Gothic literature can be dramatic, macabre, and weirdly insightful. To my tired eyes some examples of Gothic, like Castle of Otranto are also unintentionally and refreshingly hilarious. Yet Gothic tropes persist in popular culture even as they were interrogated centuries ago, and continue to be. Since it is Rare Book Week in Melbourne I took … Continue reading Review: Dark Imaginings
Stuff I Like
Filled with references to stuff I like in music, film, tv, reading, writing, online etc.
Seen one, haven’t seen them all
Wandering around the Art Gallery of New South Wales was weirdly disorienting. It was a new building to me, but it was filled with familiar artists: Australians like John Brack and Grace Cossington Smith in addition to the usual Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood painters. Obviously, the individual works were different to those in the NGV or anywhere … Continue reading Seen one, haven’t seen them all
Of cobblestones & glass shards
The Rocks is likely the least romantic name for that area of Sydney that now maintains a certain pride in its varied history. From location you'd least want to end up to a tourist destination. Thus, I ended up at The Rocks like any tourist when I was in Sydney. It has stone buildings, cobbled … Continue reading Of cobblestones & glass shards
Cycles of war in three objects
I spent a part of my Friday off at The Ian Potter Museum of Art, where Associate Professor Andrew Jamieson from Melbourne University delivered a lecture on the Nimrud ivories in the university's Classics and Archaeology Collection. Archaeology as the biography of objects The three delicate pieces are more than 2,500 years old and were … Continue reading Cycles of war in three objects
Rereading’s good medicine
I confess to being the kind of reader who will stop and never return to a novel if it's not to my taste or standards. I couldn't even really begin Cloud Atlas. Apart from a missing page, I just didn't get it and it didn't draw me in. On the other hand, I did go … Continue reading Rereading’s good medicine
Review: A mammoth undertaking
One of my favourite places growing up was the Adelaide Museum. I didn't get to visit very often, but the gigantic whale skeleton in the front window is seared into my memory, as are the painted walls of the quiet Egyptian room. Part of the attraction of museums is the melancholy. The dead live again … Continue reading Review: A mammoth undertaking
Gettin’ twitchy
The streaming service Twitch is delivering ancient episodes of Doctor Who for free. So far I have caught a Three Doctors episode featuring Jo Grant in a blue outfit that looks like she butchered a Smurf community, Jon Pertwee's Doctor in full velvet pre-New Romantic costume wandering a Welsh quarry, and the Brigadier getting peevish. … Continue reading Gettin’ twitchy
Some things change, some stay the same
I don't normally discuss such serious issues, but Melbourne is focused on the violent death of comedian Eurydice Dixon. The other night, close to home, as she returned from her stand up gig she was attacked. She had texted that she was safe minutes before this attack occurred as she crossed Princes Park. With the … Continue reading Some things change, some stay the same
Thou art that
I wasn't going to take part, and then I vacillated for a while, then I decided to, so I did. Yes, I will be entering this year's Sketchbook Project run by the Brooklyn Art Library. I am justifying my entry to myself because when I saw the listed themes to work to, I had an … Continue reading Thou art that
Review: The Lady and the Unicorn
In an exclusive The Art Gallery of New South Wales is showcasing the set of six tapestries from France, made around the year 1500 known as the Lady and the Unicorn. It is the third time they have travelled, so I thought I should too, and made the trip to see them before they return … Continue reading Review: The Lady and the Unicorn
Writing Bec 