Posts By Brooke Murphy
Little Wing Collective Creative Conference
How vibrant has Perth become lately thanks to the countless artists, photographers, promoters, performers, musicians, actors and dancers etc. doing their thing?
We’re spoilt for choice every night of the week with events and venues alive with the fruits of these local creatives.
Not only have we noticed, but so have the guys at the Little Wing Collective and lucky for you (& us) they’ve organised a Creative Conference with 12 creative industry professionals ( inc. Jarrad Seng, Bob Gordon (X-Press) and Aaron Rutter (JumpClimb) to name a few) sharing their unique experiences, advice and challenges that they have faced in their chosen creative field.
Running for 4 nights a week starting on the 14th of March, this event will wrap up with an afterparty on the Friday (ps. pizza and beer available all nights), with tickets starting at only $5 we recommend RSVPing as soon as possible!
To RSVP click here and for the Facebook event click here.
Proudly supported by Hipflask .x
New Video: Methyl Ethel
Methyl Ethel are on the cusp of cracking the international market following their recent signing to label 4AD , so its getting harder to catch them at little intimate gigs around town these days – but they’re still there if you keep an eye out…
Yesterday they launched the music video to ‘Idée Fixe,’, the opening track from ‘Oh Inhuman Spectacle,’ their album self-described as “poltergeist infomercials between your sleepisodes.”
Ah yeah.
an idea or desire that dominates the mind; an obsession.
New Venue: Alt.
Well well well, Freo seems to be providing the goods lately in the way of new venues, and this ones having a killa party on Friday night, so chuck it in your diary.
Alt. is built from an old storage section of Metropolis Fremantle and focuses on alternative and experimental hip-hop and house.
It’s a combination of a grimy warehouse with extremely over-the-top production for such a small room – a total sensory overload – and a welcoming family in a laneway smoking area with plenty of seating, a shisha and cute lights.
Friendly folk Daniela and Nik run it – two friends who met on Tinder and bonded over weird music and a need to find welcoming places to party at, something I think we can all appreciate.
Zaerën Momand
Image thnx to Driely S
As you know, we like to do things differently here at Hipflask HQ, so we’ve done a 360 and interviewed the interviewee (does that make sense? I think it does).
Avenoir, a Perth local publication, is quickly gaining momentum and a reputation as a respected source of information on a whole range of topics – from society and culture to all things creative.
Behind it is the highly intellectual and beautiful (inside and out) individual, Zaerën Momand.
Do yourself a favour and get yourself acquainted.
What drove you to create your own publication?
Rebellion haha. At first I had a naive notion that I could write the way I wanted to and that I would just report whatever matters most. But after seeing how journalism rids that creativity due to their triangle paradigm of “objectivity”, I wasn’t willing to give up my way of writing. So instead of catering to the Editor’s imaginary audience expectations of my work, I decided to create my own magazine.
Avenoir has the aim to ‘challenge cultural norms of society, whilst embracing the creative art form.’ How do you do this?
I have the writers to challenge what the media or press are saying about a person, place, thing or event. The reason is because we are too quick to accept the news as fact when the story changes and things go in tangents; and details that may be found through other sources of what the mainstream media is distracting us from, i.e. Kardashian antics over the TPP.
We are having each department in collaboration with like-minded individuals/creative communities (such as Revelation Film Festival to Doctors Without Borders) who we can expand together on and hopefully be able to make a difference.
Concentrating on all things local, national and international – which region receives the most love from readers?
At the moment we are still building our audience but we are focusing on our Perth community in covering shows and festivals and things to do in Perth. We tend to focus on international and national news, but cover things local. I work with people from the East Coast and as well in America which I’m hoping to expand to later on.
How is doing what your doing in Perth different to other areas? What are the limitations/challenges you face… as well as the easy stuff.
What I noticed as an American having lived in both hemispheres is that it’s all about the hype in America; achieving the aesthetic, fulfilling the materialist needs and what is “in” at the moment. While in Perth it’s not like that. All it is for Perth is showing the people there are things to do in WA, when most believe there isn’t anything to do at all. For some reason there isn’t that strong reinforcement to keep Perth content with what it has because the people have been told countless of times that they are isolated, which in turn has been programmed within their minds to persist in that belief.
What’s up next?
