What God Likes

Graffiti seen in Illawarra Rd by a friend, but sadly cleaned off before I could photograph it:

"God hates homos"

and someone had written underneath it:

"Does he like Falafel?"

spam-poetry

I received this text in the body of a penis-enlargement spam email today. Scarily, the more I read it the more it makes sense. Perhaps I should go and present it at a performance poetry night? I could say "gansevoort to addack py de rear ven ve" in a heavy South African accent.

"Forth only her first calf, at many great sacrifices that
thou laughest upon beholding me? Seeing thee trade. Among
the milliners, several girls were mean, hurriedly, you would
be lovely to marry it, modom? She wears a skintight black
cashmere engaged in their respective avocations. And by
colonel gansevoort to addack py de rear ven ve in the pronunciation
of highly trained speakers towards that fearless warrior.
fearlessly addressing such a sense of relief and quiet.
oh, what a delicious to (a pure) understanding, and having
attained gradual passage of the earth off the face of the."

MOST

The Marrickville Open Studio Trail (MOST) returns this Saturday 26 July 2008 as part of the 2008 Sydney Biennale, providing an opportunity to peek into the lives of over 100 artists, where they work and exhibit. Audiences will follow a trail of open studios across the Marrickville area and explore the world of local contemporary art.

MOST will run from 10am to 4pm, providing an important opportunity for local artists to promote their work, engage with new audiences, and discuss and sell their work.

Participating artists will be encouraged to provide artworks for sale and demonstrate how their studios works.

Studio Location Maps can be collected on the day at the Sandringham Hotel Art Market (387 King St, Newtown) from 10am or from any of the participating studios.

Participating studios include -

§ Addison Rd Gallery Upstairs Studios - My Le Thi, 1st Floor, Addison Road Gallery Upstairs Studios (end of 1st Floor) 142 Addison Rd, Marrickville

• Addison Rd Centre Artist Studios - 142 Addison Rd Centre Marrickville

• Alpha House Artist Co-operative - 226 Union St Erskineville

• Amy Jones - 6/1 Gladstone St Newtown

• Astrid Dahl Studio - 66 Railway Rd, Sydenham

• At The Vanishing Point - Contemporary Art - 565 King St Newtown

• Brett Hayes - 11/12-22 Newington Rd, Marrickville (Entrance located at back of building)

• Christopher Downie & Jeanette Landstedt - 36 Shepherd St Marrickville

• Crash Corporation - 4 Harnett Ave, Marrickville South

• Dimitri Kuznichenko - 28 Floss St Hurlstone Park

• Diamando Koutsellis - 1/5 Fairmount St Dulwich Hill

• Edith Artists - 9 & 10 Edith St St Peters

• Factory 49 Inc (Showroom) - 49 Shepherd St Marrickville

• Gallery 110 on Crystal St - 110 Crystal St Petersham 2049

• Gilbert Grace - 6/69 Constitution Rd Dulwich Hill

• Irminsul - 146 Edinburgh Rd Marrickville

• Jenny Kyng Studio - 39 Cook Rd, Marrickville

• Lennox Street Studios - 111 Lennox Street Newtown

• Maggie Stein - 11 Clara St Newtown

• Mary Street Studios - 75 Mary St St Peters

• Matthew Syres Photography - 8/10 Cambridge St Enmore

• Morna Molesworth - 803/31 Station St Newtown

• Mosaico Art & Design Studio - Ground Floor 111 Lennox St Newtown

• Painting the Roses - (Upstairs) Studio 3, 199a King St Newtown (cnr of King & Egan Sts - enter via Egan St)

• Preservation Australia - Unit 10A Level 3 32-60 Alice St Newtown

• Rosedale Street Gallery - 2A Rosedale St Dulwich Hil
  

• Shepherd Studio - 12 Shepherd St Marrickville

• Silver Street Studios - 114 Silver St Marrickville

• SNO Contemporary Arts Projects - 1st Floor, 175 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville

• Splinter Workshop - Building 1 Factory 1 Level 2 / 75 Mary St. St Peters

• Stone Villa Studios - 19 Railway Rd Sydenham

• Studio 109 - 109B Marrickville Rd Marrickville (Entrance Meeks Rd)

• Tooth Studios - 67 Sydenham Rd Marrickville

• Tortuga Studio - 31 Princess Highway St Peters

• Ultimo Project - Addison Rd Centre, Hut 24/ 142 Addison Rd Marrickville

Please ring 02 9335 2281 or coevent@marrickville.nsw.gov.au for more information.

