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Showing posts from 2012

End of MFA and now the start of a new journey

Plenty to think of and plenty to do with 2 shows next year and a trip to the US to organise How wonderful to be on this new journey after 2 years swallowed by self knowledge and self discovery together with the most interesting studies yet to date. Thank you RMIT MFA team I really enjoyed this amazing journey that led and allowed me to step into my dream of pursuing a 3 dimensional art practice.

Installation part of my MFA assessment

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In Memoriam 2 @ Gossard Space This installation of single use cardboard packaging used to transport art stretchers is painting with mistints from Bunnings The idea of this project is to use the overlooked. Many items  has been regarded as not worthy by Western society. The sad truth is that yet we produce more, when we already have plenty to use and choose from.

Sculpture part of my MFA assessment

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Paintings part of my MFA assessment

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Objets I-III Tribal Necklace III-II Stacking XIII Stacking XII

Brave World Sculpture exhibition at the Toyota Centre

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This piece Family is made of single use packaging. What is considered art ? What can be used as a support to make art? What is in the box (wooden art stretchers) or can the packaging be used instead Paintings of plastic trash washed on shore are painted on the boxes as unstable towers

Black Plastic Trash "Tribal Necklaces"

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Black Plastic unnoticed forgotten trash washing up on our shores

Jellyfish 'Black Sea Nettle'

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This Black Sea Nettle tentacles are filled with black plastic fragments washed up on the beaches between Middle Park and St Kilda. The transparent ring under the jellyfish canopy is made of plastic drink bottles also from the beach. The plastic found is in varied state of decay and discolouration, stained by an extended stay in our oceans.

The Reality of our Australian beaches

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More rubbish then shells  its becoming a reality Look at the colour of the plastic after a stay in water I had to cut in half all the bottle I had previously gathered  Interestingly the pungent smell was one of petrol Once a bottle stays in te water for a while it gathers oils and other substance from the water  The original colour changes then releases other toxins in the water  and a smell similar to petrol

Bottles and more Bottles

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 This investigation has been a real eye opener here are some of the fondu bottles found on the beach These have been picked this morning on our well beloved St Kilda beach After being washed in a light soapy water the bottles will be sliced and reused in my work 'Black Widow' More photos to come shortly of the nearly resolved installation

Plastic Debris becomes micro plastic

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We discard 3.5 million plastic pieces a day in our oceans It is a threat to the wildlife birds and fish Plastic does contaminates the food chain There is invisible effects from micro plastic and mercury is one of the contaminants There is no such thing as organic fish Do you eat fish?  5 weeks of picking up lids, bottles, straws and anything in between that is of interest to create an artwork I have a couple of projects on the go their completion will depend on the amount of material salvaged If you've missed the Catalyst show on Plastic Oceans Take the time to view this well worth video http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3583576.htm

Listing

Trash Rubbish Garbage Litter Dirt Debris Fragment Filth Refuse Junk Detritus Disregarded Lost Discard Broken Matter Found Devalued Left over Cast off Unwanted Unloved Unnoticed Disused Scraps Waste

People come and talk to you

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On the beach as we pick up all sorts of stuff people come to us and ask us what we do It is a great way to spread the awareness of the 'contagious plastic' and may be they will also do something about it!.....One can only hope! This is a pile of rubbish in our beautiful St Kilda foreshore after a wild weekend One can see the St Kilda Pier and St Kilda Baths in the distance A walker said this morning: 'Oh the beach is really dirty this morning!' My response to her was: 'Yes the cleaning truck hasn't been as yet' How can people be so oblivious to their own environment After sifting through the muck Home for cleaning the plastic colour lids This is what is there everyday in the sand

Spots the difference

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'0912'                      Artefacts of our time I scavenge the beaches to locate materials  These found objects (left) once gathered represent       a record of what we as consumers use everyday in our culture Once playfully assembled the found objects resemble artefacts of ancient cultures The result of my finds is this painted work (right)  '09/2012' acrylics on paper 2012

Listing of the found to date

I have made a list of what I found and recognisable to date on the beach Objets trouves – Melbourne Beach 2012 - Plastic Only Lego Yogi bear Straw Barbie shoe Mc Donald straw Barbie bag Cap Net Lid Rope Ball Peg Tennis ball Party popper Bouncing ball Cup Syringe cap Plate Soya sauce cap Comb Bottle cap Lolly Pop stick Coke cap Handle Soft drink cap Balloon Water bottle cap Masking tape Milk Bottle Tape Spray paint cap Biro Take away coffee lid Biro cap Nozzle Bottle stopper Ties Toy car Tag Toy character Tent picket Ice cream container Wheel Spoon Container Knife Plant container Fork Dessert container Yakult bottle Construction cap More stra

A synopsis of what we do daily...frightening

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Interesting little video take the time to view it www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM My black plastic list is getting longer

Drinking bottles

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What I see, What I find ... makes me question the world we live in... and where does it all go Have a look at this little film to realise just what is! www. storyofstuff .org/movies-all/ story -of-bottled-water

Saturday Morning Walk

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 A walk this morning with a friend of my sister was very rewarding! Can you spot the difference from last week? How much more rubbish collected are placed in the trays My backyard is starting to look very... Colourful

This morning catch - Drinking straws

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This morning was I thought unrevealing that was till I came back and emptied my bag, close to 50 straws (mainly white) were found after the rubbish truck picked up most of the debris washed on shore last weekend. Q: Can you recognise the brand that gives this kind of straws with each of their soft drinks? On the other side of the beach my dear friend also picked up rubbish for me and her comment were lots of red rubber band this morning on the beach. Other items that were more prominent this morning were cigarettes butts which made their way directly to the rubbish bin  My mistake as I couldn't think of a satisfactory smell operated piece to make

Multi Towers - Works in progress

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From this little sketch with ink on rag paper came the idea to work on a larger format to  create an acrylic tonal painting which isn't finished as yet , it is a work in progress to show how plastic can become, as you breathe new live into it, of commercial appeal as an accessory

After a wild Saturday

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My friend and my sister joined me today to pick up rubbish from the beach. We set up on my usual walk to each fill a normal plastic bag each (and picked up more which we directly put in the several bins that are along the beach shore). To get the amount of debris needed for my final piece, I needed to diversify and encompass all rubbish found and not only select the black plastics encountered. The picked plastic debris will go towards my end of the year project for the MFA graduate show This is after putting all the debris in crates and colour coding the found objects These crates are filling quickly and probably will need to transfer the mass of plastic found into large containers. First I am leaving them outside for the rain to wash off the sand Amazing amount isn't it and that was found only with in a few days. All the circular shaped black plastic objects found prior are at uni in my studio and this is at home

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

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I have been watching videos of 'The Great ocean garbage patch' or also called the '7th continent' on YouTube  since its discovery in the Pacific which has doubled in the last 5-10 years , since then 4 more have been discovered including a second one in the Pacific. Watch these short videos and pass it on to friends and family to make them aware as I realise that talking to my students and some of my peers NOone knew about it!!!! and we are in 2012 well just over 15 years after the discovery of this Vortex!!!! and noone knows about it????? Am amazed that we are so blind to plastic which future is to never break down it actually break down in tiny little particles but will forever be on earth and never return to earth like paper can. So why are we still making things out of Plastic  What are we?  What have we created? What has the world become?  What the world will be for future generations? I am finding it hard to understand what we have as the human race becom

After a wild week! Debris found on the beach...

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I found this on Friday on my usual beach walk What to do with all this???