skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Despite whinging every Winter before about how the colour grey disagrees with my colouring, I've amassed loads of things in that colour. I guess I've learnt to suck it up because most pieces that piqued my interest during the colder months come either in black or grey. And I hate black.The latest addition to my growing pile of grey is this soft and billowy pleated Nathan Smith "Skress" (it said that on the hangtag...I suppose it can be worn as a "skirt" or a "dress" hence the name) I bought at The Big Fashion Sale on Saturday. Wore it yesterday with some older bits of grey:~ Connie-wonnies (or Converse to most people): the oldest of the lot from 2004~ Decjuba leggings with cute buttons down the side: 2006~ Gorman Organic sweater: 2008~ Gap ribbed singlet (worn under): a gift from my pal Mommy Noi-noi, a long-time fan of grey (2008)~ Sportsgirl jacket: 2008 or 2009 but only just remember I have it this WinterStill don't know if grey agrees with my colouring but it sure is easy to wear on lazy days. Starting to understand why people like wearing head-to-toe black so much - they don't have to think. But you're not going to see me go down that route! No, no, no. It really doesn't agree with my colouring!
Quite an impressive headstand, huh? Haha!Remember him? This little fellow?It was in March(!) when I started working on him. The last time I made any progress was smearing a test-patch of the pre-mixed white goo on his belly two months ago.
I feel guilty everytime I look at him in his unfinished state, perched on his special chair in our living room. So this morning, I finally got off my lazy arse and started plastering the rest of him with the stuff (which worked better than I had expected). And then I ran out of the goo! Because, having not used it before, I had bought the smallest tub thinking it won't be too big of a waste if it wasn't suitable for this particular purpose. GRRRRR!Back to Bunnings we go. Hopefully this weekend. Or Bunny will be left standing on his head for another four months!
Last night, we defrosted some of the man tou's I made and had them with half a Pei Pa duck we brought home from Chinatown...
...in Peking duck pancakes-style with a big smear of Hoi Sin sauce, batons of cucumber and shallots and the crispy skin of the duck. Deeeeliiiiiiciouuuuus!
It was more than a year ago when I spotted Hell-O-Kitty on a filthy wall in the 'hood. It was my first and my last until I saw this fresh-off-the-press one on Saturday!I'm so happy to see her back! And I hope to see more of her around.
See that Pez puppy? It's the Slinky Dog from Toy Story! With a candy dispenser for a body instead of coiled wire. (Don't laugh but I've not seen any of the Toy Story movies. I know. I think the boyfriend, a huge fan, is planning to sort that out with a video-viewing marathon weekend now that #3 is out. I have some of the toys, though, stored away back at my parents.)Sweet ol' Ms Carpet surprised me with him on Saturday. She said that she thought it's time I added another pup to my kennel. Tee hee hee. She should know - we "met" (as in "internet-meet") because of a dog.You might remember Hello Kitty and My Melody from last year. No, I've not taken them out from their packaging. And I think Slinky will stay sealed as well. Before you go thinking I'm one of those sadster toy collectors (the Star Wars ones are the worst - I know one of them) who never remove their limited-edition toys from their bubble packs to play with in order to maintain their value, let me assure you that I'm not.I didn't buy them because I needed to eat candies out of a plastic dispenser - Pez taste fine straight out of the paper wrap. I bought them because they were cute. I can admire their cute-ness in or out of their packaging so I might as well keep them sealed, right? Easier for storage/showing off too that way.
I was so happy to see more little old cottages on the island used as exhibition spaces this year. It meant that I could "inspect" them and add a couple more to my "Dream Island Home" list!
Like this Overseers' Quarters, built between 1850 and 1857 and used as a residence over the years by prison officers, wardens, married officers, an electrical engineer and a naval architect until Cockatoo Island's maritime activities ceased in 1992.
Like any girl who loves prints and repeated patterns, I often dream of wallpapering at least a wall when we can, one day, afford our own home. It's such a shame that the convenience of paint has taken over in recent decades. The lucky wives of some of those men who resided there! They lived in times when wallpapering a room (or the whole house!) was the norm. Nearly every room in the house has been plastered with the printed stuff!
Some extremely well-preserved...
Some showing signs of the inevitable - wear-and-tear from years of neglect.
The art shown in the Overseers' Quarters were by photographer Yvonne Todd. I haven't got any pictures of her pieces in situ to show but I think it's the perfect place for them, against those peeling walls in a very quiet house.Have a look at her portraits of young women (at first glance, they seemed all soft-focus pretty and then you start noticing the something-is-not-right quality) and you'll know what I mean.Moving on to the next house, one that is bigger and posher which most probably used to house the big wigs living on the island...
