Pulling together a dazzling glimpse of more than a century of historic photos, the CLICK! exhibition at Badger & Fox Gallery has many a story to tell. The exhibition features original vintage prints (some signed) from as far back as 1853 and features renowned Australian photographers Bill Henson and Narelle Autio, as well as international photographers from Germany to Japan. There is a story behind each of these photos, be it the mystery behind the stunning Japanese Sitting Nude, taken sometime in the 1880s by an unknown photographer, or the pinholes left in Max Dupain's Your Girl Is Cheating, an early piece by the Australian photographer — famous for his iconic shots of Bondi beachgoers — left marked from being hung at a 1960s Royal Easter Show. The Badger & Gallery, usually open by appointment only, will share the CLICK! exhibit with us Wednesday-Friday 6pm-9pm, Saturday 11am-6pm and Sunday 11am-5pm until December 21. Image credit: Women Are More Beautiful than Men by Gary Winogrand.
Dig out your high-tops, pick out your baggiest T and start rehearsing your Funky Charleston: DJ Jazzy Jeff is coming to town. Summer is finally, officially, upon us, and The Soda Factory crew is so happy about it that they’re throwing you a free (FREE!) party, hosted by the creator of ‘90s hit ‘Summertime’ himself. After booking Jazzy for a December 6 boat party and selling it out in record time, the Soda team decided that they’d do the generous thing and invite him to play an extra, one-off, midweek date, on Thursday, December 4. Doors open at 5pm. The ‘Welcome to Summertime’ party is one date in Jazzy’s Australian tour, which also takes him to Melbourne and Perth. It’s also the first in a series of hot weather-inspired events to be held at the Soda Factory, all driven by some serious international talent. You’ll be able to catch Ladyhawke and New York founding father of hip hop Grandmaster Flash later in the month.
Massive, philanthropic art foundations had always seemed to belong to faraway cities, like New York or Madrid. Then they started popping up over here as well. A four-storey converted knitting-factory wedged at the edge of the Carlton Brewery site and the Mortuary Station, the White Rabbit Gallery showcases a massive private collection of modern Chinese art. Finding it can be a challenge, but the exhibitions are free and the quality is staggering. It's a busy place, hosting monthly talks and a book club on Chinese themes. First Sunday of the month, they run a Film Club featuring Chinese movies. Previous screenings have included Eat, Drink, Man, Woman and Hero. This month's film — Still Life — exists in the shadow of the unfathomable Three Gorges Dam. A decades-long hydro-electric project that flooded villages and cities, relocating over a million people. Directed by Jia Zhang-Ke, part of China's "sixth generation" of realist film-makers, the film follows two love-stories through the surreal changes brought about by the dam's construction. Environment, internal migration, government bureaucracy — the big themes in modern China are all there, waiting. So hop up to the second floor, and get a closer look.
Some 33 years after his death, Charlie Chaplin is breathing new life into an Indian community. This incongruous tale is presented in the Kathryn Millard's charming documentary, which follows a pilgrimage of sorts, from Australia to The Charlie Chaplin Circle in western Gujarat town of Adipur. They're gearing up to celebrate his 116th birthday, and Millard has said she'll bring the cake. If Gujarat rings a bell, it's because the region made headlines back in 2001, when a devastating earthquake claimed the lives of over 20,000 people, and injured over 160,000 more. The haunting effects of this calamity form the poignant foundation of this documentary, where Chaplin's infamous shoe eating scene from The Gold Rush takes on an affecting contemporary resonance. The Charlie Circle is lead by an Ayurvedic doctor and die hard Chaplin fan, Dr. Aswani. Here is a man who literally prescribes Chaplin movies to his patients, easing their suffering with some silent cinema. He and aspiring actor Prevan Mumbai are also joyful impersonators, and Millard intersperses these shuffling antics with moving accounts of how Chaplin has shaped their lives. Of course there's the eponymous cake to consider as well, and Millard brings some self-deprecation to her hunt for the correct method for crafting a boot cake that will survive in Adipur's steamy conditions. In fact this quest becomes a little confused at times, for Millard stays resolutely behind the camera, yet intones an increasingly personal narration of what this 'pilgrimage' has meant to her. Had she stepped in front of the camera, and given the audience more context to her fascination with Chaplin, such revelations might have fallen on more inquiring ears. Like the boot cake itself, a slightly odd jumble of ingredients has gone into shaping this documentary. But it is, if you'll pardon the pun, a unique slice of life that will leave you smiling, and hunting around for your Chaplin DVDs. https://youtube.com/watch?v=BxaZxKsGlOw
What was the last Japanese film you saw? Perhaps the Oscar nominated Departures? Maybe some old school Ozu? Precious few Japanese films actually make it to Australian cinemas, which is why the Japanese Film Festival is such an important addition to any cinephile's schedule. Selling out screenings around the country, the festival looks set to do the same in Sydney. Tickets to the box office hit Hanamizuki (Flowering Dogwood) are almost gone, and no doubt the opening and closing night fare About Her Brother and A Lone Scalpel can't be far behind. Tetsuya Nakashima's (Kamikaze Girls, Memories of Matsuko) disquieting revenge tale Confessions was Japan's entry in this year's Academy Awards, while Dear Doctor has taken out a host of national film awards. Iron Chef fans may want to check out Flavor of Happiness; definitely not a film to watch with an empty stomach! November 27th is the day for anime fans to flock to the festival, with a two-part line up including: Time of Eve, animated music video Precious, Tokyo Marble Chocolate and Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror, including a Q&A discussion with animator Naoyoshi Shiotani. Another exciting panel discussion will take place on November 23rd, after the double bill of Kyoto Story and short Wish You Were Here. Running with the topic "Fostering new filmmakers in Japan", Kyoto Story co-director Tsutomu Abe will be joined by film critic Tadao Sato and industry pioneer Shigeki Chiba. Here's hoping Australian cinemagoers do their bit to foster Japanese filmmakers as well. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Vnws8ZymxME
I like to think of Metronomy as the nerdiest music imaginable: their songs are pure brilliance. Somewhere between bit music and The Cure, they've managed to discover the musical equivalent of rocket science. Intersecting polyrhythms keep you guessing and dancing furiously at the same time, while melodies rise and recede, each more enticing than the last. The purity of their sound is a dead give away that this band doesn't mess around with lo-fi posing. And on this tour, they'll no doubt be taking this all to the next level as they debut new material for their fans. In short, you should think of Metronomy as Chromeo's cooler cousins. I'd suggest you don a lab coat immediately and head on down to the OAF to dance the night away. https://youtube.com/watch?v=uYB2Mqs24ss
Recently returned from a run at the Edinburgh Fringe, the Seymour Centre's one-woman A Solitary Choice stars Tamara Lee as the sheep-contemplating Ruth. Ruth has a problem. In fact, Ruth has many problems — she has a husband lost in an interminable PhD, she's stuck working in the unsympathetic world of finance and is unexpectedly pregnant. The story of Ruth slowly discovering her child within is run in parallel to the story of her husband Christopher looking for unlikely pleasure in the world of real-estate and also running into his own inner tyke. The set of the play is sparse. A bench, a chair, a table, a newspaper and a small, checked-green suitcase. Lee cuts Ruth and her world cleanly from these spare ingredients, creating places as easily with the set as her voice carves out silhouettes of Ruth's loved-ones. Lee's effervescent face and bell-like song are engaging, and she draws sympathy for Ruth's life and yearnings. But it's not a happy story. For Ruth, the world seems split into people living safe in boxes, and wilder creatures with the ferocity to live a harder life. Her fantasies are bleak dreams of far away places, welling-up into a torrent of words and joie de vivre bursting to escape into her day-to-day life. The twin themes of choice and inevitability dominate Sheila Duncan's play. The author of the epic Sandman once said that the eight-year saga came down to a single decision its protagonist makes late in the piece. A Solitary Choice is also about a choice — ostensibly an abortion — but her decision comes down to something even more significant. Ruth is torn fiercely between her loves and her needs, and at the end of the play it's hard to tell whether she chooses the right things. But the path she takes to get there is persuasive and watching her is no mistake.
