The Australia Times - Melbourne magazine. Volume 1, issue 2

THE

AUSTRALIA

TIMES

Vol. 3 No. 6 July 2015

The Melbourne Life & Culture Magazine

The Great CBD Drinks Tour

The Return Season Of Circus Oz

Invest In Australian Creatives

WHAT’S

INSIDE

THE

AUSTRALIA

TIMES

JUNE

FAVOURITES

JUNE

FAVOURITES

WHAT’S ON IN

Why you should invest in

AUSTRALIAN

CREATIVE

TALENT

THE GREAT CBD

Drinks Tour of 2015

The Return

Season of

Circus Oz

to Melbourne

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

What a hectic month! Melbourne Mag

issue one came out last month and what

a steep learning curve it’s been: we’ve

all learnt a lot and the team is growing...

I can’t wait to see where Melbourne

Mag takes us! I’m extremely proud of

everyone who has been involved, and

unbelievably grateful for the outpouring

of love that heralded in our rst issue.

We are a force to be reckoned with and

the only place to go is up. So thank you

for your support: my writers, mentors,

advisors, strangers who just want to

see their city in lights. Melbourne Mag

couldn’t exist without you.

Right now though, the winter weather is

upon us and we’ve been looking for ways

to warm up - I know I’m lookng forward

to heading to the heated Big Top that is

Circus Oz’s return show for a cosy night

of amazing feats, and I might even rug

up and take Bree’s route for the great

CBD drinks tour! Lucky for us Melbourne

is full of nooks and crannies to nd

warmth, good food and great company.

(And maybe even a great read!)

Zoe Winther

Eleanor Downie

Bree Bacon

Andrew Kruspe

Alice Stephens

Nikki Richardson

Abramo Peghini

Annalisa D’Ortenzio

Louise Martin-Chew

June Favourites .......................................8

What’s on in July ...................................12

Catch the nal weeks of A

Golden Age of China .............................32

Why you should invest in Australian

creative talent .......................................36

The Great CBD Drinks Tour of 2015 ....38

The Long Lost South

Gippsland Rail Line .............................. 44

We’re Back! The Return Season of Circus

Oz to Melbourne ....................................48

We’re Back! The Return Season of Circus

Oz to Melbourne 2.................................52

Film Review: Ex Machina ......................60

Mad Max: Distilled Australiana ............62

Melbourne Art Spotlight:

Annalisa D’Ortenzio ..............................66

Jo Davenport – A Natural Response .... 74

If you can x how ugly you are,

it’s okay to do so ...................................80

Where’s Black Widow? .........................86

Our July Playlist......................................88

EDITORS

NOTE

CONTRIBUTORS

THE

AUSTRALIA

TIMES

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

WELCOME TO

Melbourne

WELCOME TO

Melbourne

Melbourne Mag exists to give our readers greater choice in nding out about

Melbourne events, news, people, food and culture.

Melbourne Mag is the friend you go to for a restaurant recommendation on Friday

night, the friend you go to a music gig with on Saturday and a gallery during

the week, the friend you get into passionate discussions about anything and

everything, from sustainable farming, to gender equality, to honouring Aboriginal

artists, to the local politics of Chapel St.

Melbourne Mag is at a party mingling with everyone and anyone, talking in intimate

groups about the best festivals they’ve been to, asking about someone’s organic,

locally produced bronzer, or letting people which pubs have the best selection of

craft beer on tap. Melbourne Mag is in the corner having an intense discussion

about the future of Australian lm production or cultural appropriation in fashion,

and later Melbourne Mag will be rallying the troops organising which café everyone

will hit for brunch tomorrow.

We're your older sibling, letting you know what's going to be cool.

We aim to inform, entertain, teach, encourage, educate and support the com-

munity at large by facilitating communication between all Australians. By provid-

ing the opportunity for all opinions to be shared on a single website.

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JUNE

FAVOURITES

JUNE

FAVOURITES

DANA PATISSERIE

Tucked inside a small unassuming doorway

on Carlisle Street lies Dana Patisserie.

Stepping out from the cold winter air into this

delectable little bakery evokes a sense that

one has stepped off Rue Descartes; its chic

interior warm and inviting with cool tunes

spinning. Then there is the smell: toasting

almonds, aky croissants fresh from the

oven and cinnamon hang in the air, tempting

you to stay for an excellent coffee. Whether

you’re after your daily bread or somewhere to

wind down with a coffee and a pastry, Dana

Patisserie has you covered.

Susanne Nilsson

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D.O.C PIZZA &

MOZZARELLA BAR

Serving up undeniably authentic pizzas is

D.O.C Pizza & Mozzarella Bar in Carlton. This

little slice of Italy is a well-worn landmark

among locals and visitors alike. The fresh

produce, busy vibrant clientele and exuberant

Italian staff at D.O.C Pizza & Mozzarella

Bar will take you on a gastronomic journey

through the true home of pizza.

SEVENTH

GALLERY

Tucked away on Gertrude Street in Fitzroy

is SEVENTH gallery. Their new opening

explores themes like paradoxial systems,

exploring what it is to belong in a diasporic

culture and exploring interpersonal

dynamics within portraiture. The real stand

out of this opening is Savina Hopkins’

Persona Obscura, a plunge into the psyche

mixing turn of the century portraiture

postcards and adhesive dressings. This

series toys with our expectations causing

a somewhat solemn schism between our

expectations and reality.

Charles Haynes

Provided by SEVENTH Gallery

Hands-down favourite:

margherita pizza with

D.O.C buffalo mozzarella

Savina Hopkins continues her exploration

of interpersonal dynamics and the

workings of the psyche within the context

of portraiture with Persona Obscura.

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CASA MIMO

Are you after some new threads or on

the hunt for some vintage clothes? Look

no further than Casa Mimo. located on

vibrant Carlisle Street. They’ll help you nd

just what you need, whether you’re looking

for a chic evening gown, up-to-the-minute

street fashion or some effortless vintage

style.

ABLA'S LEBANESE

RESTAURANT

Abla's Lebanese Restaurant, tucked

away on Elgin Street in Carlton, is the

spot to get authentic Lebanese food.

An institution among foodies looking

for a genuine Lebanese experience in

Melbourne, be sure to try their hummus

- far from the supermarket fair - you can

taste the countless years of tradition

in this family recipe and top it off with a

intensely avourful coffee served from the

traditional copper pot.

STUDIO 54: DIRECTOR'S CUT

The hedonistic party spot: Studio 54. The sex, drugs and debauchery are explored with a

humanistic approach in Mark Christophers 1998 lm 54. Initially opening to poor reviews

due to its heavy-handed studio cut, Christophers’ director's cut nally sees the light of

day with more than 30 minutes of extra footage, showing exclusively at Nova. This cut

shines more of a light on the hedonism of the club’s scene, as well as the love triangle the

studio thought was too confronting for audiences, and all backed by an excellently curated

soundtrack.

Provided by Nova

Studio 54: The Director’s Cut is now showing at Nova

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WHAT’S ON IN

Join the Hon. Jeff Kennett AC at Deakin

Edge as he delivers the 2015 David

Parkin Oration: Professionalism of

sport – a threat to good health. The

oration runs from 6 – 7.15pm, with

registrations on the Fed Square

website.

After the critically acclaimed season

of Mad Women’s Monologues,

Melbourne based Late Bloomers

Productions are set to bring the

80’s back to The Buttery Club.

With a suite of anthems from the

raddest of decades, cheaper tickets

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SRS ART, OK, is a satirical dialogue

commenting on contemporary art culture

and trend showing at Tinning St Gallery

from 2 – 12 July. It uses paint-based

installation to explore conceptual art and

its effect on the audience. SRS ART is a

response to audience isolation as a result

of esoteric concepts, it inverts conceptual

art to an obvious, statement driven,

accessible experience. Through absurdity

and irony, it opens the oor to allow the

audience to engage in a commentary on

their own art experiences. SRS ART was

born out of a cheeky rebellion against

Provided by fortyvedownstairs

for audiences who dress up and a heart-

warming story of nostalgia and redemption,

Reunion Blues is the perfect girls’ night

out.

Reunion Blues is the story of Farsi,

played by Clare Pickering. The show

follows her story of high school stardom

in Jesus Christ, Superstar, a dramatic

fall from grace at the school formal and

then ultimate redemption at the 25-

year reunion. The production opens

on the 1st of July and runs for 5 nights.

Tickets online at thebutteryclub.com

conceptual art. The playful result centers

around the question, is conceptual art

isolating to a non-art audience?

Browse a striking collection of photographs

in The Atrium that share the stories

of refugees and migrants. The 2015

Heartlands: Seeking Safety exhibition

transcends cultural barriers to reveal

the hopes, dreams and everyday lives

of several refugee communities across

Australia.

