home away from home

there are a few cool kids' gangs that i feel like i'm part of, even though i'm not really. or not really 'there'.

probably to the point of embarrassment. 

like, i'll walk in there one day and say 'hi!' to everyone, and they'll have NO idea who i am:

the design conspiracy is one of them (especially before ben terrett left) - in fact, i think i did walk in there like i was part of the crew. luckily ben was there and i could just shuffle into doing something to help out

coffee mornings was another - i would see pics and read about who was there on every friday morning at the breakfast club in soho and i felt like i was part of the crew. when i did arrive in london, of course i would rock up. even though they were mostly planners and russelldavies fanboys (sorry russell). but i had a good time and everyone was welcoming and i met people who i continue to keep in touch with in elastic ways.

slightly less chummy, but just as 'part of' was actually tate modern. although it was more because i would read TATE ETC, their members' magazine, and my friend/husband john would send me stuff from their exhibitions. and it only takes one visit to the museum i reckon and there's a physical connect.

kaotic craft kuties is another club that, when it was in full swing, i felt like i was there when i wasn't there; my friend esther's new loungeroom sunday salon, where artsy and/or farsty crew talk about the stuff they're up to, discuss themes like committment, burnout and collaboration - i get a great wrap-up of what happened at the salon, and i feel like i was almost there, which is great.

i sometimes forget that i don't work at ARUP with dan hill from city of sound or  geoff manaugh at bldgblog, or rory/simon/stewart/christine from The Architects - because when i read their stuff, or listen to them on the radio, or watch them present, i feel like i could be there if time, money or qualifications were no issue.

the big one, hilariously, is wieden + kennedy. i have so many blog/twitter/instagram friends who work in their offices around the world, who are always posting pictures about what they're doing, writing blogs about their stuff, i see youtube videos of campaigns and have had discussions peeps in person, that it's like i'm the kid next door. 

i'm sure i'm not alone with that one - there are tonnes of advertising creative types that want to work there, i'm sure their receptionist in london gets it ALL THE TIME. and i supposed their CEO and creative directors get emails from strangers asking for advice and think 'who the fuck are you?'. annoying maybe, but then hopefully they see it as proof that they do a good job of keeping people connected to them.

it's a bit sad that there aren't many art organisations that i feel that connected to really. e-flux does a good job of making me feel at home in the art scene generally. as does artlife. but i'm yet to walk into a gallery, or arts organisation for the first time and get weird looks when i say 'hi!' like i've been there a thousand times before.

maybe i'm not trying hard enough. maybe there's something in that...

geek week 6

well, today is the end of the official transition stage. it may explain the weird level of sadness or something i've been feeling. either that, or the lack of exercise, sleep or regular meals.


this week, another short one thank to the aus v ger game queen's birthday holiday, has been quite frenetic and frustrating. i spent most of the week juggling shitty tech difficulties: on hold with adobe and their appalling tech support, trawling tech forums, drawing wiring diagrams and cloud diagrams to work out the best way to run the network, upgrade the modem and enable remote access. today, thankfully, most of that has been sorted (save the final ethernet cable party later).



the first stages of our new website framework has been developed and we're now setting about uploading easy content, figuring out the best way to arrange dynamic content and generally getting our hands dirty movin' stuff around. it's so exciting to have it all in so early.



and then last night i found myself feeling quite despondent about what i'm doing here, thanks to a line by stan johnson - a blogger and creative heavyweight whose conviction and attitude i admire.


in his blog, he talked about uniqlo as a stellar brand that were really at the forefront of really using intergrated digital content/technology within their identity. the punch-line was "Because I'm sick and tired of so called digital creatives who seem to think that designing a bloody website is a big digital idea.".



most of my time as a geek is helping build the kids here a new website. it's not wildly innovative, in terms of digital output.
it is practical, necessary and long-overdue. but it's not really a big digital idea. and part of me feels guilty about that. especially as artists have a long history of being innovative and at the forefront of digital exploration and excitement.

and yet, what is the point of innovation, if your basic services don't work?

i do think that arts organisations will benefit greatly from access to ebooks - imagine artist catalogues available on ipad/iphone? and the relationship between mobile technology and spatial arts practice is also interesting.

but this current website does not accurately reflect the depth of artistic innovation that happens in this organisation. it doesn't support arts practice by doing what a website should, at its basic level, which is communicate with the audience.

so, the innovation in this program is to get the basic pragmatic stuff done, share it and leave resources and possibilities for other exciting outcomes. teach a man a fish...

