ELSEWHERE

...comes down

All down now and packed away in sheets of archival tissue. By This Unwinking Night is done and dusted, well and truly. What goes up, comes down... and quickly.

Gracia's postcard collages were the very last thing to come down column by column, with Shelley working from the left and me from the right, as Gracia wrapped them in bundles with their column number easily visible should we one day get the chance to install this piece (or similar configuration) again.

Now, I am looking forward to whatever it is that comes next, and grateful for the happy Easter interlude.

(Thanks ZebraBooks.)

(Nice Work to encounter.)

What goes up...

Testing Einstein's theory of General Relativity in 2012.

Towards the end

Tomorrow, we take down our show, By This Unwinking Night, and I think I'd prefer it if we left it up.

Thanks to everyone who came along to hear us talk about our work, to our friends and family who made the journey, and to those who wished us well or enjoyed seeing details here. Thanks.

(The above images are details from Gracia's artists' book, This is where the dormouse lives.)

Among such company

Among such company
Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison
Artists' book, unique state, featuring collage elements and pencil
2012

Today, I have a recent collaborative artists' book to share that now features many new inhabitants. Across the page you can now see collage elements by Gracia and handdrawn elements by me. I have drawn a Little Eagle (Hieraaetus morphnoidbs), an African Pygmy Goose (Nettapus auritus), an Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus), a Grey-backed Finch-lark (Eremoptryx verticalis), a Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse (Pterocles lichtensteinii), an Eclectus Parrot (Eclectus roratus), a Fiery-throated Fruit-eater (Pipreola chlorolepidota), a Pin-tailed Manakin (Ilicura militaris), a Saffrom Finch (Sicalis flaveola), a Black-and-rufous Warbling Finch (Poospiza nigrorufa), and a Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis).

Do you think I drew these birds before or after Gracia glued in her collaged areas?

The original book features plastographical photos by Max Skladanowsky. It would have come with a pair of 3D glasses (though our copy didn't) to enable the anaglyph images to come to life.

Flexing our talking wings

Though we were both initially nervous about talking about our work in the gallery, once we found our feet, Gracia and I had a ball chatting about collage, drawing and our artists' books. It was particularly nice to meet a young Primary School student who had made her Mum take her along to hear our talk. She draws constantly and this reminded me a little of myself.

It was challenging to flex our talking wings but we so enjoyed doing so. Thanks so much, everyone, for making us feel welcome. And a big thank-you to Shelley McDermott for taking these photos of us chatting away. It is nice to have a record of such an evening.

You can see more here (including one which G thinks looks like she is describing a church steeple or how to mix a cake).

Nice Music to Build Dreams

Nice Music to Encounter Wildness
Nice Music to Build Dreams
two collaborative collages by Gracia & Louise
made for Milly Sleeping's Nice Work
as part of The L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival's Cultural Program, 2012

(See more in Gracia's post here.)

Gracia has been busily updating our website with the many new artists' books we have each made for By This Unwinking Night.

Details about my three artists' books can now be explored:
An unexpected gathering
For Martha
A meeting of parrots that shouldn't

Details about Gracia's collaged King Penguin series can also be discovered:
A headdress to show you how much I care
This is where the dormouse lives
Testing the laws of hazard
One step ahead

...and the charming, Copenhagen Extension.

Other things you might like to explore,
Malin Gabriella Nordin
Miniature Chameleons discovered

Plenty of links for you to peruse at your leisure, Elsewhere readers.

"He went to the furthest reaches of the earth in his quest for the purest specimen of beauty. And when he found it, he stuck a pin through its heart."

A few people of late have asked me why it is I nail my drawn birds to the wall. As many of you who have for a long time been readers of Elsewhere will know, I have a huge fascination and interest in nature and collecting. I have a great interest in the natural world, in the environment, and with collections drawn from it for scientific purpose and reasons of documenting beauty and the exotic.

Nailing these birds of mine to the wall plays on this idea. I like to think it references those specimen cabinets of old. Those beautiful things that were collected and then brutally had a pin stuck through their very heart. Those wonderful keepsakes that were killed so as to then feature in some beautiful meets macabre display. These birds of mine that currently fly about the gallery walls at Latrobe are, to me, just like that: specimens collected and shown to be beautiful. They have no landscape to nest in. They cannot even fly.

