Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 104 - Nov/Dec 2021 i frankie Magazine

But let’s be real, being chill is overrated. This is my first issue as editor, and, look, I’m pretty damn psyched about it. It feels like just yesterday that I was hogging the stack of frankie mags at my local library, poring over every word and picture inside. If you had told 15-year-old me that I’d one day be editing those very pages, I would have waved you off. I want to thank frankie’s top-notch former editors, Sophie Kalagas and Jo Walker, for showing me the ropes these past three years. I’ll admit, sitting in the big chair is daunting. But as the folks in this issue demonstrate, it pays to chase what you love and give it a red-hot go, whether you’re turning a vending machine into a creative…

There’s a scene in Writing with Fire where a young journalist called Shyamkali has a little moan about how hard it is for her to make deadlines. The doco film shows us she’s been trained to shoot and edit video on her phone for Khabar Lahariya, India’s only all-female media outlet. Her team has been expanding through social media, chasing clicks on Facebook and YouTube with hard-hitting local news. They’re pissing off people in power, even though they were born with none: as women of the Dalit caste, they are considered untouchable by many Indians. It’s extraordinary that Shyamkali has a voice at all – let alone a platform for her stories – but the reason she’s struggling with deadlines is much more basic. Shyamkali lives in a slum, and…

Some may argue that analog photography is a dying art, but chat to any film devotee and they’ll point you towards a thriving community of independent photo labs and happy snappers keeping the medium alive. Just take creative couple Mikaela and James Barker, for example. Together, they run Thicc Boi Film, a rather novel business comprising an online store and a film vending machine in Raine Square, Perth. The duo first hatched plans to dispense rolls of film and reusable compact cameras during the pandemic. At the time, Mikaela had just been stood down from her retail job, and James, a cinematographer, was working from home. To cope with the changes, and to “stay sane”, the pair threw themselves into a passion project. “Film photography is like therapy for us,”…

What comes to mind when you think of art conservation? Do you picture a fancy gallery where bespectacled workers in white lab coats dust cobwebs off centuries-old Renaissance paintings? If so, you’re not completely off the mark, but you might be surprised to learn that modern artworks require careful preservation, too. At c/o Studios, a contemporary art-conservation business in Melbourne, founders Robyn Ho and Eleanor Vallier attend to everything from paintings and sculptures to installations. They’re passionate about caring for sentimental pieces, too, including precious family heirlooms (like your great-grandma’s quilt) and culturally significant objects not traditionally deemed gallery-worthy. One of their most recent jobs came from a lady who found a mysterious painting hidden behind a print. “The frame had fallen and cracked, and while opening it up, she…

Where is it? 709 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley, Queensland. Describe Forge Forward in a sentence. Forge Forward is a contemporary design space in Brisbane that hosts local and international creatives with a graphic design focus. What goes on there? We’re predominantly a boutique retail store that stocks independent artists and designers. We also run workshops and events with creatives. (Our favourite thing to do is hold events like our MINI MALL market, where we pack out the space with stuff from local makers.) Every so often, we host feature artists who take over a wall and a window, display their work instore and run workshops. Forge is also home to my hair salon, LOST SALON. Talk us through your products. We love apparel (I design all of our in-house clothing…

I was an actor for many years. What I observed anecdotally was that wellbeing was not always at the forefront of the industry. As an actor, you want to be grateful for the work you get, but that means you can also be put in vulnerable positions where you don’t feel like you can say no. An intimacy coordinator facilitates clear and open communication for actors working with intimate content. Intimate content can include nudity, sex scenes or sexual violence, but it can also be any time two people need to touch or are in close proximity. That’s where there could potentially be vulnerabilities. We make sure that actors feel comfortable, safe, supported and that their boundaries are respected, while also helping serve the director’s vision. We want to create…

Dearest frankie, I’m wondering if my sister is writing for you and hiding behind the identity of Lisa Marie Corso. Either that or the two of them should form a joint national coaster-police force. I’m sure wooden tables everywhere are singing Lisa’s praises for saving their glossy backs. Much love, Tegan xx Dear frankie, All it took to discover you were 108 days in lockdown and a random urge to pick up a now-foreign object to my generation: a magazine. I loved the diversity and originality of the stories in issue 103, and I particularly enjoyed being introduced to Sue Butler in Emma Do’s article. I never pondered much about who creates dictionaries, and even so, I would have pictured a group of older men sitting around a table. I’m…

