Diturbing pics of snowman, wow this is shockin’!

If you’re building a snowman, you’re going to need the essentials: a carrot, a scarf, a bucket of blood. While the last one may seem unusual to most, it’s a key component to the sculptors of these disturbing snowmen. Well, that and a twisted mind.

From the (sic) minds of Huffington Post (more pics).

The Walkleys, photography, artwork and cartoon finalists

The outstanding work of this year’s Walkley photographic, artwork and cartoon finalists can be seen at http://www.walkleys.com/gallery/468/ Photographic finalists will be will be on show at Australian Centre for Photography in Sydney until November 21.

Also coming up at APC.

PANEL DISCUSSION Access All Areas 6—8pm Thursday 5 November Free Admission Whether you are photographing subcultures, celebrities, or people on the street, negotiating access can be the most difficult part of a photographer’s work. Photographers working across a range of disciplines discuss the complexities of getting access, from legal issues to cultural sensitivities and other tricks to open doors.

How To Make Trouble And Influence People. Book Launch at TINA

Pranks, hoaxes and political mischief making from across Australia!

Breakdown Press announces the publication of How To Make Trouble and Influence People! You may still have a copy from the original series of infamous zines in your toilet library, but this expanded version will set your troublemaking heart on fire.

Featuring over 300 colour photographs, interviews with some of our most loved troublemakers and of course tales of Indigenous resistance, convict revolts and escapes, picket line hi-jinks, student occupations, creative direct action, media pranks, urban interventions, squatting, blockades, banner drops, street theatre and billboard liberation, the collection reveals the vital history of creative resistance in Australia.

Written and researched by Iain McIntyre the new edition features interviews with The Chaser, Buga-Up, Kevin Buzzacott, John Safran, Pauline Pantsdown, Dave Burgess, Meredith Burgmann, Deborah Kelly, Order of Perpetual Indulgence, Stuart Highway, John Howard Ladies’ Auxiliary Fan Club, No To Pope Coalition and The Graffiti Games Organising Committee.

As McIntyre says in his introduction, “These tales and images also serve to remind us that political activity need not be a predictable and grim slog. As well-resourced as our opponents may be, they are vulnerable to the use of creativity, solidarity and humour. Indeed, these are often the only tools we have.”

For a sneak preview, check out http://howtomaketroubleandinfluencepeople.org

To purchase a copy, visit www.breakdownpress.org

Or come along to one of the launches featuring special troublemaking guests:

NEWCASTLE LAUNCH: Saturday the 3rd October at This Is Not Art Festival, The Festival Club (Mason’s) cnr King and Thorn Streets, Newcastle 4.30pm-6pm with Iain McIntyre and Dave Burgess (who painted No War on the Opera House, 2003).

MELBOURNE LAUNCH: Thursday 5th November at the Bella Union Bar, Trades Hall, Victoria and Lygon Streets 6pm-8pm with Iain McIntyre and a special guest appearance by the John Howard Ladies’ Auxiliary Fan Club.

SYDNEY LAUNCH: Saturday 5th December at The Red Rattler Theatre, 6 Faversham St Marrickville 8pm-midnight with Iain McIntyre and Dave Burgess plus music by Lee Memorial, The Kleber Claux Memorial Singers and NinetyNine.

See Salvador Dali before he melts away

13 June to 4 October 2009 – Salvador Dali – Liquid Desire – More than 200 works including painting, drawing, watercolour, etchings, jewellery, sculpture, fashion, cinema and photography. The exhibition aims to trace Dali from his earliest years as a 14-year-old Impressionist painter to the final paintings, which address science and physics and which were created when the artist was in his seventies.

Open Wednesday to Monday from 10.00am to 5.00pm at the National Gallery Victoria International, 180 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne. During the Salvadore Dali exhibition the National Gallery Victoria International is open until 9.00pm on Wednesdays for art after dark.

Tickled Pink in association with the Breast Cancer Network Australia

From 7 – 31 October 2009, Tickled Pink will be hosted at Artereal Gallery in Rozelle (Australia) to support Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) – the peak national organisation representing Australians personally affected by breast cancer.

The director, staff and artists from Artereal Gallery and the broader arts community have come together to organise the Tickled Pink fundraising event, which is an exhibition of work by 25 of Australia’s finest contemporary artists.

Opening night pink drinks with the artists and tasty pink treats will be served on Wed Oct 7 from 6 – 8 pm.

The art work exhibited includes sculptures, works on paper, oil paintings, photographs and mixed media works made specifically for the exhibition by leading local and interstate artists such as Kate Rhode, Claude Jones, Damian Dillon, Andrew Lavery, Christine Polowyj , Cecilia Fogelberg, Glen Henderson, Sarah Parker, Anne MacDonald, Sylvia Schwenk, Ruth Hassall, Nola Diamantopoulos and Cash Brown.

Nola Diamantopoulos has generously donated her time and expertise to hold workshops for women living with breast cancer to explore their journeys through art making and meditation. Some of these works will also be exhibited, and we gratefully acknowledge Tilly’s Art Supplies for donating the workshop materials.

Money raised from the sale of artworks and activities during the event will directly assist BCNA to continue its work ensuring Australian women diagnosed with breast cancer have the very best information, treatment and support possible.

This includes the distribution of the My Journey Kit, a free comprehensive information resource for women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. BCNA works to ensure that women diagnosed with breast cancer, and their families, receive the very best treatment, care and support possible – no matter who they are, or where they live.

BCNA acknowledges the tremendous efforts of Artereal Gallery, Art Almanac, Tilly’s Art and Office Supplies, Darling Park Wines, The Art Scene and the artists in supporting our work, and encourages the local community to participate and help to make a difference to women and their families.

