tiffany bozic

The succinct, technically obsessed San Franciscan artist Tiffany Bozic left more than a lasting impression on us; she literally made our first-day experience. And as for the rest of the conference… well, it’s safe to say she intrigued onlookers with the intricacies of her methods. Her multi-styled, multimedia works do more than just convey meaning; they create a Narnian-esque world in which it is ever so easy to become lost…

…almost as easy as it is to become lost in the words of the 27-year-old artist as she tells her tales of living for her work; of poverty and sacrifice. Bozic spoke almost fondly of moving cross-country from San Francisco to being holed up in a small room at the back of her father’s house. She made light of the situation as if it were a choice not made by her but by her art, through her. Is’s no new tale, this struggling-artist saga, but it certainly is refreshing to hear it come out of the mouth of one of our contemporaries, rather than reading it off the pages of an art history book.

toko

For those in the audience whose chosen area of expertise was graphic design there was the darling Scandinavian duo, Toko. This recently adopted Sydney team entertained the auditorium with humorous anecdotes of damning dykes with their images (see past projects), of working on dubious dance parties in order to expand their repertoire and of swelling the head of the protagonist of one of their MTV campaigns beyond recognition… and then forgetting to tell the subject of their visual re-invention until after the ad went to print. Oops.

sophie howarth

Prior to Toko’s relaxed presentation, official photographer for the Big Day Out, Sophie Howarth took to the podium. Howarth has a reputation that precedes her into photo pits across the nation. Nowadays you are more likely to find the petite snapper perched side of stage, lapping up the beneficial angles that come with one such reputation. This one-time fine artist admits she fell into the photography game, but luckily for us she’s not looked back since.

si scott

Life education verses book education was a reoccurring theme raised by many a speaker throughout the two days. One example of a university loser and life winner took to the stage with a hesitance that blighted his talent. Si Scott was so uncomfortable in the SP spotlight he looked as if he would pass out at any moment. In the past his fantastic typographical illustrations have been the focal point of print advertising campaigns for Burton Snowboards, Nike, Hugo Boss and MTV (and that is just the first page of his rather extensive CV). BBC Television were so intrigued with his work they created a series about it. Scott is a beacon of hope for print purists and Photoshop haters the world over. He believes in hand-to-paper methods, in time spent and gratification earned. Despite being worlds apart in medium, method and mentality there is something about Scott’s and Tiffany Bozic’s beliefs that makes them unlikely bedfellows…

mike o'meally

Did someone say renowned Australian photographer? As the afternoon began to draw closer to eve on the second and final day, Australia’s finest skate-photography export, Mike O’Meally took to the podium. With published contributions in skate aficionado magazines Thrasher, Slam and Transworld (to name just three) under his belt O’Meally had every right to gloat. And gloat he did when recounting the story of his College Of Fine Arts teacher who disparaged his aspirations in front of the class, berating him with the age old adage, ‘you’ll never amount to anything…’ Suffice to say, these days said teacher is making a feast of her words on which she chows down from time to time. If you want to see a spectacular example of O’Meally’s work, check out the Monster Children skate shoot involving a barge with a half-pipe on Sydney Harbour. We kid you not.

marmalade

Last but not least for the kluster crew was the effervescent creator of Marmalade magazine. As one of the UK’s biggest underground success stories in recent times (Kate Moss turned up to their launch party and was turned away because the party was already over capacity) Marmalade have only just begun on their journey of redefinition. Co-founder Sasha Spencer-Trace more than happily divulged the ins and outs of creating, consummating and maintaining said magazine. Their methodology is as fresh as it is old-school, as are their techniques. Their processes are driven by a desire to create something unique with every addition; each new issue is laid out and built by hand before being photographed, scanned in and retouched for print.