Small video big pleasure
The Cad Factory artists Vic and Sarah McEwan have collaborated with local students from the Greater Kengal Small Schools Network to create a unique and cutting edge contemporary performance event on Friday 26 October at the Tootool Silo.
One highlight of working on the CAD Factory's recent production was seeing my footage of the Small Voices Made Loud... rehearsal used on the local news.
Out now!
You should look for my interview in the October issue of Audio Technology.
Or you can read it on your tablet FREE at www.audiotechnology.com.au/tablet
My friends' Enemy
Here's a clip from my friends Heaven the Axe, who are a seriously hard rocking group now based in Melbourne but were formerly an acoustic duo in Wagga Wagga who gave me a lot of support, including playing at the launch of my first Bassling LP SHAKES -- see a pic here.
Buicklayers line
Pretty sure this is meant to be bricklayers line but maybe there are perverts out there who like to be tied to old cars with pink string!
Coming soon to a silo near me
A video I shot with kids from Yerong Creek Primary will be shown as part of this night of short performances, which I'll also be capturing on video. Yep, I'll shoot a video of my video -- how postmodern is that?!
Great Presets remix
Think I like this more than the original, which was also my experience with the Green Velvet remix of their last single.
Got a copy of a book
Every family has their eccentricities but mine has more than its share. And they also love books.At the end of last century when I finished university, my aunt gave me her copy of Herman Hesse's Magister Ludi. And I mean her copy -- she'd actually photocopied the book and had it bound.
Actually it kinda makes me want to read the book, since it's obviously something my aunt enjoyed enough to arrange her own copy at a time when it wasn't easy to secure one.
It's digital
Do it for the fun!
What a thrill to spend your spare time actually building your own color TV!
Channel numbers that flash right on the the screen!
An on-screen digital clock!
Home entertainment electronics and digital circuitry that could lead to extra income, full or part-time.
If this weren't an advert in Playboy from the '70s, I might actually feel sorry for the girlfriend pictured above who looks like she has little to do aside from making coffee -- which I gather is a euphemism.
Recent workshop at Narrandera Library
The video workshop at Narrandera Library went well with eight attending. There was a lot of interest in digital photo manipulation, so I'm hoping to offer an introduction to free software because it'd be a great way for people to learn techniques and they could walk away with the tools to keep going.
The picture above comes from the Narrandera Argus, who also ran an article about my album and upcoming exhibition. Is it a fashion faux pas that I'm wearing the same outfit in both my photographs in that edition?
Portrait from Burning Seed
Almost forgot about this beaut portrait I was given by Sophie, who might've been about 10 years old. She hung out with my daughter and we made a few trips around the site together, dancing at the Alien Welcoming Committee and playing drums at Trash Mansion.
I was stoked to get this portrait because my hair was looking very good that day!
More Burning Seed
One of the ideas that's been on my mind since Burning Seed is the potential for the event to be a rite of passage.
Rites of passage are thought to be a part of socialisation, combining an event with a process of conveying a fundamental concept about the society in which it operates. Arnold van Gennep described rites of passage as having three phases, including a pre-liminal phase (separation), a liminal phase (transition), and a post-liminal phase (reincorporation).
Burning Seed obviously has the part where people are separated, through the camping at a ticketed event. I think the principles of the event, which I discussed earlier, convey a number of interesting experiences around the sense that an individual has a talent distinctly their own which they can offer -- and this might be a liminal phase.
However, I feel the reincorporation aspect as people leave the event and return to their everyday lives needs something to underline the insights gained from Burning Seed. I've got some ideas and wonder whether it would be possible to give a more meaningful and sustained experience from attending.
Burning Seed
The following review was published in the Narrandera Argus on 4 October 2012
Matong State Forest was once again the venue for the Burning Seed festival, which ran from 26 September to 2 October.
Burning Seed is the Australian version of Burning Man, the famous US festival which creates a temporary city in the Nevada desert. While it sometimes looks and frequently sounds like a music concert, the principles of the event distinguish it from almost everything else on the calendar except the best bits of Christmas, Clean Up Australia Day and Guy Fawkes Night.
The 10 principles of Burning Man focus participants on being good citizens of a short-lived community, united by common ideals rather than a common taste in music like most festivals. The music being played at the various theme camps was eclectic, from acoustic percussion through to blues and folk and, of course, the penetrating 'doof' of electronic dance music, ranging from slow dubstep through to funky house and pummeling psy-trance.
The principles shape the event into something special. For example, the principle of leaving no trace means that Burning Seed is unique in being held within a NSW state forest. Quite an achievement when you consider the focus on fire. This year the organisers consulted with the Rural Fire Service to set a date before harvest and the fire risk season.
