Tuesday
10am-12pm: Mixed bag
12-1pm: TV Series: Entourage, Season 2, Episodes 3 – 4
1-2:30pm : TV Series: 24, Season 3, Episodes 3 – 4
2:30-5pm : Movie: Orange County
5-6pm: Mixed bag

Wednesday
10am-12pm: Mixed bag
12-1pm: TV Series: Entourage, Season 2, Episodes 5 – 6
1-2:30pm : TV Series: 24, Season 3, Episodes 5 – 6
2:30-5pm : Movie: The Cider House Rules
5-6pm: Mixed bag

Thursday
10am-12pm: Mixed bag
12-1pm: TV Series: Entourage, Season 2, Episodes 7 – 8
1-2:30pm : TV Series: 24, Season 3, Episodes 7 – 8
2:30-5pm : Movie: Cake
5-6pm: Mixed bag

Friday
10am-12pm: Mixed bag
12-1pm: TV Series: Entourage, Season 2, Episodes 9 – 10
1-2:30pm : TV Series: 24, Season 3, Episodes 9 – 10
2:30-5pm : Documentary : Mad Hot Ballroom
5-6pm: Mixed bag

• State of Play (Russell Crowe) 820 MACD
• Fired up (Cheerleading flick) 810 GLU
• The Crimson Pirate 830 SIO
• The Last House on the Left (Horror) 810 ILI
• Bottle Shock (Alan Rickman) 810 MIL
• Disgrace (John Malkovich) 810 JAC
• Tokyo Gore Police (Japanese language) 895.6 NIS
• Chop Socky Chooks (Kung-fu kickin’ chickens) 820.7 CHO
• The Red Riding Trilogy (Yorkshire Ripper) 820 RED
• Independence Day (Will Smith) 810 EMM
• The Double Life of Veronique (French language) 840 KIE
• Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen) 810 ALL
• Super Troopers (one of the all time greats) 810 CHA
• The Secret Life of Bees 810 PRI
• 17 Again (Zac Efron) 810 STE
• Easy Virtue A820 ELL
• New in Town 810 ELM
• Beverley Hills Chihuahua (A must see) 810 GOS
• Ghost (Patrick Swayze) 810 ZUC
• Watchmen (comic book adaptation) 810 SNY
• Confessions of a Shopaholic (Isla Fisher) A820 HOG
• Paul Blart : Mall Cop 810 CAR
• La Haine (Hate) (French language) 840 KAS
• Revanche (German and Russian language) 830 SPI
• Lesbian Vampire Killers 810 CLA
• Green Street Hooligans 810 ALE
• The International 830 TYK
• 3 Acts of Murder A820 WOO
• The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas 820 HER
• A Pain in the Ass (French language) 840 VEB
• Hot Rod (Isla Fisher) 810 SCH
• Borderland 810 BER
• My Fair Lady (Audrey Hepburn) 810 CUK
• Funny Games (Naomi Watts) 830 HAN
• The Harp in the South (Ruth Park) A820 WHA
• Poor man’s Orange (Sequel to The Harp in the South) A820 WHA
• Angels and Demons (Tom Hanks) 810 HOW
• Mary and Max (Adam Elliot) A820 ELL
• Cadillac Records (Beyonce Knowles) 810 MAR
• The Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice 895.6 OZU
• The Class (French language) 840 CAN
• Burnt By The Sun (Russian language) 891.7 MIK
• Elegy (Penelope Cruz, Ben Kingsley) 860 COI
• Sunshine Cleaning (Amy Adams, Emily Blunt) NZ820 JEF
• I Love You, Man (Jason Segel, Paul Rudd) 810 HAM
• X-Men Origins : Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) 896 HOO
• Rushmore (Bill Murray) 810 AND
• Better Than Chocolate 810 WHE

Documentaries, Music

• Latcho Drom (Gypsy Music) 789.2914 97 GAT
• With Gilbert & George (Peformance artists in profile) 709.2 COL
• Little Birdy : Confetti (doco on the making of their last album) 789.6 LIT
• Heckler (Doco on stand-up comedy) 792.23 ADD
• Waterwise Gardening (Gardening Australia presents) 635 WAT

Finished and Unfinished: Playreadings

It’s time to find out what strange thoughts are surging around in the brains of your fellow students!

