We decided to go to old Parliament House last Election Day and have a look around the building while we were there. In the House of Representatives our son commented on the Greek pattern in the plastering on the ceiling. We assume that the representation was from Greek culture that had the earliest forms of democracy at work?? For average Joe's like us I found this writing interesting - A short course in Political Logic (conceptualguerilla.com) - which begins with this Greek democracy explanation.
After reading this I question the reason why I do anything. The reason why any of us do anything. When we stay true to our reasons I guess everything else just follows. If our reasons are good then good follows regardless of the hurdles. Bad reasons...bad follows. This is just common sense or logic. Even logic is loaded with so many different interpretations. Then there is this from Leonardo's Notebooks ((Edited by H. Anna Suh. Published by Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers New York, 2005). Part I Beauty, Reason and Art. 1. On Painting, p.12)). Painting surpasses all human works by the subtle considerations belonging to it. The eye, which is called the window of the soul, is the principal means by which the central sense can most completely and abundantly appreciate the infinite works of nature; and the ear is the second, which aquires dignity by hearing of the things the eye has seen. If you, historians, or poets, or mathematicians had not seen things with your eyes you could not report of them in writing. And if you, O poet, tell a story with your pen, the painter with his brush can tell it more easily, with simpler completeness and less tedious to be understood. And if you call painting dumb poetry, the painter may call poetry blind painting. Now which is the worst defect? To be blind or dumb? We are all of the above at different points in our lives. Just try to keep returning to our true reasoning? Lastly, lining up to place our vote at Old parliament house, there was a sculpture gifted to Australia in 1927 (again I didn't take a photo of the sculpture but I did of the description...I am getting slack in this department). It was called The Greek Mother (formerly incorrectly titled The Spartan Mother) 1904-06 by George Tinworth. The description goes The Greek Mother was given to Australia in 1927, the year Old Parliament House opened. The inspiration for the work was taken from the 1882 Edmund Gosse poem The Sons of Cydippe,and it shows a Greek mother farewelling her son as he leaves to go to battle. Many women of ancient Greece played an important role in their communities, but did not have an official voice in the running of their society. They could not vote as only free men were considered citizens. A person's ability to have a say in the affairs of their country has changed dramatically over the past 2000 years. So too has what is expected of them as citizens - for example, the responsibility of voting or defending the state. My ability to look and hear is as important as an actual voice, maybe? I am still yet to post my image on the graffiti wall down the road. My daughter has done her own sketches (lower left corner) to make her own stencils. I am so pleased she wants to do this so I will wait until she is ready too and we can do it together.
Some of the other objects came from a little shop front in Alderley Brisbane right near the train station. I went in and was told that the owner had just died. The shop was packed from wall to wall, floor to ceiling with objects as old as from my grandparents era onwards. Hoarding in its most beautiful form. A few months on there was a skip truck and it was all taken away. At least I got a few little bits to honour that mans lifetime habit even though I didn't know him it was clearly his thing! He may not have sold them to me had he been alive?? I do wonder what he would have been like to chat to.
I visited this space a couple of days ago and didn't take any photographs. If I get back there before the exhibition finishes I will get one of a piece in the exhibition The Encyclopedia of Forgotten Things (put on by the University of Canberra Faculty of Arts and Design). The piece is called The Promise of Transparency (2016) by Caroline Fisher. It was very simple and I can't stop thinking about it. I am going to write her words here...I can remove this if anyone has a problem with me using her words and work here.
Transparency is the new 'buzz word' in the 21st century journalism ethics. With low levels of trust in journalism, the tsunami of online information sources, and the ability of every citizen to be a publisher, journalism scholars argue that increased transparency of editorial decision making, as well as disclosure of personal values and interests by reporters, will increase public trust in journalism and help secure its future. However, research shows that attempts at greater journalistic transparency have not necessarily resulted in increased trust and in some cases greater transparency might have the opposite effect. This ambivalence toward the ideal of transparency is reflected in this sculpture. The sculpture has been made from recovered glass blocks which have been cleaned, reused and re-imagined as a glass sculpture. The undulating glass surfaces tease the viewer with a promise of transparency, but never fully disclose or expose. Her words could be applied to so many situations. Transparency is the word hey! The aim is to get each layer richer. My children wanted to know why I was painting toilet paper. I should have made it longer. Ha! I am so enjoying this space of freedom from thought at the moment. It is my job to soak up my surroundings and when that new object or concept or idea stumbles across my path I can move into interpreting it my own way. I feel really good at the moment so it would probably be useful (for me) to do another self portrait to reflect my mood and emotions and see what marks come out during this phase. Anyway above is a couple of still life set-ups our lovely facilitator Alicia Mozqueira has started us on. We have around 1-2 hours to work on them and it is 1-2 hours of bliss. Alicia has a solo art opening tonight 4 August at 6 p.m. at beaver galleries 81 Denison Street, Deakin ACT. Now she makes oil paint work!
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