Posted by kluster on August 24, 2010
Things have gotten dull, predictable, so normal these days. Sun rises, sun sets. Winter comes, spring follows. When did it all become so static?
Enter Madame Claude, the brothel-cum-bar and self-proclaimed ‘bar for common people’ with a difference. The difference is things here have been turned upside down here. Literally. Inspired by Twin Peaks, Madame Claude is designed to look like the inside of your art school friend’s small creative-district studio apartment - the one who had a penchant for classic literature and card games and was always able to make a fake flower jammed into the neck of an old medicine jar somehow look so super now - if you were to enter said apartment all Lionel Richie-esque, dancing on the ceiling. That’s where all the good stuff is here, stuck to the roof. Tables, chairs, rugs, bookstands and even the letterbox, they’re all up there.
It’s the attention to detail that makes Madame Claude, the brainchild of three French expats, especially muse-worthy. The ceiling-stuck items appear perfectly placed with pre-thought. The classics are book marked as if placed down mid-read, a deck of cards sits atop a table, dealt out and waiting to be played.More...
madame claude, twin peaks, lionel richie-esque, berlin, deutschland
Posted by kluster on August 24, 2010
Kids: they never cease to amaze me with all the marvellous things they’re getting up to these days. Yesterday, my morning started with the polished news presenter-esque sounds of 11-year-old film reviewing and Emmy-Award-winning Jackson Murphy weighing up the pros and cons of Phillip Noyce’s latest action blockbuster, Salt. The day before, I spent hours poring over the archives of 14-year-old Tavi Gevinson’s The Style Rookie, seeking further fashion inspiration, of course.
So it was with great interest that I ventured down to the Wharf Theatre to take in the Sydney Theatre Company and Australian Theatre for Young People’s co-production of Tusk Tusk last Wednesday night, eager to see what a trio of young Australian actors could bring to 22 year-old English writer, Polly Stenham’s (That Face) latest stage offering. The result, I am pleased to report, is a series of polished, powerful, emotionally driven performances. It’s reassuring to know that the future of Australian theatre is in safe hands.More...
jackson murphy, phillip noyce, tavi gevinson, sydney theatre company and australian theatre for young people, tusk tusk, polly stenham
Posted by kluster on August 24, 2010
Last September we ventured down to Allen & Unwin’s Sydney headquarters for the announcement of the 2009 Australian Vogel Literary Award. Much to our surprise, two burgeoning writers were declared joint winners of the illustrious prize – Lisa Lang for her Utopian Man manuscript and Kristel Thornell for Night Street. Yes, literature is still alive and kicking (hard) in Australia.
A few weeks ago we spied a copy of Lang’s winning manuscript – converted as it was to novel form – atop a pile of books awaiting eyes. We unhesitatingly selected it for visual consumption post haste, interested as we were to find out what exactly it was about this particular offering that set it apart from the 200 other entries received for last year’s award.
Utopian Man, set in 19th Century Melbourne, fictionalises the life story of Melbourne entrepreneur, Edward Cole and the successes and failures that surrounded the world-renowned Coles Book Arcade. It’s a deftly written, humanistic tale of grand ideas and courageous vision. Lang is no stranger to Cole’s ambitions, having previously penned the non-fiction work E W Cole: Chasing the Rainbow (2007), and in this her newest offering she skilfully interweaves this terrific true story with presumedly fictional accounts of life behind the Coles family’s closed front doors. The resulting novel is deserving of the prestigious award bestowed on Lang late last year.
Utopia Man is published by Allen & Unwin.
allen & unwin, australian vogel literary award, utopian man, lisa lang, night street, kristel thornell, coles book arcade, e r cole: chasing the rainbow
Posted by Petra Zlatevska on August 24, 2010
The darling of the Prenzlauerberg coffee scene, Bonanza Coffee Heroes pays the ultimate homage to the humble flat white. Buying a decent cup of coffee is like a game of Russian roulette in this country (and city) but Bonanza owners Kiduk Reus and Yumi Choi are leading a major caffeine coup to overthrow the rule of the drip coffee filter. More espresso bar than café, Bonanza offers only seven styles of coffee (ranging in price from €1.70 for an espresso to €3.30 for a doppio), with the flat white taking pride of place. There are also freshly baked goodies such as New York cheesecake or Oma’s berry cake. So seriously do the owners take their coffee that adorning the wall is a manifesto of sorts explaining the process from bean to cup. According to Choi, “coffee is like wine”. The coffee beans – sourced from Ethiopia, Sumatra and Brazil- take centre stage.
