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!
"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!!
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!
Invurt ran a live blog last weekend from CARBON Festival 2013 at RMIT’s Storey Hall. You can check it out here.
We had such an AWESOME weekend. A great event with so many excellent speakers. The Adidas Originals party was also rad. Check out the great shots by David Russell below.
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.
A few weeks back, we were invited to Oz Comic-Con in Perth . Having never been to a comic/fantasy/sci-fi convention, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. Comics are awesome, so why had I not been to a Oz Comic-Con before? I guess I thought this would be an event for hardcore science fiction fans and people who would make my comic knowledge feel like the small, pathetic, underfed creature it is.
As we neared the Perth Convention Centre we began to encounter Batmans, Pikachus and anime characters. Holly hell, people really dress up? I was SO excited! Upon entry we were greeted with what looked like a full house; stalls, shelves upon shelves of comics and a cast of patrons that were a mishmash of every cool movie, comic book and TV show I’d ever seen. All this and I hadn’t even got to where the Comic-Con special guests were. Macgyver was there, Macgyver!!!
I could prattle on about how great it was and how deep my regret is that I had not attended a Oz Comic-Con before but times is short yo. I gotta get started on my costume for next years Comic-Con.
Who: William Shatner, Jason Momoa, Richard Dean Anderson, Justin Randall, Nicola Scott, Patricia Quinn, J.G Hertzler and many, many more talented people. What: Oz Comic-Con Perth Where:Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre, 21 Mounts Bay Rd, Perth WA 6000 When: Saturday the 9th and Sunday the 10th of March 2013
For some time now, Norwegian artist Sinnsykshit has made Melbourne his temporary home, and, during his stay here as a part of studying for his honours, he has done a wide range of research looking into ways in which the "Melbourne attitude" towards street art and graffiti could be applied to his homeland. In the process od doing this honours thesis, Sinnsykshit has produced the first issue of a magazine, SplitCity, and will be presenting this along with the Fractured Encounters exhibition at Deakin University.
"The aim of this research is to compare attitudes of in´situ art (such as graffiti and street art) in Norway to those in Australia. I propose that attitudes to graffiti may change if it is compared with outdoor advertising. In ways similar to advertising, graffiti intrusively invades our private lives and can be seen to follow similar values. Both in Norway and Australia the benefits of advertising are obvious, but Melbourne has accepted graffiti as an art form while Oslo has not.
Having completed the research project I now believe that I understand why people in Oslo have difficulty accepting this form of art and put the answer as, quite simply, a lack of knowledge. After the zero-tolerance in Oslo and brutal anti graffiti campaigns for almost two decades, people in Oslo have been constantly fed with propaganda that portrays graffiti and the artists in a negative light.
Complementing this exhibition I have designed an online and print magazine which will serve as an information channel for underground art such as graffiti. I will feature photos of the work in this genre and interview the artists, and the magazine is highly inspired from it’s well functioning counter parts in Melbourne. This way I will educate the people not by telling them how it is or should be, but by letting them read, look and make up their own decisions. This magazine concept will be named SplitCity Magazine, and represent the two views of Oslo, those for graffiti and those against. I hope SplitCity Magazine will help to contribute to a shift in the anti graffiti culture of Norway".
Outside perspectives like this are important to us here, because although the outside world does view us as being more tolerant to this art form, we still struggle with many of the issues that they do. There are still councils with zero-tolerance, there is still a lack of education, and anyone or any thing that bring attention to these issues, globally, is a good thing. Not only is Sinnsykshit a talented artist, but he’s a smart dude with a lot of things to say – we hope his message gets through to those that need to hear it, but, in the meantime, we wish him luck with his show!
Here‘s a few previews that the man sent through to us …
There are also a whole bunch of other exhibitions on the night from a variety of honours students – so you should head down there are check it all out.
Who: Sinnsykshit & more What: SplitCity Magazine and Fractured Encounters group show Where: The Phoenix Gallery, Deakin University, Burwood. (located behind Building P. You can there from the city by tram 75) When: Show opens Wednesday 7th November from 6pm til 9pm
We don’t often post too much news here on the website, so please excuse this break from our regular services.
We’ve been slightly remiss with some of our updates lately, due to the fact that we’ve been hell busy on a variety of different projects. We do apologise for this, as we haven’t had much time lately to get to everything we usually would – but, it’s all for the better! Amongst things here and elsewhere, we’ve also been helping Dean Sunshine out with his upcoming book launch, moving our studio and, wonderfully, we’ve just entered into some new territory with a great collaborative project with out friends over at Nothing To Nobody magazine … so, read on!!
We’re pretty excited about this one, and we’ve been looking forward to sharing it with you properly for a while now.
For some time, I’ve harboured a wish to begin a print magazine. I’ve been writing and editing about art, music and general creativity for well over ten years now in various forms and for various different avenues, and starting up a print project has always been the dream. Given that it’s a huge endeavour, I had never gotten much beyond the planning stages for the project I had in mind (which is still bubbling away!).