We’ve got a new system in place so we’re hoping to be able to cater to our audience with a balance of social issues, music, film, fashion, the arts, and so forth. As well our collaboration with Canopy Films, who are our go-to film crew in creating visuals for our work at Avenoir, and working with hipflask on upcoming events.
What do you personally recommend we check out?
Ever since having seen the photos taken by Driely S of the Afro-Punk festival (and feeling honoured to have her work grace our first ever issue) I couldn’t help but appraise the mindset of culture. See, it’s all about appreciating the art and acknowledging where it comes from, but most importantly to understand the struggles and accomplishments of that particular group or culture. But in regards to Afro-Punk, the history of punk music that originally came from reggae had been completely white-washed by the Oi movement. So what Driely S does is project the culture that has been ridden by the movement into the forefront and in turn capturing the mindset of the people who are free in their individuality and together in their ancestry.
If people wish to be contributors, what is the best way to be a successful candidate?
Those who are able to bring an interesting perspective to their work; whether formal or satire. As long as their intentions are to open the minds of the masses, challenge cultural norms, and are familiar with the creative art form of the cult/mainstream in film, arts, music, etc, would be successful candidates in writing for Avenoir Magazine
+ final last words…
You can mock me for sounding all Sartre, but I really believe you are valued by the the meaning that you choose in life, and that in itself becomes existent and reflected to everyone around you, but only when you decide to act on it with pure intention.
Yup.
Success
Woohoo, new venue alert!
Success is a new platform for contemporary art in the heart of Freo, brought to you by the team behind the Moana Project Space in the CBD.
It has transformed an abandoned basement of a vacated department store into a multi-gallery exhibition space, presenting cutting-edge visual art and performance from international and local artists.
Things kick off this Saturday afternoon with four simultaneous exhibitions across 2800 square metres of gallery space…
Gallery One/No Confidence, an international survey of new audio-visual art examining today’s political culture.
Gallery Two/At the Equinox, by Melbourne artist Emma Hamilton in her first west-coast solo show she has produced a series of sculptural photographic works considering the interrelation of time, perception, and landscape.
Gallery Three/Wilderness Tasks, a new selected exhibition examining contemporary artists alternatively romantic and adversarial relationship with the natural environment.
Gallery Four/Music, a curated performance program with a night of live music from Josten Myburgh Octet, Petros Vouris, Hysperia (Mei Saraswati), DJ Tourist Kid, as well as a site-speci c audio-visual installation from Chris Cobilis.
Their art and performance programme will continue throughout 2016, with further openings in April and June so keep an eye out for details on the app.
Success opens to the public 6pm Saturday 20 February 2016. If you would like to attend please RSVP to info@successarts.org.
The life and times of David Bowie
Today we lost a true legend of our lifetime.
David Robert Jones, Ziggy Stardust, Thin White Duke – you changed the face of music, art and fashion and for that we will be forever grateful.
Whether you’re on your way home on public transport, cooking a feed or cranking a sweat – let’s all take a moment tonight to remember an icon, press play, turn it up loud and enjoy…
Sight of Sound Society: James Taylor
Not only is he a rad guy, his candid and colourful photography successfully captures the mad vibes emitting from the local, live music scene. Though the psychedelic haze, we are able recognise the value of these raw moments in time and appreciate them again and again… and again.
At that time I had been shooting local/international bands for about a year. Accumulating photos, I needed a good way to display them. That’s where Glenn approached me and asked to contribute my photos to the page/flickr. We both then collaborated on the second Project ‘Sight Of Sound,’ a 21 page zine & exhibition, which purely features local Perth artists.
Something about light/emotion from the subject truly keeps me inspired.
Theirs so many memorable gigs, I’d have to say, the Gizz fest at the Rosemount with Hideous Sun Demon supporting the King Gizzard dudes. I had a roll of film loaded that was on the last 5 shots, (did have a bit to drink / a few other things), Anyway I finished the roll, got onto Loading the next roll as per-normal, continued to shoot the rest of the gig thinking everything was fine, Until I picked up my film from the developers, to Find out I hadn’t loaded the second roll properly and didn’t get 1 photo off it. The best thing to come out of the ordeal was 1 of the 5 shots taken of HSD i used for the Sight Of Sound Zine, its been named “Reggae Jake”.
