INVURT

We love anything to do with technology, and we love emerging new forms of artistic practice – and this is no exception. Those of you who have seen stuff including the recent White Night event that was on in Melbourne know the power of projection and the potential inherent in this form of "Street art".

Now, Electrolight are teaming up with Fed Square, and they’re looking for people to get involved in their next big project "The Light In Winter" – budding eletroc light artists, this is your call out …

"Electrolight, in association with Fed Square is excited to announce a joint initiative for The Light in Winter 2013.

‘Yo Gobo’ will see a selection of designs realised as unique gobos and displayed in a public art projection in St Paul’s Court, Fed Square over the Winter Solstice celebrations from 20th to 23rd of June. All entries received will be displayed on Fed Square’s Big Screen on the evening of 20th June during the Solstice Weekend.

‘Yo Gobo’ will be a prominent, active part of The Light in Winter and a highly visible attraction at Fed Square for it’s duration.

Submission are now open. Check out the Yo Gobo EOI and get involved…."

Heres a small run down on whats involved – check out the info PDF here.

"The Light in Winter at Fed Square is entering its 7th year and again plans to bring together communities, artists and designers from many backgrounds to explore and creatively realise ideas about light. The central theme for the 2013 festival is to connect light and the power of voice – its physical power, its power of communication, its democratic power and its power to uplift and heal.

The Light in Winter is produced by Fed Square Pty Ltd and directed by Robyn Archer, one of Australia’s most beloved and successful artists. The burgeoning program is now a high-profile annual event in Melbourne, and has national and international recognition.

In 2013 the program will see all activities, workshops, performances and displays anchored around a key installation by artist Bruce Ramus. The commissioned piece is called the Helix Tree, a 13m-high light sculpture equipped with advanced sound and light technology which means it can be activated by sound and voice.

‘Yo Gobo’ will see a selection of designs realised as unique gobos and displayed in a public art projection in St Paul’s Court, Fed Square over the Winter Solstice celebrations from 20th to 23rd of June.  All entries received will be displayed on Fed Square’s Big Screen on the evening of 20th June during the Winter Solstice Weekend.

‘Yo Gobo’ will be a prominent, active part of The Light in Winter and a highly visible attraction at Fed Square for it’s duration.

WHAT’S A GOBO?

A gobo is a metal disk with holes cut into it, through which light passes to create a desired shape or pattern. In effect, it enables stencil art to be created with light.

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

Designers (of all disciplines), architects, design enthusiasts, individuals, companies and collectives, from Australia and around the world, are invited to submit images/gobo designs for inclusion in the project.

All complying designs will be displayed on the evening of Thursday, 20th of June. A selection of entries will be cut in to steel gobos and displayed on the facade of Fed Square’s E-Shard Building (Flinders St) from the 20th to 23rd of June.

If you are interested in participating you will need to complete the Submission process "

Go to the website, check them out, and send them an email if you have any interest in producing mad stencil and electro light art – should be fkn grand!

No Vacancy has bought us some great artists and shows since opening in 2008, now it’s time to celebrate their 5th birthday, this Thursday at Fed Square. And so they should celebrate!!! This should be a great show, we highly recommend you get down on Thursday from 6-9pm.

What a line up! Bonsai, Twoone, Megg, Ghostpatrol, Nick Thomm, Ollie Lucas, Drew Funk, Jeremy Ley, Eveline tarandaja, Luke Lucas, Dehara, Jasper Wong, Kubota Fumikazu, Charlotte Lance, Cat Rabbit, Nior, Seven Seas, Isabelle Knowles, Makatron, Beastman, Numskull, Max Berry, Ben Frost, Stephen Ives, Tai Snaith, Nails, Buff Diss, Adnate, Tom Vincent, Sheryo, Yok, Acorn, Thomas Jackson, Sean Whelan, Justin WilliamS, Andrew Gordon, Stephen Doan, Paul Mylecharane (Oh54).

Happy 5th Birthday No Vacancy!!!

Exhibition – The 5 Year Retrospective Show – Flyer

Several months ago, we saw some images from one of Ghostpatrols latest projects – the painting of a massive wind turbine out in Hepburn/Dalesford, Victoria.

Now, the video for the project and a whole bunch of new images that haven’t been seen before have been released – and what a project it looks to have been!!

"I’m super proud to have been part of this amazing project. The Hepburn Windfarm is australia’s first community owed co-op windfarm. The pairof turbines power Dalesford and the surrounding area.

I proudly accepted my friend Simon’s challenge to paint ‘Gale’. I assembled my team,
dived into my research and undertook some serious risk assessment, feeling very lucky
to have been trusted to paint such an amazing structure. We pitched our tents under
the giant blades and got down to work. As far as I know, I’m the first artist to ever paint a
mural on a wind turbine (and I can understand why).

