WOBBLEDesign // Art // Architecture // Culture

Issu

e o

o5

No

v 2o

11

CBR

Issu

e o

o5

No

v 2o

11

CBR

2

Content* wobble oo5

* summer 11

EventsJemist; Yacht RockWobble Community

Illustrated. Furnished. Projected.Played.Wobble Collective

Feature Canberra Labwww.canberralab.com

Editorial* Wobble

DirectorJennifer Edmundshello@wobble.cc

Publisher Wobble Collective

Design & Layout Christiane Nowak

JournalistLaurie Meyers

Wobble VenuesKnightsbridge PenthouseThe Front

SupportersApril‘s Caravan2before10Dymocks Canberra

Contactart@wobble.cc

Want to get involved? We‘d love to hear from you -hello@wobble.cc.

Thanks,The Wobble Team

*

Artists & DesignersAsha Tsimeriswww.ashatsimeris.com

Alex Lewiswww.wobble.cc

Chris Hardywww.chrishardy.com.au

Polka Lukawww.polkaluka.com.au

Konrad Lenzwww.wobble.cc

Kate Traviswww.wobble.cc

ProfileDymocks Canberra

New LocationMočan & Green Grout

LocationsMapVenuesSupporters

Cover image: Kate Travis 08LED photo print 386x510mm$180

3

pho

to b

y R

ees-

ON

EResident DJ: JemistCanberra’s slightly cranky, mood-setter and chief rocker Jemist, dishes out an array of hip hop, funk and nasty classics on a regular basis.Always a sweaty and unbridled night of fun for our unassuming little cocktail bar. Jemist can be seen at Knightbridge Saturday Dec 3rd and Friday Dec 23rd. Get in early, and leave late.

Check out one of Wobbles’ favo-urite DJ’s at: www.soundcloud.com/jemistwww.facebook.com/jemist

Events* Knightsbridge

* The Front

Wobble oo4 at Knightsbridge

We hope you are enjoying the new Wobble magazine look and feel. We celebrated the new mag, in the style you’ve all be-come accustom to, at our home Knightsbridge Penthouse. Keep up to date with our publications and join us for Wobble events every 2 months in 2012.

Keep an eye out for the changes as KB gets a facelift.

Wobble launch at The Front

The Front reopened it’s gallery in style. Sunday October 30 saw April‘s move back into the cara-van and a flashy collection of art push into the café-bar. DJ Ashley Feraude and saxophonist Dan Bray played the venue‘s first art show this year.

Keep an eye out for Polka Luka’s contemporary resin jewellery collection at The Front this sum-mer and the next Wobble instal-lation in early 2012.

If you’ve been thinking of exhibi-ting, now’s the time. Give Paul a call on 6249 8453, front.gallery@gmail.com

www.wobble.cc

Yacht RockSat Dec 24th 3pm free entryKnightsbridge Penthouse’s an-nual 70’s inspired Christmas Eve event.Wear your best Fleetwood Mac flowery dress, your Farrah Faw-cett hair, trim your John Oates moustache, and come kick back with your Pimm’s No. 1 and a cu-cumber sandwich. To check out the Yacht Rock mythos, search for JD Ryznar’s pivotal ‘Yacht Rock’ series on Youtube.

photo by Cole Bennetts

4

What Wobble was born for.

We pulled off a fully collaborative event. Illustration, video art, mu-sic and furniture.

A balmy Sunday evening in No-vember at ‘The Front’ bar in Lyne-ham, Danny Wilson on the decks with his partner in crime Britt Ni-chols pushing video through to 5 screens and a projector, the illus-tration of Asha Tsimeris growing out of the light.

Illustrated.Furnished.Projected.Played.* The Front

A fine crowd enjoying a few drinks and participating in the performance colouring-in sessi-on, how long have we all waited for an excuse to get out the tex-tas?

Asha approached us having re-ceived a Young Artist Start-up Grant from ArtsACT, we took an enthusiastic offer from the VJ-DJ team and started to plot for the ultimate mixed media event.

