Artist as Family's artwork for MCA's In The Balance; Art for a Changing World. A living, growing, transforming "installation"- a food forest designed with permaculture principles (located outside St Michaels Anglican Church, Surry Hills). I'll say a bit more about it later, but I wanted to upload some pictures that show just how artful the experience of gardening is- well I hope it evokes that sense anyway. We certainly had a very pleasant time going from MCA in house exhibition (which will need to be revisited 4 or 5 times I think), over to The Food Forest then over to the C.O.F.A permaculture patch to spruce things up a bit.
I've been thinking a lot lately about sustainable art practice; how to still use all the pretty, interesting and workable materials out there but considering how to minimise (if not eliminate...which is difficult when not actually intending to make an ecologically themed artwork) the affect it has on the environment. I've managed to come to a lot of decisions in my personal life but haven't yet established my own rules and limits in terms of art. How can I justify the use and wastage of artworks?
The first practice I/we (the punk monk team) need to tackle is the Liquid Light Show. Liquid Light is the act of using oil, detergent/gel and coloured dyes (we currently use food dye) to make patterns that move and mutate in glass. These are put on top of overhead projectors and beamed onto spaces. Therefore, energy from electricity is needed, chemicals from the liquids which are bought and then disposed of afterwards, use of cleaning products (sprays and cloths) and large amounts of water for mixing and cleaning are used. Then there is the fact that, where we would usually walk/ride/skate to an event, with our overhead projectors and gear we must use someones vehicle to get to and from the venue.
The very easiest change can be applied to the cleaning up method. Alex and I attended a workshop a few months ago with The Watershed learning how to make our own environmentally safe cleaning products using basic and inexpensive ingredients like bicarb, vinegar, eucalyptus oil and pure soap and then using re-use spray bottles from ex- cleaning products packaging or from re-use centres like Reverse Garbage. Perhaps some microfibre cloths that do not get damaged by intensive use and dyes rather than using disposable chux/paper towel could be the next step here....
If anyone has any ideas/suggestions on what kind of dyes are of minimal effect and inexpensive or if anyone is some kind of solar power Whizz Kid and can help us work towards solar powered overheads...then WOW. The key word, inexpensive, is unfortunately important- we simply cannot afford to BUY our way into sustainability.
Baby steps.
Above is a video by a group The Joshua Light Show that we are inspired by in our liquid light experiments. We have been doing Liquid light projection art for art shows, music gigs and other events for about a year since our second Punk Monk hosted event called ALGAE RHYTHM. ALGAE RHYTHM 0.02: PSYCHOCHEMICALcurated by monks Alex and Kate which turned the then Punk Monk warehouse into an oozing rainbow cranium of melding patterns, forms and textures created by the old school overhead projectors and their wizard controllers. The night was full of mural painting, science experiments, psychedelic music and light play and we haven't looked back since.
The photo above is of Kate mixing colour at Know Your Mushrooms (Ron Mann) screening and party, an event for Possible Worlds Film Festival where we celebrated fungi, films and all forms of fun! Snapped by our good friend and brilliant photographer Susie Stavert.
(Don't forget to catch us on Wednesday @ The Annandale for a jam with psychedelic rockers Sister Jane)
Here are some shots (from here) of some liquid light projections we did with Sister Jane from a show last year at the now, closed Hopetoun Hotel (rest it's soul). Alex isn't drinking food dye and detergent here, but is creating bubbles in the design- just one technique in a practice of infinite possibilities. We'll be exploring some more on Wednesday, in what will be our third jam with Sister Jane.
In a recent interview with Alternative Media Group SJ drummer Joe Driver described us as a troupe of art-school freak-child light designers.This tickled us pink! Fellow vibe merchants Sister Jane are just what you need on a Wednesday night to shake that mid week stress out your hair. Their psychedelic jives inherit a sense of freedom that'll force your feet to groove- we'll provide the rainbow explosion happening in your head as projections around the room.
Alex made lemonade today. Fresh lemons from the lemon tree, fresh mint from the garden and sweeeet sweeet sugar. Look forward to more of these in the summer time!
