Fabric Quarterly Issue #1 Human Perspectives On Design, Culture & Being Perth
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Royal Botania Terzani Tonin Casa Varaschin Wittmann and many more ...
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Publisher’s Note
One year on and going strong! Issue 4 marks the end of our first year in print, which is a significant milestone for an indie publication such as ours, especially in a tentative market. We launched ourselves as Issue 0 last December, a “teaser”, which was followed by our first full run, Issue 1. It seems just yesterday we marked the occasion with a memorable party at Orange Box in North Fremantle in March. Our ultimate goal was to give a voice to the vast wealth of locallybased high quality design and lifestyle on offer. So, we have strived to do our great State justice, offering our knowledge-hungry readers a goto source for a “path less trodden” view of WA and its people. We have played to the role of curators ourselves, too. All aspects – from the choice in graphic design team who translated our ideas into form, to our young photographers and journalists, advertisers, printers and, of course, newsworthy content – uphold our values of being different, original and niche. Subsequently, each Issue has raised the bar in terms format and content. Issue 4 is our most finessed yet, with stories from Cottesloe to Cologne – all featuring our ubiquitous Western Australian link. It has been a wonderful journey and an inspiring experience, and we’re deeply appreciative of everyone who has been part of making Fabric Quarterly such a success. Special mention must go to my partner and Managing Editor Kay, for her ability to near single-handedly run the publication in print and on-line. Her passion, drive and wideranging network made all this possible. Cheers to another year ahead!
Marcus Rosenwax Publisher, Managing Director
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Eat local. Drink local. Smile widely. Enjoy Eagle Bay
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Table of Contents
Woven Cultures
Bone Dry
Four months a year in Japan, bi-annual trips to Paris Men’s Fashion Week, and multiple national and international visits with stockists is how Perth- based, Japan-made label Man-tle rolls.
Bassendean-based Sonja Danilovic is a creative director of Nude Design Studio, a mother and a self-taught ceramicist.
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Minimalist Beauty
Beerfarm
An architect’s built response to low quality housing in her suburb is nothing short of breathtaking.
From the beer garden into a large dam below, a black rubber slip & slide speaks volumes about this place and the clever brewers who are enjoying the ride.
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Light Industrial
Glorious
David Barr Architect’s Picard House is a clear standout on a North Coogee sub-division.
The eponymous debut solo exhibition from Martu artist Gloria, is as her name suggests, glorious.
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Made to Measure
Good Habits. Great Life.
Half Measures is a reclusive local footwear and accessories label defined by the meticulous vision
Highgate Continental offers a smorgasbord of vinyl records and an astonishingly aesthetic
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of its founder, Jocelyn Tan.
curation of books .
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Toodyay Shack
Respectful Repast
Constructed from an evocative palette of brick, timber and steel, and put together in a way that makes you want to touch every element.
As the sun sets in outback Western Australia, a table of diners waits in anticipation for a meal unlike any other they’ll ever experience.
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Formakami lanterns & Palette table by Jaime Hayon, Cloud sofa by Luca Nichetto
Craft meets art. Function meets form. Material meets potential. Meet &tradition. 1000 Hay St, Perth 6000 (08) 9322 2200 www.designfarm.com.au
Table of Contents
Abdul-Rahman Abdullah On a beautiful day, on a beautiful farm, in the rural outer suburbs of Perth, Fabric chats to Adbul-Rahman Abdullah.
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A Place for Perth Cuisine, Naturally Owner-operator of Perth’s first natural wine bar and shop, Sam Winfield, is championing a specific kind of ‘Perth cuisine’.
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A Real Wise Child
Portside Anthems
A writer and a photographer have two children. Kit, the eldest, and a neighbourhood wine shop in North Fremantle, the baby.
The turquoise beaches are flat, the coffee is out-of-this-world, the people eclectic, and the music…well, the music speaks to the soul.
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Orange House A healthy dose of experimentation spanning four years sees the worst house on this street transform into something so very special.
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Dream Weaver Sian Boucherd’s ancient weaving technique is not only fine artistry, it has the power to assuage modern day madness.
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GARBAGEtv
Through the Looker Glass
GARBAGEtv started as a punk-themed party and has since grown into an international fashion label.
Liz Looker is a self-confessed “quiet observer” – a fitting statement for one of Perth’s most lauded photographers.
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The Meaning of Art Connection is more than just plugging into the NBN – it’s about the stories we tell, and how we tell them.
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Farming Unorthodoxy At the very heart of Glenarty Road are a set of fundamental values, where everything has to have at least two uses.
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Table of Contents
Taking Shape
Setting the Standard
Dwyer’s relationship with surfing and shaping boards started with his father.
Sam Vinciullo doesn’t know what to call himself anymore – winemaker doesn’t quite seem to cut it, nor vigneron.
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Good Coffee
Made in Morocco
A new-wave of specialty coffee rosters and cafes are attempting to turn the tide by serving truly good coffee.
A suburban rug studio has connections to a fascinating tale of global cooperation that revived an entire artisan tradition.
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Coast is Clear
Rocking the Boat
Hanging on to the small-town charm it has always enjoyed, Flinders Bay is a southwest treasure and home to one of the most unique holiday properties in the state.
A rich history and ever-evolving design makes Cottesloe’s culinary HQ – The Boatshed.
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Your partner in light
Call (08) 9321 0101 live, love, light.
visit mondoluce.com.au
Woven Cultures Words by Claire Millett Images by Traianos Pakioufakis
Four months a year in Japan for research, production and sales, two annual trips to present at Paris Men’s Fashion Week, and multiple national and international visits with stockists is just how Perth-based, Japan-made label Man-tle rolls. P. 16
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Woven Cultures
Returning to home soil this month after a regular twomonth stint in Japan, Larz Harry and Aida Kim have already ticked off more bucket list items for 2018 than many would dream of achieving by the end of the year. Meeting with mills and sewing factories, checking samples and production, presenting their next collection to buyers, and working on local press commitments in the Land of the Rising Sun is a winning start to the year by all accounts. And let’s not forget the side trip in January to present R5 (short for Range 5) at Paris Men’s Fashion Week. While the experience could be considered a relatively new one for the pair, who launched R1 (Range 1) in 2016, they do come with a seriously impressive set of credentials that include working for industry heavyweight Comme des Garçons. Larz spent six years working in marketing for Dover Street Market in both London and Tokyo, while Aida worked in visual merchandising and brand management for both Comme des Garçons and the Dover Street Market project in Tokyo for five years. For those needing a harder nudge in to the world of fashion, the theme for 2017’s Met Gala (a.k.a. one of the most anticipated fashion events of the year) was the artistic force behind Comme des Garçons, Rei Kawakubo. Needless to say, Larz and Aida’s experience is no mean feat for a couple of Perthbased designers.
“We learnt there was great value in doing something original,” Larz says. “We always start with the fabrics – matching textures and colours that are surprising and that are totally masculine, and these colours usually come from rural WA as we drive to our family beach house down in Bremer Bay.” With a large portion of sales in Japan, where Mantle is currently stocked in eight stores including Arts & Science, District United Arrows, Graphpaper and Ware-mo-Kou, the brand’s international presence doesn’t stop there. The duo works with Hostem in London, Sanlipop in Beijing, and others in Hong Kong and the U.S., not to mention Hamish Munro in Melbourne, and on occasion McKilroy in Perth. “We also have a workshop that we open to the public in Osborne Park every Saturday afternoon when we are not away in Japan for production, and there is also the ESHOP,” Larz says. Man-tle has made its mark with products that are durable, reliable and practical, and informed by Australia and the character of its people. “We understand this psyche as being a direct reflection of the rugged tactility of the landscape and the extreme environment in this country,” Larz explains. “We see Australian people as being discerning and easy-going, and we like to think our products reflect this too.”
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Woven Cultures
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Woven Cultures
Deriving inspiration for the label’s name from the roughly 2,900kmthick region between Earth’s core and its crust (otherwise known as the mantle), Larz and Aida mean business when it comes to their fabrics. Gravitating towards high-density cloth, they mostly use cotton that has been treated after weaving. “Our signature cloth is a cotton chambray woven on wooden shuttle looms, often coated in paraffin wax,” Larz says. “With that, we produce shirts, trousers and caps that are mostly generous in shape and easy to wear.”
These fabrics are exactly what make Man-tle’s offering unique, derived from a genuine passion for the craft and traditions of textile manufacturing. Working directly with seven Japanese mills in total (approximately four per season) allows the brand to develop its ideal textiles. These smaller, artisanal producers are for the most part familyrun businesses that are very accommodating to its designs. “We often choose these makers for the fact they are creating modern textiles using very old techniques,” explains Larz. ”Sewing the garments together in Japan also means we have products that are very well constructed and finished.” When asked what his hero piece is and what makes it so popular, Larz’ answer is definite: “It must be SHIRT 1. It’s a loose fitting, regular button up shirt made from the chambray I mentioned earlier and featuring our original hardware. It’s useful as an over-shirt, suited well to the Australian climate, working as a wind barrier, and good for all seasons.”
Could there possibly be anything more desired from a single product? Aligning itself with the industry’s northern hemisphere calendar, Man-tle has just launched R4 at overseas stockists and will be available in Australia via ESHOP in early March, followed soon after by a launch at the Osborne Park workshop. And for the fashion-forward women of Perth (and the world)? Rest assured, women’s Man-tle (nicknamed WO-MAN-TLE) debuts in R5, which was presented to buyers in Paris and Tokyo earlier this year. Using the same fabrics in completely new women’s shapes, they’ll be available for purchase from July/August 2018.
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Visit – man-tle.com
LIFESTEEL SOFA
509 Murray Street, PERTH, 6000 Tel. 08 9322 6664 sales@innerspacewa.com.au
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Bone Dry Bassendean-based Sonja Danilovic is a creative director of Nude Design Studio, a mother and a self-taught ceramicist. Her hands-on approach to design weaves a theme of minimal tactility through her varied work.
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Images by John Durey, Freek Florals, Sally Wilson Michiel Bosman & Mira Mayne
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Words by John Durey
Sonja Danilovic sits on a cushioned stool in a deep cloak of concentration. The clay on the humming pottery wheel before her, as it spins and responds to her hands, requires her absolute attention. It’s the middle of summer, well into the night, and a tall lamp casts an encasing light over a front porch that is decidedly her doing. Mostly opened bags of earthen and stoneware clay lie stacked against the soft pink weatherboards, lightly spattered with the efforts of previous turning sessions. Surrounding the kilos of pottery-in-waiting are 20-something plastic tubs - white with blue lids, their contents hold an array of glazes that deceptively obscure their true colours. Unlike the paint Sonja used on her 1900s dairy cottage, a welcome pink pastel true to the colour revealed in its tin, ceramic glazes reinvent themselves in the firing process. A light, mint green glaze slathered onto a dried vase turns clear in the 1000-plus degrees of a fired kiln. Only a small, batch-printed description on the side of the tub confirms to the ceramicist the finished colour. In an asymmetrical orbit around her wheel, upended brushes stand tall in old glass jars with muddied water; cups and vases, some bone dry, others drying and perilously close to cracking, sit atop an old, handmade bench; a hair dryer that could easily be mistaken for a well-used, tradesman’s tool waits at the ready; and a Bunnings-bought white flexi-tub is filled to the brim with discarded lumps of clay. For Sonja, this is much more than a potter’s workshop. Her space, beneath a tin roof and shielded by an overgrown and frustratingly impotent passionfruit vine, allows her to explore, refine and develop a craft that has required no formal training or education. This space has allowed her to thoughtfully repurpose her creativity into another artistic medium. Pottery (or Ceramics - I am unsure which is the current maker-community preference) is a dichotomous pursuit. On the one hand, the incremental improvement and refinement of ceramic pieces that are thrown, shaped, glazed and fired, an evolution with seemingly no concluding end in sight, makes the path to expertise an energising endeavour. Until of course the inexplicable and dastardly mean side of pottery rears its head, which it will. To discover a crack, by gosh to discover an irreparable crack - after painstakingly throwing, shaping, glazing and firing just one piece, paints a warning to would-be potters that this craft is not for the faint of heart. A testament to this potter’s resilience, Sonja is a mother of two boys: one nearly three, rambunctious and prone to a decibel-breaking stubbornness, the other nearly six equally quarrelsome but so far sharing her interest in art. She is also the creative director of Northbridge-based Nude Design Studio, a small design and brand agency that started out in the height of the global financial crisis. One might think that her life could be better-balanced with a Netflix series or more sleep, but instead she has chosen to focus her spare time and attention on a craft humans have been grappling with and only veryoccasionally mastering for nearly 26,000 years. I finish reading a chapter in my book. It’s about 11pm, the boys are fast asleep and I head outside onto the front porch. Sonja looks up at me briefly before throwing another lump of clay into the centre of the wheel. “One more.” I don’t believe her.
maneliquor.com.au shop@maneliquor.com.au
@ maneliquor
237 Great Eastern Hwy, Belmont WA 6104
Beerfarm On the back lawn of The Beerfarm, from the beer garden down a hill and into a large dam below, is a black rubber slip & slide, and it speaks volumes about this place and the clever brewers who are enjoying the ride.
The Beerfarm is a relatively new venture, a brewery and beer garden located among the much more established wineries of Margaret River, WA. A number of years ago a Sydneybased beer label started brewing at the site, but not too long afterwards, the current owners took over and went on to establish their new beer brand, ‘Beerfarm’. The 80-acre property was once a working dairy, but now the old structures have been reused, integrated and transformed into a boutique brewery and an eclectic venue. You enter the space through re-purposed sheds, clearly agricultural but with a design eye and a craftsman’s hand giving them a new life. The original milking stalls are featured front and centre as you walk into the venue, a quirky memento of the past but also a reminder that this is still a working property and that nothing goes to waste. Further out the back, in the heart of the operation, the stainless steel brewing tanks are housed in a circular shed built on the foundations of the original cattle corral. On the roof above, a 12-pointed star is both branding and a reminder of the ever-changing nature of things, so we are told. P. 27
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Beerfarm
The Beerfarm cellar door is focused on a voluminous converted barn, with a long bar at one end and floor-to-ceiling doors along either side, opening onto decks and lawns and the landscape beyond. Picnic tables scattered about take in views of the surrounding farmland, the dam, and wooded hills beyond. It's closer to a backyard than anything, and the patrons throughout make themselves at home. Kids play on the slip and slide or roll down a grassy hill, and there are more than a few dogs running between legs. There is an inherently relaxed vibe to the place, despite all the activity.
