It was a series of invitations that led me outside my comfort zone
My partner had been asked to speak at a breakfast event and I thought I would show my support by going along.
Her talk was sensational and, although the breakfast was not my usual thing, I had an opportunity to talk with one of our town's creative luminaries.
She was in the process of rehearsing a play for a town festival that promotes Art Deco and the interwar era of the 20th Century.
It was interesting to learn how Leonie had taken lessons from her previous production and arrived at writing a radio play, which allowed the actors to use scripts onstage.
When live sound effects were mentioned she had my full attention.
There was a challenge with ensuring these props could be heard and, after I spoke about the potential for contact microphone, she asked if I was interested in becoming involved.
Sure, I said I'd have a look and see what assistance I could offer.
After a few ideas didn't work, I found the actor providing the foley sound was keen for help.
As I kept going to rehearsals I became part of the play.
It was my first dramatic performance since Ye Gods in year seven at Woden Valley High School and I had a lot of fun.
It was Tuesday 8 June 2021 when I met Ken Dray, Senior Policy Lead, Policy & Partnerships for Create NSW
Western Riverina Arts had invited a group of locals to a discussion in the Leeton Museum and I asked why sport and the arts were often presented as opposites, when they clearly have so much in common and are united as being cultural activities.
Ken thought only France had a Ministry of Culture that housed both.
Anyway, I was thinking about that conversation now we have the NSW Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport.
Australian culture is sometimes presented as a joke, but I think it's significant that we are the meeting point between the oldest continuous culture recorded in human history and one of the newest, as well as most multicultural.
Many people are surprised when I point out that the Western Riverina region is the most diverse community outside of western Sydney.
My worry is that "creative industries" is too often presented as services like graphic design.
Everyone benefits from engaging with the arts and it needs to be recognised as something more significant than some form of consumption like reading a book, watching a film or buying a souvenir.
"Social justice" is a term in my school reference from the end of Year 12
At the time I was the Chair of the School Board at Lake Tuggeranong College and had lent support to promote various concerns that included seeing condom-vending machines installed in toilets. It's interesting in hindsight that the assistant principal who wrote the reference identified that quality as it has continued to be part of my activities in various communities from lobbying and campaigning through to informing my creative practices.
Over the last decade I've been based in the town of Leeton and put some of my energy toward raising concerns for the benefit of everyone, as well as demonstrating a passion for teaching. I have volunteered my time to campaign for improved services based on the need for equality, particularly in health services and education.
As part of a small group I drew attention to the shortcomings of the local hospital, which is often without a doctor on duty. This included generating media interest and also chairing a public meeting that drew an audience of over 100 people to the neighbouring town of Yanco, as well as elected representatives from the three levels of government. That led me to volunteer my time during elections to support candidates addressing issues of public health, as well as distributing materials to improve funding for public education after the Gonski Review.
There have been various opportunities to share my knowledge and experience with the community. One of my first initiatives while working as a Corporate Communications Manager for Leeton Shire Council was to develop digital capacity in the community, including workshops to assist businesses in getting online (some tourism operators didn't have email at that time) and also demonstrating digital media techniques through workshops. The latter included showing photo-manipulation to children as a school holiday activity at the library and led to developing workshops supported by the regional arts board in using free software for editing digital media.
My skills in developing communications have been part of working in various roles to support community groups and, in turn, has led me to be a founding member of Red Earth Ecology. This organisation provides support to curate exhibitions that raise environmental concerns, as well as being a way to promote the benefits of engaging with art. As a not-for-profit we have used the funds generated through our activities to sponsor a photography competition currently exhibiting, and the Ngurambang exhibition at Griffith Regional Art Gallery last year included a series of presentations to high school students about historical and environmental themes including colonialism and geology.
My experience in producing exhibitions led me to work as a curator in a community museum, where I have found opportunities to engage locals and improve the representation of First Nations history through displays about topics such as Murray Cod and pandemics. I am currently assisting with a projection-based public outcome with the Bioluminescence Project that will focus on the environment through manipulating digital media.
Finally, I think it shows that my interests have aligned in my role as Community Representative for the Griffith Base Hospital Arts Working Group. In this position I have agitated for various outcomes, such as ensuring communities throughout the region have been consulted and that local artists can be considered commissions, gain experience and contribute to the permanent displays.
This is a statement prepared for a recent application and I thought I may as well post it here as well.
