There Are So Many Ladies Creating Art These Days!

Craft and Nanna's knitting has been left way behind - well apparently knitting is still in as long as you put the wool in...

Apparently women are just realising they have vagina's and they are a little confused. I thought it was a given that vaginas exist and I thought I knew why...

On to the Art aspect of the V.

Australians are a pretty resourceful lot - imaginative too especially Casey Jenkins. I am not sure where she got the idea that something might jump out of a 'vulva' and eat you up, that 'vulvas' are scary and threatening but apparently this is her way of dealing with those notions.


All whilst menstruating.

Now that might seem hard to top but no lets whack an egg of two up the Vja ja!

Egg Plop this article explains what I can not!

Then there is Millie Brown - The Vomit Artist who was paid to vomit on Lady Ga Ga. 

Strange I have been calling her Lady Gag Gag for ages.

Then you can always paint using your breasts 

At least this is attractive to look at...

I am creating an exhibition myself it is a work in progess and does not utilise any orrifice, wool, milk or eggs.

I am Your Sex Thing

(IYST)

MY Nervous breakdown ::: Featuring a Diet of Constant Shit

My nervous breakdown might come in the form of a stand up routine...

I mean why not?

Normal is neutered - and here is THE question...

Why are we so busy trying to be normal?

Oh my normal is quite extraordinary, quite well formed, quirky and self effacing it is the decade for that isn't it?

The 70's was a time for sexual revolution and role reversal or at least challenging your role as a man or woman - so my nervous break down then (had I been an adult then) might have involved a lesbian phase and a feminist book being published.

 The 80's...hmmm the drugs could have took me but I am not that self destructive so perhaps some in your face 'Vagina Monologue - esque - Fuck You' to the world.

Ladies your va-ja-jay is not that interesting.

The 90's Expressionistic but warm at heart, some giant disturbing art instillation or show? Some bizarre stuff for the sake of being truly ground breaking and avant garde.

The 00's Safe very safe - an ironic poem and some sad faceless dolls - oh yeah I did that, but this below is just as bad...ah the malaise.

The thing is
I am getting over something, processing something.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Psychological Violence.

Crime Scene Investigation

It all sounds good doesn't it? Good if it doesn't apply to you. But when there are files and fall out its shit. It's a buffet of shit. Would you like a shit roll, a shit baguette or a shit croissant with shit sprinkles and a steaming hot turd on the side? Yeah its a bit like that.

I don't take anti depressants oh no no no I am far to good for that, no I am too real. Episodes and snippets of complete denial or at least keeping up appearances is the drug of choice for me. Face full of make up, washed and appearing to be functioning. Even better be creative, funny and popular.

Refusing to curl and wither my firm grip on denial and coping mechanism - humour might just be the thing to bring to the fore.

Fuck it! There is an inner battle, continue to parade the existence or call it.
But I am no Debbie Downer - I dislike them and refuse to be one myself, my creativity and humour has keep the drugs and down fall at bay, perhaps its time I turn it, perhaps the depleting can become the tool to invigorate me.

In an ideal scenario my insecurities fall away, my will to please is put aside, I allow the words and the feeling linked to those feces encrusted experiences to be shared and regale my personal experiences.

The flames, the betrayal, my denial. Ultimately my ability, yes my ability. My ability to laugh at myself to laugh at my flaws, my shortcomings, it's actually not about other parties involved. I do not seek revenge and respect peoples privacy - this is no backlash. This is not bitter or vengeful I have seen expression and comedy like that it is anything but appealing.

As an artist and expressive creative my life and my work have always revealed where I am at.

Perhaps comedy is next...
or I could be come the next Nigella,
stay tuned.

Branding Research ::: TELL ME IS IT ALL JUST SPIN?

There seems to be a sudden glut of branding specialists and businesses. It's not just for businesses and corporations anymore either, individuals are now being encouraged to be their own brand: Footballers, industry experts and employees!

Eight to ten years ago it was all about the personal or company Mission Statement. Now its about the Unique Positioning Statement attached to your personal or company brand. 

There are some beautiful brands and logos around - some lovely websites and marketing pitches being bandied around. I encourage all of that I in fact love that side of branding myself its an area I have specialised in and continue to thoroughly enjoy.

But with this proliferation of BRANDING and the recent focus on its perceived importance what I find myself asking is...

Does it work?

Who uses it?

Who benefits from its implementation?

What businesses if any thrive without ever truly have engaged it?

When does it work?

What is its value?

Now no one wants to do a survey.
Usually they are time consuming and a little irritating like a pap smear or prostate examination.

BUT!

What if the results are highly relevant to you? What if they clarify some underlying questions and business/branding queries you may have? In this instance I do hope its relevant and applicable information I can share with you the will be beneficial and at least interesting to examine.

