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May 17, 2012
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A coup de main is defined as a a swift attack reliant on speed and surprise. It’s also an apt title for an online magazine that in just a year and a half has become a thriving business boasting 22,000 visitors a month; that’s up there with some pretty respectable
Kiwi magazine circulation
numbers. What’s more, its founders are barely out of their teens. Find out how their unique take on pop culture has won a staunchly loyal following from as far afield as the US and South America.
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Somehow—we don’t know how—it’s that time of the year again: the onslaught of premature Christmas music and advertising is upon us. On the bright side, it’s also the time of year when budding writers emerge from the woodwork with hopes of winning big in the AUT Creative Writing Competition. This time around they’re calling for submissions in the short fiction and screenplay categories, in recognition of the fact that NZ director Nick Ward is now available as a mentor under the Master of Creative Writing programme.
So, if you’re an unpublished scribe with work that meets the competition criteria, entries are open until January 31. There are Apple goodies to be won, coaching from a leading Kiwi author and a real opportunity to make a name for yourself. Just follow the link all the way to the application form.
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Animfx 2010 is well and truly underway in Wellington as you read this, having unofficially kicked off on Wednesday with Webstock Mini. Missed out this year? Well, you won’t make the same mistake again next time, will you? As always, the schedule’s jam-packed with international guest speakers, including presenters from PopCap, Zynga, Maxis and more: yesterday saw attendees enthralled by David Knott’s workshop on animation (he was supervising director on Penguins of Madagascar) and a Q&A with Oktobor Animation’s Dean Hoff and Chris Waters as they recounted the mad dash to build a studio and bring Nickelodeon to Aotearoa. Today: a series of production masterclasses, and tomorrow, an in-depth look into the making of Avatar.
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Twelve top Kiwi winemakers. Twelve great rieslings. That was the inaugural Riesling Challenge, an initiative by Mud House Wines which saw experts from around the country create wine using fruit picked from the same vineyard at the same time. The grand winner will be announced at the Mud House Blondie concert on December 19, and no doubt plenty of vino will be drunk in celebration on the night. But more importantly, those limited edition rieslings have just been bottled, and 2000 cases will be available for public purchase. And if you’re quick enough to sign up, there’s a pre-release discount of 20 percent for the taking!
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This is your last chance to win a Peugeot 308 cc convertible for an entire weekend—imagine the looks of envy!—all packed and ready to go with a bootful of Teza limited edition Feijoa & Limeblossom iced tea. Mmm, tastes like springtime … Just email us before November 8 with a word that rhymes with “Feijoa” and you could be the lucky winner. And speaking of winners, congratulations to Paul Monks, whose play-by-play account of a rather exceptional golf shot scores him a new Callaway RAZR as per our latest magazine. Small print: Winner must pick up or have prize delivered to an address in Auckland. Weekend must be claimed in the month of November 2010. Winner must be aged 25 or over. A bootful of Teza means 100 bottles. Fuel tank will be full upon pickup and must be returned full. Winner gives permission to have their photo and write-up in any relevant marketing communication.
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Power is power
Influence, in social currency, is power. And Influencers, a short documentary, sets out to explore trends and the meaning of clout itself: just what makes a person influential today?
Described as a snapshot of the New York creatives who are shaping pop
culture, the film devotes itself to getting inside the minds of the
people who spark contagious movements in fashion, music and entertainment.
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In the creative industries, collaborations exist for the most part within the confines of one discipline. But Make Something 2010 challenges that notion, pairing six graphic designers with the likes of musicians, architects, visual effects producers and others. This year’s non-commercial collaborations come from Brogen Averill & Jamie McLellan, Xanthe Harrison & Anja Harrison, Tana Mitchell & Julia Deans, Dean Poole & Mechanical Turk, Bevan Tonks & Davor Popadich and Leonie Whyte & Angela Jackson. Given free rein, their mash-ups promise to blend the best of their talents and the results will be on show at Achilles House (corner of Custom Street East and Commerce Street, Auckland) from November 26-28.
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Speaking of which, how are your remixing skills shaping up? We only ask because Mix and Mash, the nationwide mashup competition offering $30,000 in cash and prizes, officially launched this week. Check out the various categories and contest rules here, then get busy because the closing date is November 30. There are special awards for newbies, students, use of cloud computing and of course the most outstanding and supreme creations.
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We know our readers are a creative lot, and that artistic flair could net you a cool $3,000 in a world-first concept. How? Splash—the Festival of Fountains—is calling for “works of kinetic water art” involving moving parts, sound, colour, light, and all manner of flashy frippery. Old or young, amateur or seasoned artist, designer, or engineer, they want your designs and they want them by December 3. Finalists will construct their fountains for a public showcase in February, and there’s potential for the winning entry to be chosen for a permanent display site in Nelson.
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By the box
The Sleepbox is an architectural concept by A Goryainov and M Krymov. It’s kind of like a little apartment, except more mobile, or an alternative to sleazy rent-by-the-hour motels. Equipped with built in LCD TV, ventilation, wi-fi, electric sockets and a bed which changes its own linen, the idea is for users to rest and recharge without expending excess time and money hunting for a hotel.
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What if the keys on a keyboard only had one shot at life? What if once pressed, they gradually accumulated somewhere, forming a mountain of plastic shells? The thought intrigued German artist/typographer/calligrapher Harald Geisler, which in turn prompted him to construct a large calendar from 2011 keyboard keys. Arranged manually in a grid, they read each day of the year in sequence (eg January Sat 01). He says the Typographic Wall Calendar makes finding dates and marking events a creative visual process—playful, even. “You read the composition just like a text: from left to right and top to bottom. The line breaks at the end of the canvas and the code continues on the left side again—like a monospaced typewriter.” Arranged line-by-line and photographed in hi-res, the result is a massive 70cm x 100cm sheet.
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Quote of the week
“Start a blog, go
take some photos with your
friends. Why wish when you
can do?”
— Shahlin Graves on choosing to take action
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