FORAGE PRESS SESSION 01: THE SOUND AND THE VISUAL
In light of our latest issue entitled ‘The colour of sound’, we asked ourselves how the connection between audio and visual creativity could still find disparate ways to evolve and reinvent itself. The two mediums constantly merge, separate and merge again, the way two rivers eventually run together – inevitably, constantly and smoothly. It is in that mindset, then, that we discovered Tomi Lahdesmaki’s new baby, Forage Press, the creative collective that celebrates the union between audio and visual through creative pieces of work.
Lahdesmaki, the founder and creative force behind Forage Press, explains that his project was born out of his passion for creating visuals based on the music he loved. After observing that many creatives produce their work under the influence of audio materials, he decided to put forward the Forage Press project, which invites contributors around the globe to create a visual based article inspired by a musical subject of their choosing. The trick of Forage Press is to render the subconscious conscious – in this light, what is commonly referred to as ‘ways of working’ becomes a ‘creative thought process’. In doing so, Lahdesmaki forces us to re-think the ways in which we work with our surroundings, especially music, and re-invent the connection between audio and visual. How much of audio is poured into the visual, and vice-versa?
Forage Press’s brief is quite simple, in that regard: collaborators pick any musical subject as an inspiration (genre, band, song, album, era etc.), then produce an original series of images which reflect or reinvent the story of that subject. The outcome, then, is an odd and quirky collection of visual work that finds its roots in music. Complete creative freedom comes with its perks: amongst the pieces presented by Forage Press you will photographs, psychedelic images, digitally manipulated images and abstract illustrations, all accompanied by brief descriptions on the creative process behind the task. Touching, imaginative and at times deeply personal, it reminds us that everything is connected in life –the point is to know it and understand it.
Our advice? Listen to the audio piece while looking at the work of art -you’ll be put into the artist’s state of mind and the artworks will resonate with familiarity and stories.
Forage Press is hosting an exclusive evening in London on the 17th July 2014 to celebrate the collective, creative minds of more than 160 contributors who have produced 500 exclusive images for the project. The guest speakers will include Andrew Khosravani, Serena Katt, Clio Isadora, James Kirkup, Matt Grykowski and Charles WIlliams.
More info at foragepress
