I have the most boring dog

Shopping for xmas...
it's just going to be my flatmate, dog and me and so all I want to do is spoil the pooch with gifts. BUT...

-Pip doesn't play with balls. Correction. She CAN play with balls, but she chooses not to. Doesn't like them apparently.
-Pip doesn't do ropes or chew toys. What's the point?
-Pip used to shred toy rats and mice (the kind that cats usually like). But not anymore. Maybe I bought too many?
-Pip doesn't like stuffed toys. They just sit in her basket for years gathering dust.
-Pip loathes dog clothes. And who can blame her?

In the end I bought her a squeaky ball, a chew toy, a fluffy rat, some fancy dog biscuits, a green bone and a santa suit. You never know... she may like the wrapping paper?

PiP ART 2007

images of exhibition...


"Reel" (2007)
Calculator Refill Tape, pastel,
3m long (variable, installed)
the length of this work was determined by the wall space... a continuous journey which is rolled up at the right moment.








































'Portrait; (2007)
pastel on paper and wall


















"It Snowed on Mount Wellington in February' (2006) [yes, the title changes every couple of months]
charcoal and pastel on paper
150cm (h) x 290cm








'Snagged I' (2006)
charcoal and pastel on paper
nine units, each 29.7 x 42cm
91.1 (h) x 126.2 (variable, installed)







Snagged II (2006)
Charcoal and pastel on paper
150cm (h) x 300cm





these photos were taken by Hobart based photographer Craig Opie

=the final, finished invite


and for something completely different....

this is what pip has to contend with in her cosy home

Draft of my upcoming exhibition invite.

Pip's 5th Birthday

I celebrated my 5th birthday on the 3rd of March. My best friend Q came around to help party...sausages, cake, the lot! Im not too keen on the candles though. Maybe give those a miss next year?

THE FINAL WORK

a bit more...

drawing i am working on at the moment...

and just another...this time done from life. ink.

This is a series of drawings i recently completed called 'Snagged'. Pip jumped off my bed and caught her leg in the cord that ties my leckie blankie to my mattress. Of course, I didnt go to her aid, I just went 'cool'! and started snapping. Selfish huh?

These are close ups of the individual drawings...

We were driving up Davey street the other day, when I looked over at the car next to me. The woman driving was talking on her mobile phone, with one hand on the steering wheel. As she pulled ahead of us, I read a sticker on the back of her car: 'Dont worry, God's in charge'.
Oh. well... thank dog for that eh?

In the heat of the Hobart bushfires yesterday I came accross this remarkable product... an 'Ice Fan'... WOW! You have these little iceblock removable thingys that you stick in the freezer. you stick them in the compartment when you want to use the fan, and it blows icy air at you... WOW! I probably could have worked it out myself after a couple of whiskeys... but WOW!

Im working on a sound artwork at the moment. I recently recorded myself reading Robert Morris' 'Notes on Sculpture II' for this piece, and burnt it onto disk. When I put it into itunes, the program searched on the net, and decided it was a single by 'The Bad Luck Charms', which is coincidently a local Hobart band.

Lets see what we have here...
Robert Morris, minimalism, phenomenology, my own voice, a dodgy recording, a very small hobart in a very wide world web, a band that one of my flatmates hero-worships...

what's the thing you call it when you cant remember anything?

Second correction... I had managed to publish the link on the sidebar -I just hadnt refreshed the damn page!!! Ive got the L Plater excuse...

I forgot to add in the last post that one of my flatmates is an EMEDIA artist. I did try to publish a link to his blog on the side of my blog, but it just didnt work for me. Ill keep trying (although with luck he'll read this, and do it for me -sooo lazy!), but until then here is his address: http://www.moax.net/blog

But before you emerse yourself in these new art methods at his blog, here is some old media stuff -a couple of charcoal and pastel drawings of Pip

These two are part of a larger 3.5x1.5m drawing (above and below)

This one below is a triptich -each about 90x70cm

I've recently moved into a large share house with 4 other students -2 of whom are computer geeks. Ive never really thought of flatmates as assets, but Im seeing the benefits of choosing them carefully. In the past, Ive considered their material goods only -I have a wok, a couple of frypans, a few manky saucepans, wait for it... an espresso machine, tv.... (you get the picture); therefore in my flatmates, I expect some plates, cutlery, some music etc.