The New Pornographers tread a categorical line between rock and roll's grungy distortion and pop pleasure — basically they're contemporary pop musicians in the true form. So if we were to categorise theirs as pop music, let's distinguish it from the fake, plastic kind. With rich harmonies and vocal layers, there's no chance of an auto-tuner being tucked into their luggage, there's no lip-syncing and they're certainly using real instruments — you won't find anything more electrical than a guitar in their set up. After releasing album number five, Together, they're touring Australia and New Zealand; 1) because who wouldn't want to take a holiday while you work and 2) because we love them and can't wait to see them perform their new album live, in the flesh. Sure, you'll tap your foot while listening to them while you work but when you're stretching your lungs to sing along to them in the car, there's no denying how good this pop really is. Seeing them in the flesh will only make you wish they were playing two dates instead of one — make sure you don't miss it. https://youtube.com/watch?v=bxMCaU83QKs
The best theatre is always that which not only entertains, but which informs. It's easier said than done. You don't want to go ramming some political doctrine down the throats of your audience. You need to ease them in with humour, drama and suspense. Version 1.0 is a Sydney based theatre company determined to do just that. With their latest production, The Bougainville Photoplay Project, academic, writer and performer Paul Dwyer follows in the footsteps of his father, Dr Allan Dwyer, a world renowned orthopaedic surgeon who traveled three times to Bougainville during the sixties to help crippled children. Paul Dwyer has composed a myriad performance to re-create his father's journey, including monologue, slides, super-8 footage and film installations as well as recounting his own time in Bougainville, revisiting the land and the people his father was so determined to help. Perfectly placed at Upstairs Belvoir, this insightful performance will offer a new insight into the lives of the Papua New Guineans of two generations, those affected by the Bougainvillean resistance and those in the midst of post-war reconstruction. With film installations created by video artist Sean Bacon, this production will surely open your eyes to one of Australia's closest neighbours.
Sometimes, when you're a kid, Shakespeare ain't that much fun. It's bad enough that you may not understand what they're saying without having to worry about all the tragedy you have to witness. Then there are the seats you have to sit on and the rules of silence out have to obey. Dang, there are so many rules in Shakespeare when you're a kid! But what if you're in a park — Centennial Park? Hmm, this already seems to have improved my 8 year-old self's impression of the event. Then, while you're busy roaming around there while mum and dad and all the other couples in skinny jeans are eating fancy home made picnic hampers on sweet picnic rugs, these mysterious and mischievous characters like Puck and Bottom emerge. The whole way through the play they make you giggle until at the very end a couple of lovers kiss and make up (eww!). That actually sounds like something you could easily drag my 8 year-old self to and, in fact, you could also drag my 25 year-old self to. I guess it's lucky then that Wild Rumpus Productions is staging a Spring season of A Midsummer Night's Dream in Centennial Park — it's Shakespeare without all the rules. A Midsummer Nights Dream will be performed every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:30pm
If you do a little gurge in your mouth when you hear the phrase “arts and crafts," then listen up. This isn’t your usual collection of handmade bits and bobs, purchased to make you feel better about not calling your nana enough. Sure, there’s a bit of felt. And maybe some knitting (that’s on the up and up, anyway). But you’ll also stumble across born-again books, futuristic tea-towels, organic coffee, trendy locals with new millennium haircuts, stylish scraps of silver plus heaps more. So put the spew away, you snob, and head down to CarriageWorks in Redfern the first Sunday of every month. Oh, and call your nana.
I can still hear the rousing tune that plays to William Kentridge's video installation, "I am not me, the horse is not mine." Such is the infectious effect of this seven-screen artwork. One of the highlights of the 2008 Biennale of Sydney, Kentridge's work has been granted its encore, and will show for another nine months in its fantastically fitting location. Nearby is the sentimental and haunting exhibit, A Ringing Glass (Rilke) by Australian artist Ken Unsworth. If you enter through the ballroom you are sick with the sense of discovering a relic, and the chill deepens as you move through the multi-roomed artwork past deconstructed instruments, suspended baby pianos, and antique children's beds. On an Island, the exhibition of National Art School students drawings, is shown in the wonderfully light Mould Loft on the Upper Island. Don't miss the metal drawing installation by Skye Wagner near the Unsworth installation. The ferry timetable to Cockatoo Island is available here. Image: Ken Unsworth, A Ringing Glass (Rilke), exhibition shot.
Dubbed an “Australian To Kill a Mockingbird†by The Monthly and a “deeply thoughtful, remarkably funny and playful … gloriously Australian book,†at Readings Monthly, it seems Craig Silvey’s Jasper Jones has not only filled the boots leftover from his lauded debut Rhubarb (2004), he’s upgraded to a brand new shiny pair.Hailing from the black swan state, in Jasper Jones it’s the outsider - the one unlike the others - who gets a look in, whether that be a ‘half-caste’ (Jasper Jones) or a thinker (the daydreaming protagonist, Charlie Bucktin). A coming-of-age novel in more ways than one, this is definitely a young Australian writer to watch, either in person at one of Ashfield Library’s Authors’ Talks, or right here. Otherwise, buy the book at all good bookstores, and judge that Harper Lee comparison for yourself.
