Quality Event

New Site.

2009-04-27T23:34:00.004+08:00

Oh, I have a new site with new great comic, artwork, illustration goodness.
Check it out here:

www.campbellwhyte.com

I will be consolidating all my various sites soon... soon I tells ya!

welcome back

2008-04-12T12:27:00.002+08:00

While I was away, my parents totally "pimped my ride" as it were. Fixing all the dents, the busted door, the boot, the missing hub caps, the upholstery... etc.

Yesterday someone drove in to the back of me.

the biggest post ever

2008-03-18T13:13:00.002+09:00

We call it Boo.

infinitas gracias

2008-01-23T10:31:00.000+09:00

Liz and I created this wall work for the Oaxacan gallery space Tinoco y Palacios.

We were building on ideas from our previous exhibition Lost in a Fog while incorporating the concept of non-religous based retablos.

You can see more images of the work here.

public transport

2008-01-23T03:20:00.000+09:00

Buses in Mexico are pretty wild. The drivers are allowed to decorate them in whatever style they like. Usually blaring either classic mariachi music or bassy anthems.
This guy had red faux velvet upholstery and red metallic glitter tape wrapped around all the railings. The bus was yellow with red stripes and shapes on the outside.
You can see to the drivers right, a sticker of a bus, that's a sticker of THE bus, custom made. Lots of the buses have them.

Awesome.

And there always seems to be at least one tiny child's shoe hanging up somewhere.
I don't know why.

arbol del tule

2008-01-23T03:16:00.000+09:00

In Oaxaca is the worlds fattest tree.
It's pretty bloody enormous.
There's a wiki on it here.

night of nights

2007-12-28T12:05:00.000+09:00

The 23rd of December is Oaxaca's night of nights, that night being the Night of the RADishes!

Radishes of all sizes are carved to represent religious figures, religious events, religious places, all sorts of religious things. Carved out of radishes.

It is the biggest night of the year in Oaxaca, and is totally awesome!

You can see more photos from the Noche de Rabanos here.

diverti granja / divertigranja

2007-12-24T17:45:00.000+09:00

The above is a rooster who had his comb and wattle surgically removed in preparation for cock fighting. This operation took place at Divertigranja and was performed by farm owners Victor Hugo and Emily Melander.
Please view a full gallery related to the farm here.

exhibitionists

2007-10-17T10:28:00.000+08:00

Liz and I will be in these two shows in Perth.
Both of them are group shows run by and featuring our university graduating class.

We were lucky enough to be surrounded by super professional, committed, talent (etc) peoples during our time there. It's exciting that the momentum has kept up for so many people after the "course" finished.

Anyway, if you're around, check them out.

minimini

2007-10-13T08:17:00.000+08:00

Liz and I attended the opening of a show by comic artist James Kochalka at Giant Robot Gallery. He did a whole bunch (188 maybe...) of tiny paintings on paper that he was selling.

Very clever.
He sold a whole bunch of them and people loved it.

The Giant Robot gallery seems to alternate between having shows of awesome artists, and then shitty "skate" or "graf" or "street" or whatever you want to call it. I don't know what's going on with all that crap. It's like all those bum skater kids you knew when you were younger grew up and got a big bunch of money and decided to start laying down cash for stupid shit... I dunno, there's bmx boutiques with mahogany tables and chandeliers and brass stairwells and things.

Seems stupid to me.

I had an abominable attack of the hay fevers that day and was a sniffling teary eyed wreck the whole time we were there. I could barely stand it.

You can be seeing our hairs in the background of the above picture.

Anyhoo...
I picked up the painting below which is about 5cm by 5cm... cracks me up.

lost in a fog update

2007-10-13T03:59:00.000+08:00

I've updated the Lost in a Fog gallery to include actual photos of the works...
It's about time, you can see them here.

big announcement

2007-10-12T23:43:00.000+08:00

Liz and I have opened up our own Etsy Store, beth+bell, selling soft toys and paintings!

This is an attempt to sell the remaining soft toys stock that we have left after the Fluther show opening. We also plan on running the shop when we get back to Perth, maybe working on it two days a week in an attempt to minimize the amount of work we have to do for other people.

You can check out the store here and a bunch of photos here.

fluther

2007-10-10T10:16:00.000+08:00

Here's. some pictures from the Fluther show opening. It was a blast, huge turn out, everyone in the house busted out great work and we get to do it all over again on the 20th.

Liz and I will put some more photos up tomorrow, including individual close ups of all the toys (there's 16!).

sf2

2007-10-04T12:12:00.000+08:00

Liz and I will be a part of this show that's happening soon.

birthday

2007-09-27T12:47:00.000+08:00

It was my birthday, Liz and I had a great full blown glorious tourist day full of excitingness!

We went took the cable cars to fisherman's wharf and went to the Alcatraz!
Then we ate clam chowder and drank "shrimp wrecked bloody mary's".

