ELSEWHERE

From Belgium in the springtime

Gracia and my copies of 1110/5 arrived by post recently and I can't quite explain to you the thrill of receiving something you've contributed to be it in some large or small way landing in your hand. So exciting was it to receive this tiny parcel wrapped in brown paper and sent to 'Australië' that we left it wrapped up until the morning to open with the first brew of coffee for the day. Inside said parcel, a contributors copy for each of us. Twenty-three postcards with words and images from a few people I know and a few people I'd like to know. I wonder if anyone will separate their pack and post them.

Thank-you Éireann for inviting us to be a part of this special edition. Dreaming up our three collaborative pieces for you to pick from was a delight. I'm always interested to see who will pick what, wondering if they will pick my favourite. To my great delight, you did.

You can discover more about this MIEL publication here, on our site, and you can purchase a copy for yourself here, through MIEL for €10.00. And you can read An incomplete round-up of little magazines on postcards, on the Little Magazine Collection, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Special Collections blog.

111O is our literary magazine, published twice a year (fall and spring). Each issue usually contains one photograph or print, one piece of prose, and ten poems in a slim volume with a die-cut cover.

This time, though, we decided to do something different. We asked 23 artists and photographers to lend us a piece of their work, and invited 23 writers to respond to those images. Each image, paired with its text, will be printed on a heavy postcard. (There's space on the back for an address and a stamp—so yes, you can even send them.) We're calling this issue 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111. Or 111O/5, for short.

These days of late

Waiting...


Waiting...


Still waiting...

A quick little round up of recent days as shared on instagram, from (successful) hallway waiting for a TNT courier, to pre-opera treats at Brunetti's in the city (before George Frideric Handel's Partenope), and a fleeting trip to Sydney, where I happily lose myself in the collections of both the library and the MCA. This is how it looks around here, in between wrapping orders of prints from our sale (still on until the end of May) and drawing yet another bird for my giant book entitled Twelve Months of Southern Hemisphere Birds. This is how it looks some days, in between domestic chores and creating neon collages. Looking at the frequency and ease with which G and I use instagram, it is easy to see why it has taken off.


A pink sky before yoga one morning


The hilarity of our Brunetti's sweets re-gramed by Brunetti


You are here, briefly


Delighting in signage, and finding circles everywhere


Looking at symmetry in the library


...and looking up various books on birds


Robert Owen's Sunrise #3 (In process earlier on, as part of Volume One: MCA Collection)


Guan Wei's The Journey to Australia mural at the MCA in progress (explore MCA Now)


There's always Percy

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John Steinbeck (1902-1968)

(via Rona Green)

A terrific MAY sale and a new print to boot

This still dark morning, I have news of a terrific May sale for you and Gracia's print to share. Above, in photos taken on a windy day, you can see the print she made for a collaborative artists' book and print exhibition that travelled about the Netherlands. If you cast your mind back to 2010, you may remember it. From this bed, with the wings of a bird, I flew to the sea as I slept last night was created especially for Of Birds and Fishes / Over Vissen en Vogels. And now that the work has been returned, we can list several of the edition for sale.

You can now purchase, through our online store, editions of this five-colour print. For the interested among you, here are the details:

From this bed, with the wings of a bird, I flew to the sea as I slept last night
Gracia Haby
2010
Five-colour lithographic offset print on Fabriano bright-white 300gsm paper
$50

And from today right through until the end of May, we are offering 25% off everything in our store. To receive the 25% discount off your entire order, simply enter the sale code MAY when prompted.

We hope our friends enjoy both this sale and newly listed print.

I'll be travelling from Genova to Johannesburg

This is a closer look at Gracia's new zine Genova to Johannesburg (Johannesburg to Genova), bound head-to-tail, which she introduced to you late last week. Having neither been to Genova or Johannesburg, I think this may be my favourite zine to date. I can't resist the flying fish throughout it that swim through the streets. The world looks like a giant underwater aquarium. It is little short of gorgeous. It is a joy!

