Latest news with #Crafter
The Age
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
Performance artists, freak puppets: The strange battle to revive our nights out
This story is part of the June 14 edition of Good Weekend. See all 14 stories. Not since Melbourne's boy from Sunshine, the late Leigh Bowery, stormed London's '80s club scene in a floral gimp mask, matching ball gown and jaunty, spiked Pickelhelm, has a night out been quite so eye-popping. A new generation of 'Club Kids' is defying the demise of Australian nightlife. Millennials, Gen Zs and a couple of Xers are flocking to avant-garde-themed club nights, from the risqué Heaps Gay parties in Sydney to the mayhem of Melbourne's subversive, grotesque Golden Scissor Puppets. Sydney filmmaker and club promoter Dan Neeson, who started out as a tea boy on a Kylie Minogue video, is the son (and spitting image) of Aussie rock legend Doc Neeson of The Angels. Neeson and his partner, fashion designer Alvi Chung, are behind the club-night Wings, which combines performance art (including naked acrobats), music and fashion. Last month, they held a counter-offensive to 'corporatised' Australian Fashion Week at millionaire-publican Diane Maloney's lavishly refurbished, art-deco Plaza Hotel in the heart of Sydney. It was a hit. Models for Ella Jackson's label, Catholic Guilt – a favourite of US starlet Julia Fox – wore chainmail couture, which inspired seasoned socialite and Real Housewives of Sydney alumni, Terry Biviano, to rush backstage to get one. She wore the 15-kilogram gown to the swanky Silver Party fundraiser at Justin Hemmes' Hermitage estate a few days later. Afterwards, Minichiello used pliers to get her out of the creation, which took 700 hours to make. 'Rave, runway, ritual: we're the antithesis of the big, corporate-owned, soulless beer barns that have taken over our cities,' says Neeson, who credits his late father for inspiring him 'to think big' and calls Maloney his 'fairy godmother' for her generosity with the venue. Neeson and Chung are planning a Melbourne Wings launch, but they'll meet competition from the likes of locals Will and Garrett Huxley's high-camp duo act, The Huxleys, as well as newcomer Opal Crafter, founder of Golden Scissor Puppets and creator of the life-size puppet, Igor. Crafter's troupe of 50 'freak' puppets create chaos as the giant, not-so-cuddly creatures glide across stages, interrupting performances and taking over dance floors. Crafter says it's all intended to 'make people smile'. 'We're from a generation of AI perfection,' Crafter says, citing Leigh Bowery as a creative inspiration. 'We create a space for the imperfect, for the hand-made, and celebrate everything that's human in all its wonderful, weird variations.'
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Performance artists, freak puppets: The strange battle to revive our nights out
This story is part of the June 14 edition of Good Weekend. See all 14 stories. Not since Melbourne's boy from Sunshine, the late Leigh Bowery, stormed London's '80s club scene in a floral gimp mask, matching ball gown and jaunty, spiked Pickelhelm, has a night out been quite so eye-popping. A new generation of 'Club Kids' is defying the demise of Australian nightlife. Millennials, Gen Zs and a couple of Xers are flocking to avant-garde-themed club nights, from the risqué Heaps Gay parties in Sydney to the mayhem of Melbourne's subversive, grotesque Golden Scissor Puppets. Sydney filmmaker and club promoter Dan Neeson, who started out as a tea boy on a Kylie Minogue video, is the son (and spitting image) of Aussie rock legend Doc Neeson of The Angels. Neeson and his partner, fashion designer Alvi Chung, are behind the club-night Wings, which combines performance art (including naked acrobats), music and fashion. Last month, they held a counter-offensive to 'corporatised' Australian Fashion Week at millionaire-publican Diane Maloney's lavishly refurbished, art-deco Plaza Hotel in the heart of Sydney. It was a hit. Models for Ella Jackson's label, Catholic Guilt – a favourite of US starlet Julia Fox – wore chainmail couture, which inspired seasoned socialite and Real Housewives of Sydney alumni, Terry Biviano, to rush backstage to get one. She wore the 15-kilogram gown to the swanky Silver Party fundraiser at Justin Hemmes' Hermitage estate a few days later. Afterwards, Minichiello used pliers to get her out of the creation, which took 700 hours to make. 