Sunday, December 12, 2010
back down south
this has lay dormant since i've been back in sydney. will revive/renovate over summer. stay tuned.
Monday, September 13, 2010
desert mob
finally scored a day off after a full on few weeks. early last tuesday jane announced to me that the exhibition we were supposed to be hanging in town on wednesday, was in my control. she wanted me to curate, and hang the work, and she'd be on hand to assist. we spent all day tuesday choosing what work to take and cataloguing it, and wrapping everything. there is so much to take into consideration in this environment, and paintings and wire sculptures do not travel well for a few hours in the back of a dusty troop carrier on dirt roads. by about 6pm tuesday, the biggest painting we were taking for the show, was still being worked on, and i hadnt catalogued or photographed it. we had no choice but to pack it up, and bring Marie with us into town to finish her painting in the gallery while we set up around her.
i threw a group of 5 small paintings up, mainly to get them off the ground and out of the way, they were unevenly spaced and not level. the gallery is through a door off to the side of a shop. a woman came in and was looking, came back with the gallery owner, and bought 2 of them. the gallery manager then carefully put red dots under them, as if thats how they were staying! not bad... i got everything else hung, re-arranged it all 20 times. Marie finally finished her painting at about 6 and we got it up, still wet.
as we were leaving town we stopped at the supermarket, walked from the carpark into the complex and were stopped immediatly by a security guard, who blocked marie from entering. he said she was hassling us for money. this is something that is a problem, but we both said she wasnt, she was with us. he didnt beleive us and claimed he saw her in there all the time asking for money. marie is in her 70's, and at best would get to town once ever 4 months, and spends most of the time in the community looking after her blind sister and grandson. the guard was really aggressive, the guy working with him was trying to get him to back down. he apologised to jane, but refused to look at marie. pure blatant racism. he follwed jane and marie and waited outside the supermarket and waited till they came out. he apologised more formally then, but mainly because he realised jane was going to take it futher. when jane complained to centre management the next day, they offered marie a $20 gift card for the centre. it was all pretty insulting, so in true jane style, she's getting a lawyer involved.
we were back in town friday for the opening of Desert Mob 2010 at Araluen art centre. its a huge exhibition, showcasing all the art centres across central australia. basil hall (custom printmaker) was there to also launch the woodblock panel project which he had organised to mark the 20th anniversary of the Desert Mob exhibition, got to meet him on the night, told me to get in touch if i wanted to work in darwin down the track! had the market day on saturday, where all the participating art centres had stalls in the car park and sold works, up to $300. we sold a lot, and the postcards i had ordered sold well. had a pretty good weekend, few familiar NAS faces, seeing gina, tammie and sia over the weekend. saw Dan Sultan live on sunday night outdoors at anzac oval, highlight of the trip. bloody amazing. headed back out to titjikala on monday, the road was pretty bad after the weekends rain. i was sitting in the back of the troopy, it was sliding everywhere over the road, was great fun. we got bogged once, someone drove past not long after and got us out thankfully.
after a few weeks of 30 degree days, the next week is supposed to be 13-15 degrees and raining non stop, changes so quickly....
only one week left now...
i threw a group of 5 small paintings up, mainly to get them off the ground and out of the way, they were unevenly spaced and not level. the gallery is through a door off to the side of a shop. a woman came in and was looking, came back with the gallery owner, and bought 2 of them. the gallery manager then carefully put red dots under them, as if thats how they were staying! not bad... i got everything else hung, re-arranged it all 20 times. Marie finally finished her painting at about 6 and we got it up, still wet.
as we were leaving town we stopped at the supermarket, walked from the carpark into the complex and were stopped immediatly by a security guard, who blocked marie from entering. he said she was hassling us for money. this is something that is a problem, but we both said she wasnt, she was with us. he didnt beleive us and claimed he saw her in there all the time asking for money. marie is in her 70's, and at best would get to town once ever 4 months, and spends most of the time in the community looking after her blind sister and grandson. the guard was really aggressive, the guy working with him was trying to get him to back down. he apologised to jane, but refused to look at marie. pure blatant racism. he follwed jane and marie and waited outside the supermarket and waited till they came out. he apologised more formally then, but mainly because he realised jane was going to take it futher. when jane complained to centre management the next day, they offered marie a $20 gift card for the centre. it was all pretty insulting, so in true jane style, she's getting a lawyer involved.
we were back in town friday for the opening of Desert Mob 2010 at Araluen art centre. its a huge exhibition, showcasing all the art centres across central australia. basil hall (custom printmaker) was there to also launch the woodblock panel project which he had organised to mark the 20th anniversary of the Desert Mob exhibition, got to meet him on the night, told me to get in touch if i wanted to work in darwin down the track! had the market day on saturday, where all the participating art centres had stalls in the car park and sold works, up to $300. we sold a lot, and the postcards i had ordered sold well. had a pretty good weekend, few familiar NAS faces, seeing gina, tammie and sia over the weekend. saw Dan Sultan live on sunday night outdoors at anzac oval, highlight of the trip. bloody amazing. headed back out to titjikala on monday, the road was pretty bad after the weekends rain. i was sitting in the back of the troopy, it was sliding everywhere over the road, was great fun. we got bogged once, someone drove past not long after and got us out thankfully.
after a few weeks of 30 degree days, the next week is supposed to be 13-15 degrees and raining non stop, changes so quickly....
only one week left now...
