TRAVEL DIARY

A weblog regularly updated by Jodi Rose.

  

VIEWING ALL POSTS FOR: JUNE 2005

Monday, June 27, 2005

12:07 PM
Posted by jodi rose

a small and diverse posse of sound artists prepare to celebrate the esoteric delights of abstract audio and the completely pointless pursuit of the unusual, the unheard and the unnecessary in our sonic environment at liquid architecture in melbourne july 1-7.

meanwhile, on the other side of the world, thousands of people are about to converge on a luxury golf resort in gleneagle, scotland to protest and explore alternatives to the overwhelmingly obvious ineptitude of 'our global leaders' to respond to the needs, concerns and desires of the worlds citizens at the G8 Summit.

Apparently Tony Blair recently said 'it would be very odd if people came to protest against this g8... I don't quite know what they'll be protesting against...'

well, there are just a few pressing concerns on peoples mind these days Tony, take your pick! sustaining life on the planet, climate change, the shadows of war, nuclear proliferation, poverty, debt, global cultural hegemony, the failure of capitlist society to notice let alone nurture the needs of the people... all very well articulated here:

why are people protesting'

some of my favourite protests so far are, of course the Free Party against the g8 - party rigs from all over the uk are heading for scotland - i have a feeling some new friends from helsinki will be amongst them - party and protest hard kids!

you gotta fight for your right... etc and hey, i don't want to be part of your revolution if I can't dance :)

also a local community garden which has been set up in the disused M74 northern extension, highlighting the need for people to have a. fresh fruit and vegetables, and b (more importantly) a real connection both to the place they live, and a sense of community and involvement, to work against the constant anaesthetisating of life by television, alcohol, and sheer numb powerlessness.

and the quirkiest protest so far, the flaneur's favourite:
'celebrate the right to roam by hillwalking'.

beautiful.

I am, as always, in solidarity, celebrating the right to roam and party and dance by recording and performing with bridges. It's a crazy old world, and someones gotta do it!!!
love you.xxxx j

Sunday, June 26, 2005

2:07 PM
Posted by jodi rose

Hear bridges sing on the radio, live tonight!!

Sunday 26th June 2005 12.30am

Symbiosis - Experimental Sound Textures and Rhythms

Sunday nights / 12am - 2am
102.7 FM / www.rrr.org.au
Melbourne / Australia

Sunday, June 26, 2005

1:50 PM
Posted by jodi rose

now, where was I?
ah yes, the alien tumult night was fantastic, even on a dark rainy winter night had great turnout, refreshingly good mix of people, (ie not all the same faces from the one scene - sound art can be so cliquey, and this wasn't) with a lovely vibe and some very fine performances - the geek from swamp creek particularly entertaining, and 'showstopper' julian knowles did a subtle and beautiful set.

this morning woke up in north fitzroy (that's melbourne, a whole other city and state for you non-australian readers), and played with ari, my favourite 5 year old. we built a multi-dimensional 5 part dungeon/island complete with helipad, police boat (with 6 cops and a knight), 3 escaped daleks and a treasure chest full of gems hidden in a volcano (with a wheel on top for letting out the lava), until it was time for him and emer to go to their respective birthday party engagements. emer tells people he's got his friend jodirose visiting, and it really is like that - I don't get to play with leggo nearly enough.

back to the circuit bending this afternoon, trying to whip something up for tonight's appearance on symbiosis and even more crucialy next weeks surround sound gig at liquid architecture. had a moments quiet freak-out last night, thinking eeek I don't remember anyone telling me there was an 8 speaker surround set-up - but then got quite excited dreaming up fun things to do with building bridges around the audience and structuring the piece. so, now to go learn some more software. just keep thinking of it as an experiment and nothing is so scary. it's when you decide this is it, the 'final work' that it all gets too much. so for now, I'll keep exploring and experimenting.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

1:59 PM
Posted by jodi rose

epic adventures in sound art - check it out tonight!

e)scapes #1
winter edition

Into the tumult sent an alien sound

June 23 7.30pm
Medium Rare Gallery
70 Regent St (upstairs) Redfern
$10, $8 donation

live audio/visual performances by...
Alex White & William Noble, Jon Drummond, The Geek from Swampy Creek (Marynowsky), Julian Knowles

screenings of video works by...
Gordon Monro - Dissonant particles, Luke Stacey - Ectoplasm from Earth, Emile Zile - Fried Lights

installations by...
Lindsay Webb (audio), Sam James (Super)

curated by Gail Priest

Thursday, June 23, 2005

1:57 PM
Posted by jodi rose

last day in bronte. this morning climbed on sandstone cliffs and sent my dreams across the ocean. where one day I hope to meet up with them. I guess it's the end of a cycle, being here again.

spent many hours gazing and dreaming on the upstairs balcony when I was planning the trip to record bridges in 2002. now realised part of my block moving on with the next steps is letting go of that dream. I've done it, it's real, time for a new one. it's always here at the ocean I can find space to dream. you'll have to check back in a year or two to find out how these ones turn out ;)

just collected some interviews that have made their way online to send to my lovely researcher in France, currently working on the synopsis for our doco to go to the Producer dude. Anyway, finally got round to reading the cd reviews, and found this lovely quote from ms gail priest: 'In an interview (RT66), Rose states that this is not the end of the bridge obsession, merely the end of a stage... If Singing Bridges is the research stage the final event is going to be something truly special.' ah yes, I do hope so.

RealTime Arts
Issue 66 April/May 05
bridge odyssey - interview with Gail Priest

cd review - earbash (realtime)

cyclic defrost issue #11 May 2005

Jodi Rose & Recording Bridges Interview with Bob Baker Fish

CD review

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

8:05 PM
Posted by jodi rose

the ingredient of the day is.. quark.
I first met this amazing substance in berlin, wandering the streets on a magical night with Rafael the Polish architecture student - spaaaace, he would talk about huskily for hours, it's all about spaaaaace - then we wandered into a sumptuous indian restaurant tucked away in some random castle. vivid paintings of indian life on the walls, a superb range of tea and some kind of quark pastry - it was untranslatable. like some many good things. now know it's like a mix between ricotta and sour cream but that still doesn't quite get it. tonights dish is a sweet orange ricotta cream for the dutch butter pound cake mix I found in sole's cupboard - she said go ahead, bake it, I never make cakes - a rocket and spinach salad with chickpea, spicy olives, almond and the quark/mustard/orange dressing, and reheated pizza from last night. I know, really letting the team down there - but it was gourmet. max's special!
all this in aid of going through all the flight bookings in my email and credit card records online to ascertain the exact nature of art-relates expenditure for the last.... gulp... two years. ahhh tax time. yes and again I vow to take financial responsibility and not live from day to day. poetic, zen, but not very stable. julaine sat me down at lunch today and wrote out all the categories I have to fill in for my budget - it's homework over the next month, then she's going to make me adjust stuff. eeeek. only two people in the world can get me to do things I really don't want to, and she's one of them. you don't mess with a taurean.
almost time to leave my lush ocean hideaway. the last two days have been unusual, the sea is strangely calm and tonight when I watched the full moon rise, could barely hear anything from the waves. but there was a fabulous alligator scultped in the sand, and no-one on the beach or in the water - very rare. incredible colours, turquiose aqua dark green - one day I'm going to live by the ocean. and bake and garden and read and sew. yeah, probably when I'm nintey. if the bridges are still standing, and singing.
ohmigod the cake is golden perfection... a heart attack in a pan.
oh well, best get back to those envelopes of receipts. wish me luck.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

11:04 PM
Posted by jodi rose

had my first laptop performance - no not that kind - at the nownow last night. great venue at frequency lab in the old hibernian house on elizabeth st, central - grungey and decripit - it's hard to find those places in sydney these days. Big open space with lots of comfy chairs and friendly people - what more could you need? The ever effervescent Jim Denley ran the bar and door, and Clayton was the evening's charming host - introducing Paul from NZ in his first australian and first solo gig - played some way out there drums with toys and a really cool noise-lunchbox; then yours truly - Jim asked what are you going to do, I laughed and said, I really don't know, just downloaded the software yesterday - he told me afterwards that he was a bit worried at that, but pleasantly surprised by the show. It was great how many people gave me really good constructive feedback, useful comments about varying duration and dynamics (Jim) and how difficult it is to find new sounds when making electronic music (Gail), making me realise what an incredible archive and resource I have in these many bridge recordings. Claire told me about her pet hate - 'no delay' and funny how people thought I was using different software (ableton live, max dsp) when it was all two very cool very fun ixi software programs, written by the fabulous thor and enrike.
http://www.ixi-software.net
spent the morning at the beach watching seagulls and waves. gorgeous. having trouble getting back in focus, but guess it will come eventually.

Sunday, June 19, 2005

10:27 PM
Posted by jodi rose

and now for the music that happens in front of you...


///////////////////////////////////// Monday, June 20, 2005
If you like improvised music, we like you
the frequency lab
107 / 342 elizabeth street:

8:15 Paul Taylor (NZ) drums & percussion

9:00 Jodi Rose, bridge recordings, processing

10:00 OPEN TRIO:
Mathew Ottignon, tenor sax, flutes
Clayton Thomas, double bass
Felix Bloxsom, drums & percussion

(4 years ago this trio played in a car-park in Surry Hills, and thence began the NOWnow.)

$5 & 7 at the door x

and on air....

Sunday 26th June

Symbiosis - Experimental Sound Textures and Rhythms

Sunday nights / 12am - 2am
102.7 FM / www.rrr.org.au
Melbourne / Australia
www.symbiosis.com.au

Sunday, June 19, 2005

10:23 PM
Posted by jodi rose

this week's mobile journey is brought to you by lindt chocolate, yulla chocolate mousse and madura english breakfast tea from Ben and Sole's Bronte pad. yes, minding the ocean apartment while the kids are in Tassie, am required to give fluffy 8 pills a day for her heart condition and clean out the cat litter, but that's a small price to pay for paradise. walking out the back door into the gully really is incredible. got it together to do yoga this morning, so am vaguely focused and relaxed, finally managing to get some work done.

realised I've been suffering displaced anxiety about the upcoming performances - thought it was free-floating, but is quite specific.
julaine commented on my ocd when I took the movie tickets out of her hand to line them both up the same way - and after that it all fell into place. so decided to give myself a break and not try to build the bridge this weekend - that can be next weeks project. got all the software together and now for the fun part - making it all work.

have designed the bridge model - you know how I love a craft project - and my construction skills are on par with the average 5 year old. but I quite like that DIY kindergarten aesthetic. and bridges are so heavily engineered and slick, it's a nice contrast.

woke up to the paperboy whistle this morning - I love that, it's like days gone by. read all the trashy bits - if you're ever having a moment of doubt in life, there's nothing like the sunday papers to get you back on track - always full of helpful advice for getting fit, findiing your dream job (and house), cooking for kids or dinner parties, ideas for scary dates to get your adrenaline pumping.
tried to go see art with julaine but it was all closed, being sunday.

did make it to the MCA on tuesday for anne and jane's opening - situation. have to go back and look at the work - interesting premise, it's about artist communities in singapore, berlin and sydney. there was a memorable interactive chewing gum painting, another work you could record a message into, but mostly i just chatted with the lovely joyce - she was horrified when I said I'd finally learnt to solder, had another ex-student say the same thing recently - didn't I teach you anything? she asked. well, I think we just weren't paying attention.
but you taught us heaps - without her I never would have imagined recording bridges, or thought I could pull it off. ran into each other a few years ago and she said, just keep going, you'll get there eventually. This time it was 'youve hit the jackpot!'. Funny how you reach a certain level of notoriety and people know what you've been up to.
... well that and keeping a very public journal. :)
the other fun conversation I had was with Lucas, who just got back from WA, sheep and wheat country (... and he didn't taste either - I asked him about wine tasting... it's a long story) anyway chatted about gardening for a while, and his printing press. which reminds me, must send that email and get the design for the other cd underway.

ok, so live show tomorrow night (details above) then work on reports, proposals, tax etc etc then melbourne for liquid architecture, adelaide time place space and back to sydney to concentrate on writing and composing. really excited about having time to learn and take part in this workshop without having to organise anything. except myself!

