Search

Placeholder Content Image

Young WA cop dies at his own engagement party

<p>A Western Australian police officer has tragically passed away following a freak accident at his own engagement party. </p> <p>Senior Constable Liam Trimmer, 29, and his fiancee had gathered with family and friends to celebrate their upcoming marriage, when Trimmer fell and cut a carotid artery in his neck, leading him to bleed out.</p> <p>While they did everything they could to save him and provide first aid, Trimmer tragically passed away before paramedics arrived. </p> <p>"Everything was done to try and save him but it wasn't to be and I know everyone that was involved are really, really hurting. I think they wish they could just wake up from this nightmare," Commissioner Col Blanch told <em>9News</em>. </p> <p>"This extraordinary officer loved helping the community and was a fine example of WA policing and it's just such a tragedy.</p> <p>"(He was) a very, very confident, capable young man with his whole life ahead of him, and that's how sad this is."</p> <p>The senior constable moved to Australia from the UK in 2013 and graduated from Joondalup Police Academy that same year. </p> <p>He then moved to Kalgoorlie in 2017 where he joined the Gang Crime Squad and the tactical response group.</p> <p>The police union have also paid tribute to the senior constable.</p> <p>"Every time a death occurs for a police officer, it doesn't matter how it really does rock the core of the Blue family," WA Police Union President Paul Gale said.</p> <p>The welfare and safety division will provide support to those impacted by this tragedy and police will prepare a report for the coroner. </p> <p><em>Images: 9News</em></p>

Legal

Placeholder Content Image

The art of ‘getting lost’: how re-discovering your city can be an antidote to capitalism

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stephen-dobson-1093706">Stephen Dobson</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a></em></p> <p>Do you remember what it was like to discover the magic of a city for the first time? Do you remember the noises, smells, flashing lights and pulsating crowds? Or do you mostly remember cities through the screen of your phone?</p> <p>In 1967, French philosopher and filmmaker Guy Debord <a href="https://files.libcom.org/files/The%20Society%20of%20the%20Spectacle%20Annotated%20Edition.pdf">publicised the need</a> to move away from living our lives as bystanders continually tempted by the power of images. Today, we might see this in a young person flicking from one TikTok to the next – echoing the hold images have on us. But adults aren’t adverse to this window-shopping experience, either.</p> <p>Debord notes we have a tendency to observe rather than engage. And this is to our detriment. Continually topping-up our image consumption leaves no space for the unplanned – the reveries to break the pattern of an ordered life.</p> <p>Debord was a member of a group called the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Situationist-International">Situationist International</a>, dedicated to new ways we could reflect upon and experience our cities. Active for about 15 years, they believed we should experience our cities as an act of resistance, in direct opposition to the (profit-motivated) capitalistic structures that demand our attention and productivity every waking hour.</p> <p>More than 50 years since the group dissolved, the Situationists’ philosophy points us to a continued need to attune ourselves – through our thoughts and senses – to the world we live in. We might consider them as early eco-warriors. And through better understanding their philosophy, we can develop a new relationship with our cities today.</p> <h2>Understanding the ‘situation’</h2> <p>The Situationist International movement was <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt183p61x">formed</a> in 1957 in Cosio di Arroscia, Italy, and became active in several European countries. It brought together radical artists inspired by spontaneity, experimentalism, intellectualism, protest and hedonism. Central figures included Danish artist <a href="https://museumjorn.dk/en/">Asger Jorn</a>, French novelist <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/author/michele-bernstein-10219/">Michèle Bernstein</a> and Italian musician and composer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Olmo">Walter Olmo</a>.</p> <p>The Situationists were driven by a <a href="https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/34141">libertarian form of Marxism</a> that resisted mass consumerism. One of the group’s early terms was “unitary urbanism”, which sought to join avant-garde art with the critique of mass production and technology. They rejected “urbanism’s” conventional emphasis on function, and instead thought about art and the environment as inexorably interrelated.</p> <p>By rebelling against the invasiveness of consumption, the Situationists proposed a turn towards artistically-inspired individuality and creativity.</p> <h2>Think on your own two feet</h2> <p>According to the 1960 <a href="https://hts3.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/situationist-international-manifesto.pdf">Situationist Manifesto</a> we are all to be artists of our own “situations”, crafting independent identities as we stand on our own two feet. They believed this could be achieved, in part, through “<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/psychogeography#:%7E:text=Psychogeography%20describes%20the%20effect%20of,emotions%20and%20behaviour%20of%20individuals">psychogeography</a>”: the idea that geographical locations exert a unique psychological effect on us.</p> <p>For instance, when you walk down a street, the architecture around you may be deliberately designed to encourage a certain kind of experience. Crossing a vibrant city square on a sunny morning evokes joy and a feeling of connection with others. There’s also usually a public event taking place.</p> <p>The Situationists valued drift, or <em>dérive</em> in French. This alludes to unplanned movement through a landscape during journeys on foot. By drifting aimlessly, we unintentionally redefine the traditional rules imposed by private or public land owners and property developers. We make ourselves open to the new unexpected and, in doing so, are liberated from the shackles of everyday routine.</p> <p>In <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-10-8100-2">our research</a>, my colleagues and I consider cities as places in which “getting lost” means exposing yourself to discovering the new and taken-for-granted.</p> <h2>Forge your own path</h2> <p>By understanding the Situationists – by looking away from our phones and allowing ourselves to get lost – we can rediscover our cities. We can see them for what they are beneath the blankets of posters, billboards and advertisements. How might we take back the image and make it work for us?</p> <p>The practise of geo-tagging images on social media, and sharing our location with others, could be considered close to the spirit of the Situationists. Although it’s often met with claims of <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/when-why-not-to-use-geotagging-overtourism-security">over-fuelling tourism</a> (especially regarding idyllic or otherwise protected sites), geo-tagging could <a href="https://www.melaninbasecamp.com/trip-reports/2019/5/1/five-reasons-why-you-should-keep-geotagging">inspire us</a> to actively seek out new places through visiting the source of an image.</p> <p>This could lead to culturally respectful engagement, and new-found respect for the rights of traditional custodians as we experience their lands in real life, rather than just through images on our phones.</p> <p>Then there are uniquely personal and anarchistic forms of resistance, wherein we can learn about the world around us by interweaving ourselves with our histories. In doing so we offer a new meaning to a historical message, and a new purpose. The Situationists called this process <em><a href="https://www.theartstory.org/movement/situationist-international/">détournement</a></em>, or hijacking.</p> <p>For instance, from my grandfather I inherited a biscuit tin of black and white photographs I believe were taken in the 1960s. They showed images of parks and wildlife, perhaps even of the same park, and cityscapes of London with people, streets and buildings.</p> <p>I have spent many hours wandering the London streets tracking down the exact places these images were snapped. I was juxtaposing past with present, and experiencing both continuity and change in the dialogues I had with my grandfather. In this way, I used images to augment (rather than replace) my lived experience of the material world.</p> <p>Urban art installations can also be examples of detournment as they make us re-think everyday conceptions. <a href="https://www.cityartsydney.com.au/artwork/forgotten-songs/">Forgotten Songs</a> by Michael Hill is one such example. A canopy of empty birdcages commemorates the songs of 50 different birds once heard in central Sydney, but which are now lost due to habitat removal as a result of urban development.</p> <p>There are also a number of groups, often with a strong environmental or civic rights focus, that partake in detournment. <a href="https://popularresistance.org/dancing-revolution-how-90s-protests-used-rave-culture-to-reclaim-the-streets/">Reclaim the Streets</a> is a movement with a long history in Australia. The group advocates for communities having ownership of and agency within public spaces. They may, for instance, “invade” a highway to throw a “<a href="https://pasttenseblog.files.wordpress.com/2022/02/road-rave.pdf">road rave</a>” as an act of reclamation.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bUL0C_T-Sqk?wmode=transparent&amp;start=999" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>As French avant-garde philosopher <a href="https://www.themarginalian.org/2014/07/24/the-poetics-of-reverie-gaston-bachelard/">Gaston Bachelard</a> might have put it, when we’re bombarded by images there is no space left to daydream. We lose the opportunity to explore and question the world capitalism serves us through images.</p> <p>Perhaps now is a good time to set down the phone and follow in the Situationists’ footsteps. <!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221606/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stephen-dobson-1093706"><em>Stephen Dobson</em></a><em>, Professor and Dean of Education and the Arts, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-art-of-getting-lost-how-re-discovering-your-city-can-be-an-antidote-to-capitalism-221606">original article</a>.</em></p>