Artereal Gallery
Street:  747 Darling Street
Rozelle, NSW Australia

Opens: 6pm. Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Digital Fringe is calling for Youuuuuuuuu.

Ferret around your hard drives for (video, stills or audio), dig out those gems and have your work seen on hundreds of public screens in Melbourne.

Uploaded content will play on an extensive network of screens around the world: from retail television display walls to huge urban screens, hospitality venues, galleries, libraries and many other public nooks and crannys.

Visit digitalfringe.com.au to submit your works and for more festival info, or contact us – people@digitalfringe.com.au

Digital Fringe is produced by Horse Bazaar as part of the MelbourneFringe Festival (September 23 – October 11)

Crappy Taxidermy

Wow this is pretty errr interesting. Basically a site made up of photographic contributors who are well – taxidermists. Either that or some people just have a lot of time on their hands, a fascination for death and morose sense of humour.

http://crappytaxidermy.com/

The site operates via a TUMBLR dashboard and I must say all the recent raves about Tumblr appear to be true. It does seem to rival Twitter in respect of what you can post and fashion to customise an individual look and feel! I haven’t sorted mine out yet but I’m working on it. GG

Nicolas Guilbert Animals and Company

The eye of the photographer Nicolas Guilbert takes us on a journey. In some shots, it summarizes the relationship between animals: homo sapiens, that is placed on top of the pyramid of the food chain and intelligence, and others, those he meets, he deals often lovingly, sometimes cruellyThe exhibition coincides with the ‘Open’, during which all the exhibition spaces of the village of Mougins are celebrating.For the occasion, music, theater, dance and performance are part of the program.

Human history is intimately linked to that of animals.The development of societies in the Neolithic age was a leap forward from the time when domestication began. The hunter became farmer, he began to accumulate wealth. Well before urban legend, the myth was strongly present in all civilizations.How many animals have inhabited the imagination of our ancestors with these creatures half men, half horses (centaurs), half man, half bull (the Minotaur was captured with Picasso), and Horus Falcon head up King Kong in our modern mythology.

The meeting between animal and human
Illustration: Nicolas Guilbert Prix d’Amérique, Hippodrome de Vincennes, 2007

Also, the different animals there between countries and often characterizes them. The cow is sacred and untouchable in India, it provides good steaks elsewhere.The same goes for the dog, the subject of attention hovering ridicule care and psychological care, beauty, accessories out of prices and services are regularly incongruous menu emissions sensational. In fact, dogs are also on the menu of some Asian restaurants. What is unbearable for some delicious becomes for others: a question of latitude, history, need also … latitudes, Nicolas Guilbert has traveled more than one. Its purpose is primarily to observe the moment of the encounter between animality and humanity: the man with the animal when the animal with human achievement.

Birds against a background of architecture
Monuments define new areas of development which animals adapt.They are also the structures of the image of the photographer who knows exploit their lines of force.Observe the city is often looked up and often watch the Waltz of volatile agility which contrasts with the architectural hieratic. Nicolas Guilbert shows how the animal is rooted in each of us is part of our daily lives, sharpen our curiosity and feeds our fascination.It also shows the black and white, how humanity can transcribe through each animal and gives this simple fact, new colors to our eyes.

The brilliant work of Nicolas Guilbert.

Covering the Mirrors, roadside memorials project

Covering the Mirrors documents a resistance, a reversal; where each ‘roadside memorial’ undermines the (non-) nature of the motorway space.

The proliferation of non-space seems perversely natural; airports, freeways, shopping centres, stations and hubs appear at each turn and beyond every turn off. These vast areas designed for functionality, supposed progress, in fact programmatically efface ‘the local’ with its community interests and historical presence; this leaves empty meaningless space in abundance.

Contrary to intent the ‘universal network’ actually isolates the individual by atomizing the community. It does this through an expanding ‘grid’ of interstitial non-spaces that affects all aspects of daily life – from our environment through to our emotions. No longer are these in-between zones mere links; they are fast-forming generic centres, places in and of themselves – that control and re-order the social experience.

Yet the presence of roadside memorials somehow resists this deterritorialization. As the visual markers carry with them a sacred significance and a small piece of history, which once situated in monotonous space they activate a subversion of the spatial homogenization. Suddenly these non-spaces are filled with meaning. These shrines with their folk rituals and cult following hint at a growing social dissent – as an emergent material culture they tap into an underlying collective impulse to reclaim lost space.

Taking the roadside memorial as his starting point, Neuman uses a variety of lens-based media, and techniques that span from appropriation to documentary to the staged, to critically respond to physical and cultural changes in the Australian landscape.

Host:
Don’t Look Experimental New Media Gallery
From – Wednesday, July 15, 2009 at 6:00pm til  Saturday, July 25, 2009
Location:  Don’t Look Experimental New Media Gallery
Street:  419 New Canterbury Rd, Dulwich Hill, Sydney, NSW (426/428/445 bus)
Phone:  0401152434
Web: http://www.myspace.com/dontlookgallery
Email:  dontlookgallery@gmail.com

Fallen Princesses

Dina Goldstein aka Honey is developing a substantial portfolio of artwork that places Fairy Tale characters in modern day scenarios.

“In all of the images the Princess is placed in an environment that articulates her conflict. The ‘…happily ever after’ is replaced with a realistic outcome and addresses current issues.

The project was inspired by my observation of three-year-old girls, who were developing an interest in Disney’s Fairy tales. As a new mother I have been able to get a close up look at the phenomenon of young girls fascinated with Princesses and their desire to dress up like them. The Disney versions almost always have sad beginning, with an overbearing female villain, and the end is predictably a happy one. The Prince usually saves the day and makes the victimized young beauty into a Princess”.

Source: http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/11918