INVURT

In just over a week, I’ll be heading off for more distant shores (more on this later!), but, in the meantime, I’ve decided its high time to do something down at the amazing Blender Lane Artists Market . We’ve got a new shipment of stickers through, some tests of the new shirts we’re about to release on Redbubble (again, more on that soon) and a few other cool things as well – we’ll be giving out stickers and selling sticker packs on the night to visitors to the market.

As you know I’m not usually one for self promotion here on Invurt, but I’ll be selling a bunch of my own artwork on the night - I’d love to try to get rid of as many of my drawings as I can to happy buyers before I leave Melbourne. We’ll be joined by a few friends as well, so you never know what might turn up on the table of loot! We’ll be camped out just inside the studio entrance itself down the back of the Blender laneway.

Also on the night, Silent Army will be releasing some new fanzines as a part of their ongoing mission to provide you all with grand art and comic treasures in tidy, zinely format. This latest iteration is another version of Who Is Ha-Ha – one of our favourites. Plus, the Silent Army have an entire zine workshop set up in the back of Blender studios, with a heap of zines and other cool shit, which you should really check out if you haven’t seen it yet!!

Blender Lane artists market is hands down, our favourite mid-week activity in the past few weeks it has been absolutely pumping. With more and more stalls all the time, and a huge variety of cool, creative art and other eclectica on sale, oh, and not to mention all of the live entertainment – well, it’s a grand night out. If you’re interested in having a stall at the market, just email them – market@theblenderstudios.com

Seeya all there!

Who: Melbourne artists, artisans, Craftspeople
What: Blender Lane Artists Market
Where: Blender Laneway & Studios, 110 Franklin St, Melbourne
When: Event starts at 5pm this Wednesday January 23rd – runs til 10pm – Night Market runs every Wednesday night!

Check out the Blender Lane Artists Market facebook page for more info, or head over to the Blender Studios facebook page.

Well, we know this one is a little late, but things have been way too hectic lately as we go into the Xmas period – apologies.

The other week we were invited to The Peoples Market grand opening – since then its been in full swing, with a huge variety of art, music and events happening down at this amazing temporary space. If you haven’t been down there just yet, then you should go and check it all out – theres something new and unique every weekend.

Dave Russell got down there whilst they were preparing for it – getting the containers in place and watching Meggs and Rone doing the amazing feature wall, and we also got a few shots from the opening, and all the artwork about the place – theres plenty of it!

If you haven’t been down there yet, you’re really missing out!

Eddie Zammit has to be one  our favourite people – his enthusiasm is infectious, his creativity is unbound, and, well, his t-shirt collection kicks absolute fkn ass over anyones. As the mastermind behind T-World, Eddie has teamed up with the girls from just Another Agency to present Melbourne with something that only those who went to Outpost Festival last year have had a chance to see – a  snapshot of his amazing collection of shirts right in the heart of the city, at the NGV studio in Fed Square.

“Since 1990, T-shirt culture has boomed worldwide, but Melbourne really got started in the ‘80s.

A joint collaboration between Just Another, NGV Studio and T-world, TEES: Exposing Melbourne’s T-shirt culture examines and dissects the last 25 years of the city’s graphics on cotton through the eyes of avid T-shirt collector Eddie Zammit. Zammit digs into his 4,500+ tee collection to uncover influential items that demonstrate the power of Melbourne’s T-shirt past and its future direction.”

This isn’t, however, your run of the mill show. Although the shirts comprise a large portion of it all, the team behind TEES has presented it in such a way that it brings focus to those individuals and collectives who have, over many years, strived to create new and exciting wearable art for the masses. Tshirts, urban, low brow and street art intermesh in many ways – something about the near DIY attitude of it, and then utilising that attitude to propel your creations onto a public-facing canvas has changed the face of modern art over the past few decades.

Thus, like street art and graffiti, T-shirts as a form of public artwork are quite unlike works within a gallery – their often subliminal manifestations form a part of our environment,  they can either grab your attention right away, force their presence upon you, or leave an impression in the corner of your mind – whispering their style and form to your subconscious, erupting without warning upon free associations or recognition.