At the moment I’m really vibing on Dougals Casino, The Spunloves, Moisteoyster, Kitchen People, The Pissedcolas, Doctopuss, Wheelers of Oz, Mt Mountain, Mudlark & The Darlingrangers – all have the elements of sound that I enjoy.
Sight Of Sound Vol.2 is in the works.
Download The Hipflask App.
Bob Gruen
Jah
35mm Film
Interview: Corner Galley
The Corner Gallery has sucessfully cemented its self in the local scene in more ways than one.
Hosting numerous gigs, exhibitions and parties of all sorts since its inception a couple years ago, Alex & J’aime have created an amazing space like no other where the creatives of Perth can network and come together to make more sweet things for us to see, hear and appreciate.
Over the weekend, I attended Little Wing Corner Gallery’s 9th Photo Bomb; a unique display of photography, live art and live music with a vibe to be envied.
The guys were kind enough to answer some q’s for me, giving us an insight to how this collective begun…
What is the history behind the gallery? How did you guys start working together?
a: J’aime and I worked on a few photo shoots and videos together, then I saw his fakie 360 flips (ooof smooth as butter) and then we started skating together. We wanted to hold a large scale group exhibition in a new space that no one had really been to, which is when we found what came to be “The Grey Gallery”, th e old S.CHUGG building next to Jus Burgers in Subiaco. The owner of the building said we should have an after party at this other building he had, which is when we were introduced to “That big pink building on Hay Street” The Corner Gallery. Suddenly we had the best team in the world helping us out to clean it out and get ready for the big opening on April 27, 2013 (Cam Campbell, Rob Jenkins, Kennaz, TK, Adam Oliver, Aaron Nannup, Alex Halsey, and everyone else you know who you are). It started out as a warehouse for parties not many rules at all, then the council came and shut the whole thing down threatening us with a fine in the six figure region because of this, that and the other. Months had passed until we were finally able to reopen the doors with a whole new Corner Gallery.
You kind of have a melting pot of things going on here, the art/photo/gallery side then the live music, the bar etc. was this natural, or was it planned?
j: Nothing was planned, it was all organic and improvised as we went along. Basically we wanted to create a space that would want to hang out in and music and art are both things that we are passionate about. I didn’t think back to any of the influences until the space was already well and truly established but I had been over to Sydney not long before we got the space and seen one of Beastman’s exhibitions where he painted the whole inside of a warehouse and had a white walled gallery next door to it. I had also been hanging out at a skate/surf/motorbike shop in Byron Bay called Bone Machine owned by a local lord. It had a great vibe and layout which included a rug with a drum kit on it, some guitar amps and there were weekly parties/gigs in the shop. I don’t think it’s there anymore but it was a great little space which held some amazing parties.
I’m sure that was in the back of my mind somewhere along with both our other various influences and inspirations. Alex and I didn’t really talk much about any of those things when we got the space we just threw ideas around and one thing led to another. We added things as we went along as well for instance the bar area used to be in the kitchen where we served drinks out of the doors which we cut in half. Lots of trial and error and adding things as we went along. We also didn’t have much money at the time so we had to utilise whatever we could find or was given to us.The space has had so many different variations and what we hope are improvements added. It’s strange though. We put carpet in the band room and a little tiny curb high stage and it’s weird how something like that can change the feel. It seems more like a small intimate venue now and less like a house party warehouse space. The sound in the band room is definitely better for it. It used to sound like a bit of a tin can in there.
Why do you think it’s important for Perth to have smaller venues such as this?
a: I think the smaller venues and promoters can tailor their events or nights to certain crowds and have a full room of loyal customers every night that they hold one. Also there’s groups of people who like socialising in certain environments, say a group of younger dudes who like fancy spirits might go on a mission to find Sneaky Tony’s or a group of rich older people might all catch up for a drink at The Print Hall. So there are these places that offer certain things or ideas/environments that you can go feel comfortable in. Where as you have the bigger establishments like Capitol, Little Creatures and Metro City, they offer something for a much wider crowd because they know that their environment suits a lot of people’s tastes.
How do you feel about the local arts and creative scene at the moment?
