The White Hat Melbourne Newsletter

Archived Newsletter No.87 - 9 July 2004

Contents

High Society
Children's activities
A walk through Chinatown
Concerts
Choreography
Skeptics
Exhibitions
Melbourne’s hidden gems
Markets

High Society

Several years ago, while the rest of the family was out recycling things and restoring river flows, Mrs Pratt decided to provide opportunities for local artists in the area of musical comedy. The Production Company was formed, and instead of incurring the expenses of a full-blown production, they often present high standard concert versions. And when the works are by the likes of Irving Berlin, or Cole Porter or Gershwin then the music is capable of sustaining itself. This week at the State Theatre they have a production of High Society.

If you like your sets and costumes you can always go to the Australian Ballet, if you like your singing and acting you can go to a Production Company performance, and if you don’t like any of these things you can stay home and watch The Bold & the Beautiful.

Children's activities

The winter possums program in the parks continues. There is also a Kidzexpo coming up. Details of these and other family activities at: Children in Melbourne.

A walk through Chinatown

Last weekend I was about to walk through Chinatown. Like numbers of others I often choose to use Cohen Lane because it has a large grating over a deep drain. It provides a good place of connection with the world one level below the streets. As I turned the corner, I was surprised to see a line of low frothy bubbles stretching the length of the lane.

A small group was standing admiring the sight and an enthusiastic young man detached himself and approached. “Isn’t it great? he said. “It’s only just been installed.”

“Ah – it’s conceptual art” I thought. Even though people like Duchamp were doing similar things 100 years ago, it only really took hold in oz around the 1970s. Some conceptual art back then was fresh and challenged people to look at things in different ways, but over time most became confined to an increasingly narrow world view. “I blame Gough” I thought.

"It provides a completely new way of looking at Melbourne” he said. “It was funded by the council’s laneway project” he said.

“Ah – it’s expensive conceptual art” I thought.

“You see” he said “people walk through Melbourne without ever thinking what’s under their feet”. I wondered if this group knows the purpose of the Hydraulic Service Power Department covers around here, or who the Bourke Street Rats were and how they got to Bourke Street and the escape tunnels from Parliament House. “You see” he went on, “the artist has created an installation that makes people think about what is under their feet for the first time”.

“Ah – it’s expensive conceptual art of the ‘revelation’ school” I thought. The revelation school believes that if something occurs to the artist for the first time then it has never occurred to anyone else before.

“Well?” said the young man expectantly.

“It made me think” I said.

He seemed pleased.

See Public Art in Melbourne for more information.

Concerts

People often ask us why we don’t have more about balalaikas in our newsletters. Well just to show that we listen you will find details of a balalaika concert at World Music in Melbourne.
 

Choreography

For those of you who like ballet except for the dancing bit, there is a conversation between three choreographers at the State Theatre. Admission is free, Details at Dance in Melbourne.

Skeptics

OK, I know that will automatically produce about 40 admonishments from the spelling mafia, but that’s the way they choose to spell it. The Australian Skeptics have released a DVD of the last conference. You send them your money and then have to rely entirely on faith that they will send you back the DVD.

Exhibitions

You can go with your friends to the exhibition of Impressionists at the gallery, or go clubbing and watch your friends’ impressions of exhibitionists. There is also a new exhibition at ACCA. If that isn’t to your taste you can search out the council’s art in the laneways projects. For instance in Hosiers Lane and off Centre Place you are likely to find examples of stencil art and cultural jamming. Cultural jamming is the technique of using images or icons from a given culture but changing the message conveyed. Much of what is being ‘jammed’ in the alleys is commercial and popular culture, but as none of us from White Hat has ever decided to immerse ourselves in commercial culture the messages are largely lost on us.

You won’t find any stencil artists on the street on Tuesday night however. The will all be off to the Atheist Society to listen to Peter Cuffe from Angst Theatrix lecturing on,The Cosmological Implications of Renaissance Art. Details at Workshops in Melbourne.

Melbourne's Hidden Gems

Melbourne’s lanes and alleys were rarely planned and offer quite a different experience from the broad main streets. Even the names are evocative – Racing Club Lane, Celestial Lane, Temperance Hall Lane, Romeo Alley, Juliet Alley and the notorious Gun Alley. Some may even remember a racehorse that was named after the lane where his owners would meet. Lanes come and go all the time in inner Melbourne and the new developments at the QV and Melbourne Central sites have created a number of new ones.

The alleys have always attracted a questionable section of society. There have even been rumours in recent years of a strange individual in the lanes talking to the bluestone.

As a result the city council has embarked on a multi-pronged approach to make the alleys safe and drive out the undesirables. They have installed blue lights to drive out the junkies, bright lights to drive out Gen-X looking for that hidden bar, employ cultural jamming to drive out the teenagers, play Gershwin and Cole Porter to drive out Gen-Y, use stencil art to drive out the baby boomers and then if anyone still makes it through this barrage they are likely to be confronted by a gang of enthusiastic art students anxious to explain the significance of the conceptual art installation. It’s got so that I am scared to venture down many alleys for fear of being culturally mugged.

However there are still a few lanes that the council hasn’t managed to denature – sorry, I mean render safe and attractive. You could try starting with Niagara Lane. The original warehouses from 1887 with their hoists above the doors are still there, although I’m not sure what the original owners would have thought of the twee window boxes which have been recently added. Niagara Lane is at its most atmospheric around dusk, and a little rain on the bluestone cobbles creates a scene where you wouldn’t be surprised to see Tulip Wright (Melbourne’s first policeman) come around the corner on his nightly rounds and grab a shadowy youth by the scruff of the neck. “You may call it art and a political statement son, but I call it graffiti. You’re coming down to the lockup in Collins Street with me.”

In some coming issues I might mention a number of my other favourite lanes and alleys.

Markets

Apart from the usual markets this weekend, there are farmers’ markets at Collingwood, Templestowe and Cardinia Ranges, monthly Saturday markets at Bentleigh, Glen Waverley, Werribee Racecourse, Bealiba and Moama (on the picturesque Murray River). There are also monthly Sunday markets at Blackburn (on the picturesque Box Hill railway line), Moonee Ponds, Mornington Racecourse, Ararat, Ballarat & Clunes.

Details of these markets can be found at Markets in Victoria or at the appropriate dates of the White Hat Calendar of Events.