Our favourite teatowelologists Third Drawer Down are doing more interesting things with this long neglected ‘canvas’ than you can wave a Daquari at. The Australian companies’ mission statement is simple but effective: ‘By placing art into the most domestic of circumstances, Third Drawer Down products promote an ongoing dialogue between art and everyday life, whilst promoting the work of international artists and designers’. These artworks are screen-printed onto ’100% quality materials. This ongoing project explores the multiplicity of domestic items and the long history of linen as a cherished gift and souvenir. Their ubiquitous nature in our domestic lives and personal histories provides a rich ground for a Napery renaissance, where contemporary artists and designers can re-establish and explore the full potential that this humble linen canvas has to offer’. We have five limited edition tea towels designed by Dolly Vardon [above left] to give away to random Lost At E Minor subscribers who leave a comment under this posting nominating who you would like to see design a tea towel for Third Drawer Down and why. Entries close Wednesday Jan 24th at 5pm Sydney time and winners will be announced under this posting.
Also by ZOLTON
Maths explains the origin of superhero characters
I love the colours and simple reasoning in this clever series by Scottish illustrator Matt Cowen, which uses basic maths equations to explain how certain pop culture icons came to be. Read more
Star Wars Uncut: a fully crowdsourced version of Episode IV
The project of creative technologist, Casey Pugh, this full length version of the George Lucas masterpiece was created from multiple 15 second segments recreated from the original movie and submitted by thousands of Star Wars fans, which were then spliced together by editor Aaron Valdez to form the final product. Genius, as both a commentary on contemporary pop culture trends (there are references to LEGO, stop motion, memes and the like) and on the power of tapping your audience for quality material.
Filmmaker creates LEGO stop motion to propose to girlfriend
Now, this is one for the ages: back in 2010, Atlanta film-maker Walter Thompson created a jaw-dropping LEGO stop motion to propose to Nealey Dozier, his girlfriend of four years. The video took 22 hours of shooting and some 2,600 pictures to splice together, a small sacrifice to pay for years of happiness together. Right? Right! Oh, and she said yes. Bonus.
YOU'RE SAYING (37)
Samantha Syrmis said | 15 January, 2007
I’d like to see a tea towel designed by Mark Ryden, maybe some with various meat cuts, so often seen in his surreal yet disturbing and brilliant art. Suitable for any post modern kitchen.
Samantha
Meghan said | 16 January, 2007
I would like to see a towel by Nate Williams or Andy Smith. I’m a big fan of their hand-drawn lettering and would like to see what they would do for a tea towel.
Meghan
lastworthy said | 16 January, 2007
I’d loooooove to see one by Kenichi Hoshine; rad design sense aside, he uses tea pretty regularly in his paintings and it’s be cool to compare spills with a master.
-lastworthy-
Melissa said | 17 January, 2007
I would like to see a tea towels designed by kids everywhere – their honesty opens up your eyes to the real world!
Fette said | 18 January, 2007
I’d love to see Nicola Pecoraro make a tea towel. The t-shirt he made for Tiny Vice was just so explosive! Tea would taste so much better : )
Pete said | 18 January, 2007
Chuck Anderson cos’ he’s brilliant
Ian M. said | 18 January, 2007
I would like to see one done by either Evan Hecox or Dan Hipp (Amazing Joy Buzzards)
Jenna said | 18 January, 2007
I would love to see Rinzen do a wacky tea towel design, bringing their illustration to the kitchen for people.
trixie said | 18 January, 2007
I’d like to see one designed by Zolton containing his infamous recipe for lettuce soup! His, how shall I put this, um, ‘unique’ cullinary skills are simply too astounding not to be imortalised in print on a tea towel.
amber said | 18 January, 2007
I’d like to see Memomi’s critters on a teatowel! Chop Suey!!
http://meomi.com/im/portfeat/bang2.gif
Maurice said | 18 January, 2007
To see what a 21st century tea towel SHOULD look like: Alexander McQueen
areaRED said | 18 January, 2007
id love to see Aaron Kraten do one. Hiis mixed-media urban feel would look great in my kitchen.
Ebes said | 18 January, 2007
Hmmm… I’m thinking that renowned Tassie wilderness photographer Peter Dombrivskis (unfortunately no longer with us I think.. or was that the other one who spent a lot of time out in SW Tas) should do us a good tea towel. Hmmm… something to do with photos of tea coloured rivers on a tea towel would be oddly appropriate.
