Dedece Blog

Minotti has been producing upholstered furniture for more than fifty years, consolidating their position as a ‘Made in Italy’ brand within the international market

The sophisticated and well anticipated ‘Minotti Design Identity 2011’ Collection was launched on the 30th November at Dedece Sydney’s showroom. It’s an appointment long-awaited by the Australian A&D community, which now avidly follows Minotti’s trending directions and innovations

 

Minotti style is something special: it derives from the design system of Milan, constantly experimenting innovative forms and technical solutions, developing its knowledge of tried and tested materials and testing new ones, and implementing projects featuring a strongly individual cultural identity.

The Minotti ‘Design Identity’ is beautifully emphasised in this year’s collection: the preference for understatement, the focus on functionality and flexibility, the softness in the lines and proportions, and the weaving together of history, innovation and technology. The 2011 collection includes elegant sofas, tables, coffee tables, armchairs, chairs, beds and accessories – all pieces are emblematic of the brand’s ‘Design Identity’.

The 2011 collection, superbly co-ordinated by designer Rodolfo Dordoni was launched in Milan last April at the Salone del Mobile. Rodolfo Dordoni imprints the “contemporary classical” stamp on his work for Minotti – rather than the design of each individual piece, it is the materiality and the all-over impression that counts.

Dedece Sydney’s ground floor space was completely renovated for the event by Co-Ap Design – so as to better present the stunning 2011 Minotti collections.

 

Dedece is proud to say that it’s strong relationship with Minotti now goes back 10 years.

“to see the Minotti Design Identity 2011 Sydney launch function photos please click the continue reading button here”

Tropfest is Australia’s most prestigious short film festival and one of its most iconic cultural events. It is also the largest short film festival in the world. At home, Tropfest is recognised for its enormous contribution to the development of the Australian film industry by providing unique platforms for emerging filmmakers through its events and initiatives, and new and expanded audiences for their work.

Tropfest places strength of idea above production value or slickness, and anyone can enter. Scores of films made for and screened at Tropfest have gone on to gain commercial distribution. And literally dozens of Tropfest filmmakers have had local and international careers launched as a result of their work being seen in front of thousands of people – including many of the most respected professionals in the film world

John Polson, the award-winning actor and director (Swimfan, Hide and Seek, Tenderness) started the ‘Tropicana Short Film Festival’ (as it was originally known) after an informal screening of his own short film ”Surry Hills: 902 Spring Roll” at the Tropicana Cafe in Victoria Street, Darlinghurst.  Almost immediately, this one-night event took on a life of its own, largely because of the enthusiasm of a whole new breed of young filmmakers that were hanging around the Tropicana Café at the time, looking for something to pour their creative energy into.

“There are two things I know about good ideas: They almost never happen overnight and they’re almost never borne of a single person. – Certainly, that’s how it was for Tropfest – I made a short film when I was 27 and, unable to afford a cinema, decided to screen it at the Tropicana café in Sydney where much of it was shot. The film was pretty average but the night was an undisputed triumph. Dozens and dozens of people crammed into the café, trying to get a glimpse of the screen I’d borrowed for the occasion. Expecting around 20 cast and crew to show up, I arrived on the night to find 200 people there, waiting to see my movie.

 

 

Inspired by the turn out, John decided that a full-fledged short film festival was the next step. Though the popularity of the festival has grown exponentially each year and seemed to attract the cream of Australian and international film personalities, the ever expanding festival was masterminded from a small, swelter house office in the heart of the Kings Cross creative community. With Polson at the helm, using the help of friends and committed staff (often volunteering their time), the small operation worked to keep up with the momentum of the festival. Tropfest aligned itself with sponsors who continue to provide support for Australian filmmakers and bring incredible value each year to the event for audiences.

Throughout it’s history the central aim of Sony Tropfest has remained the same. That is, to stimulate the production of short films and then provide an audience for the work of Australia’s emerging filmmakers. Twenty years on – Tropfest in Australia attracts a live national audience of more than 150,000 people on a single night. The event is hosted at Sydney’s Domain in the Royal Botanic Gardens, with live satellite links to outdoor locations in major cities including Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide and Surfers Paradise.

