David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :
'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)
(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.
We recently quoted Scott Stephens (ABC.RN) bewailing "...the hyperbolisation of language." He mentioned some examples that annoy him.
Our pet hyperbolisation hate is the widespread use of 'Absolutely!' and 'Absolutely not!' when 'Yes' and 'No' would suffice.
Are you concerned about polarisation? Absolutely!
Are you concerned about extremism? Absolutely!
Are you concerned about the loss of the middle way?
Michael McCormack & Janine Hendry. ABC News: Luke Stephenson
So, yesterday, when we heard Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack's response to March4Justice co-organiser Janine Hendry's demand for him to act on the recommendations of the Sexual Harassment National Inquiry Report ... Grrrrr!!
"I'm certain that we'll absolutely look at it."
"I'm certain that we'll absolutely look at it."
"I'm certain that we will absolutely look at it."
"I'm certain that we'll absolutely look at it."
"I'm certain that we'll absolutely look at it."
Regulars to this blog will know that we 'look at' look at ... a lot.
That's about appreciating the visual arts. Our visual arts. The act of looking. The art of looking. It's about seeing, perceiving, conceiving the world into being. About vision and having a vision; our world view and our consequent views. Image, appearance, illusion, all examined. Being conscious, self-aware and empathetic. Having insight and regard for others.
It's not to provide some sincerity-gutted "we'll absolutely look at it" excuse for ignorance and inaction.
That bloke needs to take a good hard look at himself.
- Ed.
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
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A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something...
LOGOS/HA HA
TAR : Theatre of the Actors of Regard
pandem : from Ancient Greek πάνδημος (pandēmos,
"of or pertaining to all the people, public").
Directed/Edited by Dan Lucchesi
Filmed by Dan Lucchesi and John Chigas 
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
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LOGOS/HA HA
Today, two announcements from the Australian government.
First announcement : a prepared statement read by the Prime Minister Scott Morrision is serious and concerning : re. computer attacks on Australian "critical infrastructure" by "a sophisticated state-based actor", presumed by many to be the Government of China.
"This activity is targeting Australian organisations across a range of sectors, including all levels of government, industry, political organisations, education, health, essential service providers and operators of other critical infrastructure."
T S Eliot, six days after being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, as artist-in-residence at Harvard (1948) lecturing about the structure of his play 'The Cocktail Party'
Joey Ramone (The Ramones, 1979) 'Rock N' Roll High School'
Second announcement : delivered by a less sophisticated state-based actor, Education Minister Dan Tehan : business-oriented education courses will be halved in their cost to students. This will be balanced (paid for) by doubling the cost of Arts and Social Science degrees. Again, serious and concerning. Again, an attack on critical infrastructure. This time from within.
Last week Prime Minister Scott Morrision stated, in relation to Australian #blacklivesmatter protests, "there was no slavery in Australia"... thus demonstrating his ignorance or spin mis-use of Australian history.
Responding to the objections of historians, the Prime Minister :
So I don't intend to get into the history wars, my comments were not intended to give offence and if they did I deeply regret that and apologise for that. This is not about getting into the history wars.
So the Liberal-Nationals assault on critical thinking/criticism continues : Peter Costello v student unions; John Howard v Black Armband History; John Howard v Political Correctness; Tony Abbott v Climate Change science; Tony Abbott promotes teaching of 'Western Civilisation'; ... ongoing cutbacks to ABC National Broadcaster; George Brandis v arms-length Arts funding; Scott Morrison abolishes Arts Ministry*; Scott Morrrison v whistle-blowers & journalists (raids by AFP on ABC and Annika Smethurst); Australian Government Secret Trial since 2004 bugging East Timor Govt v Bernard Collaery and Witness K; Scott Morrison vs COVID-19 JobKeeper payment to Arts sector and Tertiary Education sector; Scott Morrison v Humanities courses...
* "Thursday’s ministerial restructure creates a situation where, for the first time since the existence of a cultural portfolio, there is no government department with the word “arts” in its title."
- The Guardian 6 Dec 2019
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
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LOGOS/HA HA
It was like when Jesus said, you know,
'Eat my body and drink my blood.'
- Jim Carey (doco)
Its a way to, like, weed out the crowd.
- Jim Carey (doco)
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
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LOGOS/HA HA
The current exhibition at ACCA (until 24 March) is The Theatre is Lying. We are reminded of this
in relation to matters below.
The Theatre is Lying is the first in this series of exhibitions, encompassing major works by Anna Breckon and Nat Randall, Sol Calero, Consuelo Cavaniglia, Matthew Griffin and Daniel Jenatsch.
Constructed as an exhibition in five acts, The Theatre is Lying brings together artists who create alternative narratives and worlds through illusionary, cinematic and theatrical devices, including installation, misé en scene, historical re-enactment, digital montage and compositions with video, light and sound. In a series of new commissions, participating artists explore the manipulation of information and images, notions of artifice and illusion, ideas of transparency, reflection and phantasmagoria, and an engagement with the representations and misrepresentations of cinema and media.
Through the white cube of the gallery and the black box of cinema, The Theatre is Lying proposes the gallery as a transformative threshold addressing ideas of truth and fiction, perception and abstraction, and the warping of time and space. The exhibition also considers the role of the spectator as an active agent in a world in which we are all actors, and the increasing interplay between subjective and objective, or psychic and social structures. Set against theatres of media and politics that are increasingly informed by trickery and sleight of hand, The Theatre is Lying offers a means to reflect upon, critique and even escape – if only momentarily – the everyday reality of our fictive life and times.
Today, Cardinal George Pell was sentenced to six years imprisonment for child sexual assaults at Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, in 1966.
