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News of the Minesweeper Collective (London) ~ events, arts, music, screenprinting, publishing & much more !
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Magazine~ Second Issue ~
April 15
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building,
write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying,
take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem,
pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
Robert Heinlein, "Time Enough for Love"
Doom Drawin
ContentsEdito........................................................................................................................................................7I ~ The Undercurrents Gallery.....................................................................................................9
Current exhibition :..................................................................................................................10Next exhibition !........................................................................................................................24
II ~ Events..........................................................................................................................................26POP UP FUCK OFF.................................................................................................................26The Minesweeper in Number 3..........................................................................................52Worshop in Gravelines...........................................................................................................53Coming Soon !...........................................................................................................................59Party in the Park !...................................................................................................................64
III ~ Minesweeper Publishing.....................................................................................................66The Booze Book........................................................................................................................66Metamorphosis project............................................................................................................71
IV ~ Renovation................................................................................................................................72V ~ The adventure of the Minesweeper................................................................................76VI ~ Minesweeper Mexico............................................................................................................78
Edito
We are very pleased to present the second issue of the MinesweeperMagazine.
So many things are going on, so many things are coming up...
If you want to be involved (that is we want, because things run &change with everybody...), if you want to support us, if you want to know moreor if you only want to have fun with us, the best way is to suscribe to ourmailing list.
And where can you suscribe to our mailing list ? At the footer of ourwebsite (we are working on it, soon it will be clearer & more efficient) and youwill know everything about our events, gigs, publications & so much more :
http://minesweepercollective.co.uk/
We organise private events aboard the ship every now and then, once ortwice monthly. Invitations are sent to all our contacts and followers, so please domake sure you join our mailing list to get yours. Entry is free & all kinds ofmusic are represented.
You can also have a look at the vessel : we have screenprintingworkshops every week on Tuesday & Thursday, from 5pm to 8pm (come directlyor call before), on donation.
& we are more & more involved in DIY screenprinted hand-made books.If you draw, or if you write, send us more information :
Contact us to the Minesweeper mail
So, you will find here :
I – The exhibitions at the Undercurrents Gallery, at the Birds NestII – All the past, present & future events (we have loads!)III – the publications (just edited & coming up)
After that, you will find more informations about the Minesweeperadventure, the renovation projects (IV),
& the fascinating & so damned good written story of the vessel byCamden McDonald (V),
& the tricky journal (VI) of one of our members, the great Joe Fur Long,gone to Mexico to see what is going on there & how not to be a simple touristbut rather, to be incorporated into daily Mexican (though it could have beeneverywhere...) life.
If you have any questions, any submissions, don't hesitate :
So, get involved ! come & see
come & proposecome & enjoy...
I ~ The Undercurrents Gallery
www. undercurrentsgallery.tumblr.com
The Undercurrents Gallery is a Public Exhibition Space in Deptford leaving egos at the door
since 2013. Bringing Fresh Art to the People.
Out of the mainstream channel of official art giving everyone the opportunity toexhibit their artwork for free.
The Undercurrent Gallery spacemanaged by the Minesweeper Collective, is part of
Th e Birds Nest Pub (32 Deptford Church Street, Deptford, London, SE8 4RZ)
Current exhibition
« Drawn Closer » by Vesna Parchet & Peter Sulo
April 2015
To have an idea of the high quality drawings of Peter Sulo,
have a look at these...
… & Vesna Parchet...
(& come to the Birds Nest before the 28th of April to see everything !)
http://vesnaparchet.com/
http://vesnaparchet.tumblr.com/
*
http://www.petersulo.daportfolio.com/
*
(Meanwhile, Enrico Polpo Cornuda is at Auroville, India)
II ~ Events
POP UP FUCK OFF
28TH MARCH 2015 TOOTING BROADWAY STUDIOS
Last month The Minesweeper Collective participated in P U F O at acool warehouse squat in Tooting Broadway. The Minesweeper Collective made anAction Painting and gave a short introduction about the collective.
