First of all thankyou to everyone who came down on opening night for Stage 3 / the retired materials. The response was overwhelming and it meant so much to myself and all the creatives involved to see your faces there. I will be posting pictures soon from the opening night – you can already catch them here on our facebook fan page though if you can’t wait.

It’s been an amazing journey for me since the inception of Extra Cheeese, in which I’ve been so grateful to grow together and share with you all. My life wouldn’t be the same without you.

After three years though, it’s time for me to take a step back.

I have loved every bit of this experience, but it’s reached a point where I can’t continue on without the project suffering from a lack of hours and maintenance. And that’s just a shame.
Extra Cheeese has had such an amazing response from the creative community and general public alike, and I’d be sorry to see it disappear into the woodwork. So I’ve come up with a little plan to keep it going…

I’m looking to pass the project onto someone to manage for a 2-3 year term, during which I will be happy to mentor you throughout the process. I am looking for two people, one Sydney based and one Melbourne based, both at the age of 20-25yrs old. After your term has finished it will then be passed onto another person whereby you will have a hand in the selection process. This way it will always stay within the emerging creative community and (hopefully) won’t lose sight of why the project exists… to help promote emerging artists and designers.

I’ve put a list together below of things I’ll be looking for when deciding who is going to take charge, so have a read through and see if you fit the bill.

Once more, thankyou to everyone who I’ve crossed paths with.
You are the inspiration.

Daniel Dittmar / project director

position available | Extra Cheeese director

Location
1 Sydney based / 1 Melbourne based

Age
20-25 years old

Gender
Male or Female

Technical Skills
- Strong graphical skills
- Web knowledge preferable but not essential
- WordPress knowledge
- Strong communication
- Good time management

Details
It takes a lot more than being good at art or design to manage a collective. That includes but isn’t limited to; Dealing with a lot of people via the phone and internet on a constant basis; Sourcing and booking gallery space in advance; Organising transport of works; Sponsorship; Hanging the exhibition with ample time; Managing sales; Selection process of participants; and of course knowledge of what’s going on in the creative community.

Probably the most important factor though? You need to love art and design. At the end of the day this is an unpaid position so think carefully as it’s a big commitment… about 5-10 hours a week (just to clarify, I myself have never been paid for the work invested in this.) That said though, the benefits can’t be overlooked. With ties now established with Sydney Design and the Powerhouse Museum, Saatchi & Saatchi, Grolsch Beer, State of Design Festival, Happenstance Magazine, Finders Keepers, as well as a 3 year reputation amongst the creative community backing you, there is lots of potential to get your name out there.
If I had to name the most beneficial thing I’ve walked away from all of this with, it would be all the amazing people I’ve met along the way and the friendships forged. And that, is invaluable.

To apply, email contact@extracheeese.com with the header I LOVE ART AND DESIGN. Please include your name, age, location, current CV, as well as a URL of your work or a PDF of no larger than 2mb. Anything larger will be deleted and not looked at so please make sure you’ve got your file size spot on. If you could also please include 100+ words of the direction you’d like to take the project and how you see it growing. After all it’s about innovation too!

If you are selected I will contact you for a further interview.

Applications close October 18th at 5.00pm with the positions announced 9th of November.

Can’t wait to see what you guys have for me!

If you’re the kind of person who dejectedly misses out on designer sales because they are a)on a work day, b) held in a ridiculous closet-sized location, c) don’t have EFTPOS/credit faicilities or d) have an awkward lack of changerooms, Fashion Weekend Sydney could be the opportunity for you to shake off your sales malaise and grab a bargain or two just in time for summer. Taking place over the weekend of 12-15 November, Fashion Weekend Sydney presents 120+ designers and labels, all on sale and in the one location (the Royal Hall of Industries). Labels set to take part in the event include Bec & Bridge, Sass & Bide, Manning Cartell, Marnie Skillings, Natasha and a whole host of others. As well as the dizzying multitude of designers to shop, attendees can opt to watch a Catwalk show featuring the summer collections of a select group of Australian designers. Tickets for Fashion Weekend Sydney go on sale on Wednesday August 24th.

http://sydney.fashionweekend.com.au

This weekend Craft Victoria have hooked up with the Melbourne Writers Festival to bring you what else but a craft market. It will feature work by seven emerging and established artists who have focused on a literary theme. But thats not all, they will be having a second market in a weeks time with a whole new load of artists so if you miss this weekend you have no excuse for the next.

Some local artists who’ll be there this weekend include:

Nicholas Jones: book artist, book dissector and book carver
Philos-o-Face: resin brooches of your favourite philosopher
Sneak Design: screenprinted clothing, accessories and artworks

Check out more on the Craft Victoria website.

When: Sunday 23 August, 10am-4pm  &  Sunday 30 August, 10am-4pm
Where: Federation Square Atrium, Melbourne

It’s a great time to be alive in Australia. Sure there’s that whole financial crisis thing, and all our friends might be droppin’ from swine flu, but at least there’s a whole lot of great music going around to help ease that pain.

