THE barbed wire fence strewn with pig skins and heads stretches on for 2km against a bleak New Zealand landscape, a confronting and disturbing sight for passers-by—and for viewers of ‘Meat Fence’, an exhibition opening this week at the Perth Centre of Photography. Photographer Justin Spiers describes the meat fence as a bizarre collection of…

“OUR youth love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise. They contradict their parents…and tyrannise their teachers.” Opinion is out on whether this was a lament by Socrates or Plato, but it is safe to say the oft-heard groan “kids of…

AIR pollution was dramatically reduced in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic games, showing what can be done when governments and people act. Especially governments that don’t have to worry about winning elections. But five years on the Beijing air is once again thick with vehicle fumes and residents routinely wear face masks. Smart folk wear…

IT’S 2114, and for 100 years Perth has been buried under a massive pile of rubbish; mostly takeaway coffee cups, stale cupcakes and hipsters. Xavier Toby leads a tour group around the recently unearthed city, showing them what life was like in 2014. It’s so dangerous, they have to wear high-visibility safety gear. The unique…

MY alfresco dinner guests refused to believe the opera coming over the fence was live, the sound was so glorious, and the volume off the richter scale. “It really is the opera singer from a couple of houses away,” I insisted as Penny Shaw continued to belt out an aria for the birthday boy next…

The ripe old age of 36 is considered by most, in and out of the trade, as too old to break into acting. The “cult of youth” has gone so far that primary school kids will soon be the only ones being taken on by agents, Olivia Charlotte bleakly jokes. “Los Angeles’ agents have got…

Classic architecture is ailing and architects have forgotten the skills of old, says local urban designer Malcolm Mackay. “The current generation of architects have lost their way, they’ve lost their training: They just put stuff together and hope it looks okay,” the Mt Hawthorn local says. “Sometimes it does, and more than often it doesn’t.”…

GORGEOUS gowns may be draped over dinosaur skeletons or antique book shelves, but you won’t find any rats at the WA Museum’s double exhibition of Australian fashion. It’s hard to get noticed in the frenetic world of fashion, especially during Australian Fashion Week, but streetwear label Ksubi made the front page in 2001 when 169…

He was a university student at the tender age of 16 but Don Waters was never destined to remain in his chosen profession. “I was the world’s worst accountant,” he says, his energy and love of life resonating down the blower, charging an otherwise dull day with colour and carrying this listener along with his…

A barbed wire capital letter C is a hard-edged reminder of the racial tensions in Australia on and off the sports field, in PICA’s latest exhibition. Titled just another black C, it’s part of String Theory: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art at the Northbridge gallery. It refers to 2010 comments by NSW rugby league coach…