No.

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PASS IT ON PLEASE, WE’LL USE LESS TREES

ZOMBIE COLLECTIVEDULWICH UKULELE CLUB

arts and community magazine by epneo

WWW.THERELIANT.COM

CUT OUT GIRLS

THE RELIANTCAMBERWELL • DULWICH • PECKHAM

7 RETURN FIRE

Christmas Special

8BACKPACK LOCAL

Cut Out Girls

10Q&A

Dulwich Ukulele Club

12COMING UP

Events listings

14CLICK

By Benjamin Glean

16COVER STORY

Zombie Collective

20GALLERY

Local talent

24 GOING OUT

Reviews

26FUN STUFF

Competition & more

THE RELIANT 3

CONTENTS

5 WELCOME

Info and welcome

6 JOEY PAGE SAYS

Christmas Ramblings

7ALEX ON:Christmas

Where friends meet...188 Rye Lane ,Peckham SE15 4NF

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Printed byThe Guardian Print CentreRick Roberts Way,London,E15 2GN

ContributorsAlex Michael, Michael Large, Matt Lloyd, Martha Pazienti-Caidan, Joey Page, Jamie Kendrick, Dawn Chuang, Shiori Clark, Fuchsia MacAree, Chris Evans.

Subscription InformationThe Reliant subscriptions are available in the UK ONLY: 12 months (6 issues) = £10. To subscribe please send us a cheque payable to ‘Epneo Limited’ along with your name and address.

epneo © 2012

Hello and welcome to the 6th issue of The Reliant.

We have made it through our first year, with six issues tucked under our belt. We’re celebrating by putting on a variety show hosted by former cover star Joey Page on 1st December at the Michael Croft Theatre in Dulwich. We have managed to bring together an amazing line up including X Factor contestants, Times Red and local favourites, The Dulwich Ukulele Club. Tickets are available from michaelcrofttheatre.org.uk and all proceeds will be going to the Reliant 2012 Challenge, which is raising

money for King’s College Hospital Children’s Wards.

In this issue we met up with illustration and graphic art collective Zombie to discuss their nautical extravaganza, Fathoms Deep. We also talked to foot stomping Mexico obsessives The Dulwich Ukulele Club and innovative textiles duo, Cut Out Girls.

The Reliant is created by Epneo, a local design company that specialise in graphics, illustration, branding, websites and more.

DaveDavid West, Editor

WELCOME

TO CONTRIBUTE PLEASE CONTACT:INFO@THERELIANT.COM

The Reliant Challenge 2012In 2012 we aim to raise £5000 for the King’s College Hospital Children’s Wards. We will be holding various events culminating in our Autumn Festival 2012!

Please support us by giving whatever you can and by coming to our events! For more info please contact us at: info@thereliant.com

The Reliant is proud to support King’s College Hospital

Donate at: uk.virginmoneygiving.com/thereliant

togetherwecan.org.uk

Jingle, jingle bauble chops. Christmosis has seeped into our lives, adverts; chocolate tins the size of Tom Page’s head, (that’s my brother, you don’t know him but he has a massive swede on him), mince pies that will go in and out of date before Christmas, staring for 27 minutes at two books on how to be a better man because you got the office d**khead in secret Santa and the few days in-between Christmas and new year where you have to go to work and listen to the aforementioned d**khead about how he and Clarisse went to a quaint village in Shropshire and had a nut roast with all the trimmings! Yes ladies and gentlemen Christmas is in full swing Yes it’s early, yes its over commercialised but trust me in these dark days where fun is outlawed and we are apparently only a couple of weeks away from the end of days the last thing we need is another bloody article about how it comes too early so let me remind about how amazing it is. I bloody love Christmas

it’s the time when drinks are hot and mental “hey how about some lukewarm spicy wine?” It’s a time when you can be a hero over the smallest of things like a tin of Quality Street. Fat Tracy in the office has eaten all the purple ones again and you know they are Hot Susan’s favourite so you stored one in your draw a week ago to give to her when she’s just had an argument with Alistair from accounts because he stuck his finger in her Muller Light” (don’t be disgusting it’s not a euphemism) Also if you do share an office with a Tracy I’d love to know as I thought that name was extinct. Anyway…. It’s a time when you get to see hammered people in paper hats on the train dribbling into their festive McDonalds apple pie who have blatantly missed their stop. It’s a time to say two of the best made up words ever a lot. Bauble and Tinsel.

