Monday, January 22, 2007

Laura and Saucypants' big adventure


As you know by now, I spent my winter holiday in the southern hemisphere. Much fun was had, chill time was enjoyed, tea was drank, falafel was eaten, and the great mysteries of the universe were researched. Like, does the water go down the drain the opposite way? Can you eat wombat or wallaby? If so, would you?


I was in heaven when I arrived, coming from frigid-ass centralish Japanese winter to summer was truly magnificent. I wandered around the first few days, and got to visit the art museum several times, because they were hosting the Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art! Woo! I saw a few pieces that I have seen randomly in New York (like the following Yayoi Kusama piece, and DC, and a ton of new work from new artists *well new to me.



The museum was definitely rivaling my favorite museum of all time, in Munich. The Pinakothek der Moderne. The architecture for both buildings is fantastic, and the space is utilized extremely well. I don't know if the curators are geniuses, the spaces just lend themselves to great display, or a combination of the two. Anyways, see for yourself.





These shots were carvings in school desks setup in a classroom environment, kinda fun interactive, and making an excellent point about people traveling just to get handfed cheap culture on package tours, as opposed to actually learning about the culture in a deeper and more meaningful way. Or at least, that's what I was interpreting.


















This one was from a series of works depicting scenes from an ancient (possibly Hindu) script which described punishments for sinners. Reminiscent of Dante's Inferno.



Before having holiday fun with the Cleary family and Crazy Rob's family next door (day long backyard cricket match! Complete with overripened mango traps in the yard.), Stevo and I headed to hippieland. Nimbin, was rated #3 in High Times as a vacation getaway. Ranked just below Amsterdam and Jamaica. It was pretty adorable during the day, mostly laid back, with a few sketchy characters wandering to and fro. But whoa does the sketch come out after dark. We decided to rent a hotel room for the night, and experience all Nimbin had to offer. Bunkbeds! Man I love me some bunkbeds! And the paint job of the hotel was pretty inspired. Please enjoy my photographs. I just kinda ran through the halls with my camera and was in aesthetic happyland.


































Can I just say, American opposums got nothing on Australian opposums. This one lived underneath Ben and Satomi's place. It would break into the apt. through the window at night and eat our bread and mangoes. If she didn't eat the mangoes, the wombat did...


We went to a Natural Bridge, and I saw a waterfall that ate its way through a cave ceiling. I also learned that glow-worms are REAL, and not just that toy you hug and it makes you less afraid of the dark.


Then, we headed to a rockpool in the Border Ranges National Park, and I managed to bust my knee, jumping into freezing cold water. Satomi was wise enough not to. So she became the photographer.


I will leave you with this sunset shot. Mmm... seafoam.


No comments: