Sydney Exquisites your NYC exquisites have a project for you.

FROM Mark to Ash

" I have been working on a project in NY involving the subway and how doors relate to the experience of the city and to the water surrounding ny...

So here is the project I have for you:

Think of how many doors you walk through during the day and night. Think of how easy/ difficult it is for you to get through them or to access the place they lead to.

Do you walk through these doors consciously? Do they relate to the water that surrounds Sydney?"

FROM Amy and Meghan  to Eva

"we have a humble request to you, eva.

we are anticipating our arrival in Sydney, and we would like you to collect data for us. you may collect this data any way you choose to see fit - no limitations, it can be literal or creative as you choose.

1. name at least one item that you have on you at all times. why?

2. what do you see every day on your commute?

when you walk your dogs?

what don't you notice anymore?

3. what food do you keep stocked in your home?

what food is your first choice if you are away from home?

4. how much trash does your household generate in one week?

5. do you have any filters - any means by which you meditate your experience in sydney? do you feel you need a filter?

6. assess how you interact with sydney. is it informed by where you grew up, who your family is, has it changed over time, what changed it?

Can't wait to get there!!!!

a + m"

FROM Chris to Jess

" Draw a map of Sydney from memory. Roads and points of interest are optional. Shape of Sydney harbour is required."

FROM Jaquelyn to Carly

" I would like Carly to take one day and submerge herself in all things New York. Current events, things going on in the news most importantly (the NY1 site will be helpful) music, subcultures etc anything on the internet/paper that she can find within one day to get in touch with the pulse of the city. Then I would like her to make a visual response in Sydney based on this."

chris' corpse

words on my corpse is in the comment box,

sorry for the delay!

counting down the days,

carly.

matches & ocean

I inherited Mark's corpse.
From his work I was inspired by his words discussing the ever presence of water in his own life and how it is often taken for granted but once acknowledged will seem precious. he spoke, as well, of how nyc is surrounded by the ocean and its tides and how this must effect us in one way or another. i thought of how sydney is so aware of self and of the city, how it relies on it. these are stills from a performance piece i did on the beaches of Maine which I video taped. I am lighting matches and throwing them at the ocean. I felt that the fuiltity and the enivitableness of this act illustrated both relationships these cities have with water. I also was caught with the idea that while i can't light the ocean on fire, the ocean also can't keep my flame burning.

i apologize these are stills and not the video but it seems impossible to upload HD footage to the internet

Meghan's response to Carly's corpse

Carly's last corpse was about her home and how her family has been the only ones who lived there. The experience of city life is a nomadic one and your home is not unique. Each apartment you move to becomes a blur of the repetitive surfaces of brick, wood, pipes, tile, and white walls. The same mailboxes that probably all take the same key loses its charm and allows your roots to stay up, awaiting their next temporary home. The layers of paint chipping away give you glimpses of other lives once living within these walls. The city outside becomes a white wash of noise outside as you escape to your generic, small, expensive box you happen to hold the key to. Neighbors hear, smell, and often see your every move and you see theirs. Home often becomes nothing more than a place where you can sleep the city off before you wrap yourself in its dull, dark colors the next day.

jerzy

you guys... i put a link on the last post but it doesn't appear to show up in the normal view SO here is the link. just read the first two paragraphs, unless you get really interested, that is....

http://owendaly.com/jeff/grotows2.htm

40 Dead in Sydney Harbour 1927 - Chris's Response to Ashley

Ok
Ash's piece ended with words about sinking ships and drowning so mine is about a 1927 shipwreck in sydney harbour - google "greycliffe tahiti" if yr interested ... Have sydneyers heard of it? I asked one sydneyer and she said it was obscure, which is appealing to me of course....

Goodnight from MrC

posts...

wanted to post a verbal descritpion of what i am trying to do for this corpse but am hampered currently by lack of video camera.

I inherited Caitlin's walking to the sound of each other's heartbeats corpse and I have decided to take a video camera and tripod down to the Town hall/QVB crossroads (sydneysiders know what this is, basically busiest foot and car  traffic intersection in sydney), set myself up on probably the boring george st corner so that the QVB courtyard is in the background... and then.... I'm going to dance to the heartbeat of the city... using a technique of intuitive/reactive moevment that Jerzy Grotowski teaches in his "Towards a Poor Theatre" and that I learnt for a little while- you must totally clear the mind and assume a neutral position and close the eyes... usually you have a partner who will use gentle touches as impetus for your movement, however I will have to respond to the sounds I hear around me. 

Perhaps you guys will have to visit me at the Rozelle Mental ward (incidentally right near SCA) when you are here.....

Water...

I inherited Meghan's corpse, which looked at water and the way it represents breathing, and can wash everything away for at least one moment.

Bearing this in mind, and the fact that we were to expose Sydney a little, I thought of what water is to me. I love water...it is around me every single day at home, at Uni and at work. There is always a body of water near me, and it is my comfort. When I was a little girl I wanted to just sit in the water all day, every day. I still do.

So, I thought about the fountain in Hyde Park here in the City, which is a block behind my work. I often go here to have lunch, chill out or wait for my friends. I love the fountain...it's so old and gorgeous, and you can always have a chuckle with the hordes of tourists who flock to it.

I was looking at the foutains pool the other day and realised the reflection of the street lights surrounding the park and the Cathedral behind it are reflected in the water, along with the shadows of every person who walks past it.

So I sat there the other night and set the camera up on 4 second exposures and documented the fountain pool, focusing on the reflection of the buildings and general hustle and bustle around it.

I love the contradiction...the water is so peaceful and calm, yet it is filled with the rush of Sydney life.

I'm also thinking of making a little movie loop of this...documenting the reflection for a longer period of time, maybe?

I also took a photo of Centrepoint tower for everyone, just because I can =] I work directly underneath the tower, and it just struck me as I was looking at it from the park that I've never really taken a photo of it. So here you go...

X Ash!

The Big One

so here's the long panoramic. i hope you can click on this and see it bigger. the format is not conducive to real viewing, particularly online....

Atempt #1

so, i requested jessie's original corpse - the strips that she installed here in nyc of the skyline going up the wall. i wanted to make an image with the technique that i used to do my self-portraits - the holga in one continuous strip, with the blurring and the overlap. not sure how it worked. i may try to reshoot. but these are snippets that i thought worked and then i did one long horizontal piece that i'm only so-so on. these really need to be printed in the darkroom and not shit-scanned on the wrong scanner. but that will happen soon. but wanted to get stuff up, see what people thought....