Mogwai Artzine Competition

Back in October, the Brightlight Blog announced a Mogwai Artzine Competition for members of its message board.

The point of the competition was as follows:

Back in 1998, the ever-readable Diskant asked members of the Mogwai fan community to contribute to the Mogwai Artzine, a celebration of the already widely-felt love for the band. The original Artzine is still online: http://www.diskant.net/mogwai/ I wonder whether Chris Summerlin had the vaguest idea he'd end up playing in a band with the subject of his piece. Chris has gone on to do some amazing poster and sleeve art [http://www.honeyisfunny.com/]. And whatever happened to Jon Jordan? Easy Pieces was a beautiful zine, every issue a work of art. We felt it was time for a re-run. Submissions can be in the form of visual art, writing, photograhy, audio or video. We're open to other suggestions. Have a look at the work submitted for the original Artzine. Marceline's introduction sums up what we're after:


"The idea for this project came to me early 1998 when I was reading a lot of fanzines with great writing about Mogwai and people would write telling me what they thought of the album or of seeing them live. I loved reading stuff and thinking, 'that's exactly how I feel', so I asked a few people to write something or do some art about how Mogwai makes them feel.

In this way, this fanzine should strike a chord with anyone who loves any music, not just Mogwai. It's more about how we turn to music, rely on music, express our emotions through music. It just seems more obvious with Mogwai because the only way to describe them is by delving into your heart."

The plan is to create a permanent archive of the work submitted for the Mogwai Artzine 2009 on Brightlight Submitting work - part of the point of the competition is to encourage contributors to use the forum. So you'll need to join to participate in the competition. When you've done so (or if you're already a member), you'll find full instructions on the forum. http://ithica45.proboards.com

I decided that for the competition I would do a mogwai inspired/fan photo.
Of course I would right?
That's what I do!

My job normally gets me really frustrated and annoyed by the end of the day, so I have a tendency to listen to Mogwai albums on my walk home from work. I know that a nice walk and loud Mogwai in my headphones will soothe any feelings of discontentment.

One lovely June afternoon, while walking home and listening to 'The Hawk is Howling', I passed a house.
It was about 2 mins from my apartment & someone had neatly spray painted the words, "I Love You", on its side.
Graffiti or art, it didn't matter. I thought it was fitting as I was listening to the song, "I Love You, I'm Going To Blow Up Your School". I kind of smiled to myself and continued on my way.

As soon as I started to think of ideas for my Artzine submission this moment came to mind.

The next day, as I walked passed the house, I knew that I had to use that graffiti in some way.
But how? I let it simmer in my head for a day or so, then while looking through concert photos on Flickr, it came to me.
Combine the graffiti-ed house with the cover of Batcat EP

I used my friend Tamara Botterill as my model.
I figured it would be a lot easier and less inconspicuous if I used a model, rather than try to shoot myself with just a self timer and a tripod in the middle of the sidewalk.

We only ended up taking a few random shots, as I got the one i wanted in just the first 3 frames. Lucky break to, as we ended up being slightly harassed by a local bum who would just not leave us alone.

I took the photos, put them through some editing and sent my fav. one into the moderators at the Brightlight message board within the next week.

When you submitted a piece of work to the Artzine, one was asked not to show the work, as to not discourage others from participating in the competition.The photos were kept under wraps till December, when the winner was announced.

And so now, I bring you my contribution to the Artzine along with the random outtakes from the shoot.

The submission:
"I Love You, Mogwai"

This photo was loved by the members of Brightlight and in return for my efforts sent me a copy of the Travels in Constants cd, which now proudly hangs on my wall below my Mogwai concert photos.


Here were the other shots which came out of our afternoon on Maynard Street: