Art news

SEDUCED, currently showing at the Barbican in London, explores sex in art from Antiquity to now. The exhibition allows you to open your mind to all that sex emulates. Lust, love, procreation, homosexuality and tradition. You are taken on a journey from 16^th century  art of the Greek Gods, sculptures and drawings of the naked form through to modern day works from the likes of Tracey Emin. Her work of pink neon text simply states, ‘Is Anal Sex Legal? Is Legal Sex Anal?'
Artists have constantly been creating works that represent the intimate act of sex and continue to push boundaries with the purpose of forcing us to ask more questions ourselves and bring us face to face with the various lights in which people view sex. As for what is acceptable today in regards to sex in art, that’s for you to decide.

Do you ever gaze longingly at a pile of discarded pens and silently wish they were transformed into something more useful, such as cutlery? Or quietly curse the fact that the only thing missing from your dining room is a coffee table constructed entirely from recycled Yellow Pages?
Well worry no more as Ready Made; a “bi-monthly print magazine for people who like to make stuff” is here. A veritable bible handed down from the DIY gods themselves, Ready Made features a number of backyard projects designed to recycle and re-use objects that would otherwise languish in landfills or bedroom closets.
Issues can be ordered through the website’s online store, alongside their best-of book: How to Make {Almost} Anything- A Do It Yourself Primer. Socially aware and environmentally conscious, Ready Made will ensure that those broken umbrellas in the lounge room corner end up as conversation starting lamp shades, rather than in the bin. MacGyver would be proud.

SPONTANEOUS creation. That's what inspired photographer Scott Wynn to step out on his skate board and shoot his latest photographic series `8hrs'.
With just a small 35mm Russian spy camera in hand, Wynn rolled through the Sydney suburbs shooting his surroundings over eight hours. Opting not to take on any pre-conditioned style or trend, Wynn shoots purely what he sees either skateboarding or while travelling on trains and buses.
Friend and fellow photographer Trevor Worden's style is more tangible, implementing a tactile approach to his photography.
His current images are reproduced by first photographing B&W negatives and prints then working with the digital file. Once the output is printed on high quality photographic paper, the emulsion is then separated from the print and transferred on to art paper. The final result of Worden's work is then creatively treated.
Both Wynn and Worden combine their talents for a joint exhibition at the Inverse Gallery, Gold Coast on November 9 at 7pm. Showing until November 25.

Debris Blanc stems from a derivative of French meaning White Trash.
“The term Debris Blanc was first mentioned to me by a member of MENSA who had just done a 20 year study of the homeless people in lower Manhattan,” explains Arizona designer import Teeroy. “She used the term to describe the homeless who actually made a quite extravagant living from begging. Some of them up to 6 figures a year. I used the term because it's a very elegant way of saying white trash.”
The definition of a one-man band, Teeroy is a sole designer who artistically assembles and creates every piece of DB clothing by hand. Everything from the hand stitching on the jeans to the art zines that come with them.
While Byron Bay menswear boutique The End Collective is the sole Australian retailer, they have a growing database of couture clients who roll into his studio to get the personalised DB experience.

Venice Biennale - one complaint, two words- Video Installation.
Too many home videos, not enough concept, no cinematography.
Okay, I get it: an artist is neither a director nor a cinematographer. But that should not mean that his “work” should not be either beautiful, conceptual/inspiring/thought provoking/ challenging, or all of the above.
An excessive amount of video art, more specifically, an excessive amount born from an uninspired womb, left me thinking I had seen commercials more Art than some of the installations screened at the Biennale.
I found it difficult engaging in a 20-30 minute video installation when you were running on a (limited) 8 hour day, and two full days’ pavilions. I felt I was continuously scratching the surface of a film clip I did not have the immediate leisure to watch.
Bearing all this critique in mind, “Seven Intellectuals In Bamboo Forest”, by Yang Fudong, was a beautifully shot biopic, of 7 Japanese students set in five different parts. Silently enchanting, it still proved itself too long to watch the full-length clips - which I intend to seek out post Biennale.
Ciao, Arrribaderchii Venice.

WORDS BY ANGIE LAWSON

Venice Biennale - one complaint, two words- Video Installation. Too many home videos, not enough concept, no cinematography. Okay, I get it: an artist is neither a director nor a cinematographer. But that should not mean that his “work” should not be either beautiful, conceptual/inspiring/thought provoking/ challenging, or all of the above.
An excessive amount of video art, more specifically, an excessive amount born from an uninspired womb, left me thinking I had seen commercials more Art than some of the installations screened at the Biennale. I found it difficult engaging in a 20-30 minute video installation when you were running on a (limited) 8 hour day, and two full days’ pavilions. I felt I was continuously scratching the surface of a film clip I did not have the immediate leisure to watch.
Bearing all this critique in mind, “Seven Intellectuals In Bamboo Forest”, by Yang Fudong, was a beautifully shot biopic, of 7 Japanese students set in five different parts. Silently enchanting, it still proved itself too long to watch the full-length clips - which I intend to seek out post Biennale. Ciao, Arrribaderchii Venice.

If you appreciate a bit of computer-based art as much as you do a good distraction from work, then you should check out Layer Tennis. The project of Chicago based design firm Coudal Partners, Layer Tennis involves pitting two talented (and usually mild-mannered) graphic designers/ artists/ illustrators against one another for 10 volleys of PDF madness. The game begins when one artist, who has been given a week to prepare his piece, “serves” his file to a competitor who then has 15 minutes to upload it, tinker with it in Photoshop and "volley" it back. A third artist commentates as the match plays out and, after ten volleys have been thrown, posters on the site’s online forum decide a winner.
You can catch Layer Tennis live every Saturday at 5am (when it’s 2pm Friday in Chicago) otherwise; all matches remain online afterwards for your design-geek pleasure.