Rolf

WE'RE SUPPORTING

In my Personal Vision class at the International Center of Photography, one of our first assignments was to photograph a classmate naked. I was paired up with a guy who wasn’t keen on the assignment (he ended up backing out due to moral issues), and the opportunity to photograph a stranger in the nude is yet to come up again. Yet! With that in mind, we interviewed New York-based, Chinese photographer Shen Wei about his series Almost Naked and how he gets through those awkward moments. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

With the streets of New York already covered in a thin layer of ice after a heavy snowstorm yesterday, it’s interesting to see how other cold winter cities deal with this ubiquitous companion. At the annual Ice and Snow Festival, in Haban, China, they get kinda creative with it: building an entire city out of ice and then lighting it up like an extra frosty, colourful Christmas tree. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

If on a picture perfect summer’s day, you find yourself wishing for a blizzard, something is wrong. Very wrong. But don’t panic, this weather preference has nothing to do with hatin’ on sunshine, and everything to do with an infamous leather bomber jacket from Claude Maus. It’ll have you hooked with its luxurious soft leather, stitched front paneling, Italian wool lining and the very necessary detachable hood. If you’re somewhere cold, then chances are you’re nowhere near this Australian-based label. So if you’re looking for a push in the purchase direction, it’ll be pleasing to know that the Aussie dollar ain’t doing too good. Gives a whole new meaning to the term ‘investment piece’, doesn’t it? Read more

WE'RE THINKING

Dear Miss Helena, one time host of children’s show Romper Room, you have a lot to answer for. Yes, squeaky clean Miss Helena of wholesome blouse and values, I have not forgotten those childhood years spent patiently glued to the television waiting for you to call out my name through the magic ‘looking glass’ — that portal to ‘good’ children everywhere. Read more

WE'RE READING

Anyone interested in the importance of limitations on creativity should check out the new publication Vormator: The Elements of Design. Begun two years ago, it challenges artists to create a visual by using a very limited palette of shapes and possibilities. Read more

There was a time, many moons ago, when I would only listen to bands off New Zealand’s Flying Nun label. Yup, I would strap myself into a comfy chair, put my headphones on and, armed with a chunk of chocolate coated Peanut Slab and a can of L&P, soak up album after album of wonderfully self-indulgent low-fi melancholy. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

I usually steer clear of anything smelling of disco-breaks: the thought just bores me. But with Padded Cell’s new release, Night Must Fall, I see a bit of a U-turn on the horizon. There’s something really interesting going on here: it’s a cocktail of 80’s swank laced with woozy narcotic undertones and flecked with snappy drum loops: weird, undeniably dark and ominous, but nonetheless pretty damn satisfying. Read more