“Fredrick I have invented some decorative accoutrements for the homestead”

“Marvellous Timothy what are they called?”“Bauble and Tinsel”“Are you drunk?”“Of course I’ve been on the lukewarm spicy s**t all day”

And of course, it’s a time for getting to the crackers and replacing all the toys and jokes with weird silly stuff. Congratulations you’ve won a dog biscuit, read out your joke dodgy Uncle Stuart. It’s a four page monologue about a French Ox. Well that will teach you to hold three quarters of the cracker with your sausage fingers. See Christmas can be good, let’s look forward to it all the time. As I write this it is a mere 27059 days until Christmas 2086. Let’s start looking forward to it, and for those of you who worked out I wrote this on Nov 24th 2012 help yourself to a box of orange matchmakers!

Merry Christmas everybody. x

6 THE RELIANT

JOEY PAGE SAYSA special guest rambling

from issue 3 star Joey Page.

Catch Joey hosting The Reliant’s Variety Show on Saturday 1st December at The

Michael Croft Theatre.

He will also be at The East Dulwich Tavern on Sunday 9th December in the

Joey Page and Friends comedy show.

After a break in at Suzanne James Catering you would not think something positive would be taken out of it. Suzanne herself thought differently...

“As an East Dulwich born and bred girl this has been a sad experience, for myself, my team and the entire neighbourhood. We are a local business and work closely with the community, other businesses and residents in the area have been extremely supportive and we wanted to give something back and to turn this distasteful act into something positive and to put a smile back on everyone’s faces! So we

decided to invite local art students and artists to get involved and to design imaginative food artwork in order to transform the temporary boarding into a creative piece of art that we and passers by can appreciate.”

To see the work from start to finish please visit suzannejames.co.uk or

facebook.com/SuzanneJamesCatering

Suzanne, the girls and the artwork>

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Return Fire Podcast Christmas Special

My mother once told me “It’s Christmas, you can’t play computer games on Christmas day!” Apparently this is quite common. Maybe you are expecting a videogame or even a console for Christmas and naturally, you will want to give it a try. When the people who love you tell you that you shouldn’t, simply use the following arguments to convince them that the alternatives are worse…

Board games: You always hear about fights that happen on Christmas day between family members. The cause is most likely going be because of a board game. Here is an untrue fact: More people have died playing Monopoly than they have playing computer games. The minute your Uncle buys Mayfair, expect all good cheer to suddenly disappear. There will be fights and money will go missing and the little dog piece with will get jammed up a players nostril.

Christmas TV: Once The Snowman has finished, it’s pretty much downhill from there. You cannot sit around and watch Christmas TV without wanting to punch yourself in the face. The Christmas episode

of Eastenders is guaranteed to upset your relatives as there will be a death. On the other hand, your Gran will not be upset at all if she had to watch Mario fall down a hole. That is always funny. Besides, these days there are loads of games that cater for the lightweight gamer. Put one of those on and the see the party get down.

The Christmas Nap: Personally, I’ve never seen this but apparently, some people like to sleep after they’ve had the traditional Christmas dinner. Why? You probably have Boxing day off. Don’t sleep, and get a game of super fighty plumber 4 in! Christmas day comes once a year. Don’t waste it sleeping!

Stubbornness: This one is a lot more straight forward and is a favourite of mine. Rather than using any of the complex arguments listed above, Simply stamp your feet and scream as loud as you can like a child until everyone else gives in and lets you. It’s immature, I know but it works and it is a tried and tested method for getting what you want. Good luck with this one…

With that, have a great Christmas and don’t let the buggers convince you that video games are for children.

RFP

THE RELIANT 7

ALEX ON: CHRISTMASThe Reliant – Christmas Advice

For most, Christmas is a magical time with lots of fluffy things happening, but for some, (typically those with loud children) it can be a horrible time. Here is an unofficial guide to avoid having a disappointing Christmas…

Receiving Gifts – There is an art to getting what you want. Remember, most normal people do not like buying gifts and those that do hate having to think of what to buy people. The trick is not to let people know that you have taken up certain hobbies. Golf is a good example; I once let slip that I was taking up this sport of kings and the following Christmas I received every possible cheap golf present worth less than 5 pounds that you can get. No expensive clubs, no high quality balls, no. Just tacky golf towels and novelty socks to put on the end of your club. WARNING: saying “money will be fine” when people ask you what you want is not acceptable. They will think you are a d**k. Fact.

