Our varnish wattle got blown over
The current location wasn’t ideal, as it meant walking off the path and caught on the clothesline, but I am sorry we won’t be watching the puffy blooms herald the start of another spring.
Vale varnish wattle
Live foley sound
It was a series of invitations that led me outside my comfort zone
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.
Photo by my brother Will Macleod.
Railway crossing
One of the things I like about my suburb is the proximity to trains
It's wild how diesel locomotives cross the road on the way to the supermarket and surprising there are no level crossing boom gates.
The train blasts the airhorns and pushes into the traffic, because who is going to argue with one of these colossal carriages?
Australian culture
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.
Justice for all
"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.
Recent project
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
“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.
Switching gears
Recently saw this observation about writing and thought it's something that extends to many creative pursuits
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".
Best cheese lately
This has been a favourite in recent months and I was happy to find it half-price at the stupormarket.
I am so grateful to live in an age when truffle has become so plentiful.
(You can find it flavouring chips!)
Worst chips ever
Normally I encourage brands to be adventurous and I think they've done a good job of raising tolerance for spice.
However, the ramen flavour is undefined and a poor representation of the dish.
Door of Knowledge
Flashing
It was the first class where I felt confident to flirt with the model, but nothing could prepare me for the eye contact.
Usually the model is staring past me and not smirking about the muzak playing Duo Lipa as an instrumental.
When I get to the point of having my life flash before my eyes, I expect I'll see a lot of Jo.
Asleep at the handlebar
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.
Air friar
"A Benedictine monk named Eilmer attached handmade wings to his arms and legs and launched himself from the tower of Malmesbury Abbey. According to his monastic successor, the influential 12th-century historian William of Malmesbury, Eilmer was inspired by the myth of Daedalus and Icarus, which he believed to be literally true. His experiment was surprisingly successful, though it had brutal consequences: He soared over 600 feet before smashing back into the earth, shattering both legs on impact.
(“He used to relate as the cause of his failure his forgetting to provide himself a tail,” William wrote.) Eilmer may have been the first person to travel any meaningful distance through the sky, but he remained on the ground for the rest of his life."
(“He used to relate as the cause of his failure his forgetting to provide himself a tail,” William wrote.) Eilmer may have been the first person to travel any meaningful distance through the sky, but he remained on the ground for the rest of his life."
Altered content
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:
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.
Portraits for the ages
This week my newsfeed has featured painted portraits
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).
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.
Dead Heart of the MIA
This is a piece that was short-listed in a recent competition
“In Whitton they don’t bury their dead -- they walk the streets,” said old Bill Clyne at Christmas lunch.
My partner's grandfather had dementia but remembered me the few times we met.
Anyway, it's the sort of introduction that makes a town memorable.
Whitton is the oldest settlement in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.
It grew between large sheep stations including Yanco, Tubbo and Kooba.
When the railway arrived in the late 19th Century it changed names from Hulong to avoid confusion with Howlong.
It had a number of pubs and businesses until a fire in the early 20th Century.
Only a fraction of the main street remains.
These days there are only a few places to shop and the museum never seems to be open.
There is a Common, a bush block on the edge of town that's thick with remnant gum trees.
It's the Common where it feels like the dead wander about.
If you're willing to walk around the watering hole and the cattle that are often stocked within the barbed-wire borders.
Particularly among the trees behind the old courthouse building.
Some of the old grey boxes show cultural scars.
They're marks made by Wiradjuri people to create tools including coolamon, a kind of platter for carrying items between campsites.
A couple of scars look like shields and I think they're a poignant reminder of the Frontier War fought here in the 1830s.
The Common offers a glimpse at a more timeless Riverina landscape.
A shady billabong among the circular shapes cut into the rough trunks of the old eucalyptus trees.
It feels like ghosts might be found here and I have heard they've been caught.
When I worked for Landcare I heard the story from Murrumbidgee Irrigation's environmental officer.
She told me the Common was available for locals to store their animals, such as the cows I saw.
However, the booking system had been reviewed after it was found that names of dead people had been listed.
While the dead haven't been seen walking the streets, they have been recorded in Whitton Common.