That the TEES crew are now taking these works of art and placing them in the gallery, it is the former, in your face presence that is the aim – and when viewed in this context, their collective power is manifest. The question between whether these works are art unto themselves (they are), or merely a medium of conveyance (they are) is inconsequential – when you are dealing with a movement that dwars almost every other modern art movement, then who really gives a fuck about such philosophies?

Okay, so I’ve rambled a bit – but I love t-shirts so much that its justified fkn rambling, right?!

The stories behind all of these wearable works is a hugely important aspect of TEES, and as a part of the show, the ever amazingly talented Nicole Reed has photographically documented some of the leaders in the field – and these images and visages bring even more context to the show. They are, as always, beautifully done, and we have a whole bunch of preview shots below …

Head down to the opening night this Friday, or at any time over summer – it will be on for a little while over xmas, and it really is something that everyone should go and check out whilst they are in the city.

Who: Eddie Zammits amazing collection of t-shirts
What: I Love Tees – T-shirt exhibition
Where: NGV Studio Space, The Atrium, Federation Square, Melbourne
When: Now until February 17th 2013. Launch party will be this Friday 14th December from 6pm!

Check out the facebook event page, T-World and Just Another Agency for more details.

When we first heard word that Comic-con was coming down under last year, we were pretty damned excited. After that, we sat her in Melbourne and had to live vicariously off the photos and run downs of the inaugural event over in Adelaide – but now, finally, its Melbournes turn.

If you haven’t heard of Comic-con, in whichever incarnation it takes, and you’re reading this website, then there is something seriously strange going on. Comic-con is now a world wide phenomenon, garnering legions of fan of comics, movies, animation and all things super, horror, scifi and fantastical. That this event is now running down here in Oz is a big thing – proving that our fandom is just as mighty as any other countries!

Patrick Stewart. Stan Lee. Artists. Writers. Editors and everything else in between – read on for the press release, and check it all out …

“After the success of their inaugural Oz Comic-Con event in Adelaide last March, DCA Enterprises heads to Melbourne to present the second round of Oz Comic-Con on Saturday 30^th June and Sunday 1^st July, 2012.

Over two days, the Oz Comic-Con event will feature international and local film and TV stars; with legendary actor Sir Patrick Stewart (Charles Xavier in The X-Men Series, Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation) and comic icon Stan Lee (original creator of Spiderman and other comic icons such as The Hulk, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Thor) heading the stellar line up.

In the spirit of Comic-Con events worldwide – Oz Comic-Con will be a pop culture expo like no other in Australia. Melbourne fans will be among the first to experience the event in Australia, with Oz Comic-Con expanding further into Australia throughout 2013 and 2014.

Sir Patrick Stewart and Stan Lee will be joined by other international and local comic, film and TV guests; including Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones, Stargate: Atlantis), Julie Benz(Dexter), Mitch Peleggi (The X-Files, Sons of Anarchy), Sean Maher (Firefly, Serenity),Armin Shimerman (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and in an exciting new twist – two stars from The Hunger Games movie; Willow Shields (‘Primrose Everdeen’) and Dayo Okeniyi (‘Thresh’) among others.

In an Australian first, aspiring comic creators will be able to submit their work for professional review, with Scott Allie (Dark Horse Comics, Senior Managing Editor) in attendance at Oz Comic-Con Melbourne and scouting for new talent.

There will also be comic book and anime artists, gaming demonstrations and cosplay competitions (a unique type of performance art in which participants don costumes to reflect cultural ideas and concepts, often from Japanese popular fiction).

“After the overwhelming success of Adelaide – we cannot wait to see what Melbourne has in store for us…,” said Carissa Avenhouse, of event organisers DCA Enterprises. “Oz Comic-Con is the perfect place for fans to share their love of pop culture, get up close and personal with celebrities, enter contests with fantastic prizes or gain tips on how to break into the industry.”