By a random chance catch-up conversation at Secret Walls in Melbourne, Jo Jette from Nothing to Nobody fame told me of a project she’d begun working on – it sounded great, we talked some more, and, long and short of it, I’m now the Editor for our new print venue – Damn It! Magazine.
"DAMN IT! is a triannual, 96 page, limited edition magazine, whose staff work for smiles, mainly as we can’t afford to pay them yet! Instead we put every cent we have into the publication, so that each issue will kick the can of the previous one.
We’re firm believers in the spoon full of sugar mantra, DAMN IT! magazine features juicy articles on super talented peeps – illustrators, photographers, typographers, painters, couture designers, writers, and other creative types as well as reporting on the more serious happenings in the world.
Each issue will 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.
The name DAMN IT! was chosen as the expression can have both positive and negative connotations. For example: “Damn it! That’s some good cider!” or “Damn it, I just trod in a pile of ginareinheart!”
We’d Love Your Help
Myself and Jo Jette have been working on various magazines, online publications and print magazines for over ten years. On our first foray together into our new project, we are looking for a little help to get us started with our own. We have started a campaign over at Indigogo, and we are looking for a few generous donations to kickstart the whole thing. This is a long term project for myself and Jo, and we’re really looking forward to it. Damn It!, like Invurt and Nothing To Nobody will be a labour of love, and any help thrown our way would be hugely appreciated and would mean a lot to us both!
DAMN IT! Will always remain limited edition so it’s special – a collector’s item if you will, and we also promise to limit the number of advertisements to 5 per issue – never more. By helping us raise the money to print DAMN IT! you’ll also be a part of making these great things happen – you’ll be part of the DAMN IT!! community and not just a ‘reader’. Plus you’ll have our never-ending thanks and undying love to keep you warm at night!
Of course, we don’t expect something for nothing, so incentives include a whole range of great swag – issues of Damn It! Magazine, toys, custom designed Damn It! t-shirts by prominent Melbourne artist Hancock and apparel from our good friends Boy Wolf are all up for grabs when you throw us your support.
After two years at our Prahran studio, we’ve packed up and headed over to Richmond to join the guys over at SafeHouse Studios. If you haven’t heard of Safehouse, well, chances are you probably actually have!
The crew at the studio have been responsible and had their hands amongst a huge range of shows and events across Melbourne since they all got together, and comprise some of Melbournes leading design, aerosol, printmaking and art project management talent. Dangerfork, It Stands Out, Graffix Creative, MT Design, MV Communication and DJW Creative all have homes at Safehouse, and now so do we …
"The SafeHouse is based in Richmond. We are a creative studio that specialises in design & art-based productions.
SafeHouse is not only a collective of artists & designers but also a mixed lolly bag of creative businesses. The Studio encompasses many traits and individual insignias of various art, design & production facets. All involved at the studio seek to benefit as a group from each others experience & knowledge as a whole. Through our mixed specialties we are able to hit the ground running with virtually any creative project or artwork at hand.
The individuals who work from the studio and/or operate their own creative businesses all come well trained in their respective fields. As a whole the SafeHouse is on the forefront of modern art & design. SafeHouse prides itself on strong design aesthetics & also professional project management, brillant production & outstanding results. We have a proven track record of getting what needs to be done, done… with the best possible outcome & in the timeline provided.
SafeHouse is a sanctuary for various urban designers & artists that have chosen to infuse their skillsets & work together for a greater creative community based calling.
The people that make up the SafeHouse team all come from different backgrounds and their skills include: Creative Management, Design, Web Design, Animation, Art Direction, Advertising, Campaigns, Strategy, Marketing, Guerilla Marketing, Branding, Brand Strategies, Photography, Fine Art, Illustration, Exhibitions, Product Launches, Product Promotions, Exhibition Curation, Furniture Design, Signage, Shop Fit-Outs, Fine Art Murals, Graffiti Murals, Graffiti Management, Printing, Fine Art Printing, Screen-Printing and the list goes on, and on, and on."
We can’t tell you how happy we are with our new home – we’re looking forward to our stay there, and looking forward to bringing you more news, events and other cool shit from our studio mates.
Great times ahead, all, thankyou for your continuing support!!!
For the past few months, Deb has been concertedly throwing her talents and creativity into supporting numerous projects in order to raise both awareness, and well needed funding for the Australian Cancer Council.
With Man Up, a brilliant collection of male artists from across the world, we believe that she has completely outdone herself, and put together a show that has us impressed and humbled by her efforts.
"Renowned across Australia for her feminine motifs and candy store colour palette, Sydney-based street artist Deb is taking a stilettoed stand for men across the country with Man Up, an exhibition designed to raise money and awareness for prostate cancer.
The latest in a string of Deb’s charitable efforts for the Cancer Council of Australia, and prostate cancer in particular, Man Up comprises the monochromatic works of over 35 local and international male artists. Deb has ambitiously recruited an army of high profile art world benefactors, with headlining names such as Mark Bode (USA), Mike Giant (USA), Jim Houser (USA), Ben Brown (Syd), Ken Taylor (Melb). Deb has been overwhelmed and delighted by their support, saying, “All the artists have been really willing to donate work, which is amazing. Even more importantly, 100% of the sales go directly to the charity.”
