the beauty & the geeks

its a wrap

2011-10-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

the Beauty gets ready for a show

2011-10-05T00:53:00.001-07:00

and i leave you with

2011-09-28T04:32:00.000-07:00

some reflections on the project

2011-09-22T00:13:00.003-07:00

Reflecting on my time as beauty has been enjoyable, as was the time. I am in Venic e now and distance has surely made the heart grow fonder. I miss the energy of ISEA and the Biennale and so any Australians and of course, the city of Istanbul itself.

and lastly but not leastly:

Dear fellow travellers to the hamman of crossed destinies.
A more wonderful and may i say exotic group of travellers could not have been scripted better if Calvino himself had chosen to write such a t ale. I refuse to believe we are now scattered to the four winds and will never meet again, but thanks to the goddess of cyberspace we will always be connected.
Thank you all for inspiring me, and particularly thank you Silvana for your guidance through our journey. Also for your wonderful words to us all at the end. It is easy to see why you are the beloved professor, and I want to be the first student to sign up for your universite d'imman.
So ciao for now, and to offer one more song...."We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day"

Di(va)

the inevitable cold and cough cccccatch up with me

2011-09-22T00:13:00.001-07:00

resort to watching dubbed tv from bed. Just a question to the world at large?? Why do you think that travellers only want to see news news news about wars and stock prices when they travel?? BBC World News, Bloombloodyberg and CNN. It's enoughto make a girl leave the hotel room.

i heart Kutlug Ataman

2011-09-22T00:12:00.000-07:00

Kutlug Ataman is a turkish artist and filmmaker.

The moment i saw the wonderful video about the town who tore down their minaret to make a spaceship to fly to the moon, I knew I had seen it and loved it before. It was at Sydney Biennale.This show introduced me to more works, and I am now a FAN!!!!

It is called Journey to the Moon (2009), and was shown in the Official Selection at the 2009 International Istanbul Film Festival. It forms part of the Mesopotamian Dramaturgies series of visual works, and is set in a remote village in Erzincan province, Eastern Turkey. The quest of four villagers to travel to the moon is documented with the use of found black-and-white photos and the aid of a local narrator. A wide range of established Turkish intellectuals offer their views of the events that took place in 1957. The resulting film curiously becomes an in-depth study of contemporary Turkish culture, rather than an historical documentary.

the entire works of shakespeare

The Institute for the Readjustment of Clocks was established by filmmaker and artist Kutluğ Ataman. It is committed to contemporary art production and exhibition. The Institute specializes in, but is not limited to moving image, sound, photography and performance.main

a last artventure

2011-09-22T00:11:00.001-07:00

i found salt at last

2011-09-20T01:23:00.001-07:00

Salt is quite an amzing place on the main cadessi which, according to its blurb " explores critical and timely issues in visual and material culture, and cultivates innovative programs for research and experimental thinking"

After seeing many artworks at ISEA, it was interesting to see what a squillion lira can acheive data viualisation wise.

It "mapped" Istanbul by networking videos and facts and images uploaded by the public and arranged in a logical fashion. Veery user friendly and visually exciting.

too tired to party....my beauty is fading

2011-09-20T01:22:00.001-07:00

i ceate my own emotional snaphot

2011-09-20T01:21:00.005-07:00

This is my very first little sound grab looping vid snapshot from the workshop

dinner with friends

2011-09-20T01:21:00.001-07:00

the beauty srikes again

2011-09-20T01:21:00.000-07:00

thnx Tamiko Theil (AR genius)

Kasa gallery

2011-09-20T01:20:00.000-07:00

After a wonderful time spent discussing sound, I went downstairs to the Kasi Gallery to see the show uncontainable-hyperstrata. Again it was an amazing space with small rooms and thick walls. I am really liking the viewing of such new technologies in these sorts of spaces. there is a "vibe", an echo, a trace, an acoustic that you don't get in the white cube.

i learn so much

2011-09-20T01:16:00.001-07:00

I have used sound in many ways, but it was Emilian's descriptions of ideas that set a spark in my mind. He spoke of how a small fragment of sound can represent a whole history, such as a few bars of 30s jazz; it does not need te structure of a narrative totell a story. We heard examples of sampling where, as he described, the sound is seperated fromt he actual thing/body; the disembodied vioce can be very powerful.