Oz Comic-Con is brought to Melbourne by DCA Enterprises (http://www.thehubproductions.com/), a Sydney-based company who specialise in popular culture events, bringing some of the world’s most loved stars to Australian shores. Recent DCA Enterprises events include Twilight 2008, 2009 and 2010 (featuring Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz and Nikki Reed), Star Trek 2010 (featuring William Shatner and Scott Bakula), Gleek-On 2010 (featuring Kevin McHale) and Stargate 2010 (featuring Richard Dean Anderson and Chris Judge).”

What more could you possibly want, really? After heading to Supernova a few months back, and having an absolute blast, we’re really looking forward to getting down to Comic-con – no longer do we need to spend thousands to get over to San Diego or New York – its right here in our own backyard.

We also just did a special interview with Dark Horse editor Scott Allie in the lead up to the event!

So, so good – check out some of the pics from the Adelaide event, and head here to grab some tickets!

Who: Stan Lee, Patrick Stewart, Scott Allie, Jason Momoa, Dayo Okeniyi, Willow Shields, Armin Shimerman and so many more stars and artists – check here for the full run down.
What: Oz Comic-con Melbourne
Where: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre,1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf, Melbourne
When: Saturday June 30th and Sunday July 1st 10am to 6pm.

Check out the Oz Comic-con website and the facebook page for more info on the entire show – so much going on …

Well, this is one of those rare occasions where we bend the rules slightly on our editorial filter and post up a photographic exhibition – because Nicole Reed isn’t your every day, ordinary photographer. I mean, just check out these awesome shots from the Order Of Melbourne Secret Wars paint up that put ours to shame; now that’s photography.

Having worked documenting urban culture around Australia, and internationally, for many years, Nicole Reed has snapped shots of a huge amount of cool shit. Having her hand in everything from working with T-world on the grand photo display of designers at last years NEXT at the Outpost Project, and running shoots with clients such as Wooden Toy, Inked, COP magazine (who ran a cool interview with her), Desktop and The Age, she has an eye for all that is street and cultural.

Head down to the Vic in Richmond tonight to see her latest personal photo-art display, "In Between" – if you haven’t seen her work before, check out A Shot Away, you it may very well look pretty familiar …

Who: Nicole Reed
What: In Between photographic exhibition
Where: The Vic Bar, 281 Victoria Street, Melbourne, VIC
When: Show opens tonight from 5pm til 12pm! With tunes, drinks and more .. not sure how long it runs for, but probably a few weeks!

Check out Nicoles site, A Shot Away, as well as the facebook event page for more ifno!

Wow – Threadless is one of our favorite websites to check out what’s cool in the T-shirt world, and to occasionally buy some garb, and it looks like aMBUSH Gallery will be helping to put on a great little exhibition and event this Friday to showcase all the creative genius behind it. Of course, it wouldn’t be a T-shirt show here in Oz without T-worlds involvement, and the affably cool Eddie Zammit will be curating the entire thing.

“No matter where you live, there are billions of people wearing T-shirts right now. A large proportion of these people are wearing graphic tees. And you can bet there are many thousands of Threadless tees in that number. Threadless now boast a community of 1.8 million designers and design lovers, who post, vote on and buy unique T-shirt designs – over 1,000 are submitted each week.
When it rains, it pours. And it will most certainly be raining T-shirts this Friday night. T-shirt worlds collide as the planet’s most formidable online T-shirt force Threadless and the globe’s only T-shirt journal, T-world, combine to ‘make great together’. The venue aMBUSH Gallery, is the perfect destination for this collision.

The public event is an open house to view Threadless artworks, as curated by Eddie Zammit’s T-world. This will be T-world’s first event after spending several months in New York launching the current edition. “Vivid Ideas were very generous in allowing us to partner with Threadless for this ‘one night only’ event. I have a few things up my sleeve, even though I only ever wear T-shirts! Clearly you’ll see plenty of T-shirt art and I’m super keen to show off some emerging and leading Threadless talent,” Zammit says.

