Lost AT E Minor

Trends / I can make a mess like nobody’s business

December 30, 2006 | Trends | by Zolton |

If ever there were an apt description of our time, it would be that we are the ‘mobile generation’. In every sense of the word. We are a people of movers, we are offered choice on so many levels and we accept with willing hands and heart. In this way, we are far removed - both in ideology and practice - from those generations before us, which were generally more static and certainly less transitory. ‘Option’ is a double-edged sword. It can bring uncertainty whilst also ensuring that life is never dull. We are an age of dreamers, of doers, and explorers. But is there a method to our madness or are we destined to be forever searching for the next great distraction? Only time, and that strange looking fortune teller down the road, will tell. [photos by Andreas Hering]

Illustration / Xiaobaosg

December 30, 2006 | Illustration | by Zolton |

Hailing from Singapore, freelance artist Xiaobaosg creates lush, finely detailed works that capture the Asian spirit of adventure and mystery using subtle colours and sweeping patterns. [see also Ala Dadan]

Fashion / Cioomoyoko

December 30, 2006 | Fashion | by Zolton |

Spanish designer, David Silvosa, has an exciting new t-shirt range cryptically called Cioomoyoko. If the shirts were a time of day they would be 11am on any given Saturday - full of promise, with a mischevious twinkle of the night before still hanging resolutely in the air. [see also Without Pockets]

Illustration / Cikita Z

December 29, 2006 | Illustration | by Zolton |

Some cute and cuddly illustrations by Italian artist, Cikita Z, who loves that her life can be just ‘pink or black, and the good thing is that usually I can choose between which colour lenses I view the world through. I try to translate events of everyday life into sparkling instantaneous freeze frames’, she says. ‘To perceive the magic in the ordinary - to emphasise fears with burning colours. I want to suspend the invocation and the surprise to keep them constantly alive; I am seeking for the innocent and the amazing, for my own delight and secret holiness’. [see also Vicki Scott]

Illustration / Jordy van den Nieuwendijk

December 28, 2006 | Illustration | by Zolton |

Jordy van den Nieuwendijk is an illustrator based in the Netherlands. He works under the name Superoboturbo. ‘You can sense Disney, rock, space, Nintendo, horror and love in his illustrations and paintings that are filled with weird-dramatic and over-reacting characters. The world around him, his girlfriend, his hamster named Sticker, feelings and his dreams are the things that inspire him. He absolutely loves illustrating and painting because he believes that it is the most fun way to communicate’. [see also Jesse LeDoux]

Music / The Red Romance

December 28, 2006 | Music | by Zolton |

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes of musical ruin, New York band The Red Romance have burst forth from the scraps of the cultishly popular Ambulance LTD. But whereas Ambulance LTD created a dense wall of indie rock, The Red Romance produce catchy, jangly guitar pop - carved from the same piece of granite as The Strokes and with that same sense of familiarity that their music engenders. I’m a big fan, having heard their demos through their MySpace website, and have had one of their tracks - Like I Do - stuck on constant rotation on my mental iPod. Hmmm. Thank god I’m not paying them royalties for it. Anyway, they were touring America with The Killers when I was in New York and are absolutely destined for bigger and better things. As they say in the classics, watch this space.

Illustration / Eduardo Bertone

December 27, 2006 | Illustration | by Zolton |

Argentinean illustrator Eduardo Bertone creates layered pop art inspired artworks which have been featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions throughout Europe. He studied graphic design at ESDG in Argentina and illustration in Madrid. [see also Ben Frost; Sarah Beetson]

Illustration / Adam Larson

December 27, 2006 | Illustration | by Zolton |

I love the work of Boston-based illustrator Adam Larson. It’s vibrant, original, and somewhat allegorical, like little snapshots of a world that I’ll never really know. [see also Jesse LeDoux]

Illustration / Kirsten Ulve

December 27, 2006 | Illustration | by Zolton |

Wow! I’ve just realised that I’ve never posted the work of Swedish illustrator Kirsten Ulve before. And that’s just wrong. Her work is exceptional, a colourful, textural realm where anything seems possible. I interviewed her once for a magazine I was editing and asked her what, outside of drawing, she did better than anyone else. Her answer? ‘I bake very tasty brownies’. For real! More please. [see also Vicki Scott; Autumn Whitehurst]