Other principles include "radical self-expression," "radical inclusion" and "radical self-reliance" and these mean the event is, well, pretty radical. There are outrageous outfits and, for a few, no outfits at all. For some clothing was optional but for many others it was an opportunity to dazzle.
The principle of decommodification is also wild. None of the theme camp bars, food vendors or brewers of tea and ale would accept money for their goods. There were workshops in a wide range of arts and interests but there was a potency in the idea of gifting that meant that once you received a gift, you felt obligated to share your skills or talent with the greater community. It fostered a feeling of good will that was infectious, with participants actively seeking opportunities to share.
This "experiment in temporary community" used the principles in such a way to create a sense of social cohesion while encouraging self-identity and it was extremely effective. Many were attending their second or third Burning Seed and spoke of how each event saw more and more open tents or people bringing something new. Every spectator was given opportunity to perform and, with only a few hundred people, you began to see how people found roles over the weekend.
One bloke I met explained he'd picked up a hitchhiker the day before and been given a ticket to the festival. He was already planning to attend in 2013 with his daughter because he thought it was important to her education. That weekend he spent a lot of time ensuring the communal fireplace didn't go out and put on a reptile show for the Kids Camp, which probably flouted the no pets rule but was very popular.
A couple of locals from Matong enthused about Burning Seed but were concerned that people in the area didn't understand the philosophy behind the event. They observed that some local visitors had left empty beer cans on the ground rather than leaving no trace. Unless you take the time to read the principles, then it must be bewildering for some residents to understand why people travel from all over Australia to a party amongst their Cypress Pine.
Obviously burning stuff appeals to a lot of these people and the burning of the man on the Saturday (or 'roo this year) and the Temple on the Sunday, as well as all the fire twirling and incendiary sculptures almost make fire a headline feature. They are spectacular blazes but to my mind Burning Seed doesn't really have a headline act or attraction, it brings out the best in those attending. Which is why I'll be going back in 2013 and, if you're game, you should too.
Matong State Forest was once again the venue for the Burning Seed festival, which ran from 26 September to 2 October.
Burning Seed is the Australian version of Burning Man, the famous US festival which creates a temporary city in the Nevada desert. While it sometimes looks and frequently sounds like a music concert, the principles of the event distinguish it from almost everything else on the calendar except the best bits of Christmas, Clean Up Australia Day and Guy Fawkes Night.
The 10 principles of Burning Man focus participants on being good citizens of a short-lived community, united by common ideals rather than a common taste in music like most festivals. The music being played at the various theme camps was eclectic, from acoustic percussion through to blues and folk and, of course, the penetrating 'doof' of electronic dance music, ranging from slow dubstep through to funky house and pummeling psy-trance.
The principles shape the event into something special. For example, the principle of leaving no trace means that Burning Seed is unique in being held within a NSW state forest. Quite an achievement when you consider the focus on fire. This year the organisers consulted with the Rural Fire Service to set a date before harvest and the fire risk season.
Other principles include "radical self-expression," "radical inclusion" and "radical self-reliance" and these mean the event is, well, pretty radical. There are outrageous outfits and, for a few, no outfits at all. For some clothing was optional but for many others it was an opportunity to dazzle.
The principle of decommodification is also wild. None of the theme camp bars, food vendors or brewers of tea and ale would accept money for their goods. There were workshops in a wide range of arts and interests but there was a potency in the idea of gifting that meant that once you received a gift, you felt obligated to share your skills or talent with the greater community. It fostered a feeling of good will that was infectious, with participants actively seeking opportunities to share.
This "experiment in temporary community" used the principles in such a way to create a sense of social cohesion while encouraging self-identity and it was extremely effective. Many were attending their second or third Burning Seed and spoke of how each event saw more and more open tents or people bringing something new. Every spectator was given opportunity to perform and, with only a few hundred people, you began to see how people found roles over the weekend.
One bloke I met explained he'd picked up a hitchhiker the day before and been given a ticket to the festival. He was already planning to attend in 2013 with his daughter because he thought it was important to her education. That weekend he spent a lot of time ensuring the communal fireplace didn't go out and put on a reptile show for the Kids Camp, which probably flouted the no pets rule but was very popular.
A couple of locals from Matong enthused about Burning Seed but were concerned that people in the area didn't understand the philosophy behind the event. They observed that some local visitors had left empty beer cans on the ground rather than leaving no trace. Unless you take the time to read the principles, then it must be bewildering for some residents to understand why people travel from all over Australia to a party amongst their Cypress Pine.
Obviously burning stuff appeals to a lot of these people and the burning of the man on the Saturday (or 'roo this year) and the Temple on the Sunday, as well as all the fire twirling and incendiary sculptures almost make fire a headline feature. They are spectacular blazes but to my mind Burning Seed doesn't really have a headline act or attraction, it brings out the best in those attending. Which is why I'll be going back in 2013 and, if you're game, you should too.
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