Black paint on the wall (credit : Vytautas Vobla)
POP UP FUCK OFF was a one day underground art event with Music,Performance and Visual Art in Broadway Studios on Tooting Broadway. Thespace is on the verge of being pulled down and redeveloped into luxury flats, butbefore that happened, Samuel Brzeski, the last surviving resident of BroadwayStudios, and India Roper-Evans thought up a one day event and invited artists,musicians and performers to come and fill up the 25 empty rooms and largecourtyard to celebrate and bid goodbye to this amazing space in South WestLondon. They had just two weeks to pull the show together and given the lastminute nature of the task and the hasty exit afterwards, the show was aptlynamed Pop Up Fuck Off.
The building used to be an affordable business centre and studios run byWandsworth council for about 20 years, housing a drug and alcohol counsellingservice, a youth enterprise centre, a music studio and affordable studios for localartists and designers. However, the council sold it off to a developer in 2010 asthey could no longer afford to keep it open. While the site was being owned bythe developer, it became a hub for artists in the area who used the rooms asstudios and live/work spaces, putting on exhibitions and events throughout thetime they were residing there.
The Pop Up Fuck Off show was curated by both Samuel and India whoshare a belief that affordable space for artists and musicians to occupy is a realpriority. With many art centres, studios, galleries and alternative nightlife beingsold off to become vacuous non communities of yuppies and yummy mummies,London is becoming in danger of losing all sense of any grass root arts andculture. In celebration of the life of Broadway Studios and of young and poor
artists across the city, Samuel and India invited over 50 non commercial artiststo display whatever work they chose in a last hooray for another art space. Theshow opened it’s doors at 3pm with art works, including site specificinstallations, projections, painting, photography, drawing, sculpture and even alive drawing machine who sketched non-stop for 6 hours in one of the emptyrooms. After 9 pm there were live bands all the way from North East Londonand a couple of cool DJs spinning tunes, the party went into the early hours ofSunday and the remaining people danced the last dance at Broadway Studios.
India Roper-Evans is a Hungarian/British photographer and a curatorliving and working in London. She has had several large-scale commissionsacross her eight year career as a photographer and also co-founded Art Crunch,a platform to support emerging young artists through the credit crunch.
http://www.indiaroperevans.com/
Samuel Brzeski is an artist and writer living and working in SouthLondon. He has also curated a series of exhibitions in alternative spaces acrossthe past two years and has an active studio practice. www.samuelbrzeski.com
India Roper-Evans
Samuel Brzeski
Samantha Wolf
Elod Beregszaszi
Glenn Fitzy Fitzpatrick
Flora Deborah
Desdemona Varon
Gzillion Artist
Lukasz Janiszewski
Julia Maddison
Sean Worrall
Matthew Rose
Susana Sanroman
Silvia Cruz Del Alamo
India Roper-Evans
Aerial Sparks
The Minesweeper in Number 3
The Minesweeper Collective has been invited by Number 3 to presenttheir work. Nice place, nice atmosphere.
To be continued...
Worshop in Gravelines
The Musée de l'Estampes et de l'Imprimerie (The Museum of Prints &printing), located in Gravelines (France), asked the Cagibi to organise ascreenprinting workshop.
The Minesweeper has been invited to collaborate with the Cagibi on thisevent.
This worshop took place the 28th of March with around fifteen people& it was a great pleasure.
The Museum was built on the flank of the fortifications of the city, theworks of the famous architect of Louis XIV, Vauban.
This place is warm & intimate & quite suitable for creation.
The aim of this workshop was to realize a tiny collaborative, hand-made,DIY fanzine around the theme of Calaveras.
José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) – collection of the Museum (screenprinted for the workshop)
We presented the screenprinting process & how to make a little DIYhandmade book.
So we choose the technique of « cut paper » : we cut shapes on paperand we stuck on the screen. It is like the process of the stencils.
When we have printed both faces of paper, we can bend & cut, and get,in this way, our very own book...
It is an easy & lovely way to have a fun DIY fanzine,
without chemical or big needs.
*
For more information,
If you want to organise a workshop in your place,
contact us !
We want to thank especially
Virginie & Nathalie
for their welcome & kindness.
Coming Soon !
Alternative Press & London Radical Bookfair organise a book fair
on the 9th of may
on 47/49 Tanner Street (London Bridge)
Party in the Park !
