brandsusan

David Bowie 24/7

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 03:28:00 +0000

From the Archive
David Bowie

No atmospheric film, no lush coffee-table book, no poignant memorial concert nor complete vinyl record set will re-embody David Bowie quite like the churning, 24/7 world of the Internet in the hours, days and immediate weeks following the announcement of his death.

The shock of the news drove people to their screens and triggered a relay of declarations, speculations and remembrances. These mass actions and reactions were not only expressed through thoughtfully composed words, but also, of course, in sound and vision.

No-one, but no-one could strike a more compelling pose than David Bowie. This had been evidenced just days before, when social media was saturated with stunning Bowie images for his 69th birthday, and haunting scenes from videos for his new album were etching themselves into consciousness. No doubt the speed and intensity of image circulation escalated 8440% at the realisation that he really had died — just like the percentage increase in his album sales in the US.

Through his family, Bowie asked that he be remembered by his music. We were already there — at first zoning in on our immediate favourites, then recalling others stored deeper in time and memory, and, over the following days, beginning to excavate into his back

catalogue to discover gorgeous, previously unheard anthems and laments. Playlists with 20, 30, 40 astounding songs came together effortlessly.

From the Archive

Wild is the Wind, Station to Station,1976

In that moment of his death, the Internet confirmed its potential as world Archive. Not only as a place to find and download, but also as a site to conserve and upload, order and annotate, rework and reanimate, share and transmit. Archivists — amateur and professional, private, public and corporate — rummaged through everything they held about David Bowie and threw it into the rolling electronic mix.
Like others, I was live editing — extruding elements from the digital ether. At a certain point, I was no longer watching and listening, but inhabiting an unfolding narrative space of surround-sound and vision.

We don’t actually need a film, coffee-table book, memorial concert or vinyl record set to memorialise David Bowie, because they are finite with an absolute beginning and end. Instead we have this mammoth, collective archive project, where each day another tremor of new material ushers forth for us to sift through — refusing his death and keeping him alive indefinitely.
And just like Bowie himself, we not only honour his various pasts, but project him into a future (or futures). No-one I have heard or read has considered using the term 'Closure' when it comes to Bowie. We’ve become used to not seeing him around in real time, so we can accept this ever-changing digital archive as a true record of his actual infinite presence.

From the Archive

Afternoon Plus, 1979

SOUNDTRACK for an acupuncture treatment

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Sat, 18 Jan 2014 08:04:00 +0000

Musical soundtrack for acupuncture on a hot summer day in a chinoiserie room above the streets of Kings Cross — thankyou Margaret Bruce and her resident DJ John Archer

Track 1. Theme music by Michael Galasso from In the Mood for Love by Wong Kar-wai

A little bit of Hong Kong in the heart of Kings Cross

Track 2. Bahia by Anouar Brahem

John introduces Anouar Brahem to me and I introduce Shazam to John

Track 3. Anche Melelo Ney Betolo by Alemayehu Eshete and Dadimos Band

A little post-acupuncture delerium

SOUNDTRACKS inspired by the Sudanese boy travelling on the Western Line

whose gold Soul brand headphones leaked so much sound I could hear what he was listening to

and Shazam for identifying exactly what those sounds were
[Who's Gon Stop Me by JayZ & Kanye West]

SOUNDTRACK Soulful city sounds

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 03:30:00 +0000

Soulful sounds calling attention to themselves around the city to create a soundtrack for looking, touching, trying, tasting

Track 1. And the Beat Goes On by The Whispers / heard Westfield Sydney

Track 2. In the Rain by The Dramatics / heard Fratelli Fresh, Potts Point

Track 3. Black Byrd by Donald Byrd / heard Devon Cafe, Surry Hills

SOUNDTRACKS inspired by the Sudanese boy travelling on the Western Line

whose gold Soul brand headphones leaked so much sound I could hear what he was listening to

and Shazam for identifying exactly what those sounds were
[Who's Gon Stop Me by JayZ & Kanye West]

SOUNDTRACK New Year's Day 2014

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 13:49:00 +0000

Music that floated into consciousness to create the soundtrack for a roadtrip on the first day of a new year