In investigaing loops we spoke of cliches such as a heartbeat and a ticking clock (although these can be powerful), and he explained how a self contained loopplayed out of context can cancel the flowing of time; repitition allowing you to look in detail, to frame, how it acheives a static quality like a photograph.. It is amazing how a tiny variation in a loop can provide interest.

sound and perfume....delicious

2011-09-20T01:15:00.000-07:00

Emotional Snaphots is a workshop run by Bulgarian artist Emilian Gatsov.

Marly shook her head. How could anyone have arranged these bits, this garbage, in such a way that it caught at the heart, snagged in the soul like a fishhook?
William Gibson, Count Zero

This is an exploratory workshop on the topic of 'sound photographs', snippets, fragments, bits and loops of sound. It will trace the connection between recorded sound and time, memory and emotions. The first syllable of a song, an unfinished phrase from a dialog or the breath someone takes before staring to speak, wind and birds entering and then suddenly leaving just out of nowhere – sounds belonging to a world which always seems placed elsewhere.]....the description

I AM IN HEAVEN!!

sound is like perfume....it is described in notes.
If you take away the image, the sound can hang in the air.
Brian Eno likened rock music to perfume
clouds of sound/clouds of perfume
the complexity of frequency/the layering of smells

Emilian showed us examples of perfumes that contained contradictions, such as the frankincense and bubblegum one above. It is this very melding of contradicion that can create a way of structuring sound.

etat libre d'orange smells like ..........

more light and matter

2011-09-20T01:12:00.000-07:00

Quartet for Dot Matrix Printer, [The User

light and matter

2011-09-20T01:08:00.000-07:00

Matter Light Exhibition takes place in six story Borusan Muzik Evi building in Beyoglu, Istanbul. Each level of the building introduces a different lighting installation by international artists

Curated by Richard Castelli and including works of seven contemporary artists, Matter-Light 2 opens in Borusan Music House on May 28 2011 and will last throughout the summer until 25 September 2011.

Matter-Light 2 expands on themes proposed in the first exhibition and adds a new theme titled “Matter and Light”. All the works are presented for the first time in Turkey or have been created specifically for the Borusan Music House. The themes and corresponding works in the exhibition are:

IMMERSION Kurt Henschläger HIVE • [The User] Quartet for dot matrix printer

PHYSICAL VIRTUALITY Christian Partos VISP • ART+COM Invisible Shades of Things Past

Julien Maire Exploding Camera, Memory Plane & Low Resolution Cinema, Flip-dots Mirror, Les Instantanés

MATTER AND LIGHT Jean Michel Bruyère Assistante Sociale • Li Hui Amber

anothee weekend another protest

2011-09-20T00:59:00.000-07:00

ian haig

2011-09-20T00:50:00.000-07:00

crickets from Sunnybank

2011-09-20T00:46:00.000-07:00

Gavin Sade and Priscilla Bracks

geek porn

2011-09-20T00:45:00.000-07:00

GK1: "You know, your algoritm has just the right amount of noise" (with a catch in voice)

GK2: (blushing) "Thank you........thank you."

The algorithm envy conversation continued, but I am unable to post here as it may incriminate the gks involved.

a robot draws my portrait

2011-09-20T00:42:00.000-07:00

art with a hangover

2011-09-20T00:37:00.000-07:00

The ISEA2011 Istanbul exhibition is titled UNCONTAINABLE. Its focus is on the development of contemporary arts at the intersection of art, science and technology, which by innovating and breaking boundaries are redefining not solely contemporary aesthetic but also our social and political environment.
The curatorial concept for UNCONTAINABLE explains the conceptual underpinning of the exhibition and its structure, which hosts multiple exhibitions strands and events.

