“In Ersilia, to establish the relationships that sustain the city’s life, the inhabitants stretch strings from the corners of the houses, white or black or gray or black-and-white according to whether they mark a relationdhip of blood, of trade, authority, agency. When the strings become so numerous that you can no longer pass among them, the inhabitants leave: the houses are dismantled; only the strings and their supports remain.
From a mountainside, camping with their household goods, Ersilia’s refugees look at the labyrinth of taut strings and poles that rise in the plain. That is the city of Ersilia still, and they are nothing. They rebuild Ersilia elsewhere. They weave a similar pattern of strings which they would like to be more complex and at the same time more regular than the other. Then they abandon it and take themselves and their houses still farther away. Thus, when traveling in the territory of Ersilia, you come upon the ruins of abandoned cities, without the walls which do not last, without the bones of the dead which the wind rolls away: spiderwebs of intricate relationships seeking a form.” Italo Calvino
Cities and the Sky
‘Those who arrive at Thekla can see little of the city, beyond the plank fences, the sackcloth screens, the scaffoldings, the metal armatures, the wooden catwlks hanging from ropes or supported by sawhorses, the ladders, the trestles. If you ask “Why is Thekla’s construction taking such a long time?” the inhabitants continue hoisting sacks, lowering leaded strings, moving long brushes up and down, as they answer “So that it’s destruction cannot begin.” And if asked whether they fear that, once the scaffoldings are removed, the city may begin to crumble and fall to pieces, they add hastily, in a whisper, “Not only the city.”
If, dissatisfied with the answers, someone puts his eye to a crack in a fence, he sees cranes pulling up other cranes, scaffoldings that embrace other scaffoldings, beams that prop up other beams.
“What meaning does your construction have?” he asks.“What is the aim of a city under construction unless it is a city? Where is the plan you are following, the blueprint?”
“We will show it to you as soon as the working day is over; we cannot interrupt our work now,” they answer.
Work stops at sunset. Darkness falls over the building site. The sky is filled with stars. “There is the blueprint,” they say. ’
Italo Calvino
Green is my colour at the moment…emerald green, light green and viridian. Today I picked up a paintbrush without fear of over analysing whatever came bubbling up. I pushed through this anxiety, to create spontaneously a mess of colour on, around, over and beyond the canvas. I don’t know where its going and i don’t need to control it, i just want to express my emotions colour. This is just the start, I know it’s something i need to do. I’m painting again, and I’m really happy.
I’m inspired to find other free spirits who also want to create beautiful things and team up against this fucked up world. Art is our only hope.
I’m excited about watching this documentary series starting on the ABC tomorrow night at 7.30.
Wirnpa : Lightning
mangkurdu : Rain cloud
Yarlungka: Outside
I’ve spent some of my holidays volunteering at the Arts Centre learning how to mix colours and watching the artists at work.
Everyday an old man known as Shorty sits down on the verandah facing east and paints a canvas. His work is popular and can sell for thousands of dollars, he has exhibited internationally and has work in Australian museums. He is one of the oldest members of the community with knowledge gained from ceremonies and life experiences that date back prior to contact with Kardiya (whiteys).
Sometimes Shorty sits with his cousin who is also an artist, Paddy. Paddy is a friendly guy who smiles with his eyes. He paints stories about the stars.
There is an old lady called Liddy who sits on the back verandah. She paints in bright colours and has an audience of hungry dogs that watch over her at work.
Inside the building there is a gallery and an office. A small number of paid staff and a large number of volunteers co-ordinate the process of resourcing the artists with paint and canvas and selling the artwork.
The space is full of people painting, singing and chatting, reggae music pumping, lots of laughter, baby Kangaroos, stray dogs, tourists and kids running around playing hide and seek. People bring in new work that they have completed at home and collect new canvas and paint to create their next masterpiece. Today a woman named Judy (Napangardi) Watson (one of my favourite artists) came into the centre. I took a picture of her latest work, I imagine it will sell for about $50,000.
It’s been pretty interesting for me to see how the centre functions especially the financial side of things. The NTER is not the only mob enforcing income management within the community. However despite my concerns I feel like I have been exposed to an overwhelmingly positive and lively side of the community up close.
My friend Abe came on Tuesday from Melbourne. So for the last two days I have had a buddy up here to share this amazing experience with. This evening when we came home Abe and I played guitar and harmonica and I practiced my Walpiri. I’m feeling really fortunate to have had time to spend doing things I enjoy doing and to share this experience with my friend. I’m loving being up here more and more as the days go by.
So I have been checking out the Earthship movement lately after a conversation with my friend Carla’s mum, Laura. An Earthship is a sustainable home made from recycled materials. They are cheap and easy to build. I stumbled on this amazing webpage created by a woman called Kirsten that documents the creation of her own home and other Earthship projects around the world that she has been involved with. The photo above comes from her website.
I guess the idea has been going round in my head for a while now however I haven’t had the chance to write it down. I can see the potential for this sort of structure out here in the desert. Finding enough tyres would not be a problem out this way. It could be an option for solving the very real housing crisis many locals face, as well as a more affordable alternative power supply for the community (currently local people purchase cards from the government shop that pre-pay for power in their homes when the credit on the pre-paid card runs out so does their power). The power in the community debacle is another story that will have to wait, but it needs to be told. The Earthship community is just an idea and it would be up to the locals to give it a go seeing as it’s their community, not mine.
My friend Carla’s mum , Laura has been experimenting with construction on her property in north NSW for many years. She has built a dome structure that is her main dwelling, as well as two other houses. She is also experimenting with aluminium cans to create small rooms to extend existing structures. Here are a few photos of her work.
The picture above is a shot from outside the most recent experimental structure.
I’ve always been fascinated by architecture. The things that i find really exciting about these Earthship creations is the potential to set up a beautiful home that can function off the grid at a low cost. By off the grid I mean generating enough renewable power so that your home is completely self sustainable. What is even more exciting is the potential to build communities of these Earthships.
When i was in Queensland recently I visited an eco-village in the hinterland just outside the Gold Coast. In this space I saw some interesting innovative designs. The project has a large amount of money behind it so participation is restricted to those that can afford to purchase land and build a home within the strict guidelines set out by the developers. It was also interesting to pick up that there was a fair amount of tension between people who had joined the community and the developers. It seems that the developers were taking longer than was expected to relinquish control of decision-making within the community and residents were unhappy, so unhappy that some have commenced legal action. It was disappointing feedback to hear however it’s not the end of the story and I’m interested to see what sort of changes emerge in the future.
While trawling through the SBS website a few weeks ago I found a little film about a Brazilian couple who have been experimenting with building sustainable houses for several years. They are such a cute couple and so full of passion for life. Take the time to have a look and feel free to share your own ideas/links with me.
Last weekend we had a bit of rain, this was what the road was like for 90kms on the way into ‘town’. On the way home I stopped by the side of the road in Little Africa.
My neighbours and two of their friends (including two mechanics from our community) were waiting for me sitting in their 4wd. They were stoked I came along seeing as the water pump had just blown up. So my little truck towed them the last 200kms home.