On the way home we stopped at the SF Sanrio store. It was small, but full of really great things. The shirts were much better than the ones in Japan, not sure what's going on there. They must be tailored for the round eye market.

It was a radical day!

The night before I had a big dinner with everyone at Million Fishes, it was Harry Potter themed and we ate and drank a lot of super rich sugary fatty foods. Awesometown!

I would have put a lot more photos online but apple did something to my 300 hundred photos I took during my birthday dinner and birthday day.

arc

2007-09-23T14:07:00.000+08:00

Hai guys, just a note to let you know that Liz and I are taking part in the Freerange show Arc, we have a piece in it called The Man Burns Twice.

Go check it out!

the burning man

2007-09-10T02:52:00.000+08:00

We survived.
Blew out a tire on the way to the event.
Co-driver gets a speeding fine.
Arrived at the gate without tickets, refused entry.
Camped in the desert, the real desert, not the Burningman desert.
Spent the next day in the smallest country town ever trying to get in contact with the people who have our tickets.
Wind up camping another night in the desert.
After setting up our tent the ranger comes, fines us and tells us we have to move.
Camp even further out in the desert.
Morning, get in to Burningman.
The Burningman happens for a week.
We pack the truck up for a day and a half. Liz and I are among the last four to leave... out of 30.
Leave Burningman.
Sleep in the car in a Starbucks carpark.
Home.
Sleep for a week.

More photos here.

lost in a fog

2007-08-09T09:54:00.000+08:00

The show opened on saturday and much to our delight and surprise, people turned up. We figured all the house mates would be there and that would be it, seeings as we don't really know anyone else in SF, luckily we were wrong.

Liz and I have been recovering for the last couple of days by placing our brains in a pickling jar to vegetate. The vinegar has improved their states immensely.

You can see more photos from the show here. We didn't take too many because we were both pretty busy chatting and we weren't organized enough to arrange for anyone else to photographize for us.

In the coming days we'll get some nice clean photos of each individual work up on our flickr account.

more preview

2007-07-24T13:08:00.000+08:00

preview

2007-07-15T18:44:00.000+08:00

Here's a preview of some of the works from our upcoming show.

imax3dhp

2007-07-15T18:33:00.000+08:00

Liz and I and a group of the Fishes went to see the new Harry Potter film on opening night, 3am, at iMax in 3d.
It was fucking awesome.

My only complaint was grumpy ol' Dumbledore, what's going on dude? You're supposed to be all chilled out. Cool as a cucumber.
Hopefully the photo below will reach Sir Michael Gambon before shooting of the next film. Albus Cucadore the greatest Wizcumber that ever lived!

upcoming exhibition

2007-07-14T18:35:00.000+08:00

It's official, an exhibition of our work in San Francisco.
We're both pretty excited and will keep everyone updated with the progress of the works.

a prophet (of sorts)

2007-07-11T13:40:00.000+08:00

4th of july

2007-07-09T06:51:00.001+08:00

This holiday is pretty awesome, everyone buys fireworks and explodes them on the streets.

potter mania

2007-07-09T06:40:00.000+08:00

Yea, it's set in.

The alignment of the 5th movie and 7th book has sent the dozen or so Harry Potter fans in the house into a sort of frenzy.

Above, you can see Liz listening to the Goblet of Fire on audio book, Aaron rereading the Order of the Phoenix and an open copy of The Half Blood Prince which I'm going through again.

A few nights ago I was struck with a premonition, a prophecy about the upcoming book which I've been busy scribbling down with paint and pen. In the next few days I shall unleash this prophecy for all to read!

(please keep in mind, predicting the future is an imprecise magic)

first of many

2007-06-28T13:27:00.000+08:00

This is the first painting I did when I got into SF. It's of a couple of kids I saw hanging out in a gully by the side of the train tracks as we rode up from LA.
They were kinda creepy in a Gummo way.
Only saw them for the briefest of moments, but that's the impression they left.

liz's hard at work

2007-06-28T13:26:00.000+08:00

Some of Liz's early work in SF.

poppa

2007-06-28T11:30:00.000+08:00

My Poppa passed away last week, this painting's for him.

beach going

2007-06-28T11:21:00.000+08:00

Yea, we went to the beach.
Yea, San Francisco is cold.

parl kilkington

2007-06-16T05:15:00.001+08:00

Woke up this morning to find someone (pat19171) had animated my illustrated version of a Karl Pilkington story. Karl Pilkington was/is just about one of the funniest experiences a human being can have.

I did the comic/story book during what must have been the peak of my Pilkington mania. I think it was over two days, one for the linework, the second for the colouring. Looking back, I'm pretty pleased with the results, although at the time I was hoping Karl, Ricky or Steve would look at it and give it a mention on their show...