Equally as supportive as the artists are the major sponsors of Man Up. Australia-based clothing brand Phable and Deb have collaborated on a limited series of printed t-shirts exclusive to the exhibition, with printing sponsored by Aisle6ix. The t-shirts will be available for sale throughout the duration of the exhibition. In addition, Deb has produced six customised copies of T-world New York, which are an official collaboration and will be sold on the opening night. 100% of proceeds from the sale of the artworks, t-shirts and books will go directly to the Cancer Council of Australia to fund prostate cancer research."
Not only is this a well executed, brilliantly curated exhibition, but, it is also for a very, very worthy cause. We wish we could make it, but those of you in Sydney can, and should! Head to aMBUSH and get yourself some great art, and support the Cancer Council whilst you’re at it, what more could you possibly want?
Who: Eyez (USA), Ghost Cave (USA), Greg Mike (USA), Jim Houser (USA), Mark Bode (USA) Mear One (USA), Mike Giant (USA), Mike C (HIT + RUN CREW) (USA), Nathan Parker (UK), Phill Blake (UK), Vyal Reyes (USA), Alex Lehours, Ben Bigeni, Ben Brown, Ben Frost, Dale Bigeni Damien Matter,Danny Young, Dboe, Edward Woodley, Faz, Jacob Morley, Jumbo, Justin Feuerring, Ken Taylor, Luke Shirlaw, Mark Douglas, Martin E Wills, Matthew Gordon, Michael Fikaris, Monkey, Onshow, Paris, Pilfer, RJ Williams, Sarris, Shane Kenning, Shida, Steen Jones Sprinkles, Stabs, Teem, and more… What: Man Up Charity group show Where: aMBUSH Gallery, 4a James St, Waterloo, Sydney When: Show opens Thursday 11th October from 6pm til 9pm
Seeing a whole slew of great artists, some familiar and some we want to find out more about, putting together a bunch of extremely limited edition zines for a one night only show? Damn fine.
If you haven’t really gotten into the zine phenomenon, you’re missing out – they are the bacon and eggs of the art world, and you never quite know what amazing things you’ll find within their pages. Given the talent that we see in this bunch, we wish we could get down with a wad of cash to splash on a whole heap of them!
If you’re in Sydney, head down to The Tate next Wednesday – if you’re lucky, you can get one of these collectors items for yourself …
Who: Mark Drew, Roach, Desmond Steel, Retro, Kyle Montgomery, Numskull, Drug Rug, Jaxstix, Scott Marsh, Takie, Trillrad, Onshow, Clams, Joel Gibson, Faz, Wing Lau, Kyle Lees, Comfy, Will McLean, Paul Tooth & more What: Print & Staple zine show Where: The Tate, 345 Glebe Pt Road, Glebe, Sydney When: Show opens Wednesday 3rd October from 6pm til 9pm – and only runs for one night!
We heard news of this a few months ago, and its finally here! This Friday sees the launch of an awesome collaboration of Sydney artists, creatives and bloggers into a superfest of art, ideas and talent – fuckin a!
“THE HOURS is a joint venture by three long time friends and artists, Brad Eastman (Beastman), Marty Routledge and Numskull. These three Sydney locals have each been instrumental in developing and enriching the Australian contemporary, street, graffiti and low brow art community over the last decade. They are now combining their many skills, fans, ideas, contacts and thriving ambition into THE HOURS, which promises to be an innovative creative force for years to come.
To celebrate their launch, THE HOURS presents an exhibition of new paintings by a few of their friends: Beastman, Ben Frost, Bennett, Ears, Edward Woodley, Ghostpatrol, Jae Copp, Joel Birch, Jumbo, Kyle Hughes-Odgers, Kyle Montgomery, Man Man, Mark Alsweiler, Max Berry, Miso, Numskull, Phibs, Roach, Sean Morris, Slug, Thomas Jackson, Trent Whitehead, Twoone and Vans the Omega.
THE HOURS have handpicked and invited these 24 talented artists from all over Australia to express their individual style of art making in circle format for an exhibition not to be missed.
Stay tuned to The Opening Hours for more information and previews of the work. All the artworks will also be available for purchase through the website.”
On top of that, The Opening Hours has just relaunched their site today, and its lookin mighty damn fine!
It’s really great to see all these guys getting together and launching something that we are sure is going to be a fantastic project, and will do great things for the Australian art scene - and we wish them every success on their venture! For now, however, go celebrate their launch this coming Friday, wish we could make it up there for it!