Three nights of playreadings by current Melbourne University students chosen from among many submissions. You’ll encounter scripts at many different stages of development: from a synopsis, to a first draft, to a polished gem that’s been sitting for years in a bottom drawer.

Friday night special guest: award winning playwright Ross Mueller with readings from his new play ‘Concussion’.
Each night will have its own surprises, so come to all four!

7–10 October at 6.30pm.
Guild Theatre, first floor, Union House.
(dates may be subject to change)

1-night pass: Student Union Members $5/ Non-members $7
3-night pass: Student Union Members $10/ non-Members $15

Bookings: union.unimelb.edu.au/tickets or at the Info Centre Box Office, ground floor, Union House
n.b. online bookings can only be made up to 24 hours prior to a performance

www.union.unimelb.edu.au/theatre

The winner of “Above Water” this year was Madeleine Griffeth with her short story “Mont Salvat”. The Highly Commended prize was awarded to Marisabel Bonet Cruz for her poem “El Verbo Hablar”. The Editor’s Choice award was awarded to Seamus Barker for his poem “Fitzroy Crossing”.

Congratulations to all the winners, all the shortlisted entries that were published, and last but certainly not least to everyone who entered. As Zoe, one of the Media Officers said at the launch:

“it’s not about the difference between good and bad writers, it’s about the difference between those who write and those who don’t”

If you want to pick up a copy of “Above Water” they can be found lurking in the Student Union info stands around the University, in the Rowden White Library or at the Student Union Info desk opposite INU Bar on the 1st Floor of Union House!

A selection of works will be published and the anthology launched at Melbourne Writers’ Festival in August. There are also great prizes to be won, including return flights and accommodation in Newcastle for the This Is Not Art (TINA) Festival and more!

The opening night last Wednesday was a blast. We had the announcement of prizes, a judges report, free nibbles and booze (always served responsibly by our wonderful volunteer bar staff) and a live music set from Andre Peach.

This year our judges were Bianca Charleston – an event co-ordinator at the Ian Potter Museum of Art; Candice Crammer – a practicing video and installation artist and Barb Bolt – a Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Arts and Culture at the VCA, and Honours Co-ordinator for the Creative Arts program. The Arts Department extends a massive thankyou to them for taking the time to judge Framed.

And now…the moment you’ve all been waiting for…the awards! This year we had 2 highly commended awards, which went to Jason Sim, for “Greywater and Nicholas Grundy, for his 3 photography entries.

The 3 main prizes (drum roll please…), went to Jean Baulch for her photography entry, “Vision”, Elizabeth Reeder for her short film “Attack of the Killer Television” and Sherwin Akbarzadeh for his short film “Small Block”. Look out for their work in the upcoming edition of Farrago.

So after all is said and done, thank-you so much to everyone who entered the judges were very impressed by the standard of the work and the high level of creativity. Another thank-you to everyone who attended the launch, Clubs and Societies, the Activities boys and last but not least, Fotoholics MUPC for their help through out the lead up to the launch and on the night.

And…don’t forget to check out the exhibition!
It can be found on the walls of the landing between the Ground and 1st Floors of Union House, as well as on TV screens in the “Clubs and Societies” and Activities offices.

And remember, events like this can’t happen without your support, Join your Student Union!

And now we’re ready to go!

Come and help us launch FRAMED 2009 on Wednesday, 6th May at the Union Theatre Bar, Ground Floor, Union House at 7pm.

There will be the unveiling of the EXHIBITION, announcement of PRIZES, a report from the JUDGES, free FOOD and BOOZE (served responsibly, of course) and an exciting set of LIVE MUSIC!

Drop by a drink and stay to appreciate some of the most fantastic visual art the Melbourne Uni student community has to offer.

See you there!

This year it’s open to photography, film, animation and multimedia. That means you can use any type of camera, digital, analogue, Polaroid and video. Animations and short films can be up to 3 mins in length and photos and multimedia images no bigger than A4. See the entry form below for more details!

Excited yet?

Well, the Arts Department are proud to announce some of the awe-inspiring, saliva-inducing and downright rad prizes!

