Kitten Cannon

WE'RE SUPPORTING

New York-based photographer Michael Lavine took the iconic photo of Kurt and Courtney for the cover of Sassy magazine back in the early 1990s. We asked him to recount the story behind the shoot: ‘We shot the photos at my Bleeker St loft on the Bowery. I remember that my friends Andrea Linett and Janet Billig were there. I remember the ridiculous twelve foot silk lighting setup I used. I remember people having to go out and score dope. I remember Kurt telling me that the reason that he loved Courtney so much was that she was the only girl he knew that would stand up at a party and smash a glass table to bits just for the hell of it. I remember thinking that was a pretty odd reason to love someone’. There’s an extensive interview with Michael Lavine on the Feature Shoot website.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

The controversial and multifaceted International contemporary art exhibition Trailblazers hits Sydney this month. Boutwell Draper Gallery will grace multimedia works by pioneering Australian, American and European artists from November 19 onwards. I’m thrilled to see groundbreaking pieces by Ben Frost, Kill Pixie, Copyright and Cleon Patterson [above], to name a few. The vast array of paintings, photography, sculpture, installation, video and digital arts is on display until December 13. C’mon, you know you want to culture your soul.

WE'RE WEARING

I was initially drawn to Belgium-born Christophe Coppen’s jewellery before discovering that he produces two mens and womens collections each year, consisting not only of jewellery, also of but couture pieces and home accessories. With seven interior collections to his name, and a past history as both a theater director and an actor, his work is an expression of his creative brilliance.

WE'RE THINKING

What is it with message related acronyms? Soon it will get to the point where we no longer communicate in real words but instead in abbreviated codes that require a thesaurus and a yearly subscription to the Economist to understand. Spare me. Read more

WE'RE READING

We spoke to Dopepope about his latest Metal Man Project: ‘In the fifth grade, I drew a comic called Metal Man about a humanoid robot that went crazy and pulled knives on people. It’s the most ridiculous thing ever. I was a kid! Anyway, I found the artwork and simply traced the head and the logo exactly as I had them and fell in love with the iconic shapes they’ve created’. Read more

Oh man, it’s a good thing I’m not living in Tokyo as I’d probably never leave the house. Japanese TV is the best. Want proof? Check out this clip from a prank show called Wake You Up where hapless victims are woken from their slumber in the most … ummm … ruthless of ways.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Not all dark, epic music has to be harsh. British songstress Rose Kemp builds operatic folk tunes that crescendo from acoustic, string-infused atmospherics into menacing, down-tuned heaviness, drawing as much from Neurosis as she does from PJ Harvey, Kate Bush, and even Massive Attack. Read more