WHO

The people I need to complete the survey will be from all walks of business and 'monetising' large and small, local and global. Please I implore you to pass this invitation on.

WHAT

What am I hoping to achieve? To gather the findings and deliver clear and distinct information that can help your bottom line.

WHERE

See the survey below and if you feel compelled subscribe as I will posting the results in a blog with anonymity assured.

WHEN

Now

HOW

By asking clear and basic questions then by compiling the results and deliver them back to you here free of charge.

All I need is a little of your time and help, I am not gathering a data base this is solely to satisfy my own queries and curiosity. All information will be strictly confidential and not used for profit on my behalf or any other party.

So get on board and lets find out what really happening.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Admire this work immensely ::: Dina Goldstein & Disney

Disney never looked so good..

 Goldstein explores the feminine mystique like no other her incisive cynicism and wit makes her a woman after my own heart.

 DINA GOLDSTEIN

An interesting and cutting exploration of the femme myth.

Quite biting.

Lucky for me I never entertained the idea of the saccharine frothy ideal.

::: EVERYBODY WANTS TO FEEL IT :::

Everybody wants to feel...

pretty basic statement.

Sure we all know it is truth but feel - feel what exactly?

Sometimes we think we know what we want to feel and how to get that for ourselves but when it sneaks up on us and hits the spot - Amen! Strange creatures humans all wanting to deny the fact that we are indeed cliches. Self aware bots wearing our emotional amour we savvy our way through each day.

Right now as I type some music has started playing that's perfectly bluesy and the sky is grey as the sun sets on this cold Melbourne day, it feels perfect! Yes its one of those exact moments. So I am a cliche but god it feels good.

Meeting people that connect and feel with us is magical. Sharing an interest or taste, music, food some idiotic and obscure 'like' that you may have is so rewarding. I have friends and family that share a rapport that can fundamentally 'put me back together'. Its not that I am emotionally unfolding at every turn but sometimes its like an itch that requires attention. Someone to make you laugh or say that it is okay. Its that someone or thing that re assembles the misaligned within. That said it can also be a song, a place, a type of weather, a hug, a smell, an image, an event we experience and its all okay again. We let our guard down remove our cynical filters and feel good again! We are moved, it strikes a chord and we relax and let something good in.

Tarred With the Same Brush

Nature too does a stellar job at it.
For me the best time to run is when the weather is about to turn, the wind is squally the sky is threatening. For some reason I find it exhilarating, some light rain on the face the bracing cold, trying to outrun the down pour. Then getting in to feel safe and warm sheltered from the storm or rain when it hits is something I love to feel.

Artists make us feel. Putting their grey matter out there on the line their emotions and selves its all laid bare. There is a bravery that creative people exhibit that is truly unique. Many a brilliant talent is never shared due to a type of cowardice or humility. No one welcomes a cutting comment or judgment but trying to avoid it by playing small just sells us all short.

To stick your neck out and expose a part of your brain leaves one wide open for all manner of onslaught. I am a hideously sensitive person - idiotically so. While I continue to work on that flaw I leave myself wide open by putting my personal work out there flaws and all. So when I see anothers work that resonates deep within me I appreciate the emotional risk and vulnerability involved.

Feelings and what triggers them is purely subjective as is the experience of categorising them. I have had moments of exquisite pain (although I am also trying to eliminate that too), embraced angst and willingly let myself be immersed in the misery of a song for instance. I call that doing a sad.

Massive Sad

Finding a vehicle that can exult us, make us cry tears of gratitude, sing, dance, stun, arrest is what I want to feel. There is nothing like that genuine core feeling, often it is a reaction.

So I want to recognise and thank the songwriters, composers and musicians that make my innards reel, the photographers, artists and film makers, comedians, actors, performers that have helped define my take on life, the designers of this world, the architects, the fashion designers, those that design, the animators, the speakers and the writers, the people that live with attitude and to those brave people that wear their heart on their sleeve...

Thank you for your bravery. Thank you for the reveal. Thank you for letting me feel. Thank you for putting me back together.

AUTHENTICITY AND THE HUMAN CONDITION

People are deamonised if a unique idea is unpopular.

People that are unapologetically themselves are very attractive.

I am not sure I am one of them.

Flawed fascinating original people.

I envy the individuals that have crafted their madness into a career. Brilliant bright often offensive challenging sensitive confident or not creators. Creators of characters, performers, artists, thinkers that dare. People with the sheer gusto to shove it out there, spill their innards thoughts and insights onto us mere mortals. People that create a stir, cause great debate, challenge laws and at a micro level out there just doing it.

