siberia

vinyl

2007-09-21T23:18:00.000+10:00

i would like to reitterate - i have a much smaller - but way BETTER vinyl collection than certain 'dj's' around adelaide

I would also like to point out for the record that I'm very good at emotionally manipulating people into asking me to live with them. Also for the record Laura will allow just about anyone who is underthreat of homelessness live with her....becasue shes a really nice person.

but strangely, once blackmailed, i refused her offer...becasue I enjoy manipulating people as already stated. I'm also quite passive agressive when it comes to power struggles.

laura told me she loved me WAY before i bought into it...

but once again I had been using my usual manipulation skilz, disaprearing into the night and then prying on the knowledge that she was completely drunk and had told serval other people that she loved them that night. including the dude who drove her home - via hungry jacks- and the bar guy at rocket.

my ladyfriend cheated on me alot one night, and then told me she loved me

Can't argue with the truth

your white and middle class

you're a jerk with no excuse

and your not?

my excuse is that I'm middle class derr?

the question mark says it

just cos I don't have a fancy degree... Yeah show me up just cos I didn't hav e the privledge of education like you did

you went to university - you just used yer money and standings to flash your way into fancy pants jobs - rich and lazy

mark x

geez, why do i bother

2007-09-04T00:51:00.000+10:00

well hello there, just before i go and smokey smoke, i'm going to tell you a few boring details from the last little while; tales of frustration, stupidity, alcohol and absence:

1. my new lady friend just bought a house in the almost cbd of adl.

-it-is-amazing-

there's a house warming this sat night - you should come. i'll be playing some pretty nice records (i've already got a better [if smaller] collection than her)... she asked me to move in with her (kinda), but it was kinda too soon... which is a shame... cos its a really nice house...

2. my studio just doubled in size - amazing x 10050. i actually have room to do things now... though i freak out slightly at all the space. don't worry - i'll a-fill it.

3. my dear friend bridget has left for ventures os - this post goes out to her (sorry its so inane bridget).

4. aaaaaaahhhhhh, how do you people do this all the time??? i'm a-borrred...

5. online 'friendspaces' are gettin pretty boring...

6. i had a pretty nice weekend - late night @ dive bars on fri, stoned engagement party on sat, introed my gf to me mother on sun @ the pa... where they have a genius of 80's arcade engineering: off-road racer... shit its genius!!!

7. the week before last i spent the weekend moving stuff for friends - sat was gf, sun friends goin os. on sun i helped bridget move her plan draw into her studio. i was mega hung over , but thought it still best to use the crane in the studio. i broke it within seconds. i fixed it tonight though, which will save me bein hung from the crane...

8. ...7 is enough...

mark x

ps dont tell anyone, but i really like star wars

hello

2007-07-22T00:24:00.000+10:00

so, i've worked out that blogging is actually a little on the boring side... i dont blame you people, i just cant really think of anything to write... so, like yous, i will just recount a few things that have happened lately:

- the adelaide tram line is gradually being extended: which will make it extend to the doorstep of my studio - already its at my front door. so, perfect. and i like trams. alot. not quite as much as trains though... though maybe i more...

- melbourne has new smoking laws. they stink (strangely more than when there is smoking). they're coming here soon. non-smokers are conformist cunts. go back to 1940's germany!!!

here's some records i've bought recently:

- can - delay 1968
- the velvets & nico
- lou reed and john cale - songs for drella
- neil young - on the beach
- the modern lovers

they are all brilliant - esp the can - cant believe i found it; they're so rare these days - even the re-issues!!

i'm going to try and borrow the following albums from secrets:

- guided by voices - bee thousand
- the zombies
- the stooges

i'll have to riffle through her stuff a little more too... she's bound to have some killer vinyl, she's got 3 crates and a washing basket full of the stuff... maybe more...

my brother just bought justice league for the ps2. its pretty good - wish you could be batman all the time - most of the others are lame jerks.

making large paintings is daunting but fun in a mindless hurt the back kinda way. this week i have to paint a fucking wall for 3 days straight though. at the jam factory. lame. i think i might use the cash to make some tombstones...

mark x

probs

2007-05-22T15:48:00.000+10:00

bacon's problem was his backgrounds

mark x

arty boys

2007-05-15T01:49:00.000+10:00

dear arty boys,

art has nothing to do with your penis.

mark x

smokefreeillness

2007-04-14T01:42:00.000+10:00

i've been varying degrees of sick for the last 6 days. 1 side effect of this illness is that i haven't been able to smoke (apart from 2 cigarettes on the 1st day and 1 on the 3rd - but that 1 was a gift, so doesn't count. i tried to have a cigarette an hour ago. it put me in a coughing fit.

i would really like to have a cigarette right now

moon women & whiskey seas

2007-04-13T22:44:00.000+10:00

i had a dream last night. it remains quite vivid:

an ex-girlfriend was dancing on the moon, parading in front of me. i was lying in a small boat in the middle of the ocean, watching, drinking whiskey. she was taken away by another woman. i continued in the ocean.

