Click Expand to watch our video exclusive with Shepard Fairey
 

Everything that I do came from skateboarding, and at first punk rock, and then later hip hop because hip hop became the new punk rock. Punk rock and skateboarding were always about creativity, resourcefulness, rebellion and then hip hop came along and it was the same way.

– Shepard Fairey

Interview by Sarah Claire Picton

 
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Mosteiro de Santa Clara directed by Daniel Silva found on Vimeo
 

Silva captured footage of the famous Monastery of Santa Clara in Portugal and transformed the dilapidated building into a creative masterpiece. Colourful plumes of smoke converge on walls set to the clever pluckings of Portugese Berimbau instruments. Mushroom clouds shroud plain white walls and broken windows to breathe life back into the ramshackle structure that was once full of life. If these walls could talk they would undoubtedly have plenty to say and Silva is giving Santa Clara its voice back in this video.

image: vimeo.com

image: vimeo.com

image: vimeo.com

images courtesy of: vimeo.com

To be a clear reflection of the island’s multicultural background, which is embedded in a ‘Let’s all live happily together’ model. (Electropicales motto)

VJ Zero and Blindoff

DJs/Producers feat. at Electropicales

Reunion FYI:

Reunion is a European island huddled under the shadow of France. In fact, flying to France is considered a local flight, the currency is euros, and there’s an ever-growing community of relocated Frenchies who have realised that 26 degrees in winter is something they prefer. Alongside its distinctly French culture, Reunion has a thriving skateboard scene, the world’s 3rd most active volcano; an ever-present exhibition of street art; and over countless music and art festivals each year. Often overshadowed by its neighbour, Mauritius, I was informed by locals that many foreigners are not even aware of this culturally-rich island, and perhaps even less about one of its most prized music festivals, Electropicales.

Electropicales: A 3-part series

We’ve taken it upon ourselves to be the foreigners that bring Electropicales to the rest of the world in a three-part series that brings the festival to life: Part 1 gives a day-to-day breakdown of the festival with our highlights; Part 2 is a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the men and women backing Reunion’s ever-growing yet somewhat ambiguous art scene, with a specific emphasis on the artists who coloured the festival and others who paint the streets of Reunion. Part 3 will be a number of interviews with some of the festival’s big-name artists, including Jeff Mills, Jazzanova, Culoe De Song, Niveau Zéro, SFR, Alex Rolland, Guillaume Lebourg, VJ Zero, Gorge-One, JACE and Blindoff. The Part 3 interviews will be put up online over a period of time — so keep posted to onesmallseed.com, our Twitter and our Facebook!
 

Teat Champ Fleuri, image: © Gwael Desbont

Koudlam, image: © Gwael Desbont

Thursday

 
Venue/s: Teat Champ Fleuri and Pot’Irons

Full Line-up:

Hiroaki Umeda
Koudlam
Django
Sal Paradise
Culoe De Song
 
 

art/performance highlights:
 
 
Hiroaki Umeda

Hiroaki Umeda, image: © Gwael Desbont

Diversely talented as a choreographer and performer, composer and video artist, Tokyo-based Hiroaki Umeda has developed his work into a visual sound environment with minimalist styling and radical imagination. Between projections and bright explosions of hallucinatory colours, Umeda uses videos and electronic music to transform dance and the human body. His work is an artistic pursuit that embarks on the discovery of a new hybrid art. The opening night of the festival saw Umeda deliver a 20-minute live cinematic thrill-ride that left the audience hypnotized and slightly unhinged. The only way to describe it is through comparison: think of the opening sequence of Gaspar Noé’s Enter the Void and the mind-invasion that took place in Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, Clockwork Orange. All in all the performance was a show that I’m not entirely sure I would commit myself to any time soon.

Guillaume Lebourg

Guillaume Lebourg, image: © Gwael Desbont

Guillaume Lebourg is a self-taught artist who has pioneered a variety of techniques to generate different perceptions of an object, a place, and a situation. His use of unlikely materials is a challenge to the world and its crisis, questioning the structure and actions of society. As an artist, Lebourg has grounded his work with a message that offers audiences a new view of the world.

Guillaume’s exhibition premiered on the opening night of the festival, where he showcased larger-than-life artworks made up of wood, pen, paint and other materials. The simplicity in its form leaves room for the art’s underlying political theme. Messages like ‘Fuck art as decoration’ and ‘Think different’ leave little room for misinterpretation and, for Guillaume, art should be a statement rather than just aesthetically pleasing. Ultimately, it is cultivating discussion which Guillaume is most interested in executing through his art.

