infinitism issue #1

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#1

JANUARY 2013

ART - PHOTOGRAPHY - DESIGN

infinitism-mag.com.au

All my life, I’ve been lucky enough to have been surrounded with incessantly useful people. My family is filled with practical, constructive talents – lawyers, accountants, entrepreneurs, mechanics. My friends are equally handy, studying and working as chiropractors, psychologists and chefs.

While knowing such people is certainly convenient, at the same time, it led me three years ago to a misunderstanding that I once viewed as a truth. As a creative, I believed, you have no real world application. You have no function. Personally, my own creations don’t feed anyone, and I deal in whimsy rather than numbers. Any understanding that I hold of anatomy or mechanics serves only to illustrate, rather than to fix, and while my hands are dextrous, they can’t be trusted to set bones or to even make coffee (these thoughts were not helped when every person I knew was endlessly rushing around, tangibly making the world a better place while every step of my work process seemed suspiciously like play or sleep). In the following months, my realisation had grown.

Art by itself serves no purpose – but, if you view art as a conversation rather than as just a creation, that’s where you give it the opportunity to become not only useful; but meaningful as well. For art to become a conversation, you need more than just artwork.

You need writers, designers, photographers, sculptors – in other words, a messenger; you need an audience, and finally, you need a way for the two to connect. It is this connection that sparks ideas, changes minds, broadens views, inspires, entertains, and shares; and it is here that Infinitism comes in: as a publication that provides a platform for creatives, both emerging and established. Creating and conveying meaning is a collaborative effort, and this magazine provides the means to make this effort a more expansive and accessible experience. Hailing from Perth, Infinitism aims to create a network of domestic and international talent - a place for minds with ideas and minds interested in those ideas to go forth and have a wonderful chemistry – and with any luck, multiply.

Our amazing fortune has seen us sponsored by a number of youth focused organisations, without which this magazine would not exist. In particular, collaborating with Infinitism was the Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre, who housed a workshop for a group of culturally and linguistically diverse youths. Run over several weeks, the workshops introduced the participants to magazines, their creation and their maintenance. The youths were guided in the formation of their own publication, involving the sharing and collation of their life stories and cultural backgrounds. The happy result was the first issue of CaLD magazine; a motivational and positive project encompassing individuals, community, personal expression and most importantly; storytelling. Aster McBee

Editorial


FounderJourdan Sungkar

Creative DirectorRobert Miller

Contributing WritersAdrienne DownesAster McBeeDee Findlay

We would like to thank those people who helped make this magazine possible, and those who gave their time to share pricesless advice. Thanks go out to Raihanity, Jarrad Seng, Catherine Chakalunta, MMRC, Dee Finlay, Drew Straker, Zac Collopy, Lee Ingram, and all the creatives that have honored our magazine with their amazing work.

Infinitism magazine is proudly sponsored by Healthway, promoting the Drug Aware message, and Propel Youth Arts WA.

Cover ImageA Compass from Andrew Goodlich’s pre-digital graphic design toolbox.

Front Inside Cover“International Markers” by Baxta Blvd.

Back Inside Cover“Dead Prez” by Robert Miller

Feature Cover IllustrationsHandcrafted by Zac Collopy.www.nearnosis.com.au

Contents

No part of this magazine may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the creator, except in the content of reviews.

Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners of copyright. Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent releases in the fututre.

Inquires and [email protected]

Graham Withey

Ryan Boserio

David Garland Mid Century

Qashif Masud

Marcel Lock TJ Signs

Alia Gabres

James Whineray Andrew Goodlich

Sketch Section

P1xels Student Projects

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49 69

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57 85


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QashifMasud


Qashif Masud

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Qashif Masud works to embody and share his love of all things handmade. Both a designer and a craftsman, Qashif uses wood as his medium to form various artistic pieces, specialising in carved calligraphy. Born and raised in Bradford, West Yorkshire, Qashif went on to study at the University of Salford in Manchester, focusing on construction project management - but was left with no prospects in his studied field due to the recession that hit the UK in 2009.

Using more than just talent, he remembers his culture and heritage with each piece he makes, resulting in a focus and honesty that makes viewing his work a happy and interesting affair. When it comes to the woodworking process and customer experience, Qashif enhances both by sourcing wood based not only on beautiful textures and drenched colours, but also for their unique scent - he brings another sense into play, which is a memorable feat for a discipline usually restricted to stimulating our visual and tactile senses.

As he holds an appreciation for the intimacy of traditional machinery and hand tools, Qashif chooses not to use computerised machinery, giving his projects a personality they might not otherwise hold. In line with his handmade aesthetic, his works emphasise the natural characteristics of wood to bring beauty and character to his pieces. For those interested in his work and his discipline, Qashif advocates patience, time and effort; along with the advice that creativity is important, especially when combined with research of methods and materials. With his functional and decorative work and an intelligent mix of culture and unexpected materials, Qashif Masud should certainly be paid plenty of attention as a talented and thoughtful emerging artist. Aster McBee

How did you get into wood crafting - was it passed on to you?