The whole process was super humbling. The community of Dalesford and Hepburn
welcomed us and showed us the strength of spirit and passion required to make a
difference in the world and confront the serious issues of energy and our responsibility
to the environment.

::super thanks to: Scottie, Andre, Bernie, Tarryn, Simon, Tracey and Arved
::photo and video production: Bernard Winter."

Check it out, and a whole bunch of images as well – more to be found here.

There is a huge swath of talent amongst Melbournes independent comic book artists, and you can always be sure that the works that they produce are cutting edge litanies. From the daily to the macabre, the fantastical to the conspiratorial, these artists take on all the challenges of communicating the foibles and fallacies of  our times.

Fleshtonez, the next upcoming group show at Paradise Hills, follows in this vein perfectly – though, not exactly in the way expected. Erotica is a definitive genre in our modern day, a ubiquitous element amongst the creative realm – and though not all artists focus on the genre solely, they will, surely, touch upon it at some stage in their creative journeys.

"FLESHTONEZ is an opportunity for eleven cutting-edge, Melbourne-based comic book artists to explore the erotic side of their practice. Free from the presumption that strong sexual content can demean the work, each artist can create their own unique take on erotica in contemporary graphic art.

Whether the result be playful, profound or disturbing, by doing so the artist has at once tapped into a rich vein of personal material and contributed to a broader discussion on sexuality, a more crucial facet than ever of the current zeitgeist."

By taking such artists as M P Fikaris, Katie Parrish, Michael Hawkins and the rest of the comic luminaries in Fleshtonez, and letting them run unfettered though their erotically charged imaginations curator Michael Hawkins may have just created a … okay, okay, I’ll avoid the bad puns, really grand show show – we’re really looking forward to seeing what work is up on the walls on the night!

I really made an effort to not mention my hopes for at least some suggestion of tentacle pr0n in this writeup. Ah. Shit.

Too late.

Who: Michael P Fikaris, Simon Hanselmann, Emily Hasselhoof, Michael Hawkins, HTML Flowers, Jnr Blue, Katie Parrish, Lee Lai, Elliot Lamb, David Mahler, Marc Pearson, Josephine Waite
What: Fleshtonez group show
Where: Paradise Hills, 8 Doonside St, Richmond, Melbourne VIC
When: Show opens Friday 31st May from pm til 10pm and runs for two weeks.

Check out the facebook event page as well as the Paradise Hills website for more info!

We checked out HAHA‘s (Regan Tamanui) latest show “Metamorphosis” at Dark Horse Experiment on Friday night. It was great to see his awesome stencils again. A great series of stencils blending HAHA’s chosen subjects together, some of them were there in the crowd. Some of them featured himself. Very cool. I also loved the installation with all the used stencils scattered on the floor and the mad piece on the wall. Thanks to David Russell for the photos as usual.

HAHA – Metamorphosis

Here are some shots from a recent project I worked on for Kiss FM, up stairs at the Lounge on Swanston Street in the CBD, where we spent the day on the roof top in the sun with GENT 48, GETO, METHOD, RACE and BLUE from SDM and ADN crew, and a big thanks to Giant for supplying the paint.

A new monthly post from resident Invurt photographer David Russell – introducing “Through the Lens with David Russell”

Dave doesn’t miss a beat around Melbourne wether it be gallery shows, street work or abandos. Dave has decided to do a monthly round up of some of his favourite works he finds on his daily missions. Thanks Dave keep the photos coming.

DOES

I went down to Metro gallery in Armadale on Saturday to check out the live painting by Adnate, DVATE and Shida.

Shida – Painting live at Metro Gallery

Adnate – Painting live at Metro Gallery

Adnate – Painting live at Metro Gallery

Adnate – Painting live at Metro Gallery

DVATE – Painting live at Metro Gallery

DVATE – Collab piece – Painting live at Metro Gallery

DVATE – Collab piece – Painting live at Metro Gallery

 

Before I left Melbourne, I had been an avid reader of Ha-Has "The Unreal Adventures Of HaHa" blog – in which he was documenting his travels overseas. Always hilarious, always thought provoking and conspiritorially cool. After a lengthy stay overseas, painting and showing across the eurozone and asia, HaHA has now returned to Australia – and he’s about to have another solo show

"Metamorphosis is an exploration into the archetype’s of the human psyche. As humans, we create the archetypes that exist amongst us as individuals, and as a part of a couple, a family, a tribe or a nation.

