The Ramblings Of Linden Langdon

skip to page links

Fatalistic

Friday, 30 July

Sometimes the day I have set out for myself in the printroom flows like the rhythm of water over ancient rounded peebles, and others, well, are best not mentioned. So having one of those unmentionable days when every move recalls the errors of years gone by I elegantly lick my wounds and try to console myself in the text and images in a book referred to me for my project.

Antony Gormley features in a book called 'Places With A Past' where he had a massive installation at the Charleston Old City Jail, USA in 1991. His sculptural work is as evocative as his print work, and I am inspired to try again another day. Some days are diamonds.....

Renovation Realism

Wednesday, 28 July

Eight years of study at uni has had its toll on my house and garden with it all looking a bit like a neglected lover curled up in recoil. Despite some effort to get some things happening; and cetainly the new paint job on the outside, kitchen and bathroom have lifted the gloom, there is still plenty to do. Which makes me wonder about these renovation marvels that blitz the tv screen on a weekly basis. I must admit I am guilty of calling out in the depths of despair for a resue team to come my way, but do I really want that? Sure the rooms in 'that block' look oh so fab, but how will they look in my home and how long would they look that way? Well considering the daily dramas that dogs bring drag across my floor and furniture (mud, vomit, food, dribble and scratchy claws, and thats without even starting on the human inhabitants) I can't see my home looking much like the (sound the trumpets) 'slick smooth surfaced with absolutely no mention of human tardiness' rooms for more than a week, few days even, or maybe just hours! So the upshot of all that is to just keep plugging away at it, bit by bit, converting rooms from one thing to another, sprucing up the paint job and covering the blemishes on the furniture and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere. Well it works for me - almost...

Barbie Kjar

Tuesday, 27 July

First year printmaking introduced me to Barbie Kjar as an excellent teacher and her generous spirit stays with me in my daily quest to create art. Her unique style of drypoint etching is often on a large scale that further empowers her images beyond the intrinsic subtle nature of the subject she is capturing. The strength of colour is utilised to its fullest glory as she carefully works the ink in complimentary tones that seem to tease the viewer into believing there is only one colour. I hope to follow through with some of the suggetions Barbie made in years to come.

Post script to yesterdays entry is a parcel that arrived from Craig and Averil, currently climbling towers in Paris, roaming through ancient structures in Italy and eating all the famous and infamous foods of each country they visit. Thanks so much for the exquisite bracelet, I will treasure it!

Knitted Purse

Monday, 26 July

I was spoilt for my birthday last week with some fabulous visitors, excellent pressies, great food and plenty of lovin. So now I need lessons in pounding spices in a stunning stone mortar and pestle that adds a scultural dimension to the kitchen and distinguishing between the subtle aroma of freshly ground coffee to immerse in my new plunger. I also need to get out there with the camera and fill my new albums, drag Steve out on the town in my new lacey top and get to work at uni with a new tin of Litho ink. Oh, and then there's the purse. This needs to be seen to be believed as it is only about 80mm x 60mm and has beads knitted into the fine thread. Hiedi knitted it on needles the size of a tapestry needle in diameter - what patience! Beads are knitted into each row, with four rows of each number of beads. Thanks to everyone for making my annual ageing worth it!

Dinner

Saturday, 24 July

Steve's coming over to cook me dinner tonight. Ahhh, now that's the way to a ladies heart!

Rivulet Print Studio

Saturday, 24 July

There is some stirring in the Rivulet camp as a new web site hit the internet recently. As an asociate member I get a bit of a mention too, but it is a good spot to check out a few local printmakers work. There is a great navigation theme that features the artists...fun!

The sun has been out for the last few days and I'm hoping that the much needed warmth will cure my nagging flu symptoms and reduce the sickly pallor of Tasmanian winter skin. Makes me sound so attractive really.... Added to the frustration of continuing flu symptoms, and perhaps because of, is the second semester pressure cooker as my supervisor has his say and gives more than a gentle nudge to get some BIG results happening. It's now that I question the wisdom of deciding to work on a large scale this year as the suggestion for another '10 plates like that one' may seem entirely within the norm, except that the plates are 700mm x 900mm steel. I must look an ungainly sight as I lug them across the room, upstairs, downstairs, into acid, into sinks to wash etc etc. Hope he appreciates the pain and exhaustion, and hopefully he is right and the result will be worth it.

