Away all Boats

 G'day petals

Shane Wombat in a boat

Working toward stuff for the Ballarat International Foto Biennale.... paper ordered did not do the job...but it's interesting how setbacks can create opportunity. More closer to show... but it's not like this stuff....

Old sign, Ballarat

Peeling Billboard, Ballarat

The billboard is now just a boring piece of advertising ...this is much more interesting.

So are our chooks... they are creating an interesting variety of eggs....

Wombat Droppings or Politics in Oz
 
MRabbott says he will ''never subcontract out to other countries the solution of problems in this country'' but if he could get Indonesia to agree to his ''turn back the boats'' policy, he would not only be rabbiting on about  

Ta Daaaaaaa……

“OPERATION SOVEREIGN BORDERS” 

… mis-representing and mis-quoting the PNG Prime Minister and coming up with another slogan but more dangerously, further politicizing the military and having  Scott “The Drone” Morrison as CIC. There will also be a "....three star general" doing the military bits. 
As we have no "3-star-generals" in the Oz military, is "Rabbott" going to import some yanks on "457's"?

Our leaders are true heirs to our British imperial convict legacy and are re-inventors of the White Australia Policy of 1900…..away the boats....

Tardis State (Where-All-Goes-Backward), pretend Premier, Denis (Inutilus Rusticus) Napthine has announced public voting on a architectural design competition that has already been decided, has no funding and will not be built for at least ten years.

His Unhealthy Minister David “Enema” Davies has announced the socialization of a private hospital previously sold off from the public sector by Jeff “Bully-Boy” Kennett (The Dorian Gray of Tardis State Politics).

Is this a circus or just circus’ for the proles?

Geoff “Fiddles” Shaw (under an interminably long, drawn-out, tedious and slow investigation for allegedly rorting his Government car allowance) is on a $70,000.00 taxpayer funded overseas junket.

Can you call this making hay while the sun shines?

Because planes never crash in the “Tardis” State (Where-All-Goes-Backward) the annual emergency drill at Melbourne airport will now be role-played in a tent by two clowns and a chimp with a 1/72 scale model aircraft and a box of matches. The results will being relayed by jungle drums to the appropriate emergency services for immediate replication and implementation.

Government cuts had nothing to do with this.

Rotting fruit

Fringe Benefits Tax rorts ..oops, benefits are planned to be pulled back by the Feds. 200,000,000 pieces of shit hit fan as one firm based on these rorts sacks half its staff on the day of the announcement to illustrate their ethical standards and evryone claiming (unjustly) car expenses and travel allowances say how unfair it is . 

Leigh Sales ABC “7.30 report” announces that “….superbugs are spreading like the plague”….and that….some people are “….riddled with superbugs”

Run for the hills, run for the hills..the sky is falling in…..

Vale, decent journalism at ABC!

Cheers Possums,

Shane

The Australian Index

and...Takes a Bow.

G’day Possums, 

....here we are at “Take a Bow” an interim exhibition of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale and a competition themed about performance photography.

It was held in the “Minerva Hall” a refurbished Victorian space in the Mechanics Institute in Sturt St, Ballarat.
Apart from the thirty finalists there were works by Ponch Hawkes, Ben Searcy and Jeff Busby.
These were interesting in their diversity of approach. Searcy's Rock and Roll images showed an intensity of a shared experience, whilst Busby's images from the MTC had a cool, almost disinterested observational distance to them. Ponch Hawkes' Circus Oz performers, on the other hand, as with Searcy, showed "the shared experience" not as an observer but "as one" with the performers. Particularly moving were the dense images of cuts, abrasions and rope burn marks on the performers' limbs. It was the humble "seeing", which gave these a gravitas, I felt, that in the hands of many photographers, would have only yelled, ".... look at what I've seen... look at my photographs of pain"!
I liked these pictures' sensibilite'. 

Eric making the place presentable.

Aldona cleaning and hanging works

Jeff with "Courier" 'tog.... (winning work on far right.)

Opening night

Opening night was a successful event and being a photographic one, a "Bus-men's Picnic"

some of the 'togs at the opening.....and the opening..

There were good performances from an actor, a dancer and a singer which gave the photography on the walls a deal more relevance because, I think, you tended to view the performances in a more visually aware mannner which then flowed through to responses about the exhibited images.
I found the finalists stuff a mixed bunch as it ranged from some very imaginative and skillful advertising type work right through to some pretty plain, and well, ordinary work.
Which in its own way is all to the good, as it did make you think about the subject, performance... and what it is. And how and why you photograph it.

I understand that some-one was interested in buying one of my images.... must chase that up, at least, to thank them for their interest......

Performers and comp winner Patrick Boland with judge Jeff Busby

Laura and Mariah sashaying around the Minerva

And on the weekends, yours truly, presented demos of performance photography to interested audience members with assistance from Aldona, Kristen David and Eric;
and hard work from Laura, Mariah, Jana and Rachel.
We couldn't link our camera to the "big screen", so when there were some interesting questions we would perambulate around the exhibits to clarify a point apropos the demo or a technical question; which was a good way to de-construct some of the finalists works and re-inforce the the point of the exhibition.