Humans have an epic crush on playing. It’s in our nature - the pulsing spark that loves nothing more than to discharge itself into the nearest object, creating pure genius from the mundane. An invitation to play should never be turned down.On August 7, the Powerhouse Museum will smack down a roaring good dose of playtime for Sydney’s creative sods.First, play with the city around you, transforming it with Jerrem Lynch’s architectural video projections and Denise Litchfield’s ninja yarn spinning. Next, play along with Matt Huynh, Sonny Day and Biddy Maroney, melding words and imagery to create comic mementos. Finally, hit the heights of transhumanism with Dr Bert Bongers and celebrate the playful marriage of human creativity with silicon efficiency.Whatever hoists your flag, just play with anything you can grab. Because this is the serious kind of playing, kids. The kind that breeds worlds.
12 artists are united by the word for this exhibition, all differing in their use of language and text. Watch Grant Stevens’ video work Really Really a few times and you realise the order of words doesn’t so much matter. His message is clear, and the rhythm and spacing of the text totally evokes that scrambling feeling of a bubbling love you can’t keep a lid on. Each word is part of a greater whole: the whispered sweet-nothing. In contrast, there is Jenny Watson’s Objectification; in the small but powerful canvas the words ‘My mother is ill again’ appear. Imagine substituting or emphasising any of these words and you understand just how charged each element of the sentence is. With several big artists alongside newer names, overall the delicacy of the written word succeeds here in drawing your attention from the cavernous space of the gallery to the artworks before you.Image: WORD, installation detail, Anna Schwartz Gallery Sydney, courtesy the artists and Anna Schwartz Gallery, photograph by Paul Green.
Anne Ferran has been photographing the same patch of grass for over 10 years. It’s a paddock on the outskirts of Ross, a small village in Tasmania, and the images oscillate between focused studies of the grass, which reveal the form and folds of the earth, and glimpses of the horizon. Something seems mysterious in the concentration on the ground, as if dark secrets lurk beneath the quiet cover of grass.Providing an interesting counterpoint, Stills Gallery has also brought together a selection of work from another Tasmanian photographer, Ricky Maynard (who is also currently on show at the MCA), including works from Portraits of a Distant Land (his most recent and continuing series) and the iconic portraits of the Wik elders from Aurukun community in Queensland.Image: Ricky Maynard, Wik Elder, Arthur, 2000, from Returning to Places that Name Us, gelatin silver print.
In Kathryn Gray’s 3-screened video work Contingency Plan we witness soundless interviews. Despite this absence, and thanks to the subtitles, you can understand fully the voice of the interviewee. They come across as determined and calculating, and standing amongst the screens, you feel as if you’re taking part in the conversation.In stark contrast is Jim Allen’s video Poetry for Chainsaws. Here, the artist’s voice is present – reading Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl – but totally obliterated by the noise of three chainsaws left to their own devices. Have a read of Allen’s statement and the accompanying essay, it will enrich your viewing of this evocative video work.Image: Jim Allen, Poetry for Chainsaws, installation view, Artspace, Sydney 2009. Photo: Silversalt Photography.
For many of us, ‘fashion sale’ evokes uninviting images of messy bins and racks overflowing with last season’s rejects. Fortunately for us bargain-hunting fashion fanatics, The Big Fashion Sale is back this week. Break open your piggy banks and head to BJB Studios, where you’ll find precious pieces from top Aussie fashion and jewellery collections, up to 80 percent off. Plump up your wardrobe with treasures from Konstantina Mittas, Arnsdorf, Marnie Skillings, Ellery, Dress Up, Nathan Smith, Rittenhouse, Maise, Elke Kramer, Shakuhachi, Shona Joy, Toby Jones Jewellery and many more. Some of Sydney’s most fashionable creatives will also be selling cherished items from their own collections of vintage. Sugary treats included, and you can register online for access to the VIP preview the night before the doors open.
2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, and what does that mean for us lay people? Besides a lot of unapologetic star-gazing, it means enjoying exhibitions like Beyond visibility: light and dust at UTS Gallery. Brought to you by astronomer/photographer David Malin, and artist Felicity Spear, this show features their work and that of Arnhem Land artist, Gulumbu Yunupingu. Malin’s impressive photographs show a side of the natural world untouchable but for technology; their exactness contrasts with the imagined mappings of constellations in Spear’s mural-sized paintings and the proliferation of stars in Yunupingu’s larrakitj (hollow funeral poles). Beyond visibility reminds us we’re all tiny, and we're all looking at the same sky. Image: David Malin, The Corona Australis reflection nebula, 2008, ink jet print. Courtesy of Anglos-Australian Observatory and David Malin images.
Picture this - Greece, rattling along the dusty, unsealed roads of a sleepy village in the north of Zakynthos. My driver is a fisherman who can barely speak English, and yet we manage to start a conversation. He's very excited to learn that I'm from Sydney:"Oh, you must know Mary Quill!"Mary Quill? "Yes, Mary Quill, very famoos, very big, in Sydney!"I tried to explain that I didn't know everyone in Sydney, because you know, I'm a jerk who thinks that all people in villages are backwards. And that was when the Euro cent dropped... this heavily accented man was talking about Marrickville.It is no wonder that Marrickville has become a global phenomenon, cultural melting pot that it is, and likewise it's not stretching the imaginary friendship too far to say that it's the perfect place for a Cultural Festival.Come and join Mary Quill and her worldly friends throughout the month of September; revel on the rabble streets, fight censorship with underground films, save the world with homemade sustainability and burn your rubber soles for gypsies and nightwalkers.Remember, the more you do, the greater your chance of immortality in a Greek fisherman's tale.Photo of Lolo Lovina, performing September 25thVideo of "Red Frogs" by Cuthbert and the Nightwalkers, performing September 27thhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=amWoC8DlCJU
Sometimes I just really feel like a piece of steak. I ran into my friend at the butcher the other day and we discussed this and he shared my sentiment. Sometimes, without reason, your body cries out for a piece of meat and you really just have to obey. Every Surry Hills residents’ new favourite bar (read: Ching-a-lings) is hosting a BBQ on Sunday. Beer and BBQ. Those two words make me a happy woman. Vegetarians are welcome, as long as they BYO vegie snacks, but everyone is warned that you don’t make friends with salad.