Now, my ideas on assets have changed. I have recently relived the joys of my childhood with a Nintendo Emulator that one of my flatmates has helped me download from the net. The Super Nintendo is no longer material in two senses:
1. It has no physical presence (at least, those that work dont...), it exists only as a funky image of itself on my desktop. It cannot be dropped, broken or dirtied; it takes up no space (fantastic for a space deprived student!); and if it stops working I just download another one.
2. Thanks to the generosity of so many computer geeks, who share the same affection for Super Mario 3, this Super Nintendo console is not for sale. I have been introduced to the world of share ware (please correct me if I have spelt it incorrectly) through my flatmates, and am amazed at this phenomenon that has sprung up. Ive bungled my way through the ROM thing, and have accidently wiped out whole worlds while trying to type in cheat codes (I honestly havent a clue... but Im learning). But one day I dream of creating my own Mario World - a world where Mario has changed into Dog form, and kills the cats, rats and scats... in order to rescue the beautiful Jack Russel Terrier Prince at the end! Ahhhh...

Mountain Festival Sculpture Trail 2006

When is quality sculpture? To me- ephemeral, outdoor installations... they require long amounts of time spent outside in bushy areas, where I can explore, dig, see, wee, hunt (for truffles and magic mushrooms of course)...
Of course, many would object to this argument. Aesthetics, concepts... blah... enjoy the open air, let YOUR dog join us. Its the only way to make art.

Anyhow, this is an image of my human's work 'Arboreal'. Im not in it (I think I was chasing ducks in the rivulet next to the work at the time. Yes, they WERE bigger than me... but I could still make them fly away [smirk]). Apparently when 'recording' artworks, they are to be void of all distractions... including me.
I still got into the catalogue though! [See photo]

Good art?
In the sixties and seventies an art movement started called 'Conceptual Art'. Works by Duchamp -his readymades- although made at the start of the twentieth century, kickstarted this movement. Ideas rather than aesthetics are the bones of the argument; to have aesthetics was at the expense of the concept, and it was argued that they could not live together. Nowadays, it is not a matter of aesthetics over concepts; all art is assumed to have a concept (isnt it craft otherwise?).

My human works with the concept first.

'Arboreal' looks at the relationship between the natural and built environments:
'A desire to reconnect with the natural and pristine would appear to be the motivating force which is driving people to seek their "sea" or "bush change". As a consequence the design of eco-friendly housing is rampant; however, it is often the case that these houses are constructed from materials which have undergone elaborate manufacturing techniques. 'Arboreal' seeks to highlight the contradictions and absurdities created by the above mentioned phenomena and emphasise the discord created between organic forms from the natural environment and the straight lines of dimesioned timber used for building.'

My human collaborated with a mate of hers who is also studying at the University of Tasmania. They won first prize for this work. [of course it was my input that made the difference...]

Family First Senator Steve Fielding and VSU

Do we have room for Christian fundamentalists in a secular government system? From the looks of it, No!

What has been seen in the Australian Federal Parliament in the last couple of days of sitting is enough for us to quake, because we have another 3 years of the Howard government and their pompous, power-hungry, and devastating actions. When they found out that they had the majority in the last elections, they said 'good, now we can push through all the legislation that the labour party and democrats etc. have been blocking for years'... well it was for a good reason Johnny! Now we have upon us things like sedition laws (should I be expecting a knock on my door soon for speaking out agaist the Government?), reduced worker rights, and of course the bee in my bonnet: VSU.

When asked what sealed the deal between John Howard and Steve Fielding, Fielding said he couldnt recall. Really? From the night before? With the Prime Minister? An important meeting like that? If you have such a bad memory, you shouldnt really have the position of power you do mate!

No, rumors have it that the reason he couldnt recall was that he did a backroom deal with John. Fielding gives Howard a vote for VSU, and Howard (like the fair guy he is) gives him what he wants... what would a fundamentalist christian want? Let me see... abortion to be illegal, all lesbians to be burnt at the stake (No really, that was their party line!), oh yeah.. and the abortion pill RU486 to be outlawed (oh, but ONLY because its not safe to women-bullshit! And general anaesthetics are?).

The fact that John howard is willing to comprimise the safety and rights of women by his greedy and swollen head that so desparately wants to get VSU through with no amendments or discussion is absolutely appauling. Why we have so many religious members of parliament (by that I mean CHristians) that have so much power (Tony Abbott, for instance, who never misses a chance to flaut his christian morals and impose them on a largely non-Christian Australian public). For a secular government, they are sure having some difficulties with the line between religion and secular...

But on the other hand, imagine if there were Muslim member(s) of parliament. Wow! wouldn't they have to work hard not to let any wiff of religion creep into their politics.

I guess you can tell the only religion i subscribe to is atheist dog (yeah, we have a specific dog one).

Scary world eh? But tuck yourself in, they are only warming up... they have the rest of the term to screw us up more, and if this year is any precedent we may not even have an election next time.

me and my human. dont i look CUTE!