First Friday: June 2023
Updates from the land of Aus!
How does it feel
how does it feel
to be without a home
like a complete unknown
like a rolling stone?
Bob Dylan
Greetings from Brisbane! It’s been a month since Jen and I arrived in Australia for what I’m calling the year of three winters, an unexpected artist residency. It’s been a time of great transformation and reminds me of these lyrics Bob Dylan wrote during his own time of creative evolution in the mid-sixties.
Our explorations have brought us from our home base in Sydney to Melbourne, Perth, Margaret River, Rottnest Island, and Brisbane. This month I’ll share some goodies I found along on the way:
What I’m seeing: Mia Salsjö & the Sydney Harbour Bridge
What I’m reading: Me, the Boat and a Guy Named Bob
What I’m making: Riding the waves of uncertainty
What I’m hearing: Sonic inspiration in the land of Aus
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WHAT I’M SEEING: Mia Salsjö & the Sydney Harbour Bridge
I’ve been marveling at the colorful, unexpected, and often mundane details of this new city. That same exploratory magic continued for me on a visit to the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art.
During a walk through Australian Art Now, a biennial survey of contemporary Australian art showcasing work made across the country by artists of different generations and cultural backgrounds, I was struck by a wall of hand-written markings, dots, lines, and colors overlaid onto black and white photocopied images of the Sydney Harbour bridge.
A composer and visual artist, Mia Salsjö, observed the bridge from a dizzying array of angles and views, before overlaying the images with musical scales and pinpointing a staggering amount of rivets and forms to reveal a musical composition.
Based in Naarm/Melbourne, Mia Salsjö creates multidisciplinary art projects that investigate architectural forms and systems. Salsjö’s projects, grounded in complex code-based systems, encompass drawing, music composition, text, performance, video, and textile-based works.
I saw it first, then I learned about it, then I came back to listen to it. Every hour, the museum played a recording of the symphonic sounds that Mia drew from the bridge, in view of the bridge itself. I only wish I had been there for the live performance. Either way, it was a transformative experience for me and I felt immediately connected to Salsjö’s work, and how she captured the mundane in such a magical way.
I invite you to see and hear for yourself.
WHAT I’M READING: Me, the Boat and a Guy Named Bob
I’m channeling Anni & Josef Albers in Australia, exploring with an eye for inspiration and an openness for the muse to guide me in unexpected directions.
My new friend Anthony Calvert recommended visiting a creative dockside community called Fremantle if we ever made it out to Perth in Western Australia. And wouldn’t you know it, Jen had a business trip to Perth a couple weeks later! So I decided to tag along.
Fremantle immediately reminded me of Charleston, South Carolina, with classic architecture nestled among the ships and palms. Walking through town, I was drawn into a sailing supply store. As I searched for a memento, one of the guys behind the counter recommended Me, the Boat and a Guy Named Bob and said, “here - by a local.”
C.E. Bowman, a Fremantle-based boat builder and designer, sailor, and author writes of the joys, trials, and tribulations of sailing the world’s oceans and building a schooner for Bob Dylan from scratch on the Caribbean island of Bequia. His path to success was forged through meaningful relationships, creative willpower, hard work and lucky breaks. It reminds me of my own journey as an artist, imagining sculptures and creations that I could only make with a trusted team, a lot of drive, and plain old luck.
Reading C.E. Bowman’s story makes me want to keep going, to keep building, and to know that the biggest creative dreams can be possible with enough time, attention, and teamwork. This book has quickly become one of my favorite things I’ve ever read.
WHAT I’M MAKING: Riding the waves of uncertainty
Traveling to a far-off land is not only about seeing it, but feeling the unexpected rhythms of life. A turbulent boat ride last week reminded me of a practice I started awhile back to help Jen feel more comfortable going through turbulent air on flights.
I’d take out my notepad and pen and become a conduit for the motion. In what could otherwise be an unnerving moment, this practice was meant to help her let go and relax into the motion of the air. And after a rough flight, the pen would reveal striking evidence of what we’d overcome.
I was inspired to try this technique again on our trip to and from Rottnest Island, an island 30 minutes off the coast of Perth and home to the Quokka. It was a rough journey marked by white-capped waves and stormy skies. The boat’s swaying motion made everything inside move in tandem, from the bobbing of heads of the passengers, to the sloshing cups of coffee, to the restless luggage banging around between our feet.
Holding on loosely, I let the motion of the ocean carry the marker across the page. The waves pulled the marker in a looping tangle of zig-zags across the page. In seeking calm through creation, I let the waves guide my pen to catch and release the feeling of a profound lack of control. In moments like these, it feels like a good way to take control of your life might actually be to let go.
WHAT I’M HEARING: Sonic inspiration in the land of Aus
Australia has provided great musical inspiration and (re)introduced me to artists old and new. I wanted to share this overheard playlist compiled over my first month down under. I heard these songs across four Australian States: New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, and Queensland; with a touch of social media to taste. I hope you explore and find something in it for yourself.
Each First Friday Playlist can only come from songs I’ve heard, received, discovered (or rediscovered) out in the world during the past month. Songs overheard at coffee shops, bars, galleries, received from friends IRL and online. And I’d count the Substack community as public too. We do take requests.
If you know anyone who’d appreciate some monthly visual & sonic inspiration, please feel free to share and invite them to subscribe.
And if you have any friends in Australia you think I should connect with while I’m here, please send me their way.
Talk soon,
Brian
brian@brianbmadden.com