REMEMBER :
The best way to
keep in touch with us,
be notified of events, fairs, concerts, etc,
is to join our mailing list
on the website !!!
III ~ Minesweeper Publishing
The Booze Book
The « Booze Book » is a recreative project, created & printed in 5 daysaboard the Minesweeper.
Obviously we had lot of fun for a modeste but tricky book, bottle-shaped, with lot of scales of colours and fancy poems (cut-up, « cadavresexquis », drunk inspiration...)
(Supervisor)
(pictures, ovviously, are blurred, sorry...)
Metamorphosis project
We are not able to speak too much about our next bigcollaborative screenprinted book...
But very soon, we will launch the « Metamorphosis » bookproject...
So keep in touch !
IV ~ RenovationMinesweeper is, first of all, based on the renovation of the vessel...
(Back deck)
(enjoying the mud)
(terrace for BBQ at sunset)
(covering the back deck)
Doom video by Jérémy La DjeyDje
Action painting filmed during the event Pop-up Fuck-off
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVKSyLRDTQg&feature=youtu.be
Jeremy is a French cameraman/video editor based in London since 2014.
He started by directing short movies during high school and more seriously inUniversity where one of his pieces had been selectioned for local festivals. Afteruni, his passion for electronic music leads him to collaborate with several musicfestivals in the south of France, where he come from, and with an indie digitalmusic label, Ziris Records, with whom he’s still collaborate closely.
In London he’s been involved in the squat movement along with other artistsfrom different disciplines. This is where he met Illustre Feccia. Their friendshipand the mutual respect for each other works leads to a collaboration, in a formof a series of time lapse videos about Feccia’s artworks. The last one was madeduring the eviction party at the Broadway Studio, where Feccia realized a livepainting performance, among others artistic creations.
http://La-Djeydje.ideastap.com
*
V ~ The adventure of the Minesweeperby Camden McDonald
THE FIRST TIME I heard about the Minesweeper was when a friend ofmine, Nick StClare called me.
"Camden, I'm thinking of buying a boat. Will you come and check it outwith me?"
This was summer 2002.
Nick had recently come into some money he wanted to invest, and heknew I'd been crew on The Yankey in Manhattan.
"Ok," I said, "Where's it at?" "Greenwich." "How much?" "Ten Grand. Allwooden, ex-minesweeper." I was expecting something interesting.
We got there about 11 o'clock on a nice summer morning, and eventuallyfound the Minesweeper tucked away behind an Industrial estate on DeptfordCreek. We were greeted by Rainer Cole and Nick Chow who showed us around.The story was that they'd got some friends together to pool money andresources, salvage the vessel which had been abandoned on the river, and turn itinto a venue. Their project had been stalled for the past two years and themembers had drifted away, so they were thinking about cutting their losses andpassing it on to someone else. We were impressed. It's the kind of shipbuildingyou don't get anymore on that scale - 110ft long, 21ft wide with a draft of nearly6ft. Price: £10,000.
Flashback to summer 1954 Poole, Dorset.
Jack Bilson is getting worried. The hull is completed - triple carvelconstruction larch with several thousand hot copper rivets holding it fast, eachone hammered in by hand by two men – one outside the hull, one inside. Butthe ship still didn't have any engines. Jack went back to the office, and calledGeoffrey Bone at Ruston & Hornsby in Lincoln.
"Mr Bone, I suppose you know why I'm telephoning you. I can't completeconstruction of the rear deck of M2706 until we get those engines. Our launchdate was scheduled for 17th June, it is now Monday the 17th of May."
Geoffrey took a puff on his Capstan cigarette and sat back in his chair,"Jack, how much are the Royal Navy paying you for this ship?"
Jack made a face, "Geoff, I'm looking at a pile of bills from the foundries,from the British Electricity Authority..."
"These Paxman's are customised for each vessel, they have to be balancedwith one another in a twin-screw configuration - that takes time, if you want itdone properly."
"Half a Million pounds, Geoff. Half a million."
