the ’sham

A post reflecting upon, and comparing, the Petersham and the Kellerberrin projects. The difference between a residency where I was in someone else’s town (which I then had to leave) and a residency where I am already at home - I don’t have to leave. There’s no urgency to “finish”, get everything done, to wrap things up before I go.

Listen in here [2mb, mp3, 6 min].

Read the original posting here.

Last night I went over to Vanessa’s house for dinner. She made sushi and grilled eggplants with a miso sauce. We talked about thinking, the way our minds process thoughts. And memory. It seems that, even though we are good friends, our brains are utterly different. Vanessa is able to play and replay memories of particular events in her mind, a bit like flipping through a pile of records and choosing one to listen to. I, on the other hand, only rarely rummage through past events, and when I do, it’s a struggle to dredge up the details. Perhaps, I speculated, that’s why I did the sham project (and the Kellerberrin one too) - to lay down a trail of breadcrumbs showing the changing of thoughts over time. Certainly, during these periods, I felt my memory-mind being exercised in a way which improved it - but it’s gotten slack again since. It’s about practice, as all these things seem to be.

Vanessa and I recorded the episode where I first met her - at Darren Hanlon’s backyard where Caxton and The Triangles were playing a gig, just one year ago.

You can listen in to this broadcast here.
And you can read the original posting here.

…in which I struggle to hang in with the writing of the blog, reflect on Petersham vs Kellerberrin as places to do the blogging projects, and receive encouragement and suggestions from Lionel, the Camperdowner, and the Cake Lady.

Download it here. [4min30sec, mp3, 4mb]
Read the original posting here.

Anyone know how to interpret this data?

It pleases me to know that a large proportion of readers are from Petersham itself, and from the Inner West more broadly. I like the idea that the project communicates with the same people who are featured within it. My fear from the Kellerberrin blog was that most of my readers were in Sydney, although apart from comments I had no way of testing that. But even the thought itself made me feel a bit odd - a kind of exoticism, urban subjects spying on the countryside…

But to what extent can we trust these ’sham stats? For instance, a nice man called Benedict has admitted to voting himself into Petersham, although he actually lives in Marrickville. How much of this is going on? To what extent are locals more likely to vote, out of pride? To what extent can we measure the apathy of out-of-town readers? Are there other stats issues that I’m not even aware of here?

[footnote: I have applied to be a census collector in the 'sham later this year. A few days ago I got a call from a nice fellow indicating there might be a possibility I've got the job! I'll keep you posted, and you might see me at your doorstep with some forms to fill in soon...]

Things are piling up behind me, a wave of events and meetings and memories that seems to swell up, ready to crash. As I come towards the end of my period of self-imposed suburban lockdown, connections are leading to further connections, first-time meetings are rolling over into follow-ups, which slowly become…relationships? These second, third, fourth meetings develop a more easy casual flow. Perhaps some sort of rapport begins to build. Or maybe it’s trust. As I walk around the neighbourhood, it’s rare not to wave and say hi to somebody I’ve met through this project.

A little more than a year ago, in Kellerberrin, I wrote:

I feel like I am withdrawing, bit-by-bit, from this town. With only ten days to go, and an ever-mounting list of things to do, I’m finding it more difficult to pursue pointlessness with the same rigor as I did in April.

I guess it’s become apparent that the aims of these two projects are quite different. In Keller, I was interested to see how much I could succeed in drifting, in not setting fixed goals, in just living in the present moment, rather than working towards a deadline. The pursuit of pointlessness seemed to be an aim in itself. (And it’s surprisingly difficult!) Considered from one angle, the town of Kellerberrin was merely the backdrop for that personal project.

When I began the ’sham, the question seemed to have changed. With the space to reflect, I realised that the relationships developed in Kellerberrin were one “outcome” of the residency- somewhat intangible, sure, but nevertheless real. Since then, pursuing pointlessness, for some reason, has dropped from my list of things to do. Why is that?
(more…)

It’s been a week. I’ve just spoken to Chris in Perth, who knows my history (more than nearly anyone), and I feel clearer now about what needs to be done.

Following my post from yesterday, where I expressed concern that I was not “feeling the freshness” - that I was going through the motions a bit - that it all felt like a bit of “a job” (heaven forbid!) - I received several encouraging emails and comments, urging me to keep “powering along” with it. To all who wrote, thanks. It helps. At least I know what I’ve done so far hasn’t been entirely tedious, tepid, or turgid. However, I still think a change is called for.
(more…)

I’m struggling a bit to hang in here. I’m very much enjoying “just being” in Petersham, but the writing is not coming as easily as I would have hoped. In Kellerberrin, the form of the project - blogging each day - seemed to grow from the place itself. It came easily. Here, it seems partly like I’ve taken a strategy from somewhere else, and attempted to apply it in another place. In fact, that’s exactly what I’ve done. And it’s an uncomfortable fit.

Something about the town of Kellerberrin being “different,” and “new” to my experience meant I could write with a freshness. I felt that freshness. The very task I set myself - to see if I could experience that freshness in my own neighbourhood - is proving more difficult than I expected. Or maybe, I did expect this difficulty (it’s built into the project brief), but I haven’t developed a method of moving through it yet.

So, to hammer away on the daily writing regime might make me seem a busy boy. But is it distracting me from something else?…to allow something to grow from this specific place…

…while you wait for me to work through this one (or even better, while you’re contacting me with your brilliant ideas!) have a look over at these photos of the Great Petersham Pub Crawl. Hooroo!

I’m sitting in my living room, gazing blankly at the computer screen, on the third morning of my Petersham artist in residence in my own neighbourhood. It’s just after nine, and I’m finding it difficult to concentrate. About fifty metres away, construction work is going on, grinding pulsing abrasive rasping noises which permeate the house. I feel this noise in my body as much as in my ears. It’s unsettling, irritating, and difficult to ignore. “Luckily,” we live three houses away from the building site. I can’t imagine what it must be like for the folks who live next door. (more…)

The clock ticked round to midnight and I sat in the kitchen watching it. When all the hands pointed to twelve, I took two photos. Without the flash, the clock looked yellow and blurry. Flash-frozen, on the other hand, it looked like it had been caught in the act. Embarrassed at having been sprung doing something vaguely shameful but essentially harmless.

That’s how I brought in the third of April. The beginning of “Bilateral Petersham,” aka “my Petersham project,” aka “The Petersham Lockdown.” There was no tangible difference between one moment, where I was not “on the job,” and the next, when the “project” had officially begun. No fanfare, no ribbon cutting, no glass of champagne. I went to bed and read a bit and then fell asleep.

For two months (well, a bit less actually) I will not leave the suburb borders of the mighty Petersham. Petersham is a smallish neighborhood in the “inner-west” of Sydney. It runs between Parramatta Road (at the north end) and Addison Road (at the south end), and is surrounded by such glamorous destinations as Leichhardt (north), Lewisham (west), Marrickville (south), and Stanmore (east). And I will remain entirely within it until the end of May, as (self-appointed) artist-in-residence of Petersham.

Why am I doing this? (more…)