Drinking – Just because it’s Christmas, it doesn’t mean you need drink to the point

of becoming blind. Getting drunk over Christmas has the added risk of ruining your marital status what with all the work (and appropriate educational institute) Christmas parties. You’ll end up making out with the office ugly and then there will be pictures on Facebook and then it will only be a matter of time before your wife/husband/live-in-girlfriend see them and leave you. No one likes to be dumped over Christmas. Stay off the booze. You’ll thank us later.

Taking Time Off – You think you’re clever, don’t you? You think you’ll take those days between Christmas and New Years off to make it into an uber long break from work? It doesn’t work like that, I’m afraid. Remember the loud children? They will be skulking around the house during that time. They will destroy you if you let them. I can almost hear the single readers out there saying “Ah but fiddlesticks to you! I have no offspring, I shall be fine!”. WRONG! This sneak holiday period is even worse for the single person. TV is typically bad. Weather is typically bad and you start thinking about the work you took time off from and then you get depressed. Just go to work during

those days. It won’t even be busy and you can sit around and plan what to do with those spare 2-3 days holiday you now have!

Cookies for Santa – He isn’t real. There I’ve said it. You keep and eat those cookies.

That’s it. Good luck. I’m off to prepare to hibernate.

Tweet Alex @aliospalio

RFP Alex and Mike present Return Fire Podcast live every week. Past shows can also be downloaded from iTunes and their website: www.returnfirepodcast.com

“Your Gran will not be upset at all if she had to watch Mario fall down a hole.”

BACKPACK LOCAL

8 THE RELIANT

“We met at art school and didn’t work together at this point, but after some time away from making and designing, we found ourselves frustrated with the lack of creativity in our lives and so decided to start collaborating,” says Carla. “We soon found that we had extremely similar styles and taste!” By using a lot of natural materials such as wool, leather and calico, the bags are given a rugged made-to-last look. Reclaimed materials from army surplus gear give the bags distinct character. “We tend to start with materials first. They normally create a feeling for a bag and then this slowly forms a whole collection,” says Elizabeth.

Their inspirations come from the process and materials, as well as their interest in travel and different cultures. “We take great inspiration from London street style,” says Carla. “It’s a great hub of various cultures intermingled.”

Both originally from the countryside, they now find the city exciting and intriguing. “There’s such a variety of visually enticing things to help inspire us to design,” says Carla. However, they obviously still

hold their country roots close to their hearts, with a strong influence of classic outwear and functionality apparent. Despite having a very contemporary London look, the majority of their bags are sold in Tokyo, Japan. “There seems to be a larger audience in Japan for our designs than within the UK,” says Elizabeth. It goes to show that if you are switched on and aware of trends you can find a thriving market, even if it is halfway around the world.

You don’t need to catch a flight to Tokyo to pick up their bags though; you can also catch them in London markets and one off events. “We enjoy meeting and sharing our designs with people, says Carla. “This idea of sharing, meeting and collaborating are intrinsic to our brand.”

Cut Out Girls have a few projects in the pipeline for the New Year, including a collaboration with an animator to make a short film. They are always working on new collections to design, and bags to develop and hope that Santa will bring them a studio space for Christmas, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for them.

Cut Out Girls is a collaborative project between Fine Art graduates Elizabeth Chilton and Carla Bromhead.

Starting 18 months ago, they believe in the handmade, using traditional skills to construct solid designs.

“We take great inspiration from London street style”

Check out

more at:

www.cutoutgirls.com

10 THE RELIANT

&Q A with Dulwich Ukulele Club

How long has the Dulwich Ukulele Club been going?It started seven years ago. We played a wedding two days after the London 7/7 bombing. I had bought a ukulele and hid it from the wife because I bought it on an expensive drunken whim. The best man was too shy to make a speech, so four of us bought ukuleles and we played Ring of Fire.

How do audiences react?With surprise and delight! We are quite well known around here so people know what to expect. We like to busk a lot and when we do everyone looks pretty happy. If there are eight people on stage it’s going to be entertaining. We also like dancing, happiness is the aim.

Would you say there’s a ukulele scene?There’s an enormous ukulele scene but we’re not part of it. We stand up, they sit down and go plinky, plinky, plinky. These traditional groups get together to run through songs, but we are actually a band. We write our own material, we sing, there’s glockenspiel, trumpet, accordion, bass guitar, bongos, congas, shakers.

