Seriously, it’s not a competition. It’s not about who puts up what first. You don’t have to be the first to put up a flyer. It doesn’t matter if you post your photos before everyone else. I don’t give a shit if I’m the last to get something up, nor the first. Its not about search results, its not about traffic, its not about popularity and its not about being fucking cool and outdoing others.
I write with two words always in my mind, and very little else:
Well, a small break over Xmas was exactly what was needed. Though it was way too short, it did give me a bit of time to do a fair bit of art, and having a small break from working on Invurt was much needed – sometimes you don’t realise how much work you put into something until you take a break from it!
Back into it now, so thought I’d post up a small recap of everything I did over the three weeks or so break … some stuff worked better than others, but I had a rad time and painted with some great people, and even got a piece (after a bit of a disaster) into an exhibition up on the Gold Coast.
Whats the plan for this year? I’ve already worked out what I’m doing for a solo show around the end of the year – so I’ve started working on that, a few projects around the website to accomplish … and some much needed world travel is on the cards after all of that.
Thursday night live art sessions at Piccolo, Prahran.
This was the piece intended for Underway is the Only Way. I ended up fucking it up totally with spray on gloss – never combine that shit with Molotow ink.
These were the two pieces I ended up sending up to the GC. Did them over two nights, lots of work.
It’s been a massive year … I did a whole bunch of exhibitions, a solo show, went up to Outpost Project, cranked the website, painted a whole heap of spots … so I’m really looking forward to the next three weeks off work as of next week – pretty much going to paint for the entire duration.
I’ve been working on a new project for about the past month or so, and almost have it all ready, really looking forward to getting it out there!
We did some painting down at Union Lane in Prahran, and Wayne Tindall did this video of the afternoon – was fun, even though I still havent finished my piece as I was coming down with the flu that afternoon …
In the meantime, here’s a small roundup of pics and stuff from the last month or so – post-exhibition!
Well, time to wrap it all up – I’ll be taking the show down today so thought I’d do a quick wrapup of it with a bunch of images …
Thanks to everyone who came down, and to everyone who had kind words to say. T-Squat for the interview. Promoting other peoples work every day – its nice to really see people giving back a bit of love my way for a change, so thankyou to all those blogs that posted about it and helped promo it.
There are still some pieces available so just contact me if you’re interested in them. Some nice A1 one off canvases to get the hell out of my hands haha
Firstly, I have to apologise. It isn’t nice to hear someone say they think you’ve failed, and I can take that – it isn’t nice to hear that your efforts are doomed, again, sorry – and I can take that. Yet, is it just me that seems to think that you are all missing something?
Australia, is not America.
You have no real rights for freedom of expression. You have no constitution designed to protect those rights (shit, not even all the states are even in the original constitution). You also have very little concept of living within a country whose ideals are founded on the principle of liberation – as you have never been liberated, or had to be liberated, from oppression, and then forged an entire, 250 year old, 300 million nation of people on that principle.
Occupy Melbourne is a great idea, but it wont work if you are following in the footsteps of the ideals started in Occupy Wall Street – and you got a taste of the reality of the situation, and how different it is last week. If you support it, and you want it to work, you have to make it Australian – and use that to your advantage.
Put all those other issues that you all believe you are fighting for to the side for a moment- your individual ideals and political leanings, your pet peeves and social awareness campaigns. Forget why you are involved and forget your placards complaining about every little issue under the sun.
It wont work here.
What is happening in the US, where differing people are complaining about all of those things in unity, will not work here, and the shame of it is that too many of you don’t realise it. You see, the Americans fought for the right to do this all those years ago – they are able to not care about the bigger picture, because they already have something that you don’t. They have already fought one of their major battles, and we have never even seen fit to even commit to a true skirmish.
You have a Queen on your coin. You have a constitution that leaves little consideration for anything beyond political infrastructure and arrangements! You have no law that really guarantees your freedom – and you have never bothered to really even consider the concept that you should be considering, because of your often anti-American sentiments, your wish to "not follow like a lapdog" and your blind following of your mates when they sit there and go "fucking Americans" and you trot out your latest treatise on how they are the evil nation of corporate greed, how they start wars, how you feel like this culture is being invaded by them and how the "Seppos" are hardly a model of honesty, wisdom and leadership.
But, see, they have something that you don’t – which is why Occupy Wall street may have a real chance of affecting real change – they have it in their guts, in their learning’s, and all throughout their culture. They already fought for it, they already got it, they are now fighting to keep it.
