Scagnetti: an outback cookbook

Whilst away on my very recent road trip from Alice Springs to Sydney, Australia; my limited cooking efforts were boasted among the traveling group very early on in the adventure so suddenly l was allocated to dinner the first two nights. Without the usual stocked kitchen luxuries and appliances l managed to create my favourite dish in enough quantity to supply the tribe two nights in a row as well as create a beaming example of my chosen feast; a little more chunky than usual with the absence of a blender but we were camping after all.
In light of this achievement which when stacked next to the other success' of creating this dish in many a crummy share house before now l decided it was time to put this recipe online for all to see; those of you who know me well enough to have experienced a sit-down dinner at my discretion will be well familiar with this one.

SCAGNETTI

1 x brown onion
4 x garlic cloves
4 x bacon rashes
1kg of finest mince you can get your hands on

Cut it all up and throw in a large saucepan on a shallow bed of olive oil.
Stir the above ingredients in together at medium heat until the meat browns


add finely blended or chopped:

1 x 1/2 celery
1 x broccoli
3 x carrots
1 x red capsicum
1 x zucchini



add finely blended or chopped:

4 x field mushrooms


add:

6 x tomatoes finely chopped
1/2 bottle tomato paste
salt + pepper
pinch of white sugar

At this point, leave on a low heat for one hour, stirring gently every 2 to 5 minutes.
In this example the meal came served on a bed of large spiral pasta with different cheeses available on top as well as some extra salt and pepper should you choose.

Jim S

'Knightstale' performance 3/3

performance 3 of 3

'Knightstale'
NAS Stairwell Gallery, November 2007
filmed by Daniel Havas

Following the opening night of the NAS graduation show with 'The Tornadoes' performance, there was this last performance that culminated with my solo-exhibition 'Knightstale' of a separate body of work l had been developing at home that year which still tied in with my primary NAS studio-based series. 'Knightstale' in that sense was a fortunately timed and essential addition to my graduation, as explained in the previous post on 'The Tornadoes' l couldn't exhibit the studio-based work in the graduation show, hence the execution of that performance happened instead, this extra show however did allow me to exhibit some studio-based work in a solo show around the same time my degree was wrapping up.

The overall aesthetic and artistic investigation between home and the school studio rested on 'English Landscape' which via literature and visual art l was using as a metaphor for an environment that one has to pass through and explore, to reach one point from another. The realisation behind this theme was based on having navigated the degree, the learning involved with becoming an artist, the impressionable experiences that had occurred etc; the fact it was an 'English Landscape' was an aesthetic judgement fueled by the writers and artists l was especially influenced by at the time, Chaucer was a primary figure in developing the 'Knightstale' exhibition and performance.

'Knightstale' was opened by Daniel Corboy who read a poem of his own that reflected on my body of work and where Chaucer had fit in with bringing that specific show and performance to bear. As far as the exhibition space and even the placement of the works was concerned, lighting was a big factor for the show. As you'll see in the video the opening sequence is very dark as l only had the lighting system on the second floor running on the opening night and performance. The reason behind the lighting arrangement was to endorse the idea of a 'pilgrimage' l was about to make through the landscape (the exhibition and audience) from the darkness on the bottom floor (where the works were largely monocromatic or dark toned watercolour paintings) to the brightly lit setting on the floor above (where the works were colourful and vibrant). The self-induced struggle with making that journey, in which with only using my arms l pulled myself my body up two flights of stairs was demonstrative of that growing process into becoming an artist and reflected on the experience and length of time involved with completing my degree, as previously stated much the same inspiration behind the studio-based work created that year. As you will see towards the end of the video, exhausted at the conclusion of the performance l make a blurry summary of the intentions involved.

The placement of the performance coinciding with the exhibition opening will continue to be a preferred system for me. When explaining how performance works for me in regards to other artistic outlets, when placed within a formal and arranged environment such as a gallery i've always compared it to the live performance of a common band or music artist in unison with their studio experience. The studio process of writing and recording material for a musician is very similar i think to a visual artist similarly working in the studio in their preferred medium, naturally as the creative progression continues ideas and certain issues, losses and/or findings, can't always be resolved or even expressed through the singular studio format and i think for many musicians that's where the live experience is essential with encompassing the full spectrum of their ideas and aesthetics and maybe even how fundamentally they want their work to sound; performance upon the completion of a studio-based body of work, as an essential means of resolving or exploring further ideas and issues outside the studio, works in exactly the same way for me.