What are your songs about?There are a couple of local ones. There’s one about Camberwell, Lewisham, but mostly they are love songs of incorrect love, or love that goes wrong. As well as Mexican murder ballads.

Have you recorded any songs yet?We’ve got one album that we recorded in Nunhead at Shrunkenheads Studios. Alex Franklinos who runs it has been collecting loads of nice equipment for ages, old valve stuff. We did it in the 1930s style, all around one microphone. It took two days, with very little mixing and overdubs. We are going to be recording our next one in January.

What’s your biggest show so far?The biggest show we’ve done is when we opened for the Beastie Boys at Bestival in front of 20,000 people, we’ve supported Manic Street Preachers and played Jarvis Cocker’s Meltdown.

How did the Day of the Dead show go?It was an excellent night, everyone made an enormous effort. We

Dulwich Ukulele Club has built up a cult following in the area and for good reason. Their shows do away with the dull traditions of the ukulele and add a burst of foot stomping, fist pumping fun. I caught up with them during their “annual general meeting” at Richard’s house to find out the secret to their success.

got face painters to paint us up and there was fancy dress. You think is everyone going to do that, or are they going to be put off? There were 300 people there, at least 200 had painted faces, and it was absolutely stunning.

Is there a reason for the Mexican theme?It’s alluring. We’d like to be Mariachis, I think we are in another life in a parallel universe. We just like Mexican things, it’s just accidental it started with a song called Tijuana.

What’s your favourite song that you play?I’m really enjoying the horn bit in Your Mother Was A Hooker. The bass player really hates Monkey Man by Toots & the Maytals, but we love it. Ring of Fire got a bit difficult, we’d played it and played it. Now we only do it if we have to push the boat out and someone asks us to play for two hours.

Have any of your shows ever gone drastically wrong?I broke my leg on stage. I jumped in the air and landed on a cable. It was at a wedding, I had shiny shoes on a shiny floor, with possibly too much cava. It went out sideways I broke my femur, tore my interior cruciate ligament, smashed up all of the cartilage in my knee. But I still played the rest of the set on a chair.

Do you have anything new that you want to plug?Every Monday we go on Resonance FM. Lewis Schaffer is a man who lives in Nunhead, he has got his radio station which is Nunhead American Radio, the only station for Americans living in Nunhead, he thinks they are the most marginalised section of society. There are about 12 Americans living in Nunhead and he’s had them all on the show, he rotates them around. We’ve written a jingle for the show and we play it live. He also texts us earlier in the day about something that has happened in the news and we write a song about it and play it on the radio. It’s on 104.4FM as well as online and there’s the podcast.

THE RELIANT 11

For more info on

upcoming gigs check out:

thedulwichukuleleclub.co.uk

and

facebook.com/

thedulwichukuleleclub

“We opened for the Beastie Boys at Bestival in front of 20,000 people.”

Be sure to get your tickets to see Dulwich Ukulele Club at The Reliant Variety Show! Saturday 1st December at Michael Croft Theatre, Dulwich!

Pictures by Chris EvansSee more at chrisevansphotography.co.uk

Michael Croft TheatreTownley Road, Dulwich, SE22 8SU

The Reliant Variety ShowSaturday 1st DecemberDoors: 6pm | show:7pmHosted by comedian Joey Page, the show will be bringing together big name and local talents from music, dance, theatre and comedy, all in aid of The Reliant Challenge 2012. More info: facebook.com/thereliant.Tickets: £15/£17 available from www.michaelcrofttheatre.org.uk and other selected outlets.

East Dulwich Tavern1 Lordship Lane, SE22 8EW

Joey Page & FriendsSunday 9th December 8pmJoey brings along some of his friends for a fun filled alternative comedy night, brought to you by The Reliant.Tickets available from The EDT:£5/£3 with NUS

Bussey Building133 Rye Lane, SE15 4ST

Late Lunch6th December, 10pm-LateJoe Syntax YouandewanDjRum A R T KMilli£4 B4 12/ £6 After

Corsica4/5 Elephant Road, SE17 1LB

Trouble Vision & Tief NYE31st December, 10pm – 7amJohn Talabot Move DBicepKRLBen SunMr Solid GoldHesseltimePark Ranger£20/£25

The Dye HouseNutbrook Street, Peckham, SE15 4JU

Pexmas Festive Market8th December 11am-9pm & 9th December 11am-5pmDesigners, Artisans, Handmade, Vintage Gifts, Cards, Decorations, Fripperies, Hot Food, Mulled Wine, Sweet Things, Stories, Carols, Frivolity £2 Adults / £1 Childrenwww.pexmas.com

Bellenden Road115-120 Bellenden Road, SE15 4QY

Christmas Bonanza13th DecemberTrendy Bellenden Road’s shops, delis, art galleries and bars host seasonal events including carols, an appearance by Father Christmas, live bands in shops, and giveaways.

