the past
Mon 30.Nov.2009
Sydney, NSW, Australia
back at yet another airport -- north, east, south, west? future or past?
The Past
Let no one say the past is dead.
The past is all about us and within.
Haunted by tribal memories, I know
This little now, this accidental present
Is not the all of me, whose long making
Is so much of the past.
Tonight here in suburbia as I sit
In easy chair before electric heater,
Warmed by the red glow, I fall into dream:
I am away
At the camp fire in the bush, among
My own people, sitting on the ground,
No walls around me,
The stars over me,
The tall surrounding trees that stir in the wind
Making their own music,
Soft cries of the night coming to us, there
Where we are one with all old Nature's lives
Known and unknown,
In scenes where we belong but have now forsaken.
Deep chair and electric radiator
Are but since yesterday,
But a thousand camp fires in the forest
Are in my blood.
Let none tell me the past is wholly gone.
Now is so small a part of time, so small a part
Of all the race years that have moulded me.
-- Oodgeroo Noonuccal
[0] comments (233 views) |
sundry
Sat 28.Nov.2009
Sydney, Australia
catching up on bureaucratic things before the uni slows down for the summer.
testing the turbulent flow of cream in tea despite the good-natured jiving from the house-mates about the (my!) barbaric custom of cream in black tea.
the house becomes a sanctuary from the oscillating heat which cracks 40C. but days later drops to 15C, very strange, just don't have a handle on it. and meanwhile, spot Orion from Shar's roof -- it's upside down (Orion, that is), feet up, sword rampant, very disorienting.
[0] comments (481 views) |
George Street
Thu 26.Nov.2009
Sydney, NSW, Australia
the bus, locus of social interaction of various and sundry sorts, going from Millers Point to the office. great for people watching (and interacting with), exhausting when the saturation point of sensory energy input is reached.
[0] comments (400 views) |
point-to-point
Mon 23.Nov.2009
Bondi, NSW, Australia
down to the beach with Shar. point-to-point, touching down at the north rocks, then all the way across, west, to the Bondi Icebergs pool, wind was with me on the way west, but in my face heading back. I took it easy, about 40 minutes. looking at the ripple patterns in the bottom sand 10 meters below, watching for the occasional big set that could knock me out. beyond all the surfers, cool deep water. where are the Great Whites?
[0] comments (478 views) |
Can you come out and play with me?
Sat 21.Nov.2009
Millers Point, NSW
The following quick essay was for the last and final edition of the annual NetArts awards from the Machida Museum in Tokyo::
Grand Prize for this year, the online platform VisitorsStudio, is not a complete newcomer to the netart scene -- it's been running as a live visual-sonic collaboratory for a few years now. As a playground, it offers many degrees of freedom within what appears at first to be a restrictive environment. But, isn't it true that all play-places have limits? Your mother would never let you go off just anywhere and play. She would certainly approve of VisitorsStudio. The limits of VisitorsStudio lie primarily in the intriguing area of file sizes (more on that shortly). The interface is intuitive and straight forward, and without a steep learning curve, anyone can create mesmerizing works in no time.
The most obvious elements of digital mash-up play are the text, the image (still and moving), and the sound. Participants in VisitorsStudio may gather these elements themselves and using a rich set of live controls make compelling live mixes. There is an existing database of files to work with, or, you can prepare your own media library to upload and play with. This is where each sound, image, or video file is limited to a 200kb maximum size -- you will be surprised at what can be done -- the result is absolute proof that great things come in small packages.
VisitorsStudio is available for special performances and makes an ideal platform for educators in all settings who wish to stimulate imaginations with real interactive digital art -- its not simulated and its not eye-candy. As a collaborative tool, it does not aggressively take the foreground in the process, but rather works as a solid and supportive background element for seamless play.
Of course, the best way to enjoy a jam session is with a heavy-duty sound system and a 72-inch plasma screen or a video projector. You will be the resident visual-sonic artist. But intimate small-screen solo play is also very satisfying. The best feature is the possibility for live remote partners and audience. Invite your friends half-way around the world to join you in a jam session!
Technically, VisitorsStudio needs only an internet connection and a browser running the latest version of the Flash plugin. And, hey, if we ask, maybe they will port a Wii controller to VisitorsStudio! Wouldn't that be fun? Let's play.!
