Three Tasmanians and a South Korean

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.

Artist as Family. Yeeeeha!

An ethical and decent life. Though I aspire to one, mostly I fall short. Pity. But I do my best, even if my final decisions aren’t always the ones I should make. If Sweetheart Vivienne and I had one child, it wouldn’t be a problem. But we have four. Should we treat them equally? Or as individuals? I don’t know. However my guiding rule’s that there’s no guiding rule. Circumstances rule, OK. As to today’s post, the foregoing’s irrelevant. Yesterday I wrote of darling Kate and Brendon. Today I write of darling Meg and PJ. Not due to any concept of equal space, time or love. But because I’m so chuffed about Meg and PJ’s evolving Artist as Family project. They, and Zephyr, are travelling a path my description can’t do justice to. I see it as combining art and family with environmentalism, community, anthropology and social responsibility. Happily, their wonderful blog [1] explains AaF better than I ever could. AaF’s current project is creating a public Food Forest in suburban Sydney [2], as part of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s forthcoming show: ‘In the balance: art for a changing world’ [3]. AaF’s creating the Food Forest right now, as their blog documents so beautifully. Speaking of beauty, the Forest already looks to be a work of art. And it’ll only get better. And yummier. Good luck for the Plant-in Day this Saturday, AaF. You inspire me. And doubtless you’ll inspire countless others in coming months and years. Yeeeeha!