April IMN

Belated, but not by much. 

1. Lore

A German/Australian film set during and after WWII. I watched this on the plane home from Japan. I don't think the airplane screen did it justice - I might watch it again in a HD. This film was extraordinarly beautiful - shot in lush German countryside. It tells the story of young Lore and her siblings who must trek across Germany to their grandmother's house for refuge. The heavy subject matter, which I would normally find extremely grim, was made vivid by great cinematography and acting from the young Saskia Rosendahl (Lore).  I could feel the Australian drama influence from the honest and heartbreaking depictions of life that I love so much from things like Love My Way and Candy.

2. Jen Mann

Originally thinking these images were the result of Photoshop filters and photography -  I was surprised to find out they are all painted portraits. Love it!

3. Kim Boske

I deliberated in my mind for ages whether I should or should not of bought a book featuring Kim Boske's photography in Harajuku, Tokyo. I ended up going back to the store and buying it. I am really glad - it is so beautiful and exactly the type of photography I love. Weird, weird nature. All photographs in my book are printed in large format on great paper stock!

I returned from Japan a couple of days ago - when I have time to edit, I will post some photos from my travels. Enjoy your weekend :)

March IMN

The constant demand to be creative at university has meant my want and need to blog about inspiring things has greatly suffered. There is nothing fun about inspiration when it is forced. I went to the Art Gallery of NSW to look for inspiration for a project today, and whilst enjoyable there was the constant nagging feeling that I had work to get on top of.  In an attempt to jot down the things I've encountered recently before their glisten fades under the amount of work I have - I've allowed myself time to do a blog post.

1. Say My Name
An excellent good vibes dancey cover of 'Say My Name' by Destiny's Child that I heard on the radio this morning.



2.  Wud by Alexander Binder et al.

The Dwellings by Ellie Davies

Svart Metal by Grant Willing

This sounds like everything I love about photography in a book. It was featured in Dazed & Confused magazine and they said " if you're... just really into haunting pictures of leaves and bark and moss, Wud is just the ticket". If you have seen any of my photography work, you will know I am definitely into this!  Tangerine Press is doing a limited run of Wud. They are hand bound photography books that feature moody takes on a walk in fictional woods. "It's got all the fun of a spooky and attractive forest-bound nightmare and is as beautifully produced as they come". Yum!

3. 'Green Room' by Kyung Woo Han.

I would love to tell you why I like this installation, but I can't... I don't know why. Maybe it is the clinical-ness versus the floating ethereal aspect that gets me? No idea. Beautiful. Created through paint, clear wire and furniture.

4. Glitch Furniture.

There is some controversy over whether this is real - I really really really hope it is. I loooooveeeeee Glitch Art like no tomorrow. Good Vibrations Storage Unit is a cabinet designed by the architect Ferruccio Laviani to look like a distorted glitch image. I want it, so bad. I can only imagine the price, but it would be worth it.

Images via This Is Colossal and My Modern Met .

Inspiring Me Now: December

It has been a month of madness being a retail slave. It is probably the most paid work I've ever done in my life - I'm used to being a slave for free (internships). It has also forced me to be creative with what little free time I have. It is like a deadline in itself and I always need a deadline to get anything done. These are some examples of what I've been working on this month - none of it is finished and these are all crappy print screens

1. Physical Filters
Distortion through physical materials or effects. I've experimented so much with Photoshop filters that it is about time I took a cue from fashion and experimented with different translucent materials and/or make-up as a means of obscuring or affecting a photograph.

2. Suspension
I think I have been obsessed with the concept of levitation, suspension or anti-gravity ever since I saw the following Bill Henson photograph back in 2005 (she's actually lying down on a car from memory - besides the point). There's something about transcending physical boundaries that is always going to play to my curiosity. Images via Sam Taylor Wood, Bill Henson & Vein & Vapid tumblr.

Really love how the point of impact sits along the magazine crease! Medium meets Concept.

Sam Taylor-Wood

3. Être Un Garçon
My regular love affair with looking like a bad-ass in photographs. I'm extremely jealous of that piercing masculine nonchalance that boys are born with by the gift of higher testosterone levels. When photographs can transform a woman/girl to hold such nonchalant power I think the effect is 10 fold more alluring because there is always overtones of sexual femininity that are being hidden or ignored, but you know that they're still there all the while - does that even make sense? Images via Models.com & Vain and Vapid tumblr.

4. I Hate This
I got a Pinterest - in the end it just made sense to organise everything. I resent it so much as I want to minimise my online presence/reliance - but screw it! You can find me here. (It hasn't got much yet).


PS Enjoy this silly season xx.

October: Inspiring Me Now

To be honest, I wasn't that inspired during October. I think I was still living off inspiration from September because I actually produced a lot of my own work. Some photographs, letterpress business cards, posters, lead-light bags, you name it. I'll let you know when they are all photographed and uploaded to my online portfolio. Enjoy your weekend. x

1. Artworks With More
A friend recently told me that whilst at university she created a major project based around an elderly lady that she cared for at her work. The lady had dementia and started to forget her family and only remembered my friend, her carer. The two grew a strong bond until the lady passed away at the age of 91. My friend's major work had 91 paintings based on this lady for the number of years that she lived. Relating the logistics of an artwork to actually represent something gives the work a lot more meaning.

