Hot Spots: urban gardening

Tuesday 20 July 2010, 12:53 PM
By The Team | Posted in Places

Legend has it you need seven acres of fertile land just for a potato and a sprig of asparagus. We say Melbourne is just the urban environment to prove that legend wrong. These days, whether you live in a high-rise ‘shoebox’ or a converted ice-cream truck, you can still find a way to grow your own greenery.

According to three city-based gardening ventures, creativity and a bit of dirt are all that’s required to get your blooming on.

Urban Reforestation

An ecologically friendly venture has recently set down its roots along the water’s edge in Docklands. Urban Reforestation is a community garden, eco-shop and educational centre, proudly sprouting out among the state-of-the-art buildings in Victoria Harbour.

The centre offers gardening classes and cooking classes – and cooking-from-the-garden classes. Come along and see how to grow your salad and eat it too.

Surviving Sustainability

Condiment – Adventures in Food and Form is a publication and project-base exploring food and creativity and food and community. This group is the mastermind behind the multi-sleeve picnic rug – both a rug to dine upon and a cosy garment to share with a friend.

The group’s next foray into multi-functionality is a studio kitchen with a built-in worm farm and window garden, a collaboration with Sibling architecture as part of the Surviving Sustainability:_______ project curated by ffiXXed.

You can see the kitchen at the West Wing Space in Melbourne Central where it is on display for the duration of the State of Design Festival  

Urban Crop

Artisan floral architect, Joost Bakker, has invented a special technique for transporting and storing portable flowers and herbs – so now our city has its very own mobile plant service.

Plants come with root systems intact so they will continue to flourish in your home. Herbs stay fresh for a week or two in your kitchen – if you can wait that long to harvest them. Flowers will bloom far and beyond the life of a cut flower.

Once your crop is finished, the whole thing (including the pot) can be transferred to the compost heap. Alternately, take it back to Urban Crop for composting – and pick up a replacement.

Find out where you can purchase Urban Crop products below.

LINKS
Urban Crop purchase locations
Urban Reforestation
Condiment – Adventures in Food and Form
Urban Crop
State of Design Festival
Sibling
ffiXXed
West Wing Space
Joost Bakker

Q&A: Costume capers with Anna Cordingley

Wednesday 14 April 2010, 9:40 AM
By The Team | Posted in Events and People

Malthouse Theatre’s current theatrical offering is the outrageous performance of Elizabeth: Almost by Chance A Woman. Featuring a cast led by Julie Forsyth and Bille Brown, the costumes in this riotous new production are a visual feast prepared lovingly (with a touch of crazy) by their in-house designer, Anna Cordingley.

What was the brief for costume design?

Elizabeth is a manic, naughty, rollicking and sometimes harrowing piece which throws itself from tragedy to comedy and back again. Historical accuracy is obviously not a necessary burden here. Rather, I’ve designed in order to echo the playfulness, mania and excess of the play.

Are the costumes tricky for the actors to wear?  

Sixteenth century dress can’t have been pleasant. Add running around on a revolving stage, recalling lines, blocking and directorial nuance and the actors have a near impossible task!  We’ve substituted finer, contemporary fabrics for the authentic, heavy piles to make it a little easier.

What does Elizabeth’s costume involve?

Elizabeth is dressed from the bottom up: hose, bloomers, corset, farthingale, hip pads and bum-rolls, skirt, overskirt, bodice, leg-o-mutton sleeves, full standing collar, wig, crown and bolero-cape!  Her costume consists of 12 separate pieces, plus a headpiece. In total, 40 metres of fabric (including upholstery fabric) from 13 different sources and 22 metres of boning!

What has been your inspiration?

I’ve drawn on the style, form and structure of sixteenth century regalia, but as the characters are constantly dressing, undressing and cross-dressing, I looked to Vivienne Westwood for something of a deconstruction of the classics.  I adore her work, particularly the rough-hewn and the delicate alongside one another.

Do you have a favourite place in Melbourne to harness this inspiration and gather your thoughts?

A stone’s throw from my place is a sprawling courtyard which I adore. It sits behind the banking stretch on Collins Street – accessed from Little Collins, between Queen and Elizabeth streets (interestingly!). It’s a favourite for suits during the daytime and skaters at night – I love it. Oriental Teahouse is right on site too.

When Elizabeth is all over, where are we likely to find you enjoying a celebratory drink?

That’s easy. Siglo at 161 Spring Street. I’m a fan of the rooftop terrace whatever the season.

Elizabeth: Almost By Chance A Woman is on at the Malthouse Theatre until 24 April.

Malthouse Theatre is also hosting ‘A Short History of the Merkin’ on Sunday 18 April at 2.30pm. Robyn Healy, Fashion Program Director at RMIT’s School of Architecture and Design, will take you into the dark corners of the Elizabethan wardrobe: frilled collars, codpieces and of course, the merkin.

Letterheads: exhibition of the English alphabet

Wednesday 3 March 2010, 10:43 AM
By The Team | Posted in Events

Letterheads is a fabulous exhibition of 26 letters by 26 artists from across the globe with backgrounds in illustration, cartoon, fine art, street art and graphic design. that’s melbourne soaked up the vibe at the opening last Friday night and caught up with two of the artists known for their work in our lovely laneways.

Letterheads is showing at 1000£Bend until Friday 19 March.

Artists: Graeme Base, Mark Bode, SheOne, Shun Kawakami, Craig Costello, Meggs, Ghost Patrol, James Reka, Greg Lamarche, Mr Jago, Kami, Luca Ionescu, Anthony Lister, Kid Zoom, Sasu, Sync, James Greenaway, Scott Neo, Usugrow & Bene, TwoOne, Kano One7two, Shohei Takasaki, Phibs, French, Yusk and Puzle.

Have you been? What was your favourite letter? Recognise any of the artists from our laneways? Leave a comment and share your thoughts…