In summer 2002 Nick StClare was chewing it over. 10 grand was all hehad, it was a big project, the back end needed alot of work, he didn't think hecould do it on his own, and Nick was the kind of guy that liked to do things onhis own - his way. On top of all that, his father advised him against investing ina wooden boat. He backed out. Towards the end of the summer I got a call fromthe other Nick, Nick Chow. They'd decided not to sell after all. They werethinking of getting someone in to live aboard and revive the project in return fora share in it. Did I know of anyone? At that time I was being egregiously rippedoff by a landlord in Shoreditch. "Well, yes. Me. I might be interested." "Yes? Ihoped you might say that. Ok, think it over and write us a letter laying out aproposal." The proposal was accepted, so I went over to Deptford Creek again tolook the Minesweeper over in a different light. How was I going to finish therebuilding? and how was I going to make it livable in the mean time?
To be continued...
*
VI ~ Minesweeper MexicoChapter Two
by Joe Fur Long
~
Hurtling south through the Yucatan peninsula was one of the mostliberating and exciting moments of my life. In the newly christened ´Jetta/Badboy´clocking 100kph through lush tropic scenery with all the fun, weirdness, solitudeand of course rinse-out comforts of the Caribbean disappearing fast behind inthe wing mirror, a sense of the epic nature of what lays ahead of us started tobecome apparent.
Being a GÜERRO (not gringo luckily) driving in Mexico is not for thefainthearted. You stick out - even in a beaten up VW that looked local but also,to be honest, as if it had been stolen in an 80s US cop drama. Rule 1, the actualcops are crooked. Easily payable in a tight situation, but can make your life livinghell if they want. Normally 3 days without food in a shared jail cell for any minoroffense or inabililty to pay comes as standard, but also car impoundment anddrugs planting for extortion are not unheard of. This federal police system isdivided into Municipal, Federal and Army forces. The latter two are not reallytoo much of a problem as they are only looking for drugs and firearms (unlessyou have drugs or firearms both of which we were not packing) and really don’tcare about much else. The ´Pinche Pendejos´ (fucking cheeky dickheads) are themunicipal – underpaid, under-regulated local lads and dads who are as corruptas their municipality allows them to be, but of course without a decent incometo support a family there are always the perks of the job to be had from mostsituations. It’s the fault of the state itself, corruption breeding corruptionbreeding corruption from the dust upwards. Not to mention road-tripping herecomes with a subtle unease of the vulnerability of it all. That if for whateverreason you breakdown in the middle of bandit country you are essentially as easyto robbed or be messed with as a comatosed K-head with his head in a multirigbassbin, and as most people walking by are machete-laden you don’t really wantthat. However, being hombres with cahones as muy grande as us cabroneshappened to be smuggling, we gave little thought to these background elementsand ploughed on, blaring old skool Jungle and Rage Against the Machine merrily,stopping for more tacos, taking in the scenery and enjoying the vibes of what wesoon dubbed ´Actual Mexico´.
The destination was Chiapas, a three day drive from Tulum aroundGuatamala featuring the jungle ruins of King Pakal´s Palenque Kingdom and theZapatista strongholds which have been publicly fighting to retain the right to
their extremely fertile (and beautiful) land since 1994. The villages themselvesare not villages, they are occupied zones which are developing their owneducational systems and have their own hierarchy and local government . Wewere able to visit and see one of these near Palenque with the help of the mostjokes-hustlers you can ever hope to meet, the one and only Amador Rosales(Rose Lover). Very interesting position to be in but after offering one of mydrawings in a gesture of solidarity and good-faith, I was welcomed enough atleast to stay outside the main compound and see it for myself. The wordstruggle means different things in this part of the world. The proud residents aretruly showing that another way is possible but of course slow – signified by theuse of a snail with a balaclava in many of the murals adorning the zone. Madrespect basically and a really humbling experience to actually see the lengthsthese people are prepared to go to stand up for the right to be heard - ´We wearmasks so that we can be seen´.
Back in the car with new found understanding of where we were wedecided to go off the beaten track to see the preserved murals of Bonampak.They are astoundingly dark with depicting stories that was the forefront of theunderstanding that the Mayans were not as peaceful and as utopian as oncethought. Fingertip-less captives awaiting certain sacrifice and the hierarchiesinvolved are there for all to see. Great experience and my first chance to seeREAL mayan paintings. We could have returned back along the roads we came(yawn) but opted in the end to go where we´d been advised not to by most ofthe Lonely Planet crew, down along the border with Guatamala and CentralAmerica, where basically all of the drugs trafficked into Mexico cross over. Again,actual Mexico.
