Sightseers – Ben Wheatley’s Darkly Comic Camping Horror
Ben Wheatley was present for a preview screening of his latest film Sightseers and introduced the film by joking that “it was made with cynicism…there were lots of focus groups”. This statement sums up Wheatley’s work quite well. Having worked as a writer on comedy...
Unique Flavours, Rich History – Our Belgium Brewery Tour
A man walks into a bar and asks for a beer… Innocent words from a simpler time when our imaginations, where beer is concerned, were limited to Fosters, Carlsberg or, if you were feeling particularly daring, Guinness. Beer has been with us since the dawn of...
Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2012 – Report & Thoughts by Vienna Famous
(Dedicated to Desmond and Jamie) “I pretended to be someone I wanted to be until I finally became that person. Or he became me.” (Cary Grant) As you can tell from my name, I am a pop culture construct. I’m no Cary Grant but I did try to follow his advice and can...
Dirty White Gold – Leah Borromeo on her Indian Cotton Fields Documentary
London documentary maker and journalist, Leah Borromeo, has been working on a documentary exposing links between the fashion industry and 300,000 Indian farmer suicides over the last 17 years. Focussing not only on the farmers, but on the families they leave behind,...
How Brave is Iranian Director Emir Hasanpor? The Dominant
Religion, Rape, Political Prisoners and Execution are the subject of The Dominant, a short film by Iranian Director & independent film maker Emir Hasanpor. The film has placed Hasanpor's life under threat. So what is the film about? “The film is about rape and...
MAREUNROL’S – A Latvian Fashion Metaphor for SS13
An Interview with MAREUNROL’S on their SS13 menswear collection, Episode 2 Words by Claire HazeltonPhotography by Iveta Vaivode It is dark. Shadows stretch out across the floors depicting distorted silhouettes of strangely shaped headdresses. Garments, frozen in...
TeaSmith & The Welcome Return of the Tea Ceremony
I suppose I ought to begin this piece with a confession: I don’t like tea. Whilst I understand that this is as un-British as admitting an inability to queue properly, or a lack of interest in weather-related conversation, there is little I can do to convince...
A Guide to London’s Classic Cafes & Fish and Chip Shops
After Black Dog Publishing's Tea & Cake London and Meat London: An Insider's Guide, Simon Majumdar of Dos Hermanos and The Next Iron Chef fame has tackled the next chapter of British food: the fish & chip shop. Majumdar sets out to explore this distinctly...
Aesthetica Short Film Festival – Young Upstarts Take to the Screen
article by Vienna Famous I got myself a reputation at art school by declaring pop videos to be the perfect artform (that and for being frequently naked). My reasoning was that with something so short (I’m talking about videos here), not a frame can be wasted; our...
KISS X Volcom – A Collaboration Made in Hell
KISS made such an impression on me when I was younger. I was taken aback when I first saw images of the band staring out at me from the shelves of the local record store. The deranged face paint, the characters and the sheer mystique surrounding the band was quite...
Alice Waese: London Exhibition – Precious Sculptured Jewellery
Last night jewellery designer, Alice Waese launched a solo London exhibition of her drawings and sculptural jewellery pieces at the 18 Hewett Street gallery. Jewellery designer Waese casts pieces that feel like they have been dug from the ground. Silver hunks of...
CoLAB x SLOW – Art & Soap Suds at the Liverpool Biennial
So...Soap! Is the collaborative creation of Hong Kong's SLOW and CoLAB, featuring at the Liverpool Biennial this year. They are a social venture who have come up with a 100% organic range of soaps, recognising that both our skin and our planet are commonly delicate....
ün-establishment & The Sonic Wizardry of Illum Sphere – Interview Feature
Illum Sphere is gaining much respect for the brand of experimental sonic wizardry that he brings to his own music and his productions for others. He also has a bespoke club night called Hoya:Hoya that is on the lips of those in the know in his native...
UNESCO Italy: Bologna and Ferrara – Italian Home of Jazz and Bicycle City
I’ve been to Italy. So have a lot of people. But for those who haven’t been and ask me what it’s like, the words that come to my head usually are ‘sunny, touristy, nice tomatoes, opera and canals.’ ‘Touristy’ is certainly the boldest word on the list. In fact, when I...
Brian Grimwood at WORK Gallery: Changing British Illustration
'I've had quite a lot of luck with drawing', says illustrator Brian Grimwood as we sit down to talk about his new book and retrospective. We are sat by the window whilst the finishing touches are being added to the exhibition around us at WORK Gallery. I have a quick...