TOOL OF THE WEEK

martha martha martha

Ramona's love of Martha Stewart probably makes her the tool of the week but no matter. She still squeeled like a crazy person when Miss Pen Pen informed her that Martha craft products had landed in humble Spotlight and she had snapped up the last of the circle cutters just for us! Circles people! of any size. totally wizz.
We are thinking Chrstmas garlands, tags, stickers and yes maybe those kooky pinwheels. Tool us up Martha! Next on the list is glitter......all that glitter....

SHOW OF THE WEEK

good housekeeping

This weeks must see is Neural Housekeeping by Sydney and london based illustrator Kate Banazi. We love her use of the contrast colour overpull and mid century scientific photographs to create space race propaganda-esque artwork. And we love that they are actually hand printed, not that we have anything against a digital print, it's just nice to see someone still getting busy with a squeegee. We like even better that she's got her show on at Lamington Drive until the 15th august... which means it's local enough that we might still make it in person instead of stalking the catalogue online.

Other reasons we like Ms Banazie besides her excellent aesthetic: scottish husband, beautiful son, gorgeous website with a big cartel shop where you can buy limited edition prints, amusing blog with witty title, and probably most important she's a self confessed lover of yorkshire pud.

neural housekeeping

Lamington Drive

89 George Street Fitzroy

(although you should know the address off by heart by now given how much we bang on about it)

open tuesday thru saturday until august 15.

WEEKEND SPECIALS

platform vs. the mitten fortress
Stuff for you to do tonight and tomorrow people. This is the offical weekend word up so get yourselves sorted and be there or be like a four sided shape of some description.

Tonight is the opening of Repeat Repeat at Platform, featuring Carly Fischer, Annika Koops, Rachael Hooper, Adam Cruickshank, Natasha Frisch and the lovely and recently published Dell Stewart. Yep that's right people she's in I make stuff. The blurb on the Platform website describes the exhibition thusly; "In a contemporary culture of increasing information overload, unlimited access and hyper-production 'Repeat Repeat' deals with some of these anxieties and humors in such a climate. All artists employ obsessive processes of production, or observation, perhaps to mimic the drive that surrounds them and also to provide an escape through the meditative qualities of work. Within each artists process is also the element of analogue copy-catting, an upside-down reversion to hand crafted production at the expense of faster, more efficient means. Floating in between regressive nostalgia and progressive eradication, these artists deal with the strange place that the culture of repeat finds them in." Fascinating. We just know it will feature Dell's knitted rainbow, so we'll be there with bells on.
platform

Degraves st. Subway TONIGHT 6 til 8pm.

Saturday offers up the Ghost Patrol and Miso open studio between 11am and 3pm. WOO HOO!They'll be showing both seen and unseen works along with some new self published gp books and acorn and cat-rabbit creations. And yes you guessed it, Ghost Patrol is another I make stuff bookee, and we love his work. This is an excellent opportunity to score some top drawer booty and get inside the mitten fortress at last. We'll be begging babysitters and trying to be there.
Saturday August 8, 11-3pm

Studio 2, 3rd floor. 329 Little Collins st.
Melbourne (near the corner of Elizabeth Street)

THEY MADE THEM THEMSELVES

don't get all cut up about it...

It seems everyone is using cutting edge tech. to make art these days, especially for cutting. Rock, Paper, Lasers the latest show at Kick Gallery features not one but four artists making the most of the latest digital laser cutting technology to create paper artworks & sculptures. Troy Innocent, Jeff Janet, Trinh Vu & Joel Zika – have used styles that both mimic industrial design objects and play with japanese pop iconography - expect plenty of cubic robots amongst the snappy selection of lighting...

Apparently all of the artists in Rock, Paper, Lasers lecture in Art & Design at Monash University and as a part of their own on-going practice set themselves the task to "deride the mass production of iconography - such as that which is so often seen in ‘homewares’ or ‘lifestyle’ shops - and make a series of more unique works" in this exhibition... funny thing is, we found ourselves wanting to buy loads of the stuff they'd made for our houses. Go figure.

Rock Paper Lasers is on at Kick Gallery until August 15.

SHOW OF THE WEEK

What a Gorker!

It's a simple idea. Invite 24 acclaimed illustrators and artists from down the road and around the globe to laser cut their impressions onto old school vinyl. It's always fun to see what people do when give the same parameters. We arent sure we would have gone with the clockfaces (why bother) but we are excited to get out and see something at Gorker Gallery in Fitzroy.

It's been around since June 2008 so we are a little behind the eight ball on this one. It's open Wed to Sun from 3-7 weird but convenient hours for all!