A selection of pieces from Mark Bodé’s show in Melbourne. Great turn out.
The exhibition runs ’til the 4th of March, get down and check it out.

The Internet only gives it a hand-job.

CP – GR from James Whiting on Vimeo.

Callum is a king.

This is legit, most of the lego stop motions I’ve seen are usually corny as fuck
and have voice overs from kids that haven’t dropped nuts yet. This one is
bang on. Well done to the lad who made it.

VIA HYB.

DVD Bonus material “Unlike U – trainwriting in Berlin” : 1UP Crew.

Dude moulded his wang into an ice-cream for all to enjoy. Genius.
The Street Art Occupation at the Museum of Sex is on view until
June 10th, 2012. Don’t miss this if your in NYC.

Photos by Kristy Leibowitz

VIA – TWBE.

My dude up in Coffs is doing great things for his sleepy ass town on the central
coast of NSW. Proving that his town is more than just a big banana, Ash is
constantly putting on shows for local and touring metal, hardcore and hiphop
acts as well as curating a gallery and running graffiti art workshops. He also has
a dope little shop that sells all your graffiti needs and more. As if that wasn’t
enough the guy is also churning out unbelievable canvases at an alarming rate,
some of which you can find on his bigcartel here. If your ever in the area or
looking for a place to holiday get up there and check him out.

OPENSTUDIO.

Mark Bode will be touring Melbourne and Sydney in Feb, painting murals with
some Australian artists and exhibiting a collection of original work along
with the performance of Cartoon Concerts in both cities.

Melbourne

House Of Bricks
40 Budd St, Coillingwood, Vic
Opening. Saturday 18th February 6-9pm
Running from the 19th Feb – 4th March

Sydney

China Heights
Level 3, 16-28 Foster St, Surry Hills, NSW
Opening, Saturday 25th February 6-9pm

In case you haven’t seen it.

Sneaker Collecting has been around for quite a while now. It even predates
Vanilla Ice’s invention of Hip Hop in 1985. It is closely connected to Hip Hop
culture, with every second rapper seemingly being an avid Sneaker head.

Like Hip Hop, Sneaker Collecting has been mainstreamed and socially accepted,
with magazines, blogs and the like existing dedicated to the subject. There
are even a few prolific fictional collectors, like Turtle from Entourage and
Carrie Bradshaw – possibly the most famous sneaker freaker of all. Her
passion for shoes is legendary in the TV world. *

Sneakers and sneaker collecting are undoubtedly well-known and have found
their way into modern pop culture. At what point did this happen? When did
sneakers go from being a functional item of athletic equipment into a collector’s
item – a status symbol?

I interviewed a sneaker enthusiast about his penchant for shoes and what
motivates it, hoping to shed some light on the subject. Blake is an expat
Aussie living in the UK.

RB 1. Why do you collect sneakers?

Blake: I guess it stems from around the age of 9 when I was in the 5th grade,
attending a private school. Every kid had to have a nice pair of kicks, that was
like your status symbol. With the explosion of basketball culture in Australia
too came exposure to basketball players and their sneakers. Fast forward about
10 years and I’ve gone from begging Mum and Dad for a fresh pair once a year to
being in the position to buy my own whenever and wherever I wanted. It sort of all
snowballed from there and with the annual flagship model Jordan still being
produced and coupled with a plethora of Retro releases from years past, I was
spoilt for choice and a massive collection began to take shape. Of course that
doesn’t really explain the “collecting” mentality, but I guess it could be diagnosed
as a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in many ways. I have collected different
things over the years, whether it’s action figures or comic books so at the true heart
of your question, I don’t really know why! I just know at the core that these things
interest me.

RB: Do people ever give you shit for collecting sneakers?

Blake: First and foremost yes, my parents have and still do at times. Other peers
have of course too. People who criticise usually because they don’t truly
understand and if you don’t truly understand this, then it’s not for you.

RB: How much would you spend a week?
Blake: How much I spend a week varies greatly depending on what may be
on the release schedule to what time of the year it is i.e. mid/end of year sales…

RB: How does owning lots of sneakers make you feel?

Blake: Owning lots of sneakers mostly makes me feel anxious, especially because
my collection is made up over two countries a long, long way apart.

It seems that from at least one perspective, Sneaker Collecting is just the pursuit
of footwear by a normal bloke. I wonder if it’s the same in all cases. As someone
who has never been afflicted by the urge to possess many pairs of shoes, I can
only imagine.

Words by Rei Barker

Feed your addictions here – SNEAKERFREAKER.

This Sexpest is doing a Group show @ the Sex museum in NYC. Go see it.

Artillery coming correct in video form.

Bones Brigade – An Autobiography. The names says it all, an biographical tale
of the dream team of skateboarding. Over the years, the team featured many
riders, but the original six were always at the top: Mike McGill, Rodney Mullen,
Tommy Guerrero, Steve Caballero, Lance Mountain, and of course Tony Hawk.

WELL WISHER PREVIEW! from Zonk Vision on Vimeo.

Zonk Vision presents an exhibiton of new works from…Jason Galea, Danny
Wild, Greg Holden, Instant(FYG), Leagues & Lush. Friday 30th March 2012
House of bricks – 40 Budd St, Collingwood. Be there or candy be square.

Retna teaming up with Primary Flight at Art Basel. As if you need any more
amazing art Miami, come the fuck on. But seriously, I need to go to there!

Lee Quinones is considered the single most influential artist to emerge from
the New York City subway art movement. He is a celebrated figure in both the
contemporary art world and in popular culture circles, faithfully producing work
that is ripe with provocative socio-political content and intricate composition.

Brooklyn Insiders: Lee Quinones from Chuck Gibson on Vimeo.