On the last day of Unima 2008 Gary introduced me to his friends Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones, who co-founded and continue to run Handspring Puppet Company, and I was lucky enough to go backstage to see the puppets from Woyzeck on the Highveld. Thank you all!
The play itself had been […]
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Posted in canberra, creatures on Apr 27th, 2008
My ducks are so funny. I repaired the old door to their pen a couple of days ago; its the same old shape, hinges and wire, but has three sides of new timber. But will the ducks go in and out? Not on your nelly! These creatures that can so easily not notice if one […]
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Posted in UNIMA, creatures, puppetry, sculpture on Apr 23rd, 2008
I was very taken with the cool Monster Workshop puppets, particularly the leathery demon puppets (above and below right), that were sent in to the Million Puppet Project at Unima 2008. They were made by Paul Vincett, a 3D illustrator and puppet maker. They were behind glass, so difficult to photograph well, but you […]
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Posted in puppetry, puppets, video on Apr 22nd, 2008
(My favourite so far: Steve Gillmor. Makes me wonder if he sometimes watches Sesame Street with his daughters.)
Despite my own mixed feelings, I’m expecting Loren Feldman’s Shel Israel parody to become the hottest puppet video show around while it lasts. Feldman has caused mischief and grief by taking the piss, and nicking the real […]
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Posted in UNIMA, art, puppetry, puppets, theatre on Apr 21st, 2008
(Joan Baixas’ keynote at Unima 2008)
Gary Friedman has a small clip and description of a secret performance of Terra Prenyada (The Pregnant Earth) by the master puppeteer and Spanish artist, Joan Baixas, at Unima 2008. You can see it full screen if you watch it at YouTube. I wish I had seen the show; it […]
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Posted in politics, video on Apr 21st, 2008
I’m not usually especially affected by multiple-celebrity-cause videos, but this one knocked me for six this morning. It’s a mashup of Kevin Rudd’s apology to the stolen generations and the iconic Kev Carmody/Paul Kelly song From Little Things Big Things Grow, devised by GetUp’s Brett Solomon and inspired by the Will.I.Am video made in support […]
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Posted in UNIMA, make, puppetry, puppets on Apr 20th, 2008
I’ve made a set of photos and notes that I took during Nori Sawa’s masterclass that I did at Unima 2008. Nori Sawa is a Japanese puppeteer, designer and maker who now works and teaches at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, and he taught us how to make a Ningyo-Joruri head. […]
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Posted in UNIMA, puppetry, puppets on Apr 11th, 2008
I didn’t know how often I would post from Unima 2008. Good thing I didn’t make any promises, as I don’t think I’m really made for live blogging an event like this every day! Luckily Naomi is doing a great job of doing it; I was encouraged to see that Gary, like me, is intending […]
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Posted in design, fun on Apr 10th, 2008
On Monday a friend showed us a few sites around Perth. This was a decorative metal plate in the aerial walkway at King’s Park that took my fancy. I wished I had paper and a crayon so that I could have done a rubbing of it! A lot of the paths around the Park were […]
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Posted in UNIMA, puppetry, puppets, tv on Apr 8th, 2008
Mr. Squiggle, a dearly loved kids TV puppet show in Australia for many years, has an exhibition as part of the Unima 2008 puppetry festival in Perth. Although its regarded as iconic, I have to admit running against the flow; I never really loved it either as a kid or an adult. I do […]
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