Interviews – Page 3 – Charles Daly

Alizé Meurisse: 2 paintings, 1 collage, and an ashtray

The orange typewriter series is proud to welcome painter, novelist, hip-hop lyricist, and Coup de Coer recipient, Alizé Meurisse. Her work has been shown in Paris and London, on canvasses that “engulf the viewer,” as Editions Alia editor Gérard Berréby put it, and touch themes from “travesty to sacrilege.” She has published two novels with Editions Alia: Pâle Sang Bleu (nominated for the Prix de Flore), and Roman à Clefs–all before her 26th birthday. Work from Alizé’s 2011 exhibition at Paris’ Galerie Nuke is available in book form as Pen Knife, which gets its title from the couto Swiss like versatility of this brilliant and busy young artist.

Alize--Meurisse--Pete--Doherty--Grace--Wastelands--album--cover

‘Salomé’ was shown in London’s Cob Gallery

and appears on the cover of ‘Grace/Wastelands’

Pete Doherty’s first solo album.

S&D: Which grabbed you first: painting or writing, are you formally schooled in either?

A.M: as a child I used to draw a lot, as a teenager I wanted to be a painter… I left school behind when I was 19 (after two years of “classe préparatoire”)…haven’t been to art school or followed any writing course, I’m just curious and enthusiastic… and ambitious I guess! I mean I love writing and painting, I couldn’t stop, I need it.

Untitled

S&D: Could you give us the meaning of your first name?

A.M: It’s the name of a tropical wind, from the Caribbean… but it’s also the name of a drink which is mentioned in some hip hop tracks (tupac, dre, etc), to New Yorkers it sounds like quite a “thug” name.

There’s also a french pop singer who’s called “Alizee” (spelt with two “e”s though!) her hit single “Lolita” came out when I was about 14 so I got teased a bit.

I think your name says a lot about you, I like mine.

My brother calls me Zey.

S&D: Rimbaud or Baudelaire? (you have to choose…)

A.M: I like Both. I choose Verlaine!

‘Petite Mort’
from Alizé’s ‘Second Sex’ series

S&D: Why Paris?

A.M: Because I was born here…well, I’m from a Paris suburb (92) and moved to Paris when I was 10.

S&D: Picasso used to make his girlfriends and wives read the Marquis de Sade; is there a book you would prescribe to your friends and lovers?

A.M: I don’t know… there’s nothing I feel people absolutely HAVE TO have read, on the contrary I’d get bored with people who think and do just the same as I do. I’m interested in what my friends and lovers can make me discover!

Discover Alizé at
http://alizemeurisse.com/
Photo by Siegfried De Turckheim

Next time: Tree-sketcher, environmentalist, and flying Yogi,

Hannah Day visits the orange typewriter.

Ashtray by Alizé,
interview by Charlie Daly
Photos Courtesy of
Alizé Meurisse.
Read the typewritten Draft!

Tai Murray’s violin has 287 years on the orange typewriter

Giovanni--Tononi--Bologna--violin--tai--murray — Tai and her Giovanni Tononi, Bologna, c. 1690.

Described as ‘technically flawless,’ by Muso Magazine, and ‘superb’ by the New York Times, Tai Murray has impressed and enchanted the classical music world with her virtuosity and energy, and secured her place as one of its great violinists. Her skills as both a concert and chamber musician have taken her to concert-halls and salons around the world, and won her numerous accolades and prizes including: an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and two years as a BBC New Generation Artist. Her new album was chosen as a Gramophone choice disk, and this March Tai was awarded a Sphinx Medal of Excellence at a black-tie dinner hosted by Justice Sotomayor at the U.S Supreme Court.

S&D: How old were you when you started playing, do you still have your first violin?

T.M: I snacked on my first violin! I was five when I started with both the Suzuki and Traditional methods, so my first “instrument” was a crackerjack box with a drumstick attached. All joking aside soon after I was able to have the candy as a stale treat, and my family lucked upon this 19th century Italian half-size violin that I used for maybe 10 months. Such a nice violin of that size is really unusual; I often wonder where it is. I traded it in when I moved up to a three-quarter-size instrument.

