our lady of

as you may have guessed from the name of this blog, I very much enjoy strange and oldfashioned church names, particularly Catholic churches. Our Lady of Eternal Succor,  Our lady queen of heaven’s angels, of course Notre Dame (actually church for Mary Magdalene not the Holy Mother), Our Lady of Victories, Our Lady of Mercy, Our Lady of Consolations, and of course Our Lady of….(insert town name here). They are all real names of churches. I like the invocation of a champion for a particular cause, town or attribute,  our lady, a Saviour, one who can intercede with fate, a loving yet venerated woman who will ’stand for ‘ and look after neglected, basic and everyday things. Of course the idea of mother goddesses (pardon me for the pious, but the virgin mary is a goddess and is prayed to) is familiar to us in a secular sense through other symbolic representations such as traditional representations of  Justice as a blindfolded woman with scales and a sword.

Isis, who it is argued added her presence to the structure of Christianity through early Egyptian and Roman converts identifying her with the the Virgin Mary. The attributes of Isis are generally listed as follows:

• She who gives birth to heaven and earth,
• She who knows the orphan
• She who knows the widow spider,
• She who seeks justice for the poor people,
• She who seeks shelter for the weak people

Some of Isis’ many other titles were:

• Queen of Heaven,
• Mother of the Gods,
• The One Who is All,
• Lady of Green Crops,
• The Brilliant One in the Sky,
• Star of the Sea,
• Great Lady of Magic,
• Mistress of the House of Life,
• She Who Knows How To Make Right Use of the Heart,
• Light-Giver of Heaven,
• Lady of the Words of Power,
• Moon Shining Over the Sea.

 one of my favorite church names is the “Star of the Sea” convent and school here in Adelaide, at Henley Beach.

at the moment I am…

our lady of sharp cuts
our lady of spit
our lady of small things

Yesterday I recieved the most welcome news that I got my Arts SA grant to go to Japan! The full amount too. For a few weeks now I have been visiting the post box with a knot of mild panic in my stomach. The relief is absolute. Now I can go on my seven month art/travelling jaunt without putting myself into a deep hole of debt.

In September 2007 I will be off to do a residency at the CCA Kitakyushu in southern Japan. There is a link to their site from my blogroll.

making ‘the new vow of poverty’, has reminded me of how stupid many people are with their feet.

Some people jump and swing through the mass of clothing and fragile objects and I have no anxiety at all. They are aware of where their feet end and the art begins. Some just blunder along nearly kicking things or treading on the edge of a jacket with no knowledge they are doing so. These people I really dread. How can you not know where your body ends? It reminds me of being a teenager and after a growth spurt, whacking my fingertips on door frames because I still hadn’t grown into my longer fingers. I try to imagine permanently living with such a blurry edge. Maybe they are just super cerebral and live upstairs with no thought to their foundations.

Actually, I have seen a lot of artists be like this, and as ‘art on the floor’ is a well established trope of 20th/21st cent art, many accidents occur. Surely people have gotten used to the idea of the floor as a space for art?

I was touched by how some people defended the work - asking others to be careful or sending barbed glances over at the bumblers.

The opening of ‘Years Without Magic’ on Wednesday night went well. A lovely crowd of people came along, many of whom I had not expected to be there at all. I was a little jittery prior to the opening due to having to give a floor talk, and the anticipation of my gang of ‘performers’ arriving dressed in my work.

Earlier that day I picked up Lisa Kelly from the airport - Lisa is one of our catalogue essayists. It was all a bit frantic shipping her back to the gallery to have her first look at the show, and then home for a quick change of clothes and cheese on toast.

The floor talk went surprisingly smoothly with Mary Knights, Louise Haselton and Lisa Kelly, surrounding me with layers of questions, opinions and their own readings of the works. Quite a few punters showed up.

Louise and I then realised we had not organised catering for the opening - in all the rush to get ready. Appologies to the hundreds of hungry guests.

the ‘performance’:

Nine male friends of mine agreed to wear pieces of my artwork to the opening. During the opening they quietly shed the garments onto the floor, so that the final form of the work was determined by their (and mine) collective actions. It happened without fuss over the two hours of the opening. Everyone did a great job - very sensitive to the work and the gallery. I really enjoyed seeing the where things went and having relationships suddenly change. A few people asked if I was going to sneakily change things after the opening - I said of course not! (and I still am very happy about the placements)

A few people asked me when the performance was happening, I answered that it all ready was, all around.

photos - soon

if you like…

shells, coins, second hand clothing, crystals, gold, silver, fruit seeds, cast aluminium, aalva alto vases, grape stalks, temporary shelters, needlework, connectivity, magic,  the colour yellow, alchemy, chains and/or art - you might enjoy this.

You are invited/alerted to:

i am thinking lots about very small everyday things as art (which is not very groundbreaking) and things as sort of micro performances, like wearing a particular badge or co-ordinating your clothes. little artworks everyday.

The New Vow of Poverty, as a work thinks out this kind of aesthetic. At the opening around 10 people will wear different art/garments and very casually drop them onto the floor as part of the installation. This is a kind of performance with no fuss, maybe no audience (or no one noticing), and with a very minimal sense of drama or ‘event’ attached. Perhaps this will past unnoticed for the most part, i am not sure that this matters.