Bookmark II

WE'RE SUPPORTING

New York photographer Amy Stein’s work ‘explores our evolving isolation from community, culture and the environment’. Her recently released book, Domesticated, began when she was in grad school. ‘I was simply trying to make compelling images that wouldn’t get eviscerated in critique’, she says of the project. ‘As the series progressed, I began to become interested in exhibiting the work and have had many opportunities to do so this year. The Critical Mass book is the icing on the cake’. There’s an extended interview with Amy Stein on the Feature Shoot photo blog. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

The thing about life is that sometimes, in some places, things just present that are way too bizarre to be true. Know what I mean? No? Ok. For fifty seconds of cheap, mindless entertainment, fix your peepers on this set of lighthearted, funny pictures. Ah. Now I feel better. I do. Read more

Heavy metal and hip-hop are perhaps the most popular forms of rebellion for kids the world over. In Malaysia, metal — particularly black metal — has taken such a strong hold that the Fatwa Council there banned it, fearing that the music would compel listeners to rebel against religion. Contrary to the council’s intentions, black metal is as popular as ever in Malaysia, and is a recognizable cultural touchstone there, as indicated by the above clip from the 2005 film Filem Rock.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

Hitotoki is a beautifully presented series of ‘Tokyo stories from curious outsiders’. Read more

WE'RE READING

TIME magazine’s annual Person of the Year issue is coming out this week. I illustrated one of the runner-ups, but of course, I have to keep my mouth completely shut. I don’t know who is the winner though. On TIME’s website, you can see all the past covers of this most talked about issue of each year. It’s a good time to look back history and learn from it anyway, don’t you think?

WE'RE LISTENING TO

I’m kinda obsessed with this track by Kansas City hipsters, Republic Tigers. Maybe it’s the Phil Spector-ish wall of sound harmonies or perhaps it’s the thumping bass riff, which drives the ear worm melody. Whatever. In these times of throwaway pop, it’s the well crafted and subtely produced songs that are truly memorable, and these guys have it in spades, as reflected right across their brilliant debut album, Keep Color.

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WE'RE WEARING

They may be incredibly eccentric, but these ten inch platforms are physical proof that it is actually possible to create somewhat aesthetically pleasing heels out of elephant faeces. UK-based artist INSA designed the shoes as part of a recent art exhibit at Tate Britain which features the individual work of various artists responding to Chris Ofili’s controversial The Holy Mary elephant dung painting made fifteen years ago.