Fanging it!

Watch out kids! You could totally be Fanging It with the ABC TV crew on a budget trip around Australia! Sounds exciting, no?

2 presenters will be chosen to be the hosts for the new show, self-described as a 21st century Race Around the World (I kind of liked Race Around the Corner more and wish they’d bring it back, but anyway). To enter for your chance to be one of these lucky presenters, you need to be Australian and over 18, as well as being fabulous and interesting in front of a camera.

Your entry piece needs to be a 90 sec – 2 min video of yourself in a real-life travel adventure or encounter. Top 5 will then be chosen to enter an extreme bootcamp, with 2 winning presenters chosen to immediately go on an 18 day tour of Australia, making 4 mini-documentaries along the way.

Sound like your thing? If it does, read more about the application requirements.

Enter the land of Experimentopia!

Experimenta is a contemporary arts organisation who run the International Biennial of Media Art, entitled Experimentopia. They’re calling for international and Australian proposals for next year’s works, and are commissioning up to $6,000 each for new pieces, with preference towards interactive media. The aim is to create works that allow audiences to engage with, act out, inhabit and experience utopic/dystopic scenarios and environments.

Applying is free, and entries must be in by 25th July, 2008. Application forms and guidelines can be downloaded from the website.

Design NSW travelling gypsy scholarship

The 2008 Design NSW: Travelling Scholarship gives one emerging NSW designer the chance to study their art in the UK with a bunch of mentors. It’s only open to designers who have less than 5 years experience in product and communication design (not built environment design). The lucky traveller will recieve $18,000 of financial support from the government, which is what we’d all like, really.

To enter you need to register with dhub, then complete your background profile and upload your entry and description of up to 3 designs. Applications close 14 July, 2008, so get cracking!

iArts digital interactive arts

iArts is a new digital programming initiative hosted by ABC TV, producing content created in collaboration with Western Australian art people and digital content producers. All work will be published by ABC TV on their website with podcasts, vodcasts and TV shorts.

Western Australian artists, musicians, designers, art organisations and digital media producers and invited to join the program. Applications close 21 July, 2008. Guidelines are available on the ScreenWest website.

How to run a professional blog

Let’s face it – if you’re a designer, crafter or an artist with a blog you’re inevitably going to be wanting to pimp your skills. However, when you start going from personal blog to a professional folio blog, you need to carefully look at the way you present yourself and the way you interact with your readers and the rest of the world wide web.

Luckily, there’s a number of talented bloggers out there who have some tips to help you. As I come along more articles, I’ll add them to this post so it becomes EXTRA-helpful.

Nubby Twiglet has a number of posts on Business & Marketing, coming from her experience as a freelance designer.

• The benefits of folio blogs vs websites
• 13 steps to a successful blog-based business
• Choosing a business name
• The art of networking

Pip from Meet Me at Mikes has recently done a run of entries on how to maintain a craft blog, but they can be applied to pretty much any blog possible.

• How to start a craft blog
• How to market a craft blog
• How to make your blog look cuter
• How to have nice blog manners

Every Tuesday, Leni & Rose does a post on blogging tips & tricks. They also include step-by-step guides on how to customise your Blogger account, if that’s your processor of choice.

Other articles:

• Passive marketing for freelancers
• Build a killer online portfolio in 9 easy steps

 

Express Media call for internbots

Express Media are looking for two new interns to join their league. The first is a Project Management Coordinator for Buzzcuts 2008, organising reviews of Fringe Festival shows for publication. The second is an Event Management intern for Express Media itself, working with the annual artistic program.

Applications must be submitted by June 19, 2008 and (they put this in caps so I will to) IN THE FORMAT SPECIFIED IN THE POSITION DESCRIPTION.

 

Be a square with the sQuareOne team

sQuareOne is a new Vibewire initiative run out of Ultimo, Sydney. It’s an art gallery, shop, meeting and office space, and probably doesn’t make sense unless you check out the place itself. They’re looking for talented young things to work as volunteers and interns in their office, specifically:

• Admin volunteers
• Program intern
• Inhouse design intern

Even though these sorts of roles don’t pay the bills, they are great for your cv and you’ll be giving back to the community. Those are the warm and fuzzies that you can’t buy. Apply today!

Design is Kinky employment orgy

The good folks over at Design is Kinky have set up a new freelance employment network for visual artists to pimp their talents. Design is Kinky Connect allows approved artists to upload a folio of work, with their work details and hourly rates. Agencies and other companies can then search Design is Kinky Connect for illustrators, graphic designers, photographers, animators, and people who work in motion graphics and with Flash.

It’s absolutely free to submit your work, so you’ve got no excuse not to try.

Performance workshops for the learned

Located at 56 Cope St in Redfern, Sydney, the Nussinov Gallery is opening its doors to the public for Cope56. Cope56 is a creative workshop for students or graduates in performance art to develop performance acts and multimedia presentations individually or collectively.

So if you’re into acting, mime, dance, speech, singing, dancing or writing, take a look at Cope56. The entire initiative is made for artists to work organically and safely, with plenty of stimuli and participants. They meet every Tuesday night, and the deadline for artist applications is 30 June, 2008.

To find uot more, contact Micha Nussinov on 0413 592 940.

Realise Your Dream in Britain

The British Council Australia is giving 6 young Aussies the chance to Realise their Dream and spend a year in the UK turning it into a profit-making reality. So if you’re under 30 and working in industrial & object design, design, fashion, moving image, visual arts, drama, advertising, writing, production, direction, architecture & music, then get cracking!

By the way, I have no idea what this has to do with a djing granny.

Each winner will recieve return flights to the UK, professional consultation, and $8,000 for living expenses, which will cover about a week’s worth of spending at Top Shop. Applications need to be sumbitted online by the 31 July, 2008.