#BoS17

I’m working for the 17th Biennale of Sydney…It’s a sweet gig and I’m working very hard. On a completely objective level, have you seen the Biennale’s visual identity? Holy shit it’s good. Designed by font nerd extraordinaire and all round nice guy Barnbrook.

Currently the whole of Sydney is covered in sleazy Biennale pink (pantone #C1003E, indelibly etched in my mind). Barnbrook studio created a series of blocks inspired by the work of Harry Smith, who is a major point of reference for David Elliot’s theme ‘The Beauty of Distance… Songs for Survival in a Precarious Age’. It’s so striking en masse all over the CBD, and inevitably typography enthusiasts everywhere are pretty excited by it.

Barnbrook’s theme includes graphic blocks, irregular fonts and is an intentionally awkward mish mash bricolage of images and texts. I love it, I was initially reminded of Monty Python (and NOW, for something completely stupid…) and with some further research found out that those pythons had borrowed heavily from Harry Smith initially.

Not to get too gushy but the exhibition catalogue is a gorgeous book that I feel pretty privileged to have a copy of.

Quick K.Rudd - Censor the internet

or virgins will be raped…

I find ‘serious’ Australian reporting hilarious because of pieces like this one

The SMH is a daily broadsheet, and compared with UK press (OK the Guardian and Independent) the quality of the editorial is low, generally has sensationalist tendencies and can’t help but push a kind of Fox news right wing sensibility. Seriously Rupert Murdoch is far too pervasive in this country.

But back to the article in question, it’s using an example of a game that major online retailers removed over a year ago, as a case for the draconian censorship measures the Australian Government is proposing. This story appeared above the fold in their ‘latest news section’. This does not qualify as news, they are manipulating a year old story in an attempt to fool people into thinking that internet censorship is really y’know in our best interests…they’re only trying to look out for us guys.

My favourite:

“Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has been at war with Google” Oh really, like that other progressive champion of human rights, China.

The article then goes off on a tangent about Kiddie porn online and how Japan is responsible. Relevance to the game that they created a headline out of is what? Oh wait the games creators are also Japanese.

See you later London

So i’ve got that ‘See you Later’ glow today. I’ve finished work and now I’ve got a couple of weeks to enjoy some of London’s winter delights.

Of course leaving london isn’t going to be such an easy premise. i can’t even begin to embark on a list of everything i love about london, particularly the east end. i’ll certainly miss scummy moody hackney amongst all the endless brilliant blue skies and err fake tan in sydney. Image: moody London Fields