This July, Chapter House Lane presents a

new, site-specic body of work by Alasdair

McLuckie. House of Joy/Hello Ladies

continues McLuckie’s attraction to the

exotic, modernism and tribal arts, set

to materialise as a display of sculptural

objects, collages and a decorative oor

piece. McLuckie is an avid and obsessive

collector of things; his artistic process

dependent on the bower birding of

material. Found objects from his personal

collection, such as uorescent plastics,

beads and glossy papers, are matched

with McLuckie’s own meticulous biro

drawings and repetitive collaged patterns

that combine contemporary and tribal art

traditions with craft and punk aesthetics.

In House of Joy/Hello Ladies, McLuckie’s

fascination with the exotic and the feminine

are of central focus.

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Theatre Works presents a double bill:

Saltwater and Letters Home

Saltwater is a live art experience that invites

15 strangers to share a meal and travel

through memories of Jamie’s Singapore.

A poignant story about family, loss and

travelling out of depth. Enter as strangers

and leave transformed by this award-

winning artist. Letters Home is a true story

about youth, power and freedom. Based

on Joe’s decision not to return to his native

Singapore and complete military service.

See some of Australia’s most talented

pole dancers compete during the

Victorian Pole Championships at Deakin

Edge from 8pm. Tickets from $30.

After opening this week to resounding

praise, Love and Information is fast

becoming the theatre event of the season.

Deceptively simple, the play is made up

of eeting conversations between lovers,

family, friends, enemies and strangers.

Together, these short exchanges unearth

our human quest for wisdom and

belonging. In an ever-connected age

The Narrative of Location is a group

exhibition at SEVENTH Gallery where eight

artists of multiple cultures will explore how

belonging to a diasporic community alters

and informs a location (the gallery) with

meaning. In an attempt to document the

undocumented historical and emotional

connection each feels in recreating/

owning their sense of place a mapping

will occur encompassing and drawn from

place, language, bodies and vexillology

(the study of ags). In this mapping we

hope to evoke conversations around the

quiet stories of the migrant and minority

experience.

Abstraction: The Heide Collection, From

Nolan to the ‘90s brings together a

selection of Heide Collection works from

the 1930s to those by present-day artists

that show several individual approaches

to abstraction. The featured artists are

predominantly painters who share a

gestural or lyrical style of mark-making.

The earliest works in the exhibition are

by Sam Atyeo and Sidney Nolan, two of

the rst proponents of abstraction in

Melbourne. Both studied for a time at the

National Gallery School before rejecting

its academic approach in favour of self-

directed, more experimental practices.

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where Tinder rules relationships, Google

owns knowledge, Facebook denes

friendship and smartphones hold our

life, Love and Information questions how

connected we really are. The Malthouse

Theatre season must close 4 July. Don’t

miss your chance to see the production

that everyone is talking about.

Join co-curators of Impart, Maree Clarke

and Richard Ennis in a discussion on

the reclamation of southeast Aboriginal

Australian cultural practices, traditions

and art techniques at Incinerator Gallery

at 1pm.

Atyeo’s non-objective compositions based

on living forms were often inspired by

dance and music, while Nolan produced

geometric designs with expressive

elements that take their cue from the work

of Bauhaus modernists such as Paul Klee

and László Moholy-Nagy.

Looking at a selection of paintings from

the Heide Collection, senior curator Linda

Michael discusses a variety of approaches

to lyrical abstraction in Australian art from

the 1930s to today on Saturday 4 July

at 2pm. Free with admission to Heide

Museum.

Pezaloom: Dopa-Kinesia is a

powerful exhibition at No Vacancy

Project Space that challenges the

many myths and misconceptions

surrounding Parkinson’s Disease.

Heartlands 2015: Seeking

Safety is a striking collection of

photographs that share the stories

of refugees and migrants, showing

at the Atrium in Fed Square until

the 5th July.

From 6pm SEVENTH Gallery is

presenting an exclusive curated

night of performances and

performance art by SEVENTH

alumni. SEVENTH is celebrating its

15-year history with a unique night

of experiential viewing. Limited

tickets will be on the door on the

night – only a $5 donation for

entry.

The NGV’s free performance and

conversation series Unplugged

Live returns in July and August

with Sunday sessions from 2

– 3pm with the likes of Megan

Washington, Alex Gow (Oh Mercy),

Katy Steele, Olympia, Tom Iansek

(Big Scary) and Thelma Plum. The

series features conversations with

visual artists and performances

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from musicians surrounded by artwork

from some of the NGV’s current exhibitions

at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia.

The intimate performance and conversation

program Unplugged Live, featuring some of

Australia’s leading musicians, songwriters

and contemporary artists returns to The

Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia from July.

Curated and hosted by Jae Laffer of The

Panics, Unplugged Live will showcase

these six outstanding emerging and

established musicians over six weeks

through a conversation and short live

performance.

The NAIDOC week 2015

theme is ‘We all stand on Sacred Ground’, highlighting

the strong spiritual and cultural connection to land and sea by Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples. This family event will include music, kid’s activities

and food at the Clocktower Centre in Moonee Ponds from 10am.

SCREENSPACE has a number

of excellent exhibitions closing

on July 11 that are not to be

missed, including Peter Alwast’s

Video Works, Greg Penn’s Green

light leaks, Lara Thoms and Kate

Blackmores’ Screen Monument

and Kawita Vatanajyankur’s The

Carrying Pole.

Discover Anna Walker’s new picture book

and solo exhibition Mr Huff at No Vacancy

Project Space. This exhibition showcases

the original artwork from the book Mr

Huff, accompanied by new paintings and

the three-dimensional characters and set

from the story. From 7 – 26 July.

Get your skates on as the Monument

Energy River Rink takes over River Terrace

at Fed Square until Sunday 19 July! On

selected evenings the rink will come to life

with an overlay of themes and live music

to delight young and old. Prices from $15.

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

The NAIDOC week

2015 theme is ‘We

all stand on Sacred

Ground

Brisbane’s cabaret darling lands in Melbourne with

her kick-ass three-piece band (and a bottle of JD in

hand) to deliver the show you can bring your Dad to.

Only The Good Die Young, in its Melbourne premiere,

The NAIDOC week 2015 theme is ‘We all stand on Sacred Ground’, highlighting

the strong spiritual and cultural connection to land and sea by Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples. This family event will include music, kid’s activities

and food at the Clocktower Centre in Moonee Ponds from 10am.

Northside for one night only, see this year’s

St Kilda Film Festival favourites, followed

by a Q&A with festival director Paul Harris

and lmmakers at Nova Cinema from

6.45pm.

Helen Perris is bringing her unique and

honest suite of songs to the intimate

downstairs bar of The Buttery Club on

Wednesday July the 8th at 7pm. Since

launching her solo career four years

ago, Helen Perris has shared a stage

with Amanda Palmer, Kate Miller-Heidke,

Brendan Maclean, Kim Boekbinder and

others, and performed at Peats Ridge

Festival and TEDx Canberra. Special guest

Bronwyn Rose joins Helen for this intimate

night of piano and vocal wizardry. Situated

in the intimate downstairs bar of The

Buttery Club, with only 40 tickets available,

bookings are highly recommended and

can be on The Buttery Club website.

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will have you ordering another round to toast the ghosts of

Rock ’n’ Roll from 8-12 July at The Buttery Club.

Jessica and her band celebrate and re-imagine some

incredible songs, and tell the stories surrounding the artists’

demise and deaths - some of which will surprise you. With a

kick-ass funk-soul-rock groove and a track list for your next

road trip, Only The Good Die Young is powerful, uncanny and

really celebrates those taken too soon to that “great big band

in the sky”. Only the Good Die Young opens at The Buttery

Club on Wednesday the 8th of July and runs for 5 nights.

Bookings recommended.

Wil Wagner launches his new demo tape I hope I don’t

come across intense at a special one off hometown

show at the Thornbury Theatre on 10 July. Celebrating

the release of this collection of home recordings

spanning the last six years, Wil sneaks in this rare solo

show before his band, The Smith Street Band, return to

the live stage at Splendour in The Grass before heading

back to England for Reading & Leads Festivals. Joining

Wil for the night are Laura Imbruglia and Georgia Maq.

Join Australia’s international web series festival at

Deakin Edge in Fed Square from 10 – 12 July. Melbourne

WebFest is the hub for web-based content creators to

come together to share their experience, network, be

acknowledged, and learn about the emerging trends in

digital entertainment. Tickets from $75.

Opera Australia presents

The Magic Flute, a quest

for wisdom and true love,

at the Clocktower Centre

on 11 July at 7.30pm.

With inspiration from

movies, this new touring

production is set as a

rollicking adventure in

1930s Egypt. Tickets

from $39.

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Incinerator Gallery’s

exhibition Mid-

Winter Gasp includes

functional and non-

functional creations

from approximately 18

kiln, mosaic, leadlight

and lamp workers in the

Glass Addicts Support

Program, until 12 July.