It’s great to see so many local artists getting regular commissions, opportunities and some being able to make a decent living off their artwork. People might be surprised to hear but I do personally wish there was a bit more artwork that pushed the boundaries socially, had a stronger message or made you think a bit deeper but that in some way seems to be the trade off for becoming popularised. The more popular an underground movement becomes usually the more people it tends to appeal to and the less edgy or confronting it seems i.e Hip Hop, Punk Music & Skateboarding. However there will always be those who will keep pushing the status quo and doing something different. You can’t blame someone for trying to make a living off their creative talent but I think the art can suffer if money’s the motivation. As much as we all like to see more artwork in the streets and in the city I personally believe that Perth needs more art initiatives which are created by groups of young creatives and less government or council controlled.
In regards to networking and connecting to people around you, what has come to fruition from purely interacting with different individuals?
a: I’ve met loads of amazing people since we started this thing. Artists, photographers, musicians, actors, event organisers, promoters, managers, venue owners, charity workers, journalists. Most importantly I met my bands Red Engine Caves and The Southern River Band.
There’s been a bunch photography jobs come up for myself, and filming and photo jobs for J’aime. One of the best jobs we worked on was to hang out with Lister while he was here and just shoot photos of everything he did. Another interesting one was to document the insanely talented aerosol artist Jackson Harvey paint this giant warehouse over 3 days. The work he produced in that time was mind blowing.
A lot of restaurant/cafe/shop owners and other local councils come to us to find artists for commissions and a lot of the time I’ll go “Oh remember that guy who came in and showed us his work the other day, that will work for this one.” So basically the more you put yourself out there and interact with other creatives, the more chance you are giving yourself to line up opportunities and jobs.
What’s coming up?
We’ll be hosting Photo Bomb events, group shows and might even do a show with our pals over at The Axiom. For the kids we will be hosting workshops that cover aerosol, drawing and painting over the summer school holidays.
How can people get involved?
They can message us directly through our facebook page, email us or just wander in and have a chat if we’re in at the gallery.
I urge you reader, keep your eyes peeled for future events they have in store for us on the hipflask app and also on their Facebook here.
31 Days In…
A while ago in my meander around for events I came across this sweet little sketch of a heritage house. I’m a bit of a creep when it comes to old buildings & architecture so I had to find out who created it
– cue drum roll for 31 Days In.
Tim and Zoe are the souls behind this project, one portraying a city they are in through a sketch a day for a month – inspired by the places and people around them.
We will be featuring them in the future as they scoot around so keep an eye out.
How did you guys meet/how did you get from Wellington to Perth?
Zoe and I met in 2010 while we were both living and working in Chile; I was teaching English, and Zoe was doing some children’s theatre work. We both love travelling, and we’ve been to quite a few countries together since then. As our families are based in Wellington and Perth, we always make sure to get home regularly and be with them for a good amount of time, and being in Perth has also worked out well with Zoe’s studies. Perth is beautiful, as is Western Australia (though it’s too big to see all of it in 31 days), especially in Spring and early-Summer before it gets too hot to even leave the house.
How did you come up with the 31 days in concept?
While we were in Barcelona in August 2015, we saw a lot of travellers passing through and it made me think how different each person’s impression of the city could be. I wanted to capture the essence of the place, which locals and travellers could immediately relate to and remind them of their experiences there. 31 days in a city or country is a good amount of time to really get to know a place, so the 31 days concept came to life. We got a great response to our 31 days in Barcelona (including from Catalonian locals who said they loved seeing the city and surrounds from a new angle), and 31 days in Western Australia has been amazing, so we plan on continuing the idea wherever we travel to.
Do you have a favourite?
I like the little snapshots of Western Australian life that do not necessarily feature iconic landmarks. My favourite is Day 29: Before the harvest, which is near Kalannie but could really be anywhere in the Wheatbelt. Zoe’s favourite is Day 25: A seagull stole my chip, which is a struggle facing Western Australian kids every day on beaches all over the state.
Obviously the world around you inspires you, but what do you look out for in your environment specifically?
I’d like people to look at each picture and remember their own little stories about a place or person or experience, so capturing the energy and essence of an environment is key. For example, the heritage house on Day 18 got an interesting response from people – we were asked if the house was in Subiaco or East Fremantle or Guildford, which is great as I feel like it elicits people’s memories perhaps of their own grandparents’ house or the feeling and scents of various suburbs rather than just being a realistic rendition of one house and one house only. Similarly, a lot of people are convinced they know the guy waiting with his child at the bus stop in Day 10. Nobody has said he looks like me though, because he’s too good-looking.
