The Scotsman

Japanese artist in fundraisin­g tribute to late Scots music star

● Alternativ­e video was created in honour of Camera Obscura member

- By MARTYN MCLAUGHLIN

It began as a labour of love by a young Japanese artist who became infatuated with Glasgow’s thriving indie music scene.

Now, a new exhibition of a unique stop motion video created in honour of a late Scots music star is set to raise thousands of pounds for charity.

A new exhibition will showcase the work of a Japanese visual artist who painstakin­g recreated one of Camera Obscura’s best known music videos using nearly 200 sheets of posterboar­d.

The alternativ­e video to the group’s 2006 single, Let’s Get Out Of This Country, has proved a hit online with other fans of the Glasgow band after it was shared on their official Youtube channel.

The technique, which makes use of brightly coloured card which is then fused together, creates a stained glass effect. It took the artist, Chop Pop, more than five years to complete,

Now, the original materials she used in the labour of love will take pride of place at a charity exhibition in the city.

The event will allow fans to buy one of the 196 original pieces posterboar­d in exchange for a donation to Sarcoma UK, the bone and soft tissue cancer charity.

It comes two years after Carey Lander, the group’s keyboard player, died from osteosarco­ma, a form of bone cancer, at the age of just 33. She began raising money for the charity before her death, sparking a fundraisin­g drive which has gathered

0 The work of art based on Camera Obscura’s song Let’s Get Out Of This Country by artist Chop Pop more than £100,000 to date. Chop Pop, whose real name is Tomoe Ishida, lives and works in the port city of Osaka, located on the Japanese island of Honshu.

However, like many music fans, her cultural horizons were expanded by listening to the late John Peel, the Radio 1 DJ who was a tireless champion of new bands.

Through listening to his show online, Ishida developed a love of Scottish groups like Camera Obscura and Belle & Sebastian.

After visiting Glasgow several times, she decided to combine her love of Scottish pop with her paper cutting technique.

She explained: “I started to make a paper cover version of Let’s Get Out Of This Country in 2012, but I worried about the copyright and quit it.

“However, I heard the very sad news about Carey Lander I wanted to help Carey’s campaign for Sarcoma UK, so I restarted the video in October 2015 and now have finally completed it.”

The result recreates the original video – directed by Blair Young – scene for scene, with the multicolou­red postboard being cut and assembled to depict the various band members.

The charity exhibition, which has the support of the group, is being held at Hillhead Library in Glasgow’s west end on 2 December.

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