Cardinal George Pell
by David Roberts
2007 (printed 2012)
National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
2015
This portrait was commissioned through the Knights of Malta to commemorate Cardinal Pell's inauguration as Prefect of Secretariat for the Economy. The Cardinal is a "a Bailiff Grand Cross of the Knights of Malta, that’s the decoration around his neck," Gow said.
In 2016, the portrait was unveiled in the Vatican to commemorate Pell's inauguration as one of the Vatican’s most senior figures, Prefect of Secretariat for the Economy.
cover portrait used for :
Quarterly Essay #51 - September 2013
by David Marr
The Prince : Faith, abuse and George Pell
Last night, as a prolog to today's sentencing, this was the crime scene on the set of Saint Patrick's Theatre of the Actors of Regard, Melbourne.
@evo_lens
Tonight in so called Melb on Wurundjeri land, we honour child sexual abuse survivors, and those who didnt survive. Gather together to tie ribbons to the fence and projections from 8pm to let the catholic church know, we are watching them.
detail
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for an imminent break away! Surely, it must fall?!
see: Means to Suspension of Disbelief
Yesterday, we were looking at and admiring this Theatre of the Actors of Regard page from the National Gallery of Australia's Foundation Annual Report 2015-16.
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
Conceptual Annual Report : Instead of suspending the heavy gold-framed picture - A break away! (1891) by the Australian artist Tom Roberts, collection of AGSA - as it would have been hung when first exhibited, by strong metal wires attached at one end to the wall and at the other to this weighty object, the artwork here appears to float, SUPPORT-ed not by any physical wires but by the word SUPPORT , by the power of inscription, the spell of LANGUAGE.
We also note the intricacies of this photographic composition. At the base of the outer image, the silhouette man's raised right shoe turns to direct us to the leg-cropped woman. Inside the painted pic, the well-fit jigsaw-piece horseman, he too, leans out to point to the woman's curve of neck and head.
It's that old vaudeville magic. The no-visible-means-of-support leviation trick. Another
break away! brought under control.
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
Thank you for your support.
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Gaspard-Félix Tournachon
aka
Nadar
sky-floating in balloon gondola
aka
on set of TAR c.1865
Nadar with His Wife, Ernestine, in a Balloon - MET DP158031 28616
Contributor: Cultural Archive / Alamy Stock Photo
Image ID: KP2FPN
File size:14.3 MB (0.6 MB Compressed download)
Dimensions: 2085 x 2397 px | 35.3 x 40.6 cm | 13.9 x 16 inches | 150dpi
More information:
This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage.
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
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TAR | Strings Section
For instance :
Description: ARTIST UNKNOWN Danger Radiation
Silver gelatin photograph
Stamped, inscribed and dated verso
A box marked 'Danger Radiation' block a traffic lane in Castlereagh street yesterday. It was planted as a University of N.S.W. Foundation Day stunt
23 x 30.5 cm
LITERATURE:
Herald, July 8, 1970
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
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Alan Abel, Hoaxer Extraordinaire, Is (on Good Authority) Dead at 94
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
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click image to TAR
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
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On a similar theme to the previous post, here's
third man up from nowhere.
We imagine Yves Klein being somehow involved :
all of a sudden reappearing, coming off the bench
all these years later to take a screamer from nowhere.
Mark of the Year!
Yves Klein/ Easton Wood/ Shunk-Kender/ FIAPCE/ TAR/ AFL
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Meanwhile, warning : site of contamination
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
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This from Paddy Manning at The Monthly Today, just in :
Vale Fairfax
Nine’s takeover ends a 177-year history
Good afternoon,
As I file, the remaining Fairfax Media journalists are dragging themselves to their nth sombre briefing from CEO Greg Hywood, as they have been doing for the best part of a decade. They will be hoping against hope that they will be able to keep doing the job they love, and contemplating what that might mean under new management at Nine. The death of Fairfax has been pronounced so many times that we are nearly numb to it. But today’s announced Nine takeover, if it completes, really will mark the end of a 177-year history, and is a heavy blow for quality, independent journalism and for media diversity in this country. The fact that the takeover is the entirely predictable consequence of a shabby, last-minute deal on cross-media ownership laws late last year, and that the prime minister has welcomed it, is just more salt in the wound. READ ON
Also from The Monthly, this essay by Eric Beecher, July 2013 :
The death of Fairfax and the end of newspapers
Rot from within (Young Warwick; The Rivers of Gold...) and attack from without. (Including relentless attack on the ABC network.) Sad, bad, serious!
FIAPCE
- 5 December 1990 -
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'I will need words.'
- Colin McCahon
Scared, Colin McCahon, 1976
Then we will need cataLOGOS/HA HA
- Museum of New Zealand |Te Papa Tongarewa
Item details
Name
Scared
Production
Colin McCahon; artist; 1976; Auckland
Classification
paintings
Materials
acrylic paint, paper
Material Summary
acrylic on paper
Dimensions
Support: 1095mm (width), 730mm (height), Frame: 1373mm (width), 1003mm (height), 34mm (depth)
Registration Number
2008-0007-1
Credit line
Purchased 2008
'I really don’t care, do u?'
- Zara / Melania Trump
First Lady Melania Trump left the country baffled and concerned Thursday when she wore a trendy jacket with a bizarre message on the back that read, “I really don’t care, do u?” as she traveled to meet detained migrant kids in Texas.
The 48-year-old ex-model was seen walking up the steps of a government jet in the $39 hooded olive-green Zara jacket to start her journey to the US border — and she wore it again while deplaning upon her return.
As photos of the strange statement jacket spread online — with some making meme images that replaced the jacket’s slogan with “Let them eat cake” and others just wondering if she was sending a cry for help — the first lady’s office insisted Melania’s sartorial choice was meaningless.
'It’s a jacket. There was no hidden message,'
her spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham,
told reporters.
FIAPCE
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