Rozie said | 18 January, 2007
It would be cool to see one designed by Kill Pixie. From the streets to the kitchen peoples.
Roni said | 18 January, 2007
Would love to see one from Stanley Donwood!
For those unsure – the guy who does all the artwork for Radiohead. Tom Yorke is very much so into looking into ways into fixing the planet, especially trying to slow the process of global warming. A tea towel is perfect as it is a reminder to do the dishes by hand instead of using the earth killing dish washer!
Fionna said | 18 January, 2007
Fafi should design a towel!
Linton said | 18 January, 2007
FAFI ofcourse – why haven’t they thought of collabrating with her already. if they did produce a tea towel designed by FAFI i’d buy one straight away
Amy said | 18 January, 2007
I’d like to see a nice young design student scribble up a picture for their lovely teatowels…
I could really use the exposure 
Pella Shalvey said | 18 January, 2007
Martin Sharp .. iconic, colourful, witty and playful .. everything we need in the tactile domestic surfaces
Fiona said | 18 January, 2007
I would love to see Stefan Sagmeister – someone who thinks outside the square
keep up the good work with the great designs
Jeremy said | 18 January, 2007
L’il Jon, to keep himself clean from splashing around in all that Hennessy.
ikorni said | 18 January, 2007
i’d like to see a collaboration between one of those elephants that can paint, and the lovely laith mcgregor.
Ryan Doggendorf said | 18 January, 2007
I would love to see what eva hess would do. She is a great illustrator, with a simple, soothing, and often odd style. I would buy two of anyhting she made.
Ute said | 18 January, 2007
A design by Alberto Giacometti, one of his shadow man sculptures. The amazing shapes of his creations would be intensified and constantly changed and challenged by the movement and wrinkling of the fabric.
Karena said | 18 January, 2007
For a beautiful boozy night in with a dozen of your closest, either Rinzen, Yoshitomo Nara, Marcel Dzama or The Yok (…because everyone always ends up culminating in the kitchen).
And for the swishy dinner party vibe Marc Jacobs or Stella McCartney.
Tamsin Roberts said | 18 January, 2007
Xiong Lijun, my favourite Chinese artist, because it’s about time great Chinese art got onto tea towels for all the world to see. Her fantastic bright colours and very cool images would also cheer anyone up while they have to do the crap chore of actually drying dishes.
Sara said | 18 January, 2007
I’d like to see a tea towel by Fernanda Cohen because she loves tea, she’s done illustrations useing tea bags and I love her whimsical work.
Fernanda said | 18 January, 2007
I’d like to see a tea towel by Saul Steinberg because, the same as Thrid Drawer Down, the subjetcs in his illustrations are immersed in everyday life.
margot wiburd said | 19 January, 2007
Me! I’d like to design for a tea towel because I’m $55,000 in debt after living full time as an artist for 3 years (foolish move), having been unable to be sensible and go back to the ‘real world’. I need to kick start myself in the backside by expanding my media (currently pastels on paper and oil on convas) and by doing something fresh, new and potentially lucrative (in a good way!) Notwithstanding all these selfish reasons, I really make quiet, beautiful, minimalist art and would simply love the opportunity to broaden my aesthetic canvas. Thank you
Matthew said | 20 January, 2007
I’d love to see one designed by Da Vinci, as it would be great to see him come to life to draw on a tea towel.
Da said | 22 January, 2007
Kim Hiorthøy (author of Tree Weekend) would do something beautiful.
anna said | 22 January, 2007
Howard Arkley, bless him, if only he were still here. Those insane pyrotechnic lashings of surburbia on an icon of surburbia – the ever so useful tea towel.
Jake said | 22 January, 2007
If Ozzie Wright (http://www.volcom.com/team/team_rider_detail.asp?TeamID=1&riderID=54&SectionId=1) made a tea towel I would never use it, because
a) It wouldn’t be called a ‘tea’ towel, it’d be called a freakinultrapartymoppinrag towel
b) It would be so damn trippy and colourful that if you picked it up you would suddenly be lost in another dimension
c) I’d hang it on my wall, framed, as a reminder that tea towels can be more than just objects for mopping up the water that boils over the edge of the saucepan when I leave the rice on the stove and forget about it because I am too engrossed in the Simpsons
kate said | 23 January, 2007
Louise Bourgeois for shape and drama; Petra Borner for lines and colour; and Emma Magenta for the vibes.
