WE'RE SUPPORTING

Born in Seoul Korea, but now working out of Los Angeles, Ramis Kim creates mixed media pieces which explore idealized childhood memories and invented narratives in imagined landscapes. An MFA graduate from Cal Arts in Valencia, Kim paints film and TV backgrounds when not creating her own art. Her work will be seen in a group show of Little Paper Plane artists, curated by Kelly Lynn Jones at Tinlark Gallery opening September 13. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Monarch are an incredibly grim, lumbering doom metal band from Basque country in France. Frontwoman Emilie Bresson is one of those rare female singers in metal that’s at once fierce and raspy, yet identifiably female, creating a haunting, menacing sound that can stand up against the most ragingly macho bands out there.

WE'RE THINKING

There’s a radiance about the creative work emanating from Brooklyn, New York right now; a glistening, velvetine glow that seeps through the illustrations and art and tickles the melodies of every hipster four-piece. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

As a child, I took piano exams in over-sized white rooms, on baby grand pianos that felt unfamiliar and echoed strangely as someone across the room observed me in silence. It felt clinical, intimidating and completely devoid of warmth. Last week, I started noticing upright pianos, some painted haphazardly, others respectfully untouched plonked in the most unlikely places throughout Sydney. There was one on the edge of the baby pool at the local swimming pool, with a young girl in a rainbow striped dress tapping out a happy but disjointed melody; another shaded under a tree at the park on the way home. Read more

Oh man, it’s a good thing I’m not living in Tokyo as I’d probably never leave the house. Japanese TV is the best. Want proof? Check out this clip from a prank show called Wake You Up where hapless victims are woken from their slumber in the most … ummm … ruthless of ways.

WE'RE WEARING

Is it just me, or is fake beards on girls becoming a more pronounced part of our zeitgeist? Anyway, Erin Dollar has made some pretty sweet ones that she’ll sell to you via Etsy.

WE'RE READING

I am really into Hong Kong action flicks from the 1980s and 90s. When I first moved to New York, there were a handful of curious friends who were also interested in watching movies such as City on Fire by Ringo Lam, which Reservoir Dogs was based on. How did they find videos like thus? At the legendary Kim’s Video in New York City. These days, City on Fire can be find online, and Kim’s is history. But all the videos that entertained the film geeks of this city for more than twenty years have found a new home in, wait for it, Salemi, Sicily. Yes, the southern island of Italy. Kim has recently relocated there, as this sad but heartwarming story about him in yesterday’s New York Times reveals.