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.