Mountain Fold Music Journal is into its second issue now and features a whole bunch of local and international artists, including two that feature on the amazing new Sydney label RIP Society Records – Sean Bailey (Lakes) and Circle Pit. Issue two also features the likes of Philip Brophy, Wet Hair, Woods and the brutal Dead C.

It’s refreshing to see something that’s beautifully written, designed & photographed and most important of all - free.

On 12/8 they’ll be officially launching issue two at Black and Blue gallery, Surry Hills, starting at 6:30.
Sydney-siders Holy Balm and Naked On the Vague (who also appeared in issue one) will be playing on the night. Boogie!

http://mountainfold.com.au/

A living embodiment of the confluence of art and fashion, Sydney-based Momoko Hatano has recently launched her eponymous jewellery label. Hatano’s training in fine arts at COFA is evident in her handcrafted designs, which are imbued with minute attention to detail and assured creative flair. Cocktail rings in delicately animalistic shapes memorialise the fleeting beauty of the natural in the temporally defiant mediums of sterling silver, pink bronze and plated matte gold. The miniaturised figures of doves dancing with wings extended and horse heads bursting forth as if mid-stride evoke a sense of the kinetic from within the solidly immobile metal forms. With her stunning debut collection, Momoko Hatano provides yet another reason to become excited about the state of Australian art and design.

http://momokohatano.blogspot.com/

The whole art-show in a pub thing can be pretty tricky to get right. Fremantle’s Norfolk Basement completely nailed it a few months ago with the Make Friend! show, their little stone-walled music den transforming incredibly well into a one-night-only gallery space.

They’re set to repeat the feat with Make Friend II, following on from the first installment with an equally impressive lineup. Get down there and check out the stylings of Sydney’s finest Beastman, and notorious Westside kids Straker, Ben Barretto and Grump. It’s gonna be a good night.

Show runs 8pm – 12pm, Saturday August 8.
Norfolk Basement, Fremantle.

Not long now till we kick off for our third annual exhibition ‘Extra Cheeese / the retired materials’.
The show is up already and looking great! We’re incredibly excited about this one.

Our lovely sponsor Adobe has supplied us with some software packs to give away to a couple of lucky contributers, and we’ve decided to let you guys choose who gets them!
All you have to do is the following:

1. take a TWITPIC of your favourite work
2. TAG the photo with the hashtag #ec3
3. POST it online!

At the end of the month we’ll tally up all your votes and award the audience choice prize accordingly.

See you at the show!

A great cohesive style from visual artist Adam Cruickshank. With an impressive list of clients and publications, he’s definitely one to keep an eye out for.

www.mixedbiz.com.au

* via Happenstance

According to her MySpace, Flutter Lyon (you may know her as Robyn Wilson) has been dreaming about light and sound and vision for as long as she can remember. Now she is making marriage of these elements into one special little experience for her audiences. Collaborating with other musicians and video artists, Flutter often plays improvised sets, creating some rather stunning live, interactive, unexpected moments. Not to mention the killer eclectic costumes and hypnotic guitar style to match.

This video was a special audio visual collaboration between Flutter Lyon and video artist Lukasz Karluk. What’s most impressive is that it’s a completely improvised track with live audio interactive projections! This was filmed at Black & Blue Gallery, in Sydney Australia.

Flutter Lyon is hitting up New York in August, we wish her the best of luck!

www.myspace.com/flutterlyon
Views of Courage blog

From 12 – 28 August, The Japan Foundation Gallery will be transformed into a temporary residence for recent Sydney College of the Arts graduate, Gemma Cuneo. Her contemporary version of the obakemono, spirit-possessed creatures or monsters, evoked from their hidden worlds, and here with an imperative warning for us all.

Cuneo in her first solo exhibition cleverly adopts the prevalent quirks and issues that blight society, personifying them into modern-day obakemonos. Her creations serve as stark reminders of the imperfect world we live in, physically demonstrating before us the ramifications of daily human activity on the environment and ourselves.

“Although there is an increasing appreciation and public awareness towards nature’s importance, we still inflict negative impact towards it either directly or indirectly in order to support our very own lifestyles,” states Cuneo.

“I hope to reignite a passion for our natural heritage amongst Australian viewers through the influence of creative Japanese culture, while introducing the fantastic world of Japanese folklore to demonstrate the relevance of mythical creatures in a changing, technology-driven world.”

Cuneo herself will be available to meet the public on Saturday 22 August from 11am – 4pm at the Japan Foundation Gallery. Another three smaller obakemono will also be making an appearance during the exhibition, each with their own concern and message for today’s inhabitants.

Exhibition runs 12 – 28 August 2009, Monday – Friday, 11am – 4pm
Meet the Artist Saturday 22 August, 11am – 4pm
Japan Foundation Gallery Level 1, Chifley Plaza, 2 Chifley Square, Sydney

www.jpf.org.au