Shlepping, Sllippeng, Sleppign, Spilleng

Dear All

I thought the gestured frantic unsepllchekced typos style was kinda kool - and kinda kept me real and in tha hood of yer average art consooma.

I could diverge more into my own theories of the marked text and typography and post literacy spelling. but I won't. Its a bit 90's after all.

A few comments have alluded to my stylized screen dyslexia.

Ahem
I do type in a rush
I am unco and slapdash
I do like to leave a gestured, stuttering style in my writing

but if people are sick of reading through a skein of mispellings, then I could carefully make some amends.

anway. to the news.

Monday: listen to 2SER!

Tuesday: "The Space Between" at KUDOS gallery next to the greek orthodox church on Sth Dowling St, paddo

Wednesday: "To think we almost made it" at First Draft which is on chalmers street near central

Thursday: EAST: Sherman and Artspace
CITY:  "Out of Place" at Gallery 4A
INNER WEST: "Ambient Abstraction" at SNO galleries in marrickville

Friday: "Insidious" at Sir Hermann Black Level 5 Wentworth Building on city road at Sdyney uni

Saturday: "Tour of Beauty" meet at Ivan Dougherty disobedience show before 2pm and join the bus......

Gallery 4A finally reopens its renovated doors this week, with a big new group show.
I love to signpost contemproary art spaces by their vicinity to PIE CARTS. 4A is across the tram-tracks from harry's special at the capitol theatre, and the show opens on thursday night and runs for a month.

I haven't seen the new show but the invite shows a close up of brown rippled skin. Apparently (according to my neighbour who told me this before coffee) It's one of the pieces from Joy Lai, and the originals are big multi metre numbers. Yum Yum. The show is called "Out of Place" and the other artists are NELL, MEIN TAN, JONATHAN VENCORE and LACHLAN WARNER.
4A is an extremely interesting space and has really good quality shows of interesting, elegant work - which is chellenging without doing the head bludgeoning bit.

You've all Missed the Lempriere. You'll have to do the regular trudge to see the finalists in their natural habitats. Some are even still at ARI's like MOP.

There's a new show opening at Artspace on thursday night as well. One of the rooms has pieces by a finnish couple TELLERVO KALLEINEN and OLIVER KOCHTA-KALLEINEN, who've been exploring alternative documentaries with communities. They know dimitri vilenski well - and so should show something political and interesting, one hopes. Check out
http://www.artspace.org.au/2005/10/kalleinen.html

ON things political. UZE MUST giddown to Dockerty (the big gallery next to COFA) this week for disobedience. (http://www.cofa.unsw.edu.au/college/news/default.php?n=306) Its is the one chance Australians have of seeing Tony Negri (on video but beta than nothing). Also THIS SATURDAY Squatspace are running the Redfern/waterloo tour of beauty. Thiss should be fun but tickets are already sold out! - but go down & check out the show anayway. You can beg to be invduded on the next bus tour: http://www.squatspace.com/redfern

Before I continue with more interesting informative stuff, I need to do a grumpy rant. I've been bedridden for over a week, and unable to go ut to shows and art generally. Things got so bad, I have had to resort to the weekend SMH for entertainment. I know it isn't particulary original to whinge about John McDonald, but his columns really really got me down - especially this week. Here I was lying in bed, champing at the bit to get out and see all the nice stuff that gets reviewed in 50 words byt the other herald scribes - and longing to indulge my eyeballs in some contemplative goo - and all the big mac can come up with is a fairly tired whinge about patricia piccinini topped wiht a bit of retrogawgaw fluff about Mr. Squiggle.

It's not just the predictably and poorly disguised reactionary subplots of most of his reviews (fortunately he is slowly moving on from the 80's anger against the postmodernist art cospiracy) - coz in a way I still think that most art opens itself up to a type of infectious pluralism. (Oh god I'm gabbling theory) - I'm trying to say that most art has more going on than a simplified political spin could put on it - its AMBIGUOUS and CONFUSING and this is what makes it interesting............. s if he says something is crap then people can go and take a look and think well maybe it isn't crap (or vice versa)

What really shits me is that I suspect that the big mac decides what he'll write about and then come up with an angle to pitch it to the SMH readership (or their subeditor) and that this process probably takes about thirty seconds. Once having decided on 'the line', he then fluffs out a nice little illustrated sermon..... and .... and..... well, I'm all for moralising about art, it makes more far more interesting reading than "golly gosh, well thats new and COMPELLING" but, I'm finding it a bit too sturm and drang lately. I reckon the big mac needs to go forget the rage against the althussarians, and go read some Deleuze - and contemplate Deleuzes take on Nietsche. Then he should try a couple of bulbs, and a pie and then go to the MCA. And, you know, CHILL.

