Monday 12 January 2015

being moved by moving pictures

 
I have always loved the cinema, and can remember being entranced by a range of different films - seemingly overlong children's movies like ChittyChittyBangBang, which excitingly included an intermission, obscure foreign films at the beautiful 14th century Barn Theatre, Dartington Hall in Devon as a teenager, more obscure foreign films at University, and more recently, less obscure, but preferably art house films in the independent cinemas in Brisbane.

In Hobart, on holiday at the end of last year, we naturally gravitated towards the State cinema in North Hobart, and coincidentally saw two films about women behind cameras:1,000 Times Goodnight, and Finding Vivian Maier. Both were also about trauma - the first is about a woman, played by Juliet Binoche, who is a photo journalist in dangerous, war-torn places and it examines the devastating impact of this frightening work, and her absences, on her family. The first part of the film shows her filming a suicide bomber about to detonate herself in a busy market in Afghanistan, and is incredibly intense and psychologically shocking.

Recent events in France make it more so. And I couldn't help noticing, that the backgrounds of at least three of the suspected French terrorists, if that is what they were, grew up in care - they were 'looked after children'. This has to tell us something important about how people can become brutalised and have empathy deficits later in life. Basic Attachment Theory 101.

The second film we saw was a documentary about an American woman, Vivian Maier, who left a vast collection of photos, and undeveloped film, behind when she died. The film maker John Maloof found the huge body of work, which had never been seen before, and decided to investigate. The film showcases her street photography, mainly from 1950's and 60's, and also explores and relates what is remembered about her life, by those who knew her. This is a fascinating story of secrecy, survival, and also of a traumatic life, as it turns out.

Two more recent films we have seen are the Imitation Game and Birdman. Both are great, go see them.

 Quote by Vivian Greene - one of my favourites, its very ACT

On a different note, I just re-completed the Happiness survey, and scored 84.3 %, higher than when I last did it, in December 2010, which is effectively when I started this blog. Up by almost 10%. I know how stats can be manipulated, so I am not making any claims, but its interesting. And yes, I have to admit I am excited about some things that are happening at the moment, which I hope to write about soon. Meanwhile, I am going to yoga soon. Its been difficult, with all my self-care strategies being on a break. How are we supposed to take a break, if our mechanisms for doing so are also on a break? Hmm.



More later.


Sunday 4 January 2015

Out of Tasmania - Happy New Year!




This series of bird images derives from a sewing project, in a book called Scandinavian Stitching by Finnish textile artist Kajsa Wikman.  

I used the leftover paper cut outs of iron on bird shapes to collage this image in my visual journal, above. I then almost ruined it by drawing on the back, with markers, whilst creating the image below. I tried to rescue the first image, and sort of succeeded (its a bad photo), by using a white paint pen. I really like the whimsical bird images, and decided to keep exploring them, although I don't usually work with other people's designs.


In this image, I started with the numbers, which span across two journal pages, and then cut out the 'one' and the 'five', leaving two empty spaces, into which I then drew birds, on the page beneath. So there was a pattern of each page being influenced by the previous/following one.  Kind of like days, and years, really. No such thing as a clean slate!


This is the original image on quilted fabric, using random scraps of material, and using the same bird design. I treated it as quilting practice, really, as its something I'm still not very experienced in. I had fun with this!

 Tessellated Pavement, Tasman Peninsula

I read three books by Tasmanian authors at the end of last year - The Sound of One Hand Clapping by Richard Flanagan, What Days Are For by Robert Dessaix, and The Dirty Chef by Matthew Evans. The first is a well-known, moving and much-loved novel about migrants in Tasmania, and the impact of loss and grief on two generations. The second is Dessaix's memoir - musings on mortality and what he calls life's layers, after a sudden heart attack, and the third is a fascinating (and often mouth-watering) account of novice farmer, former food critic and city dweller Evans, as seen on SBS's series Gourmet Farmer. All are aiming for authenticity in their own sphere - and it was good to read them whilst in Tasmania.



I love these images of the Tessellated Pavement on the Tasman Peninsula. The shapes, although naturally occurring through erosion, are quite regular, and the straight lines are unusual in nature, so it looks quite surreal.

A nice rave about 'detoxing' for the New Year, by Oliver Burkeman, here. Happy New Year, and please leave a comment, if you want to. I've had over 15,000 visits to this blog since I started five years ago, in late 2009, which is amazing!

more later.