THE FLOOD
4
INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE ARTS & CULTURE ZINE
THE FLOOD ISSUE FOUR / SUMMER 2011
Editor/Designer: Natalie Walstein
Contributors:
Holton Brock Caleis Jessie Eisenmann Amy Goh Kyle Heger Meghan Hollister Remma Jneztak Eva Lake Lola Li Hayley Lindman Chengsi Lu David Myers Eleni Nikoletsos Carissa Rand Edgar Ruiz Masha Rumyantseva Max Sanders Marisol Villanueva
Subscription Info: thefloodzine.com
Contact Us:
thefloodzine@gmail.com COVER ART BY: EVA LAKE GET DAILY INSPIRATION @ THE FLOODZINE.COM
PHOTOGRAPH BY: LOLA LI
PHOTOGRAPH BY: MARISOL VILLANUEVA
ART.....................06 DESIGN...........24 FASHION......28 PHOTO...........34 BOOKS............48 MUSIC..............52
ART
Amy Goh MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC
WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO CREATE SUCH INTRICATELY WOVEN DRAWINGS? IS THERE A STORY BEHIND THEM? There is a kind of narrative I weave into my drawings. Think of my drawings as a concentrated pool of motifs, stories, ideas, persons, and mythical entities that one draws from to create one’s own story. There is always an overall coherence, a “pulling together” of ink strands into a whole, but I like leaving the meaning of the picture itself to the viewer to construct. I like to 06
think of my drawings as convoluted folktales, labyrinths of story that one has to draw from and make sense of. I hate linear chronologies as such, and prefer if each piece is left dangling (narratively). The piece to the left is called “Erasure” and I created it during a dark period in which I just wanted to disappear, literally. Drawing her was cathartic, like wrestling the tricky line between night/day, black/white, chaos/order and emerging victoriously. The picture on the right is called “The Birth of Oedipus”. She signifies Jocasta, and I like how the framing of the picture also adds a humorous element - she uses the pelvic bone as a mask, making fun of the natural order of what things should denote. I like to embed a humorous element into my work, although this is usually so covered up I’m the only one laughing. I think we’re very much at the mercy of the world, and synchronicity/ fate always seems to have a rather morbid sense of humour. • http://www.kuroneko.yolasite.com/art.php http://catewigs.livejournal.com
07
20
ARTWORK BY: HOLTON BROCK
21
22
ART
Caleis GALICIA, SPAIN
Do you base your work off of real people and real clothing or do you pull them from your mind? My works are based in fashion photography. I do take references from real people, but I don’t look to imitate a similar reality. It’s only to reference to a few features, to see how the light falls.. The same goes for the clothes, sometimes the styling and wardrobe arises during the progress of working.. This time I feel more of a need to design patterns and forms, looking for a more funny process and more personal and special result. • http://www.behance.net/caleis
23
FASHION
Kyle Heger MINNEAPOLIS, MN
WHAT ATTRACTS YOU TO FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY AS A PROFESSION?
Being a fashion photographer lets you become the innovator of how the image comes out. You may have a whimiscal garment, bold make-up, or a simple pair of jeans; it’s what you make of the materials that shows what you can do with your craft. www.flickr.com/photos/kylejheger/
30
31
38
PHOTOGRAPH BY: LOLA LI
39
AROUND THE WORLD
South Africa
AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE LOCAL ART SCENE IN THE EASTERN CAPE
by jessie eisenmann
It’s the world around you — how your day-to-day life forms, and the dreams of your bus driver and best friend collide. Local art influences and is a creation of its surrounding culture, and survives as the most honest reflection of the world around us. Idealizing this, I find community art inspiring in a way that classically precious art, while awesome and indeed influential, cannot be. Looking at local 40
art from a worldwide perspective can give insight to how important it is to support the purpose of art by sharing in our own communities. Local art, loosely defined as that which is created by those sharing in essentially the same world (be it a neighborhood, a city, or in this case, a province) is at its heart the best and most vital connection we have to each other.
The Eastern Cape of South Africa looks over the Indian Ocean at its coast, holds cities encompassing various neighborhoods and social classes, tends to rolling inland hills, and of course is home to the ubiquitous informal settlements that typically come to mind when a Westerner might imagine Africa. These are unique in and of themselves, but share amongst each other a push between rural and urban lives—most families come from villages, but economic demands require many young people to migrate to the nearest cities to support their families. And yet these distinct subcultures also share in the difficulties of reconciling past and present, a corrupt government, immense crime, and fantastically enough, living life amongst these troubles in a setting so gorgeous, where colours run as wild as the elephants, that the enormous presence of informal local art is never second guessed.
Instead of local shows or businesses-cum-galleries, living in the Eastern Cape one encounters art more frequently on a stroll down the street. Every street corner is an open studio, and artists can decide to set up shop next to a gas station with but a blanket underneath their hand-made marvels or join the spontaneous flea markets that occur in most cities. Here, you can personally encounter the artists and engage with them as you like. Most stories reveal the use of art as a gratifying means of support, or even a family tradition, though, just like in all other informal economic sectors, the financial gain is slight. The art ranges wildly from carved wood and stone to local, nearly indefinable musical instruments. Intricate beadwork taking all forms stands next to elaborate displays of paintings, created on recycled food sacks, recovered wood or loose canvas. It’s rare to find formally done pieces (canvas stretched over wood), as art supply stores are few and far between. I could use this space to air a personal grievance about the absolute lack of photography development and film in my own city of Port Elizabeth‌ but will restrain myself. 41
48
PHOTOGRAPH BY: ELENI NIKOLETOS
49