A Spaniard in London, Enrique Perezalba Red Interview in Klei Magazine. Issue 1, Jan/Feb 14

“I create seductive art that turns heads like a beautiful woman walking down the street.”

The World According to Carol McNicoll, Interview in Klei Magazine

Klei Magazine 'Great British Special Edition' cover, featuring Clare Twomey's 'Monument' 2009

Recently I was asked to interview Carol McNicoll, the incredible British potter extraordinaire (a noun I don't use lightly) for Klei Magazine on their 'Great British Special Edition' (Nov/Dec 2013), which also features Clare Twomey, British studio pottery and the recent happenings in Stoke-on-Trent.

I caught up with arguably the most industrious creative in Camden, nearly two years on after our Breaking the Mould interview during her 'Ideal Home' Marsden Woo exhibition back in late 2011.

For those of you who don't speak Dutch (myself included), our opinion-filled conversation consisted of French vs. British taste, the craft revival and whether she think it's still realistic to be an artist in the digital age.

Watch out for an upcoming Klei interview with the very talented Spanish ceramicist and RCA rising star Enrique Perezalba Red in early 2014.

'The World According to Carol McNicoll' interview

'The World According to Carol McNicoll' interview

The Cream of New Designers' Ceramic Crop

It is a truth universally acknowledged that New Designers showcases great ceramics. An exaggeration perhaps, but the past five consecutive years of surprise-filled visits have suggested otherwise. Here's 5 exciting emerging designers that prove why the infinite possibilities mean clay is still one of the the most seductive materials they can't keep their hands off.

David Marques (Central Saint Martins)

David Marques
Central Saint Martins is one of the best ceramics BA courses in the country right now, judging from the calibre of its students' work. Marques is a Portuguese designer who has worked previously in the Geneva watch business. Remarkable attention to detail is evident in this stunning, functional clock with hand-painted gold transfers. It was custom made as part of an installation of seven cuckoo clocks for prestigious Portuguese porcelain company Vista Alegre's flagship stores in Lisbon and Porto.
 

Annie Jones (University of Sunderland),

Annie Jones
Is it a miniature garden? A new form of cigarettes-in-plaster contemporary art? Just some of the wild (and obviously wrong) possibilities that crossed my mind when I first saw Jones' intriguing vitrines. Jones' living laboratories are an ongoing body of research exploring the contained reactions of raw chemicals in clay bodies, over time and exposed to varying conditions.  The effects fluctuate massively and result in striking patterns and vivid colours, like the container above showing purple crystallised chalks drawing up green copper oxide (a potent glaze colourant) from the white porcelain, a process known as chromatography.

Ant Pipe (De Montfort University)

Ant Pipe

Repurposing moulds and debris collected from the derelict Spode factory site in Stoke-on-Trent, Pipe pays homage to the 18th century innovators who made English fine bone china world famous. The make-up-like hues and textures of the miniature pots range from the smoothest white to the blackest, rock-like of clays – a delight to the senses.

Charlotte Mary Pack (Central Saint Martins)

Charlotte Mary Pack

Having raised in a farm, Pack's love for animals is unquestionable, exemplified by an astonishing installation of tiny hand-modelled and sculpted porcelain mammals on the endangered species list (I lost count, but over 200 would be my guess). All creatures big and small are included – from a tree rat that measures approximately 10mm by 5mm (slightly bigger than a tic-tac), scaling up to the lifelike, fist-sized mountain gorilla. The designer has plans to make a similar work raising awareness on reptiles facing extinction due to man-made destruction. Surely a commission from Stella McCartney is on the horizon?

Carys Joan Evans (Falmouth University)

Carys Joan Evans
Perfectly proportioned at around a foot, Evans' elf-like human and flora hybrids encapsulate the imagination of the young Welsh maker who counts landscapes as a huge source of inspiration. The mellow brown, green and yellow glazes as well as the unusual organic materials she incorporates (boar hair for instance) brings her charming 'walking forests' to life.

New Designers Part 2 (focusing on visual communication, industrial and spatial design), opens July 3 - 6. 