Travel Tips

Placeholder Content Image

Climate activists throw soup at Mona Lisa

<p>Two climate change activists have hurled soup at the bullet-proof glass protecting Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic painting, the Mona Lisa, at the Louvre Museum in Paris. </p> <p>On Sunday morning, local time, a video posted on social media showed two women throwing red and orange soup onto the glass protecting the painting to the shock of bystanders. </p> <p>The incident came amid days of protests by French farmers across the country demanding better pay, taxes, and regulations.</p> <p>The two women, with the words "FOOD RIPOSTE" or "Food Counterattack" written on their T-shirts,  managed to pass under the security barrier and stood in front of the painting, while shouting slogans for a sustainable food system.</p> <p>“What is more important? Art or the right to healthy and sustainable food?” they asked. </p> <p>“Your agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work,” they added, before the security put black panels in front of the painting, and asked visitors to evacuate the space. </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="fr">ALERTE - Des militantes pour le climat jettent de la soupe sur le tableau de La Joconde au musée du Louvre. <a href="https://twitter.com/CLPRESSFR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CLPRESSFR</a> <a href="https://t.co/Aa7gavRRc4">pic.twitter.com/Aa7gavRRc4</a></p> <p>— CLPRESS / Agence de presse (@CLPRESSFR) <a href="https://twitter.com/CLPRESSFR/status/1751538762687893894?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2024</a></p></blockquote> <p>On its website, the "Food Riposte" group said that the French government is breaking its climate commitments, and they demanded a state-sponsored health care system to be put in to give people better access to healthy food, while providing farmers with a decent income. </p> <p>The protests comes after the French government announced a series of measures for agricultural workers on Friday, which they believe do not fully address their demands. </p> <p><em>Image: Twitter</em><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"> </span></p>

Legal

Placeholder Content Image

Embracing the art of beauty without compromise

<p dir="ltr">When it comes to trying out the latest makeup products, people with sensitivities are often left behind. </p> <p dir="ltr">Whether it’s sensitive skin or allergies, makeup users can often find products that work for them and their limitations. </p> <p dir="ltr">But when it comes to having sensitive eyes, there are very few options for those who still want to partake in applying makeup. </p> <p dir="ltr">In answer to this gap in the market, an Australian ophthalmologist has developed a game-changing product that can give everyone the long lashes they deserve, even if they suffer from eye sensitivities. </p> <p dir="ltr">Enter: OKKIYO. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0xoSFPvHhl/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0xoSFPvHhl/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Beauty + Makeup for Sensitive Eyes - OKKIYO™️ (@okkiyoeyes)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The OKKIYO Eye-Care collection was crafted with expertise by Dr. Jacqueline Beltz, with each product being the perfect blend of aesthetics and eye health. </p> <p dir="ltr">The range offers meticulously formulated products to beautify sensitive eyes, ensuring you don't just look good but also feel great.</p> <p dir="ltr">From the transformative PRIORITEYES Mascara to the gentle Sensiteyes Cleansing System, every item is a promise of quality, safety, and confidence.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cvd68g8tBWE/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cvd68g8tBWE/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Beauty + Makeup for Sensitive Eyes - OKKIYO™️ (@okkiyoeyes)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The <a href="https://www.okkiyo.com/products/protect-and-preserve-mascara">PRIORITEYES Mascara</a> is crafted with natural ingredients that will protect your eyes, while still doing all the things you want a mascara to do. </p> <p dir="ltr">The mascara is tailored for those with sensitive eyes, ensuring a comfortable, irritation-free experience, making it the perfect blend of medical-grade care and cosmetic elegance.</p> <p dir="ltr">Its clean formula boasts over 90% natural ingredients, including nourishing Australian Manuka honey and rejuvenating citrus extracts, while also promising no smudging, lasting through watery eyes and eye drops, all while being a breeze to remove.</p> <p dir="ltr">Another feature of the OKKIYO mascara is its accessible packaging, as the square tube prevents the product from rolling away and out of sight, with the tube also featuring braille, so those with low vision can identify the product. </p> <p dir="ltr">When it comes to removing eye makeup, cleansing the eyelid margins is one of the most important steps in looking after the delicate eye area, especially if you have sensitive eyes. </p> <p dir="ltr">Thankfully, <a href="https://www.okkiyo.com/products/okkiyo-cleansing-cloth">OKKIYO cleansing cloths</a> effectively remove all traces of eye make-up as well as any dried oil, bacteria and skin cells from the lashes and lids, all while being good for the environment. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C14D7OrvSYd/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C14D7OrvSYd/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Beauty + Makeup for Sensitive Eyes - OKKIYO™️ (@okkiyoeyes)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The reusable muslin cloths cleanse the lid margins allowing the oil glands to function properly, producing tears that naturally desensitise the eyes. </p> <p dir="ltr">OKKIYO is the first Australian beauty brand to cater to the over 2.2 billion people in the world with low vision, and now, after three years in the making, the OKKIYO range is available exclusively at <a href="http://www.okkiyo.com.au/">www.okkiyo.com.au</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">A proportion of profits from each OKKIYO sale will go to supporting Aboriginal Eye Health, improvements for people with low vision and general eye health research.</p> <p dir="ltr">Given the ophthalmologist-created and tested formula, those with eye sensitivities no longer have to choose between protecting their vision and looking fabulous thanks to the revolutionary OKKIYO system. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-5dc0b4d6-7fff-4672-607b-3530170c75c6"></span></p>

Beauty & Style

Placeholder Content Image

2023 Drone Photo Awards fly high as winners are revealed

<p dir="ltr">The winners of the 2023 Drone Photo Awards have been announced, with photographers all around the world recognised for their commitment to aerial photography in the fierce international competition.</p> <p dir="ltr">Thousands of submissions were received for the annual contest across nine different categories: photo of the year, urban, wildlife, sport, people, nature, abstract, wedding, series, and video. </p> <p dir="ltr">The Drone Photo Awards are open to both aerial photography and video, with platforms including “fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, balloons, blimps and dirigibles, rockets, kites, and parachutes.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The competition’s top award, Photo of the Year, went to a shot by Israeli photographer Or Adar. </p> <p dir="ltr">His submission, ‘Must resist’, presents the image of “protesters holding banners during a demonstration again Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plans” from an aerial perspective, capturing the moment in Tel Aviv when “tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Israeli cities for the ninth straight week, on Saturday March 4th, to fight a government plan to overhaul the country's court system.” </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">🏆“𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑” 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 🏆</p> <p>Congrats to Or Adar for his stunning image “Must resist”. 👏👏👏<a href="https://t.co/leaZw2sazu">https://t.co/leaZw2sazu</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sienawards?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sienawards</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/dronephotoawards?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#dronephotoawards</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/photocontest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#photocontest</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/dronephotography?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#dronephotography</a> <a href="https://t.co/pyReGOTMC9">pic.twitter.com/pyReGOTMC9</a></p> <p>— Siena Awards (@SIPAContest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SIPAContest/status/1671458317472866313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Polish photographer Sebastian Piórek took home the win in the Urban category for his shot of Chorzów in southern Poland, which was described by The Siena Awards as a photo that “beautifully juxtaposes the colourful ambiance and harmony of the playground against the backdrop of the city.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Indian photographer Danu Paran won the Wildlife category with his shot of a napping elephant, where “the elephant’s grey and wrinkled skin perfectly merges with the natural landscape, creating a harmonious composition that showcases the beauty of wildlife.”</p> <p dir="ltr">French photographer David Machet won for Sport with his photo of tightrope walker Nathan Paulin in the French Alps, as Paulin traversed a ‘highline’ almost 2.5 km in the air. </p> <p dir="ltr">The People category went to British photographer Simon Heather’s picture of people in Portugal enjoying a sunny day by the sea, while the Series award went to American photographer George Steinmetz for his photo series of farmland.</p> <p dir="ltr">Indian photographer Thomas Vijayan took home the Nature award for his photo of Svalbard, with Vijayan sharing that “it was surprisingly sad to see that the ice had already melted in June, and we were able to reach the ice cap with our ship.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The Abstract winner was Spanish photographer Ignacio Medem for a shot demonstrating how drought and poor water resource management has impacted a river in the American West.</p> <p dir="ltr">Polish photographer Krzysztof Krawczyk found success in the Wedding category, with his snap of newlyweds on a boat in the middle of a lake, while “they are enveloped by voluminous clouds and surrounded by thousands of dry leaves, resembling stars and creating gentle waves.”</p> <p dir="ltr">And last but not least, Bashir Abu won the Video category with “Why I Travel the World Alone”.</p> <p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z6t4y3A28uA" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p dir="ltr">And for anyone hoping to check the winners out for themselves, Adar’s image - as well as the top photographs from the other winning categories - will be available for viewing in the Above Us Only Sky exhibition set to take place for the first time at Italy’s San Galgano Abbey from July 8 to November 19. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Drone Photo Awards</em></p>

