Text: Gabriel Knowles Images: Patrick Wolf
Patrick Wolf doesn’t normally do things by halves. Follow press reports, catch him in concert or his check out his latest film clip, ‘Vulture’. Emotionally, audibly, visibly – he’s no shrinking violet. But on stage spats and a firm stance on music piracy aside, he also doesn’t make make music by half. Until now. Continue reading…
Text: Kat Hartmann Images: Tao Lin
Imagine this… Learning about the work of a young author by word of mouth. Yes, that increasingly redundant method of conveying information. Literary blogs, online publications, forwarded emails and press releases need not apply: said information came from one’s lips to another’s ears. Admittedly, the mouth belongs to none other than the aforementioned author’s publisher, Melville Houses’ Dennis Loy Johnson and the ears were mine, wide open at this year’s Melbourne Writer’s Festival. Also, the words were regarding the writer’s savvy online audience engagement so we’re not really talking casual conversation fodder here, but split hairs are not known for their longevity, nor their propensity for joy bringing, so for the sake of continuity, let’s move on. Continue reading…
Text: Oliver Georgiou Images: Etcetc
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away Princess Leia was beamed out of R2D2’s head in holographic form and we all went “Wow, that is the future”.
Since then, augmented reality has been slowly creeping into our lives; we’ve experienced it during live sports telecasts where advertising logos and scores are superimposed onto playing fields and lines indicate ball and play directions. It’s also been on the rise in the gaming world, as well as having many uses in mobile content. Augmented reality was also utilised during the recent USA Presidential election with CNN’s Virtual View camera system, superimposing newsreaders and Will.I.Am were into the newsroom with up-to-date election information.
Subsequently, Sydney band Lost Valentinos, have announced the world’s first truly interactive augmented reality music video project. Conceived by Etcetc and developed by Crucial By Design and production crew Pedestrian, now we all have a chance to try our hand at a bit of music video production using AR in the comfort of our own homes. Oliver Georgiou had a chat with director Andrew Jackson to find out what it was all about. Continue reading…
Text: Adriana Giuffrida Images: Therese Rawsthorne & Tristan Ceddia
I wouldn’t be lying if I told you that I am quite a girly-girl. I like painting my nails, and getting flowers, and I especially like Therese Rawsthorne’s clothes. Each season I am captivated by her soft colour palettes, mixed with sharp tailoring and sneaky details that are subtle and sexy. I especially love that her clothes are about strong women, created for strong women, but not ignoring the fact that we all have a sensitive side. I was lucky enough to visit Therese’s Sydney studio, and have a talk with her about where her current inspiration is coming from, and who she designs her clothes for. Continue reading…
Text: Tristan Ceddia Images: Hana Shimada & Tristan Ceddia
Earlier this year I attended the opening of Hana Shimada’s first solo jaunt, The Hana Shimada Show at Black & Blue gallery in Redfern. Only mildly aware of her work at the time, my mind was this night exposed to the weird and wonderful world of Hana’s pun filled imagination. Rich in satire with a heavy emphasis on comedy value, Hana’s pictures did then, and do now, excite me each time a new one comes around. I caught up with Hana over an iced coffee at her home studio, Sydney, to talk about her art and guys who work behind the counter in kebab shops. Continue reading…
Text: Michael Kucyk Images: Dylan Martorell
A few months ago I was asked to contribute a mix that would be the soundtrack for a mysterious installation-based project that Melbourne artist/musician Dylan Martorell was undertaking in Vietnam and Indonesia. It was briefly explained that Dylan was planning to construct and tour a multi-purpose nomadic structure made from bamboo, tarps and market bags, which he would perform music and dj in. With the themes of his musical and visual output in mind, I pieced together a mix that was organic and earthy; meditative and psychedelic. Upon Dylan’s return to Australia, I quizzed him on the outcomes of this hair-brained scheme. Continue reading…
Text: Caroline Clements Images: Sophie Cookes
Wooed into business by a lady with a plate full of cupcakes, Sophie Cookes started her culinary career scooping ice-cream for her best friend’s dad. She has since worked in kitchens with the likes of Wendy Fogarty, Maggie Beer and Greg Malouf. Now, one half of Cookes Food, Cookes is a chef in her own right, running a small food shop/cafe/catering company out of well endowed open-plan kitchen in the Toorak Village in Melbourne. Caroline Clements talks to her about how many turkeys she’ll be stuffing for other people in the lead-up to Christmas, among other mouth-watering matters. Continue reading…
Text: Steele Bonus Images: Lovefingers
Chances are you already know about the Lovefingers website, quite possibly the best site at the moment for downloading rare unearthed music from the past 30-40 years. What you probably don’t know is that the man behind the site Andrew Hogge is one of the most friendly and laid back guys going around. A native Californian who currently resides in Brooklyn. He’ll probably tell you himself that he’s lazy, however he still manages to hold down a full time job and at the same time run two record labels, update his website with daily ‘fingertracks’ and mixes, work on his own music as one half of production duo The Stallions, party with the energy of an 18 year old, tour the world djing. Recently he even became a father, Steele Bonus caught up with Lovfingers a month outside of his second trip down under. Continue reading…
Text: Belle Place Images: Voiceworks
It’s not often that a cast of some of the best contemporary Australian writers send word of congratulations on your birthday. Unless, that is, you are The Words We Found, an anthology of the best writing from twenty-one years of Voiceworks magazine. With a forward from Christos Tsiolkas (author of The Slap) and words from John Marsden, Voiceworks sheds its adolescence and rounds up some impressive alumni to help celebrate. Belle Place asks editor Lisa Dempster to reflect on who and what has shaped Voiceworks’ life so far, and like all good twenty first celebrations, share a couple of tales of optimism and awkward adolescent behaviour. Continue reading…
Text: Gabriel Knowles Images: Rene Vaile
We all start somewhere. For photographer Rene Vaile it was as a skate photographer. These days you’re more likely to find Rene’s images hanging on a gallery wall or adorning the glossy pages of fashion magazines and the matte pages of sought after zines. “I used to shoot for Slam in Australia and Manual Magazine in New Zealand. I haven’t shot skating in years, I got really bored with the attitude of skateboarders. The role of a photographer at times is a tough one. A lot of the time the skater will dictate what the shoot will be – what the trick will be, what spot it is and how to hold the camera. I got burnt out. Skateboarding itself excites me much more than capturing it now. It’s self rewarding, especially in your old age you get back your old tricks and you fall down, it’s a constant challenge. Whereas with the skate photography it stays the same – the same angle, the same light, the same boring rehashed photo over and over.”
“All these shot are all reminiscent of things that matter. Things that should matter.” Continue reading…