Under the Silver Lake
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.
Two steps
This weekend I formed a band and wrote a song
I'd started with the chorus riff last weekend, when I was playing guitar while watching TV and thought it would sound good through a fuzz pedal.
When the Disquiet Junto instructions arrived I set to work, writing lyrics and structuring a rough version of the song with MIDI.
Then I played along with that and gave myself three takes on each instrument.
These parts were combined and, as the song took shape, I needed less editing.
The lyrics formed around the line that I used to remember the riff, and they go:
I am ready to unlearn almost everything
board up the windows of this building
a Do Not Disturb sign hangs on the door
while I’m sleeping through all your phone calls
Life’s like a stranger all over again
the most beautiful thing is finding a friend
going around, ups and downs, no truth
feels like my life plays in a loop
Whenever it feels like I'm taking
two steps forward
I know I’ll be making
one step back
As a kid I’d always say that I’m almost done
so I’ve been training for this moment and then some
this is a time when I never complete stuff
leave the edges uncut, torn and rough
stop imagining myself sinking like a brick
let’s throw it all out and see what will stick
what if every movement was strengthening?
I want to be a building that bends with the wind
Stop the silence
It's become a joke to say "not all men"
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.
The way forward is to stop the silence.
Calling across generations
My eldest son Oscar phoned last night
He's been studying at a university in the city for over a year now.
"I need you to talk with this guy about synthesisers," he began.
Of course I agreed, but it seemed unusual. "Is there a reason why?"
"It'll settle a bet," said my son.
Now I was interested. "What's at stake? Is there money involved?"
"No," he said. "Just my pride. I need you to talk to prove that we don't sound alike."
A memory flashed through my head of being a bit younger than he is now and answering the phone in my father's house.
My father's friend mistook me for him and asked an embarrassing question. "Want to make it three nights in a row?"
I remember smiling broadly, saying "This is Jason" and savouring the deflated tone of the request to get my father.
However, this was a different conversation and I still couldn't help but be amused how some things haven't changed.
"Pretend to be Oscar," whispered his mother to me as she smiled across the room.
A new voice came on the line and said "Okay" as though it were an introduction.
I smiled and pitched my voice up a semitone, then animated it in the way I have heard Oscar talk.
"Hello there! How is your evening, good fellow?"
There were a few laughs over the shoulder of the caller and smiles in the room where I stood.
"Can I interest you in a synthesiser? I have more than enough and would be happy to acquaint you."
By now the laughs were overlapping and giggles had begun to echo around me.
"I think I can hear it," said the voice on the line.
Then I heard Oscar's friend Lily in the background.
She had called a couple of times and mistaken me for him, then sounded embarrassed when I said I'd get my son for her.
"Thanks Jason," she said through a smile big enough to be heard across a room and down a phone line.
I think Oscar lost the bet and I hope his pride isn't hurt.
Timeless
At first I thought it was ironic, but now I'm wondering if it is a message that's perfectly suited for this holiday home where I'm currently residing.
Nutrigrain
This reminds me of a friend who listed a piece on Ebay because it looked like E.T.
It sold and the buyer didn't pay, but TV shows started a bidding war for an interview on their programs!
Just be
It amused me to see this ad
Yet the message suggests there's something inherent in being a surname!
I suppose it's one area in life that's prescribed.
Gentle Sentinel
Yesterday I had an urge to write a song and the following lyrics arrived on the page
As river red gums placed on the plains for many centuries
my life as a eucalypt that knows the river flows across a wide red land
in squiggles of creeks, still of billabongs and in hills of sand
waters have wandered and cast aside the few sentinels that stand
Along these ways Gugabul the mighty cod is known to journey home
over one hundred kilometres to a river bend they know
do the fish know sometimes we seek a truth when the answer will wait
at a place we've known and in absence has grown my love
absence has grown my love
Gentle sentinel
standing through time
roots laid in the dark
holder of the heart
In darkness of the soil our roots are intertwined
through the vastness of the ground I found a reservoir await
with my fingers I create the boundary of my physical state
cupped as a vessel sailing the curves of the hills we overtake
Hot winds blow with the hard light of the sun
the excited chatter of birds that know no one
don't let jealousy tremble your limbs as a leaf would shake
you only need to fear what the axe can take my love
fear what the axe can take my love
Three Body Problem
Let me say how much I enjoyed the books and the Chinese TV show.