London Glassblowing62-66 Bermondsey St, SE1 3UD

Christmas Open Studio Until 24th December 10am-6pmSwap the overheated department stores of central London for this distinctly different gift-browsing experience, where you can see and buy unique glassware starting at £40 while enjoying mince pies, mulled wine and the toasty warm glow from the furnaces. Lots of Christmas-themed wares are on display, including delicate baubles, cast glass robins, decorations and candleholders, but jewellery, tableware and decorative pieces also feature.

Pullens Yards Clements Yard, Iliffe Yard, Peacock Yard, SE17 3LH

Christmas Open Studios

30th November until 2nd DecemberClothing, jewellery, ceramics, fine art, furniture, books and photography are on offer at this pre-Christmas open studio sale held by resident and visiting artists and designers.

College LodgeDulwich Village, SE21 7BQ

Santa’s Vintage Christmas Grotto1st December until 23rd DecemberNo grotto is complete without Father Christmas but we’re guessing as big a draw at this Dulwich Park Christmas experience

12 THE RELIANT

COMING UPPeckham Peace Wall

Hoopers Bar28 Ivanhoe Road, Southwark SE15 8DH

Hoopers Comedy Night2nd DecemberTonight’s line-up features master satirist Nick Revell, Keith Platt, Annabel O’Connell, Tom Hayward, David Hannant and MC Sion James. Audience donations are especially encouraged this evening, with all the proceeds going to food charity Fareshare UK.www.hoopersbar.co.ukFree

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will be the real live reindeer. Kids can have their photo taken with Santa. There’s also the opportunity to decorate gingerbread snowmen and play an assortment of retro games. The gift shop, meanwhile, sells various retro wares and parents can are invited to knock back some mulled wine.Children £18, adult £5, family (2 adult, 2 children) £42

Theatre PeckhamHavil St, Peckham, SE15 7SD

Newspaper Boy and Origami Girl4th December until 22nd DecemberThis Christmas children’s show from Theatre Peckham is a stage adaptation of Michael Foreman’s recently-published children’s book about a put upon newspaper seller and his unlikely sidekick.

South London Gallery65 Peckham Rd, SE15 8UH

Sanja Ivekovich: Unknown Heroine14 December until 24th FebruaryThis two venue exhibition (also showing at Calvert 22) showcases Croation born artist Sanja Ivekovich, whose politically engaged practice from the 1970s to the present day, in collage, film, performance and installation, explores themes of female identity in relation to history and consumer culture. Ivekovich is also showing in ‘A Bigger Splash: Painting After Performance’ at Tate Modern.Free

Peckham SquarePeckham High St, SE15 5JT

Peckham Peace WallGarudio Studiage’s ‘Peckham Peace Wall ‘is a permanent public art work on Peckham Square, celebrating the wall of Post-it notes of love and respect that grew on Rye Lane following the 2011 riots. Commissioned by Peckham Space with funding from Southwark Council’s Greener Cleaner Safer fund, the wall comprises 4000 original messages, each of which has been digitally hand-traced. The wall also includes blank ‘notes’ on to which new comments can be made.

The Sunday PainterFirst Floor, 12-16 Blenheim Grove, SE15 4QL

Cosmos’ LevelsUntil 23rd December, 12-6pmKRAMER: I’m completely changing the configuration of the apartment. You’re not gonna believe it when you see it. A whole

John Talabot

new lifestyle.JERRY: What are you doing?KRAMER: Levels.JERRY: Levels?KRAMER: Yeah, I’m getting rid of all my furniture. All of it. And I’m going to build these different levels, with steps, and it’ll all be carpeted with a lot of pillows. You know, like ancient Egypt.

