‘A Splash of Colour’ @ I Know a Place

•October 17, 2011 • 7 Comments

I Know a Place is a fairly new bar that has opened up behind that pharmacy on the corner of Brunswick St and Alexander Parade.  I’d always wondered what was in that courtyard… then the Makatron mural sprang up and my curiosity was piqued even more.  Pretty stoked when it turned out to be a new bar.  A very small bar at that – there are only a few seats inside, along with the bar itself.  The courtyard comprises the rest of the venue.  It’s a simple but pretty sweet courtyard, and there is barbecue hot dog action going on, so you can’t go wrong with that!

Myself, Klara, Vetti and Anna sampled the hotdogs and give them unanimous thumbs up!  My Sav Blancs were also going down quite well.  It would have been nicer if it was warmer, as the courtyard is quite open, but it is Spring after all, we should probably be thankful it didn’t rain.

Klara did some live painting, and there were a couple of other art pieces going on, including a mysterious light installation.  Klara also demostrated why spraying Ironlak in your eye is not a good idea.  Overall vibe was pretty chilled; this place is going to be awesome in summer!  Can’t wait to try out some of I Know’s signature cocktails in the summer sun.  Might have to bring a deck chair along.

Maka bug attack!

Blank boards, waiting to be transformed.

See Klara paint.

I Know a Place is open from 5pm-1am Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 2pm-11pm on Sundays.

x Kitten of Doom

Posted in Artyness, Fitzroy/Fitzroy North
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Stabs, “Lite Works” @ Backwoods Gallery

•October 16, 2011 • 4 Comments

One of the exhibitions that I’ve been looking forward to for ages, Stabs‘ very first solo show opened on Friday night at Backwoods.

Stabsy-Stabs has been a fixture on the Melbourne street art scene for a long time now.  You’ve surely seen his pieces around the traps before.  SURELY.  This guy has been decorating the streets with his work for a good decade now and his characters pop up everywhere.

I love the bright colours, and the details in each piece.  Look closely.  Closer.  CLOSER.  See those teeth?  They have faces.  Are they high?  They sure look high!

Stabs’ exhibition includes light installations, including a mega one outside up above where the bar is, and another mega one above the counter in the front room.

Go.  See. Stabs.  His stencils will make you insanely happy.  Show runs until October 30th.

x Kitten of Doom

Posted in Artyness, Collingwood
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Rainy day

•October 15, 2011 • 1 Comment

My favourite weather is when it is warm, yet overcast.  I guess it reminds me of Darwin, where I grew up.  There, it is never cold when it rains.

I like the smell of the hot ashphalt as the water hits it and the steam rises.

It is raining right now and it is still warm enough for me to be wearing shorts.

Rain drops dot the glass door of my little inner-Melbourne house.

The smell of rain is the best smell in the world, followed by freshly-cut grass.

x Kitten of Doom

Posted in Things I see
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Mischievous toys are mischievous

•October 14, 2011 • 2 Comments

You know they get up to stuff when you’re not around, don’t you?

Just checking out the view, I SWEAR.

I'm asleep, I SWEAR.

It wasn't me. (I swear.)

Miniature crackhouse; where the junkie toys come to get their fix.

You can't see me. I was never here.

I wasn't doing burnouts, I SWEAR.

The very picture of innocence. Ahuh.

Do you know where your toys are right now..?

x Kitten of Doom

Posted in Random shiz, Things I see
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Daniel King’s “Look Closer” photographic exhibition

•October 5, 2011 • Leave a Comment

I went along to the opening night of Daniel King’s “Look Closer” exhibiton last night.

Dan is a filmmaker and photographer who lives here in Melbourne, and this is his first solo photography exhibition.

“Look Closer” examines the many stereotypes that indigenous people such as Dan are labelled with, through striking black-and-white photographs that have themselves been labelled.

