RESFEST 17/11/06

RESFEST the first festival aimed at bringing all the latest technologies to the forefront when producing a film or video. In it's 10th year this Festival was set to be the biggest yet and with lots of sponsorship and tons of films it was certainly turned out to be an exciting event.

I decided to stroll down on Friday the 17th to the NFT for the feature film Rock the Bells. Mainly about the struggles of organising a music event on a huge scale. it's core theme was about the love of music and how it can bring so many people together.

The film offers a thrilling account of the club promoter Chang Weissberg how has this dream of getting the whole Wu-Tang clan together for a one off special gig at the California hip-hop festival Rock the Bells.

Amidst all the chaos of the preparation the concert is an ultimate success and with only months till the death of Wu-Tang member ODB, the film leaves a bittersweet taste in the mouth.

If you like watching concert and festival footage then this film is not to be missed. Described as "woodstock foir the hip-hop generation" it certainly shows you just how much power this music has on the community and the young in America but also the world.

The night finished off with a cool party in the cafe with a line up DJs from Blacktronica to entertain the crowd.

Great night, I really enjoyed the film and the party.

River Thames 05/11/06

Yesterday, along with the company of my fellow Appleton Brad, I went on a wondrous tour by the river Thames.

Our meeting point was at 12 midday right next to the London Eye, and in our 8hour travels we visited a couple of galleries, ate some tasty cuisine and even tunnelled directly under the river Thames at the oh so cool Greenwich before ending up at Brad's plush docklands pad for a pint of Pepsi and then back on the DLR for home.

First stop of the day was the Hayward Gallery and after getting some rather cheeky snaps of the street performers along the south bank we made our way inside for the ‘How to Improve the World’ exhibition.
Featuring work from Sarah Lucas, Damian Hurst, Roger Hiorns and Patrick Caulfield to name but a few, the exhibition’s main purpose was to portray 60 years of British Art. From a comical Chinese restaurant menu to a metallic sculpture by Anish Kapoor the exhibition is a must see, showing just how diverse British art is.

Next up was the Tate Modern, which has just installed these new totally cool slides all around the main hall area. We were not brave enough to have a go on one, but I will definitely be back with some extra courage another time. We whizzed round the surrealist exhibition on floor five looking at works by Picasso, Matisse, Duchamp and Lichtenstein.



I believe the slides are going to be at the Tate for another month or so, so for those who are brave enough definitely give it a go. You even get to wear a baseball cap crash helmet, which on it’s own seems like quite an experience.



Next stop was Greenwich via the DLR.

I hadn’t been on the Docklands Light Railway since I was a kid and It was such a cool experience taking in the views as we left Canary Wharf and seeing how the area has developed since the last time I visited. We got to Greenwich and had a quick peak at the Market, which sells everything for the perfect Xmas gift along with things that you just don’t see everyday. There was also the most amazing sunset i have ever seen, just to top off the nice surroundings.


Brad had told me about this amazing place for a cheap, but very tasty Chinese Buffet. Now, I’m not the biggest fan in the world for Chinese food, purely because of the levels of Grease and MSG, but the stuff was pretty tasty and we literally rolled out of there an hour later, only for Brad to purchase a Jelly Tot Milkshake from the made to order milkshake place around the corner. I haven’t been to one of these since a random trip to Bournemouth three years ago, so will certainly have to go back with an empty stomach to try one of their crazy flavours.

The Cutty Sark was next on our list of places to visit and with the Backdrop of the London skyline lit with Fireworks it gave a good moment to get some cool snaps looking out at Canary Wharf.




After waiting for Brad to finish taking his warped snaps of the moon (very cool may I add), we made our way into the depths of the tunnel below, crossing directly under the Thames itself to get to the Isle of Dogs on the other side.




The tunnel itself is a perfect spot for either a horror movie or a gallery space. I even spotted several random clay ears plastered on the walls as we wandering through.


