The mention of Marilyn Monroe immediately conjures up the image of a beautiful woman with iconic blonde hair, red lips, in THAT white halter-neck dress unfortunately placed over THAT street grate. She is an icon still recognisable today, despite the height of her fame being nearly fifty years ago. Submerged in the fashion industry as a model in the late 1940s, Monroe gained a reputation for her stunning looks, immaculate skin and eye-catching curves. The hype around her image was only to increase when she expanded her career into acting.

Since her death in 1962, her image and memory have failed to fade. Instead, she has been escalated to a height of posthumous fame that rivals fellow deceased stars such as Elvis and Grace Kelly. Monroe’s iconic image is still printed on posters, clothing and all kinds of other merchandise. We are not allowed to forget her image.

Actress Michelle Williams somewhat reinvents Marilyn Monroe in the recently released film ‘My Week With Marilyn’, looking beyond the more sexualised image, and further into the personality. In a more “behind the scenes” style film of Monroe the red lips have vanished, but her beauty does not suffer without them. Her glamorous look is replaced by more casual outfits of slacks and jumpers or blouses, things she often wore but was less known for. The heels however still remain; Monroe was rarely seen teetering without them.

Michelle Williams as Monroe (guardian.co.uk)

It is still the glamourous side that Monroe is most famous for and which really turned her into a fashion icon. Her apparel in her films and the dazzling outfits that she was photographed in at events aided her fame and desirability. Coyly attempting to cover her modesty over the grate in the billowing white halter-neck dress in film ‘The Seven Year Itch’ is probably one of her most iconic moments. It is also one one of the most imitated.

Monroe in 'The Seven Year Itch' (marilyn-monroe-posters.com)

Audrey Hepburn, Monroe’s fashion counterpart and fellow fifties icon, is often deemed to be of a higher fashion calibre.  Hepburn was friends with acclaimed designer Hubert de Givenchy who often dressed her. Her style was more conservative and perhaps more sophisticated than that Monroe is given credit for. Hepburn was still glamorous but had a less overt and confrontational sexiness. Monroe’s much admired glamour and sensuality shone in her style preference of stunning curve-skimming dresses, often by designer William Travilla. Proving her worthiness in the fashion stakes, Monroe was also dressed by designers such as Anne Klein. The most famous creation though was the nude gown by successful Hollywood designer Jean Louis. Monroe wore it to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to President Kennedy with whom she was rumoured to be having an affair. To be suitable for the excessive Monroe, the gown consisted of 2500 rhinestones and was so closely fitted that rumours suggest she was sewn into it. It is both the myths that surrounded Monroe’s life and the sensational attire that flaunted her body which generate the constant interest in her.

It cannot be denied that Marilyn Monroe is a fashion icon while elements of her entire look are still sought after. Social networking site ‘YouTube’ consists of tutorials demonstrating recreations of Monroe’s hair and make-up. Many current celebrities including Scarlett Johansson and Madonna are inspired by Monroe and try to imitate her blonde locks, red lips or floor-length gowns. Madonna wore a pink satin dress in her ‘Material Girl’ video, similar to that of Monroe’s in ‘Diamond’s are a Girl’s Best Friend’. Her recent album cover also pays tribute to the star by imitating Andy Warhol’s famous depiction of Monroe.

Warhol's 'Marilyn Diptych' 1962 (tate.org.uk)

Continuing to prove her establishment in the fashion industry, Monroe still inspires many designers. Mulberry produced a metallic gown this season, similar to the dress worn by Monroe in ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’. Dolce and Gabbana’s Autumn/Winter 2009 collection showed printed images of Monroe on everything from dresses to bags to T-shirts, demonstrating even the fashion industry’s obsession with her style and iconic status. Monroe even features in Dior’s latest television advert for J’adore, appearing very much alive again with the help of some very clever computer trickery. The advert also stars Grace Kelly and Marlene Dietrich alongside, confirming that not only is Monroe one of the “greats” but that her death has not aged the power and allure of her iconic image.

1984 exemplifies how promising this duo really is; an album that draws a variety of different styles creating tracks that have a special vibe about them. The tracks journey through a variety of styles, venturing from mellow reggae-esque grooves to a much more aggressive lyrical spit accompanied with a heavy beat. They switch these styles constantly drawing together something really refreshing over the whole album, exploring atmospheres by being plunged into one sound then taken back to something that seems completely contrasting.

