon as possible. A solicitor may dispose of you via your procedures being delayed. You may apply personally but not in writing. You may if you wish. If you do not, you may wish that you may. If you do not wish, you may wish that you had at which point you may wish again despite not having wished in the first place or the second place or [see clause -2] Disposal of your case, rank, situation or branch without aid possible not advisable without assistance professional preferable. Decomposition of driving licence or passport necessary Duplicates will be destroyed without delay By dedicated staff attending to your case Anonymously but efficaciously at all times. Working hours apply within. Parameters set out do not apply above or below the signature line signed. and dated. _____________________
Unsaid --- reliable --- absolutely --- if not
--- yes --- followed by
--- reversion
Said --- less reliable --- possibly --- but --- if so --- see above
for explanation --- no
--- inversion forward stock taking inventory do not print.
When both imprisoned, all clauses apply in numerical order See regional variations handbook page 12. Do not refer to court address or both or neither but must be alternate
127
Quarantasia
128
Issue N ยบ 3 by Cat Wood @canischromatis
129
Quarantasia
MINIMALISM WITH A SENSE OF COMFORT by
Lesley Brügger
~ @lesleybruegger // www.lesleybruegger.com //
130
Divided
Kerlingarfjöll
Issue N ยบ 3
Emma Heedles 131
Quarantasia
132
Abstraction
Issue N ยบ 3
Tainted
133
Quarantasia
134
Issue N ยบ 3 by Cat Wood @canischromatis
135
Quarantasia
136
Issue N Âş 3
Testimonial of NuSchool Event Review by
Elisa Mantovani
Startled facial expressions, and tired, sad eyes peering out into a bleak reality fractured by Covid-19. Faint smiles covered beneath masks that block our flow of breath and oxygen, disconnecting. Many individuals in London and across the globe are suffering in silence, as our humanity is trying to navigate a moment of global crisis. Many souls are left helpless in these dark and lonely times, faced with isolation, and re-surfacing of past shadows or trauma. NuSchool creates safe spaces in which people can come together to connect, co-create and play, helping to heal some of the individual and collective trauma that has emerged in this time. NuSchool offers an escape from our monotonous daily existence and new routines of restrictions and lack of freedom, uniting communities through creativity, whilst nurturing a culture of connection. They are sites for dynamic learning that transform disused spaces into creative hubs and regenerative culture. Now in the heart of Hackney, people from diverse socio-economical and ethnic minority backgrounds, from disadvantaged areas within London, come together finding ways back to the roots of our community by encouraging intergenerational & cross-cultural exchange. NuSchool’s event was an incredible immersion into a land of connection, companionship, transcending interactivities and inspirational play, engaging with creative practices that create joy and connection - such as dance, music, artistic creation, or learning about permaculture. The community gardens are particularly important when many elderly and young are feeling disconnected and disempowered. The energy of the people was contagious, mixing with the very strong vibes created by the setting of the old
primary school immersed in a wild blooming garden creating a greater connection to nurturing. Fostering community connections through workshops like free-flow contact improvisation, expressing and releasing our inner world, to finding groundedness and stillness in Tai Chi and other opportunities to heal the mind & body. The evening pulled all the broiling energies together in a melting pot, beginning with a beautiful interactive dance performance by Muti Performance company As Muti and the female dancers of InForMotion brought the viewers into a mystical, wild, playful and animalistic journey through the wilderness of the garden, transforming the space into the savanna, and the jungle far across the world into the motherland. The dancers were enigmatic and fascinating, capturing the gazes and gasps of all viewers with their ethereal light movements to incredible world music. The viewers were pulled together at the end of the performance when they plucked a seed from the earth giving it positive intentions, or planting a dedication for themselves or the community. I felt a re-connection to the primal and our ancestry as I watched the spectacle unfolding in awe. The evening continued with a vibrant enigmatic drum circle, brought alive by an energetic and electric lady, Vicky, who really set the beat and communication of the drummers, it created such a strong momentum and connection between everyone involved, hearts beating strongly in unison with the power and rhythm of the drum. My entire body was encapsulated by this magnetising heart-beat, possessing over me, letting me channel from beyond and releasing that which doesn’t serve me.
