PROJECT24 - Day 12

Earlier this week, I spent some time with artists Cindy Vogels and Alison Mooney to brain out and refine some of the ideas that have been floating around the studio.

Shadow of Cindy Vogels on a wall that has video projected onto it.

I met Cindy in 2021 at the Bunya Mountains during the Arts On Top Regional Arts forum. I remember we were gathered around a fire chatting about her creative outputs like Space Girls Festival and making for Lady Gaga. We kept in contact via social media and I knew I had to cc her into what I was doing creatively.

Alison Mooney was a co-founder of theGRID hybrid arts collective space and I was lucky enough to work closely with her when I was a resident artist from around 2012 to 2015. I like the colour, vibrancy and play that Alison brings to her work. A journalist in a past life, I also appreciate her critical and curatorial eye.

Coolum Beach in the early morning. In the distance, two people walk along the beach.

Both artists provided insight into things that I either didn’t have the expertise with or helped me consider things I hadn’t before. This is one of the key wins in a collaborative creative process.

PROJECT24 - Day 11

To inform my practice, I decided to dedicate a day to researching the colonial aspects of the Philippines.

Early on, I stumbled upon the journal of Antonio Piagfetta available on archive.org. Pigafetta accompanied Ferdinand Magellan on his circumnavigation of the world, on his quest to find spices among other things. This French edition from 1525 has the French and English translation side-by-side. With archive.org you can ‘borrow’ the book for an hour at a time.

Pigafetta’s journal, while being an account of Magellan’s (‘The Captain’) journey is also seen as unusual due to his more personal insight into what happens. As an artefact from the 1500s it’s a compelling document on colonial thinking, divine right, the perils of divide and conquer, Indigenous welcome and resistance, and pre-contact ‘Philippines’.

Personally, I have an emerging interest in this writing via my great-grandmother Adela Bermudez (nee Subido). While I only met her a handful of times, I have lots of questions around which Indigenous tribe she belonged to, the impact of conversion from Islam to Christianity on her identity and family trajectory, and how (and if) the different cultures were able to coexist or continue.

A lasting image which informs my work is Adela playing the kulingtang. The kulingtang is similar to the gamelan: a set of metal gongs which are played rhythmically and produce an almost atonal percussive sound. I’ve been working with Mark A. Galang’s kulingtang samples to create a soundscape.

Magellan was eventually killed in Indigenous resistance led by Chief Lapu Lapu. Pigafetta’s account of in the lead up, during and the aftermath are really something.

Adela’s playing of the kulingtang. While a clear connection to her Indigenous identity, was it also her small act of resistance?

PROJECT24 - Day 7

In the short amount of time as a resident artist at 2nd Space, I have developed some studio routines and processes. Typically I work from a home studio. Studio is a loose word for whatever domestic space can be commandeered to suit the activity or project at the time.

As with a previous residency, I can set up multiple projectors to run projection experiments. I can also set up different tables for digital work and painting/drawing. Tools are all on display for quick selection.

A curated collection of visual inspiration and stimulus is displayed in the space. In the initial days of the residency I found some source images of traditional Filipino weaving and barongs to refer to. I found some previous studio experiments that recalled my previous interest in developing a visual style that referenced weaving.

A notebook is used for creating lists, sketches and organising thoughts. Later, these can be looked back at to trace the development of a work. I like using ink pen and large tip felt makers. I’ll often scan these and then further development the ideas with digital software.

Reacting to the space through play and experimentation makes it a residency, not just a hot desk. I am currently playing with draping fabric in preparation for some outdoors, in-situ activations. I utilised the forms of a chair and large speaker to begin to see how the fabric could be manipulated when concealing and covering objects. I’ve also taken a liking to a space under the stairs that is cordoned off with a white fabric curtain. It’s become a temporary site-specific projection surface.

Finally, I have an almost 9-5 approach to working in the space. This allows a routine and expectation to make and create.

I have a public showing of my work-in-progress on Wednesday 20 December, so this routine coupled with a date allow me to maintain flow and momentum. You can RSVP to the event here.

PROJECT24 - Day 4

When not making art, my side hustle is a teacher. I’m happy to be officially on summer holidays.