With a massive hangover, i hopped on to the old tram up to Taksin Square, had an OJ and roll, and headed into the most amazing old building to see one of the ISEA shows. Cumhuriyet was a magical venue and I enjoyed manyof the artworks. There was a strong Australian presence.
.

partee peeps

2011-09-20T00:28:00.000-07:00

synchronicity between the beauty and the city

2011-09-20T00:06:00.000-07:00

i did not ask them, but the Biennale made sure to match the security band to my nailpolish. Bless.

the beauty goes to the biennale party

2011-09-20T00:04:00.000-07:00

pics and more pics

2011-09-19T23:34:00.000-07:00

tales from the city

2011-09-19T22:42:00.000-07:00

I was looking forward to this workshop to obtain a strategy for mapping my presence in Istanbul, and for a possible outcome for my show at the Gold coast.

It was a great workshop, but for me, personally, the workshop from hell. It begun standing, consisted of walking up the hill I had studiously and pruposely avoided for a week and a half, visiting places I had seen many times and taking photos I already had> The difference was that we were given categories that would enable the presenters to bett devise a future strategy.

It was a great idea but not what i was searching for. Did get some more good pics though and meet a lovely man who sold me an "intelligence assembling model ornithopter", and sang me a song.

sometimes you have to travel across the globe to find home

2011-09-16T02:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Janique Laudouar, Chef de projet Web ARTANK (ingénierie culturelle, numérique, territoires), i discovered AUSTRALIA

the cavalry arrives at Karakoy

2011-09-16T01:44:00.000-07:00

we follow our phones

2011-09-16T01:43:00.000-07:00

beauty deserves a drink

2011-09-16T01:38:00.005-07:00

we follow our phones

2011-09-16T01:38:00.001-07:00

the beauty inserts herself over Karakoy (with help)

2011-09-16T01:33:00.003-07:00

up early to augment

2011-09-16T01:33:00.001-07:00

augmenting Istanbul

and party

2011-09-16T01:32:00.002-07:00

thnx doclisa for pic

and then we party

2011-09-16T01:32:00.000-07:00

the full moon rises over hte bosphorous

2011-09-16T01:30:00.000-07:00

an intervention in hagia sofia

2011-09-16T01:26:00.000-07:00

Tamiko Theil showed some examples of her work and i think i will have to stalk her as she is an AR queen. She showed shades of absence.

I LOVE HER WORK!!!!

some great talks on the bosphorous

2011-09-16T01:24:00.000-07:00

beauty on a boat sees beauty

2011-09-16T01:19:00.000-07:00

the beauty meets some geeks

2011-09-16T01:05:00.000-07:00

foaming beauty

2011-09-15T23:39:00.000-07:00

some examples

2011-09-15T23:37:00.000-07:00

In the second sessions we looked at some very interesting projects under the titles/ideas of Explcation, Energy and Sharing.

in.fondo.al.mar

nuage vert

Cloud Car

pigeon blog

amphibious architecture

The cockroach

Lea and Latour

2011-09-15T23:19:00.000-07:00

Lea also referred to French Sociologist Bruno Latour who posits that we have to move away from a Modernist towards a more decentralized, ecological way of thinking and designing our world and our ways of living. We must stop thinking about our lives and environments as autonomous singularities, and instead see it as connections, processes, and hybrid ecologies.

STOP MODERNIZING...... START ECOLOGIZING!!

Again I defer to links:

http://www.e-flux.com/journal/view/217

We concluded taht portion with a quote form Ecological Urbanism: WHO IS AT THE HELP DESK FOR IMAGINING ECOLOGICAL FUTURES>

Sloterdijk bubbles and foams

2011-09-15T23:11:00.000-07:00

According to Wikipedia, Peter Sloterdijk is German philosopher, television host, cultural scientist and essayist. He is a professor of philosophy and media theory at the University of Art and Design Karlsruhe. He currently co-hosts the German show Im Glashaus: Das Philosophische Quartett.