Illustration / Baby carni bird

December 26, 2006 | Illustration | by Zolton |

You can really tell it’s summer in Australia when the dulcet tones of Richie Benaud booms out of the tele whilst the grasshoppers outside make a racket by rubbing their legs together in the balmy heat of the midday sun. How the hell the damn things don’t spontaneously combust I’ll never know. [illustrations by Peter Ferguson]

Photography / Same place, different face

December 26, 2006 | Photography | by Zolton |

Melbourne’s St Kilda is one of those iconic places that attracts an eclectic bunch of people, many of whom liberally skirt the conventional parameters of life. The beachside community is renowned for its diversity - be it in the music and art that out of the pubs and studios or the cakes that tempt from the windows of the cafes. It’s a fascinating little part of Melbourne and its been captured for posterity in a new coffee table book by Australian photographers Elizabeth Clancy and Kylie-Rose Douglas. Same Place Different Face ‘uncovers the character and edginess of a place that holds a magnetic attraction to locals and visitors, louts and luminaries. To some, St Kilda is fish and chips as the sun sets over the pier, Acland Street cake binges, Luna Park, Junction Oval and hot sand in summer. To others, it’s 4am stumps, big sounds from the Prince Band Room, queuing on The Espy steps, street workers, bar brawls and big breakfasts. Same Place Different Face represents the St Kilda spirit that is something to everyone, and everything to some’. It’s available from selected bookshops. [see also Matthew Sleeth]

Products / Jack Skellington

December 24, 2006 | Products | by Zolton |

These limited edition Jack Skellington toys - based on the character from The Nightmare Before Christmas movie - were released recently by Medicom in a resricted run of just a thousand worldwide, making them the creepiest damn Christmas present imagineable. [see also Tristan Eaton]

Illustration / 57 Even

December 22, 2006 | Illustration | by Zolton |

American designer 57 Even has been doing some work of late on BMX apparel and is also ‘working to redefine the Standard Byke BMX Company’s BMX bikes, parts, accessories, website, print material, and marketing strategies’. Read more

Products / Beck’s plush love

December 22, 2006 | Products | by Zolton |

Well, it’s that time of year and dammit we’re in the mood for giving so we have one final treat for the year, a plush doll created for the launch of the new Beck album, The Information. Fittingly enough, the doll was created by Australian designer Beck Wheeler, who says she ‘listened constantly to the album while designing the toy. Music is always an important feature in my studio, and it was great to get asked to make a toy that responded to a musical muse. I’m a big fan of the new album’s ‘do it yourself’ aesthetic [It comes with a blank cover and a bunch of stickers that you can arrange however you want them]. I guess my original idea was to have a toy that worked in a similar way to the album. The first sketches I did were for a toy that had no face, and came with a bunch of button-on faces that could be swapped and changed. The design I settled for is of a toy that has a traditional looking bear face that can be removed to show the face of a four-eyed creature. I wanted to pay homage to the history of the ‘Teddy Bear’ [thanks to Theodore Roosevelt] but put it in the context of the current designer toy explosion. There are alot of disposable mass-made objects out there and I really wanted to make a toy that was almost obsessively handmade. I hand-printed all the fabric and used a mixture of hand and machine sewing to finish the toy. They were ridiculously time consuming and I really enjoyed the whole process’. He’s wearing a very stylish outfit. It’s quite a dapper toy huh? ‘Yep, he’s a stylish fella. The suit is actually drawn from one that Beck wears in a recent photo shoot’. How did the assignment come about? ‘I got an email from Becks promo team after they spotted my stuff on the Cool Hunting blog. The idea of designing a toy especially for the album had me drooling with excitement. What’s the latest with your own toy range? ‘My last range of toys is called ‘the Myxo Mob’ and are a series of bunnies that have myxomatosis and like scrabble, internet dating and Fleetwood Mac. This series was limited to an edition of 100, of which I have about 20 left. I plan to release a new range of toys in 2007, but the details are top secret. Shhhh. I have also written and illustrated a childrens book called How Absurd which should hit the shelves in May/June 2007′. We have three of these toys to give away. To be in with a chance of winning, leave a comment under this posting listing which contemporary of Beck you’d like to see as a plush toy and why. Entries close December 28th and the winners will be announced with a comment under this posting.

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Illustration / Stephan Doitschinoff

December 21, 2006 | Illustration | by Zolton |

Stephan Doitschinoff is my new best friend. Not just because his work is so finely detailed and cryptic, but because I’m sure that beneath the dark themes there’s a damn fine chef just waiting to burst forth. Crepes please! With extra cheese. [see also Daniele De Batt]