You? You haven’t even been fucked considering it. "No worries mate" you say. You are apathetic, you only vote because otherwise you’ll get a fine, you have no -real- choice in parties, any one could cut a deal to undermine their own ethos at any time, or to try and gain just a tiny bit of leverage. Their philosophies? Well, whatevers good on the day, or is in direct opposition to the other …
So, sorry. Your mismatched agendas wont work. Your separate angst and your protest wont work. It will solve nothing, and will just go down as "that time all those unemployed people from Brunswick got arrested down on Swanston st". It wont work, because you don’t have anything that really honesty binds you together – mateship is such an ephemeral and luminous thing that it doesn’t apply to you – it cant relly help you - because you are not under any real trial. You have running water? You are not crippled by taxes. You have power. Every single one of you has the internet! You have a social security system that, if you dont spend it on booze and smack, allows you to survive better than most places. You have a public transport system, that is second to none – believe me, I’ve been to parts of the US that are a million times worse – you are NOT IN A RECESSION.
You protesters are all arguing about the wrong thing. You’re all divided, a majority of you are still so apathetic (you realise that half your numbers are there just for the spectacle of it, right?) that, ultimately, it is a little pathetic. Thats how the majority look on you – you know? thats how the 99% look towards it right now – because, I hate to say this, you are, right now, the 1% – the 1% of people who actually took a step forward, but who wont make any gains because everyone is looking on you and going "what’s really so wrong with their lives, and what exactly are THEY fighting for?"
Maybe if you fought that first battle, it would work. Maybe if you were brave enough to unite under something that the US Occupy people *already have* it will work. Maybe if you did that, the rest of the 99% would think you are just unemployed weirdos handing out pamphlets from the socialist party.
Tell you what – when you all sit back, and can agree that you need to actually band together under something bigger than all your own personal agendas, give me a buzz. I’ll come down, I’ll shout with you all, I’ll waves my arms and get arrested and tell my mates of the injustice of it all right alongside you. Hell, if enough of you can show it, I’ll walk at the front of the protest line, and I’ll hold a great big fucking sign above my head, and scream from the top of my lungs to proclaiming it to the world.
My sign would read "Liberty" – and you’d all be welcome to shout it with me, I hope one day I will, but until you get your shit together, I’ll sit over here, on this fence – coz you know what?
Well, the other day I was interviewed on T-Squat – James Watkins said some pretty damn nice things about me that I feel pretty humbled by and slightly undeserving… but it was a great interview. It gave me a chance, for the first time, really, to put some of my ideas and thoughts out there through an objective viewpoint. Cool questions, thanks T-Squat.
So, I had mentioned the collaborations in the show, but didnt really go into a lot of detail (as when I did the interview it was a week or two back and everything was still being worked on).
Before my show tomorrow, I thought I’d just take a few minutes to talk about all the people that have helped me out with collaborations in the show. Anyways … a few weeks back, I sent off a message to a bunch of mates I’ve been painting with for the ReVurt project, and few other friends, asking if they’d be interested in doing some remixes of the original drawings and such – I figured a couple of them would be interested, but I was totally stoked when all of them said they’d do something. There were a heap of people I wanted to ask! In fact .. an entire collaborative show is something I think would be mad – an idea for the future.
So, this is a little on those who have pieces in the show – some of the most talented and passionate people I know …
Pierre Lloga – As far as illustrators go, Pierres work is what I picture when I conjure up that exact word. Comicesque, yet highly stylised and brilliantly realised, he’s able to translate that from pen, to paint, to the wall, and anything in between.
ExRobot – one of our RR studio residents, his monochrome work is just starting to get out there, and there is a fair bit of interest as well with his works flying out the door over at Artboy Gallery. Definitely an artist to watch!
Mishke – I met Mishke at an exhibition some time back, and promptly coerced her into moving into our studios after I saw her work – and every one I see she just gets better and better. I love her illustrative style and I can’t wait to see where she takes it – must get her back to painting on more walls!
Ed "Unwell Bunny" Bechervaise – he recently had a hugely cool exhibition at RTIST Gallery in Prahran, and has started getting back into painting walls after a small hiatus. Always helpful, completely passionate and just a generally great guy to be around.
E.L.K. – a more honest and humble man I couldn’t meet, and there is a reason why E.L.K. is one of the best stencil artists in the world right now – because, simply, he is an absolute cutting fiend who can put together a stencil composition like no one else. E.L.K. moved down here from Canberra recently and has had some amazing shit start happening for him, and I’m totally stoked for him – he deserves great things for all the hard work he’s put in to his art over the years.