You can see the original works here.

a chapter in your life

2007-06-09T00:50:00.000+08:00

Google Street View is in our computer blowing our minds.

i want to live in america

2007-06-08T00:43:00.000+08:00

America.

children of men

2007-06-08T00:40:00.000+08:00

England day 3.

god save the queen

2007-06-08T00:39:00.000+08:00

England day 2.

feed the birds

2007-06-08T00:35:00.000+08:00

France day 5.

derelicte

2007-06-08T00:27:00.000+08:00

France day 4.

the "L" word

2007-06-05T10:41:00.000+08:00

France day 3.

sandwich and beer

2007-06-05T10:38:00.000+08:00

France day 2.

ooh la la

2007-06-05T10:15:00.000+08:00

France day 1.

london calling

2007-06-05T09:28:00.000+08:00

England day 1.

fin

2007-06-05T09:10:00.000+08:00

Japan day 23.

my special day

2007-06-05T09:08:00.000+08:00

Japan day 22.

a little bit twisty

2007-06-05T09:03:00.000+08:00

Japan day 21.

let's celebrate

2007-06-05T09:01:00.000+08:00

Japan day 20.

theirs and ours

2007-06-05T08:55:00.000+08:00

Japan day 19.

tum tum

2007-06-05T08:47:00.000+08:00

Japan day 18.

hangin' fluff

2007-06-05T04:43:00.001+08:00

Japan day 17.

taking it to the streets

2007-06-05T02:51:00.000+08:00

Japan day 16.

broom brooms

2007-06-05T02:50:00.000+08:00

http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

if you go into the woods today

2007-06-05T02:48:00.000+08:00

Japan day 14.

once upon and now

2007-06-05T02:45:00.000+08:00

Japan day 13.

oh ebi

2007-06-05T02:43:00.000+08:00

Japan day 12.

do the right thing

2007-06-05T02:40:00.000+08:00

Japan day 11.

straight line

2007-06-05T02:35:00.000+08:00

Japan day 10.

sticks and stones

2007-06-05T02:22:00.000+08:00

Japan day 9.

scarf city

2007-06-05T02:11:00.000+08:00

Japan day 8.

she may be teenie tiny

2007-05-13T21:53:00.000+08:00

super lovers, tell me where you got yours

2007-05-13T20:59:00.000+08:00

Japan day 6.

it keeps you running

2007-05-13T15:39:00.000+08:00

Japan day 5

from the highest highs

2007-05-13T09:18:00.000+08:00

Japan day 4

family robinson

2007-05-03T00:54:00.000+08:00

Japan day three.

the making of yet another hit

2007-05-03T00:46:00.000+08:00

Japan day 2.

turn out the jam

2007-04-30T23:09:00.000+08:00

Japan.

you can't pack everything

2007-04-29T16:09:00.000+08:00

To some things that won't be coming with me on my trip.

A belt I pieced together from two seperate belts and a religious thingamabob. It looks brilliant and cost me about $2.50. ($1 each belt, and the "buckle" piece was 50c)

I took part in the gutting of Fred's sisters car, ripping out all the little plastic buttons and bits to make jewelery out of. These are two necklaces that were created. The one on the left is from all the external logos on the car, the other from the cigarette lighter.

lou lou

2007-04-28T22:20:00.000+08:00

This is a perfume bottle that I obsessed over when I was a child.
Not THE bottle, that bottle is gone, lost somewhere in another time and place.

THIS bottle however is right here, in my hand, with me.

When I was maybe eight years old, my grandmother gave my mother a perfume set that contained (among others) a bottle of Lou Lou by Cacharel. I was immediatly stolen by it. Being the nerd-child that I was I envisioned the bottle containing a magic elixer, a wizard's potion, a genie. Something more than a simple fragrance.

One day I took the perfume and hid it. My mum asked me where the bottle had gone and I pled ignorance. I hid it in different places in my room, moving it around. When I felt my room was no longer safe, I moved the bottle out to the garden, the sand pit.

I was eventually found out (as every child is) and claimed that I thought she was "done with it". I don't think I saw the bottle again.

Unusually, I have no memory of the smell of the bottle, but the shape and colour are burnt in to my mind. The hard diamond like edges, the vibrant blue/red, the spears and flats and glory.

I went looking for the bottle again recently. Not the original, not MY original, but any bottle that held the light in the same way my memory did. I asked my mum, but she couldn't remember the perfume name. The ladies in the perfume departments didn't have a clue what I was talking about, offering various alternatives but my memory was too strong, too precise to be persuaded otherwise.

Upon returning from abroad my mother presented me with the bottle, the same bottle that was in my mind. As though she'd reached in there and plucked it straight out, placing it in my palm. It was/is exactly as I remember.

I'm still getting used to the smell though.

food glorious food

2007-04-28T22:11:00.000+08:00

My mum purchased a Dragon Fruit for me. They look spectacular, like some sort of deep sea creature, vibrant pink and covered in fin like folds. When you cut inside they are milky white with jet black seeds scattered throughout. Not unlike the nights sky, inverted, shimmering, moist and juicy.