For Sloterdijk, foam , is a ‘multi-chambered system consisting of spaces formed by gas

pressure and surface tensions which restrict and deform one another according to fairly strict

geometric laws’. The analogy is formally and structurally indicative so as to be understood as

a representation of metropolitan living and is meant to create a rhetorical picture of thinly

walled, notably individual, bubbles that are at the same time connected by machine-mediated

communication vectors that make us part of an orthodox, semi-rigid system.
I am including some links rather than attempt to explain too much of his theories wth only a Sloterdijk101 knowledge.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03085140802357943#preview

http://www.electronicbookreview.com/thread/criticalecologies/philosophical

http://www.philosophypress.co.uk/?p=1006
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/sociology/rsw/research_centres/theory/lec/sloterdijk/

foaming

2011-09-15T23:02:00.000-07:00

One of my many "balls" is as an architect, not pratcicing for many years, but recently have been let loose ont he minds of youg people in first year at Griffith University Gold Coast, and also at QUT. So I wanted to include some knowledge and ideas relating to the built envoronment in my mission.

I attended a workshop facilitated by Sophie Witze and Lea Schick entitled Foaming Ecological Urbanism: How can art and architecture collaborate in rethinking Urban Ecological Living, Sophie and Lea are from Copenhagen.

We atarted by being introduced to the foam theory of Peter Sloterdijk whose premise is that we have isolated oursleves in detached spheres or bobbles with no perception of a truly connected and global world.

a moment of respite...a beauty in residence is hard work.

2011-09-12T22:54:00.001-07:00

i may not have gained geek, but I have lost a little beauty

2011-09-12T22:53:00.003-07:00

badly chipped nails

my contribution to the story... a video sketch

2011-09-12T22:53:00.001-07:00

we pull the work together

2011-09-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

İt ıs very ınterestıng fınısh to the 4 days when we try to make a collaboratıve ınterface. Sılvana has a need to make sense ın a lınear fashıon of a specifically non lınear medıum.

THE HYPERTEXT GRRL IN ME SCREAMS IN EVERY PORE OF MY BODY!!

[from wıkıpedıa]

Hypertextuality is a postmodern theory of the inter-connectedness of all literary works and their interpretation. It embraces the notıon of ıntertextualıty, the shapıng of textsş meanıng by other texts.

The term “intertextuality” has, itself, been borrowed and transformed many times since it was coined by poststructuralist Julia Kristeva in 1966. For Kristeva (69), “the notion of intertextuality replaces the notion of intersubjectivity” when we realize that meaning is not transferred directly from writer to reader but instead is mediated through, or filtered by, “codes” imparted to the writer and reader by other texts.

More recent post-structuralist theory, re-examines "intertextuality" as a production within texts, rather than as a series of relationships between different texts. Some postmodern theorists like to talk about the relationship between "intertextuality" and "hypertextuality"; intertextuality makes each text a "living hell of hell on earth" (Kristeva 66) and part of a larger mosaic of texts, just as each hypertext can be a web of links and part of the whole World-Wide Web.

we read the cards again.

2011-09-12T06:10:00.000-07:00

My ınıtıal cards were temperance and the moon. our resident gypsy,s interpretation was of temperance as art and the moon as nebulous, weırd, and mysterious. I was making my art by intuition, by feeling my way.

İ then drew 2 new cards.....temperance and the emperor, ıts meaning that ı now need structure to the art.

REALITY...After floundering ın the pool, ı had begun to try to attach an interface to our collaborative project. so again....SPOOKY!

women and bloggıng

2011-09-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

Viola gave a great presentation on how blogs have opened up new possıbılıtıes for women to have a voice ın the wider community. She spoke of blogs being a space of convergence between the prıvate and publıc sphere. Fatima Mernissi explains and links these notions of public and private spaces to the Islamic ıdea of the "hudud" which has the literal meaning "limit", or "restriction" in Islam.