The road along the Guatemalan border was filled with clouds so thick we
did not always take in the military roadblocks littering the winding roads aheaduntil we were literally bumping over them. The tropical rain slamming againstthe windscreen didn’t help either. Highly suspicious but also just curious armyyouth sticking their noses and assault rifles in our faces became commonplace aswe inched further. To be honest they were nice, just a little confused as to whywe were there if not to run heavy loads of coke. It´s definitely not your averagetourist route. I recall we only really got the heebyjeebies when we started to runout of gas, realizing there was no Pemex´s around (Mexico´s state ownedpetroleum monster). ¿What do you do in the clouds along one of the world´smost prolific drug borders without gas and no phone signal? Luckily, we didn’thave to find out... We were blessed enough to buy some fuel from someentrepreneurial 7 year olds who were so surprised to see us weirdos there you´dthink they were refuelling a UFO. It was a potentially harrowing experience, tosay the least, but one that leaves you wondering what really all the fuss is about.
Yeah it’s a bit sketchy not what you would imagine, the locals were just gettingon as in the rest of the state, just highly isolated by rumour and activities whichthey have very little part in. Sadly these horror stories mean foreigners don’t riskit and venture to see the harsh reality of life for the impoverished locals here.Maybe some would actually better understand how costly the cheap nose candyactually is, even for those not involved in the trade. The clouds cleared, the suncame out, and the streets unwound meaning we could go more than 40k oncemore. We were en route to San Cristobal de las Casas.
San Cristobal de las Casas is magical and I encourage anybody to gothere if they can at least once in their lifetime. I also encourage you to try livingthere. It truly has a sense of worlds colliding, with the indigenous nature ofChiapas in full visibility contrasted by the ever growing tourism and highlifeenjoyed by its richer residents. It´s cheap too. It was time to settle and wedecided to stay a month, planning to leave after New Year.
I needed to find my place here, and quick, because I hadn’t painted for agood while and wanted to get back in the swing of things. Painting murals inhostels for accommodation I realized here was much easier than I previouslythought in Tulum, and my style seemed to impress many of the owners I spoketo - which was a big confidence boost . I managed to wangle a mural for whatended up to be 2 weeks worth of free accommodation in a hostel called De JaVu, on a beautiful wooden wall in the centre of this vibrant hostel/café/bar/venuewhich was definitely on the up and a hub of activity locally and with thetravellers. Having been around so many ruins and after my time in La ZonaMaya I wanted to see how well I could combine my skills with the incomparablestyle of the Mayans, and picked a piece from one of the stalae (carvings) fromYaxchilan, near Bonampak. It depicts Lady Xook, on the bottom right of thepanel, in the hallucinatory stage of the bloodletting ritual. She conjures beforeher a vision of a Teotihuacan serpent. The god coming out of his mouth is thegod of corn and so I combined a study of this in my style: a huge corn cobgrowing out of an agave, the plant that blesses the land with tequila and mezcal.Peering out are eyes thorough a Zapatista balaclava hole to bring the history intothe modern day, two cultures of Chiapas in one, in colour. I was thrilled, it wasmy first colour mural and also in Chiapas which was fast becoming one of myfavourite places on earth.