Image credits from top: (David Marques) studiodavidmarques.com, (Annie Jones) Photography by Jo Howell on annie-jones.com, (Carys Joan Evans) carysjoanevans.wix.com. All other images taken by me with permission of artist

The Art of Hong Kong Eye, Saatchi Gallery

Inside Amy Cheung's 'Toy Tank' at 'Hong Kong Eye'

Saatchi’s 'Hong Kong Eye' is an 18-course amuse-bouche of the region's brewing contemporary art scene. If there was any doubt, just look at renowned Swiss fair Art Basel's debut in Hong Kong last month – which attracted plenty of customers  (including Kate Moss and Roman Abramovich apparently) eager for a slice of the massively lucrative market.  

Sponsored by Prudential, Asia's leading corporate UK owned insurance company (the hint is in it's name), I was keen to discover how the show would, as its official introduction claims, “draw on (artists) specific cultural backgrounds to expose the city’s nuances” convincingly to new audiences.

Known as " The Pearl of the Orient", it’s easy to be seduced by the city's glossy patina: a teeming hyper-networked metropolis, breathtaking skyline boasting most Rolls-Royces per capita. But at what social/psychological price? This is unadulterated HK in the eyes of its own artists; where unspoken anxiety simmers headily throughout the exhibition. 

Amy Cheung's life-sized wooden 'Toy Tank' 

Standing in the first room is Amy Cheung's full-size wooden ‘Toy Tank’, a loaded choice of material for a symbol so potent. Visitors are invited play combat; crawling inside the vehicle, submerged in darkness. Video screens and joysticks let one navigate and unleash gunfire within a simulated Saatchi Gallery. Complete with realistic sound effects, the haunting atmosphere and unmistakable echoes of Tiananmen are inescapable. Curiously lying in its path is Adrian Wong's five-foot animatronic peanut soft toy, convulsing like dying road-kill. Novel child's play aside, these examples show how local artists are incorporating the cutting-edge technology in their work. Compared to the west, its apparent lack of established arts infrastructure and rules appears to work in its favour. 

Justin Wong’s 'Difficult Life Decision' encompasses two works. The first is a giant periodic table of stickered symbols across an entire wall. Parodying a typical gruelling cycle of work, stress and digitally-prompted demands, the day starts with "Email” and ends in “Blank”, contrasting with signs of human woes like “Why Me”, “Mortgage” and “Day Off”. It’s the blueprint of the kind of living mode Londoners are frighteningly catching up with.

Justin Wong 's 'Difficult Life Decision''

The second part is a kiosk that asks rhetorically “How Are U Today?” Conceived, explains the helpful touch screen, to “help overworked white-collar employees contemplate life or even create a new one”, by anonymously sharing their secrets, worries and pent-up frustrations. If Wong’s works visually encapsulate HK’s insanely-paced work ethic, the definitive soundtrack belongs to Joao Vasco Paiva's installation of MTR (HK’s underground) turnstiles. A clanging-metal racket so ingrained as a Hong Konger; I barely noticed how irritatingly loud it was it until now. 

On more contentious ground, questions about China’s cultural identity are painted in Chow Chun Fai's iconic movie scenes of Chinese capitalist dreams. Everyone wants a piece of China now, but there is less concern for its own people, let alone those who speak openly about it. Issues like corruption seem to be subtly implied in subtitled actors' quotes − “China is not ruled by Chinese anyway”. Unlike the 'Korean Eye' or 'Indonesian Eye', unsurprisingly this is as controversial as it gets. 

Chow Chun Fai, 'Legend of the Fist: China is not Ruled by Chinese Anyway'

That being said, I don’t think 'Hong Kong Eye' was ever intended to expose its dark side. Intensity has always been the way of life; China didn't prosper by luck. 

The most unique aspect shown is HK’s mongrel culture, owed to its rich history as a former British colony and international trading port. An incongruous collage of old meets new, east meets west under constant urban renewal. Ho Sin Tung’s 'LOVE HOTEL: Please pretend we’ve been to a lot of places' includes a collage of cards from locally-endangered seedy motels named after glamorous holiday destinations. “Venice Inn”, “Hawaii Guest House” and the delightfully misspelt “Romb Hotel” are kitschy delights you'd never find in a tourist map. 

