artpeople

TOTALLY IN TOONS

Canadian illustrator Josh J. Holinaty has carved out a niche for himself with a uniquely bizarre style of cartooning. Holinaty’s illustrative talents have landed his work in the pages of Transworld Skateboarding and Snowboarding, Color Magazine and The Globe and Mail, just to name a few. Recently a new collaborative project and some exciting personal work have been keeping things fresh in the midst of an ever-expanding client list.

You just released a graphic novel, We Hate This Place Here; It’s Our Home: Chapter One. Tell me a little bit about that project. How did it come about?

I’ve worked with writer David Berry quite a few times before we started up on the graphic novel. As the arts editor at …read on

—Anthony Smith, 15 December 2009

peoplephoto

THE FAMILY THAT PLAYS TOGETHER

When photographer Scott Toepfer took a call from Chuck Ragan, formerly of Hot Water Music, inviting him aboard the bus for the California leg of this year’s Revival Tour, an alternative to accepting didn’t cross Scott’s mind. He was already on the plane. Literally. Nor did he think that one of the bands on tour, The Anderson Family, would make such an impression on him. Scott latched on to the family of musicians and returned with rolls of photographic gold and a new-found respect for the mandolin.
 

Who are The Anderson Family, to you and to the world?

The Anderson Family is a family bluegrass band from Northern California, Grass Valley I believe. They are exceptional people, and damn fine musicians. …read on

—Chris Noble, 07 December 2009

techphoto

OH, SNAP

Not too long ago, on a website very close to this one (this one), Mark Noble waxed lyrical about Olympus’s brand new high-end compact shooter, the E-P1, which was inspired by its classic old high-end compact shooters, the PEN series.

Surprisingly, Olympus have just mothballed the E-P1. Welcome, the E-P2. (It’s as if Olympus sent out the E-P1s and then realised the factory had missed off a few things.) Aside from a couple of fancy and useful-looking focussing features, the major upgrade is the addition of a port on the back, just below the hot-shoe, that enables plug-in gadgets such as the new, included, digital external viewfinder (shown above, top), which can be used at any angle up to 90 …read on

—Chris Noble, 10 November 2009

adventurephoto

RIDERS READY

Whilst I’m fully aware of the righteousness this may well exude, I have to announce (via levelmag.com and beyond to the whole world wide web) that I’ve recently had a bit of a revelation.

I pondered thus: times being what they are, and while some are struggling to hold their business together and also working overtime to keep a grip on what they’ve fought for, a fair few freelancers—illustrators, graphic designers, photographers like me—must simultaneously have more time on their hands—dare we admit it—which maybe is being dedicated to scoring new business, working up their portfolio finally, visiting galleries and fffound.com for inspiration and generally doing all the stuff they’re certain they will when on holiday or on the sofa but …read on

—Tom Oldham, 22 October 2009

photopeople

WHITELEY UNDERSTOOD

I’ve met a lot of incredible, talented people over the years through skating. That’s not an exaggeration… skateboarding has always seemed to attract the most talented, unique and friendly people.

Maybe the most remarkable aspect of this is that some of them I’ve never even met in person.

Take Mark Whiteley, for example.

I can’t even remember the first time I saw the SLAP magazine editor’s name or made note of his work. In hindsight, both just seem like they’ve always been part of the skateboarding landscape for me. One of those things you can take for granted if you’re not careful.

But when you stop for a second and examine his work and career, the sum of the parts quickly …read on

—Don Pendleton, 06 October 2009

eventsport

SEASONAL IMPRESSION

It’s cross season in Nebraska—and everywhere else, I imagine—and contrary to popular marketing and myth, it doesn’t mean it’s time to glue tubulars, or drill dismounts, or hup hup some run-ups.

Cross season in Nebraska means I’m going to hit some hidden gravel, some dry grass, some rolly pine needles in an off-camber turn and my front wheel’s going to wash. And since I’ve gotten out of it nine times out of every ten, I’m going to pretend it’s not happening, hang on a little tighter, and hope for the lucky hook up.

Too much pressure, not enough rubber, or whatever the case, it’s cross season in Nebraska and that means I’m picking myself up off the ground, emptying my levers that …read on

—Kevin Wilkins, 30 September 2009

sportfilm

Stompin’ Who?

Vintage BMX has become all the rage—just search eBay for anything related to “Hutch BMX” or “Hutch Trickstar” and you’ll find your wallet running for the hills. BMX racing, which was influenced early on by motocross racing, was, in its heyday, a sport of outcasts and hooligans. Kids that wanted to go fast and break out of the mold. But these days BMX is touching pop-culture as countless 40-somethings are out to relive their youth with bike restorations, re-releases and exhibitions.

Stompin’ Stu, the newly released documentary from John Swarr and Mark Eaton, is the story of BMX racing legend “Stompin’” Stu Thomsen, who dominated in the early days of BMX racing and became one of …read on

—Jared Souney, 09 September 2009

productphoto

BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOURS ALL OVER

Back in 1999, one of the first things I wrote about for Level was the Lomo LC-A camera, around the time it was just beginning to get some attention. Ten years on there’s a digital equivalent, but this time it’s not from Russia. The Digital Harinezumi (or hedgehog in English) was created by a group of obsessive lo-fi toy camera lovers in Japan called Superheadz who were also one of the first to introduce cheap Russian cameras to Japan. They sell a huge range of analogue cameras from their Shibuya store with an increasing number designed and produced by themselves, including a key-ring 110 camera and the Blackbird Fly, a twin lens reflex camera that uses 35mm film. There’s even …read on

—Lee Basford, 25 August 2009

artdrink

BOOZE AND VIEWS

I’ve had a mild obsession with London rooftops since my formative teenage years were spent escaping authority on the lid of an NCP car-park opposite my school in Hammersmith. In later years, memories of afternoons wasted away in a blissfully forgotten space floating above the chaos and stink of W6 left me wondering why, in this crowded, overstretched, overworked city, we don’t take more advantage of the acres of space that the rooftops of London provide.

Hannah Barry, 25 year old artist, curator and gallery manager from Peckham, seems to have shared similar thoughts and is currently in the third year of producing ‘Bold Tendencies’, an outdoor sculpture gallery located on the top floor of a multi-storey car park in …read on

—Posy Dixon, 21 August 2009

productmedia

LOVE CHILDREN

In 2001, Campbell Milligan emailed me asking what had happened to Level and for advice about starting a magazine of his own. Foolishly, he ignored my warnings, quit his job at Australia’s Waves magazine and, along with Chris Searl, planned to publish his dream magazine at the end of 2002. “She’s pretty much going to be along the same lines Level was with more of a surf skate snow kick”, he wrote in his next email. So if you’re looking at this site with a tear in your eye, mourning the death of print, heartbroken that Level’s only recourse for a return was electronic, you might find solace in the arms of Monster Children.

MC was openly inspired by Level but …read on

—Chris Noble, 10 August 2009