A Space for Oddities

The much loved and greatly loathed Swedish furniture powerhouse—where chairs are sold alongside hotdogs 🌭

This week we discuss the everything that IKEA is. Where is came from, what they sell and the lore around this modern history—from the IKEA Monkey to a surprise product quiz that you can play along with at home.

With many rambles and some questionable roleplay moments we soak in the last episode of the season chatting about our favourite items related to the shop of dreams – listen until the oddity section to hear what IKEA's infamous bag has to do with the human remains of over 50 Swedish people.

-

What does the name Derek taste like? 🤔

This week we discuss the phenomena of Synaesthesia, the reaction to sound and shapes that can result in a number of feelings—from taste to colour, imagery to scent. Katie discovers she's directly in-tune with her minds eye, having a wild trip of experiences whilst Vincent drowns in the nothingness of aphantasia.

Keep a pad of paper to hand for this episode, with it's interactive synaesthesia quiz! 

We also discuss some of our favourite podcasts to round off the podcast, as a little tread for you intrepid listeners. 

-

As a human of this earth, you'll have likely encountered a road sign before – but do you know who designed the standard format for these?

This episode discusses the life and times of renowned designer, Margaret Calvert, famous for being the driving force behind the design and implementation of the network of British Road Signs. Posing the question whether inspirational fashion designer Virgil Abloh used Margaret's work to define his streetwear label Off-White.

As usual, we offer tangents on many topics, from terrible accents to an underground pub, not forgetting a beautiful rendition of a Louis Armstrong classic.

-

Perhaps you've heard of Hardcore Punk, but have you heard of Cottage Core? 🌻

Discussing the trend that swept the public imagination through early lockdown; including THAT Strawberry Dress no less.

Along with detailed descriptions of the scene, Vincent and Katie realise that they deeply belong in the scene, with lusts for the countryside, hand-crafts and fleeces. Our oddity this week will be familiar to anyone that's ever heard of Tom Nook and his cheeky little cousins.

-

Well it's nearly Christmas, so we thought we'd give you a festive special 🎄

From the origins of the Christmas Jumper to the anti-santa, we dive into the creative influences of the Yuletide period.

Discussions of drunk men scaring children and a poetry reading are all part and parcel of this special episode—expect a pretend pub with a sweet twist.

-

What is art when it's meets the digital realm? 🤷‍♂️

What links David Hockney, Doge and NFTs – learn all about The Good, The Bad and The Meme in this episode discussing Digital Art.

This week Katie and Vincent discuss the controversial and modern topic of Digital Art, from it's grass roots on Microsoft's Paint to Beeple's multi-million dollar digital collage.

-

Do you know about the Queen of Polkadots—Yayoi Kusama 🔴

Learn about the life and works of the Japanese artist, her mental health and how this influences her work practice. Discussing her history, modern works and tragedy, it's a rollercoaster of emotion and polkadots; what more could you want?

Two warnings to you: firstly we discuss mental health and suicide and secondly, we had a few audio issues with this episode so please excuse any areas of roughness or strategic editing.

-

Simple in nature but varied in existence, Bus Stops are more exciting than you think 🚌

For the fourth episode of season two, Vincent takes Katie on a world tour of bus stops—from the mundane to the absolutely insane.

Discussing and rating stops of all kinds, you can join along on our instagram to see all the stops we chat about and join in voting for your favourites. Featuring radical designs from Europe to California and even the soviet union *shhh, that's part of our oddity this week*

-

Have you ever thought of Drag as a creative process? ✨

This week, lead by Katie we discuss the history of Drag and how its creative roots have branched out over the decades to where it's currently at today. Talking about the heavyweights in the scene, such as Paris is Burning and Ru Paul's Drag Race alongside the historical icons.

Most importantly, we discuss how Vincent's Cumbrian drag act might work, should he get over his fear of make-up.

-

Do you know about Sun Ra, the black jazz musician from the stars ✨

For the second episode of this season we discuss Sun Ra, his Arkestra and how he pioneered Afrofuturism before the term had even been coined.

From his taste for perfection to the legacy he's left behind, on both the physical and astral planes, it's a really pleasure to deconstruct the history of a man from Saturn who changes the face of modern jazz.

-

Perhaps you know about British Folklore, but do you about the aesthetics? ✨

Kicking off Season 2, Katie and Vincent discuss the aesthetics of British Folklore.
From reciting Wordsworth to the mystery behind Edinburgh's Burryman, it's always going to be a weird walk with us.

We also discuss how folklore is adapting to its modern surroundings through artists like Ben Edge and Boss Morris.

-

Katie and Vincent explore the oddities of the creative sphere—this week discussing the pioneering (and rumoured mentally unstable) artist Louis Wain. From developing the 'pet portrait' genre to battling the stigma around mental health in the early 20th century, Louis was a stand out artist of his generation.

Warning, we have long discussions about mental health and cats.

-

Katie and Vincent explore the oddities of the creative sphere—this week discussing the modernist school Bauhaus. Covering topics such as their curriculum, beautiful chairs, avant-garde religions and the german far-right.

Alongside some good history and discussions of our own creative practice, we visit a favourite pub of ours to watch a fictitious wrestling match.

-

Katie and Vincent explore the oddities of the creative sphere—this week discussing the Baba Yaga. How does this slavic folk tale define modern feminism? And where on earth does a flying pestle and mortar come into it?

From house with chicken legs to a sentient gate, if nothing makes sense then everything does.

-

Katie and Vincent explore the oddities of the creative sphere—this week discussing the The War of Colour. When the blackest black is monopolised by one artist, the community strike back banning that particular artists from their own rival black and other wonderful pigment. Find out the oddity of how the war of colour made huge advancements for the democratising of colour in the art world, through banning other artist from using them.

-

Katie and Vincent explore the oddities of the creative sphere—this week discussing the Judgement and Flaying of Cambyses. The famous painting by Dutch artists Gerard David holds a strange oddity, with its contemporary uses and how young Katie became entranced with the grotesque beauty.

-

Katie and Vincent explore the oddities of the creative sphere—this week discussing the dark art of Sampling. This controversial method of production founded the hip-hop genre from cutting and chopping records to make a whole new sound.

-

Katie and Vincent explore the oddities of the creative sphere—this week looking at the artform of Russian Prison Tattoos. Discussing their meaning, through visual language and the grotesque methods for creation and removal.

-

Katie and Vincent explore the oddities of the creative sphere—this week looking at the world's most hated font Comic Sans. From discussing its purpose in education to how it was adapted by scientists to disprove our understanding of physics.

-

Katie and Vincent explore the oddities of the creative sphere—this week looking at the blind, avant-garde jazz musician and composer Moondog. From speaking about how he lost his eyesight to vocally interpreting his most popular song, it's bound to be as strange as his legacy.

-

Katie and Vincent explore the oddities of the creative sphere—this week looking at the Jewish folklore Golem. This traditional character has been an inspiration for many modern stories, from Lord of the Rings (perhaps) and Marvel.

-