Whilst, listening to John Lennon’s song “God” ending with, “I just believe in me / Yoko and me.” He doesn’t believe in people, just love.

Suddenly, a thought struck me: for the first time in my life, the truth so many times intertwined in songs by poets and proclaimed by the highest wisdom by philosophers appeared to me, namely that it is love in the highest and noblest goal that a person can strive for. It was then that I grasped the meaning of the greatest mystery, which the works of the greatest poets, thinkers and clergymen reveal: the path to human salvation leads through love and is love itself. But let's be honest Love is not a solution to the world’s problems. 

And it took the coronavirus to expose the structure of this fail: on the one hand, the 1% that can make a living from creating art and something that they love ; on the other - all the rest who had to queue for benefits. Nick Cave could have broadcast the concert on an empty stage and charged £ 16 to watch the show online. The rest of us - 99% - are not that famous, so the best we can do is play at illegal parties and hope to survive the virus.

All industries have been hit hard by the coronavirus, yes.... More fortunate is a friend who started master classes in Human Design during her isolation and has so much work that she will soon be waving me from the limo.

Whenever my friends asked me how I'm doing, my answer is truthful: not good. I don't even  go into details and most of the interviewees don´t not expect it at all. People know. Yet everyone immediately suggests a wonderful way to get into trouble. Reiki! Feng shui! Ayahuasca! A visit to the clairvoyant! Tarot! A walk on hot coals! Cold water! Ten-day meditation!

 Are there any exceptions to the rule, I thought?

For us at CAN PEP REY studio the starting point was a word UNISEX. We love to see that the same clothing can be worn by both sexes, genders. And that's how we dived into a topic of genderlessness. The fact is that it is very difficult to escape from social norms. 

So then, what love has to do with gender at all?

The social norms of gender perception are basically the same everywhere, except that different cultures and nationalities approach them slightly differently and modify them according to their own internal rules. Take Mexico for example. Did you hear of Muxes? Google search reads, ´it is a person assigned male at birth who dresses and behaves in ways otherwise associated with women; they may be seen as a third gender. Local legend says that muxes fell out of a hole in the pocket of Saint Vincent Ferrer. With some exceptions, it seems like, in the rest of the world, we have a rigid binary division into male and female gender, and each has a series of cultural codes and expectations.´

Together with Paul Conradi we shot in film and digital in our home time Barcelona, but it is reflected wherever an individual has to negotiate his own identity with the more or less restrictive society in which he/she operates.

In the times of pandemic, spirituality and love has become a capital. Forget about social media and let's bring the true love, the real love, unconditional to the surface. Is that not something missed and longed for ? In solitude, people often speculate about true or imaginary others to complete them. 

In the times of limited social gathering, we took our time to meet few, couples with creative profile and ask them some questions about Love. Here are some answers from Nata and Arni from Pale Moon:

Nata and Arni, Pale Moon 

 

Where did you meet ? 

N: First time we met at a rooftop party and I remember thinking, why I don’t date boys like him, soon after we were together. 

Would you say love is the most important thing in life? 

N: Love is an ingredient that makes the life-cake taste much better!

It's so intimate to put your work out there. What kinds of feelings do you try to provoke?

A:   I’d say we try to reflect calmness, acceptance for life, and hopefulness. Even though some of our songs are more on the melancholic side we’re not hoping for people just moping around whilst listening to them.

N:  I am almost never happy with the things I do, that’s probably a hardship of being a Virgo. Most of my fights are inner fights with myself and this became an ongoing topic of my songwriting.

 

Is love a source for art?

N:  the topic of love shifted nowadays towards the exploration of self-love rather than relationship-love. People started to pay more attention to other aspects of existence and it’s interesting.

 

However, this photoshoot does not try to reaffirm love as a moral or traditional value. Rather, it explores different kinds of love, new representations of love between people of all genders. In this regard, how is the feminist revolution radically changing our idea of love?

A greater energy, a more profound creativity.

Most importantly, art may or may not inspire love, but love could be a source for art and new kinds of artistic perspectives. This is not a photoshoot about naive dreams or utopian nostalgia, but a new realism — a new kind of love.

Fernando (painter) & Nacho (photographer) : 

Is love a source for art?

F: For me it works better when im heartbroken. I love my work from those periods. 

It's so intimate to put your work out there. What kinds of feelings do you try to provoke?

N: I try to bring realness and intimacy of people and show it the rest of the world.