Art

Placeholder Content Image

Mining tycoon's father dies aged 95

<p>Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest's father, Donald Forrest, peacefully passed away at their ancestral Western Australian home at the age of 95 on a Sunday morning.</p> <p>In a heartfelt obituary, the Forrest family shared, "Don passed away peacefully in his sleep, knowing he was with people and places he loved."</p> <p>“We all wish him well in his onward journey.</p> <p>“He goes with the love, deep affection and enduring memories of all those whose lives his 95-year history has embraced.</p> <p>“His legacy will be cherished by all who knew him.”</p> <p>Donald was remembered as a “loving husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, stepfather, uncle and patriarch”.</p> <p>The family will host his funeral on Sunday October 1 “at his beloved Minderoo Station”, which has been in the family for four generations and is located in WA’s Pilbara region.</p> <p>A memorial service will be held in Perth afterwards for family and friends unable to attend his funeral. </p> <p>The Forrest patriarch is survived by his wife Marie, sons David and Andrew and daughter Jane.</p> <p>The sad news comes just two months after Andrew announced his <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/australia-s-richest-couple-call-it-quits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shock split</a> from his wife of 31 years, Nicola. </p> <p>Andrew and Nicola, who are known as Australia's richest couple, have <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/the-real-reason-behind-australia-s-richest-couple-s-split" target="_blank" rel="noopener">insisted </a>that the divorce won't affect the direction of their mining empire or philanthropic interests. </p> <p><em>Image: Getty </em></p>

Caring

Placeholder Content Image

Women's fitness group praised for stopping man from allegedly drowning his son

<p>In a heart-pounding moment of courage and quick thinking, a group of women in an outdoor fitness class have rescued a 5-year-old boy after his father allegedly tried to drown him. </p> <p>The alleged incident occurred at the Dampier foreshore, in the remote region of Pilbara Western Australia. </p> <p>Police allege that the 26-year-old man drove his four-wheel drive into the ocean, before repeatedly forcing the child's head under water. </p> <p>The group of women intervened and helped save the child, with one believed to have punched the man several times, injuring her hand in the process according to the<em> Sydney Morning Herald</em>.</p> <p>WA Police have praised the “bravery” of the community members, who allegedly hit the man until he released the child. </p> <p>“Without their involvement, their courage and their bravery to get involved, it could have ended a lot worse,” WA Police spokesman told <em>ABC Pilbara</em>.</p> <p>“They responded without hesitation and contacted the police.”</p> <p>Emergency services were called to the foreshore around 6am on Monday, with the man arrested shortly after. </p> <p>The five-year-old child was taken to the hospital for assessment but is believed to be uninjured. </p> <p><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">The 26-year-old man from Nickol </span>has since been charged with a number of offences, including attempting unlawfully to kill,  two counts of assault with intent to commission a crime, reckless driving and one account of no authority to drive (never held). </p> <p>He was refused bail and will appear in Karratha Magistrate’s Court at a later date. </p> <p><em>Image: news.com.au</em></p>

Legal

Placeholder Content Image

Artist creates amazing images of celebrities with their younger selves

<p>A talented artist has taken a step back in time by capturing photos of older celebrities with their younger selves.</p> <p>Dutch designer Ard Gelinck has helped fans envision what their favourite A-listers looked like when reunited with their past selves by cleverly photoshopping images together. </p> <p>The photos, which depict stars embracing their younger selves in different settings, show how these celebs have aged throughout the years while their careers have skyrocketed. </p> <p>The digital creator combines existing photos of famous faces into one seamless “then and now” shot, revealing how they’ve aged over time.</p> <p>The series of photos showcase celebrities such as Bruce Springsteen, Boy George, Madonna, Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone and many more. </p> <p>The artist also featured celebrities that have died, including Robin Williams, George Michael and Tony Bennett, giving fans a trip down memory lane. </p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram</em></p>

Art

Placeholder Content Image

Turtles on the tarmac could delay flights at Western Sydney airport

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ricky-spencer-158597">Ricky Spencer</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/deborah-bower-283709">Deborah Bower</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-new-england-919">University of New England</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/james-van-dyke-351841">James Van Dyke</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/la-trobe-university-842">La Trobe University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-b-thompson-351796">Michael B. Thompson</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/richard-thomas-1451841">Richard Thomas</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a></em></p> <p>Amid the controversy surrounding <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-27/western-sydney-airport-flight-paths-made-public/102524808">preliminary flight paths</a> for <a href="https://www.westernsydneyairport.gov.au/">Western Sydney’s new airport</a>, another potential challenge is looming: turtles on the tarmac.</p> <p>The land surrounding Sydney’s newest airport is prime nesting area for native turtles. This may create problems for the airport’s operations.</p> <p>Turtle invasions at airports are not unprecedented. In recent years, a freshwater turtle was found wandering around <a href="https://m.facebook.com/SydneyAirport/photos/a.302787769759897/2906361926069122/?type=3&amp;locale=zh_CN">Sydney Airport</a>, which is built on Botany Bay. In 2021, a turtle strolling across a runway in Japan <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/28/turtle-slow-moving-reptile-delays-five-planes-at-japan-airport">delayed five planes</a>. A few years earlier, a passenger plane <a href="https://qcostarica.com/turtle-shuts-down-limon-airport/">aborted takeoff</a> because a 1.5m leatherback turtle was on the runway. And at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, employees <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/644989/nyc-airport-gets-barrier-to-protect-runway-from-armoured-short-slow-moving-turtle-threat/">carried 1,300 turtles</a> off the tarmac in one nesting season alone.</p> <p>Our expertise spans zoology, conservation biology and ecology. We know individual freshwater turtles can wander well beyond their wetland habitat into areas where they pose a risk to aviation safety, if proper planning is not in place. We urge authorities to incorporate turtle-friendly features into the airport’s design and make contingency plans for these remarkable reptiles.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vHbM3ytHKdA?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption><span class="caption">Western Sydney airport: construction is well underway.</span></figcaption></figure> <h2>Western Sydney airport is turtle nesting habitat</h2> <p>Freshwater turtles face an <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982220306369">uncertain future</a>. Their numbers in Australia are <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-39096-3">declining</a>. Globally, more than half of all freshwater turtle species face <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)30636-9">extinction</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/zo/zo17065">Collisions with vehicles</a> are a main cause of death for adult freshwater turtles across south-eastern Australia. And data collected through the <a href="https://1millionturtles.com">1 Million Turtles</a> citizen science tool <a href="https://TurtleSAT.org.au">TurtleSAT</a> reveals Western Sydney is a roadkill hotspot.</p> <p>Wetlands, including the area around the new airport at Badgerys Creek, serve as prime nesting habitat. Citizen science data also feeds into our world-first predictive <a href="https://emydura6.users.earthengine.app/view/predicted-nests-and-water-bodies">nest mapping tool</a>, which confirms Sydney’s newest airport is prime nesting area for both long- and short-neck turtles.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535185/original/file-20230703-213604-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535185/original/file-20230703-213604-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=537&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535185/original/file-20230703-213604-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=537&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535185/original/file-20230703-213604-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=537&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535185/original/file-20230703-213604-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=675&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535185/original/file-20230703-213604-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=675&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535185/original/file-20230703-213604-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=675&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Left, hotspots of turtle roadkill in Western Sydney. Right, predicting turtle nesting areas at Western Sydney airport.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">TurtleSAT and 1 Million Turtles</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>Turtles nest throughout the airport district from November to January. Given the number of wetlands and the extent of cleared, open vegetation, turtles can be expected to emerge from the water and traverse the entire area during this period.</p> <p>Between nesting seasons, eastern long-necked turtles often move between wetlands on rainy days.</p> <p>Redirecting turtles away from runways (and roads) is a challenging but feasible task. It requires proactive planning, integration of turtle-friendly design elements, and recognition of their significance in environmental impact assessments.</p> <p>Construction of the Western Sydney airport involved filling in streams and farm dams. The Environmental Impact Statement for the project, released in 2016, <a href="https://www.westernsydneyairport.gov.au/sites/default/files/WSA-EIS-Volume-2a-Chapter-16-Biodiversity.pdf">recognised</a> the threat to turtles. To mitigate the impact on aquatic animals generally, the proponents planned to salvage and relocate them to nearby habitats deemed suitable.</p> <p>A spokesperson for Western Sydney airport, contacted for comment on this story, said all of the required wildlife and risk management procedures would be in place when the airport opens in late 2026. She said the turtle habitat was well outside of the airport site, so the risk of turtles on the runway was negligible.</p> <p>But around the airport, many streams and wetlands remain. So we believe there’s still a chance turtles will enter the airport grounds and, potentially, walk onto runways.</p> <h2>Turtles at the crossroads</h2> <p>Turtles are often little more than an afterthought in hectic construction plans and timetables. Wetlands are often filled in and roads built without any thought to wildlife crossings.</p> <p>Our study of the wetlands of Western Sydney, and the corridor between north-western and south-western Sydney, found up to 25% of wetlands were lost <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.22.12736">in the last decade alone</a>.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=754&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=754&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=754&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=948&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=948&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=948&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="A map showing the change in western Sydney wetland surface area between 2010 and 2017 by local government area" /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">Change in western Sydney wetland surface area between 2010 and 2017 by local government area: more than 1% increase (green), 0-10% decrease (orange), more than 10% decrease (red).</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harriet Gabites</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>While groups such as <a href="https://www.wildconservation.com.au/turtle-rescues-nsw/">Turtle Rescue NSW</a> can relocate wildlife such as turtles, eels and fish, many animals die when streams and wetlands are <a href="https://www.westernsydneyairport.gov.au/sites/default/files/WSA-EIS-Volume-2a-Chapter-16-Biodiversity.pdf">drained and filled</a> during development.</p> <p>Western Sydney’s new airport offers an opportunity to break this pattern. Construction has passed the half-way mark but it’s not too late to incorporate turtle-friendly infrastructure such as <a href="https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1466&amp;context=theses">specialised underpasses</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wlb3.01012">fencing</a> to guide these slow-paced wanderers away from high-risk areas. We also need monitoring programs to check interventions are working and identify any problems along the way.</p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/our-turtle-program-shows-citizen-science-isnt-just-great-for-data-it-makes-science-feel-personal-155142">Our research</a> emphasises education and awareness campaigns foster a culture of understanding and respect. This is important to ensure the long-term survival of turtles in the region.</p> <h2>It’s not too late for Western Sydney’s turtles</h2> <p>We must prioritise turtle-friendly design and integrate turtles into environmental impact assessments for major developments.</p> <p>The likely presence of turtles on runways at Western Sydney’s new airport warrants immediate attention. The project and its network of major roads are a chance to demonstrate how major urban infrastructure and wildlife can coexist harmoniously.</p> <hr /> <p><em>We acknowledge the vital contribution of Western Sydney University masters student Harriet Gabites to research on the turtles of Western Sydney and this article.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208930/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ricky-spencer-158597">Ricky Spencer</a>, Associate Professor of Ecology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/deborah-bower-283709">Deborah Bower</a>, Associate Professor in Zoology and Ecology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-new-england-919">University of New England</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/james-van-dyke-351841">James Van Dyke</a>, Associate Professor in Biomedical Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/la-trobe-university-842">La Trobe University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-b-thompson-351796">Michael B. Thompson</a>, Emeritus Professor in Zoology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/richard-thomas-1451841">Richard Thomas</a>, Senior lecturer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a></em></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/turtles-on-the-tarmac-could-delay-flights-at-western-sydney-airport-208930">original article</a>.</p>

