New Events / The Clayton Brothers at East and West Galleries

July 1, 2009 | New Events | by Nikki Savvides |

Rob and Christian Clayton hail from Pasadena, California, where, together, they create fascinating and somewhat nightmarish images portraying the ‘unique people, animals, and places that occupy the outskirts of the American psyche’. The sad-faced, tired-eyed characters that inhabit their bright, almost suffocatingly busy pieces seem bemused by, yet unarguably a part of, their hectic surroundings, while the rough honesty of their work reminds me of artists such as Frieda Kahlo and comic artist Lynda Barry. The Clayton Brothers have an exhibition called Jumbo Fruit coming up on July 18 and running until August 29, which will be held at the East and West Galleries in Santa Monica, California. If you’re in the area, I’d highly recommend dropping by and immersing yourself momentarily in their colourful chaos.

New Photography / Andrew Zuckerman

June 10, 2009 | New Photography | by Nikki Savvides |

Andrew Zuckerman’s beautiful photographs make me imagine how it would feel to be in close proximity to a menagerie of amazing creatures — orangutans, mountain lions, chameleons, and zebras. With a careful eye for what makes these animals unique, Zuckerman has, in his wonderful book Creature, shown the intimate side of animals that are usually considered ‘wild’. Up close and personal, these animals reveal what might be termed an innate humanness, or, perhaps, as I prefer, a pure and primal sense of emotion, a capacity that is too often denied to them by humans. Captured in this way, we see that it is not animals that are human-like, but humans that are animal-like: each of us share the same glimmer in our eyes, the same need for safety, food, companionship and belonging. Read more

New Illustration / Craig Phillips

May 28, 2009 | New Illustration | by Nikki Savvides |

I really like the work of Craig Phillips, an Australian illustrator whose notable achievements include creating the cover art for the new EP from Sydney band Lions At Your Door and being named as one of the 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide (Leurzers Archive). Read more

New Art / Mandy Ord’s comic art

May 5, 2009 | New Art | by Nikki Savvides |

I’ve been keen on Mandy Ord’s work since we were both involved in the Australian underground comic scene of the late 1990s and early 2000s. She shared my love of the dark and the bizarre, and her cool little self-published comic, Wilnot, inspired me greatly in my own work. While I drifted away from the scene a few years ago, Ord continues to draw her darkly witty, autobiographical comics and has just had her first full-length graphic novel published by Finlay Lloyd. It’s entitled Rooftops, and it tells the tale of a night spent out and about in Melbourne with friends, discussing, amongst other topics, the existential nature of coincidences. Read more

Cool Travel / Copenhagen’s Freetown, Christiania

April 29, 2009 | Cool Travel | by Nikki Savvides |

Several years ago I spent five weeks hanging out with friends who lived in the friendly environment of Copenhagen’s Freetown, Christiania. A former military base, Christiania is a self-governing borough set on 85 acres of mainly lush forested grounds, surrounding a lake. It is a beautiful and idyllic location where 850 residents have built their own idiosyncratic constructions in which to live and play. While I was there, I watched local bands play in the coffee-house, helped paint a psychedelic mural on the wall of one of the military bunkers, smoked some legal marijuana bought from street sellers, and jumped off a homemade tree-swing into the freezing cold lake. Sadly, in recent years the Danish government has cracked down on the pot sellers and attempted to ‘normalise’ the legal status of the community. I hope they leave the place as it was. Staying in Christiania for that brief amount of time was such an amazing experience, and it would be a shame if the unique nature of the Freetown was lost.

Cool Travel / Northern Thailand’s Elephant Nature Park

April 22, 2009 | Cool Travel | by Nikki Savvides |

Late last year, I spent a month volunteering at Northern Thailand’s Elephant Nature Park, located 45 minutes from Chiang Mai, in a lush valley by the Mae Taeng River. This was truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Every day was spent working on projects like building fences and huts and collecting food for the 35 elephants who call the Park home. Almost all have been rescued from terrible situations. Read more

New Illustration / Marumiyan

April 22, 2009 | New Illustration | by Nikki Savvides |

I recently pinched a copy of w.e.b. magazine from a friend who’d just returned from Korea. Flicking through the pages, my eye was caught, and transfixed, by Japanese artist Marumiyan’s colorful, bold illustrations. After tracking down and perusing his online gallery, I also fell in love with his beautiful green and pink cover art for DJ Okawari’s album, Diorama, featuring a girl adorned in an intricate headdress and cloak made of orchids, feathers and blossoms. The organic nature of his subject matter, combined with his artful ability in digital design, make Marumiyan’s works simultaneously wild at heart and perfectly balanced.

