red writing

giving a friend a hand [Part I]

before i launch into my post about how rad inspiration is and how rock music can save the world, i'm asking you bloggery types to give my friend and great sculptor, kd a hand with research for her psych thesis.

it's about meditation and i know, from going to Interesting 2007, that plenty of you don't meditate, hate meditation and would love to express such an opinion. well kd is looking for such an opinions (and otherwise) for her honours psychology thesis! how's that for luck!

if you could give her a hand by following the link and doing the quick survey, that would be tops!

http://www.webresearch.mq.edu.au/honours_survey/

wired for sound

heh, clip art

over the last couple of days, i've been having a play with my new techy toy (a cool microphone which attaches to my ipod), and chatting to a couple of emerging curators, capturing it all in digital format.

i've uploaded the resulting discussions (some of which are me going on a bit, sorry about that)to my new section - sound bits, over there, on the side bar, scroll down a bit, yep, there. i've purposedly kept them unedited, unpolished and a bit loose, not just because i'm lazy, but because it's the equivalent of showing your workings in year 9 maths class, you get to see the whole picture.

i'm going to upload more of these chats with all kinds of interesting peeps in the future, so keep an eye out. and if you're an interesting peep, i might just ask you to go on the record, if you're not careful.. ha!

they're in wav format, so everyone, mac and pc kids alike, should be able to hear them, but if you're having troubles, post a comment and i'll do my best to fix it. although i'm not a super-tech person, so it might take a bit of time.

june happysnaps

now that june has whizzed by and it's the end of the financial year (well, at least it is in australia), it's time again for a glimpse at some of this month's happysnaps. i was so erratic this month - my camera ran out of batteries at the beginning of the month and i eventually got my shit together to buy some around the middle of the month. went snap-happy, ran the batteries out again and am back where i started. the annoying thing is that i accidentally left behind a brand new charger with 4 rechargables. grrr.
anyway, enjoy a rather narrow slice of my june views:

i'm sure art is infectious, but what am i spreading?

all the possibilities for innuendo aside, i'm in a bit of a quandry about a little project/programme that i want to get started and i think i need the collective wisdom (or out-and-out sledging) of the blogosphere for guidance. [and who said religion was dead!].

in securing the spinach artist-in-residence-of-sorts, i realised that i am really into the idea of introducing the active process of creating as a stimulant and revitalising agent into the workplace. i know that when i've got artists (writers, actors, musicians, etc) around my productivity goes up. i feel energised, hepped up, inspired to do things, make a difference or get hip with it man. but, i'm an artist. that's the kind of environment i thrive in.

but if i worked in telecommunications, insurance, investment banking, would i feel also feel inspired by an artist? i'm doing some scouting about at the moment, working on ways that i might be able to introduce an aritst-in-residence-of-sorts into other workplaces. ones which aren't as obviously creative (or are perhaps are as dead as doornails) and which would really benefit from having an inspired presence or energy in the place - a sort of vaccination for the organisation's immune system.*

however, i was born creative. i've always inhaled anything that is remotely inspiring and interesting and so i am probably slightly biased in my outlook. is art and the process of creativity actually something worthwhile to have about the place, or do i have my head in the clouds? would it really be inspiring to have an artist at the end of the hall, constantly creating cool pieces that you could have on your desk in your little cubicle, or would it be the equivalent of that toner recycling box or motorised pencil sharpener: something which should probably make a difference, but in reality, is much easier to ignore.

is creative action as infectious as i believe it is?

*thanks to john griffiths for the analogy

garnering empathy

em·pa·thy [em-puh-thee]
–noun
1. the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.
2. the imaginative ascribing to an object, as a natural object or work of art, feelings or attitudes present in oneself: By means of empathy, a great painting becomes a mirror of the self.

definition from the insufficient, yet currently convenient dictionary.com.


at an art opening (or 'private view' as it's called here in the closed system that can be the art world), i found myself talking to an investment banker who was really interested in what i was jotting down in my trusty moleskine about the show. we were chatting about a painting that he had made an offer on, a work by pierre gerard, which featured the exposed insides of an orderly, cubicle-filled office block and the exposed chaos of those within it (possibly once the privacy or structure of the wall was removed?).

being an investment banker, he could completely related to the cramped and mad quarters that were depicted and asked me a really important question: how do you speak to people like me (ie. those living in a trapped environment of great pay, soulless work) if you've never worked in that kind of environment?

i was a bit stumped really. i know that i look at universal ideas of structure and destruction, which often speaks to people across demographics, but that's not really what we were discussing. we agreed that using imagination is important (and that's what artists, creatives are excellent at) and that empathy was key.

now, i believe i have empathy. in fact, i'm pretty sure of it because i could feel how these people in the painting felt, and also how our investment banker guy felt, going into the office day after day with absolutely nothing apart from his paycheck to keep him going back. but how did i get that? and how do i continue to regenerate my empathy, so that i don't become a self-absorbed artist-type only being able to speak to other self-absorbed artist-types?

and i have no idea.

friend and super artist, anita larkin, has created an artwork, a machine for inducing empathy, but i'm pretty sure it's not a functioning unit. and i'm sure there is critical and learned writing on the subject, i just haven't looked at this stage. for me it's always been a bit intuitive and impossible to clearly articulate, but is that being naive? do i actually have to do things in order to maintain empathy (as opposed to apathy)?

and despite the above definition, is empathy more than just the intellect. isn't in fact a mental, emotional and possibly even spiritual action (verb, not noun)? do you need to actually feel something, understand, have the concept of transferrence in order to really have empathy with someone. and if so, can you do this only through the 'method' way of doing things, literally walking a mile in another's shoes, or does imagination cut it.

