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A season of cool
A new exhibition in Griffith explores creativity as it moves between mediums and around the world
The
Stay Cool project encompasses writing workshops, Japanese-style
short-form poetry and contemporary music composition, as well as
photography.
"I
encourage everyone to see how a picture and a few lines of text can
lead to so many wonderful things, and feel what it's like to hear those
observations interpreted as movements of air."
It's
the latest event from the group who developed community art in Griffith
like 2024's Night At The Museum and Action Day Photography Competition,
as well as the landmark Ngurambang exhibtion in 2023.
This collaboration between the
Riverina's Red Earth Ecology and Italian record label Naviar builds on
previous exhibitions, particularly the 'Crossing Streams' exhibition in
Narrandera during 2017.
Curator Jason
Richardson has been a contributor to Naviar Records' weekly haiku
challenges for over a decade and recorded nearly 300 compositions as a
result, while also writing his own haiku and publishing the book Earthwords in 2019.
"Ekphrasis
is a Greek term for art inspired by other mediums and it describes a
process of synthesis that's at the heart of realising new ideas," said
Mr Richardson.
"Some say necessity is the
mother of invention, but I am inspired by the idea that art builds
empathy as it offers the opportunity to see the world through the eyes
of others.
"It's the way each of us can not
help but bring our own experiences to an activity that infuses
creativity with meaning and spirit, which is what Jennifer Yane
identifies in their wonderful observation that 'Art is spirituality in
drag.'"
The Stay Cool exhibition at the
Artspace in Griffith includes six poems that were distributed with the
Naviar Records community of musicians, where each inspired dozens of
pieces of music linked via QR code, as well as sharing over a dozen
other haiku contributed by writers attending the online workshops
supported by Western Riverina Arts earlier this year.
"This
collection of words, pictures and music brings together many creative
people from around the world, so many that it might be the biggest group
exhibition you'll see this year," said Mr Richardson.
Stay Cool will exhibit from 25 April to 31 May at Griffith Regional Theatre
This
project has been supported by Griffith City Council through their
Regional Art Gallery, as well as financial assistance from the NSW
Government through Western Riverina Arts and Create NSW.
Late night shopping
That orange hue was the lighting for late night shopping, since the skylight looked brighter during the day.
Around
the time this photograph was taken I would be led around this location
as a small child. In fact my parents had a little harness that I wore to
stop me from running away.
I don't remember
Tandy in that spot, as it had moved by the time I started shopping for
electronics, but next door to that shop in this photo there was a place
called Hansel and Gretel.
It was while walking
past there that I first smelled coffee. A path was seared into my
neurons and I distinctly remember asking my mother what the shop sold.
Mum
doesn't drink much coffee and seemed disdainful in her answer, which
didn't make sense to me at the time anyway as I was sure she was lying and the smell was
chocolate!
Wooden whale
My partner reminded me that I'd been considering the possibility of using my chisels for something other than guitar cavities.
Compiling
Every week I record something, but it'd been nearly five years since I last published an album
So it was cool to find so much material, like this electric ukulele -- which, coincidentally, I fixed the wiring in this guitar this week and it still sounds good.
(Actually, now that I think about it, this was surprising how simple the soldering seemed after putting off doing that for years but my soldering has gotten better recently.)
Anyway, if anyone asked me to write a Bond theme then it might sound like this if 007 was going to Hawaii.
This track is going on my next album, I think, because it's a more straight-forward rock instrumental and those can be collected together.
However, there was a track with a reversed ukulele part which seemed too similar to sit alongside this track, which is why it's on the album that I published just now.
Automaton
The capcha requires so many ticks that it feels like a trick and, sure enough, I had to do another.
Speak up!
It was something that confronted me while working in a school last year, when I was reminded that I had a duty to actively engage in establishing acceptable behaviour among students.
That aspect of becoming a teacher and being a nagging voice isn't comfortable for me, but I am learning to fit that role as well as being a better ally.
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