Her work is beautiful yet eerie. The juxtaposition between the cute, innocent, little animals and their creepy expressions and extra body parts work as a dark twist to what would otherwise be a sweet take on the subject and adds a spice of darkness and intrigue to her work.
Fighting Spirit
Once again London based fashion label Robert Wun amazes us with their bold and strong shaped designs that empower the feminine fashion world. In his latest spring and summer collection, Robert Wun truly evolves the possibilities of combining shape, material and colour to make something truly magical.
Robert Wun himself is the creative director and founder of the label. He has previously been supported by ON | OFF who showcased his AW16 and SS16 collections at the London Fashion Week. He was also nominated for the International Woolmark Prize in 2016.
Here is the SS18 collection by Robert Wun.
You can find out more about Robert Wun by following his website here.
With pre-production and crowdfunding on the way, he joins us to talk about film, culture and Man-tis!
Hi, how are you?
I am very well, thank you. It’s lovely to be able to talk about Man-tis! with Our Culture Mag!
We are glad to have you on. So, how did you get into directing?
It was a gradual thing for me. I’ve been obsessed with classic horror and science-fiction since I was a child. When I was about seven years old, my Mom bought me the DVD of 1957’s 20 Million Miles to Earth – and I was mesmerised. Seeing how Ray Harryhausen had crafted such a nuanced character out of the Ymir (the film’s creature) had a profound effect on me and set me on the path toward filmmaking. After making numerous short films as a teenager, directing really became something that felt comfortable and familiar. Being able to develop that in school through A-level drama and then through actual short films in university really cemented directing as my personal goal.
Do you have any directors you look up to?
Several! In particular, Ishiro Honda, John Carpenter, and of course Edgar Wright have all inspired me tremendously. Ishiro Honda’s 1954 Godzilla is probably my favourite film of all time! I love the political subtext in Honda’s filmography. Films like Mothra vs. Godzilla, Matango, and The Mysterians all have such a wonderful poignancy. I truly admire Honda’s ability to craft such entertaining and thoughtful pieces of cinema. John Carpenter and Edgar Wright both inspire me with how palpable their films feel. As a teenager I would look at them and think “I could try that”. Watching films like John Carpenter’s Halloween or Edgar Wright’s Spaced series (both of which are favourites of mine!) and being inspired to craft something myself I think says a lot about how invigorating their films are.
So, how did ‘Man-tis!’ come about and what influenced it?
In November of 2016 I first got the skeleton idea of Man-tis! From the get-go there was always a man who has an interview and who gets turned into some half-man, half-insect. I played around with what insects would work – ants and wasps were both considered – before settling on a praying mantis.
Kurt Neumann’s 1958 version of The Fly and Joe Dante’s Matinee are really the primary influences of Man-tis! I love how affectionate Matinee is toward 1950s science fiction and horror pictures. With Man-tis! I really want to emulate that sense of affection for the plethora of monster movies from the ’50s that I loved as a child – and still do!
Describe ‘Man-tis!’ in three words.
In the words of Jess Watkins, our amazing sound mixer, “big buggo man.”
Will there be a sequel to ‘Man-tis!’?
There are currently no plans for a sequel, I’m afraid. However, certainly expect to see more from myself and the rest of the Man-tis! team!
When are you planning to release the film and are you looking to have film festival run?
We’re looking at a June 2018 release for Man-tis!
Yes, we are absolutely looking to submit the film to as many film festivals as we can! We’d love for as many audiences as possible to share in this love letter to ’50s science fiction.
Our final question, what is your definition of culture?
Culture is how we express the changing understanding of our lives, our communities, and our humanity.
Thanks for a great interview Chris. You do seem familiar!
If you would like to get involved with Man-tis! you can become a backer here! or follow the updates on the film via their website and social media.
Striking us with their signature image and sound, the indie band ‘Men I Trust’ present us their latest single ‘I hope to be around’. With their latest single now released, this is what they said about it “This light yet introspective song talks about one’s desire to overcome the limits of the human lifespan in order to see the future and find meaning.”
“Refreshing, nostalgic and simply neat”
The single results in a wonderfully slow-paced reminiscence. A truly splendid single by a trio that always show something fresh with their music.
You can buy and stream ‘I hope to be around’ here.
Buena Vista’s ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ managed to top the weekend Box Office once again. The film managed to gross a solid $56.6 million at the weekend Box Office. Whilst, ‘Daddy’s Home 2’ achieved a less impressive $30 million start. Coming in second place.
