Dean Mann: An experimentalist outsider with an affinity for off kilter avant-pop
Dean Mann is a Melbourne based artist who left his heart in Bristol, UK; his sound inextricably woven to the vibrant DIY scene of the city - [with Noods Radio at its forefront] - and the rich sonic fabric from which his debut EP - “InterCity” emerges.
The self directed video for debut single “NEO (777-hotline)” shot in one continuous take, sees him washed in red light and swaying in blurred motion, wailing into a lightbulb.
“I've been thinking a lot about how transient 'home' is to me as I find myself straddling the lines between memories of New York and the reality of being back in a suburb I swore off spending time in once I left. I think making work here has been an exercise in recognizing the (occasional) good in monotony—the same scenery, the same routine, the same feelings I've cycled in and out of while in quarantine.”
Brooke Ashley Leventhal is a fashion student from New York.
“When the pandemic hit I was studying in London and decided to return home to Long Island to spend quarantine with my family. 40 days in and this all still feels so surreal. I’ve been trying to do a new creative project everyday in order to stay sane, which is where these images came from. I shot a series of self portraits which I wanted to reflect the idea that this entire situation has felt like one long trip from which I have yet to come down. With this significance in mind I took inspiration from the aesthetic character of psychedelic films. Playing around with strong colors and image layering I wanted to convey ideas of intense feelings and warped reality.”
“Damien Hirst’s Shark But Cubist” “The Mona Lisa” “Keith Haring But Emo” “Grayson Perry”
by Mollie Balshaw
“This selection of artworks from my series of "Distance Drawings" were created with POSCA pens taped to the end of my broken 2 metre long curtain rail at home. The name and series are a spontaneous play on the 2 metre distance rule implemented around the world at the moment, meant to inspire creativity through the cumbersome and humourous process, and take the pressure off the need for intense productivity and perfectionism encouraged in the art world at the moment. The drawings are created based on my interpretations of intentionally ridiculous or difficult prompts, such as "Surrealism meets Musical Theatre" and "An Artist We Know Nothing About". "Distance Drawings" as well as a series is a game encouraging others to participate in over social media, as it is an accessible and entertaining way to encourage creativity in these difficult times, where the beauty and fun lies completely in the process and not the output.”
The problem is we think we have time
I’ll do it tomorrow I say
As I edit my google calendar
A few clicks shifting a scheduled event
One day over
Doing the thing tomorrow that yesterday I said I’d do today and so
I move on
Shifting is easy when you think you have time
I’m so busy
Reading scholarly articles and putting together presentations and procrastinating so it all takes me twice as long as it should
I’m so busy, I complain on the phone to my dad
“But you like it that way,” he says
I pack in moments
Organized into neat little calendar squares, color coded sardines waiting
For me to chomp them down
Productivity tastes good
A little salty, a little addicting
And every day it’s okay because I have tomorrow
Because if I don’t get to a square
I can move it
And it still looks the same
I take normalcy for granted
Every day my feet will hit the pavement and
My hand will pump the coffee and
My card will swipe
I’ll probably spill some coffee on my jacket
I’ll pass my friends on the street and wave or
Do that awkward head nod when you kind of know someone but
Not really
Consistent, until
My calendar tips and all my colors spill out, swirling and bleeding into one another
Sardines swimming in the rainbow river
And time means nothing because no one knows what day it is
Or what’s planned
Or what’s going to happen
And I miss the sun
And the holding hands
And the Morse code of walking between bars on a Friday night
Talking and laughter, then silence
Then more laughter at the next door
Spelling out happiness
The kiss I can give my best friend
Before we fall asleep
The subway train I ride
The moments I know I’m most alive
The moments I’m missing
I’m wishing
I paid more attention to the now
No more shifting
Sardines can be set free to swim in rainbow seas not
Held hostage on my computer screen
Packed in color coded tins of plans
That probably won’t happen anyway
Now is the only time we have
And I wont let it go
by Alma Rosaz
Since March 2020, the world has been put under lockdown. People can only leave their homes to shop for food or medication and, in some countries, for one daily exercise. This is a situation the majority of people have never experienced before - the minority having experienced it during WWII.
It is a rather personal and social challenging time for everyone; we are all slowly realizing how essential human contacts and connections with nature are.
As a fashion photographer not being able to attend photoshoots anymore I decided to start a photography project looking at people in isolation. Being isolated myself for over a month with my boyfriend, I decided to focus on other couples isolated together in order to see how they are dealing with it in comparison to other couples and to my own case. I then decided to video call couples from different countries and photograph them in their lockdown routine and ask them how it was going for them. Within the people photographer are my mum and aunt who are both Covid-19 positive. I thought it was important to include them as it shows the reality of the virus. Furthermore, due to the fact that not everyone decided to isolate at the same time - some decided to self-isolate before any official government orders, while some isolated after - I decided to include the number of days they have been isolate for on each photo which they hand-wrote.
Nicholas is a 3rd year fine art student at MSoA, working with CGI, Digital sculpture and VR.
“The first piece i'm submitting to you is a digital sculpture entitled GOP, based loosely on a mediation of the wilderness and rural folklore. The work would be displayed via projection, and as a sculpture in AR/VR space. The second is a WIP VR installation, entitled Epiphyte, which captures an etherial quality of memories of the countryside experienced during lockdown.”