Before spooning the fruit in to your mouth, first prepare yourself for the taste. A taste very much like nothing, or maybe cardboard, paper perhaps. Mostly like nothing however.

A fruit that is infinitely more stimulating visually, than it is orally.

This is one of my favorite delicacies, one that I haven't indulged in in many a moon. Take a large, ripe tomato and slice the top of it off. With a sharp edged spoon, scoop out the interior of the tomato and place them in to the bowl.

Roughly chop up bacon rashers and mix it through the tomato. Fry this mixture, and then scoop it in to the crisp tomato bodies.

Eat like an apple.

Wonderful.

shoe deville two

2007-04-26T22:15:00.000+08:00

Oh yes please.
Here they are.

An $18 pair of "winkle-pickers" that I picked up at an "op-shop", got them reheeled at a "cobb-lers" and "blinged" them out with a pair of chunking "military badges".

Welcome to Awesometown, population, me.
And maybe you.

But you have to ask really nicely and apply for an immigration visa.
It'll take a couple of dozen months.
Don't worry though, it's relatively easy.

Relatively.

make make make

2007-04-26T19:35:00.000+08:00

Harry and Briony were kind enough to host a shirt making day yesterday.
It was awesome.

We abandoned the photo emulsion this time and just went at it with paper cut stencils and the silk screens. The results were rough at times, but the speed and e's with which we printed far outweighed any downsides.

There's more photos here. And hopefully I'll catch up with Briony soon to get photos of her shirts.

anzac attack

2007-04-26T19:01:00.000+08:00

The kids on Ruby St threw a great ANZAC day/night party on... ANZAC day.
It was great.

People were throwing up and falling down all over the play. The smoke machine probably gave every single guest lung cancer and the air raid sirens really gave the ear drums a good work out.

Huzzah!
Huzzah!

shoe deville

2007-04-24T19:31:00.000+08:00

I got some new shoes to take abroad with me. My love for pink converse all stars has outlived two pairs, so this is now my third. The extra hitops were on sale and cheaper than the regular hitops, so I stepped up to the plate.

The toes were painted with acrylic, and the back text with fabric markers.
It's the third pair of toes I've decorated, but only the first I've done seriously. The others were after the shoes were dirty and pretty much dead.

I'm not that much in to sneakers, most of them are just plain ugly or stupid looking to me. There are however the "classic" shoes that have a sort of elegance and beauty to them that are easy to see. It's not adventurous to love the classics, nor to wear them. But they're the ones I like.

My other travel shoes are being collected tomorrow. "From where?" I hear you ask.
The cobblers.
The cobblers, bitch.

I'll let you know all about them then.

down south

2007-04-24T17:53:00.000+08:00

I went down south and visited the Flutes, a winery/restaurant/giftshop thing.

They had some pretty bizare sculptures down there. There's one of a girl holding up grapes with THE BIGGEST NIPPLES IN THE ENTIRE WORLD POKING OUT OF HER BLOUSE AND RIGHT INTO YOUR EYE!

And then there's this one, which also doubles as their logo. A prepubescent naked boy sitting on a log blowing a pipe. Kinda weird.

But also super HOT!

seen around town

2007-04-24T17:49:00.000+08:00

the waffle

2007-04-24T17:10:00.000+08:00

Oh for shame, the last Simmo's waffle for a year...
These things are ridiculous to eat, two big ass scoops of icecream, whipped cream, chocolate, toasted hazelnuts, strawberries, wafers, cones and (unfortunatly this time) maple syrup (which I forget to ask them to hold, as it kinda takes the sugar level to my absolute limit).

You can physically feel your heart rate increase as you plough your way through it, it's kinda scary. With every mouthful your aorta screams out in agony, but quick pound of the chest is usually enough to silence it until the next bite.

You'll leave dizzy and nauseous, your arms slightly lifting by your sides, feet unsure and stomach buzzing, filled to the brim with the top of the pyramid.

crash/burn

2007-04-24T16:41:00.000+08:00

I saw this crash on the South Perth foreshore on my way to work, on the way back it was still there so I hopped out to take some photos.

As I walked up to the car I could hear some "uhhhh.... uhhhhh" moaning and got super freaked out thinking that there might be a body in there or something. Turns out the power was still on and the windscreen wipers were still trying to run.

I'm always amazed that there aren't more car crashes. It's pretty ridiculous, all these people hurtling around at high speeds in big metal boxes.

You can see the rest of the set here.

seen around town

2007-04-02T13:57:00.000+08:00

stuff and nonsense

2007-03-27T23:31:00.000+08:00

Coloured toilet paper weirds me out. So does embossed. Illustrated is just about the edge of sanity.

Combine the three with jellyfish and you are entering a far flung land of unicorns eating catnip.

Think about it, not for a minute, just a second. Imagine actually rubbing a jellyfish on your bathing suit area...

