Design Is Kinky
Our friends over at Design Is Kinky [DIK] have undergone somewhat of a facelift, revealing a fresh new look through which to channel all the awesome creative talent they feature. We caught up with founder, and sometime Lost At E Minor contributor, Andrew Johnstone: What’s been up with DIK over the past few months? There’s the new look site, Empty magazine kicking along, Semi Permanent planning … any other fun projects on the boil? ‘Yeah the new interim site is going well. We got to a point where we were sick of the old design but haven’t had the time or inclination to put together a new full site as it’s quite time consuming to re-do all the content. So we thought something small would be enough for now. We’ll hopefully design a full site sometime soon, but it may take a while. We have a couple new projects in the works. All top secret for now of course! Everything else such as Empty and Semi Permanent [SP] are going along nicely. We’ve just launched the 2008 SP site and have a new issue of Empty coming out soon’. What was the original agenda behind setting DIK up? ‘There never really was — or ever has been — an agenda. I set the site up originally just to get involved in the, then quite small, online design community. I enjoyed getting to know people and being a part of that world of like-minded individuals. I would never have thought that the site would become so popular. It’s awesome that people like it and support us’. How do you feel Australian design is placed within the international community? ‘I think Australia is as well respected as anywhere these days. The internet has kind of made what country you’re from irrelevant anyway. But I think that Aussie designers have a good rep world wide. They are generally very creative because they are used to soaking up ideas and styles from all sorts of cultures. I think this is a really strong aspect of the local design work and people overseas appreciate that’. You guys are well known for spotting cool websites. Any in particular that have really caught your eye lately? ‘I really like the site of illustrator Alex Trochut [illustration above]. His artwork is beautiful and the site is really simple and well laid out. We had seen his work before, but he sent us the link again a week or so ago and we liked his new work so much that we invited him to speak at Semi-Permanent. Thankfully he said yes!’
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Also by ZOLTON
Ok, so I’m wearing this t-shirt right now. It’s by Singapore-based fashion label Hooked Clothing, and it’s just about my favorite tee at the moment. Why? Why not. Tees are fun and Hooked has me hooked. Read more
Following on from the People of Walmart website, comes People Of Public Transit: ‘The public bus and subway systems are littered with amazing photo opportunities. Many of us have been sitting alone witnessing something amazing and only wishing we could share the experience with our friends. Well now you can!’ Read more
Milk and Honey necklace by Stephanie Simek
Milk and honey, an indubitable pair. In this necklace by Stephanie Simek, a golden honeycomb beeswax pendant is encased in plastic and hangs from an oxidized sterling silver chain. The links are interwoven with a milk protein-based fiber. We have it for sale in our online store.
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Japanese artist Ikeda Manabu creates the most detailed, expressive, and awe inspiring artwork which literally rolls across the canvas with subtle colours amidst waterless wave-like formations. Each work is constructed upon a series of intricate miniatures which play out across broader themes of unrest and movement. Read more
The highly polished electronic sound of Minneapolis band UltraChorus falls somewhere between Hot Chip and Phoenix, bringing a cut and paste indie rock aesthetic to late nineties Hip-Hop and R&B. We have their debut single, Words Kept Talking [listen below], available for free download in our Music Download section.
We’ve been featuring some interesting guest contributors on Lost At E Minor over the past six months. Included among them are Angus Andrews, from The Liars, Ben Lee (who wrote about his festish for vintage Rolexes, amongst other things), Brendan Canning from Broken Social Scene, designer Deanne Cheuk, artist Sam Weber, singer-songwriter Laura Veirs (who brought Juana Molina to our attention), and Tegan from Tegan and Sara.
No, this is not a still from a Dr Who episode. It is, instead, the facade of the Wotruba Church, built between 1974 and 1976 and located in the beautiful Austrian suburb of Mauer, the 23rd district of Vienna. Now, if only all religious buildings were so damn adventurous. It would kinda make Christmas mass more enjoyable. Read more
The very talented Jess Snow, the first video artist to be featured by Female Persuasion — the original site for provocative and political female artists — has created this ethereal short video for Lost At E Minor. We feel it. We love it. [see also the promo video Lifelongfriendshipsociety created for us]
If you thought that fashion and science had nothing in common, think again. Now we creative types have little time for heavy discussion about scientific facts, so we’ll get straight to the point. Emerging Sydney designer Dion Lee has interpreted ‘mitosis’, the process where cells divide, in an impressive first collection that’s already gaining a cult following. Read more
Face Your Pockets encourages you to empty your pockets out onto a copier, put your face down on the glass (eyes closed), press the green button, and then post the results on their website. It’s fun people! It’s also a great way to weird-out your co-workers.
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I live the upbeat, feel good tempo of the new single — A Hundred Hearts — from Philly group, The Swimmers. Off their latest album, People Are Soft, this song is a strangely fitting anthem for the blustery day outside.
Italian-born, New York City-based photographer Paolo Ventura creates fairy-tale like pictures out of amazingly constructed, miniature dioramas that almost trick the eye into thinking he’s a tilt-shift photographer. Read more
Charlie Immer’s pastel-pallete sometimes obfuscates the gory violence in his surreal images. At other times, it heightens the gut-wrenching and visceral effect of his work. Read more
Our celebrity-saturated culture makes many of us irrationally hateful of the faces we see on our TV screens and magazine pages. Good thing there’s Celebrity PunchOut to let off some of that steam.
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
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
In Wish Upon a Star, this giclee print on archival paper, Yuta Onoda gives us his take on the Mario Bros for the fourth installment of the I Am 8-bit exhibition. This print comes in a limited edition run of just 30. Read more
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We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it’s not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
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Mofa said | 8 February, 2008
Nice! It really is amazing how popular DIK has become. Not only is the website popular, but to me, and many of my peers down here in Cairo, DIK is THE design hub you’ll have to check out on a daily basis if you want to have anything to do with design and whatever’s going on out there.