Waking Up. Sleeping.
Hello,
So. It's been over a month since this happened last.
Stuff happened. Lots of it. My Grandfather, Leith Robertson Harper, died.
It was sad, because such things are, but he was at home, and all my family were in Melbourne, and Leith refused to get in an ambulance, as I understand it. Leith was a veteran, having served in the Navy during the second world war, and he was pretty tough, for good or ill, and he'd always done pretty much what he wanted to do. As a veteran, he had medical and other kinds of support, and didn't want to go into supported accommodation, so he was in his small flat, and he had some trouble breathing, and contacted his nursing service. An ambulance eventually came, and it was suggested he go to hospital and, well, he chose not to. The ambulance staff made him as comfortable as he good, and left him in his bed.
He was found the next day. He'd gotten to his chair, somewhere in that between time.
He was 91 and he was complicated. I have extremely mixed feelings about him as a human being, but I'm not here to judge anyone, and he fought in a war as a young man - indeed, he falsified his age to enlist. This was common, but it meant he was in combat at age 18. He served on HMAS Shropshire.
He worked for oil companies, for Channel Six, the first commercial TV station in Tasmania, and was very involved with local sports clubs. He got married, to Mary, and that's where my father comes into the picture. That relationship didn't last. I don't really know why, but I have some evidence that my grandfather wasn't too nice a bloke there. I was angry about that for a long time when I worked it all out, but I'd still talk to the old bastard. He was complicated. Families and life are complicated, and he's gone now.
So yeah, that took some time up.
Also, I made some art.
That's FORT EVIL.
It's a kind of juncture of my long interest in horror movies and some critical musing about the nanny state that was kicked in motion by noticing brand name on all the play equipment at the various parks I take my three year old son to. There's something slightly sad about the plastic with round edges much of this play equipment consists of. That led me to reading a bit about adventure playgrounds, and wondering if there were any still (there are), then thinking about the idea of 'unsafe'. So I made an unsafe structure, and followed the progression from unsafe to Bad to EVIL, while also folding in the illicit thrill of watching horror films like Evil Dead and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on VHS tape way back when and being totally terrified.
The structure is a bit over 3.5 metres high and 4 metres square. It's the biggest bit of art I've ever made and it was a real slog, and I got help from some amazing people. I'm not totally happy with it as art, but it's not bad and it was a challenge, and challenges are good things. It is, to date, the largest work of art I've made, and I have no idea how to build things, but I have more idea now.
There was accompanying sound which was loops of me popping bubblewrap, muttering and jangling keys that was stretched out using Audacity, and my pal Jason James threw some lights on at it.
It worked okay, I hope some people liked, some people were confused by it and some thought it was rubbish. An artwork that everyone likes is probably a bit mediocre.
Some things you might enjoy reading:
Ocean liners are awful Werner Herzog is still a maverick A chinese coin that implies the Chinese were trading with Australia for some time. An amazing tumblr of nightclub photos from Adelaide in the 80s.The Tesla of Eco-Villages
I have some articles coming in the 'real world' in print and all that. I'll let you know.
thanks for your patience.