Once on the Isle of Dogs we hopped back on the DLR for West Silvertown where we took in the sights of the Aircraft taking off from City Airport before heading to Brad’s new apartment 5minutes away.

I had a really eventful day and no doubt will have to make a journey back down to Greenwich when I get the chance to visit the Cutty Sark again, as I didn’t know the museum was still open to the public. Thanks to Brad for being an excellent host and tour guide. I have pretty much learnt just how cool the Docklands can be.

Fireworks 04/11/06

Last night we went up to Alexandra Palace for the annual firework display. Literally all of North London turned up for the half an hour spectacle which kicked off at 7.30pm. We made a dash through the shortcuts of Hornsey, trying to get the best position beofre the show kicked off.


It was extra packed this year, so we only managed to make it half way up the hill, but it was still a really good spot to view everything.


The display was amazing with everyone taking photos of the event. There was even a cool fairground set up so that if you were brave enough you could watch the fireworks from the top of this particular loop the loop ride.

Happy Bonfire night to you all.

Chilly Con Carnage 29/10/06

The Monorex boys joined hands with Matsuri for a special edition Chilly Con Carnage. For those of you that don’t know, Chilly Con Carnage is an art event held at London’s Ice Bar, Below Zero off Regent Street.

Monorex has already held two previous parties at the plush venue, but thought they would give it a twist this time by incorporating the night with the Japanese art crew Matsuri, made famous by their event held at Brick Lane, East London.

The day started early at 1pm. All the artists gathered on Heddon Street for a massive art fest. All with their own tools in hand they began to draw paint and sketch in their own style on the specially purchased canvas.

All of the pieces were for sale once the party kicked off at 6pm. The artists taking part consisted of Teck 1, Lunartik, Mr Shrew, Sickboy, Wen, Ink Fetish, Sichi, Undergrowth, Hiroyuki Arai and Tortoy+Hide to name a few. Most of those mentioned done well to make it down after the heavy night before at the Secret Wars event.

Both the Eastern and Western styles blended very well together, and with bottles of Swiss Cannabis Iced tea and Cranberry juice, people all started mingling and enjoying themselves on the cold sunny Sunday. With the art being painted on canvases all along the cobbled street, the artists started to stir up some interest from the on looking diners at exclusive restaurant Momo’s.









Many of the Japanese artists had a very different approach to their artwork, which I found most interesting. Several of them painted with their fingers whilst seated with bare feet. Don’t ask me why the chose this technique, but the finished pieces had loads of interest. Even two buyers were fighting over one particular piece presenting a girls face painted in neon colours. It was definitely one of the best pieces of the day.




The party began at 6pm and for those who bought the £15.00 tickets, meant a chance to visit the famous ice bar itself, consisting of frozen and sculptured Swedish Ice. The maximum time allowance you are allowed to stay is 45minutes and is an experience not to be missed. For the rest of the crowd, the party got off to a start downstairs in the Below Zero Bar. With an exciting Cocktail and tasty food menu it was easy to enjoy nursing our hangovers from the previous night.





With select beats from some of the hottest DJ’s around, such as Skunkboy, ITS, Patchwork Pirates and the Geisha Disco Boys the night got off to a good start.




It was not the biggest event compared to the previous two events, but I think that is partly due to the fact that the regular crowd had all been in attendance at Juno Bar the night before. The night was definitely a useful learning curve that will probably give more opportunities for Monorex to hold events at Below Zero and also work alongside Matsuri in the near future.

Secret Wars, Series One 29/10/06

Saturday the 28th of October saw the third night in the Secret Wars tournament calendar and with only two days till Halloween, Juno bar was jammed to the rafters with a reported 100people being refused entry by the bouncers due to over crowding. Can the night get any bigger? Most definitely!


This time the talents on display were literally shoved into the spotlight with the new innovative film company Evo Films documenting the whole battle throughout the night. As each event passes the next only creates more and more hype with an ever-growing number of photographers and cameramen making their way down to this busy bar in Shoreditch for a glimpse of the action.

