mind flux

Grobak Padi

Very excited about a current project I've been working on with Multicultural Arts Victoria on for the Melbourne Festival:

GROBAK PADI (AUSTRALIA/INDONESIA)

AN INTIMATE EXCHANGE BETWEEN CULTURES AND CITIES THROUGH A MULTIMEDIA FUSION OF FOOD, FILM AND DANCE, GROBAK PADI IS A LITTLE PIECE OF JAVA MANIFESTED IN THE HEART OF MELBOURNE.

For five days of the Festival, a delegation of gerobak food carts from the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta wend their way through Melbourne, bringing the flavours and culture of Java’s bustling street scene directly to our CBD.

Based at the vibrant Foxtel Festival Hub, grobak Padi brings together free multimedia art installations and contemporary dance with authentic Javanese street food – sold at modest prices – creating a cross-cultural dining experience like no other.

Like a staple diet for the soul, the rice of the padi field symbolises a way of life in Indonesia. Its humble sustenance reminds us to say thank you for the abundance we already have. While several gerobaks remain at the Festival Hub displaying video art inspired by the padi, others set out across the city, dispensing delicious Indonesian food. As they serve the hungry people of Melbourne, the carts show live video of gerobaks plying their trade in Yogyakarta, fostering an amicable culinary and cultural bond across the Timor Sea.

After sunset, the roving carts return to the Hub to serve up a free outdoor event featuring accomplished dancers Agung Gunawan and Tony Yap, with video-art by Michael Hornblow, transforming the space through the imagery, sound and movement of Indonesian life.

A deliciously cross-cultural performance piece, grobak Padi provides a unique opportunity to discover an ancient culinary tradition first-hand, and to experience the spirit that lies at the heart of today’s Indonesia.

(www.melbournefestival.com.au)

I've only recently begun working on cultural projects since arriving in Melbourne. I really enjoy learning the differences and combining traditions, creating art and entertaining people through unique combinations of cultures. This is my second project with an Indonesian core and i've not yet been to Indonesia!

Michael Hornblow devised the project while spending time in Indonesia, inspired by the street culture and the tradition of roadside food carts and street vendours, a humbling tradition that brings the people of Indonesia together through food, I don't think this tradition could be accepted long-term in the western world - so many rules and permits to overcome and obtain just for the 4 days Grobak Padi is live. Michael spent weeks filming on the streets for the video display on the gerobaks and has actually implemented tablets onto the gerobaks here and gerobaks in Jakarta so that the people at either end can wave to each other and eat their food together through visual technology. Very cool idea, such an exciting project to have watched develop - from the initial idea, to the actual gerobaks and bikes being delivered by sea freight straight from Indonesia, getting them fitted and painted, testing the cooking methods and tasting the food produced (yum) and now sourcing volunteers to help out during the festival.

Get down to Melbourne CBD sometime from the 17th - 21st October for some delicious food and an amazing cultural show!

Photos to follow soon...

Saya cinta kamu (I love you)

E Flyer: http://issuu.com/multiculturalarts/docs/eflyer_grobak_27_09_12?mode=window&pageNumber=1

American Psycho

"I like to dissect girls. Did you know I'm utterly insane?"

 "I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy. I think my mask of sanity is about to slip."

Christian Bale is up there as one of my favourite actors. How good is his character in American Psycho? and also The Fighter..

Hinduism

My special friend Kate reminded me that seeing as we are going to India we should probably do some research into the cultures and religions that we will be coming into contact with, so that we can appreciate the country and the people.

Kate: "I came across this teaching in Hunduism that I thought you would like it too: it is in honour of Ganesh (god of wisdom) you know the elephant man with lots of arms

'wise men, holding wisdom highest,scorn delights,
As false as fair,
Daily live they as Deaths fingers twined already in their hair.
Truly richer than all riches, better than the best of gain,
Wisdome is, unsought, secure-once won,
None loseth her again.
Bringing Dark things into daylight,
Solving doubts that vex the mind,
Like an open eye is wisdom - he hath her not is blind.'"

What I liked: "Hinduism grants absolute and complete freedom of belief and worship. Hinduism conceives the whole world as a single family that deifies the one truth, and therefore it accepts all forms of beliefs and dismisses labels of distinct religions which would imply a division of identity. Hence, Hinduism is devoid of the concepts of apostasy, heresy and blasphemy. Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include (but are not restricted to), Dharma (ethics/duties), Samsāra (the continuing cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth), Karma (action and subsequent reaction), Moksha (liberation from samsara), and the various Yogas (paths or practices)" sounds like goodness to me.

Here's my girl...



Maybe less of that in India!

What makes us happy

Take a moment to think about what makes you happy.

For me, these 6 things sure do:

1. Love - being honest, reliable, respectful, affectionate, kind, approachable, warm, true, loving etc etc - having that special bond with someone is so important to me - I can't imagine a life with no friends, no one to share good times with - existence would be a bore. Love from friends, family, your partner, your pets - whatever - love is the key, love makes the world go round, love makes me happy.

2. Sunshine - the weather really does affect our happiness - the sun generally makes people happy, i've noticed this over the past few years - moving to places with different weather patterns and meeting new people, it's really obvious that when the suns out people are a lot happier compared to when it's raining.