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recently i've been in melbourne. alot of things happened.

i like melbourne, but i think i prefer sydney.

politics

2007-04-02T04:23:00.000+10:00

i was stuck discussing someone's boring 1-sided left-wing shallow opinions on the political climate in australia (you lefties pretend to be so knowledgeable but we know its a weak insiders view on life that you use to try and justify your dissatisfactions with life and align yourself with those slightly less intelligent members of society that see justification and release in vague political associations. you should stop pretending to be knowledgeable and 'indie' and start improving your local environment instead... or you could just keep blaming whoever is in power) and it reminded me of the best conversation on politics i've ever had (though, with the haze of memory i'm beginning to forget how it actually went. here's a re-creation):

"i never discuss politics because you can only ever re-confirm the other conversant's opinions - no matter which way they swing."

a, i miss your wisdom, come back and save me from well meaning street artists.

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i am curious as to how artists feel they can alter the political climate within a country??? you exhibit in galleries people. thats what the christians would refer to as 'preaching to the converted.' oh paste ups is a good alternative??? those clever little stamps that say things like 'john howard is a wanker' or some witty image of a politician or company being flushed down a toilet.

midnight oil's best audience were mostly redneck.

rotation

2007-03-24T17:08:00.000+11:00

my chair @ work roates 5 times without my feet touching the floor. this is the most rotations i've ever managed.

i have also learnt how to chair swim. it looks like this:

month

2007-03-24T15:52:00.000+11:00

i've had a month. a very long month. here are some highlights for ya's:

- started and ended a relationship with an amazing lady. unfortunately she's in love with someone else... was a beautiful 3 weeks though
- been workin long hours @ the studio trying to get work done for a show that was sprung on me @ the last minute.
- lots of irresponsibility (ie too much drinkin)
- curated a show, which ends today. i'm quite happy with it, it's pretty solid.
- my ex-wife asked me back
- my cousin killed himself in a hissy-fit (i am sorry to speak ill of the dead, but to do that to someone and yourself...)
- i got drunk and traded secrets to someone i barely knew
- played a couple of gigs (1 that ended abruptly when the guitarist hit the singer in the head with the head of his guitar and the singer had to go to hospital) (www.myspace.com/womenmf)
- offered 2 shows @ very short notice that i unfortunately couldnt say no to - 1 of which i've been waiting for for a long time.
- started a fun little badge making buisness with a friend (www.myspace.com/madeinsiberia)
- seen bits and pieces of the fringe (which has been surprisingly successful this year - i guess its a yearly thing now... i'm not sure this is a good or bad thing)
- started a new job (thanks to bridget and louise for helping me out)
- have strangely barely heard from centerlink even though they're still giving me money (i'm a little worried)
- been very manic

i found $40 last night. just thought i'd share

2007-03-10T17:19:00.000+11:00

tony

2007-02-18T05:28:00.000+11:00

the gallery that i co-run has prob the best show we will see in adelaide this year running @ the moment: tony schwensen, a sydney based video artist that reminds me of vitto acconci (possibly a lazy association seeing as one of his works is titled as a homage)... possibly guy ben nir as well...

why is this show so good:

1. i've seen the programs of most of the other galleries for this year and they look pretty mundane @ best.

2. the work is well thought out \ resolved and the 2 spaces are cohesively linked.

3. the videos are long... how is that good? video art needs a hook and often relies on a cheap gag and or a brief expression that relies heavily on the title to simply express something that lasts longer than anyone will actually spend with the work. but with tony's, the longer you watch, the more you will gain. formally they are resolved and there is a mediative quality to the work that save them from being disastrously boring.

this is where tony's 'uniform' is important; this uniform includes a pair of grey shorts, silver dollar nipples, shaved head and strangely orange skin (prob a side effect of the camera). this locates the work as a space for artistic action.