137
Quarantasia
138
Issue N º 3
The improv sessions were incredible, giving creatives, artists and musicians a voice to express themselves. Muti’s speech and energy was deeply moving, humbling yet at the same time ferociously encapsulating... We live in turbulent times things are beginning to shake up, the community and minorities are rising and claiming back their power and uniting in their strengths, beliefs and uniqueness. The earth is trembling, and nature is claiming back its space in a civilised and torn society. Muti’s energy and vision is instigating and moving. The individual and the collective learn, grow and heal together exposing the audience to the skill required for building selfawareness, self-affirmations, selfexpression, self-empowerment, courage, positive relationship with the community, social empathy and Mental resilience. This vibrant experience at the community centre facilitated transformation of the individual and society at large. All eyes were shining, as hearts were opening. The jam sessions after were fantastic, having everyone end up on their feet dancing and singing along to the music: ‘We must grow a coherence of heart and mind in culture of disconnection. We are opening our doors & hearts for anyone seeking & integrate a NU way of living Nu way of loving’ “We are the love light. Love. Just know you were made from love. Love. And we return to love. Love”
* Informotion worldwide and perception2life, social enterprises who specialises in offering workshops for young people in education
139
Quarantasia
140
Issue N ยบ 3
by Cat Wood @canischromatis
141
142 by
Aiichiro Uno
MASKS
Quarantasia
Issue N ยบ 3
143
Quarantasia
144
by Cat Wood @canischromatis Issue N ยบ 3
145
Quarantasia
‘TAMESIS’ BY ZURITO Review of the Album ‘Tamesis’ by Zurito Words by
Elisa Mantovani
I close my eyes, and let my head rest back, the melodies dance into my ears and paint a serene smile onto my face, as contentment washes over my limbs I instantly relax, suddenly I lose physical sensation... Am I floating? I feel carried, ascending into a world of profound and colourful imagination. Flowing across the universe. Tamesis, Javi and Tere’s first album together, after five and a half years of companionship, jamming across the globe in the depths of their flow. Their album perfectly mirrors what their love represents: Together they follow the rhythms of existence and the currents of the tides, forgetting about timetables, responsibilities and boundaries. In a blink of an eye, listening to Tamesis, elicits just this I went to Berlin on a donkey, my soft smile erupts into a joyful chuckle, as the vivid fantasy world spreads wider and I surrender into the kaleidoscopic musical-universe Javi and Tere create with their sound. Starting off by busking in the streets of London, earning a little money and celebrating as if there were no tomorrow; but it was their separation that marked the beginning of this adventure. In their 1 ½ years apart, when Javi was based in London and Tere was living in Barcelona, they met every few weeks in different European cities, busking, and spreading their magic-language through their epic guitar riffs and voices. When they celebrated 12 months together, they also toasted to having played in 12 different countries.
Tamesis allows a glimpse into their rich universe and their travels. As we are stuck in London Lockdown 2.0, their music brings such levity and lightness allowing time-travel and teleportation. The eclectic sounds draw from the different parts of the world they have visited: deep underlying influences from their homecountry Spain, like flamenco and rumba, hints of gypsy rhythms and travellers’ music: the music feels easy-going and at the same time energetic and uplifting, it appears a beautiful dialectical symbiosis between contemporary Spanish classic and new epic unique riffs, merged with fluency and playfulness. Dragon Bombero takes me straight to summer, the scent of salty sea air engulfs me through the sound. Some Cuban, Latin, calypso and mambo rhythms are weaved into the album, induced by the Caribbean island. In March 2020 with the onset of the Pandemic, they remained positive. They saw an important opportunity coming. It was their time to materialise their travelling experiences to create Tamesis, and for Javi to find his artist name: Zurito. Their music had to come to light. Armed with a card reader to guarantee social distancing and with the collaboration of a veteran great bass player, Funkyal, they went from Imperial Wharf to Putney through Battersea Reach, performing live music that highly cheered up the local communities. Always busking, spreading thrills – just like their music is doing now beaming sunrays into my living room.
https://zurito.bandcamp.com/album/tamesis
146
Issue N ยบ 3
147
Quarantasia
BLACK LIVES MATTER
George Floyd by Levi Hoffmeier
148
Issue N ยบ 3
Photographs by Driely Carter @ drielycarter
149
Quarantasia
150
Issue N º 3
PAN SECO DOCUMENTARY Directed by Review by
Román Cadafalch & Cadhla Kennedy Ko
Dick Edelstein
In 1961, Justo Gallego embarked on a seemingly lunatic mission, making use of a variety of cast-off materials to construct a Cathedral just outside Madrid in honor of la Virgen del Pilar [Our Lady of the Pillar]. Yet, in its bizarre purity, his single-minded dedication to his task is so forceful and imaginative that viewers are led at certain moments to question the validity of their own values. This film catches up with Justo at the age of 93, a difficult man to catch up with to be sure, constantly in motion, exuding élan vital, brandishing a selfdeprecating wit as he takes the piss out of everyone and everything along with himself, always minding his inner compass as he follows a mystical spiritual path, even if much of the heavy lifting these days is done by a younger, Sancho Panzalike sidekick, appropriately called Ángel.