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
fireworks and hurricanes
dream days. been 30+ degrees the last few days and not cooling down a lot overnight. jane was in town overnight so i was left to my own devices at the centre today. had a satisfyingly productive few days since ive been back. before i left i had taken some decent photos of a few of the paintings and ordered some postcard prints of them, with the thought that travelling tourists are more likely to buy a $3 postcard than a $3000 painting, so at least its some income - we are making about 250% profit on each so cant hurt. and the paintings will still sell. they arrived on monday and look incredible. i finally got around to printing the screens i made up with the guys here a few weeks back. pretty basic set up. no clamps, so one person is holding the screen in place while the other pulls the print. registration is impossible so im just guessing, and its working so far. a few have lost interest, but warwick has really taken to it and stuck around and we have printed his screen and he has printed the other 3 guys screens as well. from what we have to work with, the prints are really impressive. he's now asking for more screens and extra colours etc so im glad one of them has got something out of it.
ive turned into a bit or a marketing nut lately. after the postcards, ive also made a poster/invitation for an exhibition we are having in town starting next wednesday, and hand printing a lino stamp to attach to some bags and aprons etc that we will take in to sell. all the women have been madly painting to get things finished. nothing like a approaching deadline to boost productivity. we've got the art centre's own exhibition as well as Desert Mob which is a big exhibiton and market where all the art centres from central Australia come together in Alice Springs, all happening in the next 2 weeks.
i walked back to the centre after lunch today, to find 10 tractors all lined up on display out the front. 7 weeks ago i might have found this odd but not a lot could phase me anymore out here. they were a bunch of men from coastal victoria that were in town for last weekends truck convention and had driven their tractors all the way out here from alice springs, and onward to chambers pillar and back again. i made the trip out to chambers pillar in a car a week ago and the road was bad enough, its rained a lot since, they were pretty insane. i sold them a few hundred dollars worth from the gallery, so all in all a good day.
ive been told that i cant mention a certain governing body that i have had issues with out here by name anymore because when you do a google search of their name, this blog comes up! im impressed... they've stuck a giant sign on the roadside when you first arrive in the community Welcome to Titjikala: many voices, one dream then some crap about idealistic desert living. its insulting and offensive to the people that live here, but they'll soon realise that and it will be torn down in the dark of night like every other unwanted sign. jane thought we could make some tongue in cheek 'ideal desert lifestyle' settings under the sign to photograph and email around.
who needs tv, really.
ive turned into a bit or a marketing nut lately. after the postcards, ive also made a poster/invitation for an exhibition we are having in town starting next wednesday, and hand printing a lino stamp to attach to some bags and aprons etc that we will take in to sell. all the women have been madly painting to get things finished. nothing like a approaching deadline to boost productivity. we've got the art centre's own exhibition as well as Desert Mob which is a big exhibiton and market where all the art centres from central Australia come together in Alice Springs, all happening in the next 2 weeks.
i walked back to the centre after lunch today, to find 10 tractors all lined up on display out the front. 7 weeks ago i might have found this odd but not a lot could phase me anymore out here. they were a bunch of men from coastal victoria that were in town for last weekends truck convention and had driven their tractors all the way out here from alice springs, and onward to chambers pillar and back again. i made the trip out to chambers pillar in a car a week ago and the road was bad enough, its rained a lot since, they were pretty insane. i sold them a few hundred dollars worth from the gallery, so all in all a good day.
ive been told that i cant mention a certain governing body that i have had issues with out here by name anymore because when you do a google search of their name, this blog comes up! im impressed... they've stuck a giant sign on the roadside when you first arrive in the community Welcome to Titjikala: many voices, one dream then some crap about idealistic desert living. its insulting and offensive to the people that live here, but they'll soon realise that and it will be torn down in the dark of night like every other unwanted sign. jane thought we could make some tongue in cheek 'ideal desert lifestyle' settings under the sign to photograph and email around.
who needs tv, really.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
updated photos. read the new post - with illustration!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=188255&id=550432954&l=4712bbe2c9
as always, facebook is NOT NEEDED to see these photos.
as always, facebook is NOT NEEDED to see these photos.
origami emu
the women from the art centre were supposed to be away this last week at a law and culture conference in docker river. these events are strictly women only and it is a pretty big deal for them and quite intense. i managed to score a week off by default because the art centre would have been closed while they were away. i booked myself a campervan and had planned a week out around the territory. turns out the women decided against going, was too far for some of them to travel and because of the weather, the roads and camping situation wasnt looking promising. i had already booked and paid deposits so i left anyway. met up with some mates from sydney in Alice for a few nights then off on my own for the week.
the henley on todd regatta, is about as australian as you can get. 2010 was its 49th year. its a boat regatta held on the todd river in alice springs, based on the henley on thames regatta in london which is fought out between cambridge and oxford universities. only difference being that the henley of todd is held 1500 km's from the nearest large body of water, on the dry todd river bed! the days events culminate in three 4wd battle ships - manned by vikings, pirates, and the navy - fighting it out with high pressure water cannons, flour/water/smoke bombs. the crowd then votes and chooses a winner. this was the harder of the 2 votes required on august 21, but in the end the winner was clear, and the pirates took out the title.
i brought michael out to titjikala on sunday, then we conitnued out to chambers pillar. he didnt make much comment on the community, but i was the same when i first arrived and didnt know how to react and take it all in.
monday morning i collected my van and headed off to uluru. just me and 475kms of outback highway. driving out there was one of the best days ive had so far. fantastic weather, long stretches of road, music up loud and heaps of roadkill to keep things interesting. when i arrived in yulara, the weather closed in and it rained non stop for the next 48hrs. seeing the rock in wet conditions is apparently a rare privilege. i did the 11km base walk in the rain - which meant crossing ankle deep red mud and knee deep creeks in parts, but was worth every bit. all the waterfalls and creeks were flowing, and kept a lot of the tourists in their cars and off the tracks. carried my camera around my neck with a plastic bag over it...
the weather began to clear on wednesday, i headed out to kata tjuta and did the 3km gorge walk and the 7 km valley of the winds walk that takes you up through the middle of the formations. the campground and resort area were full but there was hardly any tourists around out there. i think the rain had kept them away the day before and they'd all gone to uluru as soon as the sun came out, suited me perfectly.
drove back to Alice thursday, found a net cafe and reconnected with the world. jane had emailed me during the week to see how i was getting on. here's an excerpt to show the madness im living next to :
"I went over to your house on Wednesday night and did a few things. Prunella and Tju Tju were so happy to go there they jumped up on the bed and went sleep. Prunella refused to move so I left her there all night . Of course faithful TJu Tju followed me back next door. Last night I gave a pigs foot it to Tju Tju. He loves them so much....Anyway he ran off with it , I didn’t see where he went. I suspect he has buried it. (In your bed) At least its a dried foot ...not fresh."
went out friday exploring the east macdonnell ranges. drove out to ross river homestead then worked my way back into alice through trephina gorge, corroboree rock, jessie gap and emily gap. climbed up and across trephina gorge, it is truly amazing. high rock walls that look like they are made of tetris bricks. i went for a drive and found my old preschool. hasn't changed in 20 odd yrs. i pulled the car over and took a photo, untill i realised i was a dodgy looking guy with a beard in a van taking photos outside a preschool. i left pretty quickly... tammie (other NAS intern) and her mob from ikunji art centre was in town also so met up with them finally and shared war stories.
