c r a z e d & b e m u s e d

So you want a studio?

2010-04-21T15:06:00.001+08:00

Finally finished part one of my studio design project!

Here's a little about my concept:
The space is meant to embody a blank page - crisp, clean, pure, full of potential. The blank page is always polarised by the mind and the imagination - filthy by comparison, overflowing with sinful thoughts of unfulfilled debauchery.

Sin is a construct of our Western culture. It governs us, often literally. Conversely, sin is part of human nature: we feel jealous, we feel angry, we are self-loathing, we feel pride and lust. Fashion designers use this as a basis for an entire industry. It felt apt that a fashion designer would inhabit a space that uses human nature as a metaphor in building form.

During the day, the crisp purity of the courtyard is maintained by the blaring sun. As night falls, shadows emerge from the surrounding spaces, creeping over each other across the blank page. These spaces draw a metaphor for the human mind - always lingering on the sinful, the dark and the dirty. Perhaps not always acted upon.

The imagination is where sin begins - creativity is imagination. The workshop space is a textural and spatial embodiment of the mind's sin. Where imagination is reality. Where designs are kept, always tentative and unresolved. It is not until a design enters the blank page that it becomes an a reality for anyone but the designer. The blank page translates an idea into a form; able to be scrutinsed by others.

Fortunately for the designer, this space is an etch-a-sketch. It can be wiped clean of sin and imperfection upon critique, sent back to the mind for further thought.

" The unwritten work is always better than the written one."

With the pressure to impress, designers are constantly under the watchful eye of critics, the media and an unforgiving public. The need for an escape, for a release, to feel safe is always present.

"The most sophisticated people I know - inside they are all children."
- Jim Henson.

The mezzanine space is exactly that: a 'treehouse' loft that allows the design to centre themselves with renewed perspective on work discarded and work to be done.

The blank page is governed by a 'nude' structure that becomes more or less constricting depending on the designer's requirements: privacy or publicity, safety or exposure.

As usual, click any images to view.

Basically the project will be progressing from here into a more resolved space. I need to think about thresholds, occupation and vertical circulation. I'd really like some advice regarding what fashion designers require in a studio space and how designers like to work.

Let me know! I'd love some feedback.

SILHOUETTE

2010-04-05T00:54:00.001+08:00

Fresh Start

2010-04-04T23:42:00.004+08:00

I've been so busy moving recently - time has been scarce, troubles have been many. This is the music I've been listening to.

Yeasayer - One

The Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes

Jonsi - Go Do

Creativity and Focus

2010-03-10T23:21:00.001+08:00

Mood direction for my current project.

Moving out.

2010-03-06T17:25:00.005+08:00

Study. Work. Sleep. Drink. Eat. Sleep. Study. Study.

Sleep. Clean. Study. Sleep. Clean. Drink. Drink.

Sleep. Eat. Drink. Study. Sleep. Work. Clean. Eat.

Move. Study. Sleep. Drink. Drink. Drink. Drink. Busy! Busy! BUSY!

I'll find a way.

Store

2010-02-07T23:55:00.003+08:00

I'm determined to be a part of a movement in modern retail design! It is my intention to change the way we think about buying, trying and taking notice of clothing. Stay tuned - future projects will encapsulate my ideal.

Pitti Fav's

2010-01-20T17:14:00.004+08:00

Gucci

Burberry Prorsum

Costume National

Salvatore Ferragamo

2010-01-20T16:16:00.005+08:00

One of my favourites from Pitti Uomo, so far. I love the colours, the boots, the tailoring.
More posts soon!

Fashion Week Today!

2010-01-16T12:20:00.002+08:00

Fashion week starts today in Milan! I'm very much looking forward to it.

Uncertain

2010-01-10T16:31:00.004+08:00

I'm feeling like this. But change is all taking place.

I have a new job.
I have a new regime.
I have new shoes.

Outlook positive!

SMUT.

2010-01-08T16:34:00.003+08:00

Going Back

2009-12-23T11:10:00.003+08:00

Currently

2009-11-29T21:46:00.002+08:00

Light

2009-11-19T23:18:00.003+08:00

Things That Go VI

2009-11-19T14:51:00.001+08:00

KIRKMAN CATWALK

2009-11-04T15:58:00.004+08:00

This is the end product for my final design assignment.

