Educate Yo'Self! Easter Edition

Make these amazing Miniature Easter Baskets - Bakerella

John Safran embraced the season by taking part in a crucifixion ritual in the Philippines. Jesus Christ that must have hurt - The Sydney Morning Herald

Check out Australian stationery designer duo Anamiro's lovely Shadow Puppet Rabbit giftcards - Frankie

I don't know what an Easter Egg Sandwich is, but I am suspicious and wary of its maker's motives - The Chocolate Review

So this is weird...

H/t to Michael K

An eBay auction you should definitely check out

Vic, an Aussie ex-pat currently living in England, is the author of the really lovely blog... actually, this is probably due to my own stupidity but I'm not totally sure what the name of it actually is. Whatever it's called, it is really great, and the link is here.

Anyway, Vic is moving house and needs to unload some of her possessions, so is auctioning some really lovely clothes on eBay, along with books and DVDs.

Starting prices are very reasonable (2 pounds and up), and there haven't been many bids yet so you might just be able to grab yourself a great little bargain. Check it out!

I Find Twitter Kinda Annoying But...

Stephen Colbert's Twitter feed is really very funny, just like everything else he does in life.

Highlights include:

"as i watch myself twitter, i wonder why i didn't become a professional thumb model"

"Equations are the devil's sentences."

"Real men use fossil fuels."

"I never trusted sleep."

"Just because you haven't heard of pirates in a while doesn't mean they're not out there ruining thousands of shrimp buffets."

"The best way to change the system is to wait till it changes."

"All of the answers are there if you look for the patterns."

"A man should smell like an old baseball glove."

"Simple rule when I pick my friends: No mesh shirts."

"Sheep aren't bad as long as they have good shepherds."

"Shave off your body hair and get in the sweatbox."

"This is not a contest but there will be a winner, as there always is in life."

"Cadmium Yellow is the color of broken dreams."

"I'm sure I have a lot of strong feelings."

Speaking of Stephen Colbert, he is totally tearing it up at the moment. The current political climate in America, especially the way the hard-core neo-cons are just losing their minds has given The Colbert Report so much material. It has allowed Stephen and his writers to let Stephen Colbert - the character - and his paranoia and ignorance loose, and boy is he crazy. In particular I love their take on Glenn Beck, a right-wing, conspiracy theorist nutcase who refuses to accept the majority of the country he 'loves' so much really doesn't side with him, and instead is, to paraphrase Mr. Colbert, cranking up the crazy and ripping off the knob. The fact that this guy is actually given a forum to disseminate his hateful and ignorant views by a major media corporation is actually really disturbing and upsetting, but that's a whole other post for another day. And you've got to laugh, otherwise you'd be shaking with rage day in day out.

Check out the below videos in order for an education in crazy:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Truth From the Gut
comedycentral.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Doom Bunker - Glenn Beck's "War Room"
comedycentral.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The 10.31 Project
comedycentral.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

Educate Yo'Self!

Kris Atomic does a really great roundup of the superbomba flicker stream, nostalgia and kitsch galore! - KrisAtomic

Dr. Dov Michaeli asks 'why are Americans resistant to science?' - The Doctor Weighs In

Emily, creator of The Black Apple, is just one of the most stylish ladies ever. I wish I owned every single item of clothing she is wearing in this post, especially that amazing brooch (above) - Some Girls Wander

Check out these notefolios from Poketo, totally cute and handy by the looks of it! - Happy Mundane

Aspen Barker, co-founder of Exhale (a non-judgemental after-abortion counselling service), is Feministe's Hero of the Day - Feministe

You probably will have read about this already, but if you want to feel outraged and helpless all over again, read about how Hamid Karzai has signed a bill that legalizes marital rape, prevents women from leaving the house without a male 'guardian' and other generally awful and depressing things - Feministe, The Guardian

Joachim Froese

A bit about me, so this post makes sense: I am currently completing the third, and what should be (but won't be) final year of my photography degree at the Queensland College of Art. This is the year where I produce my final folio, spend hours in the dark room and also cry a bit. That seems to be the trend after five weeks back anyway.

Just like all the departments at QCA, the Photography Department has many up-and-coming and established and well renowned photographers tutoring and lecturing in their ranks, including Joachim Froese, Ray Cook, Paul Adair, Marian Drew and Nathan Corum, to name but a few. It can be easy to take them for granted and just view them as lecturers, or maybe even friends.

I was visiting a friend of mine's place the other day (which should really be described as an art gallery with some beds and a kitchen - amazing) and I saw this piece from Joachim Froese's Species series hanging on the wall:

Joachim Froese, The Temptation of Adam and Eve, 2005, 4 Silver Gelatin Prints

I am a little ashamed to say that, although there have been exhibitions I should have attended, this was the first time I had seen one of Joachim's works in person, true to scale - real - instead of recreated on a computer screen. And despite what those anti-almost-everything fuckers over on the right may say (whispers of elitism, etc) seeing an artwork in person is important, is special. There will always be a loss of detail in reproductions, and significant aspects of the work which influence your reaction to/relationship with the work, such as texture, size and scale, are often lost.

