Reg Mombassa – what a guy. I love the man, his work and his great dry (and sharp!) sense of humour. I’d love an original, please, because after his talk, the prints I’ve got of his work just don’t cut the mustard.
This huge original Brett Whiteley was hanging just outside the conference theatre. I had a chance to admire it for a few minutes. It blows me away that an artwork of such huge value can be on display in a public venue, and no-one thinks to deface it. Gives me a little faith in this world, day and age for sure.
Ex-BWM staff drinks at The Rose. Some of the guys got pretty lose, always fun to see haha.
Semi Day 2. I snuck a snap in with long time design buddy Andrew Johnstone who founded DiK and runs the conference.
Laurence Ng and I. We’ve crossed paths many times over the years. He’s the publisher of IdN Magazine and it’s always great to see him. I’m hoping I can somehow work with him again sometime in the future.
I’ve been at Semi-Permanent the past couple of days at Darling Harbour. I’ve not been to one in a very long time, and the time before that I spoke at one. It’s still held at the same place, and there’s still 3,000 or so people (mostly design students) in attendance.
As the conference started (on Friday) I instantly realised how much hard work it is to pay full attention to someone speaking for one hour in a dark room. It reminded me of uni days. I could either A) fall asleep, or B) try to extract something out of their presentation. I chose path “B” and I managed to get something out of pretty much every speaker on day 1.
The standout speaker for me was Reg Mombassa who pretty much made a success of Dare Jenning’s “Mambo” fashion surf brand which was huge when I was growing up in high school. I wore a lot of Mambo gear back then and lots of my fave mambo gear had Reg’s work on it.
Later that night (after Semi) we hit The Rose for ex-BWM staff drinks as Christina used to work for BWM. I was the designated driver so I got kinda frustrated at the end of the night when people were starting to get pretty lose. I ended up being the designated Taxi driver too (great!).
Day 2 of the conference was today. It was harder work than yesterday but I’ve walked away with a little inspiration, which is what I was looking for. I want to get back into skateboarding, just a little. At least I want to start by designing my own deck.
Through the conference I’ve realised I’m missing ART, a lot. I used to have to make art. I think design killed this. I need to make art again, but without having to smoke weed. It’s not going to be easy, but I’m pretty hungry for it. I can only try. I’ve got nothing to lose!
PS: If you’re keen on getting a bit of a lowdown on the speakers and what they spoke about at Semi-Conference. Visit INfront where Damien has amazingly tried to document as many speakers as he could over the 2 days. Visit: www.australianinfront.com.au
I need to make art again, but without having to smoke weed.
lol