Track 1. Making plans for a roadtrip / Chinese Dream by Caitlin Reilly

Conjuring up image memories from the streets of Shanghai and intimate conversation cutting through the sensory overload. Here's more from Caitlin Reilly's Slow Songs for a Fast World CD

Track 2. Driving down the coast / Happy by Pharrell Williams

That's the official 4:08 min clip, but there's also a 24-hour version, presumably inspired by Christian Marclay's The Clock. If you'd like to see more of that clip at 12:05 of Richard Gere getting dressed to a soundtrack of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles here he is

Track 3. Driving back to the city through the Adelaide Hills / Perfect Form by Cyril Hahn and Shy Girls

At last, rain broke the spell of the heavy heat and humidity

SOUNDTRACKS inspired by the Sudanese boy travelling on the Western Line

whose gold Soul brand headphones leaked so much sound I could hear what he was listening to

and Shazam for identifying exactly what those sounds were
[Who's Gon Stop Me by JayZ & Kanye West]

Stay tuned ...

The Beauty of Dismantling

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Fri, 24 May 2013 07:10:00 +0000

Sometimes the dismantling of an exhibition is as compelling as the live work.

We missed the Shanghai Biennale at the Power Station of Art. But dismantling of the monumental work Bodhisattva with a Thousand Hands by Huang Yong Ping created it's own spectacle of scale, improvisation, delicacy and risk.

Which is perfectly in keeping with the Biennale's theme of Reactivation — echoing the venue's former life as a working power station.

On My Way to/from Work: Commodification of Public Space #3

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 07:50:00 +0000

Moove flavoured milk

sound sculpture (in shape of headphones) & inflatable event stage

First Fleet Park, Circular Quay, 24 February 2012

ARCHIVE BOY 3+3 image+text

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:57:00 +0000

A young boy sits on the edge of the archives conference

Distracted temporarily by archivists letting their hair down on the dancefloor

But ultimately content with his Nintendo screen

3+3 is a brandsusan curatorial project

photos by Angela McGing & her son Owen Roberts

taken at Australian Society of Archivists conference, Brisbane, 2009

reproduced with permission

Remembering Emil Goh: A night and a day in Seoul 2007

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:44:00 +0000

Emil Goh & The Lesson of the Lunch, Seoul 9 September 2007

I just checked my passport to see exactly when it was that I spent one very strange evening and an unforgettable day in Seoul, courtesy of the dearly departed Emil Goh. I see that it was Saturday 8 September 2007 that I watched a live Australian Rules football final between the Sydney Swans and Collingwood, screening outside a Seoul street cafe that Emil hunted down specially for me. And it was the following Sunday 9 that he took me on a 5 hour guided tour of one of his favourite Seoul neighbourhoods.

I didn't know Emil very well, and that's precisely the point. He fully inhabited his own passions and welcomed you into his world. He also respected your idiosyncratic preoccupations and created opportunities for them to be realised too. He just loved to engage with people, places and things — all the while capturing the exchanges that unfolded between them with his incredible eye and effusive commentary.

It's still possible to get a taste of walking through the streets of Seoul (and other cities) with Emil through the beautiful monument of his Superlocal flickr project. There are many heartfelt messages under the last image he uploaded from those who knew him in person or only through his photographs. Typically it was a photo of something tasty — a strawberry & green tea icecream of Eiffel Tower proportions with the comment: 'tis tall soft serve season in Myeongdong!they used to be nearly twice as tall a few years back but with the recession and all, instead of raising prices, they made them shorter, sigh.' As many people have observed, Emil really loved food and there are more entries about that subject than any other in his photostream (893 pics). So it's only fitting that I include video footage of him teaching me how to eat the meal we shared that Sunday in September.

Emil was our South Korea correspondent. His observations did not trade in exotica but valorised the superlocal. He had a heart full of Seoul.