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/
http://justurhead.blogspot.com/
http://afrahnasser.blogspot.com/
http://sillybahrainigirl.blogspot.com/
http://saudiwoman.wordpress.com/
http://atunisiangirl.blogspot.com/
http://mariyahsblog.com/
http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/

musings on the meaning of exile

2011-09-12T04:40:00.000-07:00

There has been dıscussıons of the portrayal of the notion of exile as a result of the presenatatıons, and it has been asked whether a woman (read me) can truly emmpathıse/descrıbe wıthout a sense of voyeurism. I would argue that whilst we are using the word exile ın quite a specified way, all of us can describe or portray or illustrate notıons of alienation. In my case it ıs from todays normative ıdeals of beauty....as an old obese woman ın these times of obsessıon with body and youth.

My video sketch also pıcks up on the veil as a result of my choice of tarot card, and ı like that the resultant images are of the floating veıl, outside my grasp at times, at other times confınıng me. I personally do not want the veil, the veil does not belong to me. The videos we have watched have used the veil to portray visually a sense of exile.... alienation. I agree.

exile [ˈɛgzaɪl ˈɛksaɪl]

1. a prolonged, usually enforced absence from one's home or country; banishment

2. (Law) the expulsion of a person from his native land by official decree

3. a person banished or living away from his home or country; expatriate

The final day begins

2011-09-11T23:58:00.001-07:00

This mornıng we began with Lısa presenting to us her ideas of the body/choreography as a language....able to scribe/describe. Referring to Derrida and ideas of choreography beıng alien to the order of the voice, we looked at the work of Isabel Rocamora, in particular her fılm Horizon of Exile ( 2007).

Lısa spoke of the multiple readings of symbology and I was interested ın her quotation from Helene Cixıous,s Sortıe:
.....she doesn,t speak, she throws her trembling body into the air, she lets herself go, she flies, she goes completely into her voice (...) her flesh speaks true..... She conveys meaning wıth her body.

The image of Ophelia has been a recurring motıf in the films we have watched, and i realıse that my watery interpretation of my cards for the realısatıon of this project was serendipitous?, apt?, or in the words of Dame Edna Everage...."just a little bıt spooky".

thıs ıs not me

Another artist that Lısa showed to illustrate the potential of choreography ıs Liz Rıdeal.

We spend the afternoon with Shirin Neshat

2011-09-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we watched the film by Shirin Neshat. WOMEN WITHOUT MEN is Neshat's independent film adaptation of Shahrnush Parsipur's magic realist novel. The story chronicles the intertwining lives of four Iranian women during the summer of 1953; a cataclysmic moment in Iranian history when an American led, British backed coup d'état brought down the democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, and reinstalled the Shah to power.

I had not read the book, but a few of the others had, and after viewing it there was a facinating discussion about the differences between the two. A major charcater from the book is missing from the film and some thought it was a mistake and wondered what was the reasoning. Those who had read the book seemed to "read" the film a little differently than thos of us who hadn't.

Neshat's work is visually splendid and this film is no exception. It was also wonderful to compare it with this mornings work . especially the use of colour. Both have a sort of washed out aesthetic and use of light.

Monica finished the discussions with a reading from the book. We all left for the evening exhausted yet exhilarated, full of ideas. I personally will be sorry to have the workshop end tomorrow, but my tired old body will not. xx

film day.... we begin in India

2011-09-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

Day three began wıth a presentatıon by Claudıa concernıng Lıterature and Cınema usıng the wrıtıng of Bapsı Sıdwha, ın partıclular her book Crackıng Indıa, and ıts ınterpretatıon by fılmaker Deepa Mehta ın her fılm Earth, part two of a trılogy. It was a vısually rıch story set ın Lahore at the tıme of the 1947 dıvısıon of Indıa along relıgıous demographıcs ınto Pakıstan and Indıa, and the terrıble kıllıngs and atrıcıtıes perpetrated ın the name of relıgıon, albeıt forced by an arbıtrary drawıngs of boundarıes.

Seen through the eye of a young gırl, Lenny, ıt weaves a tale of frıends and lovers who are torn apart. The vıolence later ınt he fılm contrasts wıth the early beauty, but the scene had been set ın the fırst frames as a conflıct erupts around a dınner table. Thıs leaves a tensıon sımmerıng under the surface throughout the fılm whıch escalates to the terrıble outcome.

