Editor’s Choice: ‘The Everynight’ by André Ford

Matzine editions #1 – #10 have been indulgence in the art of hyper rapid publishing. This approach, born out of the notions of ⌘C ⌘V as a form of creative  production, has forced the artists to respond in kind. ‘The Everynight’ by André Ford is exemplar of this incremental approach of releasing ideas to the public domain.

When faced with the challenge, André emptied his pockets on to the bed of a photocopier, printed them, scanned them and submitted the result. The accompanying text connects the process to the theme of the current edition, Brick, Matzine #10. This submission embodies matzines current trend; efficient production and representation of ideas at a fast pace.

Ryan McLoughlin

Editor’s Choice: Guy Woodhouse and Ada Jušić

In this festive edition of editor’s choice, indulge in a double helping of Buster’s Machines for Living In by Guy Woodhouse – taken from Domestic Exotic, matzine 08 – with Ada Jušić’s contribution to Brick, matzine 10.

Here marks the first time that these two pieces have sat next to each other, yet for me there was already a force threading the illustrations together. One is the architect’s view pointing outwards to film and narrative in a bid to join the dots, the other is the non-architect’s view gazing inwards to articulate a childhood memory. These peripheral, inquisitive positions explore architecture as one of several characters in a personal tale.

Guy’s intricate hand drawings solidify an ad-hoc and highly informal architecture while Ada’s collage presents a personal experience of a strict and monolithic built environment. For me, they fit snugly together: less pieces in a jigsaw, more an absorbing conversation.

I find these contributions refreshingly honest and non-formulaic; both Guy and Ada have found a way to communicate an idea that is engaging and challenging, yet crucially resists the urge to conform to the generic image. They capture the blur of transition, a swirling thought in progress.

Esme Fieldhouse

Editor’s Choice: ‘Disorder Before Order’ by Holly Wales

The latest in the series of Editor’s Choices is taken from Matzine 07, “The Hourglass Issue” [ed.Seán McAlister]

This submission, by illustrator Holly Wales, was an invitation into her mind; a glimpse at the thinking process in creating intriguing compositions. It presents to us an idea of order and disorder and how our brains process the construction of an image. I’m intrigued by this piece as it eludes to an infinite amount of possibilities and that what we see here are only moments in a continuous mechanism. These moments capture how our brains try to grasp onto something tangible that we can relate to: to offer us comfort or recognition, and come to a conclusion that what we are looking at is something familiar.

It is not difficult to appreciate the influence of this process on creating and viewing architecture and space. To treat a facade as a kit of parts that needs to be assembled/desembled to create something recognisable. To see forms that bring nostalgia of past moments in time. An appreciation of disorder in architecture would at first seem counterintuitive, but this just might be the perfect route to another kind of order, not yet seen or used.

Stephen Mackie