ISSUE 12 - SPRING 2015 by MANUSCRIPT

MANUSCRIPT Renaissance Man : Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favourite frontman Daniel Johns returns with a brand new sound. The Gift of Sound and Vision : The versatile brilliance of David Bowie on display.

Gender Bender : Established codes of sexuality are challenged in the new season menswear collections. Dirt and Dust : An extraordinary journey to the heartland of Australia.

AUS/NZ $6.00

The Race Game Meet Christian Thompson, the shrouded master

of character and identity.

65 CASTLEREAGH STREET, SYDNEY – (02) 9229 4600 – WWW.DIOR.COM

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Issue XII 2015 14 Editor’s Letter | 16 Contributors | 18 News 25 Introducing David Flack, Peter Strateas and Mario-Luca Carlucci, and Alex Gow Photography Jordan Graham, Mikey Whyte and Rudolf Zverina 32 The Gift of Sound and Vision With his retrospective exhibition arriving in Australia, the full creative spectrum of David Bowie – encompassing film, costume, illustration, set design and, of course, music – is showcased. Story Huw Walmsley-Evans 38 Parallel Process Their work might fall into the category of new media, but as their solo exhibitions demonstrate, the photographic practices of Rosemary Laing and Daniel Crooks are vastly different. Story Alison Kubler 42 Kindred Spirits In a fitting tribute to his favourite artist, Kim Jones imbues his latest collection for Louis Vuitton with the iconic motifs of Christopher Nemeth. Story Mitchell Oakley Smith 44 The Cowboys from Down Under In an exclusive extract from his new book, Balls and Bulldust, we present the arresting images of the renowned Swedish photographer Hakan Ludwigson shot in the Australian outback. 50 Brighton Rock It began as a shirtmaker to London’s energetic Mod movement, and today the collections of Ben Sherman evoke that same spirit of modernity. Story Mitchell Oakley Smith 52 A New Chapter As it celebrates its 40th birthday, the Institute of Modern Art’s new directors, Aileen Burns and Johan Lundh, have their eyes set firmly on the future. Story Alison Kubler | Photography Sam Scoufos

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Issue XII 2015 56 Seeing Clearly A new home for America’s most loved museum offers a fitting backdrop for its standout exhibition of the country’s 20th and 21st century art movements. Story Mitchell Oakley Smith 58 Equal Opportunity Menswear is no longer defined by the suit, with designers thwarting traditional form. Story Hung Tran 62 The Second Coming of Daniel Johns After a several-year hiatus, Silverchair frontman returns with a new solo album and a much-acclaimed new sound. Story Jonathan Seidler | Photography Jordan Graham 66 The Masked Man He’s one of Australia’s most prominent mid-career artists, and with a raft of new work and exhibitions, Christian Thompson is firmly positioning himself in our country’s artistic canon. Story Mitchell Oakley Smith 70 The Big Easy Suiting just became a whole lot more relaxed, with layers and accessories that soften the traditional three-piece ensemble. Photography Mitchel McLennan Styling Sarah Starkey 80 He’s Got the Look With the fall 2015 collections dropping into stores, Manuscript highlights its favourite looks of the season, from Saint Laurent to Salvatore Ferragamo. Photography Jordan Graham Styling Jolyon Mason 100 Postcards from the Edge A day at the beach in flares and form-fitting winter wares. Photography Bec Parsons Styling Jolyon Mason 114 Stockists

ARMANI.COM/ATRIBUTE

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From the Editor

hat has been your favourite cover of

by Kaldor Public Art Projects. And despite being based

Manuscript to date? I’m personally

abroad for the past few years, the artist is set to mount a

fond of our 8th issue with Noah Taylor

number of exhibitions locally later this year, imbuing our

– in the striking portrait, photographer

cultural landscape with the inherent richness of his work.

Paul Scala captures something special

There’s certainly a lot on that calendar, what with

about the actor, musician and artist’s character, an earnest

the David Bowie is exhibition opening at the Australian

vulnerability, and he looks so very handsome. But then our

Centre for Moving Image (our resident film editor Huw

creative director Jolyon Mason really loves those in which

Walmsley-Evans examines Mr Bowie’s contribution to

we’ve taken more artistic license, like with the graffiti that

cinema, from page 32), and retrospective exhibitions of

obfuscates music producer Stephen Pavlovic’s face for the

new media artists Rosemary Laing and Daniel Crooks

cover of our 3rd issue, or the great splash of water through

at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Gallery of

which we see designer Dion Lee on our 9th issue.

Modern Art, respectively (Alison Kubler traces the artists’

As any magazine editor will attest, choosing a cover is

divergent careers, from page 38).

probably the hardest part of the production process. It defines

But it’s not just the art world that’s brimming with

not only what you as a publication stand for, but also your

exciting newness. With this new issue of the magazine

popularity on the newsstand. It is, too, a platform for creative

comes a new season in fashion, the core of what we document

expression – throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, some

at Manuscript. Like Mr Thompson’s work, fashion has the

of the greatest artworks have been those that appeared on

ability to transform, with the clothes we wear helping to

the covers of magazines. And when I look retrospectively at

construct our identity, and that much is evident in the features

the covers of this magazine that line the walls of our office,

in this issue. Hung Tran, a new (and exceedingly talented)

what most impresses me is that we’ve featured, in my opinion,

writer to our pages, observes the way in which contemporary

some of the world’s most creatively excellent men – artists,

designers – Gucci’s Alessandro Michele, Jonathan Anderson

designers, musicians, actors, dancers – and, for the most part,

and Rick Owens included – are creating a revolutionary

they’ve all been Australian. As a portfolio of the talent we as

shift in the men’s fashion landscape that’s blurring traditional

a nation are capable of producing, it’s a hell of a testament.

notions of sexuality and gender (page 58). And in a lengthy portfolio, photographer Jordan Graham and creative director

Christian Thompson, the artist that graces this issue’s cover, is certainly part of that canon. Mr Thompson’s practice

Jolyon Mason present our favourite looks of the fall 2015

– photography, video and performance – frequently takes

season (from page 80), from the aforementioned poetic

the form of characters in various forms of dress or decoration;

romanticism of Mr Michele’s debut collection for the house,

they are, in essence, a still record of form imbued with the

to Kris Van Assche’s thwarting of established dress codes

multiple layers of cultural, historical and social meanings

at Dior Homme.

invoked by the artist. His work is arresting for its negation

Until next time–

of the self, the resultant artworks an exploration of identity, sexuality, gender and race, playing on fashion’s appropriation of indigenous tropes as a way of offering new meanings.

degree at Oxford University, having been the first Indigenous

Mitchell Oakley Smith

Australian fellow at the historic institution in its 900-year history – as one of twelve artists to take residency with

Editor-in-Chief & Publisher twitter.com/MrOakleySmith

legendary performance artist Marina Abramovic, organised

Portrait: Saskia Wilson

I interviewed Mr Thompson when he returned to Sydney from the United Kingdom – where he picked up a doctorate

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Issue XII 2015 Editor-in-Chief & Publisher Mitchell Oakley Smith Creative Director Jolyon Mason

Art Director Elliott Bryce Foulkes Associate Editor Alison Kubler

Fashion Editor (Paris) Jonathan Ailwood Contributing Features Editors

Huw Walmsley-Evans, Jonathan Seidler, Hung Tran Contributing Artists Gavin Anesbury, Kimberley Forbes,

Jordan Graham, Mitchell McLennan, Colette Miller, Anthony Nader, Bec Parsons, Sophie Roberts, Sam Scoufos, Sarah Starkey, Mikey Whyte, Rudolf Zverina Manuscript is owned and published by Mitchell Oakley Smith (ABN 67 212 902 027), Ground Floor, 5 Comber Street, Paddington NSW 2021, editorial@manuscriptdaily.com. Printed by Spotpress, 24-26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204. © 2015 All Rights Reserved. ISSN 2201-0815. COVER: Christian Thompson, The Race Game, 2015.

Contributors Sarah Starkey

A fashion design graduate of the fabled East Sydney Technical College, freelance stylist Sarah Starkey recently returned to Sydney from London, where she developed her experience as an assistant to some of the industry’s elite. Since then her work has been published by Oyster, Russh, Tank, Schon and Hunger magazines, and in this issue of Manuscript, her first as a contributor, Ms Starkey styled our take on the season’s slouchy suiting [page 70], offering a new take on the most traditional of garments in the male wardrobe.

Sam Scoufos

Originally from California, Sam Scoufos grew up on skateboards and played a lot of baseball. Today, he resides and works in Australia, enjoying making pictures for a living. His work has been selected in the Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize, the Win Schubert Josephine Ulrick Photography Award, the Clayton Utz Art Award and the Moreton Bay Art Awards, the 38th Alice Prize, the Duo Magazine Percival Photographic Prize, the Churchie National Emerging Art Prize and the Sunshine Coast Art Prize. For this issue he photographed the artistic duo leading the Institute of Modern Art into its fifth decade [page 52].

Hung Tran

Hung Tran first came to Manuscript as the mentee of editor-in-chief Mitchell Oakley Smith through the coordination of the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival Writing Series, and has since contributed numerous pieces to our online home, particularly during the spring 2016 show season. "It's true what they say: writing, particularly about fashion, is a lesson in humility because it confronts you with how little you know," he says. In this issue, Mr Tran observes the breaking down of gender specificity in contemporary fashion [page 58].

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News

Edited by Hung Tran

n early June, high street giant

vintage finish”; and a denim jacket with a hidden

construction, but only a small percentage of the

Topman launched its Japanese

placket. Denim is one of the most versatile of

industry produces selvedge denim. Kurabo pio-

denim collection in collabo-

textiles, but its charm is more discreet: it softens

neered the original process in the late

ration with Kurabo Mills in

over time, and it’s often recommended that one

nineteenth century on old shuttle looms, which

Kojima, Japan, which was

abstains from regular washing in order to expe-

now require increasingly rare skills. Typically,

founded in 1888 and remains

rience, and understand, the loyalty a great pair

denim is produced by passing the weft (trans-

one of the country’s preem-

of jeans inspires. “The longer you wear your

verse thread) through two or more warp threads

inent denim producers. The

denim the better it will look and these pieces are

(the longitudinal threads). Mainstream denim

partners created three pieces

produced with longevity and quality in mind,

is usually coloured with synthetic dyes on the

for the collection: two styles of

each style can be worn every day in order to

warp threads, whereas selvedge denim, a

jeans with the distinguished

achieve a personalised character that’s unique

premium breed, employs natural dyes.

to every customer,” the brand said.

Following tradition, selvedge denim is now pro-

selvedge, which Topman explains are “cut to a classic slim fit and come raw or in a worn

Japanese denim is valued for its superior

duced in long strips of 31 inches (about 89 cm), whereas non-selvedge denim is about twice the width. The denim produced is so narrow that modern developers have to weave it to the extreme edges, and the end of the fabric roll is bound and folded back to reveal the signature red stripe. Selvage denim, unlike its alternative, is less prone to fraying and unraveling, as in the case of Topman’s new collection.

← ↓

ritish

Pieces from the Topman's Japanese denim collection. Paul Smith's new collection of leather goods is characterised by a modernist motif.

designer

Paul Smith will in

September release a new leather collection inspired by the facade of his new boutique at No. 9 Albemarle Street in London’s Mayfair district. The collection of

ten products, aptly titled Paul Smith No.9, comprises some eleven colour options and features the elliptical motif of interlocking circles beautifully embossed on the leather. Mr Smith took over the space adjacent to his existing shop in Mayfair to create a new flagship store that opened in 2013, bringing men’s and women’s

the minutiae of British landscape that gives it

motif pays homage to ornamental Regency

ready-to-wear, accessories, leather goods, and

its ineffable charm. The flagship store’s cast iron

forms, but its effusive design is offset by whim-

an eclectic mix of furnishings – including sculp-

facade was designed in collaboration with 6a

sical drawings of a cat, a bird, and a boot – all of

tured wooden tabletops resting on robust

architects, who explained that “cast iron forms

which are rendered in cast iron – that can be

metallic stands – together under the one roof.

an understated background to the city’s streets;

spotted by the discerning pedestrian. A series

The walls in the accessories room are adorned

its railings, gratings, balconies, and lamp posts.”

of display windows protrude from the iron work

with 26,000 dominoes, and a flexible gallery

The facade seizes an 18th century shop front,

as dazzling vitrines, whose glasswork curvature

space in the basement will soon host small exhi-

and its earthy, shadowing colour is the perfect

is inspired by some of the historic arcades in the

bitions throughout the year.

foil to the Georgian townhouses that stand

neighbourhood.

Cast iron is commonly used to construct

proudly in the area. The modernist elliptical

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News

Underwear from the debut Guy Lab collection.

uy Hastie graduated from Sydney’s Institute

reflect the ethos of the brand and also create something that would stand

of TAFE in 2007, alongside Dion Lee, and

out in some of the most conceptual stores in the world. We love the idea

has since worked with Ksubi and Cocurata.

of packaging that you want to keep or collect and display in your home as

Most recently, Mr Hastie launched an

if it were a piece of art or be proud to give to someone as a gift.

underwear and basics brand under the guise

What's unique about the design and manufacturing?

of Guy Lab, intended to meet a cult but

We wanted to strip back underwear to its simplest most classic

swelling demand for underwear beyond the

form, so natural organic fibres were the only choice. We have worked very

“oversaturated market.” Here, he talks to

closely with our mill to develop two fabric qualities we use across the

Manuscript about evolving the brand, sup-

range. All cottons are grown in certified organic farms in China, and milled

porting local mills, and the neglected art of bespoke service.

locally in Australia. The cottons have been brushed during the finishing process to create a super soft hand touch. We have also made it our focus to try and be as ethically sound as we can during every stage of the pro-

What spurred the development of this project?

