Speaking to Azalea Lee is like talking to that wise aunt who has all those otherworldly insights that she wraps in easily accessible metaphors so that you don’t have to work too hard to arrive at the answers. Whether you actually have that aunt, or you always wished you had that aunt, when you walk into her crystal shop, you immediately feel that sense of comfort and familiarity. Her space is in an old building in the fashion district of Downtown Los Angeles. There’s a weird old elevator that you take to the 9th floor, walk down a short dark hallway, ring the bell and the door opens to a bright, white room with a sweeping landscape of the city and a friendly woman who asks you to take off your shoes. Entering Place 8 Healing is like walking through the pearly gates in a dream where you know you’re not dead, and this isn’t eternity, but somehow you feel lighter and more at ease. There’s a cubby station next to the door with a cushion that you can sit on where we eventually held the interview. She explains that we spend so much time wearing shoes and clothes that we lose our grounding; that removing that barrier between our feet and the ground is an essential part of rooting ourselves with the Earth. Click here to read more.
Selfie-Stick Aerobics, Crystal Healing, Laughter Therapy and Hacked Kindles: Self Publish Be Happy Takes Over The Tate Modern In London
The madcap geniuses at Self Publish, Be Happy will be taking over the Tate Modern this weekend. A project in the Turbine Hall celebrates the fifth birthday of Self Publish, Be Happy (SBPH) this year for the first Offprint London fair, which coincides with Photo London. By using books to vitalize public interaction, the SPBH Project Space will host numerous events involving exciting contemporary photographers. Visitors can create their own temporary tattoo in photographer Thomas Mailaender’s ‘Fun Tattoo Parlor’. After selecting a photo from the artist’s weird collection of internet images, they can wear it - becoming part of a mobile exhibition. Artist Antony Cairns will be hacking old Kindles bought on eBay and making them into photobooks. Arvida Byström and Maja Malou Lyse will lead a selfie-stick aerobics class, while Japanese artists Daisuke Yokota and Hiroshi Takizawah will print a book using an experimental process that uses wax, cement and iron powder. There will also be some cathartic booksmoking by Melinda Gib- son, crystal healing sessions by Johan Rosenmunthe and laughter therapy by Dominic Hawgood. Finally, SPBH features workshops on risographs and zine-making with Maya Rochat and Col~Late. Offprint London opens tonight at the Tate Modern in London and runs until May 25, 2015. You can also view the events live on the SPBH Youtube Channel.