camminando | Geelong, 38.15S : 144.35E | First Visual Impressions

On March 12, for my second time, I landed in Australian soil, after a 25 hour flight, yet the most direct flying path NYC>LA>Melbourne. From the Melbourne airport, another 75km of highways in the south west direction take me to my current final destination: Geelong, Victoria. Geelong is located in the Corio Bay and Wikipedia tells me that it took its name in 1827 "derived from the local Wathaurong Aboriginal name for the region, Jillong, thought to mean land or cliffs". Geelong was an industrial town with the first wool store opening in the 1840s becoming a prominent port for the wool industry. It also became "the main port to the rich goldfields of the Ballarat district"  and during the 1860s was one of the largest Australian manufacturing centers, for its wool mills, ropeworks, and paper mills. Geelong manufacturing presence continued with the car industry for Ford Australia
Over the last decade as the manufacturing sector has declined replaced by service industries, mainly heathcare and education. Deakin University is the main education facility with two campus, one located at the Geelong waterfront and the other at Waurn Ponds, home of the Geelong Technology Precinct, with focus on biotech, information technology and health science. Deakin University is the reason of my temporary relocation to Geelong: as a recipient of a Post Graduate Research Scholarship I will be pursuing a PhD at the School of Architecture in the Waterfront Campus.
As we approaching Geelong from the Melbourne airport I am taken by the unusual landscape: dry brownish field with sculptural gum trees and eucalypti. And then Corio Bays appears announced by palm trees appearing from the deserted factories and smokestacks.
Below are my first visual encounters with Geelong:

 

 

 

 

camminando | Hudson River Views

As I am relocating for at least six month at about 151 degrees from Manhattan, yesterday I indulged in one of my favorite power walk. Below my visual memories including the sun setting in a "Manhattanhenge" fashion viewed from Perry Street in the West Village

On the Hudson waterfront, from the Armory: Cary Leibowitz "I Need to Start Seeing a Therapist"

Total Walk Length: 9.4km

Armory Week | Scope Official Party at the Marquee

Armory Week | "Moving Image" Art Fair

"Moving Image" opened on Thursday in the cavernous space of the water tunnel, former site of the legendary club "Tunnel"; this art fair is the only one in the Armory Week specifically devoted to video in many different forms, from single channel to multiple channel projections, video sculptures and installations. A few images...

Armory Week | Scope Preview

Scope has moved to a new location, in the landmark James Farley Post Office. I am quite impressed by the innovative tone of the art fair, especially on the technology art side. My first memories:

 

Armory Week | The Armory Show: the Business of Art

The 2013 Armory Show just opened a few hours in its most recent usual location at Pier 92 and Pier 94.
The Armory show  was founded in 1994 by the late art dealers Colin de Land, Pat Hearn together with Matthew Marks and Paul Morris as the Gramercy International Art Fair, (from its initial location in the Gramercy Park Hotel). The art fair in 1999 moved to the 69th Regiment Armory, from where it took its current name The art fair intent was to bring together worldwide galleries and the name was also an homage to the 1913 exhibition of the same name that also took place in this building, presenting works by avant-garde European artists together with Americans. counterparts. Many different art genres were brought together including legendary names as Vincent van Gogh, Marcel Duchamp and Edward Hopper.
The 2013 Armory Show press conference included Mayor Bloomberg who focused on the economy of the Armory week in term of related revenues brought citywide by this major art event. The mayor delivered statistics about the NYC art world in terms of commercial values. Not surprisingly there was no mention about art as expression of human creativity and the mayor ended his presentation with " A lot of fun and great for the economy"
Only three question were taken at the end of press release, and fortunately I was not able to ask mine. Here it goes:

• Could you please explain the relationship, if any, between business related art events, such as the Armory Week, and public art? 
• And how do these events, have an impact in the city communities which are not part of the art world - thinking of art events such as Christo and Jeanne-Claude 1995 "gates" which were a great examples of art in the city public spaces, seen and enjoyable by everybody, outside the galleries, museums or fairs' white boxes.
• Are the revenues from the Armory Week having an effect on public art development?

Mayor Bloomberg at the Press Conference

The fair’s section "Armory  Focus: USA" curated by Eric Shiner, director of The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh,was quite predictable. Disappointing and predictable The commissioned project by Liz Magic Laser, was also predictable and disappointing as execution.

Thoughts | Memories of Australia

My Axis Mundi will soon rotate of 151 degrees as my terrestrial coordinates change from 40°47'2"N  73°58'48"W to 38d08’42”S 144d20’22”E. In the nocturnal sky the reference center for the star trails will change from Polaris to the Southern Cross.
As I am preparing to this major shift of coordinates I find visual memories of one of my favorite places: Australia visited in 1996, before digital cameras, smartphones and even Google.
Scanning visual memories, literally and metaphorically, provides great comfort especially in this cold New York winter days after a tough week (see previous posts) .

 Sacred Site: Uluru (Ayers Rock)

 Sydney Opera House

 Bondi Beach, Sydney

A wildlife preserve near Brisbane

Beach near Cairns