Two more things...

Actually a million things, but I'll pretend there is just two. Two things related to our show at C3. Kotoe Ishii has her Masters show at The Library Artspace. The opening was last night and it's great to see her work all together.

As well as A4 Art at westspace, tonight is the opening of Simon Pericich's solo show at Block Projects. Caring is the new sarcasm.

BLOCKPROJECTS
Level 4
289 Flinders Lane

The Library Artspace
100 Barkly St North Fitzroy.

A4 ART

West Space have their annual fundraiser this thursday night. With works contributed from many many artists, including me.

Adam Cruickshank, Alasdair McLuckie, Ali McCann, Andrea Louise, Andy Hutson, Ash Keating, Azlan McLennan, Belle Bassin, Ben Sheppard, Brad Haylock, Brett Jones, Brie Trennery, Brodie Ellis, Bryan Spier, Camilla Tadich, Carl Scrase, Charles O'Loughlan, Damiano Bertoli, Dan Moynihan, Dan Price, David van Royen, Deborah Ostrow, Dell Stewart, Dominic Redfern, Doug Heslop, Dylan Martorell, Emily Ferretti, Fleur Summers, Glenn Walls, Greatest Hits, Ieuan Weinman, Irene Hanenbergh, Jackson Slattery, James Kenyon, Jan Murray, Jeremy Bakker, Jessie Angwin, Jordan Wood, Juan Ford, Julie Shiel, Kate Cotching, Kellie Wells, Kez Hughes, Kieran Stewart, Kiron Robinson, Laith McGregor, Leslie Eastman, Lou Hubbard, Martine Corompt, Masato Takasaka, Matthew Shannon, Meredith Turnbull, Mia Salsjo, Nat Ryan, Nat Star-Thomas, Nathan Gray, Nicholas Jones, Nick Devlin, Nicki Wynnychuk, Patrick Pound, Penelope Aitken, Peter Tyndall, Philip Samartzis, Pip Ryan, Raafat Ishak, Rob McLeish, Ross Coulter, Safari Team, Sally Smart, Sangeeta Sandrasegar, Sanne Mestrom, Sarah Jones/Stubbs, Sherry McLane Alejos, Simon Pericich, Siri Hayes, Steven Rendall, Tai Snaith, Utako Shindo, Veronica Kent, Vivian Cooper Smith, Warren Taylor + more...

Thursday December 3rd. 6-8pm. West Space. Get in quick, it tends to sell out.

OMFG!

It's over, OMG what a relief. I had a lovely night, at least as lovely as can be, while feeling vaguely stressed and all over the place, mostly I was delighted to see so many loved ones. Thank you all for coming.

We ended up back at our place with some people, a fire, many pizzas, smoky martinis and a double pronged assault from our crazy neighbours. I don't think I've mentioned our crazy neighbours here yet? There are many stories, but last night we had one stalking the roof freaking people out, and another one hovering at the pizza table eating all the pizza, describing the broccoli pizza as 'very arty'.

Now, I have a weekend in Sydney to distract myself before thinking about what is next. Obligations are queuing up ahead of me clamouring for attention and time. Mostly many good things to come.

ANYWAY, If you didn't make it last night, our show continues til December 13th in GALLERY 1 at C3.
Also in GALLERY 2
IN DEFENSE OF ONE OR MORE LOST CAUSE - NICKI WYNNYCHUK
And in GALLERY 3
THE SAVIOURS - NAT THOMAS AND CONCETTINA INSERRA

So why not go to the convent, it's like the bush near the city with stuff to do. A lunch date at Kappaya (I neeeeed some of that special icecream) some art, maybe also a visit to the community shop, and a drink at Handsome Steve's House of refreshment.

WARNING. It can also be like a festival so choose your times wisely. Screaming children climbing trees and writhing on the expansive lawns can be delightful or horrific depending on the state of your brain.

eh mugs...

It's been muggy. That is the reason I left Queensland. I hate the humidity. There are other reasons too, but I'll leave it at that. Today in the shop I had beads of sweat on my forehead and lip and no cool breeze for relief. And yesterday was basically hot, riding in the sun. It felt like summer had started already. Damn. I'm not ready. I might never be ready!
I am also quietly horrified that it is already almost November, as I realized today it's Melbourne Cup long weekend and the city will be full of drunken suits and fascinators. This weekend.
I need to make a big floppy sun hat to hide under.
I'm glad to be going to the country to visit the farm. Now, fingers crossed it won't rain so we can camp. The forecast is for thunderstorms so like I said, fingers crossed.

ringdingding toottoottoot!