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MENTORSHIPS! CAMERA AND FILM PROCESSING VOUCHERS! VINTAGE CAMERAS AND FILM! MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS! IAN POTTER MUSEUM OF ART MEMBERSHIPS! BOOKS! DVDS! T-SHIRTS! YOUR ART IN ‘FARRAGO’ AND PLENTY, PLENTY MORE ALLCAPS-WORTHY WONDERS…

The best news is – it’s not too late to get an entry in, be it photography, film, animation or multimedia.

The DEADLINE has been EXTENDED TO 5PM MONDAY, APRIL 27!

So check out the website for entry forms and more details, and get snapping, cutting, filming, making.

We’ll see you at the launch!

More details here

Framed 2009 Entry Form 69KB

It’s just before Easter break so if Semester is already getting you down come and have a chat about all things art!

Just like our other meetings it’s a great place to meet new people, talk about creative events and opportunities on campus and in Melbourne or just chill out!

We’ll also be talking about Framed the Arts Department’s photography competition, brainstorming some ideas, getting some inspiration flowing and some ideas happening!

We're keen to keep growing these, so if you're interested in any kind of art, film, writing, whatever -- drop by, have a chat and make some friends.

and next meeting we’ll also be running a small workshop!

Got writers block?

Need a little inspiration?

Come to the Arts Collective “Wonderful Words” creative writing workshop.

Don’t be scared you don’t have to read your work out like in creative writing classes! It’s all about thinking creatively about how you write, meeting some like-minded, equally bemused writers, and engaging in creativity on campus. :)

Search Arts Collective on Facebook and join the group for updates on other Arts Department events!

This year the Arts Dept is working away at the oldies and goodies, the competitions you know and love. We’re going to be taking a fresher than fresh new approach to the Framed photography competition, taking it out of the gallery and into all the spaces around Union House. We’ll also be running the ever popular creative writing competition Above Water, with the Media Dept.

But WAIT, there’s much much more. We’ll be mixing things up with a few exciting new events and ideas, but they’re all in the pipeline so we’ll keep them hush hush for now!

This year you’ll also be seeing, and hopefully participating in MUDfest, the biannual arts festival held right here on campus. Check out the website here.

Finally don’t forget about the radically cool amazingly fun ARTs Collective. We want to help you create an energetic, inclusive collective where you can chat about making art, meet new people and learn new skills. It’s up to you!

So if you have anything you want to chat to us about, please come and visit, our office is particularly lovely!

We'll be hanging out, meeting new members, and launching the zine you helped make on Tuesday on South Court, opposite Pronto Pizza. Come along, say hi, and sign up to the e-list to find out what's happening next.

For those curious about the results of last week’s spectacularly successful Inaugural Fitzpatrick Awards, here is a full list of winners:

Best News Piece:

Will Horton
for “Secret $265 million Fundraising Withheld from Budget”

Best Investigative Feature

Will Horton
for “Shameful Remains”

Best Interview

George Samuel Borthwick
for “David Packham OAM”

Best Opinion Feature

Tim Forster
for “Tim Forster’s Diary of Community Radio”

Best Creative Piece

Sarah Laing
for “Where the Beach Went”

Best Review

André Dao
for “Tom is Dead”

Best Humour Piece

Jackson McLeod
for “Where Are They Now?”

Best Graphic Contributor

Jack Chadwick

Best Political Piece

Josh Dascal
for “Running in Iran”

Best Science Writing

Nilofer Tambuwala
for “Iron Man for the Common Man”

Best Regular

Brendan Thomas-Noone and Geir O’Rourke
for “On the Couch with Brendan and Geir: Carla Drakeford”

Best Ad

Macrogen Inc.
for Ed. 3 back cover

Best North American

Lucas Smith

Best Magazine

Voiceworks

Best Prosh Team Member

Zoë Barron

Best FarragoFail

The Worm
for sucking almightily

Best-Dressed OB

Tim Arnot

Most Meticulous

A tie between:

Shaun Khoo, for the Student Newspaper Policy, and
Elizabeth Redman, for proofreading for 8 editions

Best Couch Potato

Chris Summers

People’s Choice Award: Best Cover

Tom Fairman,
or, if you prefer a serious result,
Edition 7

Thanks to everyone who came, and congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

Cheers,
The Eds

This is it! The final frontier! The last crusade! The Omega Mag! The second coming! At-onement with the Imperishable! Our journey to the great Media Office in the sky!

