My first blog

Well it seems I've been officially upgraded to 'artist' status. So now I have to start blogging. First off if you want to know what I'm about go to our website www.brinkatl.com or go to a bookshop e.g. Dymocks or Bookazine (or if you really want to show off go to Armani Libri) and get a copy of Brink. There are still copies of last issue around and I'd advise collectors to collect them. Then subscribe to get a full set of back issues. We are running out of these sets. So what is Brink about ? These days everybody expects magazines to be ABOUT something. In that sense we are a throwback to the general interest magazines of yesteryear. Our primary focus is on ART but to us that doesn't mean just paintings of sculptures. We cover any form of art including Cinema, TV, Music, Poetry, Literature even guitar building and sometimes food and sport. To us these are all art forms. Our other section is TRAVEL where we take you to strange destinations you often haven't heard of. Anybody heard of The Molluccas ? or Lake Baikal or Galle ? Then the other section is LIFE which includes anything not covered in the first two sections. The life section can be anything from technology to health to political oppression. Then we finish off with HK Heroes which is about ordinary people doing something interesting or important or both.

At this point you might be asking 'What's the Point ?' The point is that the mainstream here in HK is very bland and we need to promote independent artists and independent thought. Hopefully some of this will later gets picked up by the mainstream and the artists we picked up will get the fame and wealth they deserve and in the process the mainstream will become less bland. This is pretty much what ALND does on the web and oddly enough, Brink and ALND both started about two years ago without completely independent of each other. Terence and his mates are a different generation to me so the web was their natural medium and print was mine. You can read our interview with Terence in the new issue which comes out in a few weeks then you'll see what I'm getting at. Anyway that's why Brink and ALND try to help each other in whatever way we can.

Anyway I'd like to give special thanks to Lisa S. for introducing me to the ALND team and pointing out our common goals. I'd also like to thank her for being our guest photographer in the last issue despite her massive workload. I suppose I should also thank Christies for inviting me to photograph Lisa modeling a 101 carat diamond. If it wasn't for them I never would have gotten to know Lisa and all the great people she has introduced me to.

I'd also like to thank Patrick and particularly Shan Chen for all the hard work she put in in liaison.

For anybody who wants to meet me I will be at the Hardpack launch tomorrow night and of course at our Jazz Poetry night on 25th of November at Backstage. If you miss me both times you can catch me at The Wanch on 9th December for Brink's 2nd Birthday Celebrations.