Who: Beastman, Ben Frost, Bennett, Ears, Edward Woodley, Ghostpatrol, Jae Copp, Joel Birch, Jumbo, Kyle Hughes-Odgers, Kyle Montgomery, Man Man, Mark Alsweiler, Max Berry, Miso, Numskull, Phibs, Roach, Sean Morris, Slug, Thomas Jackson, Trent Whitehead, Twoone, and Vans the Omega. What: The Hours Launch Party Where:The Tate, 345 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe, Sydney When: Launch party starts Friday 7th September at 6pm, and the exhibition runs until the 9th September.
"Six Years Later is proud to present ‘Surface’. Its a launch party and exhibition to celebrate the second issue of the Six Years Later magazine. No ads, no articles… just art. We’ve curated a fantastic group show with 25 of our contributing artists to show-off their recent work.
On opening night you’ll be able to get your hands on Issue 2 of the 6YL mag as well as get some original artwork and prints by our super talented contributing artists. We also have to mention that they’ll be massive giveaways on the night. Our friends over at Afends and Boywolf have been super generous and have donated some of their hottest products worth a total of over $1000. How sick is that!?
For your chance to win a ‘Golden Ticket’ prize-pack all you have to do is donate a gold coin or make a mag purchase. Where is all this money going you ask?
Well! All, yes that’s right, 100% of our ‘Golden Ticket’ donations and an additional $3 from every mag sale will go towards The Artful Dodger Studios. They’re based in Collingwood and provide creative spaces for young people whose lives may have been affected by difficult circumstances.
It’s going to be a massive opening night with a little bit of music, a whole lotta of drinks and delectables and definitely heaps of great great art! Come be inspired, have fun, and get a tick on your good deed list. See you on Thursday!"
So join the Six Years Later crew this Thursday night as they display a whole heap of work from artists featured in the second issue – can’t wait!
Who: TwoOne (mural in-situ), JKB Fletcher, Apeseven, Hamishi, Josh Miels, Donovan Christie, Darcey Bella Arnold, Luco, Goldenhen, Krishnamurti Suparka, Nick Modrewski, Ohnoes, Kewks, GiewTwo, Anne Cobai, Kasia Kurek, Nat Sun, Adelaide Daniell, Sean Leonard, Emma Anna, Anne Smerdon, Juan Travieso (USA), Alex Kostiw (USA), Jason DeMarte (USA), So Yoon Lym (USA) What: Six Years Later #2 launch party & exhibition Where: No Vacancy Gallery, 34-40 Jane Bell Lane, Melbourne, Victoria When: Show opens Thursday 23rd August from 6pm til 9pm
Hectic week agian, but we have time to quickly get this one up today – and we didn’t want to miss it! After a successful launch party in NYC a week or two back, Kingbown is headed for a launch in Sydney tonight.
“Co-curated by Kingbrown (NY), Morning Breath Studio (NY) & The Hours (SYD), issue 8 features work and studio visits of numerous skateboard-related artists. Following the launch of Kingbrown in New York, The Tate Gallery & The Hours proudly present the Sydney leg of the International launch featuring a cross section of artists from Kingbrown No 8 as well as supporting local artists from within the Kingbrown Family.
There will be 50 copies of Issue 8 on sale at the event. Each Issue comes with a Morning Breath Die Cut, DIY Skateboard and a Ltd Ed. Kingbrown x Beastman x Element TShirt.”
Featuring a whole bunch of usual suspects and a few other great additions from both local and international climes, this will be a fine showing . We got our hands on issue #8 not too long ago as well, and suffice to say, its yet another great issue – we loved the included mini-skateboard!
Head down, see some great art, and grab a copy tonight!
Who: Mike Giant, Stefan Marx, Ben Horton, Steve Gourlay, Troy Archer, Beastman, Thomas Jackson, Numskull, Sheryo, Twoone, Mark Alsweiler, Gimiks Born, Sam Smith, Max Berry, Roach, Yok, Ian Mutch, Kyle Hughes-Odgers What: King Brown Issue #8 Oz launch Where: The Tate, 345 Glebe Pt Rd, Glebe, NSW When: Show opens tonight, Friday 10th August from 6pm and the show runs til Sunday 12th August.
For every issue of Kingbrown magazine that comes out, there is always that period of anticipation – but finally the next issue is here, and we’re gleefully rubbing our hands in anticipation of seeing all the shots and work that will be in their official launch party in NYC.
"NEW YORK, NY, Klughaus Gallery is pleased to present: Australia’s “Kingbrown Magazine” / Launch and Opening Exhibition.
We are thrilled to announce the official launch and exhibition of Kingbrown Magazine, Edition #8, co-curated by Morning Breath on July 26th, 2012 at Klughaus Gallery/47 Monroe Street NYC, NY from 6:00pm – 11:00pm. Kingbrown and Morning Breath have collaborated with curators, John Leo and Melissa McCaig-Welles to bring you a dynamic collection of skateboard inspired artwork. The exhibition will showcase some of the world’s most influential artists from members of the infamous Girl/Chocolate Art Dump, pioneers in NYC graffiti, talented illustrators, animators, art stars from Australia, sculptors, and that guy living in the NY green diamond.