The album toys with various styles, placing stand out interludes at the end of certain tracks that seems to draw out each track as an individual, focusing further attention on what has passed and heightening anticipation on what is about to come. 1984 begins to sound as if it is an album of singles with each track taking a step in a different direction.  It’s an album that deserves a listen…

Unseen and Deeflux took the time to talk to Haus about their music.

How would you describe your own sound?
Deeflux – “An MC / Producer duo from the south of england who play a blend hip hop of styles”

What are the origins of Unseen and Deeflux?
Unseen – “We were introduced via Myspace through a mutual friend called Gadget who also runs our label Millennium Jazz Music, we didn’t actually meet each other until nearly a year after our first track.”

You’ve recently released the album ’1984′ was this the sound and style you had in mind, or was there elements of spontaneity that transformed the idea through the making process?
Unseen – “The album itself took a little over 18 months to create and in that time we probably completed about 20 or so tracks. I would say we developed, as any artist does over time but we basically just made music we love and at the end of the project went through all the tracks and choose the ones we felt were strongest in making a coherent album.”

A noticeable aspect of the album is the interludes that are placed at the end of certain tracks – tell us a bit about these.
Unseen – “This was something I did after all the tracks were chosen and put in order. I’ve never been a fan of albums that simply play track after track so wanted to create something that was more like a mix tape having each track lead into the next one.”

The lyrics are really unique, are they written after the beat with the track in mind?
Deeflux – “I tend to write to beats generally and I know quickly whether I can work with it. Louis had sent tons over time and I would hear a few in each batch which I would start writing too as soon as they came through. It’s a mixed process in that some of the time I have a clear idea of something I want to write about and others I just see what comes to mind. When I was writing for 1984 I was also working on another project “Natural Selection” and I think that helped me to keep focused.”

When writing the lyrics how does that process take place – are they relevant to personal experience or their own stories?
Deeflux – “Certainly some tracks i write would be chalked down to things i’ve seen or experienced but, I also like telling stories so on a track like steam I got this vibe from the beat of being sat in a dusty, smoke filled bar and just kinda of made up a story off the back of that. The album is fairly mixed in its themes along with the sounds Louis put down as a backdrop.”

The album seems to be placed between aggressive beats vs mellow. This subsequently creates a contrast of atmosphere on different tracks. Is this something that you were aware of creating?
Deeflux – “From a writing perspective I was always thinking about the atmosphere of the track. These dynamic changes allowed for completely different styles to be laid down cohesively as Louis sounds hold it all together.”

How are the tracks built up? What does the process consist of?
Unseen – “Over lots of time firstly, but during that time Dee would send me cd’s with the vocals and he’d come up and visit is well so we could sit down and see where we were at with album. Deeflux made a point of us meeting up to ensure we got on as friends, I mean if we’d released album then met for the first time and hated each other it would have been a bit weird to say the least.”

There are several people who feature upon the album – how do decide the people who you want to feature?
Deeflux – “I always wanted to do a track with Dr Syntax as he was someone I had listened too for some time and definitely one of my favourite people in the UK scene. Louis I think spoke to Genesis Elijah over Myspace or Facebook and they had decided to do one track which then turned into two and Genesis was responsible for the concept and hook to the single “I Know”. I never thought of trying to work with Genesis as our styles are very different but in the end i think it turned out pretty nice. Gadget also appeared on that track and runs the label Millennium Jazz Music which 1984 is released through.”

For our latest issue the theme is ‘Dreams and Nightmares’ do you feel this is applicable to your music in any way?
Deeflux – “Maybe the contrast of atmospheres as you said there’s some really dreamy vibes and then some terror thrown in for good measure to keep everyone on their toes.”

deeflux.bandcamp.com

Versace for H&M (style.com)

Hot on the heels of the news that Versace’s recent line for H&M sold out in less than 24 hours, with large crowds camping outside stores overnight, is the debate around the importance of designer collaborations. The question of what they mean for high street brands, consumers, and the designers themselves has once again been propelled into the public consciousness. First, there was Karl Lagerfeld’s line for H&M back in 2004. Since then the eponymous Swedish fashion store has collaborated with designers from Jimmy Choo to Matthew Williamson, Stella McCartney to Viktor and Rolf, but it’s not just H&M that’s at it. This year alone, in the U.S., Missoni released a sell-out collection for Target, Giambattista Valli has announced news of a line of party dresses for Macy’s and Christopher Kane also caused a stir with his capsule collection for J Brand, which included flares in varying shades of neon. All of this begs the question of whether collaborations are an altruistic way for people on an ordinary income to get their hands on otherwise completely unaffordable designer items, or a mere publicity stunt for egocentric designers attempting to reassert their lofty positions in the cut-throat fashion world.