A handful of recent orders have been posted today, and soon some to the MCA store too (alongside earlier titles of ours).

An edition of 80, you can travel, too, for as little as $8.00 (AUD). Here, below, a little further visual enticement for you:





















And, just in case you missed it in the busy days previous, here is a link to Gracia's post on Atlanta Eke's truly terrifying Monster Body (as part of Dance Massive 2013, written for Fjord Review).

Nestled under Published Works, you can read all of G's pieces (from this year and previous) for Fjord Review. I, for one, cannot wait to read the next one. It is always interesting to 'see' something through someone else's eyes, don't you think?

As inclination directs, we are exploring "Paris by the sea"

This is a look at our newest artists' book, As Inclination Directs. Gracia and I had a lot of fun with this one, which hopefully you can see. It sees a return to hand-colouring an edition, just like the very first artists' books we made early 2000 and onwards. An edition of ten, you'll be familiar with it from various instagram peeks and G's post, Wend One's Way, too.

As Inclination Directs is set somewhere eerily similar to Le Touquet-Paris-Plage but slightly different. With its pencil and collage editions, I think you'd be in for a disappointing surprise if you were to use this as any sort of guidebook.

Inhabitants include:
Koala, Phascolarctos cinereus
Range: E. Australia
Habitat: dry forest

Horned frog, Ceratophrys cornuta
Range: N. and central South America
Habitat: litter on forest floor

Corroboree Frog, Pseudophryne corroboree
Range: Australia: Victoria, New South Wales
Habitat: mountain forest, grassy marshland

Spotted salamander, Ambystoma maculatum
Range: S.E. Canada, E. U.S.a to Georgia and E. Texas
Habitat: hardwood forest, hillsides near pools

Wrestling halfbeak, Dermogenys pusillus
Range: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Sundra Islands
Habitiat: fresh water

Least weasel, Mustela nivalis
Range: Europe, N. Africa, Aisa, N, America; introduced in New Zealand
Habitat: farmland, woodland

Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, Rupicola peruviana
Range: Andes, N. Venezuela to N. Bolivia
Habitat: forest along river gorges

And the large bird you can see perched upon the woman's shoulder is a male Cuckoo-roller, Leptosomus discolor. Each of the ten editions will sport a different bird here.

In other news, my artists' book For Martha is to be exhibited as part of this year's 2013 Libris Awards: Australian Artists' Book Prize, at Artspace Mackay, Queensland.

For those nearby, pop along and see, do:
2013 Libris Awards: Australian Artists' Book Prize
Friday 10th of May  – Sunday 30th of June
McAleese Gallery, Artspace Mackay, 61 Gordon Street, Mackay, Queensland

10 of 1000

Of the many things I can do, crochet is not one of them. I tried but came up short. Luckily for me, Janice can crochet and so with her generous offer to help out, ten doilies were recently completed and posted to Lisa S as part of her 1,000 doilies project. Thank-you Lisa S for extending an open invitation to those who might like to help. I enjoyed trying to figure out if I could do it. I enjoyed being part of a team of helpers as I awaited the arrival of materials. Thank-you Elaine for trying to help me to crochet and for taking crochet classes to see if you could crochet. And upon discovering that it was not for you, for asking everyone you knew if they could crochet. It was very sweet of you and thorough. I guess when you can knit like this, your skill set is pretty much full. Thank-you Janice for revisiting the art of fine crochet. Without your time, skill, attention to detail, and generosity I would not have been able to send ten beautiful rings back by post.

This post is to say thank-you. And to remind myself that it is good to try new things, even if they don't pan out as expected or hoped.

To those who can crochet, knit, sew, weave, and embroider, I am in awe of you.

Looking back

Ten years before I was born, my parents travelled to India late 1965, early 1966, and this is how it looked. When my mum emailed through these scans of their slides, I could not resist the desire to share them with you here. The colours in the photos, my parents in their youth, I just adore this quartet of memories.

