WE'RE SUPPORTING

If you were cast out on a lonely island with only five things to bring along in order to help you survive – which items or tools would you take with you? I bet Amanda from DuckTapeBandit would choose a huge stack of duct tape roles. Not only is duct tape useful, apparently, you can also make fashion, purses, necklaces, hair clips and flowers from it (to name just a few). Who would’ve thought that duct tape makes a great material for such an amazing collection of versatile art? Read more

WE'RE THINKING

Jesse Balmer’s work gets better every time I see it. I follow him on Tumblr, so I see his work every day. Jesse Balmer’s work gets better every day. The dude is a monster drawer and an inspiration. He likes to draw cat-men and bird-planes, jungles, outer space, and cat-men getting their faces crushed. Read more

This is really amazing, a poignant and richly textured video and sound piece from Brooklyn-based artist, Alex Itin. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

Pickle Hut was designed by architect Dan Hoffman and The Cranbrook Architectural Office. It is a place where the children of Brookside School can play, recite stories and dream. Set up for children to enter into this mysterious U-Shape building, the Pickle Hut offers up a little hub of sanctuary in order to let their imaginations fly. If only I had such a magical edifice to call my own and run to when head nun, Sister Mary, was on one of her many Catholic tirades. Eek! [photo by Paul Hitz]

WE'RE READING

We love the look of new, free Montreal-based street magazine, SNAP!, an arts and lifestyle publication which focuses on all that exciting work that is conceived, created and marketed in Montreal by artists, creative minds and young entrepreneurs. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

The Los Angeles musician, Ariana Delawari — aka Lion of Panjshir — is half Afghan and half Sicilian and makes wonderfully enlightened weirdo folk rock. I hope she takes that as a compliment! Her music is delicate and powerful and she is a pure artist. Everything she does has that magic light in it. She made her new album partially in Afghanistan, and many of the lyrics deal with the continued oppression of people’s liberties by the Taliban.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

WE'RE WEARING

Created in 2003 as a skateboard footwear brand in Los Angeles, Cipher is now an international urban lifestyle brand offering designer products for an emerging group of global hipsters. Now based in Hong Kong, where metropolitan living manifests the dynamic fusion of East and West culture, Cipher is an expression of life in the brave new world. Cipher shoes launched with three different styles, in a range of colours, each with its own story and attitude: Seditionary, Subterranean and Libertine.