Done Something Else

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>> I've been trying to grapple with Australian slang one at a time, each time I have been to Australia.  Last time I came it was 'bogan' and this time round it's 'ocker' – both being somewhat pejorative terms but the complexities of slang is such that they could also be meant in an affectionate way as well.  In which case, I've been told Australian artist Ken Done's work is affectionately 'ocker' – heavily Australian and perhaps in a cliched way.  The name escaped me too until I Google Imaged and vaguely remember someone from school coming back from an Australian holiday with a Ken Done t-shirt depicting the Sydney Opera House and I started dreaming about bouncing around in kangaroos.  Ken Done's stuff is colourful, lurid and admittedly it's the sort of art that lures in the tourist.  Still to see it fragmented and warped as part of a new collaboration with Australian label Something Else by Natalie Wood.  The label works with artists on a regular basis on collections that somehow always catch my eye with a certain print, illustration or chosen motif.  

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It would take a die-hard Ken Done fan to recognise his series of sea diving paintings that were displayed at the Ken Done Gallery in Sydney (handily right by the OPT where RAFW was being held…) from these prints here that have been manipulated by repetition, zooming into certain areas and all that other Photoshop wizardry.   I'm not sure whether it is all down to the mark of Ken Done's distinctive art but there's something decidedly 80s-90s about the range that isn't necessarily a bad thing when specifically, I'm reminded of the following… Fimo, coloured sunscreen (that I only ever saw on American/Australian surfers on TV, pastel gel ink pens, puffa ski jackets that might have had a bizarre neon/pastel scribble print all over it and yes, those Ken Done designs that made it over on t-shirts and winded up in vintage shops, now all faded and perhaps slightly fusty-smelling.  I haven't a personal clue as to whether Ken Dones's work is 'ocker' or not but there's surely a 'National Treasure' tag going for him and what he does as an Australian artist, and in Something Else's new collection that will be going into stores in October, his work certainly lives on beyond postcard/tea-towerl/mug/oversized terribly fitting t-shirt form. 

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22 comments

  8. holy moly. this is the first time i’ve seen Ken Done in an OK light. i’ve grown up with his juvenile impressions of australia my entire life. my theory is that he accidentally ate a packet of crayons when he was baby and has been vomiting them up ever since.
    great post though. uncanny too given that I also posted about old Ken. He indirectly gave me heaps of moolah this week haha….
    the tides are turning it seems.
    http://artgasminc.blogspot.com/

  9. Wow! Those are really awesome. I particularly love the Extinction Sucks tee, and the shorts below… Gorgeous! Xxxc

  13. For all of us fashion lovers a new jewelry line that caught my attention was Konga Designs (www.konga.com.au). It’s environmentally friendly handmade jewelry made from organic elements like orange peels, seeds, kidney beans, fish scales. Incredible designs, textures and colours! I love creativity and innovation.

  18. Die hard fan? You should check out this blog
    http://www.goodfashionforgood.com
    Jackie has pledged to wear Ken Done’s fashion for 365 days (for charity of course) I think she’s up to day 300 or so. There has been some classic prints that only a die hard fan, or someone with charitable intent would wear…..

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