You had to be there. ‚pasta plant‘ ink and watercolour 210x290mm $155

5

‚moon and giraffe‘ ink and watercolour 210x290mm $155

Jennifer Edmunds ash stool $180

6

Canberra Lab* Design Blog

A new online space for Canberra design, culture, city spaces and architecture has just been born.

Canberralab.com was conceived by a group of young architects driven by a desire to create a space for the local design indus-try and the broader community.

The Lab reaches out to designers from a range of disciplines, as-king questions about design, but also about sustainability, where Canberra is heading as a city and what the community wants from its urban environment.

The idea was born from a conver-sation between local architects Ronan Moss and Sophie Cle-ment, two of the blog contribu-tors.

‘Sophie and I met at a party… we had a few drinks and were talking about Canberra, we deci-ded that what we needed to do was get out there and try to start something up’ Ronan said. ‘The main idea was to try and set up a conversation with designers in Canberra’.

Launched on 8 December, Can-berralab.com is an online maga-zine, published every two months rich with interviews, multimedia, humour, culture and colour.

7

www.canberralab.com

Having just moved back to Can-berra after a stint out of town, Ronan was frustrated by the fact that on the surface Canberra can look stagnant. But it’s not, at least not anymore.

The pair rallied a group of like-minded souls to drive the pro-ject. Together they‘ve spent the last four months gathering con-tent, recording interviews and bringing the first edition of Can-berra Lab into being.

The core contributors, James Park, Gerard O‘Connell, Sarah Herbert and Nugroho Utomo, all work in architecture, with diffe-rent areas of interest.

‚Primarily it‘s about architecture, but it‘s talking about the city more broadly than just the buil-dings,‘ Sophie said.

The blog will also touch on urban design and creative happenings within the urban framework. Each edition will find a range of com-ments, questions and thought provoking interviews.

‚One section is called A3, it’s a multimedia component with in-terviews of architects who we feel are contributing to the city,‘ Ronan said.

Other regular sections include ‚street critique‘, in which Canber-rans are asked for their opinions on local buildings. And ‚pin up‘, a section to showcase the work of

university students.

If it‘s all sounding a little serious, the ‚smash it‘ section provides vi-deos of frazzled students finding ways to destroy the architectural models they’ve slaved over all year.

The hope is that once the site is up and running, locals with thoughts and opinions on the city and its design will pipe up and get involved. You can also look forward to seeing their urban themed con-tributions to Wobble Magazine every 2 months.

Laurie Meyers

8

Močan & Green Grout

Močan and Green Gout

Močan is the newest addition to the extraordinary arthouse that is New Acton these days. The tiny espresso bar opened its doors in October.

* Espresso Bar

9

The project of Industrial Designer Myles Chandler and Graphic De-signer David Alcorn who’s label Močan originally produced cus-tom bikes: singlespeeds, fixed gear, townies… and handmade clothing.

Myles and Dave linked up with New Acton’s Nectar and Jona-thon Efkarpidis and put together a truly different little venue.

There is an alley that runs bet-ween the ground floor terraces of ‘The Apartments’ and through the back of the heritage listed but slightly charred Diamant ho-tel. The windows of the espres-so bar look out through the alley onto Marcus Clarke St. An unu-sual urban space that will, in the coming months, open onto the Nishi apartments and a refurbis-hed Parlour bar.

The name Močan comes from the Slovenian ‘to be strong’ and is pronounced Mochun thanks to the ‘grapheme’ on the C.

19 Marcus Clarke St New Acton. Open 7am - 6pm Mon to Sat 9-3pm Sunday.

Močan & Green Grout

10

Density* Canberra Lab

* Gerard O‘Connell

Half a thought on densityChattanooga, not Paris.

I love the ABS and I have some stats for you:358 571 people were living in Canberra in 2010. Our suburbs covered 2350 km2, with a population density of 153 persons per km2.

Our footprint of 2350km2 is com-parable to other cities around the world.

It seems we are in good com-pany. However, reconsider the same cities in regards to their population density and we have a different story.