We often speak about “getting older and wiser†but are less likely to seek out the wealth of knowledge from our elders. So in celebration of the City of Sydney’s Older & Wiser Week, filmmaker Simon Dikkenberg is giving us the chance to do just that with his 30-minute documentary The Last Hundred Yards.Premiering 5:30pm this Friday in a free public screening on the green between the Turanga and Matavai housing commission towers in Waterloo, Dikkenberg is encouraging his audience to interact with his documentary’s setting. Drawing on the experiences of four Elders from the inner Western suburbs, this documentary seeks to display the dignity and determination of our older Australians, as well as their thoughts on imparting their wisdom. Exhibiting in conjunction with the screening is a series of portraits of the documentary’s elders by photographer Toby Burrows.The Last Hundred Yards: Promo from simon dikkenberg on Vimeo.
The Sydney Latin American Film Festival - it can take you to far away lands, in your own city. More importantly, it not only takes the finest cinema from Latin America, but also gives back through its diverse community support program. Saving the Ecuadorian Amazon is just one good reason to see a film, or five.And there's plenty of films to see. Road trip meets family history in Disierto Sur, with producer Mauricio Arriagada present for introductions and a Q&A on the festival's opening night. For the grotesque YouTube-addicted among us, Filmephobia explores a scarily diverse range of phobias - and will be screened at the Mu-Meson Archives. If decisions are too difficult, then catch the line-up of Local Shorts and peek into new worlds in your own backyard.
Sometimes we take our public art institutions for granted. We forget that behind their familiar exteriors sit not only artworks and artifacts we know and love, but many we haven’t yet met and would hit it off with immediately.There’s nothing like a first impression, but there’s also something to be said for a reunion. The dreamers brings together both: familiar names and those not so well-known. The show is taken from the Gallery’s Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander collection and presents eight master-artists. What’s amazing is the sheer breadth of style and practice present in just this select few: from the dizzying optics of Papunya Tula painter Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, to the lyrical landscape of Arnhem Land artist Ginger Riley Munduwalawala.Make friends with pieces in the permanent collection; they may not call you for your birthday, but they’ll always be there (unless, of course, they’re being restored).Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, untitled, 2001, 244x183cm
Spring is definitely sprung. We know this partly because the grass is riz and lambs are getting frisky and what not, but the main clue is that over at COFA, folk are getting stuck into preparations for their annual Spring Fair. Live music, exhibitions and food will all be on offer, but the beating heart of the Fair is the 75-stall marketplace where entrepreneurial types will be hawking their arty wares. 21-year-old Laura Ives is one of the many designers who’ll be there on the day. She’ll be selling her first collection of Horse & Deer apparel and industrial jewellery, alongside local artist and COFA student Syke. “The Spring Fair is unique because it's a chance to get a first look at the next generation of emerging artists and designers,†Ives says. “It's a great time to get in on the action before it's all in stores and ten times the price. In fact most artists are students so you could probably barter an artwork down to a carton of cigarettes and a box of Mi-Goreng.†And if naked consumerism isn’t so much your thing, you can also catch demonstrations from artists and designers working in a range of media. Highlights include a 3D animation demonstration from William Burdis (one of the animators behind Happy Feet) and a clay-wielding demonstration from ceramicist Paul Davis.
Some say the reason Firstdraft is Sydney's oldest artist-run initiative, having survived 23 years in a town notorious for severely short-lived independent venues, is because of its rotating director program which means none of the administrators stay on for longer than two years, and energy is always fresh. We think it might also have something to do with their fine programming and ongoing support of local emerging artists and curators. They've been handing out big breaks since way way back, and are firmly rooted as an integral part of Sydney's creative heart and soul. But now they need a little something back: $20 000 for council-ordered renovations which must take place in the next few months. Meet the Save First Emergency Fundraiser Auction. You get: original artworks by the likes of Mike Parr, soda_jerk, Del Katherine Barton, Sarah Goffman, Simon Kennedy and Brett East. Firstdraft gets: to stay afloat. Sound fair? Fellow galleries and former Firstdraft directors and artists have rushed to donate artworks for auction, which will be hosted by MCA director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor on September 3. The hammer starts banging at 6pm and previews of the works are available from noon on September 2. Image: Michaela Gleave, Proposed Model for Conversational Arrangement, 2009, Box mounted digital print, 54 x 40cm
Playwrights make a dangerous choice when they build a play around a single metaphor, because if the image isn't a perfect fit an audience will hear the script being forced into shape. Having a man frozen in ice, his whole life caught in suspension, is certainly a fascinating image but it is not actually the focus of Falk Richter's Under Ice. For, while Paul Niemand (Terry Serio) agonises over his isolation and lack of movement, he is caught up in a system that actively decomposes its waste components rather than freezes them in stasis.It is in this decomposition - the creative HR engineering that Richter sourced from real-world consulting firms - that Under Ice is its most engaging. While Niemand's monologues do occasion the odd laugh, Serio's performance is often emotionally detached and therefore difficult to connect with. In contrast, Jason Langley and Adam Booth strike a frightening chord as the excited, inhumanly efficient consultants.Ice is also a challenging metaphor to connect with Australian audiences, given that many people in this country have only physically encountered frozen water in refreshing drinks. Despite this, director Kellie Mackereth has drawn on more accessible tools, such as Mathew Mackereth's satirical powerpoint presentation and Rosie Chase's airport soundscape, to successfully capture the mood of suspended life on the Sydney corporate ladder.For those interested in learning more about Australian theatre and German playwrights, there is a special talk included with Under Ice on August 27th.We have a double pass to give away – just email your details to hello@concreteplayground.com.au with 'Under Ice Giveaway' in the subject line for your chance to win.
So someone’s trying to tell you that you don’t know the meaning of art. Don’t get mad, get Even Books! The debaucherous book club parties started as a “real-world offshoot of an online magazine,†according to co-founder Angela, “but Even Books grew little baby legs of its own and took off.†The thinking person’s rave takes an esoteric turn this month with the literally and morally ambiguous theme “Mountain Dream Tarot & Jean Dubuffetâ€. Expect freeform art criticism, a zine and book stall, a tarot reader, a photo-booth and a whole bunch of paint cans (BYO paint). Plus, there will be performances from the Sydney three-piece that may or may not be taking over the world, No Art, and a DJ set from the brains and brawn behind Jingle Jangle, Smokey La Beef and Exercise Mike. Kind of like hosting an artist-in-residence– in your brain.Photo by Will Reichelt
Sydney band Sherlock's Daughter are launching their new EP at the Hopetoun Hotel and in true-to-form style have grabbed two of Sydney's most exciting emerging acts to perform in support – Megastick Fanfare and Kyu. Freya from the unsigned but hugely promising Kyu has a gorgeous, resonant voice that lingers long after her performances have ended, and while they've been playing loads of shows recently Megastick Fanfare always entertain with their cramped stage full of home-made synths.