It was the result of a conversation with a friend. I was in between

duction process. Lastly, we wanted to support the local garment industry

jobs and she asked me what was next. I mentioned I had always had this

by exclusively choosing to create every Guy Lab garment here in Australia.

concept for an underwear brand in the back of my head, something that

How has your previous experience assisted in the

bridged the gap between the oversaturated designer underwear market

creation of Guy Lab?

and the high street. She really encouraged me to explore it more, so I

It has been crucial in the development of Guy Lab. I have been lucky

started doing some research and found there were not many brands, if

enough to have worked with two of Australia’s most recognised brands

any, that serviced this idea in the way I imagined. There was nothing that

and with some of the most talented people in the industry. Everything

really pushed the boundaries of men’s underwear as I saw it.

from design skills, exposure to the market, sourcing, manufacturing,

What do you then aim to offer that contrasts the

exporting, relationships and learning fashion specific business skills have

broader market?

all played a major part in the development of this brand, all of which I am

Our entire approach is different. It’s a much more sensitive and

very thankful for. I feel as though Guy Lab is the result of everything I’ve

underground-type aesthetic to men’s underwear and basics. Designed to

learnt a designer over the years and I think that’s obvious in the product,

form the foundation of the fashion–focused man’s wardrobe, the range

concept and aesthetic of the brand.

combines the ease of leisurewear with the complexity of a designer col-

How do you plan to grow the brand?

lection. Our packaging concept is also something that is unique to Guy

At this stage our plan is to grow the brand slowly. We hope to grow

Lab, with every garment coming packaged in a beautifully designed box

out the product offering over the next few seasons and there are also

that indicates the contents. We wanted to create packaging that would

plans to expand our concept into other areas of the men’s fashion market.

FAR AGE.COM.AU

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News

yewear brand Persol recently invited American author Bret Easton Ellis to be the ambassador of its new Typewriter series. The capsule collection includes four new styles – two sunglasses and two pairs of optical frames – inspired by the aesthetic nuances of a traditional typewriter. The new and improved metallic bridges are gilded with subtle etching; the rivets emulate the keys of an old typewriter; the series title is etched along the stem in classic typewriter font, and the tips boast a

radial motif in decorative homage to the typewriter’s design. For the visually-impaired and creatively-astute writer, maximum flexibility and smoothness is ensured by three Meflecto cylinders placed inside each frame. Persol released a black-and-white campaign video, directed by Sherif Hamza, to accompany the launch of the Typewriter series, in which Mr Easton Ellis floats out of majestic silhouette before the camera zooms into a typewriter, its keys glistening obscenely. Against a desert backdrop, the writer becomes both the hunter and the hunted. The camera captures a series of intimate moments in the writing process: sliding the paper into the latch, commanding the words to fill the page; and, more profoundly, removing one’s glasses in frustration when they don’t, as if the vital literary senses have been deactivated at once. In the campaign images, photographed by Tom Craig, Persol promises reprieve for archetypal “writing

moments” and “literary instants” to inspire the modern wordsmith.

erhaps it’s the brand’s sixth anniversary and the lightness of spirit that maturity sometimes brings, but M.J. Bale continues its evolution for spring 2015 with a collection that is, as far as tailoring goes, rather high on life. The Australian tailoring outfit’s collection is made up of pieces that, given the warmer season,

are lighter in both fabric and colour, like deconstructed checked suits in lightweight sky blue wool, as well as more casual garments, such as

↑ Persol's Typewriter collection of eyewear. ↖

A look from the spring 2015 M.J. Bale collection.

← Bottega Veneta's Travel collection of fragrances.

printed linen blazers and polo shirts, and a new range of swimwear under the guise of MJB. talian luxury goods company Bottega Veneta

floral chypre, as well as tinges of bergamot and plum. The men’s bottle is

indulges in escape fantasies – luffing sails, verdant

stylised in grey, like the sooty remnants of a roaring fire on the moun-

grasslands, arctic mountains, flocculent waves – and

tainside. And that is precisely where rustic notes of labdanum, fir balsam

the company’s latest venture in fragrance is set to

and bergamot aspire to take its gentlemen – the scent is designed to linger

inspire the senses once again. The new Luxury

like a volatile cloud.

Travel collection aims to distill the complex

Each bottle is inspired by Venetian glasswork and the traditional

alchemy of its signature men’s and women’s fra-

Italian carafe: an elegant bijou that eliminates superfluities and cham-

grances in compact spray bottles that are small

pions the craftsman’s dexterity. The neck supports a leash of buttery

enough to fit conveniently into a handbag, a carry-

leather, and the base is textured with Bottega Veneta’s famous intrecciato

on case, or perhaps a furtive pocket for the itinerant

weave. “The market will always want you to make a scent that resembles

cosmopolites travelling by foot. Both refillable

a scent that came before it,” Tomas Maier, the creative director of Bottega

bottles have been designed to echo the sensual curves of the original

Veneta, told the Wall Street Journal. “But that is not my customer. That's

flacon. The women’s bottle is rendered in gentle shades of amber with a

not the man I'm catering to.” Bottega Veneta Luxury Travel Collection

brunito cap, both of which work harmoniously to evoke the earthiness of

spray bottles will be available from David Jones and Bottega Veneta bou-

Bottega Veneta’s leather goods. These delicate notes are woven with a

tiques nationally from August 2015.

NEWS

News Middle Eastern countries, where it is associated with royalty, strength and luxury and has been a part of the culture for years. Recently, we have started to see the fast-growing trend of stronger and more intense fragrances all over the world. How did you go about distilling it in the creation of this fragrance for Ralph Lauren?

I used a special technology that allows you to capture plant and live smells and enables their reproduction in the truest impression. In this instance I selected the highest quality of oud from India. A glass dome was then placed over the burning oud to contain and extract the smoke being emitted. The scent molecules are captured in a special trap and analysed, allowing me to create the unique smoking oud accord found in the resultant fragrance. You balanced oud with other ingredients. What makes olfactive structure so intriguing?

Polo Supreme Oud is a hypnotic blend of precious spices, smoky oud accord and rich woods. We wanted to create a more modern and faceted oud so I introduced key ingredients such as vetiver and guaiac wood that when combined give the fragrance incredible depth and texture. We contrasted the smoky woody complex with fresh spices like cinnamon and pink pepper for a very masculine and distinctive scent. It’s also an

eau de parfum, which uses a higher concentration of ingredients for a more robust and longer-lasting fragrance, making it the most luxurious in the Ralph Lauren portfolio. You created the first Ralph Lauren fragrance, Polo, in 1978. Do you find there are any similarities to your new fragrance for the brand?

arlos Benaim is the vice president master

Created more than 35 years ago, Polo continues to be the epitome

perfumer at International Flavours &

of Ralph Lauren’s heritage of elegance and masculinity. Polo Supreme

Fragrances (IFF) in New York. The lin-

Oud shares a common thread of smoky woodiness, but this is a more

gering scents of tobacco, pennyroyal and

modern fragrance that is adapted for the sophisticated man of today.

market herbs of his childhood in Tangiers inspired his vocation, which now spans four decades. His work has taken him to

↖

Perfumer Carlos Benjamin.

↘

Mr Benjamin's new creation for Ralph Lauren, Polo Supreme Oud.

Grasse, the perfume capital, as well as Amsterdam and the UK. In 2014, he was awarded the Fragrance Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. With a keen

understanding of air’s potential as a fragrant canvas, he has masterly distilled the volatile essence of colour and emotion into a number of best-selling perfumes. He is also widely recognised as the talented nose behind Ralph Lauren’s Polo and Polo Blue fragrances, which champion a “heritage of elegance and masculinity.” Here, Mr. Benaim talks to Manuscript about the latest Ralph Lauren men’s fragrance, Polo Supreme Oud, which balances robust wood notes with more delicate spice notes. What was the inspiration behind the new Polo Supreme Oud?

My vision was to bring a unique interpretation to oud perfumery. I have a personal fascination with oud, which I have been studying for more than 20 years. If you ever have the opportunity to burn this precious wood, you will be mesmerised by its addictive aura. For this particular fragrance, I wanted to capture that essence of smoke from burning oud, which creates a hypnotic effect. What exactly is oud?

It’s a dark aromatic resin found in rare species of agarwood trees. It is extracted from the wood and burned to create a distinctive scent characterised by intense woody notes with smoky, ambery undertones. It’s a rare and precious ingredient that is deeply rooted in the heritage of

bensherman.com.au

INTRODUCING David Flack Peter Strateas & Mario-Luca Carlucci Alex Gow 25

MANUSCRIPT

David Flack Founder & Interior Architect, Flack Studio

Mr Flack was photographed by Jordan Graham on 14 May 2015 in St Peters, Australia. Words by Mitchell Oakley Smith.

INTRODUCING

At just 30 years old, Melbourne-based interior

being administered and cared for, there is no such

Are you particularly influenced by any one

architect David Flack has, in little more than a

thing as Flack Studio. I’m also a firm believer in

era or genre of design?

year, established one of the most exciting design

acknowledging your weaknesses and having a plan

I’m always trawling the internet, blogs and

firms in Australia under the banner of Flack Studio.

to deal with them while focusing on your strengths.

Instagram. Keeping up with what’s super current

Working across residential, commercial and

That’s not copping out; it’s smart to outsource what

is critical for obvious reasons, but you just can’t

hospitality projects, Mr Flack’s style is one of

you’re not good at.

go past a strong back catalogue of European

binaries – warm elegance and masculine restraint,

design magazines and old books. If you follow

modern finishes with respect for heritage details –

How do you juggle those new roles

me on Instagram you’d know that I love to travel,

that feels perfectly judged for the fluid nature of

with maintaining your creative vision?

and it’s my greatest source of inspiration. My

contemporary design that has largely moved away

People talk about nurturing creativity and one of

camera roll is loaded with photographs of details,

from steadfast trends and themes. In his work you

my thoughts on that is that you need to protect

materials, spaces and nature. The freedom to

see the enduring influences of design luminaries

your creative headspace by keeping it separate

explore and the anticipation of discovery are

such as Joseph Dirand, Vincent Van Duysen and

from, but supported by, the practical side of things.

feelings that I find very inspiring too. These

David Chipperfield – designers whose rooms are

Being organised and confident that all the nuts

experiences enrich projects in ways that I don’t

sparse, but not minimal, warm, but not fussy –

and bolts are in place, from the financials to

know at the time. A little detail here and there will

reimagined in a contemporary local context.

media communication, growth strategy to staff

be influenced by something I’ve seen or done.

Following the success of projects such as

management, allows ideas to thrive. I’m still finding

Melbourne restaurant Entrecôte and furniture

that the satisfaction of running my own studio gives

Your design of Entrecôte has been well

store Criteria, Mr Flack’s namesake studio finds

me the enthusiasm to hit the ground running every

received, and you must be proud of it.

itself in an enviable position.

day. I honestly love waking up in the morning and

What was the approach to this project?

having a new and different task at hand. I hope

It has such an electric atmosphere and what’s

that feeling lasts.

wonderful is that the space really works from

You’ve moved in leaps and bounds since establishing your namesake studio last year,

morning through to night. The fact that they serve

but it’s no easy feat launching a new business.

You have amassed a number of standout projects

beautiful food until midnight is a big part of its

What was the impetus to strike out on your own?

in a short amount of time. What ties all of your

vibrancy, none of the very Australian, kitchen-

I’ve always had an itch to build a business of my own

work together?

closes-at-9pm kind of nonsense. The building

brand. I come from a family full of entrepreneurial

My intention is always to have an underlying look

is very grand, and it needed a little bit of play

spirit, so it was really just a matter of time. I grew

and feel to a space that is unmistakable as a Flack

injected into it to create a sense of casual fun

up observing the ins and outs and challenges and

Studio design. Of course, each project is always

and approachability. A quite light-handed approach

successes of operating businesses. I’ve always

going to be different. I would never want to re-create

was taken, with little structural work; it’s the colour

firmly believed that customer service and an

a space, and who would want that anyway? The

choices that made the biggest impact. I had to go

understanding of people’s needs is a touchstone for

potential of a space, its inherent character and

large and stick to my guns. I knew it was what had

the quality, and ultimately success, of a business.

functionality, complemented by the client’s

to be done to evoke a sense of nostalgic Parisian

personality always predetermines the final product.

bistro glamour, just teetering on the edge of

What is the modus operandi,

But it is my aesthetic that informs and completes

kitsch without being on the nose. As a designer

so to speak, of Flack Studio?

the style, and it’s what attracts clients. I want people

you wonder if you’re making the right choice here,

Delivering a finely crafted and functional product

to turn the page of a book or magazine, click on a

but it paid off.

is what we’re all about. I love working with each of

website or walk into a room and immediately

my clients – not under them, pandering, but also

recognise my work. Many of my favourite designers

Is there one project you'd love to work on?

not over them, instructing – to create something

from around the world whose work I have long

I’m a total transport geek. Planes, trains and

honest and unique to them that realises all the

admired hold this ethos; I believe it’s what makes

automobiles, I just love them. There’s just

potential of their space. The process of designing

you a consistent brand and designer.

something so romantic about the history of travel,

an environment really is a journey that you go on

so I would love to design a first class lounge

together, and it’s often very emotional, which makes

How might you describe your aesthetic?

or work together with industrial designers on the

sense to me because great design really is about

Styles for interiors will naturally shift and evolve

interior of an aircraft. And today, business is global

touching the senses and creating certain rounded

over time, but I think I always stick to warm and

and can be done remotely, and it’s something I

feelings in any given space. Sometimes I’m quite

textural materiality to create an honest environment

want to harness.

fascinated by the experience of emotion that goes

of substance. I mean honest in the sense of being

into it: what was challenging, daunting, exciting,

true to the building’s character, the architect’s

and full of hope all of a sudden falls into place as

intention, the client’s personality and aspirations.

I know this sounds utterly clichéd, but I cannot

something quite calm and comforting.

That might be a lot to consider but that is the essence

imagine myself doing anything else. I knew early on

If you weren't designing, what would you be doing?

of respectful design. I think being contemporary

in my high school days that I was going to be an

How challenging has it been to build a business

means to acknowledge excellence in other eras,

interior architect and haven’t ever stopped pursuing

with all of the inherent duties that come with that,

nodding to elements of past styles by perhaps

this path. I always loved studying the visual arts

like finance and administration?

making a new interpretation without re-creating

components of my degree, so if I was dragged

To be honest, I haven’t yet been overwhelmed,

them, and celebrating quality materials. I love to use

kicking and screaming from Flack Studio, I suppose

but it is a challenge to make sure that time is

and combine timber, steel, glass, cool stone and

I’d do a masters of painting. Get my hands dirty,

utilised effectively. The main concern is balancing

lustrous fabrics, finished with an understated glitz.

but not my Lanvin trainers.

the needs of the business that can be built into

I think the key to my execution, though, is having

a structure that allows for the mental space and

fun. Taking it all too seriously undermines the

flexibility for creative design. If the design isn’t

creation of warm and inviting spaces.

