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Text: Gabriel Knowles Images: Lang Leav
At face value Lang Leav has done it the hard way. Born into a Thai refugee camp, she and her parents made their way to Cabramatta in Sydney’s west, where the push towards financially consistent vocations more often than not outweighs any creative endeavours. But Lang prevailed and headed off to the College of Fine Arts before embarking on what appeared to be a career in design. After a few weeks in package design she was promptly fired, so Lang drew on her childhood experience of writing and illustrating her own fantastical worlds and created the character Akina. The resulting fashion line, five books and SOYA prize suggest the self-confessed eBay addict is probably better off without the mundane design job. Lang tells Gabriel Knowles about her latest publishing project. Continue Reading…
Text: Kat Hartmann Images: Google
By way of preparing you for what’s shaping up to be a prolific year in independent publishing, we have put together a list of books you’re probably going to want to get your hands on this year, aka our Ones To Watch List. Thanks largely to our friends at Melville House and McSweeney’s. So, without further ado, may we present to you – in no particular order – The Blackmail’s Books for 2010. 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: 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: 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: 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: Tristan Ceddia Images: Grafik
Circulating in one way or another since the mid-80s, London’s Grafik magazine showcases multidisciplinary design work from the worlds most influential known and unknown creatives. Building a cult following from discerning designers and students a like, the magazine supplies a fresh look at the current state of the world in design. On the eve of Grafik’s trip down under for Semi Permanent, Tristan Ceddia asks editor-in-chief Caroline Roberts to shed some more light on this influential publication. Continue reading…
Text: Kat Hartmann Images: Tristan Ceddia & Rainoff
Skateboarding fosters creativity. Don’t ask how, or why – it’s more of an observation than an indisputable fact – it just does. Call it culture acquisition through osmosis, if you want to hazard a guess. Read: learning about new, awesome shit from your friends with common interests. The way we learnt about new bands before MySpace. The old fashioned way.
Skating led one part of Rainoff the Sydney independent arts publishing house, Sinisa Mackovic to his now partner, Robert Milne. Skateboarding, working at Monster Children Gallery and a mutual curiosity in the works of similar, niche artists. Mackovic and Milne are both awfully interested in the creatives they like. They are also pretty psyched about garnering those works some attention. Continue reading…
Text: Max Olijnyk Images: Andrew Long
Maybe it’s the hills. Or, it could be the tight-knit, inclusive scene of artists, musicians, skaters and eccentrics. Maybe it’s the weird tasting water. Whatever it is, Adelaide seems to breed an inordinate amount of creative talent, none more so than 22 year-old Andrew Long. Andrew’s starkly lit, tightly framed black and white photographs have an eerie, timeless quality, evoking thoughts of heartbroken introspection and restorative nights on the town. Self-motivated and dedicated, Andrew has exhibited his work in a number of highly thought of shows and publications, as well as a series of self-published books and zines. Graceful Exits, Andrew’s third solo show is his best yet. Continue reading…
Text: Michaella Solar-March Images: David Jacob Kramer & Thomas Jeppe
While the glamour and grandeur of Los Angeles and it’s primed Hollywood starlets pulls focus, the city has a dynamic and inspiring artistic underbelly that thrives feverishly on the DIY aesthetics of those who are nurturing and developing it. The latest wave of creative energy is centred around straightedge live music venue The Smell (founded by L.A. DIY exemplar Jim Smith) and Fairfax Avenue bookstore Family. In their short histories, both have become a source of inspiration for creative communities the world over – and almost all of it by chance. Friends since early high school, David Jacob Kramer and newlyweds Tahli and Sammy Harkham moved to America from Australia around four years ago and decided to set up shop. Michaella Solar-March caught up with David Jacob Kramer to find out what makes Family so special. Continue reading…
