Art Outside, Multiple Personalities

Art Outside Multiple Personalities continues this week until the 13th!

Rozelle Mental Hospital, abandoned wards 17 &18 were opened up last Friday for Sydney artists to install, jam, hang, perform and put some of their life in art form into the space. The place is beautiful and never has it been more colourful and vibrant and full of diverse perspectives.

Punk Monk showcased on Opening Night but some of (and the skeletons of) their art is still available for your pondering.

The Piano room of ward 18 is echoing the old pianos screams, mesmerist hovering ghost projections and is scribbled with musical vitriolic but poetic scribblings and is available for you to paint all over on a giant canvas (kickstarted by Deo) .Not far is The Bleep Machine with a haunting sound scape and intrusive, rhythmic machinery viewing through the peephole. Look out for the melting cars, they may have escaped the space or may still be exploring- get them driving again. Over in ward 17 is a giant spiders web/web of the mind, the skeleton of a larger project conducted on the night where melting liquid light and colour was seen oozing from the room's cranium.

Unfortunately Liam's trumpeteering heard from all corners of the ward and our poet's conjuring images through their words on opening night are only for the wall's memory now.

Please go check it out, there are some beautiful works by a huge number of Sydney artists. Support opening up disused space for artist use (Thank you Rogerio and Leichardt Council)!

More photos to come (especially of The Bleep Machine and Melting Cars)- the above is a small taster from Opening Night.

There are some other photos of the artworks of the exhibition on it's site.

TYPOGRAFFITI, What went down?

A.R O.O6 TYPOGRAFFITI, our last ALGAE RHYTHM of the year and the best way to finish off a fantastic creative year for Punk Monk Propaganda.

Our beautiful German interns Felix and Michael curated a night full of energy, activity and creative vibes- an art free- for-all with no adherence to previous skill sets- just freedom. We kicked off with a bang, The Cornershop at capacity (despite drizzly weather overfilling our tarps), for a Graffiti art basic how-to by "real" street artists and then creative atmos and great people mingling and jamming for the rest of the night. Font love inside with text design wowing especially for those that never considered its extrapolations- who knew there was such fanaticism surrounding Helvetica?

As we are about to hit off a New Year for the very young and fresh ALGAE RHYTHM, do we have takers for curating? Do we have takers for participating?

ALGAE is the future.

ALGAE RHYTHM 0.05: portals from punk monk propaganda on Vimeo.

(last A.R 0.05: PORTALS curated by myself with Alex Papasavvas at my side)

Things that cheer me up

In our front garden, November 09

A.R 0.06: TYPOGRAFFITI

Culture Jammers, Graffiti artists, Typophiles, street artists and wannabes/ dabblers/ appreciators of all of the above: let's get together and enjoy each others company (this coming Monday 30/11). Punk Monk's newest member Felix Pflieger is curating this months ALGAE RHYTHM. With the help of Mr. Pretzel (our other Bavarian colleague) and the rest of the Punk Monk crew, he will be executing a live art event in the spirit of interactivity and open canvas collaborating.

With restrictions tightening on how we are allowed to use public space and new policy coming into place to make it harder to reclaim that "communal" space as our own (rather than at the corporate advertisers grubby disposal) we'd like to come together and spray, tag and beautify some removable wallspace and engage in some giant infra red temporary tattoo scribbling on our infamous stolen wall over the shed.

Our trusty overhead projectors (plus our new shiny addition) will be available for texta projection as well as all the supplies you'll need to make tag textas and spray yourself giddy. It's all for fun- no competition and no ego required. There will also be artworks and video to peer at for inspiration and contemplation of what you can do with the written word, the designed text and whatever canvas you can find.

Come along- it's to be held at The Cornershop (Punk Monk headquarters in Alexandria) and costs a teeny $5 donation for supplies. In return, besides all the WOWs already mentioned, Ginger Rhythm (alcoholic ginger beer) will be poured out by the cup full (courtesy of Civilised Pig) and the event specific zine will be supplied for you to add to your collection. Details here.

This will be the last algae hoe down of the year, so if you haven't been to one yet because you always think, "well there'll be another next month", you better make this that one!

These little mushrooms make us very proud. (Faversham St, Marrickville)

I Have Multiple Personalities

This is not a vacant space.

