Author Archives: shortleftleg

a short note on “method”…

OK, here’s what I do.

I wake up really early every morning, make myself a strong black coffee using the aluminium stovetop percolator, and I boot up the computer. In my dream like state, the words just flow out of me, my fingers machine-gunning the keyboard until all of my memories from yesterday are vomited up into the blog. This process takes about an hour, and then I’m free to go about the day however I please.

Hmm. That’s the theory at least.
Continue reading

arbitrary lines on a map

[This post was written on Sunday, and “the afternoon” to which it refers is last Saturday arvo. My poor image manipulation skills have delayed the launch of this one – it took me a few days to put together the maps which appear below. Cheerio! – Lucas]

In the afternoon, the Cake Lady came to visit, bearing natas fresh from Sweet Belem. I made us coffee and we sat in the kitchen chatting away. She’s staying at the Regent’s Court Hotel in the Cross, its a kind of artist-in-residence where the hotel puts you up in exchange for watering the plants in their beautiful rooftop garden. Not a bad exchange. The Cake Lady’s working on some new animated films, which generally channel her rich vault of memories growing up in North Queensland. Recently she’s been running art workshops with the kids who travel around with circuses. But the conversation meandered wildly and I forgot to interrogate her about that. Which is a pity, cos I reckon it’d be an interesting story.

The Cake Lady had suggested an assignment to be carried out in the ‘sham:

You and a friend/partner arrange to arrive in a foreign city on the same day. Take different forms of transport to get there. Do not make a place to meet. Try and find your friend/partner.

Continue reading

art comes to the ‘sham

[this is an ad. It is designed to throw you off the scent while I delay posting my latest blog entry. Most likely it won’t work. Hang in there, there’s a big update coming up… Needless to say, I will be down at Maundrell this Sunday, with my reporter’s hat and notepad at the ready. Hope to see you there!]

Art in the Park Autumn 2006

Marrickville Council invites you to:

ART IN THE PARK – A biannual exhibition of work by local sculptors

Sunday 23rd April 11-4 pm. Official Opening 12pm

Maundrell Park outdoor gallery facility is built on the former Petersham Council nursery site. This corner of Maundrell Park previously contained seed beds, a hothouse, ferneries and fishponds. The nursery gates and remnants of walls in the gardens have been retained in the redevelopment of the park and turned into an outdoor gallery space.

Sculptors confirmed for the exhibition are Szilvia Gyorgy, Rodney Nash, Phillip Barnes, Greame Endean, Stephen Ralph, Sam Wittingham, Bernard Appassamy, Caz Hazwell, Nick Strike, Daniel Simon and Kelly Leonard.

Sculpture lovers and interested onlookers alike are urged to bring a picnic and join family and friends for Art in the Park, from11am to 4pm.

Maundrell Park is located on the corner of Stanmore Road and Hopetoun Street, Petersham.

For further information, contact 9335 2233.

the great escape

Bec offered to drive me, if I’d look up the address. I went out to her car to grab the directory. Marie and Chris were across the way, still fixing up Barbara’s flat. They waved me over.

“Hey, where are YOU going?” Marie asked. “We-e-ell”… I began. How could I do this? They were onto me.

The only thing for it was to come clean. I explained my dilemma, the importance of spending the day with my Dad, the idea of the blindfold as a “legal loophole” in my own rules. They thought about it. Chris felt it could work. “It’s true, family comes first, you should definitely go. But you HAVE to keep on the blindfold the WHOLE time.” Marie was less sure: “If you ask me, leaving is leaving, no matter whether you cover your eyes or not.” They were still debating it between themselves as I sat in the passenger seat putting one of Bec’s silk scarves over my eyes. I waved to them blindly as we drove off.
Continue reading

cheers

I was a-bloggin’ away on Wednesday morning when the screen went dark and all was quiet. No more faint high pitched whizzing of the hard drive, and no more low whir of the fridge from the kitchen. I blinked. The power had cut out. Aha, I thought. This has happened before. I hot-footed it around to the front porch to see if the guy from the electricity company had switched us off and left a mean note about not paying the bill. But the switch was still on. I figured that the construction site down the road had tripped something. There was nothing to be done but to get out of the house.

Rachelle was talking to Therese, two doors up, to see if her power was out too. It was. Up the street, shop-keepers were standing around in doorways with their hands on their hips, looking up and down as if the answer was going to be delivered in a taxi speeding down Canterbury Road. The traffic lights were out, motorists were left to their own devices. It was a genuine neighbourhood event.
Continue reading

ONE LINE ONLY NO SCREAMING

Jasmin called me several weeks ago to discuss the ‘sham project. She said I should expect various levels of jealousy about what I am doing here. I get to stay at home, mooch around, take some time out. It’s like a holiday at home. It’s like being a tourist in your own town. Not to mention the inevitable “but is it really art?” etc etc.

I was surprised. I guess I hadn’t thought much beyond the confines of my own list-of-things-to-do. But notwithstanding the curly question “is it art?” (which I will add to the FAQ’s, and attempt to answer – hopefully with your help – in the near future) I bet yer all gonna be jealous of what I did yesterday!

I rollerskated at the Majestic RollerRink.
Continue reading