ALSO! These guys spelt my name funny.

more comicy good/badness

2007-03-19T21:50:00.000+09:00

So I'm doing another comic in the same fashion as my 24 Hour Comic Challenge work A Whishpered Summer Melody.

This time it's for the Perth Semi Permanant, so that'll be pretty exciting and cool.

I haven't decided exactly how I'll bind this one, I don't think the wool spine will really suit this project.. something I'll have to look in to.

In the very little time I have left...

Gah!

all over red rover

2007-03-16T02:13:00.000+09:00

Yea, it's all done with. Two weeks of intense maddness.

I didn't deliver with my promise to update each show as it went along (I had enough trouble keeping up with the physical space) and I'm sorry for that.

The last night was fucking awesome. A huge turn out, a massive piss up. Pretty much a rocking party. Lots of people I knew, lots of people I didn't, lots of art and music and chatting and eating and all the great stuff I had hoped for when planning these shows.

All in all it was a pretty weird experiment, having the four shows run like that. Maybe I'll do something like that again, I dunno. It'd be great to get some kind of grant so I didn't have to go to my moneyjob during the running of the show. Maybe be making more of the work as I go, have the space open like a workshop or something.

Things to think about.

With great hesitation I did a budget for the adventure and calculated I made roughly $300 profit. So while it wasn't a huge financial success, it was well worth it in the end.

Super stressful.

But well worth it.

Thanks to all the people who helped along the way, and on an official note, to my sponsors Wise Wines and Bootleg Brewey. Without their assistance I would be very much in the red right now.

hearts and bones

2007-03-16T01:00:00.000+09:00

Elizabeth Marruffo’s first solo show was very much a continuation from her last body of work that was shown at the 2006 Edith Cowan University Graduate Exhibition.

An investigation of borders, heavily influenced by her childhood living on the border of the United States of America and Mexico. In her most recent work however, this investigation of borders has been shifted somewhat, to focus more on the walls erected between people, the hedgehogs dilemma and how this can become institutionalised by governments and cultures. This is evident in looking at the point of origin of the majority of her images, and noting that they all share the same common ground.

Elizabeth’s work can be viewed to have stemmed from the strong Magic Realist movement that grew through Latin America in the 1960’s, mixing fantasy with reality in a way that moved beyond simple swords and sorcery and instead suggested more of a lyrical or poetic life. That magic wasn’t a force that was driven by wizards, but rather the verbal label applied to the everyday, unexplainable events that we all experience, or feel we experience.

Elizabeth has managed to push her way out of the Magic Realist movement, which has become somewhat cliché ridden (in the same way that surrealism did, being typified by melting objects and floating architecture) and becomes something new and unique. I believe this is through the abstraction of background and the visual tension this creates with the figurative subjects. These blue/grey backgrounds in Elizabeth’s work are a reference to the mountain ranges visible from her home in Mexico.

On the canvas these shapes undulate in and out of focus, offering a strange and unstable geographic foundation on which to rest her figures on. Upon viewing, the eye shifts between a horizontal, naturalistic view of the mountain ranges and a topological one, as if seen from a plane. The borders then slice through the work to create an even greater challenge to perspective.

Returning in this body of work are images that Elizabeth used to great effect in her graduate body of work. These icons, or symbols can be read as part of a new language with them being words, sentences, whole complex theories. Their arrangement and subsequent rearrangement with every new body of work is similar to a the work of a wordsmith, refining their use of a language and it’s effect on the reader.

The first three films of P.T. Anderson also spring to mind, with the director assembling a stable of actors that continue to be called upon. In so much as Elizabeth continues to draw on these motifs and ideas.

The Dog: the small, deathly ill canine. Based on photographs taken by Elizabeth of a dog she rescued from the streets and nurtured back to health. An element of her work that is continually rendered with ever increasing love and care. This dog is sometimes accompanied by another dog, whose colour scheme seems reversed, like a poltergeist or film negative version.

The Border: represented by an army of simplified animal shapes, marching single file across the canvas. A curious visualisation of a key theme in her work.

The Artist: placing herself directly in the work, not in a conceited or contrived manner, but as a way of anchoring the work as a more easily identifiable personal experience. Like a catchy guitar riff, this is perhaps the easiest “entry” point for the viewer.

The Bones: specifically of hummingbirds. These images are perhaps some of the most haunting, with a vibrant and colourful creature being stripped back to a mechanical and mystical level. Suggesting both at once, the beginning and ending of all life (especially with the image of a baby hummingbird skeleton curled in it’s nest). Given the title of the exhibition (Hearts and Bones), it is unusual that the prevalence of these skeletons has been cut right back to only one example.

The Tree: perhaps representing a purity, and perseverance in the face of adversity and perversion. The white trees could also be read as being petrified, dead and hollowed. Relating back to the images of bones and the life cycles of all living things.