(click images for larger)

Abstract

Concept

Cameos

Plans

Sections

I'd like to acknowledge photoshopped images from The Sartorialist, Garance Doré and Jak and Jil used for human scale and to make things a lil' more fabulous.

What's the verdict?

Oskar Schlemmer

2009-10-20T17:39:00.004+08:00

Project submitted today for the Architecture and Culture Exhibition.

Special thanks to Hannah for being a cooperative model.

Kirkman House

2009-10-07T19:18:00.004+08:00

Initial site work on the new project - a fashion/performance space in Kirkman House (off Murray st. in the Royal Perth Hospital precinct). I'm working on a concept that juxtaposes the space using modern materials and building methods based upon the loss of craft in both building and fashion - something you can feel as you move through the building's intial thoroughfare, into the atrium space.

Choice Picks

2009-10-02T00:14:00.004+08:00

From the latest AnOtherMan.

I am very much falling in love with this magazine.

Style Icons IV

2009-09-28T13:01:00.004+08:00

Bob Dylan

Tintin

The Missing Link

2009-09-04T11:42:00.005+08:00

My first design project for the semester.

A reflection of Indigenous Australian history through a series of installations in Perth's CBD. Particular focus is placed on the Stolen Generations - a reflective, solitary underpass displaying poems and literature surrounding this dark time in Australia's hidden history.

(Click for larger images.)

The installations, aesthetically, are a rejection of the traditional structured environment of the CBD. Their form comes from the experience we had on site (above) and the plants and shadows found in the Supreme Court and Stirling Gardens.

There's a lot of concept behind it...
But I hate to clutter design with words.

Opinions?

Style Icons III

2009-08-28T17:05:00.003+08:00

Rad Hourani

Robbie Spencer

Two amazing people doing amazing things. They are amazing.
Rad Hourani (26) designs phenomenal clothes.
Robbie Spencer (25) is the best mens stylist/fashion editor... ever...

Amazing.

Things That Go V

2009-08-24T12:42:00.004+08:00

Cucumber sandwiches

and Mojitos.

Little apartments

and big ideas.

Salvador Dali

and Tyler Riggs.

Off Kilter

2009-08-23T17:01:00.007+08:00

The ugly frosted glass lamp I had in my bedroom wasn't up to scratch....

So I made a new one!

It references Josef Hoffmann's Sitzmaschine and the life of those who used it (ie. Tuberculosis patients) both literally and metaphorically. The precious cradling of a troubled organ within a fortified structure, the comfort of support opposed with the insecurity of the feeble strings suspending it.

The Sitzmaschine via MOMA.

So do you like it? It's sort of creepy in hindsight, but architectural and sexy too.

Style Icons II

2009-08-22T23:32:00.002+08:00

'Beau' Brummel

Le Corbusier

Haha!

2009-08-20T22:10:00.005+08:00

Ash Stymest at Costume National...

Look

Look again.

Ahahahaha! Awesome...

Oooh!

2009-08-18T22:09:00.004+08:00

Harald Lunde Helgesen

Very excited for the new Dazed out on Thursday.

Pictures compliments of DazedDigital.

Fantastic Mr. Fox!

2009-08-17T09:06:00.003+08:00

It's been too long since the last Wes Anderson movie so perhaps my excitement for this latest one is understood. It's an interpretation of the Roald Dahl book of the same name, starring awesome actors (well their voices anyway).

Just can't wait!

Things That Go IV

2009-08-16T21:56:00.004+08:00

Oscar Wilde

and Lanvin.

Wes Anderson

and David Bowie.

Michel Gondry

and Cardboard.

Style Icons

2009-08-13T15:04:00.004+08:00

Waris Ahluwalia

Lyle Lodwick

I think this will become a regular post.

Things that Go III

2009-07-26T23:03:00.005+08:00

Gareth Pugh

and Tetris.

Capes

and Rick Owens Wedges.