Here HAHA investigates these archetypes by means of stencil: fusing portraits of people together to find a link or connection between couples, or by fusing man with machine and beast.

The viewer is presented and faced with questions about the archetype within relationships, transhumanism & the beast man.

HAHA (Regan Tamanui) is one of Australia’s most notorious and prolific stencil artists. He called the Blender Studios home for many years before extending his art practice with an extended, overseas trip.

Now he is back, and is having his first solo show since returning to Melbourne at Blender Studios’ gallery Dark Horse Experiment."

Wish I could be in Melbourne to check this all out – its going to be ahell of a show, and its been way too long since I’ve seen one from HaHa! Ah well, you guys enjoy the shit out of this one for me!

Who: Regan Tamanui
What: Metamorphosis solo show
Where: Dark Horse Experiment, 110 Franklin St, Melbourne
When: Show opens Friday 10th May from 6pm til 9pm and runs til 1st June

Check out the facebook event page, and of course, Regans website for more info!

We love Metro Gallerys oingoing live painting days – we’ve been to quite a few of them in the past!

This weekend sees Melbourne street art Maestros DVATE, Shida and Matt Adnate get together to paint a bunch of panels in the gallery – you all probably know how these guys are, but if not then rest assured they are some of Australias finest – we’re sure they’ll paint up a storm!

Head down to Metro Gallery this Saturday and see it all for yourself!

Who: Matt Adnate, Shida, DVATE
What: Live Paint Day @ Metro Gallery
Where: 1214 High St, Armadale, Melbourne
When: Event runs 12pm til 5pm Saturday 4th May, 2013

Check out the Metro Gallery website for more information

As you probably know, Futura was in town in March for the Hennessy vs Futura bottle launch. He designed their new bottle in their latest artist collab.

This post is something a little different to the norm. We ummm’ed and ahhhh’ed about the format for ages, should we transcribe it, should we make a video, should we edit it, should we chop it into smaller clips? We ended up deciding to just post it as is (with some work on the sound levels). It was such a special experience for us, it felt like we were watching a documentary.

Futura x Hennessey

Way back in October, we brought you news of a new project that I’ve been working on with Jo Jette, a brand spanking new print magazine by the name of Damn It! Well, it’s done, printed and all ready to go – and we’re having a party to celebrate!!

Designer and Publisher Jo Jette has been working on the amazing Nothing To Nobody for a few years now, which, sadly, has just released its awesome final issue (Jo will be working on Damn It! from here on out!) This dynamo of a lady has crafted what I think is a stunning, collectable piece of visual beauty, and written a slew of grand articles. For myself, well, I’ve edited my ass off on this one, and if you’ve been reading Invurt for a while then you can expect a whole bunch of full feature articles from yours truly on artists from across the globe!

We’ve already released the magazine for purchase over the internet (go grab yourself a copy!), so now its time to invite you all to the launch!!

"Tired of the same old same old? Want to feel like you’re doing something positive when you shell out your hard earned cold cash for a magazine? Want value for money in a convenient bag size read? Then say hello to our little friend – DAMN IT!

DAMN IT! is a brand spankin’ new, biannual, 96 page, limited edition magazine run by Publisher & Designer Jo Jette (of Nothing to Nobody magazine), and Editor in Chief Fletcher Andersen (aka Facter, of online art webzine, Invurt). We put every cent we have into the publication, so that each issue will kick the can of the previous one.

Each issue we feature juicy articles on super talented peeps – illustrators, photographers, typographers, painters, writers, and other creative types as well as reporting on the more serious side of things from around the world.

We also shine a Bat-signal on some of the amazingly selfless work done by caring peeps setting up and running not-for-profits all round the world. We’re not afraid to put our money where our damn big mouths are, and we pledge to donate $0.50 from each copy of DAMN IT! sold to the not-for-profit we feature in that issue, which in our first ever issue is Skateistan, a not-for-profit set up to teach kids to skate in Afghanistan, Cambodia and Pakistan. Skatistan also teach journalism and art to their students, 40% of whom are girls.
Plus we’ve adopted a Polar Bear for our first issue to accompany our article on Polar Bears and Arctic conservation, but just wait ‘til you see what we are sponsoring for issue 2!!

Launching officially on 2 May at the Just Another Project Space in 153 Greville St, Prahran (Melbourne) from 6-9pm, and we’ll be giving away a Hamburger YoYo to everyone who attends. Yes, you heard us right – so join us for a drink!"

It’s a bittersweet feeling, knowing that the mag is being launched, and my not being able to actually attend the launch party! Lamentations aside, both Jo and I are stoked at how the mag has turned out, and we’re sure that you’ll all love this first issue (we hope!) – its been a long process and a lot of hard work, trial and trepidation, but its something we’re pretty proud of.