Saturday, June 11, 2005

2:33 PM
Posted by jodi rose

first overcast day we'vd had since I got back. enjoying the melancholy. not enough rain to break the 30 year drought, but a few drops on parched earth. that and global warming giving sydney an endless summer - it's warmer here than in helsinki I noticed on sbs news last night.
exceedingly fragile this weekend. just can't keep up with my life.
yasmin reminded me that saturn is still going over my sun for another month, end of 2 year cycle, time of hard work and also wanting to retreat. but it will pay off. eventually. and I can see that, just feel
completely overwhelmed by everything and not really coping.
but it will pass. robyn reminded me that you have to stop sometimes, just forget about it all for a few hours - otherwise obsessive workaholic tendencies just increase the stress level without any more productivity. my free floating anxiety is still very high pitched. tried some transcendental metaworry on the bus - technique invented by lewis thomas, where you just give into all your worrying for 20 minutes, then let it go. haven't quite got the second part yet.
bought my digital midi theremin kit at jaycar, now off to the workshop by gijoe from toydeath to learn how to make it. never did get the hang of soldering at art school - we had the inimitable and wonderfully inspiring joyce teaching us in 2nd year, but my projects were always impossible. nothings changed! I used to spend most of the class sitting with one end of the voltometer in each hand, trying to influence the electricity reading with my thoughts. am sure that will pay off sometime!!
once I build the theremin can start practising with it for live performances - it just got too embarassing doing gigs with cd mixers, so I've had to come up with a more theatrical performing style.
looking forward to playing the bridge with my theremin.
time to start customising my laptop - which is a fun job. I've got stickers, open source software, lots of ideas to play with.
wrote up all the questions, ideas and concerns I have about the tv doco and send them off to Ben, he's meeting with Jean-Philippe on Monday. I'm working on collecting the video material from people now, which involves them doing gigs cause they all work live. so it will take a bit longer than just editing and then burning a dvd. tried to warn him that art has its own timescale, not easily hurried or made to fit into a television schedule. but then realised I could probably do the bridges for peace concert some time in 2006, don't have to wait for copenhagen in 2007. crazy have never planned this far ahead in my life. knowing what I'm doing later tonight is usually a challenge, let alone making a plan for next week. but getting better at it.
really looking forward to my four months writing in slovakia. have been dreaming of time in a cottage by the water, out of the bustle of the city. town of 13,000 on the danube will be just the thing :)
and hell, if I keep making obsessive blog entries I could write it despite myself. must apply for that visa. two different people quoted in the herald spectrum today, talking about how as an artist, and particularly a writer, you can't censor yourself.

lucinda williams (in an article on women singers over 40 - yep tired of young girls angst, these women are rockin!) 'Like any real artist, you don't censor yourself. I grew up around poetry, and you can't censor yourself writing poetry, wether it's a cat sleeping in the window or the wreck you saw on the highway or sex. It's part of life' (yep and this is the wreck on the highway.... only joking. you know how I feel about thisblog, that it's train wreck writing, horrifying and compelling at the same time. all about being raw and personal.)

and mandy sayer 'in writing a first draft, I never censor myself; I always pretend I have no audience at all, and that's the only way, psychologically, that I can do it.'

end of philosophising, time to go and solder.
xxx jr

Saturday, June 11, 2005

2:14 PM
Posted by jodi rose

on the bus late thursday afternoon
people looking assessing, painfully hip boys
and scarily asymmetrical girls
my favourite co passenger is the elderly lady
wearing yellow track pants, sneakers, a long woollen coat
and untamable hair - she looks eastern european, a hard life
etched into her face - somehow more compelling than all the bright young things around us. had to give myself a good talking to on the walk down the hill, about how those people might spend lots of time and money looking cool and funky, but I am actually doing really wild and interesting things, leading a great life and maybe dressing well isn't the no one priority at the moment. my aim is to transcend fashion to create and eternally unique style all my own.
it's funny being away from home for a while
I get used to throwing myself into places, exactly as I am with no real concerns about how that fits the local scene, coasting through on the glamour of being exotic and a certain level of wilful ignorance.
but it's much much harder to do in the place where you grew up, and you know all the social codes only too well.
same city, hell the same suburb - strangely in 10 year intervals
moved here at 14 with mum and jose, then at 24 during art school in a huge corner house with 7 bedrooms and a floating population
used to wake up for lectures and find Al on my balcony having a breakfast beer - she knew how to grapple life and take the most of every moment, lived enough for 5 people in her short 27 years.
had to leave the year people kept dying, it became too haunted, but so many good friends and memories from that time.
and now again at 34, yes, really. floating in no particular fixed direction -nothing I have is really mine - flashed through my mind while walking nera yesterday. borrowed dog, borrowed house, pay as you go mobile phone and internet, camping in my old studio, it's a very precarious life I'm leading here.
aware of my ecological footprint in the world - all those jet planes,
over consuming stuff, what am I really doing for the planet?
it was very refreshing being down at mum's in truly the solar powered shed (they moved out of the shack thank god) with composting toilet and all. bogon moths hurling themselves at the window, splendid bower bird male with coal black midnight blue plumes in the birdbath, all that green everywhere. must have relaxed me a bit, cause I came back to sydney and just collapsed. free floating anxiety still bad, but am getting a few bits and pieces done and the rest of the time in denial.

