WE'RE SUPPORTING

We asked London-based photographer, Julia Fullerton-Batten, about her use of non-traditional models for her work: ‘I used to approach unknown people on the streets in London and ask them to take part in my photo shoots. There are so many fascinating faces accompanied with wonderful personalities around. The freshness that street cast models have, has also benefited my work immeasurably. I now don’t have the time to find the amateur models myself. But I hire a producer to source models for me’. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

There’s an intriguing sense of urgency about Modest Mouse’s music. It comes at you in sonic waves, each one packed with enough bite to sink a small trawler.

WE'RE THINKING

Austin-based photographer William Hundley loves juxtaposing completely absurd and unrelated objects. Whether it’s fabric-draped people in mid jump or chihuahuas and Easter Island heads standing on cheeseburgers, Hundley takes an almost Dadaist joy in making random, giddily puzzling images. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

When I first moved to London and didn’t know a soul, I joined up with the British Film Institute [BFI] and started going to the talks they put on. When I went to see Gene Wilder speak, all the know-alls in the audience kept asking questions, not to find out anything, but just to show off to the room how much they knew about film making. He got annoyed. Genius boy genius.

Australian group Pivot have recently signed with the mighty Warp label and — even better (well, for us anyway) — have written a fun Secret Playlist for us. You can see where the many disparate influences have seeped into their latest recording, the beautiful and colourful, O Soundtrack My Heart.

WE'RE WEARING

Converse kicks off its hundredth anniversary with 1HUND(RED), a special artist series with proceeds going to the Global Fund. The project is a year-long release of shoes designed by notable artists, including Auckland-based illustrator, Dennis Juan Ma, whose shoe [above] is number twenty in the series.

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.