Edition 8, the last edition for 2009, is in stands all over campus. Please go and pick it up, as it has a lovely cover and many nice things inside besides, and we would be sad to think of you missing out on all that niceness.

Also there is an e-mag version (both functional and punctual, who knew?). It can be found here.

Thanks to all who have read Farrago throughout the year—it’s been a pleasure and an honour to serve you. 2010 promises to be a vintage year under the direction of Rachel, Sarah, Ellie and Lucas, and we hope you’ll keep picking up Farrago in future. You’d better.

Love once and for all,
Gillian, Bhakthi, Zoe and Yosh
The Eds

Thank you for taking the time to tell us what you think about Farrago in 2009. Your honest feedback is important because it tells us what really works and what needs to improve. As a bonus, those who complete a survey by Wednesday, 7 October can go in the running to win a double pass to see the Apocalypse Bear Trilogy at the Melbourne Theatre Company in Southbank. To enter the draw, simply provide us with your email address at the end of the survey.

Your privacy: If you choose to provide an email address, we shall use it strictly in order to include you in the prize draw and to contact you if you win. We will not link your e-mail address to any response you have made. If you have any concerns, please contact Farrago at m.simanjuntak@union.unimelb.edu.au

Next week UMSU will hold its annual student elections, and if you want to be an informed voter (and we know you do) make sure you grab a copy of Farrago. There’s everything you need to know about where, when and how you can vote, as well as all the candidate statements so you can find out who you’re voting for!

Remember, you don’t have to be a member of the Student Union to vote in the elections, so make sure you get out and have a say in your Union!

Also, this edition we have the HOT SCOOPS on the Uni’s financial situation. Are things really as dire as the University claims? Read the news section and pages 14-16 to find out.

Plus there’s all the usual tales of thrilling deeds and derring-do, written by students for students.

Get your copy now, with Winston Churchill in felt on the cover.

Love,
The Eds

Edition 5 is now out around campus!

You may recognise the iconic figure featured on this edition’s cover. I’ll give a nickel to anyone who can find the other photo of this iconic figure, hidden in the body of the magazine.

No word yet on the electronic edition, but it will hopefully be here soon. I say “hopefully” despite the very real possibility that we would get Krispy Kreme donuts if the e-mag ends up being late. Now that’s dedication to the cause.

Once again, we hope you enjoy, and write to us if you have any queries to raise, complaints to make, or mountains of praise to heap. Especially the latter.

Love,
The Eds

Get it here.

Happy page-turning!

Edition 4 is now out around campus! Please go and pick it up!*

The cover features the beautiful photograph “Pomegranate: Composition study” by Sherwin Akbarzadeh, winner of this year’s Framed photography competition. It’s hot! How could you not pick up such a hot magazine!

The online edition will hopefully arrive soon, more promptly than Ed3 did. The last one was so late that our printer bought us Krispy Kreme donuts to apologise! Donuts!**

Please enjoy, and write to us if you have any queries to raise, complaints to make, or mountains of praise to heap.

Love,
The Eds

*Please! The other eds are going to fire me if you don’t!

**The donuts in question are pictured on the Ed4 contents page. See, another reason to pick up the magazine! So you can admire our donuts!

http://tinyurl.com/cpgyna

Love,
The Eds

We’re happy to announce that our tertiary edition—which, you’ll be excited to learn, now comes with 3 kinds of ink—is on the stands around campus as I write these words. It’s there. It’s waiting for you. It’s salivating at the very thought of you picking it up. So just do it.

It should be available on the web soon, and we’ll let you know when it is.

Remember that if you want to get published, you should get in touch with us at farrago09@gmail.com—the next deadline (for Edition 4, the last edition for this semester) is the 27th of April, which is THIS MONDAY! So, get on it.

Love,
The Eds

Tuesday-Friday 10am to 12noon

• Workshops, Wednesdays and Thursdays 12 to 2.30pm
• Fees: Arts Lab workshops $5 MU Student Union Members $15 Others
• Untutored Life Drawing, Fridays 12 to 2.30pm
• Life Drawing $10 MU Student Union Members and $15 Others

Arts Lab semester 1, 2009 timetable 39KB

The George Paton Gallery

The George Paton Gallery has operated as an alternative art space since 1975 featuring notable artists such as Howard Arkley, Aleks Danko, Stelarc, Lyndall Jones, Lesley Dumbrell, Maria Kozic, Fiona Hall, Mike Parr, Louisa Bufardeci, Natasha Johns-Messenger and Tom Nicholson.