4. there is a sense of play within a formula, even if it is merely using different camera angles.

the resolve and cohesion of the artists' vision is conveyed through the courage to even begin the work (when this territory has been well explored by many others - esp in the 60's - aka acconci). all the loose ends are tied and having a couple of the objects from the performance present with the videos gives a physicality to the screen.

this work is obviously from a practice that has been made from a place where the artist has considered, resolved and distinguished a position to work from. i know that that is just a simple thing that all artists should do - but it is something that adelaide artists consistently fail - whether it be due to laziness, ingenuine attitudes, lack of experience, lack of peers, history and the presence of good art collections and large galleries. perhaps it is merely a result of the provincial position from which we work.

i do not have enough of a historical knowledge to challenge the work any further, but it rests well in its position and contemporary arts' inclination towards the past. but anyway, tony is doing well on the east coast and deserves everything he gets.

oh, and make sure you spend some time with the work!

triva

2007-02-18T05:14:00.000+11:00

i have a theory:

trivializing even the most personal of details is a better way of keeping secrets \ confidence than if you were to never speak to anyone - its like some card games where the best way of winning is if you get the absolute worst hand (i.e. the standard 'hearts' game that used to come with computers and possibly still does, where, if you get all of the points cards, the points are transferred to your opposition).

if you trivialize even the most personal of details, you can be more closed than if you keep secrets - friendships or any form of intimacy is based on how much you trust someone and that trust is expressed through the level of information you are willing to share with that person. this approach cuts out harm from gossip - unless you decide to start sharing your friends secrets... which is prob not a good idea...

possible side effects:

- weary friends.
- annoyed friends.
- freaked out strangers.
- interesting stories.

dynamic duo

2007-02-15T04:57:00.000+11:00

this morning my brother and i did one of those super hero quizzes. i came out as batman and he came out as robin.

this is amusing as i am living in his house, occasionally use his car and he has more money than i do.

overheard

2007-02-06T03:59:00.000+11:00

a couple of weeks ago i was wandering into the city and on my way i overheard two amusing conversations:

1. 'yes, i'm sorry ______ (insert kids name), but there is no such thing as santa claus.'

2. 'no, he just can't get it up @ the moment. i don't know what to do... is that someone walking past?'

somehow these seem related...

art luck

2007-02-05T03:56:00.000+11:00

i spent this evening @ my studio. pretty productive, lots done. did 4 or 5 hrs painting and made a stretcher. the new stretcher is the same size as the current painting i'm working on, so i measured up the 1st, at which point i discovered that the painting is about 5mm out from one side to the other. you would not believe how pissed off i was (and still am).

anyway, i made the next one, with wood i got from bunnings. i new it was slightly warped but after putting it together i realised it was just not good enough to use. so, thanks to shitty inferior fucking materials that shouldn't be aloud to be sold, i have to go and buy more wood and do it all again.

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on friday night i went to two of the most dismal exhibitions. there was no crowd + the work was awful (the ideas were terrible and to make it even worse, they weren't formally balanced either).

when i got back to my studio i managed to ruin a section of a painting and will have to come back to it @ a later date.

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i feel like i've been cursed. by bad art. its making my work fall to bits. i hope it ain't as bad as breaking mirrors.

mk warne

2007-01-25T03:09:00.000+11:00

ever played corridor cricket? its an amazing version of the game & to make up for the lack of fielders, there's the option of damaging other people's stuff (apologies to andrew, rachel & alison... and maybe morgan). anyway, i found a beach cricket ball in my backyard around a month ago, which i transported to the studio \ pitch. it is amazing, its got a seam and its not to heavy (some poor kid is prob crying about their loss) and there's a fair amount of turn in it.

today, after many days of toil, i pulled off the most beautifully flighted leggies you will ever see! my variation was perfect - loop, then flat; the short ball followed by a little offie; then the wrongun' and the straight one to finish on.' i'm sorry matt, but my skills have surpassed your meager batting abilities - now all you can do is boost my confidence. the sound of your wicket makes me dream all night.

it was the greatest day of my life. ever. except maybe the day i got a hole in one... (matt hasn't managed one of them either).

time

2007-01-15T05:37:00.000+11:00

i love my life, but i occasionally wonder about how i spend my time. right now i am watching a tv series (i will not admit to which one) on dvd. i have watched @ least 10 episodes in a row, sometimes with audio commentary (damn, he just missed out on the girl again - its ok, i think he gets her in the next one but then realizes he didn't really want her after all. wow, his current girlfriend is much hotter - he should stay with her). it is 5:30 am. i am eating Vegemite by licking it from a knife. i have been doing this for an hour. don't tell my house mate. i don't have that much to do tomorrow, but it looks like that beer i've scheduled @ 5pm with an old friend is gonna be a breakfast beer.

Gig

2007-01-05T02:14:00.000+11:00

I got a text today asking me to return some cds to a friend at his gig tonight. Cool. Can do.

