The "TOY PORTRAITS" is a series I have been working on using using found figures and making formal portraits of them. Some I have digitally altered to remove obvious toy like features like joint gaps where the arms, legs and head meet the torso and mold lines and defects.
I'd like to meet:
My Evil Twin - just to prove to the world that we are identical.
PEOPLE I ADMIRE: -
Douglas Adams: for his literary contribution to the world. His 'Ford Prefect' quote "Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so" is what I live my life by.
Clive James and Robert Hughes. Australian ex pats that I respect their intelligence and their ability to write poetically about their ideas/ideals.
Groucho Marx: for his wit and wisdom.
Dave Allen: for his wit, wisdom and his ability to tell a story.
John Clarke and Brian Dawe: for their wit and brilliant approach to political satire.
Shaun Micallef: Australia's (if not the world's) comic genius.
Chaser: just for their courage and tenacity in 'chasing' down their targets.
Leunig: Australia's (if not the world's) greatest Philosopher.
Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun (1755-1842): for her exquisite oil portraits.
John William Waterhouse: for his romantic Victorian paintings.
Ansel Adams: for his craftsmanship and photographic eye.
Keith Carter: for his photography - poetry in Black and White.
Tim Flannery and David Suzuki: for their environmental crusade. True Heroes.
Kevin Rudd: the light at the end of a very dark decade of Australian Politics. You have my vote.
Natasha Stott Despoja: for her political integrity (rare in Australian politics).
Bill Gates and Richard Branson: for their philanthropic endeavours.
Rev.Tim Costello: for his social ethics.
Jamie Oliver: for his social ethics and unrelenting energy. He is like the Energiser Bunny - just keeps going and going.
Mephisto (from Double the Fist. ABC.): for his quote "Remember, patriotism is just another form of racism" he should be Prime Minister.
Stewie (from The Family Guy): My identical twin - it's up to you to work out who is eviler.
My family: just for putting up with me.
Music:
At the moment I'm into Franz Ferdinand. I'm pretty eclectic when it comes to music. 70's and 80's stuff. Blondie was my band when I was growing up (and still is). Queen, Midnight Oil, Alanis Morrisette's 'Jagged Little Pill' is a favourite (angry young woman).
On my play list on my phone at the moment is Pump it (Black Eyed Peas), Crucified (Army of Lovers), Current Stand (Kids in the Kitchen), Echo Beach (Martha and the Muffins), Eternal Flame (The Bangles), Fairground (Simply Red), Happy Birthday Helen (Things of Stone and Wood), Hazy Shade of Winter (The Bangles), Hips Don't Lie (Shakira), Murder on the Dance Floor (Sophie Ellis Baxtor), Now I can Dance (Tina Arena), Poison (Alice Cooper), Pure Devotion (Free Loader), Rain (Dragon), Roam (B52's), I write Sins not Tragedies (Panic, At the Disco), Smooth Operator (Sade), Sorrento Moon (I remember)(Tina Arena), Touch the Fire (Icehouse), What's Up (4 Non Blonds), When I Fall in Love (Nat King Cole).
My mobile phone ringtone is Franz Ferdinand's 'The Fallen'
Like I said - eclectic.
Movies:
Sci fi
Blade Runner - I am looking forward to the new 'Final Cut' that is due out in December. Batty's soliloquy â€I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams … glitter in the dark near Tanhauser Gate. All those … moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain. Time to dieâ€, still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.
Star Wars (Classic trilogy - not the weak and pathetic crap that was made in the last decade), King Kong (the 1933 original - I think Jackson squibbed a good opportunity for a great remake), Lord of the Rings 1, 2, 3, Fifth Element, Highlander, Alien 1, 2, 3, 4, Back to the Future 1, 2, 3, Somewhere in Time, The Time Machine (original, not the remake) - any time traveling film I guess - I like picking holes in the plot. Spiderman 1 & 2 but a little disappointed in 3 - the Mary Jane getting into trouble and being rescued by Spidey ending is getting old. Harry Potter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 - I've lost count, I love them all. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was good but as a devotee to the books, records (for my younger readers - a large round black thing with a hole in the centre that needed a diamond stylus to hear music and words) and earlier TV series, hearing Zee Zee 9 Plural Zee Alpha instead of Zed Zed 9 Plural Zed Alpha really grates (as does the new Zaphod - don't get me started).
