Like householders the world over, Perth sculptor Christian de Vietri has been spending time in IKEA. Loitering in the Faktum kitchen and between the Billy bookcases, slumped on the Klippan two-seater and filling his pockets with allen keys, de Vietri is assembling something of a different order. For his latest work Configuration 3: Nuclear family fusion, 2006, currently on show at new Sydney gallery space thirtyseven degrees, De Vietri has taken the components of various IKEA products – the wooden structures of a bunk bed, curtain rails, parts of a rotating cupboard, knives, chopping board sets, chairs and tables – and created from them a tool of torture: a 3 x 3 metre ‘Infrafamily Conflict Resolution Unit’. Imagine a whirligig plus prodding stick: a contemporary reinvention of the barbarous medieval pillory, into which offenders were locked by their hands and neck and forced to rotate aimlessly, incessantly. For anyone who has done battle with a DIY assembly kit, it is clear that De Vietri has not so much transformed these IKEA products as pushed them to their cruel and natural conclusion: IKEA – the cycle of production and consumption – here reads as torture, as gross spectacle. It is possible, however, that the artist’s reasons for loitering in the local IKEA are far more mundane. A multi-award winner, having bagged the Art & Australia/ ANZ Private Bank Prize for emerging artists, the QANTAS Spirit of Youth Award, a Nescafe Big Break grant and the honorific title ‘West Australian Citizen of the Year’, Christian de Vietri is a man in dire need of a trophy cabinet.
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Also by KATRINA SCHWARZ
Australian fashion brand Lover, founded by Susien Chong and Nic Briand in 2001, arouses a particular type of devotion. Like the fashionable muses that inspire Lover’s strong and feminine collections – Patty Hearst for the ‘Black Rose Army’ (Spring/Summer 06/07); Rolling Stones groupies and biker babes for ‘Altamont’ (Winter 07) – fans of Lover know all about yearning, obsession … and waiting lists. Get in the swim and place your pre-orders for Lover’s newly launched Spring/Summer line, ‘One Plus One’, which includes the label’s first foray into swimming cossies.
Hot Box, by Barcelona-based Ana Mir and Emili Padros — for Emiliana Design Studio — is a design object with a different type of consumer in mind. If most highfalutin design firms pitch their sleek wares at Prada-clad architects and inner-city aspirants, the envisaged audience for the Emiliana Hot Box is another breed entirely: the chilly sex worker. A translucent structure that emerges from the ground, the Hot Box was created with the notion of providing warmth and light for those who spend a long time waiting on the street — namely prostitutes. Read more
In the 1985 movie Weird Science, a pair of happy misfits use tip-top technology and nerdy know-how to create something truly beautiful: in the form of ‘real life’ woman and sexed up diva Kellie Le Brock. The Australian fashion label Romance Was Born have created something equally beguiling with their Spring/Summer 07/08 collection, also called Weird Science. Sending coke-bottle spectacles, high-waisted acid wash and even a DNA inspired headdress down the runway at Rosemount Fashion Week, a real highlight of the collection is the label’s collaboration with hot Sydney artist Del Kathryn Barton. Del Kathryn Barton, who has previously collaborated on the label’s Regional Australia collection, will once again provide a unique fabric print that will be reproduced across a range of garments. Romance’s own misfit duo, Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales, know nerds get their revenge in the end. [see also Del Kathryn Barton]
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I’ve just discovered the work of Arien Valizadeh and I’m very impressed. His Iranian-American background (he studied under a master Farsi Calligrapher) has shaped his artistic vision, which maintains the classical presence of Persian figurative painting. If that’s all too much, then explore his use of print and pattern and the dramatic color schemes he employs.
Oh man, close your eyes if you will and transport yourself to a place far, far away; where disco is in, polyester is up, and everyone bows long and deep to the gravitational pull of the almighty afro. Sister Self-Doubt by The Shakes takes me there. It takes me front and centre, feeling that slippery, incidenary groove as it crunches my spine and works its way to my feet. Hmmm, the feet. It’s always in the feet. And now I’m dancing and twisting, onwards and upwards, like a manic spinning top thinking nothing of today and even less of tomorrow.
Listen to The Shakes track, Sister Self Doubt.
Miwa Yanagi’s Fairytale series consists of very creepy photographic interpretations of classic Western fairytales. Read more
I came across the Dongzhong cave school, which is situated in a Miao village within the Ziyun county, while watching a fascinating BBC documentary series about China the other night. The school, which was built in 1984 and caters for just under 200 students, is considered to be ‘a teaching branch for nearby resident units’. It looks stunning in its ornate beauty, and it must be one hell of a stimulating environment in which to learn. Read more
This awesome promo video for the Lost At E Minor site was created by our friends over at New York-based design studio, Lifelongfriendshipsociety. It’s all about looking into a black mirror and seeing the creative energy burst back out at you. We think it’s very cool and the first in what we hope will be a series of short videos exploring what it really means to be lost at e minor. Hit us up if you’d like to have a go at creating one.
These Stephanie Simek designed rabbit’s foot-like charms made from pussy willow buds dangle from the ears by strands of thin chains like silent wind chimes. The earrings are approximately 3 inches long plus ear wire and available for US$125.
Going about day-to-day life can be a chore, which is why the guys at Anxiety Culture are delivering highly valid excuses for why people should feel free to do exactly as they please, which, in most cases, is absolutely nothing. Read more
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Good thing Kris Kuksi channelled the trauma of growing up with an alcoholic stepfather, his disdain for ‘the typical American life and pop culture’, and his fascination with the macabre into obsessive, baroque assemblages, paintings, and drawings. Read more
1970s and 80s Soviet Union buildings
Cambodian born photographer Frederic Chaubin is the editor of French magazine Citizen K. His photo series on bizarre buildings built in the former Soviet Union during the 1970s and 80s is absolutely fascinating. Read more
Karen Caldicott’s clay head models
British born, New York-based model maker Karen Caldicott has been making clay heads for all major US publications over the last decade. Read more
Check out Mike Stimpson’s Lego reinterpretations of classic photographs. Stimpson’s version of Malcolm Browne’s iconic 1963 photograph of the self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc is particularly twisted. Read more
Trip out with Sparrow Vs Sparrow’s retro illustrations, I love their aesthetic, color use and sense of humor. Read more
Wolfmother. Rock n roll. Mystical lyrics. Heavy riffs. They have a new album out, Cosmic Egg, and we have five copies to giveaway, along with their debut album. To enter, tell us your favorite Wolfmother song and the city you live in. Yo! Two fingered salute. Read more
Shattered vintage vinyl. The likes of Rolling Stones, Beatles, Beethoven, Mozart, MC Hammer and a touch of Gospel. A combination of music history to wear around your neck wherever you go! Grab one now in the Lost At E Minor store for $33. Read more
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