Melbourne, Fourth Time Around

Actually, I have lost count of the number times I have been to Melbourne in the past five years. It is at least four times but it could be my fifth or sixth visit. But hey, who’s counting, right? Each time I have come here to house sit for friends, who take the opportunity to enjoy a summer break elsewhere.

Each time I come back, I like to return to locations I have enjoyed on previous visits. Places like the Melbourne Museum, the ArtsCentre, the National Gallery of Victoria, ACMI (the Australian Centre for the Moving Image) at Federation Square, and of course many other places.

HOTHAM STREET LADIES

This time my first trip into the city took me as always, to Federation Square, and since it was Saturday, I went straight to the Atrium where every Saturday numerous booksellers from around the city display their second hand titles to a constant flow of willing buyers and interested browsers. Right next to the Atrium is the Ian Potter Centre: National Gallery of Victoria, Australia. I popped into the gallery, but decided not to do the rounds of the various exhibition halls. I confined myself to several large, colourful installations on display in the foyer of the gallery. These sat under the collective title: At Home with the Hotham Street Ladies. The installations were created by five female artists who go under the name, Hotham Street Ladies.

Above: A typical suburban lounge room setting with a difference. Each of the major pieces of furniture are here adorned with individually hand crafted icing fashioned to resemble pieces of pizza (and the box the pizza came in), cigarette butts, home furnishings, and other items.

Above: What appears to be a multicoloured floor covering on closer inspection (below) is an installation consisting of thousands of individually placed elements ‘woven’ together from ordinary icing coloured to give the impression of carpet fibre.

In an artist statement on display at the exhibition the group state: “We like to make art that is interesting, funny and even a little bit disgusting. We take old fashioned activities such as cake decorating and handicrafts, and make them fresh and new.“ The statement goes on to explain that the work was inspired by the house they used to share in Hotham Street, Collingwood.

Above: I particularly liked this installation, because it reminded me of the many family gatherings  which always left assorted crockery and tables covered with the detritus of long, wholesome, home cooked meals. Incredibly, all the ‘food’ on the table is made from coloured icing.

Above: The title board for the installation consists of hundreds of small icing sugar candies (see detail below) that are literally good enough to eat. One can only wonder at the patience and fortitude of the artists as they slowly and methodically created each piece of icing, hand coloured it, and carefully attached every piece in place.

The installation is on display until March 2014. I wonder if we are allowed to eat the icing once the exhibition is over?

More Information

Hotham Street Ladies…

Hotham Street Ladies Blog…

National Gallery of Victoria…

Have A Little Sympathy

L-R: Ray Smith, Istvan Nemeth, Julian Barnett, John Appleby

So what did I do on my first full day in Melbourne? I spent much of it uploading video clips to my YouTube page.

I admit that it may not seem like the most exciting thing to do on a house sitting vacation, but I was ‘taking care of business’, so to speak. During the afternoon and evening of December 1, 2013, I filmed the Sympathy Orchestra, one of many great local Adelaide bands during their regular gig at the Whitmore Hotel. As a long time fan of the group, I filmed the complete performance, and promised to edit and upload the tunes to my page at YouTube. This process is now complete, and you can watch and listen to what I consider to be one of Australia’s best rock ensembles.

For me, what make the Sympathy Orchestra so unique is that they perform instrumental arrangements only. There are no lyrics to get in the way of the instrumentation, and no ego driven lead singer prancing about front and centre stage, trying to draw the audience’s attention to himself exclusively. Julian Barnett is the principal composer, although each member of the quartet add their own contribution and stamp to every tune. Some of these tunes are relatively short at around five minutes in length, while others power on for more than ten minutes. Some build slowly to gigantic crescendo’s, while other maintain slow, thoughtful rhythms throughout.

Julian Barnett is one of those guitarists that play with his whole body. One of the best examples of this is when the band is roaring towards the end of the tune, Flex ‘Em. Julian is in constant motion as he alternatively thrashes his guitar or bends multiple strings in order to wring every last note out of them. His face contorts with effort and emotion, while his feet rise and fall in a dance that tries to stay grounded while at the same time wanting to break free from the floor he is standing on. I also love to watch drummer John Appleby working his kit like a man possessed. Watch the brief smiles and quick glances he throws towards Julian Barnett as he plys his drum sticks from the eight minute mark in this great instrumental piece. Take a look at Flex ‘em now.

Julian Barnett has been leading the group for many years, and I consider him to be one of the best guitarists in Adelaide. Heck, he is one of the best guitarists in Australia, and I’m sure he can hold his own with some of the best guitarists in the world. The other members of Sympathy Orchestra are no slouches on their chosen instruments either. John Appleby (drums/percussion), Istvan Nemeth (bass guitars), and Ray Smith on keyboards, have been playing together with Julian Barnett for many years, and the easy camaraderie the group displays on and off the stage is a pleasure to see.

The Sympathy Orchestra don’t venture far from their Adelaide roots, so sadly fans outside of South Australia do not have too many opportunities to see the group live. For that reason, it has been a pleasure for me to have had the chance to film the group and turn the resulting footage into a collection of clips that hopefully will help introduce the band far outside the confines of Adelaide, and South Australia.

More Information

Sympathy Orchestra on Facebook… 

My YouTube profile page…

Dreams Big Enough To Scare You

Yesterday, in a trip that reminded me of my 2010 Greyhound bus journey from New York City to New Orleans, I caught a bus from Adelaide to Melbourne. During the twelve hour trip we made several stops at small country towns and regional cities to drop off or pick up new passengers. One such stop was at the Victorian town of Nhill. There we had just 30 minutes to grab a quick bite at a local café or to hit the public restrooms at the tourist office.

I popped into Annaliesa’s Café at 24 Victoria Street, Nhill, for something to eat, and was delighted to discover numerous signs with a positive focus (see image), decorating the walls of the café.

Another of the messages read: “If your dreams don’t scare you, they are too small.”

Since I am planning to undertake some extended travelling again this year, I took both the above ‘messages’, and several others, as good omens for the year ahead. In fact, my new year begins with three weeks house sitting for friends in Melbourne – a role I have undertaken for the past three of four years. In May I will be in Greece for an extended stay, and with luck and good planning I hope to be back in New York City during July or August. If my trip to New York does not take place, I will head to France and England instead.

While I can’t claim that any of these journeys are large enough to scare me, I am well aware that at 65 years of age there are plenty of reasons to be cautious and careful. Anytime one spends up to six months away from home, you are forced to consider a wide range of scenarios that you probably take for granted if you stay close to home. The possibility of accidents while travelling is always a concern, and as a solo traveller, I am well aware that the responsibility for all my travel arrangements and for the decisions I make while I am away are all mine and nobody else’s.

Never the less, I am up for the challenge, and I hope my journeying this year will be as much fun, and as incident free as my last three extended trips in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

I hope yours are too.