Wednesday, June 8, 2005

11:45 PM
Posted by jodi rose

almost asleep the stars here are so bright
no ambient light from the city
trying to relax but the to-do list just keeps getting bigger
walked on the beach at bermagui yesterday and around the point past camel rock today, lovely to be back by the ocean
need to live close so I can walk every morning
but for now its back to the mean streets of redfern
another 8 hours on the bus
trauma packing everything up again
the pause button doesn't seem to work on this machine anymore
wheels just keep spinning
time to go sleep in the old rusted shipping container
wake up looking out over distant hills and sydney bluegums
wonder about all its journeys across the ocean, what strange and exotic goods it has carried, or maybe just whitegoods. and now me.
stories to be told. good night

Wednesday, June 8, 2005

11:41 PM
Posted by jodi rose

something else I can't remember right now
abstract esoteric more soon

Wednesday, June 8, 2005

11:40 PM
Posted by jodi rose

reading in the sunday papers guide to life about how people who push themselves hard and have high expectations tend to suffer more from 'fraudian complex' ie feeling like a fraud, wondering when you'll be found out. and that people who don't suffer it actually are more likely to be faking it. then there's the whole, fake it til you make it scenario. and sometimes you do become what you imagine, if you dream of it hard enough.
but today, I really feel that my failings as a writer, an artist and a human being are taking over the positive stuff.
as a writer, I'm too persuasive and emotional
skate over facts and take a post modern bricolage attitude to research
make large sweeping gestures
forget details and specificities - or only write about them
am completely subjective
unstructured, work on loose flowing forms without much editing
lazy with precise meanings and expressions
sketchy grammatically

as a human being
I rely on charisma and charm far too often
keep people at arms length
don't like life being messy or out of control
am uncomfortable with surface chit-chat, always want to go deeper
ruled by passion and emotion
value sponataeity over order and structure
find it incredibly hard to work consistently
can be slightly irresponsible and happy to coast along using whatever resources come to hand (pirate media artist!)
need to appreciate hard work and take responsibility for money
am too in-the-moment, fulfilling immediate desires more important than long term goals
.. but I can work hard towards distant ideals - it just needs to be in my own way.

decided I need to become a woman of substance and grace, focused and grounded, with depth and texture and a rich throaty laugh.
or maybe I already am, but just can't see it yet..... ?

Wednesday, June 1, 2005

10:40 PM
Posted by jodi rose

skating on the sticky date icecream of depression
luckily it's with peach schnapps and makes the world a whole lot brighter
feels churlish of me to be so down and untogether
when great things keep happening
still all a bit outta control, can't find the brakes on this thing!

listening to melancholy arab strap, just got home from sydney dance co premier at opera house, the lovely Kimmy took me along on her freebie. the show had entertaining moments, some fun send-ups of the history of dance and the costumes were gorgeous, totally distracting - designed by Akira.
really must write that bridge guard uniform letter
had an esoteric email from the french tv production company
asking if I'm going to be in Paris anytime in the next 3 months
hmmm, let's see, if you've got the airfare, I can be there!
back to grinding poverty, probably the root of my low mood
only seem to ever have money in other countries
ran into the lovely jack today on my walk through newtown cemetery
he was enjoying the sun on the other side of the wall
nice to see a friendly familiar berlin face, we commiserated on various re-acclimatisation issues, then I came home and finally wrote proposal no.575 for my brand new plan, gesture controlled midi interface bridge performance and installation march 2006. wait til you see it!
now back to no.536 surround sound symphony for moscow 2006
it's funny though, I look back at proposals I've written part-way through the project, and realise it's spooky how close to the original idea I seem to find myself. having forgotten what it was temporarily, somehow set the course and end up there unconsciously. ahh the wonders of art intuition.
guess that's all for tonight, getting twitchy, emails to follow up, networks to maintain!