MANUSCRIPT

Peter Strateas & Mario-Luca Carlucci Co-Founders and Designers, Strateas.Carlucci Since closing their cult streetwear label Trimäpee,

will ever be considered easy. Social media has

innovative design, craftsmanship and quality. We

Melbourne-based designers Peter Strateas and

allowed small brands to reach a global audience,

will continue to push the boundaries, perhaps more

Mario-Luca Carlucci have made great strides with

but puts a lot of pressure on designers to constantly

for selfish creative pursuits, and can only hope that

their second incarnation. In 2014, Strateas.Carlucci

create something new. On the other hand, it also

our customer will join us for the journey. We are

won two of the most prominent awards for emerging

gives a leg up to emerging brands wanting to sell

fortunate enough to be working with Harrolds, the

Australian designers: the Australian regional

their creations: rather than dealing with buyers and

leading menswear store in Australia. They have

Woolmark Prize, where they were victorious in both

stores, designers can connect directly to their

a strong grasp of directional men’s fashion and

the men’s and women’s divisions, and the Virgin

audience. We have taken the more traditional route,

actively communicate those ideas.

Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival National

but might explore the possibility of e-commerce

Designer Award, sponsored by Tiffany & Co.

when we’re ready.

This year, they became the first Australian designers

Is it possible to build a serious, successful

the idea of oppositions. This new collection,

invited to present their collection as part of the

fashion business from Australia?

MYOPIA, is no exception. We were interested in

official schedule for Paris Men’s Fashion Week.

MLC It depends on what your idea of serious and

how memory can suffer distortions. As an

Their new collection, titled MYOPIA, is a sombre

successful means. Compared to other markets,

experiment, we created a series of blindfolded

exploration of the distortions of memory. Pious

the industry here is young. We need to travel to

sketches, working purely off memory. We explored

whites float alongside oceanic blues; Cubist

source fabrics and sell our collections, but we still

the idea of manipulating our silhouettes and

geometry consorts with iris-like iridescence.

manufacture in Australia. The tyranny of distance

exaggerated forms to these oversized shapes

Mr Strateas and Mr Carlucci sat down with

ultimately results in higher costs of goods being

with elongated features. We also explored some

Manuscript to discuss their ethos and evolution.

exported from Australia and fabrics being imported.

new print appliqués, patterns and colour palettes.

Tell us about the new collection. MLC A constant underlying theme in our work is

However, as the industry grows here, hopefully You recently showed in Paris – the first Australian

changes will be made to redress these costs to

But your creative development also exists in

menswear designers to do so in a runway format on

ensure Australian businesses stay onshore.

fabrication – what are some significant

the official schedule. What was that experience like?

Sadly, there is a growing trend of Australian labels

developments in fabrics you’re working with?

MLC It was surreal, and it all happened so fast,

manufacturing offshore, which has become less of

MLC We’re attracted to texture and distortion. We

from the moment we found out we were on the

a choice and more a necessity. Fashion now, though,

developed some interesting crushed, laminated

schedule to then planning the show. Of course,

is a global business, so I think where you are based

silk fabrics, and mesh-like netting which fused

there were many obstacles in trying to co-ordinate

is becoming increasingly arbitrary.

cotton and polyurethane coating, allowing us to

an international runway show from overseas, but

PS This is a question that played on our minds when

create more structure. We also experimented with

we look forward to the coming seasons when our

we launched the label in Paris a few years back. It

merino wool for our summer collection, through

process will be more streamlined.

is challenging traveling so often, but short intense

knitted jacquards and the ‘hybrid-knit’ development

periods of work overseas is always followed by

featured in our Woolmark collection. Visuals started

What were some of these challenges?

returning home to our secluded studio in Brunswick,

with the iris, and like a fingerprint each individual

MLC Not being able to do regular site visits, negotiating

away from the rest of the world.

iris is unique. We created an iris-like silk jacquard

space and time without being physically present,

to capture this element.

meetings with key people in different time zones

Your label is one of the most directional in the country

—all of these seemingly simple tasks were the most

– how does the consumer respond to your ideas? Is it

If you weren’t in fashion, what would you be doing?

arduous. It also meant that our collection had to be

possible to push the envelope in menswear today?

MLC My other passion is painting and sketching,

complete before leaving for Paris, and without

MLC It's about balance: communicating who we

and experimenting with other visually creative art

having a studio there the small alterations during

are as a brand, and also creating those essential

forms. It would be amazing to combine it with

fittings can be stressful. One thing that became

items with commercial viability. Although we would

fashion, as they tend to go hand in hand.

immediately apparent, but hardly a surprise, is that

love to see men wearing our runway looks daily, we

PS I’m fortunate to be working in an industry that

Paris is expensive when it comes to fashion week.

understand that lifestyle plays a large role. Like

encompasses a wide range of creative elements.

womenswear, menswear has categories, too: event

It changes and evolves. Our creative process every

You’ve both worked in the fashion industry for many

dressing, day dressing, work attire, and casual attire.

season allows us to explore various mediums. If I

years – how has it changed in that time?

Unfortunately, you cannot be everything for

wasn’t in fashion, I’d be working in another art as I

MLC I don’t think the fashion industry ever was or

everyone, so we focus on those who respect

revel in creation and working with my hands.

INTRODUCING

Mr Strateas and Mr Carlucci were photographed by Mikey Whyte on 16 June 2015 at their studio in Brunswick, Melbourne. Words by Hung Tran.

MANUSCRIPT

Mr Gow was photographed by Rudolf Zverina on 12 May 2015 in Paddington, Australia. Words by Jonathan Seidler.

INTRODUCING

Alex Gow Frontman & Songwriter, Oh Mercy With a voice that belies his tender years, Oh Mercy

another. The last album, the third [Deep Heat] was

I also noted that you wrote many more songs than

frontman and chief songwriter Alex Gow continues

musically bombastic, perhaps “colourful”. Bass- and

are included – how do you go about selecting which

to defy expectations with each of his releases.

drum-driven with a lyric sitting on top. My new one,

tracks make the cut, and which don’t?

At only 27-years-old, Mr Gow is on the cusp of

When We Talk About Love, is a beautiful-sounding

That's right, I wrote and demoed approximately 50

delivering his highly anticipated fourth album,

album. At least that's what I intended to create.

tracks. It was a difficult process. There was probably

When We Talk About Love. A potent cocktail of

Maybe more than other albums it highlights my love

a 'Deep Heat and a half' in there, but I didn't want

Go-Betweens guitar pop, Whitlams-esque lyrical

of sixties-era pop music, Bacharach and such, with

to make the same album twice. At least not

earnestness and lush, ‘70s instrumentation,

the notable addition of strings. I've never had strings

consecutively. The songs that felt the strongest

it amplifies Mr Gow’s already formidable back

before. Strings are a privilege. And bloody beautiful.

were the personal ones. They were also the songs

catalogue. Having spent much of his recent life as

that seemed to encourage an emotional response

a traveling troubadour, with extended writing stints

You mentioned in the press notes artists like Burt

from A&R at [Oh Mercy’s music label] EMI. I found

in Nashville, Portland and New York City, Mr Gow

Bacharach, Leonard Cohen, The Triffids… how do

the whole process pretty difficult. There are songs

returned to Australia to record his latest LP with

these disparate touch points come together to

that didn't make the album that I wish did, but luckily

legendary producer, Scott Horscroft.

influence the writing of the album?

they're not going anywhere. I have them recorded,

Hmm, that’s maybe a tough one to answer. Because

they exist on my hard drive. They'll be heard at some

Mr Gow has been on something of a personal

really, it's a ridiculous statement on my behalf. But

point, in some capacity.

mission to advance Australiana in all its forms

yes, those three artists are my favourites. I’m drawn

across his recordings. His second album, the aptly

to Leonard Cohen for his words: he is good at writing

How do you enjoy touring and all that goes with the

titled Great Barrier Grief, featured ARIA-nominated

them. I attempted to write good words. Bacharach

release of an album, like self promotion?

artwork by cultural institution, Ken Done. He sings

for his chords and strings, major and minor sevenths

Self promotion is often painful. I can't say I enjoy it.

in a decidedly local accent. When We Talk About

chords, which I used in the way he does; when they

But I guess it's not that bad. Yes, I want to encourage

Love may be inspired by Raymond Carver novels, but

come in they really take over, and then the singer

people to take a listen to what I've made. I'm

nonetheless features a paean to ‘Lady Eucalyptus’.

takes over and they retreat. As for The Triffids: they

comfortable saying that I think it's a beautiful album

Mr Gow’s love of country and extraordinary talent

create simple, expansive and evocative music with

and some of the words are interesting. I think I'm

has not gone unnoticed, having won both EG and

an emphasis on the lyric, and I attempted to do that

writing better than I ever have, but of course I would

AMP Awards for Outstanding Potential, as well as

too. Arguably all three artists make romantic music.

think that. Jesus, I'm only 27, you would hope I'm

garnering four ARIA nominations, most recently for the superbly sensual Deep Heat.

writing better than I was. I worked really bloody hard Speaking of, why is the theme of love so central

on this one, so promote it I will.

to the album? If there was ever a time for Mr Gow’s star to fully

I was in love and battling to maintain a loving

Music production and distribution have so rapidly

ascend, it’s right now. But perhaps the greatest

relationship at the time. It was all-consuming and

changed in recent years, and yet you still produce

quality he has as a writer and performer is his

I was writing [at the time], therefore it made its way,

things like a vinyl. Are you a stickler for tradition, or

seemingly infinite drive towards creating more

well and truly, into the songs I was working on.

do you straddle the old with the new?

beautiful, engaging music. This is something that

Sure, I find romance in the tradition of making

marches on regardless of sales or accolades,

So it’s very much a personal record.

“albums”. I love listening to full albums, as the good

and it’s pushed Mr Gow to craft one of the most

Yep, it's really personal. God damn pathetic at times

ones can be heard as real works of art. Pressing

endearing albums of the year.

too. Like in the song “Let Me Be Him”. That was born

vinyl, I love that, too. You get to print the artwork

out of a line from Leonard Cohen's “I'm Your Man”.

larger than a CD; that's me sold right there. Plus it

How has Oh Mercy evolved since the last album?

The line is, And if you want another kind of love,

encourages a more active listen, which is the way

I had a pretty consistent touring band for a long time,

I'll wear a mask for you. I was desperate, thinking,

I generally like to consume music.

and the rhythm section of that band recorded with

Jesus, if she could teach me to be this new person

me on my third album, Deep Heat. After time away,

she loves, someone else, I'll wear his mask, I'll walk and

What would you be doing if you weren’t making music?

on my own, after touring Deep Heat, I decided to

talk like he does, anything, for a kiss and a wrestle.

Something creative, I assume. I'm no good at

put a new live band together. I recorded all the

painting, so we could rule that out. Or maybe I'd be

instruments on the album myself, except the strings.

You’ve said that you write the album in isolation –

It felt like a good time to change things up. I have

what’s your composition process?

a viola player, Ceci, playing with me now, and that's

When writing I benefit most from being on my own

a real treat.

and having the time set aside to do so. If I am feeling

a nurse like my mum.

healthy, jogging and reading, and have had a couple What changes do you think are identifiable in the

of lattes, I'll usually get something done. If I'm finding

Oh Mercy sound?

it hard to get a start, I'll often learn someone else's

Oh Mercy’s When We Talk About Love

Well, all the albums have been different from one

song; that loosens me up.

is out now via EMI Music.

MANUSCRIPT

Musician and actor David Bowie, photographed in 1973 by Masayoshi Sukita.

EXHIBITION

THE GIFT OF SOUND AND VISION As a major retrospective exhibition of the life and times (so far!) of David Bowie opens in Melbourne, Huw Walmsley-Evans recounts his creative hero’s best.

There are many contenders for my favourite David Bowie lyric, but there is one standout. It comes from the 1977 album Low, the first in Mr Bowie’s esteemed Berlin

Do you remember, your President Nixon Do you remember, the bills you have to pay Or even yesterday?

“Sound and Vision” seems to be a song about Mr Bowie’s creative process. He sings about being in a room, devoid of external stimulus, where:

Trilogy. Some of my other favourite Bowie lyrics also cluster around this mid-1970s period. For instance,

In “Young Americans” Mr Bowie’s ambivalence

Low’s second track “Breaking Glass” features one of

towards America finds full voice via the sublime

the most jarring putdowns in popular music:

discord between form and content: here one of

I will sit right down Waiting for the gift of sound and vision

America’s native musical genres, soul, provides the

Crucially, he doesn’t wait for “the gift of sound”,

You’re such a wonderful person

soundscape for trenchant critique by a “white limey”

or a figurative “vision of sound”, as we might expect of

But you’ve got problems

hailing from the land of the colonial overlords. Again

a musician, but specifically “the gift of sound and vision”.

Oh-oh-oh-oh

Mr Bowie relishes the irony and hypocrisy. He is

Throughout the song the two come bundled together;

I’ll never touch you

capable of being inside and outside of the culture,

they are inextricably linked. If this is a song about how

of critiquing and perpetuating it. This reserves him

Mr David Bowie makes art, we can infer that visuality

a place in a pantheon whose only other residents

is no addendum to musicality for the musician, but rather

might be Bob Dylan and Madonna.

is at the very core of his creativity.

I think what I appreciate here this is the measured quality of the first two lines, followed by the emotional wailing and proclamation of the second two. We’ve all

But my very favourite Bowie lyric seems much

Understanding the link between sound and vision

known at least one of these charismatic, dysfunctional,

more innocuous at first blush than those above. It

is key to unlocking the show currently on display at the

irresistible people. Some of us specialise in inviting these

comes from Low’s track 4, “Sound and Vision”:

Australian Centre for the Moving Image [ACMI] in

people in to our lives as intimate partners. The hysterical delivery of Oh-oh-oh-oh; I’ll never touch you reads ironically, as a joke on the speaker. We believe that not

Melbourne, David Bowie is. ACMI is devoted to the Don’t you wonder sometimes ‘Bout sound and vision?

only has there been a lot of touching, but that the touching will continue indefinitely. Mr Bowie may be trying to convince himself, but he isn’t convincing us.

history and aesthetics of the moving image—most often its dominant strands of narrative filmmaking and television—and so might seem a stretch as the venue for

While I can relate to the human drama of

a show documenting the career of a popular musician

“Breaking Glass” and the urgent frustration at The

through lyric sheets, photographs, stage sets, music

Suuure you won’t, Bowie.