The population density of Paris is 3,550 people per km2, Moscow hosts 4,900/km2 and Kyoto 6,400/km2. All have a footprint of a comparable size to Canber-ra (less than 2,800km2).

That’s right. Our population is 23 times less dense than Paris, and 32 times less dense than Moscow.

Scarier still, is if we assemble a list of those cities with similar population densities to our own. They include the great American cities of:Barnstable Town (290/km2), Massachusetts, USA; Chattanooga (485/km2), Ten-nessee, USA; and Hickory(512/km2), North Carolina, USA. Even then, we are barely making the grade. Granted that Canberra is a unique city, a National Capital, open spaces, a good place for raising a family, access to cul-tural amenity etc... these argu-ments are well understood.

Less widely known, (and more difficult to quantify) are the eco-nomic, social and environmental consequences of such a unique urban form.

In contrast to popular thinking, city dwellers have a smaller car-bon footprint than suburbanites -The average resident of Man-hattan consumes petrol at the same rate as a 1920’s American and Hong Kong is one of the most energy efficient and least automobile dependent cities in the world.Now I’m not about to go all Jane Jacobs on you, but what we do know, is that great cities depend and thrive upon diversity of buil-ding stock, diversity of persons, diversity in urban functions (shops, offices, residences) and of course, density. Canberra is achieving very poor results across most of these criteria.Nor is it an easy fix. A population

11

density of Chattanooga (450 per-sons per sqkm) within the current urban boundary would result in a population in excess of 1 million people. At current growth rates, of (say 6000 people per year) this would take around 125 years. I am not advocating population densities of Kyoto, or even Pa-ris, (maybe we could start with Chattanooga?) nor am I advoca-ting skyscraper and mega urban

forms. But I would suggest that there is an urban character for Canberra that is more appropria-te than the one we have adopted to date, and seem hell-bent on pursuing.We’ll have the solution for you next issue.In the meantime, for those inte-rested in a clever take on cities, I would recommend Edward Glaeser’s , Triumph of the City and David Owens’ entertaining read ‘Green Metropolis’.

Available at Dymocks city store.

www.canberralab.com

Images courtesy of: Changchun Research Studio, University of Canberra Architec-ture, 2011.

12

* Canberra Centre, CityBooks* Dymocks Canberra

As the dust that was once Bor-ders and Angus and Robertson settles, online retail empires rise and ebooks expand their market share - we start to ask questions about the future of the printed page. The Borders business model of supermarket style book sales has failed dismally, twice.

But there‘s still something in it for the little guy - according to the owners of Dymocks in Canberra City Alison and Richard Kay.It was not so long ago things were looking tough for small, locally-owned booksellers in the CBD. Originally located in City Walk, two years ago Alison and Ri-chard decided to relocate their Dymocks franchise to the Can-berra Centre.They made the move in order put themselves in the space where their customers were shopping, City Walk had seen tumbleweed since the mall extension. They were facing potential domination of a new Borders store.Since then the tables have tur-ned.Borders Australia failed in 2008 and was bought out by Angus and Robertson. Owned by the same company, Red Group Re-tail, Borders and Angus and Ro-bertson went into receivership in early 2011. The downturn in retail spending, growth in book sales online and the strong Aussie dol-lar were all said to have played a role.It all happened at an alarming pace.

Asha Tsimeris ‘my horse likes to read late at night‘ ink, watercolour 290x210mm $155

13

our customers like and what they‘re reading,‘ staff member Shannon Kellett said. ‚It means that we can be very responsive. Within a couple of days we can have new books on the shelf‘.Dymocks Canberra also made a point of hiring staff with a love of books, primarily local universi-ty students and graduates with their own special areas of inte-rest in reading.‘They spend a lot of their own time thinking about it and coming up with ideas for us,‘ Richard said. ‘That passion is what drives the business really. We see books as

