OK... so who's curious?

what is this?

... if you go over to the homage blog today and look here you can see some wonderful images from the micro-world....and here for related images. My last two posts feature things found via Seed Capsules tumblr... like these ones which a quick visit will reveal more on!!!

whatever could this be?

and this

Lovely day for a bike ride I think... better run!

S 

sown...

'Sown' is borrowed from the title of a post written by Leanne at Homemade Rainbows - a Brisbane blogger who came to visit at the Randall Studio at Mt Coot-tha yesterday. Her blog is a delightful tale of living well and productively in sync with the natural world and finding beauty in the everyday world that is around.

an image from Leanne's blog

Her young children are growing up in this wonderful ambience of mud pies, camping trips and home made dinners. The kind of childhood you wish for all children essentially.
Leanne came along with son and her sister in tow and we had a wonderful time exchanging notes whilst drinking lemon myrtle tea.... made from leaves straight from the tree (and yum... it is good!)

She delivered these gorgeous postcards which I did photograph last night along with a series of other new arrivals from lovely bloggers (sorry everyone...I am burning the candle at both ends at the moment and am slow to download then post!) I will add more photos of these cards soon...maybe closer up...the top one is so detailed! Its stitched and on the right has layers of fabric sewn on the card... and a doily with seeds made of black cotton stitching. The quotes on both are memorable and I was so delighted to become custodian of these cards and meet their maker!

Leanne also took this photo of the Studio entrance .... if you go back to her blog's name up the top you can read the whole post if you wish! I was so touched by it and I'm reminded of the powerful gesture that can be made by one to another when the the small things are noted and appreciated. In the same gracious way Leanne gives ordinary things their true value at her blog she has cast also this appreciative eye on all that has been assembled in homage to the seed.  Much appreciated Leeane.

Today also brought its fair share of wonderful people... really...so much to share of the week to date. Kind support from friends, meeting with new people... and at 1pm today a special event that was very well attended with a great audience and question time. Jason Halford is Principal Seed Collector and Technologist with the local Seeds for Life project running in conjunction with the Millennium Seed Bank Project and he presented "stories form the field and lab" over a couple of hours. 

During time spent at the Lab which is on the grounds here where I am conducting the residency I have been present for a great many stories and discussions ...so I was keen to have this event take place for several reasons... most importantly for the profile it gives to seeds and the project and the issues that are raised from that. I have taken photos ... but will supply them later. I have found myself nodding off a number of times attempting to complete this post... so I will excuse myself for now - cant wait to get back with the promised photos!

Go to the 'Homage to the Seed' blog for more of what's on!

a quick getaway...

Images here are of work from a group show I'm currently participating in at Embiggen Books Gallery, Noosa. A recent post provided details on this wonderful venue on the Sunshine coast 2 hours from Brisbane. I was able to spend time with a number of friends yesterday in this great gallery/store. Finding out about the other artists was rewarding and browsing shelves laden with great titles from Science, philosophy, ecolgy to Art, design and literature kept us conversing with Warren Bonnett, the owner/director, for quite some time. All were very taken with the design and architectural details of the store, the brilliant range of contemporary titles. 

These are from Embiggen's Flickr site 
-below left is 'disperse I' , acrylic and ink on linen, 90 x 45 x 10 cm.

Lino-cuts on right : Geoff Stocks

Etchings on left: Warren Bonnett

'Coastal Reverie II' is the 120x 40 cm work on the wall - right. Ink and acrylic on linen.

On the left 3 small oval works - 'pod abstracts'  ink on canvas.

 

Paintings also by Isla Griffin

Ceramic vessels by Laura Ellis

Below: a series of images form the National Park Noosa, right next to where I stayed with friends Wednesday night

Tea Tree Beach, Noosa National Park. We swam here just on sunset after watching a Koala high up in a gum tree for a while. 

Noosa Heads, Hastings St looking towards the National Park.

If you are in Noosa this month...