Opera Australia presents

The Magic Flute, a quest

for wisdom and true love,

at the Clocktower Centre

on 11 July at 7.30pm.

With inspiration from

movies, this new touring

production is set as a

rollicking adventure in

1930s Egypt. Tickets

from $39.

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FLG presents their highly anticipated

annual showcase of emerging and

unsigned artists in Exploration 15.

Exploration was created to provide

a platform for emerging artists to

successfully exhibit their art within a

commercial gallery context. A tightly

curated selection of artists, sourced

Australia wide, practicing across

mediums as diverse as sculpture, video

art, installation, painting, drawing and

photography will be exhibited side by

side in their commercial gallery debuts.

Barefoot in the Park is a delightful

comedy, based on Neil Simon’s 1963

play of the same title, which focuses on a

newlywed couple and their adventures

living in a tiny sixth oor apartment

in Greenwich Village. Starring Robert

Redford and Jane Fonda, Barefoot in

the Park is on at the Clocktower Centre

at 11am.

Grace Knight will be performing songs

from her new album Keep Cool Fool at the

Hawthorn Arts Centre at 11am. Arriving in

Perth from the UK in 1977, Grace found

her way into the local band scene snaring

the lead vocal role in the pop/rock band,

‘Eurogliders’. After the break up of the band,

Grace was cast as the jazz chanteuse in the

smash ABC TV hit Come In Spinner, which

resulted in a multi- platinum soundtrack

album.

This remarkable success provided the

foundation and tone for Grace’s critically

acclaimed jazz recording success which

has fueled the enduring demand for her

concert performances in clubs and festivals

across the nation.

Swipe Right provides voyeuristic insight

into the hilarious world of modern love

and (mis)communication. Spear-headed

by Melbourne theatre stalwart, Director

Jessie Oliver, the production features stellar

performances by Cam Faull, Lynn Hagele,

Ben Watts and Constance Washington.

Each actor plays a central character who is

navigating the mad journey of nding love

in the 21stcentury. They also play a swag

of other characters, ranging from the mildly

crazy to the downright bizarre. Swipe Right

opens on the 15th of July and runs for 5

nights. Given their history, bookings are

highly recommended.

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Off The Kerb gallery opens three exhibitions running from 16 – 31 July. In the

Front Gallery is Re-Mortalization by Eddie Botha. Eddie is breaking some personal

barriers experimenting with new mediums as he toys with the notions of good

and evil, sexism, corporate greed and nature. It’s a new life, a new chapter.

In the Back Gallery is Time’s Arrow by Dom Krapski, a series of layered photographs

of people with patterns painted onto their skin, taken in-studio. I’m interested in

the passage of time, eeting contact, and lying through my teeth.

In the Upstairs Gallery is Margaret McIntosh’s work Dear John, which uses

humour to highlight the complexities of mainstream perceptions regarding the

disproportion of vulnerability in the landscape of gender.

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Fort Delta is pleased to announce Concrete Compositions, a new photographic

exhibition by Melbourne-based artist Vivian Cooper Smith where fragments

of concrete and image-less photographs come together in a series of playful

compositions. Feeling an urge to respond to the seemingly endless images

of conict and disaster dominating the news bulletins, Smith has taken the

ubiquitous concrete fragment as the starting point in this new body of work.

Concrete Compositions runs until 18 July.

Hawthorn Arts Centre will welcome the Melbourne Ballet Company once again

to perform their latest work, Archè on Friday 17 July and Sunday 19 July. In

Greek mythology, ‘archè’ is the word used to indicate the principle from which

the earthly elements, earth, wind, re and water, arise. Within the philosophy

of archè, the gure of the swan is seen as a messenger of the gods and is

associated in Greek mythology as a symbol of divinity.

In this production, the Company’s Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer,

Simon Hoy, touches on the symbolism of the swan within Greek mythology and

Irish folklore set to music by Joan Jeanrenaud, Ennio Morricone and Ludovico

Einaudi. For tickets and more information visit the Hawthorn Arts Centre website.

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Join art historian Judith Stevenson, for a talk on Australian

Art Deco, placing twentieth century Australian art into a

global context, at Incinerator Gallery at 1pm. A part of the

Australian Art Talks series, this talk covers late nineteenth

and early twentieth century painting, global style movements,

street art and American architecture in Australia.

Helen Mirren reprises her Academy

Award-winning role as Queen Elizabeth II

in encore screenings of the original West

End hit production of The Audience,

captured live in London in 2013, and

featuring an exclusive new Q&A with key

members of the cast and creative team.

The Audience returns to select Australian

cinemas nationally for a strictly limited

time from July 18.

Michael Shafar is launching his latest

offering, 3 Course Comedy, showing

at The Buttery Club for one night only

on the July 18. The premise is simple:

take three of the nest delicacies on

the Melbourne comedy menu and serve

them for a simple, one-hour digestion.

Heide Museum is hosting

history talk Joy and

Sun on Sunday 19 July

at 2pm. Albert Tucker

introduced Joy Hester to

Sunday Reed in 1939

at the Herald Exhibition

of French and British

Contemporary Art, shown

at the Melbourne Town

Hall. Volunteer guide, Jill

Nicol, discusses the life-

long friendship between

the two women. The talk

is free with admission.

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Legends is the brainchild of director

Harley Hefford and Producer Carly Milroy

who collaborated on the post-ofce based

hijinks of last year’s Fringe festival stand

out Post/Post. Now, Legends sees the

duo working with a larger cast to explore

even weightier material as they delve into

the world of ancient myths and modern

legends.

Following in the footsteps of both classic

sketch comedy like Monty Python, and

new wave of narrative and recurring

character sketch to come out of the

United States like Portlandia and Tim and

Eric, Hefford says he thinks despite the

shows absurdity, there is a wide appeal:

“Anyone of any age would be sure to

enjoy the journey through people and

stories! Denitely fans of sketch comedy,

denitely fans of mythology and folklore

and maybe even people who are fans of

both.”

SHOW DETAILS

DATES: Tuesday July 21st – Sunday 26th

TIME: 21st, 22nd, 26th 8.00pm | 23rd,

24th, 25th 9.00pm

COST: $32 full, $28 concession

VENUE: The Butterly Club,

5 Carson Place, Melbourne

Incinerator Gallery is

calling for entries for the

Incinerator Art Award.

Works of any visual art form

that broadly demonstrate a

belief in cultural and creative

expression as a means to

affect deep and lasting social

change will be considered.

Visit incineratorgallery.com

for full terms and conditions

and to apply online. Entries

close 31 July.

The Dark Horse Experiment presents

Never Forget to Remember

by Adrian Doyle from 23 July – 13 August.

In the last three years Doyle has created his own reality show,

created large scale public murals, he offended much of the urban

art world by painting Rutledge lane Baby blue, and had one of his

public art works changed after Doyle painted a portrait of his dad

on the cross. More recently he created an art project for Disney’s

Tomorrow Land.

The award-winning artist will be pushing his well-known critique on

the Australian Suburban lifestyle in his new show Never Forget to

Remember.

In this show, Doyle’s personal suburban experience has been

explored through installation, painting and sculpture.

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

The Dark Horse Experiment presents Never Forget to Remember

by Adrian Doyle from 23 July – 13 August.

In the last three years Doyle has created his own reality show,

created large scale public murals, he offended much of the urban

art world by painting Rutledge lane Baby blue, and had one of his

public art works changed after Doyle painted a portrait of his dad

on the cross. More recently he created an art project for Disney’s

Tomorrow Land.

The award-winning artist will be pushing his well-known critique on

the Australian Suburban lifestyle in his new show Never Forget to

Remember.

In this show, Doyle’s personal suburban experience has been

explored through installation, painting and sculpture.

Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery is now showing Storm in a Teacup

until 27 September.

Tea is the medium of many a complex and commonplace rituals. Adopted

in a variety of ceremonies and customs across the globe, its unique and

symbolic place in our lives is subtle and powerful. Whether a quick cuppa

around the kitchen table or a lavish display of rened gentility; from billy

tea to Asian tea-drinking ceremonies, tea has played an important role in

international trade but more curiously in facilitating social cohesiveness.

Storm in a Teacup considers this powerful brew and the particular traditions

and rituals. Using early paintings alongside contemporary artists’ responses,

the exhibition explores the role the humble cup of tea plays in our everyday

lives.

Speak Up is the Incinerator’s new program of poetry and spoken word

nights, curated by local spoken word artist Jessie Giles. Hear the human

voice ring out in a space usually reserved for the ‘silent’ visual language.

Next installments lineup features hip-hop artist and Triple J favourite

Joelistics, Oromo Australian poet Soreti Kadir, SYN radio-host Lana Woolf,

young musician Dani Sib, poet Fenella Edwards and MC Jacky T.