The next exhibition in the Griffith Regional Theatre’s Artspace will showcase local photography and an historic occasion when it opens on Monday 24 June 2024
Featuring entrants from the Griffith Pioneer Park Museum’s 2024 Action Day photography competition, these photos from visitors on the day capture this beloved community event.
“Around 3,000 people enjoyed the day and it was one of the biggest Action Days in recent years,” said Griffith City Mayor Doug Curran.
Traditionally held on the Friday before Easter, since 1971 the Griffith Pioneer Park Museum Action Day has seen the old machinery in action, and the displays that celebrate the history of the region brought to life.
Attendees this year were invited to take photos of the Action Day, and dozens of these images capturing various activities will now be exhibited as part of a competition that will be decided by votes from visitors to the exhibition.
Prizes were sponsored by Red Earth Ecology, a not-for-profit artist-led environmental organisation, who are keen to encourage everyone to engage with the Museum’s significant role in the Riverina landscape.
The Under 18 Category winner has already been announced, being James Favero.
The photographers competing in the Open section include Simone Borg, Emma Kenny, Neil McAliece, Sarah McCorkelle, PJ Lale and John Samuel.
The images have already found an appreciative audience among the staff and volunteers who worked during Action Day.
“We’re so busy focusing on the event that we often don’t get a chance to see all of the attractions,” said exhibition curator and Pioneer Park Museum staff member Dianne Silvester.
“It’s wonderful to see so many people having a great time.”
Theatre manager Marg Andreazza said, “We love using Artspace to exhibit local artists, and this particular exhibition is great because it features photos of a much-loved local event, taken by local people,” Ms Andreazza said.
The Action Day Photography Competition Exhibition will be on public exhibition from Monday 24 June until Friday 16 August with winners notified after it closes.
Recently saw this observation about writing and thought it's something that extends to many creative pursuits
"Recklessness and rigor" is one way to identify those flow and critique processes, which can be seen to embody first and latter drafts in writing.
It's something that Michael Stavrou addresses in his book Mixing With Your Mind and he frames these as left and right brain activities.
While this metaphor doesn't do justice to the way our brains operate, it is a really insightful discussion for the proposal that creative people benefit from grouping likeminded tasks.
For example, if you're writing and in a state of flow, then the process can be disrupted by needing to open a dictionary and find the appropriate word.
Someone like Julia Cameron in her book The Artists Way, I think, would likely say to keep writing -- even if it's just repeating the word until the sense of flow returns.
That's the kind of recklessness one can indulge while writing a first draft, before returning at a later time with a more critical perspective to finesse those words with the rigor required for publication.
And I think there's a similar distraction from producing work when a person begins second-guessing what they should be doing, although that is likely more akin to Sartre's notion of "being for others".
It brought mind the time that I fell asleep while riding my bike.
I was returning home from a party in Canberra around 4am among frost and probably too drunk.
Between the Governor General's residence and Scrivener Dam is a tunnel that leads under Lady Denman Drive.
It would've been in that tunnel that I had a micro-sleep, as I awoke to the vibrations from straying off the bike path and found myself passing through the trees among the grassy slope that drops toward the Molonglo River.
Anyway, it wasn't something that I'd recommend!
I am, however, impressed with the fellow in Craig's photo and his ability to nap safely on a bicycle.
Youtube have added this detail to their uploading process and, since I usually stretch and sometimes remix videos, I end up ticking the affirmative option
I recently started following a Facebook page called "Artists Against Generative AI" and was at first kinda amused by their outrage.
Then it occurred to me that this detail in Youtube suggests how human-made videos are soon going to be swamped by AI-made content.
This morning I was reading how little support there is for AI generally:
Among the concerns listed are the worry that AI will devalue what it means to be human.
As the arts are often used to soften a range of issues and already undervalued, I expect the novelties of generating cute content are going to be employed to make AI seem fun as people lose their jobs.
It doesn't impact on my enjoyment of making music or videos, but it seems like I've already become caught up in that process.
This week my newsfeed has featured painted portraits
There was King Charles in red with jokes about him being a Slayer fan ('Reign in Blood'), as well as Vincent Namatjira's painting of Gina Rinehart and her request for it to be removed from exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia.
It seems remarkable since we live in an age when nearly everyone is a photographer and AI is making ridiculous strides toward producing images of every whim within a few keystrokes.
Yet it shows how artists continue to matter and can still shock audiences — or maybe it's all confected outrage?
So I thought I'd add my five cents (rounded up due to inflation and the lack of two cent pieces).