Zolton said | 24 January, 2007
Hi everyone, thanks so much for taking the time to enter this give away. We’ve randomly selected the five winners as being Melissa, Trixie, Jake, Pella and Samantha. Congrats to you all! Can you please email me with your postal details. We’ll have another cool give away running on Lost At E Minor in the next few days.
ZZ
HAVE YOUR SAY
A major talent in design and illustration is London-based, Australian creative, Sharon Chai. Chai and I worked together a few years back at Stylorouge designing record covers and the like. She has recently been briefed by MacMillan to create design and illustrations for a special edition of Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice In Wonderland.
I managed to swing by the SVA Graduate Illustration show the other night and couldn’t believe how much amazing work there was. One particular illustrator I couldn’t tear myself from was Youngsun Liu. His work is pure texture and color, just the way I like it.
Set in a remote Chinese village in the 1920s during a cholera outbreak and with a revolution bubbling in the background, The Painted Veil is a wonderfully tortured love story which excels on all levels. Based on the W Somerset Maugham novel, it was a labour of love for stars Edward Norton and Naomi Watts, who also produced the film. Read more
Aesop’s signature space in Fitzroy, Melbourne, looks amazing, we’ve got the word on how and why. Why was Gabriel Garcia Marquez chosen as the featured author? ‘There are literary giants and then there are writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose talents redefine not only the genres they choose to work within but what’s possible in literature as a whole. The fact that his work has transcended his own language and culture has also prompted our decision to pay homage’. Read more
As someone who thinks more about traveling than actually gets to do it [damn, it should really be the other way around], it was good to come across the latest batch of Wallpaper* city guides the other day. Living vicariously through the pages of the Berlin edition at least made my next choice of holiday destination that much easier. Read more
Curxes (pronounced ‘curses’) are one of the most exciting new bands you’ll hear all year. Roberta Fidora and Macaulay Hopwood make music that will suck you in, invade your brain, and make you lose sense of time. Their music is somewhere between Depeche Mode and Crystal Castles.
I don’t know if it’s the name, the relaxed look, or the attitude that just don’t sit too well with authority, but something about New York based label Sophomore has got us reminiscing about the good old days. Their current collection has boys and girls getting back-to-basics. Think jersey sweats and loose tees, mixed with yoke necks, caplet sleeves and tapered waists. And you know what that means? The search for the perfect white tee and the ultimate summer singlet is over. If that’s not enough to get you inspired, pull out your denim, pop on some 1970s vintage Jodie Foster, and get ready to channel some Lower East Side cred.
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Here are a couple awesome pieces by Matt Leines that were recently on display in the Doubting Thomases exhibit at Nudashank gallery in Baltimore. Gives me ideas for Halloween. Read more
Matthew Dear’s Black City album totem
Our friends at Ghostly International are releasing Matthew Dear’s Black City album as a limited edition ‘totem’. A what? A totem – a limited edition metal bar used to access a private music chamber. Cool! Read more
Baltimore Mural by Josh Van Horne
My friend Josh Van Horne, a local Baltimore artist, did this amazing mural in our neighborhood that depicts the history of this warehouse-laden area.
Benjamin Edminston’s psychedelic heads seem to have some fearful wisdom behind their blissed-out eyes. Read more
Nerd-attack! Man, this TARDIS zipper robe is so much cooler than any Star Wars crap people are hawking this days. This is for the true gangsta nerd.
Using Kyoko Hashimoto’s popular design, these acrylic earrings are made with unique hand formed sterling silver sleepers that make them light enough for everyday wear. Part of Kyoko’s collection, I Blame the Uni, (pronounced ‘oo-nee’, the Japanese name for sea urchin) and inspired by her experiences in the underground club scene of Tokyo. Read more
If you have a Twitter feed that focuses on cool pop cultural things and you’d like to swap Tweets with Lost At E Minor and other like-minded Twitterers, drop us a note (with Tweet Swap in the title). We have a system in place and we’d like to have you in on it! [illustration by Brad Fitzpatrick]
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Migs said | 15 January, 2007
I’d like to see a towel by my grandma- coz i’m old skool, yo. Failing that, i’m all over seeing one designed by The Yok. Peace.