The Gallery Edition – Idea Bombing Sydney

Bring creative and innovative design concepts for Sydney’s future was Idea Bombing Sydney’s ‘The Gallery Edition’ at Object Gallery on July 23 and August 22, 2014.

“Idea Bombing gives us the opportunity to stop, listen and think. Part meetup, part popup bar, talk series and community brainstorm, it’s a new way to engage, surface creative ideas and promote ways of turning those ideas into reality”.

Ok, I have to admit that the only reason I came to these sessions was because I liked the name: ‘idea bombing’. It is what a few of my close friends and I do when we have our nerdy sessions/catch ups. #geeksftw #actuallynotreally

Going up the stairs, the steps were chalked with inspiration.

Object Gallery isn’t too big, but it had enough space for a few installations such as these potted plants.

Amongst the middle was also a table with paper where you could write your ideas to share. Once you had written it down, pin it up on the canvas wall!

Someone had drawn a funky version of the streets of Sydney on a canvas. It was amazing to see how much it had been filled up with hanging paper from its first days towards the end.

There were also blackboards where you could scribble your thoughts. Cake Wines was a sponsor of this event and asked for a gold coin donation from every wine glass. Smart move and I would’ve done the exact same if I had a gallery event!

Heading upstairs, there was artwork thanks to Art Pharmacy. “Art Pharmacy is an online gallery that hosts regular pop-up exhibitions around Sydney. Our aim is to make affordable art accessible to everyone, while supporting local Australian artists”.

It was a great little space and I definitely support Australian emerging artists.

At around 6:30pm, we squeezed into the main space of the gallery. The first session had nice room filled with people, but the second session it was jam packed. I’m not going to estimate numbers (I’m bad at estimating!) but the floor was pretty much covered with people sitting and standing. You could tell that people had been telling others, and more and more people are hopping on the band wagon!

Part 1 talk series included:

Kym Lenoble, ARTBAR Coordinator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia
Diana Palmer, Director, Palmer Art Projects
Juliet Rosser, Director, Platform 72
Alex Light, Head of Content, Vice Australia

The main points I got out of it was that were:

– When doing something creative, be ready to take risks and argue a lot

– With events, consider the event AND social/online app experience

– Artwork is a living entity- its a living voice and engages the artist and the audience

– Can being online ever replace physically being somewhere?

Part 2 talk series included:

Tim Carr, Lighting Designer, Arup
Liane Rossler, artist, designer, curator, creative advisor and ambassador for issues relating to design and the environment
Christopher Skyner, Director, Authority Clothing and
Jonathan Knapp, Director, Urban Design, SJB Architects

The main points I got out of that were:

– Turn a problem into a solution

– Architectural lighting adds to the #environmental impact and #city #architecture #energyconsumption

– “Design is everywhere”

– Don’t hesitate but go for it

Again, I was honestly immensely surprised at how bit it got at the second session. Well done @IdeaBombingSyd/John.

Rating Review: (1-5, with 5 being exceptional)

Product (The Object Gallery and talks): 4/5

Ambience: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Value: 4/5

Would I recommend going to Idea Bombing Sydney? If you are creative with ideas and want to contribute to the growth of Sydney in a design aspect, this is definitely a great place where you can connect and learn.

Highlight: For me, it was very inspiring to see so many people come and hearing how the speakers have used their fun/bizarre ideas to come to what they are today.

Suggestion of improvement: The topics were a bit general and I’m not sure if it was industry-specific in some cases. It would’ve been better if there was a specific topic. It may be design with events, or design with architecture, or design with urban planning.. I mean it was really good to hear from a broader perspective, but it would’ve been better if they asked us what interests we had and gather into smaller groups to discuss further ideas.

Official hashtag: #ideabombingsyd

Link: http://www.ideabombingsydney.com/

Angela Bee

Finders Keepers Markets – Sydney

$2 entry to amazing access to over 150 art and design stalls at Finders Keepers Markets was an explosion of fun and creativity on Friday and Saturday June 6-7 at the Australian Technology Park, Redfern.

“We are independent design & art markets founded in Sydney, that supports new and emerging independent design. We aim to connect with others through our resources and projects. Our website is a growing source for the Australian art and design community and the supporters of our events.”

Walking from Redfern station, exit at Gibbon Street so that you stumble upon a small pathway with the sign ‘Australian Technology Park.’ With a market this popular, you’ll find yourself following a crowd!

After entering in the Locomotive workshop, the wide screen will get you in the mood! Luckily for us, we brought some extra cash  and wasn’t needing to wait in the long lines at the ATMs! Tip: bring cash. A lot of it.

There was a $2 entry free and for kids under 12 it’s free! It was an easy gold coin in the tub, then we were given an orange sticker and off we went on our crafty adventure!

Coming inside was like I was going to the Easter Show. There wear too many stalls, too many people and too many things to look at! Where to start? Do it systematically!

What I loved about the aisles were that they were spacious. Go up one end, then come back the same aisle on the other side. Not like your local supermarkets where you stroll up and down and everyone is looking at a million directions. This makes you see everything.

Most things there were hand made, ethically conscious, recyclables. Look at these cat and watermelon designs.

Necklaces.

Clothes.

Awesome people with names!

Juke Case with music with ‘son valise’ (your luggage)!!

As well as the stalls, there were some workshops like the Crafty Party where you learnt about lettering.

And a workshop but you had to pay $35 for it. It included all your materials and extras. Looked fun but unfortunately were all booked out except three spots…

There was even a foodies section with tons of yummy samples. Fairybread is always a winner!

And this had real bees in their honey. It was kinda cool actually.

A stage was in the middle with musical performances to set the mood with enough chairs and tables of all sizes for the guests.

The food trucks also made an appearance but the queues were just super long… so just heads back inside and taste the spices, apple crumble and others you rarely see!

I just wanted to highlight the creativity these stall owners had when organising the presentation of their spaces. It’s hard when you’re limited but these people did an amazing job to trying to ‘stand out’ from the the crowd.

As we were leaving, the line multiplied by three fold. This was at around 1:30pm on the Saturday? So popular and so many people were carrying brown paper bags #sustainable #yeswearehipster

Review Rating: =D =) =| =(

Product (Finders Keepers Markets Sydney): =D

Ambience: =)

Service: =D

Value: =)

Would I recommend going to The Finders Markets to a friend? If you love arts,c raft, creativity, or shopping, then you are in the right place. Obviously the space was dominated by the ladies but ey, there’s something for everyone! (My brother would’ve been bored though).

Highlight: too hard to decide! Probably seeing how creative everyone is! Most of the time you got to speak with the makers and they would explain how they made the product and he multi-purposeful ness of it so that was interesting!

Suggestion of improvement: this is tricky… We couldn’t find the toilets? There was perhaps just one sign that pointed in general directions but I had spotted one at the entrance. Just an FYI that things here are quite expensive so be armed with money!

Ends: occurs every season. Ie. Autumn/winter was this time round, and then Spring/summer is next on December 12-13, 2014.

Link: http://www.thefinderskeepers.com/markets.php

Angela Bee