Dark Castle will pound your ears

WE'RE SUPPORTING

We checked in recently with illustrator Josh Cochran and asked him how he kept the creative process fresh and stimulating, despite producing so much new work: ‘I try hard to keep pushing new ideas in my work. Of course, there are often times when I feel tired and stale and produce work that isn’t that isn’t challenging. Generally, though, I try to keep building on things I’ve accomplished in my work. To me, that’s what keeps my work consistent as well gives me room to grow. After a while a certain direction will feel boring to me and I’ll start pushing out to try something different’. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

On the roof of Bangkok’s Banyan Tree Hotel is a dining experience like no other. The Vertigo Bar sits sixty one floors up, and serves delicious gourmet meals and cocktails. These are expensive by Thai standards, but cheap enough for shoestring travellers to indulge in now and then (a cocktail costs around AUD$12). I’ve spent hour after hour in the bar, drinking and smoking and taking in the amazing view. Most nights at Vertigo end the same, with fast-moving storm clouds rolling in without fail at about eleven pm. While wait staff scurry to move tables, and drunken diners navigate the steep stairs down to the safety of the hotel, the more hardy can sit and watch the clouds race closer and closer towards the building, soaking in both the atmosphere and the rainwater until the lightning gets too close for comfort.

WE'RE WEARING

Diva Pittala is the designer of edgy and glamorous fashion label, Pleasure Principle. Silk tied in knots on the back of baggy dresses might be their trademark, but this spring’s collection goes much further. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

There is something almost apocalyptic about the intense black and white decimated, chaotic landscapes that French artist Didier Blondeau lovingly depicts.

WE'RE READING

We love sex in art. No, not in a smutty Benny Hill kinda way, but rather the way in which Australian-based website Sex In Art takes a healthy peek at all things arty and well … sexual. There’s some beautiful illustration work up there and some evocative photography. Heck, I’m getting a little hot under the collar just writing about it. While most of the work they feature is work friendly, some of it isn’t. Still, it’s worth more than a casual glance, like this painting by Chinese artist, Guan Zeju.

The Liars were in the Netherlands recently and we came across some kids doing this dance. It’s really bizarre to watch. Read more

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