This documentary takes the surreal quotidian existence of Justo and Ángel at face value, as if each and every action undertaken by the comical pair made perfect sense. The whacky cathedral under construction has its own particular sort of terrible beauty, thus providing directors Román Cadafalch and Cadhla Kennedy Ko with abundant opportunities to make cinematic sense of the building’s aesthetics. Casually but deftly, with studied nonchalance, they capture the mysteriously vibrant qualities of the building and those whose lives play out within it.
Link to trailer : https://vimeo. com/388599785 Link to website : https://panseco.es/
151
Quarantasia
152
Issue N Âş 3
A fervent old man has been building a cathedral with his bare hands for fifty-six years in search of divine peace. But, with the end of his days getting closer, material reality doesn’t seem to live up to his expectations.
153
Quarantasia
LA REJA by
Jimena García Álvarez-Buylla
So many barriers separating us from the wild. Before they made sure the wilderness, with its mysteries and wisdoms, didn’t devour the unknowing. Now, in the heart of Mexico City, this volcanic haven holds on to dear life, constricted by metal mesh and concrete avenues. I hope she devours the barriers soon.
154
Issue N ยบ 3
155
Quarantasia
ALCHEMY: THE UNION OF OPPOSITES by
Gregory Gregori
So much and so little has been said about Alchemy. Beyond the romantic notions of ancient sorcerers finding the elixir of life, or vague esoteric newage healing practices – trying to brand themselves as the next philosopher’s stone, Alchemy is a fundamentally important concept which represents the process of knowing what it means to be fully alive - cultivating an authentic way of being, and exploring our edges to reveal what lies beyond our categorised intellectual grasping. For the ancients, the four elements were not just physical forms of matter, they also represented aspects of the emotional, social and mental dynamics of each individual. Fire is the creative spirit and power to will, air the intellect and sharpness of verbal and logical communication, water the ever-changing emotional and psychological dynamics, and earth the sensual grounding of body and physicality. What scientists now call the left and right brain was also recognised as reflection of the polarity between the Sun and Moon. By balancing the elements and integrating the masculine and feminine aspects within ourselvesthe alchemical marriage of spirit (Sun/ masculine/fire of the ego) and matter (Moon/feminine/water of the unconscious) within us is said to be the route to the final transformation of base material into gold. We are said to come to the ultimate reconciliation of our polarities -the earthing and incarnation of transcendence.
156
In alchemy, the black phase symbolic of death and the (often) depressive ‘dark night of soul’ - is in time illuminated into awoken insight. The ego, in other words, ideally becomes, in time, the vehicle of a centred fullness of life, rather than one who habitually seeks to figure out what’s happening in order to control. Sensing and feeling what’s happening rather than always trying to think, out, around or through. Living drip by drip, and being fully present with the unfoldment of the process. Such embodied presence when practiced allows entirely new vistas of relationship, towards self, other and the collective. Through this process the energy of connection and power of imagination can be rediscovered as the source of creativity itself. Synthesising mind, heart and body – we discover wholeness in ourselves, with each other and with the planet and universe itself. This is the route towards new inner-standing which can cultivate new ideas, allow honest discussion, authentic connection, the incorporation of heart into our technological, social, and economic and ecological systems. Ultimately this could lead to the next level of collective consciousness. Our redemption so to speak is the return to union and harmony with the natural world but this time with the expanded consciousness of knowing the power, depth, joys and perils of rational thinking, distilled into wisdom. Directed by compassion. With our inner alchemy, what ‘matters’ - what grounds and embodies transcendence - is emotional warmth to keep the cauldron simmering; too much heat and it may all explode too little heat and nothing happens!
Issue N ยบ 3
The seven operations of alchemy - Theosophische-Darstellung-zur-Alchemie_1678
157
Quarantasia
158
Issue N ยบ 3
MOUNTAIN ESCAPADES by
Lia Weinman
Lia Weinman is a visual artist trained in polarity therapy, massage, yoga nidra, and dance psychotherapy. As a multi-disciplinary artist, Lia looks for ways to weave the healing arts into installations, paintings and experiences. Fascinated by the intelligence and wisdom of the body, she explores her passion for transformation through ritual body art on and off the canvas. Through connecting the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual pathways of expression, Lia creates her art for healing and growth. Lia draws inspiration from her connection to forests, mountains, and ocean and imbues her practices with essences of the earth; inviting a re-wilding of the body, heart, spirit. Through an ever-evolving practice, Lia consistently finds new ways to offer visions of inter-connectedness.
159
Quarantasia
160
Issue N ยบ 3
161
Quarantasia
162