Jim S

'The Tornadoes' performance 2/3

performance 2 of 3

'The Tornadoes'
NAS Graduation Show, October 2007
filmed by Daniel Havas
ft. Tara Cook, Stephanie Zeritis

A different context here t0 my last post, but still teetering on the rebellious cause with this one at my National Art School (NAS) graduation show. This piece was conceived about six days before, when the studio work l had made during my final year in the Printmaking department proved to be a bit too difficult to exhibit within the small exhibiting confines of such a large-scale group show. Not wanting to present some other smaller pieces for the important showcase, the possibility of a performance was suggested from my lecturers which l quickly confirmed and slapped together. Despite the quick pace of operations, this performance remains one of my favourites and for me has the most solid building blocks for constructing where to go from here.

At a time when my performances were already (and would continue to be) informed by use of endurance and stressful, improvised, sometimes illegal conditions to reach that wits end and expose whatever truths needed exercising; l was at this time also writing heavily as well as listening to a lot of 60's proper and proto-Wall of Sound; Joe Meek and Phil Spector etc (the name of the performance was one of Meek's studio-created bands that performed one of his most accomplished hits; 'Telstar') with all these different elements involved, somehow it resulted in the construction of a very mechanical performance that incorporated music and poetry in a continuous loop sustained by physical stamina. This piece was the case of endurance powering towards a foreseeable outcome, which l think was a relief at the time when many times before the premise (either relying on endurance or not) had been to enter a space, perform an action and then see what happens..

Sydney now Melbourne artist Tara Cook helped out with this one by writing my current poems on the whiteboard in the background while my then-girlfriend's younger sister played music as l powered the metaphorical engine that sustained the work of my two assistants; each time l stopped rowing, the music would stop and the poetry would cease, as l started again; likewise the music and writing continued once more; naturally the target was to have my series of poems l supplied Tara complete by the time the evening was through; approximately two and half hours from the opening of the exhibition, l think l recall it being a success.

I've always viewed this piece as a much more progressive work that had a constructive process with a controllable outcome that relied more on the intensity to complete a task rather than to prove something to myself or others in a more shock-tactic way. While the task of writing the poetry had required mental stamina, the conditions during writing were sombre and peaceful; that was turned on it's head for this piece which required a lot of physical effort in a very exposed environment, but by presenting the poems on the white board for the audience to read, had the same purpose as the poems being written in the first place; to be shared and read. I continue to analyse this performance with how it could lend itself to more mature refined performances in the future and even with the music and live performance element stepped up which l'm easily capable of organising today.

Jim S

pics from that Revenant Party; Alexander Gambotto-Burke and the 'Sex Tape' Society

Revenant Party
30.06.11
Low 302, Surry Hills, Sydney Australia

Alexander Gambotto-Burke and the Sex Tape Society

pics by; jcphotographics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mca88/

'Head of the Nail' performance 1/3

l recently had some performance footage of three different works of mine from 2007 uploaded on Youtube: better late than never.. You'll find each of these next three posts serve as an explanation for it's corresponding video, which without any explanation as they previously existed on Youtube can be a bit misleading and the intricate plot lines l so carefully devised (at that especially young, pivotal age) tend to vanish.. still developing that side of things with performances to come. Several important performances took place in 2006 which due to lack of visual documentation will be missed here, all though my first performance that really did start it all for me; an intervention on Mike Parr's 'Amerika' (May 2006) will need to undergo some reflection, probably by the time i've written up the third and final entry.. Anyhow, these following three works demonstrate that while showing a development of the performance medium in my work at that time, which l was combining with poetry and a visual art practice (then undertaking my final year at National Art School) they would in fact by the following year be eclipsed by other artistic ventures. Aside from a few informal occasions, performance was more or less ceased for several years; l am by now looking to combine all these various directions over the past five, six years, hence having returned to examine some of these early works for what and how they existed at the time and where l can now continue and develop from them, with all that's been delved into since!

performance 1 of 3

'Head of the Nail'
Art Gallery of NSW, May 2007
filmed by Daniel Havas

By no means was this performance made with any input or clearance from the AGNSW but was instead (as would seem pretty obvious in the footage) suddenly executed on a regular Tuesday afternoon during the 2007 Archibald Prize. Entering the exhibition imitating and using the props to suggest that l was blind was a statement to suggest that l was entering an art exhibition but seeing nothing; the decision for that move came from a dissatisfaction with the exhibition's long standing factory-line of enormous Easter Island-scale heads, commonly over-refined to generate that photographic finish that so often begs the insane judgement commonly overheard; 'wow, it's such a great painting, it looks like just a photograph!' My decision to pick the Archibald came from the personal distaste with the syndrome it commonly places on artists; l had witnessed the bitter experience it plunged into the life of several of my NAS lecturers and the detrimental effect that had on teaching. That addictive state that the quest for the Archibald ensues; the tunnel vision confined further each year as the scent of a win is held just beyond the nose; the artist's entres and eventually their practice becomes increasingly governed by theories and hope of what the judging panel will prefer and the obvious resolution; the longer the artist continually stays in the game, eventually their tenacity will pay off and they'll receive that magic phone call..