The Netflix version reminds me that, like Avatar, they're not afraid to change scenes up.
In this case the result seems a bit like Friends, but they're attractive physicists who argue about working for the military industrial complex and don't have threesomes!
Actually, I think it's obvious the American version has removed everything Chinese except the bits the Chinese originally buried in the book to appease censors.
In particular the scenes from the Cultural Revolution are foregrounded at the expense of detailing the character that starts an alien invasion.
The Panama scene was everything I hoped to see, but the opportunities to show phsicists grappling with questions of science has been diminished.
It's not surprising, they've shrunk 30 hours of the Chinese adaptation into eight hours for the Netflix version and ended up covering ground from the second book.
New art
The theme for the Leeton art competition this year is "dust and rain"
It's great to be part of the exhibition.
Nova Lisa
This image appeared in my Facebook Memories today
Leonardo spent years working on the Mona Lisa and during that time he also made a number of discoveries about the human anatomy.
The artist might be Hannes Kreuzer and I appreciate the way he's captured some of the diversity in Da Vinci's output.
Are you being served?
David Henry Taylor recently returned to the counters at Taylor Brothers Store in Griffith Pioneer Park Museum
It's a reminder of the times before self-service supermarkets and a recent visitor shared their recollection of working downstairs to package stock for sale.
Avatar the latest story bender
The show feels like a remix of the original cartoon story.
It works for me in a way like the Zelda games all begin to blur as the story is retold over and over again.
These days that deja vu-like telling is explained by a conceit like the multiverse, but I wonder if it hints at a Dreamtime sense that these things have always happened and will always happen.
It might be that dramatic arc that's laid out with Sozin's comet and other celestial movements that accompany the arrival of the Avatar.
The story always had a grandeur beyond the Nickelodeon format back when I first started watching the animated series with my firstborn son nearly two decades ago.
I've revisited the series with successive children and there's been a pleasure in rediscovering the characters who populate the universe of the elemental kingdoms.
My kids didn't take to the Netflix series but I thought the action sequences were a massive improvement on the animation.
They bristled with sacrilege in the mergings of half-hour stories into the new hour-long episodes.
Yet every reworking of the characters seemed to make sense within the grander scope of the live-action drama.
At first the casting of Katara felt wrong and then I realised it made more sense for her to be closer to Aang's age.
Likewise Uncle Iroh took a little getting used to but, in the subtle details like when he handled the game tile, I gained a new appreciation for the role of Pai Sho in the Order of the White Lotus.
I didn't think I'd like the Netflix version after being horrified by the film version, yet now I want to see a seriousness taken with the political subplot in the Earth Kingdom.
Artist in Residence
The Artist in Residence for NSW 2024 has been chosen and it is my pleasure to tell you it is Jason Richardson (Bassling) from Leeton. When told Jason wrote:
"It's an honour to be recognised by my peers with this title and I am wonder-filled with many thoughts and emotions, particularly those wondering questions that are known to punctuate the quiet moments in the life of a small town creative
"It prompts me to reflect on an observation from another regional artist, Stanislav Sharifullin, who said ..."it’s hard to stay professional when you’re surrounded by philistine stereotypes. People think you’re a weirdo if your happiness doesn’t depend on the size of your bank account. So you must have balls of steel to do arts. It’s not that bad if you have a few like-minded people around, though.”"
"I am grateful for those like-minded people and hope to raise the profile of all of our state's happy weirdos in 2024."
We look forward to seeing what Jason can do on his residency.
Meta won't save journalism
It seems ridiculous to expect Facebook to pay media companies for content that's published behind paywalls
Meta were stupid for giving money to them, since now every other government are asking for millions to pay for media companies that couldn't make the leap to a new paradigm.
When classifieds went online, the business model for journalism broke.
It's a serious concern for democracies and evident that no one is watching some areas of government.