The artist Matthew Brandt has taken photographs of lakes and reservoirs and then soaked each image in the water of the respective lake or resevoir that is pictured in the photograph. The images become even more interesting when you realise that consideration is even put into the type of water they were altered in. In the end, the water takes ownership of its own beauty.

American Lake WA

Nacimiento Lake CA

Lake Union WA

Skinner Reservoir CA

2. 'Love Fade' - Tamaryn
I find this song perfect to just hand out to. I love designing to it too - its got this sense of progressions whilst being chilled out - sets the pace!


Tamaryn "Love Fade" from Mexican Summer on Vimeo.

3. Alpha60's New Collection
As soon as I get paid/am on holidays I am racing into Alpha60 and going crazy. The photographs don't do it justice and there is so much more cool things in store. I had a little peak last week and had to run out of the shop because I started getting too excited and I only had 10 minutes to look. I will return, prepared.

Images via Arpeggia and Alpha60 Facebook

September: Inspiring Me Now

I've decided that for every month I will be doing a post called Inspiring Me Now or IMN to share what I have currently been loving over a range of different platforms - from quotes, photographs and art, to events, music and the like. It will be different from my normal blog posts (obviously everything I post somehow resonates or inspires me) because these posts will be a little more curated, a little more inspiration (to the point where maybe I'd rather keep some items to myself - but I'll try not to be selfish like that) & with a little more about why I like particular things and their background info.

1. Because Everyone Likes A Barron Landscape

Lee Jung's neon lighting/landscape photographs. I have actually never got the whole 'neon lighting' trend and why people like it so much. My love for neon lighting has just been limited to the Hopscotch logo until now. Lee Jung's "glowing letters are very publicly juxtaposed against a natural environment. The viewer’s perception comes in to play with each photograph, as we project visions of the sender, the recipient, and the kinds of love or heartache that are taking place behind the words. Each viewer is bound to have a unique interaction with the messages based on personal life experiences."

There is something haunting about a neon glow in uninhabited and desolate spaces. The messages are broken and if I were to go all deep about it, it would be something along the lines of 'unspoken words, lingering thoughts, emotional abandonment' and all those fun things. Cheer to the pretty photographs though Jung!

2. A Typeface for Lawyers

'Miller' typeface, particularly in Italic, is what I am currently digging. My solutio n to a legible, profession serif with enough personality, (cause I don't like Garamond - it's true).

3. I'm The Ghost In The Back of Your Head

Spanish Sahara by Foals - This song came out in 2010, except I rediscovered it last night on a late night train ride through the city when it came on Shuffle. This song is such a soundscape and builds up so beautifully. It really set me into a trance and found it really inspiring. The music video is also really powerful except for the whole dragging of animal corpse parts, which quite frankly stressed me out and left a sour taste in my mouth. Song along; brilliant. Makes me want to go be all creative & stuff. ha

4. Say It Like You Mean It

Typography, as always, in all its weird fruitions from computer-based to hand-generated. I recently can not stop using the photocopier to alter my typography, I love the semi-present nature of it.

Unknown

Killian Loddo

Icograda- Mark Gowing Design

FIN- photocopy type experimentations by myself

Jessica Hische

5. Art In Unusual Places

At the moment Sydney is holding Art & About: Art in unusual places. Last night saw the Art Gallery of NSW open its doors late for special exhibitions, there were designer markets, street food stalls & bars, as well as Martin Place turned into a free open-air concert. I managed to catch the last few bands at Martin Place and it was really great & fun! I managed to see Van She, a bit of The Bamboos, Jingle Jangle DJs and these guys: Rufus. A totally surprise. They were really really good live, so much energy, build-ups and break-downs - even an epic two man drum solo! I actually would pay to see them live again. Kind of reminded me when I saw SBTRK & Sampha open for Friendly Fires in Amsterdam early last year and I had no idea who they were back then, but they were crazy good live, and now they're killing it!

6. Girl Crush

Louise Grinberg, what a babe. I just finished watching 17 Filles (17 Girls) which is a dreamy French film based on a true story about a group of 17 year old girls who intentionally get pregnant together. There is a lot of critique surrounding vagueness of the film and its 'hollow' portrayal of a serious issue. Whatever. This film is beautiful - cinematography, script, actors, set-design, everything. Think Sophia Coppola and The Virgin Suicides, stone cold foxes and the still point of the turning world. Part of the film's charm is definitely because of Louise Grinberg who plays the lead character Camille; the instigator of the pregnant pact that you can't help but envy despite her round belly, tragic delusions and desperate desire to be wanted. If you are into your foreign cinema, I definitely recommend this one. You know how sometimes subtitles are a thorn in the side when you just want to relax - I didn't even realise I was reading the subtitles - it was all too memorising.

Images and quotes via MyModernMet, Desktopmag.com.au, Art & About Sydney, and It's Nice That