Tending

Lucas and Diego's 'Tending' made me think about the communal backyard where I live in Newtown. It was established and is cared for by my neighbour (amateur Gardner) Stan; a retired Italian man in his 60s. He's generously made clear that everyone is welcome to make use of his fresh herbs/veg and enjoy the garden. It's become a place where neighbours interact with each other and relax.

Stan has no family in Australia and spends most of his time tending in the garden, I guess I've deduced that consequently as a migrant - Stan is making his 'foundations' in new soil. His gardening has somewhat helped to ground him and feel at home in a new country.

Andrew Sunley Smith addresses themes of loss and migration in 'Migratory Projects,' which is an exploration of Smith's own personal feelings of loss and belonging as a British migrant. Being quite an extensive project, other things driving the work are; consumerism, environmentalism, greed and accountability. A relevant component of the project is 'Trailer Garden project (2002-07)' where Smith has reworked a trailer into a mobile garden for the modern day migrant/nomad. So that gardens need not be left behind when people move. 'Trailer Garden Project' is also connected to a modified van ('Carrier') with similar concerns, it houses a sauna and roof-top garden. Smith states that these works explore the idea 'that we can only achieve a certain level of independence within dependence.'

http://www.sunleysmith.com/projects/trailergarden/index.html

Bookless Library

'...Debord left no doubt that situations are not to be taken as romantic ideals, but rather as the active formation of environments, a free play with urban space as playing field. In the midst of space permeated by spectacle, the Situationists sought to find − or rather invent − disruptions of the familiar.' (Raunig, 'Constructing the Situation' p.173)

After reading the above, I thought back to something I'd heard on a program named 'Not Quite Art' - written and presented by Marcus Westbury (free downloads at www.abc.net.au/tv/notquiteart/). Glaswegian artist Will Foster had an idea which was explained by Gabrielle de Vietri, while in conversation with Marcus (series1:ep3) which I found very interesting and now feel it fits well within the situationist paradigm ... I've been wanting to try 'Bookless library' out for awhile now at SCA.

'Bookless Library' idea: Find a library in your local area. Find out how many books it holds. Get enough people together to take out all those books over the duration of a week. When the library is empty of books, use it a new social space for one week, then return all the books. Thus transfiguration.'

Clichés and beatniks

'Jean-Luc Godard ... explained that it takes two to make an image.' What did he mean by this? He's saying that 'art' takes place in the dialogue created between an artwork and its viewer. Which to me suggests that if an artwork never has an audience ... it's not art. Along the lines of 'if a tree falls in the woods and no one's around, does anyone hear it?' Well, to answer that - if you're deaf, apparently not. In Jean-Luc Godard's 1964 film 'Bande á Part' there is scene where the characters engage in a minute of silence, which would be lost on a deaf audience. Not only do they become silent, but all sound is completely muted - as a sound experiment, within a french new-wave film. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I agree with Godard but also think this idea of co-dependency is a little inflexible.