Domestic Travel

Placeholder Content Image

The art of meditation

<p>Meditation is essentially relaxation time and is based on the art of focusing 100 per cent of your attention on one thing. The practice comes with many health benefits including increased concentration, decreased anxiety and improved mental and physical health.</p> <p>While it can be challenge to set aside regular meditation time, the benefits you gain in as little as five minutes will soon have you looking forward to your “me” time.</p> <p>Here are some tips to help you get the most out of it.</p> <p><strong>Choose a convenient time.</strong> You can meditate any time, whether you’re already feeling relaxed or need to de-stress. The best time is when you’re not likely to be disturbed and are free to relax. Sunrise and sunset are ideal, particularly first thing in the morning – it is quieter, your mind isn’t filled with the usual clutter, and there’s less chance you’ll be disturbed.</p> <p><strong>Choose a quiet place.</strong> Quiet, peaceful surroundings can make meditation more enjoyable and relaxing. But the good news is that as you progress, you’ll learn to ignore any interruptions that arise – sirens, phones and the hustle and bustle of the world around you.</p> <p><strong>Meditate with purpose.</strong> If you’re a beginner, keep in mind that meditation is an active process. The art of focusing your attention on a single point is hard work, and you have to be purposefully engaged!</p> <p><strong>Establish a regular practice.</strong> The idea “practice makes perfect” definitely applies to meditation and as per the point above, if you‘re going to get positive benefits, you need to stay committed.</p> <p><strong>Sit comfortably.</strong> Make sure you’re relaxed and comfortable. Sit up straight, keep your shoulders and neck relaxed, and eyes closed. Luckily, there’s no need to sit in the lotus position!</p> <p><strong>Don’t meditate on a full stomach.</strong> It’s best to meditate before a meal so you don’t feel too full or doze off while meditating. However, don’t meditate when you’re hungry. You‘ll find it tricky if you keep thinking about food the whole time! </p> <p><strong>Choose a meditation practice.</strong> There are a range of different meditation techniques to explore. The most popular include:</p> <p>1. Observing your breathing – without altering the rhythm of your breathing, simply notice every inhalation and exhalation. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back to the breath.</p> <p>2. Repeating a mantra – saying a sound, word or phrase in your mind over and over can lead you into a state of deep relaxation. You can learn transcendental meditation from a trained teacher who will give you a mantra, or you can try the word “om” or other words like “peace”.</p> <p>3. Practicing visualisation – taking your mind to a safe, calm place can be a pleasant way to meditate. Imagine you are on a beach or in a garden and picture every detail of your surroundings.</p> <p>4. Progressively relaxing the body – while sitting or lying down, try moving your awareness slowly through your body from your head to your toes. Relaxing each part of your body is an effective way to achieve a wonderful state of calm.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Mind

Placeholder Content Image

Are the Oscars going to take animated films more seriously?

<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/robert-boucaut-1215760">Robert Boucaut</a>, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a></em></p> <p>“Animation is cinema. Animation is not a genre. And, animation is ready to be taken to the next step – we are all ready for it, please help us, keep animation in the conversation.”</p> <p>This was Guillermo del Toro’s testament accepting the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2023 for <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1488589/">Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio</a>, released by Netflix. As one of the most acclaimed modern auteurs – and one who has <a href="https://www.avclub.com/guillermo-del-toro-is-going-all-in-on-animation-1850539253">announced his intention to stick with animation</a> as his preferred medium – his acceptance speech reads like a plea directly to the academy.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/shW9i6k8cB0?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>Animated films at the Oscars</h2> <p>The Oscars have had a storied history of engaging with animated cinema. Since 2002, they have awarded a Best Animated Feature award, first won by Shrek. This was a time of technological innovations for 3D animation (think Toy Story or A Bug’s Life), and of standout A-list voice performances (Robin Williams in Aladdin, or Shrek’s star-studded cast).</p> <p>By including animated films as a standalone category, the Oscars ended up segregating them: animation was treated as its own thing. Beauty and the Beast broke ground as the first-ever animated nominee for the Best Picture Oscar in 1992, but only two films have achieved such a feat since.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iurbZwxKFUE?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>Up (2009) and Toy Story 3 (2010) were Best Picture Oscar nominees (and Best Animated Feature winners) of their respective years. However, such recognition only came after the academy expanded its Best Picture category from five nominees to up to 10. This was a concerted effort to include more popular films in the Oscars due to waning audience interest, after Best Picture snubs of The Dark Knight and WALL-E.</p> <p>If animated films have had difficulty breaking into the Oscars’ vision of a Best Picture, then voice talent has been outright bypassed for consideration in acting categories. Since Shrek, stars have increasingly taken on voice work for animated projects in ways that elevates them from a side-hustle to key parts of their CVs.</p> <p>For instance, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L1iX5JiuwI">Chris Pratt</a> and <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/anya-taylor-joy-princess-peach-super-mario-premiere">Anya Taylor-Joy</a>’s promotional duties for The Super Mario Bros. Movie represent significant time and stardom investments for the sake of animated intellectual property.</p> <p>Yet without the physical body to observe, the Oscars have ignored voice work in animated films. The most meaningful push to have a voice performance nominated was for Scarlett Johansson’s in Her where she played a computer operating system. Johansson’s performance was nuanced, played with chemistry against her co-stars, and, ironically, Her was not an animated film.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dJTU48_yghs?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>Are things changing?</h2> <p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/winning-everything-everywhere-all-at-once-5-experts-on-the-big-moments-at-the-oscars-2023-201661">Oscars this year</a> shifted their brand of “prestige” to value the “cinematic experience” (and box office money) in the age of streaming.</p> <p>The sweep of Everything Everywhere All at Once and Best Picture nominations for Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water in 2023 signal the academy conspicuously praising populist fare for bringing audiences into the physical cinema. This then hopefully attracts <a href="https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/2023-oscar-ratings-academy-awards-audience-1235550070/">more audience eyeballs to an Oscars telecast</a> where they are likely to have actually seen some of the nominees.</p> <p>Popular film’s infiltration of the Oscars even seeped into the acting categories. Everything Everywhere All At Once’s indie cred made nominations (and three eventual wins) for its stars logical and welcome, but even Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s Angela Bassett scored a Best Supporting Actress nomination, the first acting recognition for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Its online fandom was instrumental here, having opined the academy’s biases against their beloved franchise.</p> <p>Now, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has arrived ahead of the 2024 Oscars race. The animated film boasts a star-studded cast, including past Oscar nominees and winners like Daniel Kaluuya and Hailee Steinfeld in key supporting roles. Shameik Moore’s lead vocal performance as Miles Morales is also exceptional. Still figuring out what it means to balance being Spider-Man with a complicated home and social life, he sounds remarkably recognisable as a modern teenager.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cqGjhVJWtEg?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>Credit for this extends to a snappy script and intricate editing that bounces through its complex multiverse setting and superhero super-stakes to focus on moving character development. Thematically, it reflects on the artistic value of the superhero genre, unpacking the Spider-Man lore across its many iterations. And, of course, the visual artistry on display is mind-blowing, truly pushing cinematic excess in ways that only animation (currently) can.</p> <p>Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the kind of popular cinema that the academy is currently primed to take more seriously. It’s on track to become one of the year’s box office successes, serves a dedicated fandom, showcases a stacked cast and dynamically plays with genre and narrative conventions.</p> <p>As part two of a trilogy, it is unlikely to take out the Best Picture race altogether (Beyond the Spider-Verse, coming in 2024, is the more likely candidate if it sticks the landing). But it is still well-positioned to break through the confines of the Best Animated Feature category.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207716/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/robert-boucaut-1215760">Robert Boucaut</a>, PhD Candidate &amp; Tutor, Media Department, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-the-oscars-going-to-take-animated-films-more-seriously-207716">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Images: Sony Pictures Animation</em></p>

Movies

Placeholder Content Image

Transgress to impress: why do people tag buildings – and are there any solutions?

