Salut Xavier,

Je viens de t’envoyer les images du travail “Old Master Muslin”.
Voici quelques images d’un autre projet. C’est un travail de collection et de
réappropriation donc j’en ai beaucoup d’autres mais ça te donne déjà une idée.
Tu verras si ça te plaît.

Voici le texte de David qui l’accompagne, je le trouve très beau: …

J’ai mieux compris le principe. Puis-je joindre une photo à ce texte?
Et quand est la deadline?
J’écrirai une courte nouvelle sur une expérience intime récente.

Bien à vous

Bruce B.

This is a rough version of the direction I’m going in. It gives you the idea of the project.
There will be 8 to 10 images total. I think it will be a really cool set.

Let me know your thoughts.

Love from Chris

Disons le lundi 6 ou le mardi 7 septembre. Je n’ai pas d’atelier et je ne sais pas encore
où nous nous rencontrerons.

Pouvez-vous entre-temps me faire parvenir les deux derniers numéros de la revue et
m’indiquer sous quel angle vous envisagez l’entretien. Si possible, je préfère avoir les
questions avant.

Bien à vous

Raphaël

A few years ago, I stayed in India for four months and had brought an IXUS 55 with
me. During my stay, I had captured pictures of over 300 slippers in Diu, India. I
found them on the beach, on the street, in a waste dump and many of them close
to where the Indians burn the corpses. I started documenting the slippers that I
found with my camera.Shortly afterwards, I had discovered flickr, I then uploaded
50 pictures of this series, but nobody seemed to care about it. Why? I had
wondered. This was the beginning of my introduction to the the Flickr universe.

Es gibt nur ein Vergehen, sagt sie. Dass wir nicht fähig sind, uns von Licht zu
nähren.

Und dann ist jedes Vergehen möglich. Sie sitzt mit dem Rücken zur
Europapromenade auf einer Bank. Wir schreiben das Jahr 1942. Die Stadt-
parkstreicher streichen um ihre Bank, eingelullt in Lieder und voll
gelaufen mit Bier und billigem Rosé.
Der Himmel liegt in Schichten. Sie hält ihr Gesicht den Bergen zu, die nur wieder eine weitere Schicht sind – ein allzu schönes Gesicht.
Ihre Schulterblattflügel spannt sie, lässt sie die Rückenlehne hinab gleiten, wie
die Fischer am Abend im Hafen unten die Netze auslegen zum Trocknen und darin verhangen noch einzelne Fische, Teile von Fischen, die Schwanzflosse eines
Barsch, eine Bauchseite mit Schuppen, Geräte.
Mit ihrem ganzen, gleichmässig verteilten Gewicht lehnt sie an der Bank. Der Fluss,
bevor er im Meer mündet, ist die letzte Schicht in ihrem Blick. Platanen säumen
die Promenade, recken ihre wütend gestutzten Köpfe aus den Stämmen, johlen ihr
– der Ausgefahrenen – mehrmündig und stumm fuchtelnd entgegen. Das Liedder
Taugenichtse, singen sie, begleitet vom besoffenen Streicherquartett.

Sie weiss, das Leben ist eine offene Klinge, sie hat sich selber ausgefahren. Mit
dem Fahrrad durch die Stadt auf den Hügel in den Park, dorthin, wo am
Abend die Sonne am längsten noch scheint. Es geht jetzt gegen den Abend, die
Sonne hält sich nur knapp noch über der Kante, die Streicher sind bis über
den Rand hinaus voll. Sie hört sie in ihrem Rücken plärren, zieht ihren Mantel aus,
darunter ein Kleid.