Just why did the big, shiny Bor-ders store fail to push through the pain barrier and why have the smaller players survived?Richard puts it down to the love of books.Rick and Alison know their re-gulars by name, treat their staff like family, speak about the store itself like an old friend and relish the opportunity to host authors for signings and book launches. John Birmingham, the author of ‘He Died With a Falafel in His Hand’, shared beers with fans last month.And unlike other chains which have failed in the changing mar-ket, Dymocks is a network of stores that are owned and run locally. The Kays believe this indepen-dence is what‘s helped their store weather the poor retail conditions of recent years.With company-owned chain stores, book ordering is gene-rally done centrally from a head office far from the store and it’s clientelle. It’s the luxury of small, independent stores that they can select all their own titles, and can be flexible in what they stock. ‘We‘re talking to customers all day everyday - so we know what

such a crucial part of society… it‘s part of education, it‘s part of culture, it‘s part of how you live. That enthusiasm I think carries over into the business .’Richard acknowledges that ebooks and online retailers will continue to shave down their market share, but for now he and Alison remain confident about their future and are committed to the book trade. ‘Additional service, that’s what you can‘t get online, and that‘s really what we‘ve concentrated on’.

Laurie Meyers

Alison, Richard and Suzy Kay

14

Desire Lines

Facing a fork in the pedestrian road leading up to the Kings Ave bridge ...

the choices are clear – follow the strictly orchestrated pave-ment curling mindlessly to the right, or head straight along the path most travelled. The line of pavement meanders uninvitingly whilst the desired path ahead is well worn and wide.

A designer can’t help but imagi-ne the brief that was prepared for this bureaucratically formulated and counter-intuitive maze; ‘we need a pedestrian crossing and room for runners, but here’s the catch, it must also be able to ac-commodate the turning circle of a barge.’ Faced with a choice of how to get from A to B in an ur-ban environment, people speak with their feet, and Kings Ave is just one of dozens of examples around town.

As a newcomer to Canberra, I often feel the city is playing some kind of Kafka-esque joke on me, but it isn’t a joke, in fact it’s dead serious and there is great expectation that no-one breaks script - as designers we acquie-sce. Are Canberran designers so beholden to the Griffin geometry that we fear one misguided line will send the town into unrecog-nisable chaos?

www.canberralab.com

* Canberra Lab

* James Park Konrad Lenz 27x20cm $150

15

Kate Travis 08LED photo print 386x510mm

Kate Travis 04 LED photo print 386x510mm$180

Alex Lewis ‚Downtown‘ 2011 etching 50x36cm

$180

Kate Travis 12 LED photo print 386x510mm$180

16

Chris Hardy Triple stool

Chris Hardy powder ring

Chris Hardy paper pendant lamp

Local Design* Chris Hardy

www.chrishardy.com.au

17

Polka Luka Oeuf $35

Polka Luka Moderist $25

Polka Luka wrap-bangle $40

Polka Luka Ellypsis bangle $35

Polka Luka Eclipse ring $25

Local Design* The Front

www.polkaluka.com.au

18

Locations

2

10

Aprils Caravan

**

*

*

* Wobble recommends *

*

www.wobble.cc

19

DYMOCKSShop DF18 Canberra Centre, Bunda St City ACT 2601Mon - Thu 9 - 5.30Fri 9 - 9 Sat 9 - 5 Sun 10 - 4

MOčAN & GREEN GROUT19 Marcus Clarke StNew Acton ACT 2601Mon - Sat 7 - 6Sun 9 -3

TWO BEFORE TEN40 Marcus Clarke StreetCanberra City, 2601Mon - Fri 7 - 4Sat 8 -2

2

10

APRILS CARAVAN5 hall St lyneham. opposite bike shop at lyneham shops.Wednesday - Sunday

THE FRONT1 Wattle PlaceLyneham ACT, 2602

KNIGHTSBRIDGEPenthouse1/34 Mort StBraddon ACT 2612Mo - ClosedTue - Wed 5 - 12Thu 4 -1 Fri 4 - 3 Sat 2 - 3

Wobble’s next magazine launch: Knightsbridge Penthouse, Thursday 16th February 2012

*

“The Listening Post” Sculptor by Paul Jamieson

O’Connor Wetlands, Banksia St