Embiggen Books: where science meets art is actually a fine art gallery as well as very appealing bookstore that I discovered earlier this year when spending a weekend in Noosa ( 2 hours north of Brisbane). This is quite a find in a coastal resort area of great natural beauty which attracts many for its fine beaches, parks, waterways and regional offerings. Embiggen focuses heavily on science, philosophy, environment and art (a reflection of the owner's passions)  has an extensive program of events -  guest speakers, writers and book launches, a book club, participation in the local non-fiction writers festival and art exhibitions. Its nestled between an organic cafe & store and a german bakery cafe on Wyeba Rd, Noosaville.  More images at flickr.  Read my august posts on Noosa here and here.


Last night I burnt the midnight oil finishing some paintings to send up to the gallery for a group show on for the rest of january. As the sun came up before I'd finished my tasks this morning I have not downloaded images or achieved too much with the rest of the day. Also very hot again I was glad to hibernate inside. I'll go up next week - I'll get to see the other works also on show - and make time  to enjoy some of the Noosa ambience, if its not too busy that is!
So... if you happen to find yourself in this part of the world with a spare half hour pop in to Embiggen and have a browse ...dont forget there's excellent coffee next door!







an art show in 2009 in the gallery -artist Ilsa Griffin

fluid dynamics

Read here at New Scientist's Gallery to find out fully what this model represents. Its a satellite image of the Kurishio current, the world's second strongest current after the Gulf stream. Here, fast moving water (red) forms geometrical structures reminiscent of loops traced out by chaotic systems. (images: caroline Mendoz and Ana M Mancho)
...off on another tangent altogether, but inspired by the image above, these photos taken of water at an ocean pool are captured in their fluidity. Where the image above is a satellite photo taken at great distance the images below are frozen moments of that fluidity as recorded by my camera whilst standing next to the pool. The first 2 images below are magnified a little. The flow of forms is engrossing, even hypnotic to observe.

Keeping out of trouble in Durban , South Africa

This is the occupation the very busy and talented Neville Trickett listed on his blogger profile - 'keeping out of trouble'. If only we all kept out of trouble with this much style, wit and industriousness. I followed his eclectic saint verde digest and now have visited the new  Saint Verde Chronicles where you can watch a video about his engaging enterprise. The images here are from his Flickr photo sets - the first from his studio and the following ones are of various collections found in different sets listed here.

set: dead botanicals

set: Pollen

set: Ernest Haekel

set: Philip Taaffe

The particular sets I chose here are somewhat related in terms of the thread of botanical themes ... however there are another 48(?) sets to look at.. plus the images on the digest contain compelling material as well!

I must mention I have posted on Philip Taaffe in May here and you will find his website and studio viewings if you scroll down to the website listings on the bottom right hand side.

Art arrived here with science by tagging along...

Images: top 2 taken by Norwegian sailor Oyvind Tangen on a research ship 66o miles north of the Antarctic... found at Inhabitat  this month. Inhabit.com is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future -well worth a look!


The 3 Images below were taken by Steve Nicol - found on the Australian Antarctic Divison website . For the curious click on the website's Arts Fellowship  program to view websites of participating artists like Stephen Eastaugh where you can read his Intransit  archive of journeys to Antarctica and beyond.


I have borrowed words for the title of this post from the 2009 Intransit journal entry where Eastaugh  discusses his experience of being in this location in the role of artist. Science he suggests is the main reason people come to this continent...art tags along...mostly in the form of photography.
I was interested to read here there is a recently published Antarctic English dictionary formed from science, acronyms, slang, Inuit and other borrowed words...all required to describe this icy continent.

oldest living things in the world - at The Long Now

Published September 29th, 2009 on The Long Now blog was a post titled Oldest Living Things in the World which is the name of the blog by photographer Rachel Sussman, presenting the fascinating research she conducts  travelling the world to document the oldest living things. Got to her blog to learn more on what her concerns are.