quick trip saturday morning to standley chasm out on the west side, mainly to use up the remaining fuel before i took my car back. complete rip-off, its the only privately 'owned' formation and they charge an $8 entry fee to walk the 20 minute track. back in the community now, spent most of the day making an origami coat of arms out of my alice springs - uluru road maps.
christabella's woodblock prints arrived back from basil hall editions in darwin, really beautiful - glad i could be a part of it. now just to get her to sit still for long enough to sign them all.....
few weeks back i had photographed 4 of the paintings in the gallery and ordered postcards prints of them, jane wanted to develop a few ways of bringing in a more regular flow of income, i thought the postcards would be an easy sell, more tourists travelling through are likely to buy a $2 postcard than a $2000 painting, at least they are buying something, and we are making about a 300% profit on each one. they arrived while i was away, im pretty impressed.
the whole accomodation thing seems to be just sitting in the background at the moment. im still in jane's place and she is in the other house. from what i can work out it seems that the council does in fact own the actual structure, but it is on crown land that they have no right to have a building on which just complicates the whole issue. but it also means that they had no right to build the two new houses opposite us where the youth worker and maintenance guy live, turns out they never had the required clearance from the central land council to build there. not sure what happens from here, im just staying out of it, sitting back and watching out of interest.
before i left i went through the screenprint inks that jane had told me where fine to use still. they were over 10yrs old, and had been sitting in a storeroom that gets well about 50 degrees over summer, so were far from usable and had turned to a jelly like consistency. they were good quality hydrotech inks from sydney but were that old that the phone number didnt have the '9' added to the front yet. we took them across to the tip with the hope that kids will get into them and spread it far and wide. i bought new inks yesterday, pays to be a 'nice guy', you get your 4lt print paste for $60 rather than $110. just got to get the young guys to turn up for work and we might get around to printing the screens. cant wait to print my eviction poster, i'll send a signed copy to the council office.
as i write this, there's a bunch of kids with slingshots knocking zebra finches straight out of the tree in front. remarkably good aim for a 5 yr old.
and i still havent found the pigs foot...
the henley on todd regatta, is about as australian as you can get. 2010 was its 49th year. its a boat regatta held on the todd river in alice springs, based on the henley on thames regatta in london which is fought out between cambridge and oxford universities. only difference being that the henley of todd is held 1500 km's from the nearest large body of water, on the dry todd river bed! the days events culminate in three 4wd battle ships - manned by vikings, pirates, and the navy - fighting it out with high pressure water cannons, flour/water/smoke bombs. the crowd then votes and chooses a winner. this was the harder of the 2 votes required on august 21, but in the end the winner was clear, and the pirates took out the title.
i brought michael out to titjikala on sunday, then we conitnued out to chambers pillar. he didnt make much comment on the community, but i was the same when i first arrived and didnt know how to react and take it all in.
monday morning i collected my van and headed off to uluru. just me and 475kms of outback highway. driving out there was one of the best days ive had so far. fantastic weather, long stretches of road, music up loud and heaps of roadkill to keep things interesting. when i arrived in yulara, the weather closed in and it rained non stop for the next 48hrs. seeing the rock in wet conditions is apparently a rare privilege. i did the 11km base walk in the rain - which meant crossing ankle deep red mud and knee deep creeks in parts, but was worth every bit. all the waterfalls and creeks were flowing, and kept a lot of the tourists in their cars and off the tracks. carried my camera around my neck with a plastic bag over it...
the weather began to clear on wednesday, i headed out to kata tjuta and did the 3km gorge walk and the 7 km valley of the winds walk that takes you up through the middle of the formations. the campground and resort area were full but there was hardly any tourists around out there. i think the rain had kept them away the day before and they'd all gone to uluru as soon as the sun came out, suited me perfectly.
drove back to Alice thursday, found a net cafe and reconnected with the world. jane had emailed me during the week to see how i was getting on. here's an excerpt to show the madness im living next to :
"I went over to your house on Wednesday night and did a few things. Prunella and Tju Tju were so happy to go there they jumped up on the bed and went sleep. Prunella refused to move so I left her there all night . Of course faithful TJu Tju followed me back next door. Last night I gave a pigs foot it to Tju Tju. He loves them so much....Anyway he ran off with it , I didn’t see where he went. I suspect he has buried it. (In your bed) At least its a dried foot ...not fresh."
went out friday exploring the east macdonnell ranges. drove out to ross river homestead then worked my way back into alice through trephina gorge, corroboree rock, jessie gap and emily gap. climbed up and across trephina gorge, it is truly amazing. high rock walls that look like they are made of tetris bricks. i went for a drive and found my old preschool. hasn't changed in 20 odd yrs. i pulled the car over and took a photo, untill i realised i was a dodgy looking guy with a beard in a van taking photos outside a preschool. i left pretty quickly... tammie (other NAS intern) and her mob from ikunji art centre was in town also so met up with them finally and shared war stories.
quick trip saturday morning to standley chasm out on the west side, mainly to use up the remaining fuel before i took my car back. complete rip-off, its the only privately 'owned' formation and they charge an $8 entry fee to walk the 20 minute track. back in the community now, spent most of the day making an origami coat of arms out of my alice springs - uluru road maps.
christabella's woodblock prints arrived back from basil hall editions in darwin, really beautiful - glad i could be a part of it. now just to get her to sit still for long enough to sign them all.....
few weeks back i had photographed 4 of the paintings in the gallery and ordered postcards prints of them, jane wanted to develop a few ways of bringing in a more regular flow of income, i thought the postcards would be an easy sell, more tourists travelling through are likely to buy a $2 postcard than a $2000 painting, at least they are buying something, and we are making about a 300% profit on each one. they arrived while i was away, im pretty impressed.
the whole accomodation thing seems to be just sitting in the background at the moment. im still in jane's place and she is in the other house. from what i can work out it seems that the council does in fact own the actual structure, but it is on crown land that they have no right to have a building on which just complicates the whole issue. but it also means that they had no right to build the two new houses opposite us where the youth worker and maintenance guy live, turns out they never had the required clearance from the central land council to build there. not sure what happens from here, im just staying out of it, sitting back and watching out of interest.
before i left i went through the screenprint inks that jane had told me where fine to use still. they were over 10yrs old, and had been sitting in a storeroom that gets well about 50 degrees over summer, so were far from usable and had turned to a jelly like consistency. they were good quality hydrotech inks from sydney but were that old that the phone number didnt have the '9' added to the front yet. we took them across to the tip with the hope that kids will get into them and spread it far and wide. i bought new inks yesterday, pays to be a 'nice guy', you get your 4lt print paste for $60 rather than $110. just got to get the young guys to turn up for work and we might get around to printing the screens. cant wait to print my eviction poster, i'll send a signed copy to the council office.
as i write this, there's a bunch of kids with slingshots knocking zebra finches straight out of the tree in front. remarkably good aim for a 5 yr old.
and i still havent found the pigs foot...