L and M

L and M

 The stage area of the Minerva is still being renovated but it had a really nice ambience in its old peeling painted brickwork.
 Lighting was from three 500W tungsten work lamps ( one rear OP, two DS,P) which gave pretty adequate light, albiet with a lot of blur in the images and due to the high ISO's used (3200 - 4000), plenty of noise.

Jana

Rachel

 Apparently Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), performed on this stage as part of his world speaking tour in the C19th..... which might be a fun thing to replicate if there is a record of his raconteuring and with a costume dinner ( from a C19th menu ) all candelabra lit with tables of white Damask... Ballarat Society as a performance piece... a'la Crewdson
That would all have to be recorded on Full Plate in a hand tinted image.....
.....Oops, off on a tangent.

David shooting with his 17mm shift. Multiple images to be stitched later.

Nice young couple soon to be returning to her home country, America to be wed...Good Luck.

 ...and yours truly working with L and M.

Shot by Kristen Diemer

politics......
seems that "Big Bird" Baillieu (genus: Silvertail Incompetens) and his Liarbrils are "on-the-nose" in the Tardis State (Where All Goes Backwards) and are running 10% behind Labor... one can only speculate as to how much further down they will be after the fraudulent Geoff Shaws' obscene outburst and gesture in Parliament t'other day and Baillieu's pathetic "....it was inconclusive....." response.

Unplanning Minister, Matthew (What's a Green Wedge?) Guy has announced the resurrection of a Brumby Labor plan for the development to the City Square linking to Jolimont. Baillieu (ex architect) was scathing in his criticism of Brumby's plan and stopped it after $1,000,000 had been spent on feasibility, design etc....this sort of partisan-political waste is why pollies are so distrusted.

Under-age Indigenous offender ends up spending quite some time in solitary in a adult prison.... three Baillieu ministers invited to front and report to media, hide!
Another reason trust in our systems is eroded.
Postscript: There are at least three others in similar circumstances... ruling party is "mum" on it all.... 

Mary (Ya-wanna-have-a-go?) Wooldridge can only offer a imperious Canute like, "...we will not tolerate.....etc" as Tardis State Health Dept residential services continue to implode from lack of funding.

Peter (I-Know-Nuffin) Ryan, Police Minister still maintains he knows nuffin about what goes on in his office.... and with the Justice System in this State a shambles why should he?

Federal Labor's coolest head and "best-in-show" parliamentary performer, Penny Wong has been dropped to No2 on the Senate ticket in a backroom deal to promote a right-winger who would probably be rejected by the Liarbrils as being too extreme.... Labor's death-wish knows no end!
Postscript: No 1 has decided he's really a No2 and "for-the-good-of-the-party"  Wong is back-on-top ...though damage has still been done!

Tony (the Rabbit) Abbott is in a dark place ...unable to suffer more excoriating criticism of his stupid sexist asides, comments and rants, has nothing to say...he has no policies, so...nothing to say!
You get the feeling that now when the Liarbrils try to mount an attack " ...oooh look, three months in and there are no taxes from the miners.......failure, failure, failure..doom, doom, doom....", people are giggling and looking away in embarrassment at the lack of substance in their performance and demeanour.
It's almost as if a veil has been lifted and the public's awareness that governing must have substance and that honesty is again belatedly coming to the fore as a prime political quality.

Which leaves Craig T in a un-enviable place.

Which also begs the question .... who organised the Victorian Police to liaiase with their NSW rozzer colleagues and at the same time, "tip-off" the media to document the raid on Craigs place?
All when fraudster, Geoff Shaw is being shielded by Baillieu.
What's Shaw "got" on "Big Bird" apart from a one seat majority?
Hmmmmmm, sniff the Smell of the Tardis State!

...and I've just come away from the most appalling piece of propaganda on ABC 7:30 report. Chris Uhlmann and Leigh Sales delivered a researched set-piece, 15 minute "free-Kick" to the Liarbril Party via Clive (the biggest miner) Palmer. It was the most obvious unpaid propaganda that our "8 cents-a-day" has paid for since the IPA decided that climate change was a myth and that tobacco is good for you.... with standards like that, Sales and Uhlmann would be better suited to work with Alan Jones.

Cheers Petals,
Shane

inviting to a dance photography exhibition

G'day all.... the shows up.....

... we hung it all today, distributed the flyers and put them in shop windows.

So now there's a big silence.





That's the poster on the left.

and below, a panorama of the venue,
The Bean Barn 217 Sturt St Ballarat.
Open 7 days

 

The title is borrowed from a film Gene Kelly produced
and starred in, which was at the time and possibly still is,
one of the most innovative dance films made.

