kissing elephants

White Noise

Couldn't leave without mentioning the exhibition that opened in Melbourne at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image that I went to. It was one of the most exciting arts events I've been to and nothing like I've ever experienced before. It features a group of digital artists (including Ernest) working with sound and image. Apart from E's work, naturally, I particularly like Ulf Langheinrich's unsettling movies which reminded me of how I felt watching Solaris and Peter Bosch/Simone Simons' use of water to create abstract images.

Download Ernest's absolute.AVI
Download peterbosch.AVI

The exhibition space was also very well done. Each work had its own black cavernous environment linked by a neon circled infinite corridor. Between each space an approximation of white noise was used to 'cleanse the palate' before moving onto the next artist. Very clever.

Mmmmelbourne

hello again, bet you thought I'd forgotten you. Of course not, I've been in Melbourne without my beloved internet. Melbourne is a nice city, I instantly felt at home there. Maybe it was the soothing rumble of the trams which reminded me of Sheffield or the colourful people reminding me of London. A new friend summed it up when they described it as more 'real' and less 'showy' than Sydney. The streets are wider, the skyscrapers less dominating and the myriad of early 20th century buildings makes the view ever changing. There's also some pretty terrible modern architecture too. Its a real mish mash of a city with obviously no planning ideals but somehow it works. Saw some of the best graffiti I've ever seen.

Also, discovered a fantastic tapas bar where they served the thickest hot chocolate with spanish doughnuts. Now I'm not a big chocolate person but this was amazing and if I never experience it again, it will be a tragedy.

If it looks from the photos as if I was drunk for most of my trip, that's because I was. Too many exhibition parties and socialising with people who like to talk until late. Suffering for it now but have to pull myself together for my 6am start to Queensland tomorrow - white beaches, rainforests and surf here I come. Zzzzzzzz.