With this latest exhibition, these “classic” symbols are joined by perhaps the most important addition to Liz’ visual language that I have seen. Small, colourful knitted finger puppets that are a common form of Mexican craft. What Elizabeth does here, is to marry, in one succinct image, all of the concepts present in her work. The finger puppets are all representative of people in her life, friends, family members. The puppets act as a cultural a priori, as well as a personal one. Demonstrating the gentrification of our relationship with nature and animals our occasional generalisation and simplification of relationships. Using analogies or similes as an abbreviation for an actual experience.

We replace a zebra with an image of a zebra, and thus feel and share a common cultural understanding of the animal. This concept is key to the conflicts that erupt during border disputes. Broad generalizations and misunderstandings about social, cultural, religious, economic and ethnic groups are always at the heart of such disagreements.

In the same way this is seen on a broad level, it is also seen on a smaller one. Personal borders in relationships are often erected out of misunderstandings, or miscommunication. Creating rifts that can widen over time through a lack of open discussion.

With this new language developing it is exciting to start forming new sentences with these words. To play, as we all do with language to better our understanding of concepts, to challenge meaning and to explore ourselves.

What would happen if the antlers, were growing from The Dog, instead of The Artist? If The Border was circular instead of in a line. If the Finger puppets were being worn, instead of occupying the same surface area as the other elements of the painting. What if The Artist was standing next to The Tree, which was normal size compared to her, but growing out of The Dogs head. The possibilities of experimentation and the resulting meanings and aesthetics are a joy to contemplate.

What this new language can both revel in and be frustrated by, is the mass illiteracy in meaning and comprehension. With so few people being aware of the stories and reasoning behind the work, it can be a frustrating to express a clear and succinct idea. What this lack of understanding does however, is free up the work for a wide interpretation that is not necessarily bound by culture or geography.

Cute images, icons that elicit the rapid response of empathy/sympathy and the desire to mother/nurture are basic human emotions that Elizabeth massages with great skill. Never falling in to the trap of making anything gaudy cute, but instead merging (the new) classic commercial cuteness with fine technical skills in traditional art practices.

Regardless of an understanding of this critical theory that underpins all of Elizabeth’s work, the sheer beauty of it is enough that it shouldn’t matter for the average viewer. Like viewing a foreign language you engage with the image on a more aesthetic manner, understanding that while there is a rich meaning behind every stroke, it dances, full of life, just outside your realm of understanding.

Since graduating, Elizabeth has gradually allowed more and more colour to permeate her work, the abstracted geography present in her paintings now features more predominant blooms of colour, blues, violets, greens. Never too much, and with the same colours being echoed in small flickers throughout the same canvas.

With the addition of the finger puppets, her paintings are starting look like humming in the dark, when it’s a little scary and you’re trying to toughen yourself up. A fitting evocation for her works on human lives caught in the fences of governmental wastelands.

seen around town

2007-03-06T02:00:00.000+09:00

I noticed this tampon near the Freerange gallery.

The next day these panties appeared.

Maybe tomorrow... the vagina.

seen around town

2007-03-06T01:58:00.001+09:00

scardifying

2007-03-06T01:54:00.000+09:00

This is a cool photo I found when going through my library.
It's of one of the scariest moments in recent memory.

James helped me transport my large (2m x 1.6m) paintings from uni to my house. We strapped them to the roof of his car and off we went.

I was hyper paranoid about one of them coming loose and smashing into a car, or a person, or a person in a car and then that car into a person or something.

The paintings were flapping around and slipping and I spent the whole ride telling James to slow the fuck down.

It was awesome.

'til the fucking end

2007-03-06T01:50:00.000+09:00

I found this little guy at the beginning of one of my shifts at work.
He was on the floor twitching.

I picked him up, so's he wouldn't get stepped on and put him by the till where he'd be safe. I watched him, to see if was going to get better, or die.

After about an hour of watching him vibrating, I figured he wasn't going to make it. But the little bastard wouldn't stop, he just kept quivering, really subtly, not giving up.

I wondered what he was thinking, if he was scared, if he knew he was dying.
He had antenna like ferns and they were so fine and beautiful and I wanted to know what he was picking up on them.

At the end of my shift he was dead.

spectacular, somethingorrather

2007-03-06T00:30:00.000+09:00

Yea, I've been pretty busy with all this exhibiting stuff.
Haven't been home in a while.

I've finally managed to upload the rest of the images from my first exhibition Dream Mutiny. The opening was pretty weird, I felt kinda stupid inviting a whole bunch of people to look at paintings I've done.

I was worried at 6.30 when there were only like, two people there, but more and more people came and it wound up being a pretty strong turn out.

The second show was kinda fun, about six people came to that (so the four cartons of Emu Export and the box of MiGoreng was a bit of overly optimistic catering), it was mainly close friends and that was nice.

I'll get the images from that show up when I find the time...