At photography’s inception capturing movement
was impossible and even a subjects head for a portrait was
clamped into place to limit any blur through movement.
In all art forms the attributes of  the medium modify
and inform the methods and conceptual paths the artist can take.

Photography’s 150+ year history has culminated in todays
digital cornucopia;  a veritable feast of image making equipment
and modification and manipulation methods which allied to the
quality and longevity of the final print is releasing the production
of new forms of expression in graphic art.

There are a variety of performance modes in dance and each
can be realised in photography through a variety of techniques
which hopefully give true expression to the qualities of the
choreography, the dancer and dances inherent theatricality, a
theatricality that is in part the ability to suspend belief: to make you
believe a woman is a Swan or a spirit and that weightlessness
is normal.
It’s the illusion of human aspiration achieving completeness.

Some of the works are collage type assemblages

And yes, there is a awareness of Joseph Cornell's work but the intent here is more related to performance than surrealism.

Photos, material, twigs. 250mmx200mmx20mm

Here there is a play with the illusion of space .. you can see that the "backdrop" really does curve down to the front and the dancer (Ally, see previous posts) is a cut-out in correct position. The shadows are hers not photoshopped into the image as are the folds in the drop





Two photo images
300mm x 250mm x 30mm

Carlo Blasis illustration reproductions, angled floor and a cut-out (Shriram) which bears a striking resemblence to a most "Romantic" manner.

250mm x 200mm x 20mm















..and, Yes, Robbie can Jump!
Print and cut-out.

250mm x 200mm x 20mm
If you happen to visit this show there's a visitors book for comments.

Cheers Possums,
Shane

..and sees the last of the "Fringe"

Hello Possums,

a last rant about the Ballarat International PhotoBiennale "Fringe"...  

venue 52 was in an old renovated brewery in Buninyong  and although I'm almost a local it took some twenty minutes running around Buninyong before I found it.

As you can see it's a good clear space that would be an excellent proposition for people thinking about 2013.

the works on display were screen based DVD images from Japan titled Elegy Japan by Darron Davies of which I saw some  but was distracted ( it looked very interesting) by the other two presentations in the room.

Pam Kleeman's "A PrivateView: Skinned":  insallation pieces that made place-mats, handbags, wallets. hats etc from images of skin and hair that was purportedly about consumerism and cultural colonisation.

 I found the Dinner setting a rather thin take on Judy Chicago's grander sculptural work from the 80's because it tackles less with less ...as Chicago herself said, "...the women develop as artists, they build skills that are relevant to their content. Their work improves and they become more sophisticated, but that sophistication is built on a solid, personal foundation and is not the result of prevailing art modes" . ( Women Artists:  Peterson & Wilson, Harper/Colophon 1976)

What made me a little queasy with the handbags etc was the thought  that concentration camp guards during WW2 made similar objects from the cadavers of murdered Jewish inmates.... there was no mention of this in Kleeman's text .

 Konrad Winkler's "Love At First Sight"...only made me think, Why so grayly mis-named?

And......... Too Much Information!


I fled!

To the Ballarat Observatory where the map, again was not particularly helpful. But the works in the main were delightful.. Alex Cherney's celestial time-lapse images were hauntingly beautiful (sorry no images) and Julie Boland's "Visiting Diana" was a quietly evocative and feminine evocation of freindship ... lovely, lovely stuff.

As was Angie Turnbull's: shots on 10x8 plate, of film and reels, photographs of stock...'a la Bauhaus, Lazlo Moholy Nagy style.  Good puns all round. These two sets of work were really very impressive in their dignity toward both the subjects and the medium.


Although the venue was OK ..just... it was not an inviting place and I found I really had to concentrate hard on the works and not be distracted by light reflections and bumping into that monolithic telescope in the middle of the room.



Speaking of reflections ...cop this.....10:00am .....
not a good look for images... and weaving in and out of the tables( luckily all the guests had eaten and departed) was not comfortable at all.  


The nature of "Fringe" events is like this and it is the exhibitor who must make a conscious decision to present appropriately for the circumstances they have at hand.







Although, that being said there was one venue that really confused its exhibiting artists with its own wares....

...... but I'm pleased to report that Simon Peterswald did sell some stuff.... nice strong images.

Confusing as hell, that place... always asking yourself if it is an exhibit or part of the shops' stock......???

I think this has given a reasonable overview of the "Fringe" .... I'd  also comment that it was very funny to see so many people running around Ballarat with camera's on display for the month of the biennale.....and joyous that they came out in such numbers.... but even funnier to find stuff online..... one was a pic of one of the venues because the tog seems to like old architecture; he mentions the biennale was on at the time but none of either the core or fringe exhibits so I wonder if any thing impressed this teacher of photography at all?

A more ludicrous entry was from a Ballarat amateur who posted a journal note/survey on a particular site asking if anyone knew of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale?

OK, all you child psychologists.... work that one out!

seeya,

Shane.