Christopher Kane for J Brand (http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features)

Eyebrows were raised earlier this year when Karl Lagerfeld, following the lead of fellow designers such as Marni and Roberto Cavalli, designed a limited collection of Diet Coke bottles. These were adorned with the figure of the fashion behemoth himself, complete with trademark ponytail and suit. Perhaps inspired by his reported dedication a decade ago to a diet that consisted solely of Diet Coke and stewed vegetables, or perhaps an act of shameless self-promotion, it was nevertheless a stunt that had the tongues of fashionistas and Diet Coke lovers alike wagging.  Lagerfeld is no stranger to controversy.  He changed the spelling of his surname from Lagerfeldt in order to sound ‘more commercial’ and is famously equivocal about the year of his birth (estimates range between 1933 and 1938).  Once declaring his greatest luxury as ‘never having to justify himself to anyone’, it is perhaps unsurprising that his name has become synonymous with an ever-increasing number of weird and wonderful collaborations. He does, however, seem to be treading a very thin line between the original and amusing, and the downright tasteless, self-indulgent and kitsch.

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features

Lagerfeld’s latest collaboration with high street make-up brand Sephora is evidence of this. Released in stores on November 6^th, the collaboration follows the same somewhat cynical pattern of mutual self-interest on the pretext of affordability. The collection features a doll, a snow globe containing a model of Lagerfeld, and an eyeshadow palette carefully crafted into the shape of his somewhat sinister silhouette. Not only does this seem impractical and bizarre, it also appears to undermine the very thing that designer-high street collaborations should attempt to promote; namely high quality, designer inspired products at relatively affordable prices. Lagerfeld’s egotistical publicity circus has made something of a mockery of this idea, and although at heart perfectly harmless, and indeed, compared to many of the fashion industry’s ills, barely registering on the scale of the morally dubious, it is a shame that a genuine chance at universally affordable designer fashion has been sidelined by self-interest and personal promotion. Lagerfeld once described himself as ‘very much down to earth, just not this earth’. Perhaps the same can be applied to all those who have actually parted with money in order to procure a Karl Lagerfeld snow globe.

by Sephora (http://www.front-row-view.com/)

by Sephora (http://www.front-row-view.com/)

by Sephora (http://www.front-row-view.com/)

(image: viviennewestwood.co.uk)

Vivienne Westwood once said “shoes must have very high heels and platforms to put women’s beauty on a pedestal”.  This idea of elegance in elevation is in one form or another hundreds of years old, but the coverage surrounding fashion collections today is often more generally concerned with the clothes. From fabric to silhouette, these are analysed to the utmost degree of detail.  Every shade of a colour has its own name; citrine, garnet and bamboo are but a few of the more exotic hues.  Shoes on the other hand never seem to be scrutinised quite so much, yet the perfect pairs are essentials in the fashion wardrobe and many a girl dreams of flashing her first red-soled Louboutins.

The need to equally celebrate the value of shoe designs was the conviction driving a recent Vivienne Westwood exhibition. Westwood is a true celebrity in the fashion world and a distinctive British icon.  Vogue rightfully asserts that her ‘popularity constantly gains momentum’ and her dedication to design is evident as her collections continually captivate the fashion industry.  Her commitment to fine craftsmanship and uniqueness is equally apparent in her shoes. The exhibition celebrating this showcases over 40 years of inspiration and innovation, compacted in around 200 designs.  Following a London premier and a Russian preview, ‘Vivienne Westwood Shoes: A World Wide Exhibition’ ran for just one month this summer in the more intimate space of the Fashion and Textile Gallery of The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle.  It has continued on an international circuit, and will do so through into 2012. China, Japan, New York and beyond will be privileged enough to see the influential Westwood’s ingenious designs.

(image: viviennewestwood.co.uk)

'Hammerhead Court' A/W '09 (image: own)

A large video screen on the wall above the exhibition played show reels of the most recent collections while large photographs represented particularly iconic moments in the lives of the shoes.  The most renowned of these moments is owing to Naomi Campbell, who took a tumble on the catwalk in 1993 whilst wearing the ‘Super Elevated Gillie’ heels. The diverse range on display aims to demonstrate the extraordinary wealth of imagination and inspirations Westwood has drawn upon, and her channeling these into ultimate ‘defiance of the rules of wearability and convention’.  The effect of the lighting in the exhibition space itself was of a more subdued and muted variety. This gave a strong contrast to the clear and spotlighted glass casing which the shoes filled, thereby amplifying the sense of the display as a seductive treasure trove.