We get shown around by one of the brewers, Josh Thomas, who puts a beer in our hands as he talks tanks and capacities and ingredients. The ice cold IPA is a good classic drinking beer, but Beerfarm isn’t shy about experimentation. The brews on offer include a Pineapple Sour, fermented from the eponymous tropical fruit, the Shirazaweiss which uses local grapes, a Marmalade Saison and a Mango & Blackberry Belgian. Another offering is a seasonal and limited edition collaboration with WA’s travelling restaurant Fervor - a quandong and sandalwood beer. George Scott of Beerfarm says that the Native Series beers created with the famed nomad foodies came about after they worked side by side on an event: “We love what they do, what they stand for, and our brew team love learning about native ingredients.” It’s clear that the beer brand and the venue are built on strong philosophies of teamwork and collaboration. When asked to expand on the nature of the Beerfarm team and their roles, George is
clear that what they do is a team effort, and that old-school hierarchies have no place in their work. The Farm itself is determined to be sustainable, both in its environmental impact and in the way it deals with the community. Product and ingredients are sourced from WA farmers, including their cider apples which come from nearby Manjimup. Local grain is used in the beer process, and the resulting waste is fed to the cattle that graze just a few paddocks over, which are in turn served up as steaks from the beer garden kitchen. Locals and tourists come to buy and sell at the twilight bazaar, eat from food vans, and there is a goal to run the entire venture by solar. There is a real sense of determination to do it differently and better, and to offer something unique and special in the process. Watching the sun set over the trees with a glass of pineapple beer in hand, there’s no question that Beerfarm has created something worth taking part in.
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Words by David Weir
Images by Gordon Becker
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Minimalist Beauty An architect’s built response to low quality housing in her suburb is nothing short of breathtaking.
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Images by Ben Hosking
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Words by Jessica Rule
Perth’s beachside suburb of Scarborough is a real life diorama of how not to densify; entire streetscapes demolished to make way for beige rendered nothing-mansions and townhouses that could be in any suburb, anywhere. Kate FitzGerald, the young female director of small local architecture firm Whispering Smith, wanted to propose an alternative to the ubiquitous grouped dwelling and subsequently created House A – a residence that encapsulates the joy in innovative, simple and mindful architecture. Kate, her father, Gerard, and partner, Matt, decided to pool their resources and buy an 874m2 block high on a hill in Scarborough with great access to views, sun and sea breezes – which would house Whispering Smith’s first development project. An existing two-bedroom 1950’s red brick house came with it, centrally positioned on the sloping block and proudly sitting on high limestone footings. In true Scarborough tradition, high footings allow for parking underneath future dwellings, giving back the precious land for gardens, courtyards and outdoor living areas. Kate was adamant that it be preserved and set about planning the subdivision to accommodate the '50s home, however a series of roadblocks presented themselves. “Paradoxical planning codes made it almost impossible to retain the existing dwelling and mature trees during the build and subdivision,” Kate explains. To work around them, House A was dedicated to the front lawn of the original house – a 175m2 single bedroom dwelling lot under the R-codes. Kate engaged Talo Construction to create the three-storey mini tower with a garage underneath and a loft on top. “Minimal land, minimal house, minimal life,” she says. The once-abandoned verge has subsequently become House A’s front yard, planted with natives and an ancient weeping mulberry tree softly preceding a cantilevered concrete entry platform that projects out to the front verge. “The project engages with the street in a way that is almost a challenge to the planning codes, which still rely on formal gestures to achieve an ‘image’ of streetscape rather than an actual place of amenity and social interaction,” Kate explains. For a petite home, the interiors achieve immense volume and light, drinking in the restorative coastal light with soaring voids and a loft bedroom, no corridors and only one internal door to the downstairs WC. In juxtaposition to this openness of this section is the use of journey through a plan – a sense of something hidden around the corner adding intrigue and creating depth to a small space; all methods employed by one of Kate’s influences, Mexican architect Luis Barragan. The longer path of travel also creates a sense of privacy, curling the plan around itself so that the two occupants – who are both running their own businesses – can live life in the same volume in relative harmony. The interior itself wraps fully around a northern courtyard, separated from the living space and kitchen by bifolds. Once these are opened up they create a long indoor/outdoor space capable of hosting a dinner party for 30 people.
Minimalist Beauty
The main volume of the project comprises concrete tilt panels, cast on site and chosen by Kate for their minimal qualities. “One piece of wall, no artificial finish to the inside or the outside – it’s an insulated, sculptural, structural, monolithic building material in its simplest form,” she explains. “These ultimately culminate in a 3D sculpture celebrating wabi sabi – finding the beauty in the imperfect. Barragán once made the comment, ‘My house is my refuge, an emotional piece of architecture, not a cold piece of convenience’, which resonated with me,” Kate says.
The only downside was the high carbon emissions, and so Whispering Smith and Talo Construction tested and researched ways of using Ordinary Portland Cement replacement, achieving a carbon neutral rating by E-tool. “We did this by specifying a mix high in slag, an industrial
by-product from steel production,” Kate says. “The powdery white-grey exterior and swirling patterns on the interior are a serendipitous result of this push back against the mainstream, which allowed us to make a common construction material more sustainable.”
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Minimalist Beauty
House A is the first carbon neutral dwelling in Scarborough of which will be three within Kate’s development. It is comfortable in temperature and is cooled by the sea breeze, which is harnessed by the site’s elevated position. The project was a collaborative effort, with Matt and his colleagues delivering most of the interior work and landscape, while Kate collaborated with a friend to develop the cast in steel windows, structure and steel furniture. “Whispering Smith’s design ethos is grounded in the principle of craft, which is reflected in the decision to custom design and make pieces for House A locally rather than specifying off-the-shelf imported products,” Kate explains.
Despite a brutalist palette of concrete and structural steel, the house has an elegant softness thanks to the inclusion of translucent sheeting and a delicate structural white-tied aesthetic. “It keeps the house feeling soft and monastic despite the use of such industrial materials,” she says. “The carbon neutral status was also achieved using lime-painted recycled bricks – there is an emotive peace that a painted white brick form brings to a double height space.” Translucent sheeting prompts privacy and allows ambient light to permeate. In particular, it creates a double “skin” to the streetscape, encouraging a separation from the public realm while maintaining airflow and connection through sound. P. 36
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Minimalist Beauty
Contributing to the white palette is the liberal use of mosaic tiled walls and benches in the loft wardrobe and ensuite, which create a washroom redolent of seaside changerooms. “We used white mosaics throughout House A to celebrate the junction between architecture and furniture, which has always been an important part of Whispering Smith’s work,” Kate explains. The white majority is offset by black accents, seen in the custom-milled and torched jarrah battens, which signify the entry. “These have been sunk into the volume of the space, alongside the steel-framed windows, which cut into the volume to let light in,” Kate says. Kate maintains that the driving ethos behind the project was to propel the big, structural moves with as much simplicity and understated grace as possible, while keeping the material and finishes palette as basic as possible. The parts of this project that work hardest are perhaps the least visible – the plan and the details between the junctions of all the materials assembled. “These work to create a space that’s as much a retreat from our busy lives as it is from the rigours of architecture itself,” Kate says. “There is no glossiness, nothing over-finished, and the palette is all about letting a material be itself – free of pressures of specifying architectural grade finishes that seal off their imperfect beauty.”
Visit – whisperingsmith.com.au
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myareeceramics.com.au @myareeceramics
Piano – by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Mutina. Available exclusively at Myaree Ceramics.
Ph. (08) 9330 3611 91 Norma Rd, Myaree
Glorious Words by Kate Parker Images by Gloria & Bewley Shaylor
The eponymous debut solo exhibition from Martu artist Gloria is, as her name suggests, glorious. The exhibition, presented by FORM, is currently showing in The Goods Shed, where the vivid works sit in stark contrast to the minimal exhibition space. P. 42
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Glorious
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Born in Jigalong in 1975, Gloria is a Martu woman working out of Spinifex Hill Studios in South Hedland. An artist with cerebral palsy and limited eyesight, Gloria is an acrylic painter within a powerful matriarchal tradition that emerged in the Western Desert in the early 2000s. Her work forms a spectrum – ranging from large pieces works full of riotous colour and movement, to smaller works of quiet, subtle patterns. Gloria’s larger pieces present colour spectrums that compliment, contrast and subtly merge – each vying for space on canvas that seems too small to contain them. The contrast and movement Gloria creates through her brush work truly make these colours sing.
The emotion and story behind the brushwork of these paintings may not be fully evident to the viewer, however they read as a form of expression and release, with a sense of urgency, contemplation or calm able to be felt as you experience them. Following in the tradition of other mononymous female rock stars (think Beyonce, Madonna) Gloria is sure to make her impact felt in the artistic arena. With such a unique visual style, it is unsurprising that Gloria has already attracted significant attention, winning ‘Best Artwork by an Indigenous Artist’ at the 2017 Hedland Art Awards and the ‘Merenda Gallery Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Award’ at the 2017 ‘As We Are’ Awards for WA artists with an intellectual disability. Gloria has also been selected as an emerging artist for Revealed 2018 at the Fremantle Art Centre in April. The opening of the exhibition marks the release of a range of limited edition cashmere modal scarves featuring Gloria’s works. The artworks currently exhibited at The Goods Shed announce Gloria as a truly exciting contemporary, collectable abstract artist. The Exhibition runs until the April 1st.
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myareeceramics.com.au @myareeceramics
Celosia by Patricia Urquiola for Mutina. Available exclusively at Myaree Ceramics.
Ph. (08) 9330 3611 91 Norma Rd, Myaree
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Light Industrial David Barr Architect’s Picard House is a clear standout on a North Coogee sub-division.
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Light Industrial
The owners of this solar passive home didn’t set out to engage an architect. But they did have a vision for something out of the ordinary; something rustic and characterful that would differentiate their property from the rest. When their estate agent suggested a meeting with young guns David Barr Architects the couple were impressed, engaging their services to create a unique home for a family of five. David Barr has found much success in recent years, his award-winning work notable for its recognition of climate and for its acknowledgment of the myriad ways in which we live.
“The owners had lived in the area for years and loved it,” David says. “They wanted a casual and generous ‘warehouse for living’ with tough finishes not without domestic comfort.” With its mostly pitched roofs and rendered walls South Beach Estate appears typically suburban, but it is only a short distance from popular South Beach and eclectic South Fremantle. The location has a rich heritage as a place of recreation and industry. In years gone by it hosted theme parks and resorts, horse racing, cattle docks, concert halls and train yards. And David Barr’s design draws on that historical depth as well as the beachside location. The exterior form of the house is noticeably distinct from its neighbours. The elevations reference the proportions of old factory glazing. A sawtooth roof in tumbled red brick suggests a place that somehow prevailed despite the bulldozers. With two frontages - one facing the street and the other facing a park that dissects the estate - the house takes advantage of its orientation and boldly opens out to the neighbourhood.
The street approach also features a strong geometric form and mix of materials; ten vertical rusted steel fins provide both screening and shade. A wall tilts to reveal a garage and workshop, and a brick portico precedes the recessed front door. Flexibility and adaptability was important to the project, with spaces that can transform over time as the owners age in place,” says David. “The garage is clad in translucent lapped polycarbonate, naturally lighting a typically dark place and creating the opportunity for something other than parking a car – such as a music or games room.” Entering the house is cool, quiet and welcoming on a warm Spring day. The hallway glows with natural light from a central courtyard. The garage, master bedroom and ensuite, as well as the kids’ spaces, are arranged in two levels facing the street. The kitchen, dining and living areas on the opposite side of the courtyard face the park to the east. The two spaces are linked by a south corridor and by sliding glass doors that open to create a generous habitable space.
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Words by David Weir
Images by Dion Robeson
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The arrangement means that daily living spaces are visible from the park and from the street. Unlike neighbours living behind tinted glass and drawn curtains, the occupants of Picard House can enjoy a rising sun and park views over breakfast. The layout around a central courtyard brings winter sun and warmth, ventilation and natural light to all areas of the house throughout the day. This includes an upstairs landing and games room, served by west-facing windows behind the façade screens. It’s a smart plan that takes full advantage of a small block in a highdensity context.
The sawtooth roof accentuates this sense of space and light. Inside, the roof is revealed as high raked ceilings creating volumes that are unusual in residential architecture. These are framed on each side by red brick walls that run the length of the house, and at each end by lime-washed plywood lining. This raw, tactile and limited palette adds a sense of warmth and texture to industrial forms. Working with the owners, a teacher and a safety engineer, David sought materials to reflect the place, sourcing bricks, steel and timbers from industrial demolitions and upcycling them in a fresh context. Materials and detailing have been kept simple, robust and direct, including butt-jointed plywood and strapped fibre cement sheet. Burnished concrete runs throughout the ground floor, an industrial finish with the advantage of winter thermal mass and easy maintenance.
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“In a built environment that is increasingly void of memory the house stands in proud opposition,” says David. “But more than a gesture to the site’s history, the home’s form and materials respond to an ambitious brief that called for a large home on a deep, narrow block for a family with teenagers.” There is a sense of calm confidence in this house, both in its architecture and its lack of affectation. Refreshingly, there is no parents’ retreat, home theatre or scullery, just open, connected spaces brimming with opportunities for entertaining and interacting.