Aside from the exhibition, Guillaume was pivotal in the overall design of the festival: the artist was the ‘scenograph’ of the event and the man behind the incredible stage setups on Friday and Saturday. The inspiration for this multi-level arena was drawn from the infamous Joy Divsion Unknown Pleasure cover. The original conception revolved around themes of landscape, science, space and sound to create a multi-modal spine-tingling experience.

NOTE: More on Guillaume in Part 2 (stay posted!)
 
 

music highlights:

Culoe De Song

Culoe de Song, image: © Gwael Desbont

Since his arrival in the South African house scene in 2007, Culoe De Song has captivated music-lovers with his afrocentric and soulful beats. With a first name that means ‘Our Song’, one could say that Culolethu Zulu aka Culoe De Song was destined to make music. It all started in Durban when he was 16 and learning how to play vinyls with his long-time friend DJ Kabila, who introduced him to Black Coffee. Fast-forward a few years and this humble producer became a solid fixture in Black Coffee’s Soulistic Music family — a move that has helped Culoe transform into an international artist. With projects commissioned by Red Bull Music Academy and Germany’s Innervisions, he remains one of South Africa’s premier house icons and a global symbol of SA’s African-branded house. Taking the last set on Thursday night, Culoe was faced with an overwhelming and highly diverse mix of people — all were welcome in the entrance-fee-free festivities. Culoe filled the dance-floor with his distinct soulful, tribal rhythms that permeated into the crowd creating a potent energy that connected people in an atmosphere of loving, living and longing for more. Needless to say, the dynamic DJ was a proud showcase of SA’s talent.

NOTE: Interview with Culoe De Song coming soon!

Missill, image: © GWAEL DESBONT

Friday

 
Venue/s: Sports complex field

Full Line-up:

Matt Waro
Ziloub
Level Zero
Missill
SFR DJ
VJ Zero
Hakim Moindjie – Gorg One – Jace
 
 

art/performance highlights:
 
Hakim Moindjie – Gorg One – Jace

Gorge-One, image: © GWAEL DESBON

Featured on both Friday and Saturday night, the three graffiti artists — Hakim Moindjie, Gorg One and Jace — conducted live graffiti that followed the theme of the festival: ‘Landscapes’

Note: A more in-depth look at their work, including some interview snippets and footage, will come in Part 2.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
VJ Zero and Blindoff’s Visual Mapping

VJ Zero and Blindoff

VJ Zero worked alongside Blindoff for two days during the festival, being responsible for the VJing and various visual mapping. Before his foray into the world of digital art, Blindoff worked as an ecologist with a specialisation in insects. He became inspired by Lille’s underground art scene and has since architectured the performance displays of Jeff Mills, Birdy Nam Nam and Carl Cox to name a few. VJ Zero and Blindoff worked collaboratively, using their imaginative skills to create a visual artwork that harmonised the music performances and showcased the often-overlooked world of digital art.

More on this in Part 2, stay tuned!

music highlights:
 
Matt Waro

Matt Waro, image: © Gwael Desbont

This young DJ and producer has already made his mark on the local electronic scene through being one of the first artists to have brought the Moombahton to Reunion. He took the stage first for the Friday night line-up, and was — despite his age — one of the best performers at the festival. Experimenting in various electro styles — from progressive house-based melodies to trap blends of hip hop combined with electronic sounds — this is one jack of all trades we’ll be keeping our eyes on this year.

Niveau Zéro

Niveau Zero, image: © Gwael Desbont

Moving from dubstep to breakcore, and hip-hop to metal, Niveau Zero is one of the most prominent artists in the French underground scene. He emerged with ‘Electro Revelation’ in Bourges in 2008 and has since signed a series of collaborations in the form of Drum Beating, Aucan, Balkansky, and Dubsidia. Zero’s second album Jasmine was released last October on the Berlin label Ad Noiseam. His technical skill and impressive music knowledge cultivated in a set that was uncompromising and full of force. Niveau Zero also stunned audiences with his explosive live performance that proved to be one of the show-stoppers of the festival. While many electro artists struggle to create absorbing performances, Zero displayed an energy and confidence that left festival-goers enthralled.

NOTE: Interview with Niveau Zéro coming soon!

SFR DJ

SFR, image: Gwael Desbont

Upon arrival, we realised that SFR was a local mobile company, making DJ SFR a household name! He played the last set for Friday night and it was a closing that set up the weekend for an outrageously exhilarating musical feast. For those of you that aren’t familiar with SFR, he has played electrifying sets across South Africa and has toured Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden, Holland, Switzerland and the UK on numerous occasions since 2007. His experience on these global stages was brought to the forefront at Reunion. The DJ gave audiences a teasing peak at what the weekend would bring, while delivering a set that had people calling for more. Having just released a new single on N-type’s Wheel & Deal Records, things can only get bigger for this South African talent.