Elitist rant aside, standing in front of this piece of art made me think about how much I love Joachim's work - it's beautiful and accessible, but so much meaning and history can be found underneath the surface.

Joachim Froese has been my tutor for a few subjects during my time at the Queensland College of Art. As a tutor, he is strict but fair, incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about his discipline, encouraging of discussion and dissent against his views, and able to give constructive criticism that in no way lets you off lightly, but doesn't leave you feeling crushed and defeated either (which I recently experienced).

As a photographer, I really admire him and his work. Joachim grew up in Germany, and is particularly interested in and influenced by the Dutch and Spanish still life traditions. His works often references or even adopts traditional painting tropes. His unique style carries throughout his life's work, yet his works are never 'samey'. Technically, his work is also very strong - I can only hope to one day have such control over my images - and I really like that in art photographers. I don't really have much interest in those whose technical sloppiness is excused away as artistic intent, when really it's a lot more likely due to lack of control, laziness or an attempt to cash in on the latest cool photography craze.

Probably the most distinctive feature of Joachim's work is the creation of one image using multiple panels/prints. I originally assumed that this was done by shooting one frame, then chopping it up during editing, but each separate panel is an individual image, set up and lit so your eye will travel smoothly from one panel to the next. This allows him to play lots of lovely tricks with repetition, symmetry and fragmentation. The first body of work where he used this panelling technique was Rhopography 1999 - 2001.

Rhopography 8, 1999, 4 Silver Gelatin Prints

Rhopography 15, 2000, 3 Silver Gelatin Prints

Rhopography 18, 2001, 4 Silver Gelatin Prints

Fun Fact: Joachim only uses insects that have died of natural causes. He then pulls all their legs, wings and other attachment off and glues them back together exactly the way he needs them to be for his shot. So you are actually seeing the same bee twice in Rhopography 18, just repositioned after being pulled apart and put back together again.

Where the first Rhopography series focused on dead insects and referenced the Dutch still life tradition, Rhopography 2002 - 2003 draws from Spanish still life, in particular, monk and painter Juan Sanchez Cotan's exploration of geometry and symmetry in his images of fruit and vegetables in the cool house.

Juan Sanchez Cotan, Coing, Chou, Melon et Concombre

Rhopography 27, 2002, 3 Silver Gelatin Prints

Rhopography 40, 2003, 3 Silver Gelatin Prints

Rhopography 41, 2003, 3 Silver Gelatin Prints

After Species, Joachim's next work - and his first captured with a digital camera and in colour - was Portrait of My Mother in 2006, photographed during the last weeks of his mother's life.

Portrait of my Mother (detail), 2006, 3 archival inkjet prints

Portrait of my Mother (detail), 2006, 3 archival inkjet prints

Portrait of my Mother (detail), 2006, 3 archival inkjet prints

The work was a collaborative effort between Joachim and his mother:

"I photographed at night and during the day assembled the pictures on the computer at her bedside as she wanted me to continue with 'our' project until her last moment. After her death I finished the series until all her books were photographed in 'her' order."

The devastation of losing those we love is something we all have to deal with during our lives, and I think that Joachim's Portrait is made all the more poignant by the fact that his work is about a celebration of his mother's life, created even as that life faded away.

Joachim continued his exploration of memory and loss in his most recent work Written in the Past (2007). Each object depicted in the series is linked to his past - to Joachim, the images are explicit, like a diary entry. To those of us not privy to his memory, we are given this one clue and then left to interpret for ourselves.

Written in the Past 1, 2007, 3 archival pigment inkjet prints

Written in the Past 8, 2007, 3 archival pigment inkjet prints

Written in the Past 9, 2007, 3 archival pigment inkjet prints

Written in the Past 10, 2007, 3 archival pigment inkjet prints

Joachim's work is held in the public collections of the National Gallery of Australia, QUT Art Museum Brisbane and the Queensland Art Gallery, among others. His work has been featured and reviewed in such respected art publications as PhotoFile, PhotoNews and Eyeline.

Currently Watching...

Pride and Prejudice on DVD (the BBC version, geez!)



Colin Firth is such a dream boat. My 14 year long crush on him remains unabated, even after he appeared in that atrocious Amanda Bynes movie a few years ago. I try to block that from my mind. Looking at this sexy photo seems to do the job pretty well.

Feather Headpieces

I bought this feather headband from Love Me Knot - now Love Lulu Mae - about a year ago. Apologies for the webcam-quality images.

(Geez, check out those overgrown eyebrows I'm currently sporting!)

For reasons unbeknownst to me, I have barely worn it until I stumbled across this beautiful feather clip on Bona Drag the other day and was reminded of its existence.

Plumage Hair Clip, maker unknown, US$15 at Bona Drag

I've worn mine a few times since then, and in that time a number of people have asked me where I got it from, so I thought I would do up a list of my favourite feather hairpiece makers on Etsy. I love Etsy for so many reasons, in particular their support of small businesses and promotion of handmade and vintage goods. Especially in these interesting economic times you can feel good knowing that your money is going directly to the person who made your purchase with their own hands.

