WE'RE SUPPORTING

If you’re a sucker for good strong figurative work with a flair for the unexpected, you’ll like the work of New York illustrator, Michael Camarra for sure. I’ve known Camarra since our days back at Pratt, when he still painted with a brush and a tube of paint. Now that Camarra has moved on up into the realm of digital painting, I’m amazed at how, incredibly, the digital paintings lose almost none of the raw spontaneity his traditional paintings possessed but instead introduce a somewhat cleaner edge overall, which lends itself to his cleaner graphic sensibilities. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

These charming Danish rocking-sheep make me want to be a kid again, or that the creators at Whippet Grey would make them in adult size. Made out of pinewood, rubber foam and real sheepskin, in a very traditional rocking horse manner; accept for of course the fact that they are not horses.

Oh man, this is good. If Jamie Lidell was born in any earlier era, he would have soul brother number one plastered all over his birth certificate.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

This isn’t an outdoor art installation, but it is still somewhat curated. Or maybe hoarded is a better description. Somewhere in the inner western suburb of Sydney’s Summer Hill, there is a brightly coloured collection of garden gnomes on display. The owner of the home is yet to be seen, but there are hundreds of gnomes, side by side, all with equally dopey expressions on their faces and accompanied by a second fixation: caterpillar soft toys. There are so many gnomes, the garden is no longer visible. Maybe it’s an Amelie style prank that has just piled up over the years? Read more

WE'RE READING

Remember how the forgotten (and the forbidden) places attracted you as a child? Well, I think I never got past that phase. I haven’t had the courage to do any big scale explorations yet, but while I’m planning for it, Forbidden Places is a good place to see what other people are finding in hidden places around the globe. It’s very eerie and intriguing. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Anyone who thinks black metal is too rigid and narrow a genre to have room for innovation would do well to check out Lifelover, a Swedish band that defies every convention of black metal while still remaining miraculously kvlt. The sextet wafts between languid, hallucinatory grooves that channel Iggy Pop and latter-day Cure to unhinged freak-outs that sound as if they’re emanating from the deepest, coldest forests of Norway.

WE'RE WEARING

Skagen are a Danish-born design company based out of Nevada with an innovative and clean approach to their work. Their trademark product is this titanium mesh watch, which I’ve worn with pride for years. But they also produce different models of sunglasses and jewellery. When so many products these days offer extra gimmicks and weigh you down by their size, Skagen strip it all back and, in doing so, hoist themselves far above the pack.