David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.


31 July 2009

Greetings comrades, the image has now changed its status*

.
[* Kodwo Eshun, February 2009]

Curated by Bridget Crone


"What is the status of the image today? Where does the image start and stop? Characterised by the speed of its dissemination, the image might be understood as the transmission of digital information, as a fleeting visual impression, as affective experience, as an important factor in the gaining of knowledge, expanded, compressed, archival, educative, celebratory and informal... It might be all or none of these. Contingent. Staged. A restitution. A refusal."

Greetings comrades... is a discussion around the question of the image (particularly in relation to the image in film/video and text) and its role in contemporary culture, its purpose and affect.

Greetings comrades... will take the form of two screening programmes of artists' film and video, and a reading by Justin Clemens from his new book, Villain; selected works from the screenings will also be exhibited in the gallery space alongside a single work on paper by Nikolas Pantazis, Neon Lights 2008.

[Screening programme one]
Cut up. Immersion. Immersion. Dispersion. Restitution. Immersion.
Sunday 2 August, 15.00 hrs
Justin Clemens, Villain 2009 (reading)
Pil and Galia Kollectiv, Another Proof of the Preceding Theory 2008
Maryam Jafri, A Staged Archive 2008
Cerith Wyn Evans, Degrees of Blindness 1988

[Screening programme two]
Immersion. Dispersion. Cut up. Cut up. Restitution.
Saturday 8 August, 15.00 hrs
Bea Gibson, A Necessary Music 2008
Melanie Gilligan, Crisis in the Credit System 2008
Amanda Beech, Statecraft 2008
Harun Farocki, Inextinguishable Fire 1969

Sunday, 9 August, 15.00hrs
Harun Farocki, Prison Images

Those interested in attending a reading and discussion group focussing on ideas of contingency in relation to the image and the event, please contact bridget_crone[at]mac.com


31 Pearson Street, Brunswick West, Vic 3055
(Cnr Pearson and Albert Streets : Map. ref. 29. 7-D)
Hours: Sat and Sun 1-5pm : Phone: (03) 9380 9184
www.ocularlabinc.com

30 July 2009

Ça va? Oui, ça va. Le Tour goes on ...

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Stage 1 : Kangaroo Flat, circa 1956
Uncropped photo by mum. Taken at the lotus gates, which she designed. Dad about to dink me to school on his way to the pharmacy. He with Gladstone bag on the handrail, me with leather satchel over shoulder.



Stage 2 : Bendigo, circa 1979
By then my brother M is a pharmacist at the Queen Victoria hospital, Swanston Street. He has arranged a storeman job there for me; so with swag and case I'm off to Melbourne (on the train) then to cycle through the traffic to and from work each day.



Stage 3 : Yesterday, in the rain, at "Bonzaview"
Same bike as above. Now I watch the world slowly tour through it.

2008.08.01_bicycle in the rain_FLAT_400w

Stage 4 :

29 July 2009

Oops! L'incident meta-metical

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Lance Armstrong's ride on six artist-augmented bicycles in this year's Le Tour de France continues an enduring French affair with this human scale space-time vehicle.

The many levels at which Le Tour happens surely include the contemplative (Duchamp), the metaphysical (Klein) and the pataphysical (Jarry), all seen below.

AJ + YK
Oops! L'incident meta-metical.


Bicycle Wheel
Marcel Duchamp
1913

Wheel on chair drawing_sRGB_400w

Wheel on chair +baby #3_sRGB_400w

27 July 2009

Would you like a bike with that?

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In the weekend papers, along with updates on the Tour de France progress towards Paris, news of another imminent arrival : COSTCO is coming to Australia August 2009. Heap-to-go!

2009.07.25 advert_sRGB_400w

26 July 2009

My hero

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In a few hours from now, to complete his brilliant return to the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong will ride into Paris on a bicycle decorated for him by artist Damian Hirst.


"Hirst customized a Trek Madone with a gorgeous array of real butterflies from the frame down to the Bontrager rims, which also bear a repeating pattern of the willowy creatures. Eschewing the traditional LIVESTRONG yellow in favor of bright shocking pink logos all around, Hirst brings even more attention to the cause in a colorscheme that can be easily read at nearly any distance (or speed)."

more : click here

















In the Tour's opening time trial on July 4 Armstrong rode a bike with a stroboscopic rear wheel designed by Marc Newson. Since then he has ridden bikes decorated by Shepard Fairey, Yoshitomo Nara, Kenny Scharf and, mostly, by New York street artist Kaws. The Hirst bicycle is his sixth.

The Bikes of STAGES will be auctioned on October 2nd in NYC, with proceeds from the sales going directly to The Lance Armstrong Foundation to help fund cancer outreach, awareness, research, and advocacy.

