Author: Mathias

Claire Droppert’s ‘Sand Creatures’

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Remember when we were kids, out and about in the outdoors, playing tag, climbing trees and lying in the grass, observing the sky, catching sight of imagined animals made of clouds? Photographer and visual designer Claire Droppert revisits exactly these childhood memories with the first instalment of her ‘Gravity’-project, but instead of letting us gaze upwards she carries her observer off to a shoreline and confronts him with her fantastical ‘Sand creatures’. Armed with an arsenal of frozen sand, a shovel and a high-speed camera, Claire sets off to capture these delicate moments of weightlessness. And well, what do you see here? Claireonline.nl Instagram Twitter

‘Enduring Light’ by Yaz Norris

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‘Is the importance of light in photography being forgotten?’ That’s the all-encompassing question that mirrors the haunting b/w series ‘Enduring Light’ of young photographer and ECA graduate Yaz Norris. For her, breaking through the natural barriers of how we perceive the world we come to accept as reality, shaped by the sensory forms of light and shadow, enables us to question our surroundings: ‘It personally came to me when I discovered the happenstance of a projection that mimicked the result of a camera obscura’, she admits. ‘While the wind sucked the blind into the window, the light hit a specific angle causing it to bend, with the result that the buildings opposite were delicately illuminated across the wall. The refraction was blurry and moving, but it occurred completely naturally, and completely by accident.’ If you look at her cracking images, she’s pretty much given the right answer herself. Check out Yaz’ website for her other projects or follow her via twitter.

‘Reasons why we cry’ by Rachel Hill

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Next one on my personal tour d’arte through ECA‘s seemingly endless halls filled with art exhibits is designer and illustrator Rachel Hill, whose eye-catching works nailed down this year’s collections purchase prize for illustration. Drawing from a wide repertoire of styles and themes, her degree show pieces included this organic, imaginative series of artworks based on the many reasons why we cry: Find out more about Rachel’s work here.

‘Aden’: A silent narrative graphic novel by Laura Griffin

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What’s an easy-peasy way to find out about bright new talents of the creative fields? And no, I don’t mean pinterest or behance this time – it’s the annual art school degree shows. Edinburgh, here we go! For the second year running, the Edinburgh College of Art celebrated the innovative work of more than 500 graduating artists in an extensive 9-day exhibition. As I am still amazed by the illustration, product design and architecture pieces, I’d like to showcase some of my ECA discoveries over the next few days and weeks. Let’s start off with illustrator Laura Griffin, who exhibited original artworks of her 66-page, self-published project ‘ADEN’. Taking inspiration from black & white photography and the medium of cinema, she describes her impressive work as ‘an artistic silent narrative graphic novel about a man’s journey through a surreal dystopian location called ADEN and through his experiences it shapes his understanding of his own existence.’ Beautiful, thrilling and thoughtful, have a look: Find out more about ADEN and Laura’s other projects here: Lauragriffinillustration.co.uk Instagram Twitter …

Morvern Cunningham © Eoin Carey

Behind Grassroots Culture: Interview with Morvern Cunningham

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When I moved to Edinburgh I was keen and curious to find out about the artistic pulse of the city. Clearly spoilt with an overwhelming cluster of contemporary visual art, pop-up exhibitions and street art around almost every corner, it took a bit of adapting to the new surroundings. Looking past the rather conservative art scene façade, far from prime location galleries and the annual Festival Fringe extravaganza on Royal Mile, there’s a bunch of hidden gems waiting to be discovered in the midst of Edinburgh’s often neglected neighbourhood of Leith. One venture, that’s jointly responsible for the area’s growing reputation as a vibrant and colourful haven for creatives, is LeithLate. Time for a wee chat with founder Morvern Cunningham about art in the Scottish capital, ongoing projects and ambitions for 2014. Hello Morvern, for anyone unfamiliar with your work, tell us a bit about LeithLate. LeithLate is an annual multi-arts event that takes place across multiple Leith venues in the space of one night. We are also responsible for a number of public art initiatives in Leith including The …

Daniel Sax: ‘The Gap by Ira Glass’

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No matter where we’re coming from or what we’re doing, we might know exactly what we’d like to build, write, invent, create or achieve in our lives, but it’s a long, rocky road to success. Every creative human being must have had, currently does or will eventually find oneself in this stage of life. The Gap. Trapped somewhere in the contradiction between ones taste and expectations as well as the skills one has acquired along the way. Visual storyteller Daniel Sax terrifically captured the issue with his short film ‘The Gap by Ira Glass’, inspired by a typographic piece of David Shiyang Liu, who cleverly illustrated an interview of the US radio host about storytelling in 2012. True and motivational in every sense. frohlocke.com Twitter Behance

The Blue Angel Lounge ‘Desolate Sands’

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It’s incredible how quickly time flies. Could’ve been 12 years ago, when I sat down with my hometown friends Nils & Mel in an attic crammed with instruments, listening to track snippets, watching them jam and experiment, brooding over guitar riffs and bass lines. And in 2014, after the release of two mesmerising albums in the shade of mass media attention, sharing stages with the likes of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Interpol or The Dandy Warhols, the dimension of their musical aspiration has certainly changed quite a bit since then. If anything, The Blue Angel Lounge, paying tribute to the legendary New York club that offered Velvet Underground’s Nico her first shows in the US, show no signs of slowing down: ‘Desolate Sands’ is the second track from their upcoming 3rd full-length album ‘Sea of Trees’ – due on 5th May via A Records – and features a great fusion of familiar psych and post-punk elements. Check out the official video directed by Levin Goes Lightly:

Hidden Door Festival @ Market Street Vaults, Edinburgh

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Now that the dust has settled, it’s about time for a wee photographic look back on to the magnificent Hidden Door Festival, which has taken the city by storm. Illuminating the long-forgotten Market Street Vaults with a 9-day showcase of Scotland’s breakthrough talents in music, theatre, art and film, it simply became a vivid and colourful analogue to Edinburgh’s often criticized, rather neglecting relationship with innovative contemporary arts outside of the Fringe circuit. And instead of just taking the visitor by the hand, the concept of Hidden Door dared the public to explore a place beyond the ordinary and uncover the shadowy secrets of each and every vault – as well as to embrace the extravaganza happening outside of the confined spaces. Even with the vaults soon to be transformed into retail spaces of some sorts (what a shame!), there’s gonna be another Hidden Door bound to be found by us, wherever that may be. Stay curious. Check out more snaps from the Hidden Door Festival on flickr.

Herakut Art @ Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan

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For the youngest dwellers of Zaatari, the world’s second largest refugee camp, there’s not much that brightens up their humble, troubled lives. Fleeing from the brutal civil war erupting in Syria and coming to this vast makeshift shelter in the forlorn desert wasteland of Jordan, even the smallest things are a welcoming distraction from their harsh daily camp routine. The recent visit of street art duo Herakut must have been like a dab of fresh paint in a world full of dust, distress and solitude, which entrench the imagination of the child refugees over the last two years. Invited by art charities AptArt and ACTED, Jasmin Siddiqui (‘Hera’) and Falk Lehman (‘Akut’) brought together young Syrians from the camp and Jordanian children from the surrounding cities to create these remarkable murals – and bring back those badly needed smiles on their faces. Herakut.de @Facebook @Instagram