Sie trägt ein Kleid aus Fell, Federn und mit Muscheln behangen. Sie ist weit mehr
als das Kleid und zugleich ist sie viel weniger.
Die Natur der Dinge ist den Dingen eingeschrieben, sagt sie. So begreift sie den
Gehorsam. Und so ist ihr Gesicht. Blank und schön. Der Lichtreflex einer offenen
Schneide geworfen an die Parkmauer. Wir schreiben das Jahr 1942.
Es gibt zwei für jeden Rationalismus unreduzierbare Dinge, sagt sie.
Und hier muss man beginnen.
Sie sitzt in einer Dachkammer in Marseille oder vielleicht ist es bereits das Schiff,
das sie nach Casablanca bringen wird. Auf jeden Fall ist es ein nackter Raum,
in dem sie mit Mantel, Mütze und Handschuhen bekleidet schreibt. Wie eine
Orthodoxe. Der Mantel, die Mütze, die Handschuhe sind ihr Fell, Federn, Muscheln. Wir schreiben das Jahr 1942. Simone Weil ist verletzt wie ein Tier, auf einer
Flucht, zu der die Eltern die Dreiunddreissig jährige gedrängt haben. Widerwillig
verlässt sie Frankreich und ihren Widerstand. Bereits im November desselben
Jahres aber kehrt sie nach Europa zurück, genauer nach England, und tritt dort der
France libre bei, um die Neuordnung Frankreichs nach dem Krieg vorzubereiten.
In ihrer Hartnäckigkeit ist sie unbeirrbar. Sie schneidet durch alles, sie singt.
Sie singt mit den Arbeitern in den Fabriken mit, das Lied von der Freiheit. Es ist
gefährlich.
Sie ist trunken von ihm, der sie gebrannt hat wie eben ein Tier. Zutiefst verwundet
ist sie, beinahe durchsichtig geworden, und so scheint er durch sie hindurch. Es ist
sein Licht, das sie hervorbringt…

text: Jeanette Hunziker

]]> http://www.diary16.ch/?feed=rss2&p=841 0 http://www.diary16.ch/?p=860 http://www.diary16.ch/?p=860#comments Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:59:11 +0000 xavier http://www.diary16.ch/?p=860 Voilà

SANS TITRE, 2010
GOUACHE ET COLLAGE, 210×297

SANS TITRE, 2010
GOUACHE ET COLLAGE, 210×297

SANS TITRE, 2010
STYLO FEUTRE, 210×297

SANS TITRE, 2010
STYLO FEUTRE, 210×297

SANS TITRE, 2010
GOUACHE ET STYLO FEUTRE, 210×297

SANS TITRE, 2010
GOUACHE ET STYLO FEUTRE, 210×297

SATOKO SHINASHI HIGHLIGHTS AND REVERSE 1, 2009
STYLO FEUTRE, 210×297

SATOKO SHINASHI HIGHLIGHTS AND REVERSE 2, 2009
STYLO FEUTRE, 210×297

A bientôt !

“De Zines is a group show on contemporary editorial design where over 400 hundred
publications are at readers hand-reach. Visitors will find zines ranging from really cool
DIY fanzines to sophisticated experimental publications and almost everything in
between on subjects like design, fashion, drawing, photography, philosophy, queerzines
and lots more. If you wonder what to do in a hot summer day in Madrid you can always
stop by and spend a few hours flicking through or reading in a great and well air-
conditioned exhibition. De zines is on until the 29th of august at La Casa Encendida
(Madrid)”.

pictures: Mercedes Marin

When I tattoo ? It depends on what I doing. If I’m tattooing lines, outlines, I think about
my lines. It’s one of the hardest parts to do. I think about the person not moving,
I think about how I’m going to start my line, in what direction I’m goings to draw it,
it’s the technical side… But when I’m doing filling up, obviously I think about how it’s
going to look in the end, but sometimes I think about something else, sometimes
it’s so natural that I’m really somewhere else.

You ink an indelible mark on people’s bodies. Do you feel like you are sharing
an intense moment with them ? Or just that they are going through something intense ?