Paris

and Androgyny.

Broome Colours

2009-07-24T21:06:00.007+08:00

Spring 2010 - Mens

2009-06-21T14:17:00.004+08:00

I've just been browsing the shows www.men.style.com uploaded today.

I must say Burberry Prorsum do it for me, as usual. Simple, tailored looks.

Oh to be rich...

There was also one or two pieces from Jil Sander that caught my eye. I wonder what the colour range would be...

You can see all the Milan shows via the link at the top. What's your favourite?

Fashion Market

2009-06-17T19:47:00.007+08:00

This is my latest design project - as promised.
View. Discuss.

(click for larger images)

Façade Study

2009-06-13T01:42:00.004+08:00

This is one of my recent projects based around a building in Fremantle. I worked on an abstraction based on the bold openings and shadows of the façade and the parasitic plant that seemed to pull it apart like a crumbling ruin. Let me know what you think.

The final model was made from plaster and wire in a latex mould. It was exhibited for Fremantle on the Edge in a window on the corner of High street and Henry street in Fremantle.

Things That Go II

2009-06-04T13:57:00.006+08:00

Red hair and porcelain skin.

Concrete brutalism and autumn.

Wassily chairs and creepy masks.

I'm going to post the final design work from my Fremantle workshop soon. Stay tuned.

F***ing Funky

2009-05-19T23:24:00.003+08:00

Can't get this song out of my head. Especially the part where she starts screaming around 1:05

...and I thought I was done with The Gossip.

The Middle East

2009-04-27T18:08:00.003+08:00

Very Fleet Foxes meets Arcade Fire meets Mum's 80s knitwear.

Watch.

Things that Go

2009-04-25T11:28:00.005+08:00

This is my first in a series of things that go.

Big lips

and Skinny legs.

Gin

and lime.

Nature

and Mies.

Stay tuned...

I am Sand

2009-04-22T00:05:00.004+08:00

Photos from the design workshop with Maria Blaisse.

My perspective of beaches around Fremantle.

(click for bigger)

Overall, a fabulous event - days at the beach, coffee and dinner with the artists and peers.
I got a bit sick of this smarmy homo though.

I hope he gets a terrible case of skin cancer.

Studio - Proposal

2009-03-17T21:14:00.007+09:00

A few weeks ago I mentioned my first design project for uni, based on the studio space we practically live in. Well, pin-up was on Thursday and marks will be handed out this Thursday coming. I'm both excited and nervous.

Without further ado, here is my design proposal.

Based upon my original idea, I've designed a very minimal interior with Warholian influences. Lots of white, lots of clean lines and laminated surfaces. My presentation used mainly pencil sketches, diagrams and rendering that was more stylistic than accurate to create a sense of the light and ambiance. I don't want to get too much into the concept - hopefully the drawings will communicate what I'm proposing. Excuse the typos, late nights on photoshop are not recommended.

(click for full image - all reduced for speed)

Anyway, wish me luck with results. Hopefully it stands up to their standards!

Textural Life

2009-03-08T14:47:00.004+09:00

My wardrobe in photos.

Pete Doherty

2009-03-07T00:44:00.006+09:00

So I was laying on the couch tonight watching something dull on ABC and I must have drifted off, next thing I know I'm stirred awake by beautiful music. Rage has a lasso around me, drawing me into the T.V. and I see the some foggy white letters, but before I can read them - a familiar voice...

I think to myself... is that...? It can't be Pete Doherty..!? Sure enough, the words say Pete Doherty. And I don't mean Babyshambles or The Libertines. Pure and simple Pete Doherty.

I had no idea he was making new stuff! I'm fucking thrilled and this one's a keeper. He's already a bit of an icon for me but I'm surprised to see something so coherent coming out of him after recent times (not that the crazy drug addled thing isn't part of his charm).

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the album. Let's hope this lasts.

Also, I really like his personal style and 'tude.

The Whitest Boy Alive

2009-02-25T21:50:00.005+09:00

No this isn't another blog all about me. The Whitest Boy Alive, based in Germany, are an electro-chill-funk-hop band I happen to be listening to a lot lately. They're smooooooth.

