Things&Ink

February 11, 2016April 6, 2016

Music Review: The Libertines

Our music writer Amber Carnegie recently saw The Libertines, here’s what she thought of their gig…

After we caught The Libertines at the end of Reading Festival last year we were unsure of exactly how they were going to take on an arena. They may have sold out when they last played Nottingham but the arena still looked really sparse. The passion and eagerness of their fans made it clear that the faithful listeners weren’t just crammed at the front.

An arena tour usually comes with an organised act, special effects and rotating drum kits but The Libertines held their edge. There may have been glinting letters and screens but they kept all that to a minimal, even though there were scantily clad ushers handing out beers mid set. But for those paying attention the girls in the red guard jackets were a throw back to the band’s early gigging days.

Opening with ‘Barbarians’ from their latest ‘Anthems For Doomed Youth’ Nottingham saw this tight outfit finally back in sync, back as an identifiable unit, with all their raw rough around the edges sound that had a generation desperate for more. The Libertines are iconic for being one of the first indie bands to to create a scene around them, as they connected with fans through the internet, spreading their tales of Arcadia.

The Libertines can probably be counted as the inspiration for most indie bands we hear today and as they sped through a a set list of old and new tracks it was clear why they have become so influential. There were mic shares that brought back images of iconic scenes between Pete and Carl, but it was Gary Powell that stole the show. I couldn’t take our eyes off of him and the drum kit!

When I think of The Libertines we think of the last of the old school ‘rock stars’ with all the uproar that the media lapped up. With musicians now living lives online, I wonder how The Libertines would’ve rose to fame and how the band would’ve founded today. But as they closed their encore with ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’ British icons filled the screens around the arena and there was no doubt that they had earned their place among them.

February 11, 2016

Samantha Fielding: Performer

Samantha Fielding is a 42-year-old photographer and creator of the Performer portrait project, a book celebrating the creative minds and secret worlds of night performers. We chat to Samantha about her upcoming book…

Performer is a homage to the night performer the strong and creative minds that make you forget about the everyday world we wonder in. Night is a time for reinvention. No one understands this better than the underground performer. Bursting free from the limitations of routine and shedding the skin of an every day identity, they become someone else. Someone braver. Someone wilder. Someone truer.For the night time performer especially, there is a certain isolation that comes with putting their vision and endeavour out there. The irony is that they find exhilaration and purpose in their respective acts or identities, and yet they are often judged and mocked as oddballs, outcasts, or freaks.

As both a photographer and interviewer, I shone my light back stage and focussed on the characters behind the parade of masks, eager to capture both the practised pose and the unguarded moments. The result is a series of portraits that capture the beating hearts of a world I feel fortunate to have been able to document. I will say that not only is this book an homage to the featured artists, it also challenges the judgements and preconceptions that we make of others. Either way, I hope my lens conveys a sharper understanding of this misunderstood world. And I hope this work fosters a new communion between the audience and the performer.

I grew up in the south of Spain where my mother owned night clubs. From a young age I was curious of the glitz and glam of the drag queens that had a night club next door. Stunning and tall they always let me sit and watch them put their make up on. I feel at home in this world. I am not a performer but maybe a closet performer. I go to Burningman every year. I actually met my husband there 10 years ago. I have always loved dressing up and have a garage filled with feather head dresses and costumes for all styles and occasions.

I want this book to cover all walks of performance artist’s from burlesque to drag, fire eaters to contortionists. I have given myself three years to travels to London, Berlin, Paris, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I hope this book brings an understanding to the every day person that you should never judge a book by it’s cover. Through my journey I have met some of the smartest, happiest, well travelled and well versed artists. These performers choose life.

Watch Samantha’s video below to find out more about the performer project:

February 10, 2016

Tattoo London at Museum of London

Tattoo London – 29 January – 8 May 2016

Find out how professional skin art made its way to the capital and get a look behind the scenes at four contemporary London tattoo studios. Tattooing in London has a long and rich history, dating back to a time before Captain Cook made his adventures to the Pacific. The exhibition Tattoo London, at the Museum of London, will offer insight into the history of professional tattooing in London as well as revealing life inside four contemporary tattoo studios in the capital.

Also on display will be newly commissioned artworks by tattooists from the featured studios: Lal Hardy at New Wave, Alex Binnie at Into You, Claudia de Sabe at Seven Doors and Mo Coppoletta at The Family Business.

Self Portrait as Jigoku Dayu by Claudia de Sabe, 2015

The museum will stay open late for a special event, ‘Tattoo London: Under the Skin‘, on 22 February 2016.

For more information, go to museumoflondon.org.uk

February 8, 2016

Vitiligo Tattoo

Tiffany Posteraro has vitiligo a long term skin condition that causes white pale patches of skin to form on her body. Her whole life Tiffany has been stared at and commented on, as a child she was bullied. To fight against those that tried to knock her confidence and shatter her self worth Tiffany got a tattoo.

The tattoo on her arm clearly states her condition to those staring at her- ‘it’s called vitiligo’, and answers people’s question as to what is going on with her skin before they have even asked it.

Tiffany’s tattoo reflects how she has accepted herself and that she is proud to embrace her Vitiligo instead of hiding it. She has chosen to become an advocate for the condition and spread body positivity and self love to others.

February 6, 2016February 6, 2016

The Art of Jana Brike

Latvian artist Jana Brike creates oil paintings that explore notions of innocence and coming-of-age narratives.

Her inspirations for work has been as diverse as: folklore fairytales, children book illustrations, imaginative soviet animation films and supernaturally realistic classical painting; the colorful forbidden rare secret imagery of the western pop culture surrounded by mystical, almost religious tone for the soviet children; the terrifying war and deportation stories that her grandparents, and their little brothers and sister witnessed as small children; pompous alienated eerie atmosphere of the catholic church ceremonies in the Latvian countryside, and the breathtakingly beautiful ballet performances in the opera house, where she was taken since the age of two, as well as others. – all the bitter-sweetness and irreality of the every day.

The main focus of Jana Brike’s art is the internal space and state of a human soul – dreams, longing, love, pain, growing up and self-discovery.

Sailor’s Wives

Aphrodite with Kitten

The End of the Last Unicorn

Paradise of Shared Solitude

Gardener and the Centre of the Universe