I don't have anything to show you, because I was recording sounds for my invisible sculptures. But I did capture some great sounds in the bush.
I talked to a Kookaburra, but he didn't talk back.
And Dolphin came right up to the dock just as my friend Tom was about to jump off it.
I climbed Mt. Jaccaba and got to the top in time for sunset, then I was down on the beach in time to watch the full moon rise over the island right off the coast. I met two bush turkeys who just ignored me.
I went up the beach to where the sand dunes are huge at Dark Point, an Aboriginal site. There was a family there at the largest dune with their boys boogie boarding down it. I went out to the Dark Point peninsula and hiked around the edge, recording the huge swells crashing into the rocks.
One morning on my way into Tea Gardens I stopped to throw a bright green diamond back python off the road before he got run over.
The shell museum in Port Stephens has a great collection of cone shells and some really nice paper nautilus shells. The old guy there talked to me for a spell and showed me a blue ringed Octopus (which I still have yet to find in Cronulla) and confirmed that if you are bitten by one, someone just has to give you artificial respiration for 2-12 hours until the poison wears off and you can survive the bite.
I met John the Oyster farmer via Bob next door and he showed me all about oysters, how they grow and harvest them. I took 2 dozen and he lent me a shucking knife.
I cooked ... a lot ... which is very relaxing for me. The dish rack didn't hold the dishes upright very well, so I found the one that is by the sink now. I hope it works well for you. The other one is in the cabinet above the brooms.
I thought someone broke into the house one night, but the next morning I discovered it was just a very loud mouse nibbling on the bananas!
I got some awesome recordings of the birds early one morning ... probably 5 or 6 different species yelling and screaming at each other. I will try and separate them out and then those sounds will be altered in timbre, pitch and speed as a person moves through the sculpture. Another sculpture will be made of water, from the quiet peeling of the tiny waves at Jimmy's Beach to the thunderous ones crashing in the rocks at Dark Point.
I was also allowed the peace of mind to really get into researching Lygia Clark, an artist I am using in my literature review who is one of my favorites.
Everyone on the outside world thinks doing a PhD is like a vacation ... but it's not. For doing a project based on an embodied experience of sculpture involving movement and dance, I've never sat so much in my entire life. And rarely do I have time for my own thoughts. Gunyah let me get back outside, where I feel at home. In another life, I was raised by wolves ... or maybe dolphins. And I was able to daydream and just look at the moon rise from the veranda or down at the benches near the water.
Thanks again for much needed respite from my PhD and time to actually do some artwork.