The Space

Through double glass doors the Gallery features an expansive, flexible open space with polished floorboards. The gallery is lit with boxed fluorescent lighting as well as directional spotlights. A hanging system is installed on all exhibiting walls. The gallery is regularly maintained providing a professional exhibiting space.

George Paton Gallery Floor Plan 54KB

The George Paton Gallery is located on the second floor of Union House, University of Melbourne in Parkville
Union House is located on the University of Melbourne map at E 15.
Maps - University Campus, Parkville 85KB

George Paton Gallery Application Process

Submission Deadline

The George Paton Gallery has two gallery application rounds per year, one each academic semester.
The next deadline for applications for our First Semester 2010, February to May programs is MONDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2009
Late applications: The gallery does not accept late or out of round applications

Before You Apply

Please note: The Gallery highly recommends that all potential applicants for exhibitions make an appointment to come and speak to us about their ideas for an exhibition. This often proves highly advantageous to the applicant, allowing the gallery coordinators to give you advice on your application and also it allows us to ‘speak to’ your application at the Gallery Selection meeting.

Proposal Format

To apply for an exhibition at the George Paton Gallery all applicants must submit the following material.

1.
Application form

Exhibition Proposal Application Form - s1, 2010 385KB

2.
Exhibition proposal. Maximum 1 A4 page
A clear and concise description of your proposed exhibition and its rational (no longer than an A4 page) must be included in your application. The clearer the picture applicants are able to provide, the fuller the assessment of the proposal can be.

3.
Visual documentation
Relevant visual material must support your proposal
Submit either:
• Images in PowerPoint format submitted on non-rewritable CD.
Maximum 12 images for solo exhibitions and maximum 24 images for group exhibitions.

George Paton Power Point Presentation - Exhibition Proposal 84KB

• For audio, video and multi-media artists, CD, CD-ROM, DVD or high quality VHS of up to 10 minutes duration

Please view your support material before submitting to ensure its readability. Label clearly with permanent marker with your name and address to ensure that your material can be returned to you.

4.
List of Support Material
List of visual material submitted including: title, date, media and dimensions

5.
Resume
A selected up-to-date resume (no more than one A4 page per exhibitor)

Who Can Apply

Applications are open to practitioners in visual arts, digital media, performance, curation, audio, craft, installation, text etc. Broadly, we are looking for quality exhibitions that engage with both audiences and the gallery space.

We accept solo, and group proposals from practitioners at all stages of their career, from students, emerging and established artists and curators.

Exhibition Fees

There is a $250 exhibition fee for all exhibitions. This covers promotion of your exhibition, including email invitation design and emailout, media releases and advertising, and digital documentation.

Gallery Rent:

FREE for all MU Student Union Ltd members

$200 per week ($400 for a two week exhibition) Non-member students and other students
$300 per week ($600 for a two week exhibition) Non-students
Invitations will be emailed out in 2010 with in house design

Equipment Hire: (NB: hiring rates are per week. Technical support is available upon request at an additional charge. This service is through AV@Melbourne)
DVD Player  -  $10
Data Projector -  $60
Flat screen Monitor -  $40
Headphones -  $10 per set
(includes headphone amp for multiple sets)
Audio -  $10

Exhibition installation and de-installation 2010
Exhibition installation takes place on the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday within Union House opening hours. Exhibitions are open from Wednesday at 12 noon with the opening night event from 6-8pm. De-installation takes place on the Sunday following the last day your exhibition is open. It is a condition of us returning your $50 key deposit and bond that the gallery is returned to the condition you found it in.

Gallery minding
Please keep in mind that if you are successful in your application for an exhibition at the George Paton Gallery you will be expected to mind the gallery or set up a roster of others who will assist you in minding the gallery for the duration of your show. The gallery will need someone attending to it for 9 days from the first Wednesday to the final Saturday from 12noon to 6pm each week day and from 12 noon to 5pm on Saturdays.

George Paton Gallery Exhibition Selection meetings

Because of the quick turn around between application and exhibition, we hold a Selection Meeting one week to a fortnight following the application deadline. Applicants are notified regarding the outcome of the meeting within the next two weeks following the selection meeting (within 3-4 weeks of the application deadline).