There is also a concurrent STAGES exhibition in Paris with art contributed by 20 artists. The proceeds from this will also benefit the LIVESTRONG initiative.
Armstrong makes riding an art form
Scott Reyburn, London
July 23, 2009
click here

STAGES
click here
This post is for my hero Christine, a four time cancer survivor and a great admirer of Lance Armstrong's achievements.
This bright drawing is also for her, of her :


click image to enlarge


25 July 2009

Mark Ryden

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First the painted scene, YHWH by Mark Ryden. Then the print.

Mark Ryden_Girl look as YHWH toy_400w

Next came Brian Mcarty's photo that features Ryden's recently published vinyl version of the YHWH toy.

Brian Mcarty photo of Mark Ryden scene with YHWH toy

The edition (2000) sold out in a flash. More info here

Mark Ryden's YHWH toy box-400w



24 July 2009

emptiness cuts diamond

.
paper/scissors/rock
emptiness cuts diamond

In the 2007 exhibition
projection-space
[When SpaceCanvas is asked to repaint itself... ]
at Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne, one of the offerings was priced at "a diamond". ( click image below to enlarge )



The death of a master diamond cutter therefore is something to be duly observed at this address.

Antonio Bianco : nomen est omen : the Italian word bianco translates to English as white or blank : In the beginning was the word and the word was made diamond : LOGOS/HA HA

Antonio Bianco, Who Teased Luster and Light From Diamonds, Dies at 57

"Among master diamond cutters, Mr. Bianco was a quiet eminence. He was known in particular for his ability to look at the dull, shapeless surface of a rough stone and discern the finished diamond gleaming within, waiting to be liberated..."

"For Mr. Bianco, cutting a large diamond was a protracted courtship that could take nearly a year. Before he began cutting, he spent months studying the stone, slicing and polishing tiny “windows” along its exterior so he could peer into its heart..."

Click here for the full obituary at The New York Times


Here then, to all the would-be diamond minds, these recent images by the Cloud Commission. ( from here )


Boy-O


Twin Skull Newsprint

22 July 2009

dear Howard

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From today's THE AGE (Melbourne) :

2009.07.22_howard_in memoriam_sRGB_274w

from Howard's 1998 Xmas/New year card :



21 July 2009

projection-space anniversary

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First cinema
The Sun the light
The Moon the silver screen
The Earth the theatre
We the audience

Most early screenings are no longer recorded.

The Man in the Moon (who carries a bundle of thorn-twigs and is accompanied by a dog) is recorded since c.1310. And it is known that some Japanese see there a rice-cake-making rabbit.


Reminders also of Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) with it's silver screen, border crossing visitation. But first, this 1969 photo as 10,000 people in New York's Central Park watch the Apollo 11 moon landing and cheer as Neil Armstrong creates the first moon walk.







Further such may be imagined by visiting 2000 Moon Names at 2000 NAMES.COM. For instance :

UNISEX
BADR (بدر): Arabic unisex name meaning "full moon."
CHANDRA (চন্দ্র): Hindi unisex name meaning "moon." In mythology, this is the name of a lunar and fertility god.
MEZTLI: Nahuatl unisex name meaning "moon."
YUE (月): Chinese unisex name meaning "moon.

MALE
AKU: Babylonian myth name of a god of the moon, meaning "moon."
BADRU: Egyptian name meaning "born during the full moon."
CHANDRAKANT (चन्द्रकान्त): Hindi name composed of the elements chandra "moon" and kanta "beloved," hence "moon lover." In mythology, this is the name of the moonstone that was created by moonlight.
IAH: Egyptian name meaning "moon." In mythology, this is the name of a god of the moon.

FEMALE
ALKMENE (Ἀλκμήνη): Greek name meaning "might of the moon." In mythology, this is the name of the mortal mother of Hercules by Zeus.
AYSUN: Turkish name meaning "beautiful as the moon."
BADRIYAH (بدريّة): Feminine form of Arabic unisex Badr, meaning " full moon."
CANDRA: Indonesian name from a love story about princess Candra Kirana of Kediri. Candra was the incarnation of Dewi Ratih, goddess of love, and her name means "glowing like the moon."
CHANDRAKANTA (चन्द्रकान्ता): Feminine form of Hindi Chandrakant, meaning "loved by the moon."
HAKIDONMUYA: Native American Hopi name meaning "time of the waiting moon."


Dad had a newspaper delivered to our home each day. Thus it was we followed the human journey to the moon via The Sun.


Junior bL kept some of these for the heap.

1969.07.17_The Sun_OFF TO THE MOON_400w

1969.07.18_The Sun_WAKE UP_400w

1969.07.19_The Sun_MID FLIGHT TEST_400w

1969.07.21_The Sun_NOW THE LANDING_400w

1969.07.22_The Sun_THEIR DAY ON THE MOON_400

1969.07.23_The Sun_THE HOME RUN_400w

1969.07.25_The Sun_HI EARTH_400w

Aum
Om

Mu
moo
moon
mono
no
moOon
LOGOS/HA HA