It's been a while.
Hello there,
So yeah I got busy. That's why one of these things didn't get sent for 238 days, not that it has a precise schedule or that I have all that much to say, but I neglected it.
I did write a lot though: I don't know if you know but I have a weekly column in Tas Weekend, wherein I write about the local art scene, and kind of review some art.
It's very kind-of, because I've taken the tack of being largely positive about art in that particular publication, because it goes out to a broad mass of people in Tasmania, and above all else, I want to encourage people to see art, of all kinds, in all places, and engage with it in some way, and I think I'm going to do better with that if I look for art that has an angle that's interesting, or has something worth saying, or just that people should really, really see it.
It's done interesting things to me, meeting a weekly deadline. Gee I can write and edit quickly now, and that's a skill to have. I don't know if it made my writing better, but I certainly feel more confident about meeting deadlines. Well, sort of.
Another thing that happened is that I really don't think there is 'good art' anymore.
'Good' is about the most subjective notion I can think of. I've found that I like character in art, more than anything else. From Elizabeth Barsham to Cameron Robbins, what makes this interesting or engaging to me is the personality that seeps through. When work has character, it speaks, even if it's flawed or perhaps because it's flawed.
There's a lot of good art on in Hobart right now, if you're here or around. I particularly like this but this is great as well and i haven't seen this yet but it has an amazing crew and the creators (Glen Murray, Jason James and Heath Brown) are some of the best we have in this state so I'm betting it's a gem.
right, now some stuff that isn't me.
LINKAGE
An abandoned theme park that's for sale
A story about the galleries of New York written by one Richard Hell
Keith Fullerton Whitman's Twitter. Lots of great music to get onto here if you like electronic stuff, which increasingly I do. I must be the last person on earth.
Sami Drum Culture. I know stuff all about the indigenous inhabitants of Finland but I got motivated to read about them and this struck me somewhat.
The Black Knight Satellite page on wikipedia. There's something about this that appeals to the fan of cosmic weird horror in me, and I just keep reading the entry. I don't care that it isn't real.
A chat with Adam Curtis. I went off this bloke and now I'm back again, because I listened to too many scientists who wanted him to be accurate. Well, he isn't; he's making speculative critical art that uses a reality based that makes fictional leaps and assumptions in the construction of narrative to be critical of contemporary culture. He's making novels using a collage technique, not a documentary as we've understood them.
Bullshit Jobs. I don't know if I've told you before but I really do not like to work. Well, I don't like working for someone else who is making money from my labour. Currently I work at an NGO and I've been there for five years, the longest I've worked anywhere, and I've gotten an award, so that job is okay, but there's a lot of unrewarding, soul-eroding work around that I am fortunate to not have to do.
and to finish up, Bernie Wrightson died. He was a fine comics artist and he co-created Swamp Thing. That means enough to me to raise a glass to note his passing, but he was very accomplished and one of the greatest artists of the comics format.