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Good Habits. Great Life. Words by John Durey Images by John Tan
There are some practices that us modern humans swear by. You know, like veganism, spirituality and CrossFit. Not me. I swear by personal referrals. P. 54
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“Sit back, relax, they’ve got this.” That is my head talking to my head when an opportunity to be the referee (yes) presents. Why? Because I know it saves my brain work and me time. It’s not like my brain is really doing anything, or my time is perhaps better well spent, but that thirst to ‘save’ is so damn tantalising. Of course, the opportunity needs to be prudently qualified with legal sounding questions: 1. Who is providing this endorsement? 2. Why are they providing it? And 3. Is the endorsement more than a mere suggestion? 1. My good friend whose obsessive interest in cuisine I trust. 2. Because they know much more than me and unlike me, are willing to take risks. And 3. They are pleading with me to experience something, not offering up an option to consider. With a good personal referral, it’s as if I’m more wise and experienced than I actually am. I know, right? Enter from behind a plywood counter, Alex Malkovic and Perri Basile. Perri has a black Brussel’s Griffon named Pickle in his lap. The dog appears to be wearing a navy and white striped cardigan and enter was not the best word; Perri is still sitting on a stool. The pair along with Andrew Sinclair started Highgate Continental in 2015. As the name suggests, the shop on Beaufort Street is a continental offering of records, magazines and books all basking in a glorious light. It gushes in from windows that span the full width of the shop front and give the space an airy significance. Between the turntable on the counter and the happenings on the Highgate thoroughfare is the type of armchair your body aches for. Low, supple and generously deep. This, Alex tells me, is where you really experience Highgate Continental. “Come in and thumb through things you may or may not have heard of before, pull records out of their sleeves and have a proper listen by the window over a cup of tea or a cheeky beer.” Uh huh, go on. “‘Good habits for a great life’ is a motto we actively try to promote here. The frequent acquisition of new music on vinyl. The oftexpanding shelf of books to feed the soul. A timehonoured diet of continental smallgoods.” I look for a framed picture with this quote on the wall somewhere. It’s not there. Instead, there’s
a wall and half an island of vinyl records; the other half of the island is an astonishingly aesthetic curation of books that includes titles like Strange Paradise, Fire in Cairo and Fishing With John (Note to self: Buy this book). This is the sort of selection that if I came into money, I would buy them all in one fell swoop and take a sabbatical for good measure. At the back of the shop, it’s actually not far from the island, there’s a none-too-overbearing standing display of magazines including Victory Journal, Record and Extra. I have to ask - where does this smorgasbord come from? When in Rome. Perri answered: “I spent half my time growing up on a small farm in Geraldton and the other half on the Abrolhos Islands. Lucky for me, my parents had exceptional taste in music [and would buy me] countless cassettes, records and CDs. Their collection ranged from punk and heavy rock and roll to Iggy Pop, Bowie and Talking Heads, while my collection grew because I would write letters and send cash down to 78 Records in Perth.” Alex was equally fortunate in his musical upbringing: “My father plays the guitar and had collected stacks of old jazz, blues and avante-garde rock. That was my starting point. I only really started buying my own records in the first few years of high school. Blowfly Records was right next to the spot I caught the bus home from and I spent many afternoons digging through the secondhand crates of ‘$2 Gems’. It was all I could really afford back then!” The books and magazines are another story, to be abbreviated here. Alex got into collecting photography editions and art books while studying in Paris. He frequented institutions like Librairie Yvon Lambert and the annual Offprint Art Book Fair. (He happened to be attending the school where the Fair was held.) Sounding very much like the opening scenes of an indie documentary, his interest in abstract and conceptual art publications evolved and grew. Alex saw Perth passively standing by as these scenes bloomed in Melbourne and Europe, and like any good script, a parallel storyline (this time about similarly tangential musical interests) with central characters Perri and Andrew developed.
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At the risk of sounding elitist, intimidating or way too cool for someone wearing David Jones bought jeans, Alex, Perri and the Highgate Continental experience are anything but. The honesty and passion they share for a niche they have hand carved is infectious and palpable: “There’s just something a little bit magical about walking into a store and not knowing what you’ll come out with. Then even more magical is the sensation that comes from being able to hold that thing in your hand, pulling it from its sleeve, watching it rotate underneath the stylus and listening as the sounds that were once hidden with microscopic grooves are transformed into incredible music.”
Like a stalwart European deli, Highgate Continental offers story-driven smallgoods with the generosity, banter and warmth of a gregarious, favourite aunt. Take them up on their offer of tea. Publicly come clean about your limited music knowledge. Detail to them the unrelated personal context you are seeking to remedy through literature or vinyl. Why? Because Highgate Continental is where you get to sit back and relax. They’ve got this.
Visit – Highgate Continental 479 Beaufort St, Highgate @highgatecontinental – highgatecontinental.com
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Have you heard your orchestra lately? Tickets on sale now Tristan und Isolde – Mozart – James Morrison Rach 3 – Star Wars – Katie Noonan – Circus Oz
waso.com.au
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Presentation licensed by Disney Concerts in association with 20th Century Fox, Lucasfilm, and Warner/Chappell Music. © 2018 & TM LUCASFILM LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Made to Measure Half Measures is a reclusive local footwear and accessories label defined by the meticulous vision of its founder, Jocelyn Tan.
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Made to Measure
Grandmothers tell you not to do things in half measures. Or so I’ve heard. My grandmother, an Irish Catholic, told me about Saint Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, for some reason. His grandmother, I can only presume, told him about lost causes. Perhaps my grandmother, let’s call her Seanma, comfortable in her matriarchal role and familiar with the power of persuasion, had negotiated with Saint Jude on my behalf. Or perhaps not. Either way, my current professional cause is not lost; in fact its path is plainly clear. It sees me working with people to develop their ideas and in 2010, I met Jocelyn Tan. She walked through our studio doors carrying two of those oversized, red-white-blue nylon laundry bags. The bags were filled to the brim with perfectly conditioned shoe boxes and meticulously collated lever arch files that housed a hand-on-heart bounty of visual and tactile references. I remember how I struggled to carry one of the bags to the table while she remained calm and peculiarly composed.
As Jocelyn began revealing to us, piece by perfectly presented piece, her interest in experimental approaches, a true definition of ‘attention to detail’ was composed. Shame on those job applicants, yes all of you, who boast an impeccable “attention to detail” (you saw that correctly, I used double quotation marks on that one). Attention to detail is sub-categorising Maison Margiela campaigns by year, season and colour, and noting rationale for the preference of graphic elements on A.P.C. footwear care instruction slips. Attention to detail is not remembering most of the time to attach the attachment you refer to in an email. The surface of the table in our studio had now disappeared. In its place was a forensically ordered and consummately detailed curation of inspiration for a footwear and accessories label. Ironically, it was to be called Half Measures
After the fact, I asked Jocelyn why she started ½ M. “To create beautifully crafted pieces of artisanal quality that represent longevity, individuality and a feeling of timelessness. The label’s designs are guided by the idea of finding a balance between conceptual design and wearable practicality.” True to her word, not that I was doubting her or anything, her designs exude confidence and individuality with “clean, contoured forms typified by sculptural layering of silhouettes, contrasting cuts and textures.” As we developed her brand, she would patiently explain the varied and complex processes in designing, sourcing, sampling and construction, and offer new definitions for words like ‘skived’ and ‘uppers’. Not what you think.
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Words by John Durey
Images by James Whineray
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Made to Measure
Starting a handmade footwear and accessories label is no mean feat, but having interned at Melbourne institutions Preston Zly and MaterialByProduct, Jocelyn had done her due diligence. Like the Blackwood Marathon, she would require diverse skills, an unrelenting commitment to the cause and an enduring ability to face and respond to challenges. (Feel free to use these in your resume.) “It’s never a straightforward process as materials behave differently with each design so a lot of experimentation and testing is required. It’s usually an ongoing process of testing, tweaking and refining design proportions, style lines, edge finishing methods, material combinations and finishing techniques with the makers. During this development phase, lasts and patterns usually need to be adjusted, construction methods redeveloped, materials re-sourced if they are found to be too thick or thin for a particular design and then sole construction tested - this process typically takes 6 months and usually 3 rounds of sampling to get to the finished design. To construct the finished design, say for a pair of sandals, hours of work are involved just in the step of hand cutting the warp and wefts from leather and weaving them together.” I would have also accepted, “It’s never a straightforward process.” To understand what goes into a pair of handmade ½ M shoes makes you appreciate every layer, curve, texture and weave. The product of an immense creative force, the sandals, flatforms, trainers, closed in flats and loafers are original, conceptual and practical. The Holy Trinity in footwear. Saint Jude may not appreciate that one but I am certain that as Jocelyn continues to experiment in each new season, with her attention to detail shining through, he would be sitting back, patiently waiting for a mens collection.
Visit – Half Measures @half.measures – halfmeasures.co
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Respectful Repast As the sun sets beyond the horizon in outback Western Australia, a long table of diners waits in anticipation for a meal unlike any other they’ll ever experience.
He’s the boy from down south who, by his own admission, was never destined to be a cook. But don’t be fooled by boyish good looks and an easy-going nature. Paul ‘Yoda’ Iskov takes his food — and more specifically his focus on native ingredients — very seriously. While working in a shearing shed in Yallingup and surfing in his spare time, ironically, it was the working hours that motivated Paul to apply for a job at a Dunsborough restaurant. Starting shifts at 3.00pm left his days free to chase the surf. But it wasn’t long before he discovered a talent that would eventually earn him positions in kitchens across the globe alongside a starstudded lineup of culinary masters. “It was a natural transition, and cooking started taking priority,” Paul says. “As I started to enjoy it more, I put in more hours and worked at restaurants where I could further hone my skills.” P. 68
Words by Claire Millett
Images by LVF Visuals & OK Media
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Respectful Repast
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Working his way through some of the world’s best restaurants including Perth’s Restaurant Amusé, Vue De Monde in Melbourne, D.O.M in Sao Paulo, COI in San Francisco, Pujol in Mexico City, and Noma in Copenhagen, Paul eventually returned to Western Australia to establish the immersive outdoor roaming restaurant that is Fervor. Serving up dishes under the stars in some of the State’s most remote locations is as much an education about the sustainable, healthy and delicious wonders of Australian ingredients as it is a degustation dining experience. While on the road with his highly praised North Tour, we chat to Paul about his desire to give diners a greater understanding of and appreciation for the food they are enjoying, and the importance of the cultural significance of each area visited.
FQ: How were you first introduced to the use of native ingredients in the kitchen? The early restaurants I worked in used a few native ingredients here and there, mainly lemon myrtle and wattleseed. It wasn’t until I went travelling and worked in some of the top restaurants around the world — particularly with Alex Atala at D.O.M who had a big focus on ingredients native to Brazil — that I started realising how little attention we as Australians give our own ingredients, even though the First People lived and survived on it for thousands of years, and taken care of the land while doing so. It made me think about what else is out there. Surely, there are more ingredients than just kangaroo, emu and crocodile.
FQ: What is the food philosophy that you carry through your menus? The Fervor team works to connect with local Aboriginal elders and cultural tour leaders at each
location to gain knowledge and understanding, not only about newly-discovered ingredients, but also about the history behind the region and the respect that Aboriginal people have for the land. Respecting and acknowledging Aboriginal culture is an important part of the Fervor experience. The foods that diners are eating have a connection to land stretching back thousands of years.
FQ: Being remotely located, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced logistically? Before we commence our annual North Tour, which spans over three months and thousands of kilometres driving across Australia from the South West to the very north, logistical operations and planning start about a year in advance. This includes everything from travelling distances to ferments, back-up plans and staff requirements. Each event comes with its own set of challenges and we need to ensure we’re flexible enough to troubleshoot problems as they pop up.
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Respectful Repast
FQ: What’s in store for your current 2018 North Tour? We’re driving over 15,000 kilometres hosting 20 dinners over a three-month period. Locations include Newman, Karijini, Karratha, Broome, Fitzroy Crossing, Kununurra, Bungle Bungle, Kakadu and Exmouth. The menu changes as we move along, but you will find ingredients such as boab, wild rosella, gubinge, crocodile feet, green ants, kangaroo, min min, pearl meat, sandalwood nut miso, native lemongrass, bush tomato, wattleseed, tubers, water lily and more.
FQ: What are some of the most important lessons you’ve learned while working with elders? We have learned many important things over the past few years, and it will take more than a lifetime to learn a knowledge that’s been refined over thousands of years. The overarching message is that we need to respect and take care of the land that we live on. From my perspective, we should do everything possible to protect Aboriginal culture across Australia.
FQ: When you’re not cooking up your next adventure, what are you doing in your time off? Time off? Is that a thing? Ha ha. We take a couple of weeks off over Christmas and New Year’s Eve. We head to the deep south and go bush, set up a camp at a remote beach and spend time surfing, fishing, cooking and hanging out with mates.
FQ: So where does the nickname ‘Yoda’ come from? I was given the nickname at the beginning of high school, and it stuck. While I tell everyone it’s because I’m wise, it really is more about my ears. I’m pretty happy with Yoda. Other names could have been worse!
FQ: Are there any plans for a permanent restaurant? Yes, we would love to set up something permanent at some point. Something small out in the bush where we could grow a lot of our own food would be ideal. We would like to continue with the pop-ups, but may limit them to a few each year to really focus on finding the most unique locations and giving people a mindblowing experience.
