Fresh and Raw

There's a boy. It's nothing yet but he has great taste. I like this table. And want a shimmering foam iceberg chair I think he will too. Nothing more than surface deep.

I like that Kwangho Lee takes inspiration from his friends and family. I love that he is simple too. That his art is about the search - for possible change and new meaning in ordinary things. The belief that mundane things have boundless capabilities and can be transformed and can transform. That simple becomes something else via transformation.

Lee also aims to express the quiet beauty and combination of design and craft. There is no machinery. Just crafting from his hands.

Copper

Blondie

French. Passion. POP.

Synchronize Time that heals and destroys Your wristwatch sparkles and shines We dance to organised noise Each beat a moment in time Synchronize tonight Yeah, you timed your move just right Synchronize And the hands of time are just your hands held in mine Take your time you will see We were destined to meet We move through time every day We move in time - to the beat It's high time you occurred Make your move here and now A wristwatch falls to the ground Time stands still in the heart of the crowd The lights flash in time with the beat And your heart beats in time with the drums And it's only a matter of time Yeah you timed your move just right Yeah the lights flash in time with the beat And your heart beats in time with the drums And it's only a matter of time

Synchronised.

Discodeine "Synchronize - feat. Jarvis Cocker" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq2L-tlNUNA&feature=related

Old is new

They say that everything old ends up new again, but I tend to agree with one former Magazine editor who points out that when it comes to style it's important to look forward while looking back. Sometimes, when you reference the past, you need to modernise to be fashionable. Or in the case of Henry Wilson's 'Things Revisited' design collection – give things a new lease on life.

After graduating from Eidenhoven – the prestigious Dutch design academy - Wilson' modernised six different design icons adding simple modern elements to give them all new life. My favorites? The addition of a smooth, caramel leather cover to the Tolix 'A56' chair (designed by Xavier Pauchard as an inside or out chair, in the 1930s). And the addition of an elegant and simple base to the Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron 5-1/2-Quart Round French Oven (the pot of my life!) – to allow for dinner to be brought directly to the table so that diners can help themselves without fear of burnt tablecloths.

thumb of approval

The new year has got me thinking far beyond the next twelves months and way out into the ether that is the future. It brings me full circle to "no man is an island" (thank you Clueless) and makes me feel like its time to focus on what's next rather than the right now which I've dedicated my time to.

Multicolour hues, on heavy white board and black frame. Pinned high, pride of place, linking together the memories and the hopes and the dreams of a family rather than the fences that have lined a life. Lori Danelle is a mother and a wife. I feel like these paper prints are a present from the heart of good fortune.

iWrite

Christmas, gone by a few days, has also taken with it the steady stream of snail mail paper trail. Back to the days of online banter which makes me mourn for some handwritten kindness... and reminds me, I really need to get my letterhead sorted.

Elvis - one word says it all
Frank Zappa - the American creative allrounder

Pixel Flix - Australian animators and tv people

Atmosfär Produktion - tv kids from Sweden abroadSpike Milligan - UK funnyman and Monty Python's Flying Circus influencer
Star Wars - no explanation needed
JK Rowling - a little too involved in the Harry fantasy

new? year

What was your new years resolution? Mine was to master the art of simplicity - to pull things back a bit and take a harder look at the bigger picture with the aim of Alice-ing myself right through that looking glass into a more relevant place.

It's ironic then, that I stumbled on the name of the artist of some incredible vehicle paintings, whose aesetic seems to lie firmly in enhancing anarchy in the world. Kevin Cyr seems to stand against the "culture in which people are easily lured by the appeal of status-enhancing symbols", instead finding relevance and beauty in the trashy urban around his NYC abode. His focus in taking vehicles from their original and everyday context to give them them portrait status, while capturing the imperfections perfectly is simply gorgeous.

If you're in Canada, check out Cyr at Show&Tell Gallery
ATROPHIC EXISTENCE
December 11, 2010 – January 10, 2011.
Show&Tell Gallery, 1161 Dundas St. W, Toronto, ON, CANADA

Nouveau Sceno

Graduating fresh is a hard slog. Being out in the big world, wide eyed, wanting to roll. It's hard. Unless you are Dane, Jacob Dahlstrup Jensen. The old world right now sailor boy obsessed with skulls and boats and slicked back do's.

Using a tattoo machine like a pen, which disorders the paper structure, Jesen outlines incredible designs on heavy water color paper - in the same way you would work the skin. A combination of drawing and installation and merging material and context helps Jensen explore and discover his own the visual language.

On a Sailors Grave (no roses grow) from Jacob Dahlstrup on Vimeo.

Swan Dive

I NEVER watch movies. 1) I can't find 3 hours to sit in one place and not be pulled to another and 2) unless they look beautiful I get too bored. In 2010 I saw two movies. I watched Inception (stoned) and was awed, but was breath taken away by Kanye's "Runaway" which changed my opinion on him as a musician and cemented him as one of my favourite artists (ego and all).

I may take the time however to see Black Swan. Not only because Natalie Portman is simply A+ but because these incredible art deco inspired posters promoting the movie and designed by Bemis Balkind are all types of amazing.

Responsible for J.Depp featuring "Alice in Wonderland" posters and the Ledger/Blanchett "I'm Not There" Dylan story posters Bemis Balkind probably have designed your favourite TV show or movies posters also. These, I want to stick on my wall.

Fridayspiration!

This week feels like...

a time to live right now. in the moment. in the second.

a time to soak it up. sink into the sun. a chance to move with friends. two little minds walking the desert together.a time to love unconditionally. My Am.Staff. puppy Asscher is beyond amazing. I don't know if I can ever love anything or anyone like I love her.

a time to make fun. Forget those that harsh your mellow. Find your own sense and stick to it.HAPPY WEEKEND! x

Sub-Continental

I was asked the other day if they still teach students ‘cursive’ in primary school. Stumped I assumed so, but it got me thinking about when I was little and my mother thought I – as the first born – would carry all of her dreams and ambitions for her children to fruition. Rude shock that the gifts of fine pens, calligraphy and elocution lessons fell by the wayside when I realised my boho/hobo/soho self.

Loosely tying back to the post, I stumbled on the latest offering from the Byredo and M/M (Paris) partnership.

The nice thing about M/Mink Eau de Parfum is that it came about due to a role reversal. M/M (Michaël Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak) called Ben Gorham of BYredo to their studio and presented him with the concept and creative direction. Based on a large, solid block of ink purchased in Asia, the idea was bolstered by a picture of a Japanese master practicing calligraphy and a large utopian formal that had been drawn on traditional Korean Paper.

From there, the idea seed planted, the group worked up the fragrance as a derivative of these three elements of inspiration – composed with incense, and a base of patchouli leaf, clover honey and dark amber – the adoxal top notes open up with a serious whiff of ink, before letting go, into the heady scent of an idea which started from the heart.

M/Mink Eau de Parfum
100ml Eau de Parfum - 1400 Swedish Kronor(approx $210 AUD)
50ml Eau de Parfum - 950 Swedish Kronor(approx $140 AUD)

Print Advertising done by M/M, Paris, France
Creative Directors / Art Directors / Illustrators: Michael Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak
Photographers: Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin

minimalistic

Everything looks better minimal. I am obsessed with these posters which trims back the fat on modern TV show advertisements. ooo imagine if they released a channel specifically for the creative types target audience with cult shows, reel-only spots and programming done to coincide with the hours we work (eg plenty of repeats for late nights and early morning hours). PITCH IT.