Personally I do my job, I do a service. If I start to think about the fact that I am marking
them for life, I’d quit this job. Because it’s too much responsibility if you think about it.
I try to do my best, but let’s say that I don’t tell myself that I’m doing some ritual or
something incredible for someone. I try to make things go smoothly between us, to make
sure that we get along well and that the person feels comfortable. If I start to think that
I am marking people for life and that they are going through an exceptional moment,
I start to freak out.
A tattoo is something that ages, it never holds out the same as it was on the first day.
A tattoo that is 10, 20 years old, changes so much, I mean when you have to think about
so many things when you are doing it, that you don’t really want to think about that
on top of it all, about your tattoo when it’ll be 30 years old, what it’ll look like and how
you’ll have changed as well at the same time.
I mean, tattoos that I did, what, 10 years ago, well I’ve changes so much since then, that
sometime I say to myself “what were you thinking ?” If you begin to think about all
that is included… It is already such a difficult profession that you just try not to think too
much. So you really concentrate on the technical aspect ? Definitely ! Then, for the
drawing, what comes before, it has actually a more artistic approach, even if I don’t like
using the word art because to me I’m not an artist, but rather a craftsman. Because
there are many technical factors to take into consideration. You can’t just do whatever
when you’re tattooing. I mean, a line has to have a certain depth if you want it to stick,
and if it’s too deep well the line spreads out, if it’s not deep enough it might disappear. It’s
the same for color. You can’t lay in color in a totally chaotic way ; it has to be technically
well done, well laid into the skin, so that in 10, 15 years it still sticks. With tattoos, maybe
you intend to make art, but you have to take into consideration all these technical
aspects, that really is more like building a piece of furniture, so that it stands, so that the
doors open, and that everything is well balanced, that everything works. For me there
is artistic cabinet making, but basically, a cabinetmaker is a craftsman. Tattooing is the
same.

Are you consciously aware of the “internal engraver” aspect of what you do ?

Tattooing is my passion, it’s my life. It’s something that is quite difficult to understand for
some people : it is a lifestyle, I carry it with me… When I go abroad, I go and see my
friends in their tattoo studios, I spend my life… I don’t spend my life only doing it, but I’m
really into it. Obviously it takes up a lot of energy, I don’t count my time, when I have
10 minutes and I go get a sandwich, I take out a tattoo book, I look at the pictures, I do it
naturally, so I live it. I don’t know consciously ? What does it mean ? Ethically ? What does
it mean ? It really depends on who is getting a tattoo. I only do Japanese, pour esthetical
reasons, the patterns age well, it’s timeless. So the clients that I have here are people
who are looking for that specifically. Now, in the studios on the street, clients who come to
get tattooed, have pretty much no idea that they are going to die with what they are
getting, otherwise there’d be a lot of tattoos that would never be done !
(laughs)
So it’s true, the timeless side is really important to me. If a guy shows up asking me for a
star on the neck, first I’ll tell him “don’t get a star, everyone has stars” and “don’t do it
on your neck ‘cause you’re going to regret it really soon” you know  ? It’s obviously hard
to imagine what we’ll look like when we’ll be fifty years old, but you can still be careful
and think about some things. In my way of approaching tattooing, fundamentally, the
indelible side interests me. Finally it’s a luxury, no one needs a tattoo, but once you have
one, no one can take it away. It’s not like a car, the tax office can take it from you,
I mean, tattoos leave their mark. Well, I don’t think that it changes your personality…
Personally, when I walk around, if there weren’t people looking at me, I’d feel completely
normal. But, let’s say it can bestow on you something special, it’s precisely because
it’s indelible that you have one done… You enter into a special world. At first, when you
get your first arm done, you’re all excited, you want to show it off, but the more tattoos
you get… I have clients that have had their whole body done…Well it’s over, they don’t
go to the swimming pool, they expose themselves the least possible. After a while,
I don’t know if it people’s opinion that bears upon them, or if it’s because they really
decided to do it for themselves, but they don’t let people take a look.
Most people that you see in the street have super ugly tattoos, and it’s true. I know people
who have magnificent tattoos and they don’t show them. There really are two different worlds. There’s one with like gothic lettering on your forearm, like my mother’s name
in Italian kind of thing, and then there’s the world of serious collectors, if one can speak of
tattoo collectors. And it’s precisely the timeless side of Japanese tattoo, the indelible side
that makes it so special. Often clients, like the client who was here earlier, who has a
tribal tattoo on his arm and wants to have it hidden, because we started to do his entire
back. Often you enter into the world of tattoo with a thing um… There are lots of people
who do a little something, that brings them into this world and they start to buy tattoo
magazines, to find stuff out, and people want to have the first covered and go on to
something serious. So I’d say there is a divide… But you’ll get lots of people who will be
perfectly happy with a tribal tattoo, a gothic lettering, stars and everything that is
fashionable for one or two years !

