Charioteer from Motya, Sicily

These are to my eyes two of the most beautiful statues.

Dancing satyr of Mazara del Vallo

The stone one, The charioteer from Motya, Sicily, is probably of a slave or servant as the free or noble folk typically rode their chariots while naked; the sensuous human form evoked below the sculpted cloth is breathtaking for me.

The bronze – Dancing Satyr of Mazara del Vallo – is about 2400 years old and was made before the art of bronze-making was lost due to the obliteration of many skills as part of the razing of the Roman Empire.  A fisherman brought it up in his nets, upright, and, instead of selling it for a fortune gave it to his village where it’s mostly held when it’s not on tour – it’s in the US at the moment.

Thanks to Jeni who sent me the photos and is showing these statues and others to a tour group she is leading in Sicily – see more about Jeni and Academy tours here.

Sunset from Cafe Alberto

If escaping, perhaps finding yourself, or running from the law, exercising your curiosity or a whim . . . if any of these is yours – whatever the impetus may be that brings you to Lombok, come you to Café Alberto.

Lombok Straight from Cafe Alberto

This dash of Italy is on the southern headland of Senggigi.  On the web it categorises itself a “B and B”.*  It’s more than that, it’s an oasis.

And have some thin slices of cold fish, ‘cooked’ in a lime marinade, with a salad with olio and dry, slightly toasted bread, some garlic and finely diced tomato.

Cup and glass of grappa on table

Have a cold, clean glass of water, a lemoncello, and finally an espresso, and join with these where you sit at a rock solid grey-coloured, four inch thick, solid timber and simple table, crafted.

Feel the trade winds off the Lombok Straight you look out to, blowing all before them.

Slivers of Italy here mixed with the warmth of tropical air, the quiet, the far-away-from-anything feeling.

Simple design that talks to you, the same as it does in Italy, anywhere it’s expressed in buildings the world over.  Less is more anywhere.

(How much do we owe to the Greek and Roman cultures, to Italy and Italians in their continual search for good design and food and conversation? **)

Thank you, Giuseppe.

* www.cafealbertolombok.com…

** We all wish to go back to Italy, I guess.  (That’s next . . .)

It’s not just a plan for this suburb; it can be used to make any suburb sustainable – it’s free and you’re welcome to put it to work where you are.

Now the Plan can be read on mobiles, kindles and is very easy to search, use and tweet.  Get it here:

theplan.sustainablehouse.com…

Enjoy.

You can see some of the folks who support the Plan.

Please sign the petition to have the Plan exhibited for public comment.  We want the Plan and there’s strong community support for it from here and other people across Sydney, Australia and overseas.

If we can get the Plan made here anyone may use it as an example to persuade other councils and governments to make a Plan to sustain the suburb where they live – if you’re reading this in Melbourne or Texas, USA – sign the petition for the Plan and you’ll be able to use a Plan like this where you live and work, too.

Michael

They often involve kids or folks in their 20s, 30s, not my generation.

My generation is the failed generation.  We had our chance but blew it.

Movies and vids with serious faced professors, ‘guru’s, ‘experts’ from universities – they simply don’t engage most people.

And serious documentaries with a point to make so big it obscurs the screen you’re looking at – if we’re honest we know that most people don’t watch them or be influenced by them; they just appeal to those who already are concerned about water and energy and soil abuses by our culture.

It seems humour, the honesty of kids, the desire a child has to have a go at doing something even if they might get it wrong does appeal to more people.

Here are some examples; I’d love to know what you think of them.

and the same folk are making one about the house here;

Go the kids,

May their laughter be infectious,

M

Chippo ads are go

Ads that add, not subtract

Clive sent me these delightful pics along with a story; here’s his note:

Ad industry welcome in Chippo

Chippo’s streets are rich with artists’ work and the better for it; walking here is a delight to the eye, mind and all the senses, tho’ challenging to some sensibilities.

And this effort on a wall in Cleveland Street by the advertising industry  shows it trying hard, too.

Ads that work,

M

Canopy Invite

On 24 November, 6 – 8 pm, the art show, Canopy, opens at the Chippendale Child Care Centre, Pine Street.

Artists have been celebrating trees at the Centre by venerating them.  The idea is explained by Louise Fowler-Smith in a flier for the show:

“Louise has been researching the Sacred Tree for the past decade and has found that the practice of venerating the Tree through decoration protects the Tree in countries such as India. Her research has led her to question whether it is possible for the artist to inspire a re-envisioning of the environment through the aesthetic; and whether sacredness can be transferred through artistic vision without transplanting any specific religious ideology.

The Tree Veneration Society aims to re-contextualise the historical practice of the worship and veneration of trees across nearly all cultures into a progressive contemporary community art project. While being environmentally conscious of the value of trees, particularly in inner-city suburbs, they also hope to bring some sense of the ritual created in forming a cross-cultural celebration of nature. “

There’s works with the trees and plants by three artists:

• Australian artist, Pia May Courtley explores traces of human intervention on the natural landscape. Juxtaposing natural/found materials with synthetic ones she has created a web of handmade leaves, which hang delicately from a eucalyptus tree.
• Canadian artist, Lauren Tregenza created the leaf shelter using recycled plastics, which were layered to produce leaves with varying colours and textures, each one unique.  This technique allows for the artwork to be made out of recycled materials, showing the potential usefulness of otherwise forgettable litter.
• Japanese/Australian artist Miho Watanabe is interested in the collective unconscious of all living forms. She combines children’s drawings with that of her own left hand drawings and has attached these to the Tree for the children to enjoy and respond to.

It is hoped that this tree installation will be one of many in Chippendale and wider Sydney; Louise envisages these sites becoming meeting places and areas of contemplation, as they are in India.

Go the trees,

M

Suspended flower garden by Tig Crowley

This suspended ‘flowering roof’ by designer, Tig Crowley, at North Sydney Girls High includes these features;

• inclined to allow the winter sun in
• recycled turpentine pole from a demolished wharf

And, of course, simplicity.

Nice work, Tig,

(Tig Crowley is a registered member of the Australian Institute of Landscape Designers & Managers (A.I.L.D.M.), the Australian Institute of Horticulture (A.I.H.), and eligible for membership with the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (A.I.L.A.).)

Michael

‘Overflowing heavens of squandered stars

flame brilliantly above your troubles.  Instead

of into your pillows, weep up toward them.

There, at the already weeping, at the ending visage,

slowly thinning out, ravishing

worldspace begins . . . Breathe.

Breathe the darkness of the earth and again

look up!  Again.  Lightly and facelessly

depths lean toward you from above.  The serene

countenance dissolved in night makes room for yours.’

This came to mind on the walk back as stars came through the cold rain storm down here.

May the drips be with you, and look up,

M

The tree is the large Jacaranda in the Pine Street Creative Arts Centre.

Pine Street’s involvement is to “supply the tree” which sits within the Centre’s property boundary, located next to the basketball court.

To ‘venerate’  is to revere, honour, respect.

We shall see what we shall see . . .

M