Of course I squealed in delight when I was greeted by this sight in one of the rooms!
More wallpaper! A new one put in by artist Rosslynd Piggott together with those beautiful matching lampshades and the other knick-knacks in the room - her response to "the island's layered history" led her "to create a flowing series of spaces and images intended to transform the site's dark residue of remembered experience." She might have visited the Overseers' Quarters before thinking up this installation?I love these site-specific pieces! They're more fun to look at knowing that the artists have taken the venue, its environs, history and such into consideration and worked them into their pieces that are unique to that particular show. I appreciate the thoughts that they've put in to give the location a co-starring role alongside their art, that they don't see the beautiful Cockatoo Island merely as a space in which they can show their art.One more while we're at it...
By another female artist, also site-specific, not exactly wallpaper (but a welcomed addition to any room!) - Islands of Incarceration by Kate McMillan.
This old Timber Drying Shed was one of my favourite structures on the island on our first visit to the island two years ago. I thought, with its height, it would make a great stage for a music festival that I was dreaming up in my head. (A music festival did happen on the island a year later. A super memorable one! But they didn't use the shed as one of their stages.)
I'm glad Kate McMillan has found a use for it!Just one more...
In the bathroom(!) of the house that Rosslynd Piggott's work was in. I couldn't tell if it was old or new. Love the clash! Of the florals on the wall and the checks on the floor!The Biennale of Sydney ends August 1 (this Sunday!). Go if you haven't been.
This hand-painted sign on the window of a disused industrial building on the island tickled me so.I assume it's old, advertising a raffle or lucky draw night for the staff who used to work there. Little did they know that the island would one day be the venue for a huge art exhibiton. Tee hee hee.
A Cock Or Two: No Danger Of Attack by Jonathan Barnbrook - "This artwork is located next to the sea and parodies a shark warning sign. It is a reference to the white, rich private gallery owners that feed off the artists' works but rarely are prepared to take a creative risk themselves."We went back to Cockatoo Island on Friday. To finish what we started last Saturday.Tracked down the last of the five Jonathan Barnbrook typography (master)pieces. And viewed loads of video art - some jaw-droppingly amazing and some just plain yawnsville.Anyway, a few more island posts coming up. It sure sucks to be you if you've been coming here the past week expecting the usual fashion and cutesy shit nonsense. Wahahahahahaha!
(Click on images to enlarge)
A Cock Or Two: They Continue To Preen by Jonathan Barnbrook - "This artwork ironically refers to the birds that originally inhabited the island and the insular, self-congratulatory nature of art exhibition openings."
A Cock Or Two: Fatigue, Cynicism, Existential Pointlessness by Jonathan Barnbrook - "Referring in a pragmatic and satirical manner to the experience of walking around a huge exhibition. This artwork offers a positive reminder of why we are all prepared to put up with the experience."
A Cock Or Two: A Pilgrimage by Jonathan Barnbrook - "There was once a shipbuilding facililty on Cockatoo Island. This artwork paradoxically portrays the artists as 'empty vessels' - a person without a brain who speaks loudly without saying anything of any depth. Taken from the English idiom 'The emptiest vessels make the loudest sound'."
A Cock Or Two: A Prison, A Gallery by Jonathan Barnbrook - "Cockatoo Island once was a prison similar to Alcatraz. This artwork wryly compares the 'confidence trick' used by criminals in the past to the ones used by the artists to appear in the exhibition."
These are four out of the five site-specific pieces by Jonathan Barnbrook , a type designer amongst other things, shown on Cockatoo Island. We had so much fun looking out for them after we realised that there were more than one. Like a treasure hunt! On an island! Wheeee!We're going back to find the last one when we re-visit the island to view the rest of the art that we didn't have time to look at. I don't know what made us think that we could take in so much in one day when we clearly couldn't at the last Biennale.
Anyway, back to Jonathan Barnbrook...Not only has he contributed these witty pieces, he's also the designer for everything visual identity-related for the Biennale of Sydney 2010. Everything, from the free festival programme to banners all over Sydney, has his mark on them. I'm such a sucker for anything that has typography on them. Needless to say, I'm in love with the clever use of types on the A Cock Or Two series and coupled with those cheeky phrases? PHWOAR! So much so that we are going to have one of them, from here, on our wall soon. It's travelling! Woo!PS. Pals reading this...It's a little cheeky but if you don't know what to get me or the boyfriend for our birthdays or Christmases to come, you can help us "Collect All 5!". Tee hee hee.
Despite whinging every Winter before about how the colour grey disagrees with my colouring, I've amassed loads of things in that colour. I guess I've learnt to suck it up because most pieces that piqued my interest during the colder months come either in black or grey. And I hate black.