Superpower’s lack of historical memory articulated

videos, filmed performances, costumes, and assorted

Then there’s a line from two years and two albums

in “Young Americans”, it is the contemplative problem-

ephemera. Originating at the Victoria and Albert

earlier; a world away in Mr Bowie’s biography and

posing of “Sound and Vision” that makes me feel closest

Museum in London, then traveling to the Museum of

discography from the avant-garde synthesiser

to Mr Bowie. Whenever I hear this line I feel moved to

Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Philharmonie de Paris

experimentalism and “Krautrock” instrumental

answer in interior monologue: you know what David?

and—following its ACMI stay—the Groninger Museum

austerity of the Berlin years. Living and working in

Yes. Yes I do. I wonder about sound and vision all the

in the Netherlands, the show’s others stops have been

the States, Mr Bowie made the “plastic soul” album

time. Every day. Thank you for writing a song about

at more obviously compatible venues.

Young Americans (1975). Here too we find Mr Bowie

that. What are your thoughts on the subject? As a film

in an excoriating mood, but this time the personal

critic I have a preoccupation with sound and vision

at a venue whose remit seems to want to exclude it on a

is political. The record’s title track lambasts the

and the relations between the two. It’s nice to think

technicality. It sharpens up the provocation in the show’s

wasteful naivety of a dewy newlywed couple:

that this is something that Mr Bowie and I share.

title more so than at the contemporary art, design, and

Yet it works well to have David Bowie is installed

MANUSCRIPT

music institutions it has and will visit. Who is David

Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) offered inspiration for

Bowie? Isn’t he an artist of the moving image as much

the sets of the Diamond Dogs stage show, itself a concept

as he is an artist of other media?

album for a musical of George Orwell’s 1984. Mr Bowie

Mr Bowie came of age in a post-World War II

and cinema were in a feedback loop adding to and

London, where any remaining boundaries between the

inspiring one another, with the moving image work of

artforms were eroding even further as consumer culture

other artists taking inspiration from Mr Bowie as much

took off and modernism gave way to postmodernism.

as he took inspiration from the movies. It is impossible

He attended a technical secondary school, but one with

to imagine Nicholas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth

a focus on the arts and design. Leaving school at 16 to

(1976) without Mr Bowie in the eponymous role, while

join bands, he was a multi-instrumentalist working across

the impetus for Mr Roeg to bring Walter Tevis’s novel to

seemingly incompatible musical genres. He integrated

the screen seems firmly rooted in Ziggy Stardust mythos.

abstruse performance elements and collaborated with

Speaking of “The Nazz”, the pop-culture phenomenon of

photographers, fashion designers, filmmakers and visual

the Ziggy Stardust tour provided rich material for D.A.

artists. Interdisciplinarity characterised Mr Bowie’s

Pennebaker’s iconic concert film Ziggy Stardust and

formal education, the cultural milieu he graduated in

the Spiders from Mars the Motion Picture (1973). Mr

to, and featured in his work from the earliest stages of

Bowie’s performance in Jim Henson’s Labyrinth was

his career. All of these elements coalesced in his first hit.

mind-expanding for a generation of children who knew

Mr Bowie owed his early success at least in part

him first as baby-stealing Goblin King Jareth, and

to the inspiration of a visionary moving image work.

pants-expanding for those same individuals when

Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) begat

their post-pubescent selves caught up with the film

Bowie’s single “Space Oddity”, which was released five

years later and couldn’t get past Jareth/Mr Bowie’s

days before the launch of Apollo 11 in 1969. Moving

obscenely prominent manhood.

images would regularly provide inspiration for Mr

In these films Mr Bowie is the main ingredient, but

Bowie’s music, and also his self-presentation and

in many others he has been used as an aromatic to add

stage performances. Once again riffing on Kubrick,

zest to cinema. In Julian Schnabel’s 1996 Basquiat biopic

the modern-futurist gang attire of the Droogs in A

Mr Bowie proves one of the most memorable elements

Clockwork Orange (1971) were an inspiration for the

of the picture, playing a consummate Andy Warhol in a

costumes of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and

small part. It should go without saying that Mr Bowie’s

the Spiders from Mars (1972), while

turn as visionary late 19th and early 20th century inventor Nicola Tesla is the best thing in Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige (2006), and arguably Mr Nolan’s entire filmography for that matter. And who could forget his cameo playing himself as the referee of the “walk-off” in Ben Stiller’s Zoolander (2001)? Here’s hoping for a return appearance in next year’s long-awaited sequel.

↖ David Bowie and William Burroughs, photographed in 1974 by Terry O'Neill with colour by Mr Bowie. ← Publicity photograph for The Konrads, 1966, by Roy Ainsworth. → Promotional photograph for Diamond Dogs, 1974, by Terry O'Neill.

EXHIBITION

MANUSCRIPT

Yet Mr Bowie doesn’t need to appear physically in a film to make his ineffable presence felt. So many films (433 according to IMDB) have been elevated through the use of his music as a soundtrack. Two instances spring to mind in particular. In Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004; a maligned masterpiece) Mr Bowie’s music figures both diegetically—in the form of Seu Jorge’s ship’s mate acoustic Portuguese covers—and non-diegetically in the soring “Life on Mars” introduction to Zissou’s world, and the bittersweet “Queen Bitch” end credits roll call. Lars von Trier meanwhile opted to conclude both films in his unfinished USA: Land of Opportunities trilogy with the same Bowie song. I’ve heard it called heavy handed, but for me Dogville’s (2003) credits of Young Americans over Dorothea Lange’s iconic dust bowl photos is an arresting full stop. Mr Bowie is not merely an exotic ingredient to be added to the work of other filmmakers, though. He has considerable credentials as an arranger of his own moving image works. Mr Bowie co-directed the groundbreaking video for Ashes to Ashes (1980, with Mr David Mallet), a DADA screen-print come to life. Mr Bowie’s hand-drawn storyboards feature in the ACMI exhibition. The video for “Let’s Dance” (1983, also with Mallet) could be considered what Jane Mills calls a “sojourner film”: a contribution to a national cinema by a visiting international filmmaker. Here Mr Bowie’s playing in an outback pub provides a soundtrack for potent images of the Two Australias; a young Aboriginal couple imaginatively try on life in the white man’s world. It’s a canonical contribution to Australian visual culture that sits neatly alongside the work of other sojourners to Australia like Werner Herzog (Where the Green Ants Dream, 1984) and Ted Kotcheff (Wake in Fright, 1971). Meanwhile the videos produced for Mr Bowie’s triumphant 2013 comeback album The Next Day have even more the feeling of discreet short films with their high production values and starry collaborators, including Tilda Swinton, Marion Cotillard and Gary Oldman. But all of this highly considered work of Mr Bowie’s might yet fail to generate the same wattage as those moving image moments when Mr Bowie is simply documented mid-performance. Think Ziggy doing “Starman” on Top of the Pops, “Young Americans” on The Dick Cavett Show, or any number of strung-out But perhaps the standout Mr Bowie contribution

interviews and other televisual rarities. In this category

to other people’s pictures is in David Lynch’s underrated

special mention has to go to what endures as one of

feature film prequel to his pop-phenomenon TV series,

the greatest cultural oddities of all time: Mr Bowie

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. He plays FBI Special

singing “Little Drummer Boy”/“Peace On Earth” in

Agent Philip Jeffries, who has long been missing after

duet with Bing Crosby on the old crooner’s televised

disappearing from an undercover assignment in South

Christmas special in 1977. Mr Crosby died a month

America. He turns up out of nowhere at the Bureau’s

later, quite possibly of acute professional satisfaction.

Philadelphia office in a drapey 80s-does-40s suit and

Whatever the corner of Mr Bowie’s contribution

loud shirt, points menacingly at Kyle MacLachlan,

to culture, the ACMI show seeks to shine light there.

rambles incoherently, screams, and disappears again.

Special displays examine him as musician, stage

Much to the enjoyment of Peaks fans the recent Blu-Ray

performer, writer, and actor. The cumulative effect,

release included deleted scenes (it was to be a bigger

however, should be to make these categories seem

part) of Mr Bowie/Jeffries being zapped to other

reductive and untenable, as the artist himself does.

locations, where he would scream in different hallways,

Whatever David Bowie is, it sits at the juncture of

Australian Centre for the Moving

leaving a stencil of scorch marks against the wall. This

sound and vision, where the two become fused

Image until 01 November 2015.

footage alone warranted the purchase price.

and indistinguishable.

↑ Cut up lyrics for "Blackout" from Heroes, 1977. David Bowie is is on display at the

EXHIBITION

“ WHATEVER DAVID BOWIE IS, IT SITS AT THE JUNCTURE OF SOUND AND VISION, WHERE THE TWO BECOME FUSED AND INDISTINGUISHABLE. ”

→ Mr Bowie photographed by Masayoshi Sukita in a Kansai Yamamoto striped bodysuit for his Aladdin Sane tour, 1973. ↓ Self portrait, 1978.

MANUSCRIPT

PARALLEL PROCESS Two concurrent exhibitions of prominent Australian photographic artists demonstrate the importance of the art form, writes Alison Kubler.

EXHIBITION

↓ Rosemary Laing, greenwork, blue gradient, 1995. Whilst channel surfing recently I caught part of the film Flight Plan, in which the ever versatile Jodie Foster plays an aircraft engineer. The plot is too wobbly to elaborate here, but the film is transfixing for its vision of the behind-the-scenes spaces on board a jumbo jet. In a frantic bid to find her young daughter who disappears mid-long-haul flight from Europe to the US, Ms Foster’s character embarks on a seek-and-find mission through the bowels of the plane, employing the jet’s dumb waiters, running through the cargo hold, and deploying the oxygen masks in a game of cat-andmouse. It is revelatory in that who knew the inside of a jet was so big? An entire car sits alongside a coffin (Ms Foster’s character’s husband is inside – I told you it was complicated). This is the hidden side of travel, the part we trust to those who fly these extraordinary achievements of engineering, whilst we hapless

Rosemary Laing, one of Australia’s pre-eminent

inscrutable features. In Ms Laing’s eloquent hands

travellers sit cheek-by-jowl in recirculated air and

artists working with photography since the 1980s, has

time is made momentarily concrete, captured on

eat food of dubious origin.

made part of her long term artistic project an exploration

paper in pigment.

Air travel is far from the romantic pursuit it was

of what it is to travel; to move, to transcend time and

Ms Laing’s pre-eminence as a photographer is

sold as in its pioneering days; rather, contemporary

space. Her work is celebrated with a survey exhibition

to be noted. She has been the subject of numerous solo

travel is about constricted space, discomfort, no

of images specifically from the late 1990s at the Art

exhibitions at institutions such as the Museum of

upgrades and layovers. It is, too, inherently fraught;

Gallery of New South Wales titled transportation, which

Contemporary Art, Sydney, Kunsthallen Brandts

the spectre of terrorist attacks, rogue missiles and

features work from Ms Laing’s seminal greenwork and

Klædefabrik, Denmark, Frist Center for the Visual

deranged, suicidal pilots loom large in the minds of

brownwork series. Together the two series explore time

Arts, Nashville, and the National Museum of Art,

travellers today. What we know about the inner

as an abstract concept. Through her lens we see spaces

Japan, and has participated in various international

mechanisation of planes comes all too often by virtue

and time at once expansive and condensed. Ms Laing’s

biennials, including the Biennale of Sydney (2008),

of photographs of debris scattered in fields. That the

large-scale images of airports, tarmacs, aeroplanes and

Venice Biennale (2007), Busan Biennale (2004),

term ‘black box’ has entered contemporary parlance

hangars – the spaces that Ms Foster traverses on the

and Istanbul Biennial (1995). Since the 1990s she

is indicative of a collective paranoia when it comes

screen – that form part of brownwork are, however, in

has been one of Australia’s most collectible artists.

to air travel.

contrast with the contemporary condition of travel,

At the turn of the millennium in Australia,

rather they marvel at the technology that makes possible

contemporary art photography underwent an important

the great daily movement of humanity’s mass.

critical reassessment. No longer the poor cousin to

In contrast, greenwork explores, in part, the

painting, photography began to enjoy unprecedented

landscape, that great Australian tradition, although in

commercial popularity. Practitioners such as Ms Laing,

Ms Laing’s images of densely fecund green forests the

Tracey Moffatt and Marian Drew notably dominated

landscape is stretched, upward and sidewards, as though

the art market. Photography was no longer just the

she had taken both sides of the image and pulled. This

realm of documentary or commentary but a respected

hyperextension of the landscape amounts to a slippage

artistic medium, commanding huge prices as it explored

of time, as though we might suspend our disbelief and

scale as artists adopted digital cameras and large-scale

imagine the distortion of pixels to represent some

printing. Traditionally art photography operated in a

rip in the space-time continuum. It is oddly unsettling,

more intimate size, like the work of Alfred Stieglitz

uncanny to see time rent asunder or suspended, because

or Max Dupain, but advances in printing technologies

time is largely an abstract concept. And yet it is something

in the 1990s meant that artists could work larger

we regularly bemoan the lack of, as though time could

with greater resolution, and in bigger editions. This is

be quantified. Indeed, time has become a marketable

photography’s double-edged sword: it is the medium

greenwork TL #8,

commodity, an aspirational contemporary product

of post modernity. Endlessly reproducible, it raises

1995.

to acquire, to harness through luxury watches with

questions about authenticity and the aura of the original.

← Rosemary Laing,

MANUSCRIPT

“ COMMUTERS ON A STREET BECOME PERFORMERS ... THE DIGITAL EQUIVALENT OF AN ELABORATE CONTEMPORARY DANCE PERFORMANCE. ” As an exhibition, transportation is but a small

sample of Ms Laing’s incredible oeuvre, a curated

examination of her very important early work. It is worth noting through this work that Ms Laing has most often privileged in-camera technology, over post production processes such as Photoshop, to realise her extraordinary images. Her work takes a long time to make well before she even begins to snap the shutter. Ms Laing is well respected for her arduous process and attention to detail and in that regard her work is akin to performance. The creative process resides as much in

of New South Wales may have a larger retrospective

the construction of the image as the actual taking of the

in mind: certainly the artist would warrant such

photograph. All of this renders the experience of looking

examination. Some time ago she was mooted to

at her images somehow even more intensely rewarding.

represent Australia at the Venice Biennale. She

groundwork involved the laying of lush Axminster carpet on the actual forest floor to create images of

would be an elegant choice. Since Ms Laing emerged as a significant artist,

extraordinary beauty, double landscapes that referenced

technology has developed exponentially. We live now

art history and explored concepts of the real. These

in an age in which the visual is paramount. Images are

works amount to landscape interventions in an attempt

prevalent and ubiquitous across social media platforms

to understand place. flight research was masterful for

as photography as a creative medium resides in the hands

the logistics involved in creating the images of a bride

of every smartphone user – with mixed success. This is

in full flight above the Blue Mountains. Ms Laing never

the age of the “selfie”, in which everyone is cast as their

elaborated on all the behind-the-scenes detail, not

own biographer, raising interesting questions about the

wishing to ruin the true element of surprise, but it

relevance of portraiture. So ubiquitous is the image that

involved a stuntwoman, a trampoline and extraordinary

it is all too commonplace for images to be set adrift from

timing. In a further iteration, entitled bullet proof, the

context or content. They are disseminated and dispersed

bride appears to be shot, wounded, while birds wheel

with such frequency that attribution is forgotten or

around, creating images of extraordinary potency.

indeed largely irrelevant. Images are required now to

Ms Laing is certainly a prolific artist and the Art Gallery

speak more directly then ever before, such is their potency.

