in-between

hey there! happy holidays/weird in-between time after Christmas and before New Years.

I had convinced myself I would blog more frequently this holiday because of all my spare time - but there's too much spare time. I don't even know what I've done over this break. The days have all melted together into a hazy blob of reading books, eating food, re-watching my so-called life and doing literally nothing. which doesn't sound that bad now that I write it out, but i had intended to be more ~productive~

HOWEVER, on the subject of productiveness, why is it such a big deal? i'm on holiday; isn't the whole point of winter to binge-watch tv shows anyway? obviously by productivity i mean creative productivity, like writing or whatever, but if not getting things done provides such an emotional burden then there's not any point of expecting to do loads of things. maybe being productive is just a capitalist idea of your worth being measured by what you produce anyway...

...or i'm making excuses for not blogging until now. 

moving on - I have re-discovered how amazing my so-called life is; i'm dreading finishing the series again. I can't fully relate to Angela's American suburban experience, but being the same age as her character this time makes the show so much more personal and compelling. also it's really funny and touches on a lot of ~teen issues~. i would highly recommend it!

one of the few Christmas presents i asked for was the compilation of Basquiat's notebooks - after seeing some pages at the Brooklyn Museum exhibition in the summer, I was intrigued. his notebook entries feel cryptic and poetic, almost like a blueprint for his paintings. the book itself resembles a notebook, and the pages have their original stains and smears on them; it feels quite haunting reading it, like you're holding the original copy. here are some of my favorite pages:

other things going on at the moment...

my wall

polaroid and book i'm currently reading

new coat, a.k.a. my life

reflections

-hannah

volver (to return)

long time no see!

things are good right now. mocks are finally over! so I'm currently enjoying an extremely lazy Sunday (which feels like a Monday bc i had most of Friday off).

I saw Ibeyi in November, which feels like years ago now. They were absolutely magical, and apart from standing right next to the speaker (and therefore having a loud-music-hangover the next day), the night was perfect. We were right by the front, so got an amazing view of the sisters the whole night. The opening act was pretty bad but it was worth the wait - i think Ibeyi sound better live than on recording, which isn't always the case. 

something about their set was just so natural, as they dissolved one song into the next. there were beautiful lighting effects/projections behind them, enhancing the eerily gorgeous sound. the vibe was so mystical and organic - technology makes it super difficult sometimes, but it felt really present. their sisterly connection ('ibeyi' means twins in Yoruba) made it even more special. for example, one moment really stuck with me; Lisa-Kaindé dropped her water bottle, and Naomi immediately offered her own, in such a natural way. maybe being an only child makes twins especially intriguing/magical in my eyes, but that moment was really warming. 

one great thing about technology, though, is the freedom it gives in terms of music. Ibeyi couldn't exist without it! their experimentation and mixing of traditional Yoruba songs with jazz, soul and electronic music makes their sound so unique. basically it was a great night! I would very much recommend seeing them live if you ever have the chance...

with all the free time I'm about to have, i'm hoping for more blogging/creative time. so watch this space!

-hannah

brand new you're rettro

hey, what's new? a few weeks ago I did this retro photoshoot for my friend's art textiles GCSE. not only was it super fun, the photos turned out really great - the clothes are a mix of mine/my mum's and my friend's/her mum's. anyway thank you Elli for acting as art director/photographer/makeup artist/stylist! the photos go chronologically, from the 40's to the 90's (also the title is a Tricky reference...couldn't help myself)

watching// back to the future, seinfeld
listening// anything by Tricky, for always and ever

-hannah

part 3: afropunk

I promised part 3, and here it is. looking at the photos it seems I was in NY just a few days ago - but it's been almost a month. even after 3 weeks back at school my brain is completely rejecting the notion that it's no longer summer. but what can you do? time does its thing.

once again AfroPunk was an oasis of mindblowing fashion and music. standout acts have to be Grace Jones, Kelela and Goldlink. Lauryn Hill was also great but her performance was underwhelming; I don't know her music well enough to let her mere presence substitute for stage presence. but to be fair, we were really far from the stage and her power was cut off about 30 minutes in. Grace Jones was awesome and is looking incredible for 67. I didn't know Kelela very well but knew I wanted to see her - and I was right. Her vocals are insane and her set was super fun. new york is magical in itself and being in ny with beautiful weather, beautiful people and beautiful music amplifies this otherworldliness x1000. it was an enchanting, memorable weekend.

-hannah

part 2: new york

hey y'all. i'm officially back at school, which is 100x more exhausting than i had remembered. my mind is still in america, ambling around brooklyn and manhattan. there are so many pictures/feels from new york, so I'm doing a separate post just on Afropunk. here are the inbetweens - the part i fall more in love with every year.

crazy crazy day - went to an insanely hot coney island briefly in the morning but couldn't bear the heat for long. after walking along the boardwalk for a while we ended up in a very Russian cafe (terrible pop music and all) before driving back to cool off.

we made our way to port authority with a trip to k-mart and party city (lol) to buy presents. hellish but fun in its own American way. people are so ridiculously nice here - today i have been blessed for sneezing by a complete stranger and had a conversation with a Trinidadian woman behind us in the line of party city. people talk to each other here, which is such a taboo in London. 

on the street a group of 20-somethings were doing crazy yoga moves. down to the hot humid subway and saw Alok from DarkMatter! what are the odds? in New York it all can happen and I'm falling in love again. we were talking about Alok, who probably heard us - wanted to clarify we are fans but i am just a white cis liberal after all. this is all surreal and all beautiful. in a week i will be back in london but this bubbly wonderment makes up for it all. i could uproot everything and move here in a heartbeat.

had a very wonderful, Brooklyn day. these short notes will not be able to take me back to now but are important for me to process the present. went to the Brooklyn museum and saw a basquiat exhibition of his diaries and various other works, as well as a very extensive exhibition about the history/cultural significance of trainers. one diary entry had only the words 'bit too bitter' written on it, which unsurprisingly resonated with me. basquiat is an artist whose mind is impenetrable and slightly twisted but beautiful. debated whether to buy some earrings of his crown motif, but decided against it. consumerism is what he denounced - what is consuming us.

it seems alien that i will be back in a week. i haven't really thought about it in a literal sense of 'i will have to drag my ass up at 7am every day in a week' and i am so so so not ready. summer doesn't feel like an end to anything anymore - just a short hiatus. but this happens every year (i got that summertime, summertime sadness).

the weather was gorgeous so we walked along the highline, soaking in the juxtaposition of plants and city. near the end I bought a delicious coconut Mexican style ice lolly which I dripped everywhere in the new york heat but was incredibly satisfying.

this is not the average teen dream - I am deeply infatuated with this city. it's the terrible confusing train lines, the unbearable heat, the strange segregation of integration, the bugs, the smells. but also the good things - the people, the food, the views, the culture, the museums. it's insane and wonderful and infuriating and breathtaking.

-hannah