Elvis Richardson at Utopian Slumps


TELEVISUALS/SALUTEELVIS
Opens Friday 1 Feb at Utopian Slumps. Whoop!

also Michael Ciavarella, Ross Coulter, Deven Marriner and Laith McGregor are in a show called Fuck Your Heroes, opening at West Space the night before, sounds tuff.

looking at art on the internet.




My favourite comment from the Matt Griffin 'hoo haa' on Speech was by Tao, esp the bouncing Joey bit. the Larikin bit. It's so dumb but kinda hits on an australia-australiana bit maybe.
"Perhaps Anon. is instinctively and inarticulately responding to what I found to be a nihilistic aspect to Griffin's humor. Though I don't think this is the right word, in the face of work that provides no answers or solutions, no easy outs, the happy go lucky Joey will bounce him self silly and really get quite upset with all the hoo haa" Tao, Speech Review, Nov 5 2007.

Just re-read an Art Life comment on Fergus Binns at Chalkhorse, Feb 2007. I', kinda likng this cringe stuff, the cringe of something really local. When your tummy flips when Binns uses green and gold. Nadine Christensen's works Prospector and Crops on Mars, both 2007, get Aussie too. Prospector with its mirror Rozellas and farm art rustica sculpture and Crops on Mars, swings + Blue Heeler. Bringing home, but not quite, what I always saw as an Grand Canyon kinda place, a generic movie space, even that knocked out pastel pallete seemed kinda international school of painting maybe (term being used about, not even ure how to apply it?) . Well in these ones with the Australia the colour just sems high noon instead.

So if you stop and think Australia + picture = you get this swanston street souviner stuff. I saw a Countdown rerun on Rage the other night from 1982. It had The Gonna Band do Solid Rock in from of a Uluru backdrop, which I guess was Ayers Rock at then. They sung it ominous and warning. Then Kate Bush did Aborigine (?) Is how she sings it a rip off of an Australian accent? She dances at dawn with idigenious dancers, not so typical moves, there is lasers an outta space in the 80's too. So I guess Austrliana was big in the 80's. We have just had that whole fowl 80's things, so I guess it roles up naturally that kidz now tote bags from those Swanston St shops, hell I want one, and Ken Done, despite that listing in the top 3 worst on the art life - is gaining shaking ground - they didn't really want to slam him. Ken's been a bit of a Canberra favourite for a while. Unlike the artlife I would like to wear Done toggs and bed under Ken Doonas, that what its good at, I even had a calander at that was good at other stuff.

So anyway the cringe is good and not just ironic I hope. Trevs doing that uncomfortable aboriginal thing a bit. We have a recent RMIT graduate just moved into the studio and she is going hammer and tongs at the swanston street rip off of 'the dot', who owns the dot? ouch! Tim Price did some works last year calling the crass paintaings, pronounced like grass, Tim does this buyiny the newspaper each day, painting a pic from it, last year he was intervening, a noose might tether Howard on that fucking morning walk etc. So anyway the cringe is good and not just ironic I hope.

preparation 500, the vortex and mums garden



Modern Britain and the NGV is a good show. The grot and even the gesture is pretty refreshing, kinda links into my pet topic at the moment, the post war time, when platis was inventended and an exciting prospect from a great new future maybe. Unlike it is now, the default bad guy ruining our precious future. The house at mums n dads was built in the Modern Britain times, when they ripped up some out lino they found some Womens Weekleys that had been used as lining, there was a great article in one talking about this amazing invention called plastic. Now we are banning the bag.
Replay Marclay finishes up on the third of Feb. Its been nice to have it around as a reminder to make art about what you love and stuff it. Marclay loves music/sound and thats enough. Its funny how dated the tricks seem, but tat kinda cool, its becomming history.

shreddy christmas






So the galleries are closed and only the big ones open, its been an olden days / family time latley. Modern Britain at the NGV is really good. But I might write about that another time.
Our christmas tree from the last couple of years has been this thing made out of barbed wire, good bit of farm art rustica from mum, the star though, is a star of David, made out of barbed wire, do you see what I mean, that's not quite right. Mum doesn't know what she's done. My brother kinda gaps at it, cracks a few jew jokes, mum reminds us that our great grandad was called hezakia, ( spelling) we look at dads nose, oh dear, its all pretty bad really. But that's what happens there, stuff just gets jammed up wrong and all together despite the best intentions.
I do like christmas at home though, I like that there are only 5 people and not lots of presents. My brother and I speed wrapped, we usually try and do something dumb with the wrapping, making it really hard to get into, elctrical tape is pretty good! this year it was doing it and getting them to the tree as fast as possible, its silly and sought of undermines the whole thing and It's a bit of luxury to wrap nice stuff like crap.
So a garden shredder was a big hit this year, Dad got a saw too, so he and Jock went a bit nuts sawing bits off trees just to put them through the shreddy, even the shredder packaging got a go, shredded cardboard looks pretty good might try and use it sometime.