It's a Man's World

Yesterday Suzanne B picked me up from yoga and we headed out to the Penrith Regional Gallery. We're working on a book together about Hair. Yes, hair. It'll be the first in this series of books. So when we saw that the PRG was holding an "Hirsute Pursuit" competition to accompany its MAN: Depicting Contemporary Masculinity exhibition, we just had to go and check it out. It was a beautiful sunny Autumn day and the shadows were already long by three o'clock.

The hairy competition was part of a "Mister Market" day with stalls featuring masculinity-themed artistic merchandise. My favourite competition costumes were the woman-jesus, and the woman in a woman suit. Neither of them won, which was just outrageous. I told the woman in a woman suit that I'd thought her's was the best outfit and that I thought she should have won. "What can you do?" she replied, "it's a man's world."

See more photos & commentary here.

Marrickville Leisureland

Anne Zahalka
Marrickville RSL Club, 2000
type C photograph Edition of 12 (115 x 145 cm); edition of 20 (57 x 72 cm)

The Marrickville RSL is closed for renovations. I hope they don't remove the geometric neon decorations or the mirrored ceiling. The photo above is from Anne Zahalka's "Leisureland" series of which I've been a fan for years (I show students this when we read Derrida, hehehe). If you've come through Sydney's international terminal lately you might have noticed some of Zahalka's beautiful "Welcome to Sydney" series on the walls there.


Over the years I've grown quite fond of this gigantic banner on the RSL's outside wall, and I feel I almost know these four women. I'm guessing it will be taken away or updated. It's been there at least eight years (and has become a bit faded in the sun) and most of the women pictured have probably moved on, perhaps even to other careers, by now.

Santa's sack slipped & someone nicked the tips

By Meredith

I'm in Mebourne, having my usual Christmas / New Year break with family and old friends. On Christmas Day, after a beautiful lunch of mushroom and asparagus risotto, baked vegetables, salad, berry and passionfruit pavlova, Christmas pudding with custard, Christmas cake, and chocolates, I was assailed by this sight of sights:


On Boxing Day, wandering along Brunswick St, Fitzroy, I heard this conversation between a Koori couple sitting with lattes outside The Black Cat:

her: "A blackfella went in and stole their tips bowl."
him (groaning, head in hands): "You're kidding me."

Today, I'm going underwear shopping with my mother at David Jones. I suggested we meet on the Flinders St Station steps, but mother came up with a better idea - the Big Purse.

Sandcastles

Long ago people enjoyed swimming in the Cooks River at Marrickville and Tempe. They would take day trips by train from the overcrowded and polluted inner city - from places like Darlinghurst and Paddington - to enjoy the fresh river water and the clean Marrickville air. Picnics, swimming, boating...

Marrickville even had its own lifesavers: this is the Steel Park River Patrol Lifesaving club sometime in the 1930s. Quite a bunch of spunks. I wonder what colours their stripey swimming costumes were?

Actually, although the Cooks River is unfit for swimming now, and may still be the most polluted waterway in Australia, we do have a beach of sorts. A little bit of sand only about 15 metres wide in a curve of land between mangrove patches. A few years ago it was always littered with Coke bottles, discarded homemade bongs, bits of toilet paper and the occasional car tyre, but lately it's been much cleaner... and last week, on a day I left work early and took a long walk after hearing an old friend was dead, here's what I saw:

Much more than a Michael Jackson impersonator

Late last year I had some emails & blogger interactions with Lucas of The Sham, about Richard Blackie, a Michael Jackson impersonator who ran a toyshop in Petersham until he died. Lucas wrote about Richard's death, then his funeral, here and here. Nobody seems to know what happened to Richard's dogs, and I wondered if one of them was Dero Dog (see links in my sidebar). Anyway, a film has been made about this remarkable character and it's showing tomorrow night. Sadly I can't go as I'm teaching, but I'll see it some other time. If you're interested, the Mu-Meson Archives venue is on the corner of Parramatta Rd & Trafalgar St Annandale at the end of the King Furniture building, up the steel staircase. Phone 9517-2010.
Thursday 30^th August
Directors Cut: Maya Newell -
RICHARD The Most Interestingest Person I've Ever Met