Some of the images are humourous, while all are poignant; and some of Dan’s models are people you may recognise…

“Look Closer” runs until October 14th at Victoria University’s Level 17 Art Space.  Read the media release for this exhibition here.

x Kitten of Doom

Posted in Artyness, Melbourne CBD
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Happy up here

•September 30, 2011 • 10 Comments

You’re probably well aware of my favourite spot in Melbourne.

As it’s basically unaccessible at the moment, let me introduce you to my second favourite spot in Melbourne.

Enjoy the view.

Look down; you know you want to.

Just enjoying the daybreak solitude.

x Kitten of Doom

PS. Yes the title of this post comes from the Royksopp song.

Posted in Melbourne CBD, Things I see, Urban exploration
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Nikon makes a funneh!

•September 30, 2011 • 3 Comments

 

Yesterday morning (or this afternoon in the Northern hemisphere) Nikon’s Facebook page wrote this:

“A photographer is only as good as the equipment he uses, and a good lens is essential to taking good pictures!”

CUE: COLLECTIVE GASP!

Now, I know what they were trying to say.  They were merely trying to inititate a bit of discussion about what high-end lenses their users have and what types of photography they use them for.

But… gosh!  This is why you get people who have at least half a brain to proof-read your stuff before you publish it!

Okay it’s been half an hour since I read that post and I’m still laughing.  A photographer is only as good as the equipment he uses.  Anyone who knows anything about photography knows it is the other way around.  You can take some shitty plastic camera (yes, a Holga is a shitty camera, you hipsters) or a damn piece of cardboard that you fashion into a pinhole camera yourself, and you can make something AMAZING with it, but it takes IMAGINATION and CREATIVITY.  You can essentially make whatever you want out of any equipment you have available.  This is one of the few relevant things I learned at photography school.

The inverse also applies: you can have the best camera that money can buy and it won’t make you a great photographer.  Jesus it seems like every third person on the street has a DSLR these days and I am pretty sure not all of these people know what they are doing.  Pointing and clicking at something does not make you a photographer.

And this is why Nikon’s statement seems ridiculous and laughable.  Because it is seemingly suggesting that equipment doth make the photographer, regardless of whether they know how to use it or not.  If equipment doth make the photographer, then everyone out there is a “photographer” and you are just one more little fish in a massive sea of fish, and some of those fish are barramundi and they will eat you, and then they will get eaten by sharks… yeah feel pretty small now don’t you.

x Kitten of Doom

Posted in Random shiz
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I am pretty much the hottest thing on the planet

•September 28, 2011 • 3 Comments

 

x Kitten of Doom

Posted in Random shiz
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Abandoned factories: bleak or beautiful?

•September 27, 2011 • Leave a Comment

I think they are both bleak and beautiful.

I am a fan of both stark and industrial though. I think you need to be in order to appreciate them. I can see why many people would think they are just depressing. They are a sad reminder of a once-prosperous era, that have been forgotten and left to rot.







Maybe it’s more that I am drawn to sad things.

x Kitten of Doom

Posted in Melbourne misc suburbs, Things I see, Urban exploration
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Things I am going to do over summer

•September 23, 2011 • 3 Comments
  • Lots of film photography.  I need to work out how to use my Pentax ME properly, and also master the skills of Holga (yes I’m still crap) and Smyena (double-exposures baby yeah!)
  • See all the old films I still have yet to see at the Astor
  • Write.  I am not sure what I am going to write yet… something.
  • Start sketching again.  I bought new notebooks months and months ago, maybe six months ago now, and still haven’t opened one.  I always get ideas for things I want to sketch when I’m not home though.  Annoying.
  • Get really good at Russian.  My classes resume in a couple of weeks.  Anyone who knows the language, please feel free to leave comments in Russian.  I think I may need email buddies to help me practice also.
  • Master the craft of flavouring vodkas.  There will be only exceptional flavours!
  • Finally make some macarons.  My macaron recipe book is sitting on the shelf, gathering dust.

Um there’s probably more but I can’t think of anything else right now.

Posted in Random shiz
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