In Pakistan and other places, you have a social caste system. In Kashmir where I’m from, you have farmers, carpenters, goldsmiths,

shoemakers and other trades. My great-grandfather was a carpenter and previous generations of our family were also carpenters - so it was in my blood. I never knew I was going to be a carpenter, though. I became one about six years ago - my parents

bought a wooden clock from Pakistan, which had intricate designs and Islamic calligraphy. Every time I came home, I would look at it and admire the craftsmanship. I studied a degree in construction, but work didn’t pull through; so at that point

Every time I came home, I would look

at it and admire the

craftsmanship. Iqra; Read


Qashif Masud

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Rememberance

I felt like I needed something in my life - an enjoyable career. So, then I decided to do something completely different. I knew I had the skills to be creative and be in that industry, so I decided to look into crafting wooden clocks with intricate designs. I bought a basic wood hobby machine that only lasted a couple of weeks and it took off from there.

Are you working with your craft as a profession?

I’m working Monday to Friday on wood in my workshop, and I work weekends at Manchester Airport. I’m not getting a great amount of orders for my woodworks, but people are inquiring so I’m happy about that. Woodwork right now is a priority for me. All through the week, I’m in my workshop. I have custom orders which require specific designs that are quite time-consuming, and I try to work on my own personal designs in between those.

What do you love most about working with wood?

Creating something out of nothing. God has given us beautiful trees that we see every day, and we never really appreciate the real beauty inside these trees. I love it when people look at my work and are amazed with how it is handcrafted from trees. The colours and smells that come out of wood are amazing. When I started, I only used hardwoods such as walnut and oak. After some research on wood,

I felt like I needed

something in my life - an enjoyable

career.

God is Beautiful

I started to find types that are red, purple, black, yellow and orange - woods that are really exciting. Finding out about these different types of wood gave me the leap to woodwork. I wanted to expose these amazing wood types and what I could do

with them. Especially with Islamic craftsmen - they usually stick on the safe side of using common wood types, so working with diverse types of wood really felt like I was doing something different and opening people’s eyes.

How do you choose certain types of wood?

Different woods have different characteristics. A plank cut from the same tree would be completely different from another part of it. It’s not a slow process


Qashif Masud

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The Footprint

for me - it’s more for what pleases the eye. I always keep my eye out for new types of wood I haven’t seen before. I import some woods from North America, which sells a vast range. I have to travel up to 100 miles to my local supplier for my imports. Even the smell of the wood is a unique characteristic. One of the most fragrant is the Cedar of Lebanon: its odour is absolutely amazing; sweet and fresh. But on the other side there is a type called Nigerian

Rosewood, but it’s name is deceiving - it smells like horse manure.

From the images you sent in, it seems that you only use traditional tools and machines?

I try to stay away from computerised machines like CNC machines.

Not to offend people who use them, but I find that you don’t get the intimacy you get with traditional machinery. There’s no appreciation and

connection with the wood, its feel, or its smell. I use tools like scroll saws, jointers, planers and most importantly, my hands. When you use advanced technology, it’s just too clean. It doesn’t show much character. When you hold a handmade item, you can see the little imperfections, but you can appreciate the skills a craftsman uses. It’s like that with many things. I thank God that I have gone down the route of traditional woodcrafting, as I probably wouldn’t have been working with exotic woods like I do now.

When you hold a handmade item, you can see the little

imperfections, but you can appreciate the skills a

craftsman uses.


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DavidGarland


David Garland

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61

MidCenturyArchive


Mid Century Archive

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The current cultural field of the world for people aged between 15 and 30 has taken on a retro 60’s faced. People are opting for the old vintage feel for their home décor, personal fashion, marketing material and all things, dare we say it, hipster.

The swinging sixties was an era that boasted the likes of revolutionary music from The Beatles, power to the people activist Martin Luther King Jr, the assassination of J F Kennedy and many other cultural events that have shaped the world we see today. With this

feel making resurgence in our current culture, graphic designers are bringing the old back to be new.

Whether that’s for a music poster, fast food outlet or retail outlets, this style is very popular at present.

We live in the world of technology, what don’t we use it for? Basic maths, research, socialising, design, purchasing products,it is an important part of our everyday lives.It wasn’t that long ago though that human skill was taught differently, individuals were seen for their true talents and not how well they could manage a computer mouse.

The graphic designers of today rely upon Photoshop and other programs to construct and manipulatea visual, however before this reliance evolved designers handcrafted their work. The images featured in this section are a preview of the rare and impressively crafted mid-century design archive.

Andrew Goodlich is a 49 year old Academic Sessional lecturer at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. He provided this portfolio of work from a collection he has of a relatives graphic design portfolio, these artefacts are a work of pure aptitude.


Mid Century Archive

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Mid Century Archive

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infinitism issue #1

Documents

magazine possible

art photography

useful people

changes minds

issue of cald magazine

life stories

better place

collaborative effort