'&': collaboration as contemporary arts practice.

i'm sure there's been loads of stuff written about collaborative art practice as a focus of contemporary art, but i just wanted to write a little about my experience of it as an important aspect of my practice and something i'm really excited about lately.


on monday, i'm going to be doing a sound/public work with 2 other artists, which is going to be a blast. we're going to be listening and dancing to the sounds of the city, as part of my research on sound in the public space. i'm also pretty excited about having the loculocu boys involved in the project too. collaborative team raphael ruz and jolyon james produce amazingly luscious, sensual and expansive works. i know that their practice is just as much about the images as the process of working with each other, which is an aspect of collaboration i find amazing. like something along the lines of best friend and spouse.*

obviously, the candystripers is a big part of what i do, and my feeling about that relationship is on a similar plane. i was telling someone the other day that i couldn't imagine my art practice without gemma. [cue: awww.....]**

and when i look at people whose work i love, there's always a huge chunk of 'teams' there:
gilbert & george
jake & dinos chapman
george & ron adams
christo & jean-claude
soda_jerk
kingpins

for me, collaborating with another person to create work, has enabled me to work in a way that i cannot ordinarily:

when i'm working on my own work, it takes a whole lot more effort to have the balanced perspective and the counterpoint during stress. whereas if either gemma or i are getting caught up in stress, anxiety or outright panic, the other automatically assumes the role of the sensible, reasonable type.

similarly, i'm not as particular or careful as i'd like to be, when it comes to my artwork, but when i'm working on candystripers stuff, i'm able to step up enough so that we're both on that level. and working with someone else, i can work within my limitations and strengths, leaving space for gemma to do what she does best, and vice versa.

financially it's also a whole lot easier collaborating. you get to split the cost of invitations, gallery space, catalogues and materials. given that the financial climate for the arts is always pretty grim here, it's unsurprising that collaborating has become a way to benefit more artists for less. 2-for-1!


and then, on a conceptual level, my collaboration with nella themelios provides an opportunity to work from a much more theoretical base. it's also a chance to challenge the cliche of what the working relationship between a curator and artist is like, and to push that a little. deleuze & guattari, anyone - just for something new?


as an installation artist, from a photographic background who works increasingly in the public sphere, it's just not possible to work solo. it's probably painters and crafties that can most easily do that, and while i love that stuff, i'm just not that kind of girl.

of course, given that i'm sharing the process, producing an array of experiences and not-quite-commodity-pieces, it does mean that i'm kind of subscribing to the school of 'the idea as art', but in light of digital comms throwing the whole territorialism of art and mark-making open, i'm ok with that.





*given the amount of ace collaborative partners in australia who are also romantic partners, this is unsurprising. see under:
dell stewart and adam cruickshank,
claire healy and sean cordeiro,
jaki middleton and david lawrey,
charles green and lyndell brown,

** don't forget - our project at bus gallery opens on tuesday night, 9th june, 6-8pm.

image credit: Ampersand/Needle by edgeplot from flickr

shortlisted!

ok, so sometimes being on a short list is not such a great thing. well, actually i can only think of one time - being on a psychopath's list would be pretty bad. and part of a short shit list would kind of suck too. but most times, being on a short list is a fucking fantastic thing - you get somehow 'placed' amongst peers. on monday, my striper-in-crime, miss jones and i found out that we're on a short list for a pretty well-known public art commission in melbourne, which is very damned exciting.

there's a bit of work to do between now and then, but we get paid for the work we do from now on. and just to get to the stage, where a panel of amazing people are interested in a project that isn't a drop-sculpture hanging off the side of a laneway is pretty exciting!

i don't even know if we're allowed to tell anyone yet, so i'm being especially, well, loose in my joy here, but some of you'll probably figure it out anyway. and the rest of you will just have to keep coming back to read the official news later. heh. i think this blog just went viral.

edit: the candystripers now have their own blog. just.

sweet djehuti deal

thanks to teenangst from flickr


matt moore is a poet and a smart guy (they're not always mutually exclusive, you know). i met him at interesting south. he taught us how to make zombies. and last week, or sometime recently, he decided to amp up his lyrical content and put out a call.

i'm a sucker for cross-discipline collaboration, so i put my hand up, did the homework required and here's what he came up with, and some random notes about it, to boot.

the poem is going to be part of my exhibition at allan's walk later in the year. don't you just love transferrence?