According to Nickell, who is visiting Sydney for the Vivid Ideas festival to present a keynote talk,  “I’ve been following T-world for quite some time and I’ve been extremely impressed by the depth and quality of the content and the journal itself. Eddie sure knows how to dig in, and puts everything he has into it. The events he puts together are unbelievably well thought out and over the top… in a good way!”
The exhibition will include 200 x Threadless T-shirts curated by T-world, 10+ featured Threadless artworks and renowned Australian illustrator Ben Brown will be painting a wall mural exclusively for the evening.”

This is a brilliant opportunity to get a glimpse behind some of the greatness that has made Threadless into one of the most popular T-shirt websites in the world. Over 200 shirts! Artwork! Live art by BEN BROWN!!

[insert wish that these guys would hurry up and move on to matter …]

Who: A multitude of Oz and NZ designers on display such as David Creighton-Pester, Dan Elijah G. Fajardo, Emery Greer, Pascal Hoayek, Aaron Hogg, Yeoh Guan Hong, Simon Massey di Vallazza, Leon Ryan, Blair Sayer and Ross Zietz
What: Threadless T-shirt exhibition curated by T-world
Where: aMBUSH Gallery, 4a James Street, Waterloo, Sydney
When: Show is on for one night only, Friday 8th June from 7pm til 11pm

Check out Threadless here, T-world and aMBUSH Gallery!

Last Saturday, we took ourselves down to Art Melbourne – like many of you probably did, if you’re here in the ‘burn.

Total artgasm. There was so much work on display, of such variety, that it was almost a little overwhelming – it was as if we’d gone to twenty, thirty, or more different shows in the one day. Throughout it though, there was some amazing work.

A lot of our favourites and friends were there – RTIST Gallery, Just Another Agency, Blender, ArtSeries, Metro, Edwina Corlette, and then there were some great names that we didn’t expect or were new to us – Coates and Scarry in particular blew us away upon entry, US stencil artists Zerosix, Upraw, Will & Caro and many more. There was some live painting from Adnate and others, and several talks throughout the whole thing including ELK up on stage with a bunch of other "younger" artists in Young Guns III.

Oh, and can we make a special mention and congrats to our friend Kristen McIver – who was the very first winner of the inaugural Melbourne Sculpture Prize which was announced as part of the event? If you haven’t seen her work, its fantastic, and well deserved of winning this award!

All in all, there was only a small fraction of work that we had seen bits and pieces of in shows before, a lot of work from specific artists was brand new for the event, thankfully. We were constantly surveying the walls, spotting shit that we loved, shit that we didn’t really care for, and shit that we never actually knew we cared for until we saw it.

Of course, everyone has their own aesthetic when it comes to art, and that’s the great thing about these events – every taste is almost guaranteed to be catered for in one respect or another. Even when we arrived we could see people walking out, canvases in hands.

It was a great day, and we probably could have spent longer here, but our brains were exploding from too much visual stimulation after only a few hours – but all in all, it was a fantastic event. Here’s hoping that a whole bunch of artists made some cash from their passion over the course of the event.

Check out the pics below, and click through the pages … we’re not kidding when we say that there was a lot of shit on display!

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Bleeding Hearts Gallery has done a lot over the past few years to help promote both established and emerging artists Brisbane artists. Having been in operation now for four years, they are holding a special exhibition and party to celebrate the fact!

"To celebrate this we are hosting a full day’s activities culminating in a retrospective exhibition of some amazing artists that have contributed to Bleeding Heart over the last 4 years.

For this exhibition Bleeding Heart has invited 10 memorable Brisbane artists from the Hearts of Gold series to return to help us celebrate our birthday."

Not only will there be a bunch of great art on display, but there will also be markets and live music at the event – so, get to it Brisbane, and show your support to a cool space.

Who: Luke Darlington, Jessica Row, Carmela Ruffino, Brad Marsellos, Tricia King, Holly Leonardson, Ken Smith, Amy Commins, Emma Godfrey, James Alley
What: Bleeding Hearts 4th Birthday with Hearts Of Gold Retrospective
Where: Bleeding Heart, 166 An St,  Brisbane, QLD
When: Friday 1st June from 5pm til 9pm

Check out the Bleeding Heart website and the facebook page for more info!

