| Author | Message | ||
     Paul B. Member Username: Paul_b Post Number: 38 Registered: 10-2004 |
I’ve just come back from “the Brisbane Sound’ exhibition, and I know this is not the forum for exhibition reviews, but, I found it a little under whelming. Although I have finally seen the mysterious and oft talked about ‘Heather’s Gloves’ David Nichols mentions it in his book, but I haven’t been able to find a synopsis on the net. It seems to have been shot mute and the dialogue recorded after the fact, 16 mm B&W. Storyline something about a girl finding a trumpet in her fridge with a map in it, then going downstairs and meeting the guy who lives in the apartment bellow William (Robert Vickers). They both go off and try to collect items that are marked on the map. (I was looking after my 5 month old son at the time, he didn’t particularly want to be at the exhibition, so my attention was fragmented –if anyone can supply a better run down, please help me out.) I think it ends with the girl telling William that she continued to collect items on the map but became concerned when the contents of one of the boxes started to whimper, so she threw them all on the fire. (there’s a dam good reason I don’t write film reviews) David Nichols was right when he said ‘I think this is why everyone involved with the Heather's Gloves film will always mention the late 70s Brisbane it captures (rather than anything intrinsic to the film's storyline or performances) as the best thing about it.’ I must say that I enjoyed seeing Roma street circa 1982 again. Now all we have to do is track down a copy of ‘Escape to beaver Mountain’. | ||
| Donat Member Username: Donat Post Number: 289 Registered: 11-2004 |
Here's an interesting article about the Brisbane Sound exhibition from the Courier Mail by Noel Mengel which might be of some interest to the Go-Betweens fans here. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story /0,23739,23174935-5003423,00.html | ||
| david pestorius Member Username: David_pestorius Post Number: 69 Registered: 08-2005 |
Below are a couple more articles that Donat may be reluctant to post about the Apartments and Ian Wadley and their role in the Brisbane Sound. They too may be of interest to fans of The Go-Betweens here. http://www.timeoff.com.au/index.php?area =Interviews&pg=38&subarea=8414&sel=8414 http://www.timeoff.com.au/index.php?area =Interviews&pg=38&subarea=8415&sel=8415 | ||
| Paul B. Member Username: Paul_b Post Number: 40 Registered: 10-2004 |
David, I noticed that Jenny Watson and Anne Wallace are listed as participants in the exhibition, although I don't seem to remember their works being on display. Did I miss something or is their work only in the exhibition catalog? | ||
| david pestorius Member Username: David_pestorius Post Number: 70 Registered: 08-2005 |
I think you must have missed the final (4th) room. The opening to this room was just to the right of the white stage by Andrew Wilson and to the left of the early Laughing Clowns photographs by Judi Dransfield. This final room is an installation by Jenny Watson titled 'Jenny Watson's Bandroom'. During the Brisbane Sound concerts this weekend the room will function as a backstage/dressing room for the bands performing. The installation includes large new wall-paintings, the artist's 1981 portraits of The Go-Betweens (which were reproduced on the cover of SMAL), and a painting she had Nick Cave 'exhibit' on stage during a performance by The Boys Next Door at Melbourne's Crystal Ballroom in 1979. The room also includes a kind of 'installation within an installation' by Anne Wallace, which includes one of her four Go-Betweens paintings from 2001, a work entitled 'The Fan'. In a way, the exhibition makes no sense if you don't see this final room. I also think it's a highlight of the show and also features strongly as an end-point or 'full-stop' too. For those who have not seen the original Watson portraits and only seen the first album cover (or perhaps only the CD cover ...), I think you might be surprised at their extremely modest scale and the 'amateurism' they seem to be pointing at. Suggest you race back in for another look. | ||
| Paul B. Member Username: Paul_b Post Number: 41 Registered: 10-2004 |
Yep, missed it. Bugger. Will try and head back tomorrow, and am so glad I asked the question. Saw the Watson pictures at the Go-Betweens exhibition at Pestorius house in 2001, yes they are quite small. Thanks for the heads up. (Trying to go to the talk tomorrow night...) | ||
| David Mayocchi Member Username: David_m Post Number: 3 Registered: 12-2007 |
Robert Forster began his performance at the Brisbane Sound exhibition last night on stage alone with his son's acoustic guitar. After telling us that he had recently recorded a new album, Forster explained he was going to play something he had written since the album was recorded. "I've been walking around the house with my son's guitar writing songs" he says, launching into I'm Going To Tell It. Adele then joined him on stage on Double Bass and Robert switched to his own acoustic guitar for the remainder of the set, which included Bow Down, When She Sang About Angels, Born To A Family, Here Comes A City and German Farmhouse. It was a fantastic performance, Robert's singing was really strong and Adele was a treasure as always. Two of the other three bands that night featured one-time Go-Betweens, with Adults Today led by Glenn Thompson and headliners, The Apartments currently including John Willsteed on bass. Peter Milton Walsh mentioned The Apartments early concerts in Brisbane (78/79), always seeing two figures when he looked out into the audience, one tall, the other less so. Walsh and his band played Daydream Believer as their encore! The Brisbane Sound does help to highlight a remarkable period in the city's musical history, a history the city is only now beginning to appreciate. |