www.secretpencils.co.uk

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The Project
The humble pencil is found where most of mankind’s greatest achievements
begin. But will the touch-screen generation ever feel the pleasure of a freshly
sharpened pencil or the frustration of a shattered lead?
This photographic project seeks to savour the use of pencils –
documenting them in stunning detail, and thereby showing the secrets of
their use and revealing an insight into their users: professionals who have
defined themselves and their craft with the help of the modest stylus.
Unassuming, unsung and 0.02% the cost of an ipad, our faithful friend
continues to lead its many secret lives alongside much more complex
technology but at the heart of our most decisive and moving creators.
This collection of pencil images is a direct link back to some of the 20th
and 21st centuries’ greatest illustrations, buildings, artworks, photographs,
products, make-up designs, graphics, novels, poems, fashion, cartoons and
even films.
I N PA R T N E R S H I P W I T H
IN SUPPORT OF
Reg.Charity No: 1020488
I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H
The Exhibition
& Charity Auction
Project launch & Exhibition
19th May 2015 - 3rd June 2015
Paul Smith, No. 9 Albemarle Street, London
Charity Auction
Powered by Paddle8 Online Auction House
H T T P : // PA D D L E 8 . C O M /A U C T I O N / S E C R E T P E N C I L S
6pm 19th May 2015 - 8:30pm 3rd June 2015
I N PA R T N E R S H I P W I T H
IN SUPPORT OF
Reg.Charity No: 1020488
I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H
Children in Crisis
‘Children in Crisis is a UK-based charity, helping children who are suffering the effects of conflict & civil war. They work to ensure that these children are educated, protected and that the most vulnerable amongst them do
not suffer discrimination. Currently operating in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Children in Crisis support countless children who don’t even have access to
a pencil - let alone a laptop. If we can support their projects, by helping to
provide reading, writing and thinking skills, along with pens, pencils and
paper; then we will have given the opportunity to some of the less fortunate
to flourish, learn, create and design...and ultimately take their
rightful place in the wider world.
The pencil is a catalyst for creativity for all people, of all ages, in all places.
A catalyst for a positive way out of poverty and trauma.
The Secret Life of the Pencil and Children in Crisis - with their shared
visual symbol - is a natural and powerful partnership for change.
www.childrenincrisis.org Reg. Charity Number: 1020488
Alex & Mike
The moment a thought or an observation passes from the flash of a neurone
to a physical interpretation, a fully formed idea, is the most
unpredictable – yet crucial – step in the creation of something new.
A thousand unfathomable influences determine our path towards a new
drawing, a shape, a word or even a single line.That moment might be
defined as the origin of creativity.
Alex & Mike have reached beyond their founding disciplines of design and
photography in order to create hyper-real images of the everyday. In particular, they have addressed the pencil as the common denominator in creative
work, whatever the industry.
Alex Hammond
W W W. A L E X H A M M O N D. C O. U K
Mike Tinney
W W W . M T I N N E Y. C O . U K
Contributors
David Adjaye
William Alsop
David Bailey
Edward Barber
Celia Birtwell
Sir Peter Blake
Sir Quentin Blake
William Boyd
Michele Burke
Ian Callum
Louis de Bernieres
Tom Dixon
James Dyson
Dave Eggers
Anne Fine
Lord Norman Foster
Stephen Fry
Andrew Gallimore
Sir Kenneth Grange
Charlie Green
Sir Nicholas Grimshaw
Thomas Heatherwick
Pam Hogg
Henry Holland
Peter Jensen
Nadav Kander
Anish Kapoor
Asif Khan
Mike Leigh
Sargy Mann
Alexander McCall-Smith
David Montgomery
Jay Osgerby
Nick Park
Nigel Parkinson
John Pawson
Kate Rhodes
Dame Zandra Rhodes
Christopher Reid
David Rock
Peter Saville
Posy Simmonds
Gerard Scarfe
Sir Peter Scott
David Shilling
David Shrigley
Sir Paul Smith
Philippe Starck
Tom Stuart-Smith
Tim Walker
Stephen Wiltshire
Julia Quenzler
Contact Details
Postal address:
Secret Pencils
Studio G3
128 Hoxton Street
London
N1 6SH
UK
Email:
[email protected]
Phone:
Alex - 07855324035
Mike - 07507507988
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