After a very long wait, we're proud to finally announce the confirmed speaker line-up for CARBON 2012; our annual arts, design, and culture festival held in Melbourne, Australia. After last year's festivities with headliners FUTURA, Bobby Hundreds, Greg Mishka, Noah Callahan-Bever and Carrie Munden, this year we've brought out an even bigger international entourage, with a wider focus on not only media, art and design, but also photography & the visual medium.
This year, we're looking forward to welcoming another group of friends to the city down under, including LA art pioneer & living legend Chaz Bojorquez, streetwear icon MEGA, OG photographer Ricky Powell, instagram hero 13th Witness, the cynically wonderful Joy Yoon, visual chronicler & tumblr lord Yimmy Yayo and of course, the extremely extreme Eugene Kan, Managing Editor of Hypebeast, amongst other very talented individuals from around the world.
Print is dead! Social media is king? These may be the catch cries of professionals working within the changing world of media and communications but are they right? Carbon invites a panel of young flag-bearers for the modern face of communication and media to discuss these concepts. The panel will showcase media innovators who continue to lead the way and reinvent the ways in which we experience media. This forum is relevant to anyone aspiring to a career in writing, media, branding, marketing, retail and just about anyone looking for progressive ways to launch their big idea onto the world.
Speakers:
* Nick Fensom (Sneeze Magazine, VC/NYC)
* Eugene Kan (Hypebeast, HK)
* Joy Yoon (Freelance writer/New Order Magazine, LA/AM)
FORUM B: COMMERCE OF CREATIVITY (ART & DESIGN)
Presented by SHARPIE
This forum is all about passing on the experiences and wisdom of prolific creative individuals who are leaders in the industry of art & aesthetics. Our panel will be sharing their respective opinions and journies, as well as their experiences regarding monetising their creative abilities and the positives, perils and politics they have faced in doing so. Can commerce and creativity work in harmony? And what are the implications of this relationship?
Speakers:
* Chaz Bojorquez (Pioneer, Artist/Calligrapher, LA)
* Faith47 (Street artist, South Africa)
* DAL (Street artist, CHN)
Forum C: EVOLUTION OF AN IDEA. (BRANDING)
Growth and change is an inevitable part of a successful artist or brands evolution. In this forum, a panel of creative individuals will share their various experiences of appealing to new audiences and markets. This discussion includes positive & negative aspects of expanding a brands reach beyond the traditional audience. The panel will be sharing war stories from their time spent trying to reach new markets; has their process of design changed in order to appeal to newer audiences? How have they adapted their creative process in order to attract new customers? How do you remain relevant in this fickle market?
Speakers:
* Mega (Black Scale, LA)
* Dust La Rock (Fools Gold Co-Founder/Art Director, NYC)
* Huw Bennett (Vanishing Elephant, SYD)
FORUM D: VISUAL SATURATION (FILM & PHOTOGRAPHY)
Photography has become an accessible and widespread medium for the everyday individual, mostly through social media sites. With Tumblr, Instagram and Facebook all relying heavily on photographic images, the amateur photographer is now more commonplace than ever. But does this proliferation of the medium impact the industry? In addition to this, video has also risen to the top as being one of the most popular and effective ways to market to the youth demographic. This forum will see industry professionals discuss the impact and future of these paradigm shifts on the medium and creative culture itself.
Alongside the discussion forums we'll be hosting a series of parties, exhibition openings, live art and side-events along with a killer launch event featuring a mystery guest @ Roxanne's, so please stay updated on either the official Carbon facebook page, twitter, or on the brand new website which went live today - http://www.weareallcarbon.com. (refresh if you still see the old site)
Discounted earlybird ticket sales have also begun, so if you'd like to attend, please do purchase them on MOSHTIX to secure your place. There are a limited number of tickets available due to venue restrictions, so please do hurry if you don't want to miss out on this year's festivities.
See you all there.
CARBON FESTIVAL 2012
Presented by New Balance & New Era
April 28-29th 2012
Federation Square, Melbourne, Australia WEAREALLCARBON.COM facebook twitter
"Mate, you will forever be etched into my mind as the guy who asked for extra titties with his acäi bowl."
It just occurred to me that I haven't actually put up any pictures of the finished... art from Pow Wow 2012. Duh. So, I'm going to be biased here and throw up some images of finished work by some of the artists representing my region of the world - New Zealand... and our little cousin Australia. You know.
No-one can deny that this was the most mega-rifically gargan-tuoso brain-breaking production of Pow Wow 2012. 4/5 storeys high, and pretty-fucking-wide. A collaborative effort between WOES (AOS, Los Angeles) x PEAP (AOS, New Zealand/Cambodia) x Mr JAGO (Bristol England) x Will Barras (Brummersss mate) x MEGGS (Cookie MonsterEverfresh Crew, Melbourne Australia). Aaron "El Hefe" De La Cruz (San Francisco, USA) also makes a sneak appearance on the edges too.