EXHIBITION

Artist Daniel Crooks is one of a new generation

It amounts to something of a challenge to both

of new media artists for whom technology has provided

mediums: how might we read Mr Crooks’ sculptural

new areas to explore. Born in 1973 in Hastings, New

experiments against his two-dimensional screen-based

Zealand, Mr Crooks completed a Postgraduate Diploma

works? Certainly they explore something of minimalism’s

at the Victorian College of the Arts School of Film and

interest in phenomenology, the experiential quotient of

Television. He was the 2008 recipient of the Basil Sellers

sculpture and the three dimensions, yet they take as their

Art Prize and the Ian Potter Moving Image Commission

blueprint the digital sphere, a created dimension. The

in 2014 and has been included in group exhibitions at

sculptural works evince a tension in contemporary art

the Barbican Centre and Tate Modern, London, and

where technology itself has become the medium. They

the Singapore Art Museum, and has had solo shows in

seem to suggest that there is something inherently

Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the Netherlands.

unsatisfying about the digital realm. Sculpture speaks

Like Ms Laing he shares an interest in time and is well

to the idea of tactility, something physical. Much has

known for his mesmeric video-based works that employ

been made of virtual reality and yet I have not seen a

a strategy of ‘time slice’, in which he renders proscaic

convincing or real application of it in contemporary life.

everyday movements as poetic ballets by slicing the

Mr Crooks represents a younger generation of

footage to create a break. Commuters on a street become

artists yet his exhibition at Queensland’s preeminent

performers in a slowed down, sliced action that expands

state art institution is described as an acknowledgement

and contracts their movements, the digital equivalent

of his “significant contribution to new media”. Seen

of an elaborate contemporary dance performance. His

alongside the work of Mr Laing we may reflect on how

practice has involved developing his own cameras and

both artists have been at the forefront of new media arts

techniques, pushing the medium to its logical conclusion.

in Australia, perhaps at opposite ends of its trajectory.

In recent works he has stretched his images so far as

That we still use the term new media, however, seems

they appear to almost melt, creating tension around

distinctly anachronistic. Perhaps Ms Laing and Mr

when the image appears or disappears.

Crooks are better described as photo media artists

Mr Crooks’ exploration of the elasticity of time,

← Daniel Crooks,

for whom technology is constantly evolving; the

Truths Unveiled

made by cutting into the actual film, adopts newly

descriptor ‘new’ seems inherently redundant, like

by Time #1, 2014.

familiar cinematic tropes, popularised by films such as

calling something cutting-edge. These two exhibitions

The Matrix, which when it was first released posed an

at two of the country’s most significant public institutions

impossibly tantalising concept but which is now almost

importantly offer pause to examine photography and

Static No.9 (a small section

mundane. Mr Crooks’ filmic interventions create a

photo media with some critical distance, without the

of something larger),

three-dimensional realm within the two-dimensional.

hype that often surrounds new technologies.

version 1 and 2, 2005.

Now by virtue of an Ars Electronica Futurelab Residency in Linz and a recent Creative Australia New Work grant from the Australia Council, both in 2014, Mr Crooks has begun developing his on-screen works in a sculptural context, examples of which will be shown alongside an exhibition of his past works in a survey of sorts at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane. This development of a sculptural practice was the actualisation of a goal Mr Crooks had to realise the three dimensions he was creating in camera in a real three-dimensional context. Confused? It is an interesting experiment to look to one medium to create another.

Rosemary Laing’s transportation is on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney until 20 September 2015; Daniel Crook's self-titled exhibition is on display at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane until 25 October 2015.

↓ Daniel Crooks,

MANUSCRIPT

KINDRED SPIRITS For its winter collection, one of the world’s most visible luxury brands pays tribute to a largely unknown artist. Mitchell Oakley Smith speaks to Kim Jones about the project.

During every one of the numerous times that I have interviewed Kim Jones, he’s discussed the notion of looking further, of digging deeper. The artistic director of menswear at Louis Vuitton gives, on occasion, a talk at Central Saint Martins in London, the fashion school at which he studied, and he tires of seeing the same ideas repeated over and over again. “I say to the students ‘go and find the magazine that that picture you found online comes from and look at the page before it and after it and see if there’s something else you might like, because everyone else has got the same picture in their portfolio.’” Mr Jones isn’t averse to the practice of referencing – in truth, any designer that denies being influenced by some other force is deluding themselves – but in the hands of any lesser creative the ideas and themes he explores might be fraught with tension. Rather, the designer has a way of taking the traditional or banal or obscure and modernising it for a contemporary audience in the luxury context for which Louis Vuitton is known. Mr Jones’ seasonal design concepts are often rooted in geographic specificity – India for spring 2015, for example – and for his most recent fall collection, he looked to London, marking 130 years since Louis Vuitton opened its first store outside of France, in the United Kingdom. But rather than adopting a strain of British aesthetics, whatever that might be, Mr Jones set his eyes one of the country’s most innovative creative exports (and his favourite designer) Christopher Nemeth. It’s not a name that’s greatly known, at least outside of subcultural fashion circles, but Mr Nemeth, who worked for the most part in Tokyo, Japan, was until his death in 2011 one of most subversive designers of the 20th century, and considered the making of clothes no less artistically significant than painting or sculpture. And it’s a rather fitting match, too,

↑ Details of the fall 2015

given both the French house and Mr Nemeth share

Louis Vuitton collection backstage

a common interest craftsmanship.

at the brand's show in Paris.

FASHION

Like the house’s previous collaborations with artists such as Stephen Sprouse and Yayoi Kusama, the project was with integrity, with Mr Jones engaging many of Mr Nemeth’s collaborators, in lieu of the artist himself, including stylist and jeweller Judy Blame, cordwainer John Moore and photographer Mark Lebon. “It’s nice that this extended family of sorts were involved in and at the show. I really wanted to do something to celebrate his life because I felt like his work was something that people didn’t know enough about,” explains Mr Jones of the impetus behind the collection, shown in January in Paris. “It was about taking an insider’s cool thing and letting the world know how great it is, and it’s a real privilege to be able to do that on such a big platform as Vuitton affords.” And with permission from the late artist’s wife and daughters, who now manage Mr Nemeth’s estate, Mr Jones was able to access the well-organised archive of work. The collection thus employs four of Mr Nemeth’s archival prints, but Mr Jones uses them in such innovative ways as to render them completely original. A shearling fabric was laseretched – a production feat in its own right – with one of the patterns, while bonded cashmere was embossed with a cork pattern, giving it a sculputral quality. Of all of Mr Jones’ collections for Louis Vuitton, this fall/winter 2015 collection was received with the greatest praise from the fashion press, the collection an evocative and successful fusion of niche, historical ideas and big-brand manufacturing support. But what pleased Mr Jones most was the broader public response to and appreciation of Mr Nemeth’s practice. “It was amazing to go on to Instagram and real all of the comments, to see just how many people went to Japan to buy his clothes,” explains the designer. “He’s someone that has always been really important to me and so much of the stuff I do now is about passing that information on to people that might not know about it.”

→ Christopher Nemeth's iconic rope motif decorates Louis Vuitton's damier print leather goods.

MANUSCRIPT

THE COWBOYS FROM DOWN UNDER 44

EXTRACT

In his new monograph, Balls and Bulldust, Håkan Ludwigson presents the life of cattlemen in the Northern Territory, Australia, documented over the course of three months in 1985 entirely on an analogue Hasselblad camera.

“I had to find out how and why they put up with this harsh work,” explains the Swedish photographer. ”Maybe we were all looking for the same thing, each in our own way. I just had to come back”.

Here, an extract of Mr Ludwigson’s stunning book showcases not another cowboy story, but rather one about men and women working intensely hard while seeking some kind of solitude and sense of space in the midst of challenging conditions.

Balls and Bulldust, by Håkan Ludwigson, is published September 2015 by Steidl Verlag.

MANUSCRIPT

EXTRACT

MANUSCRIPT

EXTRACT

MANUSCRIPT

BRIGHTON ROCK A distinctly British spirit pervades the contemporary collections of Ben Sherman, writes Mitchell Oakley Smith.

FASHION

“The beatniks wanted to save the world, went on marches to ban the bomb, read poetry and preached from Ginsberg and Kerouac novels. The modernist wanted that smart mohair number, those whip-cord slacks and a copy of Cannonball Adderley’s Somethin’ Else album,” wrote Paul Anderson in his book Mods: The New Religion. Comprising firsthand interviews with those early on the Mod scene, Mr Anderson’s writing details this defining – and enduring – subculture of the 20th century. Having emerged in early-1960s Britain, Mods represented the rising popularity of modern jazz, and because of the evolving nature of cultural trends, it can be difficult to define the movement in any great detail. In retrospect, however, we’ve come to regard the movement sartorially by its rejection of the fashions of the 1950s, characterised by fitted, round-neck merino wool knitwear, well-cut slim-line mohair suits, polo shirts, desert boots, single-breasted mac coats, and symbols like that of the Royal Air Force’s roundel, popularised by The Who. Arthur Benjamin Sugarman cleverly tapped into this cultural phenomenon when he set up Ben Sherman in 1963, offering London’s youth an alternative to the Oxford-cloth button-down shirts of American brands such as Brooks Brothers and Arrow. Using higher quality materials to craft his collection of colourful, resort-style shirts, and free of the import taxes imposed on the American manufacturers, Ben Sherman fast grew as a business, opening its first store in Brighton in 1967. Mods still exist in the United Kingdom – and, indeed, right around the world – but dedicated followers tend to value original clothing and objects over contemporary iterations, and given its historic roots, it is today a retro subculture rather than a nationwide epidemic. For Ben Sherman, evolution is important to remain relevant in a fast-moving global market. “It’s a total privilege to have such a potent and long brand history, however it is very important not to rely on that history for the future,” explains the company’s CEO and creative director Mark Maidment. “Ben Sherman

is evident in certain products, such as t-shirts and bags

himself was a visionary and always looked forward.

printed with illustrated seascapes, pastel-hued beach

by vastly different means to when Mr Maidment began

He was excited by the new and the innovative, and we

houses and rock candy, but comes through more subtly

as the company’s creative director in 2005, with Ben

use this philosophy in what we do today: respecting

in the broader collection, such as the slim fits on the

Sherman’s online store becoming its largest globally

and nodding to the past, but striving to create newness

suiting component, and garments such as parkas,

over the past five years. “E-commerce gives us the ability

and freshness in the product.”

semi-tailored blazers and, of course, button-down shirts.

not just to sell products but create a world where people

In employing young designers, a strategy the brand prides itself on as a way of supporting new industry

While the brand’s design studio of around ten is

Of course, growth in the fashion industry today is

can come and be inspired, informed and excited,” he

located in London, and caters to two seasons –

says of the evolving landscape, which is coupled with

talent, Ben Sherman is able to thwart its own status

spring/summer and autumn/winter – per year, each

a dramatically more sophisticated male shopper in the

quo while reasserting itself as the original tastemaker.

split into upwards of three drops over the six-month

21st century. “Men’s fashion has hugely changed [since

But where it began as a Carnaby Street shirt maker, the

period, it is conscious of its place in international

the turn of the millennium] but even more so in the last

brand today stems far beyond the original button-down,

markets, many of them, like Australia, of opposing

six or seven years. Subcultures like Mod, 2 Tone and

with the product offering comprising tailoring, outerwear,

climates. “For the most part,” says Mr Maidment, “we

Britpop will never happen again in the same way. The

knitwear, shoes and accessories. As Mr Maidment

do what is right for the brand and find that people globally

new speed of communication means that nothing remains

explains, “there is a clear DNA to the Ben Sherman

enjoy our approach”, however it does alter its colour

secret or underground for very long. It’s sad in some

brand and we try to incorporate this in everything we

palette, fabric choices and, to a degree, styles so as to

ways but on the flipside people can see on a daily basis

do, tapping into the history when creating the wider

cater to a global audience. While Australia (where,

what others are wearing all around the world, and this

brand and product categories.”

incidentally, Mr Sugarman moved to in 1975 after selling

has led men to sharpen the way they look and care more

In its latest collection, Brighton Rock, Ben Sherman

the business) and New Zealand, with four freestanding

about the way they dress,” he says. “We want to dress

takes inspiration from that most iconic of British beaches,

stores and a vast wholesale network, is a successful part

the Mod of the future.”

Brighton – a seaside town of faded Georgian splendour,

of the Ben Sherman business, along with Central Europe

freedom, windy piers, day-trippers and night owls. And

and the USA, Mr Maidment sees growth opportunities

a place, interestingly, that features in the namesake film

in the Middle East and Asia, with plans to enter

Ben Sherman collection photographed

about gangs of the mid-sixties Mod era. The inspiration

those markets shortly.

in Brighton, United Kingdom.

←↑ Looks from the spring 2015

MANUSCRIPT

A NEW CHAPTER As one of Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading independent art institutions reaches a milestone, Alison Kubler questions the need to evolve in the current social and political landscape.

ART

Peter Cripps, Field Theory (front), and Celine Condorelli, Additionals (back), shown as part of Imaginary Accord, 2015.

MANUSCRIPT

It is often remarked that 40 is the new 30 – mostly by

Whilst the aforementioned federal funding cuts will

people turning 40, admittedly – but perhaps there is

have repercussions for organisations, the IMA potentially

something in this statement. The age seems to bring

included, it could also be the impetus for change and great

with it the clarity of maturity coupled with calmness,

art. Contemporary art organisations need to regroup and

a mindfulness, to employ the current colloquialism.

establish how they can remain relevant in 2015, how they

You may have deduced that your author is just the other

can be “excellent”, so to speak. Ms Burns and Mr Lundh,

side of 40 and so feels somewhat qualified to judge

though new to Australia, observe that, “there is a high

what this milestone may or may not mean. When it

degree of excellence and professionalism in Australia’s

comes to cultural institutions, 40 is a time to reflect

independent galleries. It is their commitment to supporting

on key moments, bask in some glory and carefully plot

artists at critical moments in their careers, when

the next ten years. After all, 50 is a real achievement,

substantial investment, support and exposure can change

especially in a climate of uncertainty.

their trajectories and give audiences access in the most

presented as part of Too Much World, 2014-2015.