If you've ever been to Callan Park in Rozelle, there is a very distinctive aura to the place. It must be different for each person- but it is there. There is a stillness, a quietness that is unsettling and thought provoking. Without the knowledge of its history- it is puzzling, with this knowledge, that feeling becomes even more unsettling.

These gorgeous, open grounds housed a "lunatic asylum"/"hospital for the insane"/mental hospital, for 123 years before being left abandoned, as though emergency evacuated and never to be tended to again. Plenty was left. There are the usual ghost stories that become of such places, easy to fob off to the everyday sceptic (of which I am not one) but there is an undeniable presence- the building is an entity holding secrets, stories, bits and pieces of people's lives being communicated through the walls with great strength; much lays beneath the stillness, deterioration and seeming emptiness here.

Punk Monk Propaganda have been given a very special opportunity to use this space as part of the Multiple Personalities exhibition during early December. Never did I think but I have often dreamed they'd open up this space for this purpose. Ever since I was first introduced to the disused Ward 18 in 2008 during a film shoot on the outer grounds, I suspected sadly it'd be sold off and refurbished. Of course, people have been breaking into the space for years, many of the artefacts left behind, many of the fragments of the life that used to operate within, have been tampered with and stolen; the space is a squatters dream if not for the heavy traumatising air within. Alas, it is a heritaged space and now, artists and lovers of the many historic deserted buildings in Sydney have the chance to make something beautiful one of them. This space may never be the same again.

We will be experimenting with projection, film, shadow play, interactive machinery and live performance and art creating. This is right up Punk Monks ally, each of us projecting our own multiple personalities onto the space as we utilise what it generously, albeit forcedly thrusts upon us.

Alex and I will be directing the live performance aspect of the night and are putting out a call out for more performers. We already have some and we want more more more. You all have a talent, so let it be known. We want:

*actors

*poetry writers/readers

*illustrators

*painters

*origami folders

*musicians/singers

*installation artists/builders

*people who know alot of quotes

*genius puzzle put togetherers

*knitters

*writers/zinemakers

*body artists

ANYONE who would like to be a part of a live artwork which will work as a progression throughout opening night (Dec 4) from isolated performances to one live performance jam. We will be directing, so we just need your talent/skill/willingness/ambition....

Show us your Multiple Personalities and we'll show you ours...

e-mail: clare@punk-monk.com

twitter: @lilithedana

Marrickville Maggies

And guardle oodle ardle wardle doodle. The magpies said.

We are going to move houses but I'm not sure where. I am getting Marrickville nostalgia already.

For a Rainy Day (or one week without sleep)

Go here and join the group. Vote for Punk Monk Digital's video so we can make some worthwhile projects in the future!! Felix and Davey have been slaving away at this all week with wonderful results! Pick out your Punk Monk friends voices?

Lurker- isms

The Lurkers got together with Punk Monk Propaganda in October for a hoedown like no other. We're sending away the leafs hung on our tree sculpture to Copenhagen, zine- style. The leaves were wishes from the well of Lurkers fans for our world, dedicated to politicians in positions of power and also to humanity in general. Watch out for our leaves around the place in the lead up to the UN Climate Conference. We better get a move on- the count down is on tcktcktck....

Throwie-e-e-e-e-e-e

"Graffiti" art is about claiming back public space- it is about environmental and social change, however many different levels that exists on. Punk Monk trialled throwie making at Born in the Doorway after being inspired at TINA, by the Graffiti Research Lab (very cool, check this) dudes based around the world.

We are gearing up to take this project into public space for a communal/community cause- not going to reveal much in these early stages- but do you like gardens?

Set your inner santa FREE

Santa is a nice fellow, he gives us gifts which make us happy (?) Unfortunately all those little elves don't actually make all those pressies from scratch, they are fuelled by capitalism (which is destroying our planet!) . Sometimes we need to set our inner santa (consumerhappy) self free and have some time to reconsider our "gift" buying.

If you're not willing to boycott Coles/Woolworths for a whole month in December (and why the hell not?) then at least take the 28th November (BUY NOTHING DAY) off from spending. Buy Nothing. It'll feel nice (plus it's FREE).

Everyday Beauty

Cnr King St and Erskineville Rd, Newtown- flowers hang from the power lines. Thank you to those beautiful people who think of ways to pretty up our public space- I feel comforted that you exist and I am graced with your works each day.