S&D: These interviews have been with Paris-based artists. You live in Berlin, why Berlin? (We ask everyone ‘why paris’)

T.M: My only rule for a place to live is that the city have a “heartbeat”. For me this could be a community vibe, a sense of shared general curiosity, a certain crackle-and-pop that drives things. I’d found those things in New York City so when I decided to move to Europe I found what I was searching for in Berlin. I also relish the idea of learning a fourth language having studied French and Japanese as a child, so … Viel Glück für mich!

S&D: Is there a particular city or venue on your bucket-list?

Growing up we had a faux-photograph painting of a scene in Santorini, Greece. If I ever get to experience the bright blue roofs of that photo, I will probably cry with joy.

S&D: A lot of us wish our parents had made us stick with an instrument. What would you say to a kid who wants to quit music entirely and will regret it later?

I believe that just as I was, and am, sure I wanted to play forever, not wanting to play in the present is just as valid a thought. I would say not to self-pressurize, and realize that if music is not what you want to do with your life, it is quite alright to enjoy it in whatever capacity you choose.

S&D: Do you ever get stage-fright? What does it feel like to play to an audience?

T.M: I get what I call stage-exhilaration. It includes adrenaline and anticipation but mainly focus, similar to the moment that a spinning top is going at its fastest, and as a result takes an incredible amount of disruptive energy to knock off its axis.

Tai Murray’s new album is now
available on Amazon and iTunes.

Next Week: Painter and novelist, Alizé Meurisse shares her canvasses and her ashtray.

Interview by Charlie Daly,
Photos & Video
courtesy of Tai Murray.

Quentin Veron Meets the Orange Typewriter

quentin--veron--fur--hat--chapaeu--en--feutre

Quentin advises young artists to take risks. He would know, Veron launched his brand at the bottom of the recession. Though economic conditions were against him, Quetin had the cumulative wisdom of an eons old craft literally in his hands, with which he crafts each piece himself. This mysterious brand didn’t stay a mystery for long; his clients include: Joey Starr, Johnny Depp and Vanesssa Paradis. Quentin launches a new line with Paris’ Springsioux this summer.

S&D: Quentin, What is it about fur?
Q.V: Fur is the most amazing material, it moves like it’s alive when you wear it… makes the woman feel beautiful and the man feel powerful.

S&D: What influences/ inspires you outside the world of fashion?
Q.V: The fashion world doesn’t inspire me at all. I get my inspiration from a lot of different sources, things I can see in my daily life in the streets, or feelings I can have. As well as the 19th century, the middle age, Tim Burton, death,…ect…but most of the time I get some ideas in my head that come from nowhere especially and I create my own world from that.

S&D: We’ve got to ask you that ‘Any advice for young artists?’ question…
Q.V: Work hard, take risks, work hard, be passionated about everything you do, work hard, be smart, take a look at yourself often and don’t hesitate to change if you feel you went the wrong way…but the most important is to work hard.. (Quentin Winks.)

Get your Veron
before it’s too late

“The theme behind the Autumn/Winter 2010 collection of Quentin Veron opens the doors of an underground, secret and almost forbidden land where strange and timeless characters rub elbows. It is a place where androgynous guardians brush against barefoot dancers. It is a world where mysterious empresses reign and where we can hear the frightening echo of the Sabbats from the splendorous Notre Dame era. Once again, the Parisian designer Quentin Veron is at the origin of a universe whose only limits are those of the imagination. He takes you with him where the show is set, where life is always a theater.” —QuentinVeron.com

S&D: Why Paris?

Pete Doherty enjoying a cigarette
and keeping warm in a
top-hat and waistcoat by Q.V .

Q.V: Most beautiful city in the world….and the hardest one too! It’s a real challenge to make it happen here.

S&D: And Finally, if you could design one piece for one figure from the past what would that piece be and for whom?

Q.V: A huge black fur cape for Nosferatu (i know dracula is a myth but i like the idea!!)
If not, a beautiful piece like a lace dress with fur for the Marchesa Casati.

Find Quentin and his pelts at: http://www.quentinveron.com/

Interview by Charles Daly
Photos courtesy of Quentin Veron,
portraits by Marie Canciani.
Read the typewritten draft!

Next Week: Master Violinist and Berliner, Tai Murray takes a seat at the orange typewriter.