NOTE: Interview with SFR DJ coming soon!
 

Âme, image: © Gwael Desbont

image: © Gwael Desbont

Saturday

 
Venue: Palaxa and Sports Complex

Full Line-up:

Alejandro Paz
Jessy
Alex Rolland
Prommer & Barck
Soul
Jeff Mills
Hakim Moindjie – Gorg One – Jace
 
 

music highlights:

Alejandro Paz

Alejandro Paz, image: © Gwael Desbont

Definitely one of our favourites during the festival was the performance from Chilean producer-DJ, Alejandro Paz. Paz has collaborated with bands like Genéricos and The District Union as well as remixed artists such as Javiera Mena, DJs Pareja and Auntie Flo. He is currently working alongside Avril Ceballos to produce ‘Ladrones’ – a radio show for Radio Cómeme. His most recent work includes his hit single ‘Callejero’ on Scotland’s Huntleys & Palmers label and his invigorating EP called Free released on Cómeme. He headlined the festival by taking over Palaxa’s intimate space. With the sun still shining bright, the charming DJ was welcomed by the crowd as a long lost friend. Paz’s performance stood out from the rest as the innovative talent performed tracks that mixed DJing techniques with his live vocals — it wasn’t rapping, or talking, or singing… But a bit of all! It created a new element of electro performance that I had never experienced before. Listen to the track above to get an idea of what I’m talking about. A one-man act that had the sound of a band… Awesome! http://www.musicacomeme.com/

Alex Rolland

Alex Rolland, image: © Gwael Desbont

Alex Rolland grew into the electro scene from the fresh, nostalgic tunes of the early ’90s. Immersed in the art of sound, he took to the musical lab and began experimenting with the chemical sounds of Detroit and Chicago. While finding his rhythm, he had the opportunity to keep close to the specialists of the genre: Eric Rug, Swag, Soldiers of Twilight, Ellen Alien and Jeff Mills to name a few. Unlike most artists, Rolland never chose between (deep) house and techno, and instead produced a sound that carries elements of both subgenres in an explosive mix of sonic dynamite. His spectrum of sounds and the emotions he evokes have inspired dancefloors across the globe.

The guy with the Scottish accent is also an avid air guitar player and one of the friendliest people you will ever meet! His approachable personality is a rarity in the DJ universe, shaping his music into something that can be enjoyed beyond the dancefloor. He also played a helluva fun set that sent us back to a time when all that mattered in music, was the music itself — feeling it, moving to it and leaving a place for it in your heart — rather than holding yourself down to its formalities or searching for acknowledgement by intellectualising yourself. Alex Rolland made music an experience for everyone, leaving behind the constraints of rationality, and tuning people to an airwave of pure, rhythmic musicality!

NOTE: Interview with Alex Roland online soon!

Jeff Mills

Jeff Mills. image: © Gwael Desbont

The festival’s highlight was definitely Jeff Mills; the music maven who is famed for using four turntables in his set. Mills began his career in music over two decades ago as a guest DJ on radio shows, and he has since risen the ranks of the techno hierarchy to become known as one of America’s most established techno creators. Hailing from Detroit, the DJ first made waves as a founding member of Underground Resistance – a Motor City music project. Since those early days Mills has moved to New York, created his own label (Axis), scored a contemporary soundtrack for Fritz Lang’s famed Metropolis, and taken over venues like London’s Royal Albert Hall, and the Vienna International Film Festival. From Detroit city to Paris, Jeff Mills has conquered the world of techno. We featured an interview with Mills in Issue 25, and were very fortunate to have the chance to speak to him in person, getting a glimpse into his extraordinary mind. Soft-spoken and focussed, this former architecture student is highly passionate and knowledgeable about exploring themes involving space and time, man vs. machine and the underlying ‘spirituality of techno’.

NOTE: Interview with Jeff Mills online soon!
 

Marion (Radio Nova), Quentin (Tsugi) and Laure (PR)

Sébastien Broquet (artistic director), Thomas Bordese (Chair), Jeff Mills, Bernard Feuillade (President of Dionysian XV)

Sunday

Venue: Barachois

Full Line-up:

Titus
1 Al-
Dani Llonga
Wave
Reworks
Jazzanova (DJ set)
 
 

art/performance highlights:
 
Student Graffiti

Student, image: © Gwael Desbont

Partnering up with Electropicales was the École Supérieure d’Art de la Réunion and on the Sunday the public was exposed to large live graffiti artwork by six of the art school’s students. Various other mapping and visual art by the students took place during the festival, with their involvement being directed by two teachers from the school, Florent Konne and Yohann Quelan de Saint Pern.

NOTE: Interview with Florent Konne and Yohann Quelan de Saint Pern and art students online soon!
 
 
music highlights:
 
Reworks

Reworks, image: Gwael Desbont

This young protégé of Sound Nights once again brought new sounds to shake up the Reunion electronica landscape. His deep house styles are laced with percussion rhythms and catchy melodies. A self-proclaimed geek and graphic designer, Reworks is known for his powerful and hypnotic live performances. After running the master-class session of Electropicales he joined the stage for a sunset showcase.

Jazzanova (DJ set)

Alex Barck, image: © Gwael Desbont

Jazzanova has taken over the electronica circuit for over fifteen years with their fresh mixes injecting funk and jazz into electro beats and vice versa. The eclectic collective met while roaming the Berlin nightlife in the mid-nineties, and began a journey of musical discovery and re-invention. Producing, composing, arranging, remixing, and DJing… Jazzanova does it all, and their musical input has helped define a new era of electronica.

Flanked by the darkening Indian ocean, the last day of the festival was appreciated not just by electronic-lovers, but the entire island. Alex Barck‘s remix of Fatboy Slim’s ‘Praise You’ could not have been a better choice for the last day of the festival: it filled the air with nostalgia, smiles and celebration. Jazzanova was the ultimate finale to an electrifying experience, demonstrating some skills and tricks that had me truly appreciating the art of DJing. The end of the set was not just the closing of the festival, but an ode to the electro landscape and all the artists that work in dialogue to create an ever-evolving musical genre.

NOTE: Interview with Alex Barck online soon!

Keep posted for Part 2!
 
IMPORTANT LINKS:

Electropicales Website
Electropicales Facebook
Electropicales Twitter

images: Gwael Desbont
artist bio source: Electropicales.com
words: Sarah Claire Picton

Journalists and Artists

Ranging from graffiti, graphic design, image manipulating, live art and more, your creativity has taken on many forms. What was your beginning media though and how did you get started in it?

I started drawing since the age of six. I loved tracing images and usually used a pencil. My teenage years saw me just drawing with a black pen on any surface I could find, the reason for this was because I couldn’t afford proper art supplies. During my high school career I developed a taste for drawing characters but more like cartoons, fun stuff — this is what I was exposed to. I became a member of the SRC and was given the opportunity to do the cover of our first SRC magazine as well as a few illustrations. In college I fell in love with charcoal and did all the traditional still life, portraits and landscapes which were lots of fun but not enough. I wanted to do something different. When I completed my History of Art course, I was hooked on surrealism, pop art and cubism but never pursued a career as an artist. I majored in graphic design and after college the hustle started. The next 10 years I found myself sitting in front of a computer screen and never touching a pencil or black pen. I developed some skills in Photoshop and exhibited some digital art for A Happy Place Creation’s group exhibition. A few years later I started hanging out with more creative people and went to art exhibitions. I was truly inspired by Cape Town artist Lindsey Levendal’s work and after meeting him I picked up a pencil and started to express myself. In 2010 I met up with Cape Town artists Leigh Cupido, Rayaan Casiem and Nardstar, who inspired me so much that I nervously agreed to be part of group exhibition with them. The CORE Exhibition was a huge success and this was the rebirth of me as an artist.

Growing up on the Cape Flats, what were some of the people, places, and events and such that inspired you to be an artist in general and produce the type of work you create specifically?

I grew up surrounded by colour and beautiful people continually expressing themselves. My creative side comes from my late father Abdul Aziz Davids; even though he was into construction he always thought creatively and also sketched as a teenager. On the Cape Flats I was inspired by Cape Town graffiti artist Falco Star. As a youngster I use to be amazed at his ability to create images and letters on a wall just by using a spray can. He beautified our neighbourhood and this gave a lot of kids hope. There were other influential graffiti writers that also inspired me, guys like Muff2, Ice and Mak1 whose work could be seen all over the Cape Flats.

It wasn’t their graffiti styles that inspired me, it was the fact that they were artists expressing themselves and doing what they love. I wanted that same feeling, so I use to walk around our area with my little sketchbook and drew anything that caught my eye.

My current style of work has changed immensely thanks to inspiring artists such as the CORE crew.