Tropfest Australia 2011 was by far the largest Tropfest ever staged, and reached a national audience of approximately 1,000,000 people (not including the internet)

 

Tropfest distinguishes itself from other events by being a ‘content generation’ platform, rather than merely an exhibition platform.

The annual short film competition is open to anyone who wishes to enter – regardless of their background or experience. 16 Finalists are selected from an entry pool of an average 700 annual entries and compete for more than $150,000 in prizes and includes international trips to develop film making careers and ‘work experience’ with top filmmakers. As a result, Tropfest has become known as the undisputed premiere launch pad for film making careers, although to date this has been most notable in Australia, where many commercial and critical successes are directed by Tropfest alumni.

Tropfest films are unique in that they have all been made specifically for Tropfest, will premiere at Tropfest and include the Tropfest Signature Item (or TSI), which changes each year.

The "TSI" for Tropfest 2012 is --- “Light bulb”

 

So what was it that grabbed us all that night ? – I believe, without realizing it, we were tapping into something that’s inside all of us: the basic human desire for story. People need stories. Cavemen would come back after a big hunt, frustrated that they weren’t able to convey the emotion and excitement of what they’d been through, so they’d tell stories – paint pictures – so that others could feel like they were right there with them. Stories about other people give context to our own lives. They’re used for entertainment, for teaching, and for passing on knowledge and wisdom. The technologies we use today may be new, but storytelling itself is anything but”

Tropfest Short Film Festival 2012 Sunday will be held on the 19th February, 2012

John Polson …. ” Here’s a story for you: a guy makes a short film and 150,000 people show up. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it ! “

The brief given Interior Designers “The Uncarved Block” for The Galeries Food Hall renovation “was to Increase relevance and generate appeal for The Galeries shopping centre in Sydney’s CBD, amongst fashion-savvy 16-29 y/o consumers, at a time when the giants like Westfield and others were massively updating their Sydney Centres”.

click here to see more project photos

The Galeries (formerly known as the The Galeries Victoria or TGV) is a shopping centre located in the heart of the Sydney central business district, bounded by George, Pitt and Park Streets. The Galeries is a lifestyle and cultural destination for fashion, art and music

The Galeries is a four level shopping centre, that features a series of covered laneways running throughout with bridges between buildings and a central piazza area. Underground passageways lead off to Town Hall railway station at the southern end, adjacent to a passageway that leads to the Queen Victoria Building. The centre also incorporates the historic Sydney School of the Arts, which is now the Arthouse Hotel. There is also a Sydney Monorail station in the shopping centre

The site on which The Galeries now stands was originally home to the flagship Waltons department store. It now sits below the Citigroup office tower and beside the Sydney Hilton Hotel.

On the 24th November 2011, The Galeries brand new food hall was christened with a very special organized performance by six lead dancers decked out in multicultural inspired costumes and accompanied by one-hundred professional ‘Brent St’ dancers. This special flash mob appearance was choreographed by Ame Delves who has worked with the likes of; So You Think You Can Dance Australia & Russia, X-FACTOR, Australia’s Next Top Model, Eve, Lily Allen, Adam Lambert, Guy Sebastian and Jessica Mauboy.

The idea to create the band came about in 1997 when the two Westbourne Grove, London flatmates Damon Albarn (musical director) of Britpop band Blur, and Jamie Hewlett (visual director) co-creator of the comic book Tank Girl – were watching MTV, – “if you watch MTV for too long, it’s a bit like hell – there’s nothing of substance there. ….. So we got this idea for a cartoon band, something that would be a comment on that,” Hewlett said

Gorillaz are touted as the world’s only cartoon band – their project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a “virtual band” of cartoon characters. A multi-genre quartet whose virtual members include 2-D, the delightfully flighty and enigmatic singer/keyboardist; Murdoc, the mysterious and irreverent bassist and the brains behind the group; Noodle, a ten-year old Japanese martial arts expert and guitar hotshot; and Russel Hobbs, the eloquent yet somewhat unhinged Brooklyn-bred drummer.

The band released their revolutionary debut album Gorillaz in 2001. The launch had many industry detractors who saw the idea of an animated pop group as merely folly and gimmick – but the album went on to sell 6 million copies around the world.