As soon as the title card appeared on-screen â€" a hand-painted "Antichrist" in manic scrawl, with the final 't' incorporating a female symbol â€" my usually objective back was up. The films of Lars von Trier tend to rub the viewer the wrong way, but this one has a little more venom in it than that. It has rub, it has tug, and at some point falls entirely into hell.As married couple, only known as She (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and He (Willem Dafoe), are engrossed in their own sexual world that covers the short first act of the film, their young son tumbles to his death through an open window. An event that occurs at apparently the same time as Gainsbourg's close-up climax. Thus begins the heavy (and more often than not, draining) use of symbolism throughout the rest of the film. The use of stark black and white for that scene gives way to a murky, magnificent hue that seems strangely darker than the previous black as the rest of the tale unfolds.The remainder of the film (believe me, the above was not a spoiler), centres on Gainsbourg's descent into grief, and the needling cognitive therapy of Dafoe who defies the code that one mustn't counsel their own family, to unpredictably sadistic results. They venture to their cabin in the woods known as Eden, first a mental journey for Gainsbourg, and then (presumably) a physical one for them both. Herein, acorns fall heavy as hooves, fears are faced, a fox talks, a bird is bludgeoned, and then fears of those previously faced fears rear their terrifically ugly, domestic heads.Much has been made of the seeming rampant misogyny in Antichrist, but it lingers more on a world already dented by existing patriarchal systems â€" She grappling with the history of witchcraft trials and gynocide â€" rather than approaching women/nature as inherently evil. Certainly, the character of He has no pedestal on which to stand (may have something to do with the bum leg). Neither does the director. Still, von Trier's legacy does focus substantially on dragging both its female leads and the audience through hell. Antichrist provokes questions from its viewers, prodding and poking until you’d rather just close your eyes. There is a real power to the fable at the black heart of this story, Gainsbourg delivers an excruciatingly good performance, chaos does indeed reign, (and yes, there is graphic castration of both sexes), but I’m not convinced that Antichrist is worthy of the complex thought or dialogue it attempts to develop.Photo: Christian Geisnæshttps://youtube.com/watch?v=Z5tKBGcWQZE
Since their inception/germination/formulation in the misty, magical, musician-spawning Blue Mountains but four winters ago, Sister Jane have recorded all of their music on vintage equipment in the home studio of guitarist and producer Liam Judson (Belles Will Ring, Lovetones, Cloud Control). And so it goes — from vintage equipment to a vintage medium, to your very vintage tastes — this psychedelic, blues-inspired five piece is launching a limited edition 7-inch vinyl this Friday night at Ruby Rabbit. Not afraid to make full use of both sides, it includes not one but TWO new singles from this high energy, underground powerhouse of rock and roll.Had enough adjectives yet? I didn't think so. They have also been described by some dudes as having a "smooth, distinctive sound" and "windy guitar and hectic organ riffs". Seriously, can you think of a better way to congratulate yourself for surviving Friday the thirteenth than getting your hands on some classic vinyl and rocking out completely to hectic rock and roll organ riffs? I didn't think so.Sister Jane will be supported by The Messengers, a Melbourne outfit who will surround you with their glowing Melbourne-aura and make you feel good.
Did you know that aluminium can be recycled into infinity? No wonder it has the sheen of space years about it. And that Tetra Paks are mostly made from cardboard (with only wee little prophylactic layers to protect them from sprouting mould offspring)? Ahh, recycling, who would’ve guessed that all those crazy dumpster divers were actually diving deep for thrills. This year’s National Recycling Week is certainly full of them; the Big Aussie Swap Party (no, not your spouse) will take place simultaneously across Australia on Tuesday Nov 10th, or else you can host your own. The Friday File Fling is also unfortunately not about your not-spouse, but about ditching those dossiers that would make even data-junkies weep. There’s plenty more — but I don’t want to waste words when I need them to write to America about why they pronounce ‘aluminium’ funny.
Michael Kantor, Artistic Director of Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre, has a thing or two to say about the power of positive thinking. Alongside his production of Happy Days, he has also directed and toured a reworking of Voltaire's Candide, now titled Optimism, which will make an appearance during the Sydney Festival this January.Both plays question the strength of an optimism stubbornly clung to, despite the obvious truth that there's nothing to be happy about. Samuel Beckett's Happy Days is an extreme scenario of hard times: Winnie, performed wonderfully by Julie Forsyth, is buried up to her waist in a desolate, black mound and constantly tormented by a relentless light and screeching alarm. Her imbecilic husband, Willie (Peter Carroll) lives a subterranean life, only popping up long enough to receive the occasional head injury from Winnie's flung rubbish.Yet, in spite of this grim existence, Winnie peps herself up with a rambling, feel-good mantra that would make Hyacinth Bucket appear self-loathing. It is only in the bleaker second act, when Winnie is buried up to her head, that her facade begins to crack and fracture into a sporadic despair.Kantor has put together an excellent production; the two roles are expertly crafted and performed, especially Forsyth's depiction of a manic woman just managing to keep it together under ludicrous pressure. Anna Cordingley's gift-box set unfurls menacingly at the opening of each act to reveal a scorched pile of rubble, which Paul Jackson's lighting design paints with an impressive array of moods. Entering as Winnie's sonic torturer is a ferocious series of alarms, drones and mechanical clanks conjured by sound designer Russell Goldsmith. However, Beckett's play goes a step beyond presenting a scenario; his language and set-up are such that the audience is drawn into a sense of futility and ennui. For two hours Winnie rambles without plot â€" illustrating an intricate character study, yes, but one that we've all encountered as the neurotic, attention vampire at parties and functions across the globe. Willie's final struggles towards his wife are a physical manifestation of our collective enervation. He tries in vain to reach his wife, to reach a satisfying end point, and yet his efforts are cut short by the cruelty of the stage. There is an audience that will enjoy this show, and I certainly recommend this production to them. Those who are prone to falling asleep at the theatre, however, will find these two hours very difficult.Photo by Jeff BusbyVideo from Beckett on Film. Directed by Patricia Rozema. Copyright Blue Angel Films Ltdhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=LpHQPAzJJGA
Our local council recently announced their monthly collection. Duly, we put out the rotting backyard furniture and cupboard clogging mess that has fuzzied up the feng shui of our house for too long. Before the trucks even arrived, half of the trash we'd left on the curb had disappeared, only to be treasured by a new owner. So, 'tis true, one man's trash is another man's etc. None seem to be more aware of this than artist Chris Town. His new exhibition, The Daily Detritus, will present the artist's creative interpretations of his own diaries, combining his experiences in spectacularly evocative collages of words, objects and multimedia. Town claims to always include a 'found' object in each of his works, meaning that each dramatic piece is its own treasure. Take time to journey through Town's exhibition and feel the provocation of his urban inspired art.