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The Rebelles, Melbourne’s very own

19-piece girl group sensation, are

launching their debut album Go!

Rebelle! in the gorgeous surrounds

of the Thornbury Theatre on Saturday

25 July. Go! Rebelle!, recorded at

Soundpark Studios, contains 14

songs about life’s big issues – love,

heartache, boys and cars – all written,

performed and sung by The Rebelles

themselves in their own inimitable

style (along with some very special

and very talented guests).

Really get to know Fed Square as the city opens its doors for Open House Melbourne

2015 on Saturday 25 July and Sunday 26 July. In the tours of Fed Square you will

become familiar with Fed Square’s environmental sustainability initiatives and learn

about the unique architecture and construction.

Duldig Studio, in association with the National Gallery of Victoria, is proud to present

the 2015 Annual Duldig Lecture on Sculpture: Monuments of Remembrance by Dr

Bronwyn Hughes, art historian and heritage consultant. The Annual Duldig Lecture on

Sculpture was established to commemorate the life and work of the internationally

recognised sculptor Karl Duldig and his wife, the artist and inventor, Slawa Duldig

(née Horowitz). In this Monuments of Remembrance lecture, Dr Bronwyn Hughes will

examine the impetus and values that underpinned the First World War commemoration

movement through war monuments of national importance to the seemingly insignicant

local memorial. It will explore how Australian expectations, economies and aesthetics

changed in the 1920s and 1930s post-War society and compare commemorations

after the Second World War brought new, and sometimes different, responses in the

1950s.

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Gallerist Charles Nodrum discusses his extensive knowledge of abstract art

in Australia from the 1950s through to the present day in Heide Museum

Art Talk: Thinking about abstraction and collecting abstract art. Free with

admission to Heide Museum at 2pm.

Three exhibitions at Incinerator Gallery close on 26 July: Impart, Conversations

Outside the Frame, and Vision Quest.

Impart features work from three Indigenous artists, Robyn Latham, Vicki West

and Maree Clarke. It reclaims, interprets and revitalises cultural knowledge

and ritual practices, post ‘the invasion’ of 1770.

In Conversations, Catherine Johnson presents a nine-channel video installation

that has been devised out of an interest in bridging the cultural distance

between Muslim women and women from other backgrounds in the artist’s

immediate neighbourhood.

Named as the 100 best new glass artworks by Corning Museum of Glass

in New York, Jasmine Targett’s Vision Quest

presents a large handmade screen that acts

as a billboard, which will be customised to

suit the scale of the garden. The image on

the billboard is a green landscape view that

is ‘interrupted’ by a lens.

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After a sold out preview run, The Last Five Queers is back for

a headline, two-week season in Melbourne’s 2015 Midwinta

Festival. The Last Five Queers is a song cycle of music by

renowned composer Jason Robert Brown, with a slight twist.

The stunning music has been reimagined to tell

the intertwined lives of ve characters and their

understanding of sexuality.

The production features performances from ve

of Australia’s nest up-and-coming music theatre

stars. The performers traverse love, loss, loneliness

and sexuality, observing the personal and universal

stories inherent to the music. It is a heart warming

production, lled with laughter and touching stories

that will connect with any audience member who

has played a lead character in their own love story.

The Last Five Queers opens on the 28th of July and runs for two

weeks at The Buttery Club. Bookings are highly recommended.

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FLIGHT – Festival of New Writing is an exciting new partnership between

Theatre Works, Victorian College of Arts and Footscray Community Arts

Centre, showcasing the work of ve new voices in Australian playwriting this

July and August.

Kindness by Bridget Mackey is a dark look at the relationships between

strangers. Yours The Face by Fleur Kilpatrick presents a photographer and

his muse. Virgins & Cowboys by Morgan Rose is described simply as: ‘Your

mother was lying when she said you could be anything you wanted to be.’

Grief & The Lullaby by Patrick McCarthy is a reection on what it means to

grow apart from those you grew up with. Finally, The Dead Twin by Chi Vu

explores an immersive site specic piece about an unforgiving past.

Have morning tea at the Heide Museum on Thursday 30 July, 10-11.30am.

The 1939 Herald Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art arrived

in Melbourne at a pivotal time in the history of Australian art, inuencing a

generation of artists who were to later produce some of Australia’s most

iconic art images. The Herald exhibition had a lasting impact on Heide

founders, John and Sunday Reed, and the Heide circle of artists, Joy Hester,

Sidney Nolan and Albert Tucker, for whom the exhibition provided a rsthand

encounter with the inuential work of European modernists. Writer Judith

Pugh discusses this important exhibition and its impact on the politics and

history of Australian art with curator Kendrah Morgan. A delicious morning

tea from Café Vue is included.

Cost: Adult $22, Heide Member/Concession $18 (includes admission &

morning tea)

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Over 500 works

from the personal

collection of

Catherine the

Great will travel to

Australia in July for

Masterpieces from

the Hermitage:

The Legacy of

Catherine the

Great. Gathered

over a 34-

year period,

the exhibition

represents the

foundation of

the Hermitage’s

collection

and includes

outstanding works from artists such as Rembrandt, Velasquez, Rubens

and Titian. Exemplary works from Van Dyck, Snyders, Teniers and

Hals will also travel, collectively offering some of the nest Dutch and

Flemish art to come to Australia.

The exhibition, presented by the Hermitage Museum, National Gallery

of Victoria and Art Exhibitions Australia, is exclusive to Melbourne as

part of the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series and opens on July

31.

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Catch the final weeks of

A GOLDEN AGE

OF CHINA

Zoe Winther

Giuseppe Castiglione’s portrait of the Qianlong

Emperor in ceremonial court robe - 1736,

coloured inks on silk, 238.5 x 179.2 cm

Provided by NGV

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To give the exhibition a bit of

context, what is the exhibition

about and what kind of pieces

will people be able to see?

This exhibition is actually from one

collection from Palace Museum in the

Forbidden City in Beijing. It’s about one

period and one emperor, the Qianlong

emperor in the 18th century. There are a

lot of surprises in this exhibition and we

can appreciate them on many different

levels.

The actual layout of the

exhibition is quite dierent to

other layouts I’ve seen at the

NGV.

Yes, there are ve sections to the exhibition.

It’s actually modeled on the movement

of the Forbidden City. At rst you have

the entrance, the outer court where

ceremonies would take place, the inner

court where the emperor and empress

would live, and way at the end is his study

and his garden at the back entrance. So

what we have at the beginning we have

his portrait as a Manchu warrior, with

ceremonial armor and swords and arrows,

the second room he is presented as the

son of heaven with the empress. The third

section is presented like his harem, we

have things like hairpins and decorative

objects, and then the other section has his

art as a Chinese scholar.

I can imagine the exhibition took a long

time to plan and create and actually get to

Melbourne from the Palace Museum, can

you tell us a little bit about transporting it

here?

We have our trustee Jason who served for

nine years and is now the trustee in the

Australian National Gallery, he started in

2005. I introduced him to the curators

in the Palace Museum, and he got very

excited and after that he started working

with the government of China through the

Chinese consulate here in Melbourne. So

then in 2010 I gave a lecture on Qianlong

as a great collector in the world and in

2011 the Australian delegation also went

to China and the Palace Museum, and

in 2013 I gave the Palace Museum my

wishlist of everything I’d love to have over

here and they responded with everything!

The curator said they wanted to send the

absolute best and I was really surprised

and happy and it showed great respect

towards Australia.

Do you have a favourite piece

of out everything?

My favourite is the hat stand. It’s a crazy

piece, it’s made of porcelain and has a lot

of colour and it’s supposed to be dragons

but it looks like squids with tentacles! And

the lotus looks like it has teeth! I love that.

How does a world leader like

China kind of recognize the

past and also look forward

to the future? So kind of

reconciling the past and the

future?

Yes, you know the Great Wall right,

through the ages all invasions came from

the North, but the amazing thing is the

assimilated all of Chinese culture. They

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were embracing of it and revitalized it so it

lived on. And then China had been weak for so

long in the 19th century, but it revolutionized

you know, so I think maybe China is really

putting itself back together again, because

it is such a huge country. But the challenge

to Chinese artists now, how do we face the

challenge of international art throughout the

world? Certain arts in China, the avant-garde

and so on, are usually acquired by Western

collectors, but not the Chinese collectors. The

Chinese collectors are still more traditional

with things like calligraphy, and the use of

the brush, but what happens when the brush

is no longer used? What happens to the art?

But I think that present leaders seem to know

what to do.

Provided by NGV

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Why you should invest in

AUSTRALIAN

CREATIVE TALENT

Eleanor Downie

Since graduating a couple of years ago as a bright-eyed graphic designer eager to show

the world the breadth of my talent, I’ve been noticing something that makes me feel, well,

not so bright-eyed: Outsourcing design services overseas. I’ve always been aware that this

is happening in the printing industry, and have tried to use local printers for my own work

as much as possible, but I had never really thought that outsourcing would jeopardise my

own chances of being gainfully employed. That may be naive of me. But I believe that while

it may be tempting to outsource to cheaper places, investing in Australian creative talent is

always a good idea. At the risk of sounded jaded before I’ve really started my career, here

are a couple of reasons why.