Program Structure

Each semester there are six to seven exhibitions of 2 weeks duration. In First semester program runs from February to May and second semester program runs from July to early November. Exhibition opening night in 2010 will on the first Wednesday night from 6-8pm.

Please contact Arts Programs Coordinators Sandra Bridie and Susan Hewitt on 8344 5418 or gpg@union.unimelb.edu.au if you have any queries regarding our exhibition program.

The George Paton Gallery is available for hire out of the academic semester times, see costs below.

Exhibition Costs for External Clients Outside Gallery Program/University Term Dates

The costs are based on a two week exhibition (9 days). The first Monday of the tenure is used for installation. Gallery sitting is the responsibility of the gallery hirer and there is no commission on sale of artwork.

Gallery hire only $600

Gallery hire including installation and lighting (7 hours) $850

Extra exhibition preparation including extensive
installation requirements, signage and label design $35 per hour

Invitation design and printing $260/$290
(Postcard format, print run 500 or 1,000)

Advertising costs:

• Art almanac (line listing) $55
• Website, inclusion gallery website (image/s and text copy) $100
• Media release production and distribution $65
• Postage of invites x 200 and e-invites (using gallery mailing list) $160
• Vinyl decal, photocopying and other signage requirements $60

Opening night:

Hire of student casual with RSA certificate (3hrs $75
The gallery has glasses, carafes, water jugs and trestle table
Beverages and catering is the responsibility of the gallery hirer.
If you would like your event catered for, contact functions@melbourne.

For Gallery bookings or further information please contact us.

Terms and Conditions available below

George Paton Gallery Terms and Conditions - 2010 25KB

Opening night: Wednesday 29 July, 5–7pm

During April and May 2006, Lucas Ihlein made a vow to remain entirely within the boundaries of his own neighbourhood (Sydney’s inner-western suburb of Petersham, a.k.a. ‘The Sham’) for a period of two months. He wrote a blog about everything that happened in his everyday life during this period. Now, after the project has come to an end, Ihlein presents an installation in which you can take home your very own copy of the blog, as a book (a ‘blook’). But there’s a catch! You must compile and bind it yourself…

http://thesham.info

In conjunction with this exhibition, Lucas will present a free illustrated lecture
7.30pm Tuesday 4 August, Institute of Postcolonial Studies
78-80 Curzon Street, North Melbourne. Tel: 03 9329 6381

The Sham, Lucas Ilhein and Suburbia

Review by Anna Claire Hyland

In 2006, Lucas Ihlein vowed not to leave Petersham—a suburb in Sydney’s inner west for two months. He wrote a daily blog about what happened. For The Sham (at George Paton Gallery until this Friday) Ihlein transformed his blog into a book, which viewers can collate, bind and take home.

‘When it comes to art in galleries, I like having things which are not too precious,’ he explains. ‘Something you can participate in, you can touch and you get to take away.’

Ihlein’s work is mainly about spaces outside the gallery. In 2005, Ihlein undertook an artist-in-residence in Kellerberrin, Western Australia. He recorded what his new neighbours told him about the politics and social life of this tiny town. Returning home, he questioned why geographical separation was necessary for such a project.

‘I was really struck by the contrast between how much I had absorbed into the life of Kellerberrin and how little I was absorbed into the life of my own neighbourhood,’ he recalls. “‘And I thought, ‘This is a bit silly. Why should I have to travel 2000km away to have engagement with neighbours?’”

While imprisoned in Petersham, Ihlein began noticing—and recording—what was special about his suburb.

‘It has this real sense of charged intensity about it. So, while at the same time, you’re just going to the shops and buying milk or whatever, it also has this really strong feeling of awareness or attentiveness to what is going on around you. And this is what I was interested in achieving.’

Ihlein’s blog records his daily explorations in Petersham and his everyday reflections on, for instance, gift-giving, walking dogs, jelly wrestling and hard rubbish collections. His observations build an incremental portrait of Petersham. For readers outside the inner west of Sydney, they invoke a growing concern about connecting with our local neighbourhoods.

Not merely a record of his discoveries, Ihlein found that the blog generated new encounters in the ‘real world’. ‘It wasn’t just taking information from one group and passing it to another group,’ he reflects. ‘The blog is a whole world in itself as well. There are a whole lot of interactions there that are its own kind of space or site.’