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/flavia-marcello-403040">Flavia Marcello</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/swinburne-university-of-technology-767">Swinburne University of Technology</a></em></p> <p>In 1985 photographer Rennie Ellis <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8707788">defined graffiti</a> as “the result of someone’s urge to say something – to comment, inform, entertain, persuade, offend or simply to confirm his or her own existence here on earth”. Since the mid-1980s, graffiti has crossed from vandalism to an accepted form of art practice through large murals or “pieces” and stencil art aimed at informing, entertaining and persuading us.</p> <p>But these are outnumbered by the tags you see everywhere. These stylised icon-type signatures define a hand style and confirm their author’s existence on Earth. These, for many of us, remain an eyesore. If you walk through an urban environment filled with tags, you may feel less safe. Heavily tagged areas can suggest the area is not cared for or surveilled.</p> <p>So why are Australian cities so full of tags? The problem is, the main solution proven to work is expensive. When tags go up, paint over them – and keep doing it. While anti-graffiti paint exists, it’s not widely used at present.</p> <h2>Why do people tag?</h2> <p>Graffiti in urban centres is often tied to the world-wide proliferation of hip-hop culture. Along with DJing, rapping and breakdancing, “Graf” or “writing” is considered one of its <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/hip-hop">four pillars</a>.</p> <p>Posturing (or showing off) is a big part of tagging. When you see a tag on a freeway overpass or seemingly inaccessible building parapet, it’s not only confirming the tagger’s existence, it’s bragging. See how high I climbed! See what crazy risks I took!</p> <p>As one tagger in Sydney’s outer south-western suburb of Campbelltown <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/vandalism-graffiti-state-rail-authority-nsw.pdf">told researchers</a> in the 1980s:</p> <blockquote> <p>If you get on a train and see your name and know you’ve been here before that’s real good. Like, I was here. Or you see your mate’s name and you can say, hey, I know him […] It’s really good if you can get your name up in a difficult place where nobody else has. Other kids look at that and think, great!</p> </blockquote> <p>So why do people tag?</p> <ul> <li> <p>it boosts self-esteem and a sense of belonging to a social network, particularly for teens experiencing alienation at school</p> </li> <li> <p>it demonstrates bravado. Risky places have the added advantages of being both highly visible and harder to remove</p> </li> <li> <p>it gives graf artists practice for bigger pieces. You have to work quickly and accurately, especially in precarious positions where you could get caught at any moment.</p> </li> </ul> <p>While cities like Melbourne <a href="https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/art/where-to-find-the-best-street-art-in-melbourne">have embraced</a> larger murals and pieces as street art – even making them a tourist attraction – tagging isn’t regarded the same way.</p> <p>So why do non-taggers hate it? On a broader level, tagging can signify a sense of social degradation which makes people feel less safe.</p> <p>There’s no clear link between <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rip/rip6">more graffiti and more crime</a>. Even so, the public perception is that tagging is a sign warning of the presence of <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/vandalism-graffiti-state-rail-authority-nsw.pdf">disaffected and potentially violent</a> people in gangs.</p> <p>Asked to picture a tagger and you will most likely come up with a stock photo stereotype: a male teenager in a hoodie from a seedy area. But you would not be completely right. It is true just under half (46%) of graffiti damage and related offences are committed by 14 to 16 year old males, but the largest percentage of offenders actually come from <a href="https://www.goodbyegraffiti.wa.gov.au/Schools/Facts-for-Students/Who-are-the-most-likely-offenders-of-graffiti">middle- to high-income families</a>.</p> <p>So what tools do we have to manage it?</p> <h2>Punishment</h2> <p>It’s perfectly legal to commission a graf artist to paint a wall of a building you own. Many people do this to avoid a street-facing wall being tagged. For it to be illegal, tagging or graffiti has to be done without the owner’s permission.</p> <p>Since the majority of taggers are under 18, if they’re caught, punishment will usually include a caution, fines (presumably paid by bemused but cashed up parents) and cleaning off tags.</p> <p>But punitive measures only go so far because the appeal of graffiti is the transgression. Other measures include keeping spray paint locked away or not for sale to under 18s as well as zero-tolerance rapid removal. This can work for a while, but taggers know their tags are temporary. It’s a constant game of cat and mouse a committed tagger will eventually win.</p> <h2>Technical solutions</h2> <p>If you’ve walked past workers scrubbing or pressure washing tags off walls, you may have wondered why there are no coatings which don’t let paint stick.</p> <p>These actually <a href="https://www.ipcm.it/en/article/anti-graffiti-paints-what-are-they-and-how-they-work.aspx">do exist</a>, and can work well. When in place, you can remove graffiti with a solvent rather than having to repaint. But they’re not widely used.</p> <p>Unless paints such as <a href="https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/7-inventions-from-mexico-that-would-go-on-to-change-the-world">Deletum 3000</a> are used everywhere this approach is unlikely to be effective.</p> <h2>Prevention</h2> <p>The problem with punitive and technical measures is the limited reach. The vast majority of unwanted graffiti <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rip/rip6">goes unreported</a>. That’s why prevention is becoming more popular.</p> <p>How do you prevent tagging? By making it easier to report. By setting aside areas for taggers and graf artists. By commissioning pieces to deter graffers from illegal modes. And by talking directly to taggers about strategies. But these behaviour change efforts take time.</p> <p>People who hate tagging often believe taggers are motivated by negative emotions such as <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rip/rip6">boredom and rebelliousness</a>. For them it’s vandalism, a criminal act associated with gangs, petty crime, broken windows and a less attractive environment to live in.</p> <p>But the truth is, taggers are often motivated by positive emotions. Tagging, for them, brings pride, pleasure, enjoyment and community. That’s why behaviour change approaches can be hard.</p> <h2>So what’s the best way forward?</h2> <p>In the 1990s, many cities declared war on skateboarders, using punishment and installing metal stoppers on well-skated urban areas. But the real solution was simpler: create skate parks.</p> <p>For taggers, the answer may be similar. Give them spaces such as little-used alleyways to practise their art. And for the rest of us, the solution may be to look at tags with different eyes. Not as a sign of crime and the collapse of civilisation, but as a need for validation, for transgression, for community and all the other things you probably wanted when you were a teenager.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205492/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/flavia-marcello-403040">Flavia Marcello</a>, Professor of Design History, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/swinburne-university-of-technology-767">Swinburne University of Technology</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/transgress-to-impress-why-do-people-tag-buildings-and-are-there-any-solutions-205492">original article</a>.</em></p>

Art

Placeholder Content Image

How drag as an art form sashayed from the underground and strutted into the mainstream