Visit – Fervor @fervorfood – fervor.com.au
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Eat local. Drink local. Smile widely. Enjoy Eagle Bay
eaglebaybrewing.com.au P. 73
Toodyay Shack Words by David Weir Images by Luke Carter Wilton
Constructed from an evocative palette of brick, timber and steel, and put together in a way that makes you want to touch every element, this is a house that wants you to know that it has been built by hand. P. 74
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Toodyay Shack
The house is raw, in some ways more reminiscent of a tent or a tree house than the triple-front brick and tile homes of the Perth suburbs. From the street, this house presents like a traditional country cottage; its wide corrugated steel verandah with timber posts fits the image of what you might expect to see in a country town. The house quickly transforms, however, and shows itself to be anything but the expected. Architect Paul Wakelam of A Workshop has been designing and building homes in Western Australia for nearly 20 years. His work is notable for experimenting with what a traditional WA home is, and all the things that it could be. This house, built for the architect and his family, is at once strange and familiar. It has a design DNA that is clear to see for anyone who has spent time in the WA country, but that design has been pushed and stretched, a reinvention of how a Western Australian house should be. It has a lot in common with the classic, placeresponsive designs of what we might think of as ‘traditional’ farm houses and beach shacks; designs that consider their place in regards to the sun, the climate and the seasons. Compared to what is now considered a ‘standard’ style of home in WA - the lazy, humdrum brick and tile ‘designs’ that seem to spread endlessly along our coast and up in to our hills - this house is indeed unusual, but only because it reacts to its place instead of ignoring it. Paul tells of how they located the house on its site: “We would stand on the site and explore how the house could ‘turn the body’ towards the landscape. We wanted to be able to drink in the hillscape across the Avon Valley from as many points as possible.” The arrangement of spaces within makes one pause and consider their function in a way that
most homes will not. The centre is the warm core; a kitchen, dining and lounge room with a snuggly nook, dominated by a woodburning stove for heat and an off-form corrugated concrete ceiling to keep it all in. It brings to mind pioneer cottages and cold nights in the bush, while also opening up at either end to wide decks for warm days and cool breezes. Move out from the centre of the house and the rooms become more open. Spaces and uses overlap, and it is telling that Paul refers to presumed bedrooms as ‘sleep/read/play’ rooms. Expected functions and movements are reinterpreted when to reach the bathrooms one must exit on to the verandahs around the house. It's a very different way of living. The configuration plays with the house’s thresholds; inside is sometimes outside, with corridors and stairs well protected by the soaring roof but open to the elements nonetheless. Taking the stairs to the first floor brings you to a large open-air deck and three small, separate rooms around it – a studio, a tea room, and a sleep/read/ play room. Expecting an internal space and instead finding yourself on a covered balcony with views to the hills is a joyful moment. One can imagine sitting under the roof with friends or family, sharing a drink as the sun goes down before retreating to your individual sleep/ read/play room. The design of this house allows for all kinds of uses, both intended and unimagined. A long, jettylike deck extends from the house, hanging in the air as the land slopes down towards the river. It is currently used to display a sculpture, yet it also lends itself to being the perfect place to stand with a coffee on a cold winter morning and watch the fog lift in the valley, or for gambolling children to dream up any number of Sunday afternoon games.
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The house has a special quality about it; strange and familiar, practical and whimsical. The skilful architecture neatly resolves the function of the house, and having dealt with that, it then proceeds to take you on an adventure.
“Seeing the river flow by from the first floor, experiencing the sunset behind the hill across the river each day, feeling connected to the floodplain’s rich bird life – every day is different and the house lets it all in,” Paul says. Good architecture is never about filling a house with all the trends of the day, but rather allowing for people to fill the place with life and memories. This house has plenty of space for that.
Visit – Paul Wakelam @paulwakelamarchitect – paulwakelam.com
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Abdul-Rahman Abdullah On a beautiful day, on a beautiful farm, in the rural outer suburbs of Perth, I find myself sitting in a spacious studio shed chatting to Adbul-Rahman Abdullah.
He’s shown me around his art-filled farmhouse, compared sneaker collections and introduced me to Trevor the very large goat (“he’s not a dog and doesn’t like being petted”. Noted). Around us, in various states of completion, is a sculpted menagerie – snakes and seagulls and dogs and a miniature triceratops. Mostly but not always his work takes the form of animals, full sized and realistic enough to make you look twice. I start with an opener and ask Abdul-Rahman what he makes his art about. He thinks that’s a hard question but we can’t think of anyone better placed to explain it, so he concedes, “if anyone is going to be able to answer the question…I guess I am making work looking at ideas of cultural geography, whether that is the domestic space in front of you or a much broader relationship to the world around you which is not necessarily dictated by boarder or nationality or those sort of impositions, but cultural geographies that spread beyond that and make communities outside of those official boundaries. P. 80
Words by David Weir
Long Round | 2014 | 120 x 25 x 15cm | concrete, galvanised chain Image courtesy of the artist and Moore Contemporary
Images by Abdul-Rahman Abdullah & Jonathon Wilson
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Practical Magic | 2016 | 65 x 160 x 160cm stained wood, nylon rope Image courtesy of the artist and University of Western Australia
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Abdul - Rahman Abdullah
“Everyone belongs to all sorts of different communities and interactions which are not governed by who we are on paper. “They are also sort of autobiographical, recreating experiences in ways that people can experience now”. The taxidermy templates AbdulRahman used as reference for his 2017 work ‘The Dogs’ are stored on a shelf in the studio, three black dogs running beneath a field of crystal chandeliers. It mixes his childhood memories of car yard guard dogs with concepts of territory and border control and privileged spaces. He invites the viewer to step under the lights and move around the three animals, and you understand full well the energy and speed and intent of dogs that are moving like this.
That is part of the reason that Abdul-Rahman so often uses animal forms in his work – the instant understanding of what you are looking at, how it feels and moves – but it goes further than simply sculpting animals. “They’re architypes; I mean
they are realistic but they’re not portraits…it’s a way of talking about myself and human interactions one step removed. It’s a way of tapping into pre-existing ideas that people have already with animals and the mythology and the associations”.
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In that way intention is a big part of his work. Abdul-Rahman’s pieces are never just a sculpture on a plinth, but installations that take in a space, presenting a scene for the viewer to observe and interpret. It is notable that his sculptures are created true to scale, a conscious decision to remove a barrier between the work and the audience. Which means that the viewer “accepts it as part of the world they’re in”. If the intention is to present a metaphor or a memory translated through animals, then a distorted scale would only muddle that meaning. True size means a true human reaction to the piece, whether it’s a trio of leaping dogs or a restrained baby camel – he invites you to bring your experience and apply it to the tableau before you.
Black Dog | 2017 | 38 x 78 x 55cm | bronze Image courtesy of the artist and Moore Contemporary
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Abdul - Rahman Abdullah
The Dogs | 2017 | 500 x 500 x 300cm | stained wood, chandeliers Image courtesy of the artist and Moore Contemporary
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Abdul - Rahman Abdullah
I first met Abdul-Rahman 5 years ago at his studio in Fremantle. He had just graduated from Curtin University as a mature age student, and I recall walking in to his space to see a full-sized water buffalo wallowing on the concrete floor. It has been such a joy to watch his menagerie expand and his career evolve, with residencies and exhibitions around the country and the globe. Abdul-Rahman tells me when you’re an artist from Perth you’ve got to be everywhere else at the same time; as we sit in his studio shed on a sunny winter’s day with Trevor sitting on the lawn just outside, it seems like being from Perth and being everywhere else is a pretty good plan.
Visit – Abdul-Rahman Abdullah @abdul_rahman_abdullah – abdulrahmanabdullah.com
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Iftar Abdul-Rahman Abdullah
Abdul-Rahman Abdullah Iftar, 2017 Concrete, fifteen 23.5 carat gold electroplated almonds 15 x 15 x 15 cm Edition of 30
The second PICA Edition, Iftar is a specially commissioned work by renowned WA artist Abdul-Rahman Abdullah. For more information please contact (08) 9228 6300 or visit pica.org.au.
Perth Cultural Centre 51 James St Northbridge WA
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A Place for Perth Cuisine, Naturally Words & Images by Emma Pegrum
Owner-operator of Perth’s first natural wine bar and shop, Sam Winfield, is championing a specific kind of ‘Perth cuisine’ that carries the many cultures who’ve made Perth home. P. 90
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A Place for Perth Cuisine, Naturally
“I didn’t grow up in a food family”, says Sam Winfield, owner of Northbridge’s newest resident Wines of While, as he slices up some washed potatoes. Tucking into a meal at his natural wine bar and shop, you wouldn’t think it. The food served up at Wines of While tastes like the stuff of a lifetime food worshipper, with just enough homeliness thrown in to assume the recipes were passed down from his grandmother. Then again, perhaps you would think it, because Winfield’s food isn’t elite – and it isn’t trying to be. It’s honest and wholesome and refined the way only food made by someone who has taught themselves to cook can be.
Having faced many undue barriers throughout its planning and licensing stages, Wines of While was practically a household name before it even opened its rickety doors at 458 William Street – up the quiet end, right where Northbridge’s nightlife precinct meets its outer residential enclave. The emphasis has been on the wines – rightfully so, the shelves boast an impressive array of imported and local natural wines that drink very nicely – but little attention has been paid to the food. Except by Winfield. “I grew up with friends in university and even high school who have that kind of history with their family where food is a bringing together of people”, he says, moving on to the carrots. “It was while overseas, especially in Italy, that I discovered the joy of having long lunches. I really enjoyed that kind of food experience, and was finding it hard to get in Perth.” While working as a doctor which he’s done for the past five years, Winfield would travel to Australia’s eastern states to get his fix – all the while “lamenting the fact that we didn’t have it here.” ‘It’ being this special kind of simple, homestyle food experience paired with natural wines that at the time were mainly only accessible in Perth through importers Living Wines.
It follows then that not much time passed before he decided to open his own place – “life’s too short to drink something you don’t want to drink”, he says. And so began the research, the trying, the testing. One look at the resulting Wines of While – one spoonful of the white beans and one sip of a skin contact white – and you’re in hook, line and sinker. But it’s not just the great flavours that have you on board – it’s the whole ethos of the place, which Winfield doesn’t even have to say out loud for it to be evident. Egalitarianism. Community. Simplicity. Enjoyment. These are the pillars of what Winfield has created (they are perhaps typified by the dark crusted bread baked fresh daily by passionate dough-whisperer Rupert McDonald, and served with salted butter for three bucks a pop). They are also the pillars he seems to live by. The love of natural wine? Winfield puts it down to it being “simple and accessible”. And the food identity? A natural progression. “[The food here] was always going to be about simple, home-style cooking that you would find in the kitchens of Nonnas and Yayas”, Winfield says (he’s top and tailing the beans now).
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“I wanted to champion what I think Perth cuisine is.” Where the commentator’s perception of contemporary Australian cuisine involves native ingredients and produce-driven menus, Winfield’s version of our local cuisine dotingly includes the fare of the many people and cultures who make up our city. “Perth is full of immigrants from Greece, Italy, Croatia – and everyone’s got a mate who’s got a Nonna or a Yaya and you go over and get fed so much food you can’t move, and everything’s hand-made and always kind of simple and obvious”, he says. In today’s world, the idea that there is this markedly genuine and populist cuisine that we could call naturally ours is too enticing for me to resist. As I said: hook, line and sinker.
Visit – Wines of While 458 William Street, Perth @winesofwhile – winesofwhile.com
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A Real Wise Child Words by John Durey Images by James Whineray
In 1986, an Italian named Carlo Petrini protested against the opening of a McDonalds restaurant in Rome. Petrini was the founder and figurehead of the slow food movement; McDonalds the clown-suited flag bearer of fast food. For Petrini and his friends, slow food meant eating local, appreciating handmade, reveling in the traditional, supporting small scale and getting to know your supplier, no doubt without ever saying the word ‘supplier’. Slow food is everything that is right about the world and pivotally, Petrini chose to stay on course. Rather than get angry (so cliché) and lead a futile protest against the golden arches, he went unorthodox and built the Resistance. P. 96
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A Real Wise Child
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In the years and decades that followed, the slow food movement grew, flowered and then propagated slow cities, slow life, slow goods, slow fashion, slow travel and slow on. Went there. Flying in the face of the mass-produced, modular-marketed, cost-saving, timesaving, real life experience-sapping paid channel of the world we know, was an alternative. One that took on a remarkably appealing incarnation where life decisions weren’t made under time pressure with ulterior motives, vested interests or long-term plans in mind. Petrini’s life would have you not just smell the roses, but plant them, prune them, tend to them, then deliver a hand-cut, garden-grown bunch of your roses to a good friend you haven’t seen in a while.
Without making a conscious decision to join the movement, founders of Wise Child Wine Store, Lucy Byrnes and James Whineray, have taken a path in life of which Petrini would be proud. Lucy a natural writer, James a photographer that shoots on film (slow photography, surely), started off creating a food blog together. As like-minded friends, they would meet to devour food and swill wine before thoughtfully illustrating their culinary adventures to a growing readership.
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A Real Wise Child
Lucy and James shared a willingness to try new things, which soon enough meant dating each other and starting a swimwear label called Aare. Lumes (I have taken it upon myself to create their couple name; definitely not approved by the couple)
were undaunted by the challenges either and both of these particular endeavours posed - Lucy designed pared-back swimwear, James imparted his unmistakable photographic style on the label, and the relationship blossomed.
Years later, as we sit on the hand bleached floorboards of their beautiful North Fremantle wine shop, a sanctuary for lofi, minimal intervention wines, their one year old son Kit wanders around with a ball. (Spoiler.) Much like Petrini, Lucy and James are refreshingly unapologetic about, and almost unnoticing of, their decision to choose the slow life. Aare’s organic growth internationally comes as no surprise. As at Wise Child, genuine, humble, human to human connections are a common driver. While Aare champions its wearers, Wise Child heralds its (predominantly natural), Australian wine makers. A sense of almost sibling pride shines through when James talks of the couple behind Swan Valley Wines before recalling the Bayswater origins of Old Mate Wine. Their passion is palpable, their belief in people emboldening and their eagerness to create in Perth greatly appreciated. True to the slow movement manifesto (such a thing), Lucy and James have crafted a community place where winemakers talk in person (at regular wine tastings), neighbourhood locals come for honest advice, and newcomers are always welcomed. Slow wine is officially a thing. Visit – Wise Child Wine Store @wisechild.store – wisechild.store
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Portside Anthems Something happens when you cross the bridge in to Fremantle. The turquoise beaches are flat, the coffee is out-of-this-world, the people eclectic, and the music‌well, the music speaks to the soul.