Kingbrown is a distinctively designed magazine, sitting somewhere between a book, a magazine and an art zine. As a super limited edition periodical, delivered inside a hand silkscreened brown bag, sewn closed with artist stickers and posters included, Kingbrown remains different from any other publication.
Conceived in 2006 by co-creators Yok and Ian Mutch in Perth, Australia, Kingbrown’s mission was to produce a limited edition work of art, which would reach a wider audience, allowing accessibility to the public and its entirety. Each “magazine” is handcrafted and designed by some of the world’s leading innovators of photography, illustration and urban and skateboard art and design. Produced on museum quality paper, each page is a collectable item, individually sealed and packaged. Now in its 8th edition, Kingbrown has achieved worldwide success and is now launching for the first time in the US. The term “Kingbrown” is Australian slang for a 40oz, and the magazine’s slogan “wrapped in a brown bag, just like a good 40 should”, is just as original as the artists it represents. This latest 8th edition, co-curated by the renowned collaborative, “Morning Breath”, focuses it’s topic on the visually rich artists who have influenced the world of skateboarding."
Grab a copy of King Brown issue #8 here, you won’t regret it! Man, wish we were in NYC this weekend.
Who: Mike Giant ,Grotesk, Andy Jenkins,Jay Howell, Dave Kinsey, Kevin Lyons, Greg Lamarche, Tommy Guerrero, Cycle, Pontus Alv, Razauno, Stefan Marx, Steve Gourlay, Zach Malfa-Kowalski ,Ben Horton. What: King Brown Magazine #8 launch party Where: Klughaus Gallery, NYC When: Show opens Thursday July 26th at 6pm
We’ve been reading VNA magazine for years now, and in fact the work that they do is a huge inspiration for us here, and we couldn’t be happier to see that they will be finally holding a launch party here in Oz!!
"We are launching the latest issue of the world’s premier street art magazine, Very Nearly Almost, at Oxford Art Factory’s Gallery Bar on Friday 13th July from 6-9pm. RSVP – rsvp@verynearlyalmost.com With DJ’s Kato and Rolls Royce, an exclusive Ironlak x VNA-commissioned wall – painted by Skel, Antony Lister, Shannon Crees & Sprinkles – and special Limited Edition Lister screen-printed magazines on sale at the event.
This is a pretty special event as we’ve been distributing the mag out here for a while, but haven’t really made any noise about it, til now. Top Aussie artist, Lister, is on the cover and Melbourne-based illustrator, Ken Taylor, also features in the latest issue, so this seemed the ideal time to have a bit of a party. Our friends at Carlsberg will be making sure you don’t go thirsty and our buddies at Westsyde Connection will be hooking peeps up with some goodies too!"
Sydney you lucky bastards, this looks like a mad event that you should head down and check out. If by some chance you read this website and you haven’t read VNA magazine before, you’re really missing out, so go get a copy and see what the fuss is all about!
Now, issue #20 launch in Melbourne, yeah? Hahaha ;)
Who: Skel, Anthony Lister, Shannon Crees & Sprinkles, DJ Kato and Rolls Royce What: VNA Magazine #19 launch party Where:Oxford Art Factory, Sydney When: Event will be held on Friday 13th July from 6pm til 9pm
Last Wednesday night we had the absolute pleasure to see one of the worlds finest street artists, Above, open up his most recent exhibition here in Melbourne – Jet Set.
We’d been following the mans progress on the show for some time, and seeing it all come together last week was a beautiful thing – the presentation of the show was both playful and inspiring and the work within it was sublime.
If you’re in Melbourne and you haven’t seen the show yet, get down to Metro Gallery and take a look – and, if you can’t, then live vicariously through all our shots from the opening of Aboves show below!
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 30th June and Sunday 1st July, 2012.
Over two days, the Oz Comic-Con event will feature international and local film and TV stars; with legendary actor SirPatrick 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.
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!
The other week, we got down to Acmi in Federation Square to check out a new conference put on by Australian INFront and the Jackie Winter Group. The Field Trip Creative Conference caught our attention right from the start with its unique format – a collaborative exploration of a bunch of artists from the Jackie Winter stable; we realised from the start that it wasn’t going to be your regular design forum, and we were proven right in that regards!
Field Trip was different for the fact that one of its primary focuses was on collaboration and how different artists, designers, photographers, animators and other creatives are able to work together. Along with a detailed look into the presenters processes, they also attempted to show exactly how all of these things fit in with each other in terms of creative "projects". It was, for the most part, successful – and though we were familiar with a lot of the applications, techniques and mediums that they used, we also learnt a truckload of new tricks that we’re sure to be adding to our own personal arsenal of techniques.
Here’s a breakdown of the day in order of the speakers – we decided on a point format for this, as there was a hell of a lot of wisdom imparted throughout the day, and we want to give it to you in bite sized chunks … we hope you creative types derive a little inspiration from all of this, as we did.
Beci Orpin
First up for the day was Beci Orpin, whose work most of you are probably more than familiar with! Showing us through a whole bunch of illustrative compositions, she focused mainly on the design of the Field Trip flyer and how her process enabled its creation.