We just saw this over at VNA, and can’t help but want to pimp the absolute hell out of it – AnyForty and T-World have been blitzing lately with the release today of their “Australian Invasion” collaboration. With a whole slew of amazing artists including Beastman, Ben Bigeni, Ben Brown, Dale Bigeni, Deb, Ken Taylor, Meggs, Numskull, Purdi Petunia and Travis Price, these shirts are extraordinarily mad.

The overall quality of these pieces is just grand. We’ve been seeing bits and pieces of them, and pics of the launch party in NYC last week via instagram, but somehow we missed seeing the lookbook the other day when it was released. So. Damn. Good.

It’s great to see some of our favourite Oz artists in wearable form, and each one looks definitely iconic to each of their styles – great shots from photographer Rick Nunn as well!!

Check out the look book  below, and head over to AnyForty and grab one (they come with an artist specific copy of T-World, how good is that?) they go on sale today … but go quick, these things will sell like fkn hotcakes.

Now, where did I put my fkn cc …

This Thursday night at the No Vacancy Project Space in Melbournes Fed Square, the As Prescribed crew will be holding the opening of a cool ass exhibition as a part of the launch for their new t-shirt line!

"As Prescribed is an artist driven t shirt label that aims to be a platform for exposing artists and designers to creative networks. Founded by Melbourne based illustrator Eveline Tarunadjaja and designer Nick Parker, the budding independent label is launching their first collection in May.

The first collection consists of artwork produced by Australian artists, Sean Morris (WA), Maricor/Maricar (NSW),Kubota Fumikazu (VIC) and co founder Eveline Tarunadjaja (VIC).

As part of the launch, the four artists are coming together to exhibit at No Vacancy Project Space. The exhibition will feature some of the artists recent work, as well as celebrate the release of the t shirts they’ve designed for As Prescribed."

If you missed them, we’ve actually interviewed Sean Morris and Eveline Tarunadjaja before and they’ve mentioned this was coming up – we’re really happy to see it all come to light and get launched!

Big ups to the whole gang, it’s so great to see amazing creatives putting their skills towards new ventures like this – grand.

Who: Maricor/Maricar, Kubota Fumikazu, Sean Morris, Eveline Tarunadjaja, Nick Parker
What: As Prescribed
Where: No Vacancy Project Space, Tenancy 32, The Atruim, Federation Square,Melbourne
When: Thursday 10th May from 6pm til 8pm, show then runs til the 20th May.

Check out the As Prescribed website, the No Vacancy website, and the facebook event page for more details on the show.

One of our favourite parts of Carbon Festival is the Sneaker Freaker swampmeet that is held in the Atrium at Fed Square in Melbourne. Okay, so it’s not really art related (sue me), but its pretty damn cool nonetheless.

After last years excursion we were looking forward to seeing what was on offer this year. Sneakers, hats, shirts, new labels, old, toys, accessories – all were on offer, and, like last years, it was pretty dope. Hat off to the entire Sneaker Freaker crew for another successful event!

Check out the photos that Lachlan Curtin-Corr and Jess Brohier got from the whole thing – sooo many great fkn kicks!

Check out Sneaker Freaker for more info and lots of great news!

Hot on the heels of our previous article on the Cullen Open House day, here’s the full run down on events at this years Carbon Festival – got your tickets yet?

We were are Carbon last year (check here for last years wrap up of the event) and we have no hesitation in saying that you need to get to this grand event from the team behind one of the best culture mags we know, Acclaim. While we there last year, we brought you a live blog from the event for those that were unable to attend, and we’ll be doing the same this year. Hopefully we’ll also be doing a few interviews as well, and providing as much coverage and photos of the shebang as we can manage.

Anyways, here’s the break down – there is a shitload happening – all of this info is via the Carbon Festival website and the Carbon Festival facebook page, so you might just want to head over there for everything – this is just a summary.

