Comparison

It is pretty exciting to see so many bicycles being ridden in Holland. Nothing stops the Dutch getting around by bike. There are young women stilettos cautiously mounting their bikes. Groups of Oma’s (Grannies) picking up there shopping. Mums cycling with their multiple children strapped front and back to the bike. Not even a trip to Ikea is an excuse to drive flat packed furniture home. Instead it is planted under the cyclists armpit, and precariously balanced on the handle bars all the way home.

Cycling is ingrained in the culture!

This is very inspiring compared with my recent experience back home. To cut a long story short I work part time as an Art Technician at a Perth High School. Anyway, we were delivered the best professional development session I have experienced a few weeks ago. The session focused on ways the school could become more sustainable in social and environmental aspects of school life. Reading the body language of most of the staff they hesitantly participated! Middle-aged people stuck in their old consuming ways not willing to change their habits for the benefit of the greater environment. By contrast me being the young and enthusiastic person I am, I filled my page with potential changes that could be made around the school to create a more environmental sustainable place.

-Ban all personal use vehicles to the school. Staff must carpool, cycle or catch public transport to the school.

- Ban selling water at the canteen. Students must refill from refrigerated taps around the school.

- Stop selling meat dishes in the canteen.

- Health + fitness should be valued over personal grooming in the school environment.

The list went on, I scrawled the ideas down with enthusiasm. I thought that implementing these initiatives in a small school environment would be relatively easy to organise. It would also be an environment that you would be able to actually see progress. Finally teachers could be valued for their role modelling, leading a green revolution!

Ok so I got a little carried away...little bit to radical in my train of thought. Instead I let the enthusiasm bubble away inside. I got a little distracted preparing for my trip away and never actually managed to try and initiate any of these ideas. However, one other teacher managed to pull finger and started to rally up support for carpooling. First it came with an email…. With no response… then it was brought up at staff morning tea. You could feel the staff role there eyes and silently zone off into the tray of cakes sitting on the table.

So with no luck I boarded my plane for Holland silently disillusioned by peoples’ inability to try new things, to change some aspects of their lifestyle for the common good. So for now I will lap up the Dutch’s enthusiasm for cycling + the good public transport born from high-density living!

First impressions of Utrecht

Studio Open

Come and check out the Midland studios before I disappear to the Netherlands for four months!

Melville Sculpture Park

I visited Kadidjiny Park (crnr Kitchener and Curtis Rd) today where the Melville Sculpture walk will be held. It is one funky park that opened in November 2010. It is a sensory play area for kids. If it wasn't so hot I probably would have let loose at the park also.

Anyway, it is just really flukey that my sculpture is going to fit perfectly into the park. I even bought I bright orange to finnish the piece of and blend it into the funkiness of the park.

Anyway, if you are around the Melville area you should check out the exhibition opening on the 11th of March 2011 at 6pm. The exhibition runs until the 9th of April 2011.

The Pod is Growing!

For the past couple of days I have been kicking about in my hometown, Denmark. It is pretty easy to be overcome with lethargy and not do a lot in Denmark. But finally over the past couple of days I have mustered up a bit of motivation and started working on a large scale public artwork with my dad. The pods are growing at a rapid scale. The piece is about 2 meters in diameter.... and the new scale and material thickness is posing lots of new challenging problems.

You will be able to view the finished product at the Melville Sculpture walk, which opens on March the 11th 2010.

I have also been sussing out sacrificial anodes, to prevent the piece from rusting in an outdoor environment. The Lipinski's recent purchase of ' The Pod' is the first piece to use the experimental sacrificial anode... hopefully it stops the piece of rusting away.

Young People and the Arts Fellowship

The other day I got some dam fine news. I was awarded a Department of Culture and the Arts Young People and the Arts Fellowship. This means I will be heading across to Europe for three months to work with Tejo Remy a renowned found object furniture maker/ designer. On the way to Utrecht in the Netherlands I will go and visit the 2011 Milan Furniture fair.

It’s pretty exciting to finally have the opportunity to head to Europe and expand my design horizons.

Escape the Heat

There is 6 days to go for you to view the Tread Lightly Exhibition at Howard Park Winery. This could be a reasonable enough reason to escape the heat of Perth and trundle down to Denmark.

The exhibition opening went really well down here. I think growing up down in Denmark, people have a genuine interest in seeing how your work has changed over the past few years. There are lots of creative people in Denmark who fostered my interest in the arts from the outset. It has been nice to come back home and give back to the town that was so encouraging from the outset.