Beci is a great artistic talent, and it was really enjoyable watching her describe all of her processes to us.
Things Beci Said …
She loves Japan and enjoys travelling there once a year to check in on their awesomeness
She generally works from home, and can sometimes have trouble maintaining focus, but she sets herself a "reward" after accomplishing tasks, be it looking at blogs or checking out eBay. She does love working from home, but "if you’re not feeling it, you can get easily distracted"
She always puts how many changes there should be with a design brief in the initial contract – usually two or three.
Clear briefs from clients at the beginning of a project are very important, as are references!
Beci Orpins Illustrative Processes …
Beci is a big fan of Adobe Illustrator, it is her primary drawing tool these days
She spends a lot of time playing with her characters faces and modifying things, trying different combinations
She uses a lot of clipping masks in illustrator for textures and placement (watching this was really fun, as a non-illustrator fan it was cool to see the various techniques she utilised in her work)
With her textures, she uses the "dither diffusion" technique a lot to distress the artwork a little
Works with a lot of details. A lot of her work has a "hand drawn" aspect to it rather than the disinfected Illustrator style – it looks like she achieved a lot of this by concentrating on the small details and not making everything perfect, but leaving some things up to chance.
Jeremy Ley
Jeremy Ley is a pretty cool dude, and a rad illustrator. You are probably familiar with Jeremy work, we’re actually big fans of his tape piece that you can find in Melbourne Central. He’s a funny fucker too – he spent a lot of the process joking around and engaging the audience as he worked.
He is also well known for his storyboarding techniques, which he showcased within the forum. Continuing on by taking some of Beci Orpins work and adding it into a storyline, he offered us a unique glimpse into the world of sketched out motion and action.
By the end of the session, Jeremy had blocked out an entire storyboard depicting Becis creations flying out of the computer to attack her – it looked like a hell of a lot of fun.
What Jeremy said and what we got from it:
He started out drawing as a kid growing up in England – he was a huge fan of Tin-Tin (though he hated the film) and got a Rolf Harris drawing book that set him on his path.
Jeremy studied advertising at RMIT, but ditched it fairly early on. He spent a solid ten months at home drawing, just to learn how to do it – and then landed his first job with Levis
He’s had a few studios, one with with fellow artists such as Nick Parker and Eveline Tarunadjaja, but he has since moved home to work there
Jeremy loves collaborating with other artists and designers
He’s currently working on a really cool little web series with Nick Parker called Draw Draw – an online how to draw series for younger audiences.
He has, believe it or not, storyboarded a porno for Sasha Grey. Lucky bastard (err, if that kind of thing floats your boat, of course).
Jeremy Leys Illustrative & Drawing Processes
When sketching, he starts loose and rough, going from small and simple without any details
With faces, he tends to draw in shapes and implement movement early on. He draws the eyes on the face first, and then the mouth, the nose will always fit between those – eyebrows are last!
He then bumps the opacity of the image all the way down, create a new layer.
He figures out his light source, and then begins to apply blocks of colours via focal tone swatches. He then adds a shade layer, and puts a bit of blue and brown in the shadows – as they are not hard black.
He suggests you keep the layer number down if you can, but it’s also good to have the separation, uses multiply a lot for blending textures.
Jeremy uses the three camera storyboarding technique. Internet, External and MTV. The internal camera moves with the character, the external camera is like in Indiana Jones, following the action, and the MTV camera just kind of moves around like a shakey cam.
Dom Bartolo & Flutter
Now, we do love ourselves a bit of animation, so the presentation from Dom Bartolo of Flutter renown was pretty interesting. Flutter has a trove of skilled individuals that represent all the facets of animation. Texture designers, concept artists, directors, music composers and animators all work within a well oiled machine. They’re done a whole heap of ads that you’ve more than likely seen on TV here in Oz, and they’re damn good at what they do.
The only issue we had with this talk, was that there there wasn’t much to join it up with the rest of the event – it was mostly spent describing the process behind the creation of a Telstra ad. Where the first two talks had a flow-through, as did the last four, the Flutter session stood mostly on its own. We get that animation takes time, but we really, really would have loved to have seen something that tied this talk into the rest of the conference.
Nevertheless, it was still pretty intriguing and it was a great breakdown of the whole process that goes into creating an animation – the ad itself is pretty cool too. Let it be said, that animators are some of the most patient creatives ever born!
What Dom said and what we got from it …
Things don’t move quickly in animation, but you just try to move as quickly as you can and many hands make light work – all of their projects have multiple team members. They spend a lot of time waiting for things to render!
There are two stages to the animation process – Concept & Storyboarding, and Design and Direction.
In Stage 1, they create rough designs, the eventual style may be different but they try to show the story in actuality with the storyboards.
