street art

From the UNIMA World Puppetry Festival

Posted by hil

I’m spending the first few days here at the in Perth at the 20th UNIMA World Puppetry Festival doing the master class Making Ningyo-Joruri, given by Nori Sawa. I’m really enjoying it. Nori says his workshop usually takes a week, so we are working hard to fit it in in 3 1/2 long days. So not much time to dally on the web at the moment! One of the nice aspects so far has been meeting up with fellow bloggers Naomi Guss (who is sharing the masterclass with me) and Gary Friedman.

I’ll have some photos taken in the workshop later on, but here are some taken during the first evening.

Some of the roving entertainers, Riders, were at the Welcome BBQ and Official Opening at the Perth Town Hall last night.

UNIMA World puppetry Festival

UNIMA World puppetry Festival

UNIMA World puppetry Festival

Molly and Jacko were part of the official party and the Welcome to Country given by the local indigenous people.

UNIMA World puppetry Festival

UNIMA World puppetry Festival

The UNIMA poster catches the light on a lovely mild Perth night.

UNIMA World puppetry Festival

Gabrielle Griffin performing at the Transit Lounge:

UNIMA World puppetry Festival

actgov.jpg

My attendence at Unima 2008 is supported by the ACT Government

Southern rights

Posted by hil

Whale mural

A cool mural on the side of the Middleton pub in South Australia. These Southern Right whales used to be hunted nearby at Victor Harbor, just out to sea from the place we often stay at at Christmas time. They are endangered, but have been coming back in recent years. I’ve seen humpback whales off Eden on the south coast here, but we’ve never been at Victor in the winter to see these. Michael has, though: a mother and calf close-up, when he was boy, and he and his grandfather were out in a boat off Wright Island. They thought it was a reef at first! It’s a family story now.

Pratt!

Posted by hil

Ah, yes! The wonderful irony of Canberra Liberal MLA, Steve Pratt, calling in the media to record him heroically scrubbing off graffiti, only to find that it was a legally commissioned work, and now he will be charged with vandalism of public art. It’s pure gold! I will refer you to Ampersand Duck’s full account, since she does it so well. The artwork was done by byrd, and I was fond of it; it was relatively close to where I live.

Byrd

The irony is no doubt especially sweet for the Labor Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, following the brew-ha-ha when he was forced to fire one of his aides for doing some anti-Howard stencil work behind the Ainslie shops a couple of years ago:

Julia Davis on Sunday Arts next Sunday

Posted by hil

Mcbeth

(photo by Dream Puppets: Lady MacBeth)

This next Sunday the ABC TV Sunday Arts program will be presenting a segment on the work of Julia
Davis’s Macbeth, and her involvement with Dream Puppets. The programme is aired nationally and starts at 4.00PM this Sunday, 6th of August.

Impermanence

Posted by hil

Today I am continuing making a costume: decorating a suit so that it suggests a mainframe computer. Don’t ask. I’m using some of the stencils that I made for my computer bug traffic control box painting last year. I eventually found out that the reason the painting had disappeared was because a car crashed into it and totally demolished it! I asked about the remains, but they had already been disposed of. I could paint the box again, but I decided, at least while it’s winter, to meditate on the beauty of process and impermanence in art ;-).

Computer bug box

Posted by hil

Computer bug

This is one side of my ‘computer bugs’ traffic control box, done for Colour-in Canberra. It’s on the corner of Corrina and Callum Streets in Woden. If you’d like to see the other sides and top, there are a few more pictures here. I think people are likely to interpret them as gremlins, but to me they are about becoming involved with the intricacy of the internet, and how rich an experience that can be.

Colour-in Canberra: The Suburban Duck

Posted by hil

The Suburban Duck

Fox close-up

Crow

At the moment I am painting two traffic control boxes in the Urban Services project ‘Colour-in Canberra’. The first one, The Suburban Duck, is on the corner of Yamba Drive and Kitchener St in Garran, just across the road from the Canberra Hospital. It tells a story from my back garden: about how foxes are an ever present danger to ducks in the suburbs, while crows have the place staked out and steal their eggs given half a chance. Its been really enjoyable painting out in the sun on and off the last few weeks.

Artforce designs

Posted by hil

turtle

I’m thinking again about the Colour-in Canberra traffic control box designs, as entries are due by the 23rd. The idea is based on a similar project, Artforce, an initiative of Brisbane City Council managed by Queensland Urban Ecology. They have a gallery of their images, and you can see which are regarded as most popular.

Among my favourites is this one by Annique Goldenberg:
‘On the way to the waterfront at Manly – a traditional turtle migration area’.

Updated links 2015

Colour-in Canberra

Posted by hil

tcb

Urban services here in Canberra is running a competition for the opportunity to participate in painting designs on 30 traffic controller boxes around the city. Its a good idea; I hope to put in an entry. The competition was launched a few days ago with the unveiling of this first painted box by Franki Sparke. It’s at the corner of Limestone Avenue and Wakefield Avenue in Ainslie. I’ll have to go for a drive and take a look – I wonder what’s on the other side?