Sunday, August 15, 2010
new and improved photos.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=188255&id=550432954&l=4712bbe2c9
updated photos. facebook is not needed to use the link.
updated photos. facebook is not needed to use the link.
Friday, August 13, 2010
get out while you can.
Alice Springs is the strange middle ground of this whole trip. Its like the excessive elements of Sydney and the extreme remote stripped back nature of Titjikala moulded into one place, that doesnt quite sit comfortably. just back from being in town for a few days, enjoying real coffee, fresh milk, and of course a well earnt beer or 2. went to the movies. inception is incredible, by the way.
walked around yesterday looking in all the tacky, overpriced, innappropriate and politically incorrect souvenir tourist shops, and of course bought up some of the best. plastic aboriginal action figures with huge cartoon eyes are my favourite. genuine kangaroo scrotum on a key chain are extremely overspriced in my opinion, but an essential souvenir for certain people, you'll know who you are when i get home.
just to clear up a few things ive been asked:
- aboriginal people dont walk around the streets in town or in the community wearing only loin cloths
- they also dont carry spears 24/7.
- kangaroos do not roam the streets in town.
- ayer's rock is not in the centre of town, its 5hrs away.
4 different people have walked towards me in the last 24hrs and said 'hey phil' then as they walked closer, said, no - not phil. i wonder who this phil is?
back to titjikala today, then back into Alice Springs next friday. seem a couple of my most dedicated and loyal fans are travelling half way across the country to visit. henley on todd regatta on saturday; thats where people race 'boats' down a waterless river bed on foot, flintstones style. cant wait. being in town lost its appeal fairly quickly, i was limited without a car, all i wanted after a while was to leave and get back out to nothingness. couldnt sleep with all the noise, too used to the silence. who knows how i'll go coming back to sydney if i already cant handle a few days in alice springs. taking the following week off - jane is away with a group of women to a law and culture conference, so the art centre wouldnt be open anyway. just going to be me, a 4wd and 465km's of open road to ayer's rock for a few nights.
oh and election day! really dont care about policies, but election day is possibly one of the top 5 most exciting days that only comes around ever 4 years . i blame my mother, she loves it too. playlist ready - electioneering, take us to your leader, drunk on election night.... will have a beer for tony and a ginger beer for julia. may the best man or best lady win.
to be continued...
walked around yesterday looking in all the tacky, overpriced, innappropriate and politically incorrect souvenir tourist shops, and of course bought up some of the best. plastic aboriginal action figures with huge cartoon eyes are my favourite. genuine kangaroo scrotum on a key chain are extremely overspriced in my opinion, but an essential souvenir for certain people, you'll know who you are when i get home.
just to clear up a few things ive been asked:
- aboriginal people dont walk around the streets in town or in the community wearing only loin cloths
- they also dont carry spears 24/7.
- kangaroos do not roam the streets in town.
- ayer's rock is not in the centre of town, its 5hrs away.
4 different people have walked towards me in the last 24hrs and said 'hey phil' then as they walked closer, said, no - not phil. i wonder who this phil is?
back to titjikala today, then back into Alice Springs next friday. seem a couple of my most dedicated and loyal fans are travelling half way across the country to visit. henley on todd regatta on saturday; thats where people race 'boats' down a waterless river bed on foot, flintstones style. cant wait. being in town lost its appeal fairly quickly, i was limited without a car, all i wanted after a while was to leave and get back out to nothingness. couldnt sleep with all the noise, too used to the silence. who knows how i'll go coming back to sydney if i already cant handle a few days in alice springs. taking the following week off - jane is away with a group of women to a law and culture conference, so the art centre wouldnt be open anyway. just going to be me, a 4wd and 465km's of open road to ayer's rock for a few nights.
oh and election day! really dont care about policies, but election day is possibly one of the top 5 most exciting days that only comes around ever 4 years . i blame my mother, she loves it too. playlist ready - electioneering, take us to your leader, drunk on election night.... will have a beer for tony and a ginger beer for julia. may the best man or best lady win.
to be continued...
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
it's been days now.
the last week can be summed up with; police, chains, padlocks, emails, calls, intense negotiations, offers, arguments, cut power and water, fires and a packet of tim tams all the way from sydney that truly saved the day. enough said? the police came, the police did nothing. so a new week with little resolution. jane and i swappped properties and she is in the house under question now, and can stay there as long as she wants, and the consequences etc fall onto her.
i attempted some drawing on the weekend, except left them out to dry only for them to be accidentally watered along with janes plants, may actually help them. been drawing really strange stuff, considering whats on offer. the ute across the road, the satelite dish on the roof, the empty council owned demountable buildings in front of the school etc.
decided to get on with starting to work on a screen printing project with the young guys out here at the art centre. looked through the screens that had been in storage since 2001, there were a few 2 x 1 m that were way to big to manage, or some smaller wooden frames and loose sheets of mesh. so forgetting my perfectly square aluminium frames and machine tensioned fine grade mesh and photographically exposed images back in sydney, i've somehow made some screens from scratch. getting enough tension by hand and abusing the staple gun all the way - its probably good the lack of english that they all understand.
the guys speak very little english, but were really interested to watch and learn (even though i was making a lot of it up as i went). they seemed to appreciate having their own process to work on that was seperate to anything the older dominating women were doing. it was pretty difficult to explain the process of painting out an image as a positive onto the mesh only to coat the negative image and then wash out the positive to be able to print it, but we got there. they now completely understand 'just trust me'. the screens i made up arent the best and we havent attempted to print them yet, thats for tomorrow... fingers crossed (havent looked at the inks yet, hate to think)....