In Stage 2, Production takes the story board blue print, and everyone gets to sign off on it
They use a lot of tools to do their animation, in this example they utilised 3D Studio Max
They started out on the Telstra example by texture mapping a face onto a cube, with character studies the team will often work on different components and develop little tricks, collaborations and scripts. li>Then usually apply some bump mapping to give the surfaces of the objects texture.
They predominantly use Adobe After Effects to apply depth of field mattes.
Travis Price
Travis Price was definitely one of our favourites for the day - but, of course, we are a little biased as we have a thing for illustrators, obviously!
Price lives out in Ballarat – not the usual place you’d expect to find an illustrator of his calibre, but, with the internet and all, these days it doesn’t really matter where you’re based. He is, admittedly, a bit of a control freak and enjoys being able to work at home. He’s a guy that has worked hard to get where he is (like all the creatives in the conference) = "Life isn’t easy," he remarked. "You have to work at it. You might not be in the right place – but what are you doing to get out of it?"
Price changed a lot of jobs during his life, and worked as a designer for over ten years – and didn’t think it was all that spectacular. He approached the Jackie Winter group several time after he decided to strike out as an independent illustrator, and it took a long time until they eventually brought him on board – he had to work at it, really hard.
For Field Trip, Travis took an owl that he was working on, and stepped us through his entire process from the very initial sketch – and it turned out absolutely fantastic.
What Travis said and what we got out of it …
Vector isn’t a dirty word, according to Travis. It has a stigma attached to it that it isn’t as good as traditional illustration – but a good vector illustration shouldn’t feel like a vector – it should feel loose.
He doesn’t feel like his folio should stick to one style, so he tries out a bunch of different things.
Price once went to an Illustrators studio and asked him about his techniques, and the illustrator was very secretive – so he likes to show everything he can about his own process – we loved this.
He always has movies playing in the background while he works, and enjoys using them as references. He spends his night on the couch drawing and sketching – something we’re familiar with!
Price is pretty humble, one of the things he said was that "You can think you’re pretty good, but you just have to walk down the street and there will be someone better than you." – and he is so right. It just means you have to keep working, working and working to be the best that you can.
Tricks and Techniques in Travis’s arsenal …
Often starts out with a Mind Map of ideas.
Look at textures and use references and multiple images to find ideas in images to insert into your creation.
He often uses the warp tool to get non-standard shapes and forms
He used to dismiss "Brush strokes" in Adobe Illustrator, but is now a huge fan of them. He thinks that brushes themselves are one of the coolest things and are very powerful – especially when you have the ability to drag patterns over to the brushes and use those to paint with.
He thinks one of the nice things about Illustrator is the ability to use the gradients and fills.
Uses the "Multiply" function a lot to help blend things together. For texture lines he uses the soft light function.
He also loves the "Blend" took – he uses it to add texture and form between separate pieces
Feathering is also regularly used – almost every object or layer has at least a little bit of feathering on it.
Tin & Ed
Really, these two guys are completely au fait with what is cute, cool and hip in the world of design. Tin & Ed are multitalented – their skills range across illustration and installations. In this forum, you just got the sense that they have a shitload of fun with what they do. Having been working together for over ten years, the synergy between them was palpable.
Throughout the piece, they just seemed to work together seamlessly, like a multi-appendaged creature they cut, stuck and folded two head pieces. Seemingly very simplistic and looking, to begin with, like something that anyone could do with a bit of clag and coloured paper, there was something about the materials that they chose to use, as well as their design aesthetics that propelled the pieces they constructed to a different, vibrant level. This was professional, playful paperwork at its best.
Tin & Ed are highly experimental in the way they work, and they find themselves often getting design related work that they have no idea how to implement. Constantly innovating and developing new processes, they relish the beautiful mistakes that can occur along the way – because theirs is a true love for the learning process.
Words of Wisdom and things we learnt from Tin & Ed …
They work with a lot of deconstructive methods, often using computers, but they really see these things as building blocks for a final product
A lot of their work is all about the end result, as well as the function of the piece. They enjoy things that people can interact with
One of their favourite places to find materials is in Ringwood, called Reverse Art Truck
They enjoy the "Happy Accidents" that occur during the design process
Basic shapes play a big part in creating complex designs
They also often start with very basic, bright colours
Most of what they do involves collaboration of one form or another, they think its good to be pushed and questioned by one another, as well as clients, because its good to have differing opinions in the process. "You can have incredible conversations and fulfil the brief but sometimes it doesn’t always go the way you want – it may not always be the most exciting end point, but working out the process is the fun part."
They think its a good idea for artists and designers to team up with a photographer, or have some basic photographic skills – it helps with presentation or conveying ideas
"Design is anything you want it to be."
Jo Duck
Now, on a personal note, as I’ve said before, I’m no expert on photography, and don’t claim to be. For me, photography consists of taking an absolute shitload of snaps on auto (fstop, aperture, iso, wtfbbq?) and hoping to get a small amount of ones that aren’t shithouse. Which is why when I see someone who has so obviously mastered the art, and should be called a photographer (as opposed to someone like me, a mere camera owner) it’s a real treat. Especially when you can see a distinctive style in their work.