This is an show where somewhat frustratingly, no message or agenda is explicit. Contemplative effort, imagination and open-mindedness are needed to appreciate HK’s cultural fabric – which is complex, idiosyncratic and contradictory. However its mystic allure is a promising sign of big things yet to come.

Images from top:  pbs.org, aesthetica.com, guardian.co.uk, ocula.com

Reminiscing...V&A Postmodernism: Style and Subversion

Any self-respecting writer will have a library of rejected manuscripts (I remember how I cried on my first), buried inside cobweb gathering tombs of laptop hard drives, never to see the light of day and usually for a good reason.

I am not one of those self-respecting writers.

So here's an attempt at Art Review-worthy critcism from the 2011 archives. Frank feedback in the the comments box below the post would be most welcomed. The sharing icons are in grey above each post, which I still haven't figured out how to change...

I've written my fair share of embrassing, self-indulgent, juvenile rubbish, but reflection's the only way to learn right?

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Email christina.hy.lai@gmail.com

Postmodernism: Style and Subversion, 1970-1990 at the V&A

(24^th September 2011- 8^th January 2012)

i-D, no 28. The Art Issue, August 1985, photograph by Nick Knight, featuring Lizzy Tear.V&A

Postmodernism: Style and Subversion is one of the VA’s most exciting projects to date. Divided into 3 sections- Architecture, Style and Money, it examines radical ideas that defined the movement between 1970- 1990. Its proliferation is chronicled through stimulating exhibits- from Architecture, Art and Design to Film, Music and Fashion. It’s ambitious to showcase a hotly contested movement, one which we are arguably still living in. I fell slept through Postmodernism lectures at university, so I was curious to understand what the fuss was about.

To some, it might be synonymous with Andy Warhol soup cans and Madonna’s fashion choices- but few are aware of its anti-modernist roots in architecture. Postmodernism is portrayed as a phoenix rising from the ashes of modernism in the 1970s, a liberation from its restrictive orthodoxies of function, clarity and purity. A full-scale replica of Hans Hollein’s façade (1980) from the Venice Biennale is one of the most theatrical exhibits. Each pillar samples a period in the history of architecture, from the Garden of Eden, classical Greek ruins to industrialist Art Deco. The pastiche is deliberate and unabashedly artificial (think Las Vegas novelty hotels); playfully cutting-up-and-pasting memorable fragments from the past.

The bricologe, cut-and-paste ethos was not limited to styles and ideas. It brought unconventional materials and different processes together to create a new synergy. This is evident in Paul Astbury’s ceramic sculpture, Box(1980). At first glance it’s an unremarkable, tatty white box hastily assembled with discarded scraps. The broken fragments are actually fired ceramic tiles, individually fixed with screws to the cardboard box, an unconventional mosaic tessellation. These are accented with strokes of custom blue and brown tinted araldite, sellotape, paint and felt tip markers. The complex layers and strategic placement of colours makes one wonder how much of its appearance is coincidental or deliberate. Personally, excavated remnants of demolished Modernist architecture come to mind, eschewing progress; suggesting the present is merely an amalgam of antiquity. It’s an intriguing, tactile synthesis of everyday materials; refreshingly contemporary even for today. 

Box, 'Untitled', Paul Astbury, 1980. V&A

The music and performance (style) section is not to be missed. The set (known as ‘The Club’) recreates the electric atmosphere of an underground fetish night club from 1980s, complete with coloured spotlights, elevated stages and wire fences. The kind your parents would not approve of. David Bowie, Grace Jones and other 80s pop videos repeat (annoyingly) on huge screens- charting MTV’s pivotal role of channelling postmodernism to the mainstream audience of style conscious youths.  David Byrne of Talking Heads’ Big Suit(1983) and Grace Jones’ cubist sculptural maternity dress (made of cardboard and felt in 1979) are just some of the zany outfits on display. Colourful, exaggerated appearances conveyed dissident, self-referential personas critical to these artists’ successes.