With art imitating life imitating, well, Paul Giamatti, Cold Souls is quite the curio. Writer/director Sophie Barthes takes soul searching to a whole new level in her philosophical treatise on the commodification of the soul. It’s probably best not to say too much about this film. However, anyone who might have been horribly traumatised by a philosophy course has no cause to fear Cold Souls. Barthes infuses the screenplay with a caustic wit, while her impressionistic visual style is lovely to behold. This is a truly impressive debut and one that will no doubt go over well with fans of Charlie Kaufman, particularly his recent Synecdoche, New York.Rallied by a spirited performance from Giamatti (playing himself, sort of), David Strathairn, Dina Korzun and the rest of the cast â€" including Kaufman cross-over Emily Watson â€" bring all the ironic nuances and world-weary melancholia of their characters to life. And these wonderfully written roles are played out within a wry storyline that reignites the Cold War on an existential level. So regardless of whether you ultimately enjoy Cold Souls, or are able to wrap your head around it, one thing’s for sure: you’ll never look at a chickpea the same way again.https://youtube.com/watch?v=SJ2t2vDfM1M
No matter the weather, Melbourne's Crayon Fields are an instant clearing of the clouds. Good vibrations taking a sunbath, and if you peel away the initial innocence, probably a skinny dip to follow. The slight incongruity of their sound to their era, with nods to luminaries such as Dennis Wilson and The Zombies, makes what they do all the more compelling. It's intricate pop without the usual tell-tale traces of cloying 60's revivalism.As lead singer, guitarist, songwriter and general wunderkind (he makes their film clips too) Geoff O'Connor steps further out of the shadows with each release, the light gets a little brighter. O'Connor's soft voice, often anchored by layers of atmospheric wash, has a habit of lulling one into a false sense of security before realising his lyrical content. You may also know his side-project Sly Hats.Having teased audiences with a lengthy couple of years between records, Crayon Fields have just released their second full-length album All The Pleasures Of The World, recently featured as 'album of the week' at both FBI Radio and 2SER here in Sydney and at RRR in their hometown. Shuffling All The Pleasures out into the limelight is a no-brainer; the record is, in short, wonderful.Live, the band brings a certain kind of familiarity and goofiness to the otherwise polished sound, and lucky for all, they launch the new record this Friday at Spectrum in Sydney. They will be supported by local act Bearhug and Chapter Record labelmates The Twerps (Melb). Crayon Fields also play Newtown Festival this weekend.Email us to win one of two double passes to the All The Pleasures Of The World album launch, Friday 6th November.https://youtube.com/watch?v=ancPtPc1u4Y
Stripping off and posing for the camera proved to be an intimate and contemplative moment for the models photographed by Emma Thomson in her series I want something special. When staring down the barrel of the truth-gun (the camera), naval-gazing musings are what sprang forth. Whether single men, young girls, couples or a friendly looking fellow named Ray, everyone admitted to wanting the same thing out of life: something special. Thomson’s portraits are joined by the work of three other artists at MOP Projects from Thursday November 5. Tom Polo will take over Gallery 1 with his wry commentary on the hyper competitiveness of contemporary culture in the painting series The 2009 B.E.S.T Contemporary Art Prize For Painting. Jai McKenzie will display her findings on the relationship between photomedia technology and light, space and time in her video work The Machine Stops. And last but not least, Harriet Body will collapse performance, video and painting in her work Mix Media. Image: Emma Thomson, Ray, 2009, Lambda print, 92cm x 73 cm
There are lies, and then there are lies. There are those shameless, blatant untruths told with a twitch and a sneer that are about as cool as Alexander Downer in a sauna. But then there are those lies, dashing in three-piece suit or silk stockings, negroni in hand, which make you wish honesty had never come to the party.Good or bad, the truth is in the telling.Once again Runway magazine delivers up a simple, yet weighty issue for our contemplation: we've had Romance, Conversation, Make-believe, but issue 15 is about Lies - all viewed through the lense of contemporary art. And once again an event packed party accompanies the issue's launch. Converge on the Red Rattler this Friday the 6th of November for an evening of work and performances by Penelope Cain, Bella Earclay, Agatha Gothe-Snape, Renny Kodgers, Ms. & Mr., Tom Polo, Sven Simulacrum and Uddin & Elsey.A copy of Lies is included in the cover charge and to be honest it looks like a cracker of an issue! Reading like a who's who of who's getting their hands dirty in contemporary art in Sydney at the moment, artists featured or reviewed include David Lawrey & Jaki Middleton, Ms. & Mr., Adam Norton, Tom Polo, Sean Rafferty, Will French and Michelle Hanlin. And the contributing writers are equally exciting, including Ella Barclay, Bec Dean, Amelia Groom (our very own) and Emma White.Image: Agatha Gothe-Snape, I TRUSTED YOU (transcription), 2009.
When I first heard Kitty, Daisy and Lewis’s Goin’ Up The Country I actually presumed it was the original version, and that Canned Heat had covered it in 1969. I was wrong. The track was in fact recorded at the teenage siblings’ home studio in 2008, using 8-track tape machines and retro BBC microphones. Their sound is so vintage, so reminiscent of ‘50s rock'n'roll, blues and country music, that it’s almost as if this three-piece band from London were plucked straight out of mid-century America. On stage they perform tracks like Honolulu Rock n Roll and Mean Son of a Gun with a rainbow of instruments including guitar, piano, banjo, lapsteel guitar, harmonica, double bass, ukulele, drums, trombone, xylophone and accordion. In person they’re just a bunch of cool kids who love to write music and perform good old-fashioned rock n roll.Comb up your quiff and head to the Manning Bar on 10th December for their one and only Sydney gig.https://youtube.com/watch?v=GxW3Ed7GrhQ
David Caesar takes on the truckies in his modern fairytale Prime Mover. Infusing dusty Dubbo with magical realism, this is the story of Thomas, an aspiring truckie meets small town gypsy Melissa, and the love and life they make for each other. The film reunites Suburban Mayhem stars Michael Dorman and Emily Barclay, who generate a natural chemistry that sells their love at first sight. But it wouldn’t be a fairytale without some nasty antagonists: roles taken up with relish by Caesar regular Ben Mendelson and Underbelly's Gyton Grantley. Fulfilling the fairy godmother position (of sorts) is Anthony Hayes, whose four parts aid and stall Thomas’ progress in turn. Though Caesar clearly seeks to reveal the magic in everyday life, he doesn’t quite manage to keep up the momentum from its charming first act. When Thomas hits the road, the film takes an about face, replacing the laconic comedy with a rather serious family drama, albeit one with fun bad guys. This tonal shift carries the film off course a ways, but by the third act both Thomas and his Prime Mover are heading back on track. 