(Bg: I was the drummer in his band recently for a small amount of time but didn’t really want to spend my recovery time on Saturdays continuing to get drunk (though it was fun for awhile)

Anyway, I got to the gig and had a beer with the dude, a cigarette and some conversation. We watched the other band. Cool. All went well. I chatted to his friends for awhile – all smiles – he started playing, I sat down to watch. There weren’t many people there, which is a shame because he’s a good song writer, though sometimes a bit to beatlesesque for my liking.

About 4 songs in he asked me if I wanted him to play anything. My response was that he’d already played my fav’s. He played a song. He stared getting agitated - Stomping around the stage. He took off his shirt.

“Come on Mark, you were in my band, what fucking song should I play?”
I sat there in silence.

“Fuck this; I’m not playing for 5 people.”

He left the stage with his beer, sulky as hell where his gf confronts him and tells him to get back on the stage for his friends. After much convincing he returned to the stage. I shouted out a song, so did someone else.

For the rest of the gig he continued to pick on me – though it only lasted for another 10 mins or so.

I don’t want have to dance around someone throwing a tanty at 26. Sure its disappointing that no-one turned up but for fucks sake, your friends were there trying to have a good time – entertain us and then lets all get drunk.

2007-01-02T16:23:00.000+11:00

shuffle (if you dont know nick, stop reading my blog)

2007-01-02T03:21:00.000+11:00

leah told me to do it. the 1st 10 songs when shuffle is turned on on 1's ipod:

1. blur - villa rosie (blur are pretty boring and formulaic these days)
2 gonzales III - the joy of thinking
3. the soundtrack of our lives - ten years ahead (fantastic swedes)
4. flying saucer attack - outdoor miner (beautiful psychodelia)
5. velvet underground - beginning to see the light (arent these guys the beginning of everything?)
6. the zombies - this will be our year (those amazing 60's boys)
7. pavement - blue hawaiian (why oh why did you break up - u were the 90's)
8. neil young - sedan delivery (i'm bored with neil young)
9. jon langford - hard times (from punk to country - you have to love that in a man)
10. the zombies - rose for emily (pretty title - filler song)

11. nick - blue bird (if you dont know nick, stop reading my blog)
12. smog - i was a stranger (so much stranger)
13. beck - kangaroo (beck is terrible - seachange is beautiful though. he has good roots)
14. holly golightly - time will tell (she was with billy childish for awhile... i onder what happened to that guy)
15. smog - teenage spaceship (teenage smog?)
16. dylan - cry a little while (well, what can you say. somoetimes he bores me)
17. black rebel motorcycle club - ain't no easy way (... i think i might remove this album. dear americans of the 90's - stop singing about god)
18. portishead - sour times (this song reminds me of art school. too much)
19. pavement - father to a sister of thought (amazing song. good lyrics. that steve - he can write lyrics)
20. sonic youth - pacific coast highway (yes. they are sonic)
21. nick - deanna (sweet deanna)
22. nick cave - opium tea (really good)
23. patti smith - rock n roll (with a missing word)
24. white stripes - the hardest button to button (marry me meg)
25. kinks - last of the steam powered trains (those sweet, sweet nostalgic 60's camp boys. i bet your all cancerians)
26. warlock - above earth (surgery is one of my fav albums. where can you get there others? tell me peoples tell me)
27. can - pnoom (german precision)
28. smog - one less star (smog again? the bourgeois in pain)
29. neutral milk hotel - untitled (does it come from fish?)
30. mayo thompson - fortune (this guy is hilarious. really lo-fi. he is def worth checking out)
31. davendra banhart - lazy butterfly (yeah. he says he's an artist and musician, but i think he should spend 12 months a yr on his music. it wouldnt be so mixed that way)
32. frightened rabbit - square 9 (squarely frightenned rabbits)
33. patti smith - boy cried wolf (or is it pj?)
34. leonard cohen - bird on the wire (dear poets: if no-one reads your stuff, start writing songs)
35. joanna newsom - the book of right-on (can you say nasal passage?)
36. spacemen3 - space rock (i love you)
37. xiu xiu - bog people (shoes. they're like shoes)
38. bjm - tschusse (with kurt heassley from the lilys - another amazing band)
39. astrud gilberto - the shadow of your smile (if her voice was substance i would make love to it)
40. mogwai - how the dogs stac (you guys are amazing... endorphins... thats what it is)
41. guided by voices - useless interventions (from one of the more hi-fi albums... i prefer the high school teacher years)
42. the buzzcocks - ever fallen in love (i'm never sure about these guys - they are catchy though)
43. ariel pink - interesting results (this guysa rck star)
44. casiotone for the painfully alone - to my mr. smith (hypnotic)
45. radiohead - bones (ugh - honesty)
46. captain beefheart - abba zabba (i've never listened to this. its prob really good though)
47. les savy fav - the sweet decends (sorry i missed your show, but i was busy vomitting)
48. spindickle - fireheart (... i cant remembr this one. barry's a great song writer)
49. galaxie 500 - way up high (such pretty, pretty, fragile music. i love you)
50. nick - foi na cruz (it ends with nick, which is prob good - he is the beginning and the end. stop singing about your beliefs. it is the only thing about you that annoys me. otherwise i'm in line to whatever)