Other iconic shoe designs are also having their deserved moment in the spotlight; both Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin are celebrating their anniversaries, 15 and 20 years respectively, with supremely stylish book publications.  Louboutin’s tome similarly defies basic convention and celebrates the creative and dramatic potential of the shoe, from the extremities of theatricality to that perfectly honed red-carpet glamour.  The shoe is definitely more than just a fashion accessory or a complementary addition to an outfit, and the work and successes of these luxury design houses, and Westwood, deserves to be recognised.

Book £85 (matchesfashion.com)

Melissa Emerson 

Originally from France, she moved to London when she was 19 to study Set design and Performance at Central St Martin’s. She took a photography MA and her resulting work is a hybrid of the two mediums. This is crystallised in her series Un-Possible Retour, which shows mimetic portraits of members of her family. She delved into her old family photo albums, and exactly recreates the images, using the same subjects and exact original composition but taken up to 60 years later. The effect is hypnotic, transporting the viewer back into their own childhood. The series was bought by Saatchi and shown in Newspeak: British Art Now II, which has just been shown in Adelaide, Australia along with Tracy Emin’s ubiquitous Bed.

Clarisse is currently working on a number of projects being shown throughout Europe. She describes her work as a natural bi-product of her life, being inspired by her travels, discussions with friends and the people around her.

The concept of time is pivotal in your work, and photography is the perfect medium with which to jump through it and manipulate it, why are you so interested in time as a subject matter?

It’s an obsession; I find it fascinating to experiment with the ability of photography to play with time. I like to manipulate it, control it, and change it’s order. I like to look at the old days and find a way to bring them back to the present. Without really realising I keep returning to this concept. I started questioning myself a lot to understand why my relation with time is so intimate at the age of 25. I suppose that I am too young to use it as something hostile or fatal so I use it as collaborator.

Your Market Estate Project was conducted in an old council estate that was just about to be demolished. The piece documented the life of a resident, Jimmy Ward, and was first shown in his flat. It then developed into Rise and Fall, could you expand on these pieces of work?

The project was in Holloway in North London. A 571 flat council estate was just about to be demolished, an up until the very last days before, 31 families called it their home for over 40 years. I met Jimmy Watts there in a lift; he was the first person to move into Market Estate in 1967, and he became like my grandfather. He told me about his life in Market Estate, showed me old home videos, photographs and letters that documented his life in the building.  I tried to tell Jimmy’s story in words and pictures. Rise and Fall is the continuity of the exhibition in Jimmy’s flat but in the white box of a gallery. The installation contains all of the original features and contents of Jimmy’s kitchen from his demolished flat including home super 8 movies with voiceover running on his TV and Jimmy’s video captured through his kitchen window showing youth damaging the building.

I am interested in your movement at St Martin’s from Set Design to Photography and how you incorporate both of these practices within your work.

When I was 19 and a student from France, I originally applied to St Martin’s to do fine art but they told me I should go to set design. I suddenly realised I would have to do model making for these pieces of literature and unfortunately it was not me: I ended up reading Shakespeare plays with my terrible English and I was always trying to find a way to kind of avoid it.

What I started to enjoy was spending all my time in the darkroom, I was always in the photography department. So, I decided to study a Masters in Photography and set design naturally merged within my photography projects. Art school teaches you how to think and how to express it in a creative manner but you can’t express your concept well if you’re artistic skills are not honed.

The concepts of resemblance and representation are present in your work. You construct themes within your photographs which are theatrical. What do you think that contributes to the photograph as an artwork?

The theatrical re-staging renews your adult vision of your childhood images, they can be a way of reflecting one’s past and identity. They conceal just as much as they reveal. I create a photograph instead of just taking the right moment.

Yes because there was a comic element to the images, when I watched the video of your brother, behind the table. I couldn’t quite work out what created that comic element?

I think it is actually the dress, the clothes. There is a magic to the images, but also a part of sadness some hopes and dreams.

In the portraits, what do you think is the strand that maintains that person throughout their life?

It is the eyes, the look. For example the picture of my Grandmother, it is the eyes, looking in the same way, as she did as a child. The important part of my photographs is not so much the reconstructed performative parts but the more essential truthfulness of them. The reality of how time has passes for the subjects, the continuous strand that maintains them. The pictures I did with my mum, my grandmother and my father are the strongest for me because you can really see how time has passed for them.