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jonathan-w-marshall-1195978">Jonathan W. Marshall</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a></em></p> <p>Recent protests against <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/aug/11/im-just-trying-to-make-the-world-a-little-brighter-how-the-culture-wars-hijacked-drag-queen-story-hour">drag queen story hours</a> are the latest in a series of actions targeting the increased prominence of displays of LGBTIQ+ culture in the public arena.</p> <p>But drag artists have been strutting their stuff in speakeasies, cabarets and films for a long time now.</p> <h2>The long history of cross-dressing</h2> <p>There is a long global history of cross-gendered performance. In the West, this included <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803105532521;jsessionid=B8A5B8C5FE0EBAEDAB763E0AC1405EEA">“travesty” roles</a>, “<a href="https://www.planethugill.com/2013/08/en-travestie-curious-tradition-of.html">breeches parts</a>”, pantomime dames and their cousins in <a href="https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1429&amp;context=gradreports">blackface – “wench” – parts</a>, variety halls and Shakespearean performances.</p> <p>There’s also <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvcwnjxz">Japanese kabuki (onnagata)</a>, Beijing opera, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1124189">Samoan fale aitu and fa’afafine performances</a> and more. All share something with drag – cross-dressing and various forms of gender play and/or reversal – but none is quite the same as what we know today.</p> <p>Legal restrictions on gendered clothing have existed in places like Europe, China and Japan through to modern times – though the focus was more on class than gender. The wearing of men’s pants by women was <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/at-last-women-of-paris-can-wear-the-trousers-legally-after-200yearold-law-is-declared-null-and-void-8480666.html">technically illegal in France</a> until 2013. Centuries earlier, it contributed to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-BYbasO034">prosecution of Joan of Arc by church courts</a>.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p-BYbasO034?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>The emergence of drag</h2> <p>Something like contemporary drag <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203411070/changing-room-laurence-senelick">appeared in the West from the late 18th century</a>, blending early burlesque (disrespectful comedy, not necessarily bawdy) with nascent queer culture (clubs, speakeasies and other semi-underground meeting places where same-sex-attracted individuals socialised).</p> <p>By the time the 20th century rolled around, drag artists, particularly in the US, offered beauty tips, attempted to engage in sponsorships or sold stylishly posed <a href="https://wislgbthistory.com/people/peo-l/leon_francis.htm">postcards</a> and <a href="https://ourcommunityroots.com/?p=13079">souvenirs</a>, closely recalling advertisements aimed at female consumers. Since much early drag made fun of women in general, and women of colour in particular, the form has hardly been a consistent force for good.</p> <p>Drawing on blackface minstrelsy, British panto and college revues, drag from the 1950s increasingly featured female impersonators offering hyperbolic, over-the-top and often disrespectful portraits of feminine characteristics.</p> <p>So called “glamour drag” was designed, in the words of artist Jimmy James, “to take people totally away from the ugly realities … and transport them to the realm of the magical” through fabulous dresses, hair and sequins. This became the dominant form of drag in the West, particularly in Australia – although there was also a vibrant counter-culture.</p> <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9dOrfO2gVs">Danny La Rue</a> camped it up on the stages of Britain and the US, touring Australia in the late 1970s, while <a href="https://dangerousminds.net/comments/ridiculous_a_little-known_drag_tv_role_by_charles_ludlam_1983">Charles Ludlam</a> made the difficult transition from outrageous drag to main stage theatre and back, losing none of his style.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e9dOrfO2gVs?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>From the queer underground to the straight mainstream</h2> <p>Key to the crossover of drag from an underground principally LGBTIQ+ phenomena to the cis mainstream was the increasingly flamboyant manifestation of popular music – such as glam, hair metal, disco and new wave.</p> <p>The exultant 1978 video for disco star Sylvester’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD6cPE2BHic"><em>You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real</em>)</a>, for example, introduced audiences to the concept of “<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/does-realness-actually-mean-surprising-heartbreaking-history/">realness</a>” as she inhabited different costumed personas. Sylvester was a former member of the avant-drag troupe the Cockettes and her clip was shot at London’s gay disco The Embassy.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gD6cPE2BHic?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>“Rock camp” performance found its perfect expression in <a href="https://youtu.be/4plqh6obZW4">The Rocky Horror Picture Show</a> stage show in 1973, directed by Australian queer theatre legend Jim Sharman. Its comedic celebration of gender fluid performance and sexuality helped make drag and related forms mainstream.</p> <p>Also crucial was Jennie Livingston’s 1990 film <em><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/24/burning-down-the-house-debate-paris-is-burning">Paris is Burning</a></em>, documenting the competitive balls (drag races) mounted by working class LGBTIQ+ African-Americans and Latinos in New York, some of whom (but not all) identified as trans. Performers at the balls competed to exhibit “realness” – not only in gender terms, but employment and social position: “executive realness”, “butch queer”, “banjee girl” and “military”.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4plqh6obZW4?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>Madonna famously recruited performers from Paris is Burning (Jose Gutierez and Luis Camacho from House Xtravaganza) to assist in the choreography for her video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuJQSAiODqI">Vogue</a> and then her Blond Ambition tour, skyrocketing the international renown of these practices.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9SqvD1-0odY?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>Drag landmarks</h2> <p>Prior to The Rocky Horror Picture Show gracing the stages of London and Sydney, Kings Cross had seen the foundation of legendary drag revue <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G6aDpxhWlg">Les Girls</a>, running from 1963-93. This show was led by Carlotta, who took her girls on tour, and became the inspiration for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgFDIinCeYI">Priscilla Queen of the Desert</a>.</p> <p>“Alternative cabaret” also thrived. Notables included Australia’s truly outrageous Reg Livermore, the bizarre fantasies of Lindsay Kemp or the incredible Moira Finucane. Finucane’s brilliant early “gender fuck” performance as <a href="https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-765293824/view?sectionId=nla.obj-769278625&amp;partId=nla.obj-765310182#page/n6/mode/1up">Romeo</a> involved an arrogant, moustachioed and convincingly male performer who undressed to reveal Finucane, who then pleasured herself with a feather boa.</p> <p>Australians might also remember the wonderful Pauline Pantsdown’s drag satire <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4tZRZSGxcE">I Don’t Like It</a> in 1998.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0G6aDpxhWlg?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>Topping it off was the huge success of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1353056/"><em>RuPaul’s Drag Race</em> reality TV show</a> in 2009. Producers were onto a winner: fabulous clothes, the highs and lows of competition and a scintillating array of would-be stars, presided over RuPaul, looking never less than fabulous.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PDe8zJvyF54?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>Lessons from the history of drag</h2> <p>The glamorous, hyper-feminine artist remains the most popular model of drag. Perhaps unsurprisingly it was these paragons of camp femininity who were chosen to read to children in libraries, first in <a href="https://www.dragstoryhour.org/about">San Francisco in 2015</a> and then internationally. These glitter, glam and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340774905_Balirano_G_2020_Of_Rainbow_Unicorns_The_Role_of_Bonding_Queer_Icons_in_Contemporary_LGBTIQ_Re-Positionings">rainbow unicorns</a> seemingly conquered the globe.</p> <p>But more outré drag queens, drag kings and “genderfuck” performers never ceased toiling away in the underground. <a href="https://canadianart.ca/features/the-showstoppers/">Drag is changing</a>.</p> <p>If we are to look to history for lessons, I’d like to see story time presented by the successors to Divine (one of John Waters’ collaborators, whose <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfirqQJC3I0">1984 appearance on <em>Countdown</em></a> marks one of the strangest moments in Australian television) or transgender superstar <a href="https://revolverwarholgallery.com/superstars/warhol-superstar-candy-darling/">Candy Darling</a>. Now that would be a story time education to remember.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205650/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jonathan-w-marshall-1195978">Jonathan W. Marshall</a>, Associate Professor &amp; Postgraduate Research Coordinator, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-drag-as-an-art-form-sashayed-from-the-underground-and-strutted-into-the-mainstream-205650">original article</a>.</em></p>

Art

Placeholder Content Image

Even after his death, Rolf Harris’ artwork will stand as reminders of his criminal acts

