flight paths for paper birds

party!

We had a family reunion at our house in October, and I made bunting. It was fun, and totally easy. Basically I cut triangles out of all the old fabric scraps I have been hoarding, and sewed it onto ribbons and some bias binding that I'd had in the cupboard for about 5 years. 

 

It was a fantastic party too. 

This is what some of my cousins had delivered a couple of days before the party

yum.  

what's 350 about?

Well, it's about the maximum safe level of carbon parts per million in the atmosphere, above which the risk of runaway climate change is very very high. 

here's some photos of my first craft activism expedition (with thanks to Rozi, Josh and Josh for help!) to get the number visible in the city (briefly). This was actually back in last October, just before the global day of action on climate change- which was Oct 24. 350.org is a fantastic group making links between climate action orgs all over the world- with the aim of getting action based on scientific evidence about what the world needs (ie. 350 ppm) instead of what is politically expedient or the fact that big polluters don't want to have to change their ways. 

in blog news I'm just starting to make an effort with updating again now (after being reinspired at Woodford, about both art and activism!) 

 

and here they are in the homes they found around the place, for a very brief life in the limelight, before they were all taken down by maintenance. 

 
 Victoria Bridge

I made about 60. my hands were mighty sore from all that crochet! 

Oh yeah, and my friend Josh wrote a blog post about this project too (and writes the funniest blog I know in general) where he says nice things about me. He also wrote a book which is faaaantastic and you can read about it on his blog too. yay! 

red birds flying in a circular path

I always have trouble photographing my mobiles- they look so much better in motion. Perhaps I should try to record them moving... 

Recycled paper birds and discs (covered in tissue paper, fabric, and varnished) scraps of chain, and sticks. 

and some birds of cool colours. 

I actually sold a few of these mobiles at the Top Floor disco ball a few months ago. In future they might have to be a special present or request mostly project, as they take quite a long time!

Lost Bees in the Biosphere installation

From the ART|PLAY|SCIENCE exhibition 18-22 September 2009, put on by the Environmental Art Collective, and curated by Rozina Suliman, our Lost Bees in the Biosphere installation (Rozina Suliman and Anna Cooke)

enter the world of the bees (no actual bees included) through the honeycomb tunnel. I can't describe well the beautiful sound that was designed for us, it was part lullaby, buzzing just on the edge of your consciousness, very otherworldly... Rozi and I listened to it for about 3 days straight and still love it at the end of that!

soft leaves and pollen/wattle flowers... the kids on opening night had a lot of fun with these!

the view out - there's some work by Lesa Hepburn and Colin Peile, and Guiseppe and Fiona Filardo there. 

We also had a booklet about colony collapse disorder, which was the issue that inspired the artwork. I'm going to upload the text and pictures to my environmental blog- www.onethingperweek.typepad.com

one last thing- Art collaborations are so fun! get out there and talk and create together!

lost bees and blogging

well, I suppose I really should have been blogging last week, before the exhibition closed, but here is a blog post about what I've been doing most of the last few months, when I haven't been sleeping or in doctors surgeries. 

pretty exciting- this was my first collaboration, with the amazing Rozina Suliman, my first major art exhibition, with the Environmental Art Collective, my first big conceptual piece, about Bees and Colony Collapse Disorder, my first installation, Rozi is an installation artist, and our piece was about 3m x 3m x 3m! I printed a curtain that was 9 meters long! 

and it's the first time we've been blogged about! Thanks Sophie!

http://sophiemunns.blogspot.com/2009/09/lost-bees-in-biosphere.html

more photos to come. 

new papery things

just some things I've made lately. I made a way cooler mobile out of birds (the birds in my banner, actually), but forgot to take a photo of it, and it is now in Sydney, hopefully entertaining the gorgeous Oliver. 

recycled paper beads and brooches

creative challenging

So the Connect 4 PLAY party was on Saturday night, and in my role as artist on demand I wrote 24 haiku (well, technically most were senryu, but that's beside the point), sitting at a table with the lovely Renee and Shannon, who were drawing amazing portraits, and Natalie, who was drawing her incredible designs and doodles (follow the link to her blog about the night).

It was an intense, exhilerating experience! Some of my poems were a bit average, as it was loud and difficult to think, especially before I got into my stride, but when they worked, they really worked, and it was fantastic to watch a few people read and connect to what I had written. So this experiment out of my comfort zone was definitely a success!

I hope the people I wrote them for don't mind me sharing some of the ideas here.

Apocalypse

the sky is not blue

more, unnatural colours

and clouds don't bring rain

 

Arts vs Science

methodic conflict

hemispheric argument

distracts from the goal

 

Snails

more often see trails

evidence but not presence

of slow, shy creatures

 

Trains

sit down and sigh

cross section of the people

watch the land blur past

 

Bella (the dog)

lying in the shade

affection on demand

waiting patiently

 

Peace (inner)

an active stillness

won through meditation and

intangible steps

Moving towns for love

new streets to explore

lanes and paths to follow

with a hand to hold

 

And my two haiku about the art party itself

 

highly engaged

among pulsing noise and light

some mingle, some watch

 

strange sights

paw prints, mimes and playing cards

too odd to describe

 

There are a few other poems that I really like, but they feel too personal to post, which is amazing- as my only interaction with the people I wrote them for was when they handed me the card with their topic, and I handed them back the poem (and some small talk about how long it would take in between). It really was an incredible experience.

haiku

as the wind shifts

from gum to lilly pilly

the rushing softens

If you would like a haiku of your very own, written by yours truly, you can come to the Valley Studios (610 Ann St) on Saturday night, where I will be writing between 7-9pm, as an interactive art experiment thing, raising money for Backbone Youth Arts at the 4C Art Collective party. tix $15 (includes a lot more than just me. I'm like, 0.5% of the excitement that will be happening)

don't keep calm and carry on...

 

I saw this on boingboing.net today and it fits so well with my ideals, I thought I'd share!

weaving 2 - new and improved!

I built myself a loom! (sounds more impressive than it is- a frame) So now my weaving is improving. I'm so excited about it that I'm putting up a picture before I even finish anything. 

it's good for multi-tasking too, I was working on phd work while I wove. I only like multi-tasking when one task is being done by the brain and one by the body.