One of the Honorable Mentions for the 2009 netart award is SiTO's gridcosm project which, if there ever was a primordial interactive play-place online, this is it. Gridcosm was initiated by Ed Stasny way back in 1997 as an outgrowth of SiTO's live online image mash-up collaborations. That's in the PreCambrian era of internet time! It even has its own Wikipedia entry! But gridcosm clearly tapped into something fundamental -- with a fresh and accessible interface design; solid back-end code; and exuding a rare social sensibility of precisely what it means to collaborate online -- there are hundreds of contributors. A dozen years later, the collaborative space is continuously full with a vibrant and evolving palette of personalities and plenty evidence of creative juice spilling out onto the screen. The acronym SiTO originally came from OTIS (Operational Term is Stimulate) which was the motto of the nascent online collective collaboratory back in 1994 or so. So, kudos to gridcosm for sheer staying power and what looks to be a lively future. How many layers does an artwork need to have for it to be classified as cosmologically significant? Visit gridcosm and discover the answer to this profound question! It's an open project for anyone to jump into -- as are all the SiTO collaborative projects -- so, check it out!
[0] comments (1378 views) |
Pacific
Wed 18.Nov.2009
Bondi, NSW
meet Vernon, Marty's friend from the NSF for lunch and a wander from North Bondi. the beach resonates my SoCal memories. water is warm, finally. summer. I stop by one of the surf shops, looking at boards, find one like my 6'2" swallow-tail twin-fin. they even demark the boards in English measure. they are damn expensive, around AUD 1K each. wow! long boards up into AUD 2K. big business. there are at least 100 surfers out on the wide span of the beach. some of the breaks are nice, some are lousy. but there are some phat sets that come in every so often, like on Monday.
late in the day. at least an hour spent in the breakers. only dodging the 2-meter breaks, though. no body-surfing, too high-risk for the back, but some strong and far swimming in the Pacific, it feels great. thiscould, will become a habit. not so easy to juggle, though, when looking at rental prices out in the Eastern suburbs (of which Bondi is one). then there's the issues surrounding public transport to the uni to consider as well. no cheap answers. once Fort street closes down, alternatives will be tough to find.
later
when 11:11 rolls around, there are no rides left. 'nuf said.
late in the day. at least an hour spent in the breakers. only dodging the 2-meter breaks, though. no body-surfing, too high-risk for the back, but some strong and far swimming in the Pacific, it feels great. this
later
when 11:11 rolls around, there are no rides left. 'nuf said.
[0] comments (555 views) |
Victoria Pool
Sat 14.Nov.2009
Darlington, NSW, AUstralia
the pool closest to my uni office. 50-meter, non-chlorinated (but no one seemed to know what type of water purification system they used), it turns my silver ring a copper-brown on a 3000-meter workout. it's in the middle of Victoria Park and next to Sydney Uni as well. designated lane speeds, although I never see the guards enforce it, on the other hand, never really have problems with slackers. for casual workouts (i.e., not team or Masters workouts), I'm definitely in the fast lane, about 20% of the other swimmers can pace or exceed my speed. I thought the Aussies would kick my ass in the pool! not!
and then there is this bit of graffiti at the 11th floor of Building 1 (also known as "the ugliest building in Sydney"). got to bring this to the attention of the admin to do something about. somewhat innocuous, but still very disturbing.
[0] comments (417 views) |
holding space and antinodes
Thu 12.Nov.2009
Ultimo, NSW
Non-doing defines doing. Sitting in stillness invites people to move. Getting out of the way allows people to fill space with their passion. Letting go of expectations leaves room for responsibility to come forth. All of this is integrity. Every piece of doing requires the strong presence of non-doing to anchor it.
Stifling every impulse to intervene, to give directions and orders leaves space for others to design their lives. You can create a container and then stand by and watch it fill and teem with life. You don't resist the natural movements of groups of people co-creating their futures. Instead you work on your own inability to be still, to want to own the outcomes, to want to invest your ego.
This is not your show. You are holding space, embodying space and being empty and full at the same time. If they thank you in the closing circle, you have not done enough. -- The Tao of Holding Space, Chris Corrigan
and a side note on one of the seven marvelous students in the Ways of Listening course I taught this term at UTS. Ash undertook a fine project Antinode, you can check out the process-documentation blog that she set up. nothing like be-ing in the analog world! her experiences definitely fed back into the overall success of the class. auspicious start to teaching in Oz!