Saw some big art with bells and whistles.
Saw some unsatisfied art viewers. Not enough bells and whistles perhaps?
Saw some good things. Saw some boring things.
At Valhalla, Margaret Lawrence Gallery VCA and at ACCA.
Personally I would recommend seeing all three. That's me.
ring dingding toottoottoot!

drenched

It's something, to be wet through within seconds. It's happened a few times in the last week. I love the sound of the rain beating on the roof. And the smell after it clears, alive and fresh and clean. But our concrete yard turns into a deep pond, and I can't ride anywhere. Or if I do, and the clouds break I am drenched, again. Stay Home. Catch the tram.

I re-potted some plants and made a new terrarium with a giant flagon. I pottered. I saw some art. One thing was Young Hae-Chang: Heavy Industries, SMASH THE GANG OF FOUR BILLION at Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces. A work I loved though it made me sea sick. Car sick. Art sick.
And joyous. There are many stories on that site, I could implore you to go there, listen to and read one. You need the music to keep time. Or I do.

We need the music to keep time. Springtones helped. Ducktails. The French. Yay for concentrated robotic drumming and fat synth bass lines. Aleks and the Ramps. Yay for Aleks and the Ramps. Bachelorette with her cross little face and sweet voice. There were other things that didn't quite hit my mark, either through crap sound or just being in the other room which was too far from the nice couch I found. But there you have my rainy weekend in spring without even one thought for sport.

book owl book

I meant to post about this bookstore ages ago. But I have been distracted. It's a good place to kill an hour or two in the city. And with huge new digs, it just might take that long to walk past every old book and owl they have in store. They have a lot of books and owls.

The Antiquarian Bookstore. On Collins St. Upstairs from the even newer Lindt Chocolate store, which seems to be very popular.

Enhanced Awareness Campaign

More from the show at Platform.
'Cruickshank's gaudy non-trophies are the best use of Platform's display case context I've ever seen.' Penny Modra, the Sunday Age M magazine.


New Year's Resolution (to the Death) Adam Cruickshank

You took the words right out of my mouth...

'You took the words right out of my mouth' Carly Fischer 2009.

This is a detail shot from Fischer's work at Repeat Repeat. I love these carefully constructed cigarettes. I think this work is a perfect thing for those cabinets.

Green Town

Hi. Just had to share this little beggar with you. Outside Newtown SC is a little cabinet of plants, Green Town, created by clever Sarah Parkes of Small Town jewelery fame. I would've taken this fence sitter home if I had the money on me.

the hunt and the chase

I snuck into the last days of the John Brack show at NGV. I love his later paintings of pencils and cards. Incredible composition and surface detail. Obviously my sneaky photo is not going to come close to doing it justice.


The Hunt, detail.

Anyway, these little splinter legs in Mum's shoes just kill me.


The Chase, detail.

Sorry, again for posting about things that are over. I am about to go to the last day of the show at C3. I may also write about that, tomorrow.

I didn't take photos of my favourites, (Yes and No, Us and Them, Now and Then and those sailing postcards) as I thought I'd be able to buy a postcard to put on my wall. But no! they only had postcards of the ones I didn't want. Damn them.

Repeat Repeat

In a contemporary culture of increasing information overload, unlimited access and hyper-production 'Repeat Repeat' looks at how 6 artists, Carly Fischer, Annika Koops, Dell Stewart, Rachael Hooper, Adam Cruickshank and Natasha Frisch deal with some of these anxieties and humors in such a climate.


Rainbow, Dell Stewart 2008

All artists employ obsessive processes of production, or observation, perhaps to mimic the drive that surrounds them and also to provide an escape through the meditative qualities of work. Within each artists process is also the element of analogue copy-catting, an upside-down reversion to hand crafted production at the expense of faster, more efficient means.
Floating in between regressive nostalgia and progressive eradication, these artists deal with the strange place that the culture of repeat finds them in.

The exhibition opens tomorrow night, friday August 7th at platform, in the degreaves st subway from 6 til 8pm.

3 is the magic number

Today I remembered to stop in at Y3K to have a peak. Lucky me I got to see lovely Fiona and Kain of ffiXXed before they leave town. Too much of Everything. It's a beautiful show. Things like the poster catalogue/the shopperbag top/ the rug w/sleeves all make me quite happy.


ffiXXed, Rug w/ Sleeves, 2008

I was still waiting for paint to dry so I looked in at Sutton to look at New World Records. It was also worth it.
Lastly I visited Mel at Utopian Slumps, I wanted to see Victory Over the Sun, which finishes up tomorrow. I liked paintings from the series Stoopid bougie futcha by Kate Smith. Somebody buy me one plzthx?
Christopher L.G. Hill made me laugh with his Therapeutic Land Art. As did Alex Vivian with his equally dirty little piles of stuff and obsessive constructions. Speaking of which, he has MORE, on show at TCB right now. It's called Stench in Numbers. Stinker.


