THE GREAT BARRIER GRIEF

So it took me ages to get motivated to do more art on coffee cups. And this time I'm determined to come  back with a shiteload of cool stuff to show you guys!

These coffee cups are created for an exhibition/ fundraising event/ auction with the theme of "Building Bridges"- http://buildingbridgessydney.com/ .They speak about the refugee/ boat people issue in Australia. I wanna capture what it is like to be a refugee, the experience and journey they have to go through.

From the top left corner:
1/ The Great Barrier Grief: an image of a sinking, cracking boat with people hands reaching out for help. The boat is angrily swallowed by the merciless storm. The tittle comes from an album of one of my fave bands "Oh Mercy" (check out my older posts)

2/Inside the fence, where the red roses grow: The children are locked inside the fence. The fence is a symbolism for a lack of freedom for refugess in concentration camps, aka Nauru and Xmas Island. Inside the fence I show the craziness and the psychological  insanity for this lack of freedom.

3/The Asylum: a pun. Refugees are also called asylum seekers. In this case, a concentration literally is a horrible asylum.

4/Lost at sea: a red version of "The Asylum". In both cups, I poke holes where the eyes present in order to integrate pain and sadness.

5/The red one isn't part of it. I forgot to take a picture of my 6th cup,doh!!

6/ The Great Waves of Massacre: I appropriate Hokkusai's The Great Wave of Mt Fuji and Van Gogh's ''Starry Night" together to create the 'waves' which wrap around the floating dead bodies.

This is how they look like from the other way

Right now I don't have the cups with me since they're getting ready for the exhibition. But promise when I get the chance I'll take more photos of them. And new stuff, to be published,soon :)

OH MERCY

Yup, if you know this picture, mercy's on you :) For those who don't, it's the album cover of 'The Great Barrier Grief', a beautifully soft and touching ballad of Oh Mercy- whose music  and lyrics have inspired me so much in my art. Listening to 'Stay Please Stay' is like casting  a melodic chant; but only it makes me wanna dance (like those in the video); my thoughts blur away  in this hazy mist of peacefulness while I sync to the lyrics and the day just won't get any better.

Talking about art without mentioning about music is like making a cake without sugar-you  may as well forget about dessert? Art and music are biffles, it's all very Zen, and my post today  is fully dedicated for that. I've chosen  Alexander Gow, the frontman of Oh Mercy  as the best example of this beautiful art-music marriage. Also FYI, the cover on the album  you saw above is by Ken Done(It's Ken it's Done- haha) .In my opinion, when you have  a strong emotional connection with a song you will also form a connection with any sensual/visual  feature associated with it. Every time I listen to the album, the picture above appears in my head  and vice versa- hence I connect so much with the album and that abstract nude painting is  definately one of my favourite,evaaa! Anyway back to Alexander Gow. This is his essay about the beautiful marriage between art and music “Art is the thrilling spark that beats death.” - Brett Whiteley When I drop my bags and guitar cases at the Billabong Gardens Backpackers  in Newtown, I stare at the Whiteley print hanging on the wall. (They always give  me the same room). I’m thrilled. It makes me want to drink coffee. It makes me  want to play the guitar. It makes me wish I could convince the gorgeous  German woman staying next door to undress for me. I am thrilled.  (Listening to Leonard Cohen makes me want to do all of the above at the same time.) And if we ourselves lift the brush, the pencil, or the tape recorder, we are making  a record. We are trapping a moment of intense beauty, passion, grief or  everyday monotony - if we choose. This is the musician and artist’s greatest gift. He  or she is given permission to sing that thing that was too stupid to be spoken. Or paint  the German woman without her clothes on, despite never even meeting her.  Voltaire once said “Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung.”  Anything too bold to suggest, or too romantic to whisper, can be sung. Something  too flawless or flawed to survive; something too relentlessly intoxicating, mercilessly exhilarating, can be painted. Or, at least we can try. The musician, the writer, is given the privilege of naming a song, of naming an album, of choosing the cover art. What a gift! He or she has complete control over their perception. They have  complete control. What luck! I understand my luck. I am lucky that some people like my songs. I am lucky that  Mitchell Froom worked with me. I am lucky to have a passionate and dedicated manager. I am lucky to have Ken’s painting represent my music. I am lucky that I get to name songs and an album, lucky that those titles will be spoken be others - real life human beings. I am lucky that in 100 years my great grandson will know that his great  grandfather adored woman as much as he might.  That is the gift that is my ‘immortality’ for artists and musicians alike. And I will not take  it for granted. Alexander Gow The pink heron, Brett Whiteley Art, life and other thing; Brett Whiteley "Let Me Go"-I'm a single man don't fuck up my plan Orange Nude, Ken Done Downstairs at the cabin, Ken Done "Drums"