In third came, 20th Century Fox’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express’. It managed to gross a solid $28 million domestically, whilst worldwide it made an even more impressive $57 million start.
‘Thor: Ragnarok’ has currently grossed $650 million worldwide, which puts it in the 10th place for the highest grossing film of the year. In eleventh place stands ‘Logan’ with $616 million, whilst in ninth position ‘It’ is holding on with $683 million.
The first song to enter our selection is ‘Mimic’ by the wonderful Safetalk. This single is the perfect song for those night time drives, a genuinely mysterious trip. This one is for the playlists for sure.
Another great song to enter our selection is ‘Your Car’ by Alexx Mack featuring EXES. This single is driven by raw and emotional vocals, that will keep you awake for weeks to come with its authentic vibe.
Furthermore, we have the beautifully produced song ‘Don’t Let My Ink Fade’ by the eye-opening Cale Hawkins. Hawkins establishes a style of his own early on his latest single. With great structure and a wave-like groove, this single will keep you on your feet.
For more emotional music we have ‘Mother Father’ by the well-rounded and genuinely talented Holy Wars, who combines her original vocals with a vibe of nostalgia and home. Simply stunning music.
Once again, when great music comes to us, we take it. RIVVRS gives us just that, a beautiful song that takes us on a journey of a lost romantic. ‘Don’t Give Up On Me’ is an excellent addition to any playlist looking for genuine and authentic music.
For more of an electronic vibe, we have ‘Settle’ by the terrific Haulm. This single is a combination of minimalist sparkling lead plucks and haunting vocals that will keep with you for weeks to come.
They are back. This time with their highly driven song ‘Jet’. The well-known and respected Digitalism bring us a great wave of energy in their latest single, something we ought to expect from them.
Now for something fun, we have ‘DragonGirl’ by the talented singer-songwriter Shaun Barrowes, who truly brings out the love in his latest single through great vocals and fun-blasting lyrics.
The last song to enter this Sound Selection is ‘Colors’ by the splendid and truly mysterious Lake Jons. This single emerges us into his music world by combining groovy patterns and ear-comforting vocals. A song for any ear.
To support such a great song, the collective have brought out an equally stunning music video to support it. The music video is in a form of a short film and is directed by Tom Noakes, who truly brought out the emotions from two very talented actors Lauie Sila & Jenny Wu.
‘Stranded’ is out now worldwide. You can download it and stream here.
“A splendid song that deservedly was given a fantastic and unique music video”
Full Music Video credits
A GOONO Film In association with Scoundrel Films
Director: Tom Noakes Producer: Freya Mackenzie Starring: Lauie Sila & Jenny Wu Casting: Daisy Hicks at i4 Casting, with assistance from Catch Casting NZ. Director of Photography: Adric Watson Production Designer: Courtney Mulvay 1st AD: Adam Smillie Editor: Adam Wills Colorist: Billy Wychgel Post Production & VFX: White Chocolate Steadicam: Justin Besser 1st AC: Steivan Hasler 2nd AC: Luke Williams Grip: Kris Wallis Grip Assist: Rommel Cesena Gaffer: Mark Kavanagh Best Boy: Mike Roberts ELX Assist: Beth Johnston Art Assist/Standby: Oliver Hay Art Assist: John Mansour Wardrobe: Sarah Ibrahim Makeup/Hair: Margaret Aston Stunt Coordinator: Harry Deckanalis Stunt Coordinator 2: Mark Le Cornu Stunt Coordinator 3: Talayna Nikora Safety Officer: Andrew Beatie Nurse: Beverley Stewart Traffic Control: Who Dares Production Assistant/Runner: Madeline King Production Assistant: Holly Winter Production Assistant: Francesca Walker Unit Manager/Extras Wrangler: Marshall Abangan
You can check out our previous feature on some of his works here. This is our interview with the creative Fabio Consoli.
At the moment I am living in New York and I am composing a soundtrack for a commercial movie about a building in the centre of Manhattan. As a secondary job, I am a musician, I compose instrumental music for documentaries, commercials and whatever fits with my style. You can listen to my music sketchbook on SoundCloud
At the same time, I am working on a cover for a Japanese magazine, a gig poster for a New York music production label, a book cover for an Italian publisher.
I love images, I love paintings and arts in every form.
Since I was 4 I have been loving painting and drawing, at 20 I was still loving painting and drawing. At school, I studied lives of great masters of painting and I had the feeling that most of them died poor and crazy, then, to get a living, I started a job as graphic designer, working on my illustration as a side job. Today, after 20 years, illustration become a real job and music and graphic design a side job.