What are, to you, the interesting aspects of tattoos ? (identity, pain, eternity, culture…)

Well, everything that you’ve just mentioned.
(laughs)
Well, first of all, it hurts, it isn’t innocent. It can even really hurt depending on where you
do it. It’s an experience, well, it isn’t easy to get a tattoo, especially when you have
a big one done and that you have to come in twice a month. You have a couple hours
under the needles, and then there are a couple hours where you have a pretty wound,
that heals up in about a week, ten days. It isn’t a nice process, and sometimes people
give up before it’s finished.
Then you have the financial aspect, it’s quite an investment. People always say tattoos
are expensive, or they’re not. Too me, a car is expensive, because after 10 years it’s
busted and you can scrap it. A tattoo on the other hand, and like I said earlier, one can’t
take it away, it makes you special, it’s priceless.
There is also an aspect, well today you can have it removed by laser, but the fact that you
can’t take it off, makes you ask yourself a number of questions, am I going to live with
this pattern the rest of my life or not. It’s obvious that it is a special and interesting world.
Japanese tattoo comes from a culture, it’s esthetic above all. That is why I don’t do Maori
tattoos, because each pattern has a specific meaning : where you come from, what you
do, who your ancestors are, it’s kind of like ID. I think that 95% of people that do Maori
or Tahitian tattoos have no idea what they are doing, so it’s not solely an esthetic tattoo.
It requires loads of knowledge and even locals, well, they still don’t know everything.
A European with Maori tattoos doesn’t thrill me, even if it can be beautiful to us.
I did a couple of course, but every time, I’d tell people “we’re gonna a do a little DIY here,
we’re going to do whatever”, but most people don’t give a damn. Unlike Japanese tattoo
that is essentially esthetic, so one can identify with it, I mean a European with
Japanese tattoos is still beautiful. Obviously a Japanese person with Japanese tattoos
is even more powerful. But to me it’s quite a universal form really.
It’s also interesting because it is part of human history. Man has always had a kind of
reflex to decorate himself. It’s our kind of rite of passage, that and the army and boarding
school, or whatever, since we don’t have rites of passage here anymore, well there
never were anyways. But in certain tribes there are precise rituals, and tattoos are a part
of some of them and I think that for some people it is a way of growing up, of
appropriating one’s body.

Is it a moment of intimacy ?

Yes, because you make someone bleed, people are in pain. It is intimate and at the
same time not, because personally when I am tattooing someone who bleeds a lot, for
example, if I’m trying to lay color into the skin, I tell myself “he’s a pain, he drank
yesterday” (‘cause if you drink alcohol it makes you bleed more). So you still have an
intimate relationship with the person. But I’m not really in that intimacy, you see, I’m
in the technical aspects, the guy bleeds too much and I’m like “fuck, he’s annoying, he’s
gotta stop bleeding” you see. I’m not like telling myself “this is magical, we are
really creating a… I don’t know… immemorial link”. But I think the experience is much
more intense for the clients than what I experience, actually. Because I am always critical
of what I am doing, I am a professional ; I’m not like tripping about what we are going
through together. I’d rather not think about all that, I don’t want to think that I am marking them for life and that this is a huge moment for them, I think I am more humble than that, I don’t want to start imagining things…

Picture: Daniela Droz

We are Roberto Vidal and Oscar Martín and we are curating an exhibition for “la casa encendida” – www.lacasaencendida.es/en – in Madrid (Spain). Such exhibition called “de zines” will be on independent publications (magazines, fanzines, artbooks and others). Around 400 international works will be shown, opening on the 29th of june 2010 and through out all the summer. For this project all the different publications will be adquired (one number of each) by “la casa encendida” and once the exhibition is over all these publications will be part of their archives. We are actually working on the catalogue of the exhibition in which we would like you to be part of it.

A company called Intervento (in charge of the production of the exhibition) will get in touch with you within the next few days to purchase the required issue. We would like to get a copy of  issue 2 . Could you please send us the price (including shipping charges) to make it easier for them?

Also, we would need you to send us a couple of different cover pictures and two other inside pics for the catalogue, a video-slide projection at the exhibition and/or other possible promotion ways by “la casa encendida”. Please find attached a free license of intellectual property rights form for the time the exhibition lasts that we would need to be filled in together with the reply to this email. Pictures need to be in high resolution at 300 dpi and on CMYK.