Sugar-lift Etching

Wednesday, 21 July

The sugar-lift etching method has become a favourite of mine as it can give a sort of painterly feel to the resulting image. I was reminded of the tutor who first gave me a lesson in using sugar-lift today in the print room. Quietly spoken Michael walked us through the saturation of water with sugar, adding ink and detergent and applying the solution to the plate. The theory is that once covered with a ground, and generally I use bitumen, and then placed in warm water, the sugar will dissolved, lifting the ground and revealing the plate area that is to be etched. Adding other elements to the mix can influence how smoothly the solution is applied and lifts. I found some information and a recipe at Polymetaal which seems to be a good resource all round for printmaking. I simmered water for quite a while, continually adding sugar till it reached saturation point, but I hear it rumoured that the microwave is a lot easier and faster. Oh and Michael, well he's busy printing for the September issue of Imprint magazine, so maybe he will get a better blog then!

Tapa Cloth

Tuesday, 20 July

I had never heard of Tapa cloth until my daughter bought me a small piece (in Tongan terms it is a small piece with many of their works running into meters) on a visit to Samoa. This art form has a fabulous history and is still made using traditional methods that form an important part of the social strucutue in the few remaining Tongan communities that create the cloth. Beaten inner bark (using wooden hand beaters called 'ike') from the Mulberry tree is felted resulting in a dense cloth that is ideal for working the natural dye images onto. The recent edition of Australian Art Review has an excellent article describing the technique, although the article doesn't feature on the website. Well worth a look if your into traditional art forms and natural processes.

Salamanca

Saturday, 17 July

Having visitors means the inevitable trip to Salamanca market on a Saturday, and even in the depths of winter this is a good way to get a feel of the local scene. Toaday the sun shone (despite refusing to do so for most of winter so far) and the snow covered mountain provided a classic backdrop and icey winds. The coffee shops behind the market were jammed full of people catching a glimpse of the sun and sucking warm drinks. Hot cups are also a favourite way to defrost frozen hands. I bought an olive tree, only a tiny sprout at the moment, but hey, who knows one day it might just offer up a fruit or two. Thanks for visiting Ross,Tia and Amy, I am reminded of the value in a Saturday morning spent at Salamanca.

Mount Wellington

Thursday, 15 July

Hobart lies across the foothills of Mount Wellington and it is a defining profile of the city in many ways. From the earliest history of Hobart the mountain has been a source of awe, resources and recreation. We look at the mountain to see what the days weather will bring down on us and when it comes into view after long distance travel you know your home. Long battles to prevent inappropriate development have been on and off the simmer (or boil) as far back as history has been recorded. The current issue is the construction of a cable car to carry people across the majestic face of the mountain, an area called the Organ Pipes. This proposal has reared its ugly head before, and it seems will continue to be debated as a means of promoting tourism in Tasmania's south. While I have empathy with the developer, this one gets the thumbs down from me. The mountain is a fabulous example of resilience to human interference, sustaining frequently large volumes of traffic up its winding road, and hugely popular walks that still have the thrill of danger, remoteness and natural beauty while being only a stones throw away from the city center. Perhaps its most amazing achievment has been to continue to be a natural environment despite the continual threat of foriegn species invading from domestic gardens and of course the destructive ravages of fire. Cheers to Mount Wellington.

Essays And Magazines

Tuesday, 13 July

Focus can be an issue when it comes to getting stuck into the essay writing. Todays distraction comes in the form of the Art Monthly magazine which has some great articles this month and I even found an online interactive art work salted away (where only people determined to avoid eassy writng might find the link). It gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling to see the symbiotic relationship between artists and scientists is an ever growing one with a widening understanding and appreciation from both camps. The Chris Henschke work HyperCollider is a shockwave download of substantial size and is best viewed with broadband and on a pentium 4 or g4, so a bit restrictive for some. However the main site is a good browse anyway. Okay, back to the honours paper...

That Whiteley Feeling

Monday, 12 July

Browsing through my uni email I came across the Brett Whiteley site buried in the Art Gallery of NSW newsletter. It is a very clean white site and as always I am drawn to this mans wonderful free and emotive work. I'm also a fan of classic black and white photography, so the navigation images drew me in straight away! Perhaps I'll get brave enough to put a few of my attempts at black and white up here...