“Australia’s premier contemporary, creative-culture event, Carbon is back! Now in its second year, Carbon celebrates and explores style, design and street culture via a series of forums and side-shows.
The main forum event, which takes place at the BMW Edge Theatre at Federation Square, has seen us scour the globe for some of the most unique and authentic voices and minds in contemporary creative-culture. The forums are the defining element of Carbon. More than just the transfer of knowledge, this series of talks also offers a platform for discussion and audience participation. Add to this a range of exciting side-events and exhibitions and you have a festival of creativity and thought that is not to be missed.”

Carbon Festival Pre & Side Events

Lots of side events happening as a part of Carbon, here’s a small rundown!

Cullen Open House (featuring Mural by Faith47 – Saturday 21st April-12pm – 10pm  @ Cullen Hotel, 164 Commercial Rd, Prahran, Victoria. Check here for more details.

The Ricky Powell World Famous Slide Show – Wednesday 25th April – 8pm @ 1000 £ BEND (cinema) – 361 Little Lonsdale St. Melbourne.

Opening of Faith47 & DALeast Exhibition – Thursday 26th April-
6pm-9pm: @ RTIST Gallery, 29 St Edmonds Rd. Prahran, Victoria. (We’ll have more on this event soon)

Sneaker Freaker Swapmeet – Sunday 29th April

“Its that time of year again where sneakerheads, collectors, label whores, bike geeks, hoarders and street wear fashionistas gather to buy, sell, trade and give away mounds of stuff. Last year’s event attracted around 50 sellers and more or less 7000 people who came throughout the afternoon to see what all the fuss was about. We’re not sure what to expect this year, but rest assured it will be bigger and better. It always is!

If you’re into sneakers, bikes, toys, street wear, vintage gear and or bits ad bobs that are gonna be cooler than what you find at your local weekend flea market, then make sure you come and check this out. We guarantee you will be sorry if you miss it.”

Check out Sneaker Freaker website and the facebook event page, and the Carbon website for more details on this event.

Carbon Festival Launch Party

“The crew behind the Carbon Festival are pleased to announce the lineup for Carbon’s official launch party, a musical intro to the discussion forums and art shows that define the Carbon event.

Having developed a lineup that represents the evolutionary spirit of the visual aspects of Carbon, the following acts have been confirmed to kick things off for this year’s Carbon Launch: Headlining the party is a showcase performance by indie label Fool’s Gold outta NYC and includes eclectic sets by a favourite amongst local partygoers, Nick Catchdubs (Fool’s Gold co-founder and multi-genre party DJ), plus relative newcomer and literal one-man-band Party Supplies whose handmade MPC symphonies and heartfelt stage presence blend hip-hop energy with anthemic indie hooks. Party Supplies will be joining the lineup hot off the back of his collaborative release with Action Bronson ‘Blue Chips’ (download link below).

Party rocker, Mixtape DJ, founder of DJ collective ’5^th Platoon’ and former tour DJ for Jay-Z, are but a few of the titles attached to DJ Neil Armstrong, another New Yorker that we’re excited to welcome to the Carbon Launch lineup.

And from local waters, Auckland, New Zealand DJ collective The ARC will share the earlier hours of the party with local producer/DJ duo Dublin Aunts, favourites amongst Hype Machine enthusiasts for their approach to electronic funk and nu-disco.

Tickets for the Carbon Launch can be purchased from Moshtix at a discounted rate in conjunction with a 2 Day Forum Pass. Alternatively, a limited number of tickets will be available on the door for $30 (pending availability).

For further ticket information visit http://www.weareallcarbon.com/tickets/”

Carbon Festival Day 1 Forums

For a full run down on everything happening on Day 1 of the Carbon Festival, click here.

Saturday 28th April
11am- 1pm: Forum A @ BMW Edge, Federation Square
2pm-4pm: Forum B @ BMW Edge, Federation Square
4pm-7pm: Chaz Bojorques Exhibition Opening @ NGV Studio
Ian Potter Centre, Federation Square

Forums on this day feature speakers Nic Fensom, Eugene Kan, Joy Yoon, Faith47, DALeast, Jasper Wong & Chaz Bojorquez.