In aesthetics there is a lot of debate about the distinction between photography and painting. With photographs we look at dusty snapshots of long deceased ancestors. What are your thoughts on this distinction?

It took so long for photography to be accepted. Lots of painters were against it in some way because they were all saying look this is not art. For example, recently they stopped making Polaroid’s, maybe because they didn’t get enough money for them. And then they had to do it again, because it is much more expensive and you have got something and it is quite like that, there is no more film, now people are realising how great it is.

Your degree show was the first showing of Un-Possible Retour, which was then subsequently shown at the Saatchi gallery. How did this project get consummated?

I had to write a proposal for my final major project. What started this idea was a picture of my brother lying in the bath naked, in a pink bucket. I thought I would love to recreate it, and then i looked at more family photos without realising all these things, really the meaning of it.

So I wrote my proposal and went back to France. When I got back I realised how incredibly difficult it was going to be to recreated the images: I was going to have to be extremely organised. I kept flying back and forth from London to France, and had to be in constant communication with my family. Hey can i grab you for 5 hours you know. Especially when you are living in London and you have to bring all your set you know, and you have to bring everything from the kitchen, so yeah, it was impossible.

And now the Newspeak: British art now show has gone to Australia, with Tracy Emin’s bed.

I love Tracy Emin’s bed actually. When I was 15 I came to London from France and went there to the Saatchi gallery and saw the Sensation show: which showcased all the YBA’s along with Tracy’s Bed. I was just starting to really love art and it blew me away, I was so impressed I thought this is art.

I would never have guessed that 7 years later I would have a phone call from the Photographers Gallery saying Saatchi just bought your work. When I heard there were 10 minutes of craziness, and then I calmed down, like after every exam you know, you come back to earth.

What do you think about being involved in the contemporary art market; does it taint or affect your work?

I feel lucky to be able to live out of it but sometimes I feel like the commercialisation of the art world is reaching saturation point. It feels so money driven that it is in danger of losing sight of any other purpose. I learnt with my past experience that the most important thing is to be surrounded by the right people, people that believe in you not only as a product. It is really difficult when you start to understand how the business side of the art world works because artists are not really trained for that but you have you quickly learn and accept that your art is not only a passion but also a job.

There is an emotional dimension to your work. What would you say that primarily is?

Compassion, I spend hours and hours and hours learning about the life’s of people. I like people, I like to listen to their stories.

What are you working on currently? What motivates you and forges your work ethic?

I have been working on The Unknown Soldier project, as well as other projects in Europe and Tel Aviv. The Unknown Soldier began the day I decided to look through old photographs of strangers. I found a lot in second hand and antique shops, and discovered entire lives documented. One that particularly struck me was a 1940’s photo album that showed a young man from birth to the last day he was seen by his family, the day he left to fight in World War II. So far it is the story of an unknown soldier.

In terms of work ethic, it is really important to enjoy your work. If you enjoy what you are doing it comes naturally. Try to push yourself, it will always get done, really challenge yourself and work hard.

For more information about Clarisse’s projects and work, please see her website http://www.clarisse-darcimoles.com/

Scroobius Pip began his musical career as a spoken word poet, playing open mic nights and impromptu gigs for the people waiting in line for jazz shows. In 2005, he released a collection of low budget recordings entitled ‘No Commercial Breaks’, however, it was when he teamed up with producer Dan le Sac and they released the album ‘Angles’ that people really started to take notice. Following festival appearances at Reading & Leeds, Glastonbury, Pukkelpop and a headline set at Two Thousand Trees, the duo decided to take some time out to concentrate on their respective solo projects. For each of them this involved a return to their roots, however for Scroobius Pip it also involved getting a variety of session musicians, and someone called Travis Barker, to collaborate with him on the album ‘Distraction Pieces’.

How was the transition from working with Dan to playing with a whole new group of musicians?

Dan was the only person I ever properly worked with, well I guess there were a few others, but it was good to work with tons of producers on this album. A lot of them worked in the same way as me and Dan because they were in America. Generally when Dan and I are writing we do it all over email because he lives in Reading and I live in Essex. Neither of us has the style that requires us to meet up; when I’m writing I need to get in my own head space and when he’s writing he needs time to build up all the tracks. It’s not like it’s a band where we can just meet up and jam, we’ve always given each other our own space for the writing process. A lot of the producers on the new album were like that, but with Steve Mason, for example, who produced The Struggle, I went up to stay with him in Scotland and sat in the studio to work through the track.