as for whether i stay or go and the accomodation situation, ive been in negotiations with jane and the art school today and hopefully this trip will live to die another day. tomorrow should hold some answers, although we've been saying that for 2 weeks now....
if im staying, i'm heading to town friday overnight, enjoying a well needed beer. postcards will be in the mail. possibly back in town on tuesday when janes going to collect a body to be brought out to titjikala for its funeral.
the job description for a remote area aboriginal art centre manager must be a fascinating read...
untill next time...
i attempted some drawing on the weekend, except left them out to dry only for them to be accidentally watered along with janes plants, may actually help them. been drawing really strange stuff, considering whats on offer. the ute across the road, the satelite dish on the roof, the empty council owned demountable buildings in front of the school etc.
decided to get on with starting to work on a screen printing project with the young guys out here at the art centre. looked through the screens that had been in storage since 2001, there were a few 2 x 1 m that were way to big to manage, or some smaller wooden frames and loose sheets of mesh. so forgetting my perfectly square aluminium frames and machine tensioned fine grade mesh and photographically exposed images back in sydney, i've somehow made some screens from scratch. getting enough tension by hand and abusing the staple gun all the way - its probably good the lack of english that they all understand.
the guys speak very little english, but were really interested to watch and learn (even though i was making a lot of it up as i went). they seemed to appreciate having their own process to work on that was seperate to anything the older dominating women were doing. it was pretty difficult to explain the process of painting out an image as a positive onto the mesh only to coat the negative image and then wash out the positive to be able to print it, but we got there. they now completely understand 'just trust me'. the screens i made up arent the best and we havent attempted to print them yet, thats for tomorrow... fingers crossed (havent looked at the inks yet, hate to think)....
as for whether i stay or go and the accomodation situation, ive been in negotiations with jane and the art school today and hopefully this trip will live to die another day. tomorrow should hold some answers, although we've been saying that for 2 weeks now....
if im staying, i'm heading to town friday overnight, enjoying a well needed beer. postcards will be in the mail. possibly back in town on tuesday when janes going to collect a body to be brought out to titjikala for its funeral.
the job description for a remote area aboriginal art centre manager must be a fascinating read...
untill next time...
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
so on it goes...
nothing much has happened since the last update. which really isn't a good thing. we were given untill tuesday for me to leave, and were told tuesday evening that the police were being called to come wednesday morning. happy birthday!!
the police never came. it started really getting to me today. it was the 6th day i had basically sat with my things packed, waiting for someone to come and take the next step and act on their threats of a forced evacuation. jane had no choice but to leave for a while and go to the art centre, so i sat here waiting in case the police or someone came, with her dog guarding the front gate and myself inside with a phone to call her should someone arrive. i got to the point where the excitement wore off and it just was getting tedious being stuck in the middle of someone elses argument that i had no control over. there is only so long you can sit around reading and waiting. i wasnt doing anything that i had come here to do, everyones time was being wasted just waiting for a result.
our last ditch attempt before i come home early is extreme and im not sure i am entirely comfortable with it, is that jane and i swap houses. she moves enough stuff to live from into my place (the one under dispute), and i move my things into hers, so that the anxiety and consequences of living 'illegally' in the current property are placed onto her, considering it is her problem and battle to fight, not mine. this will at least allow me to do some work at the centre and try and make some use of the time here. then we give it a few more days to see if anything changes in our favour. if nothing does change or should the police turn up and still go ahead with an eviction and allow the council to take ownership of the property, then we re-asses from there. not ideal but its the last hope.
today wasnt all bad, kinda had fun going out and helping change 2 tires and then tow a car back into the community from 20 min up the road (with all my valuables stashed in the car, not home), came back and made a fire... certainly memorable.. hopefully will update with something more positive soon!
the police never came. it started really getting to me today. it was the 6th day i had basically sat with my things packed, waiting for someone to come and take the next step and act on their threats of a forced evacuation. jane had no choice but to leave for a while and go to the art centre, so i sat here waiting in case the police or someone came, with her dog guarding the front gate and myself inside with a phone to call her should someone arrive. i got to the point where the excitement wore off and it just was getting tedious being stuck in the middle of someone elses argument that i had no control over. there is only so long you can sit around reading and waiting. i wasnt doing anything that i had come here to do, everyones time was being wasted just waiting for a result.
our last ditch attempt before i come home early is extreme and im not sure i am entirely comfortable with it, is that jane and i swap houses. she moves enough stuff to live from into my place (the one under dispute), and i move my things into hers, so that the anxiety and consequences of living 'illegally' in the current property are placed onto her, considering it is her problem and battle to fight, not mine. this will at least allow me to do some work at the centre and try and make some use of the time here. then we give it a few more days to see if anything changes in our favour. if nothing does change or should the police turn up and still go ahead with an eviction and allow the council to take ownership of the property, then we re-asses from there. not ideal but its the last hope.
today wasnt all bad, kinda had fun going out and helping change 2 tires and then tow a car back into the community from 20 min up the road (with all my valuables stashed in the car, not home), came back and made a fire... certainly memorable.. hopefully will update with something more positive soon!
Friday, July 30, 2010
The Storm
major upheaval over the last few days with the dream run coming to an abrupt obstacle. got home from the art centre on thurday afternoon, half hour later someone turned up and was trying to get in through my gate, i went out, only to be asked 'who are you?' i didnt answer but just asked the same thing back. he was some form of council site manager, i explained who i was and what i was doing here, only for him to laugh, tell me i had no right to be staying here, and would have to evacute the premises immediatly. i explained that jane had organised for me to stay here, but he wasnt particularly interested, and didnt go and speak to her as i suggested, just got in his car and drove off. i went and told jane what had happened, he came back, repeated what he said about me moving out. to add to it all, it was getting dark and a thunderstorm was building up. so we are all standing in the rain arguing, the urgency being he apparently had staff of his that he had arranged to stay in here tonight. i still think there was more to that because he was demanding i left, in the rain, with no other options to go to, whilst he had other places where his staff could have stayed locally. told me i had an hour and he'd be back. jane went to try and make some calls, except being after office hours it was nearly impossible to get a hold of anyone. she was adamant that he had no right to turn up like that, and that i shouldnt pack anything, and we should sit it out. next time he came back he threatened calling the police if we continued to stay. our only real option we had was to pack my stuff into the back of her car and drive the 2hrs back into alice springs in the rain and dark and find a hotel for a night or 2 untill the problem was sorted. we sat it out a bit longer, he finally came back and said i could stay that night but had to be out first thing in the morning.
