16.2.14

BROADCAST OF THE WEEK - LYNDA DRAPER, WHITE NIGHT, VAMFF, CHELA EDMUNDS TKAWEI, CHICKS ON SPEED

ON AIR AGAIN


Today I'll be flying solo today on the RRR airwaves around 10.15 in the am on the first HML radio spot for 2014, courtesy of the lovely Kulja Coulston which will of course be a bonus but I will be without my super-star sparring partner Ramona which of course will be a bummer. However whether we're both on air or not there's no stopping the mother load of stuff on at the moment so expect to hear me racing through the multitude of craft related activities, festivals and events on in our town over the next month, possibly without taking a breath.


Our show of the week is Summon by Illawarra artist Lynda Draper and currently on display at North Melbourne's Gallerysmith until March 15 and is well worth a look. This collection of 'portrait' ceramic works is both masterful and hilarious, and everyone's going gaga for it. We'll be featuring more about this show tomorrow on HML.



WhiteNight also takes place this week on February 22 thats saturday night folks and this year loads of craft/design practitioners are involved in what we've dubbed version 2.0. Hopefully the temperature wont be quite as hot as last year, but the art will be – go early or late to get better views! Music, Art, performance, food, fashion and design in the mix – the website lets you make up and print out your own custom program which is unbelievably cool – or you can just head out and wing it land let the good stuff find you.


Virgin Melbourne Fashion Festival launches today, so expect to see lots and lots of garment and textile related craft on show as part of both the runway shows and cultural program. Always worth scouring the program to pick out your favourites – lots for free, lots at low cost – or splurge on good seats to the top runway shows or expert panels. Films. Window shows, off runway shows, talks, workshops, pop ups, exhibitions. We like to think of this festival as frequently exhausting, often amazing and always interesting. Check the website or our own annual must see list this week on hml.


Always on trend (yes I just did that) Craft Victoria will be opening three new shows as part of the fashion festival cultural program -  Solutions – a new exhibition by Melbourne based designers John Gosper, Hannah Chanley and Jarriet Barrile – conceptual wearable works have been created with the idea of water at their core from transportation to consumption. Collectively their work encompasses material manipulation, movement, process, form and function, and this exhibition will be no exception. Clearly the drought is over, in flinders lane at least.


AVogue Idea by multidisciplinary artist Matthew Linde and founder/curator of the Centre of Style. (Melbourne based hosts and home of the best, most engaging emerging and contemporary art fashion.) Matthew continues his body of work exploring and dissecting the use of fashion as a social statement through garment creation and durational performance work. A Vogue Idea will also have a public incarnation at White Night Melbourne – expect to be amazed - we are.


Namaste a collaborative exhibition by wonderful ceramicist and super ace making person Chela Edmunds and new Melbourne fashion label Dress Up.  Chela has drawn on her extensive background as a textile designer to create a 50's inspired graphic surface pattern based on yoga postures called Asana. The print has then been used across both her own ceramic works and clothing from the Dress Up 2014 Autumn/Winter range. Very Clever stuff - and this will no doubt sell out so if you want to get in and get some, get in early!


I'd also better remember the Chicks on Speed show Scream, currently on display and interface at RMIT Design Hub until March 8. Chicks on Spped re pretty much the perfect art/craft fusion of performance, politics and polemics, with all the best and most subversive elements of feminist DIY at their core. They call this particular outing 'an experiential interactive installation or GESAMTKUNSTWERK (‘total work of art’), we call it genius. 



Their collective output always features a heady mix of collage, music and objects, engaging and interactive, and this one features a ‘self made instrument’ that allows visitors to literally play artworks in an ongoing collective jam session. YEAH!!! The Chicks on Speed show at Craft Victoria a few years back was an absolute corker so Scream is an absolute not to be missed event, especially for those who missed the last one. Whew... here's hoping I remember all that! BECK

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