Conrad Bizjak – whether its with a brush, or on a wall, the man has style, absolutely mad technique, and an amazingly vivid imagination. His technique makes me wish I was that damn good, and, having seen some of his recent oil painting work – damn.
Heesco – awesome as all fuck, Heesco is one of the coolest emerging talents in Australia today. So down to earth and a real inspiration to me – he’s pushed me along and helped me out in going in a few different directions, always had kind words, and has always been there to help me out whenever I’ve needed it. Plus, he’s just fun mate to hang out and get drunk with haha.
Phoenix The Street Artist – until I saw Phoenix’s work, and met the man himself, I had, admittedly, never really thought all that much of collage work – but seeing the process he undergoes with it all, the philosophy behind it, the amount of work and preparation and planning – well, the man is a genius.
Nicole Tattersall – I <3 this girl. So helpful, and such a talented lady. Director of Curvy for Melbourne, and a phenomenally great artist. I’m always swapping crazy ideas and doing fun little collabs with Nicole, so I’m really glad we got to do something together for this!
Jianna Lucia – another RR resident, this gypsy women has some pretty unique style! We hang a bit and chat – well, when I’m not heads down and immersed in focus land haha, but she’s great value, and a really cool artist. She recently did this video with Ollie Lucas for the Grolsch Grid show.
Jack Douglas – Jack stole my idea of buying one of those awesome bags for spraycans, and at some stage, I’ll steal it off him. Besides that, he’s a really really cool artist – his can technique rules as well, and he’s a funny bastard to boot – I had fun working with him on a quick road sign that turned up …
Robbie Warden – helped me out with all the photography. He works for Big Dog in Prahran, and you can see him out and about taking a bundle of photos at all kinds of gigs, and just generally popping up here, there and everywhere. There is no way in hell I would be this happy with the work in the show without his photographic skills.
Carl Allison- I wanted to get some video done for the show, a first for me … and there was no doubt that I wanted Carl to do it. He’s been killing it lately with his work, covering artists that are a part of my friends from Just Another Agency, as well as stuff over at RTIST Gallery, and everything in between. We got him to do our first webisode for Invurt, and, he did an awesome job with my preview.
There were others involved too – all the girls who modelled for me were amazing, as was Sammy Elise at the Body Canvas event. To all of them, the biggest of thankyou for being a part of my show in one way or another, and thanks for all the inspiration along the way – love your fucking work.
All round talented video guru Carl Allison put together this quick preview for my show – absolutely love his work. Together with Scotty and Gregs mad tune (go buy it, it totally blitzes after the drop!) and with some footage from Body Canvas with Sammy Elise … its perfect. Thanks all.
I have a lot of influences when it comes to books .. and a lot of books in general, but for Angels See In Sepia, these are the main ones that have resonated with the entire concept … covers are the versions I own …
to wound the autumnal city. So howled out for the world to give him a name. The in-dark answered with wind …
What follows is an extended trip to and through Bellona, a fictional city in the American Midwest cut off from the rest of the world by some unknown catastrophe. William Gibson has referred to Dhalgren as "A riddle that was never meant to be solved." Thats only the beginning of it, and this is one of the books that completely remapped my idea of the written word. "
Don’t read the wikipedia entry if you want to be surprised – this book will break your head worse than House Of Leaves ever did. It’s objective and the whole concept behind the book actually eluded me on the first read, and it was only when I read it a second time that it dawned on me what was going on. I wont say what it is, because everyone should discover it for themselves .. but once I got the concept, it opened the book up again. I have read this many, many times, and each time, I come away having learnt something new about it or have found a different twist on things – but as William Gibson said in the quote above, I don’t think I’ll ever truly solve it or come close to understanding everything in its pages – which is exactly why I’ll keep reading it again and again. Remarkable literature.
Vurt tells the story of Scribble and his "gang", the Stash Riders, as they search for his missing sister/lover Desdemona. The novel is set in an alternate version of Manchester, England, in which society has been shaped by Vurt, a hallucinogenic drug/shared alternate reality, accessed by sucking on colour-coded feathers. Through some (never explained) mechanism, the dreams, mythology, and imaginings of humanity have achieved objective reality in the Vurt and become "real"."
I read this book way back in 1993 when it first came out – I saw it on the shelf of the old and much loved Supernova books in Perth. At the time I’d finished reading through pretty much every Golden Age scifi book I could get my hands on, and was looking for something new – and Vurt changed everything. It was difficult at times to follow, and its premise was odd – a universe found in a drug, a backdoor gateway to an alternate realm with its own myths, characters and legends. Its impact on my tastes both literary and technologically was immense, and Jeff Noon is to this day one of my most loved authors.