As with a great deal of Gracia's work, we both like to play with the idea of using something appealing as a visual lure. Upon closer inspection you can see that things are not so sweet. There is a Jamaican tody pinned to the wall with two tiny nails. And there is a buzzard held in one fixed position no longer able to soar to great heights.

There is much of this feeling in our current show. There are book pages that you cannot turn because the books are housed in display cases. There are postcards with stories on the reverse side that you cannot read but presume are there. We like playing with this restriction and frustration.

My birds initially look free. They fly around the room. The nails through them have enabled me to hang them so that strong shadows are created and they appear to glide and soar through the space. It is only when you look closer that you realise that said bird can't actually move. To me, this is the twin gleam of pain and beauty.

We are two chatterboxes

Various tumbling details of my drawings.

A recent talk at the gallery (thank-you for making us feel welcome) was a great chance for G and me to talk about our work. And we did so for over an hour and a half! We spoke about my birds that are arranged so that there is movement throughout, and the environment we've made where a Zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) encounters a Western honey-buzzard (Pernis apivorus), and a Common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) flies together with a Pink-footed shearwater (Puffinus creatopus). This is not nature as we know it. It's all mixed up and upside-down, yet my drawings are faithful to their source. As with many of our exhibitions, there are red herrings. We spoke of our working processes, how collages are created and books are printed. And we fielded questions on source material, glue, zines, and working timelines.



Artists' talk photo credit: Shelley McDermott, Latrobe Regional Gallery.

A tiny duo

Over My Shoulder (VII) from GRACIA & LOUISE on Vimeo.

Over My Shoulder (VIII) from GRACIA & LOUISE on Vimeo.

Thank-you for all your emails and comments about our show. Your hurrahs! mean the world to me. By way of thanks, here are two tiny iPhone films, Over My Shoulder (VII) and Over My Shoulder (VIII).

A photographic tumble

Installation details of By This Unwinking Night (click to enlarge).

Gracia and I have great pleasure in presenting you, dear readers, with a photographic tour of our current exhibition at Latrobe Regional Gallery, By This Unwinking Night.

>>> Please head this way to see the exhibition in greater detail, and enjoy! <<<

And please head this way, if you'd like to hear us talk about our work (this coming Wednesday afternoon).

A Northern wheatear, a coal mine, and a path well trod

As February draws to a close, it is hard to believe that I've been back and forth to Morwell more times than I have fingers on my right hand. Roughly two hours of driving one way, it is a path my car seems to know well.

For those of you who can't squeeze in time for a daytrip, Latrobe Regional Gallery have recently posted photos of our exhibition, By This Unwinking Night, here.

For those of you who do feel like an escape from the city, Gracia and I will be holding an informal discussion about our work at the gallery next Wednesday. You can find the details here.

(The photos above are of the Latrobe Valley's Brown Coal Mines and Power Stations, at PowerWorks: Energy Education. They perhaps look like something of a detour to the usual photos I post, my bird drawings and the wilderness I favour, but I thought you'd be interested to see them all the same.)

(On another note: A tiny songbird weighing just two tablespoons of sugar migrates from the Arctic to Africa and back, a distance of up to 29,000 kilometres, scientists have reported. The northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) tips the scales at just 25 grams. (source: The Age, Thursday February 16, 2012))

Unwinking

(Another detail from) A meeting of Parrots that shouldn’t
 
This eve, our exhibition, By This Unwinking Night, is declared officially open at Latrobe Regional Gallery. (It coincides with the opening of Time Machine: Sue Ford and a beautiful collection of Melrose Art Pottery.) We wish all who can attend a truly wonderful night of celebrations and art viewing. (The last days of summer bring with it for us two openings on the one night, and sadly we wont be able to make it to Latrobe. We're quivering in anticipation and readying ourselves for the world premiere of Infinity.)

For those of you, like me, who can’t make it to tonight's gallery opening, here are a few views of our family and friends enjoying the show.

Thank-you to all our freinds and family who have made it along to see our work (either in our company on a day-trip or otherwise). Thank-you for your encouraging emails and comments and feedback. Thank-you for taking an interest in these new drawings, artists' books, collages, and prints of ours, and for all your help and support thus far. Gracia and I look forward to sharing more photos of the show with you soon.