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gregory-dale-1441894">Gregory Dale</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a></em></p> <p>Australian entertainer and artist Rolf Harris has died at the age of 93.</p> <p>After a prominent career as an artist, particularly in the UK, in 2014 <a href="https://theconversation.com/rolf-harris-guilty-but-what-has-operation-yewtree-really-taught-us-about-sexual-abuse-28282">Harris was convicted</a> of 12 counts of indecent assault.</p> <p>For his victims, his death might help to close a painful chapter of their lives.</p> <p>However, what will become of the prodigious output of the disgraced artist?</p> <h2>Jack of all trades, master of none</h2> <p>Harris developed an interest in art from a young age. At the age of 15, one of his portraits was <a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prizes/archibald/1946/">selected for showing</a> in the 1946 Archibald Prize. Three years later, he won the Claude Hotchin prize.</p> <p>These would be among the few accolades he would collect in the art world. In truth, he was never really recognised by his peers.</p> <p>The Art Gallery of Western Australia in Perth, from where he hailed, never added any of his artworks to its collection.</p> <p>Harris rose to prominence primarily as a children’s entertainer and then later as an all-round television presenter. There is a generation of Australians and Britons who grew up transfixed to their TV sets as Harris transformed blank canvases into paintings and cartoons in the space of just 30 minutes.</p> <p>His creativity also extended to music. He played the didgeridoo and his own musical creation, “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wobble_board">the wobble board</a>”. He topped the British charts in 1969 with the single Two Little Boys. However, he is probably more famous for the song Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport.</p> <p>Perhaps the ultimate recognition came in 2005, when he was invited to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Her_Majesty_Queen_Elizabeth_II_%E2%80%93_An_80th_Birthday_Portrait">paint Queen Elizabeth II</a>. His audience with the queen was filmed for a BBC documentary starring Harris. His portrait of her majesty briefly adorned the walls of Buckingham Palace, before being displayed in prominent British and Australian galleries.</p> <h2>Criminal conviction and the quick retreat from his art</h2> <p>In 2014, Harris was found guilty of 12 counts of indecent assault against three complainants, aged 15, 16 and 19 years at the times of the crimes. These incidents occurred between 1978 and 1986.</p> <p>Before sentencing Harris to five years and nine months imprisonment, the sentencing judge <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/the-full-statement-from-the-judge-who-sentenced-rolf-harris-to-jail-20140704-3bee0.html">commented</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>You took advantage of the trust placed in you, because of your celebrity status, to commit the offences […] Your reputation now lies in ruins.</p> </blockquote> <p>What followed was a public retreat from his artwork.</p> <p>It is worth asking why this was the public response, when the subject matter of his artwork was innocuous and unremarkable. Among his visual artworks were portraits and landscapes. None of them depicted anything particularly offensive or controversial.</p> <p>Nevertheless, many of those who owned his works felt the need to dissociate themselves with Harris. His portrait of the queen <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-28105318">seemed to vanish</a> into thin air. In the wake of his convictions, no one claimed to know of its whereabouts.</p> <p>Harris had also painted a number of permanent murals in Australia. Many these were <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/rolf-harris-mural-in-caulfield-to-be-painted-over-20140706-zsy3n.html">removed</a> or <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-06/rolf-harris-mural-on-theatre-survives-vote-for-destruction/9518358">permanently obscured</a>.</p> <h2>The roles of guilt and disgust</h2> <p>Guilt seems to play a <a href="https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:d3f7264">prominent role</a> in explaining why owners remove such artworks from display.</p> <p>Art is inherently subjective and so it necessarily forces the beholder to inquire into the artist’s meanings. When an artist is subsequently convicted of a crime, it is perhaps natural to wonder whether their art bore signs that there was something untoward about them.</p> <p>Some artists even promote this way of thinking. In fact, Harris authored a book entitled <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2883465-looking-at-pictures-with-rolf-harris">Looking at Pictures with Rolf Harris: A Children’s Introduction to Famous Paintings</a>.</p> <p>In it, he wrote:</p> <blockquote> <p>You can find out a lot about the way an artist sees things when you look at his paintings. In fact, he is telling us a lot about himself, whether he wants to or not.</p> </blockquote> <p>When facing the artwork of a convicted criminal, our subjective feelings of guilt persist because we have, in some tiny way, shared a role in their rise and stay as an artist. This makes it difficult to overcome the feeling that the artwork contains clues to the artist’s criminality. We can also feel guilty deriving pleasure from a piece of art whose maker caused others great pain.</p> <p>Disgust also plays a central role in our retreat from the criminal’s artwork.</p> <p>Disgust is a powerful emotion that demands we withdraw from an object whose mere presence threatens to infect or invade our bodily integrity.</p> <p>Related to disgust is a anthropological theory known as the “<a href="https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-xpm-2014-feb-24-la-sci-sn-price-of-fame-celebrity-contact-boosts-value-of-objects-20140222-story.html">magical law of contagion</a>”. An offensive person leaves behind an offensive trace that continues to threaten us. It is not based on reason but instinct.</p> <p>In essence, the criminal has left their “negative” traces on their artwork.</p> <p>This explains why Harris’ paintings, although of innocuous images, suddenly became eyesores and their market value dropped. Owners of such artwork might also feel compelled to show their disgust openly, to publicly extricate themselves from the artist.</p> <p>No one wants to be seen to condone the behaviour of a sexual offender.</p> <p>Even after his death, Harris’ artwork will continue to stand as reminders of his criminal acts.</p> <p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call <a href="https://www.1800respect.org.au">1800RESPECT</a> on 1800 737 732. In an emergency call 000.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206282/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></em></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gregory-dale-1441894">Gregory Dale</a>, Lecturer, TC Beirne School of Law, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/even-after-his-death-rolf-harris-artwork-will-stand-as-reminders-of-his-criminal-acts-206282">original article</a>.</em></p>

Art

Placeholder Content Image

Woman finds piece of art history on sale for $8

<p dir="ltr">It’s every thrifter’s dream to find something in an op shop that is being sold for far less than it’s worth. </p> <p dir="ltr">Many frequent their local thrift shops to find hidden treasures from designer brands with a much more reasonable price tag, finally giving them the chance to own a piece of luxury. </p> <p dir="ltr">One experienced thrift shopper has taken this dream to the next level, after she found a series of ceramic dishes in her local Salvation Army store that are a piece of art history.</p> <p dir="ltr">Nancy Cavaliere, a native New Yorker, has shared the story of her ultimate thrifting experience, which began on her way home from work in the summer of 2017.</p> <p dir="ltr">Nancy recalled stopping by the store and browsing for a while before resigning herself to defeat after not snagging a bargain. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I see nothing. I almost leave,” she said in her now-viral TikTok.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqTY-WXJ4DM/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqTY-WXJ4DM/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Nancy Cavaliere (@casacavaliere)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">However, one more peruse past the china aisle was all Nancy needed for something to catch her eye, as she spied four unusual black plates with geometric faces hand-painted on them, with each plate marked with a $1.99 sticker. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I was going to buy them to make a tablescape,” Cavaliere said in the video. </p> <p dir="ltr">She bought the plates and left the store happy, and began to research her purchase once she got home. </p> <p dir="ltr">The plates, it turned out, belonged to Picasso’s “<em>Visage Noir</em>” series of hand-painted ceramics, produced in a pottery studio in the southern French town of Madoura in the 1940s. </p> <p dir="ltr">“When I tell you I googled this set… and saw how much they were worth and almost cried, passed out—I’m not lying,” Cavaliere said. </p> <p dir="ltr">Nancy then contacted several auction houses in New York, such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s, to have the plates appraised and authenticated. </p> <p dir="ltr">She was told they were each worth $3,000 to $5,000, and the following year, she sold three of her four plates at Sotheby’s for roughly $12,000, $13,000, and $16,000, respectively.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I was in my office at my lunch break watching this live auction go down, crying my eyes out,” she said. </p> <p dir="ltr">The fourth piece, which bears Picasso’s signature, Nancy decided to keep and store in a safe deposit box. </p> <p dir="ltr">Cavaliere plans to sell it in 20 years and give the money to her daughter, perhaps for a trip around Europe. </p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s crazy,” she said, “that I actually own something that Picasso signed for himself.” </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Instagram </em></p>

Art

Placeholder Content Image

Fun ways to boost memory in seniors

<p dir="ltr">Memory issues can seriously deteriorate the quality of life for seniors. To reverse the typically progressive process of memory loss, many solutions have been put forward. These include creative leisure activities aimed to work on the senior’s brain while providing relaxation.</p> <p dir="ltr">To work on a senior’s memory, it’s optimal to have them work on a project, focusing and seeing the work being done. There are plenty of games and activities available to help memory.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Paint by Numbers</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Paint by Numbers is a creative art form that involves painting a pre-drawn sketch on a linen canvas with reference numbers. It helps stimulate the intellect and senses. They’re available in colour books as well, you can find them at your local Kmart and select supermarkets.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Diamond painting</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Diamond painting is a manual activity where the senior creates beautiful pictures using rhinestones to stick onto a self-adhesive canvas. It calls for concentration, reflection, memorisation, and patience from the practitioner, which is beneficial for working on memory.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Scratch painting</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Scratch painting is a fun activity that involves scratching a picture with a coin or stylus, like a lottery scratch-off. It requires interest and concentration from the individual, who will enjoy the final picture and benefit their memory.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Music therapy</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Music therapy is used to treat and alleviate disorders, such as relational, behavioural, and communication difficulties. It also has benefits for seniors with memory problems, as it allows them to mobilise concentration, emotions, and memory in a playful way.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-70e6c7d1-7fff-2c54-f0e3-9408829a216a"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p>

Mind

Placeholder Content Image

Italian historian makes major Mona Lisa breakthrough

<p dir="ltr">A small town in Tuscany is revelling in excitement after it was claimed that a bridge in the backdrop of the Mona Lisa belongs to the town. </p> <p dir="ltr">Italian historian Silvano Vinceti determined that the bridge in the background of the most famous portrait in the world is in fact the Romito di Laterina bridge in the province of Arezzo: about 80km southeast of Florence. </p> <p dir="ltr">Leonardo da Vinci painted the masterpiece in Florence in the early 16th century, and ever since, it has been subject to disputes over the inspiration for the portrait. </p> <p dir="ltr">The identity of the woman in the painting - who is widely believed to be Lisa del Giocondo – has triggered as much speculation as the distant backdrop.</p> <p dir="ltr">Past theories have identified the bridge as Ponte Buriano, close to Laterina, as well as Ponte Bobbio in the northern Italian city of Piacenza.</p> <p dir="ltr">Using historical documents and drone images, and by making comparisons between the painting and photographs of the area, Vinceti said he is confident it was “the Etruscan-Roman bridge, Romito”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Vinceti told reporters in Rome that the most telling detail of the bridge’s identity is the number of arches. </p> <p dir="ltr">The bridge in Leonardo’s painting had four arches, as did the Romito. Ponte Buriano, on the other hand, has six arches, while Ponte Bobbio has more than six.</p> <p dir="ltr">Another telltale sign, according to Vinceti, is the fact that the bridge was once a “very busy, functioning bridge”, that provided a shortcut between Florence and Arezzo.</p> <p dir="ltr">Simona Neri, the mayor of Laterina, said Vinceti’s theory had caused a lot of excitement in the town of just over 3,500 people. </p> <p dir="ltr">She said, “We need to try to protect what’s left of the bridge.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Art