Yet you've got to wonder if that's any of Facebook's business?
Everything exists in history
As I neared the end of my first degree, it became obvious that I'd missed an opportunity
Many of my friends at ANU were majoring in History and I began to realise the scope it provides.
My favourite major at the time was Cultural Studies (it was the 1990s!) and that subject was liberating for the breadth of analyses and interests, yet history encompasses all subjects.
"Everything exists in history," I said to my mates and it's a realisation that few seem to have noted.
(I recently googled the phrase and there was only one mention other than my own.)
Now that I work within a museum, I often wonder why more institutions don't act on the opportunities available to reflect this broad scope.
So yesterday I took the opportunity to present the Southern NSW Heritage Group with a survey of creative projects from around our region.
These are public outcomes that engage with history in various media, both inside and outside of museums.
I began with some context by outlining my background and interests, particularly a key lesson from my career working in public relations that human interest stories are effective and often affecting.
A lot of my work as a curator at Griffith Pioneer Park Museum involves putting a human face on history.
People can't help but look for faces and it will often bring into focus experiences as a way of giving context for an item.
This includes poetry and it's a style that provides an example of how writing in museums could be done differently.
There are many layers of meaning available in poetry and I often think back to this quote from Harrison Young.
(As an aside I noted that not many people have heard of Mr Young, who left the Board of the Commonwealth Bank and no longer gets mentioned in the Australian Financial Review for writing erotic fiction. I think the latter is great because everyone should have a creative outlet!)
One project that brought creative writing to regional museums was the Encounters program run by Orana Arts.
They recruited a group who were mentored by Ruth Little to produce a book that includes a range of styles, from an essay to poetry.
Ruth crammed a huge number of consideratons into our heads during a two-day workshop at Port Macquarie and the photo shown here was taken by project coordinator Andrew Glassop.
I thought it would be easy to write about Pioneer Park, having worked there for a couple of years, and my creative non-fiction piece led me back into the role of curator.
Another project I shared was Leeton Memories, which I developed for the not-for-profit organisation Red Earth Ecology.
Shown here is Cynthia Arel, better known for her work as a designer for stage and screen, who interpreted the memories of Julie Maytom.
You can sorta see the sign in the lower left-hand corner that showed the QR code which linked to the recording of Julie.
I was surprised how often I'd pass the Leeton Memories displays and find people were listening to the recordings at these links, but it's clear that audiences are more familiar with this technology since COVID-19.
This used the Cut-up Technique to investigate hidden histories, providing an interactive exhibit that blurred the line between artist and audience while gently questioning perspectives.
The latter presented images from the past in the present day locations around the Park's grounds and coincided with Griffith's centenary celebrations.
Kate made an observation that it can be a challenge for museums to engage audiences:
“Maybe we read a little about it and think about that object’s place in history but putting an artist’s perspective on it adds a different layer.
“It can make us think about some deeper themes, some deeper connections to history, and I think that’s what this exhibition does through the stories it tells us.”
It was fortuitous that on the morning of my presentation I read that people will spend "around 27 seconds" reading the information accompanying an exhibit.
And it was wonderful to be introduced at that time to this cartoon by Lynda Barry that I quickly incorporated to conclude my presentation.I think it shows a connection that can be rewarding when visiting an exhibition and believe this is something that curators should aspire to achieve.
There were lots of questions afterwards and I had an opportunity to tell the crowd from regional museums to "embrace the freak" when a weirdo like me comes along with an idea.
And, any artists reading this, please consider reaching out to your local history group as you might find it advantageous to have the support of an incorporated community group when preparing a funding application.
I'd rather knot
It was outside a house that appeared to be a wattle and daub construction, so probably old as well as old-fashioned.
Birdlife at the Museum
One of the things that surprises me most about working in Griffith is the variety of birds
As someone who grew up among the Brindabellas, there's a deep sense of satisfaction about seeing the hills rise around me on the drive to work.
It starts with three gentle crests along Irrigation Way after one turns north past Whitton.
Scenic Hill is another of these increasing landmarks and from there I can see they become mountains like Binya, Bingar and Brogden in the nearby Cocoparra National Park.