he came back friday morning, didnt speak to me but had a go at jane, saying that we had till 2pm, when he'd return with the police. there isnt a police presence in titjikala, nearest station is in santa teresa community, im not entirely sure how far away that is. whether he was right or wrong, the way he was going about getting his way was out of line for a public servant, or for anyone for that matter. we have since found out there is not a lot he or the police can do without a court order stating that they are right and that it is a council owned property and not community owned, and that i actually am here illegally.
the whole problem has arisen out of the federal governments intervention plans for nothern territory communities - the Northern Territory National Emergency Response which took ownership of a lot of land and property back from communities and placed under these shire super councils under 5 year leases. this property was under council ownership, but was apparently then no longer on their asset register, so was back under community ownership, which meant jane was perfectly within her rights to allow me to stay here, thats just not the opinion of the council. they have not been able to prove it belongs to them, or follow normal legal eviction procedures.
so i sat 90% packed waiting for 2pm friday, which came and went with no sign of the council manager or the police. jane, and simon from the art school had been in touch with the council CEO who has no intention of backing down. jane had attempted to call lawyers in alice springs but everyone that she called had some dealing with macdonnell shire council and refused to speak to her because of conflicts of interest. it is a long weekend her which is good and bad, good in that we will probably be left alone untill tuesday and i should be right to stay here till then, but bad because it means that we still have no resolution and so i have no idea, from tuesday onwards, what will happen. main problem being that there is one option for short term accomodation for a night or 2 but not long term for the rest of the trip, untill the end of september.
jane had driven around and spoken to some of the women that come into the art centre to tell them what was happening. even though there is not a lot they can do, its a very unique situation to be in the middle of a residency dispute with the backing of aboriginal elders on your side.
nothing else really happened on friday, just more phone calls to various advocacy groups for the art centres etc trying to find out where we stand. at the moment, the general concensus is that we stay put, and see what develops, but also that the council are unlikely to back down anytime soon, so to be prepared to get out, and have an 'exit strategy' in place....
if the thought of being homeless in the desert in the rain was a little easier to handle, i'd probably find this vaguely amusing. i can imagine my best buddy rohan from the council riding in on horseback to make claim for his land.
makes for a good story...
will update as it unfolds.
he came back friday morning, didnt speak to me but had a go at jane, saying that we had till 2pm, when he'd return with the police. there isnt a police presence in titjikala, nearest station is in santa teresa community, im not entirely sure how far away that is. whether he was right or wrong, the way he was going about getting his way was out of line for a public servant, or for anyone for that matter. we have since found out there is not a lot he or the police can do without a court order stating that they are right and that it is a council owned property and not community owned, and that i actually am here illegally.
the whole problem has arisen out of the federal governments intervention plans for nothern territory communities - the Northern Territory National Emergency Response which took ownership of a lot of land and property back from communities and placed under these shire super councils under 5 year leases. this property was under council ownership, but was apparently then no longer on their asset register, so was back under community ownership, which meant jane was perfectly within her rights to allow me to stay here, thats just not the opinion of the council. they have not been able to prove it belongs to them, or follow normal legal eviction procedures.
so i sat 90% packed waiting for 2pm friday, which came and went with no sign of the council manager or the police. jane, and simon from the art school had been in touch with the council CEO who has no intention of backing down. jane had attempted to call lawyers in alice springs but everyone that she called had some dealing with macdonnell shire council and refused to speak to her because of conflicts of interest. it is a long weekend her which is good and bad, good in that we will probably be left alone untill tuesday and i should be right to stay here till then, but bad because it means that we still have no resolution and so i have no idea, from tuesday onwards, what will happen. main problem being that there is one option for short term accomodation for a night or 2 but not long term for the rest of the trip, untill the end of september.
jane had driven around and spoken to some of the women that come into the art centre to tell them what was happening. even though there is not a lot they can do, its a very unique situation to be in the middle of a residency dispute with the backing of aboriginal elders on your side.
nothing else really happened on friday, just more phone calls to various advocacy groups for the art centres etc trying to find out where we stand. at the moment, the general concensus is that we stay put, and see what develops, but also that the council are unlikely to back down anytime soon, so to be prepared to get out, and have an 'exit strategy' in place....
if the thought of being homeless in the desert in the rain was a little easier to handle, i'd probably find this vaguely amusing. i can imagine my best buddy rohan from the council riding in on horseback to make claim for his land.
makes for a good story...
will update as it unfolds.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
heading east.
i had no idea anyone was actually reading this untill i got emails asking when the next was coming. so here goes...
the art centre is closed at weekends so having an entire weekend with nothing that necessarily had to be done was a novelty that i havent had for a while. sleeping till midday, then taking a chair out into the sun for 4 or 5 hrs reading and drawing, working on some book covers that havent and wont ever be written. more to come... followed by a long walk off into the desert at sunset. was tough... really tough.....
i've been spending this week going through the catalogue system that the art centre uses, and updating missing or incorrect information and photographing and making entries for un-catalogued works. may sound like a boring job but it has been great to go though and get a chance to see every single work and put certain artists stories together by looking through their entire avaliable collection. it gives a totally different perspective when you have to re-catalogue a deceased artists work, becuase they can no longer have their first name or photograph associated with the record of their work. their entries are labelled 'kumunara',(think i got that right), then surname, which is an informal greeting so that they can be acknowledged without having to say their name out loud, and their photo gets removed from authenticity certificates etc.
maryvale cattle station is right out the front of where i'm staying, they've been mustering the cattle in the last few days, there's been a helicopter around in the evenings. last few nights though all i can hear are cow noises, occasionally one sounds like its being strangled. hard to sleep when there is several hundred cattle only a few hundred meters from your front door.
