Hey, Hot Shot!

by Seth Brau

Jen Bekman's Hey, Hot Shot!, the premier seasonal competition for emerging photographers, is now accepting entries for the Summer 2007 Edition. Hey, Hot Shot! is the leading opportunity for emerging photographers to gain footing in the contemporary art world. Gallery owner and competition founder Jen Bekman is widely esteemed for her efforts to discover and promote new talent. American Photo named her the Gallery Innovator of the Year for "developing a new generation of photo artists." With an amazing panel and the chance to be featured as one of 10 photographers in the Hey, Hot Shot! 2007 Summer Showcase as well as representation by Jen Bekman, the contest is an incredible opportunity. The entry deadline is Tuesday, 7 August 2007, and selected contenders are featured daily on the Hey, Hot Shot! Blog, so it pays to get your entry in early, before the deadline crunch. Enter here.

Pictured: One of Spring 2007's winners Kelly Shimoda

To Catch a Web, Part One

by m ss ng p eces

The first in a two-part series, this video is an introduction to the real Spiderman, Emil "Rocky" Fiore, who captures and mounts spiderwebs on glass. Here, the episode documents his process—from spray paint and varnish to delicately aligning the glass—on a pier along New York's Hudson River.

Rabbit Hole

by Wendy Dembo

A group show at the Sala de Arte Moneda (SAM) in Santiago, Chile, "Rabbit Hole" features installations by Simon Chapman, Patricia Dominguez and Elisita Punto curated by Constanza Guell. The show runs until 27 July 2007 in a gritty part of Santiago. During this cold winter, viewers can step into the gallery and walk into another dimension.

Chapman altered the gallery space by building walls of distorted angles and curves. Meanwhile Dominguez and Punto created two dissonant murals. Dominguez' features low-lying forms of floating rocks with classic perspective. A few rabbits punctuate the rocks, running towards the vanishing point (i.e. running towards infinity). Punto highlighted the subtleties in the wall alterations by painting explosive designs in bright colors. Her Crayola palette sharply contrasts the blacks, grays and browns of Dominguez’s surreal outer space scene. Together, the space is exceptionally dynamic. (Click below image for detail.) Punto, based in NYC but originally from Santiago, called the experience of working with his friends in Chile "electrifying." For more info (in Spanish) and images go here.

Rabbit Hole
8 June-27 July 2007
SAM
Moneda 1481
Santiago, Chile

Ultimate Member Limited Vibrators

by Leonora Oppenheim

Where do a luxury sex brand, an infamous nightclub and the "pop" artist of the moment all come together? We found the answer to this question in the First Exposure exhibition and a vibrator. The Ultimate Member Limited is a collaboration between Jimmyjane, purveyor of sleek sex toys, Kabaret's Prophecy, the exclusive London play den and Jamie Hewlett, the illustrator who created Tank Girl and the animated band Gorillaz. The six crazy characters Hewlett created for the walls of Kabaret’s Prophecy have been etched onto the classic Jimmyjane Little Something, combining art, sex and erotic nightlife in this colorful limited edition series. The characters have been described as "too glamourous, too seedy, too sexy, too dirty, to ever really exist." So this is all about fantasy. (Click images for detail.)

There's Dick Ward ("Style stud and he-hunk hung like a sartorial clotheshorse"); Omaha Hi-Lo ("Queen of the Texas Hold-Em, known from Monte Carlo to The Strip this lady's got more hustle than Larry Flynt"); The Profit ("He's the spiritual king of kerching for whom the till rings"); Vanity Unit ("Krug guzzling, slick-crude-pumping billionairess. Black gold; oil that is, Texas tea"); The Honorable Van Sackful Smythe ("The heir abhorrent to tea tycoon Lord Terence "Typhoon" Sackful Smythe." Philanthropic, misanthropic, alcoholic, Vane is the be-bop, shop 'til you drop, bachelor de rigeur"); And finally Major Maja Flink ("Major Maja 'Mother Load' Flink's bomb bay doors are lubed up and primed. One flick of her switch is all that it will take to send her ballistic").

Choose the character that does it for you or get the whole box set and pick whichever one takes your fancy in the moment. Each are limited to an edition of 1500 and are available from JImmyjane for $275 or $1,650 for the set of six.

Also on Cool Hunting: Haute Sex, Haute Sex II

Chronicles of Never

by Fiona Killackey

Gareth Moody is a name likely to trigger the memory for his part in fashion's bad boy trio, Tsubi. A few years on and a few years older this Sydney-based designer has sought beauty and creative satisfaction in the guise of a new men's and women's clothing, footwear and accessories label Chronicles of Never (CON). Sleek, sharp and striking, CON fuses industrial materials with the light headiness of dreams; simultaneously leading and ignoring fashion. We checked in with the poetic surfer to talk about melting pots, muses and Marvin.

Some may view this new line as the "mature" Mr.Moody. Do you feel the CON collections are more "adult" than your previous work?
Yes, I feel it's a natural progression, considering I am somewhat older and my tastes have changed a little since the Tsubi days. But I feel that the side of me you seem to be seeing [now] has always been there, it just didn't come out right in the past.

Who do you design for? Do you have a muse as such?
I design for me. Muse? I don't have one at present, I'm still trying to find her.

If you had to have one song to best describe your attitude to CON, what would it be?
Black Sabbath's "Changes."

How do source inspiration for the jewelery element of CON?
I see the world as one large melting pot; sources of inspiration come from every aspect of life. I don't really look under than stone or turn that leaf, it comes from everything and everyone.

Worried any of the knuckle busters could be used as more than just a fashion statement?
No. What people choose to do with their fists is their responsibility. I didn't set out to create weapons, after all they're not atomic bombs are they?

Who's involved in the design process?
At this stage the majority is me, but as things grow and I branch into more areas I have found other are people are required from time to time. The process from design to production is a long one and many people are involved in this journey. I like to get other artists' ideas and input and, where possible, designs—it adds another element. I work hand in hand with River from River and Sons in creating the jewelery. He has a lot of input in production and development and we collaborate on some design. He knows and understands my aesthetic and has a good understanding of what I'm trying to achieve. He makes sense of some of my designs that make no sense.

If you had to pick one piece you have designed in the last six months to represent the label as a whole which would it be and why?
The Mono shoe for its simplicity.

Biggest obstacle with getting CON up and running?
The back end. I'm not really a fan of number crunching.

Did you think at all about the link between the acronym (CON) and the idea of the neverland being a fake reality when you named it? And if so, do you think fashion is a reflection of this state?
Yes. You are the first to pick up on this.

How did you hook up Marvin Scott Jarrett to shoot your look book?
Marvin Jarrett happens to be a good friend of mine, our friendship developed when I was living in L.A and since then we have planned to do things together. It just so happened that he was in Australia For the MTV Awards. While we were sitting over a beverage, I proposed the idea and the rest is history. We shot the look book the next day.

What is playing in the background as your type your answers to these questions?
Frank Zappa.