The narration and magical realism may well remind some of the cult classic Two Hands. This is, however, a much sweeter film that seeks to portray love and family in a meaningful way. While it may not fire on all cylinders, Prime Mover is broadly appealing, with engaging performances, fun cameos and fine cinematography that provide an interesting glimpse at the oft-overlooked Australian truckie. Email us to win one of ten in-season passes to Prime Mover, opening in cinemas 12th November.https://youtube.com/watch?v=TaXQYwXRuQ0
Hailing from somewhere between California and a mythical, fallen city, Joanna Newsom extends far beyond the usual ethereality of harpists, basing her songs in a strong sense of narrative and boot polish charm. Having risen from little-girl-never-really-lost ranks through tours with Drag City labelmate Will Oldham, Joanna Newsom has released only two full-lengths to date but both are so good, she gives the illusion of prolificacy. Newsom's debut album The Milk Eyed Mender had moments of marble-mouth and a few "teen poet" lyrical missteps, but 2007's Ys, with its epic orchestration by Van Dyke Parks was nothing short of revelatory. Rambling tales of sawdust and shackles and the night sky and almost every lyric beginning with "and", Ys is undoubtedly one of the best (and conceptually ambitious) records so far this century.Having toured Sydney numerous times at this point â€" starting at the Metro, moving on to the Spiegeltent and then the Concert Hall at the Sydney Opera House where the entirety of Ys was played with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as part of the Sydney Festival, Joanna Newsom returns to the Opera House again this January. This time, however, she brings her own band, glimpsed briefly by audiences on her last tour and heard on her most recent EP. That EP, with its punny title, had a return to folk-charm with sea shanty stylings which seems destined to be a part of the upcoming tour.Tickets are on sale now.https://youtube.com/watch?v=IYl0uLrXP7U
A film entitled The Box, starring Cameron Diaz and James "27 Dresses" Marsden, and you’d easily be forgiven for thinking this a romantic comedy. A featherweight caper about the mishaps of proposing perhaps. But with Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly at the helm, you’re in for quite another ride indeed. Instead, The Box will take you into the depths of a morality play. Adapting Richard Matherson’s short story Button, Button, Kelly recreates 1976 Virginia, where private school teacher Norma (Diaz) and NASA engineer Arthur (Marsden) are an upwardly mobile suburban couple with a young son (Kevin DeCoste), living slightly beyond their means. When Arthur is looked over for a promotion and Norma retrenched, they are visited by a disfigured stranger, Arlington Steward (Frank Langella) and offered one million dollars to push a button. If it sounds too good to be true, that’s because it probably is. As the consequences of their decision unfold, Norma and Arthur try to find the source of this high-stakes proposition, which reaches far beyond anything they might have fathomed. Here Kelly is clearly in his element, revelling in the tantalising world where, “advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.†He layers a Hitchcockian aesthetic on this mind-bending material, and further turns the screw by incorporating existential, even biblical elements into his moral experiment. While the set-up is a bit laboured, and certain reveals a bit too heavily emphasised, The Box is an intriguing, thrilling and provocative cinematic experience. Donnie Darko fans may not find the film quite up to scratch, but surely everyone will be fascinated to see what Kelly has land in the bedroom this time.Popcorn Taxi is hosting a preview screening on Wednesday October 21st (7pm at Greater Union Bondi Junction) with a special Q&A session with Kelly live from LA. Click here for more details. To win one of ten double passes to The Box, email your name and address to hello@concreteplayground.com.au with 'The Box' in the subject line.https://youtube.com/watch?v=oNHrqxRcek8
Sister Smile is a biopic about Jeanine Deckers, a singing nun who, in 1963, had a chart-topping hit in Europe and North America with her song Dominique, a jaunty little tune that goes like this: "Dominique, nique, nique, S'en allait tout simplement...Il ne parle que du Bon Dieu."The song is a lot more upbeat than the tragic story behind it. After Deckers appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, she left the convent to try to launch a solo career and things quickly went downhill. She was unable to use the name Sister Smile because it belonged to her order , and her follow-up hit â€" a song in praise of contraception called Glory be to God for the Golden Pill â€" caused outrage. Jeanine Deckers' non secular life then descended into binge drinking and pill popping, ending in a suicide pact with her lover Annie, a detail this movie weirdly glosses over.You would think that a movie about a drug-addled lesbian nun would be a hoot and a half, but it’s not really, instead it’s a little vague and plodding.https://youtube.com/watch?v=80iEeBRo-oY
Large men from a small country across the way, Fat Freddy's Drop are once again visiting our large land. I must say that last time I saw them I was a little underwhelmed, they just didn't seem that enthused. Maybe too many massive tours all over Europe and doing spots at Glastonbury tired them out a little. Having said that FFD can be a great live act â€" often hitting on the sublime, and when they layer beautiful sounding textures over the top of Reggae roots, it all comes together. Their second album, the obscurely titled Dr Boondigga & The Big BW, drops some of the dub style, picking up more on the elements of soul and electronic tinges that have been present in the Wellington band's music before. BW is a slice of future funk that builds smooth horns over the top of a boom-bap beat and then adds Joe Dukie's vocals on top â€" as flavoursome as a slow cooked HÄngi.According to FFD PR, their second album was born out of live jams, and the meditative and patient arrangements of the FFD sound often build into all out danceable party jams â€" so it could be very well worth the gamble to catch them before they head to London, Berlin and LA.https://youtube.com/watch?v=29MgzHUhHws
There was a time when cameras didn't exist and so, when someone saw their double reflected back at them, that could only mean one thing â€" a demonic doppelganger had spawned in the world. But the double's got a different meaning in the multimediaverse, and legion are the numbers of people grinning at their own reflection.What better way to celebrate contemporary narcissism than with the 15-minute guru Andy Warhol, whose posthumous patronage blesses this festival of music, art and markets? Witness the algal bloom of Paddington's underground art scene as it blossoms above the currents for one day of eclectic expression. Enjoy the day time, curated by James Shirlaw and Tara Cook, and then carry on over to the Exploding Plastic Inevitable redux of Velvet Underground covers.The moral of this momentous double-gone moment? You don't need acid or life experience to enjoy a Sixties flashback.https://youtube.com/watch?v=0cWzxJvgWc8