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Images by Jeff Atkinson & Matt Clifton
John Wilson’s recollection of playing gigs in Fremantle as the 90’s took hold is as engaging as the port city itself. Raw and unabashed, his account rings true with the 31 fellow musicians who were interviewed for the highly anticipated and locally published Freo Groove, by Bill Lawrie and Claire Moodie. It was a typical Friday night at the endearingly unpretentious Hilton Bowlo, surrounded by a throng of music fans who were utterly enamoured with the evening’s stage offerings, when Bill’s light bulb moment for Freo Groove hit. “It just struck me, after going there a few times, that it was never a fluke,” says Bill. “Any week you went to the Hilton Bowlo you'd get these lineups of people with amazing musical ability.” A typically suburban sporting club that has in recent years become more of a social venue, the Hilton Bowling Club is a regular haunt for some of Fremantle’s most respected musicians. At some point along the line, they simply took the place over on a Friday night. “You don’t pay anything to get in, the beer is cheap, and the bands are as good as you'd find anywhere,” says Bill. Having watched some of these people on stage at the end of the 70's and early 80's, Bill says that while they're older now, these guys are playing with the same commitment and love of what they're doing, and they've kept their craft up. “I thought I wouldn't mind writing about some of these people and their connection to the town and the venues.” As a journalist working for the ABC in WA for more than 20 years, it didn’t take much convincing for Bill’s partner, Claire, to jump on board for the book. “The journalist in me said, ‘let's just do it’, and I think the next weekend we were out interviewing the first person,” she says. Each story unveiled in Freo Groove weaves an enthralling and vivid patchwork that illustrates the vibrant and inclusive culture the City has built up over generations. Each tale is accompanied by original images, as well as phenomenal portraits by Jeff Atkinson and Matt Clifton, who took their artistic cue from the interviews.
Words by Claire Millett
“Invariably there would be a fight. Not just a fight, an out-and-out brawl. Sailors, US sailors, whole sporting teams; unfortunate in a way, but comical… Like a scene from some movie. We would play on and then the bar guy would come and give us the wave...Stop, you guys. Security was lax. No heavy bouncers or cameras. It was very different to playing in A2Z where it was all peace and love and vegetarian food.”
Portside Anthems
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Portside Anthems
It’s a history lesson of sorts, with narratives spanning Norm Wrightson’s musical career beginning at childhood before the Second World War, all the way through to rising star Stella Donnelly, whose first EP released in April 2017 cemented her place amongst some of Australia’s most famed songwriters and garnered her an international career virtually overnight. Jim Fisher’s story starts when he was a kid. The Beatles had just arrived on the scene and it opened up another world for him, far away from being a lonely kid in a miserable and freezing English boarding school. Winding up back in Australia and playing rock and roll, what really got Jim going was bluegrass music, which he effectively introduced to Fremantle. Bill describes the port city in the 70’s as a place free from the stuffy conventions and pretentions often found in the more affluent suburbs of Perth. It echoes Jim’s personal experience of Freo in 1976 as an adventure: “I came to get away from my class. When I said I was moving to South Fremantle, everyone freaked. It was another country to them. I loved it from the second I moved in.” “Early on, the pull of Freo mostly had to do with the economics – the rent and beer was cheap – and the fact that you weren’t trying to project an image,” explains Bill. “These days people come here, despite it being more expensive, because of the strong music scene and artistic tradition.” The thriving creative hub of Fremantle and its skirting suburbs is supported by the City of Fremantle through annual events such as the Hidden Treasures Music Festival, as well as venues that continue to fly the flag for creativity, authenticity and self-expression. Simply Google search Mojos, Fremantle Arts Centre, Fly By Night, Clancy’s Fish Pub, The Newport, Bar Orient, Swan Hotel, Gypsy’s Tapas House, The Norfolk, Creatures Next Door, and The National for a smorgasboard of talent.
Each of the stories in the book are peppered with underlying messages and cold truths about a ruthless industry throughout the decades, particularly for women. Abbe May tells of her struggle with the hype era and the aftermath of it; Gretta Little recollects the challenges of dealing with sudden fame; and Stella Donnelly contemplates the changing perceptions of women in a male-dominated industry. “The Australian music industry is still dominated by men,” says Claire. “According to the latest stats, female artists or acts only make up about 28% of the most played songs on radio and female acts make up roughly about a third of festival line ups, with a couple of exceptions. “While things are much better now in comparison to decades past, I was surprised to learn that it's still quite difficult for women in music.” The walk down memory lane highlights the changing pub scene, from the good old days when live music was in every pub from Fremantle to Perth, through to the last 20 years where gigantic flat screen TV’s and recorded tracks have gradually taken over. Yet, in this age when technology is leaving people feeling overwhelmed with information and music, Freo Groove holds a place in time with an unwavering appreciation of the craft of songwriting and musicianship, and gives a distinct nod to the port city that continues to cultivate such authentic creativity. “All the different aspects of Freo were there – you had rockers, the musos, the hippies and ferals. All different kinds of crew getting around, and I just kind of walked in and started dancing, and realised that there was something magical going on.” – John Butler." And that’s what it’s all about.
Freo Groove can be purchased in quality bookstores nationwide, or visit uwap.uwa.edu.au.
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Orange House Words by David Weir Images by Mathieu Cocho
A healthy dose of experimentation spanning four years sees the worst house on this street transform into something so very special and entirely unpredictable. P. 108
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Orange House
Visiting an architect’s own home is always fascinating; often presenting a mix of unharnessed creativity, experimentation and optimism. A good architect has faith in their ability to design a beautiful and functional building. They also understand what makes a building sing, and what can be removed to still achieve an amazing result. Orange is a renovation of a 1940s semi-detached cottage in Northbridge, designed and built by directors Marco Vittino and Katherine Ashe of vittinoAshe for their family. vittinoAshe is one of Perth’s most outstanding architecture firms, winning awards at a state and national level for its work on residential projects. Katherine was recently named WA Emerging Architect for 2018/19 at the Australian Institute of Architects Awards. Their work is intelligent, restrained and always beautifully resolved, and the home they have made for themselves is no different. The 2x2 home is small but generous in both proportion and detail, with a warm mix of materials throughout and a simple layout that realises the potential of the site. Katherine and Marco spotted the Northbridge workers’ cottage some eight years ago and say that they were warned that it was ‘the worst house on the street’. Where others saw trouble, they saw potential. It had good bones, and its entire length faced north on the corner of a small street, ensuring sun access all year round and one less neighbour in its dense inner-city setting.
The north boundary wall was the first element they built. The rammed concrete wall defines the property and announces the designers’ intent. Where for others a more pedestrian solution would be adequate, this textured and articulated wall is beautiful and gives something special back to the street. Inside, the house is arranged in a manner typical of semi-detached cottages of a certain age, with a corridor to one side and bedrooms leading off it. Without reorganising the entire house, Katherine and Marco sought a way to make the corridor more functional and the bedrooms
more private. Swinging doors were replaced with sliding doors behind deep wardrobes, allowing for a degree of visual privacy as well as buffering noise at night. The corridor now doubles as a gallery, lined with a number of the vintage motorbikes that Marco races and restores. Both bedrooms and an ensuite open on to a north-facing courtyard through custom external doors that define the rooms and frame the view. The long outdoor space is sliced up into private scenes of trees and sky, creating a sense of individual gardens within a common area.
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Orange House
At the end of the corridor the house opens up to a light-filled dining room and kitchen. A wallsized glass sliding door makes way for a cool and shaded southern courtyard and a clear view of the sky. The architects wanted this visual connection to the sky to keep them from feeling hemmed in on the small block. To avoid the typical design solution of an open plan living area, and to take advantage of the gentle slope of the long site, the kitchen steps down to a sunken lounge that invites you deeper into the house. Changing levels reveal another motorbike raised on a plinth like a sculpture, while a study is tucked around the corner. From here, one can recline with views up to the north courtyard and along the length of the house in what is another architectural move to exploit the full potential of the block and capture sights beyond the immediate space.
Throughout the house, the rooms, cabinetwork and finishes are all understated in the way of designers who know that ‘flash’ doesn’t make a space; that with the right combination of function, light and feel, honest and straightforward materials are elevated. Outside and across the shaded courtyard, the original single car garage has been retained as a laundry and workshop that incorporates extra storage for the house. A small staircase from the courtyard takes you to a roof deck over the lounge, which is paved with a beautiful travertine marble and arranged in rows that perfectly line up with those in the northern courtyard below. It’s a small detail that might be lost on the casual observer, but the beautiful material and the care in which it has been laid is just another thread that shapes the tapestry of this project.
Katherine says that designing and building this project was “a test of all the things we wanted to do but couldn’t do for clients, because we were too worried”. It is a testament to the architects’ humble attitudes and outstanding talents that they would ever worry about delivering a project as delightful as this to any client. Visit – vittinoAshe @vittinoashe – vittinoashe.com.au
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Dream Weaver Unplug, slow down and craft something with your own hands. Sian Boucherd’s ancient weaving technique is not only fine artistry, it has the power to assuage modern day madness.
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Images by Sarah Dinsdale & Rae Fallon
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Words by Jessica Rule
It’s not a stretch to imagine the act of weaving as a mindfulness practice, or even perhaps a form of meditation. It is calming, comforting and contemplative, which are – unsurprisingly – traits reflected in Mount Lawley-based artist Sian Boucherd. She teaches weaving workshops at Nest Design Studio and Stackwood, allowing others to experience the joys of her art while offering a short respite from the frenetic pace of modern existence. “Weaving occupies your hands, but once you understand the basics your mind is able to wander a little,” Sian says. “It’s called the creative flow state – a loss of urgency and a sense of being totally present.” By no coincidence, the mindfulness movement of the past few years has corresponded with a return to crafty pursuits, particularly amongst young women. Old school hobbies your Nanna may have fancied – like knitting, crocheting, weaving and macramé – have found their way into youthful hands. Such pastimes satiate creative pangs and soothe overactive minds. “Anyone can learn to weave and work with their hands,” Sian says. “I think the whole DIY movement is a response to contemporary life – we spend so much time online, in the ether, so going along to a creative workshop can recalibrate the hardware. “Carving out a few hours to play, to focus only on the rhythm of your stitches and the colours you’re feeling is a total treat, and the conversations that come about in that space are often something really special.” The sense of community that can ascend from creating in collusion is something Sian witnessed growing up in the wheatbelt town of Northam. “My mum, a proficient knitter and seamstress, was part of a patchwork group and so I grew up around women making quilts, discussing fabrics and threading machines,” she says. “Stitching things feels like home to me, and I saw how central her belonging to this craft group was in developing connections with people in the town.” Sian completed an art and design degree in 2007 and pursued a curatorial practice in London before returning to Australia in 2012, and yet throughout her studies she was never particularly drawn to weaving or textiles. Weaving was introduced to her repertoire when a friend, watercolour artist Seriah Adamson, taught her how to coil bush baskets while camping in Boranup. However, it wasn’t until she started a contract with the Department of Corrective Services, running an art studio for offenders, that basket weaving truly bewitched her. “Sharing this craft with these really vulnerable people was the most wonderful experience,” Sian says. “It would instantly dissolve the tension.” From then on, Sian immersed herself in working fibres – understanding their unique qualities and how each behaved. This knowledge of her materials allowed her to harness the great sculptural potential in the humble technique. “I now utilise various fibre craft techniques; coiling, wrapping, knotting and twining to create baskets; soft housings built for precious things,” she says. “Each one is unique, I like to hand dye my fibres so that they have irregularities, which allows me to play with colour in a way that feels akin to painting.”
Dream Weaver
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The process is time consuming, but then it is this ‘slowness’ that Sian feels sets her work apart. “It is my hope that the time and care I put into crafting these objects might be felt by whoever holds them,” she explains. Sian’s vessels are inspired by nature’s architecture in WA – formations such as pods, nests, cocoons and the unique striations that make up our State’s ancient geology. She works only with raw and natural materials like raffia, hemp, sisal, wool, silk and linen (synthetics “don’t really break down, and they pill and age too quickly”), because of their ability to breathe and live. “They age, I think that’s part of their beauty, and then they eventually return to the earth,” she says. While she finds WA exceptional for her own creative motivation, Sian says the support for local craft is something she finds disheartening. “It saddens me that WA no longer has a chief body for craft as the other states do, as it means there is no formal infrastructure to support makers like me and people either move, adapt or get a ‘real job’,” she says. “That’s our local cultural currency lost.” Identifying her practice as a craft isn’t something that bothers Sian, which reveals her distinct lack of that archetypal artist’s ego. “I recognise that my work sits somewhere on the craft spectrum, I embrace that,” she says. “Good craftsmanship is something I aspire to, and the fact that I keep being invited to teach, or approached to do commissions is all the validation I need. “My work has travelled to corners of the world I’ve not yet been, that blows my mind!”