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1. Value of face-to-face

conversation

Never underestimate the value of sitting

down one-on-one with the creative

you’ve hired to create your brand, build

your website or roll out your advertising

campaign. As a designer, being able to

sit down with a client and to get to know

them is integral to fully understanding the

brief and being able to deliver a solution

that everyone is happy with more quickly.

From initial briengs to checking in during

the creative process and then nally being

able to present a nished product to a

client face-to-face all add value to your

services. It doesn’t have to take long - even

just a cup of coffee - but a small amount

of time invested from both parties often

translates to better results.

2. Beneﬁts to our economy

Did you know that 96% of all businesses in

Australia are small businesses? So says the

ad promoting the budget that’s circulating

on TV at the moment. Small business is

the backbone of our economy, and most

creative practices in Australia are small

businesses. Think about what our country

is missing out on when you take your

creative work overseas. If we want to keep

up with the economic leaders of the world,

we need to be investing in ourselves. Just

as you would support the Victorian farming

industry by buying local produce, or the

Australian retail industry by shopping in

Australian-owned stores; so too should you

support the Australian creative industries

by investing in Australian creatives.

3. Growth of creative

industries

With more resources invested into the

creative community, our industries are

perceived as more valuable. This in turn

leads to more investment and therefore

growth of Australian creative industries.

More resources also mean being able to

invest in education. Our design schools

are already starting to become recognised

among the best in the world, but wouldn’t

it be great if Australia could become

known as leaders in creative thinking?

Better design and creative schools mean

that new graduates will be stronger, which

in turn leads to better overall creative

practice. Win, win, win!

So while you may know exactly what you

want when you engage a creative for their

services, and want it done quickly and

cheaply, you should invest some time

and money into making sure whoever

you’ve hired is the right t for your brief

and understands your business and the

problem you are trying to solve. If you trust

in the right person, who knows, you may

get a result even better than you expected.

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THE GREAT CBD

Drinks Tour of 2015

Bree Bacon

Paul Ta

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

I’ve never been one for clubbing; when I

was 18 I went out far too much and had far

too many hangovers. The reality of creepy

dudes grabbing my butt on the danceoor

and countless people spilling drinks down

my back and in my hair (I’m 5’2”, so tall

guys carrying drinks above the crowd

generally ended badly for me) got to me

after a while, and I stopped going out.

The sad thing is I actually lost a lot of

friends after I stopped clubbing every

weekend. I still loved house parties and

going out for drinks, but I got locked out of

that part of my friendship group because I

never wanted to hit the clubs afterwards.

But now at 21 I’ve made peace with the

fact the clubbing scene isn’t for me, and

maybe the likelihood of gelling with people

who hit the discos every weekend is low

because of this. But just because I don’t

like clubbing doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy

going out. I’ve had some of the best (and

latest) nights at bars and pubs both in

Melbourne and in my hometown.

My rst ofcial all-nighter was thanks to

a bar called Nevermind in Hawthorn. I’ve

since been there several times and each

time I go there I end up having to be asked

to leave, not because I’m rowdy or drunk,

but because they’re closing and I hadn’t

realised how late it was getting.

This brings me to the last time I visited

my friend Toni, who lives in one of the

Melbourne Uni colleges. We’ve I have been

friends since year 7, and now (almost a

decade on) we’re on the same wavelength

with nights out: bars and pubs just suit us

better. We like to be able to sit, relax, have

a couple drinks, and chat about life.

Some may call what we decided to do a

‘pub crawl’ however we are far too mature

and classy for such a thing (lol) so we

decided to refer to the night as a drinks

tour.

In reality it actually was more like a tour

than a crawl, we ended up going to several

places and having one drink at each. I’ll try

to recall the night for you as well as I can,

however some details may be fuzzy and/

or completely missing, not because I was

drunk, just due to the fact I tend to point at

a cider on tap and say “that one” and pray

that it doesn’t taste like wee.

Naughton’s

43 Royal Parade, Parkville

The rst place we headed was close to

the University colleges and is a pub called

Naughton’s. Being in Parkville and literally

across the road from the colleges, it was

really quiet for a Saturday night. I ordered

my rst drink for the night: an apple cider,

brand name withheld (forgotten). Cider

became my go to drink for the night, mainly

because I hadn’t realised HOW CHEAP

DRINKS OFF THE TAP ARE. I’m generally a

whisky person but this night changed my

ways. Never again will I pay $15 for a Jack

and Coke when there is cider on tap.

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The Workshop Bar

1/413 Elizabeth St,

Melbourne CBD

This bar feels like a hidden gem, the

entrance is tucked away on the side street

but you can see the venue from the main

road. Looking from the outside it looks

like a garden bar, somewhere you’d see

Tinkerbell hanging out after a long week in

Neverland. But when you walk up the stairs

inside it’s pretty different. The rst thing I

saw was a table with an arcade game in it,

I think the game was Donkey Kong (fuzzy

detail alert), but whatever it was managed

to get a reaction from me that was along

the lines of freezing and gasping so hard

it sounded like I was choking. Toni wasn’t

as impressed and was already making a

beeline for the bar.

This was the bar that changed my view

on buying drinks; the $4 cider changed

my life. Not only was it cheap, but it was

delicious. Four dollars, guys, FOUR! The

cider and Toni’s company were excellent

additions to the main attraction, which for

me was the projector on the wall playing

the weirdest videos I’ve ever seen. I’m still

not sure if they were music videos or a

pretentious lm student’s works of art, but

they were magical.

Asian Beer Café (ABC)

Level 3, Melbourne

Central, Cnr La Trobe St

& Swanston Street

By this point in the night I was just glad I

wasn’t wearing heels. I was also glad for

the free tram zone because I stupidly left

my Myki at Toni’s house. The Asian Beer

Café was probably the busiest place we’d

been so far, with the line to the bar about

ve people deep and the tables almost

completely packed. The vibe here was

amazing though, the lively atmosphere

coupled with the delicious Toblerone

cocktail that Toni and I shared made it one

of my new favourite places. Note to self:

next time I order a cocktail, stir it with the

straw rst, turns out I was drinking most of

the alcohol and Toni got all the sweet stuff.

Father's Oce

249 Little Lonsdale St,

Melbourne VIC 3000

The staircase to get to this bar is

wallpapered with a bookshelf design and

is the coolest wallpaper I think I’ve ever

seen. As someone who is obsessed with

reading, I now want to decorate my entire

house with this design. When I nally

stopped staring at the wallpaper (and

probably scaring the door guy) we went into

the main bar. This place was absolutely

packed, it was almost impossible to move.

We ended up grabbing drinks at the bar,

and after a solid minute of scanning the

room for somewhere to sit, we settled on

standing against the wall to chat.

After we nished our drinks (I went for a

Galliano and coke this time) we decided to

leave and nd somewhere else we could

actually sit down at.

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Transit Rooftop Bar

Level 2, Transport Hotel,

Federation Square

It was rock and roll night when we went

and there were people having a ball on

the danceoor, while others were losing

themselves laughing at everyone else

attempting to dance. Granted there were

quite a few decent dancers on the oor,

but there were also a lot of people who

had no idea what they were doing, much

to everyone else’s amusement.

This was my favourite bar of the night,

possibly due to the attractive bartender

who winked at me and called me ‘love’

when he handed me my drink…

But even if attractive bartender hadn’t been

there I think I still would’ve loved it. There’s

just something really nice about being up

high and looking over the city while having

a drink with someone who’s very important

to you. If I had a partner I’d be taking them

to this bar ASAP, the beauty of looking over

the city paired with the excitement of the

live band and dancing inside would make

for the best kind of date.

After one more cider Toni and I ended

our night and jumped on a tram back to

college. By this point it was only midnight,

but we were both exhausted and our feet

hurt from walking around so much.

This night was one of my favourites in

Melbourne, after living in this beautiful

city for three years I’ve denitely had my

share of nights out, but there’s something

wonderful about going out with no real

plan or goals. Walking around a city in the

middle of the night is the best feeling in

the world. If you ever need to be healed,

I recommend going out on a busy night

and walking around, whether by yourself

or with friends, a city at night time just has

this calming effect on me, maybe it can

have the same for you, too.

CBD favourite: Section 8 Container

Bar in Tattersalls Lane

Alpha

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Shout.

JUST DO-NATE.

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JUST DO-NATE.

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JUST DO-NATE.

ShoutForGood.com

Shout.

JUST DO-NATE.