There are REALLY AMAZING AND GOOD THINGS HAPPENING in art that is being shown in sydney right now. Despite the moribund influences of studio closures, a horrible government, crap dole and charles billich, there are a lot of spaces where you can see interesting stuff - for FREE. There is also shitloads of boring stuff. Streetloads of it, and there new dimensions of boredom being plumbed every day in the interests of curatorial exigency, but I find it a bit whinely and neurotic to be constantly bagging boring shit. JM's point about Piccinini was , you know, OK. Arguable, but, since when was RosOx9 ever a hotbed of challenging contemporary culture? Maybe i've missed something but I thought it was meant to be like the collins&kent of contemproary art - one of those places that display THE BIG NAMES. so people can go there and see officially verfiable,silver stirling hot art market property right now. You don't need to have an opinion or engagement with it at all. I guess this explains the weird architecture (its not a really cruisy place for hanging out and picking your nose; believe me I've tried). No. One goes to the ox to be seen seeing what there is to be seen. The art content is just a side line, one might as well discuss the font on their floorsheets.

I just wish I could read art reviews on paper that are longer than 100 words. And I wish the beastly sermon on saturday could be given to someone who ENJOYS the art a bit more. I don't think this is incompatible with having a critical judgement - but I think (hope believe) that art writing can be done - which enables viewers to engage with and articulate their own responses. Maybe this is too much for the herald. Hell, it certainly is. But JM isn't the antichrist or a terminal fuckwit. He does actually make a point of visiting galleries and geetting to know artists and their work - so why not use the gig he's got to write something that might help more people enjoy art more?

Back to the news.

Wednesday night has a show opening at firstdraft with a scary curatorial statement.

this looks so interesting I'm scared its another slot style plot to undo me. But I'll chuck it in & Uze can make up yur own minds.

To Think We Almost Made It
THE ANTI-HEROIC GESTURES OF TRUE ROMANTICS

A magnificent exhibition of such unwavering doubt and investigation
that it is presented only through sheer will and unqualified
confidence.

Artists Craig Bender, Christopher Hanrahan, Andrew Liversidge, Rob
McLeish, Todd McMillan, Tom McMullan & Tillie Baker, Nigel Milsom,
Michael Moran and Vicki Papageorgopolous present statements as
questions, create beautifully detailed yet frightfully banal sets,
perform destructive actions, compile misguided thoughts, engage in
entropic searches and sing country songs. It hasn’t yet be discerned as
to why. If they knew that, there probably wouldn’t be a point.

Mind you, it has yet to be ascertained as to whether there is a point
or not; but then again, you’ve got to do what you can with what you’ve
got.

Curated by Michael Moran.

Opening night drinks: Wednesday September 21 2005 6-8pm
Exhibition open: Wednesday September 21 to Saturday October 8 2005
Firstdraft opening hours: Wednesday-Saturday 12-6pm

I wish it to be noted that I found this press release informative, thorough and correct.

Thursday looks like it will be one hell of a night with openings left right and centre. Grab yerselves a booze bus and get going.
SNO studio/gallery is an interesting space of mid career artists doing lots of stuff. They've gone retro this month with a special show with the legendary Syd Ball.
The show is called "ambient abstraction" with Syd Ball, Lyn Eastaway, Slavatore Panaterri and Justin Andrews.
If you like abstract pating or wanna see more of the good stuff - then this should be interesting.

11 Faversham Street, Marrickville  Thursday, Friday Saturday 1-6pm  (phone for


On friday - Sydney Uni Sir Hermann Black has a show by SCA students.The show is called INSIDIOUS: six
contemporary artists responding to the environment.