James Jirat Patradoon
Sydney-based artist, James Jirat Patradoon on his career defining moment: ‘If I could trace my artistic inspiration back to one event, it would have to be the Neo Tokyo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in 2001. I had never seen art like that before; I didn’t know you could be so playful with it. I vividly remember the Yoshitomo Nara sculptures made out of bandages, and Kenji Yanobe’s atom suit and Godzilla/Astro Boy sculptures that blew bubbles. It was just so fun. I think because a lot of Japanese art contains references to pop culture, it’s more accessible for audiences. They aren’t so intimidated by it because it can be quite light-hearted but still have a serious undertone to it’.
Also by NATALIE LIECHTI
Current UK beat-boxing champ, Beardyman, recently kept impatient crowds entertained between sets at London’s Lovebox Weekender. We spoke to the Brighton resident about his offbeat style: ‘I’ve been doing it since I was a baby, but I never knew it was called beat-boxing. I thought it was just a habit, like biting your nails, and people were always telling me to stop. Being a good beat-boxer is a mixture between being a good DJ, a cheesy street magician and a vocal athlete’.
A haven for all things creative,
With distribution as far-reaching as Japan, Australia, Spain and the UK, bi-monthly magazine FACT has been covering the best in music and art since 2003 – and best of all, it’s free. We spoke to editor, Sean Bidder: ‘We were, and still are, in love with magazines — and looked back to two particular periods for inspiration – what we considered to be the “golden age” of magazine publishing in the 1930s, when art and lifestyle magazines were beautifully produced products, and to the thrilling, vital and independent DIY fanzine culture that first sprung up in the 1960s’. Read more
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Oh, we LIKE this play on words. text-align: centaur; does just that. Enter some words, any old words, and this neat little program centres them for you. Whoops, sorry, that should be Centaurs them. Rock on (and give it a go).
Portland artist Aijung Kim creates the most heartfelt and endearing comics and prints. A highly candid viewing experience at times both quiet and haunting, often as cozy and reassuring as a familiar friend. With a keen eye for folksy patterns and clean detail, Kim’s work is simply a treat to view.
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
Lost At E Minor co-publisher, Andy Howard, is on a whirlwind tour of America at the moment, en route to his new base in London. He’s been diligently documenting his travels through his camera, the images from his New York leg being particularly interesting. Read more
The uber-hip French producer M83 has compiled a Secret Playlist for us in which he props Brian Eno, Julee Cruise, and Tears For Fears’ Head Over Heels: ‘This song was the biggest influence for my new album. Our track, Kim and Jesse, takes a lot of inspiration from 80s bands like Tears for Fears. This is one of my favourites’. Read the rest of M83′s Secret Playlist.
Finnish folk band Gjallarhorn is named for the horn that the Norse god Heimdall blows to announce Ragnarock — the end of the world. The bands music is far from dark, however: their brand of Scandinavian folk music incorporates mouth harps, fiddles, flutes, and even didgeridoo in a melange of cheerful, but ethereally beautiful tunes sung in Swedish.
Heavily influenced by music and film, the design team at Conquer Gear showcases their tees not as clothes, but indubitably as limited edition art pieces. That said, I wonder what film or music piece inspired Mr. Owl picture t shirt [below]? Led Zeppelin came to mind, but then so did Joni Mitchell!. As for film inspirations, Clockwork Orange, Lord of the Rings and Out of Africa. Hmmm, maybe I’m not so good at this afterall. Read more
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Mathematics? Leave me out. Fashematics? Now you’re talking! This gem of a site is a runway equation that adds up to a whole lot of wonderful.
Cookie Boy’s creative cookie designs
I don’t eat cookies, so good thing Cookie Boy’s cookies are little pieces of art too pretty and cute to eat. Read more
Never ever, ever, ever, ever park here
Some friendly advice for the neighbours, who simply don’t get it, or street art? You decide which one it is.
It’s refreshing to see artists like Joe Kievitt who are contented to explore the beauty in simple forms and asymmetrical patterns. Read more
How ’bout this Jose Manuel Hortelano-Pi guy, huh? Quite the illustrator, yessiree Bob. From Spain, too. Spain is great! Read more
Created by graphic t shirt label, the-affair, and printed on beautifully soft American Apparel. Limited edition of 200.
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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come clean said | 13 September, 2007
I find that Japan is a great place to be inspired by art. There seems to be a lot more of it as part of everyday life than other places I have visited.