A stark, bittersweet, and, at times, humorous portrait of Richard Blackie - consummate eccentric, toy collector and former Michael Jackson impersonator - whose public obsessions and private torments are laid bare in this devastating portrayal of the last few months of his life. Seventeen year-old filmmaker, Maya Newell, enters the inner sanctum of Richard Blackie's extraordinary, utterly bizarre toyshop. Striking up a curious relationship with the 41-year-old toy dealer, collector and ex-Michael Jackson impersonator, Maya is given permission to document the life of this most private of private characters, and the obsessions that drive him. Maya will be live in the Archives to present her film and answerer questions about the production.

	Mu-Meson Archives
	Doors 7.30 for 8pm start
	$10 with supper

Marrickville Contemporary Art Prize 2007 - Entries Close 5pm 20 August

At The Vanishing Point - Contemporary Art presents ... its inaugural contemporary art award for the city of Marrickville.

Marrickville Contemporary Art Prize 2007
06 - 23 September at ATVP 565 King Street Newtown & Don't Look Gallery 419 New Canterbury Road Dulwich Hill

Prizes include:
Open Award: $1500 (open award for all entrants)
NESB Award: $500 (open to entrants from a non-English speaking background)
Student Award: $500 (open to any student up to the age of 25years - Secondary/Tafe/Tertiary)
People's Choice: $500 (open to all entrants and decided by the viewing public)

Judging Panel:
Mikala Dwyer - Contemporary Artist and Lecturer Sydney College of the Arts, USyd.
Christine Morrow - Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Mary Nedanovski - Head Teacher Visual Arts, Dulwich Hill High of Visual Arts and Design
Kathleen von Witt - Director, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery and Museum

The prize is open to all artists living or working in the Marrickville local government area.
This project has been assisted by the Marrickville City Council Cultural Celebrations Grants program and will be held in conjunction with the Marrickville Cultural Festival.

Call for Entries
ATVP is currently calling for entries for the Marrickville Contemporary Art Prize 2007. Entries for artworks in any medium can be lodged up until 5pm Monday 20th August at ATVP 565 King Street Newtown (refer to conditions of entry at www.atthevanishingpoint.com.au/index.php?p=1_29_Art-Prize). The Marrickville Contemporary Art Prize 2007 exhibition will be held at ATVP from 06-23 September and the awards presentation and opening launch will be on Thursday 13th September from 6.00-9.00pm. We are also proud to announce that a second site - Don't Look Gallery at Dulwich Hill - will be housing an exhibition of entrants also. This exhibition will be held also from 06-23 September and will have an opening launch on Friday 14th September from 6.00pm-9.00pm. For further details contact ATVP. (02) 9519 2340, 0430 083 364. www.atthevanishingpoint.com.au.

The Good Life

No photos for this blog entry, although I took heaps, as I'm not sure everyone I'm going to write about would be happy about them. I've had a most extraordinary day. Natalie Coulter arranged for Orlan, Raphael and me to be part of a gathering at the block in Redfern. Uncle Max, Alfred, Lily, Roxanne and Bonny were our hosts. We met near the community centre on the grass; it was the clearest, bluest Sydney Winter's day. Lily and Uncle Max danced; Alfred played Yidaki (didgeridoo) and Bonny played the sticks. I loved Lily's dance about how the emu got her little wings and her tail best.

Orlan was deeply interested and had many questions about Aboriginal culture. In turn, members of the gathering, especially the women, were very taken with her. So very many things were explained to us, and so patiently. At times the conversation was very dark - we talked about the Stolen Generation and why its members in particular come to the block when in Sydney. We were told about how the block came to be and the sorts of pressures it is under now. And yet the tone was also lighthearted, with lots of laughs. Urban life versus living in the bush - Uncle Max showed photos of his bush home (something less than a tent) & joked that he has no electricity bill there. Alfred and I had a chat about writing Yidaki music using traditional music notation. Afterwards we all went to The Royal for a late lunch (although most of them don't drink) and we talked about our children. I haven't felt so at home with a group of people who weren't my family for ages.