ok, enough is enough i guess. ha, i bet you were too bored to stop reading! i wonder if i cn sleep yet...

jen, tim, kirsty

2007-01-02T03:08:00.000+11:00

jennifer love-hewitt is so hot. she is also really not very much intelligent at all. and did i say irritating?
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Tim Burton is really good. he has really strange hair though. leno interviews him in a really strange way. his wife sounds boring. he should spend more time making movies, that way i could see more of them and he wouldnt have to talk to his wife - win win eh... tim, your batman movie is one of my fav movies. i have been obsessed with it since i was 12 (or something). i've been wanting to tell someone that for a long time.
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kirstyn dunst looks just like my ex. marrie an... was a really boring movie. i watched it today. m & i haed it. l & b loved it. i think it was the shoe scene that sold it for them. my mother parties harder than marrie. i still dont know why they refer to her figure as the perfect figure. i have some of those glasses in my cupboard. i've studied them extensively and really, i would challenge it. maybe if someone else had played her i would think more of her. she should dye her hair red. it worked for my ex.

nye

2007-01-02T02:26:00.000+11:00

ah, I hate nye. i really do. i always get so anxious... Damn pressure (haha pun), was a nice quiet night, just a few good friends... Wow, I'm getting bored already, here have a link to make it more interesting:

www.i-like-a-cup-of-coffee-please.com

Did someone say resolutions? Yes, i have a couple, but i ain't telling you what they are.

I had a few epiphanies, but I ain't telling you what they are either... And yes, it is because i can't remember them.

Family

2007-01-02T02:19:00.000+11:00

I know christmas was a week ago, but i forgot my pass word, so i'm going to present my only observation (well, the only 1 i remember) right now.

I don't see my extended famil that regularly - maybe once a year these days - and i wasn't planning to this xmas either but my gma was sick, so i went.

anyway, my point: seeing half of my genetic lineage in the 1 place i noticed that: my family have really, really awful teeth. I must brush mine 3 times a day.

Nostalgia

2007-01-02T02:15:00.000+11:00

It’s surprising what can happen when you run into someone you haven’t seen for a long time…

I was at the markets this morning to see a friend I don’t catch up with that much – we used to get on really well, I don’t know what happened but now we struggle to make conversation. Anyway, I never made it because before I met up with her an even older friend tapped me on the shoulder.

This guy and I grew up together. We were both going to be musicians together – we both auditioned for music school and got through the first process. I didn’t make it because I didn’t pass high school, so instead I went to art school – which was a better decision anyway… so then he was the musician and I was the artist – we’d always do things together – always.

Anyway, we both got married at around the same time. He was my best man and I was his. From then on our paths started to diverge – I don’t want to go into details because I find them difficult, but we lost contact almost as soon as the weddings were over…

Seeing him again today brought it all home. I realized just how much my life has changed in the last few years (because his has stayed the same – he even looks and dresses the same). I guess he is what I would’ve been, had I made one different decision in my life…

It’s funny, when you run into someone you haven’t seen in a long time, you should really expect to run into a whole lot more – as I have. What is it with December and having to look at yourself in a mirror!?

Nightmares to start a blog…

2006-12-27T04:48:00.000+11:00

Last night I had the most disturbing sleep… I dreamt that I strangled a baby whilst smashing its head against the pavement. The rest of the dream was spent feeling guilty and trying to hide the truth of the death of this newborn from friends and the police. I couldn’t understand why I had done it in the dream – destroying something so fragile…

I have NEVER been as disturbed by a dream.

It was so vivid and I couldn’t understand why I had done it. I still feel uneasy!Why such an awful dream? I would guess that the answer is that I just split with my lady friend. An awful night… too much alcohol + it was her birthday – a terrible thing to happen on someone’s birthday I know, but as George Costanza says:“Those birthdays, they’re relationship killers.”