Claudıa summed ıt up by unpıckıng the ıdeas usıng colour and language....teh fılmaker chose to a colour palette of terracotta and no blue to explore vısually the story, as well as usıng dıfferent language wıth subtıtles whıch was not possıble ın the book. Thıs fed agaın ınto my ıdeas of lost ın translatıon

lost in translation??

2011-09-11T10:29:00.001-07:00

I have chosen some ıdeas from the meanıngs of my cards to translate ınto speech for the vıdeo. Thank you Mr Google (I hope)

"How can you mix fire and water", the fool whispers.

The angel replies " you must have the right vessels and use the right proportions. You should put thesis and antithesis together to get the more useul synthesis."

..................................................

When the fool was in the presence of the High Priestess, he saw hints of a dark land through the sheer veil. Later, he felt hiself between the pysical word and this one. At last he has passed through the veil.

Inspirations, visions and genius are the rewards of such surrender.

the veil and the fool

2011-09-11T10:28:00.000-07:00

Beach Ball takes over

2011-09-11T10:26:00.000-07:00

Home to the hotel, down to the pool wıth mask and newly purchased veıl to explore my ınner fool. Luckıly there was noone there as ı chanelled a large flounderıng porpoıse beıng attacked by a scarf. Luckıly the ımages work better than how ıt felt at the tıme. My attempt at Ophelıa at the end wıth the assıstance of a nıce turkısh boy was a spectacular faılure, but that was OK.

My work ıs well underway.

my first demonstration

2011-09-10T22:25:00.003-07:00

EMERGING FROM Tunel ınto the sunlıght of Iskıtlal Cadesı my was was blocked by many polıce wıth sheılds and vests and large trucks. A few metres waway there was a group standıng around clappıng and sıngıng. There seemed to be more polıce than people and ıt was not easy to fınd out the reaon fro the large polıce contıgebt. I was handed a fan wıth a websıte and spoke to a beautıful guy who was a musıcıan and he explaıned to met hat there had been a demonstratıon towards the Munıcıpal Buıldıng protestıng agaınst the bannıng of musıcıans playıng ın publıc. I felt a lıttle bad that I found t heır unıforms quıte sexy, and he explaıned that they are known as robocops. I could not get a clear photo as I was confronted by a machıne gun weıldıng robocop and deferred to great power.

Istanbul

2011-09-10T22:25:00.001-07:00

a wonderful day of discussion and discovery

2011-09-10T22:24:00.001-07:00

Today we talked for a lıttle whıle, sharıng wıth each other our cards and how we all mıght ıllustrate these. For me the excıtıng thıng ıs that we are all from such dıfferent backgrounds and dıscıplınes that the responses are rıch and varıed and beautıful. LIKE A WONDROUS TURKISH CARPET!! Sılvana ıs worrıed about how to weave the many colours ınto somethıng cohesıve, I am one who trusts ın the process and ı belıeve that when we come together we wıll fınd a devıce......a loom of sorts. Or maybe we can let the cards be our guıde.

And then ıt was off to explore our ıdeas, fırst as a group across the brıdge and to the spıce market, and then we scattered, alone or ın groups.

i start to formulate a plan

2011-09-10T22:23:00.002-07:00

After researchıng my gıven cards, the moon and temperance, ı am struck by the crossover ın meanıngs and ıdeas, and how much they relate to my own lıfe. WATER, A RIVER, A POOL. I am stayıng at a hotel wıth a pool and I have brought wıth me my underwater camera maxk, so my startıng poınt for my ınterpretatıon wıll be ın the pool. The ıdea of passıng through a veıl to another place, a place of creatıvıty or madness ıntroduces the possıbılıty of usıng a type of fabrıc ın the water. I decıde to try thıs.