How do you go about getting someone like Travis Barker to play drums for you?

Danny Lohner from Nine Inch Nails, who produced Introdiction, tweeted some of my lyrics, so I tweeted him saying “I’m working on a record, do you fancy making a beat?” He lives in LA and he was in Nine Inch Nails so he knows… everyone. He got Travis’ drums on there and he was really feeling it. We’ve chatted since and he’s keen to do more stuff for me in the future. It’s all been emails and tweets and direct messages. Travis and I were going to try and meet up, because I think he’s in the UK in November, but I’m on tour so there’s no time. We don’t have time to be hanging out with people. As you saw when you arrived, I come straight off the bus and sort the merch and I’ll be on the merch stall all night tonight. It’s not like we have time to chill. That’s been intentional though, we’re keeping it as tight as we can. It’s so we can play these sweaty little venues where there’s more atmosphere and rowdiness. With this album I wanted to get more punk influences in because that’s what I grew up with. I grew up loving punk and hardcore so it’s good to have that weird mixture on stage.

How did you go about getting together your live band to play this tour, because obviously if you’ve got people like Sage Francis and Travis Barker on the album you can’t conceivably get them to tour with you?

 “Hey, Travis Barker, do you want to come tour venues of around 500 people with me, come out for one song and then go back to touring stadiums with Blink 182?” [Laughs] Yeah. Worgie, the guitarist we’ve got on tour with us, wrote a lot of the album with me and produced three or four of the beats. It was him and Yilla who oversaw the whole thing. Worgie plays guitar on the live show and operates all the laptops, that was an obvious choice. We auditioned for a drummer, which was something I’d never done before, but it’s kind of easy if you’ve been in the industry for four or five years as I have. It was sort of like the X factor, but I guess we had to take that route. The drummer we chose, Paul, is a friend of our soundman and tour manager who’s been working with me and Dan for years.

There was a TV show that Akala did on the relationship between hip-hop and poetry. Being that you made the transition from spoken word poet to hip-hop artist I was surprised not to see you on it.

 Yeah, I saw bits of that but I didn’t catch the whole thing. It’s a weird one… I’ve got no issue whatsoever with Akala but… I really don’t want to be slagging anyone off [Laughs]. It’s just that he does a lot of stuff on TV and radio as “The Spoken Word Guy” but I’ve never seen him at any of the open mics I used to go to, or any of the events I used to go to. No one that I know on the spoken word scene knows him for that. As far as I know he didn’t come up through the spoken word scene, he was doing hip-hop and then kind of went “Right, I’m a poet now.” Which is fine! It’s wicked!  I’m just not overly familiar with him. I’ve got no issue at all, it’s great that he’s bringing exposure to spoken word but I don’t know much of his stuff because I’ve never seen him on the scene.

To me, because Akala’s project is based around Shakespeare, it feels a bit crude; it’s picking the most obvious and most well known poet.

 He’s not the only one to have done that, so again, this isn’t any dig against him. Things like that to me just feel very safe and easy, it’s like “Right we’ll bring Shakespeare to the kids” and I’m like “Why? Why not bring them something new?” It’s great to get kids to relate to Shakespeare, but that’s not the only option. How is the next Shakespeare going to come about if everyone is just translating Shakespeare rather than doing new stuff? There’s this guy Polar Bear who does these hour long shows and they’re amazing. It’s just him telling a story for an hour and it’s absolutely mind blowing. But that won’t get as much coverage because it’s not as easy as “Let’s bring Shakespeare to the kids. Here’s some art’s council funding”. Personally… again I keep having to stress that I’ve got no issue with Akala at all, it’s great that he’s pushing kids in the right direction and trying to get them away from negative things… but I would rather pay to go see Polar Bear tell this new story that’s current and relatable than pay someone to translate an old text.

Do you think hip-hop has the right to the title of poetry?

I don’t see it as important. I really don’t. Poetry is a word, it’s all relative. There are all sorts of things that to me are poetry because I’ve been able to relate to them so much and they have really influenced me. I think poetry is relative. There’s a guy on the scene called Inua Ellams who always said “You shouldn’t ever refer to yourself as a poet, that’s for other people to do”. I really liked that. When I started off I was all “Yeah, I’m a poet”, because that’s the only term I knew for this spoken word thing. But in reality it’s all individual, if someone connects with your stuff then it’s poetry to them, I don’t think you need to have this division of “That’s not poetry, but that is” and all that. What does it mean? And why is it a good thing? If something isn’t “poetry” but you still connect to it and it’s fucking amazing and it’s really well written then does that make it any worse? I don’t think it does.

