We at Two Flat Whites just wanted to say a big thank you for all your support in 2008. We wish you & your families a Merry Christmas & fantastic New Year!

We have bigger interviews, more competitions, additional young writers coming onboard & surprises in 2009. So stay tuned & enjoy your holidays!

The Art Gallery of New South Wales presents Half Light- Portraits from Black Australia, on view through until the 22nd February 2009. Photography by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists has emerged over the past two decades as a definitive expression of contemporary Indigenous life in Australia. Half Light is the first major survey of the work of Indigenous artists engaging with the photographic medium and the portrait.

The exhibition brings together over 140 works by 15 of Australia’s most renowned Indigenous artists. With a critical eye on the history of photographic representations of Indigenous people, these artists take charge of the lens. In the exhibition we see the ‘face’ of Indigenous Australia, at home on the mission pouring tea, dancing up in country or re-enacting and reclaiming the past.

Showcasing a range of techniques from classical black and white portraiture to large scale duratrans; from digital imagery to experimental films, the exhibition offers an unprecedented insight that transcends national borders and the harsh reality of the everyday.

Half Light embraces the fundamental right of people to self-representation, expressed in the works of Indigenous photographers who have upheld – and continue to uphold – this simple truth. The exhibition is curated by Hetti Perkins and Jonathan Jones, Curators of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the Art Gallery of NSW.

Art Gallery of NSW
21 November 2008 – 22 February 2009
Rudy Komon gallery, Upper Level

As an Aussie I have been raised with this wonderful ability to completely ignore how ridiculous it is to be singing ‘Dashing through the snow…’ or ‘A partridge in a pear tree…’ when, in fact the only snow glimpsed during the silly season is on the back of toilet seats at office Chrissy parties and the poor old bird has been replaced with prawns and a mango.  There are no cosy fires down under and this Christmas looks to be the usual humid, thunderous event it normally is.

Australia has an odd and often delusional relationship with the festival of Christmas.  We spray our windows with foamy fake snow (and wonder why we got the ozone layer hole.) Many diehard fans still labour over a turkey or ham while the family swelters around the candle lit table, sweat mushing up the frayed edges of our paper crowns.  We have inherited a decidedly European culture and though, over the years, many noble attempts have been made to Australian-ise the festivities (‘Six White Boomers’ anyone?) we haven’t quite got our head around the bizarre incongruity of yuletide celebrations on a stinking hot, semi-arid tropical island.

(more…)

The second Hip Pop show continues with the best of young, fresh and exciting Australian talent. Supporting Father Chris Riley’s Youth off The Streets, the exhibition showcases 4 ‘hip’ and 4 ‘pop’ artists from 2008. A donation will be made from the sale of each artwork to Father Chris Riley’s charity.

The Hip: James Hancock, Kate Scardifield, Thor Engelstad and Adele ‘Buni’ Macer
The Pop: Kieran Antill, Dennis Ropar, Jane Fontane and Ben Rak

United Galleries Sydney
28th November to 28th January 2009

179-181 Palmer Street,
Darlinghurst NSW 2010
p: 02 8915 5300

Professional first time writer/ director Jasmine Yuen-Carrucan does a good job with this Australian film. It’s a suspense/ thriller which is well made with plenty of shots of outback Australia.

A make shift kidnapper (Travis McMahon) is in desperate need of money for his little girl & in these hopeless times he resorts to delivering a talkative conman (David Lyons) to a group of thugs for a small fortune. He travels thousands of kilometres across the country & the two of them build quite a bond & camaraderie towards each other.

Bryan Brown plays the local cop & as you would expect knows everyone from Broken Hill to Alice Springs. He is a likeable character with plenty of charm & an evil side to boot. The versatile Shane Jacobson plays the country truckie & finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The film can be a little slow going, but I did enjoy the characters who really brought this movie alive. The scenes from the soaring outback & the smooth story line were quite enjoyable. If you’re a revhead you’ll enjoy the reference in the movie to the old Australian rivalry of Ford v Holden. Not a bad effort for a low budget Australian flick!