The most extreme style statements are perhaps the male and female ballet costumes designed by Leigh Bowery for the Michael Clark Company’s production, Because We Must(1987).  Beige balaclava-attached corset bodices are covered in exquisite crewelwork, depicting pink, orange, gold and green sequined flowers- reinterpreting an embroidery technique historically used for curtains. Complete with pink lycra sequinned leggings, I imagine it would make Lady Gaga blush. The mysteriously covered faces (with just 3 holes for sight and respiration) and sexually provocative corset-bodies fetishize domination and submission. Epitomising fluid postmodern gender identities, they bring a body-conscious, androgynous ‘otherness’ Bowery’s work was famous for. 

Dance costumes for performance 'Because We Must', designed by Leigh Bowery, 1987. V&A

The last section explores the impact of money on postmodernism during the economic and consumer excesses of the 1980s to its demise in 1990. The luxury products of ‘design editing’ are enticing, a precursor to the current trend for artist/designer/high street collaborations. It marks the change when designers happily merchandised their services to mass market brands like Disney and Alessi. An iconic example is architect Michael Graves’ Mickey Mouse Gourmet Collection(1991). A tea-set with mouse-shaped handles and whistling Mickey spout cover reflect a humorous, ironic self regard that defined pop culture. One can’t help but lament a ‘selling out’ for fame and profit, relinquishing the creative freedom postmodernists fought for in the first place. Money was power, but it also tainted postmodernism with a ‘vulgar decadence’ that still niggles, whether we admit or not.

For visitors unfamiliar with postmodernism, this is a dynamic introduction to its many ‘broken facets’. The ideas radical at the time shaped and continue to influence the world we live in today – from parody, pluralism, bricolage to a return to kitsch and nostalgia. There are too many objects for one to thoroughly evaluate; leaving many questions not fully answered (Is Postmodernism dead? Does it even matter?). However, like a time-travelling rollercoaster of unsettling, sensory thrills, it’s more fun to do a David Byrne and ‘Stop talking sense’.

The Harrow Effect, Craft & Design Magazine

I am so, so proud that my article on the closure of Harrow Ceramics (University of Westminster) is featured in the latest Nov/Dec issue of Craft & Design Magazine.
http://www.craftanddesign.net/

You can find Craft & Design at WHSmiths and good libraries. It's packed with comprehensive advice for designers, fantastic photos and up-to-date coverage on the British contemporary craft scene. Believe me, it's well worth the rummage.

Thank you for all of the artists, staff who contributed and of course Craft & Design editor Angie Boyer for taking a chance on a novice writer like me.

You can read the article in full screen mode by clicking the following link
  The Harrow Effect by Christina Lai, Craft & Design Magazine Nov/Dec 2012 Issue no. 224

Take 3 Shoreditch ingredients and a Sprinkle of Rain

La Maison (Image: touchlocal.com)

Bag by Toby Leigh, Maiden Shop

Bespoke Baroque Mirror by Squint Limited

Oh, fickle British weather. Last week she was in her usual sporadically rainy mood. Come weekend and we get barbecue hot temperatures. On Wednesday I happened to be hanging out in Shoreditch for an interview, with the intention of getting home asap; the skies threatening to dampen my enthusiasm. I'm glad I didn't though, and unwittingly stumbled across East London's worst kept shopping secret (all within a  mile's walking distance of Shoreditch tube station). Drawn like moth to a flame, these 3 stores gave me something to smile about, despite the weather.


La Maison
107-108 Shoreditch High Street  Shadwell, London E1 6JN

Walking into a shop first without realising is surely a good sign. Rococo, Neo-Classical junkies will be spoilt for choice. From ornate wardrobes, antique headboards to outdoor statues , every piece looks like it belonged to an 18th Century palace in France, lovingly sourced over the Channel. You'll find one-of-a-kind items to give your home that je nois se quai (and become the envy of future visitors)

Maiden
188 Shoreditch High Street  City of London, Greater London E1 6HU

This teensy gift is jam-packed with guilty pleasures of quintessential British humour. It's tongue-in-cheekness 
is perfectly combined with nolstalgic comforts, such as my 90s childhood favourite storybook Each Peach Pear Plum. Stocked with very funny, unusual and well made gifts- there's no excuse for buying dull presents anymore. I've got my eye on the Ryan Gosling clouring book, purely for research purposes (obviously).