The Long Now foundation (quoting from About Long Now) 'was established in 1996 to develop the Clock and Library projects, as well as to become the seed of a very long-term cultural institution. This foundation wants to provide a counterpoint to today's "faster/cheaper" mind set and promote "slower/better" thinking. We hope to creatively foster responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years'.

Interestingly the name was coined by Brian Eno, one of the founding board members upon moving to New York where he found that "here" and "now" meant "this room" and "this 5 minutes" as opposed to the larger here and now he was used to in England. The foundation adopted 'the long now' as their title as they try to stretch out what people consider as now.Great reading for anyone interested in these ideas!

Brian Eno's 77 Million paintings 

Lost Bees in the Biosphere

Art installation: Lost Bees in the Biosphere by Anna Cooke and Rozina Suliman

Rozina Suliman with the booklet put together by the 2 artists to accompany their work.

Today I met an innovative young artist,  Rozina Suliman,  who co-ordinated Brisbane-based Environmental Art Collective's  ART / PLAY  / SCIENCE 2009 - a  4 day Art Exhibition at White Canvas Space at 26 Church St, Fortitude Valley. If you are in the area you still have till 6pm Tuesday to see this show...2 full days viewing left  (10 am - 6 pm MON & TUES). The space itself was wonderful and the show freshly conceived with a concentrated effort over some months of meetings with artists to develop a dialogue out of which the work was realised. This produced some noteworthy results avoiding it  becoming a mish mash of random works with a unifying title. Instead Rozina's co-ordination and curating skills are to be praised for successfully bringing viewers a rewarding experience, well worth  the effort of seeking out this rather new art space.

Discussing the process behind the show itself as well as Rozina's work was most engaging. Anne Cooke, her collaborator with the installation, is a PhD student in Social and Environmental Psychology. Lino printing is just one of the art forms she works with and has utilised in this work with Rozina who focuses on media and installations in her art practice as well as being Art Curator at Brisbane venue Top Floor.

Around 16 artist were involved in this show...I would have liked to mention the work of these artists as well...unfortunately ...early start in the morning!

Love this....Pestival!

This caught my eye from the Arts and Ecology blog this morning. A festival at the South Bank Centre in London celebrating insects in art and the art of being an insect. The post is worth a look to take in the clever programming which is international, inter-disciplinary, and community-led. There's something on Biomimicry from Architect Michael Pawlyn, fashion, comedy etc etc. This PESTIVAL sounds amazing. Neuroscientist Beau Lotto creating a large bee hive in the Queen 'Bee' Hall. 80% of creatures on earth are insects according to the blurb...I'm not friends with some species...but I would be very curious to take in this event.

*For a link to Michael Pawlyn's Architecture go to this brilliant website Exploration. Read about Janine Benyus and Biomimicry here.

image from Explorations website: courtesy of NASA

first day of spring!

Its the first day of Spring in this part of the globe, and a lovely morning at that!  Just visited BibliOdyssey, a wonderful blog with brilliantly researched material which never fails to amaze me, and found some interesting links to Chemistry in Art and other fascinating sites...all science related. Having visited Embiggen Books on the weekend (see previous post) my mind is tuned to Science and Art today. Sol Le Witt: a Wall Drawing retrospective was referred to ...so I have just watched a Timelapse of a wall drawing here.  This artist's Wall Drawing 766 (below) is created using colour ink washes, first installed in Paris. It is one of 98 such works shown here. Quite a number can be watched on Timelapse.

Back to BibliOdyssey, today's Sept I post is titled Streamlining and is full of intriguing images... and details re the work. At the conclusion of the post are the links to Other things - the first point is Chemistry in Art where I discovered some curious sites....like Rhizome.org's Tiny Sketch 200 Character Processing Competition. Click here and investigate these (literally) moving images. Some really were engaging. Have a look at Lib4tech's portfolio.