Article written by Liam Gibbs

If you are looking for something to do this weekend, a couple of art exhibitions are beginning in inner Sydney showcasing some of the works from the very best of Sydney’s young artists. Blank Space Gallery presents ‘Hallelujah’ – a group show featuring a selection of Australian artists including Simon Degroot, Beastman, Luke Taaffe, Ben Frost, Rico, Bridge, Creon, Simon Lovelace, Anthony Lister, Arthur Sikiotis, Smitten by Stephanie and more. The exhibition opens this Thursday, 18th December from 6pm to 9pm at Blank Space Gallery, 374 Crown Street, Surry Hills and continues until the end of December.

‘Cardboard City’ is an exhibition of original artworks on cardboard by Ears, Kwan, Max Berry and Syke. These 4 artists are well known for their art busking on King Street in Newtown over the last year or two. The exhibition opens this Thursday, 18th December from 6pm to 9pm at Oh Really Gallery, 55 Enmore Road, Newtown. All artworks are $20 each on the night, and are selling straight off the walls.

A Canberra lawyer who won the right to serve legal documents on two defendants via Facebook says courts around the country will follow his lead. In what he believes is a world first, lawyer Mark McCormack tracked down a couple who had defaulted on a six-figure loan using the internet and served them with a default judgment. The fact the defaulters’ Facebook accounts included their names, dates of birth and listed each other as “friends”, was enough to persuade the court it had the right people in its sights. You can read the full article here.

The internet, MySpace & Facebook, we have been advised for years to be careful what information & in particular personal details we place online. First it was a growing trend in online fraud. Scammers taking your personal details & taking out loans on your behalf & stealing your credit card information. Then a few months ago in Sydney we had an employer who sacked a person for revealing on his Facebook account that he was not sick & continued to brag about it to his online friends.

Then we get to one of my favourite topics, the youth of our nation, spending more & more time developing they’re online social skills through the internet, email, etc, while neglecting real life social situations. They then wonder why they fail to get a job, cannot hold a real life conversation, are less confident & find it difficult to work the room at a party that doesn’t cover up there lack of social skills through loud music.

The point to this blurb is be very careful what information you place on Facebook, MySpace or the internet, remember that once its online it stays in the public eye forever. Be particularly careful what personal information you place online & keep in mind, if you get an offer that is too good to refuse, it probably is! What do you think? All comments are welcome.

Article written by Danielle Hewett

If life were perfect people would pay their bills on time. Sadly this is rarely the case and many a designer has been in the situation of what to do with an unpaid invoice.

We all love hearing “The cheques in the mail”, “Just waiting for some money to come in”, “Can I pay some now, and some later?”, “I will have the money to you on Friday, I promise”, “Can you resend your invoice again, I seem to have misplaced it” or even “The dog ate my emails”. We have put together a few simple steps to hopefully help you get paid on time, ease the economic crunch & give you a little extra for Christmas!

You can read the article right here.

Missy Higgins is one fantastic Australian musician. She is passionate & sincere. Missy is a welcome relief in a music landscape littered with disposable pop. The 25 year old singer/ songwriter shuns the usual synthetic packaging and tabloid tackiness. Instead she’s adopted a more timeless approach, relying on her undeniable songs and unforgettable live performances to forge a genuine connection with her audience.

Higgins’ new album, On A Clear Night, retains the irresistible melodies and piercing lyrics of her critically lauded debut The Sound of White, which was Australia’s best-selling album of 2005. On A Clear Night (certified triple platinum in Australia) was awarded the Highest Selling Australian album of 2007 and saw Missy crowned with yet another Aria Award as the country’s “Best Female Artist” for the second time.

Two Flat Whites was glad to hear that Missy Higgins has given an internet-only performance from her new home town of Broome to highlight the threat to the Kimberley region from industrialisation. The award-winning singer from Sydney moved to Broome a year ago and says her new environment has inspired her songwriting. Check out the performance here.

Shane Warne the Musical was as you would expect, theatre with extra spin, art imitating life, imitating art, until it was impossible to say which was which.

The first cheer of the night at Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre was for the real Warne as he took his seat, A13, in the dress circle, and was as rousing as if he had just been thrown the ball. The last was also for Warne as he joined Eddie Perfect and the cast on the stage for the curtain call and the Athenaeum audience chanted his name.

Originally, Warne objected to the making of the show, a point Perfect also caricatured at the start. Now, he not only had endorsed it, but as good as guaranteed it as a box office success.

Shane Warne the Musical
Athenaeum Theatre
188 Collins Street, Melbourne
From the 10th December 2008