rob mchaffie: May 2009

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Texticles-TCB gallery feb 2009

Some notes on Texticles

Boys don’t cry, they tend to fester, maybe take up a bad habit, have spurts of irrational behaviour etc.

Blair Trethowan say’s HELP HELP. I think Blair had the idea for this piece in LA. On Venice beach, Chinese people will write your name in that Expo 88 tropical picture font for the eager tourist. They don’t get many requests to write HELP HELP, but I’m sure it makes more sense than most of the people on Venice beach(except the thonged roller-bladers). Blair’s idea was to exchange cardboard signs with homeless people begging for change.

Lane Cormick says I FUCKIN HATE THIS SHIT. Lane wasn’t too happy about remaking this piece. After a day of popping the corn, ruining two good pots and stinking out the whole house, now his partner Colleen also hates the shit. ‘it’s ok’ I said to Lane ‘we’ll eat the pop-corn at the opening’. ‘Rob I don’t think you get it, I fuckin’ hate the shit’ replied Lane. So he holds it hostage in the corner of the room.

Alex Vivian says CONSTNT STUGGL WHY? Before Alex was medieval, he preached to the masses about Community, Bear Pride, and Pizza Time. This work is part of that heyday of optimism when everything was drawn in magic pencil.

Simon Zoric says WHATS YOUR BEEF GUVNOR? Simon passed this work over to me while we shared a decaff to avoid the anxious after-math of caffeine intake. Simon was recovering from his week in Byron Bay. It rained the whole week, so Simon drank heavily. Simon always thought he was a drinker. Now he’s thinking maybe he’s not. Unfortunately everybody relates to every cut of beef and its relating behaviour. The ego is too much of a force to be reckoned with, Simon knows it’s traps all too well.

Matt Griffin says I’M WAITING. Originally I asked Matt if I could use his ‘ANY WHERE BUT HERE’ work for the show. The household vacuum cleaner holding a balloon in mid –air with the words ‘ANY WHERE BUT HERE’ written on it. It looked fantastic sitting on its own humming away in Mark Feary’s, Relentless Optimism exhibition a couple of years ago. I’d been thinking about the piece for a while. Matt has a knack for hitting the nail on the head in very few words. I’M WAITING- I’m hiding under a big black mop of hair, waving my rubber hands until the time and place suit my style a little more.

Sean Bailey says GENEROUS MOON. Night after night the moon gives, appreciate it. City life can’t crush Sean’s connection to nature. Having not eating anything animal for twelve years I saw poor Sean’s face drop, and melt, and turn pale after accidentally eating an olive stuffed with anchovy’s. Anchovy’s have souls too…

Masato Takasaka says EDGE OF INSANITY. Masato’s fractured hard edge non-objective abstract intensity is now taking shape as word’s. EDGE OF INSANITY an album from 1985, must have had quite an impact on Masato, he has produced maybe seven of these crazy drawings, shown them in Brisbane and at Block Projects all lined up to tickle your eyes and send you wild and now one finds a home amongst the other work in Texticles.

Rob McHaffie says I WAS STRUCK BY A TERRIBLE CASE OF IRRITABLE BOWEL AFTER THE LAST GERTRUDE CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE OPENING I’ll keep going to them it was just all a bit much one night. Like swimming through thick seaweed. Eyes flitting about all over the place. Talky talky round holes squaking really loud and it was bouncing off all the walls. Deep breathing wasn’t helping. the booze wasn’t helping, the art wasn’t helping my bowel couldn’t hack it.