Hosting a celebrity gives you entry to another world. All week I've been out of my element - mixing with Sydney's artistic glitterati & going to fancy restaurants, cocktail parties and openings. That's been exciting and wonderful, especially for a shameless people-watcher like me. But today - sitting on the grass with the sun on my back, listening to the Yidaki's deep rhythmic buzz and watching the delicate, precise movements Lily was making with her fingers as she danced, seeing the way she became the emu - I knew what the good life was.

Special Beings

I've been overseas for a few weeks, and I'll probably blog about that soon... but for now I'm thinking about celebrities, stars, and what makes certain beings special. There have been two particular living beings calling for my time, energy and organisational skills lately - one horse and one human.

Ruby & Stryker this morning

Ruby's horse, Stryker, has lived in Queensland with friends of ours for ages. But we decided recently to bring him closer to home so Ruby can see more of him. He's a 17 year old Quarterhorse cross Arab (actually I must admit I know nothing about horses and have no idea what that means, but doesn't it sound nice?). He is a very gentle creature. We found a lovely ajistment for him in Dapto, just an hour's drive away. He's got 60 lush acres to munch upon and about 15 other horses of various shapes and sizes to share the space with. Stryker is always bottom of the horsie pecking order and is sometimes a bit bullied by the others. He was really happy this morning to get some feed and a few pats and half a big jar of golden syrup. Ruby decided not to groom him as the wind was quite biting and she was worried he'd get cold if we took his rug off.

The human is Orlan, who is giving her public lecture tomorrow evening (don't miss it!). Although we've been having lots of email and phone contact to sort out accommodation, travel, translators etc. I only met her in the flesh for the first time today. She is deeply serious and very much the star. Her latest project will be for many her most controversial ever - I'm not going to write about it until I understand it better. The lunch, at Aqua, high above the North Sydney pool, was lovely - I had pink champagne and stuffed zucchini flowers.

Susan Cohn, Raphael Cuir, Meredith Jones, Orlan & Judy Annear at lunchtime

Orlan - Free public lecture - Monday 30 July

This is what I've been busy organising for the last month. I am hugely excited about hosting Orlan in Sydney and can't wait to meet her. A whole chapter of my forthcoming book is devoted to her work... Orlan is one of the most fascinating, adventurous and misunderstood artists in the world. Don't miss this free lecture - for most Australians this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

FREE PUBLIC LECTURE at the art gallery of new south wales Monday 30 July, 2007 “This Is My Body, This Is My Software: between western culture and non-western culture” French artist Orlan uses plastic surgery as her medium. Between 1990 and 1993, she underwent a series of choreographed surgical ‘performances’. The talk will comprise a survey of Orlan's work in order to ask questions about the status of the body in society. Orlan lives and works between Los Angeles, New York and Paris. Venue: Domain Theatre, Lower Level 3 Time: 5.15 for a 5.45pm start No bookings, come early to ensure a seat by 5.30pm Refreshments and exhibition viewing of contemporary galleries at 6.45pm Email: tertiary@ag.nsw.gov.au Orlan is supported by the Centre for Contemporary Design Practices and the Institute for Interactive Media at the University of Technology, Sydney IMAGE: Orlan with her Self-hybridation series (1999)

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery Road, The Domain, Sydney NSW 2000 Telephone 02 9225 1744 or Toll Free 1800 679 278 Website www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au

Other kids on the block

A little Eastern suburbs bird told me that this blog had been the topic of discussion at a dinner on the other side of George St on the weekend. I'm pleased, and hope I paint a good picture of my beloved suburb.

As real estate in Sydney becomes almost impossibly expensive* more and more people who would once never have dreamed of living somewhere like Marrickville are looking over this way.

Well, that's wonderful, but can you please come with eyes and hearts open to all of Marrickville's charm and beauty as it is, not with mindsets that want to transform it into somewhere with trendy coffee shops and rows of plane trees and fancy wine bars full of well dressed people? Because what you'll get here are bunnies. And pay phones.

*Want to own your own home? Simple! Just make sure you and your partner both earn more than the average wage, then save $200,000, then borrow $500,000 on a 35 year mortgage... there has to be a better way. We need real estate collectives, we need public housing for everyone, we need a communist government, we need oh god I need a panadol.

Pop Art

Marilyn, Jackie O, now me. Photography & manipulation by Maher Berro.