So, we’d love for you to al head on down to the launch party next Thursday – grab a mag, enjoy a read and let us know what you think!!! Massive thanks to the team at Just Another for letting us use their awesome Just Another Project Space for the launch, we couldn’t be happier with the venue!!

Don’t forget, that if you can’t make the launch, we have released the magazine for purchase over the internet here! We’re already deep into planning Issue #2 also, so your feedback is more than welcome – we also have extremely affordable advertising space available for full page ads in the next issue and beyond.

Massive thanks to everyone for all of their support, especially the artists and advertisers who are featured in the first issue!

Who: The first issue of Damn It! Magazine features articles on artists and creatives such as Lee Romao, Greg ‘Craola’ Simkins, Ken Taylor, Chris Peters, Poise, Adam Oehlers, Ink & Clog, Skateistan, Polar Bears of the Arctic, Naoto Hattori, Tom Hussey, and Hit+Run and some special artwork from Chris Hancock and Eleven, photography from Nicole Reed and much more.
What: Damn It! Magazine Launch Party
Where: Just Another Project Space, 153 Greville St, Prahran, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
When: Opening will be one night only, Thursday 2nd May 2013 from 6pm til 9pm!

Check out the facebook event page for ore info as well as the Damn It! Magazine website!

Shida‘s long awaited show “Ecstasy in the Abyss” opened Friday night at Backwoods Gallery in Collingwood.

SHIDA – Ecstasy in the Abyss

I actually had a bit of a chuckle when I saw this event coming up – I’m in Oaxaca, Mexico right now, and here I am wishing that I was in Melbourne and able to go to this laneway party, featuring all things great and Mexican! Ironic, I know. Its all okay though, as I can live vicariously through the internet, and if I want a taco, I can just step outside the hostel and walk five metres!

For those of you, though, who are in Melbourne this weekend, and the following weeks, this event looks absolutely awesome – and if you like all things Mexico, taco, street art and laneway-lush, then this is for you!!

"Welcome to Las Laneway Fiesta, the opening night of one of Melbourne’s most innovative pop-up experience , Si Señor Art Taqueria. Brought to you by the new Mexican kids on the block, Si Señor Group & Melbourne Books. This one of a kind, pop-up art project celebrates Melbourne-Mexican art, emerging Latin American musicians and Mexican street food over four exciting weeks.

Prepare to be transported to a callejon in Mexico in the heart of Melbourne when Si Señor Pop Up Art Taqueria kicks off with:Las Laneway Fiesta opening night.

Fiesta like it’s 1999 with Tequila and Mezcal special edition cocktails, and unique regional tacos.

Expect Latin tunes and Aztec beats, a visual laneway projection phenomenon by the talent behind White Night Melbourne, Projection Teknik and live graffiti’s.

Si Senor Popup will showcase 4 up and coming street artists:
Gaston Mendieta
Juliette Claire
Heesco
Theo Robinson

With the 10th May introducing the second round of artists and installations.

All artwork for sale on the night.

We looking forward to see you!"

I believe that the whole thing opens with a big bash this Friday, followed by more mayhem on Saturday, and then new artists and shows for four weeks! There are plenty of other artists involved as well, and we’ll keep you updated on whats happening! If you want to know more, theres a great interview here on what its all about!

Head down to the laneway and to Gallery ONE THREE to enjoy it all for yourself – looks like there will be a few people enjoying it with you!

Who: Gaston Mendieta, Juliette Claire, Heesco, Theo Robinson, White Night Melbourne, Projection Teknik, Ruskid,
What: Si Senor Popup Art Taqueria
Where: Gallery ONE Three13 Somerset Place, Melbourne, Victoria
When: Starts this Friday 27th April and Saturday 2th April with events on every Friday and Saturday for 4 weeks!

Check them our atTwitter. @sisenorpopup and nstagram@sisenorpopup – also take a look at the Si Senor facebook page for a heap more info!

Invurt ran a live blog last weekend from CARBON Festival 2013 at RMIT’s Storey Hall. You can check it out here.

I also just found a couple of great recap videos from CARBON and Just Another Agency. They both give you a good idea on what you missed out on. Can’t wait for next year.

Martha Cooper, Carbon 2013

Photos courtesy of David Russell. Videos courtesy of CARBON and Just Another Agency.

After his great show in an construction site in Collingwood DOES releases his final video in his Endless Perspectives series. The best city in the world, Melbourne. Featuring some iconic local scenery and amazing painting by the man. Enjoy.

Part 5: Melbourne – Endless Perspectives from Digitaldoes on Vimeo.