A real ambition of mine, to have a solo show in Mexico, was realized inthese mountains. After rolling through the many bars, stores and music relatedhangouts of the town I got a tip about a place called ´El Paliacate´ (The bandana)which as well as hosting music events, political and resistance related events andtalks in the city also had a gallery space. This ex-occupation turned legitimatecultural space was the perfect setting and I was ecstatic to hear they had anopening for a week over Christmas and New Year that needed to be filled. Afteragreeing the dates I set to work, realizing that this self organized show wouldneed a hell of a lot of self organizing, being there without the rest of theMinesweeper famalam. Day to day I found the places to buy my stuff (Londonneeds more Papellerias!!), learned the essential words (tape, boards, frames, glue,prints, paint brushes etc) and slowly orientated myself around the town trying tofind all the necessities. I´ll admit I have an issue with streets when they areblocks, it seems simple, but all the corners seemed the same. I got lost moretimes than I can remember which was slightly frustrating as it coincided withthe sporadic opening hours of all the tiendas over the Christmas period. You aregoing against the grain here trying to organize an art gallery in a place wheremost guerros are tourists and not really doing much else apart from enjoyingthemselves or political activities outside of the city, not running into the samephotocopies place three times in a day looking for a scanner. The locals celebratea month long party ´Virgin de Guadalupe festival´ on the run-up to Christmaswith fireworks, parades and costumes on show every day creating a surrealsetting for my haphazard project, and it was really fun to be doing Minesweeperstyle shows with all this new energy around me. It helps when you have a crewthough and missed the camaraderie of the Undercurrents Gallery. I designed theposter and got to work promoting while also selling my hand-drawn baseballhats (gorras) around the town as I went. This mixed with the mural for my bedmeant I was finally self-sufficient in Chiapas, a great feeling, that gave me lots ofconfidence for the future missions.
The week of the show soon arrived and 3 days before I hit up the venueabout painting a mural before the show. I was to be painting the same day asmy new muralist friend Armando, a great guy who told me a great deal aboutthe city and the project he was living in - ´Wapani´. We decided to combine ourthemes, him focusing on Zapatista imagery and written messages and me on mynew idea I had been toying with for the last days. It was based on a sketch I hadbeen working on about the situation I mentioned in the last chapter about thestudent disappearances. A quote I had heard, ´They did not bury students, theyburied seeds´ was the basis of the piece. A silent rebellious tree, with theZapatista skull eyes staring through a balaclava growing from a flaming grave.The floor in the piece was littered with bloody corn cobs, symbolizing the grimsituation with Monsanto. I included also memorial candles for the dead students,as well as 1000 peso bills highlighting the corruption behind all of these deathsthe country is sadly renowned for. From the blood grow shoots, getting everlarger until finally they become the tree itself. A huge machine gun like the onesbrandished here by the Municipal police forces leans against the trunk. The treeI decided needed a positive message as well as these deep themes. Floweringbetween the leaves I put all the modern forms of non-violent resistance thatwould be needed for any kind of positive and peaceful continuation from thisscene: cameras, smart phones filming equipment, laptops, paintbrushes andmusical instruments to share and plan these messages of change that the nation
was crying for. It also features shining lightbulbs to signify the need for newideas in times like this rather than tired methods which allow people to fall intothe traps the police hope for during direct action, usually ending in arrest which,in Mexico, I can assure you it is not fun. I decided to name the piece ´The Treeof Modern Resistance´ and was met with great respect by the many visitors tothe venue over these days. I consider it to be one of my favourite works, notonly for the position it had in this politically minded city, but for its subjectmatter. I could see I was progressing in the direction of socially mindedillustration as well as surrealism. I had also learnt the ability to put it in muralform again after Tulum, which I had been worrying might have been a bit of afluke. The people around understood its significance without needing anexplanation: that's the root of illustration in my opinion - and something I hadalways struggled with before Mexico.
With the mural in place, the accommodation piece finished and a newrent taken in a shared house at the top of the hill in the centre of town, all thatwas needed, was to arrange the works for the show. I collected and printed myfavourite drawings from the Tulum sessions as well as some new ones and mixedthem with my portfolio of UK work that I was carrying with me through Mexico.I wrote up a written explanation of the Minesweeper project as well as my ownstory and got it translated into Spanish and printed. I mounted the pieces andarranged my canvas for the Live Art I wished to do during the show like I do inEngland. The last flyers were thrown around town and the music line upconfirmed (hiphop-ragga-latin-dubwisefunk). The stage was set, the missionscompleted. I sat down in a woolly sweaty heap with my well-earned mezcal andfree baguette and waited (hoping) for the public to arrive…
To be continued...
*
Digital on paper
Illustration dedicated to the «Nuovi Rumori Collective»
~ Minesweeper Collective ~
April 2015
www.minesweepercollective.co.uk
