The ICA’s Russell Herron talks about the thriving independent publishing scene. Featuring Karen, the ‘ordinary people’ magazine and the political publication Diplo.
Karen magazine is a gem! In a world awash with celebrity and fashion and must-have, Karen magazine is a little collection of quirky, off beat, bizarre and downright hilarious observations and quotes from ‘ordinary’ folk. The award winning first issue is now completely sold and the second issue is a limited run.
Diplo magazine was created in 2004. Diplo uses creative and provocative graphic design and photography to discuss and debate current affairs in a more creative way. Id the Economist is a little too text heavy, then Diplo magazine is probably for you.
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A sly and subversive horror film from Hong Kong director Fruit Chan, graced by sumptuous visuals from ace cinematographer Christopher Doyle and an especially slinky performance from Bai Ling (Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow; Richard Kelly’s forthcoming Southland Tales). Ling plays Mei, a trashy Chinese mainlander who does a roaring trade in her special rejuvenation recipes, with women sneaking to her high-rise apartment for a weekly fix of the pink dumplings that keep signs of ageing at bay. Although most of Mei’s visitors can’t enough, one desperate customer – Mrs. Lee, played by Miriam Yeung – discovers that these dough-wrapped delicacies contain a sinister secret ingredient. Originally made as one section of the three-part omnibus Three…Extremes (alongside contributions from Park Chan-wook and Takashi Miike), Dumplings has been expanded by Chan into a rich, complex horror film that trades in black humour and unease rather than straight-up shocks, making it all the more memorable in the process.
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Director: Fruit Chan
Release: June 16, 2006
Screenwriter: Lilian Lee
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Galia Durant and Carim Clasmann, who together form Psapp, seem to enjoy being contrary. Their music is stuffed full of memorable, friendly tunes with a nod to traditional songwriting, but all the rough edges have been left exposed.
Unashamed choruses proudly sit atop intricate, warm electronics, plucked violins, broken toy keyboards and microphones left in the rain. The oddest of sounds and fragmented melodies all jostle for space.
Beyond the noises, the squeaks and the downright excessiveness of it, there’s more to Psapp than just fun tinkering and hysteria. Psapp’s lovelorn tunes tell tales of everyday insecurities with a refreshing honesty. And these simple sentiments somehow, through the music, become more than the sum of their parts.
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Directed by Melissa Olson, the first ever official music video from Boards of Canada is truly a thing of beauty. Suspended on the edge of space in a balloon, an astronaut looks down at the beautiful planet earth and prepares to dive in. Leaping from the balloon, he floats down through the earth’s atmosphere, dense cloud cover and into the ocean. The daredevil voyager emerges from the chaos of the sea on a surf board, riding a huge wave to the shore. Using reassembled documentary footage, the video to “Dayvan Cowboy” translates the power and atmosphere of Boards Of Canada’s music into a dreamlike, imaginary journey from space, into the sea and to the shore, in one continuous sequence.
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