Before Eliza Rogers moved to Tasmania from Brisbane, she had a pretty clear idea of what her dream house would look like. “It was an old stone house in the countryside with a rambling rose around the doorway and maybe an orchard,” she says. Instead, since 2017, she’s been living in a ’70s Besser block three-bedroom townhouse in inner-city Hobart, with a small courtyard and nothing growing around the front door. There are heaps of indoor plants, though, including begonias that she grew from cuttings she was given from the botanic gardens in Hobart. “It’s totally silly to be able to say they came from there,” she says. Letting go of that rural dream wasn’t too hard, Eliza says. She and Frida, her Jack Russell-dachshund cross, had been living in…

My list of grievances against the novel coronavirus is a long one. Frankly, there’s an awful lot I begrudge it for, and I just don’t see our friendship continuing once this all blows over. We all hold on to some truly depressing and harrowing things, but I traditionally prefer my reasons for holding a grudge to be petty and self-serving. That’s why the following statement is unjustifiably high on my grievances list: I will never forgive the pandemic for forcing me to do cardio. But seriously, folks, we are the damned and this is hell we are walking through. Or, at least, we were walking, and I was happy doing so. Now it’s more of a sad little trot with patches of walking when I feel like I’m finally in…

Having real conversations with your parents can be hard. Add in a host of cultural differences and it becomes even harder. But what if a heart-to-heart was as simple as asking the right questions? And would you feel comfortable opening up in the company of strangers? That’s what actor and writer Saraid de Silva, along with photographer and filmmaker Julie Zhu, are encouraging New Zealanders to do through their project Conversations With My Immigrant Parents. Since 2019, the Auckland-based duo has released two seasons of their podcast and video series with Radio New Zealand, revealing and deepening new connections for whanau (families and communities) of different cultural backgrounds across Aotearoa. “Julie and I had known each other for a little while, and there were a lot of conversations with our…

Writing a memoir is, in many ways, an exercise in self-reflection. As such, I refuse to undertake this ordeal, specifically because I am averse to any kind of introspection. Instead, I’m going to tell you the crucial ingredients of memoir-writing, so that when the time comes, you’ll know exactly how to pen something people will actually want to read. You’re welcome! EARLY LIFE Like a dream, childhood memories are often incredibly boring because they rarely include a plane crash or bank heist. Stick to the few instances of family drama that involve a near-death experience and ensuing hilarity, then move on. When I was four, my sister and I were exploring rock pools on a summer holiday with Mum. It was delightful until my sister cut her foot on a…

For Emma Donovan, moving to Melbourne in the middle of the pandemic was a “now or never” moment. She'd been living in Western Sydney for five years, drawn there by her late mother’s ill health and her mob based in New South Wales. It might have been easier to stay put with her two young daughters, Jirriga, 5, and Kwilena, 3, but Emma felt called to her creative home. “I’ve always wanted to come back to Melbourne,” she says. “I moved to Sydney to be near family. But with COVID, I thought if I don’t come back now, I’ll never do it. And I was bustin’ to be back with The Putbacks.” It would also have been easier for Emma – one of Australia’s best soul and funk vocalists –…

Trish Martin runs Chromatical, a marketing firm for creatives and self-described “weird kids”. She also runs her business from a converted bus, which is pretty badass any way you slice it. Considering that nearly everyone is working from home these days, putting serious strain on the wi-fi and trying to make their living room look like inner-city co-working spaces, we decided to pick Trish’s brain about working from home (WFH). Or at least, working from bus (WFB). How do we do it? What keeps us productive? What sort of gadgets and gizmos do we really need? MAKE A DEDICATED WORKSPACE Trish says she basically converted the bus to escape the chaos of home. “I work best in silence,” she says, “I needed a space outside the house, where I wasn’t…

SAY G’DAY Sure, it seems a tad obvious. But regularly saying “hi” to folks on your street – combined with a friendly wave and perhaps even a choice compliment – significantly increases the chances of friendship. We can’t point to a study to back this up, but it’s common sense, really. Bonus points if you find out your neighbourino’s name and remember to use it whenever you see them. You’ll be chatting over the fence like old mates in no time. GIFT HOMEMADE GOODIES Few mortals can resist the tantalising smell of freshly baked bikkies. Harness this superpower and deliver a still-warm homemade gift to those champs over the road. If you’re lucky, they’ll ask for the recipe – a good excuse to pop back over later and continue the…