Testing New Prints

Sunday, 11 July

Coming up with images that represent the current theme can be a dreamlike process of delving into the deep recesses of subconscious thought to pluck a clear visionary image into plausible realisation. Plausible is the key word here, as many a pure, clear vision has been muddied by the reality of functional process in my hands. I think this is normal for anyone in the art field, and I have heard whispers of suggestion that if there are any images you'd rather not put your name to then the advice is BURN THEM, otherwise they will come back to haunt you oneday... I often wonder about this when I flick through pages of famous artists retrospective collections as it seems inevitable that there are some works amongst the pages that don't seem to sit well with their neighbours. I think I'm still too green to relinquish yet though.

My current theme, delving into the steamy issue of suicide and incarceration, has provided me with many moments of startling revelation and many hours of working on images that will never see the light of day beyond my walls. As an honours year I have been concentrating on producing an experience for the viewer, rather than a collection of appropriate images. November is judging time, so until then it is a matter of refining the dreams into something that settles into the viewers subconscious, with the resonance that it emerged with from mine.

Hobart Wharf

Friday, 9 July

The wharf area of any city founded in the era of sea travel was the hub and heart of the soul of its people. Hobart wharf was no exception, but it has maintained a strong sense of place within its modern form despite the evolution of transport and needs. The presence of structures that once served the bustling wharf as warehouses, factories and trading rooms is perhaps one of the most powerful bonds with the areas history. Every change brings out the memories. Fish and apple warehouses have become fish resturants, woolstores convert to medium density housing and accomodation, the jam factory is now the university art school, and the most recent development is the conversion of the remaining IXL buildings into hotel, appartments and shops. All maintaining a facade of its historical roots.

There is still a hum of traditional wharf activity though, as the huge container yards are located behind the buildings, and the dock is a hive of activity when the boats arrive to heave their cargo on shore. Frozen fish still need to be hoisted from boat to land, and the concrete platforms are busy with blue overalled men at work. Its still the best place to wander and feel the soul of the city.

Union Blues Plus Mr Mansell

Tuesday, 6 July

Leaning across a bench at uni today the warm smiling face of fellow student Alan Mansell came beaming up from a newspaper clipping. As part of the 2004 Tasmanian Bicentenary he created an artwork titled 'Welcome Sky" near the International Friendship Wall and featuring a pole with streams of marching ants that swarm above the Sunken Garden at 188 Collins Street, Hobart. Most people will remember where it is as they have passed by on their way to centerlink to do battle with long queues and immune public service people. Alan embraces his Aboriginal heritage and produces work that keeps the indigenous culture active and visual in Tasmania.

On the home front, my paper contribution for the day was a letter from the university union saying that my first semester compulsory fees hadn't been paid and that my second semester enrolment had not been confirmed due to my oversight. I take exception to the continual demand for these fees. Apart from the lack of innovative service, which caters largely to fresh-from-college-students keen to spend their first year at uni as drunk as they can, the union fails to acknowledge that there are students like me who go part-time, and therefore end up paying vastly larger sums of money to the union as it is a fee charged by semester rather than for the degree. Not fair mr union.

Cheesey Toast

Sunday, 4 July

Being a Sunday I get around in the dreaded trackie pants and do all those household chores that seem to build up every second of the day. Its also an easy feed day with a 'fend for yourself and leave me out of it' attitude. Cheesey toast is an ever popular choice, with a sauce that has been in the family recipe book for several generations. I don't recall taking any vows of secrecy about it, but I know it originated from a chef called Ted. Just mix together:

• Sauce Recipe
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• 1 inch grated green ginger
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 clove of garlic well chopped

And there it is, a really tasty sauce to grill on top of the cheese. I've used it on the pizza base too, and in the absence of grated ginger used a little powdered ginger.

Counting The Hours

Thursday, 1 July

The middle of the year, the middle of winter and yes time to start counting down the hours as the days lengthen and testing new ideas for the years art project becomes less and less viable. But in contradiction it also seems to be the time that things start to gel and new ideas come flooding in. I guess it reflects the fact that creating a piece of art that respresents your ideas, thoughts and feelings about a subject can be a development withing itself, only revealing the means of expression after many steps.

Milan Milojevic is my supervisor this year, and is represented by a number of images on the net. He has a devoted energy for lithograph and woodcut, although his digital work has captured his imagination in recent years with some very interesting results. Energy is a great definition for Milan, as it is for Helen Wright, but Milan has an almost nervous energy that sees him constantly moving about the printroom from student to student, or rushing off to meetings and all that other stuff that keeps lecturers busy. I rarely get his full attention, as it has been for the last three years that he has been my teacher, but when he does direct his energy in my direction I am often bowled over by the intensity of his observations. Hope he has some positive observations to make about what I've been up to on the holidays!