The pressure to win was certainly intense this time around. There was word out that some of the artists had been digging for clues as to what the other artists would be drawing on the night. There was especially some rivalry between artists Alfa Male and Ink Fetish, who though usually friends were posting images of dragon’s being slain on each other’s Mypace.



Sickboy the acclaimed Graff artist from Bristol was first up against Brighton born, Wen. A quiet but cocky character, Sickboy had this to say of his piece, “there was no theme and almost never is. I feel it better to judge the situation as it is at the time. If I turn up with a sketch pre-prepared, the results are usually quite stale.” Seeing himself in the final, with no one in the tournament as particular competition, Sickboy actually remained seated for an extra 10minutes when the battle commenced, leaving Wen to sketch out in the limelight on his own. I don’t think mind games have played a big part in the tournament as of yet, but the crowd certainly caught on to this ploy to intimidate the opponent Wen and they loved it.

Wen, who viewed this battle as an “Mc battle where you want to diss your opponent as much as you can” created a piece in direct attack of Sickboy, “ On one hand it is a play on his name, but also it has subtle references to him personally such as a recent brush with the train authorities.” Described as having a comparable style to Rich T, Wen drew a fine detail piece of a sick boy being injected medicine by two giant men in black coats, with the quote “Cured at Last…” emblazoned above.
Sickboy on the other hand who’s style is seen as psychedelic, cartoon like and fun, drew a mishmash of different shapes and characters, which used the space well, and having not drawn directly from a sketch had to be praised for it’s originality.

Sickboy won the vote two to three and was received with boo’s from the boisterous crowd who thought Wen’s piece was artistically better. Shouts of “crowd vote” went up around the bar, as Sickboy who looked rather bemused took the title as first champion for the night.


Next up were Alfa Male and Ink Fetish for the big battle of the night. Close friends it was ironic that one of them would be knocked out after the hour and 30minutes that followed. Even more ironic was that both pieces they produced blended well next to one another on the wall. It seems that after trying so hard to outwit each other on the night, the pair came up with the same approach.

Alfa, whose inspirations change from day to day, was very secretive about the theme of his work, “there is a theme, but I’m not going to say. I want to do something nice and simple. Everyone has been telling me to cut into the other piece, but I’m not going to. I’m gonna focus of the whole battle thing.” His piece consisted of a ghostlike character acting as a puppet master for a Pinocchio character entitled Ink Fetish. For those that don’t know his style, Ink Fetish is known for his obsession with puppets and the character Pinocchio. This was a harsh, but cleverly drawn piece by Alfamale.


Ink Fetish, who has always been a fan of clean black and white comic inspired illustration because of its ability to strip artwork bare, said he had a vague game plan to get him through the tournament, “I have worked out images specifically designed to challenge the artists by trying to use their own style against them.” Seeing Alfa as the ultimate winner of the tournament, Ink Fetish described his theme for the night as “Halloween”. He didn’t disappoint. Creating a piece consisting of a pumpkin headed character like something out of a Tim Burton Film, he also drew a voodoo doll with Pins in its torso, named Alfa.

Both pieces had a good use of space and with the help of Evo Films spotlight all eyes were on the artwork as the judges made their final vote of the night.


Alfamale was voted the winner and joins Gustav Balderdash, Okkle, Mr Shrew, Teck 1 and Sickboy in the quarterfinals. He probably has the biggest challenge yet to come when he steps up against Sickboy in January.
















The party went on until the early hours of Sunday morning, and with the clocks going back it gave the chance for the crowd to let their hair down. Even some B-boys found an opportunity to show off their skills.

Next month’s battle will see a night filled with stars from the graffiti world, when Polio battles 5683 and big guns RichT and Inkie get there chance to prove who is best. Don’t forget to check www.secretwars.co.uk for more info on the November battles.