As though in a twenty-first-century apothecary’s lab, almost all of the Bonanza floorspace is occupied by the roasting and grinding machines, large vats of beans and a bean roasting quality chart. Produced with a Synesso Cyncra - the Rolls Royce of coffee machines - the coffee here is excellent, perhaps not surprisingly given there are only three of these machines on the continent. The interior design is minimalist chic with unpainted walls, vintage furniture pieces and light bulbs dangling from their cables. In its prime position on the creative pilgrim’s route from Mauerpark to Kastanienallee, Bonanza Coffee Heroes will delight Aussies in dire need of a flat white fix and will ensure that devotees from all over the world are never far from a quality cuppa.
Bonanza Coffee Heroes
Oderberger Straße 35
10435 Berlin Germany
Mon – Fri 8:30am – 7pm and Sat & Sun 10am – 7pm
Transport: Train U2 Eberswalder Straße; Tram M1 Eberswalder Straße or M10
Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark
preziauerberg, bonanza coffee heroes, kiduk reus, yumi choi, synesso cyncra
Posted by Audrey Lee on August 24, 2010
Teenagersintokyo are no strangers to us. From their humble beginnings as a little-known band to the acclaimed success they are today, the Sydney quintet is proving to be an everlasting dark-pop stronghold. Following the celebrated-release of their eponymous EP in 2008, the band continues to steal hearts all across the UK and is now fast-becoming a firm favourite in the indie scene of both sides of the world. And they’ve done pretty well for themselves, with their debut album, Sacrifice (which dropped their single ‘New Day’), landing the number one spot on the Independent Record Store charts. Earlier this month, we hit up front-woman Samantha Lim for the lowdown on what’s been happening in their world.
Covered: Not aiming for hype, open air festival in Basel, Switzerland, eclectic tastes, touring in Australia and a weird tax scheme in London.
Audrey Lee: You guys have been pretty busy making waves around London and the rest of Europe of late. For the sake of our readers who weren’t privy to the history of the Sydney-gigging band that existed prior to the move overseas, fill us in: what’s the story behind Teenagersintokyo?
Samantha Lim: We're a five piece originally from Sydney, playing together for a number of years now. We released our EP in 2007, toured a bit and then decided to move over to the UK in 2009 after a mini-tour here gave us a taste for broader pastures. So now here we are a year later and we've finished our debut album with David Kosten. It's out in the UK and Europe, so now we're excited to release it back home where it all started.More...
teenagersintokyo, sacrifice, new day
Posted by KB on July 28, 2010
Here at Kluster, we love young talent. Which is why when we saw the work of New Caledonian-born, Sydney-based artist William-Guillaume Saussay, we had to get in touch and pick his brains. We spoke to Will ahead of his upcoming show, A Ciel Ouvert, at Woolloomooloo’s Monstrosity Gallery.
Covered: psychological travels, Jean-Michel Basquiat, breaking boundaries and the definition of an artist.
KB: With your paintings, you’ve invited viewers “to plots their own path across the canvas”. Can you tell us a little bit about the path you’ve chosen to get to where you are today?
William-Guillaume Saussay: I've always been trying to explore the paths on which my mind can take me. Psychological travels are the best to have - by this I mean that from an early age my parents let me explore what I could do with my hands and mind. The key is to not feel limited by our own physical and mental capabilities. Art is like gravity, all it needs is a little push. I have also been studying subjects such as, visual arts, design, fine arts, photography and going towards arts education. More...
william-guillaume saussay, jean-michel basquiat, monstrosity, painting
Posted by Audrey Lee on July 28, 2010
While most girls are still trying to find themselves at age 18, Jacqui Alexander had already made her mark in the world of fashion, becoming the youngest ever designer for Harvey Nichols. In the years since, this fashionista has never wavered far from the spotlight. Invigorated by Buenos Aires' street vibe, Jacqui Alexander birthed Skinny Nelson - her second label - at 21. Lucky for us, we managed to score a couple of minutes with Australia's fashion sweetheart to fill us in with more.
Covered: personal style, starting young, offbeat aesthetics and chicas in Palermo.
Audrey Lee: What first inspired you to pursue fashion design?
Jacqui Alexander: I grew up in a very creative household with an artist mother and a father in fashion. I think I decided when I was about seven (playing dress ups in my dad’s studio) that fashion was for me.
AL: You got your foot into the fashion industry at such a young age. What do you think are the reasons behind your success?
JA: Starting young and being afforded the opportunity to watch and learn how the industry operates helped me create a solid brand and fashion business behind each collection. I think it’s that underlying understanding and stability that brought early success to the brand. More...
jacqui alexander, skinny nelson, buenos aires, fashion designer, palermo
Posted by Danni Le Toullec on July 27, 2010
With the sun clinging to the horizon, the speakers started to shake and just like any young ’un celebrating their 16th birthday, FIB Heineken’s Benicassim was anything but sweet.