In other news, G's post about [Gu:t] 굿, a work in progress and a ritual and a memory of grandmothers all in one, seen as part of Dance Massive 2013, is up on Fjord Review. You can also read it, and other published pieces here.

Woof!

Afghan hounds. Mastiffs. Spaniels. Mutts. Terriers. Basenjis. Basset Hounds. Beagles. Border Collies. Greyhounds. Chihuahuas. Jack Russells. German Shepherds. Labradors. Rhodesian Ridgbacks. All manner of herding dogs, scenthounds, sighthounds, cross breeds and lapdogs. This year, I have started working as a volunteer at the RSPCA in kennels. Something I have been meaning to do for an age, now, once a fortnight, I head out to the East Burwood shelter and walk, walk, walk the many hounds and clean, clean, clean the cages. I make an effort to arrive extra early for my shift so that I can swing by and give chin-rubs to the cats in the cattery nearby. Faced with so many adorable, inquisitive, noisy, intelligent, and friendly animals, the temptation to bring one or more home with me is high. Here, posted, are several of the happy dogs I have met and walked on my recent shift.

Adopt a Dog (RSPCA Burwood East)
Percy approves

(Photos of hopefuls borrowed from the RSPCA website)

A Hooded plover in hand

This hooded plover drawing of mine is a new work for a forthcoming exhibition. It dances with the black swans and gulls at Williamstown, in the photos below. A fitting photo setting given how wonderfully performance heavy March has been.

For those of you who may have missed it, here is G's post, Dazzle and a fair amount of woo, on The Australian Ballet's Don Quixote.

And here, reflected in the mirrors of the Playhouse foyer, is the two of us (as part of The Foyer Series of instagram captures) at the Bell Shakespeare's Henry 4.







Winged facts:

Hooded plover
Thinornis rubricollis
(Other name: Hooded dotterel)

My guidebook describes this bird as 'tubby', but I think this is a little harsh. There is a certain roundness, but tubby? No, I don't think so.

The Hooded plover of ocean beaches (and inland salt lakes in s. WA), is recognisable by its black hood and throat. Its white rear collar distinguishes it from other (adult) waders. Its voice is a short, piping 'pert peet' or a barking 'kew kew' when in flight.

The habitat is the broad sandy ocean (and occasionally bay) beaches where the seaweed is plentiful and there is adjacent dune wilderness. It is fond also of weedy rock shelves and reefs, and tidal flats upon occasion.

Its conservation status in Victoria is Endangered.

Something utterly brand new

It is with great excitement that I can officially unveil Gracia and my new site. Many long days and many equally long nights have gone into the making of our brand new site. We had not realised just how long it would take to rebuild a new space for 71 zines, 69 artists' books, and countless exhibitions and their related projects.

On our new site, you can turn the pages of Gracia's A different picture with every look (Kjøbenhavn). You can head to Bangor too. Or Egypt. And you can see what objects we gathered from recent reads long ago. You can see details from recent zines such as Collection, Birds that like to display, and A set of two things regarded as a unit from 2010. Everything we've worked on from Mardi Gras posters for ACE hotel to Big Issue collages has a home. You can see details from our pieces made especially for Could be, and steal a closer look at Passenger pigeons. You can read through interviews and catalogue essays, and it is so up-to-the-minute that it even feature's G's piece for Fjord Review, Life Support, about a smoky performance as part of Dance Massive 2013. If that all sounds too much, head to our little piece, Why books?, to find your footing.

I hope you enjoy looking through the site and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it too.

(Completely unrelated, here I am in the State Theatre foyer with my Mum at The Australian Ballet's performance of Don Quixote last night. As previously shared, here is G and me, at the opening night. Here, also, is G with her Mum at the Tuesday night performance. We're locals, it seems, and we've enjoyed this impromptu Foyer Series. With a few more performances to see as part of Dance Massive, perhaps a Malthouse portrait will appear soon.)

