Mircea Cantor
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi, 2014.
19th Biennale of Sydney
Art Gallery of New South Wales

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The Redfern Biennale was a walk-around exhibition on the streets bounding a Redfern Housing Commission precinct. About 60 artists participated. It was organised by local gallery, Damien Minton, and ran for 7 hours on Saturday 8 March. An accompanying essay by Yellam Nre can be read on the gallery’s web site.

Above: Bronwyn Tuohy, Stuck Up

Bronwyn Tuohy

Jim Anderson, Better Red than Read

Jim Anderson

Jim Anderson

Liane Rossler, For the locals: Bird Bee Butterfly Biennale Buffet

Liane Rossler

Margaret Roberts, Polygon Landscape (Redfern)

Margaret Roberts

Margaret Roberts

Sara Givins, Tumbling Tumbleweeds

Sara Givins

Stephen Coburn, Boat Cave

Stephen Coburn

Blake Kendall, I remember she ironed

Blake Kendall

Lynne Barwick, Do Not Ignore It

Lynne Barwick

Unknown

Detail, local church.

Good Habitat is a newly named working unit founded by Heidi Dokulil, Beatrice Chew and myself. It continues and extends our habitat-related interests and activities of the last few years and —now we have thought through and completed a body of work—is a more clearly articulated expression of what we do, particularly for projects that are current and upcoming. We create, facilitate and broadcast projects around the idea of good habitat through publishing, talks, exhibitions, workshops, community projects and education.

Please visit our Good Habitat holding page to read more. You can also register to be notified when the site is up.

Marrickville Open Studio Trail (MOST) was a mainly DIY tour program listing 45 artist-run initiatives and galleries on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 March. It was presented by Marrickville Council as part of Art Month Sydney 2014.
Above: Vicki White, Tinpot Studio, St Peters.

In 2012 the British artist Robert Montgomery (in a work called Echoes of Voices in the High Towers) wrote some text for about 20 advertising billboards around Berlin and the old Tempelhof Airport. The subject of one of them was about place and memory and contained this line in white capitals:
<THIS IS WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH CITIES WHEN YOU LEARN THEM LIKE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS>
A picture of this billboard appears in this blog in 2 or 3 posts, suggesting I guess, that for me, it keeps hitting the right note. I like the idea of learning cities. Apart from the pleasure of looking at the artwork, I’m sure this is the appeal of programs like MOST: walk, look at buildings, check out shops, eat in a different cafe, ride a less familiar train line, see where people work, see what they make, talk to them about why they do it.

Jody Graham, May Street Studios, St Peters.

Jody Graham’s studio.

Jody Graham’s studio.

Vicki White, Tinpot Studio, Edith Street, St Peters.

Catherine White, Tinpot Studio

Jewellery by Catherine White

Bag by Catherine White. (Textile designer unknown).

Eric Lobbecke, Tinpot Studio.

Squarepeg Studios, Junction Street, Marrickville.

Squarepeg Studios.

Squarepeg Studios.

Matina Bourmas, Airspace Projects, Junction Street, Marrickville.
Matina Bourmas, Icy Pole, 2014.

Airspace Projects, Dawn-Joy Leong, Doodle Dreams, 2013.

Airspace Projects, Paula Dawson, Hyper object: Homeland, 2013.

Airspace Projects

SNO, Marrickville Road, Marrickville.
Susie Idiens, Passage, 2014

Susie Idiens, Passage, 2014

Susie Idiens, Passage, 2014

SNO, Kelley Stapleton, Two lines and a jump rope, 2013.

SNO, Sophia Egarchos, Step into You, 2014.

SNO, workroom.

SNO workroom; Kelly Stapleton talking to MOST visitor.

SNO, workroom.

SNO, street entry.

Tinpot Studio, street entry.

Tortuga Studios, backyard.

Stone Villa Studios, nice blank wall.

Must be doing something right.
Marrickville Pork Roll, Illawarra Road, Marrickville.

Best wishes for Australia’s new (only?) independent voice in newspaper publishing. The Saturday says, ‘We promise to be a small but handsome mongrel, a blue heeler cross of the press.’

Found this beautiful drawing by David Gentleman on the cover of a 1964 Penguin.

User Generated Architecture
Works by raumlaborberlin in collaboration with locals.
Curated by Joni Taylor
Tin Sheds Gallery, University of Sydney
until 15 November 2013
Stick on City
Wallpaper, timelapse videoloop 2013
The Generator
Mobile furniture made from plywood, recycled wood, cable-ties.
(Created as part of the raumlaborberlin Generator workshop, 13–14 October) 2013
Not shown here are their wonderful videos!

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The ‘know local’ newspaper, Garden Post, was written, illustrated and photographed by ten cub reporters from the City of Randwick. It was launched on Sunday 20 October at the Randwick Community Organic Garden.
Above: Dylan holds up the cover showing his lively drawing of one of the garden’s chickens.
Photograph by Dylan’s mum.
Below: Some of the Garden Post team and Lauchlan—a sort of amazingly clued-up garden cicerone.
Instagram photographs by Nikki.

The Newsroom project was sponsored by Randwick City Council as part of its Cultural Community Grants program developed by the council to encourage happy and connected local communities through creative arts and cultural projects.

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Our 2 day, weekend activity for kids (8–12 years) was about developing skills in storytelling and image-making and at the same time, learning about the local habitat. In this case, local habitat meant a community garden in Randwick. The workshop was initiated and developed by our working unit, The Patch, sponsored by The City of Randwick and supported by The Shack Youth Services and the people of Randwick Community Organic Garden. A newspaper featuring their work will be launched in September.

For their sponsorship and support: The Randwick City Council. For the Randwick Community Organic Garden: Lauchlan Giddy, Jessica Perini and Richard Pang. For The Shack: Wade Mathias and Jennifer Cockburn-Hillis. For The Patch: Heidi Dokulil, Beatrice Chew, Su-An Ng, Richard Peters and myself. For those cameras: thank you to the people who donated their pre-owned digitals. For the screen printing: Stefan Kahn. For that lovely, crusty bread: Brasserie Bread and Bourke Street Bakery. For the Newsroom: Alice, Cameron, Derus, Dylan, Ethan, Gabriella, Harmani, Jade, Jessica and Madeleine. 

Some pictures from Saturday and Sunday follow. Read more at The Patch.

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It’s nice to be asked once to design an arts magazine but a rare thing to be asked to also do the subsequent redesigns—two in all—the latest being June/July 2013, which is a fresh look at the design produced by Monika Domaschenz and myself in 2006. All page layouts shown are by Gail Priest.
RealTime: a critical guide to the art of now.

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