Britain’s poshest squat

Roger Hiorns

There’s a cool little exhibition going on in London at the moment. In an abandoned apartment in the south of the city, Roger Hiorns has turned the idea of sculpture inside out, covering the walls of a room with copper sulphate solution which, after a few weeks, transformed into bright blue copper sulphate crystals. Whether there’s any political message in covering a room in crystals in Elephant and Castle, certainly one of London’s less affluent neighbourhoods, has been left open to debate.

New work from Swedish illustrator Karin Söderquist

I’m a Swedish illustrator based in London. At first glance my work looks sweet and innocent; it’s filled with pastel colours and cute animals. But some of the pieces also have darker themes in them. To the North Pole, for example, tells the story of two sisters’ journey to the Arctic where they meet a grim end in the belly of a polar bear. Read more

Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared animation

I’ve been a fan of This Is It Collective’s work since I saw their first video, Bad Things That Could Happen. This Is It is a collective of illustrators, animators, artists and designers based in London and they produce colourful, well-designed animations and videos. This one in particular made me snigger with joy.

Irina Werning’s Back to the Future photo series

Argentine photographer Irina Werning has complied this beautiful and poignant collection of portraits of adults re-enacting images of themselves as kids. From what I gather, she has asked people to submit photographs of themselves and then returned with them to these same spots at the same times in their lives. She’ll take this project round the world, from Baghdad to Eurodisney, and is looking for willing participants. Read more

Bug fighting in South East Asia

Of all the little idiosyncratic activities I’ve come across since living in Southeast Asia, this nears the favourite. The bug fights are held in a cemetery about half an hour outside of Chiang Mai late in the year when the stags are at their randiest. It pulls an impressive crowd who bet some hefty dollars on the winner, claimed by the beetle who throws its opponent off the revolving log and struts (or crawls) to victory. Read more

What The Fuck Should I Make For Dinner

All hail the magic 8-ball of cooking; the answer to those painful moments of indecision that plague every shopper at around 6pm on a hectic Monday evening. It’s not the nagging voice that questions every decision you make, but the blunt, obnoxious hollering of an online Gordon Ramsay. The kitchen abides.