Griffith Pioneer Park Museum's grounds on the Hill feature a mix of older grey box trees and younger cypress pines, which provide shade for the gardens maintained by a group of volunteers.
On these branches and among the flower beds I get glimpses of communities of birds.
There's a family of magpies and over recent months I've watched as they teach an offspring to be wary of me.
Mallee ringneck parrots have also been breeding and they used a hollow in the grey box near the Goolgowi Train Station for a while.
Earlier this year I observed a parent showing their bird where to find a meal from a succulent, which might've been a pigface.
In previous years a college of noisy apostle birds could be heard making a mess by tearing off plant limbs.
This season might be the first that the Museum has been visited by white-browed babblers.
My manager Jenny reckons she'd never seen them at Pioneer Park before and it was good to have assistance from Jo and her bird books to identify them.
These babblers seem to share their call with the grey-crowned variety, which Wikipedia notes has earned them names like dog-bird, barker and barking-bird.
They will share a cute "ruff" sound excitedly with each other, so I found myself describing it as a canine-esque noise.
You can hear it in this short video I made when a babbler got lost in the Wine & Irrigation Museum building
Another recent observation was a trio of tawny frogmouths sitting in a cypress pine near the Griffith Hospital building.
It's great to see such a variety of birds and so different to those at home in Leeton, although I'm often frustrated by my inability to get a good photo using the mobile phone supplied by Council.
However, this iphone has been great for recording my duets with pied butcherbirds.
You can see more of my photos at https://shotwildlife.blogspot.com/
Ducks in a row
A friend pointed out the ducks' shadows seem off and it prompted me to observe that sometimes the ducks appear in a row, but sometimes it's an illusion.
Sometimes things are a lot worse than they appear.
FM3 Buddha Machine
You can probably guess how the soothing drones from a couple of Buddha Machines will interact and help with sleep when confronted with multiple sound systems shaking the earth and vibrating air molecules.
One of the best lessons my father taught me was to put on a radio when nights were too noisy to sleep.
The
FM3 loops provided a sound to focus on, rather than having my ear
wandering the paddock and becoming annoyed by the sound systems that
drift in and out of time and gratingly never agree on a musical key.
It was surprising how well my partner and I slept as the ground rumbled and people partied through the night.
I ended up buying one for my mother out-law and she used it to sleep on her travels.
The
latter editions of the FM3 Buddha Machine had the advantage of being
louder and adjusting pitch, but mine didn't seem as robust as the
earlier model.
I'm hoping to buy a replacement whenever they are stocked in Australia again.
Rotating
It was good to share a meal with the group and encourage them to be part of the Museum's Action Day event on Good Friday.
(They seemed a bit deflated when I said the Lions Club look after the sausage sizzle!)
It was an engagement that followed from talking at an event celebrating the centenary of Rotary's sister organisaton Inner Wheel last month, although at that one they asked I discuss Griffith in the 1920s.
There have been a series of events that make me feel as though I'm returning to events from 2017 through returning to the role of Curator at the Museum.
As the song says, "it's all just a little bit of History repeating"!
Invasion of Australia Day
Thirty years ago the 26 January became a public holiday
In recent years the celebration of Australia Day has been met with increasing recognition that the continent had owners prior to becoming a British colony.
Today I'm pondering if Australia Day would be called Invasion Day regardless of the date because the question of sovereignty remains unanswered.
I believe it's this question that was not satisfactorily addressed in the referendum last year, as many First Nations weren't assured that legal recognition in the Australian Constitution was tantamount to accepting the legitimacy of the document and undermining the need for treaties.
My recollection is the increased funding for Australia Day events saw a rise in patriotism.
Over the years the Big Day Out began to be characterised by people wearing the Australian flag like a cape, for example.
I seem to remember that was one reason given by the concert organisers to hold the event on a different day, but it had also grown to be two concerts in Sydney.
As the population of Australia increasingly recognises a First Nations identity, I expect the question of sovereignty will become louder.
There is a need for our country to reconcile the national narrative, but it will always mean different things to different people.
For me it always was and always will be...
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