AF Sydney August recipient, Aras Vaichas, is creating something teeny, that packs a whole bunch of awesome…the world’s smallest, and cheapest, patch synthesiser. Sounds fandangled and fine, but what exactly is a ‘patch synthesiser’? Aras explains, “it’s one of those audio synths where you can plug in lots of cables between different parts and there are loads of knobs that make crazy sounds!” For the visually inclined, here’s a picture of a regular patch synthesiser… Behold the beautiful but hefty beast! Not so easy to lug around to gigs and galleries is it? Now imagine all of that functionality distilled into something roughly the size of two business cards. With $1000 as extra incentive, Aras is not only making this a reality, he’s also releasing the designs under an open source license. Here’s the work in progress… We love the idea, as well as the spirit of tinkering and sharing, and will be vying for a front row seat at the demo once this little baby learns to sing! https://247apotheek.com

PAN Magazine is a cultural biannual with a literary bent which includes the work of emerging and established writers. The whole production is pulled together on a shoestring budget, a driving passion for the arts and a whole lotta late nights. Emma Dallas tells the story of PAN Magazine to date, “There are twenty of us working very hard to make this little arts magazine a success. We love magazines but rarely see the kind of content we would like to read. We don’t want to compete with established magazines that focus on ‘how to look good and conform’. We want to offer a magazine with some depth as well as interest, some arts as well as fiction, poetry and essays presented beautifully. We’re on a mission to reintroduce thinking about our culture and specifically our arts in a broad and accessible way. As well as giving new writers and artists a platform to be heard in a way that does not commodify or belittle them. There is so much going on here in Australia, in all our cities. We aim to show people just how good it can be when you engage with what’s being created around you.” With a little help from the contents of… read more →

We’re a little sad to announce that one of our trustees is stepping down. But that means, there’s a space to fill and you could be it! What exactly is the position all about? 1. The  2nd Dr Greg Turner Chair for Higher Awesome Studies As a distinguished AF Sydney Founder, Greg Turner has had some awesome times with the gang. He’s graciously bowed out to give somebody else a chance to join our board. Taking Greg’s chair means attending our monthly dinners and pitching in $100 towards the $1000 grants we award. How do I apply?!? Pretty easy really. Drop me an email (renae.mason (at) gmail (dot) com) with a brief description of why you want to be involved. We’d love to see you get creative with your application. It can take any form – video, text, audio or even something like Storify has worked in the past. Just make it full of awesome! Greg leaves in a month, so don’t delay – we want to fill his chair as quickly as possible. Applications must be in by Monday 7th of November!!! The AF Sydney Board will be meeting on Tuesday the 8th of November to discuss the applications received.

September’s grant was awarded to Sarah Crowley and Charlotte Fliengner, a dynamic pair of Melbourne architects passionate about sustainability.  Sarah and Charlotte were looking for a solution for the amount of excess waste our  society is currently producing. Their answer is ‘I Have I Need’ a series of interactive community notice boards that encourage people to recycle rather than throw their unwanted goods away. The boards will transform blank walls into vibrant public spaces and encourage people to meet and interact with their neighbors to develop  stronger and greener communities. The first prototype board was made in South Melbourne. Look out for more boards to come on your local footpath or maybe even your favourite café. The girls would love to see this project grow in Melbourne and beyond so feel free to be awesome too and produce some  ‘I Have I Need’ boards of your own. Oh one last thing check out that awesome cheque…

Awesome Food is superexcited to announce that its inaugural micro-grant of $1,000 has been awarded to Compost Mobile, a residential compost service based inMiami, Florida that provides a home pick-up service for food scraps that are then delivered to urban farms and community gardens. Compost Mobile, which is a project of the non-profit Up-Lab, was chosen out almost 600 applications submitted to the first round of Awesome Food call for proposals. “We think Compost Mobile is awesome because it’s making a difference at the ground level,” said Jeff Potter, author of Cooking for Geeks who is one of the Awesome Food trustees. “They’re figuring out how to take food scraps from the home and use them to help low-income communities start gardens and urban farms. It’s an awesome idea because it takes a bunch of problems—waste, food illiteracy, lack of nutritious food—and cancels them out by combining them in an awesome way!” Jennifer Siqueira, coordinator of Compost Mobile and co-founder of Up-Lab with Hector F. Burga, had been working in community gardens locally, when she learned of  a similar scraps to-compost effort in Washington DC. (There are similar efforts throughout the country). Jennifer explained, “I had friends who came to me with… read more →