Originally published in RealTime magazine, September, 2009. I began writing about Australian animation in 2003, but only by default. I was in the queues for the Melbourne International Film Festival waiting to see various short film programs, which is what I intended to review. I kept overhearing the names ‘Adam Elliot’ and ‘Harvie Krumpet’ in [...]

An artificial reef in the Red Sea, which features in the Landscape Futures section. Originally published in Blueprint, 19 August 2009. Los Angeles-based Geoff Manaugh has been described by fellow futurist writer Bruce Sterling as ‘the world’s greatest practitioner of “architecture fiction”’. His online ideas factory, BLDGBLOG, attracts descriptors like ‘promiscuous’ and ‘omnivorous’. His new, [...]

WWII monument on Peleliu. Photo: Simon Sellars. Originally published in Dynasty, China Airlines’ inflight magazine, August 2009. Deep in the North Pacific ocean, 800km east of the Philippines and over 3000km south of Tokyo, lies the Republic of Palau. You may know it from the Survivor TV show, which filmed two series here, making full [...]

Carmen Torero. Originally published in RealTime issue #92 Aug-Sept 2009 pg. 31. IN ITS 9TH ITERATION, THE MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL’S PROGRAMMING POLICY CONTINUES TO BE BRAVE AND ADVENTUROUS, AND THIS RESULTED IN ANOTHER DIVERSE SET OF PROGRAMS. THIS YEAR, THE BOAST WAS THAT MIAF SCREENED OVER 400 FILMS SELECTED FROM OVER 2,000 ENTRIES, SPREAD [...]

Photo: Andrew Rowat. (More photos here.) Originally published in Dwell, May 2008. Aaron Roberts and Thomas Bailey, the young architects behind room11, teamed up to design a house for Aaron’s parents, fixing the structure into the topography of the site. The Kingston House is deceptive. From the street only the property’s raised garage can be [...]

PeursDuNoir [Fear(s) of the Dark] – Burns 06, Charles Burns. Originally published in RealTime issue #86 Aug-Sept 2008 pg. 24. THIS YEAR’S MIAF WAS FLUSH WITH RICHES. SELECTED FROM OVER 2000 ENTRIES, THERE WERE 150 FILMS IN COMPETITION AND 150 OUTSIDE OF IT. THERE WAS AN EIGHT-PROGRAM INTERNATIONAL SELECTION, MUSIC VIDEOS, DIGITAL ANIMATION, STUDIO AND [...]