“Every great band is destroyed by their success. Cartoon bands are no exception.” - Noodle

The Gorillaz have always been a band shrouded by a degree of mystery. Hiding behind their animated alter egos, Damon and Jamie have been left their own devices to create some of the most innovative progressive music projects out there today. From their humble beginnings, the Gorillaz have grown and evolved and taken us all along for the wicked and wild journey. From Noodle’s assassination and reincarnation as a cyborg to Murdoc kidnapping 2-D and holding him against his will on Plastic Beach, their much anticipated arrival to Australia in 2010 was well received.

The band originally identified themselves as “Gorilla”, and the first song they recorded was “Ghost Train”, later released as a B-side on their single “Rock the House” and the B-side compilation G Sides. The trio of musicians behind Gorillaz’ first incarnation included Damon Albarn, Del the Funky Homosapien and Dan the Automator, who had previously worked together on the track “Time Keeps on Slipping” for Deltron 3030’s eponymous debut album. The song can be seen as the genesis of the musical style that continued into Gorillaz’ first album

The Gorillaz’ image may be cartoonish, but their music is anything but lightweight. Experimental in nature and obtuse in scope, the Gorillaz’ sound melds Damon Albarn’s sharp pop sensibilities with Dan the Automator’s eclectic bass-heavy, beat-driven hip hop. And although the combination doesn’t always gel, when they hit the mark, it’s usually with a bull’s eye.

ROA is one of the most illustrious / notorious urban street artists in the world. ROA’s artworks show that “Spray Can art” can be very intense, curious and beautiful.

ROA paints intriguing murals of animals in hidden places – underneath bridges and on walls that strayed from the beaten path. Based in Ghent, Belgium, ROA is renowned for his giant black and white animals. He is earnestly repopulating the cityscape with animals, as a way to have them re-enter the contemporary landscape that was once theirs. With a style all his own

The presence of ROA’s charismatic vermin in this extreme urban environment raises a question about our relationship with nature, that can tenaciously adapt, survive and thrive – supporting a variety of animal life here even in such apparently unsympathetic circumstances. There is an unease about their presence, a tension that provokes us to see the reality of the cityscape we have created. His creatures may be at odds with the city but they are not defeated by it, they are clinging onto life, tooth and claw. They demand our respect.

ROA is a nomadic artist travelling through the world which let’s him be totally immersed through his journeys with the native animal kingdom. The mural paintings of ROA illustrate a creative biological research about animal species in their lost habitats all over the World. He often offers an indirect comment to a current global tendency by trying to interact (through the depiction of native animals from the place) with the most territory obsessive mammal; human.

Roa is unique among street artists for his unsentimental images of animals that, in spite of their exaggerated features, reveal an understanding of the anatomy, movement and personality of the species in question.

ROA started painting abandoned buildings and warehouses in the isolated industrial areas of his hometown. Since then, his work has been seen in New York, London, Berlin, Warsaw, San Francisco, Oakland, Miami, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Cologne, Zaragoza, Madrid, Paris, Moscow, Barcelona, Brussels and now Perth and Sydney.

To complete the works for Paradox, FORM Gallery and Skalitzers Contemporary Art took ROA to the remote Pilbara region of north western Australia, Rottnest Island and south-west regions of WA to learn more about Australia’s ecosystems, fauna and history. Travelling through remote terrain accessible only via four-wheel-drive or on foot, deep in Ngarluma country, ROA was hosted by Ngarluma Aboriginal elders and shown places known only to the locals.

 

 

 

After the opening of his new solo show “ROA Paradox” at FORM Gallery in Perth ( 22nd Oct, 2011 to 13th Jan, 2012 ) ROA spent the week working on a new 21 meter long mural in Fremantle. In less than a month, ROA completed four massive murals around Australia ( Perth, Fremantle, Midland and Sydney) as a prosecution of his permanence here.

 

This is a place of paradoxes, where the natural beauty of the land intersects with the flotsam and jetsam of human habitant- disused water tanks, abandoned houses, pieces of car and machinery. Where life and death overlap. Where cultures and histories constantly cross paths. Where urban art meets the outback.