↓ Hito Steyerl, Guards,

The arts are currently in tumult in Australia.

exciting aspects of contemporary art. The sector needs

The most recent federal budget saw over $100 million

to continue to take risks, build meaningful connections

slashed from the budget of the Australia Council, and

and projects with international peers, and share their

the formation of a new fund administered by the Arts

success stories to deepen audience, philanthropic and

Memory Matrix,

Minister, the National Programme for Excellence in the

governmental investment in and understanding of what

presented as part of

Arts (NPEA). Thus there is no time like the present for

contemporary art and its institutions can do.”

Imaginary Accord, 2015.

arts organisations, from ballet companies to art galleries and independent artist-run initiatives, to up the ante to ask ‘does my butt look big in this?’, and do what they do best, indeed, with “excellence”; a fait accompli, yes? The Institute of Modern Art [IMA], Brisbane has just reached the 40-year milestone. It was one of Australia’s first non-collecting public galleries founded in 1975, and since then has retained its status as an independent venue. It specifically focuses on commissioning new works by Australian and international artists at pivotal points in their practices, and sharing underrepresented artists with wider audiences. In its 40-year history it has supported some 2000 artists through over 500 exhibitions and enjoys a national and international reputation for an ambitious, frequently challenging program of free exhibitions. A quick glance at its history reads like a roll call of the best from 20th and 21st century art history: Robert MacPherson (1975) John Baldessari (1976), Robert Mapplethorpe (1986), Gordon Bennett (1990), Vernon Ah Kee (2007) and Taryn Simon (2009), as well as visits to Brisbane (Brisbane!) by minimalist icon Carl Andre in the late 1970s and post modern philosopher and poster boy Jean Baudrillard in the mid-1990s. I remember this visit in particular, which to a young art history student was nothing short of papal. Importantly, the IMA is not the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, nor is it the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Melbourne, both of which boast big venues and larger audiences. It is, however, much loved, and it is in Queensland. Never underestimate geography. It also has two dynamic new directors at its helm, young collaborative curatorial couple Aileen Burns and Johan Lundh, who bring with them a new vision for the next 40 years. Well the next ten, at least. The duo suggests that “the IMA has endured for three key reasons: there has been a 40-year commitment to presenting high quality programming at local, national and international levels; the Brisbane and Australian art scenes, from artists to curators to critics, believe in the gallery, they want to show in it and see its shows; and state and federal bodies and private individuals have given it the resources necessary to present excellent work that tours nationally and internationally on a regular basis.” They are extremely positive about the challenges ahead.

↓↓ Ross Manning,

ART

“ ...AT 40 THE IMA IS READY TO ASSUME THE MANTLE IT HAS QUIETLY AND INTELLECTUALLY BEEN DEVELOPING. ”

← IMA co-directors Johan Lundh and Aileen Burns photographed by Sam Scoufos.

In its 40th year the IMA embarked on a year-long

positioning itself as all grown-up but also in recognition

by a commercial imperative. The contemporary art

project, Imaginary Accord, curated by the two directors,

that the gritty, grungy days, realistically, are gone. This

market has become so inflated as to become a parody

which explores this institution’s historical mission while

is not to say art can’t be political or start a fire but it does

of itself, like in the multi-million dollar works of Jeff

imagining what it could mean today and for the future,

need to play the game, to enter the fray of social media

Koons. It remains to be seen how contemporary art can

through an exhibition, a lecture series, a symposium, and

to increase its audience and visibility, and it needs to

find its way back to still be relevant outside of its value

a publication. Imaginary Accord featured artworks and

inflame the passions of patrons, collectors and, to put it

in a commercial sense. Ms Burns and Mr Lundh observe

contributions by fifteen Australian and international

bluntly, people with money. It is often remarked that art

that “contemporary art is increasingly driven by

artists and groups, designed to change over its duration.

philanthropy doesn’t exist in Australia, but this is not

commercial imperatives. You can see it everywhere

completely true. The directors suggest that “philanthropy

from the obvious arenas like art fairs but also in the

that the connection between each artwork, idea and

for the arts does exist in Australia. There are a number of

selection of artists for major museum shows, the majority

participant lies initially in the imagination of the curator

families and foundations that have demonstrated deep

of whom are supported by the top grossing commercial

and artists and finds new form in the minds of audiences.”

and ongoing support for contemporary art over many

galleries. We are seeing a return to a time before the 20th

The exhibition featured works by Agency (Belgium),

decades such as the Beson, Fairfax, and the Belgiorno-

century welfare states, which were founded on more or

Vernon Ah Kee (Australia), Gerry Bibby with Janet

Nettis'. In addition, we have found that there is support

less egalitarian ideals. The contemporary art market has

Burchill and Jennifer McCamley (Australia/Germany),

and generosity from individual enthusiasts for the arts

become so inflated, in part due to the fact that art is

Zach Blas (USA), Ruth Buchanan (Aotearoa New

in Brisbane, which directly support our ability to make

largely unregulated, unlike most other sectors of society.”

Zealand/Germany), Céline Condorelli (France/UK),

ambitious exhibitions happen. It is true that Australia

This means that the role that institutions such as the

Peter Cripps (Australia), Sean Dockray (Australia/

does not have private support for the arts on the level

IMA play is more important than ever before. It might

USA); Goldin+Senneby (Sweden), Raqs Media

of a highly developed system like museum boards and

be that at 40 the IMA is ready to assume the mantle

Collective (India), Marysia Lewandowska (Poland/

patrons of New York, but that city is the exception rather

it has quietly and intellectually been developing; with

UK), and Hito Steyerl (Germany).

than the rule.”

its legacy of rigorous engagement with contemporary

Ms Burns and Mr Lundh explain: “The title suggests

The IMA also hosted a very glamorous gala dinner to celebrate the 40th anniversary as part of a strategy of

What is true is that contemporary art seems to find itself in a state of flux. More than ever it is driven

art it has earned its place in Australia’s contemporary art history.

MANUSCRIPT

SEEING CLEARLY A century after its inception, the Whitney Museum has found a popular home in New York’s Meatpacking District. Mitchell Oakley Smith takes in the new site’s inaugural exhibition. The greatest challenge for art museums in the 21st century is space – or, more specifically, the lack of it.

visitors as the museum continues to grow and evolve.” The Whitney began its life in 1918 in a townhouse

Everyone wants more, the thought being that more space

in Greenwich Village, an artist-led exhibition space

means more art, more art means more people, and more

created by philanthropist Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney

people means, inevitably, more funding with which to

with the assistance of Juliana R. Force. Within merely a

buy more art with. It’s a tedious, if vicious, cycle, and

few years, the pair had amassed a collection of close to

it has seen the fracturing of reputations of countless

700 works, and yet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s

institutions’ directors and boards with bungled attempts

declining of the collection as a gift, disinterested as the

at creating a bigger and better museum. The Museum

institution was in American art at the time, Ms Vanderbilt

of Modern Art, undoubtedly the world’s greatest

Whitney decided to begin her own museum dedicated

repository of contemporary work, hasn’t yet lived down

exclusively to local artists, and through the open dialogue

its now-infamous expansion earlier this millennium,

it maintained with artists, it has built its permanent

creating what is largely regarded as a user-unfriendly

collection over the past century largely through artist

site in New York’s midtown, and yet its quest continues

bequests. These humble beginnings are central to the

unabated with a mooted expansion in the coming years.

museum’s inaugural exhibition, with a small space

Closer to home, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney opened the doors to its expanded and refurbished

dedicated to the Whitney Studio Club, as it was known. Today’s need for greater space wasn’t one of vanity:

premises on Sydney Harbour in 2012, and while the

at the time the organisation moved into the Breuer

historic building and its modern addition work for the

building in 1966, its collection numbered 2000 works;

most part harmoniously, the museum has faced criticism

today, it consists of close to 22,000. Over the past decade,

that the expansion did little to better the public

several plans had been put forward for an expansion of

experience. Across the Quay, the Art Gallery of New South

the former site, with architect Renzo Piano’s blueprint

Wales recently announced SANAA as the architecture

just near going into construction, but when the real estate

firm to lead its long-awaited Sydney Modern project, a

in the Meatpacking District presented itself – once an

costly but, depending on whom you speak with, necessary

industrial dive, now a tourist hub, sitting as it does at the

American art.” As an institution dedicated solely to the

expansion of the gallery and its storage facilities to

foot of the much-trafficked High Line, public walkway,

country’s own art practice, it challenged the traditional

further encompass more of the unused space surrounding

with views across the Hudson River – a complete

hierarchy in the 20th century in which European art was

it within the Domain.

geographic relocation made most sense.

king; today, of course, those preconceptions have all but

Considering that any such expansion and

Situated over five floors, the building’s exterior

disappeared, but in sticking to its cause, the museum

architectural development seems inherently fraught

rises in a tiered formation, allowing sunlight to filter

undoubtedly boasts the most important collection of

with danger – political, for the most part – it’s a wonder

into the surrounding streets and for the creation of

American art in the world. It makes sense, then, that with

any museum ever embarks upon such a task. And yet after

outdoor terraces between the gallery spaces. Its expansive

its expansive new premises it wanted to show off this

a century and numerous homes – ranging from cobbled-

top floor temporary exhibitions gallery is almost

collection, and yet it’s testament to Mr Piano’s clever

together brownstones to a much-loved Marcel Breuer-

18,000-square-feet, making it the largest column-free

design that despite more than 600 works being on show

designed building on the Upper East Side – in April the

museum gallery in New York City, and providing

– a considerable portion of its permanent holdings, many

Whitney Museum moved into an entirely new site, in the

unprecedented freedom for the museum’s curators.

of which, particularly its paper works, are now stored on

city’s now-fashionable Meatpacking District, that doubles

“Our new building was designed with artists in mind:

site – America Is Hard to See, as the exhibition is titled,

the exhibition space of its former site. “It gives visitors

to meet their needs and provide them with flexible and

doesn’t feel cramped in the museum space.

something they have never had before: the powerful

dynamic spaces in which to express themselves,” explains

experience of viewing our groundbreaking exhibitions in

Mr Weinberg. “Building from scratch gave us the chance

to celebrate our extraordinary new home and the richness

the context of our collection, allowing us to show the art

to consider every detail from the height of the ceilings

of American art,” says Mr Weinberg. “If you have a

of today against the backdrop of more than a century of

to the materials employed. And it allowed us to unite

collection this good, you don’t want to hide it. Now that

American art,” explains the Whitney’s Alice Pratt Brown

our staff in one building and to place them in proximity

we have the space we can tell the story of American art in

director, Adam D. Weinberg. “It has enabled us to enlarge

to the art with which they work.”

greater depth and in new ways, making new connections,

our exhibition program, to show far more works from

According to Mr Weinberg, the spirit and purpose

“We wanted to open with this presentation in order

juxtaposing the iconic with the overlooked, proposing

our permanent collection, to offer a greater variety of

of the Whitney hasn’t wavered since 1914: “a gathering

new narratives.” America Is Hard to See does just that,

performances and programs, and to welcome many more

place for artists and all who uphold the importance of

and its title, drawn from a Robert Frost poem, goes some

EXHIBITION

way in describing the challenge of pinpointing what, exactly,

↓ Glenn Ligon, Ruckenfigur, 2009, on display as part of America Is Hard to See.

American art is, particularly in today's art landscape. Curated by a team led by Donna De Salvo, the museum’s chief curator and deputy director, the exhibition is organised

← The outdoor terraces of the

into a series of 23 chapters, so to speak, each centred around a

new Whitney Museum.

particular theme and, as Mr Weinberg says, “taken together, constituting a reflection on American art history from the beginning of the 20th century to today.” From Georgia O’Keefe’s colourful harmonies to the streamlined structures of the Machine Age; the American landscape to printmaking; the newness of Abstract Expressionism in the aftermath of World War II to the unflinching embrace of America’s exploding commercial and media culture seen in Andy Warhol et co’s Pop Art movement, no stone is left unturned, but the sheer diversity of work, and the pitting of the iconic alongside the unknown (even the Whitney curators were surprised by some of the pieces they found in the holdings) ensures the exhibition doesn’t stray to closely to a textbook chronology. “Throughout the exhibition we explore issues of politics, identity, popular culture and personal narrative… right through to the period we are living in now – post-9/11, postHurricane Katrina, post-financial crisis – to see what directions artists are going in today,” says Mr Weinberg. Featured are no less than 400 artists, including Ms Georgia O’Keeffe, Man Ray, Alexander Calder, Edward Steichen, Mark Rothko, Ed Ruscha, Ellsworth Kelly, Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, Robert Mapplethorple, Nan Goldin and Jeff Koons – a veritable roll-call of the country’s best. Like any exhibition, there are holes, but the exhibition approach, perhaps with thanks to its team of curators rather than a single eye, is so holistic, such a broad stroke, and so cleverly nuanced, from art world superstars to lesser-known works, that you hardly notice – or if you do, you don’t even care. No exhibition can be all things to all people, but America Is Hard To See, in the context of the museum’s new site, is such a delightful experience, an undulating ride of attentiongrabbing shocks and quiet, introspective moments, that it certainly comes close.

America Is Hard to See is on display at the Whitney Museum, New York until 27 September 2015.

MANUSCRIPT

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Just as women have embraced the suit, menswear designers are increasingly flirting with feminine fabrics and shapes. Hung Tran observes the blurring of traditional sartorial codes.

