A new competition from Nandos calls for designs that will be used on bottles of Coca-Cola. The theme of the design is ‘happiness’.
The advertising is another example of the use of the thumbprint. This image gives the pattern the appearance of a wood-cut, within which is the ubiquitous Coke bottle.
So, in the primordial mark of human presence, lies embedded the global brand of modern life.
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I was up at Canberra School of Art as guest of the ceramics department, a progressive and creative scene thanks to the hard work of Janet de Boos and Greg Daly. While much of the art school is getting brand new equipment to replace what been damaged in a recent storm, ceramics is resilient. Here’s an image from Brighid, one of their long-serving kilns. |
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At the other extreme, here’s Kirsty Rae, the Creative Director of the new Canberra Glass Centre, an amazing facility of hotshops, studios, cafe, shop, gallery and heritage building. |
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Among other things, the centre is an impressive spectacle. When I was there, the Canberra Camera club had descended to make a photographic challenge out of craft. It’s a reminder that with so much visual technology at play in our world, there is a need for activities like glass as a subject for image-making. |
This is an image of a hotel in south-west Bolivia made entirely of salt. The only inhabitants of this cold harsh region are salt miners. More here.
The temperatures were plunging down to their minimum of minus 3 degrees. Around forty locals gathered in the yard of artist-run gallery Watch This Space, huddled around the glowing braziers.
Just after 7:30pm, they were called to their seats for the start of a video projection on an outdoor screen, billowing in the night breeze. The video showed a male form in contemplative pose. To the side of the screen, a live cellist started playing. Tiny fragments started to break off from the male figure. Gradually we realised the figure was made of clay, slowly dissolving in the water.
The 55 minutes that followed provided much food for thought. Though the figure’s destruction seemed inevitable, its slowness seemed to counter any anxiety we might feel. The fragmentation was quite beautiful, and we could only anticipate what part of the figure would be next to fracture.
The overall scene orchestrated this well. For relief, we could look down to the braziers, and see the logs being slowly consumed by the flames. Near the end of the screening, the billowing mud created by the falling clay was accompanied by wafting smoke from the braziers. The face cascading down was the dramatic climax of an otherwise quite contemplative scene.
The video was produced by Alice Springs ceramicist Pip McManus and the cello was played by Nic Hempel. Visit Pip’s website for more. It’s the kind of collaboration that is more likely to happen in a town like Alice than in a big segmented metropolis.
I was invited to judge the 30th Alice Craft Acquisition Award this year. Here are some of the works acquired. Many more could have been selected if there was more money available. Congratulations to all the entrants for a wonderfully fresh and inventive show.
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Gallah Collie by Emily Bullock is made from road kill, exquisitely assembled into the form of a dog, equipped with wings. |
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Dune 1 by Alice Springs ceramicist Pip McManus touches on the expanse of nature that dwarfs the individual |
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Full Moon & River by Lorna Crane is a delicately assembled work that belies its rough materials. |
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Seeds & Grasses #1 by Nicky Schonkale uses African strip weaving to create a chart of local flora, abstracted through weaving to reflect simple but subtle forms. |
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Yours truly with organiser from Territory Craft Philomena Hali and artist Nicky Schonkale. |
Popular American author Sherry Turkle has just released a compilation of writings on the power of the object in thought. From the MIT description:
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The book offers the prospect of a poetics of consumerism, to delve onto the space that objects make in daily life. Does it have a critical framework for this?
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Under a shady tree, the women of Aregua produce a particular Paraguayan lace called ñanduti. This lace evolved from the influence of Tenerife lace, but has a more Guaraní emphasis on floral patterns. Below are images of two expert ñanduti makers, Osavia Yegros and lija Magdalena.
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Ñanduti literally means ‘spider web’. It is produced in quite intricate radial movements. The intricacy seems a general style of Paraguayan culture, almost like a courtly dance of the hand. For more on Paraguay, see here. |
Just imagine what kind of collaboration might be possible between these women and some of the Australian fibre artists?
An article in The Age 2 June 2007 about a new book of poetry by Australian author David Malouf.
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The magical sculptor Kantjupaye Benson has announced her retirement. To mark the occasion, she has produced her final work – a miniature Toyota landcruiser in grass and fabic (photo by Thisbe Purich).