So, the list (in no particular order):

Charm School Design

The Polar Headband, US$32 on Etsy

Snow-tipped Browns Headband or Clip, US$32 on Etsy

Featherbrain

Calloway Feather Headband, US$35 on Etsy

Gerschwin Feather Headband, US$35 on Etsy; Cassidy Feather Headband, US$35 on Etsy

Simone Peacock Feather Headband, US$32 on Etsy; Armstrong Feather Headband, US$32 on Etsy

If a Bird

Firebird Hair Slide, US$35 on Etsy; Jasmine Peacock Hair Slide, US$50 on Etsy

NevaPlume

Emily Vintage Feather Hairpiece, US$34 on Etsy

Bethany Lorelle

Carrie B Feather Headband, US$24 on Etsy

If you're looking for something a bit more flamboyant (and/or expensive) you could check out the following:

Hawk Feathered Fascinator Headband by Andrea Larko, US$48 on Etsy

Wild Feather Folk Princess Crown by Charm School Design, US$42 on Etsy

Josette Vintage Feather Hat by Love, Lulu Mae, US$100

Crown of Feathers Headband, US$168 at Free People

Happy Things

Feeling kind of depressed tonight due to a particularly soul destroying day at uni, so instead of the post I planned to write about a really fantastic photographer (coming tomorrow, probably), I've put up some YouTube videos I've been watching to cheer me up. It's pretty much all Arj Barker stand up.

Ladies...

I watched bits of the Melbourne Comedy Gala on Monday night, and while I was pretty underwhelmed by a lot of the acts - Jason Byrne in particular always leaves me cold - I thought Arj killed it, as always. I saw him perform at the Brisbane Powerhouse a few years ago, and would definitely recommend going to see him next time he visits your town. During his set, my friends threw a pair of huge granny panties (on which they had written love notes) on to the stage and he dealt with it quite well despite being visibly concerned for their mental health.

So, the videos:

"Then you've got a bunch of depressed amputee bees swimming around the ocean..."

"I can't go any faster I'm wearing walking shoes!"

"For years, Arj Barker was high on life. But eventually I built up a tolerance."

Arj deals with a heckler without resorting to "I'm fucking your mutha" insults. Makes me love him even more.

That is all for now. If you want more, check out Arj Barker's blog, which, while it hasn't been updated in AGES (grrr), has lots of hilarious archived goodness.

Stop Staring!

Stop Staring! is a fantastic American clothing company that was "founded on the idea of timeless and classic dresses, and rockabilly clothing. Stop Staring! is inspired by silver screen glamour icons such as Audrey Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth and Joan Crawford."

My rather unreliable memory is telling me I first stumbled across Stop Staring at Modcloth, one of my favourite online stores. Although this may or may not be true, it does make sense, as they are usually selling at least one or two Stop Staring! pieces at any given time.

I think out of all the vintage inspired/recreation clothing labels I know, Stop Staring! has got to be my favourite. Their designs are consistently gorgeous, with lovely detailing on every dress.
The wearability of their designs ranges from 'probably could wear to (fancy) work' styles like these:

(L-R) Paris Dress in Navy US$126.00 at Stop Staring!; Paris Dress in Black with Pink Flower US$137.00 at Stop Staring!

(L-R) Classic Ashley Dress in Black, US$145.00 at Stop Staring!; Manhattan Dress in Black, US$94.95 at Daddy-O's

To crazy sexy dresses like this one:

Lolita Dress, US$122.00 at Stop Staring!

To sophisticated dresses for evenings out:

(L-R) CocoD Dress, US$154.00 at Stop Staring!; Vogue Glamour Blush Dress in Grey, US$141.00 at Stop Staring!

And dresses for all those moments in between:

(L-R) A-line Doll Dress, US$138.00 at Stop Staring!; Puff Doll Dress, US$65.00 (on sale) at Stop Staring!

(L-R) 30s Sexy Bombshell Dress, US$126.00 at Stop Staring!; Doll Swing Dress, US$96.00 (on sale) at Stop Staring!

I guess what I'm saying is that if you were looking to live and breathe that burlesque/rockabilly period, a la Dita von Teese, well, Stop Staring might not be a bad place to start.

And although I couldn't find any photos of her when I quickly flipped through their site just now, I'm pretty sure it was Staring! who first made me aware of the gorgeous pin-up and cheesecake model Bernie Dexter (who in my book, is way, way cooler than Dita von Teese). So big points for that.

Of course, in these trying economic times, one must at least attempt to appear sympathetic to the concerns of the proletariat (myself included) and so I tell you that, as a long suffering student, even without factoring in shipping expenses and conversion to the useless Australian dollar, I probably could not afford to buy any of these right now. Well... maybe one. But I suspect I would be eating a lot of Mia Goreng for a while afterwards.