Shall we talk about ‘Death of the Journalist’?

I’m getting asked about that a lot for some reason. It’s a weird one, it’s pissed off a lot of people which I don’t think it should. I can see why, but I wrote it as an investigation, I found it a fascinating subject. I’ve still not made a decision as to whether journalism is dead, or dying, and whether that’s a good or bad thing. It’s just that we rely a lot on blogs, and half of these bloggers won’t even be aware that you can get a degree in journalism; I mean it’s something you can spend years studying at university. That’s how it used to be, you’d get your degree and learn about fact checking rules and source checking rules, but these bloggers don’t know that. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing; the freedom of the internet is that you don’t have editors who restrict your content. But because the internet is so vast you could have the best writer in the world, writing these amazing online pieces, but no one would find them. What we, as people, naturally gravitate towards is the pulp journalism, the celebrity stuff. If I had two emails and one was a link to this great piece of writing, breaking down all the issues of today, and the other one was “Look… You can see Scarlett Johansson’s arse” then I’d probably click on the second one and have a quick look. I’d make a note to go back and read the other one, but that’s the nature of humans. It’s our own fault in a way that the stuff that sells is the trashier stuff; it is supply and demand I guess.

A lot of your tracks seem extremely personal, such as ‘Look for the Woman’ on ‘Angles’. Are they from personal experience?

Dan wrote the hook to that track, it was something that he was going through at the time and I’d been in that situation a few times so I could relate to it. I took influence from all of those situations and wrote the verses. In general I don’t write true stories; I’ll take influence from two or three things that have happened because otherwise I’d feel rude and cheap. If that was a true story I’d feel fucking horrible. I’d have taken a relationship that meant something and gone “Here we go, let’s take this on the road”. That’s not cool. A lot of my work is rooted in genuine experience and genuine emotions but I’ll write a new story out of them. The only exception is ‘Cowboi’ off ‘Logic of Chance’ which is something that happened to my Nan, I thought that she was a bit of an inspiration so I put it on there as a tribute.

For more information visit: http://scroobiuspip.co.uk/

Exit Ten at their best, big choruses, unpredictable melodies and punchy riffs – Give Me Infinity
journeys towards a dramatic sound that progresses from previous releases.

On first hearing the track ‘Curtain Call’, the album’s first single, I wasn’t convinced that Give Me Infinity was going to live up to the hype. I still think ‘Curtain Call’ might be one of the album’s weaker tracks but maybe this exemplifies how strong the track listing is. When I first checked out the album however, there was none of this uncertainty. Not a trace. Personally, I think this album takes steps forward from their previous releases, and the tracks undeniably breed a more mature sound- A sound really worth sampling.

Give Me Infinity is an album where the tracks really come together, and whilst they sound great individually listening to them as a collective seems to complement the overall sound. The sense of atmosphere is incredible, for the album kicks off with the track ‘Life’ where the intro seems like an overdriven, metal Halloween soundtrack but quickly transforms into one of their typically Exit Ten-esque heavier tracks. As the tracks play out, Give Me Infinity seems to shift from the big heavy riffs towards a more melodic and built up climax. However, for me this is the only negative to place against Give Me Infinity, it seems to end in a slightly watered down sound. The final three tracks ‘Smoke’, ‘Mountain’ and ‘Lion’ are all good tracks in their own right, but contain a slightly more melodic progression than those exhibited earlier in the album. The consequence being that the album finishes not on a single calmer song, but through having three simultaneously there seems to be a sense of lulling, and by the time the album has finished the huge sounds from the beginning and middle seem completely removed.

Exit Ten have continued in creating a sound that has real intrigue, and although they are frequently associated with metal, hardcore and screamo bands Give Me Infinity distances them from the commonplace and defines them in their own sound bracket.  The middle of the album is where the sound peaks with massive tracks like ‘Suggest A Path’ and ‘Drama’ really summarising the sound of Give Me Infinity. The sound of this album somehow manages to sound incredibly polished and systematic whilst sounding completely raw and spontaneous and this combination works into an exhibition of great musicianship.

