Last Saturday. 28 August. Afternoon. Sydney. Museum of Contemporary Art [1]. In the Balance: Art for a Changing World [2, 3]. Artist as Family [4] entrained. South. Homeward. A darkened area. Smallish. Slideshow continuous. Olegas Truchanas’s [5] photos. Lake Pedder [6]. Mirror surface. Serrated sand. Majestic massifs. Leaden clouds. Ominous music. Three spectators: Sweetheart Vivienne. Me. And a young man. Mid twenties. Thirty tops. Asian. Slim. Navy uniform. Hat too. Officer. Impeccable. Impressive. Us three: Attentive. Absorbed. Silent. Slides ticking by. 10. 15. 20. More. Navy Officer stands. Abruptly. I (inquisitively): ‘Where are you from?’ He (instantly): ‘South Korea’. I (hospitably) ‘Welcome’. He (courteously) ‘Thank you’. He goes. I wonder. Does he know Truchanas’s story? Died in 1972. Accidentally. Lake Pedder’s story [7]? Flooded in 1972. Intentionally. Is natural beauty a universal perception? Cross cultural. Did he have friends on the ROKS Cheonan [8]? Sunk last 26 March. By the demonic North Korea. I wonder still. In future if North Korea’s psychotic lunacy erupts militarily, this young man may command a first line defence. Protecting us. Me. If so, I’m glad Truchanas’s Pedder images captivated him. As they did me. In a darkened area. Of the MCA. In Sydney. Last Saturday.
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