Squint Limited
178 Shoreditch High Street  Shadwell, London E1 6HU

Despite its name, it's the last thing you'll need to do to spot this gem. If the Mad Hatter opened an interiors shop in Wonderland, it would probably look like Squint. Selling crazy-colourful patchwork covered furniture and lighting, this isn't one for minimalists. It's haute-couture for home, each item hand-stitched to order. You'll want to stroke everything in the showroom while no-one's looking, especially the sumptiously flocked stag lamps


Do you know any other curiousities in East London? Drop me a line!

Christina Reviews- Collect, 11-14th May 2012, Saatchi Gallery

Shigekazu Nagae, Slipcast and glazed porcelain, Yufuku Gallery (Japan)

Since its controversial move to its Chelsea Duke of York Square premises in 2008, it’s fair to say the Saatchi gallery in London is better known for its cutting edge art and photography, rather than showcasing ‘craft’. Don’t let that put you off. Any doubts on whether contemporary craft is serious business (worth over £800 million in the UK alone) were readily eradicated after visiting this year’s Collect.

Supported by the Crafts Council, Collect is the most prestigious international contemporary craft fair in the UK. This year saw 31 gallery exhibitors, from UK, Europe to Asia, including China for the first time. This is where international collectors, major buyers, gallery directors and museum curators hunt down the finest pieces to add to their prized public collections. To indicate how serious it is- there’s even a Collect Art Fund of £70,000 where curators pitch in front of a Dragon’s Den-style committee why they should acquire their chosen item.

This year ceramics and jewellery were impressive, with works that left me speechless (in good and bad ways). In terms of pushing the boundaries of concepts, materials and techniques, the Northern European scene are evidently more fearless than its British counterparts. The contemporary jewellery scene in the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and Belgium have been well established here for a number of years now, fronted by galleries like Galerie Marzee. Jewellery is not just concerned with adornment- it can be avant-garde, wearable (or unwearable), sculptural, which seek their own identity beyond the wearer.

One must applaud the anything-goes spirit of shocking items like German jeweller Stefan Heuser’s giant beaded necklace, made from human breast milk (Galerie Rob Koudijs). Animal lovers beware- from Idiots’ dissected taxidermy bird necklace (to Märta Mattsson’s electroformed, crystal studded spiders (both represented by Galerie Marzee), nothing is too bizarre for bling.

The ancient oriental technique of laquerware saw an unexpected return this year; the refreshing interpretations by Chinese (Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong) and Japanese galleries (Yufuku Gallery and Exhibition Space) leading the way. The bar was set exceptionally high- the enamelled metal, ceramic, bronze, glass, woven metal and bamboo artists from Yufuku Gallery showing unparalleled craftsmanship and innovation. What surprised me was how radically modern the works were- nothing of dated impression of Japanese porcelain and Chinese Ming vases I embarrassedly had before. It was like discovering the unseen wonders of a foreign world.

What a pity one has to wait another year to see such amazing objects!

Collect 2012 highlights

Christina Schou Christensen, Galerie Sofie Lachaer & Caroline Van Hoek (Belgium)

Sidsel Hanum, stained Limoges porcelain, Galleri Format (Norway)

Felicity Aylieff, Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon (UK)

Emmeline Hastings, perspex and titanium bangle, Lesley Craze Gallery (UK)

Jamie Bennett, enamelled necklace, Antonella Villanova (Italy)

Michihiro Sato, paper brooch, Lesley Craze Gallery (UK)

Tang Ming Xiu , laquer and 18th century porcelain, Hanart TZ Gallery (HK)

Idiot's taxidermy bird and pearl necklace, Galerie Marzee (The Netherlands)

The Rhizome Chair, Crook and Jones in Collect's Project Space (UK)

 

All photographs taken by Christina Lai with permission from gallery/artist.