New Illustration / Kokomoo’s maniacal girls

April 15, 2009 | New Illustration | by Nikki Savvides |

Chinese artist Yan Wei, aka Kokomoo, creeps me out. Her linear, black and white drawings of cute little girls with maniacal grins and soulless eyes look deep into my psyche with a hunger for destruction and pain. Luckily, in their two dimensional forms, they are unable to leap off the page and sink their sharp little teeth into my soft flesh. Instead, I can enjoy their evil cuteness from a safe distance, while pondering the reasons why Kokomoo’s style gets darker and darker as the years go on. Read more

New Art / Finnish sculptor Mari Kasurinen

April 5, 2009 | New Art | by Nikki Savvides |

Like many girls, I loved My Little Ponies when I was young, especially their bright, unnatural colors, their long, comb-able plastic hair and their collectability, which made them an endless source of gifts. Finnish sculptor Mari Kasurinen has taken these toys to a new level with her range of modified Ponies. Read more

Cool Travel / European walls dressed up by graffiti artist Fafi

April 3, 2009 | Cool Travel | by Nikki Savvides |

Fafinette (aka Fafi) is a graffiti artist whose works decorate many buildings throughout Europe, from the crumbling squats of East Berlin to the clean white walls of Parisian apartment blocks. In recent years, she has travelled around the world, finding obscure places to mark with her distinct, pop, girlie style. With humble roots painting walls in her hometown of Toulouse, France, today Fafi is known for her collaborations with companies such as Adidas and M.A.C cosmetics. Her sexy, curvaceous girl characters have appeared as designs on sneakers, in advertisements and even in music videos. But her work is not intentionally commercial. Rather, Fafi wants to create ‘personal’ works which just happen to be ‘loved by other people’.

New Art / Daniel Edwards’ String of Babies rubber collectible

March 23, 2009 | New Art | by Nikki Savvides |

I am both fascinated and perturbed by the story of Nadya Suleman, aka Octomummy, the Angelina Jolie wannabe who gave birth to octuplets earlier this year. Already the mother of six young children, Octomummy’s fourteen-strong brood is the product of numerous IVF treatments. The latest eight are also the subject of much speculation and concern for members of the United States medical fraternity, who question the unorthodox decision to implant eight embryos in Octomummy’s womb. Read more

New Music / Platinum Brunette

March 15, 2009 | New Music | by Nikki Savvides |

I’m a massive fan of Platinum Brunette, a trio of cross-dressing Sydney rockers who belt out excellent hair metal riffs and hilarious lyrics. Starting the band was long time dream for lead singer and bass player Justin (aka Demonica Lewinsky), who had ads posted up around the city for some time seeking guys tough enough to wear dresses on stage. Their songs are damn catchy, my favourite being their single, BMW (Bitch Mother Whore), with the classic chorus line: ‘You are a bitch, I am a whore. We are both cunts, you are my mother’. These guys (girls?) put on one hell of a stage-show, always getting the audience up dancing, and laughing. They are one of the most entertaining live acts I have ever seen, and I’d recommend them to Sydneysiders who want a good night out.

New Art / Emily Valentine Bullock

March 11, 2009 | New Art | by Nikki Savvides |

Sydney-based Emily Valentine Bullock sculpts, primarily using feathers, which she collects from birds killed by cars and cats, and from people’s dead pets. More recently, she bought a trapping and killing machine to collect feathers from Australia’s registered pest, the Indian Mynah. From these oddly sourced materials, she creates very odd, but rather beautiful sculptures. Most of these are strange hybrid creatures — dogs with wings and bird-headed dolls. She also makes beaded and feathered brooches and bangles which can be purchased directly from her studio. What I love most about Bullock’s works is the way she juxtaposes the morbid with the appealing. Her hybrids are like taxidermied critters from a fantasy land, and any ghoulishness is offset by her use of colour, and the fact that the sculptures are just so damn cute.

Cool Travel / Bangkok’s Vertigo Bar

March 3, 2009 | Cool Travel | by Nikki Savvides |

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.

New Products / Badonkadonk Land Cruiser Tank

February 26, 2009 | New Products | by Nikki Savvides |

The Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank is on offer from Amazon for only US$19,995 and for this you are guaranteed a ‘completely unique’ battle vehicle with a ‘cozy’ carpeted interior and room for up to five people. Unfortunately, it only tops speeds of 40mph and is not registered for use on public roads, which is a shame as I’d love to rock up to work in one of these babies. But with its 400 megawatt sound system and luxurious rust-coloured exterior, I understand why Amazon customers voted the Badonkadonk ‘practical, stylish, affordable and fun to drive’. And all with only the smallest hint of tongue-in-cheek.