Utilising Cosmo Kramer’s hypothetical project as initial seed for the shows structure, Fitzmaurice’s work will act as thematic viewfinder with which to approach the works of the other artists. Floor becomes wall, window becomes surface, objects become image and clothes become maps. Slippage between physicalities is the key. Archetypes become comic motifs and back again.Free

The Grosvenor17 Sidney Rd, SW9 0TP

How Does It Feel To Be Loved?31st December, 9pm-3amHDIF’s Ian Watson delivers a wonderfully twee mix of indie pop, northern soul, Motown, girl groups and ‘60s heartbreak with a guest DJ set from Daniel Novakovic of Too Cute To Puke club, who’ll be playing a set of gal-fronted tunes.£10 Nick Revell

CLICKIn his first year, Uk based designer Mark Thomas Taylor has already teamed up with MTV and its Staying alive foundation. Taylor has created a line to help raise awareness for the HIV/AIDS (grey t-shirt with heart). Supported by the likes of Seye and The Special K’s you can follow the movement at @MTVstayingalive. His line including denim, vest, t-shirts and shirts are clean, cut and effortless. Ranging from club kid’s bright tops for Friday night and layered check worker’s shirts, he has items for every day of the week.

www.markthomastaylor.com | Model: Aidan Deegan @ MOT Models | Photography: Benjamin Glean

ZOMBIECOLLECTIVE

16 THE RELIANT

Zombie is a collective of five graphic artists and illustrators who banded together after graduating from Kingston University in 2010. “After working in such a tight group, the idea of not all working together after uni was horrifying,” says Frann. The collective wanted to thrust themselves into work after their studies, and at a time when freelance work for graduates is fiercely competitive, grouping together jumped out as the best tactic. “It’s a nice umbrella to use to get jobs you might want, it’s a good profile raiser,” says Alice. “It’s easier to promote five people rather than just yourself.”

The name Zombie Collective was intentionally chosen to conceal the fact that they are all female. “If you say we are a group of girl illustrators, you think of bears, rabbits, flowers, which sounds awful but I think people do. I like that people are quite surprised when they see us,” says Frann.

Starting at a market place in Brixton, they soon built a name for themselves and have worked with an impressive list of clients including Tate Britain, the Design Museum and the British Library. Not before long, they had requests for apprenticeship placements from graduates as far as Germany. “We must have seemed more professional than we felt,” laughs Frann.

They have not just got the respect of fellow graduates; Frann and Alice were honoured by being anonymously nominated to join the Sendak Fellowship, a residency program started by the legendary children’s author Maurice Sendak, who sadly passed away in May. It is designed to give artists time and space to explore their craft, by inviting them to his forest retreat in Connecticut. “Life doesn’t get in the way, if you want food it’s there, all the little niggly parts that eat

up 60% of your day are just gone,” says Alice. “You get to do all the big things that you don’t get time for.”

The dream lifestyle couldn’t last forever though, and without a dedicated place for their projects, their work tends to invade on their home life. Joely, who specialises in working in 3D and has her own laser cutting company, says “our new front room has become a zombie workshop at times, there’s paint everywhere.”

The Zombie’s front room must have felt the pressure when they curated Fathoms Deep, their biggest show yet, in the Hayward Gallery’s shop, attracting 500 people in the opening evening.

All the Zombies have their own distinct style as well as a natural role within the group. Rebecca is known as the draughtsman of the group, “she’s the one who can actually draw, by quite a long margin!” says Frann. Rebecca’s talents in visual merchandising also came in handy for the retail environment of the show. “It would have just been a weird pile of stuff in the middle if it wasn’t for her,” says Joely. Rebecca sourced a range of distinctive nautical objects for the show including a lobster cage and massive anchor. “The guy who owned the shop was pleading us to get rid of it, it was awesome,” says Rebecca. However, the anchor was the least of his worries, quite appropriately for the theme of the show, water started gushing down the walls after the air conditioning broke because they had too many people at the show. “It was quite an achievement,” says Frann. “There was water gushing down the wall on all the prints.”

We caught up with Zombie Collective in a cosy pub in Kennington to find out the secret to having a show so successful the air conditioning breaks and why a severed mermaid head in a pool of blood is a wonderful thing.

A selection of Zombie Collective’s work.

18 THE RELIANT

Fathoms Deep also featured workshops, including a collage making class where a slightly bloodthirsty giggling child made a mermaid’s severed head complete with pool of blood. “The mother was slightly appalled, but I thought it was wonderful,” says Alice.

As a result of Fathoms Deep, Zombie Collective have just been shortlisted to appear at Pick Me Up, the renowned annual illustration and graphic arts fair at Somerset House. The curator of Pick Me Up attended the show and was so impressed by what she saw that she urged them to apply. “It was all from sending her the invitation print,” says Frann. “It was amazing that the right people turned up.”