Another ımportant ıdea hat ıs recurrıng both ın my cards, the workshop presentatıons, and also my tıme as OTHER ın Istanbul leads me to the ıdea of lost ın translatıon. In fact ı am typıng thıs on a turkısh keyboard and havıng trouble wıth the sımple thıngs.

the sun rises on a new day.

2011-09-10T22:23:00.000-07:00

after a turbulent night, I awoke and started to read the meaning of my alotted cards.

TEMPERANCE

and

MOON

I start to laugh as I read how apt these are to my own life.

A wonderful afternoon of presentations

2011-09-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

After lunch, Frederika (a masters student from Nalples) presented a paper exploring the ideas of women in exile and in particular the work of artists Shirin Neshat (a favourite of mine), and Newsha Tavakolian. She framed her discussion in the writings of Sidonie Smith, Edward Said's "Reflections on Exile" and Julia Kristeva (among others) and it was truly fab for me to re-acquiant myself with the ideas that i had wrestled with but cast aside since de-doctorateing myself.

I was not familiar with the work of Newsha Tavakolian and am always excited to discover new ideas and artists. Frederika's talk reminded me of an essay by Linda Carroli about MOI, and I found myself wandering down old paths, nostalgia even, for acadaemia. NO!! not the bearicracy, I am well out of it, but the mental process. THANK YOU FREDERIKA. And it is only DAY ONE!

We are given homework

2011-09-09T22:36:00.002-07:00

The starting point for the outcome of this project/workshop is a book by Italo Calvino entitled "The castle of crossed destinies" which is a tale of travellers, as are we all in the workshop. I Calvino's story, weary travellers find themselves in a castle in the woods, bereft of speech, so attempt to tell their story using the tarot cards found on the table. When I read it, I presumed that each traveller choce the cards which best described their own journey, the narrator their interpretation.

We had a dicussion as to whether this was the case, or if the cards were chosen randomly. For our exercise, we decided to choose randomly/ invisible.

I received TEMPERANCE and THE MOON!!

Our mission, if we chose to accept it, was to contemplate our card/image/meaning nad devise a possible visual representation.

I went back to my hotel and swam and swam and thought and was confused nad excited. I decided I needed to get some idea of the meaning of the cards as I was worried about the idea of moderation.Over a wonderful steamed salmon followed by Bici Bici, I asked Mr Google for his wisdom, and started to read. I am afraid I then got so excited i drank too many pina coladas and my thoughts were racing that night.

another leap into art and women....i am in heaven.

2011-09-09T22:36:00.000-07:00

The first paper of the afternoon had dealt with photography in particlar, and then we moved to video. Monika illustrated her ideas of frontiers and boundaries with the works of Trinh T Minh-ha making particular reference to the writing of Homi Bhabha (Nation and Narration). We watched night Passage which is an interpretation of Kenji Miyazawa's "Milky Way Railroad", which we had all read prior to the workshops.

Night Passage (2005)

Night Passage is a digital film on friendship and death. Made in homage to Miyazawa Kenji's classic novel, Milky Way Railroad, the story evolves around the spiritual journey of a young woman, in the company of her best friend and a little boy, into a world of rich in-between realities. Their venture into and out of the land of "awakened dreams" occurs during a long ride on a night train. The filmmaker elegantly depicts each encounter in two-dimensional space with a unique artistic gesture and ingeniously frames the passage as a series of rhythmic image sequensces as seen through the window of a train.

Monika challenged me to think of notions of interpretation also, as there is a chasm between the literal and the metaphorical, and i wondered which way my own journey may go.

A wonderful afternoon of presentations

2011-09-09T22:35:00.004-07:00

Lunch!

2011-09-09T22:35:00.000-07:00

we start with a film

2011-09-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

As a starting point we all watched a short film entitled "Transit" by Bani Khoshnoudi

Bani Khoshnoudi was born in Tehran. She studied film at the University of Texas in Austin, where she made experimental shorts and documentaries. Today she lives in Paris where she has made both documentaries and short films, as well as creating a network with filmmakers in Tehran. She is currently working on a feature film project that takes place in Iran.