Find Sian’s vessels at Found, Fremantle Arts Centre; The Jam Factory, Adelaide; and Nest Design Studio, Darlington Visit – Sian Boucherd @sianboucherd – sianboucherd.com
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Words by Kelvin Janissen
In a City of Isolation Blooms Garbage Images by Cameron Park P. 120
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Throughout the 90s, a young and dreaming Kiel Rogers was reading skate and surf magazines. In the back of the magazine there was an insert showcasing band tees, wallet chains and shoes, and if you were lucky they would release a tape with it. Kiel says he’ll never forget the first tape he watched: young people from California had peroxide blonde shaved heads and wore chinos, white tees and vans. From his bedroom in suburban Perth, Kiel was exposed to the fashion of the Californian punk hard-core scene and, without even realising it, so began his foray into the world of fashion. What started as an underground techno and punk-themed party designed by Kiel and his friend Rhys Scott evolved into a fashion brand, mix-tape and record label all under the umbrella of GARBAGEtv. Today, Kiel works as a multidisciplinary artist and designer while Scott works with 3D animation, CGI and illustration. The name GARBAGEtv was taken from their very first party which was themed around a giant dumpster. They wanted to move away from the disco parties of the time and produce something darker, dirtier and more underground. The walls were graffitied and crushed metal garbage cans became smoke machines. Of the brand’s evolution, Kiel has this to say: “the clothing then came organically and coincided with the events without even trying. It all just happened so fast and it’s still just rocketing forward. I feel it all works as one, as they all build the GARBAGEtv culture”. GARBAGEtv’s Spring Summer 2019 collection titled ‘Bad Pill’ takes inspiration from chemical reactions and the Thunderdome festival from 1996. Kiel’s favourite piece from the collection is a pair of larger than life gloves. He pushes exaggerated proportions to the limit by pairing a fitted long sleeve printed top with matching oversized gloves - the look mimics swollen hands from an allergic reaction. As for P. 124
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the print, it plays with visions of the acid smiley. Rhys manages to create the print as if it were a magic eye trick – almost three dimensional and holographic at the same time. After studying visual art at Curtin University and fashion at the WA School of Art and Design, Kiel was ready to quit fashion. However, fate intervened when Belgian designer Walter Van Beirendonck, member of the Antwerp Six, showcased his Spring Summer 2008 collection, Sex Clown. The collection was inspired by the brightly coloured sculptures and masks of the Bozo people of Mali, West Africa. Kiel remembers his mind being blown by the collection, which had him instantly emailing the brand photographs of his work in search of a job. Fittingly, they loved what they saw, and Kiel worked four jobs to save and eventually move his life to Antwerp, Belgium. “I loved working for Walter,” Kiel says. “He is a beautiful, kind soul and the most amazingly creative person. He taught me so much.” Following his time with Walter, Kiel went on to work for fashion heavy weights Jeremy Scott, Comme des Garcons and Australian brand P.A.M. “It takes work to build something that will have longevity and relevance rather than becoming just another fast-fashion trend,” Kiel reflects. “They taught me the idea to push and do your own work, not reworks of someone else’s ideas.” Kiel says he feels like somewhat of an outsider in the fashion realm, having grown up in a single parent home in the suburbs, attending what he calls a “not so great” public school. But he believes this pushed him harder because he wanted to achieve more. “I’ve been homeless, I’ve been broke and I’m always working … but I love what I do.” With a large support network and an Australian presence in Lessons and P.A.M. Store, Kiel is now taking the brand global. From showcasing his collections at Paris Fashion Week twice a year, to taking GARBAGEtv to VFILES in New York and H by Lorenzo in California, Kiel has picked up some highly esteemed stockists in a short period of time. And there's no sign of slowing down, with GARBAGEtv now sitting alongside other Perth labels, such as Man-tle and Yang Li, on the racks of renowned London-based boutique LNCC. Visit – GARBAGEtv @garbagetv_ – www.garbagetv.tv
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Cover by Patricia Urquiola for Mutina. Available exclusively at Myaree Ceramics.
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Words by Jessica Rule
Through the Looker Glass Images by Liz Looker P. 128
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Through the Looker Glass
Whether they’ve lived for just days or one hundred years, male or female, strangers or friends, Perth photographer Liz Looker captures a powerful beauty in all who sit for her.
Multi award-winning Perth photographer Liz Looker’s work can be found in private collections around the world, just as readily as it can be found on the pages of magazines – from Rolling Stone to Harpers Bazaar. We chat to the self-confessed “quiet observer” about her inspiration, her approach and what makes a successful photograph.
FQ: What equipment do you prefer to use?
FQ: What was it that drew you to photography?
FQ: Tell us about your favourite image in your portfolio.
I have always loved images and was surrounded by art growing up in our family home. One of my mother's relatives was a famous portrait photographer in America and her work has always been on our walls, so my early education about imagery and portraiture was probably subliminal. I have always been interested in people and their stories, so it was sort of a natural progression to end up with a camera in my hand.
FQ: How would you describe your style and your body of work? My style evolves as my thoughts and perceptions do; as I become more aware and more curious, particularly about the human condition. My body of work could be described as explorative, personal and honest.
I think photography is about the eye and the mind and not the equipment. My children take amazing photographs with a point and shoot. It's how you see and what you notice and how your brain composes these things that I find fascinating.
My favourite image would be Life Dancers, which was selected as the winner of the National Photographic Portrait Prize in 2016. It is my favourite because it's such a moment in time in my life, such a personal moment of family, but also because it opened the door for me to be taken seriously as an artist and afforded me the time to explore my own mind and creativity.
FQ: And your favourite collection? My favourite collection would have to be the exhibition I am currently preparing for, a body of work I just photographed in Sweden as an artist-in-residence, exploring the human spirit. It was an incredible experience with amazing collaborators and I was excited to show it here in Perth in December.
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FQ: Who and what influences your work? My children's visions, dreams, ideas and conversations have influenced my work, guiding me to more fascinating and abstract places and to the idea of infinite possibility. I explore my own private world rather than being influenced by another artist's work. I greatly admire many, but definitely follow my own path.
FQ: Do you take photos more for yourself, or for the viewer? Such a good question... I actually feel that photos are the by-product of incredible meetings and moments. What I love most is people. People's stories, their lives and experiences, their optimism and beauty, power and vulnerability. I think the truest answer would be that I take photos because it invites connection. An equal exchange.
FQ: What do you want viewers to take away from your work? I want people to just feel, I suppose. To connect to themselves or to the subject, to a shared narrative, to nostalgia. I really don't like telling people what they should see in my work orwhat it should mean. I want the reaction to be quiet and personal.
FQ: What do you think makes a memorable photograph? I think composition is hugely important And the use of light and shade. And for me the most important of all is the connection the photographer makes that bares a part of their own soul in the image; showing their compassion or just their awe of beauty, whether portrait or landscape.
FQ: When you are out shooting, how much is instinctual as opposed to planned? It is always instinctual. Even when I have been sitting in boardrooms discussing big budget projects, I have always explained that the outcome will depend upon the light that day, the mood, the subject, interactions, energy and that the only way to get the best results with a set of ingredients is to let the alchemy take place and then to capture it. It will never be as good if you limit your vision to an approved reference.
FQ: How has social media played a role in your photography? Instagram has been an incredible meeting place for me to connect with people who are like-minded; people who see the world similarly, who can share what they are looking at. Things I may otherwise never see. I feel part of a wonderful community and I feel supported too. What often felt quite solitary has more of a feeling of solidarity now. I also use it to curate my work in the same way we used to prepare a portfolio of printed works, pre-digital. I like to think about how images work together, and how that changes them and their meaning now in relation to one another. I am concerned about social media, too. Of its pressure and vanity, projections and ‘perfection’, its capacity for bullying and vitriol. My world on social media is very small and these things don't confront me personally, but for my children and all children I worry about its safe navigation.
FQ: What advice would you give your younger self? There is really nothing I would do differently. Whilst it hasn't necessarily been an easy road, it has been such an enlightening, transformative process. So, my advice to my younger self (or to anyone else) would be to trust your instinct, to listen to, respect and strive to understand others, to see and appreciate beauty in all its forms and to do these things with a kind heart and generous spirit.
Visit lizlooker.net for more of Looker’s work, including her latest collection from her time as an artist in residence in Sweden, undertaken with the generous support of the Minderoo Foundation (minderoo.com.au).
Visit – Liz Looker @liz_looker – lizlooker.net
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The Meaning of Art Connection is more than just plugging into the NBN – it’s about the stories we tell, and how we tell them.
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Images by John Hogg & Toni Wilkinson
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Words by Lily Yeang
Art has the power to, quite literally, move people. Take 2017 Perth Festival’s Boorna Waanginy: The Trees Speak, for example. Over three days, more than 110,000 people visited the digital art installation, which moved not only the tall trees that line Kings Park’s Fraser Avenue, but the audience watching the living canvas below. “There were people of all ages, and together they walked slowly, looking up in wonder at the storytelling in the trees,” Perth Festival artistic director Wendy Martin recalls, of the 1.5km vivid animation and soundscape experience, set to make an encore at this year’s festival. “There’s so many ways that performances can be presented these days, but we exist and we understand each other by telling each other stories.” And some of the best stories are told, Martin says, through art. “I think we all have a desire to connect with stories beyond ourselves, and that’s what art does,” she says. It connects people to stories in a way that transcends culture, language and time. Want proof? Watch Nouveau Cirque du Vietnam’s lauded Vietnamese circus production Lang Toi, which is part of Perth Festival’s 2019 program. In Lang Toi (‘my village’ in Vietnamese), performers use live music, bamboo poles and acrobatics to transport viewers to a traditional Vietnamese village. “Lang Toi was created about 10 years ago, based on my memory and personal imagination as a young kid,” creator Tuan Le says. “Everything in the show is handmade. We build a house with bamboo [on stage], and that’s what actually used to happen in the village.” The internationally renowned circus performer says a lot of things no longer exist in Vietnamese daily life, but through performances like his, he is able to bring them, and his culture, back to life. “It doesn’t matter where my show plays (whether it’s in Vietnam, Australia, America or Europe) – the performance stays the same,” Le explains. “My work allows me to express my feelings and deliver a message to the world, without any translation.” But in the age of Netflix, Google Home and Snapchat, can live performance cut through the hum-drum of the digital age and create enough allure to pry people away from their screens, and into the theatre/ auditorium/outdoor cinema? Martin thinks so. “Yes, people are seeking so much now from a tiny object in the palm of their hand, but there is always going to be a desire for connection beyond that,” she says. “Nobody thinks twice about watching eight hours of a Netflix series, but when I announced at the launch of the festival this year, that we were presenting an eight-hour theatrical experience called Gatz – a performance of the entire Great Gatsby – there was an audible gasp in the audience.” However, Martin says tickets to Elevator Repair Service’s dramatisation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American masterpiece are selling like hotcakes.
The Meaning of Art
“The digital world is a great way of sharing information, but people still want to share experiences together.” Just look at the recent resurgence of analogue sound. “It’s been interesting to see LP records coming back,” Martin says. “Young people going into second hand stores and buying old record players and wanting to hear analogue sound. As a teenager, one of the great joys of listening to music was going into a record store and flicking through album covers, reading the album sleeves and asking if you could listen to the music. “It was about being in a shop and hearing opinions from other people about the music they love. I think the world is moving in an incredibly rapid pace, but there’s something poetic about people gathering and sharing experiences, and I don’t think that’s ever going to go away.”
For more information about Perth Festival Visit – perthfestival.com.au
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Farming Unorthodoxy Words by Claire Millett Images by Emma Pegrum
At the very heart of Glenarty Road are a set of fundamental values, where everything has to have at least two uses. P. 138
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Farming Unorthodoxy
It’s 1997, and 19-year-old Ben McDonald has begun single-handedly planting a vineyard on the Karridale farm he recently took over from his father, not yet realising what it would become 20 years later. It’s a farm that has become a family legacy, ever since the 1920s when Ben’s great-grandfather took the train from Wickepin in search of a prosperous farming future amidst the time of the Group Settlement Scheme. Land was being opened up to agriculture and farmers were required to clear virgin bushland at a set rate per year in order to sow crops and raise livestock. It’s a farm that has seen three generations born on the land, and where the true essence of subsistence farming has been upheld. When enough trees were cleared in the early days to allow sunlight to hit the ground for grass to grow, the family had cows for milk and cream, the skim milk fed to the pigs that were grown for meat, with a few sheep and homegrown vegetables thrown in for good measure. Today, it’s a boutique farm, restaurant and cellar door that reflects a ‘ground to glass’ and ‘paddock to produce’ approach to agriculture. It’s a farm that provides the ultimate representation of the site and the season through world-class wine, fresh seasonal produce and grass-fed lamb. Glenarty Road officially opened its cellar door in July 2017, the restaurant in December that same year, and hosted its first wedding (that of owners Ben and Sasha), amidst the madness on New Year's Eve. It’s been a wild ride for the couple ever since they were introduced in 2014. “I moved to Margaret River in 2012 to complete my studies in Viticulture and Oenology,” says Sasha. “I was lucky enough to work at Cullen Wines and it was my senior, Trevor Kent, who introduced me to Ben as he had some top quality dry grown Shiraz that didn’t have a home.” The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Ben was considering pulling the pin on the vineyard that was not creating a return, to instead focus solely on the Margaret River grass-fed lamb that was doing well on the market. “We ended up harvesting the block and making two separate wines, leading to the initiation of Glenarty Road Wines,” Sasha says. As they say, the rest is history, and in this case
it is one drenched in hard work and a steadfast dedication to the site’s sustainable farming past. Glenarty Road’s wines are packed full of plush fruit, crunchy acidity, and are very drinkable in their youth. With gentle minerality and fresh aromatics, they’re the perfect accompaniment to food. “I do believe that our wines are made in the vineyard,” says Sasha, “with a very gentle, mostly hands-off approach in the winery to produce wines that have a true sense of place.” Heading up the kitchen is chef Ricky Mandozzi, with mouth-watering meals based on what is harvested from the garden, what fresh fish is caught in Augusta, and what cuts of lamb they are currently using. Impressively, the menu is recreated every day based on available ingredients and Ricky’s humble and intuitive talent. He’s joined by Rachel and Ash who bring their friendly demeanour to ensure everyone feels right at home as soon as they step foot into the cellar door. Every tree planted in the carpark is a food or fruit-producing tree and, once matured, guests can help themselves to blood oranges, lemons, limes, avocados and mangoes. “Our roses have to smell good and look good; our rosemary, bay leaf and green tea hedges define spaces within the farm and are utilised in the kitchen; we plant our veggie patches out with companion planting in mind; and our flowers complement the veggies as well as act as a food source for our hungry bees,” Sasha explains. It is this perceptive way of farming that has ultimately created a place where guests can feel as though they are in a friend’s backyard (albeit a very large one!), complete with a welcoming reception of the animal kind. Kids and adults alike can’t get enough of Charlie the crazy cockatoo, Bob and Pepper the working farm dogs, and Gnocchi, Rosemary, Dill and Fume, the friendly orphan lambs. Not one to sit idle (even if given the chance), Ben has worked with numerous local artisans to build all of the tables and furniture found in the cellar door, and has recycled old tools and farm implements to recently complete a beautiful wood fired/charcoal grill that chef Ricky loves working with. “Cooking with fire rather than gas allows for a whole new flavour profile in our locavore menu,” Sasha explains.