Anyway, I've sold two works from the first exhibition, $250 each which makes it $500. This covers the cost of the gallery rental for the two weeks ($440) and has me exceedingly worried about a number of things.

Not making a profit from this experiment.
(Now this isn't so important. I don't need the money to live or anything, but it would have been nice to leave this with a gain.)

Not being able to make a living from painting in the future.
I always dreaded having to have a part time job to support this creationist habit of mine and it's looming, like some looming black looming storm cloud that's looming.

That Perth doesn't like my art.
Perhaps a silly notion, there are surely enough people in Perth that could like my work... maybe they just don't know about me...

That people don't want my work on their walls.
It's usually not the most comforting stuff, even the nicer things.

Maybe traditional gallery exhibitions aren't for me.
I might be going about this all the wrong way...

No media.
I contacted pretty much everyone that should be contacted when an exhibition goes down with a really tidy press release, a whole bunch of images, quotes, hooks, the lot baby.
No bites.
OUCH, bitch!

There's probably a ton of other concerns but those looming black clouds are looming. I'm just being a sulky little kid though, and it's my first solo exhibition, and noone knows who the fuck I am. So I'm probably just over reacting.

I should totally have posted this on myspace...

(Oh, and if anyone has any photos from the opening night... send them my way. That night I was under the impression my camera had been nicked so I hadn't arranged any photographying.)

"We can always do better.
I'm going to keep trying
if you guys keep trying.
Let's keep rockin'
and rollin', man."

spectacular, spectacular

2007-02-27T13:54:00.000+09:00

Yea, so the exhibiting maddness starts tomorrow with Dream Mutiny.

I've got all the paintings done for the first show, need two more drawings for the second show on saturday, one more for the one next wednesday, and six paintings for the one next saturday...

I'll be kept comfortably busy.

Each show will go online the day of the opening. So inter(state/national) peoples aren't left out in the cold.

I'll also post any related sketches or drawings.
All of which can be viewed on my flickr account here.

stuff at pica

2007-02-24T11:12:00.000+09:00

Some time last year, I heard, or read, or something that someone was going to be turning the ground floor of PICA into a swimming pool.

The clouds parted and my gut busted.

What a fucking awesome idea. It didn't matter to me that the pool could only possibly be a couple of feet deep (or could it?) and that people probably wouldn't be allowed in it. It just blew my mind to think of that space holding water. Being able to look down at it from the second floor, all shiny and watery...

It's just one of those great ideas that's almost pure spectacle.

Now I'd forgotten about this until I walked into PICA recently and was met with this...

(this photo is a promotional one, and there were no people jumping on to the pool at the time)

Yea, it's a tarpolin cut and stitched to kinda look like a pool. I guess it looks like one, I guess...
It's blue...

The problem I have with it is that it looks like an inbetween step towards actually building a pool in PICA. It's as though the artist (Rodney Glick) is saying to us "Hey guys, wouldn't it be cool if there was a pool in PICA?", and letting us fill in the rest of the information.

I don't think the tarpolin is pretty, it looks kinda ugly really. And doesn't actually help me imagine a PICA pool. If anything, it gets in the way of my imagination. In my mind, the whole lower area was flooded. My mind mixed in images of the still gallery space and Matthew Barney's Gellert Baths from the 5th Cremaster.

So, you just sorta, walk around the pool, and that's about it. I was wondering if you were allowed to walk on the tarpolin, but ultimately didn't care enough to ask.

Perhaps the idea would have been better left in the intangible.

*REDEEMING FEATURE*
Towards the back of the pool, in that weird side room PICA has on the ground floor, was the POOL PARTY. Now this was actually awesome. A single mirror ball hangs from the roof, casting flecks of light on the walls. Only, it's not, the flecks of light are painted on, as is the shadow being cast by the mirror ball.

It really fucks with your eyes, is clever, funny, pretty. Pretty much everything PICA Pool isn't.

Upstairs however, there was something awesome.

Geoffrey Drake-Brockman's Floribots.
Dozens of mechanical chatterbox style flowers bloom in waves, wirring and snapping to life.

It is awesome.

You could draw analogies with society, the way communities function, or something. But forget that, this work is the spectacle I was expecting from the PICA Pool. Before scholarly musing begin brewing in your brain, before you have a chance to dig in to 'what the work means', you're having fun. You're probably having too much fun to bother with all that shit.

I know I was.

The floribots have motion sensors attatched to them, so they respond to your movements in the room. It's amazing to watch, and fun to try to figure out what position causes what response. Hours of entertainment.

a broad

2007-02-24T11:01:00.000+09:00

Yea, so Liz and I finally found a travel agent that would let us do what we wanted for less than the price that everyone else was quoting for what we didn't want to do.

So we're off, on the 29th of April, for a year.

If anyone has any hot tips for the locations we're headed to, let us know.

