Alexander Aspinall's Five Things.

Written by Lazy Gramophone on Thursday the 30th of May 2013

Five Things is a series of short journal posts introducing each of the writers and artists involved in our up-coming Time project.

Since the project's inception, the idea has been to create an environment where independent writers and artists could come together in order to share their work. The result of this endeavour is a collection of stories, images and poems based around the theme of time, its pages placing particular focus upon the relationship between words and pictures. By sharing in this way we hope to inspire each other as well as those around us, to draw a diverse audience and so help to illuminate the work of alternative artists and writers everywhere. 


Biography.

Alexander Aspinall is a writer and digital editor. He can often be found writing stories that might include other places, normal people or magic dogs, and things like rain, spiders, breakfasts, sleeping and delusion. He lives in London.



Five Things that Inspire Me.

2001. Stanley Kubrick's interstellar voyage is one of those very rare things: a film as good as the book that spawned it. But that isn't why it's on my list. It's here because, as a piece of work in its own right, it is perfect. What the film lacks in dialogue, it makes up for with its mesmerising visuals, intriguing past/present/future plot and incredible soundtrack. I have watched it over and over again, and have never once been bored. *NB: Other films that stand up to their papery counterparts, in my opinion, include The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, Fear and Loathing, and, more recently, The Life of Pi.

Crime and Punishment. Despite paragraphs that last forever and the confusion caused by each individual character possessing a bewildering array of names, persevering with Dostoyevsky's masterpiece is one of the most rewarding literary missions you can undertake. As the novel crackles towards its climax, Dostoyevsky somehow manages to make you feel every gut wrenching twist and turn as if you were the one with blood on your hands. It is incredible and highlights how powerful the written word can be.

George Orwell. No award for originality here but Orwell is probably the main reason I wanted to be a writer, and at least a contributing factor to my becoming a full-time smoker. As a teenager, reading books like 1984, Down and Out in Paris and London, Animal Farm and the less-frequently lauded Coming Up for Air, it felt almost impossible to want to do anything in life other than aim to become a lesser version of George Orwell.

Jarvis Cocker. Though my Sheffield roots make me slightly biased, I think Jarvis Cocker is one of the greatest writers of his generation. He is the perfect antidote to pretentiousness, highlighting on album after album that pragmatism and wit are more effective than longwinded snobbishness. I thoroughly recommend his collected lyrics book, 'Mother, Brother, Lover,' to anyone not entirely convinced of Cocker's earthy genius. 

Surrealism. There's nothing in literature I like more than an unreliable narrator. And I think the art world's closest matching version of this comes from the surrealists. Though frequently starved of praise from the higher brow members of the artistic community, I love the freedom present in the work of people like Dali, Ernst and Magritte. I have always imagined the stories that could be set in their otherworldly locations, particularly in those weird endless deserts.


The Time Project.

1. Time Book Launch Lazy Gramophone Events Page 

2. Time Book Launch Facebook Page

3. View our Clock page (counting down to the release of Time)

4. An introduction to Time

5. Contributors' Five Things Journal Posts:
- Adam Green
- Bryn Hall
- Inua Ellams
- Zoe Catherine Kendall
- Andrew Walter
- Laura Dockrill
- Mat Lloyd
- Sorana Santos
- Will Conway
- Hannah Stephenson
- Matt Black
- Claire Fletcher
- Carl Laurence
- Zophiel Webb
- Jude Melling
- Stacie Withers
- Tom Hirons
- Megan Leonie Hall
- Vincent J Prince
- Kaitlin Beckett
- Guy J Jackson
- Eliza Gregory
- Jeannie Paske
- Jo Tedds
- Maria Drummey
- Tom Harris
- Liz Adams
- Lola Dupre
- Kirsty Allison
- Alexander Aspinall
- Paul Bloom

6. Buy Time from the Lazy Gramophone Shop 

7. Press/Reviews
(Click the links below to read each article in full)

Huffington Post:
'An intriguing book project from one of the most innovative groups of creative people in the city.' ~ Huffington Post

Fabric Magazine:
'...we'll bet you've never seen time as it's portrayed in this stunning new publication.' ~ Fabric Magazine

Rooms Magazine:
'Time is a treasure box brimming with creativity and fresh talent.' ~ Rooms Magazine

Annexe Magazine:
'Lazy Gramophone's anthology, Time, lives up to the high bar it sets for itself.' ~ Annexe Magazine

MORE...

For more on The Time Project tweet us @lazygramophone or #TheTimeProjectLGP or visit our Time Facebook page.
Tags for this post: Alexander Aspinall, Five Things, Lazy Gramophone, Time, Digital.

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Title: The Time Project - Lazy Gramophone Press
By: LazyGramophone
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