It was a very moving work and provoked some interesting discussion about ideas of exile and how certain images are often used to evoke particlar emotions, in this case loss and fear. It brought to my mind another video work that I loved for its visual richness entitled WESTERN UNION: Small Boats (2007) by Isaac Julien

The aesthetic was completely different. Julien's was large and glorious in colour whilst Khoshnoudi's had a very tight cramped feel, with muted colours and minimal sound. But it is this very difference that becomes interesting to piursue as we move forward with our collaborative outcome.

Off to a good start

2011-09-09T21:58:00.000-07:00

The group is very welcoming. The team (or puppetmasters as I was later to call them), were all from Naples; the participants from Istanbul, Texas, and myself and another artist from Australia. It really can be a small world.

We introduced ourselves and it is "spooky" how there are commonalities between us all so far as ideas of performance and creativity. I guess it is to be excpected in some was because of the nature of the workshop, but it boded well for the next 4 days.

The team from Naples are head puppeteer Silvana Carotenuto and some of her PHD and Masters students.

attending my first workshop

2011-09-09T21:51:00.000-07:00

It was with apprehension that I packed my "Beauty in Residence" sash and headed down the hill for my first workshop of ISEA. Stopped for a bad nescafe coffe and cheese toastie to calm my nerves, and then ventured in.

It is called Exile Writing, and I am very excited at its potential. Whilst I realise that I am a privileged woman from a rich country, I do understand the notion of "other" as a fat fiftysomething female moving through this new beauty obsessed world. In fact my own project "the Beauty and the Geeks" attempts in a small way to subvert these notions of the "ideal" by proclaiming MYSELF beautiful.

A cigarette or two, and HERE GOES!

i heart Istanbul

2011-09-08T22:46:00.000-07:00

this beauty has landed

2011-09-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

art, art,art

You know you are in the right hotel when you have Time Out Istanbul on your desk when you arrive. There is also a fabulous beauty menu and I have had a spa, swim and relaxation massage already. I love Tunel Residence!!

team de beaute

2011-09-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

It's a complicated road to beauty and I would personally like to thank my team for getting me ont he plane in one piece and looking fabulous :-/

Jessica my personal trainer
Phil for acupuncture (and Shelley for support)
the team at Outshine for waxing and coloured nails
Kent my podiatrist
Pondera Pilates for balance
Elia for hair (and a special mention to the company who supplied the gallons of bleach.....don't tell anyone)
Fiona for injections and pharmaceutical support
Gia for moral support and fashion advice
Foxton Danger for my opening night outfit
Easton Pearson for a fab outfit and lending me their prototype tiara
friends and family
and last but not least, Weight Watchers.

I AM READY!!

beauty can be time consuming

2011-08-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

As I count the days till I leave, I am consumed with beauty. In the words of Dolly Parton, "it takes a lot of money to look this cheap". And I am spending money money money. I have had my hair bleached and styled, I have bought my Easton Pearson off the shoulder gem, my Foxyon Danger caftan and top, organised jewellery, a smart umbrella and scarves. I have lost 20kgs. I am off today for a manicure nad pedicure.

More important, though, for me is my beauty sash and tiara. Here there is both good and bad news. The company making the sash are truly hopeless and I may just have to spend my time on the plane flihjt crafting puffy paint on to a piece of ribbon. BUT THE TIARA IS GREAT NEWS!! World renowned fashion designers Easton Pearson are lending me their PROTOTYPE TIARAS!! I am going to look fab!!

The stars align

2011-08-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

MYSTIC meDUSA horoscope in the local paper reads'

LIBRA: Mercury is still bats, so be socially elusive and pour qi back into yourself. YOUR RE-EMERGENCE IN SEPTEMBer wiLL BE TRIPLE_EFFECTIVE AS YOU'LL BE SO LUCID AND GORGEOUS"

O goody!!!!!!!!!!!!

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early days

2011-05-02T23:41:00.001-07:00

I ahve had my project accepted so I am starting to gather info and stuff and book flights and hotels.