    

   

Images from Lib4tech's portfolio

If you were to ask me if I were a big fan of Science I would have to say increasingly so. Once upon a time my concerns were focused primarily on discovering Art through revered artists, not necessarily because I was enamored with them all, but because I was fascinated with the artist's life, working process, subject matter etc and wanted to know more. Many phases and preoccupations later, awareness and appreciation of the profound complexity of life I find can often be enhanced through exposure to imagery and ideas from physics, or any number of scientific realms. An appreciation for coastal environments, or botanical species, or knowing how moss grows or why certain foods, plants, herbs etc are so good for us.... this knowledge comes through crossing into  other dimensions of thought and research. This investigation may not necessarily evident in all the work...bit it informs and expands the sense of engagement with the subject.

Fearing what we don't know and understand is a mistake easily made...certain scientific endeavours have led to profound calamity, massive ethical debates and irrevocable change. Another reason I believe we cannot turn away. Discernment is an often times inconvenient but essential part of maturing into fuller awareness and participation in this complex life... and dealing with complexity and paradox is something I believe the maturing artist has to contend with and respond to... and perhaps offer as a gift in a sense to one's community.

Not every scientist at work,  novelist writing, designer, innovator, artist who paints, restaurant that opens its door is going to serve us well. Discernment plays a huge part in sorting what is of value, what could be of value with more time, effort, understanding, knowledge and what is left.

best weekend finds...

I know I led you to believe that I was going on a coastal getaway if you read my previous post and that I showed images of spectacular coastline as if I would be jumping on a board and catching the waves for 3 days. Well...swim I did, and a (bit of a) game of tennis was had, even some time in a spa!  There were walks along river and beach...but they were squeezed in with visits to galleries, markets and the two best bookshops one could imagine. Instead of the usual snaps of water views I bring you some pics of these 2 magical bookstores I discovered that in themselves were worth the trip north.

On Saturday  I headed to the famous Eumundi markets where one is spoilt for choice re breakfast and treats of every kind. Buckwheat crepes with banana and a little caramel sauce were definitely designed to please! Of course I started with a dutiful fresh vegetable juice. After a trawl of market stalls I headed in the direction of BerkelouW Books... having forgotten a beloved Sydney Book Store ( an old fav of mine) had opened up here a while back. New titles out front of store and a large section of the best secondhand books and rare. I found some to marvel at, but when it was time to leave settled happily on a great 1987 title - "An Art of our Own: The Spiritual in Twentieth Century Art" by Roger Lipsey, a highly readable, academic survey that was quite a find!

Sunday morning started with an early morning dash to the Noosa Farmers Market  as it was already like a hot summers day even though still technically we have just come to the end of winter here! I was there only long enough to purchase some very fresh home grown produce for dinner. Stopping nearby for coffee I was delighted to discover the surprising and definitely wonderful new Bookstore and Fine Art Gallery  Embiggen books with its subtitle- Where science meets art. This place was cool, just dark and intimate enough to provide comfort after the heat outside...and very, very stylish in a so understated way! A great website can put you in the picture far more adequately than I can here...various events are frequently held here...the place no doubt operates as a very special hub of activity and the meeting of minds.

 I was soon immersed in the titles and adding to my wish list by the minute. In the end I sauntered off dreaming of all the books to come back for another time...utterly impressed at the fresh and exciting range of titles in stock. Definitely a store to come back to!

 This strenuous start to the day(!) sent me to the pool with my new book which I did read in between naps and swims! Time for a proper sleep now...a bit jaded after such a good time away!

Noosa farmers market

go to their website here.

Mapping the Marvellous ... and Odder

I love reading Mapping the Marvellous because you generally travel somewhere quite curiously engrossing. The image above is from a place called Odder, a fabulously interesting looking wunderkammer bar in Manchester. Loved the clocks. Todays post titled Facts - July 29th, 09 - is a must if you wish to discover some quirky facts about animals...did you know ants always fall over on their right side when intoxicated! And Elephants are the only animals that cant jump! The links on this blog are also outstanding. Take a peek!