You’re in line at the school canteen on an absolutely scorching day with 30 cents in your pocket – just enough for a Zooper Dooper, heck yeah! There are dozens of the yellow variety left and only a few of the other colours. Do you pick a flavour you’ll actually enjoy, such as bubblegum or cola? Or do you pick the yellow one, even though no one likes it and it’s the worst flavour in the history of space-themed icy-poles? Of course you pick the yellow one! You don’t want it to feel left out! It might feel sad if it’s left there to languish on the bench for the entire lunchtime. It might cry if it’s placed back in the freezer for the 100th day in a row. Yes,…

Freaky Friday (2003) Just like every mother-daughter duo in cinematic history, 15-year-old punk-rock aficionado Anna (Lindsay Lohan) and her highly strung single mum Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) don’t get along. Anna hates her mum’s new fiancé, and Tess won’t let Anna live out her dreams of becoming a failed rockstar. But a couple of magic fortune cookies force them to see things through each other’s eyes – literally. This movie is an adaptation of the 1976 Freaky Friday, which practically birthed the entire body-swap genre. And while it keeps to a Disney aesthetic, making characters say ‘phooey’ instead of ‘fuck’, it’s fun and ambitious enough to feel at home in 2021. Lindsay Lohan’s matronly turn as a repressed 40-something makes me furious about what toxic early-2000s paparazzi culture stole from…

I frequently tout the joys of flying solo, whether it’s taking yourself out to lunch, a movie, travelling independently or even seeing a gig alone. (The last one teaches you how to navigate the awkwardness of having a drink in one hand and nothing in the other. Where should the extraneous limb go? Do you rest it on your hip? Put it in your pocket? Take up smoking? You’ll work it out, and you’ll feel damn good about it.) For me, doing things unaccompanied evolved partly out of need (limited pool of friends) and partly out of laziness (people are exhausting). And as every self-help book will tell you: alone is not lonely. Alone is easy and freeing. You can change plans at the last minute without negotiation – there’s…

How did you get into art? I was constantly drawing as a kid. My dad is an artist, and I have an early memory of sitting on the floor of his studio, drawing while he painted. Even back then, I almost exclusively drew pictures of girls (fairies and mermaids included). I liked to make books out of folded paper; I’d write stories and illustrate them. Why are girls the focus of your work? While my paintings are allegorical (and I hope everyone can find meaning in them), it feels natural to tell stories based on my own life experience. I’m often asked why I don’t paint boys, and the simple truth is that I don’t know what it’s like to be a boy. As an adult, I began reflecting on…

What’s Alice Springs like? Incredibly vibrant and colourful. It’s very isolated but surrounded by vast and stunning desert scenery – I’ve never seen redder dirt. The traditional owners of the land are the Arrernte people and the traditional place name is Mparntwe. Alice Springs is also located at the foot of the beautiful West MacDonnell Ranges, which you can see from anywhere in town. And what about the people? It’s a very transient town where people are always coming and going – the maximum population at any one time is around 25,000. Lots of people come through for seasonal work in community, healthcare and hospitality and may stay for a few months or a few years. Alice Springs is also full of locals who love its strong sense of community.…

Once upon a time, if I was ever feeling bored, I’d bound across the street, knock on my good pal’s door and chit-chat away the afternoon. When I’d pop down to the shops, I’d bump into another buddy and swing round to theirs for a cuppa. This period of my life was like a ’90s sitcom. Every close friend was conveniently situated within a five-block radius of me (or passed through my suburb semi-regularly) and could at any moment barge through my front door declaring, “Could I be wearing any more clothes?” Not everything about this situation was rainbows and sunshine, but the best thing – and the thing I miss the most – was how easy it was to socialise. Few formal plans to meet up were ever made.…

Tell us about your illustration series I’m fine.In this project, I ask people to send me a personal story that triggers loneliness. I then write and draw the story on a postcard, and send participants a different postcard in return. I ask people to always end their story with “I’m fine”, a phrase full of denial and self-affirmation. What does “I’m fine” really mean? It seems like a default response to incidents that trigger sorrow. We say it often because we want to believe that we are, in fact, going to be fine. Saying “I’m fine” actually suggests some closure to the sorrow – it validates your wishes to feel better. What inspired your project? I’d been researching loneliness and created some work about it after overhearing conversations on buses…