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Farming Unorthodoxy
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In the spirit of collaboration, Ben and Sasha planted a hop field in 2016. “We think that it takes a lot of beer to make great wine, and our mates at Beerfarm do a pretty damn good job at that!” says Sasha. “We work with 16 varieties of hops to discern what grows best in our microclimate.” The future for Glenarty Road is certainly looking bright: having just undertaken a large grafting exercise – putting in Fiano, Vermentino and five clones of Pinot Noir – the tight-knit team is excited to play around with the resulting fruit in 2020. “Now that we have created more balance with our cellar door, we are looking forward to pushing the boundaries with our wines.” Watch this space. Better yet, visit it at 70 Glenarty Road, Karridale.
Visit – Glenarty Road @glenartyroad – glenartyroad.com.au
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Welcome to WASO 2019 From Disney to Disco, Mozart to Mascagni and Fires to Empires, we’ve got something for everyone in a cavalcade of brilliant artists, great favourites and new experiences to share.
waso.com.au
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Words by Emma Pegrum
Taking Shape
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Walk to Pete Dwyer’s Osborne Park workshop, and you couldn’t feel further from the ocean. Heat rises off the bitumen, cars stream down Scarborough Beach Road and rays of sunlight saturate every warehouse and discount furniture showroom in sight. Turn a corner and you see it – a salt-whipped 4WD with multiple surfboards stacked on top, more boards poking out of a hole-in-the-wall garage, and Dwyer himself, shoeless, salty-haired and welcoming in the way only someone who spends the majority of their time in the ocean can be. Dwyer’s relationship with surfing and shaping boards started with his father, who used to do ding repairs in the family’s back shed and eventually, sick of constantly buying new boards for his keen surfing sons, started encouraging them to make their own.
“He went and bought us the raw materials for two or three boards – I probably made four for myself and they were all really bad,” Dwyer laughs. “But they got better quickly.” Shaping boards for his mates over the past six years has helped Dwyer develop a highly customised approach to his craft. “Every board that I make is different depending on who it’s going to be for,
the way they surf, the waves they surf,” he says. “I’ll make a board for somebody and then get to go surfing with them for a week, watch how they ride it, how it sits in the water, get their feedback, and then use that insight for the next board.” Dwyer probably wouldn’t call himself a professional surfboard shaper, but he is perhaps a professional experimenter.
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Taking Shape
Beyond an insatiable love of surfing, it’s wave-riding history and the evolution and adaptation of surfboards that keep Dwyer interested in his trade. “In the 60s, they had a certain type of surfing that was considered the best and it was very different to what’s considered good surfing now,” he says. “It was about how close you could ride to the pocket of the wave, how long you could stay in the pocket, and it was all about nose riding, all about style.” Dwyer says that his craft is influenced by the late 60s, when shapers went through a “crazy experimental transformation” from big longboards, to irregularly shaped and increasingly radical shortboards. “Learning about all of the design features shapers were playing with then – it’s interesting to revisit them now and explore them a bit more. I take a lot of inspiration from the designs that got a little bit lost between longboarding and shortboarding.” P. 150
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Taking Shape
Of course, this means that the resulting boards might not always work on the water as planned. “My boards are nowhere near perfect,” Dwyer explains. “They’ve always got little blemishes in them. I kind of like the character that gives them – not that affects the quality – but just little signs that you know it’s handmade by one person.”
But with his Osborne Park lease nearing an end and the need for a hiatus growing, Dwyer has a new endeavour in store – and it reflects a slight change in direction. He’s just launched Moonshine Surfboards alongside fellow swell chaser Jack Medland, where the emphasis will be on creating more traditionally shaped boards for purchase at North Fremantle surf retailer Oceanstyle. “They’re still experimental styles for me, they’ve just been done before in the 60s,” Dwyer says. “It’s been good surfing and shaping a different style of board.” P. 154
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Moonshine’s first run of boards were released in December via an exhibition of what the boys dub “marine leisure vehicles”, held at Oceanstyle for the brand’s official welcoming. And they’ve already sold out. “We’ve got another batch coming,” Dwyer assures me.
Visit – Moonshine Surfboards @dwyersurfboards – @moonshinesurfboards
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Johanna Collection - Designed by Justin Hutchinson for Kett Exclusive to
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Setting the Standard Sam Vinciullo doesn’t know what to call himself anymore – winemaker doesn’t quite seem to cut it, nor vigneron. But he’s both of these things, everything in between and more.
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Images by Emma Pegrum
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Words by Emma Pegrum
Known for his self-proclaimed “staunch and stubborn” personality almost as much as for his excellent natural wines that are, in terms of method, without peer in Western Australia, Vinciullo is a farmer, a grape grower, a wine producer, a change agent, and, above all, a non-conformist. “Walking around here, I’m seeing a million jobs,” says Vinciullo, halfway through a tour of his vineyard, just inland from Cowaramup. It’s an all-encompassing statement; his hyper-active brain, utter dedication to a ‘nocompromise’ mentality for sustainable farming and natural winemaking, and lone-ranger approach to his craft ever-present. Having given up a highly sought-after winemaking job in the Yarra Valley back in the early 2000s to undertake what was meant to be a twoweek stint with renowned natural wine producer Frank Cornelissen in Sicily, Vinciullo’s entrance into the West Australian wine scene has been inherently unconventional. Self-funded, on a leased property, making wines with a small margin for error, Vinciullo doesn’t have the luxury of getting complacent with his efforts. The result? Envelope-pushing wine that can proudly wear the ‘natural’ stamp, and might even convert a few natural wine sceptics with its purity of flavour. But he, too, is inherently unconventional. “No matter what I end up doing, I always challenge and push boundaries,” Vinciullo says. “I’ve got strong views on a lot of things.” For those who know him, that’s quite the understatement. Vinciullo lives on a remote property in one of the most isolated wine producing regions in the world with only his dog, Gloria Estefan, and a couple of chooks. He spent last winter living in a tent, and now occupies an ‘indoor-outdoor’ home on the property that’s a little more outdoor than indoor. Like his wine, Vinciullo’s home is stripped back to bare essentials: a mat for pilates to straighten out a tired back, seedlings that will soon foster a vegetable patch, one shelving unit housing breakfast and tinned goods, eggs, a bag of flour, a pasta maker, and a few pots and pans. “Everything in here is recycled, either rubbish or hand-me-downs,’” he laughs, grimly, as he looks around at a few unwashed dishes – the aftermath of 14-hour days spent working solo on his wine. Back in the vineyard, Vinciullo scratches away some overgrowth on the ground to expose a sample of his best soil – a combination of quartz, gravel and sandstone. He’s got a fascination with his land, and an evident desire to get to know it intimately. “My dream going forward is to buy a piece of land somewhere, to plant from scratch and farm smaller, higher density blocks,” Vinciullo explains, as he demonstrates what a 1x1 metre block of vineyard looks like in Italian wine country – its very own ecosystem, each one distinct from the next. “Mixed farming, that’s what I want to do. The varieties I’d plant would be suited to the site but also the most resistant to disease naturally,” he says, describing his overarching plan of avoiding the use of all – even organic certified – sulphites and sprays in both the vineyard and the winery.
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Ambitious? Yes. Particularly, he claims, when working within an industry that isn’t geared for this type of growing. But that’s what makes Vinciullo’s work as a wine producer so exciting for those watching on. “I’ve got a lot to work towards,” he says. And he’s right. Vinciullo is at the forefront of the evolution of natural winemaking in Australia.
As he works himself deeper and deeper into impassioned arguments for the importance of sustainable farming, recycling and looking after the environment, one wonders where Vinciullo’s strong principles came from. “I grew up in the Wheatbelt – in and around the bush,” he shares. “I was always exploring as a kid, catching scorpions. You evolve, but I’ve always had those beliefs.”
Vinciullo appears burdened with the weight of the world at times – that becomes more than apparent as our conversation moves between issues with land management, Australia’s relationship with First Nations people and the need for plastic repurposing in WA. “Sometimes,” he says, “I have big conflicts within myself. I feel like I could be doing a lot more for the world.”
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But winemaking it is, and it’s clear to see where all of Vinciullo’s passion is being funnelled. This is a person who hand-buckets his wine between vats rather than using pumps, for crying out loud. Making wine is more than just a day job for Vinciullo – it’s his life’s work, a medium through which he makes a statement on the world. And while Vinciullo seems to think he might not be the advocate the natural wine movement wants, it’s clear he’s the one it needs. “I want to do something special, something really different that I believe in,” he says. “I’m prepared to cop a bit of flack and be a bit vocal about stuff to progress things. I’m pushing for more transparency across the wine industry, I want to see ingredients on wine bottles, but my number one thing is people farming the right way. I love wine and growing grapes and farming, but it’s my values that dictate what I do.”
Visit – Sam Vinciullo @samvinciullo – samvinciullo.com
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The Contemporary Australian Garden.
Newforms Landscape Architecture PO Box 334 Cottesloe, WA 6911 Australia www.newforms.com.au P. 165
Good Coffee Words & Images by Emma Pegrum
In an industry long-dictated by commodity-grade brands, disposable cups and low prices, a new-wave of specialty coffee roasters and cafes are attempting to turn the tide by serving truly good coffee. P. 166
Community Coffee Laurence Greenfield @communitycoffeeco Community Coffee might be new on the block but co-owner Laurence Greenfield (previously of icons The Daily and The Other Side) has been around it more than enough times to know the grind. While away one morning in this coffee-slinging converted-warehouse tucked down a Subiaco lane, and you’ll witness Greenfield’s passion as he pours over the day's offering with engaged customers. “One of the goals here at Community is that we try to pass on education to the public about where coffee comes from,” Greenfield says. “The whole idea was to create a space that was a catalyst in helping people understand how coffee is made.” While positive about the string of new-wave coffee joints and roasters, Greenfield warns of the hijacking of the ‘specialty coffee’ label, often used to imply high quality, highly trained baristas and even ethical sourcing, where such things are not always present. Instead, he’s encouraging people to become interested in beans sourced directly from origin and works with a select number of importers to ensure as much transparency in his supply chain as possible. But such a goal can only be achieved if the coffee tastes great, he tells me. “In the past, coffee
hasn’t been made well enough to give people those wonderful experiences so they understand the difference between commodity grade coffee and speciality,” Greenfield says. Enter: the very, very good brew on offer here in his cafe-meets-roastery-meetslocal-hub, and others like it. In what often seems a throw-away industry, Greenfield is resolute about the potential for a longterm relationship between coffee drinkers, coffee makers and coffee growers – but he’s not without his doubts. “This is the toughest and biggest job I believe coffee shop owners and baristas have,” he says, of the need to source green beans responsibly and educate consumers about origin. “It’s very real. It can completely change peoples’ lives.” Nurturing this reciprocal relationship is pivotal for the longevity of the industry. Appearing genuinely distressed, Greenfield describes the flow on effects of demand for cheap coffee; the sharks in suits who control pricing, and the ultimate break down of the primary producer’s ability to survive. "If we don’t do something about it," he says, “we’re going to start losing coffee farms, and that means no coffee for anyone. No one wants to live without coffee.”
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Good Coffee
Leftfield Coffee
Kamran Nowduschani & Louise Gordon @leftfieldcoffee Raising the bar on quality for the average coffee drinker has long been the focus for husband-wife duo and industry stalwarts Kamran Nowduschani and Louise Gordon of Leftfield Coffee. Nowduschani is known for his trend-bucking style of roast, opting for a masterful sensorydriven approach that achieves consistent, everyday drinking results rather than the bold flavour profiles you might indulge in at hipster joints on weekends. This approach is well-calculated, and means average drinkers have access to coffee that’s good in more ways than just flavour. Operating out of a tightly run, fully customised warehouse in Osborne Park, Leftfield Coffee works with their importers to ensure as close to direct trade with origin as possible. “Consumers can improve industry standards,” Nowduschani says, “simply by ensuring they buy quality coffee.” “Cheap coffee supports a lot of the poor practices in the industry – it comes at the expense
of the environment and the exploitation of human labour along the line. If people buy good coffee, they bypass the poor practices of producing commodity grades.” The shining star of Leftfield’s commitment to the cause is their relationship with farming cooperative Asprounion, who grow coffee on the slopes of Mount La Jacoba. Why is this so important to Leftfield? Well, firstly, “Their coffee is amazing,” Nowduschani says. But the symbiotic relationship is what makes it unique. “It’s beneficial for both sides to have a direct line of communication about likes and dislikes, what works for either party and what doesn’t and relaying customer feedback to origin,” he says. “It’s also good to know that the benefits go directly to the producers and to see the positive impact our custom is having on their lives.” “In return we get a steady supply of excellent coffee." And so it should go.”
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Telegram Coffee Luke Arnold @telegram.coffee It’s a regular’s affair at Luke Arnold’s Telegram Coffee, the bustling wooden cube inside the State Buildings where respect for history, customer and quality is inherent. Arnold estimates that 90 per cent of his daily customers are regulars known to staff by first name, and all of them, he says, have come to expect a consistent level of quality that’s key to his business’s success. Arnold shows a great sense of gratitude for his circumstances. “It’s a real privilege to be in here,” he says. But this same gratitude extends back throughout his career in making coffee – one that spans the likes of Ecucina, Cino To Go, Altos, Boucla, his own Mini Espresso, Mary Street Bakery and Gordon Street Garage. The result? A serious dedication to local industry and community, and a passion for doing things the right way. This is reflected in Arnold’s rotation of local blends from names like Twin Peaks, Modus,
Laika and aforementioned Community Coffee, all of whom share a belief in sourcing their green beans ethically and supporting the longevity of the industry. Every cup has a story to tell, and you can be damn sure that Arnold is sharing them – notwithstanding the fast-paced nature of the morning coffee run in the State Buildings. “I love Telegram and I love what it stands for,” Arnold says, with some added vigour. “When we set out to do it, I just said: ‘I want to make the best coffee I can make’. But it’s clear that “the best” goes beyond describing just the liquid in the cup. Between working with the best local roasteries to source high quality beans from the best producers around the world and Arnold’s hotly trained and extra-friendly service team, suffice it to say that goal has been well and truly met.