Pick Me Up attracted 130,000 people in five days last year and features the cream of the crop in the illustration world. “It’s the homeland! It’s ridiculous,” grins Alice. “They had Rob Ryan one year, they transferred his whole studio in there and you could see him working.”

Whilst at university they were told that the majority of successful illustrators at the age of 30 are men. You can tell that they are not put off by the fact, but it must play at the back of their minds. “It is a boys club, but I don’t think anyone conspires to make it like that,” says Alice. “It just has happened like that.” They see the male dominated industry as a result of lack of female confidence rather than talent. They get around this by supporting each other, Frann says, “You know there’s always four other people, which gives us the guts and the confidence to keep trying new things.”

As with all creative jobs working with clients, there is a tendency to get some strange feedback and requests. Rebecca remembers one client, a herbalist wanting a whole series tarot cards, who called her persistently during Christmas. They also remember a friend’s confusion when they were asked to remove the udders from a cow because they could be deemed offensive. “What do you do? Give it a bikini?”

There are frustrating moments but you can tell the Zombies get a lot of pleasure from their work, whether it’s from creating a piece or hosting workshops. “Sometimes we’ll spend a day doing something knowing we’re not getting paid for but it doesn’t really matter, which is what I find really nice,” says Frann.

Joely is helping the family of a friend who sadly died recently with a charity they set up in his honour. “I’m going with them next year to build a school in Nepal. We had to raise a set amount each to enable the project to go ahead and these guys were so on board with it. We managed to raise £560 just on kid’s workshops. It was a really great day.”

Their enthusiasm is infectious and it works hand in hand with their talent, to create the formula for their success. “We wouldn’t be doing this if we wanted to be rich, I think its no coincidence a lot of illustrators only have one kidney!” says Frann. “We can’t complain because we are doing something we all love, it sounds cheesy but it’s true.”

Go to

zombiecollective.co.uk

to see more of the

Zombies’ work

“I think it’s no coincidence a lot of illustrators only have one kidney!”

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THEGALLERY

The Gallery is a hotbed of talent for students, graduates and local artists to show off their best work. To show off your work in The Reliant’s gallery, please contact us at info@thereliant.com. Exclusive Reliant badges will be given to all artists in the gallery (Blue Peter style).

Jamie KendrickIllustration and Visual Media, London College of Communication

jamie.kendrick@hotmail.co.uk

See more of Jamie’s work at: www.jamiekendrick.com

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Dawn ChuangIllustration, Camberwell College of Art

dawncmt@gmail.com

See more of Dawn’s work at: www.cargocollective.com/occurred

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Shiori ClarkLocal Artist

shioriclark@gmail.com

See more of Shiori’s work at:www.shioriclark.com

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Fuchsia MacAreeMA Illustration Graduate, Camberwell College of Art

phewsha@gmail.com

See more of Fuchsia’s work at:www.fuchsiamacaree.com

GOINGOUT

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The Reliant guide to going out will help you get off that sofa and discover a hidden gem down your road. More available on our website: www.thereliant.com

READING OUTTom HollandShadow of the SwordWodehouse Library, Dulwich College

Novelist and historian, Tom Holland has come under a lot of scrutiny after his latest book Shadow of the Sword split opinion, receiving high praise from some and scathing rebuttals from others. The controversial book charts the origins of Islam and has gained notoriety because of his questioning of the validity of sources charting Mohammed’s life.

Despite the heavy content in the book, Holland delivered his talk with wit and charm, with his signature narrative style running through. At one point whilst describing the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Lord of the Rings theme played by a practising orchestra next door swept through the library and Holland quipped, “Our accompaniment is quite appropriate as it would have been like Middle Earth at this point,” causing a ripple of well educated chuckling.

In the Q&A, after a few historical questions too intricate for me to even fathom the meaning of, the questioning turned to Holland’s reaction to his critics. It became apparent that he had deliberated over the thesis of the book for some time and hadn’t primed himself to attack Islam like some critics believed.

Religion is always going to be a complicated and hazardous path to cross, but Holland’s account is probably the nearest you will get to a neutral account, and for that you have to commend him.

