Underground Mayhem

Just coz mayhem is unable to tlak on air - don't mean I've lost touch wiht the art scene.

It's just that I'm not allowed to tell anyone if I've bene placed under house arrest as a teroorist suspect or not (Hell it sounds a lot more glam than being chained to a PhD).

this week opens with Bad NEWS: the biennale of sydney is over, and if you didn't go, well YOU MISSED OUT!

today's papers had some coverage of a BIG FAT ART PROTEST against the current bombing in lebanon.

Yesterday, some artist laid out a stack make-shift body bags in Martin Place.

The bags were in various sizes representing different age groups of people who have recently died in conflict in the middle east and indeed all over the world). Each body bag had masking tape across the chest area with words such as "your mother", "your son", etc written on it to personalise the bags and the death itself.

There were also olive branches taped to the chest above the masking tape. Toys will laid next to the child-size bodies. etc.
There were NO identifiers of national identity on any of the bags or banner and
NO speeches. The council and police were very particular about this one. "

Nevertheless - it attracted controversy because one body bag was labelled "Your Prime minister" (not any one in particular - th it did have rather rat like dimensions)

the right wing hordes alos wet themselves because the body bags were placed NEAR THE CENOTAPH IN MARTIN PLACE.

Under the new yewbeaut gallipoli doo dah ozzie ozzie ozzie naitonal ideaology - its some kind of crim against the nation to like , associate WAR WITH DEATH.

apparently just like 'our schapelle', the glorious war dead known as 'our boys' are actually reincarations of the Jesus myth - and were like inhunmanly crucified by the evil untamed forced of islam, terorroism and left wing pinkochattering classes.

(mind you, that Kozic guy is probing a bit of a challenge: how many iraquis lives did he fuck over before he shot himself?)

HELLLLOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

the glorious war dead, as far as I can tell (from all those wilfred owen poems) were acutally trying to kill poeple at the time that they met their maker. Its sad, it's fucked, but it's true. they weren't innocent civilians, they were gun toting maniacs, many of whom were killing innocent civilians.

so its kind of nice really that someone has a little reminder of the unnamed, unstatued INNOCENT causalities of war whose only uniform is a bloody body bag

This controversy is a nice little segue into the SAMAG forum tonight!

Censorship: A Forum

FEATURING: David Marr, Liz Ann Macgregor and Stephen Sewell
6pm-8pm, Monday 28 August 2006
Australia Council: 372 Elizabeth Street, SURRY HILLS

This forum will be a lively discussion reflecting on censorship in its different forms as it relates to arts in the Australian context. Looking at the current working environment of artists, trends and opinions, our speakers will debate the impact censorship has on the Arts - and the impact the Arts has on censorship.

Cost: Free Entry for SAMAG members (see website for details)
$10 for non-members / $5 for students (please pay at the door - cash or cheque only)
For full details, visit www.samag.org or email: info@samag.org
To visit our website, please go to www.samag.org

On TUESDAY @ Kudos Gallery: 6 Napier St. Paddington NSW 2021

A traveling exhibition by the Swiss artist Alfonso Hüppi is finally opening in Sydney. It is the first time that the works by this famous artist are being shown in Australia. (OK I don’t know him either but that’s what their email said and who am I to judge?)

Sentimental Journey reveals the diversity of this artist, with a range of materials and mediums and treatments. The works draw from everyday life and attempt to depict the human condition in all its possible forms. Despite being in his 70s the artist’s work continues to be experimental, surprising and confronting.

This exhibition is presented in partnership with the Embassy of Switzerland, The Consulate General of Switzerland and Pro-Helvetia: the Arts Council of Switzerland. Supported by UNSW College of Fine Arts, Kudos Gallery and the COFA Students' Association.

Wednesday @ global (in paddington)

My mate Pete and a bunch of others have a group show opening

There's also another opening with Lea McPherson innit at first draft. (near central)

excuse vagueness but I've jsut beached my hair.


Thursday @Gaffa

Has opening night drinks this Thurs 31st Aug 6-8pm
For :::Birds of a Feather::: By Marcelle Robbins

In the exhibition Birds of a Feather Marcelle Robbins is exploring memory through the notion of collecting and collections. She uses objects and imagery of birds and feathers to evoke the feeling of nostalgia. She believes we collect to make sense of our world, which is made up of some ones present and their past. They hoard and store souvenirs of past moments, mentally and physically.

Birds obviously have great significance for the artist; they represent her suburban upbringing, being blessed with a highly decorated living room and a backyard full of native flora and fauna. The bird objects are replicas of flying ceramic birds cast from the originals, once owned by Marcelle’s grandmother, that were a popular domestic interior motif of the 1950s/60s. However they are now represented in white plaster, as if the distant memory of growing up in the suburbs flocks around her. As for the bird feather photogram images, they originate from a collection the
artist has assembled over recent years. These representations play on the space of domestic life,
both interior and exterior, and through repetition emphasise the practice of collection and assemblage to make peace in the world.

Up the ROAD another Robbins has an opening the same night at IVAN DOUGHERTY Don’t think they are related tho, and don’t think Amanda is into birds either.

“Chinese Whispers” features Muamer Cajic, Li Wenmin, Toshiko Oiyama, Deborah Wilkinson, Nicola Brown, Maria Kontis and Amanda Robins

And “is a visual exploration of the drawing process, its evolution through experience and knowledge, interpretation and misconception through educational transfer that invariably creates diverse and exciting variations”.

I’m not sure if I understand it either and I’m going coz I know 2 of the artists and like their work.

Even if you’ve missed the biennale, you can still catch a great show at the mori cave. Highlights are the invisible chair, and the pink pussycat porno playing cards, and the flip books, and the new femo king on the wall. Get there before Saturday.