Lost AT E Minor

WE'RE SUPPORTING

We interviewed American artist Amy Sol recently and asked her about the influence her Korean heritage has on her technique: ‘Korean art has inspired some of the elements in my work, but I wouldn’t say that this is my main focus. I spent my childhood years in Korea and gained an adoration for Celadon pottery and textile arts. I appreciate and draw inspiration from many cultures, such as Chinese, Japanese, Middle Eastern, and European. I feel very fortunate to live in an environment where I can explore all kinds of things. I stay open to all sources of influence and draw my own interpretations out of this’.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Caught The Dust Dive the other night at Glasslands. They’re a bunch of hippies, but even I have to admit, they’re atmospheric live show – consisting of violin, gently strummed guitar, a few piano and sampler twinkles here and there, and sound samples from the found footage projected behind the band – is really powerful, like the warm rush of fond memories that hits you an instant before the mushroom cloud annihilates everything. Frontman Bryan Zimmerman even plays the musical saw, and you really can’t argue with that.

Listen to their track, Claws of Light.

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 WEARING

The My Town In My Home collection of hand-knitted fashion by Yoshikazu Yamagata and Mafuyu was exhibited at this year’s Amhem Mode Biennale in Amsterdam. Sure gives a new twist to the saying, ‘wherever I lay my hat …’ [see also the Brain Bag by Jun Takahashi]

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

The Dutch, the beautiful Dutch, in terms of architecture anyway. Here they have led the way again with this reuse of an old crane dock. A new glass office building, with a climatic façade of double glazing, motorized louvers on the outside and full length windows on the inside, hovers above the old dock. 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 READING

DJ Spooky — That Subliminal Kid — is just about the deepest crate digger around, trawling the barrels of long-lost record stores for choice vinyl to spin in his wickedly dubby sets. He gave us the inside word last week on his eight favourite songs right now via our sister website, My Secret Playlist. This is what he had to say about Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s Panic in Babylon: ‘If there’s anything that the twenty-first century has told us, it’s that dub is the real original hip-hop. Lee Scratch even had to make it clear in 1965 by adding “Scratch” to his middle name. Take that, Grandmaster Flash!’ Read the rest of DJ Spooky’s Secret Playlist.