In order to bring the project into the Gallery, Ihlein devised a ‘blook’, based on the content of the original blog. ‘I thought about how to give people an experience which is sort of a dramatisation of the kind of thing that I went through,’ he explains. Visitors make their way along a bench shaped like the border of Petersham.

They can assemble their own copy of the blook to take home, to read between lectures or on public transport. The Sham is an engaging project revealing curious insights into space, belonging and suburbs. It’s imbued with a welcoming sense of generosity, down to a bowl of Minties to sustain the intrepid visitor. ‘I always keep my grandmother as a kind of litmus test,’ says Ihlein. ‘She’s my ideal viewer. If she could come in feel there’s space for her—that’s good.’

Touch is an exploration of materials and objects that are often missed or discarded. It does not attempt to elevate the materials but to enhance their natural qualities. The show focuses on the subtle transformations materials take on when manipulated by the delicate touch of hand and light.

Opening night: Wednesday 12 August, 5 –7pm

Touch reviewed by Laura Howard

Touch is an exhibition that takes everyday discarded materials which are universally recognisable yet often overlooked, changing their purpose to evolve into a new role within the gallery context. So-called worthless objects such as polypropylene straps used to secure packing boxes, orange roadside construction mesh, garden ties, electrical wires and old snack packaging become objet d’art. Items viewed solely in terms of their practical purposes are reconstituted and reborn through the touch of hand and light.

The impetus behind Touch originated with Cook exploring the act of changing things with her hands and the idea of the touch of the hand transforming the form. ‘Colour, surface and texture are always prominent in my work,’ explains Cook. Sea-green polyester strapping becomes an entity reminiscent of underwater life. Orange construction mesh forms an anthropomorphic shape on the floor, entwined with small lights which flirt with the concept of shadow and repeat shapes and forms, involving the wider gallery space in a dialogue. Cook states New York based artist Sarah Sze is an influence, ‘In the way she constructs things, which become a whole form—taking up the space they are within.’

Cook continually re-uses materials. Almost every element within the exhibition has been reconstituted into a new form, with a freshly endowed aesthetic denotation far removed from its original utilitarian purpose. Some are even reused a second time. Any work Cook no longer uses or dislikes is cut up by hand with scissors, sitting in front of the TV, continuing the cycle of regeneration. The remains can be seen wafting around the floor of the exhibition along with air-filled plastic bags, echoing and responding to the movement of people.

Such pre-used items are inexpensive (or free), allowing Cook to continue her artistic practice without financial constraints. Cook insists the reason for her chosen media is not solely based on environmental impulses. She uses objects which she constantly sees around her—over and over again. The act of collecting these items and incorporating them into her artistic practice, such as a Metcard which has turned orange in the rain or leftover paint-stained paper towels from her mother’s painting classes, acknowledges and elevates unnoticed objects around her. Cook is interested in exploring our incessant cycle of buying, using and consuming; the way we throw out receipts and bags without a second thought. Her works invite a change of pace, for viewers to slow down and observe our environment, and the things around us so that details are not overlooked.

Cook intends deliberate and unhurried observation, not just glancing. She explains, ‘When looking at it, look closely, and realise what they [objects] are, where they are from, and how they are changed.’ Cook’s interest in her materials, their form and tactile qualities makes Touch a sensory experience which is hard to resist.

Water suddenly boil
Water gradually boils
Water is suddenly boiling

Opening night: Wednesday 26 August, 5–7pm

an and

Review by Viona Fung

The exhibition ‘an and’ showcases the artwork of Fine Arts student Matthew Greaves who is currently third year student at the Victorian College of the Arts. As the exhibition title suggests, Greaves’ conceptually based artwork poses open ended questions, deliberately intended to obscure and play with the viewer’s concepts of space and time. Greaves describes his work as ‘genetic paradoxes’ that ‘bristle with error to colour a grip with the problematic’.

All of the artwork in this exhibition is untitled, adding further to the misty, undefined realm Greaves prefers to relegate his artwork.

His video work seems simply constructed, yet hints at deeper meanings beyond the apparent playfulness received from a first viewing. One example of such work is the 3 minute looped video, screened on a small television set positioned under a chair. The video shows two hands formed in the shape of a turtle. The thumbs rotate in a curious, beguiling fashion, flipping over to reveal the palms and eventually turning over again to slide away from the viewer. Is this mimicry of childhood, an allusion to sign language or a critique of our visual consumerist culture?

