Finders Keepers Independent Design and Art Markets

Sydney’s Laneways: By George! project

The Laneways: By George! project runs in Sydney until January and has seen eight laneways along inner-city George Street transformed with ‘creative, innovative and inspiring high quality temporary artworks, encouraging people to explore these forgotten spaces in the heart of the City. Some of the lanes include a canopy of birdcages and forgotten birdsongs, a prosthetic skin with heartbeat, a pop up kitchen and nightclub, a seven metre bar highlighting climate change and a magical infinite’ forest’ [above]. Sounds like a very clever use of an otherwise indistinct strip of Sydney.

Shona Wilson’s Macroscopic Vision

Sydney’s King Street Gallery is currently home to Macroscope, a collection of exquisitely crafted mixed media sculptures by Australian artist Shona Wilson. Her artworks are intricate weavings of found elements such as twigs, leaves, seeds, fish scales, insect body parts, feathers, crab claws, and seaweed. Read more

Girls Against Gold at Sydney’s Blank Space Gallery

With the price of gold hitting an all time high, it was only a matter of time before designers took a hard look at what this metal represents. But just because gold has never been more unattainable, doesn’t mean our jewellery box has to suffer. That’s where Sydney design group Ten More Girls come in. Standing true to this philosophy, their latest exhibition Girls Against Gold kicks off this Saturday at the Blank Space Gallery in Sydney’s Surry Hills. They believe that preciousness lies not in the materials used, but in the piece’s emotional value. Crafting silver, brass, wood and bone, they’ll have you lusting after a whole new array of materials. Read more

Peppermint Magazine

When we feel bad about buying Made in China, we buy it anyway. When the kids at Peppermint Mag feel the guilt, they buy American Apparel. These cats have shown that it’s easy to be cute and stylish while being environmentally conscious. Enviro-friendly is no longer the domain of long-haired hippies and tie-dyed shirts. Welcome to the era of reuse, recycle and the revision of our tomorrow, one little pom pom hat at a time.

Oscar Diaz Ink Calendar

Oscar Diaz’s Ink Calendar has taken the month by storm — one ink blot at a time. After its initial display at the Diseño con alma de agua (Design of Water with a Soul) exhibition at Madrid’s Círculo de Bellas Artes, the Ink Calendar’s unusual technique of using capillary action to ‘stain’ each day of the month has reignited the design world’s senses. That humidity may render the ‘calendar’ inaccurate, but this should be ignored since it’s brilliant and utterly beautiful.

Sydney’s Pocket Bar

The allusions are endless. Sydney’s Pocket Bar is tiny, bursting at the seams with people wanting to get at the never-ending supply of stuff (namely the tasty nibbles and a raft of fine vino) and we’re pretty sure that they would have an offering of rubber bands and string if you asked politely. While these are indeed defining attributes in any establishment, we feel that what really makes this inner city Sydney café bar more than just another inner city Sydney café bar is the fact that it offers savoury crepes after 6, wine by the half bottle and National Geographic magazines. Now that’s my idea of heaven. [photo via Anik In The Pacific]