Looking Sideways: 10 Things
This week: 35 years of TSA, Peralta on creativity, and new work from Aaron Schwartz
1. Insights subscribers - in case you missed it, there’s a really interesting discussion about the ‘value’ of the freelance creative life unfolding at my recent post. Catch up above.
2. Snowboarders of a certain age - unite!
Yep, The Snowboard Asylum are celebrating 35 years in business with a photo exhibition at the Copeland Gallery in Peckham between 11th and 13th October.
Don’t miss this one if you’re in the area.
3. This week I had the great pleasure (and not just because he said 10 Things was his favourite email of the week) of welcoming Jamie Brisick onto the show for his third appearance
We discussed The Life & Death of Westerly Windina (the brilliant new film he’s made with renowned Australian director Alan White, which premieres at Byron Bay later this month), his podcast Soundings, and all things life and creativity.
It’s a good one, this, and I’ll release our conversation on Monday October 7th - keep ‘em peeled.
4. Stop the press - the date for the March For Clean Water has been changed since I mentioned it in last week’s newsletter. It’ll now take place on Sunday November 3rd - more above.
Use my code LOOKINGSIDEWAYS at checkout for brilliant discounts from Db Journey, Goodrays, Finisterre, Stance and Intersport Ski.
5. The John Milius retrospective in the new Surfer’s Journal is absolutely brilliant, and Milius has gone straight to the top of my (at this point, basically apocryphal) ‘dream interview’ list.
6. Congratulations to Aaron Schwartz, one of the creative brains behind Korua’s consistently brilliant output, on the release of his new book All I Saw Was You.
Aaron is one of my favourite photographers, and somebody I am keen to interview for the podcast. How about it Aaron?
7. Thanks to listener Mike Fordham for drawing my attention to this project - a crowdfunder to support a book celebrating the cultural importance of London’s independent music venues.
8. My 2022 conversation with Stacy Peralta continues to be one of my most popular ever episodes (and is also responsible for a LOT of unfinished readings of The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich, judging by the messages I still get about this), so I enjoyed this great little insight into his creative process.
9. I received some mild pushback for including a link to the Foundations report in last week’s 10 Things which, yes, was indeed written by a Tory thinktank, as correspondent Tim LeRoy pointed out in a comment (above).
My reply was a little dashed off and probably didn’t offer enough context. But my reason for sharing it has more to do with the thinking I’ve been doing during the 18 months I’ve been working on The Announcement.
In that series, as listeners will hear when I release it, I have really tried to examine Patagonia’s move in the context of corporate philanthropy, and this now widespread idea of ‘business for good’.
Which (despite brands thinking they’re making some devastating insightful sustainability statement when they reference ‘people, profit, planet’ on their ‘About Us’ page) has really been taking place for over 50 years now.
And in examining this long history, and these blinkered tendencies, I have become increasingly fascinated by the lack of critical thinking and even basic curiosity evident in the cosy purpose ‘industry’ circuit that has sprung up in our world in the last five-to-ten years.
That isn’t really an overt theme of the documentary (although the series does invite people to look beyond the headlines in drawing their own conclusions when it comes to something like Patagonia’s Announcement).
But it is why I think it’s useful to share things like the Foundations report (definitely no sign of ‘people, profit and planet’ in there), and why I think I will continue to do so.
(And why I think examining this psychologically fascinating topic about the role of intention and purpose in the - well - outdoor ‘purpose’ industry is likely to be the subject of my next documentary, once The Announcement is released).
10. Finally - a beautiful Townes Van Zandt session that a friend sent me yesterday, and that came along just when I needed it. Perhaps it’ll be the same for you.
What did I miss? What did you think of this week’s list?
I’m with mr Brisick, your newsletter gives me fuel for the week so I don’t need to get involved with social media, which is anything but.. that’s great the link for the sweaty ceilings book, I must be of a certain age as there’s plenty of art books appearing now that cater to my tastes, what with the RAD book (well done Dan and stop being humble that’s a fantastic book), the Dragon Bar book, which was my local before it was burnt down in the name of progress, and I even found a photo book on a pre Olympic Hackney Wick. Interestingly we just had Kelly Slater over here in Hossegor which reminded me to read that brilliant Beach Grit article you linked. Scorching article, accurate yet made me feel a bit sad for Kelly. Proving the point of good writing is to be emotive I guess. Good times.
"(and is also responsible for a LOT of unfinished readings of The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich, judging by the messages I still get about this)"
Yep, I am also one of those unfinished readers! 📖🤦🏻♂️🙂