Action/Adventure: Casino Royale (most James Bond films really - my favourite James Bonds in order are - Sean Connery, Daniel Craig, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, Roger Moore and George Lazenby. Daniel Craig in 'Casino Royale' made Pierce Brosnan's 'Bond' look like 'Remington Steele'.), The Bourne Trilogy, Indiana Jones series (Lucas and Spielberg are making the new Indy film - which scares the hell out of me. Refer to my comments on 'Star Wars' above), Ocean's 11, Tomb Raider 1 & 2, The Mummy, The Da Vinci Code (I initially thought that this would be a dud but I was pleasantly surprised), Walking Tall, Breaker Morant, Newsfront, The Name of the Rose, Witness, Frantic,
Comedy: Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Bachelor Party (Tom Hanks best film), Lake Placid, Running Scared, The Incredibles, Police Academy (original, forget the rest), Life of Brian (the Biggus Dickus scene must go down as one of the funniest in film history), Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Blues Brothers (Blues Brothers 2000 was a huge mistake), Shaun of the Dead, Any Adam Sandler Film, Any Marx Brothers Film.
Miscellaneous: The Wedding Singer, Flashdance, Fame, Frida, Pollock, Girl with Pearl Earring - any art biography. Recently, my daughter received as a present a DVD of 'The Princess Bride' and I loved it. Great film.
Yes, I like spectacle. I am sure there are some thought provoking, tender, heartrending, beautiful films that I enjoy but curse my brain at the moment as I can't think of one. Oh yes - Kill Bill
Also, any film with Jennifer Connelly in, don't care which, as long as she's in it (I'd even watch 'The Hulk' again just to see her - then again maybe not).
Television:
Anything about Art, Film, Archeology, History, Philosophy, Religion.
Doctor Who, Torchwood, Boston Legal, Carnivale, Deadwood, 7.30 Report, The Insiders, The Einstein Factor (Peter Berner is a great and natural wit), American Dad, The Office (both British and US version), Little Britain, House, Scrubs, Wilfred, Arrested Development, Futurama, Farscape, Battlestar Galactica (new series), Medium, Any Anime (Neon Genesis Evangelion, Bubblegum Crisis, Cowboy Bebop, Burst Angel, etc), Blackadder, Hornblower, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Robin Hood, Black Books, Father Ted, Just Shoot Me, Married with Children (I have an affinity with Al Bundy - I use to sell shoes), West Wing, Double the Fist, Chaser, Welcher and Welcher (Shaun Micallef is Australia's comic genius), Blake's 7 (oldie but a goodie - Avon has to be be one of my favourite scifi characters.), Rocketman, Teachers, New Tricks, Taggart, Morse, Frost, Life on Mars, Waking the Dead, Wire in the Blood, Midsomer Murders, Judge John Deed, Spooks - most British cop shows for that matter.
Some of these shows I haven't seen on TV as such. I tend to purchase the box set on DVD and enjoy without commercials at my leisure. To hell with commercial television and the vagaries of the programmers. Viva le DVD revolution.
Every Saturday morning I sit with my daughter and watch and enjoy 'Hannah Montana'. It is sweet, innocent, harmless and a good laugh. As a sitcom - a 1,000,000 times better than 'Kath and Kim' - then again, so is the SBS test pattern at 4am. Don't get me started.
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Books:
Anything Art, Philosophy, History, Religion.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams is my literary hero. One treasure that is close to my heart is an email he sent me a year before he died). Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick, Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.
At the moment I am reading 'Don Quixote'. Over the last couple of months I have read are 'Cultural Amnesia ' by Clive James. 'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins, 'A Brief History of Time' by Stephen Hawking, "Crime and Punishment" - Dostoevsky. I tried reading "The Idiot" also by Dostoevsky but couldn't get into it. I was told that I might have a poor translation and try a different publisher - teaches me to buy a classic novel for $4.95. I also read "The Unknown Terrorist" by Richard Flanagan and "Teacher Man" by Frank McCourt.
I'll read anything by Douglas Adams, Alain de Botton, Clive James, Richard Dawkins and Robert Hughes.
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Heroes:
Picasso - Not so much for his art but I would like to grow old as gracefully as he did. ..
The Chaser team - For their APEC stunt. True Heroes.
My Family - You know why.
