Infected Mushroom

WE'RE SUPPORTING

Despite their tranquility and sparseness, there is an epic struggle between nature, death, religion, and the human need for a sense of permanence in French-Canadian photographer Annie-Eve Dumontier’s images. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

Ok, so I’m a big fan of any show that features sparkles, feathers and nipple tassels. Which explains why I’m so excited about the London Burlesque Festival. Come April, the city will be taken over by scantily clad women, vaudeville acts, dimly lit evening burlesque performances, and more outright wackiness than you can poke an ostrich-feather tickler at. If you’ve never been to a burlesque show before, and are a sucker for a suspender belt flicking or two, get ready for some heavy handed glamour and an experience you’ll never forget. And if you, like me, love an excuse to dress up in full costume and then take it off again to crowds of appreciative fans – raid the London vintage stores now for a costume and apply through the website to put yourself on stage. Applications close 31st December. [photo by Lisa Kereszi]

WE'RE WEARING

Highly unwearable but aesthetically riveting, Nova Dando is making killer waves in the notoriously hard to crack London fashion scene. Perhaps the reason she is so visible is that her collections are consistently outrageous, exceptional and innovative showstoppers. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

Simple, colorful and somewhat esoteric, I really dig the work of New York illustrator, Rich Tu, a new SVA graduate student. It was something else to see his finely textured images blown up to poster size and beautifully displayed at the recent SVA student show. Read more

WE'RE READING

Google recently demonstrated their ability to predict flu outbreaks across America weeks in advance of the outbreaks themselves. It would seem that they are more than just a pretty search engine. And as if that wasn’t enough, they’ve now teamed up with Life Magazine, what was the cornerstone of photojournalism for the Twentieth Century, to digitize 95 per cent of their image bank that never saw the light of day. Now millions of photos stretching from the 1750s to the present day are available on Google Images at the click of a button. Read more

Says Van She bassist and vocalist Matt Van Schie about the Bush Tetras track — Too Many Creeps — from 1982: ‘I LOOOVE this tune. It opens with a perfect snare roll, and then the counter bass and guitar rhythms make it so cool. The lyrics are even more valid today. They’re one of my favourite bands of all time, and so many people try to do what they did for real. What a time! I wish I was born back then in New York, hanging out with these kids. Ahhhh!!’

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Japanese artist Toshiya Tsunoda’s field recordings will blow your mind without blowing your eardrums. By placing sensitive microphones inside empty objects, such as bottles and hollow logs, he captures vibrations inaudible to the human ear. Layers of these sounds are artfully cut and composed to produce brute, mesmerising work that challenges our perception of music. Read more