Excitementdoubleplus.

dolce grande

2007-02-22T23:25:00.000+09:00

If you're one of the unfortunate many that earn their living by making coffee for others, then you might find the above image some what familiar...

You might find a small part of yourself, whispering from the back seat of your mind, not to eat the cake.

That would be the coffee puller part, warning you that what is presented, although visually appealing, is actually a used wad of ground coffee. You know, the shit that you bang out of the coffee head.

Yea.

I tricked a girl into eating it tonight.

I'm not proud. At least, not in the conventional sense of the word.
But there is a certain thrill that only trickery can deliver.

And it had a big box with my name on it.
I had to sign for it and everything...

seen around town

2007-02-22T23:17:00.000+09:00

dressed

2007-02-20T23:09:00.000+09:00

the greatest front page ever

2007-02-20T22:28:00.000+09:00

"Passer-by Paul Tyler was agape over the Kombi fire on Ashton Avenue, Claremont, last Friday. Picture: Scott McKercher"

Yea, this is it folks.
Pretty much the greatest front page in newsprint history.
Our grandchildren are going to look at us and ask us where we were when this baby went to press.

The article?

"HEATWAVE CLAIMS CARS
Two cars were destroyed in blistering heat in recent days - one by fire, the other from a 5m fallen branch."

What?
That's like saying that the BLUE SKY CLAIMS CARS! And going on to list all the cars that were destroyed while we all suffer under the cruel rein of this blue, blue sky.

Paul Tyler, the "agape" fellow in the above photo was passing by on the 2nd of February when he noticed smoke coming out of the parked Kombi van. He did a U-turn and saw the car erupt in flames.
Paul is a tree lopper by trade.
On the 7th of February, a tree in Subiaco shedded a number of large branches and crushed two cars.

Now, I'm not suggesting anything...

seen around town

2007-02-19T11:06:00.000+09:00

dressed

2007-02-18T23:03:00.000+09:00

fred's gone

2007-02-18T22:48:00.000+09:00

Fred has gone on a five (5) week tour of places where they don't speak english.

He's keeping a pretty great travel blog where you can keep up to date with his adventuring. (although it could use a few more photos if you ask me)

We went out and partied the night before the night before he was due to leave.

You can see the photos here, and read about his travels here.

seen around town

2007-02-14T23:22:00.000+09:00

A store filled with ridonkulous cutery.

seen around town

2007-02-13T16:49:00.000+09:00

op shop decor

2007-02-13T16:35:00.000+09:00

This is a totally awesome robot tiki cookie jar I found at Good Sammy's in Osborne Park. It rocks my face.

This is the most hilariously terrifying thing ever.
I found this at the same op shop. I don't know what kind of nutcase put the most scardifying image in the universe into this cheap woodern photo frame, but they are probably locked up somewhere right now, or boning a zillion hottt babes.

I almost wet myself laughing over it, I came really close.
You teased me, but those kegel exercises are paying off big time.

Cha-ching!

seen around town

2007-02-13T16:32:00.000+09:00

Things are getting hottt and sexy.

a tale of four exhibitions

2007-01-22T21:09:00.000+09:00

I've got one/four show(s) coming up.

I booked the Freerange space for two weeks from the 28th of February until the 13th of March with the intention of having a show there and a show at Keith and Lottie. Turns out Keith and Lottie is all booked up.

This got me thinking about the Freerange gallery. Got me thinking about sitting at the gallery every day for two weeks. Got me thinking about the two or so people I'd get in every day. Got me thinking about what a waste of time that'd be for everyone involved.

So I got thinking about how I could use the time in a more awesome way.

The way I came up with is by having four exhibitions. Four exhibitions over two weeks, each show running for three/four days.

Everyone knows that it's all about the openings baby. The rest of the time is just cushion. If a person doesn't come on the opening night, chances are they won't come. If work doesn't sell on opening night, chances are it won't sell.

What I'm planning on doing is setting up some sofas and music and liquor and art and kicking back for two weeks with friends and new friends and strangers and having fun.

Three of the four shows are ideas that I had knocking around in my head during the last year of uni, but didn't have time to devote any time to. The fourth of the shows came about as a response to the Art Launch Party.

I haven't picked the schedule yet, but will have to soon as I've gotta get invitations organized.

Here's a run down of the shows as they appear from left to right in the banner

Dream Mutiny:
Looking at how commercial culture hijacks our waking minds.

The Greatest Video Game That Almost Never Was:
Concept art from a lost NES video game.

Hurt:
A parade of hedonistic youth.

Adventures in Japan:
19th century field journals from the Mushroom Kingdom.

So, set your faces to melt and loosen your belt, because a glut of mind blowing art work is coming your way.

step by step squiggle off

2007-01-22T16:40:00.000+09:00

The Squiggle Off is back on. Briony has returned from abroad and has been slapping me around ever since.

For the latest challenge I put together a sort of step by step guide to how I do the challenges.

You can check it out here.