It’s a sad fact of life that we can’t all be Australian National Treasures like Rowland S. Howard. Sure, you can start a band â€" but it won’t be The Birthday Party. Of course, you can write some songs â€" but they won’t sound like Come Fall. And by all means, make some friends â€" but I’ll bet they’re not Thurston Moore and Lydia Lunch.Oh, don’t look so glum! You’re fine as you are. Besides, the next best thing to actually being Rowland S. Howard is seeing him perform, and come Thursday October 22 you can do just that. In his first Australian gig since appearing at All Tomorrow’s Parties at the request of his old pal (and former Birthday Party and Bad Seeds band-mate) Nick Cave, Howard will perform select songs from his 20-odd year career, as well as from his upcoming album Pop Crimes. https://youtube.com/watch?v=L7ChSy6FhxQ
I was first introduced to jazz by Keiko Nobumoto's arse-whipping galactic epic, Cowboy Bebop, and now I feel like a frantic space privateer whenever I hear some mercurial melodies. Imagine my excitement then, when I think about the Paddington Reservoir Gardens filled with jiving notes. Already I can see myself chasing those alien criminals amongst the stone arches and swinging a few martial moves over a flowerbed - all to a 5/4 time signature.Eccentrics aside, the Gardens will host a medley of Sydney's jazz scene as part of the Uncover Oxford Street program (another Art&About initiative). Present day musicians will be represented by the likes of Bob Bertles, Susan Gai Dowling, Ben Fink and Lily Dior, while music photographer Shane Rozario brings the past to life with his month-long exhibition of the Jazz Underground. Feel free to schmooze the photos at your own pace, or listen to Shane's free talk during the festival for the lowdown on the world of Sydney jazz.Video from Cowboy Bebop (1998), copyright Sunrise Inc.https://youtube.com/watch?v=T6zDfxZ4NcE
Just off the back of a tour with all girl Japanese garage-rockers Shonen Knife, Brisbane's I Heart Hiroshima are stopping back in to Sydney to launch their second album The Rip at The 'Dale. The Rip was recorded in Brisbane and then taken to the UK to be mixed by Gang Of Four's Andy Gill. They kept busy in Britania and across Europe playing some 40 shows including several with the angular indie rockers Maximo Park, as well as heaps of festival spots. So their live show should be well tuned up. Their bassless sound with it's wirey guitars underneath shouty vocals can be grating and abrasive, but when they bring more melody into the mix - such as on their best known tune Punks - they can pen very memorable melodies with the intertwining boy/girl vocals exultantly yelling simple yet emotive lyrics. First single from The Rip (out Oct 2 on Valve Record), Shakeytown, with melodic guitar hooks and a bittersweet chorus, gives hope for their second album. And there's no denying these guys are great live; drummer/singer Susie Patten is very charismatic behind the two scruffy boys on guitar. Kiwi transplants Songs, are doing the whole album tour, so get there early as Sunday shows at The Annandale open at 6.https://youtube.com/watch?v=5QIJbUhABT4
Granted, the folks behind Newcastle’s This Is Not Art festival are doing a lot right, but you’d think that by their tenth year they might have realised the jig is up. So, a little friendly advice, TINA: we’ve heard that ‘not art’ schtick before, and baby, we’re not buying it. TINA is an annual convergence of emerging and experimental performers, tastemakers, writers, musos and dabblers: over 400 artists from Australia and beyond, all told. With dozens of (mostly free!) events crammed into five days and nights, the whole affair feels something like your friendly neighbourhood street fair. On crack. It’s fitting, then, that the newest addition to the TINA family is the Crack Theatre Festival, which will be sharing the lineup with old favourites like Critical Animals, Electrofringe, National Young Writers’ Festival and Sound Summit. Crack is serialised theatre spread across three days, with a grand finale on the fourth: a one-day open event in which participants work together to devise, rehearse and perform an original piece of theatre. Writer and artist Alli Sebastian Wolf will be directing Crack’s Saturday night installment. “It’s kind of like those old time radio serials. It’s about a detective, very 1930s film noir kind of stuff,†she says. “You can come to any one of them and just enjoy each one as its own little piece, or you can come from the beginning. They all kind of work as independent bits of theatre: you get caught up in each of them.†Alli says her piece developed as a series of one-offs at Sydney writers’ night Penguin Plays Rough. “It started off there as just little readings, and we did the first sort of chapter and people were like, ‘When’s the next one?’†she laughs. “So we ended up making more and more to go on up there for about five months and decided that we wanted to actually make it into something that stood together as a performance by itself … They used to not even have to really flow on from each other as long as you had the same couple of characters, everyone was drunk, and it was a month ago so who remembers? This time it’s a bit better, but they do still have their own little style, and hopefully their own little arcs and spirits.†Oh, and zombies. Naturally. “And zombie machines and mad scientists, and then you’ve got some gangsters and you’ve got your film noir detective who can stare off into the middle distance and have ridiculous similes,†Alli adds. “We’ve got a sound guy doing live sound from a desk next to the stage, with all kinds of jugs and pots and pans and craziness. And we might have our own live saxophonist,†she enthuses. “It’s just a good time, I reckon.†And if theatre’s not so much your thing, there’s plenty more going on. Apart from the usual workshops and panel discussions, TINA will also host performances from the likes of Melbourne’s Suzanne Grae & the Katies and US band The Vivian Girls; horror shorts night Scream Screen; and dance and video installations from The DeConvertors. Triple J’s Marieke Hardy and the ABC’s Lawrence Leung will also be making appearances.
The People's Republic of China has really chilled out and let its hair down over the last few decades. Sort of. Not really. But they have relaxed just the teeniest, weeniest, bit and Chinese artists have responded by exploding with the most exciting Contemporary Art anywhere in the world.Chinese born Guan Wei is no exception. Wei lives in Australia now but he trained in China and his meticulously detailed paintings reveal a rigorous formalism and training that our apathetic Sydney art schools could only dream of.His paintings and sculptures are funny, subversive and charming. They explore the contrast between our two countries. Australia is a weird place viewed through Guan Wei’s eyes. Sea monsters, crocodiles, indigenous tribes and fleets of ships figure heavily. Sort of like 16th century Chinese maps, imagined by Steve Irwin.His new show Fragments of History opened at Kaliman Gallery this week, coinciding with the launch of his new publication Other Histories: Guan Wei's Fable for a Contemporary World. On Saturday September 26 Kaliman Gallery will host a panel discussion between Guan Wei, John Mcdonald and others (2:30-4:00pm), followed by an exhibition viewing.