Your style is very abstract and could be interpreted many ways. Do you have a particular message your trying to convey?

The message is to help free minds and allow humanity to think for themselves. The message is to question everything. The message is peace, love, enlightenment and consciousness. The message is truth, freedom and revolution. The message is to do for yourself and inspire others. The message is hope, salvation and oneness. The message is fear, solitude and anger but with that said, I prefer the viewer to create their own message; in this way they have taken the time to explore my work and give me their thoughts instead of me explaining my process.

If you could describe your style in three words what would they be?

Experimental, abstract, surreal.

Your work has been featured in galleries, art walks and has been showcased on customized clothing for Supremebeing™. Is there a theme that stays consistent regardless of where your work is showcased?

I never have a theme I just go with my mood and my surroundings, almost chameleon-like, I just adapt. I usually have an idea in my head, but when I get to the task at hand things change.

Tell us a little about your idea of ‘live art’. What was a project that allowed you to freely express yourself the most effortlessly?

‘Live art’ for me, is like a live performance where the artist gets to showcase their process and interact with the public. I was introduced to live art painting for the first time in 2012 at the annual Art Walk. I enjoyed the idea of creating an art piece in front of people, sometimes I get lost in my work and forget that there is a crowd watching.

Are there any other portals of creativity you would like to explore? Different art forms you’re looking into for the future?

I would like to do installations and work more with spray cans and do HUGE murals on buildings across the world… with permission of course.

Interview by Heather Worthing
Images: Anwar Davids Gary Van Wyk
For more of Davids work check out
His blog CLONE ART
CORE ARTISTS Facebook page
Twitter: @gurugaste
Davids is currently part of a group exhibition at the Mødestedet – Collaboration space Gallery in Denmark

one small seed’s 25th issue Content Preview from one small seed on Vimeo.

Screenshot

Screenshot

To see more of Rene’s work, go to her profile page.

Beholders of Les Poupees – the thoroughly seductive characters created by Miss Van – can not help but be enthralled by these lascivious creatures, their overwhelming femininity and the pure eroticism emanating from their gorgeous frames. It’s been fourteen years since the original sultry-eyed Les Poupee de Miss Van first appeared.

Miss Van began painting in the streets at the tender age of 18, not with spray-can in hand, but rather latex paint and brush – as favoured by counterparts, Brazilian graff greats Os Gemeos. The year was 1991. The city, her hometown Toulouse, France. Toulouse is world-renowned for its graffiti scene, Miss Van and her accomplices back then (Mademoiselle Kat and Fafi), couldn’t have help starting a feminine graffiti movement in a more apt place. While the streets occupied her spare time, she was a full-time student completing a four-year degree in fine art.

Seven years on and with enough street-cred behind her, Miss Van held her first gallery exhibition at Galerie Diloy in Toulouse. By the time Parisian Galerie Magda Danysz had proposed to represent her, she had already exhibited in London and Rotterdam. She has since gone on to exhibit in Barcelona, L.A., New York, Melbourne, Sydney, Stockholm, Milan, Amsterdam and Anvers, as well as participating in prestigious group exhibitions alongside the likes of Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Os Gemeos, Swoon, Mike Giant and Takashi Murakami.

On querying the sensual overtures of her work, her response is simple – ‘I just enjoy painting my fantasies without censoring myself,’ she says.

Her buxom burlesque babes echo pure sexual frisson, though Miss Van is quick to point out that not all of them are vivacious pin-up girls – she ascribes them with varied emotions, ‘sometimes melancholic, sometimes arrogant, sometimes coy… much like us (girls).’ It is the sensitivity with which she conveys these feelings that is most laudable.

She has admitted to her beauties being semi-autobiographical, and although her work may have manifested in earlier years through her shocking pink hair and girly wardrobe, it has since steadily transformed to display her own emotional expansion, emerging from girlhood into womanhood and yet still oscillating between the two.Her newest body of work, which will be showing at Galerie Magda Danysz later this year,

explores a broader range of intensity and complexity of sentiment, from melancholic turbulence to the ambiguity and fragility that accompanies provocation.

The evolution is inspiring, beautiful and very real.

The now Barcelonan resident is venturing further afield, from curating big-name group shows and working on her first book, to exhibiting in Asia and South America. With the steady progression and unfaltering passion which encompasses this artist, one can only look forward to what her feminine evolution may unfurl. Though the gallery has taken precedence and the studio has offered a safer space to experiment, her provocative nature still revels in the thrill of the street.

Read the rest of issue 08

Read the rest of issue 08: Part2

Click here to view our #flashBack selection for September.