Christopher L.G.Hill, Therapeutic Land Art (detail)


Alex Vivian, Age/Sex/Location, What U into? 2009

All three shows somehow kinda work together, and cross over, so If I were you and you were interested I'd go look at all three.

I saw a dolphin

Jemila didn't really believe me* when I said I saw a dolphin in the Yarra as I walked across the bridge to the Arts Centre.

BUT, I did. According to wikipedia, dolphins have been known to venture upstream as far as South Yarra. I felt pretty sure it was a dolphin (after the initial shock where I thought perhaps it was some new fangled underwater craft, it was huge) or maybe some small whale. I watched it for about 15 minutes, cruising around under the pedestrian bridge between flinders station and South Bank. I was late for my meeting. After a little while I thought I better try to take a photo, but by then it was further away and all I really managed were some UFO-esque blurry dusk shots of the river with vague hints of dolphin fin (I can see it at least).

TRUE!

I hope he doesn't hang out there too often, for his sake, almost all of the fish are contaminated with heavy metals including arsenic and are really not fit for dolphin consumption.

*She came around abit maybe towards the end. I was a believer.

The look of love

A pretty peek into the porcelain palace that is the Iggy & Lou Lou in-house residency at Alice Euphemia...

Alice Euphemia
Shop 6, Cathedral Arcade,
37 Swanston Street

Lets go back to Paris...

EM em Oh Pee!

I want to visit here. You know, while we are thinking about spending money we don't have, and bigging up the things we love. (since 04!)

They are open tomorrow, and if it isn't raining weird horizontal rain and blowing a gale I might just get to Footscray to visit. I was sad to miss the fundraiser. A sadness I kept quiet about because I was living it up on holiday in Qld. This poster by The Narrows reminded me. Yes. Primitive Calculators. I'm sad. Boo.
And looking at the website, my favourite of the artist's prints to SAVE the Melbourne Museum of Printing is by Susan Jacobs. Perhaps worth spending that money you don't have on?

They have an online shop, and blog, in case the weather is too shitty to ride. I am interested in printing another Artist's book and think this might be the place, so I better get there sometime to have a look.

Type-setting my old friend, long time, no see. Why O Why am I drawn to all these tedious processes? Yes ANIMATION, I am talking to you. Also Knitting, and you too Embroidery, and well while we are here, lets talk about printmaking, and yes I could go on and on. And on.

Therefore, I am tedious.

Ahoy

I had a moment this afternoon to have a look in Glitzern. I love all that loot. It's dripping with fists full o' treasure.

I coveted many things. Not least this handstitched parrot to wear upon one's pirate shoulder.



Nor these cat's eyes. Hmmm, perhaps they are owlish?



If I did get a fist full of Rudd monies I'd probably blow some of them here. If I didn't first spend it all on fabric first. Which is more likely.
Sadly. As I have piles of fabric, and no piles of jewels.

Zond

Yes ZOND. They made me grin like a gleeful bastard at the Edinburgh Castle last night. It seemed kind of inappropriate, even to me, that such a blatant racket should please me so. It made me want to damage my ears and also start a band with somebody talented. Again.

It's the kind of music that only really makes sense to me live, so I forget how much I love it when I'm too busy hanging out in the cave making things and being a good wife, but fuck, it was good. Big thanks to Casswah and Band, The If, for getting my lazy bones to a show. I loved them by the way and am hoping for the same line-up again sometime soon. A line-up which included inevitable orbit. I think they might be a grower, as I swayed between high hopes and slight confusion. I love the drummer and thought he should be more prominent, as he is one of the best in this hokey town. I am though, quite biased. This must be obvious by now.

folded spaces

Andrea Eckersley, my lovely and amazing friend, is having an exhibition at C3, at the Abbotsford Convent. After disappearing off to Canada, for love and art school she returns with beautiful oil paintings, and the sweetest little baby named Amory. I am absolutely smitten, and I would also love to take home one of these paintings.
How does she do it, with such effortless grace and glamour?
Come see for yourselves, tomorrow night (wednesday) at C3 from 6 til 8pm.

some shows

This is old news, but kinda still relevant for a few weeks. I liked the show at platform at the moment, in particular these constructions by Carl Scrase. Also special paper folding by Kaori Kato, whose work I think I also saw at C3 on the weekend, and I was just reminded of her drawing machine at Victoria Park Gallery ages ago. Have a look if you can, you know, art is good, at platform.