Sketchbooks are really important for me, I use them to develop my style, for preliminary studies about subjects that I have to use on my illustration, to discover the world around me.
I teach Visual Journaling at Abadir the Academy of Art in Italy and in an online school based both in Amsterdam and New York called Sketchbook Skool, so I can say that sketchbooks are a real part of my job.
In the last years, I create the Music Visual Journal, which is a projection of my travel sketchbooks accompanied by my Musical sketches played live from me.
Social media give an instant feedback about your sketches, your ideas, your finished works.
I think they are big tools for who works on creative fields, but I wouldn’t rely completely on the social feedback, otherwise, I’d be constricted to think that cats photos with thousands of likes are great masterpieces 🙂
Nonetheless, I get most of my contacts from social media, which give me the opportunity to get exposure to art directors and agencies,
I find inspiration from different places.
Every day I get a look to Behance and Instagram to see what’s happening out there.
I see great masters in painting and contemporary art documentaries.
Movies are full of inspiration, it often happens that as I watch a movie on my computer I do a screenshot to freeze a frame.
Movies give me inspiration about concepts, composition, colour palette, characters. Music Videos are full of creativity too.
In most of the case to develop ideas I use the Lateral Thinking method of Edward De Bono, you will find a lot of material on the web.
But one random process I have when I feel not in the mood of being so methodic is this:
Basically, I start writing keywords taken from the briefing, I create a text file and then I close it and work on another project.
I think the subconscious starts working without me being aware of it. Then I start doing sketches, then research. (I know it, should be the reverse.) Then close the file and work on something else. And go on until I find some ideas that could work. This could last only a couple of hours or days, depending on the timing I have for the assignment.
For me, creativity means no routine.
If I do every day the same things, my ideas will be always the same too. Obviously, it works for me.
Sometimes I work from my home studio, sometimes from my studio in the city centre, I found ideas in the dentist waiting room sketching on the back of a receipt.
I would say that from 7.00am to 2.00pm coffee is a great ideas buster. From 6.00pm to late night beer has almost the same effect as coffee.
I don’t like thinking about me as an artist.
I solve problems for money, that’s the raw reality.
In this age, I can’t see the edge between artist and designer, or artisan, or carpenters. Contemporary art moves in very different way.
I think there are millions of way to do art so I think I there is not a unique role, or at least I have it not clear. But I will think about it.
All my illustrations have a message.
First of all, I hope that they gave the message to the audience.
Then I would like to know that people would hang them on their houses, that’s the aesthetical part of my job.
strong message + nice image = perfect Job!
I am not good to give general advice but I can talk about my experience.
I really wanted to become an illustrator, I have been working hard on this project, focusing a lot of energies, working with method and constancy.
But there are a lot of talented people out there and it is a very competitive world.
Today I work as an illustrator, but what about the next 5 years? Or the next year? Will people still call me?
This for me means that every day I have to work to become an illustrator.
Check out Fabio’s work on his social media:
Behance: https://www.behance.net/fabioconsoli
The latest collection by Harmony Paris has taken inspiration from a short film of Wes Anderson’s named ‘Hotel Chevalier’ and several other projects by him.
Key elements that elevate the collection are the camel coloured coats and knitwear, whilst also white jeans are used to contrast the top to create a lovely dynamic for the look. The warm camel colours are often used in Wes Anderson films and in this collection the homage is clearly shown through the way the tones are displayed.
The film itself is a thirteen minute long short prologue to Wes Anderson’s feature film ‘The Darjeeling Limited (2007). The film’s main cast include Jason Schwartzman, Natalie Portman, Waris Ahluwalia and Michel Castejon.
Here is some of the collection shown in the lookbook by Harmony Paris.
Exclusively made with Banneya London’s exclusive platform, the ‘Wild Flowers’ collection is focused to enhance the look of the ear with beautiful ornate floral arrangements.
The Tata Naka sisters Tamara and Natasha Surguladze once again captivate the fresh feeling of nature in their work, but this time instead of portraying it on fabric, the duo with Banneya London will be displaying their work on precious stone and gold.
The Wild Flowers collection will be made from 18ct Gold, Smokey Quartz, Diamonds, Sapphires and hand painted Enamels. Prices will range from £615 to £1,945 depending on the materials used.
Tata Naka had also presented their SS18 collection at the London Fashion Week, which is available to see here.
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