Massive March

Here we are, thanks to instagram, at the State Theatre. It's the opening night of The Australian Ballet's Don Quixote. What a thrill Friday was! What a beautiful performance. Such colour! I feel very lucky that I will get to see it again next week too.

Things may seem quiet here but with good reason. Last week, several performances were seen, including our Spanish jaunt. Most have been as part of Dance Massive 2013. Massive is exactly how I'd describe March. I'm enjoying going to the festival with G who is writing about what she has seen for Fjord Magazine. So far, I feel very fortunate to have seen Stephanie Lake's Dual, and last night, Chunky Move's 247 days.

All this greatness and excitement has been sanwhiched in between building a whole new site. This has been a massive undertaking. Long days and long nights but our new web site is very nearly ready. It will feature a closer looks at all our zines and artists' books, exhibitions, and related projects like collages for The Big Issue. As I said, March has been tremendously busy. When we are not up to our elbows finding images from book launches at Hound Dog's Bop Shop from 2004, G and I have been in dance heaven. Can April top this?

In the homes and hands of others

One of the sweetest parts to rebuilding our website has been the discovery of a folder of images of our artwork and zines in the homes and hands of others. Above you can see a smattering of these. They remind me of how blogging used to be. Some are recognisable and others are more of a mystery with their file names giving nothing away as to their source. Some date back many years now. Some are photos by Fanja, Camilla, Shari, Nathalie, Brita, Brian, Mav, Brydie, and perhaps you? Thank-you for these happy memories, and we hope you don't mind us reposting these here.

Towards the end of summer

A handful of instagram images that summarise these recent late summer days. February is going by all too quickly. Here you have, from top to bottom, a mixture of moments, from Swedish ladies lending a hand (thanks Camilla) to a kitten called Jinx (he's adorable, Catherine), and a wonderful White Night when the city was a wonderland (later in need of a clean).

(Melbourne captured by the charm of a White Night)

March is already looking busy, with Dance Massive 2013 and The Australian Ballet's Don Quixote. And I'm ready for Autumn weather.

Forthcoming excitement builds

This is a look at Gracia and my collaborative collage work, A composition based on the stories collected from old seafarers (II), for MIEL books literary journal 1110/5. Remember that tiny through the keyhole peep? It will be published in April, but you can pre-order a copy through MIEL.

We are thrilled to be a part of 1110/5, and hope that you can see in the works we made that we had a great deal of fun with it.



We made three collage works for MIEL to choose from and were most curious to see which they would run with. Above is A composition based on the stories collected from old seafarers (I) with a Swiss bear carving and a woman preparing to dive or perhaps merely toying with you. (You might recall that we've featured Swiss bears in collages before. Seems particularly sad today having just read about Switzerland's only bear killed by rangers.)

In 111O/5
You will find writing by
Nick Flynn
Juliana Spahr
Matt Bell
Roxane Gay
Jon McGregor
Arlene Kim
TJ Jarrett
Amber Sparks
Ali Gharavi
Vanessa Ramos
Steve Himmer
Rachel Moritz
Mensah Demary
Metta Sáma
Matthew Welton
Laressa Dickey
Shana Youngdahl
Carol Rowntree Jones
Hannah VanderHart
James Cihlar
Valerie Wetlaufer
Neele Dellschaft
Polly Atkin

And work by visual artists and photographers,
(including ourselves)
Ilse Weisfelt
Marion de Man
Ben Terrett
Shari Altman
Heather Smith Jones
Wil Freeborn
Helena de la Guardia
Ivan deBoom
Thomas Sayers Ellis
Mónica Naranjo Uribe
Elsa Mora
Yuko Matsui
Lisa Congdon
Brian Aldrich
Lisa Solomon
Cathy Cullis
Kathryn Clark
Marie-Klara González
Leo & Pipo
Éireann Lorsung
Amy Friend
Camilla Engman

I can't wait to get my hands on a copy. In the meantime, keep an eye out for further peeks and snippets, and head across to Ana Pina's blog today for our interview is up on her blog. We had a lot of fun with this interview, and look forward to reading others in the series.