REMEMBRANCES OF EMIL
revised March 2016
In Memory of Emil Goh by Poketo
Remembering Emil Goh, 1966-2009 by Motoelastico
Keeping it Superlocal - a Tribute to Emil Goh by Sonya Gee
Friend of the World by Ateri |Art + Culture
Tribute: In Memory of Emil Goh by Wendy Goh
Things I learned about life from Emil Goh (1966-2009) by Annamatic
Remembering Emil Goh by Nandemo
Emil Goh 1966 to 2009 is Too Friggin Short by Vanessa Bates
Chronicler of the Asian-Australian experience by Benjamin Gennochio & Melissa Chui
Obituary: Emil Goh, 1966-2009 by RealTime magazine

Always Had A Weak Spot For Mariah Carey

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:15:00 +0000

Featuring Trey Lorenz at his best

If Mariah & Trey were Taiwanese

Mariah, cover up girl!

this time a Mariah/Michael Jackson mash-up

On My Way to/from Work: Commodification of Public Space #2

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 05:55:00 +0000

Security guarding installation of iPhone's The Happy Place

The Happy Place, beside the Museum of Contemporary Art

iPhone's The Happy Place

First Fleet Park, Circular Quay, 19 June 2009

'Having once been voted the sexiest woman in Australia, model Emily Scott knows how to push men's buttons.Yesterday she was chosen as one of the first Australians to press go on Apple's new model iPhone. Scott, a favourite poster girl in men's magazines, was chosen as the global face of the new phone, which launches in Australia on Friday. As iPhone ambassador, Canberra-born Scott, 25, will host two public demonstrations of the new phone's features this week at The Rocks, where Apple has built a temporary store, "The Happy Place". The phone has many new features, including undoing the last action by shaking ... '

The Sun-Herald, 21 June 2009, p14

On My Way to/from Work: Commodification of Public Space #1

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Tue, 19 May 2009 10:19:00 +0000

Kleenex Silk Touch Tissue Tree

First Fleet Park, Circular Quay, Sydney,19 May 2009

'Welcome to the Kleenex Soft Touch Tissue Tree Swathed in hundreds of metres of luxurious silks, the tree is covered with blossoms that dispense the new Kleenex Soft Touch tissues. Exceptionally soft and silky, we invite you to feel the difference yourself by taking a Kleenex Silk Touch tissue from the low hanging blossoms. Kleenex Silk Touch Tissue. Softer, Smoother, Gentler. Feel the Difference. Kleenex'

Informed by 'sampling staff' that the Kleenex Silk Touch Tissue Tree is an 'art installation in memory of Christo' by 'street artists Perso & Detch' / see www.mrpersoanddetch.com also their commercial graffiti campaign to promote Green Day album

ILLUMINATIONS 3+3 image+text

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:18:00 +0000

The city was illuminated

Even underground

And it was almost impossible to completely turn off

3+3 is a brandsusan curatorial project

photographs from State Records NSW; series NRS 17420 & NRS 12685

I Search Myself, I Want You To Find Me

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:32:00 +0000

Australian new media artist Linda Wallace has contributed to a YouTube curatorial project for Pulse art fair in New York. She joins a group of artists invited by curator Marina Fokidis to create playlists from YouTube videos. Linda Wallace has selected 10 videos of people singing 'I Touch Myself' by the Australian band the Divinyls from 1991.

brandsusan unhesitatingly recommends version 2 by aestheticdevistation

>>>
PULSE PLAY>Random Rules: A Chanel of Artists’ selections from YouTube
Curated by Marina Fokidis
Many believe that since the launch of YouTube in 2005, the history of the moving image has diverted from its canonical route. The website, which makes it possible for anyone who can use a computer to post a video, reaches millions of people daily. Like no other time before, it is now possible for amateur videos, music videos, film footage, commercials and news segments as well as (in some cases) artists’ videos to be mingled together in a random way, free of any preconceived hierarchy or system. According to Fokidis, the active use of YouTube is a form of curating and "Different people’s 'playlists' are transformed into exhibitions and 'tagging' becomes a process of random archiving."

For PULSE PLAY>Random Rules, Fokidis has invited several emerging and established artists to create their very own playlists thereby presenting these artists not only as artists, but as curators and as collectors as well. Artists include Andrea Angelidakis, Aids 3D, AVAF, Pablo Leon de la Barra, Erick Beltran, Keren Cyter, Jeremy Deller, Cerith Wyn Evans, Dominique Gonzalez Foerster, Dora Garcia, Rodney Graham, Annika Larsson, Matthieu Laurette, Ingo Niermann, Miltos Manetas, Ahmet Ogut, Angelo Plessas, Lisi Raskin, Linda Wallace. The selections will be available simultaneously in the video lounge at the fair and online as a YouTube Channel.