'Rave, runway, ritual: we're the antithesis of the big, corporate-owned, soulless beer barns that have taken over our cities,' says Neeson, who credits his late father for inspiring him 'to think big' and calls Maloney his 'fairy godmother' for her generosity with the venue. Neeson and Chung are planning a Melbourne Wings launch, but they'll meet competition from the likes of locals Will and Garrett Huxley's high-camp duo act, The Huxleys, as well as newcomer Opal Crafter, founder of Golden Scissor Puppets and creator of the life-size puppet, Igor. Crafter's troupe of 50 'freak' puppets create chaos as the giant, not-so-cuddly creatures glide across stages, interrupting performances and taking over dance floors. Crafter says it's all intended to 'make people smile'. 'We're from a generation of AI perfection,' Crafter says, citing Leigh Bowery as a creative inspiration. 'We create a space for the imperfect, for the hand-made, and celebrate everything that's human in all its wonderful, weird variations.'
Mercury
01-05-2025
- Business
- Mercury
Whyalla steelworks: Hydrogen boss Sam Crafter wins new job
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News. SA's highly paid Hydrogen SA office chief has won a significant new job as boss of 'a small team' overseeing Whyalla steelworks' transformation. Sam Crafter, one of the state's top paid bureaucrats on almost $600,000, was awarded the 'significant role' after his Hydrogen Power SA office and the Northern Water Delivery office were swallowed up by another department. A government spokesperson confirmed Mr Crafter would be employed on the same terms and conditions as his existing appointment. Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia was scathing over the announcement claiming 'the government wasted over $100m of taxpayer money' on its failed flagship hydrogen jobs plan. The plan was shelved and its $593m funding switched to a bailout of Whyalla steelworks and mine after the state government pushed its former owner into administration earlier this year. 'That this government has now appointed Sam Crafter to lead the Whyalla Steelworks Industrial Transformation is farcical,' Mr Tarzia said. 'This is a man who has been paid $600,000 a year to oversee a now mothballed project.' The Advertiser reported in February that the number of staff in the Hydrogen SA office opened in 2022 had grown to 55, and a government spokesperson at the time said 'we anticipate staff costs of around $9m' this financial year. State Energy and Mining Minister Tom Koutsantonis announced Mr Crafter's new role in parliament on Thursday saying 'the path to green steel is even closer than it's ever been before'. He said Whyalla steelworks and mine were 'the focus of the single biggest economic support and stimulus package in South Australian history', with its $2.4bn taxpayer-funded bailout. Mr Koutsantonis said the hydrogen power office had been 'heavily involved in fostering industry development' through hydrogen opportunities in the region. 'This goes beyond the Hydrogen Jobs Plan, a project which the government recently deferred pending discussions with the Whyalla steelworks' next owners as to how best the state can assist them to realise the vital transition to green iron and steel,' he said. Work being undertaken by the northern water delivery office to build a desalination plant in the Upper Spencer Gulf would now be taken over by the Energy and Mining Department and led by chief executive Paul Martyn. A decision about whether the northern water project would go ahead was expected within the next year, Mr Koutsantonis said. The government previously was questioned about the promised $593m for the bailout with the Opposition claiming significant funds were already spent, including on equipment for the now mothballed hydrogen plant. 'We expect the vast majority of capital already expended will be recouped when we agree terms with an alternative operator for the four 50MW turbines ordered for the Hydrogen Jobs Plan, with the stipulation that they be operated in SA to provide additional generation capacity,' Mr Koutsantonis said. Originally published as Hydrogen SA chief Sam Crafter wins new job overseeing Whyalla's 'steelworks transformation'