ShoutForGood.com

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The Long Lost

South Gippsland

Rail Line

Text and

photos by

Andrew Kruspe

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There is nothing sadder than a rusty

old rail line tracks that are used no

more. Once this great line carried

thousands of commuters, now it

lies in disrepair and rusting away.

As I walk along this decrepit track

I feel I can almost hear the faint

horn of a distant train approaching.

The stations that once populated

this line are covered in weeds and

overgrowth or destroyed by time and

neglect.

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The train line is covered in blackberry bushes and

over grown weeds. Some areas are walkable but

I can’t help but feel the tragedy of it all. Where

did it all go wrong? Did cars nally kill it off or did

the rail link overstretch itself? As I walk over the

bridge, I gaze at this beautiful countryside that

lies on each side of the track. It always amazes

me how railways pick the most picturesque

scenery to place the rail line.

I spoke to a local historian and they exclaimed

it was sad day when it was announced that the

rail line would no longer run. We grab a bite and

talk about when steam locomotives hauled the

The South Gippy to and from Cranbourne and

Port Albert.

As we reminisce about the demise of this old

line, we watch modern day suburbia encroach

on this vast landscape and take over the once

boundless farmlands.

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We’re Back!

The Return

Season of

Circus Oz

to Melbourne

Part 1

Text By

Zoe Winther

Photos By

Alice Stephens

Unicycle adagio duo April Dawson and

Kyle Raftery seem to defy gravity in their

extraordinary performance

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Zoe Winther sat down with (recently

engaged!) April Dawson and Kyle

Raftery, two halves of the unicycle

adagio duo at Circus Oz ahead of But

Wait…There’s More’s opening night.

So let’s talk about the big story here,

your circus love story! How do the

two of you meet?

April: We met at a circus festival

actually! Around Australia every

year there are a couple of circus

festivals and one that I go to quite

regularly is one in Western Australia,

because I’m from WA, it’s sort of my

local hangout and it happens every

January at a tiny little place along

the beach and we were both there.

Kyle was teaching ying trapeze and

we met each other there and then

we moved to Melbourne.

You’ve obviously both been in the

circus industry for a long time then,

how did you get into it?

Kyle: I started at NICA, the National

Institute of Circus Arts, and worked

freelance for a long time until we met

and became a duo. I got into unicycles

in particular as a teenager and did

it just to be unusual I think, just to

be different, and then specialized

in unicycle. But I’ve always found it

tricky in a way because unicycle is

almost of removed from circus in a

way. In circus you have to be strong

and exible and all these things

that you work really hard on, and

then I thought how do you use all

those talents as an acrobat on the

unicycle, and that’s kind of how we

came to doing the acrobatics on the

unicycle.

April: I actually joined a circus when

I was 15. I was performing on the

street in my hometown and NOBODY

was there, there were maybe three

people watching, and a random guy

walked up to me and asked if I’d

fancy a job in the circus.

So the classic “run away with the

circus” story!

April: Yeah, I ended up running

away to the circus the next week! My

parents allowed me to leave in year

11 to join the circus and I’ve been

doing it ever since.

Kyle: The classic quote from April’s

parents is that she didn’t run away

to join the circus, they took her to

the bus stop.

April: Yep, they sent me on my way!

They were very supportive, so I’m

very lucky.

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Your act is very beautiful and elegant -

usually when you see a unicycle street

performer it’s quite jerky and jumpy. How

do you maintain that elegance and uidity

in your act?

Kyle: It’s the trickiest thing! If we watch

ourselves if we’ve been lmed that’s the

thing we try to get rid of the most, we

concentrate on smoothness all the time.

We watch ice-skating as well to get ideas

for lifts, we try to get that feeling in there.

April: Because it is quite a rare act. Kyle

actually went to the United States last year

and met a couple who does the same act,

but other than that we’ve never really met

anyone who does it. So our inspiration does

come from watching ice-skating, roller-

skating, vintage equestrian acts as well

because it has that kind of similar thing

with being in the round and the constant

movement and working out what you can

do while maintaining that. You can’t really

stop.

Kyle: The other thing is to ride the unicycle

you’ve always got to be off balance, you’ve

always got to be moving to where you

are falling. So when we do it together,

particular once April is on top, she’s in

charge of the speed and the direction,

so where she leans I have to ride. So we

have to be quite clear about when she’s

in control and when I’m in control and we

also have to know where we are going. It’s

easy on the stage because we know we are

going around the outside, but in our base

in Collingwood we have to draw a circle on

the oor because if we think the circle is in

a different spot it won’t work.

It’s funny you mentioned the equestrian

thing, because one day in training April

called me “My Little Pony”

April: Mister Pony!

Kyle: And I was pretty upset about it, I was

pretty quiet for the rest of the day, and so

the cast got together and they bought me

a dog tag necklace that said “Stallion” and

I was much happier with that!

April and Kyle incorporate acrobatics into their

unicycle act for a performance unlike any other.

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Did you know that would happen when you

started your act together?

April: No! It was a lot of trial and error

denitely, because Kyle would be in charge

and then all of a sudden we’d speed up

and I’d be going, “Slow down! Slow down!”

and he’d say, “I can’t! You’re the one doing

it!”

Kyle: I remember it was quite difcult at

rst because we’d kind of do one pedal and

then stop, another pedal and then stop,

but it’s to hard you have to be unbalanced

and moving all the time. So we spent a

lot of time just working on the acrobatics

while walking in a circle.

So April, are you a unicyclist as well?

April: No. I’m not even very good at riding

a bike. I have a little Razor scooter I ride

around and sometimes I even fall off that.

A lot of people ride to work but I can’t, it’s

too unsafe, I have to get public transport.

It’s actually in my bio that I spend a lot of

time on a unicycle but I actually can’t ride

one!

When did the two of you join Circus Oz?

April: We’ve been an acrobatic duo for

about ve years and we’ve been with

Circus Oz for two Melbourne seasons,

about a year. Circus Oz is great, it is like

living the dream.

Circus Oz has quite a strong team of

females this year, April can you talk a bit

about how important that is to women

generally?

April: It denitely is a big part of Circus

Oz to show women’s strength. Our strong

woman, not that we have just one, is

Spenser Inwood, she is incredibly strong

and she also catches the ying trapeze

act, which in itself is a very difcult thing

to do, but on top of that everybody in the

act, aside from one person, is heavier than

her which is an incredibly empowering and

amazing thing to see.

Derek Llewellin’s roue cyr act is a highlight of

Circus Oz’s But Wait... There’s More

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We’re Back!

The Return

Season of

Circus Oz

to Melbourne

Part 2

Text By

Zoe Winther

Photos By

Alice Stephens

Olivia Porter is a soccer player turned juggler

with an incredibly unique act - but it’s her

comedic talent that really steals the show.

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Renowned for her innovative and unusual

juggling style, Olivia is a highly skilled

comedic stage performer with platinum

blonde curls and a pair of broken glasses

she somehow manages to perform in for

the majority of the show.

How did you get involved with Circus Oz?

I got involved with Circus Oz this time

last year, [Artistic Director] Mike Finch

saw me performing at a circus festival in

Mullumbimby and really liked my style of

juggling and yeah, we went from there.

You do have a very unique style of juggling,

did you develop that style yourself or have

you seen a similar act to yours at all?

I did essentially develop it myself. I’m a

soccer player, so I use my feet a lot and

I’ve always liked involving theatre and

movement and that’s really combined in

my act, my juggling and movement. I got

picked up pretty quickly in the juggling

scene because of my style, it’s a bit

different and unique.

So how did that trajectory happen, from

soccer to circus?

I was always creative, but I always really

sporty as well and after I nished high

school I just thought that the circus would

be perfect because it’s both physical and

it’s creative, it’s very athletic, and it came

kind of naturally surprisingly enough! But

it’s been a rollercoaster. I didn’t start until I

was 19 or 20 when I started doing classes

and I got picked up about a year later

as a performer and started doing more

corporate, kind of professional gigs.

What is a corporate gig for circus

performers?! Throwing balls at bankers?

Yeah, pretty much! Just lots of little roving

gigs all over the place.

You mentioned you started at around 19

or 20 years old, is that late to get into the

circus game?

Yeah it is, I’m still trying to catch up because

a lot of people started at an extraordinarily

young age. I’m still working my arse off,

but it is really fun! And it’s great because

at Circus Oz you can do that within a great

team. I can train and develop skills within

a community of great performers.

We’ve just had a little sneak preview of a

couple of acts and the music compositions

are amazing! What is the music for your

act like?

It’s awesome! I don’t really know how to

describe it, it’s kind of got an electronic

start and then it builds into quite a fanfare.

Did you have input into the composition of

the piece?

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Yeah, I worked with Ania [Reynolds, Musical

Director] quite a bit. I’m not educated

in music so I’m not very good at kind of

explaining what kind of style of music I like

but we were able to nd the rhythm and

evolve my act and things like that, I was

always consulted.