Unconventional; men dressed as women with faux full fleshed lives that span decades, men who are short bald fat and brash that carry huge Hollywood clout. Thin delicate nervous men who perform with courage and conviction on the world stage. Humorists that deride incontinence and mental illness and aging. Artists that portray a slut as the divine. Film makers that show bizarre incest or a car tyre in place of a leading actor.

The unmistakable Bad Boy Bubby by Rolf de Heer

The brilliant and fragile looking Barry Otto

Barry Humphries, Danny Divito, Barry Otto, Little Britain, Jeff Koons, Rolf de Heer, Quentin Dupieux. Without their commercial success what might they be? What if we met these people and they had not garnered fame?

The unlikely A lister Danny Divito

'Hi I am Danny Divito I plan to be a great A list Hollywood actor and producer'

Hmmm - doesn't seem likely.

Jeff Koons 'Violet Ice'

Paris Hilton...hmmm... she does what? Gets drunk and behaves poorly with no pants or pubic hair..go ahead form a career out of that love while you are a no one. The career choices might have been slightly different.But lets get back to the unique talented ones.

What of the brilliant actor, musician, artist, performer, writer too shy to pedal their work? What of the mediocre that know how to work the media machine? I know who we get to see.

Personally fear prevents me from exposing my truest creative ideas. They are too forthright and in direct contrast to how I live my conventional life. They are rough brash raw and unedited I would offend many people no doubt, peoples ideas of who I am might be ruptured along with my relationships. Or perhaps no one would care? Perhaps it would flop, perhaps I would get just enough encouragement to give me confidence, or god forbid fierce direction.

I am always trying to be the better part of me - always.
But alas I am human so I don't claim to always get it right.

Simmering just below the surface is a performer who wants to act out the worst in me - or what I deem inexcusable in other people, to unleash the crude base uncultured moronic alter ego me. I admire it so much in other people. Chris Lilley does it so well.

I have fantasies about photographic exhibitions that would require a two month intensive debrief with the best counselors and specialists to come down from. I dream of a shocking provocative work of art. I have the characters, the sketches and the storyboards. I just don't have the confidence or the will to dare...its the dreaded cliche. Its the fear of being judged or failing its the reason most of us just 'dont'.

The small fearful me thinks I couldn't stand the glare. Big me thinks just be you.

We will see.

Melbourne Photoworkshop Amazing locations Weekend or 4 Day Pass

Melbourne : 26 - 20 November 2010

Amazing locations and skilled and professional organizers, I am the Stylist on this shoot and plan to make it memorable......get ready to get your High end, Glam, Rock Star, Elegant, Real, Kitsch ON!

A diverse cross section of locations, models and looks, a workshop you can really get your teeth into.

You have be warned....space is filling quickly with less than 10 places still available!

Add to your portfolio, diversify, explore, engage.

Book Eucalypse Now

I look forward to seeing you all there!

For the Love of Art

Long before I understood what it was that I was taking into the deepest recesses of my nubile mind I have been captivated by dimensions and scale. I think art is best taken in like that openly without preconception or filtering through the critical or cynical mind.

Sculpture is something that truly excites me there is something so remarkable about the three dimensional form and it being appreciable and transitional from every angle.

In terms of sculpture the stand outs are as follows.
Allen Jones 1969

Then there's Jeff Koons and his take on German kitch - think Hansel and Gretel on acid but my heart belongs to puppy. A three story tall steel structure that is replete with floral 'fur' the concept alone is mind boggling let alone its execution. I think he is a contemporary Warhol. This image to my knowledge is the first and original 'Puppy' and has been recreated on a number of occasions around the world including Rockefeller Center.
PUPPY Jeff Koons

Puppy Two

A few years at the National Gallery of Victoria to see Man Ray I discovered the Mr and Mrs Woodman series. Clever Subtle Erotic and Intense they are housed at the Centre Pompidou in France. I am still astounded by the intimacy achieved by these inanimate objects, I find these images beautifully touching.

I have been drawing faceless dolls for years before I seeing these images and related to the tone of the works the juxtaposition of the materials and content, the lack of faces - void of detail that emitted an audible sensual roar. The images shown here are quite tame there are more in the series that take on a more intense and exacting sexual tone. It is also of note the period these works were created.

My version of little faceless beings in love My art 'Love Soaked Sox' and another 'It's All About the Dance - and the music only you two hear. It's all about the Dance

A more recent find a neat little sculpture...'The Power of Love' by Mathieu Lehanneur -you can listen to it...together! 

And if ever you find yourself at http://www.heide.com.au/ Heidelberg Melbourne Australia there is another of my favourites permanently on display there, it is a small scale bronze donkey he is hidden amoungst the greenery on the grounds of the property and is waiting for you. He was first made from carpet underlay before he was cast and is possibly the most adorable thing ever. Did I mention I have a thing for donkeys - I may well have done in a previous post.