Around the corner, it's PHIBS (Everfresh Crew, Melbourne Australia), who, incidentally is far more hilarious when he's out on the piss and not doing boring shit like sketching in his book.
The last of Team Straya & the third coming of Jesus - RONE. I have to say, this was my favourite wall of the event. More so that he didn't use a projector to mark it all up, yet was still able to pull this whole three-storey high production off almost single-handedly over four days... even to the point of foregoing the daily Australian ritual of lets-start-drinking-beers-at-10am-moiyt. If you're Straylian, you'll know how much of a sacrifice that is. The things people do for art.
and.. quite possibly the nicest guy in British Columbia; Jeff Hamada's Calves, who wants to remind you to smile, be happy, and to lie your way through every job application. Within reason, of course. Oh, and with Aaron De La Cruz, who seems to have made a guest appearance on almost everyone's walls.
For more... try google.
Thanks RONE, MEGGS, EVERFRESH, & ANTHONY for letting me jack the images. No thanks to me, who left my camera battery charger at home.
RESPECT MY COMMUNITAH. Somewhere above the Pacific Ocean.
I could go on about the hundreds of people that ram-packed Fresh Cafe & Loft In Space on the opening night; the artist x artist x artist collaborative art works; the dozens of tee-shirt and charity art pieces & photos from Eugene's photo show that sold; but in the end, none of those were the highlights of the week long ordeal for me. When the dust finally settled in the carpark and the crowds dissipated and as I sit here, 39000 feet above the earth on a lonely plane ride home next to a man who smells suspiciously of weed and vomit, the one thing that I will take with me for the coming year is the community that Pow Wow 2012 blessed us with. The people, the personalities, the weird, wonderful, pretty, ugly, happy, angry individuals that were drawn to this event and everyone else in between. Take over 40 creatives from the art, media, and design realm, cram them into one of the most interesting pieces of architecture I've ever seen in one of the most beautiful locales on the earth, throw in a sprinkling of ADHD, a shit ton of alcoholic beverages, markers and spraycans... and you'd think you're looking at a recipe for complete disaster. But, as we all converged on that final day at the big Lu'au, the only talk was about the amazing stories and experiences we all shared together along the week.
The Utopium estate that housed the.. madhouse? This award-winning building was designed by featured artist & Pow Wow co-ordinator Kamea Hadar and his father, who built the house together from scratch. Kamea's already got the looks, the art skills, and now I find out that he built a whole friggin' house. I give up at being a man. Hell, I have problems putting together lego sets… just thinking about this momentous feat hurts my brain. For a start - every single piece of glass had to be custom cut to shape/size/angles. Now look at that first picture again. It's amazing to think that these men & women created art whilst living in a piece of art. The best part? You can rent it.
(edit: just added this video tour of the house, pieced together by Amy Luu of hobnobcity)
(ps - Happy Birthday bradah!)
The absolutely, incredibly talented team of Pow Wow Event Directors. I still remember Jasper wildly explaining the concept of Pow Wow to me a couple of years ago at some ungodly hour in a restaurant in Hong Kong, in that typical 1000mph Jasper speech with his eyes darting left and right. I thought he was on meth. Turns out it was a good idea, after all. So proud of you and Tiffany brother. You guys inspire me.
Hi Christa. When I first met her, everybody called her Super CW. I think my brain cell count at the end of the trip compared to the start was proof enough. Thank you Christa, for everything. That's Aaron De La Cruz and his artwork on her car, by the way.
Just in case you hadn't noticed, Hawai'i has some phenomenal food. I'm going to apologize to the entire staff at Fresh Cafe for walking in there on the first day and ordering an Acai bowl.. with extra titties. I swear I wasn't being creepy.
You have one Jesus at your event. We get three. Except the last one you'll probably find sleeping half naked on your front porch in the morning. Jesus loves you man. At least that's what he told me, anyways. He might've been drunk.
Canasians, eh.
This is the Garden Snake. I have no idea where he's from, except that he always manages to pop up at the best/worst of times with a long range lens equipped SLR camera and gets extremely creepy when he's drunk. You know the guy that your mother told you to look out for when you were a teenager? This guy is the one that that guy's mother warned him about.
Brandon Shigeta, on the other hand, showed me that instagram is serious business. Very serious.
Hypebeast managing editor Huge-gene Kan and his fiancee Nicole, who were both constantly slipping in and out of food comas all week long. LOML... LOL.
"Why can't I get my bloody iPod going?" Ello Jules! It's the vintage road show!
This is Larry Legend. King of the dance floor. Connoisseur of stretchy pants. Ruler of sobriety. I'm not sure how he ended up locked in the back seat of some random car, but for some reason, I don't really care. Larry rules. Even if his sleeve-less zip up adidas hoodie was kind of weird.
