Tannic Teeth

The Friday 9^th May was a beautifully misting morning sans the haze that blew in from a bushfire from Ellenbrook. Everything was covered with a lovely shroud of dew. I couldn’t resist walking on my way into Subiaco for few macro shots. It’s the simple (and free- yes I believe this is in the true essence- free) things in life we miss rushing off to work that can really make your day, as this did.

Enjoy.

If you would like the file for desktop wall paper let me know and I’ll e-mail it to you.

For the last 3 nights I have wandered the streets Perth with Jerrem in search of good points to ‘plug in’ to the power grid, of course for free power, but like all things in this world, it aint free. We could not avoid glances from suspicious eyes as I trotted round the city with a camera bag attached; complete with tripod sticking out, and Jerrem wheeling a trundling tool box of projections paraphernalia. (Mind you an intimidating glance from a scary man holding what looked like a Hasselblad H series!?! Why would anyone want to mug a thug clutching a $30,000+ camera I have no idea).

We were in search of the improbable if not impossible. A 240V power point, unalarmed, free into- the-grid-and-decent-adjacent-building-to-project-onto site. By decent I mean, generally white in colour, no windows and a greater than 2meters and less than 10 stories height, as you know if you live in Perth you would know , our options are rather limited. Also working with the current lens that I do have (Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L-series IS USM) it’s not the best for night shots though the Image Stabilization does help a fraction when you have the ISO bumped way up- sans tripod. We found many sites and fewer power points that always happened to be flanked either side with inappropriate canvas space.

All in all though we found 2 sites both in Northbridge, both 5min walk from each other. The first one lies on the vacant lot next to Mustang Bar. This location belies the ‘stumbling into’ nature of street projection, for passersby anyway that we are trying initiate. People perhaps are uninquisitive enough to walk 30meters into a vacant quasi-construction site into a group of shadowed youths brandishing laser pointers and Wii remotes. But I remain hopeful- for those that will be constructive to our cause.

The other is a cracker of a site protected by a 2m colour bond fence complete with dissuading bougainvillea thickets. The plot of land actually forms what appears to be the car park for community newspapers; nice little plot very spacious and topped off with big brother-esque camera. A perfect canvas towers to the west, windowless in a terracotta if-not-mistaken peachy tone. Nonetheless perfect for our needs and after a night of trawling the streets, and a comming down with a sore throat that I wanted the world to know about, it was ended at newely refurbished cafe-come-lounge Greens’s and Co. in Leederville for some soothing icecream and tea.

Check out Jerrem’s link for upcoming locations, events.

Imagine you’re walking along the street in the city and you see someone ‘spray painting’ a car or building. An legitimate response would be “Criminal”, “Derro Kids” or even, “Vagabond youth causing wanton destruction”. But how about if it was virtual?

A relatively new outlet for artists to vent their creative talent (and non-damagingly on property) is street projections. This requires –you guessed it- projector, some digital interface (usually a laptop, tablet PC or palmtop) and a power source. Include in there eager crowds of onlookers wanting to give their ‘2 cents’ worth of contribution and you have a recipe for an exciting night. Jerrem , being the instigator of this new tangent, acquired the necessary equipment and we hit the streets of Mt Lawley one balmy autumn night. Prospect of imminent downpour from the burgeoning cumulonimbus east and west kept us on our toes; ready to dash for cover to save few thousand dollars worth of camera/ projection equipment.

The artist canvas is the table pc software designed for drawing. You use a stylus like a brush and choose from a virtual paint board. You can mix, smear, splodge, dab or any other highly technical paint action. You can project pretty much on anything but obviously white flat surfaces work best. Curious passes by are encouraged to paint what they like; in a hope to encourage expression of that particular individual (within reason obviously). The hope for this is to foster interaction between strangers, creating a sense of community; grandiosely in the end, to a better society.

What lies ahead in street projecting you may ask?

With the advent of Wii remote (Bluetooth infrared sensor enabled camera/ controller), you are able to, whilst using it as either a camera sensor, or controller, ‘virtually’ control the street projection. Now a whole box of goodies has come into the equation. Infrared enabled devices like pens, mock-spray cans, ‘IR bouncy balls’ and paint rollers etc… You could spray paint a car, or buildings legally, ‘tag it up’ and not have any trace of it after the projector is silenced. Jerrem is fast developing this new interface, with sometimes the help and sometimes hindrance of me. But all in all, it’s for creative freedom and fuller expression for us and for passersby.

To begin with the famous and perhaps clichéd maxim, ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’, is often reiterated ad nauseam, for countless images of meagre sentimental value. It is only natural for us- as the trivial humans that we are- to place things in boxes, to categorise and bring seemingly inordinate array of items/ themes/ narratives into some coherent fashion. Perhaps this makes us make sense of the world. After all, in a world where things followed no course would be like a ship without a sail (not to mention counter-evolutionary – when you are being chased by a predatory cat you need to make quick decisions). I would hazard a guess to say it would be a sense of ‘meaninglessness’ that would be forever enduring, if we never categorised anything. That’s not so bad, right?

I’ll leave you to ponder that one.

This brings me if I may, onto the subject of photography. Opening this little Pandora’s Box circa 2007 (admittedly I’m a newbie to this art); I found a new way of expressing myself creatively like many other hobbyists discover. It was on holiday to South East Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam) that I found myself thinking ‘in pictures’. Strangely you see mundane moments of human interaction transform though a lens. Things that we all have: faces, hands and feet convey much more when one can take away the distractions of race, class and creed. Things that are undeniably human: assurance, love, solidarity and aloneness. It’s also things we don’t notice, things that we dismiss at a glance not taking in the ‘beauty’ of all things not only great, but also so small that it would make ant wonder.

I would very much like to ask my readers what their opinions are of the following pictures, how it makes them feel; first impressions, likes- dislikes, their reactions, thoughts and feelings. I will follow with my own feelings on them after a couple comments, there are also more on the flickr link below.

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