Stifling every impulse to intervene, to give directions and orders leaves space for others to design their lives. You can create a container and then stand by and watch it fill and teem with life. You don't resist the natural movements of groups of people co-creating their futures. Instead you work on your own inability to be still, to want to own the outcomes, to want to invest your ego.
This is not your show. You are holding space, embodying space and being empty and full at the same time. If they thank you in the closing circle, you have not done enough. -- The Tao of Holding Space, Chris Corrigan
and a side note on one of the seven marvelous students in the Ways of Listening course I taught this term at UTS. Ash undertook a fine project Antinode, you can check out the process-documentation blog that she set up. nothing like be-ing in the analog world! her experiences definitely fed back into the overall success of the class. auspicious start to teaching in Oz!
[0] comments (666 views) |
die Mauer
Tue 10.Nov.2009
Millers Point, NSW
gah, it was twenty years ago (today)... how that refrain has activated this year. seems I was busy, very busy in 1989. in August, Stefan, Debra, Magga and I headed for Kassel from Köln and then on to Berlin. through the huge Charlottenburg checkpoint, past the Soviet tanks, after the surreal drive on the lousy autobahn where, if you stopped the car, you could be shot. We had a nice flat somewhere in the West, don't recall where. through Checkpoint Charlie we entered the East for a long day which started out at the Soviet Culture Center, went on to a impromptu visit with a photographer, Micha Brendel, (who I learned about from my gallerist in Lyon, France, Raymond Viallon -- and whose work resonates with the presence of the Stasi State) and finally ended up at a youth music festival somewhere up the river on an island. the high-point was trying to find food to eat and only locating one restaurant which of the handful of items on the menu they had only one. much more could be said, but I just want to the get the images up (a couple days too late, but).
earlier that summer I had noticed several things -- the first was the not-insignificant fact that the super-sonic overflights by the US military along the Eifel region (and Köln) had ceased since the previous summer when one would hear them on a regular basis. Germany had reclaimed its airspace from the occupying power. and secondly -- and easily as profound as Reagan's tear down this wall Mr. Gorbachev stunt -- I saw, but regretfully did not document, posters in the Vienna underground featuring Mr. Gorbachev in his fedora and heavy winter coat with a hand raised, palm facing outwards, and the simple text Lay Down Your Arms. as far as I noticed, there was no other text or attribution, and I did not remark about it to my friends who I was visiting. I thought to myself -- this is profound, and more profound things are on the way. My German friends would not accept the idea that a major paradigm shift was on the way. I was not surprised in November 1989 when it happened!
[0] comments (431 views) |
Coogee breaks
Tue 10.Nov.2009
Coogee Beach, NSW, Australia
finally a wander down to Coogee to see the beach there. crowded and busy in the late afternoon. the breakwater pool at the south end renders some nice images. kind of a Venice Beach vibe.
[0] comments (238 views) |
Milsons Point amble
Sun 08.Nov.2009
Milsons Point, NSW, Australia
got to get away from the desk, at the uni and at home. so a (noisy) amble across the Harbor Bridge from the house into the near environs of North Sydney at Milsons Point, just opposite Millers Point. this would have been quite the dramatic river canyon during the ice ages -- when the coast was another 100 kilometers to the east, and Sydney Harbor was a deep river canyon cut through the sandstone. Luna Park, Sydney's version of Coney Island, is closed, as is the Olympic (and very expensive/posh outdoor) Pool.
[0] comments (239 views) |
gray Clovelly
Fri 06.Nov.2009
Clovelly Beach, NSW, Australia
finally figured out that the 331 bus (leaving from in front of the house) goes directly to Clovelly. it's 25 minutes in traffic, but not bad. today wasn't the best day for it, overcast, some sprinkles of rain, but got some nice images for the Domination of Landscape series. and I never did like to take shots on clear sunny days anyway. I'll be back down here, sans camera, but with suit, fins, goggles for a good workout. apparently there is a 500-pound grouper that is can be petted! I honestly don't want to encounter anything that big in open water. a wander over by the Waverly Cemetery reveals the new pathway built between the cemetery and the cliffs, expensive and dramatic!
[0] comments (208 views) |