Carbon Festival Day 2 Forums

For a full run down on everything happening on Day 2 of the Carbon Festival, click here.

Sunday 29th April
12pm- Evening: Sneaker Freaker Swap Meet @ The Atrium, Federation Square
11am- 1pm: Forum C @ BMW Edge, Federation Square
2pm-4pm: Forum D @ BMW Edge, Federation Square
5pm-7pm: Live Paint session @ NGV Studio, Federation Square

Forums on this day feature speakers Mega, Dust La Rock, Huw Bennett, Ricky Powell, 13th Witness and Yimmy Yayo.

So, that’s Carbon – so much fukn awesome. Really, if you haven’t got your ticket yet, now’s the time – we cannot recommend this event highly enough for anyone interested in creative culture!

We’ll be updating this event article regularly with as much up to date information as possible, as it comes – don’t forget also to check the Carbon Festival website and the Carbon facebook event page for updates.

What an absolute cracker of a day down at Blender Studios last Saturday for their inaugural artists market. Positioned along both sides of the lane-way and framed with existing murals by local and international street artists (if you haven’t been to Blender Lane before you need to check out Melbourne Street Art Tours), vendors offered a diverse array of art, craft, stationary, zines, clothing, jewellery, cakes, cactii in teapots and much more.

Kick starting the day with a superb "Little Terror" coffee from Four Rascals – a brand-spanking new local coffee crew supplying cafes around Melbourne and popping up at various events (They even roast their own beans!). We then picked up a badge from Happy Maree (website coming soon) who have just released a collection of badges designed by Regan Tamanui (A.K.A. Ha-Ha). Also got some some cards from Baby Guerilla (for my lady) and issue one of Dailies, a collaborative comic art paper put out by Silent Army – classic shit.

Good vibes, funky live tunes filling the air and sunshine pouring down from the sky – can’t think of many better ways to kick off a long weekend in Melbourne.

We’re looking forward to the next one!

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Photos: Mick Rafferty (aka Drunk Monkeys) and Lachlan Curtin-Corr.

Studio artists in photos: ADi & James  Bonnici

Stoke up those coals, wind up those gears and don those goggles Melbourne, because Friday the 2nd of March brings a Steampunk extravaganza of such coolness that even a difference engine would have trouble computing – Steamscape. After having opened up their gallery and store, Post Industrial Design, back in February, partners Jos Van Hulsen and Mary Long are already making a grand impact on the Melbourne scene with a unique vision for their enterprise. One such vision, is the presentation of this upcoming steampunk event!

Man, you know, next to old school cyberpunk, steampunk is one of our favourite genres of both literature and subculture cool – and when we read the release below, we got pretty damn excited!

“Steamscape” is a collaboration with Clockwork Butterfly as part of the LOreal Fashion week Cultural Program. Alexandra Chambers is the creative behind Clockwork Butterfly and was the artistic adviser for the recent Circus Oz production Steampowered, she has a substantial body of work behind her and I am very excited to be able to collaborate with such a talented designer.

The Opening for this project is a free event and will be on the evening of Friday the second of March at Post Industrial Design in Barkly Street West Footscray, and will consist of a fashion show combined with performances including Circus and  Magic, to integrate the different aspects of the exhibition into a vibrant and unusual experience. The Steampunk theme will create a distinctive gallery opening and exhibition that will appeal to a wide audience combining beautiful timeless aesthetics and a love of detail with dynamic industrial designs.

The exhibition “Steamscape” will show in the gallery space for just over three weeks finishing on March 25th. The Left window will be set up to give a taster of the exhibition for anyone who drives past. The fashion of Clockwork Butterfly will be showcased with the industrial sculpture of local artist Jos Van Hulsen along with several other designers.