FASHION

← ↓ Details and looks from the fall 2015 Gucci collection by Alessandro Michele. It is an excruciating and indissoluble part of her legend

celebrated herself the embodiment of Isis, patroness

with their dicks out is such a simple, primal, childish

that Marie Antoinette’s teenaged husband, Louis XVI,

of aesthetes and outcasts, Mr Owens, too, harnessed a

gesture,” he told Tim Blanks of Style.com. Mr Owens

failed to consummate their marriage for seven years.

lineage of ornithological symbology to lure his soldiers

then explained, in an email to Women’s Wear Daily:

Finally, in 1777, two and a half years into his reign, the

out of their shadows. A pyramid from ancient Egypt

“I pass classical marble statues of nude and draped figures

dynast conquered the feat, and his queen, a bumbling

reaches heavenward, and a bird flirts with the limbo

in the park every day, and they are a vision of sensuality,

gamine predisposed to hysteric glamour and indisposed

between God and man, though Mr Owens corrupted

yes, but also grace and freedom. As a participant in one

with crippling boredom, was able to exonerate herself,

something mythic to render the macabre: his tenebrous

of our most progressive aesthetic arenas, am I not allowed

though the French never missed the opportunity to

clothes in varying shades of black, brown and grey seemed

to use this imagery?” Mr Owens might have slipped

make her feel as though she had overstayed her welcome.

to mummify these models in the writhing colours of a

through fashion’s time warp—the inexplicable sensation

It would be two hundred and thirty eight years before

dead bird. Lapels unfolded like wings; models’ hair

of feeling so young yet so thoroughly exhausted—and

another of fashion’s expatriates – the California-born,

erupted into a crest of feathers; and a coat covered in

entered pre-Revolution France, where the sanctity of a

Paris-based Rick Owens, with dark tresses hanging in

the murky red of congealing blood might find a buyer

man’s penis legitimises the omniscient male narrator in

the absence of a powdered pouf—would trigger such

if it comes with an oil-slick estuary in which to wallow.

a queen’s private room, and, evidently, now backstage

polarising debate surrounding the politics of a man’s

The distant dreamer who stumbles into Paris is a

at Paris Fashion Week. The designer seems to have

member. The monarch’s crown might have been inspired

cliche, and, particularly in fashion, part of such stupefying

forgotten the prevalent image of a man held hostage

by the sun’s corona, but Mr Owens seems to suggest that

and sappy lore that it borders on eulogy. Mr Owens seems

by his phallus.

what sits between his legs can boast a more dazzling dignity.

as interested in packaging a woman’s body for seduction

The designer’s fall/winter 2015 collection,

If gender is a performance, Miuccia Prada has been

as he is in amplifying masculine fervor: hardly at all.

adamant in skipping every dress rehearsal and eschewing

presented in January, was titled ‘Sphinx’, echoing an

While a sire like Giorgio Armani dresses the cosmopolite

every theatre in which a man plays producer, director and

ancient order of half-man, half-beast narratives, though

and her merchant prince, Mr Owens has ascended to

playwright. But her work never commands the astute

popular and common virility champions the equine

the dais as a leader of the epicene too jaded to unite in

severity of Butlerian theory; her ideology traces back to

and not the leonine. The most famous of these mythic

rebellion, and too cool to flaunt the perks of what has

a more primal feminine force: the poet Sappho, whose

structures stands at the edge of a sprawling desert among

been dubbed “stealth wealth,” a term to ennoble a rising

commentary on love, marriage, and all forms of so-called

the pyramids and tombs of Giza, where Cleopatra—

tribe of followers clad in black. The portholes (or

women’s work has earned her the praise of a few great

perhaps the only other queen to rival Marie Antoinette’s

peepholes) featured in ‘Sphinx’, which revealed models’

men and the reproof of several others. Plato was a fan.

theatre of self-adoration and self-presentation—would

penises, have inspired controversy less for the raw nudity

The scholars at the Library of Alexandria canonised her

later command her court. And, like the queen who

than the designer’s equally flimsy explanation. “Boys

as one of nine great lyric prodigies—the only woman on

MANUSCRIPT

the list. Mrs Miuccia Prada appears to share the same

with minimal snob appeal, was used prolifically for men’s

Alfred Jarry, who chased “the science of imaginary

singular destiny: a feminist designer who, in the same

sombre suiting, and the girls—who modelled the pre-fall

solutions.” Menswear and metaphysics may not be

spirit of Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo,

collection on the same runway—glided through in little

immediately compatible, but a sublimely cut coat and

according to fashion critic Cathy Horyn, signals beauty

black dresses with such prurient strides that one could

a majestically complex theorem have the shared power

through an oblique savagery. In her spring/summer

have mistaken them for a convent’s defecting class of

to dissolve a person’s sense of bearing to heighten a keen

2000 collection, Mrs Prada designed pleated skirts

jaded virgins. If nylon is a democratic fabric, black is the

sense of self. One of the urgent complaints against the

printed with disembodied lips: vagina dentata, in

equalising colour. In a 1994 profile in The New Yorker,

fusion of men’s and women’s wardrobes is not the

alignment with the monstrous feminine. The designer

Ingrid Sischy observed the “schoolgirl theme” in Mrs

volatility of the act, but the lack of reciprocation. Mr

claims that skirts are her favourite item to create—the

Prada’s work; ten years later, in the same pages, the

Armani, Donna Karan and Jil Sander all make claims to

site of birth and sex—and substituted one orifice for

designer told Michael Specter that you “can hide yourself

the soft suit, but none of them—not even Mrs Prada—has

another. Prada and Sappho were part of wealthy families,

in a uniform; you can conceal who you are.” That’s not

ever put a man in a dress. That masculine aesthetics are

and weaponised their unique art forms to outsmart the

to be mistaken with conceding oneself, as Mrs Prada’s

so easily absorbed into the epicene, while women’s craft

ruling classes of taste, though both were reluctant to

elemental concern is not that women possess one of her

is cast off as delusive caricature, has raised suspicion,

renounce the perks of being born into complicity (Mrs

dresses, but that they summon the fortitude to repossess

even against the designers who profess to drum the winds

Prada issued pamphlets for the Communist party wearing

a forgotten birthright: their own autonomy. She was

of change. “The menswear is always going to be a fantasy

Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, and Sappho makes

determined never to slip—into shadows, mindless

of something that is not me,” says Mr Anderson in the

references to friends “of bad character” in her few

conformity, or an Armani suit—and wanted no less for

latest issue of Fantastic Man. “I will never wear a crop top.

surviving works). Sappho’s literature met the fury of the

her customer, who she dresses in a dog-whistle brand of

But I love the idea of a character who does.” Mr Rick

Church Fathers—and the subsequent flames—and Prada

ugliness: men avert their eyes, close their wallets, and it’s

Owens, whose deviant beauty is tied to a penchant for

has incited the wrath of Italy’s most priestly doyen,

a Prada woman who commands her own fate, if only in

self-mythologising, once opined: “[Designers] send these

though her detractor is a man of a far more luxurious

time for the next big party.

models out wearing these concoctions, and then they

cloth (charmeuse silk). Giorgio Armani has called her

Fashion is a noble disguise for an embattled interior,

come out [after the show] in jeans and a sweatshirt. It

work “ugly,” a label she wears as proudly as the garments

and there is none more turbulent than the riotous death

makes me crazy, because you are sending out this

that bear her name. Sappho may have also been sensitive

of classified gender. Irish-born designer Jonathan

message that you don't believe in what you're saying."

to the penetrating reality that it’s not always easy to be

William Anderson has built a modest empire by

both a woman and a person, but it’s Mrs Prada who is

unfrocking modern dandies who worship at the altar of

but his reluctance to commit to a leading role may just

revered as the most eloquent mouthpiece of our time.

Mr Anderson believes that “fashion is storytelling,”

an increasingly paranoid masculinity. His fall/winter

accommodate the ascending dauphin of Italian fashion:

The Prada autumn/winter 2015 menswear

2015 collection conjured a “free-spirited thinker

Gucci’s new creative director, Alessandro Michele. Mr

collection was accompanied by a manifesto: “Gender is

interested in pataphysics”—the esoteric branch of

Michele worked with Frida Giannini in the accessories

a context and context is often gendered.” Nylon, a fabric

philosophy pioneered in the late nineteenth century by

department at Fendi, moved with her to Gucci in 2002,

FASHION

↙ Looks from the fall 2015 J.W. Anderson collection, backstage at the brand's show in London. → Details from the fall 2015 Gucci collection.

and climbed the ranks to chief creative following Ms Giannini’s unceremonious departure earlier this year. A scarlet blouse would have cascaded to the model’s feet if a pussy bow hadn’t been festooned to a remarkably slender neck; shrunken sweaters seemed to recede into the clefts of a chiselled arm—it was an effusive, sensual triumph of the beret-ed, the bow-tied and the bespectacled. Elsewhere, a lace tunic flashed a wall of skin and a diaphanous screen of chiffon clouded the swirls of the model’s tattooed torso. Mr Tim Blanks called the models “lank tressed ephebes,” Alexander Fury called it “more femme,” and Mr Michele, speaking to Anders Christian Madsen, conceded, “This is my language. I can’t speak another language… sensuality is something that is inside you.” Mrs Prada would agree. In a recent interview with The Guardian, she surmised that her customers “interiorise sweetness, delicacy, protection: all those qualities of women.” When Showstudio’s panel of experts convened for an analysis of Prada’s fall/winter 2015 women’s collection, it was suggested that “Italians don’t have an appetite for subversion.” Gucci and Prada may not have written the menu, but they have woken from the seductive stupor of imposed gender: it is, to paraphrase Flaubert, a sugary confection that the fashion-crazed swallow without realising that they are in fact slowly poisoning themselves. Earlier this year, Caitlyn Jenner’s official cover for Vanity Fair—her first as a woman—was unveiled. Dressed in a white bodysuit, lensed by Annie Leibovitz, and radiating with the mantra of fearless self-possession (“Call me Caitlyn”), she is arguably the most visible avatar of ascendant transgender rights. In the accompanying photo spread, she wears a number of dresses by Zac Posen, Ms Karan and Halston—American designers who defined insatiable glamour across four decades, well before the Kardashians unified a world of teens under novel feminine mystique. Ancient Greece cherished its own binary: their Sphinx, not entirely like the Egyptians’, was a hybrid beast that would mercilessly devour anybody who failed to solve its riddle. It takes several millennia to break some boundaries. Fashion can be a sanctified court: its rulers command immediate power, buts it’s the rebels and revolutionaries who slowly divert the current. They pose a million questions, but may also hold the answer to every single one of them.

“ ...THERE IS NONE MORE TURBULENT THAN THE RIOTOUS DEATH OF CLASSIFIED GENDER ” 61

MANUSCRIPT

THE SECOND COMING OF DANIEL JOHNS Australia’s most beloved son learns to love the hard way, writes Jonathan Seidler. Photography Jordan Graham | Styling Jolyon Mason Grooming Sophie Roberts

There is an entire generation of Australians, if not two,

service to the country’s culture. Advancing across five

that have already made up their mind about Daniel

albums from garage grunge to exquisitely orchestrated

Johns. His is an image perennially fixed in the collective

baroque rock, and bringing the radio-listening public

consciousness; a flannel-clad Peter Pan who chugs power

along for the ride, Mr Johns did the opposite of what we

chords on his guitar and howls into the abyss of his bored

expect our bright young things to do. No overdoses. No

adolescence. It’s a public expectation that teenagers grow

early death. Instead of becoming a supernova, he kept on

out of their angst, mature even, but that rule does not apply

innovating until he reached the creative cliff face himself.

here: with the exception of those who wholeheartedly

“I guess Talk was about me saying things that I didn’t

embraced his Silverchair’s latter records, Mr Johns has

have the balls to say to anyone else otherwise. “The only

never really been allowed to grow up. Imagine a 36-year-

way I could express it was through writing it. There was

old being chastised for not acting like someone he was two

stuff that came out of my head on this record that I didn’t

decades ago, and you have a pretty good grasp of what it’s

even know I felt until it was out there.”

like to be the present day Daniel Johns. That being said, you have no idea. You couldn’t

Somewhat unwittingly, we project ourselves onto Mr Johns. He is a very public, ever-shifting magnet for

possibly. To have been the frontman of the biggest rock

our fears, our desires and our preconceptions about what

band in Australia - and at one point, the world - for a solid

a male music star can and can’t do. “Everything had to feel

decade comes with significant baggage, which becomes

like it was something I hadn’t done before in order for me

heavier still when you consider that Mr Johns started

to feel satisfied,” he says. The media fascination with Mr

Mr Johns wears Prada

lifting these sort of weights young. One would wager, and

Johns remains stubbornly unchanged even after his five

shirt and coat.

it’s unlikely Mr Johns would entirely disagree on this

years out of the limelight. And so, Mr Johns has changed

point, that he’s already done more than his fair share of

instead. Without anyone’s permission. In a big way.

MUSIC

MANUSCRIPT

Mr Johns as painted by Julian Meagher for the 2015 Archibald Prize. Daniel Johnsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; album Talk is out now via EMI Music.

MUSIC

“ I FOUND THAT QUITE RESTRICTING, TO BE A ROCKSTAR. THERE ARE NOT MANY PLACES YOU CAN TAKE THAT. ”

In person Mr Johns, who spent his formative years

Being alone is an activity Mr Johns has become

tormenting many interviewers, is exceedingly polite and

exceedingly good at since Silverchair’s disbanding in

D’Angelo, Mr Johns has repositioned himself from

unflinchingly honest. He’s the sort of character who looks

2010. He vanished from public view almost as quickly

an object of desire to someone who channels his own

dressed up even when he’s dressed down, carrying an air

as he had appeared, retreating to his Merewether home

sensuality into his art. “It does feel a little like the two

of mystique that can’t be pinpointed to any particular part

on the coast of NSW to spend some quality time not

sides of your personality fighting over how to express

of him. But if you had to guess, it would probably be his

being famous and noodling about, writing out there,

the same thing,” he says, especially when referencing

eyes; deep, blue-green pools which light up when he

experimental electronic music that, conveniently, didn’t

the doubling of his voice with “that gruff, more masculine

laughs and fade into grey when he’s thinking. They’re

involve using his voice. “There had to be a dead spot,”

voice underneath to support it.” Falling in love is hard

somewhere in between when he’s shooting straight from

he says, “a black hole, a moment in time where nothing

to do, he confirms, when you’ve been an object of national

the hip, like discussing the sonic palette of his new work.

happened.” The schism between Daniel Johns the pin-up

affection for years. So is showing it: “I find it very difficult

“I wanted to write music on instruments I didn’t know

guitar god and whatever we will call him from here on

to express anything, because I’ve had such a wide range

how to play and see what happened,” he says. “Sometimes

was a definitive one. The change, which manifests itself

of emotions forced on me since I was a kid,” he says.

there’s a lot of fucking around that comes with that, but

through his image, his instrumentation and particularly

“It’s really hard for me to determine what’s real and

when it works, it’s amazing.”

his voice, is all part of Mr Johns divorcing himself from

what’s disingenuous.”

