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| Walsh Bay Exterior Performers' Entrance What is knowledge? What is this thing called news? Misery, bombs, talkback, mass graves and death with the odd human-interest story smeared between the sheets of sports and weather. What happens in the outer world can affect the daily run of the mill existence.
The
question is, by what degree? Should it place a burden on my consumption of my
bacon double pizza burger and eggs, or my flat whitey, and finally what about this
lark ART?
My son said, ‘Dad I’ve got a rhyme, art…fart.”
He’s
on the sharp end of art critiquing that kid.
Jackson Daly Original
‘There’s suffering on earth, I know. And plenty
of that suffering is in…[…]. But, if I can’t subtract from the world’s sum of
misery, do I have to add to it personally…’ (P.J. O’Rourke, Holidays in
Hell, [1988]).
We
had a fire alarm halfway through my first shift this morning. The alarm sounded
something like the Death Star’s planet annihilator. Art fans stood still until
I was forced to turn around and say, ‘That’s the fire alarm I think you should
leave.’ I think they thought it was part of the performance. That’s the joy of
contemporary art, no one knows what it is until it’s spelt out, framed or hung
on a wall and signed by R. Mutt. I think it was the fry guy at the wharf café.
He forgot the chips.
 FAME
Today
‘Steve’ is wearing his uniform and art fans love it. In fact the performers are
all over him. I’ve seen them stroking his muscle bound uniform arm. I’m
jealous. Still ‘Steve’ is about six feet, square jaw, fit as a fanatic and I’m
serious he has that Chesty Bond handsomeness that break hearts. From a soldierly
perspective he has leadership qualities as well as that basic military presence
of grace under pressure. I kind of had a panic-shaking-stress-presence and gracelessness under pressure. I discovered that it's extremely difficult to be something you’re
not. On the other hand I remained in my hole facing front regardless of my
panicky mutterings and shaking. There was nowhere to run to anyway. One of our
soldier’s had an angst attack and was taken off duty for a day. I was in angst
for my entire time in Iraq but was too ashamed to seek help. During hairy scary
moments where physical harm was real I drifted off into a milky unawareness and
disbelief of the moment. Perhaps it was good idea to be shit scared all of the time.
First Foot in Iraq - Day 1 Iraq 1991
The same boots twenty years later
We had another busy shift and for
a Monday a good turn out for art fans. I heard the familiar twang of a comment,
yet this time a little different. A whispering voice hissed behind me, ‘Is
anyone here, like me, tempted to say to him, who’s been a naughty boy then.’
 A rhetorical question echoes a rhetorical action (is there such a thing as a rhetorical action?). It’s not a big deal just kind of wish comments had a bit more depth. Some groups were on a tour of sorts and I really enjoyed listening to the hosts try to motivate the art fans into thinking and speaking up about their ideas and thoughts. It was difficult for the groups to open up, as we are in many ways a socially conservative culture.  Freedom to speak your mind has been somewhat hijacked by experts and others who are sheriff’s of opinion. What makes 13 ROOMS so special is the ambiguity of a direct meaningful outcome. I’m sure there are countless academic essays on these works out there and I recommend reading some of them because contextual knowledge (in my humble arty opinion) truly does focus your own ideas and thoughts. Yet, an instinctual response is an entirely valid approach.  Coexisting, 2013
I had a look around at some of
the work before I left today and it was refreshing to see them in light of
getting to know some of the performers in the green room. The works I searched
out were, Coexisting, Mirror Check, and Luminosity and then took a walk through
the Revolving Door. These pieces reveal to me conflict, tension, and endurance
and demonstrate the tediousness of life even when the experience is represented
in art.
Art on!
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Monday, 15 April 2013
Tuesday 16 April 2013 FORARTSfUcKsaKE
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