Jo Duck has a distinctive style – its recognisable, and we really liked it. After graduating in her early 20s, Jo threw herself into the harder-to-make it world of editorial photography. At the start, she would shoot and submit, very rarely receiving anything back for all of her hard work – these days, however, she is much sought after for her unique style. Hard work and little initial gain seems to have been the order of the day, but its exactly people like Jo who prove that persevering with your creativity can help you attain your dreams – listening to her talk, it was all pretty inspiring (yep, inspired, yet again!).
She also started out doing a lot of work for street press magazines, due to her brother being big into urban culture when she began shooting – a lot of her photographic work has echoes of this urban feel to it.
For her piece in Field Trip, she took the work that Tin & Ed had done, and conducted a quick photo shoot – you can tell that it was bare bones, but the result was pretty fantastic; sometimes minimal is good.
Things we learnt from, and about, Jo Duck …
When she started out, she used to put together a soundtrack for all of her shoots, and share it with the models, stylists and others. It helped to set the mood of the shoot. We really loved this idea, and, though Jo doesn’t really do it anymore, it still sounds pretty cool.
Before doing a shoot, Jo does a lot of research into the subject matter – for Field Trip, she researched a lot of owls. One video in particular, this one of an owl on Youtube, was really inspiring (crazy great video!)
She shot the entire piece for Field Trip to the song "Twist Again" – love it.
Enjoys playing with double exposures and movement
She shoots really fast, and with a good tempo – you can tell she loves music and loves working with some tunes on.
Jo doesn’t use Adobe Lightroom at all. Her primary camera is a Nikon d700, and a 35 mm Minolta – she also uses a large range of film camera.
Toby & Pete
Last up for the day, but certainly not least, was Toby & Pete. Toby & Pete is a Sydney based creative agency, with a huge range of talent and creative services. Of particular note in this session, was there digital compositing skills – taking various different images of different sources and blending them together in photoshop. Have to say, as well, their compositing skills are fucking rad – you know those Spring Valley and Daily Juice images? Yep, that’s them.
They started out doing photo retouching, and a large majority of their work was high end stuff, including cars and digital retouching. Pete had studied photography and 3D, and Toby had been working at Sachi and Sachi – in 2009, they decided to go into business themselves, and the rest is history.
For Field Trip, they took all the images from the afternoon, Travis’s owl and Jos photos of Tin & Eds dancing headwear dude and meshed it all into one image. The result was, for a fairly quick job, pretty spectacular and just goes to show exactly how well multiple people with various different talents can produce a collaborative piece of cool.
Stuff we thought was cool about Toby & Petes panel …
They source things here and there, but only if it is legally available. Otherwise, they will take all of their own photos.
One of their primary focuses when doing compositing, is to ensure that all of the light sources are correct – this can throw things off really easily. The photography is really important, the shadows must be consistent – they also showed the simple "skew" method for doing shadows.
They use lots and lots and lots of layers, as well as a lot of channel masks in Photoshop to help break things up.
They never flatten any images until the very end – its very important to keep all of the layers intact, because you never know what you will need to change
They suggest using the "Noise filter" as a good way to help keep different elements cohesive – they spend a lot of time "messing it up? and then recompositing things.
They suggest that if you really want to learn how to do it, just work stupidly long hours – they’re all mostly self taught!
The first instalment of Field Trip was a huge success – if those who attended (and the event was a complete sell out) walked away without feeling a little inspired or with a new idea, then they probably need to reduce their prozac intake.
We only really had one very minor gripe with the event, and that was with the lack of cohesion. We had just hoped (or expected) that there would have been a little more continuity between the morning panels, and the work that was produced in them, and those in the afternoon. Of course, it is hard to co-ordinate so many people from such different walks of design and art into a cohesive whole, but, if they nail it next time, then this event will quickly turn into a must-attend event for creative people from all spectrums. Hell, it already is, and we’re probably way too hung up on the continuity part of things – the panels were fkn grand – and the afternoon, where each panel flowed right into another, was a perfect example of how cool this format can be.
Field Trip was, at its heart, primarily a showcase of the artistic and design talent for the Jackie Winter group – and though it did at times feel a little like an info-sumer dump on the range of talent they have available, and who really cared? Not us. They are a vastly talented group of individuals, and the JW group has done an incredible job at "collecting" them all together. We learnt a shitload, got to see some great art and design, and came away wanting more.
Most importantly, it was a great showcase of home grown, enterprising and creative individuals and teams. We’re looking forward to the next instalment – hopefully we can get up to Sydney in November for it!
Big thanks to Jess Brohier for helping out on the day. Any errors in this article are purely unintentional – we had a shitload of notes to go through … and if we got it wrong, just let us know!
Invurt webzine provides information on AustralAsian street, urban, illustrative, graffiti and other genre defying, nu-contemporary art to readers around the world. It specialises in events and artists who are working, displaying and visiting Australasia – particularly with a focus on exhibitions, live art and other events the artists are partaking in.
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