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