Thank you to Garrett the Kid and Scotty Surprise - team Arkitip & the peanut gallery, for some of the best laughs of the trip. Really, man. Really. Man.
The other half of team New York - Derek Weisberg. Sculptor by day, weirdo-rap fan by night.
Mikey Inouye - video director. He likes to smile. I mean, he really, really, likes to smile.
Noah the Nonchalant, holding it down for team Complex NY. So much swag that he can DJ without vinyl… or needles, for that matter. Towels all round please.
It's TEAM PE$O! Mike, Dave Lin, Tanley, and Rocky. Well, it started off as the Money Team, but slowly degenerated very quickly after that. I saw things on this night I've never seen before… there's a reason why we're covering our eyes. We got scared. Real scared. I don't trust you guys anymore. Don't ever reach me again. Peace.
Thank you Pow Wow 2012; summer camp for vagrant artists and touring writers. I cannot express the amount of gratitude for the level of hospitality and warmness all of you organizers, event co-ordinators, volunteers, and helpers showed us over the entire trip. I can't wait for 2013. Mucho Mahalos.
Just in case you're in Hawai'i, (and in Honolulu to be specific) here's a reminder that I'll be speaking at the University of Hawai'i's Art Auditorium alongside a panel of esteemed art & media individuals; including Jeff "Calves" Hamada from BOOOOOOOM.com, Suitman "Lingerie dollar bills" Kim, Ken "Jesus" Harman of High Fructose & Spoke Art Gallery, and Eugene "Dude that's not gay, is it?" Kan of hypebeast. We'll be talking about how the spheres of Art, Media, and Community converge and their individual importance to the overall creative landscape.
Please do come - you'll get to come and watch me make a fool out of myself... for free.
Cheers bro.
POWWOW 2012 DISCUSSION PANEL
THURSDAY FEB 16th 6-8PM
UHM ART AUDITORIUM
FREE ADMISSION
Yeah! Social Media rules! I'm on it, you're on it, hell, most people's pets are on it too. After you've been on it for a while though, you tend to notice some disturbing trends. I'm not talking about the people who thrash #every #goddamn #hashtag to fish for followers - but trends amongst the kinds of people who use them. It's always interesting to see what value others seem to hold in social media - whether it's for self gratification, promotion, discussion, or airing vapid statements about their hair/lunch/clothes/friends/work/life. So, add one boring night-in and a desire to write something stupid for a change, here's my 2 minute social media user guide. Not a guide on how to use any of it; but a guide on the personalities who use it based on gross over-generalizations of the number of their followers on four of the most popular platforms out there at the moment - twitter, facebook, instagram, and tumblr. Maybe you even know a few of them yourself.
Which one are you?
The Hot Girl.
You're the hot girl. Your iPhone camera spends more time in face mode than it does pointing the way it should… you know, at like, things that aren't you (mirrors excluded). You still have a twitter account because that's what everyone was on last year, but you still don't "get how it works." You gave up on tumblr in favour of instagram because, like, it's totally, like, easy to get more followers on instagram lollzz <3
Here's a free tip - they're not appreciating you for your photography composition skills.
The Purist.
You self-righteous prick. You only believe in text-based social media networks and speak fondly of the mIRC Undernet days whilst cracking reddit jokes. And how you used to totally pick up chicks on ICQ through the random ICQme chat function. Truth is, nobody gives a shit that you never got laid in high school. You probably write a blog using big words too, you jerk.
The Celebrity.
Dude. Come on. Nobody really gives a shit about what you're doing or what you had for lunch. They're all just waiting for that one moment where you fuck it all up, so they can slam that RT/ReBlog/Share button like a schoolboy on heat. Sorry.
"I'm huge on tumblr".
Yeah, you work a dead end job but you're big on tumblr, but you forget that your 'fame' is purely based on you liking other (people's) things. When the dust settles and people finally realize that tumblr is all make-believe, you'll probably be the one standing there naked. You upload your pictures onto instagram without a caption because you think that's how it works. That's not how it works, dumbass.
The Social Media Consultant
Congratulations. You've found a way to con companies out of their hard earned marketing dollars for lessons in common sense. Trouble is, you also find the incessant need to be 'down' with every new social media platform. Well, that's not the trouble per se, it's more like you suck at instagramming beceause you're too busy drawing diagrams about it instead of using it to, you know, take photos and shit.
The Networker
Holy crapskis do you rape your facebook wall. And you talk way too much on twitter. There is no distinction between your personal life and your work and you act like you care, but really, you don't. People followed you out of curiousity but are now fast tiring of your 24/7 brain diarrhea and 'I swear this isn't a promo, but I love product X' updates/tweets. Dude. We're not blind. You tried starting a tumblr and instagram, but quickly gave that shit up when you realized you couldn't transfer all your friends across so you could look like you were immediately popular.