Talk is a record that many people may hate, which

his prior reputation. “I found that quite restricting, to be a

In the tradition of solo stars like Prince and

It is this edit of Mr Johns’ personal narrative that

is a deliberate move by Mr Johns. It’s dark, sensuous

rockstar,” he says. “There are not many places you can take

may throw his old adorers the most. “I’ve never really

and lithe. There is not one guitar to be found. “I just

that. Pop music is anything, that’s what’s beautiful about it.”

thought about that, but I think that’s going to be the

dramatically fell out of love with the sound of my guitar

It is this shift in voice, both as a physical entity and

biggest stumbling block,” he muses. “Especially people

playing,” he shrugs. “I felt myself getting over it and I was

a story-telling device that will challenge most of his long-

who grew up with my career and have Frogstomp in their

repeating ideas a lot.” Instead, the album is littered with

time fans. “I knew it had to be a statement,” he says of this

collection. They’ll put this on, hear one or two songs

co-writes from some of the best electronic producers in

new approach, “and I guess the strongest statement would

and be like, ‘What the fuck?’’

the country, heavy on synths, light on its feet. Perhaps in

be to reinvent the way sound comes out of your head.”

As Mr Johns glides onstage for his debut solo gig

anticipation of the way his words have been picked apart

On Talk, Mr Johns spends most of his airtime floating

at the Sydney Opera House two weeks later, whatever

over the years, Mr Johns’ lyrics are upfront and palpable.

in the octave above his regular range, delivering melodies

anxiety he has regarding the reception of his work will

When he says he’s never been this honest, he’s not joking;

almost exclusively in a falsetto that alternates between

have seemingly faded away. Kitted out entirely in white,

he originally never intended for Talk to see the light of

soothing and piercing. It’s a big deal for the musician,

with a band that includes three backing vocalists, two

day. “When I was doing this record I was trying to go

who has always been able to blast out high notes, but

keyboardists and a whole lot of electronic gizmos, it

into my Sgt. Pepper’s era and not do anything but be a

never quite like this. “I was fucking around with a

takes Johns less than one song to settle into his new

recording artist, he explains. “So any time I sent a track

microphone and compression ratios and I found this

skin. “I always felt like the guitar was a security blanket,”

to management, if they asked how I’d do it live, I said

voice,” he explains. “And it was a really good palette to

he says, but it seems like he’s better off without it.

‘Well I’m not going to do it live! That’s not my problem.’”

make a record with. It’s a lot smoother and more sexual.

To bring himself to the point where he would be happy to have himself publicly dissected again, Mr

Less aggressive.”

Liberated from his prior self, Mr Johns soars; dancing, prancing, voguing and leaping across the

He’s right; it isn’t hard to imagine using Talk to set

stage. It’s fascinating, entertaining, but perhaps most

Johns would need some time away. The writing was

the mood for an encounter between the sheets, which is

importantly, thrilling. One gets the impression that

on the wall many years before he yanked the rug out

certainly a change of pace from any Silverchair record.

perhaps he has always been this sort of fabulous weird

from under the band that had defined over half his life.

“It’s not necessarily that I wanted to sound sexy, but I

– messing about with theremins, wrapping a scarf around

You could hear it most clearly on Diorama, undeniably

wanted the music to be pulsating, warm and quite sexual,”

his head like a head injury victim – but never really

Silverchair’s magnum opus, where he sang on the

Mr Johns admits. “It was only after [Lorde producer]

had the outlet.

coda to “Across The Night”: I don’t want to be lonely,

Joel Little heard “Aerial Love” for the first time that he

I just want to be alone.

said ‘Dude, you’re making that baby-making music...’”

It looks like Peter Pan might finally be able to shed that tatty old flannel.

MANUSCRIPT

COVER

THE MAN IN THE FLOWER MASK Through his culturally multilayered practice, Christian Thompson has emerged as one of Australia’s most important artists, writes Mitchell Oakley Smith. Artist Christian Thompson’s practice – photography,

complementary work from local and international

video and performance - frequently takes the form of

collections, both public and private. Previous artists

characters, typically himself , in various forms of dress

selected for the program have included Pinaree Sanpitak,

or decoration; they are, in essence, a still record of form

Sopheap Pich and, last year, Shaun Gladwell, whose

imbued with the multiple layers of cultural, historical

exhibition ran across both SCAF’s permanent Sydney

and social meanings invoked by the artist. “I tend to

exhibition space and the UNSW Galleries, demonstrating

build images, rather than take photos or videos, and

the cross-pollinating nature of the project.

I use my body as an armature to do that,” he has said.

Organised by freelance curator and art lawyer Alana

Mr Thompson’s work is arresting for its negation of

Kushnir, Collection+: Christian Thompson takes as its

the self – the images, videos and performances an

conceptual starting point the notion of collection and how

exploration of identity, sexuality, gender and race.

the meaning and implication of this notion varies in

Since his first exhibition – presented, interestingly,

western law and traditional cultures. “What drew me to

as part of the cultural program of Melbourne Fashion

this method of working was my own interest in the life of

Festival – in 2002, Mr Thompson has shown his work

an artwork beyond the point at which it is touched by the

internationally at such institutions as Royal Academy of

artist’s hand, so to speak,” explains Ms Kushnir of the

the Arts, London, Modern Art Oxford, Valencian Institute

approach, in which she aims to investigate the concepts of

of Modern Art, Spain, The Sharjah Museum, UAE,

ownership, possession and appropriation through Mr

Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre, Thailand, and the 17th

Thompson’s photographic, textile, video and installation

Biennale of Sydney. Much of his body of work is held in

works. In one of the artist’s most recent series of

major public and private collections including the

photographs, We Bury Our Own, Mr Thompson sought

Museum of Contemporary Art, National Gallery of

new ways of responding to Australian material culture

Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia and National

held in the Pitt Rivers Museum Collection at the

Gallery of Victoria. At the time of writing, Mr Thompson

University of Oxford, aiming to create a spiritual

had returned to Australia to undertake a residency with

repatriation. “I saw a connection between Christian’s way

pioneering performance artist Marina Abramovic,

of working, the Collection+ rationale and my interests in

organised through Kaldor Public Art Projects, which

exploring the life of an artwork beyond its creation.”

further evidences the far-ranging nature of his work.

Ms Kushnir notes in particular the artist’s

In October, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation

Forgiveness of Land photograph, in which Mr Thompson

[SCAF] will present a major exhibition of Mr

depicts himself wearing a silk headscarf with a pattern

Thompson’s work in the fifth iteration of its ongoing

reminiscent of indigenous Australian dot patterns. “It

Collection+ project series. A non-profit organisation

is a deliberately generic reference to what I would call

championing research, education and exhibitions of

indigenous kitsch fashion. I had noticed that Christian

significant contemporary art from Australia, Asia Pacific

had reappropriated such garments in numerous other

and the Middle East, Collection+ draws on the private

works which he had created over more than a decade.

collection of more than 900 works of collectors and

As I researched various collections to identify these

philanthropists Brian and Gene Sherman to highlight the

works, the question of what it means to truly own or

work of a single artist, independently curated with

possess something came up over and over again.”

MANUSCRIPT

← Christian Thompson, Forgiveness of Land, 2012. → Yellow Kangaroo Paw, 2007. ↘ Banksia Leaf, 2007. → Blue Gum, 2007.

Collection+: Christian Thompson will be on display at Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney, from 23 October – 12 December 2015, with an essay by Mitchell Oakley Smith and Alison Kubler in the exhibition’s catalogue. Mr Thompson is represented by Michael Reid, Sydney and Berlin, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, and Future Perfect Gallery, Singapore.

COVER

“ I TEND TO BUILD IMAGES, RATHER THAN TAKE PHOTOS OR VIDEOS, AND I USE MY BODY AS AN ARMATURE TO DO THAT ” 69

MANUSCRIPT

Mr Leadley wears Uniqlo sweater,

Comme des Garcons suit, from Harrolds,

Coach neck scarf, Saint Laurent scarf, from Harrolds, Dior Homme shoes, stylistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own belt and earring (worn throughout).

FASHION

The Big Easy Photography Mitchell McLennan | Styling Sarah Starkey Hair Anthony Nader | Grooming Colette Miller

MANUSCRIPT

Kate Sylvester top,

Gucci shirt, Paul Smith suit, stylist's own hat and belt, Prada shoes. Opposite:

Stylistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own top and brooch,

Lagerfeld sweater (worn on top), Coach jacket.

FASHION

MANUSCRIPT

FASHION

Saba top, Coach sweater, Ben Sherman jacket, stylist's own beret, Kate Sylvester scarf. Opposite:

Prada shirt and shoes,

Kate Sylvester top and belt,

stylistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own scarf and trousers.

MANUSCRIPT

Kate Sylvester top, Dior Homme coat, stylistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own brooches. Opposite:

Acne Studios shirt, Maison Margiela jacket, from Harrolds, M.J. Bale pants, Crane Brothers suspenders, stylistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own scarf.

FASHION

MANUSCRIPT

FASHION

Conrad Leadley/London Management Group Photography Assistance Murphy James, Blair Gauld, Sally Gordon | Styling Assistance Kristen Coleman Mr Nadar used Oribe hair products throughout

Prada shirt and shoes, Dries Van Noten jacket, from Harrolds, Stylistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own pants and brooch, Kate Sylvester belt. Opposite:

Scotch & Soda shirt, Prada jacket,

Maison Margiela jacket (worn on top), from Harrolds, Eton scarf.

Mr Kennedy wears

Gucci by Alessandro Michele.

FASHION

HE'S GOT THE LOOK With the fall 2015 collections arriving in stores, we thought it high time to highlight our favourite looks from the fashion worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best. Photography Jordan Graham | Styling Jolyon Mason Grooming Kimberley Forbes

Mr Weeden wears

Bottega Veneta by Tomas Maier.

Mr Kennedy and Mr Sun wear

Gucci by Alessandro Michele.

Mr Weeden wears

Hermes by Veronique Nichanian.

Mr Kennedy wears

Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld.

Mr Marshall and Mr Kennett wear Burberry by Christopher Bailey.

Mr Kennedy wears

Acne Studios by Jonny Johansson.

Mr Marshall wears

Ralph Lauren Purple Label.

Mr Weeden wears

Coach by Stuart Vevers.

Mr Marshall wears

Salvatore Ferragamo by Massimiliano Giornetti.

Mr Kennett wears

Saint Laurent by Hedi Slimane.

Mr Sun wears

Dior Homme by Kris Van Assche.

Mr Weeden wears Dolce & Gabbana.

Mr Weeden wears

Louis Vuitton by Kim Jones.

Mr Kennedy wears

Bottega Veneta by Tomas Maier.

Mr Weeden wears

Emporio Armani by Giorgio Armani.

Mr Sun wears Paul Smith.

Mr Marshall wears

Salvatore Ferragamo by Massimiliano Giornetti. Opposite:

Mr Kennedy and Mr Sun wear Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci.

Rowan Kennett/Debut Management | Charlie Kennedy/Viviens Model Management Charlie Weeden/Giant Management | Jay Marshall/Priscillas Models Kevin Sun/London Management | Photography Assistance Alex Tracey | Digital Operation Daryl Orillaza Styling Assistance Lorelee Prentice | Ms Forbes used Dermalogica, IT Cosmetics, Giorgio Armani and O&M products throughout | Shot at La Porte Space

MANUSCRIPT

POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE Photography Bec Parsons | Styling Jolyon Mason | Grooming Gavin Anesbury

100

FASHION

Mr Armstrong wears P.A.M. top,

Verner pants,

Elke earring,

Gucci shoes, worn throughout.

Opposite: Worn top,

Elke earring.

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MANUSCRIPT

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FASHION

Tome top,

Todorov Homme pants,

Elke earring. Opposite:

Michael Lo Sordo top,

Bassike pants,

2 by Lyn and Tony earring.

103

MANUSCRIPT

Akira Isogawa top, Elke earring. Opposite:

Akira Isogawa top, Coach jacket,

Bassike pants, Elke earring.

104

FASHION

105

MANUSCRIPT

106

FASHION

Max Mara sweater,

2 by Lyn and Tony earring.

Opposite:

Tome top,

Todorov Homme pants,

Elke earring.

107

MANUSCRIPT

Todorov Homme top,

Strateas.Carlucci pants, Dior Homme glasses, Elke earring. Opposite:

Christopher Esber top, From Britten shorts, Eton tie pin, Verner scarf, Bally bag,

Elke earring.

108

FASHION

109

MANUSCRIPT

110

FASHION

Alicia Hollen top,

Bassike pants, Elke earring. Opposite:

Topman t-shirt,

Coach jacket,

Michael Lo Sordo pants,

2 by Lyn and Tony earrings.

111

MANUSCRIPT

Sportmax top,

From Britten jacket, Bassike pants,

Elke earrings.

112

FASHION

Sam Armstrong/Chic Management Photography Assistance Henry Leung Styling Assistance Lara Turnbull

113

MANUSCRIPT

Stockists 2 BY LYN AND TONY / 2lynandtony.com

ACNE STUDIOS / acnestudios.com

ALICIA HOLLEN / aliciahollen.com BASSIKE / bassike.com BALLY / bally.com

BEN SHERMAN / bensherman.com.au

BOTTEGA VENETA / bottegaveneta.com BURBERRY / burberry.com CHANEL / chanel.com

CHRISTOPHER ESBER / christopheresber.com.au COACH / coach.com

CRANE BROTHERS / crane-brothers.com DIOR HOMME / dior.com

DOLCE & GABBANA / dolcegabbana.com ELKE / elkekramer.com

EMPORIO ARMANI / armani.com ETON / nmi.com.au

FROM BRITTEN / frombritten.com.au GIVENCHY / givenchy.com GUCCI / gucci.com

GUY LAB / guylab.co

HARROLDS / harrolds.com.au HERMES / hermes.com

KATE SYLVESTER / katesylvester.com LAGERFELD / nmi.com.au

LOUIS VUITTON / louisvuitton.com MAX MARA / maxmara.com

MICHAEL LO SORDO / michaellosordo.com M.J. BALE / mjbale.com

MONT BLANC / montblanc.com

P.A.M. / perksandmini.com

PAUL SMITH / paulsmith.co.uk PERSOL / persol.com PRADA / prada.com

RALPH LAUREN / ralphlauren.com SABA / saba.com.au

SAINT LAURENT / ysl.com

SALVATORE FERRAGAMO / ferragamo.com

SCOTCH & SODA / scotch-soda.com.au SPORTMAX / sportmax.com

STRATEAS.CARLUCCI / strateascarlucci.com TODOROV HOMME / todorovlabel.com TOME / tomenyc.com

TOPMAN / topman.com UNIQLO / uniqlo.com

VERNER / verner.co

114

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