GOING OUT SessionsCorsica Studios

Personally, I love to wile away

Thursday evenings under a railway arch in Elephant & Castle and now that a free, weekly club night has returned to Corsica Studios, I can spend the night there without looking crazy or homeless. Sessions is the new in house night of prestigious south London venue, Corsica Studios and it is worth a visit. Taking over the free entry (!) Thursday night slot from widely praised club-night-stroke-record-label and previous Reliant cover boys, CHURCH, (who have grown up to fill monthly Friday nights at Corsica), Sessions is cut from the same cloth and is your new home for pre-weekend adventures. Curated by the founders of CHURCH, Sessions a great place to catch music that’s so fresh it’s not even been baked yet. Why? Because instead of ramming the line-up with a long list of names, taste-makers Seb Wildblood and Apes have picked out just three or four pioneers of the scene to play each week and are giving them more time on deck so they can really get involved in their set, and show us all what they’re about. This ethos suits the venue perfectly. Room 1 has a snug 300 capacity, making Corsica Studios an intimate venue with a unique vibe. This in turn attracts a bunch of clued-up, friendly ravers who hit Sessions most

weeks to listen to new music through a healthy Funktion-One sound system and chat about what they’re hearing outside, in the suitably rustic smoking area. If you’re curious about South London’s bubbling electronic music scene but have not yet dabbled, Sessions at Corsica Studios is a great place to go and try it all out. In the Venn diagram of UK Bass, (where am I going with this???) the night sits perfectly in the centre of Up-And-Coming DJ’s, Subtle Lighting and Wicked Atmosphere so head to corsicastudios.com to find the Sessions Facebook event + click attending to get yourself free entry. See you on Thursday.

Martha Pazienti-Caidan

LOOKING OUTThe Body Adorned: Dressing LondonHorniman Museum

The Body Adorned spans a wide range of cultures and centuries, looking at the relationship between dress, the body and cosmopolitan London. The exhibition features a wide range of historical dress, from kimonos to kilts. The collection shows that throughout history we have used changed the way we look to reflect personalities and alter how we are perceived.

“Body adornment is use to me more than fashion, more than clothing. It is anything we put on our bodies to modify, to change it,” says Exhibition Co-creator, Wayne Modest.

The historical context really helps to show the way that modern dress has been influenced. Pieces like Zones of the Earth by Fried Fleischer displayed how portrayals of traditional dress defined a country.

The second part of the exhibition focuses on London today. By using urban portraiture, it explores what your clothes say about you and how we use them to fit into groups. Multimedia production company The Light Surgeons have put together a social experiment, by filming people on various parts of London including Peckham and interviewing them on their clothing choices, before asking strangers to watch and make comments.

The exhibition shows that the integral part of London style is in its influences from all over the world. It celebrates this concoction of cultures and asks some compelling questions along the way.

Tom Holland

The Body Adorned

Baconnaise £5.99

Food tastes better with bacon on top, it’s a fact, and I’d definitely put mayonnaise in my top three condiments of all time. So this hybrid is pretty much the best thing since the sliced organic wholegrain bloomer.

Wacky Racers Driving Experience £99.99

Driving Ferraris on a track day is for squares, the true petrol head races a 87 mph sofa against an office desk.

World’s Largest Coffee Cup£29.99

For those of you who like to suck down java like a caffeine-crazed loon, there’s finally a receptacle for you. It’s 33 cm wide and holds 20 cups.

Blood Bath Shower Gel £4.99

There’s no better way to start your day than with a nice invigorating shower. Just flick on the radio and sing your heart out whilst squeezing this delightful IV drip bag of blood all over yourself.

Canned Unicorn Meat £12.99

If you believe the lie that unicorns don’t exist, you’ll believe anything. Not only do they exist, they fart rainbows and taste amazing.

Lashes4Cars£14.95

I’m really pleased with my new car, but I can’t help but feel that we haven’t really hit it off. I’m finding it hard to form a strong bond. If only there was some way that I could make it look more human. Lashes you say?

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DEARSANTA

There’s always that one annoying person who owns everything and is impossible to buy a present for. To save you from having to hear “oh thanks, I’ve got one of these but I really like it”, we’ve put together a list so weird, no sane human can own it all.

FUN STUFF

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MYSTERY PICTURE COMPETITIONWIN 2 TICKETS TO THE COMEDY SHOW WITH JOEY PAGE & FRIENDS AT THE EAST DULWICH TAVERN

Name the location of this photograph. The winner will be picked at random on 7th December and notified by email.

Send entries to the address listed on page 5 or email: info@thereliant.com with the subject ‘Competition’.

location:..............................................................

name:..................................................................

email:..................................................................