The weekend that was... markets as far as the eye can see

To be honest it seems like everywhere you turn there is a pop up store or market happening! I managed to make it to two of these events that ran over the weekend. One was  The Design Files  Open House which ran for 4 days in a private residence on Eastbourne Street in Windsor. 

The other was  Peoples Market in Collingwood, which could be summed up as shipping containers, hipsters as far as the eye can see! Food, drink, music, flea market & crafty finds. 

64 – 68  Stanley street, Collingwood, VIC 3066. Those in the rag trade would know the Max New warehouse on Stanley street it's next to that! It's operating from Thursday to Sunday through summer & is basically open from breakkie through to dinner. December 1 to April 28 2013.

I used to work in Collingwood in the about 15 years ago so it to see the changes in the buildings & the street scape. In terms of retail it is exciting that there are these events being put on & interesting use of space. Spaces that have been idle that have been re-purposed. So it must be asked it is all getting to be too much the same? How is this affecting bricks & mortar retail spaces? Also what's going to be next?

Needless to say I think it is giving retail a shake up and giving consumers more variety. I do think mass market retailers need to give their customers more credit as they are savvy. Certainly the sameness & cookie cutter mass produced has made shopping just a bit dull in stores of late. Even with the economic climate it seems that if something is special enough there will be some one who wants it & will spend the money on it. 

There is also another market being run by the same organisers of Markit at FedSquare called The Big Design Market coming up. I'm not taking part but will definitely be going along to check out the goodies on offer - some buddies have stalls there. Will be nice to go as a shopper as will actually get to see the market. The Big Design Market runs 7/8/9 of December at the Royal Exhibition Building Carlton.  Facebook event page here 

I would encourage everyone to try to buy local and handmade this festive season if not the present maybe the card, wrapping or an element of the gift. There is some amazing talent & crafts people locally so get out there & shop!! 
 
Love Miss FOO XXX

Fur & Whiskers group show and new work

UPDATE: images of the opening can be viewed at my Facebook page

"The Origin of Fur and Whiskers" is a group show that I am taking part in this month. It's  looking to be a fun show with a mix of diverse work, I had a sneak peek of the show when I dropped off my work over the weekend. 

I'm submitting 2 works for this show the first is a series titled "The animal in you" made up of a group of nine portraits. Unfortunately due to the size of the gallery the full series will not be on display. I was thinking how animals are often used to describe personality traits. There are so many animal based idioms. The full series is made up of a series of a group of 9 using a shadow portrait as a base.

"animal in you series" by Sai-Wai Foo

I quite like the ambiguity of the silhouette, I did find myself imagining the types of people these were once there animal totems had been assigned to them. In there series there is a 'stubborn goat','top dog', 'show pony', 'spring chicken', 'bird brain', 'black sheep', 'curious cat', 'night owl' and a rather 'bull headed' lady.

"A Good Looking bird" by Sai-Wai Foo

The second piece is titled "A good looking bird" again playing on oft used vernacular to describe a good looking woman. The piece is an paper assemblage of an ostrich in a glass and steel housing. She is quite glamourous and fun to make with all her pleats, pearls and sequins, not to mention her lovely long eyelashes! She is housed in a steel & glass container, she kind of reminds me of the witch Mombi in Return to OZ.

Image from Return to Oz (image from http://oneofeachblog.com/tag/return-to-oz)

 
The show opens on 5th of October and is at Off the Kerb gallery founded & run by Shini an old school friend. It's really nice to renew a friendship that goes back to well let's just say quite a few years.  Shini is one half of a very talented set of twins I went to school with. They are both very talented artists in high school however did not pursue their creative careers until graduating from"sensible" degrees!  Shini made the jump to art school her sister Dhini moved to fashion; up until last year had her own label is now head designer for a fashion brand. It's great how both girls ended up in a creative field as I could not imagine either of them being very happy in "sensible" non-creative job!

Pop by the opening!
Love Miss Foo XXX

 Off the Kerb Gallery

The Origin of Fur and Whiskers

5th October - 19th October, 2012 (Opening on Friday 5th October 6-9pm)

Opening Hours are Thurs & Fri 12:30pm-6pm, Sat & Sun 12-5pm. Entry is Free.

66B Johnston St, Collingwood, 3066
9077 0174