The album fluctuates between heavy riffs and catchy melodies of a calmer nature, and possesses vocals that really set them apart from standard metal bands. After the critical success of the album Remember The Day released in 2008, and the anticipation that has built up surrounding their latest release, and second studio album Give Me Infinity, Exit Ten have not disappointed. The album captures everything that was great from Remember The Day, and translates it into these eleven tracks but build upon it. This album has got to be one of the best metal releases this year, and with a sound that really pops out from the mainstream is worth having a listen to. Big vocals, huge choruses, heavy riffs and catchy melodies capture drama and atmosphere on a huge scale within Give Me Infinity.

Tracks to sample:
Suggest A Path
Drama
Sunset

www.exitten.net

With his digital videos and images, the artist Jack Addis engages with and invites meditation upon our digitally mediated contemporary experience of the world. He distorts portraits of ubiquitous popular culture figures by glitching and datamoshing the images in order to produce vibrant neon abstractions: reminiscent of when the old analogue TV’s used to glitch producing a static geometric distortion. He splinters the images introducing a chaos and opening up a chasm within the binary code of digital images. There is a frenetic energy to the works: embodied in the magenta, cyan and yellow hues of the images.

Whilst studying for his undergrad in fine art at Bath Spa University, Jack naturally progressed from painting to using digital media and experimenting with new technology in order to reflect and refract the culture in which he lives and how he experiences it. Now living and working in Bristol, his works offer a fresh perspective on the socio-political landscape of our contemporary world and culture.

What motivated your move from painting to digital art? Do you find it reflects our contemporary experience of reality?

I suppose it was a logical step, it felt more honest to use a computer. Working digitally has given me an interesting viewpoint on our dependency on technology, and the structures it provides. It is propagating its self outside of the digital sphere, into our everyday lives on to t-shirts into dialogue on TV sitcoms and the daily news.

Your work is a ‘comment on how it feels to be alive right now’. What do you take to be the defining features of a life lived increasingly over the Internet, and through the digital forum of a screen?

A read and write culture is at the centre of the digital forum; it is designed to enable sharing. There is an Ideal of equality on the Internet where people are inspired to create not just consume. It is a platform for read and write communities enabling open innovation in a neutral network taking culture and remixing it back, giving something a new meaning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN-PsIrOQZc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz4seJAyjxY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgMgLjMghuk&feature=related

Choice, change and chaos are important themes in your work; could you expand on these concepts?

For me they are all interconnecting themes that become increasingly apparent when looking at the digital. Because there is a lack of moderation and a wealth of choice: the original meaning of something can become completely distorted, more media has created more points of view around the same subject matter.

 You have said we ‘create our identity through an ever evolving mash up of cultural fragments’, do you see your work within a rubix a post-modern experience of the world?

I think perfect choice created by all these points of view allows us to pick and chose to hopefully create something that defines us as an individual. As there is so much to look at we might not give the time or the understanding of what the connotations might be of our choices.

The glitching, data-moshing, fragmenting and distortion of your subjects conveys a frenetic energy and anxiety. They seem to embrace chaos and a lack of control, are these elements conscious in your work?

I like to play between the anxiety of a lack of control and the energy of chaos. I don’t want to directly show everything but by the absence of information say the remaining, leaving the viewer to create their own outcome. There is no clear answer but there is the pursuit of finding out.

Why do you use popular culture figures to fragment in your portraits?

I want deconstruct the popular image we have of these figures. Change the idea we have of them.  The fact they are obscured makes you want to see them, to see what you know. But they become less defined as aspirational and instead reference a state of internal disharmony that is maybe easier to relate to.

What is the importance of the colours in your work? They remind me of when I dropped water on an analogue domed TV screen, and the neon’s refract.

To play on the idea of broken technology, is a big part of it something you don’t want to see. To be a child and use every colour, be the loudest thing around so your attention is draw to the broken image. To give a sense of the violence against the coldness of the digital and give movement to the still image.

What is your interest in video as a medium?

I made a series of films last year in which I tried to capture a feeling of a moment, in so far as how colour and movement can be perceived but I’m not sure how I want to pursue it at this time. I am experimenting with the medium as a way to create more immersive environments, which the viewer is not outside of but becomes an active part of.

 What are you working on currently? Where do you see your work developing in the future? 

I’m working on a load of stuff. I’m continuing with portraiture and landscape images all the time and occasially making some very short films or GIF’s and some Ep covers.  As for the future in line with some collaborations with graduates from Bath Spa University and some Bristol based artists I’m moving more into sculpture and light instillations; which I hope will create an a more immersive environment to counter point the work I am currently making.

For more information about Jack Addis’s work and up coming exhibitions please visit http://jack-addis-art.blogspot.com/ 

Check the following link to acquire Jack’s work.