WEDNESDAY 7TH NOVEMBER
Five months ago I bought a graniph T-shirt. ‘Big wow' you might say. ‘Shut up and read on' I might reply. The T-shirt was screen-printed with an image of a girl, she was naked, lying on the banks of a river. It looked like THIS (or that). Wherever I went the shirt was admired, so much so that it took on a life of its own. I could have shaved off my eyebrows, grown a moustache and carried a monkey in my pants and all I would have got was "cool, shirt, who's it by?"
It was by two Sydney-based photographers called Lyn & Tony. A duo that make more than shirts. When they're not shooting for Finland's PAP or installing in at London's Ant!podium Gallery, they are eating at Maya, looking at Weibke, coveting Konstantina and bashing around in one wicked old 1964 Mercedes Fintail. Hop In.
TwoThousand. Shirts, shoots and shiny cars.
Cover photo by Lyn & Tony for Nico magazine (Luxembourg). If you would like to submit a cover shot email nadia@rightanglepublishing.com
Snapshots by Allen Robbe-Grillet
WHAT
SNAPSHOTS BY ALAIN ROBBE-GRILLET
WHERE
ORIGINALLY BOUGHT AT ARIEL BOOKS, 42 OXFORD ST, PADDINGTON
HOW MUCH
AVAILABLE ONLINE FROM AMAZON FROM US$14 (WHICH IS PRACTICALLY AUD$14)
Think of a manuscript cut into pieces, thrown in the air and put back together in a random order, and that is a Robbe-Grillet story.
This book is like a treasure trove of beautiful small gems, a collection of short stories by the important French author. Each story is an exquisite description of a single scene, a glimpse of a captured moment. The details of these moments however shift and change with recollection.
Robbe-Grillet is known as one of the founders of the ‘Nouveau Roman' literary theory in the ‘50s, which challenged the traditional structure of novels. Repetitive descriptions of objects replace the importance of character development while timelines and plots are fractured, producing the literary equivalent of a cubist painting.
Our favourite story, ‘The Shore' describes a visual picture of an idyllic summers' day at the beach, but underlying the scene, as with much of Robbe-Grillets' work, is a hidden current of menace and a sense that all is not what it seems. A beautiful contrast is the story ‘Wrong Direction', a brief sketch of a shaded, forest-lined pool that somehow captures in three pages, the darkest of possibilities.Format: Book
Motivation: Good with a whiskey in the bath
Keywords: Short Stories, Lyn & Tony
Worried Noodles
Let's face it - compilations usually suck.
Either it's the haphazard mix of music (that never suits one mood), or the meager amount of ‘good' songs (which are on those respective artists' albums anyway), or the crappy movie dialogue snippets in between, or the free tote bag with purchase...
Only an artist as influential as David Shrigley could inspire sooooo many fantastic, progressive musicians to contribute not ‘rare' or ‘unreleased' (i.e. "bad') songs, but brand spanking new GOOD songs to a double CD compilation.
Using lyrics published previously in Shrigley's music-free concept ‘album', WORRIED NOODLES freaky folks like Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear, Liars, Hot Chip, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Islands, Yacht, Deerhoof, and Shrig's fellow Glaswegians (and friends) Franz Ferdinand have all come correct herein.
Wow. Maybe compilations don't all suck...Release: Compilation
To Cure: The hangover
Keywords: David Shrigley, Deerhoof, Yacht
Konstantina Mittas
WHAT
KONSTANTINA MITTAS
WHERE
77 BUCKLAND ST, CHIPPENDALE
WHEN
MON-FRI 11AM-6.30PM, SAT 11AM-4PM
CONTACT
9310 2225
Secluded in the increasingly interesting back streets of Chippendale, is the wonderful world of fashion designer Konstantina Mittas. Both design studio and store, this is a little bit of the Marais transported to Sydney. Konstantinas' clothes are a beautiful combination of luxury fabrics, strong shapes and immaculate construction - think the Belgian 6 or Ann Demeulemeester.
The current season range features a palette of silver, neutrals and an ever-present black, accentuated with Konstantina's signature crow print. Many of the fabrics in the range have a metallic sheen, which combined with her distinct sculptural shapes, give the garments a life of their own.
Konstantina Mittas is also available at Ksubi stores worldwide.Product: Clothing
Anatomy: Whole body
Keywords: Konstantina Mittas, Ksubi, Chippendale
Karl Wiebke
WHAT
KARL WIEBKE FEATURED IN THE CROSS CURRENTS: FOCUS ON CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIAN ART EXHIBITION
WHERE
MCA, 140 GEORGE ST, THE ROCKS
WHEN
UNTIL NOV 26
HOW MUCH
FREE
CONTACT
MCA HERE
IMAGE BY
KARL WIEBKE, COURTESY OF LIVERPOOL STREET GALLERY
How great is it to discover amazing work by an artist that you have never heard of before?