All would be fine if the long haul to win was such an easy, un-egotistical, expectation free process but being far from that, the example of the Archibald has a way of dictating artist's careers; the prize, which if finally obtained seems to then result in a crisis of direction; where to and to what now that the Holy Grail has been possessed? I heard once that a true sign of an addicted gambler is in their winning expression, which despite what jackpot they've won, continues to remain sombre; the achievement of their win seems to almost pass them by unnoticed in reflection of their great preceding losses and years of unnecessary sacrifice to reach that moment.. Some of the 'Archibald Hunters' l had met by my early art school years reminded me of this.

So, having explained the context; l am by this time inside the exhibition, imitating that l'm blind strolling nervously towards the part of the exhibition where l plan to execute the next stage of the performance. Suddenly from inside my shoulder canvas bag l reveal a nail, hammer and scrunched up sheet of lined paper with a quick, purposely undeveloped portrait in biro pen, which in a matter of moments is nailed to the exhibition wall, amid a short burst of hammering that rattled like a machine-gun and literally froze everybody in the room to the spot; the feeling would have been similar when releasing a few shots to announce you're about to rob a bank..

The intention of using the hammer and releasing those loud cracks into the air that afternoon was very much to do, for example with firing a gun and resolving the incredible pressure built up by a number of factors to do with the performance; the mountain of built-up tension surrounding the prize, the anticipation of it's many entrants, the hype and it's high-profile status which in terms of publicity tends to still be met each year with a lot of conflicting reviews that do each year spell out the issues with the grand-scale photographic rendering etc, l think despite it's success there's a tension that builds up each year due it's unshifting tastes. As they successfully did l wanted the sound of my performance to ring through the halls of the show and present in a momentary form, a huge release of tension; a dramatised backlash.. fueled by the disastisfaction l personally felt having witnessed the aftermath of Archibald failure or post-winning delirium during my studies then. The exhibition became the object of an issue in the Australian art world that l wanted to comment on at that time, an enormous entity of bottled up criticism and respect, successful careers and buried careers that l was incredibly intrigued to (in my miniscule state) throw stones at and see what would happen; performance proved to be the medium for this one.

If you haven't already, hit the link and enjoy

Jim S

Chapter II

Sex Tape transcended from blog idea to musical reality on Thursday night (see event below) with some good feedback and a pinch of stress experience tied in with running the event as well as performing the first time with an artist who was also celebrating his first gig.. my contribution for this one came in the form of some oscillating swirls thanks to my Moog pedal bank and KP3 as well as backing vocals mainly for the chorus in each song.. it was a success and was pleasing to hear all the swirling analogue effects i've been carving away finally blasting through a decent PA system.





For now i'm looking to book a Sydney tour hiring out friend's bedrooms in the inner city to play very small, private solo bedroom shows. Working with the host, i'll create a small list of mutual friends (10-15 p) who are invited around for a 1/2 hour set which on completion will just dissolve into a normal gathering. Having completed recent artwork for Sydney bands The Preachers and The Walk On By i'll be on the hunt for some artwork business also to even out the Sex Tape productivity.

I came up with this short intro for the initiative:

'Sex Tape is Jim Shirlaw's open-ended musical and visual art mercenary service. Aimed at working with musicians, Sex Tape can provide musical or visual art reinforcement for your band or solo efforts. With the right settlement (applicable offers of trade are welcome) l am happy to work with anyone in the studio, and/or on stage for an agreed term; l can play with you or in your band, as well as create artwork for it; both options or neither!'

I've been wondering how to integrate Sex Tape into the name of a group/artist i'll be working with.. decided that instead of something generic and lumbersome ie '..... ft. Sex Tape' i'll ask all collaborators to either integrate the words 'Sex' 'Tape' or both words into the name of their title; you'll see example on the poster below in my previous entry 'AJGB and the Sex Tape Society'.


Jim S