Have You Seen The Giant Birthday Boob Turtle?




Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Skywhale_taking_off_May_2013.jpg/300px-Skywhale_taking_off_May_2013.jpg


In an article published on The Australian Newspaper website http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/skywhale-rises-above-the-culture-of-complaint/story-e6frg8n6-1226643360954, Robyn Archer, creative director of Centenary of Canberra, stated...

"To the dwindling few who reveal so little capacity to rise above the parochial, politicised, media-driven culture of complaint, I encourage them to get out and see the Skywhale next time it appears, and try to recover the precious power of imagination that allows wonder and curiosity into our lives."

Ms. Archer, my precious power of imagination is very well defined and nurtured. I have a natural curiosity for many varied and wonderful subjects. Art will always have the special ability to unite or divide people. I am enjoying my dislike of the birthday boob turtle. It has provided me with many enjoyable conversations, with both supporters and detractors.

If the balloon was revealed purely as a work of art, my powerful imagination would have been churning with wonder. It is a remarkable object, but to mark a cities 100th birthday, it's odd.

I stated in my previous rant about the Skywhale http://damo9876.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/is-it-bird-is-it-plane-no-its-just.html?m=0 that my concerns were due to the relevance of it for Canberra's centenary celebrations, and the fact that the Canberra public do not own it.

Archer says "When I suggested this medium to Patricia Piccinini, it came simply from my observation that Canberrans love hot air balloons... The connections to Canberra and its centenary year are obvious."

No, Robyn Archer, they are not. If they were, an "explanation" would not be required.

The article goes on to quote artist Patricia Piccinini - "Life came from the sea and morphed into hoofed creatures: some went back to the deep oceans, and adapted, like the whale mammal, to those conditions. What might have evolved had they taken to the air instead and adapted there?"

Oh, that's the Canberra connection...??? What an odd assertion.

Archer continues "The achievement is monumental: something new in hot-air balloon technology... challenging in design, manufacture and contractual complexities. This doesn't oblige everyone to like it, though hundreds of thousands do."

So we are not obliged to like the birthday boob turtle, but we need to recover our precious power of imagination...???

“The public was goaded to treat this new work of art as if it were part of a beauty or popularity contest,” she said. “This raises serious questions for those who champion the arts: when did the public start insisting that all art be ‘beautiful’?”

It is beautiful. It is wondrous. It is charming.

But I still don't like it.

I am free to do so, without being labelled as having "little capacity to rise above the parochial, politicised, media-driven culture of complaint."

Some content sourced from:  http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-centenary/drawn-to-archer-vision-artist-cut-fee-20130516-2joa3.html#ixzz2TVymJoRz



Picture:  http://www.thatshouldbemine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/SkyWhale.jpg



Which bank annoys me? ANZ does...

I have always had an apprehension towards banks, any bank.

It's clear that they are not interested in me as a person, just how much money they can make out of me.

I have been with the ANZ since mid 1991.  I hate to think how much money I have paid on account fees, over limit fees etc., since that time.

It was only as recent as 2011/2012 that ANZ reduced the "fee" imposed for going over the limit on my credit card.  This seems to have resulted from a class action, some of which is detailed below...

The claim against the ANZ, which will be a template for the other actions, alleges that exception fees are fees incurred as a result of a breach of contract by the customer which are more than a reasonable pre-estimate of the actual cost to the bank of that breach.

On Monday 5 December 2011, the Federal Court of Australia found in favour of ANZ account holders who were charged late credit card fees.

Source: http://www.mauriceblackburn.com.au/areas-of-practice/class-actions/current-class-actions/bank-fees-class-action.aspx

So a win of sorts there I guess, but they still want MORE.  I realise that is the point of business, but when is it enough already?

For the six months to March 31, ANZ’s cash profit jumped 10 per cent to $3.18 billion despite lacklustre credit income growth.

Source:  http://www.theage.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/job-cuts-boost-anz-profit-20130430-2iqdl.html#ixzz2TEswVdhS

They clearly want to make more money from me.

From July 2012, amendments to credit legislation mean that ANZ (and others I presume) cannot send written invitations to apply for a credit limit increase on their account(s) without their consent.

They sent me this letter at the end of April...

They cannot send me invitations to increase my credit limit, but they CAN send me a letter saying they need my permission to allow them to send me a letter to increase my credit limit!

The first line of the letter says "our records show that you do not wish to receive marketing material from ANZ."  That's correct.  Why am I receiving this one then?

It seems there is a technicality that allows them to do this.

Is this letter different from marketing?  I don't think so.

It's annoying and cheeky.

To the ANZ I will say you are lucky I need a bank account to function, or it'd be adios to your nonsense.

A pointless rant, but I do feel a little bit better now...

 

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s just weird and dumb…

Picutre: AAP

This monstrosity was hovering in the skies of Canberra on Saturday morning.

It has created a lot of conversation in the capital, and nationally too.  Comments range from "I love it!" to "What the fuck is that?"

Commissioned to commemorate and celebrate Canberra's centenary, many people objected, particularly to the lack of relevance or connection to Canberra.

Artist Patricia Piccinini explained it like this...

"I think that's confounding for people because they don't know what the creature is, but secondly they don't know if it's an artwork or what it's trying to do," she said.

"My question is what if evolution went a different way and instead of going back into the sea, from which they came originally, they went into the air and we evolved a nature that could fly instead of swim."

Picture : zimbio.com

"In fact coming from a place like Canberra where it's a planned city that's really tried to integrate and blend in with the natural environment, it makes a lot of sense to make this sort of huge, gigantic, but artificial and natural-looking creature."

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-10/skywhale-could-cost-up-to-300k/4681892

That sounds like a lot of hot air to me - if the artist can't explain it well, what hope is there for the rest of us?

Perhaps Robyn Archer, Canberra Centenary Creative Director, can enlighten us as to the Canberra connection?

"The connection with the centenary is 'look at how many amazing people Canberra has produced over these years'."

Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/why-whale-over-an-ugly-turtle-full-of-hot-air/story-fni0cwl5-1226640612585

Um…  OK…  What?

Picture: DamoP

Viewing it from my balcony on Saturday morning didn’t help me to appreciate it any better.  It is simply weird and dumb.  I am not offering any alternatives to the Skywhale.  Art will always receive many wide and varied opinions.  Each of us will decide if we like it or not.

My main complaint lies at the cost - $300,000! Cheap for art some would say, but I’m not so sure.

The fact that Canberra citizens don’t own the commissioned "art" (it belongs to a Melbourne business, Global Ballooning) is also weird and dumb.

Why should we foot the bill for someone else to hold ownership?

The Canberra Times reported that “more than 200 people turned out to watch [the] balloon take its maiden flight."

Source: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/skywhale-takes-off-20130511-2jejt.html

That amounts to $1500 per “viewer”.  Money well spent?  I think not.

The only positive spin I can muster is that it’s got people talking; talking about art; talking about Canberra.

I suppose Jackson Pollock’s “Blue Poles” was hated when it was first unveiled. 

Let’s see if the Skywhale flies tall in 40 years’ time.