A strikingly lyrical construction is found in the ‘untitled’ work with slide projector and basketball. Two unlikely pairings create a nostalgic, surreal experience of time travel. This work presents an archival photograph projected onto a blank wall, showing an Egyptian pyramid partly obscured by a camel and his rider standing in the foreground. A basketball, placed in front of the wall, casts an immense circular shadow, interrupting the ancient scene with a post-modern plastic eclipse. The shadow of the basketball appears like a dark alien orb, akin to the mysterious black monolith from Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Greaves’ has described himself as ‘a kind of mediator for a thinker, for an idiot—I kick around in their dust’. This statement, like his artwork, curiously reveals and simultaneously obscures, the answers we seek to those open ended questions.

*Viona Fung is currently completing MA in Curatorship at the University
of Melbourne.*

The artists in this exhibition intend to explore through extended painting practices, certain relationships with time, space and the gallery. Issues of location, pop, colour abstraction and a dissolve of formal and historical relationships in art will be explored.

Ways to Swing a Cat by Grace Longato

Ways to Swing a Cat at the George Paton Gallery until 18th September, is a collaborative installation by students from RMIT’s painting department. Referencing aspects of Pop and Colour Abstraction, the artists explore the historical relationship between art object and the gallery, as well as challenging the audience in how they interact with the space.

On entering the gallery, one is drawn towards a stream of coloured rubber gloves spilling out from the far side of the gallery wall. The gloves set the scene for the show, directing us to meander through an eclectic array of recontextualised industrial materials and domestic objects. Creating a sea of colour and movement, these everyday retro ‘treasures’ such as mirrors, fans, lamps, hessian, wool and nylon, as well as the inclusion of conventionally painted abstract works, challenge the conventional ‘white cube’s perspective of exhibiting so called “high art” forms. In addition, the mass produced objects are also reminiscent of various Pop art concepts and style, in that one becomes amazed at the type and amount of goods discarded by our consumer society, and the ingenuity of the artists in mirroring this back to us.

However, through the interplay of positive and negative spaces as well as the abstract works’ shapes, colours, textures and patterns, components of the overall installation interact with one another to what is ultimately an exploration into contemporary interests of sculptural and spatial relationships. Space is important within the work as further evident in the video projection of the gallery located at the far end of the room. In trying to piece together what is shown in the footage of the galley empty at night to the real space around us, attention to small details are drawn, in particular the deliberate omission of the walls in the video and the rejection of them within the actual installation itself. In moving their work from the walls to the floor, the artists upset the “geometric path” of a typical viewing experience challenging the usual methods of orientation. This challenge is further enforced when one exits the exhibition, having to bypass the pin-hole camera with its single perspective viewing frame covered as it faces onto the main gallery space.

Ways to Swing a Cat is an exhibition that shows emerging artists reveling in the confined physical space of the gallery’s four walls. In exploring and upsetting conventional ways of making and viewing art, the artists attempt to liberate us from conformity, challenging us to become active participants in forming subjective views within the gallery environment.

do it famously began as a discussion between artists Christian Boltanski and Bertrand Lavier, and writer and curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, in 1993 in Paris. Since then do it has been staged in over 45 major museums around the world. The 2009 ‘do it’ takes its instructions from philosophers.

Opening night: Wednesday 7 October, 5–7pm

Photographer Glenn Sloggett curated by Carolyn Dew
20–30 October
Australian photographer Glenn Sloggett is known for his dark comedic images of the walked street. Feeble offers a new insight into the artist’s highly ritualistic working processes by presenting a selection of his photographs alongside an assemblage of the lost and discarded objects the artist has found during a decade of street photography.

Opening celebrations: 5–8pm, Wednesday 21 October

Image: Glenn Sloggett, Hole twenty at the failed mini golf course 2008, from the series Morbid, Type C print, 80 × 80cm

Making Sense celebrates the work of Visual Media students from the Bachelor of Creative Arts. Working with the theme ‘making sense’— taken as both making through sensory exploration and also as ‘sense making’, this exhibition draws out understandings about practice both through action and reflection on it.