we've had an auditor in going through all the books at the art centre for the last week. jane drove us up to a place called gunya today thats 5 min or so out of the community up on a hill where there are these massive tents set up on wooden platforms. they had been set up as a tourist venture where people were being charged $1500 a night! they operated for a few years apparently but now sit abandoned with no one taking responsibility for them, their maintenance or hiring them out. all of the hot water systems and fittings have been stolen. they are pretty nice but i cant imagine anyone being stupid enough to pay that kind of money for the night. they are out of the way enough that i might try sneak a night in up there, incredible views.
im still amazed at the sky here. different blues throughout the day and every night there is just the most amazing hour long light and colour show as the sunset goes through its motions. its different every day depending on the cloud cover. the sky just generally feels bigger than in the city. the weather is equally as fascinating. the temperature is ok during the day but just drops rapidly 15 degrees or so after about 5pm. yesterday was really cold, but today was totally different, sun had a different feel and was hot and windy. even the last hour there's been intense dry wind and a dust storm followed by a torrential downpour now its cold, clear and still.
im craving everything i cant or dont have.
and have totally lost track of days and time....
the art centre is closed at weekends so having an entire weekend with nothing that necessarily had to be done was a novelty that i havent had for a while. sleeping till midday, then taking a chair out into the sun for 4 or 5 hrs reading and drawing, working on some book covers that havent and wont ever be written. more to come... followed by a long walk off into the desert at sunset. was tough... really tough.....
i've been spending this week going through the catalogue system that the art centre uses, and updating missing or incorrect information and photographing and making entries for un-catalogued works. may sound like a boring job but it has been great to go though and get a chance to see every single work and put certain artists stories together by looking through their entire avaliable collection. it gives a totally different perspective when you have to re-catalogue a deceased artists work, becuase they can no longer have their first name or photograph associated with the record of their work. their entries are labelled 'kumunara',(think i got that right), then surname, which is an informal greeting so that they can be acknowledged without having to say their name out loud, and their photo gets removed from authenticity certificates etc.
maryvale cattle station is right out the front of where i'm staying, they've been mustering the cattle in the last few days, there's been a helicopter around in the evenings. last few nights though all i can hear are cow noises, occasionally one sounds like its being strangled. hard to sleep when there is several hundred cattle only a few hundred meters from your front door.
we've had an auditor in going through all the books at the art centre for the last week. jane drove us up to a place called gunya today thats 5 min or so out of the community up on a hill where there are these massive tents set up on wooden platforms. they had been set up as a tourist venture where people were being charged $1500 a night! they operated for a few years apparently but now sit abandoned with no one taking responsibility for them, their maintenance or hiring them out. all of the hot water systems and fittings have been stolen. they are pretty nice but i cant imagine anyone being stupid enough to pay that kind of money for the night. they are out of the way enough that i might try sneak a night in up there, incredible views.
im still amazed at the sky here. different blues throughout the day and every night there is just the most amazing hour long light and colour show as the sunset goes through its motions. its different every day depending on the cloud cover. the sky just generally feels bigger than in the city. the weather is equally as fascinating. the temperature is ok during the day but just drops rapidly 15 degrees or so after about 5pm. yesterday was really cold, but today was totally different, sun had a different feel and was hot and windy. even the last hour there's been intense dry wind and a dust storm followed by a torrential downpour now its cold, clear and still.
im craving everything i cant or dont have.
and have totally lost track of days and time....
*disclaimer*
i recieved some welcomed constructive criticism from a respected source in regards to the fact that i agreed to carve another artists woodblock, questioning how ethical it was and whether i would have made the same decision if a white anglo artist had made the same request. i tend to agree with their point of view, but the circumstances surrounding this situation werent as clear cut as i may have initially suggested. christobelle has a profound mental disability so the decision that she'd draw on the block and have someone else carve it was made very early on in the project. she makes incredibly beautiful paintings fairly autonomously but will only work with someone else sitting next to her helping her make the decisions of colour and composition that we tend to make easily. anyway...
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Photos
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=188255&id=550432954&l=4712bbe2c9
whether you're on facebook or not, that link should let you see the photo's ive put up.
fingers crossed.
whether you're on facebook or not, that link should let you see the photo's ive put up.
fingers crossed.
Hard Sun. Long Nights.
nearly a week gone already. first few days at the art centre went well.
the Desert Mob festival in Alice Springs runs each year in September. Jane is starting to organise which works the art centre will be submitting, and the women are painting to get things finished. Basil Hall Editions, a print studio in Darwin is organising for each of the 38 art centres around alice to submit a woodblock, carved by one of their leading artists, which they will print and have on display and for sale at the festival in september. Jane had chosen who she wanted to do Tapatjatjaka art centres block - Christobelle Briscoe, who drew on the block and then went and disappeared, which apparently isnt that unusual for her. apparently i'd been talked up as a 'master' at woodcarving, so jane had saved the block till i arrived and got me to carve the drawing. it was only 3 and a half months overdue, and i only had a set of $3 tools to work with. ironically i had taken my good tools out of my bag the night before i left thinking it was ridiculous and i wouldnt need or use them. i worked with what i had however, took 2 full days, and carving 90% of the block away with blunt tools, but its finished, and jane said still looked like her work, so i guess that is all that matters.
the women at the centre are friendly but fairly closed off to begin with, although intrigued about the carving and want to know how its done, i'll show them more next week. theres 3 young guys in their early 20's that jane employes in the office area. she also wants me to show them how to screenprint. really looking forward to that, they've got a lot of designs and drawings that will translate well onto screen, mostly things about their football team, Titjikala eagles, their jumpers etc.
starting to get used to living so remotely. the temperature isnt too bad during the day but drops very rapidly after about 4pm. the power is all from these pre-paid cards that you put into a box on the side of the house, like a pay phone. went back into town yesterday to get a tax file number etc for one of the young guys so the art centre can pay him. took best part of the day, nearly impossible to get things like that and open bank accounts when there is very little recorded information about your past. finally tracked down a birth certificate for him which helped, just another thing ive realised we take for granted. after a few hours in town all i wanted was to get back out to titjikala. as we were leaving we were approached by two drunk aboriginal women who jane knew as the mother and friend of someone from the art centre, they didnt live at titjikala but wanted a lift out there to visit.. after making a few calls jane reluctantly agreed, so made for an interesting trip home! the community is an alcohol free zone and seems to have a lot of people living here that have moved to escape the alcohol problems of the city or other communities.