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Made in Morocco Words by Emma Pegrum Images by Chris Hoyne & Sandy Brennan
Chris Hoyne and Sandy Brennan’s suburban rug studio has connections to a fascinating tale of global cooperation that revived an entire artisan tradition. P. 170
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Made in Morocco
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If there was ever an object that so perfectly resembles what it is to live a life on this earth, it is surely the hand-knotted rug of ancient origin. Complex amalgamations of tradition, culturally and spiritually symbolic motifs and patterns, and colours with a sense of place – these textiles not only tell stories of home and history, but also have the human experience literally woven into them. For the village people of Turkey’s western Anatolia and Morocco’s Amassine, it’s a tradition that has been threatened by the commercial rug industry’s push to satisfy the trends and whims of western consumerism. But the Doğal Boya Araştırma ve Geliştirme Projesi (DOBAG) and Ait Khozema projects – which focus on traditional methods of rug weaving and natural dyeing in remote parts of Turkey and Morocco – have gone far to curb that. In fact, they’ve carved out a whole new market for authentic rugs, appealing to the sensibilities of those who value artisanship. Hiding down a leafy suburban street in Shenton Park, one can find the exclusive dealers of DOBAG rugs in Australia: Temple Fine Rugs. But this studio offers more than just decorative textiles – it has deep connections to the revival of traditional rugmaking itself. “The DOBAG project was the first all-female project in Turkey and it was fully self-determined,” explains Chris Hoyne, who runs Temple Fine Rugs along with his wife Sandy Brennan. “The weavers set their own pay rate. It was the first autonomous, self-funded cooperative for women in Turkey, and went a long way to empower women and give them some status.”
Chris was first introduced to DOBAG by his father, Terry, who travelled to Turkey in 1993 to meet Doctor Harald Boehmer, a scientist who was rediscovering the recipes for natural dye lost over generations. Boehmer’s work resulted in what was the first ever women’s rug weaving cooperative in the Islamic world.
“Dad came back from those travels as the Australasian DOBAG rug dealer,” Chris laughs. “And he said, ‘Chris, help. I’ve got $25K worth of rugs just about to arrive in a sea container.” Thus was born the family’s first rug studio, and their enduring role in keeping the ancient craft alive.
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Five thousand kilometres from Anatolia, in the remote Moroccan mountain village of Amassine, a second project was established via the fascination of Wilfried Stanzer, a successful Austrian filmmaker who had spent time working in Morocco. Chris and Sandy describe Stanzer as the world’s “leading expert on North African textiles”. Stanzer’s investigations focused specifically on dyeing with natural colours sourced from plants surrounding the village, and culminated in a desire to revive traditional practices. Now, a house once owned by a carpet dealer is the headquarters for Ait Khozema, which employs more than 300 village women as carpet weavers. Many journeys to Morocco have ensued – the walls and floors of Temple Fine Rugs today a reflection of their relationship with Ait Khozema.
Loaded with an arsenal of 4000 photographs from a recent trip to the Atlas Mountains, Chris and Sandy proceed to describe a landscape that, despite being harsh, arid and inhospitable, is also, as Chris puts it, “full of life”. “One of the interesting things about the Atlas Mountains is that even though they form a huge mountain range which travels basically the entire length of Morocco, every square centimetre of them is used,” says Chris. “People are eking out a living in these mountains everywhere.” Images are painted for me of lone shepherds devotedly following their flocks for miles, leading themselves away from any connection to civilisation, and of single clay houses in the middle of nowhere, occupied by someone for a night or perhaps two. Of course, it’s within the context of this nomadic and subsistence lifestyle that the traditional rug originates. “The origin of textiles is usually to do with utilitarian purposes,” says Chris. “All of the textiles that have led to the rugs of today all came out of necessity.” Since then, western fascination with and modified usage of rugs have spawned a whole industry.
Fittingly, that means greater prosperity for the people behind projects like DOBAG and Ait Khozema. “There are 300 women involved in the Ait Khozema project,” says Sandy, who explains that rug weaving is considered women’s work. “But it’s a whole village effort.” Men play an important role as shepherds, herding and shearing their flocks, the young women soak the wool, separate its fibres and spin it. The village’s Dye Master then works his colourful magic and, finally, the older women tie knot after knot after knot until the rug is whole. “The community are all working together – weaving, producing these beautiful things, happy, prosperous,” says Chris. Sandy lays out some Ait Khozema rugs; the burnt reds, tan and soft purples reminiscent of the Atlas Mountains at sunset. She explains the different symbols in the design, and how they all have spiritual significance rooted in the superstitious nature of the Berber people. Symbols for fertility, symbols for protection, symbols that speak to the spirits. Each one intentional, each one a masterpiece that continues to thread these remote communities to the western world and beyond.
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Rocking the Boat Words by Jessica Rule Images by Dion Robeson
A rich history and ever-evolving design makes Cottesloe’s culinary HQ – The Boatshed – an all the more fascinating offering. P. 178
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Residents of Cottesloe and beyond know The Boatshed as the ultimate culinary Mecca – a place of cool, calm respite where the act of fresh food shopping becomes less of a chore and more of a sublime hobby. However, its current incarnation is so fruitful that perhaps the rich history of the site has been somewhat eclipsed. Prior to 1950, it played host to various tenants including a wood yard, ice vendor and the village blacksmith, who was also incidentally the local Justice of the Peace. In 1950, Steve Ward established it as a boat building facility, which 33 years later became the birthplace of an Aussie icon. A revolutionary 12-metre racing yacht was created for designer Ben Lexcen and owner Alan Bond, who named her AUSTRALIA II. The vessel went on to win the 1983 America’s Cup, smashing a record 132-year winning streak held by the New York Yacht Club. Having converted the space into a premium fresh food market in 1988, partners Michael Pember and Craig Skead made the decision to enrich their offering in 2017, launching the Wine Loft. They acquired the architectural services of Matthew Crawford and Michael Loubser, of Matthew
Crawford Architects, to make their vision a reality. “The Boatshed is a unique place offering the highest quality and most interesting produce, a true destination venue that draws people from a broad area,” says Matthew. “We were concerned from the outset that any structure needed to enhance an already great space and not detract in any way.” The Wine Loft’s construction is comprised of four 20-foot retrofitted Hi-cube shipping containers from True Blue, which are suspended from gantries in order to leave the retail space beneath uninterrupted. “We played on the history of the site using the original steel gantries, which had been used in the construction of the hull of Australia II, to lift and manoeuvre the vessel around the shed,” Matthew says. “The use of containers also references the industrial heritage.” The architect says the logistical nature of this project threw up unique challenges. “All this needed to be achieved without losing even a single square metre of retail space at the ground floor and – even more challenging – not losing even one hour of retail time in construction!”
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The containers were bolted and welded to the existing overhead structure in an intricate web of steel, certified by Structural Engineers at Peritas Group. Then custom openings were cut into the containers and end doors removed to allow for the large windows overlooking the shop floor below. Lane Industries, who undertook the interior fitout, installed the double glazed windows from the inside, along with specialist open wire wine racks. “The brief called for 200 bottlings on show, with each bottling requiring 18 bottles on permanent display,” says Matthew. “A cool room for beer and cold wines and a suitable point of sale, which also doubles as the manned control point, was required at the entry door for liquor licensing.” The internal industrial aesthetic is achieved using plywood to the walls, floors and ceiling, which has been treated in
a Japan black stain and combined with black steel. “Bespoke wine racks wrap the perimeter and a suspended wine rack forms the centerpiece,” says Matthew. The Wine Loft now nestles comfortably within the capacious volume of the shed's saw-toothed roof. “We were initially concerned that the loftiness of the shed may be compromised, however this ended up not being a concern at all – in fact a lot of customers never even noticed a change!” This is likely due to the fact that the Wine Loft appeared – as if by magic – overnight. In fact, customers now can’t remember the space without it. “The owners acknowledge it as a great addition to the store and, as they roll out special education nights devoted to various wines, spirits and cheeses, people are becoming aware of everything it has to offer,” Matthew says. “It’s a really fun addition – not just achieving the space required but adding a talking point as well.”
Visit – Matthew Crawford Architects @matthewcrawford_architects – mcarchitects.com.au
Visit – Boatshed Market @boatshedmarket – boatshedmarket.com.au
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Coast is Clear Hanging on to the small-town charm it has always enjoyed, Flinders Bay is a southwest treasure and home to one of the most unique holiday properties in the state.
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Images by Private Properties
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Words by Claire Millett
It sounds somewhat incredulous to say that a property with the capacity to sleep 12 people is rather easy to drive past without notice. And yet, completely masked from the street front by towering native gums, every detail of Flinders Bay House in WA’s southwest – including its distinct sense of privacy – has been flawlessly accomplished. Unequivocally Hamptons-esque in aesthetic, the magnificent home is one of more than 100 in the impressive portfolio managed by Private Properties, and one that director David Moyes says is a clear stand out. “There are many things that make Flinders Bay House distinguishable from anything else we have in our portfolio and the holiday home market generally, including its physical scale and the amazing interiors.” Designed by Peter Moran Architects in a project that was 12 years in the making, Flinders Bay House is the ultimate getaway steeped in family history for owners Jane Moffat and her husband Tim Andrew. “My grandparents built a home on the site in 1968, which we enjoyed visiting whilst growing up, but when the house literally started falling down we had to think about what we wanted to do,” says Jane. “We never considered building anywhere else.” Living in New York for five years and owning a home in East Hampton during the design and build phase, Jane and Tim were never going to fall short on inspiration. “Much of our time there was spent with sleeping kids strapped in car seats while we enjoyed going for drives, taking stock of the divine architecture that is unique to the region,” Jane says. It was the beginning of a love affair that they are now sharing with local and international holidaymakers in WA. Located 350km from Perth and just south of Augusta, the hillside Flinders Bay House comes with uninterrupted views across the treetops to the horizon, and is just 150m from where the Blackwood River meets the sea. A playground for adults and children alike, every room across three levels displays awe-inspiring architecture and an eclectic collection of soft furnishings, which saw Jane collaborate with Rebecca Wood Interiors to fully realise the dream. Designed to share with family and friends, all five bedrooms are appointed an ensuite, while multiple living areas provide just the right amount of separation. While the “no TV” rule was overturned to allow for the Boxing Day Test and Jane and Tim’s daughter’s Hawks football obsession, it is refreshing to see that the only screen in the home is tucked away upstairs, out of sight from the main living areas. “We grew up running around the bushes and beaches of Flinders, and I wanted my kids to get outdoors and smell the same smells, have the same scrapes on their knees,” Jane says. The children’s quarters on the ground floor accommodates an expansive bunkroom that sleeps eight and opens out to the front deck, plus an ensuite with an exquisite shower recess where a floor-to-ceiling mosaic by Perth-based artist Maureen Elphick depicts an underwater scene complete with mermaid.
Coast is Clear
An additional bedroom with ensuite, laundry, powder room, mudroom and wine cellar finish the ground floor, before a wide staircase that gives pride of place to an antique map that always hung in the house leads down to the main living areas and guest rooms on the first floor.
Two lounge rooms are connected by a showstopper of a kitchen, anchored by a large central island bench where aqua subway tile splashbacks merge with the crystal blue sea visible through French windows. Equipped with a freestanding Viking gas cooktop and oven, two additional electric ovens, two dishwashers, a commercial fridge/freezer and a cheese fridge, it literally has everything that opens and shuts. Just like the rest of the home, the kitchen exemplifies Jane’s unwavering dedication to sourcing the right pieces for every space. “I was determined to have authentic TK Collections bistro stools for the kitchen counter,” she explains of the “to trade-only” product that they struggled to access from Australia. “So an interior designer friend of mine who now lives in Chigaco – Cookie Weber – ordered them for me from Paris. They were shipped to New York, 'received' by her and then sent to Perth.” Similarly, Jane was set on incorporating a piece by UK-based mixed media artist, Ann Carrington. While living in New York, Jane and
Tim spent their weekends hunting for the perfect “Hamptons map” for their Australian home, but never found it. Ultimately, they merged the two desires. “I commissioned Ann to make a map for us that included the Hamptons points of interest that were meaningful to us, such as where the kids went to summer camp and 'Billy Joel corner'. It was a dream to work with Ann but also to see our vision come to fruition through her artistry.” Bruce Springsteen memorabilia in the form of artwork and biographies lie amongst the hundreds of hardcover books that adorn coffee tables and bookshelves. “I’m a huge Bruce Springsteen fan, and have followed him all over the globe.” says Jane. “When some limited edition lithographs came on sale 10 years ago I knew I had found my perfect piece of over-themantle art.” The Born in the USA cover now sits in the lounge alongside a large piece by Massimo Vitali, which shows Amagansett Beach where the couple used to take their children as toddlers.
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Spectacular exposed beams and a soaring panelled ceiling complement the warm atmosphere of the second lounge, dining and bar, where a stone fireplace roars in wintertime. The adjoining circular sunroom stuns with a coral-shaped chandelier found at Hamptons store, Mecox Gardens. “It’s actually made of iron and was shipped to us in a crate as big as a car!” says Jane. While the front open deck on this level offers the prime position for a morning coffee or sundowner overlooking the ocean, the rear deck has an entirely different feel with a cosy lounge setting in front of the outdoor fireplace, while tiered gardens beyond that produce lemons, avocados, rosemary and lavender. The upper level of the home is reserved for the master suite and is the epitome of luxury; his-and-hers ensuites and dressing rooms, a connecting library, and a private balcony offering the highest viewpoint across the ocean. Overcoming heritage issues, height restrictions and site difficulties, Flinders Bay House is an undisputable labour of love that answers every possible wish for a getaway. It is a celebration of quality and history, and a direct reflection of the values found in Jane’s other project, Jordan Baker, the Cottesloe-based retail store she co-owns with Amanda Perkins. Lamenting the lack of availability of their favourite American brands and their penchant for the US shopping experience, the two women envisaged something akin to a boutique in East Hampton, Santa Monica, Aspen or Nantucket. Maintaining a “resort” feel in giftware and luxury fashion, the store boasts more than 30 US brands. What better complement to a beachside break in Flinders Bay?
Visit – Private Properties privateproperties.com.au
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