You see it's because I've been reading Manning Clark's book A Historian's Apprenticeship at the behest of my mother.
Manning had a strong influence on Australian history at a time when national identity was being shaped and the fact they tried to make him a character in a musical is really wild.
Some of his observations about the country reflect a different time, like the line "civilisation did not begin in Australia until the last quarter of the eighteenth century" was one he clarified later in life.
The Apprenticeship book captures his reflections and influences.
Mum's copy has an inscription from Manning's wife Dymphna, who lived long enough to be recognised for her remarkable contributions to his career.
I remember the last time I saw her she was glowing in the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, where they had screened a documentary about her and she was surrounded by friends such as my mum.
(There's a story Mum likes to share about how much I resented going to their house and so I called them "Meatball and Dingbat," which she repeated to them in front of me!)
In Manning's book, which was published after his death, the famous Australian historian discusses how he wrote the volumes of books about our country.
One of the most surprising details is the amount of time he spent looking at portraits and sculptures showing the figures from early Australia.
Manning sought out these artworks and would scrutinise them to see if his impressions of their characters resonated with their representations.
After he'd read the letters written by famous folk, as well as the diaries and stuff noted by their contemporaries, I guess he'd have to visit the painting in person since it was decades before the internet started to give us all this sort of luxurious omniscience.
It seems sorta bizarre that Manning Clark would look at such hagiographic material that was surely produced long after the deaths of the historic figures.
At one point he mentions a visit to an arcade in Adelaide to look at sculptures of Charles Sturt and John McDouall Stuart.
This shows an enduring role that a visual representation can occupy and gives me a new appreciation for the importance of art in our society.
It always seemed like such a quaint tradition that they would paint official portraits of historic figures, yet now I see how much they are looking to the future.
Watched this yesterday and it's the first film in a while where I've wanted to watch it again almost immediately
The story follows a dopey dude into an unbelievable conspiracy and ends with a most unlikely conclusion for an American film.
Lots of laughs and also lots of codes, which may or may not reveal the identity of The Dog Killer if you look further into the film online
If you liked "Inherent Vice" or Coen brothers' comedies like "The Big Lebowski," although this one draws more heavily on Hitchcock's "Vertigo" and "Rear Window" than the brothers' Raymond Chandler influence.
It's got a heap of adult-oriented material though, so not suitable for a general audience.
Part of me is too invested to avoid wanting to use the line and protest my innocence, but I'm learning.
So I was reflecting this morning and realised it's one of the fundamental errors in an argument, when one mistakes the part for the whole.
One bad orange shouldn't reflect on the rest of the bag, for example.
However, the orange juice would be disgusting if we were to extend this metaphor.
As it is painfully obvious when looking at crime statistics to see it disproportionately is men committing the crimes that women are reporting.
Likewise it is clear that men are more likely to commit crime more generally.
I think this is where the discussion needs to move beyond memes and social media outrage.
There are broader measures that would address the concerns being raised, such as taking steps to recognise how breaking an apprehended violence order (AVO) is often an early sign of the need for intervention.
Earlier this century, when terrorism offences began to become a concern for law enforcement, there were observations that those terrorists often had become known to authorities for domestic violence and infringements like AVOs.
It might be necessary to improve the way these early signs are acknowledged and to take steps to ensure they are recorded.
Just as men like me are learning to sit with the discomfort, I expect that males in roles that encounter these situations might need to consider if they are an ally to women or happier to accept the word of the man involved.
This is the kind of sexism that's somewhat easy to be unaware of and I know that I've had it pointed out to me by women at times when I've taken the side of a man and excused their behaviour.
It seems likely the same bias is being demonstrated by men in frontline roles, as well as those in positions of authority.
One anecdote I heard recently was how an AVO was breached 74 times and the Police pressed charges for five of those, before suggesting the victim stop as it was angering the perpetrator!
In this way it helps to think of the need for broader reform, where issues that are clearly based in gender need to be given more than one perspective.
It's a view that extrapolates from where I've been shown to have a blindspot, rather than feeling that I'm on the wrong team in being lumped in with the worst of men's behaviour.
I'm a man who wants to see women to be safe and also to see men get the support they need.
This begins with acknowledging they might not be ready to recognise and seek assistance, so those early signs must be acted on.
Too often I'm seeing discussion around coronial inquests conclude that he was a good guy who must've been struggling in silence.
Let's help everyone involved because men need to recognise the signs of coercive behaviours too.