"Needle in the Groove is a 1999 novel by Jeff Noon. A music/spoken word CD was released on the same day as the book. It tells its story through the eyes of Elliot, a young twenty-something bassist, as he finds himself playing bass for Glam Damage, a new DJ-based band who are experimenting with a new recording technology – a weird liquid/drug that remixes music when shaken."
Another really cool premise from Jeff noon, set slightly outside of the Looking Glass wars universe – the premise, that music is recorded onto a special liquid – the ultimate remix, combine tow liquids, get a different sound … then, when you drink it …
I have always loved the idea of remixes and collaborations, and this book took a completely different spin on things. Its things like this that make me love collaborating on art with people, and why I wanted to have that aspect of things in the show.
"The good news is that you have just awakened into Eternal Life. You are going to live forever. Immortality is a reality. A medical miracle? Not exactly.
The bad news is that you are a scrap of electronic code. The world you see around you, the you that is seeing it, has been digitized, scanned, and downloaded into a virtual reality program. You are a Copy that knows it is a copy.
The good news is that there is a way out. By law, every Copy has the option of terminating itself, and waking up to normal flesh-and-blood life again. The bail-out is on the utilities menu. You pull it down…
The bad news is that it doesn’t work. Someone has blocked the bail-out option. And you know who did it. You did. The other you. The real you. The one that wants to keep you here forever."
This premise along with the whole Singularity idea is the main one – I read this book when it first came out, and it shaped a hell of a lot of my ideas in regards to technology and futurism, and has driven a lot of my artwork from the word go.
"Permutation City asks whether is there a difference between a computer simulation of a person and a "real" person. It focuses on a model of consciousness and reality, the Dust Theory, similar to the Ultimate Ensemble Mathematical Universe hypothesis proposed by Max Tegmark. It uses the assumption that human consciousness is Turing computable: that consciousness can be produced by a computer program. The book deals with consequences of human consciousness being amenable to mathematical manipulation, as well as some consequences of simulated realities. In this way, Egan attempts to deconstruct notions of self, memory, and mortality, and of physical reality."
This book holds a special place for me beyond the fact that the themes directly relate to my thinking behind the show.
Somewhere in the mid 90s, I had lent a copy of it to my best mate, Adam, aka Karnage. It was a running joke between us that he hadn’t given it back to me, and I always gave him shit for it … but he loved it, had gone and re-read it many many times, talking of how something like this would be possible in our life times, and how excited he was about the prospect of this "digital life"; topics we talked about a lot .. it was very much a shared passion between us that spoke volumes on our friendship.
When he passed away, suddenly, several years ago, I placed that same copy of Permutation City by his side when he was laid to rest.
While I’ve been working on my show, there are several audio visual pieces that I keep coming back to that have inspired me throughout the past two months of working on it all …
Obviously, the movie itself has been a real piece of visual input .. . but I keep going back to this montage clip from the movie, featuring the Pyramid Song from Radiohead – whenever I feel like I’m sidetracking on the theme, I go back and watch this.
Secondly, my best mate Scotty, aka Mc Assassi, along with another of my great mates, Greg Packer, produced this song while I’ve been in the throws of it – I love it, and it fits in with the theme of my show awesomely.
I also keep going back to this track – because I fucking love Netsky, and I love Drumstep (not to be confused with dubstep, no clown-swing, thanks!) – btw, these new pre-video youtube ads fucking suck.
All of these things have all really set the mood for all the work … and have been grand company along the way.
Well, the weekend was crazy. In amongst frantically drawing up a whole heap of girls and other crazy stuff for my upcoming show, I took a "day off" on Saturday to participate in this years Body Canvas fundraising event at Flemington raceway.
Images sourced from a few different places, links below them …
I was part of the graffiti round, (the hugely talented Mayo took out the competition honours) and I had an awesome model, Sammy, to paint on – she was great with having to sit still and put up with my fussing over getting clean lines for seven hours – even towards the end where I was rushing and stressing at getting it all blocked out!
I forgot to mention in my blurb about the whole theme for the piece, which was "Hope for a better future" – obviously, mine was all technology based and I was "hopeful for a world of wonder filled with technological advances that aid humanity" (possible that would have helped haha).
Really though, It was all an extension of all the work I’ve been doing for the show.
Honestly, I could have probably kept going into more detail for another few hours haha … but, I think the simple look turned out great.
A fun, but exhausting day, and I can’t thank my model, Sammy Elise enough for her great company whilst I painted, and her patience! A really fun event, and something unique that I hope helped to raise some funds, and awareness, for the National Breast Cancer foundation.
.jpg)