To not share mental headspace with this commitment while I’m in the studio is a privilege.

I drove back to 2nd Space on Sunday, stopping along the way to The Condensary gallery in Toogoolawah to check out Hiromi Tango and Louis Lim’s respective shows. This regional gallery definitely punches above it’s weight. And, it’s great to see two Asian Australian artists exhibited in a regional town.

Arriving later in the day, I decided to stay on into the evening and play with projecting moving image onto bespoke fabric I got printed via Next State in Naarm (Melbourne).

The initial play had festive Christmas tree energy. Which is not the energy I want! More on this soon.

PROJECT24 - Day 2

An early start in the Studio to beat the heat that will inevitably set in.

Overnight, there was a storm that woke me up at 1.30am. It’s definitely cooled things down. After the storm, I struggled to get back to sleep. I searched for Thai folding beds and imagined I would somehow need to start integrating this into my routine.

After doing some exploration yesterday on foot around Nambour and later some project-based exploration online about the Philippine barong (a traditional embroidered shirt) I find myself considering regionalism and what it looks like.

A list of interesting and mundane things I have noted so far from in and around Nambour:

  • In supermarkets, checkouts with actual people serving is still very much a thing.

  • In the same supermarket, spray deodorant was kept in a special unlocked cabinet with glass doors. There was a press for assistance button. Why?

  • A beach volleyball court for rent. It wasn’t at the beach.

  • The last phase of life often means moving to a regional town, riding bikes together in matching active wear, and wearing wildly colourful clothing.

  • Suburbanisation sees new housing butting against farmland.

  • At a department store that typically prints digital photos on-demand takes 10 days. The pics are process off site. Maybe everyone has photo paper and printers, and the local print cartridge industry is doing a roaring trade? Maybe it’s slow digital.

Learnings (so far) on the Philippine barong:

  • A semi-transparent light dress shirt made out of pineapple fibre. Often embroidered. Great for the hot tropical climate.

  • The barong styles evolved over time, but was definitely influenced by Spanish colonisers.

  • Some say the transparent material of the barong was to prevent hidden weapons being concealed by the working class or anti-colonisers.

Today I’ll make some sketches around the decolonised barong and play with the concepts of an invisibility barong.

An illustration of a man wearing a top hat and a Philippine barong. He wears long pinstripe pants and holds an umbrella.

PROJECT24 - Day 1

The first day of an Artist-in-residence (AIR) is like the first day of moving to a new town. It’s day one of my AIR at 2nd Space on Kabi Kabi & Jinibarra land (Nambour) as part of the Project Twenty-Four program. It’s also the first day of a QLD summer (IYKYK).

Off the back of a recent invitation back into commissioned writing, I’ve decided to write about the AIR as it unfolds as a way to continue exercising my very rusty thought-to-text neural pathways.

Roughly 3 hours drive from my home on Giabal, Jarowair and Western Wakka land (Toowoomba) I left early having packed the car the night before like a Dad taking his kids on school holidays. Note: I have done this before; it’s a time-saver.

Not trusting my sense of direction this early in the morning, I used Google maps like an unreliable crutch. Unreliable, because it took me down stretches of gravel roads. Unreliable morphed into unexpectedly beautiful as the roads cut through picture perfect, green, rolling Toogoolawah countryside complete with cows, granite boulders, and a teenager staring at me quizzically as they started their farm work duties for the day.

On arrival I was given a quick orientation of 2nd Space by arts worker (and photographer) Warwick Gow. 2nd Space is a creative co-working space funded and run by Arts Coast, Sunshine Coast Council. The building is also home to arts-adjacent startups, a recording studio, and gallery space.

On the drive I had noted at various stages the 30-ish degree temperature. I felt it immediately. Luckily, an artist friend familiar with the space told me to bring my own fan.

After unpacking my car’s cargo I decided to go in search of coldpress coffee, ice-blocks, and snacks. Like a ‘simple’ shop at Bunnings I came back with extras: a library card, a rough mud-map for op shops, and most importantly my bearings. Everything is perfectly located. I will need to remember to put this into my Tripadvisor review.

The rest of my day entails organising my thoughts on how the residency will play out. It’s valuable time and I want to maximise the opportunity.