Wax letter seals
There is nothing more regal or romantic than a wax sealed letter. Jane Austen tried countless times to come up with the literary equivalent, and despite coming close even she couldn't quite match it. They say wax seals are as old as writing itself, apparently they were used by the Pharaohs to keep correspondence top secret.
Tatebanko
Things go in and out of fashion right? Fondue, disco, tie dye... ahem, and other things that aren't from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Like Tatebanko. This is a forgotten Japanese art of diorama that was quite the pastime in the Edo period (1603 - 1868). We can just imagine the Tokugawa shogun indulging in a Tatebanko session before whipping some eastern barbarians.
Art as Art
As Susan Sontag posited (and Cloverfield proved through the experiment of a giant fish monster attack), most of us feel we can only experience life by photographing it. Similarly, we can only truly experience art by buying stuff in a gallery shop. Do you see a branch of the NY Museum of Modern Art in Melbourne? No dude, but who cares when there’s a MOMA store in Melbourne Central?
Art as Art - the latest project by Third Drawer Down - faces this simple fact by cutting out the middle man and commissioning artworks from artists to be sold as souvenirs in gallery shops.
Unfinished Notebooks by Studio Matador
George Orwell speculated our paper-less society in Nineteen Eighty Four, "The pen was an archaic instrument, seldom used even for signatures." In a world where emoticons have replaced facial expressions, we reckon Orwell was onto something. But Unfinished Notebooks by Studio Matador encourage us to preserve the art of hand-written works by fusing the work of Australian artists with bare pages begging to be scribbled on.
Per Square Metre
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away… there was an awesome art gallery called Per Square Metre!! As well as being run by the universe’s most amazing illustrators… they also sold some of Melbourne’s best affordable, contemporary street art, illustration and design based work.
The Artkin by Third Drawer Down®
If the closest you have come to art in your kitchen has been a Pollock-esque tomato sauce stain on your white shirt then the Third Drawer Down® domestic art movement is for you. As well as a magnificent range of teatowels, they have recently introduced The Artkin.
Available in New Zealand, Bangkok, London, Malta, Belgium, Paris, New York and Berlin, this is not a fad, and the Artkin is your invitation to join.
Tony Garifalakis A3 posters (limited editions of 5)
What better way to say 'I love you' than with artist Tony Garifilakis' limited edition death prints? Well perhaps not. You might want to think carefully about who you give one of these doozies to.
Here are the bare bones: Tony's taken images of beauty, boobies and banality, and transformed them into morbid but humorous works reminiscent of Victorian funerary art.
Random Entries:
Search our guide to Melbourne
Browse our guide to Melbourne by interest
Browse our guide to Melbourne by keyword
Melbourne Events Calendar
Select a date to see what's on in Melbourne
Browse our guide to Melbourne by weekly issue
Working