New Products / Luciano Rigolini’s new book: What You See

November 27, 2008 | New Products | by Ella Mudie |

There’s something unsettling about stumbling onto discarded photographs. A family album set adrift from its owner or a displaced snapshot calls out to be rescued. Swiss photographer and filmmaker Luciano Rigolini is one of a growing number of artists turning the anonymous or found photograph into an artform. In his new book, What You See, Rigolini brings together a disparate collection of photographs retrieved from sifting through flea markets, archives and the Internet to create a mysterious arrangement of images. Freed from the moorings of their original context, these anonymous images inspire new stories and become a mesmerising projection screen in their own right.

Cool Travel / Harajuku’s Style Deficit Disorder

November 18, 2008 | Cool Travel | by Ella Mudie |

It’s just a few winding blocks in a city bursting with over twelve million people, but the influence of Tokyo’s fashion hub Harajuku extends way beyond its physical reach. Style Deficit Disorder is a new book by US born, Tokyo-based author and fashion editor, Tiffany Godoy, that documents the dizzying array of trends, movements, styles and designers the district has spawned in its short history. Heading out onto the streets like a fashion anthropologist, Godoy interviews wearers and designers of signature looks now synonymous with Japanese style like kawaii (cute) and goth-lolita, while feature essays from some key players in the magazine industry show just how crucial the neighbourhood is as a platform for new labels. From big hitters like Rei Kawakubo’s Commes des Garcons to Nigo’s A Bathing Ape, as well as smaller scale brands including Milk, Baby the Stars Shine Bright, Super Lovers and Sophnet, they all got their start on the streets of Harajuku.

New Photography / Sydney is Hijacked

June 18, 2008 | New Photography | by Ella Mudie |

For lovers of contemporary photography, the Internet can fast become a second home. Hijacked is a new exhibition at Sydney’s Australian Centre for Photography that gives you a damn good reason to get off that chair and head into a gallery to see new work by 44 of America and Australia’s most exciting emerging photo media artists. Embracing a sense of wanderlust, the show features photographers whose work is informed by the street and many have a particular bent for documenting subcultures, alternate lifestyles and urban landscapes. Read more

New Design / Lemon Poppy Seed

May 5, 2008 | New Design | by Ella Mudie |

Creating letters from sky might seem an impossible task. Not only is this done very nicely by Lisa Rienermann in Type the Sky, but her aerial approach to typography sits comfortably among the pages of a new book from Die-Gestalten. Lemon Poppy Seed: Multitasking Creativity is a compilation of work by a diverse and international selection of young designers bonded together by their independent spirit and a desire to push the boundaries of graphic design. Read more