I just spoke to April about this as well,

there’s a number of women in the show

which in somewhat unusual in circus

shows, I’m sure that also provides quite a

good support system as well.

Yeah, I mean I think we all get on really well

in the whole ensemble, it’s quite amazing.

I actually left an independent show of two

other women and myself, a three-woman

show, so I’m quite used to working with

other women. It’s fun, we all support each

other. We’re all very strong, athletes, it’s

great to be able to showcase women’s

strength. I actually put on Facebook the

other day, Sharon, Spenser and I all started

doing three-highs together, so I’m pretty

stoked about that. It’s pretty impressive.

What should we look out for in the show?

Denitely my juggling…! The trapeze is

amazing, the hoops are great, it’s all great!

The adagio is beautiful. It’s all great!

Olivia Porter is a soccer player turned juggler

with an incredibly unique act - but it’s her

comedic talent that really steals the show.

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Cinema vector designed by Freepik

FILM REVIEW

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Film Review: Ex Machina

Ex Machina is a visually stunning and

technically wondrous piece of cinema

which has received mixed reviews for its

portrayal of Articial Intelligence. Some

are calling it feminist sci- while others

describe it as the product of male fantasy.

With captivating cinematography and

strong performances by all, it is an

engaging, scary and beautifully simplistic

lm that takes on the familiar premise of

the relationship between AI and human

experience in a unique way. The lm's

strength lies in the way it doesn't draw

attention to over-the-top special effects,

but opts for a subtler approach focusing on

interactions between characters – while

still retaining slick production values.

Provided by Nova

It is brilliantly acted and the dynamic

between the three central characters

is at once strong, intense, complex and

beautiful. The lm unfolds through the

perspective of fresh-faced Caleb (Domhnall

Gleeson), a programmer who is asked by

his boss Nathan (Oscar Isaac) to assist

him in his research into AI – specically to

implement the Turing Test with Ava (Alicia

Vikander), his latest work. But things take

an unexpected turn when Caleb and Ava

develop a connection. The two engage

in seven sessions (an allusion to the

seven days of Earth's creation) under the

watchful eye of Nathan who Ava warns is

dangerous.

Review By

Nikki

Richardson

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The climax is satisfying in its unique

nature, however the lm seems to evoke

that tired trope of Eve and the forbidden

fruit – the notion that women will cunningly

use their "womanly ways" to get what they

want. While the question of gender and

sexuality in Ava is raised during the lm, it

never seems to stray from the idea that to

be female is to be beautiful, seductive and

alluring to man’s detriment.

Sadly, Ex Machina fails to provide the

audience with something other than the

stereotypical version of what it means to be

female. It is certainly a heterosexual-male

perspective (perhaps fantasy), evident in

dialogue such as "she gets you up in the

morning" and discussions of her articial

vagina, culminating in the nal moments

where Ava embodies the virginal bride in

a white dress and stilettos. There was also

a lot of nudity which seemed to serve the

heterosexual-male viewer rst, the story

second.

Throughout the lm Ava employs her

sexuality for survival, embodying the

archetypal femme-fatale who ensnares

the innocent male victim (in robot form).

While you could argue that the audience

is meant to perceive this as some kind of

reection of the real world (hence some

critics reading it as feminist), the lm

doesn’t take the idea any further, instead

implying that such a strategy is a natural

option for women. What I would like to see

is how this story would play out with a male

robot.

The moral of the lm seemed to be that

ultimately, women, even if they’re articial,

will seduce and deceive you. And instead of

pondering the expected question of "what

does it mean to be human?" you leave the

lm wondering "is this what it means to be

a human female?"

Nevertheless, Ex Machina is well worth

a look – Isaac is the perfect villain, the

production design and cinematography is

breathtaking and the twist, a redeeming

factor! Just don’t expect anything too

groundbreaking when it comes to

representations of women on screen.

Ex Machina is now playing at selected

theatres.

Written by Alex Garland

Produced by Andrew Macdonald and

Allon Reich

Starring Domhnall Gleeson,

Oscar Isaac and Alicia Vikander

Music by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury

Cinematography Rob Hardy

Edited by Mark Day

Running Time 108 minutes

Rating MA15+

Score 3.5/5

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Mad Max

Distilled

Australiana

Spewing re, gleaming chrome, hurtling across barren land headed for oblivion:

Mad Max: Fury Road is a lot of things.

Provided by production company

Abramo Peghini

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The latest masterpiece from Frank Miller

– a stereotype-busting feminist action

extravaganza – is an inspiring look at what

can be done from humble roots, but to me

it is distilled Australiana.

I grew up in the most remote city in the

world, Perth. My days lled with ights

of fancy because, for anyone who hasn’t

visited Perth, it is inanely boring there. My

holidays were out to Kalgoorlie, a small gold

mining town quite literally in the middle of

nowhere, nothing but red dirt, heat and

struggle. Our trips out there would take us

past barren red country that in the right

hazy, sleep-deprived state seemed very

post-apocalyptic.

Getting your licence in Australia is one of

the cornerstone moments in gaining your

freedom. We have always been a nation

of car lovers, forever championing the

driving holiday. As young men jumped up

on testosterone and race fuel we would

lovingly spin spanners on our cars and

take them out to race on dark forgotten

stretches of road; modern day warriors

ghting for everything and nothing. It was

our religion.

This is where Mad Max strikes a chord.

The religion of cars. Early in the lm are

small glimpses of the faith: the V8 cut away

tattoo; the war songs; the incantations and

the war boys spraying their mouths with

chrome as they throw themselves towards

a glorious battle death.

This love of the road and the cars we drive on

them is entrenched in the Australian spirit

and Australian cinema. Our reimagining of

the Wizard of Oz was rock and roll movie

OZ. This lm threw Alice, a groupie for a

rock band, into a parallel world of bikies,

heartless mechanics, dumb sures and

cowardly hit men, but the real stars of

the movie are the roads and the cars.

This surreal noir-esque lm (surprisingly

marketed for children) was just one of

the many road movies in Australian lm

tradition.

Even when we try to explore different

modes of lm we drag our religion of

re and steel with us - whether it be the

heavily neo-realistic The F.J. Holden or the

underdog tale of triumph that is Running

on Empty. These lms made up a big part

of my youth, including the original Max Max

trilogy. To a young gearhead they spoke to

me of the freedom of the open road in an

almost religiously fanatical manner.

We didn’t see the apocalypse, or the

monotony of suburbia, or the surreallity of

the wizard’s rock’n’roll world. Instead we

saw ourselves: road warriors, survivors,

explorers.

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Melbourne Art Spotlight

Annalisa D'Ortenzio

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Melbourne Art Spotlight

Annalisa D'Ortenzio

Today I think I want to be a character

designer for Games, Films and/or Graphic

Novels. Yesterday I wanted to be a fabric

designer and tomorrow I will probably want

to be an Astronaut. For the mean time, I

just intend to draw a whole heap until my

future magically falls into place. Perhaps I

should make patterns out of characters?

For Space men?! Boom.

I work mostly in pen and ink, but have

recently discovered the beautiful simplicity

of vector art and am loving learning how to

use a computer.

I draw because I don’t understand people,

and I don’t understand myself. Some

people study science to understand how

the universe works, some people write

slam poetry to hash out their loves and

fears and confusion, some of us draw

because it is the only way we know how

to be truthful and to see things clearly.

Something hasn't happened to me until

I have drawn it from at least four angles

and really considered the pros and cons

of using a thick line versus a thin line on

the antagonist’s chin (I am always the

protagonist, clearly) – my sketchbooks are

a veritable sanctum of burning crazy.

Being in Melbourne gives me the fantastic

opportunity to share this quest with a

huge community of artists, illustrators and

makers who have no idea what is going on

either. You can be constantly distracted

by so many perfect collaborative studios,

zine fairs, workshops and life drawing

sessions... the artist stalking opportunities

are endless.

Feel free check out some more of my stuff

and ramblings at https://instagram.com/

unnahleesah/ (one day I'll grow up and get

a real website!) and get lost staring into

the souls of the herds of Melbourne artists

cataloguing their own crazy on there.

Or drop us a line on annadortenzio@gmail.

com to discuss commissions, art or true

love.

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Jo Davenport –

A Natural

Response

Louise

Martin-Chew

What any work of art demands of us, if we are fully

to take it in, is the gathering of all our powers of

looking and listening, understanding, feeling.

But in this intense concentration on the object

we also experience, paradoxically it might seem,

a heightened awareness of our own energy and

presence.

extract from Being There by David Malouf

(Random House), 2015

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Fast Falls the Eventide - Jo Davenport

Provided by Flinders Lane Gallery

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Jo Davenport at work in her studio

Provided by Flinders Lane Gallery

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David Malouf’s words articulate an

essential experience of art. It may be difcult,

for a less accomplished wordsmith than

Malouf, to evoke adequately an experience

that is more individual than universal.