Where are you planning to head off to next? And where would be a dream location?
We’d love to go back to South America because the people there are the coolest in the world, and Europe should be on the cards too because I have a thing for drawing windows and they’ve got loads. We might head to the Pacific soon, and check out the Cook Islands but nothing has been confirmed. We’re excited about announcing the next location shortly!
Any travel tips?
Always pack loads of undies. You never know.
Anything else?
We really hope people can come visit us at the markets and chat about their travels!
The 31 Days In exhibition at HOT SOUP wraps up tomorrow so be sure to check it out between now and then at 10 William Street, Fremantle. Also, if you wish to purchase some of their prints they will be at the Etsy Made Local market and Mega Market Place – all time and location details on the hipflask app. Prints come on beautiful Watercolour art paper for $30, and can be framed at the market for just the price of the frame on top.
Valley of the Nightflowers: Fieldey
Last week I introduced you to one half of the curators for the Valley of the Nightflowers exhibition, so now I present to thee the other gorgeous half – Fieldey aka Haylee Fields, who I had the pleasure of meeting at the opening last weekend…
So I’ve read that you said you have an un-natural passion for giving inanimate objects strange human attributes – talk me through this what are some of these past creations?
I’ve just always been one of those weirdos who give things like their car and surfboard names… and from there they develop a personality all of their own and I take it very personally when the time finally comes for said car or board to go to the great junkyard in the sky… it’s like losing a friend (sort of). Following on from there it was only natural when I started painting surfboards to give them names and characters to match. An example of that is the very first board I ever painted – my 6’6″ Superfish which I painted with a “reverse mermaid” (Ie. The body of a woman and the head of a fish) and called “The Fish Wife”.
I saw you did tutorials sponsored by Molotow, how did this opportunity arise and why do you enjoy about being able to broadcast these vids?
I’d been using their products for about a year as they are awesome for surfboards, and I was asked to paint a surfboard for a Sea Shepherd fundraiser. My brother filmed the process for my YouTube channel Fieldey TV, and we snuck in a little bit of product placement and sent it to them. They loved it and asked me if I could make more tutorials for them! I’ve loved working with them to produce these tutorials as I’ve discovered a lot of little tricks and new products of theirs though the process and the tutorials themselves have had a great reception!
I’m pretty jealous that you were born in NZ, its such a beautiful place – how long were you there and how did you end up on the other side of the world in London? and now Perth? Why Perth? Haha.
Well my whole family are Kiwis and when I was 8 my parents saw an ad in the paper for a 3 year position as a bakery manager on a tiny and remote island called Norfolk Island. They were like “why the hell not?” got the job, moved us over there and then lived there for 20 odd years. One of the things about growing up on 5km x 8km rock in the middle of the ocean means you have to leave once you finish school if you want to do stuff with your life that doesn’t involve tourism. I studied Graphic Design in Sydney and did a year and a half stint in London working as a designer there… after a while the grim weather really got to me so I headed back to the island intending to work for a year there and save money to travel the world. I got back and met a boy… who was from Perth… and the rest is history 😉 He was actually writing a PhD in Anthropology about the culture of Norfolk Island, so I came back to Perth while he finished writing the PhD. It’s been 10 years since I left London and we (me and that boy) are now in the process of saving money to travel the world in 2017… better late than never 😉
Finally, how has working on the Valley of the Nightflower’s exhibition been? What were some stand out moments for you? What can we expect?
Well this is the first exhibition I’ve ever organised, so thank god Natasha is my co-curator as I had completely underestimated how long it takes to organise a show AND paint for one… it’s been awesome having her knowledge and expertise and over that time we’ve become buddies which is super cool! You can expect a beautiful art experience at the exhibition – the theme is really fun and I love all the different interpretations of it!
Featuring a local, all female artist line up including Anya Brock, Calliope Bridge, Hayley Welsh, Jodee Knowles, Kim Kim Kim, Monday, Sarah McCloskey, Sheryl Young and Sofia Varano – Valley of the Nightflowers is an art exhibition that gloriously and unashamedly celebrates these wild women and intriguing night flowers.
It runs at Linton & Kay on St Georges Terrace until the 22nd, be sure to witness this.