burning man .... 3

the final moments of the giant Trojan horse ...

he was wheeled out, dragged by the masses into the Playa in the dark night ... 

and set alight after midnight, in a primal end to an insanely

brilliant piece of art by Douglas Bevans.

fire horse

burning man .... 2

burning man

kind of like living inside one of Leonardos notebooks...

 

there is no food or water there you have to take everything with you and remove everything when you leave ....
there is nothing to buy ...people just gift you things and you gift other people things ...

from a cooling mist spray of water over you, to a necklace handmade, to a piece of one of the sculptures that were cut out during the making, to a massage .... its the most peaceful fun anarchic gathering

of artists and like minded

burning man

black rock desert - nevada 

somewhere between a Terry Gilliam set , Bladerunner, Monty Python, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Mad Max..... on a massive alkaline dust plain ....

outstanding ...

4 days virtually no sleep ...brilliant new friends....too much to see and do 

loved it !

50 000 people on bikes , no road rules ...flowing like arterial blood and no one crashed into each other ... not a single garbage can and not a single piece of rubbish to be seen anywhere ...

a good headspace ...

i got to get me one of these ...

camera has to go to hospital now

ulivetto .....progress report... 21 may 2011

 

there seem to be 5 different themes / series  inside the Ancient Olive project ....

13 old professors

3 bodies in trees

12 weird animals 

12 fairytale creatures trapped

and 13 Enty old tree beards ....

I can't seem to narrow it down any further....

so there is alot of work still to be done

each image is traditionally photographed and printed in the silver gelatin process 

5x4 inch negatives 

  contact printed on 8x10 inch  fibre based paper

(the following are the scans of the printworks so far )

Over the last months I have started in on the "old professors" ... but realise there is still so many more to be printed and each one takes days to get right ... the fibre base paper changes not only contrast but density (light and dark) is entirely different by the time it has dried over a 48 hour period ...so there have been many recalibrations and alot of re-printing ...

nothing is quite what it seems...

days later what was perfect is now dark and flat and not as intended ... so I have started all over over from scratch ... with the long forgotten knowledge of how this paper and silver gelatin process changes over time ....

It is amazing how instant digital technology and impatience has changed our perspective ....

january... 2011 .......

waiting and waiting .........

for photographic darkroom equipment....  

only one set of multigrade lighting filters still to arrive ...

sigh ...

****************************

I have however, tested my favourite recipe ... 

and now is the time to send out the secret discovered in the depths of the south of the heel of the boot....

it is ... very very good.

but only my project backers will ever know....

tomorrow 22 january 2011 at 11.20pm NZ pacific mean time ... I will let the secret concoction from the Italian Nonnas out ......

........ :)   aaaaaaaaaarrrghhh lovely ...

a very very happy Christmas ...

I just want to wish all my friends, family and supporters of my Ancient Olive tree  project a very beautiful and Happy Christmas ...

and mention the progress to date...

Today I pick up my new darkroom equipment found on Trademe NZ , our own version of Ebay...
in the next week the replacement silver gelatin Fibre based photographic paper arrives from the UK, and another piece of equipment from the USA , so hopefully once I rebuild the darkroom I found here, I will be happily printing away the limited edition works on the first day of January !!!!

so looking forward

meanwhile best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to everyone !!!!!

 and lots and lots of presents under the tree for everyone!!!!!

ancient olive project continuing stoooory...

so now the hunting, finding, shooting of the Ancient Olive trees has come to an end and I have returned to New Zealand with the material and am working very hard on the final printwork for all my amazing project supporters...

I am having some problems finding a black and white darkroom to use for the limited edition print run...but I will find a way ...

the colour printwork is what I am working on this week...and the choosing of the best recipe .... 

I did end up having grannies fighting to give me recipes in the supermarket just before I left :) ... and rushing to their houses to get the food so I could try it ... got to love that !

I particularly liked the sagne incannulate ...but there was one risotto that I could eat every day of my life ... hmmmm

at this point I would like to thank another series of backers and supporters...

thank you so very much to

Amy J McCray

Gofenshefer she makes lovely accessories inspired by the natural world

Solvita Danevica who makes sweet jewellery and miniature pinback buttons 

Erica Kremenak

thank you to Inge you can find her here at cri-cricurieux

thank you also to Elsa Dorfman who is a wonderful photographer from the USA who shoots with one of the only 7 giant polaroid rail cameras .... the camera is so huge it needs a few people to move it and she makes giant polaroids 20x24 inches... 

thanks to Vincent Corona-Evans

Marleen De Troyer

Bonnie Jones , another photographer (I particularly like her teapot house picture!!!)

my new lovely sis Lynn Evans and her husband Zeke

and my dear friend Peter Towers ... a genius architecture photographer that I used to assist when I was just a baby photo-kid

the final seven ...

 here they are ...the final seven choices for the first exhibition,

opening today at the Accademia delle Belle Arte Lecce

let the show begin....