We are very excited about our latest upcoming show Steamscape. We have some of Melbournes top performers involved in the opening night. We also have Michael Pryor doing an illustrated history of Steampunk here at the gallery on March 18th at 3pm. Michael is the author of the best-selling ‘Laws of Magic’ series and we are very chuffed to have him part of the exhibition.

The schedule for the event is:

6.00 pm – Exhibition opens
6.30 pm – Magic show with Cath Jamison
7.30 pm – Fashion Parade
8.30 pm – Circus performance by Chris Bennett
9.00 pm – evening concludes

We also have the Penny Dreadfuls playing throughout the evening!”

PID looks like one pretty cool venue with some cool people behind it. Steamscape is part exhibition, part performance, part visual display, and part costumed awesomeness. Also, if you haven’t been immersed in the world of steampunk before, or are not really sure what it is, then this is great chance to check it out in its home grown awesomeness.

Yay for actual innovative events in conjunction with Fashion Week!

Who: Jos Van Hulsen, Alexandra Chambers, Mad Uncle Cliff, Fyodor Krasniy, Olivia Duval, Jennie Rosenbaum, The Gently Unfurling Sneak, Oku Den, Chanelle Collier and Geoff Wilson, Clockwork Butterfly, Cath Jamison, Chris Ben
What: Steamscape – An Exhibition (Steampunk)
Where: Post Industrial Design, 638 Barkly Street, West Footscray, Victoria
When: Show opens Friday 2nd March, from 6pm til 9pm and runs til the 18th of March

Check out the Post Industrial Design website, and the facebook event page!

 
When we interviewed Rena Littleson last last year, we had a feeling that whatever she came up with next was going to be as crazily cool as her previous projects, and My 2 Cent$ doesn’t disappoint!

"You may remember a time when I was the 9 to 5 Arti$t $idekick to Mr Devil himself. Sitting at the same desk for nearly 2 years, drawing ridiculous pictures of diamonds and love hearts, leopards and dragons (and more diamonds).

Who knows how many million$ of dollar$ my “Jackpot Dragon$” artwork has earned for casinos all over the world.

Or how many people have enjoyed the charming artwork of my first game, “Lucky Leopard” to the extent that they’ve inve$ted their entire life $aving$ into it.

And, how do I sleep at night?

——-$$$$$——-

This random job and life experience is the inspiration behind my new series, “My 2 Cent$”

I’d like to welcome you to a RENAFIED experience of the gambling world. A COLOURFUL and COMICAL creation of paintings, installations, games, fashion, fun and fortune. I’ll even be attempting to build my very own gambling machine of sorts!"

Well, consider our curiosity piqued – it’s a great theme for a show, and if anyone can make the world of poker machines into a humour laden, satirical artistic wonderful, it’s Rena Littleson.

Who: Rena Littleson
What: My 2 Cents solo show
Where: Egg Gallery, 66a Johnston St, Collingwood, VIC
When: Show opens Friday February 3rd from 6pm til 9pm and runs til February 13th

Check out more info on Rena Littleson on her website as well as the facebook event page!

We do love the Charles Street artists markets, so when we got this news in the mail we were double excited – they’re going to be holding a h=”Half Light” market up in Brunswick, which is great! Looks like it’ll end up being an annual xmas event for them, and what better way to end a Saturday before heading out than an artists market?

“Please join us at our 1st Annual Charles St ‘Half Light’ Artists Market. One week before Xmas, it’s the perfect opportunity to get the perfect gift. Heaps of new stall holders and regular favourites showcasing their amazing arts and crafts.

It’s a Saturday night special! Music jam and live art workshop open to the people, food, drinks and the fun loving vibe you have come to expect from a Charles St Artists Market. Bring your family, friends and party tricks and get involved!!”

You never actually know what you’ll see at an artists market, or what new talent you’ll discover – and that’s half the fun. So head to Brunswick and check it out on the 17th December.

Who: An assortment of artists and creatives ..
What: Half Light Market – Charles St Artist Markets
Where: 27 Weston St, Brunswick
When: Saturday 17th December from 5pm til 9pm

Check out the Charles Street Artists Market blog and the facebook event page for more info.