Wednesday 28 October 2009

sweet october


the grand palais, originally uploaded by julienpaul.

It seems that for the last few months when people ask me how I am going I would just blurt out a rant about my work. Well, it wasn't all work (though it kind of seems like it). The 25th of septembre was the first SFR electro night at the grand palais. I was mostly there to see the set up in the stunning grand palais, but the headline act of birdy nam nam was an added bonus.

I arrived a little too early and had to wait around while a few young djs played and the SFR adds were broadcasted everywhere. Finally, birdy came on... the show was good, but the crowd wasn't. A bunch of teenagers with too much money, getting drunk on a friday night and getting into fights and just generally being stupid. Two guys were fighting and one of the asks: what band is this? They were f**king front row and they didn't even care what band it was.

At one point, a girl ran up onto stage and started dancing before the security guards could take her down. That was kinda fun:


an uninvited visitor I, originally uploaded by julienpaul.

Then the teenagers started breaking the barriers between us and the stage and the security guards propper them up, one by one, as the night progressed. This resulted in a solid barrier, worthy of any drunk 18 year old, but sadly it also meant the security guards were trapped in their own web...


chaos..., originally uploaded by julienpaul.

There was also a moment where a photographer came out for birdy and made for some kinda cool photos against the rainbow background..


the photographer I, originally uploaded by julienpaul.

After birdy, I decided I would stand a bit further back in the crowd to see Etienne de Crécy and his 3 x 3 boxes. The visuals they acheieved by such a simple device were a joy to behold...


cube: white, originally uploaded by julienpaul.

That night it was Josh's birthday, but he was in Istanbul. When he came back it was the white night, which has given us fond memories over the years.

This year there was a huge disco ball hung over the luxembourg gardens which lit up all of the clouds over paris but the queue to get close it was over an hour long, so we opted out.

We headed towards Notre Dame and did as the locals did.. we jumped the queue and got in under 10 minutes:


sacred crystals I, originally uploaded by julienpaul.

All of the side chapels had been filled with, er, crystals. Deep.

Just outside, the bridge linking the two islands had a rather cool sound and light display on it:


neon bridge II, originally uploaded by julienpaul.

This was a bit more my thing, blending the boundaries between architecture and art (the set up was designed as a mobile clubbing setting..).

Other highlights of the otherwise slightly dark last month was seeing Patrick Wolf again, where he vowed to become the male britney (though currrently with only 3 costume changes):


wolf rocking, originally uploaded by julienpaul.

Oh, and if you should be passing by the pompidou, the "elles" exhibition is still on... An exhibition the size of a football field done only by female artists:


toothpicks III, originally uploaded by julienpaul.

Sunday 11 October 2009

possessions


bookshelf, originally uploaded by todaytimesone.

A few weeks ago I received an email from my parents: they are going to do a bit of work on the bottom half of the house to make it into a separate apartment that can be rented out. Sounds great, except that the bottom half of the house is where my room and all my junk is, compiled pretty much since I was born.

Even before they sent the email, my parents had started by throwing out a bunch of children's books that they assumed we couldn't possibly want:

mother: no, no, there was nothing important
me: did you through out the Henry the squirrel book?
mother: *silence*
me: err....
mother: how can you possibly remember that book!

So I insisted they take photos of the books before throwing them out so I could say yes or no. So I received the first batch today, and it forced me to ask myself a few questions: When will I be back in Australia, what is the point of owning these books if I don't go back, or even if I DO go back? Will I even read the ones I haven't read?

Every house I live in becomes an accumulation of STUFF, and it seems the STUFF just gets dragged around by you, never truly being sorted or properly thrown away, half forgotten and filling every corner.