Pisces Time

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:57:00 +0000

Sometimes the sun rising in the morning sky is burning orange against the steel blue-grey of the ocean — just like the goldfish swimming in the black & white of Rumblefish

Gluten free

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:43:00 +0000

You know you love it too, but once the gluten-free bread has arrived in your suburb, you sense you can kiss the neighbourhood goodbye

Another new shop has opened up on Clovelly Road; is it ...

Brat: yet another kid’s clothing shop selling Andy Warhol rompers
Brot: a bakery that smells like somewhere in Europe
Brit: a trashy t-shirt gallery frequented by teenage girls in school uniform
Brut: a boutique selling sex toys for gay men

Answer: go to 219 Clovelly Road
Meanwhile pass me another slice of the gluten free, slathered with quince paste & mascapone

on Mickey Rourke

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:32:00 +0000

The Wrestler not only resuscitates Mickey Rourke’s career, it resuscitates the memory of what cinema is and can be.

From beginning to end, it’s pure motion and emotion.

Mickey Rourke’s presence/performance is raw, wounded and scarred; excruciating, heart sickening and unhinged; tender, sentimental and full of grace.

He’s Heath Ledger in Monster’s Ball, Linda Manz in Out of the Blue, Temuera Morrison in Once Were Warriors, Gena Rowlands in Under the Influence, Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris, Sibel Kikelli and Birol Unel in Fatih Akin’s film Head On.

The fight scenes alone are worth the ticket, but it’s the vulnerable masculine moments and gestures that make you go and see it twice in one week.

The way he dies a little everytime someone calls him Robin instead of Randy or Ram.

The long hair he flicks when it’s hanging down, or ties in a chignon with loose strands that follow his jaw line when its’ up.

The act of shaving under his arms and colouring his hair for the ring; then putting on a hair net to go out and work behind the meat counter.

The back-up present for his daughter in case she hates the one he really wants to give her.

The earpiece he removes and rests beside his bed when he sleeps; the glasses he needs when he looks closely at something important.

The little white socks and tighty whiteys in the tanning salon; the cute grey cotton gear for the gym.

The crease of his bare arse at the back of his hospital gown.

The bare-chested bear hugs for his brothers-in-arms from the ring.

The last look in the men’s room mirror before bracing himself to go out into the club and try and win over the woman he wants to be with.

The admission that he’s not ready for her to do another lap dance, because his heart’s not ready to take it.

I still can’t decide whether his dancing scenes are embarrassing because they’re good or because they’re really bad.

The ghost of Sam Fuller haunts every scene of this movie, with his declaration from Godard’s Pierrot le Fou: ‘Film is a battleground. Love, hate, violence, action, death ... in a word, emotion.’

Obama

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:32:00 +0000

Obama

You have us in the palm of your hands

Don't dash our hopes to the ground

Chinese New Year

noreply@blogger.com (brandsusan) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:41:00 +0000

I have a lot in common with Kim Basinger & Chairman Mao.

We are delicate creatures and weather variations can effect our nerves. Without empty mental spaces in which to float free, our drowsy minds have no room to evolve their reveries into plans and action. We should avoid bladder irritants, such as spinach, asparagus, sorel, vinegar, unripe fruits, spices, alcohol and tobacco, but cranberry juice can be tried as a substitute for citrus products. Because we are cold-blooded, we require warmth, the sun, affection, security and cozy, luscious, sexy love.

We are of course Water Snakes

Greta Garbo is a Wood Snake
Joseph Conrad is a Fire Snake
Yasser Arafat is an Earth Snake
Aretha Franklin is a Metal Snake

And what of this new Year of the Ox? Oxen prefer the presence of wise, sane creatures like Snakes rather than a lot of nit-witted, fly-by-nights they don't respect. The Ox smiles on those who pitch in willingly and don't complain.

quotes from The New Chinese Astrology by Suzanne White