This is the only official film clip they have - if it is official. You can never tell these days...

The album Rules (out in March) is so funky. Hannah and I were bopping all over the house this morning while it poured down for the first time all summer. (Woo!)

Get this album. It's great.

Studio

2009-02-24T23:04:00.002+09:00

So I'm back at uni, which is good - it's good to feel I'm moving forward in my life and working on my future. My first project is based on the studio space that we have almost all of our classes in. We've been asked to redesign it based on how we feel it would most suit our needs as interior architecture students.

Currently it is a very industrial space, fraught with overhead piping and ducting which I suppose is not at odds with the building, a very brutalist structure. However, as the a space for designing other spaces, it isn't very impartial. In fact, I'd say it impedes on a student's creativity by constantly reminding us of the mundane side of interiors. I'm in no way saying a more flamboyant space is required, the opposite actually.

Minimalism! Minimalism! Minimalism!

Gosh, that's a mouthful.

With Andy Warhol's 'factory' in mind, a less intrusive space is certainly my dirrection. An open space, which it is, but more white. Or at least more concrete. I read somewhere once that an interior designer's work space should not influence their designs, in fact, they shouldn't even dress in a way that might clash with their designs whilst working. Plain blacks or plain whites.

Some might say "How sterile! How can one be creative in such an unimaginative space?" I think inspiration is best found beyond the studio. Explore other spaces for ideas! When working keep things clean and simple. Don't let your mind wander.

The art of interior design is so focused on colour and material; the studio must be a control.

I think that will be my design proposal statement...

Stay tuned.

When I Grow Up

2009-02-22T23:20:00.004+09:00

So you've heard of The Knife, well the sister of the sibling duo Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson has recently released her new side project Fever Ray and I have been listening to the album non-stop. It's mesmerising.

The sound is very similar to The Knife but with less searing synth and an overall less complex sound. I very much like it. This song (When I Grow Up) is one of my favourites and the video is particularly entrancing (and was only released a few days ago!)

It reminds me of the Vivienne Westwood collaboration issue of Dazed and Confused where she dressed up a bunch of kids as post-appocalyptic tribesmen (tribespeople?).

It makes me want to run away to Sweden, buy a vocoder Korg and start recruiting little people for an unstipulated - but of course - nature oriented cause!

This will happen.

You will join me.

I Want One

2009-02-20T14:55:00.003+09:00

And you can charge it yourself with your finger!

I love retro-future chic.

Ash Stymest

2009-02-19T23:49:00.005+09:00

I have a juvenile obsession with a model. He's just so pretty and I'm as jealous as a small boy has just been refused entry to the Zoo because of a drinking habit that saw him thrown out last week when he trundled through the Lion pen shouting obscenities about "Simba's mum".

I'm determined to have a proper jaw. I liked his hair so I sort of copied it.

And I probably shouldn't envy 17 year olds.

Disco Bloodbath

2008-12-26T23:32:00.004+09:00

I like the idea of the world these people created.

Although the reality of hard drugs frightens me - and the nitty gritty of these peoples' lives really is both nitty and gritty - their fantasy world seems to have the childish lack of responsibility, dark sense of humour and complete void where logical emotion should be that I seem to have in common.

(What an ugly dragging sentence that was...)

Anyway.

To quote myself defending these murderous, drug addled characters to my dear uncle: "It all just seems like so much fun!"

Metronomy

2008-12-21T09:36:00.006+09:00

I've been listening to their album forwards and backwards for days now, why did I not snap it up sooner!? Anyway, here's one of my favourites from the album.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=MsduHmjQlgI

I love the sound of the squeaking door in the audio-periphery throughout the whole song. The bass is funky and sharp.

I highly recommend this album to anyone who loves their indie electro pop. For some reason, when ever I listen to it I think of this computer game I had when I was a kid where you had to explore the human body with a transforming school bus.

I loved that game so hard.

To begin with...

2008-12-20T23:19:00.005+09:00

...this is my new blog.

I look like this:

These are some of my favourite things.

I haven't decided what this blog is about yet, but you can rest assured that you will be entertained.