However, it strikes me that his description of

the gathering and awareness is also broadly

applicable to the experience of nature.

Her immediate natural environment,

humanity and culture are combined

in abstract paintings by Jo Davenport.

Describing her process, she suggested, “It

starts with the earth”. These highly coloured,

often calligraphically-marked and spacious

canvases, harness the felt experience of

place, evoking a strong sense of being in

the landscape. Her lifelong immersion in the

country, living in the town of Albury (on the

border of Victoria and New South Wales),

has made relationship with place her subject

and mode of expression. While her reference

to the earth was a description of the way she

grounds her raw Belgian linen canvases,

priming them with rabbit skin glue, it notes

too the environment which sees her reaching

for an expression of an internal landscape

dened by place.

After grounding the canvases, paint

and colour is applied in layers, while she

awaits an almost alchemical emergence

of the image. “Slowly I can see things and I

follow.” The impact of place is at once subtle

and all pervasive, as is the scale of her work

- large enough to embrace the viewer in an

expression of the sublime within the tangible.

While involved in creative pursuits all

her adult life, Davenport did not complete

her MA in Fine Arts until 2011. Since then

sell-out exhibitions at Flinders Lane Gallery

have been matched with similar results in

Sydney. In 2013 her work was included in

“Action/Abstraction”, a prestigious exhibition

at Wangaratta Regional Gallery that proled

the work of four of Australia’s leading

abstract painters (Sally Gabori, Todd Hunter,

Ildiko Kovacs and Aida Tomescu).

However, Davenport’s discussions

of her journey toward the artistic career

that now sees her in the studio some six

days each week are also an expression of

the intangibility and sensory expression

that place may offer. A daily walk to Nouriel

Park on the Murray River is evident in River

(2015), which takes in the verticality of the

weeping willows at the river’s edge and their

ability to overshadow the horizon, alongside

an internal space that harnesses the gentle

movement of the water, the trees and a place

to dream. Reections of a Fading Sky (2015)

also speaks to the varied experience of the

river, the water a mirror for a state of mind,

with patches of intensity and a glorying in

the jagged ephemerality of the moment.

Davenport noted, “I am not trying to

record what is physically there but more

a layering of emotions. My paintings sit

somewhere between abstraction and

representation, but it’s not always about the

sublime greatness of the landscape; it may

also evoke its fragility and intimacy.”

Accordingly, these images offer up

immense variety, a sensory experience of

being there that is at once universal and

individual.

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If you can ﬁx how

ugly you are, it’s

okay to do so

Anonymous

Pexels Stock Image

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‘Let your natural beauty shine,’ says the

woman who is actually naturally beautiful.

I’m sorry but is anyone else getting tired of

hearing that everyone is beautiful just the

way they are?

I don’t mean to say what is becoming social

unacceptable but unfortunately some

people are down right hideous.

If you’re one of the few people on the planet

who are delightfully awless, that is fabulous.

You’re fabulous. Kudos to you!

But if you’re like me and maybe the vast

majority of the planet who sometimes wake

up with a pimple or possibly occasionally

trip and fall and on the way down you

accidently consume a family pack of peanut

butter M&Ms and then later nd yourself

complaining that you’re not skinny, well

you’re not alone, you crazy thing you.

What do I think? I think that you should

do whatever the hell you want to feel good

about yourself!

The wise and worldly Bindi Irwin has come up

with the perfect pose for a #NoMakeUpSele

displaying her porcelain and youthful

complexion and then urged other females to

“let their inner beauty out” and “be true to

you”.

Oh the great-master-mentor-Bindi. I’m so

sorry! My foundation was only intended

to hinder my zit from revealing itself to the

innocent victim who could potentially be

enduring the long haul of a rather bad

day and the last thing they need in their

miserable life is an eyesore throbbing in

their face during a conversation. The world

will now see that I am lacking honourable

qualities. I will go to hell with the other fakes

who are also deprived of this inner beauty.

Bindi, I have small eyes and I feel that a bit of

mascara would be me being true to the lack

of lashes that I so unluckily inherited.

It is about condence. If a girl feels that

enhancing her features gives her the

condence to strut into the ofce every

morning does that make her fake?

Some people are sadly convinced that the

train is a private place to hold a conversation.

It is not. I heard this:

Possible 16-year-old female/stranger: “She

wears too much blush. So vain.”

Other possible 16-year-old female/

stranger/friend of the Possible 16-year-

old female/stranger: “I feel sorry for her,

feeling like she has to impress people.”

Squished between a sweaty gym enthusiast

and a man who could perhaps spill his

morning coffee on me, I was being educated

by possible 16-year-olds. Apparently simply

contouring one’s check bones is vain these

days.

Unfortunately the world is a judgemental,

shallow place and women have a lot of

pressure put on how their bodies look. But

hearing that cellulite is okay from a size six

supermodel who would not have a job if

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she had cellulite (making it not okay to have

cellulite) doesn’t support the claim.

In 2010, unretouched pictures of Jennifer

Hawkin’s body were featured on the cover

of Marie Claire Magazine. The supermodel

stated, “I’m not a stick gure. I thought

it would be great to tell women to just be

themselves and be condent.”

What a heroine! Women everywhere must

bow in gratitude. However Jen, if you’re not a

stick gure, I guess I am not so average after

all; in fact I think I just got fat. Good job Jen,

my condence is soaring.

You see, to me it is like hearing an individual

who has been blessed with sublime

sunkissed skin return from a delightfully hot

tropical holiday only to declare to their pasty

white counterparts that in fact they do not

appreciate girls who spray tan.

Personally I have been blessed with a

wonderfully thick, long and healthy head

of hair and for some reason it sits okay

naturally, but that doesn’t mean I go around

giving girls who wear extensions a hard time

for not being true to their split ends. In fact,

go ahead straighten, curl or blow wave that

short, frizzy mop, even wear a wig. It just

might make you feel great.

So ladies, if it is just the pre-night-out-with-

the-ladies application of red lippy that

provides the self-condence needed to be

proudly pouting in every self-loving sele

taken that evening: Go for it, girls!

Women have too many pressures. Ladies,

don’t follow the rules. Do whatever it is that

allows you to love yourself.

Pexels Stock Image

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Where’s

Black Widow?

Andrew Kruspe

The Disney Corporation has come under re

from women and Marvel devotees alike due

to the representation of Black Widow, the

female heroine of the Avengers franchise.

When it comes to the portrayal of women,

Disney hasn’t had the best track record,

consistently representing them as helpless

and dependent on knights in shining armour

to ride to their rescue.

A classic example of this misrepresentation

of women is Frozen, the massive 2013 hit

lm. Elsa and Anna are strong-minded –

indeed Elsa has enough strong will to launch

an eternal winter - but they are trapped in

the same world of long dresses and being a

princess that Disney brought us in 1937 with

Snow White. I have seen so many Frozen

costumes on little girls, but not a single one

of Black Widow. Perhaps more annoying is

that not one action gure of Black Widow

has been created, while the other members

of the Avengers have been done to death. It

begs the simple question: Why? Where are

all the Black Widows and why doesn’t she

resonate with younger girls?

Don’t little girls today want to be independent,

opinionated and self-reliant?

For too long girls have been indoctrinated

that as long as you have a man in your life

that earns money and keeps you pampered

your life will be okay and you’ll live happily

ever after. Female villains in Disney tell us

that if you become too independent you

become cold-hearted monsters in your mid-

30s because you’ve chosen a career over

family.

You would think that little girls everywhere

would embrace the image of strong women.

But alas, the mothers want a little princess

rather than an assassin who is strong, has

no fear of treacherous zones and thrives in

chaos.

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OUR JULY

PLAYLIST

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Empyrean - Press Play ft. Blitz

Golden Vessel - Control ft. Caleb Hodges

Tell Me - Atlas Bound

New Days Old Ways - Toorak Social Club

Lay Me Down - Sam Smith (Flume Remix)

What Have You Done For Me - Nouvel Age

Sugar, You - Oh Honey

Love Again - Ta-ku ft. JMSN & Sango

Get Real (Can’t Touch Your Love) - Loframes

Lil Silva - Salient Sarah ft. Sampha

Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars (Broiler Remix)

Drumming Song - Florence & The Machine

Blue Skies - Lenka

Missing You - Abstract & Logic

Out Of My Hands - Angus Dawson

Floating - Benet

Ain’t Got Time - Featurecast & The Gaff

Hey Mama – David Guetta (Tyron Hapi Bootleg)

Pretty - Jnthn Stein ft. Keren Tayar

All Dulled Out - Kira Puru

Home - Little May

This Place - Retiree

Bend - Chet Faker

Morning World - Teen Daze

Keep up-to-date with what we’re digging on

SoundCloud @MelbourneMagazine

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