Showing as part of the CROSS CURRENTS show at the MCA are three paintings by German-born but Australian-based artist, Karl Wiebke, which are an incredible exploration of colour and technique.
These pieces have developed an almost sculptural element, created by numerous layers of paint applied over a number of years. The canvases were set up and regularly worked on outside the artist's studio, subject to rain, wind or the elements so that over time, the effects of nature have helped transform the final pieces. Dust and grit becomes embedded within the body of the work creating furrows and ridges. Think small mountains of multicoloured paint stretching out to meet your gaze in a crazy tapestry of colours...
Have a look at the sides of the paintings, as they are just as amazing! The use of vibrant alternating layers of paint, exposed by the weathering of the surface, creates a vibration that emanates throughout the gallery room. There is something about these pieces that draws you towards them from a distance, their beauty intensifying as you approach - don't miss it!
Medium: Mixed
Drink: Herbal tea
Keywords: MCA, City, Exhibition
Inland Empire
WHAT
INLAND EMPIRE
WHERE
DENDY NEWTOWN, 261-263 KING ST, NEWTOWN AND PALACE VERONA, 17 OXFORD ST, PADDINGTON
WHEN
FROM THURS NOV 15
WATCH THE TRAILER
HERE OR HERE
For one of America's most famous auteurs, David Lynch's best work has always been with someone else reining in his more insane impulses - like Barry Gifford co-writing LOST HIGHWAY, or TV writer Mark Frost co-creating TWIN PEAKS. INLAND EMPIRE, though, is 100% Lynch, Lynch-up-to-eleven, too-much-Lynch-is-never-enough-Lynch.
The high-concept - a story of a haunted film production - gives him the leeway to do, well, whatever the hell he wants. Hours of ominous corridors, random screaming, dream sequences, and a Beckettesque sitcom starring humans with the heads of rabbits.
Shot on consumer-grade digital video, the traditional two-shots look a little like cut-scenes from dated video games, but the close-ups are intimidatingly, terrifyingly close, and there's a strange warmth in the large pixels and topographical lines.
MULHOLLAND DRIVE was disappointingly Lynch-by-numbers; except for the stark humanity in its final act, it felt like a cover-band stuck playing greatest hits. Love it or hate it, this does feel like something new. It is moments like these that I'm glad we don't use star ratings, because I'd have no goddamn idea how to rate INLAND EMPIRE. A better question might be: is it something or is it nothing?It's something.
Format: Cinema
Mood: Make a therapy appointment now
Keywords: David Lynch
Lover Swim
Every year when the temperature rises enough to make us wish every day was a weekend, the inevitable dilemma of what to wear beachside hits. Maybe it's just us, but we always feel a little hypocritical going to a surf shop for a swimsuit when we neither surf, dive, nor ski.
In fact, we haven't dressed ourselves in "surfie" clothes since Stussy pants were huge back in 1992, which kinda makes matching our beachside style with our street style all the more difficult.
And yes, ok, we get that swimwear is skimpy by necessity, but that doesn't mean it needs to look like something from the wardrobe rack at RALPH.
So thank god Susien Chong and Nick Briand at Lover have extended their unique rock goddess style to swimwear. Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou. The One+One collection is straight out of California circa-1973 with washed out prints, crochet and lace. Bliss. Thank you guys, for making sure we never have to walk into a dodgy surf shop again.Product: Fashion
Theft: Theft is a risk
The Wall
WHAT
THE WALL
WHERE
WORLD BAR, 29 BAYSWATER RD, KINGS CROSS
WHEN
LAUNCHES WED NOV 14
HOW MUCH
FREE ENTRY
CONTACT
HERE OR THEWALLSYDNEY@GMAIL.COM
Bigger than Backstreet, the Terminator and Chucky, The Wall is back with an artillery of art, sound and street food (and no thick Austrian accents).
They might have swapped dingy Cleveland from dodgy Cross, but The Wall's premise is unchanged. As a platform for artists' work, the night still kicks it, this combined with local DJs and market stall add-ons has us gearing up for boozing and dancing while pro analysing "the postmodern juxtaposed with the modernist Art Nouveau bent". Neh? That, or "graf" from Glenn Purcell, Andrew Oatway, Samuel Hammer, Brendon Ussher, Michael Bennett and Chris Kiprovski.
The launch party next Wednesday promises to be bigger than Bjork on the Opera House steps. Well maybe not bigger, but definitely decent-er. Kato, Spruce Lee and Sleater Brockman will be spinning for Heaps Decent an initiative that is wacking the Sydney music scene into shape by providing young, indigenous musicians with the support and resources to create their sound. See you there.
Ambience: Indoor
Difficulty: Won't hurt a bit
Keywords: Art, Kings Cross
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