in utopia

i suppose i have always thought of "utopia" as a kind of fantasy land
and dimissed it.
but the other day, i was indulging in some self-critique and was advised to take a more romantic view of myself
that i should "just pretend you are in your own utopia and act like that, and enjoy yourself ..." (and crucially)
"as though it is normal"
re-arrange the world, or my own perspective of it, and live that reality
a nice idea. a very good suggestion. because the world is rarely as crticial, as scary, as forbidding, as i have become accustomed to thinking it.

sir thomas more's utopia he didn't quite start it all, but he has naming rights

another utopia, this one very different. the community and erstwhile station in the northern territory which has produced hardship but also the incredible works of artists like minnie pwerle, emily kame kngwarreye (her sister in law), barbara weir (her daughter), and emily pwerle (her sister)



trip to utopia
i listened to a wonderful story about friendship late last night, on life matters
old friends
it was wonderful not only in the way it talked about friends but also a trip to alice springs and its surrounds (1000 km radius, i think), visiting communities and sleeping under the stars
local gallery in alice springs
this, i think, would be wonderful to do,
tours of australia, guided by local indigineous people
- intrepid
- WA Bungle Bungle (Purnululu national park)



This parting thought,
you have everything you need
how often do we hear that?
not often enough, i reckon

bit crabby

when i was little, i thought that water meters looked like crabs
some days, i would pretend i believed they were crabs
they do look remarkably like crabs!
this picture accompanied an article about the famous crab migration of christmas island (in the telegraph, uk)
i remember seeing a great documentary about the christmas island crab migration
really well made
here is a link to it, and a great dramatic blurb ...
Red Crabs Crazy Ants [Christmas Island Crabs documentary] [click to download and watch, or buy!]
Two enemy armies are locked in a life and death struggle for Christmas Island, 360 kilometres south of Jakarta. During their spectacular annual migration millions of red crabs are under attack from yellow ants, and the ants are winning. Can worried scientists turn the tide?
watch a little bit now...

i remember reading a travel guide about cuba too, an island with its own crab migrations. the author was trying to visit the bay of pigs, and there were all these crabs in the way
an excerpt from cuba - wild island of the caribbean
Each spring millions of small reddish land crabs emerge from the moist forests surrounding Cuba’s Bay of Pigs to breed in the nearby sea. As NATURE’s Cuba: Wild Island of the Caribbean shows, the evening invasions — which last for weeks — can wreak havoc on ordinary life. Roads become covered with smelly smashed crabs, while car owners must repair tires shredded by the sharp shells.
part of the same show,
Those that reach the sea face one last challenge — laying their eggs while avoiding being swept back into the water.
watch the spawning cuban crabs
another snippet of information i got somewhere (a book? a doco? the internet?!!) was about another snippet of information i got somewhere (a book? a doco? the internet?!!) was about hermit crabs
hermit crabs live in shells.
they also carry their shells, so if they outgrow their shell, it's not just a question of finding any old larger shell and using that one. it's important to find one that is "just right". so how do you find a "just right" shell?? this is what the scientists have found out about the hermit crab answer to the classifieds,
When a hermit crab discovers an empty but oversized shell, it waits nearby rather than simply walking away. Once a small group gathers, crabs begin piggybacking by holding onto the shell of a larger crab and riding along. Such waiting and piggybacking behaviors seem to increase the chances that a synchronous vacancy chain will happen. "They spend hours queuing up, and then the chain fires off in seconds, just like a line of dominoes," says Rotjan. Computer models populated with virtual hermit crabs and shells confirmed that synchronous vacancy chains depend not only on crab density, but also on how long crabs are programmed to wait near an unsuitable shell.
read more about it here
video of hermit crabs moving house

oh i do love this story!
this fitzroy crab looks pretty happy with its house, i must say. it's not going anywhere.

love and a good volcano

I first heard about james turrell's land art piece, roden crater, on robert hughes' american visions.
robert hughes expressed wonder and delight (a nice contrast to the eloquent disgust he displayed when talking to jeff koons)
trying to find out more about the project
(eg will it open in 2011 after all? and when is the best time to visit - special things are supposed to happen at the winter or summer equinoxes*
*Brown, Jullia. "Occluded Front, James Turrell". The Lapis Press. 1985. [official roden crater project text]
this cross-section of the roden crater published in the seattle times
this kind of searching leads you straight down the rabbit hole (or under the volcano see the article in the independent)
- and down there you meet all sorts of "enthusiasts" and characters.
one of my favourites (so far) is the graceful spoon blog which includes a map around the south western states,
taking in robert smithson's spiral jetty, james turrell's roden crater, donald judd's studio/ museum, as well as natural wonders, grand canyon and various mesas
nice shot of freight trains, very kerouac
it's kind of nice, the whole mystery of what's going on at roden crater and not really knowing when it will be open to the public.
as mysterious as the thing itself.
hole mystery of what's going on at roden crater and not really knowing when it will be open to the public. as mysterious as the thing itself.
as the thing itself.
thing itself.

ny times: shh! it's a secret kind of outside art
The artist James Turrell in 2001 at Roden Crater, his artwork (or his studio, depending on how you look at it). PHOTO - JORI FINKEL

another article in art papers, james turrell, painter's eye in three dimentions

An 854 © James Turrell)
An 854 An 854 foot long tunnel ascends to the Roden Crater's East Portal (photo by Florian Holzherr © James Turrell)


robert hughes ... delighted with the roden crater ... american visions

from techeblog site
In 1979, James Turrell purchased the 400,000 year old, 3km wide crater and transformed it into into a massive naked-eye observatory, designed specifically for the viewing of celestial phenomena.
...for the past 30 years or so an astounding renovation has been underway below roden crater, the brilliance of which probably won't be apparent until the large-scale art installation opens when ready, apparently in 2012
roden crater is on flickr

it's like an in search of episode... and here's the proof!
Roden Crater Is Alien Landing Site Disguised as Art Installation

a triggered awareness of vernacular loveliness ...

now isn't that a beautiful sentence?

i read it just recently in a new yorker review of the work of gabriel orozco. words and thoughts by peter schjeldahl

here's another line i really liked from the review, well, i'll include the context, but the line is the very last one,

There is no Orozco style, unless it’s his penchant for found, drawn, and sculpted circles and spheres. He evinces a blind spot for painting, with inert geometric canvases, but never a failure of nerve. Consider the whale (“Mobile Matrix”), a commission for a new library in Mexico City: the skeleton of a thirty-five-foot leviathan marked in graphite with segments of overlapping circles, now suspended majestically, and magically, in MOMA’s atrium. The marks are like a set of thoughts about something that happens to be, right there with you, a whale.

a triggered awareness of vernacular loveliness ...
it reminds me of ... well, everyday loveliness ...like this

lick sip suck -- stick nip tuck

i have been making "books" for years - ripping images out of magazines, re-configuring them, changing layout, folding, sticking
just read about hello sandwich's inspiration books during her time as assistant art director at vogue [oh, what a throw-away line!]

another blog, olga bennett, taking photos of magazines, and other things...

colour & magic

colour & magic,

souther salazar, on my love for you...

this image reminds me a bit of a 60s cindarella book i have; i'll dig it out

changing seasons, 1st day of spring

two leaves, by hana akiyama






donna ray, groundwork found on my love for you is a stampede of horses
betty mbitjana, bush melons

four seasons tree and bird, woodmouse


happiness etc

casey roberts, tiny showcase