3. Money - although money is at the route of all my problems, it definitely helps to fund my happiness. It's not the actual money that makes me happy - its the things I can spend it on - the activities and services that generate good times.

4. Being happy at your job - the times in my life that i've been most unhappy are when I have been in a difficult financial position so life has become a struggle, or when I've not been happy at work - perhaps not getting along with your boss, not feeling fulfilled, having to do the same tedious tasks every day, dealing with difficult customers, not being in the role you want to be in - it really makes you question the meaning of life and what is most important to you - I understand that sometime you have to work in a shitty job for a while to work your way to a better position, but that doesn't change the fact that it makes you unhappy. So yes, being satisfied with my job is a very important factor to my happiness - we spend so much time at work - it would be terrible to hate life for all those hours a day.

5. Communication - communication with friends and family is so very important to me, letters/emails/phonecalls - even if they are weeks or months apart - just a reminder of your concern for them and your love for each other, respect for your relationship. Communication also through society helps generate understanding, clear communication in work helps avoid problems, learning to communicate with people from different cultures, religions, nationalities is important. Communication and understanding helps to avoid confusion/frustration/unhappiness. Most problems that occur in the world is a result of poor communication combined with a lack of....

6. Respect - Respect for ourselves and others, respect for differing opinions, cultures, beliefs, religions, belongings, feelings. It's important to be appreciated, understood and respected. I imagine I would be unhappy if I was paid no respect. I don't mean that I demand for people to bow down to me, I just believe it's very important to show people respect, and to show the world respect - it's not hard, it's very simple. I've seen it happen a lot around me - when people have no respect for themselves, they make silly decisions and they end up unhappy. When people have no respect for others, they don't tend to be loved so they become unhappy, when people have no respect for their job and their responsibility to work, they end up with no job and no money and then consequently unhappy as they are not able to fund good times.

Fleet Foxes

This album is so good

Go on Teddy

Quote of the day

Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.

-Theodore Roosevelt



A little bit about Theodore Roosevelt:

"He is noted for his exubert personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity."

What a cracking little summary. I wouldn't mind being described as a high achieving cowboy!

P.s.

There's something quite selfish about dwelling on your mistakes and worrying about your problems - What are you grateful for? What good do you have in your world? There's always someone, somewhere that is worse off, make the most of what you have. Celebrate life! Love everyone and everything!

5 things I am grateful for today:

1. The sun is shining in Melbourne
2. I have a busy week ahead, seeing friends and working hard
3. I have a great job and a great boss
4. I will be seeing my family in less than 9 weeks in India
5. There's lots of food in the fridge

“Negativity and pessimism bring about laziness while positivity, hope and optimism increase action and faith.”

Feel better, move forward

This is a post for the dwellers. People how allow their mistakes to consume them. I'm guilty of it sometimes too, but I'm making a conscious effort to cut that shit out. Life is too short for living through your mistakes and misjudgements. Wipe your tears away and crack on forward.



I think the key to happiness is positivity. Positivity does not always come naturally but I think it can be found... through the people you surround yourself with, the places you visit, the things you read, the conversations you have. So what I'm trying to say is, when things in life don't work out how you'd planned, don't dwell on it, stop thinking about it over and over... change the record, focus on the solution instead of the problem and you'll feel a change.



Sometimes mistakes are inevitable and it's true that you sometimes need to learn the hard way. It's not always sufficient to take peoples advice, sometimes you need to live through the activity, even if the outcome is destined to be tragic, the experience helps you learn. All experiences, good or bad, help you grow and shape you into your ultimate self. It's not the actual experience that defines you, it's your attitude towards it, the way you process it, what it means to you and how you use it.

The past does not define your present - there's no advice less constructive than when someone goes on and on about what you did wrong. For example "you should have revised. It's your fault for not revising! Why didn't you revise?" or "why didn't you book the flight last week? It was $500 cheaper!" oooor "why did you call him, you're an idiot you shouldn't have called him!" It's like, OK I feel pretty shit about this whole thing anyway, you're really not helping in the slightest. Or you're just like, oh I don't even care, and you end up being angry at them and yourself. Lose, lose.

I think it would be useful to check if the person can address and accept their mistake - you won't be able to help them if they're not ready to help themselves, and to be able to help yourself overcome a problem, you firstly have to see and understand the problem. You work out the reason you decided to do things that way, you think about other ways you could have handled it, and you plan for next time. The key ingredients are patience, maturity, positivity and respect (I think respect in general; for yourselves, others and for the world including the mysterious*) so the sequence should be: acceptance, interest, desired outcome, define solution, action and then ultimate satisfaction! It's easier to go through these motions discussing with someone who's a good listener, but at the same time it's easy to be influenced by other people when you're feeling confused or any other powerful emotions, so sometimes it's good to think by yourself for a while - write things down, brainstorm, read.

Without being deluded, our mistakes can help us become more righteous. You must forgive yourself of your mistakes before you can learn from them. It is a great gift to be able to see the positives in a bad situation. Embrace the message that your guilt gives you but don't punish yourself continuously for it. Associate with the solution.



(going off on a bit of a tangent here but this is a good quote) * The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed." Albert Einstein

Help yourself

This song makes me really happy. Today I've got so much love, it's so cheesy but I have love for everyone (apart from really rotten eggs like Hitler but he's dead now so it's all good)