As crowds scoffed paella and guzzled Heinekens over four days, the young bloods of the festival (Kasbian, Temper Trap, Vampire Weekend, Foals, Hot Chip, Calvin Harris, Two Door Cinema Club) worked their magic. Yet the more enthralling acts were from those that have been kicking it for more than 10 or 20 years.
The Prodigy prevailed with one of the best performances of the festival. Boundless energy and manic antics left the crowd eating out of their hands. Instructed to “Get the f*** down”, more than 60,000 people crouched down before jumping into an explosive wave.
English rock legend Ian Brown’s hollow-cheeked swagger and marching dance moves were as seductive now as they were in the ‘80s, as he belted out The Stone Roses classic track ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ along with tracks from his 2009 album My Way. Goldfrapp lured people in with their synthy beats and anthem inspiring tracks like ‘Rocket’. Relentless in his delivery, Boys Noize flaunted a gritty, raw manipulation of sound that had people dancing for hours.More...
spain, benicassim, dizzee rascal, ian brown, foals, midnight juggernauts, de la soul, goldfrapp
Posted by KB on July 27, 2010
There is something you should know about New Shanghai: it’s in a food court. But please, oh please don’t let that put you off. I’m not going to say that the food makes up for the location, because it doesn’t need to.
New Shanghai has taken a corner of Chatswood Chase, put some walls around it and created a glossy vision of 1930s Shanghai last seen in Hollywood. It’s a sea of red and black that evokes an (albeit clean) authentic Shanghai street, right down to the cobblestone floor and the pushbike resting against the front door.
The menu (a large paper number which doubles as our placemat for the evening) is divided up into cold dishes, dim sim, noodles & rice, and main dishes. A friend has told us we must try the New Shanghai pan-fried pork bun (the restaurant’s specialty), but the waitress is so persuasive in her suggestions that we end up ordering the pan-fried pork dumplings.More...
new shanghai, chatswood chase, chinese, dumplings, restaurant
Posted by kluster on July 7, 2010
A picture paints a thousand words, right? In the case of Karl Maier's interview with fellow artist and Rinzen-ite, Craig Redman for Kluster a picture paints an answer to a question. Bored with the often-restrictive written Q&A interview format -and inspired by the duo's Pick Me Up exhibition at Monster Children Gallery; the culmination of a year of visual communication between Maier in Sydney and Redman in New York - we decided we'd hand the conch over to the boys and let them do what they do best; illustrate their thoughts via images. This is the interview that resulted...
pick me up, karl maier, craig redman, rinzen, monster children gallery
Posted by kluster on June 30, 2010
What can we say, any designer who first found inspiration in the moves and grooves of Deee-Lite is all right by us. Not to mention one whose shoes have been featured as larger than life props in a Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Canadian designer Jerome C Rousseau creates the kind of shoes we anticipate and salivate over, season in, season out. Last week we seized the opportunity to pick his brain about his upcoming AW collection. We’ve even been able to smuggle back a few sneak peeks of his as of yet unreleased collection for your eager eyes. No sweat, you can thanks us later.
Kat Hartmann: What inspired you to first begin designing shoes?
Jerome C Rousseau: As a young teenager in Quebec, I came across a band called Deee-Lite. They were wearing wild footwear and I started drawing these shoes in art classes. Drawing shoes became something I wanted to do all the time, and after researching the history of shoes it evolved into a strong passion. I ended up moving to London to study at Cordwainers College, which turned out to be the start of a brilliant journey for me.
KH: Can you tell us a little about some of the inspirations and motivation for the AW collection?More...
jerome c rousseau, fashion, shoes, deee-lite, terry gilliam
Posted by KB on June 30, 2010
After Kluster Says guest editor Claire McCarthy told us about the truly amazing food at NYC’s Angelica Kitchen, particularly the lemon-almond tart with raspberry sauce, we thought we should check it out. Leslie McEachern, owner of this NYC eatery, was kind enough to give us the recipe from their cookbook, The Angelica Home Kitchen, to pass on to you.
Leslie tells us this special dessert is her personal favourite. It's perfect for special occasions - not really that complicated to whip together, but looks like you’re a master chef. Enjoy!
Lemon-Almond Tart with Raspberry Sauce
Yield: 6-8 servings Cooking time: 1 hour
For the crust:
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
For the filling:
1 agar bar
2 cups apple juice
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
Pinch of sea salt
1 cup rice syrup
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (strained)
1/4 cup kuzu (type of starch for thickening, from Chinatown or specialty stores)
1/2 cup soy milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pint fresh raspberries or strawberries (for garnish)More...
recipe, tart, angelica kitchen