i don't necessarily have answers, but, as an artist, that conversation with paul the investment banker was incredibly important in reminding me of my purpose to communicate with people, to speak to them and that i should never assume an arrogant stance with it.

a gallery per day: june week 4

this week's post is up: Damien Hirst at White Cube Parts I & II, Cardiff, The Wellcome Collection and East End group shows.

red-handed

despite struggling on the 'gainful employment' front, i've been quite prolific on the 'creative engagement' front and i wanted to just share a little bit of the excitement with you all.


red thread



the most super-exciting project that i've secured is to be an artist-in-residence-of-sorts at the research/planning agency Spinach. they have spunky offices and a rotating arts roster, all managed by their creativity director, martin, and he has invited me to do my installation from the end of july, for a week.

the work focuses on the thought process and the often messy or complex nature of that process and the development of ideas. which is also a nice little reflection on the work that spinach does. the piece is made of red wool and will thread its way along the offices of the agency, sometimes a messy knot of troubleshooting, other times a clean line of inspired thought. I'll also be installing during work hours, which will be a fantastic interaction with the people there, adding a slightly performative aspect to the work.

both spinach and i are excited about this work, and i'm keen to do more of this in other creative agencies, so look out for documentation in the future.


red letter day



hangin out in the east end yesterday, i stumbled upon a shop in which i could spend my inheritance (if i even have one!) and found some really cool enamelled copper letters. i bought 4 of them (no prizes for guessing which 4) and will be creating a relief/work on paper with them.


aye, aye babushka aye aye



last month the kaotic kraft kuties made babushka dolls and some of them came out fantastically - especially my friend sarah's. i so wanted to join them, but was in dubai at the time and swore that if i had a chance to make them, i would. well, at the afformentioned money-hoovering shop, they had a set on sale, so i'm painting them like my ova mortis works. i don't know quite where they'll end up, but it's cool to paint them anyway.


red stickers in toilets



i've been doing more red stickers (art works on sticker, stuck in public places). I'm currently focusing on toilets - giving people (actually, only ladies so far) something to look at and ponder while in the loo. It takes the work into the public, yet private and intimate domain. hopefully these end up as part of a joint show at toilet gallery a bit later in the year.


so, there you have it kids. a bit of an update of what's happening. keep an eye out for more info as these all play out, one by one.

a gallery per day: june week 3

this week's post is up!

red light indicates doors are secure

tonight i went to see the arctic monkeys in cardiff, wales, it was a fucking hoot and i have decided that i really needed to write about it here for several reasons. firstly, 'cos it kicked fucking ace. the bands before them were pretty average, especially the main support - they were trash, but "the 'monkeys" were so awesome!! they played like a bunch of lads who had somehow become huge but wanted to maintain that 'we're just playing in our friend's backyard' kind of feel. all the hits were played and totally killed it, the crowd sang along (pretty well most of the time) and the sound was super-hot. in fact i don't think i've been to a gig in such a large venue (CIA) and heard such a good mix. tip-fucking-top. and while i don't really go for lightshows, this one was pretty damned sexy - intermediate backdrop of 7 huge photostudio backlights which made it totally swanky, and then a proper backdrop of uplit hanging silver threads, all 40s like.. eep!


the other aspect i need to blog about is about the totally fucked behaviour at the show by some of the audience. it's a sign that i'm getting older, but people who see bands these days have no idea about mosh ettiquette like the way i was brought up to have.

so here is lauren's gentle guidelines for seeing bands.

1. short people down the front. that's the way it works, OK. it was getting ridiculous at one stage tonight, so a bunch of us short gals (and one jerk-off midget - more about him later) decided to bounce everyone out. a bunch of tallish lads were trying to push in to stand in front and instead of just letting them through, we told em to fuck off. ha! i don't quite know if that fits into having ettiquette, but it made life easier for a whole bunch of us, so it counts.

2. hands off, fuck-face! oh my god, the amount of blokes trying to cop a feel tonight was fucking appalling. just because we're all squished in, does not give anyone licence to go the grope! it happened a couple of times to a bunch of us and slowly but surely, we all started telling the ratfaced dickwads to piss off. in fact, at one stage, i saw our midget friend slide his arms around some young girl he didn't know like a creepy crawly. she looked so uncomfortable and just took his hands away politely, so i got all motherly and slapped him upside the head. (i know, violence doesn't solve anything). just 'cos he's a little person, doesn't give him the right to be a fucking pervert without consquences. funnily enough, because he was short, he didn't see who did it and tried to start a fight with all the big blokes around.. ha!

3. put away those mobile phone cameras.. please. lighters in the 70s were strange enough, it must be really disconcerting for a band to look down and see and bunch of outstretched arms holding up mobile phones, trying desperately to 'capture the moment'. the funny thing is, how often are you really going to go back and watch that shit video of the night, that's all grainy and wobbly? it's really just proof of 'i was there' and yes, being cheaper than the merch slightly understandable, but wouldn't you much prefer to get a well-designed shirt and support the band than a distorted mobile phone photo/video of the night? go on.

4. if you want to snog in the crowd, get a room. there is nothing more offputting than trying to dance and/or see a band while some couple are playing tonsil hockey in the middle of the dancefloor! it happened tonight and i may or may not have been partly responsible for someone bumping into them, interrrupting them mid-snog. maybe i was just jealous. whatever.

5. have a good time and share the experience. there was water being handed out tonight by security, which was a very good thing. it's nice to share it around too. help each other out - if someone has fallen, help them up. if they're crowd surfing, go with the flow, they'll end up at the barrier soon enough anyway and, as much as you can, respect people's right to enjoy their night. that means having a good time yourself too. i know i rocked the fuck out tonight and it was a total blast.