the art centre is closed at weekends, so i spent today in the sun with a book, then a long walk off down a track into the desert. its a hard life....
over and out.
the Desert Mob festival in Alice Springs runs each year in September. Jane is starting to organise which works the art centre will be submitting, and the women are painting to get things finished. Basil Hall Editions, a print studio in Darwin is organising for each of the 38 art centres around alice to submit a woodblock, carved by one of their leading artists, which they will print and have on display and for sale at the festival in september. Jane had chosen who she wanted to do Tapatjatjaka art centres block - Christobelle Briscoe, who drew on the block and then went and disappeared, which apparently isnt that unusual for her. apparently i'd been talked up as a 'master' at woodcarving, so jane had saved the block till i arrived and got me to carve the drawing. it was only 3 and a half months overdue, and i only had a set of $3 tools to work with. ironically i had taken my good tools out of my bag the night before i left thinking it was ridiculous and i wouldnt need or use them. i worked with what i had however, took 2 full days, and carving 90% of the block away with blunt tools, but its finished, and jane said still looked like her work, so i guess that is all that matters.
the women at the centre are friendly but fairly closed off to begin with, although intrigued about the carving and want to know how its done, i'll show them more next week. theres 3 young guys in their early 20's that jane employes in the office area. she also wants me to show them how to screenprint. really looking forward to that, they've got a lot of designs and drawings that will translate well onto screen, mostly things about their football team, Titjikala eagles, their jumpers etc.
starting to get used to living so remotely. the temperature isnt too bad during the day but drops very rapidly after about 4pm. the power is all from these pre-paid cards that you put into a box on the side of the house, like a pay phone. went back into town yesterday to get a tax file number etc for one of the young guys so the art centre can pay him. took best part of the day, nearly impossible to get things like that and open bank accounts when there is very little recorded information about your past. finally tracked down a birth certificate for him which helped, just another thing ive realised we take for granted. after a few hours in town all i wanted was to get back out to titjikala. as we were leaving we were approached by two drunk aboriginal women who jane knew as the mother and friend of someone from the art centre, they didnt live at titjikala but wanted a lift out there to visit.. after making a few calls jane reluctantly agreed, so made for an interesting trip home! the community is an alcohol free zone and seems to have a lot of people living here that have moved to escape the alcohol problems of the city or other communities.
the art centre is closed at weekends, so i spent today in the sun with a book, then a long walk off down a track into the desert. its a hard life....
over and out.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Sci-Fi Sunsets
day one was off to a ripper start... sydey to alice via adelaide should have taken 4.5hrs, ended up taking 8.5... an hour sitting on the plane in sydney before take off was manageable, 3hrs in adelaide airport was painful though. after learning from the best, i had a whinge, they gave me food vouchers which were happily spent in the Coopers lounge - there is NOTHING else to do in adelaide airport.
Got into alice finally, checked into hotel for the night and went and climbed Anzac Hill. Amazing view and a sunset like something out of star wars. no real memories from when i was there 21yrs ago surprisingly but i could tell i'd been there before.
Jane Easton, Tapatjatjaka art centre manager picked me up early today, i had to buy food for the week which was mildly traumatic, knowing whatever you forget has to be done without for at least a week. Jane is fantastic and easy to get along with so should make the next few months easier.
The road to titjikala is longer than anticipated, took about 2hrs even with beautiful weather and reasonable road conditions. landscape is stunning. the colour of the sand kept changing from the darkest red to pure white and back again. titjikala is not what i expected, although i have no idea what i did expect. dogs everywhere! the vet was in for the day desexing and putting down any sick ones. the art centre is located in the middle of the community and the artists and other residents live in houses around that side, then there is another area off to the other side where the school building is, and where there is accomodation for the outsiders. met brett the youth worker who lives opposite me, he apparently worked as a life model at the art school sometime last year, small world. going to do an off-road 4WDing training course with him next week!
my house isnt all bad. took a bit of getting used to, and a 4hr cleaning spree with jane but is now clean and comfortable.
start work tomorrow.
over and out.
Got into alice finally, checked into hotel for the night and went and climbed Anzac Hill. Amazing view and a sunset like something out of star wars. no real memories from when i was there 21yrs ago surprisingly but i could tell i'd been there before.
Jane Easton, Tapatjatjaka art centre manager picked me up early today, i had to buy food for the week which was mildly traumatic, knowing whatever you forget has to be done without for at least a week. Jane is fantastic and easy to get along with so should make the next few months easier.
The road to titjikala is longer than anticipated, took about 2hrs even with beautiful weather and reasonable road conditions. landscape is stunning. the colour of the sand kept changing from the darkest red to pure white and back again. titjikala is not what i expected, although i have no idea what i did expect. dogs everywhere! the vet was in for the day desexing and putting down any sick ones. the art centre is located in the middle of the community and the artists and other residents live in houses around that side, then there is another area off to the other side where the school building is, and where there is accomodation for the outsiders. met brett the youth worker who lives opposite me, he apparently worked as a life model at the art school sometime last year, small world. going to do an off-road 4WDing training course with him next week!
my house isnt all bad. took a bit of getting used to, and a 4hr cleaning spree with jane but is now clean and comfortable.
start work tomorrow.
over and out.
Friday, July 16, 2010
desert rain.
last day in the gaol done and dusted. 10 week release started, back for remainder of sentence in october... it will be the longest i have been away from NAS since 2006.
turns out titjikala has had unseasonable rain, and the river bed is back to being a river, and they had flooding and lost power, and here i was thinking i was off to the driest part of the country in the driest time of year!
something to look forward to.
leaving Syd early on monday, via adelaide, spend a night in Alice then will make it to Titjikala sometime tuesday to asses the damage!
over and out.
turns out titjikala has had unseasonable rain, and the river bed is back to being a river, and they had flooding and lost power, and here i was thinking i was off to the driest part of the country in the driest time of year!
something to look forward to.
leaving Syd early on monday, via adelaide, spend a night in Alice then will make it to Titjikala sometime tuesday to asses the damage!
over and out.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Watch Me Disappear
2 weeks tomorrow and i'm off...
check out
http://www.tapatjatjakaarts.com.au/
and
www.aboriginalartonline.com/regions/titjikala.php
check out
http://www.tapatjatjakaarts.com.au/
and
www.aboriginalartonline.com/regions/titjikala.php
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