Yuko Shimizu on the French Riveria

WE'RE SUPPORTING

My first encounter with the work of Portland, Oregon artist Carson Ellis was when stumbling across her beautiful cover art for The Decembrist’s Crane Wife album. It was love at first sight. She has such an amazing way with a simple pencil drawing. And as much as I enjoy all of her work, from her watercolors to her acrylic paintings, it’s still those pencil drawings that tug at my heart strings with their nuanced textures and forms. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

This organic form, revealing itself from the sprawling metropolis of Barcelona via the marauding eye of Google, is the Santa Caterina Market. Designed by the late architect Enric Miralles it has a floating ceramic roof that drapes the bustling market below in a parental way. The coloured ceramics, of course, represent the smorgasbord of fruit and vegetables on sale within and enable a majestic view, not only for Google, but also to its immediate neighbours overlooking the site.

WE'RE WEARING

Made from 100 percent organic cotton and eco-friendly, this super soft tee celebrates a sinister world of kaleidoscopic colours and ripples of psychedelia, of serenading Queens, of dancing flamingos, of unimaginable euphoria. It’s all the work of Sydney label, Das Monk and it’s available through the Lost At E Minor online store for just US$40. Now, there’s one hell of a Christmas present, even if we do say so ourselves!

WE'RE THINKING

I’m so excited to have stumbled across the work of Berkeley, California artist Weston Teruya. On first glance, his work feels purely abstract, like black and white grids with dots of colour here and there, undulating across clean backgrounds. On closer inspection, however, perfectly rendered chairs, life savers, netting, plants and various ephemera come to light. I’m always excited when I come across an artist who can so successfully merge the realistic and abstract, and Teruya does it with aplomb. Read more

WE'RE READING

When I did the Master Cleanse diet a few years ago — the one where you consume nothing but lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper for ten days — I sat at work looking at pictures of food as if they were porn. Scanwiches would have gotten me hot and bothered like nothing else.

This entertaining documentary follows a group of seemingly clichéd American teenagers in their last year of high school. Through a comprehensive recording of their lives it reminds us that, when examining anything in detail, there is no such thing as a cliché. The naivety and hope of each student shines through, providing a memorable and accurate portrait of a middle-American high school. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

The latest project of former punk rock drummer Andreas Asingh from Copenhagen, I literally stumbled across Small through my participation at the By:Larm music conference in Oslo. As one of the many up-and-coming bands in Denmark, their sound is a cross between M83, Remote, and Giorgio Moroder; captivating and adventurous, and full of strong melodies.