Placeholder Content Image

"Crossed a line": Bell Shakespeare's blistering response to negative review

<p dir="ltr">Australian theatre company, Bell Shakespeare, has publicly issued a blistering response to a theatre critic’s “cruel and unfair” review.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>The Age</em> critic Cameron Woodhead gave the theatre company’s current production of Macbeth a two star rating - and he singled out the lead actor, Hazem Shammas’ performance of Macbeth.</p> <p dir="ltr">In his review, Woodhead claimed that Shammas “belongs in the Richard III ward of Monty Python’s Hospital for Over-Acting”.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said that the Logie-winning actor’s portrayal of Macbeth was “so cartoonish” and “unhinged” and that he was “stalked by the inappropriate silhouette of the clown”.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 500-word review mostly nitpicked at Shammas’ performance, commenting on how he should reign in his “vein-popping excess” and “trust in the words” of Shakespeare, as if he knew what Shakespeare would’ve wanted.</p> <p dir="ltr">The review was published online on April 27 and a week later Bell Shakespeare launched their blistering response on social media.</p> <p dir="ltr"><iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FBellShakespeareCo%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0359Wr76jN92ZX4DCPbSRNjn3557HSHfGARRtr8nqhUCTQFH19yy65fS2hTjCoRADKl&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500" width="500" height="478" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p dir="ltr">The statement began with the theatre company explaining that they are open to criticism and understand that sometimes there will be “creative differences”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Age’s theatre critic, Cameron Woodhead, didn’t like our current production of Macbeth (May 1 edition). That’s his prerogative; many critics have provided favourable reviews of this production and Macbeth means many things to many people. One of the joys of seeing Shakespeare’s works is to debate them afterwards.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This time though, we must call out conduct which, in our view, was cruel and unfair,” they wrote in their statement posted on Facebook.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Cameron’s targeting of the lead actor Hazem Shammas was, in our view, belittling and contemptuous,” they added, citing Woodhead’s harsh comments.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Whilst Cameron may have issues with the production, we do not consider a response should ever be draped in language like this. In our view, no actor deserves to be dismissed so personally in a theatre review”.</p> <p dir="ltr">They added that Shammas’ personal life and Palestinian background allowed him to resonate with the fact that “Macbeth is driven by something that finally breaks him,” as that story was his “dad’s story in terms of coming to this land and then pursuing his dreams at all costs, in terms of the costs to himself and breaking the hearts of the ones he left behind.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Actors don’t have a voice when critics write negative things about them. It has long been thus. However, the stage is their workplace. And they are entitled to a safe space at work just as much as anyone,” they wrote, defending Shammas.</p> <p dir="ltr">They ended the statement saying that Woodhead had “crossed a line”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Many fans have applauded the company for standing up for their star, while others justified Woodhead’s criticism.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Cameron Woodhead gave one of my novels a bruisingly rude review a few years ago. I think he enjoys unleashing the poison pen occasionally. I have finally managed to laugh about it, but it took me years,” commented one person.</p> <p dir="ltr">“What a great response and wonderful example of integrity from Bell Shakespeare!” commented another person</p> <p dir="ltr">“Good on you for calling this out. We can be critical without being cruel, and given the tough times we’re in, we can all employ a little more respect and kindness,” wrote a third.</p> <p><em>Image: Bell Shakespeare</em></p>

Art

Placeholder Content Image

Tiredness of life: the growing phenomenon in western society

<p>Molly was 88 years old and in good health. She had outlived two husbands, her siblings, most of her friends and her only son. </p> <p>“I don’t have any meaningful relationships left, dear,” she told me. “They’ve all died. And you know what? Underneath it all, I want to leave this world too.”</p> <p>Leaning a little closer, as though she was telling me a secret, she continued: "Shall I tell you what I am? I’m strong. I can admit to myself and to you that there’s nothing left for me here. I’m more than ready to leave when it’s my time. In fact, it can’t come quickly enough."</p> <p>I’ve <a href="https://theconversation.com/loneliness-loss-and-regret-what-getting-old-really-feels-like-new-study-157731">interviewed</a> many older people for research. Every so often, I’m struck by the sincerity with which some people feel that their life is completed. They seem tired of being alive. </p> <p>I’m a member of of the European <a href="https://research.ugent.be/web/result/project/6d511516-39ad-4c2e-ad46-44d5ce25ca29/details/en">Understanding Tiredness of Life in Older People Research Network</a>, a group of geriatricians, psychiatrists, social scientists, psychologists and death scholars. We want to better understand the phenomenon and unpick what is unique about it. The network is also working on advice for politicians and healthcare practices, as well as caregiver and patient support.</p> <p>Professor of care ethics Els van Wijngaarden and colleagues in the Netherlands <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953615002889">listened to a group of older people</a> who were not seriously ill, yet felt a yearning to end their lives. The key issues they identified in such people were: aching loneliness, pain associated with not mattering, struggles with self-expression, existential tiredness, and fear of being reduced to a completely dependent state.</p> <p>This need not be the consequence of a lifetime of suffering, or a response to intolerable physical pain. Tiredness of life also seems to arise in people who consider themselves to have lived fulfilling lives.</p> <p>One man of 92 told the network’s researchers: "You have no effect on anything. The ship sets sail and everyone has a job, but you just sail along. I am cargo to them. That’s not easy. That’s not me. Humiliation is too strong a word, but it is bordering on it. I simply feel ignored, completely marginalised."</p> <p>Another man said: "Look at the condition of those old ladies in the building opposite. Gaunt and half-dead, pointlessly driven around in a wheelchair … It has nothing to do with being human anymore. It is a stage of life I simply don’t want to go through."</p> <h2>A unique suffering</h2> <p>The American novelist <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/07/books/review/07gord.html">Philip Roth wrote</a> that “old age is not a battle, old age is a massacre”. If we live long enough, we can lose our identity, physical capabilities, partner, friends and careers. </p> <p>For some people, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ageing-and-society/article/abs/gradual-separation-from-the-world-a-qualitative-exploration-of-existential-loneliness-in-old-age/5567288AD35DFB878F3F756FF233FB1C">this elicits</a> a deep-rooted sense that life has been stripped of meaning – and that the tools we need to rebuild a sense of purpose are irretrievable.</p> <p>Care professor Helena Larsson and colleagues in Sweden have <a href="https://bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12877-017-0533-1.pdf#:%7E:text=This%20study%20is%20part%20of%20a%20larger%20research,was%20analysed%20using%20Hsiehand%20Shannon%E2%80%99s%20conventional%20content%20analysis.">written about</a> a gradual “turning out of the lights” in old age. They argue that people steadily let go of life, until they reach a point where they are ready to turn off the outside world. Larsson’s team raises the question of whether this might be inevitable for us all. </p> <p>Of course, this sort of suffering shares characteristics (it’s depressing and painful) with anguish we encounter at other points in life. But it’s not the same. Consider the existential suffering that might arise from a terminal illness or recent divorce. In these examples, part of the suffering is connected to the fact that there is more of life’s voyage to make – but that the rest of the journey feels uncertain and no longer looks the way we fantasised it would. </p> <p>This sort of suffering is often tied to mourning a future we feel we should have had, or fearing a future we are uncertain about. One of the distinctions in tiredness of life is that there is no desire for, or mourning of, a future; only a profound sense that the journey is over, yet drags on painfully and indefinitely.</p> <h2>The global view</h2> <p>In countries where euthanasia and assisted suicide are <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n147">legal</a>, doctors and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15265161.2021.2013981?casa_token=XEzfqjWH8uUAAAAA:GD6c6mZEv7q9eq2fqfSNcrbGWYD1-0ehOU3tTTJ2Zbnyraf3VvdvQcIRXF847Dp6T9k_yWctt3E">researchers are debating</a> whether tiredness of life meets the threshold for the sort of <a href="http://www.bioethics.org.au/Resources/Online%20Articles/Opinion%20Pieces/2201%20Tired%20of%20Life.pdf">unceasing emotional suffering</a> that grants people the right to euthanasia. </p> <p>The fact that this problem is common enough for researchers to debate it may suggest that modern life has shut older people out of western society. Perhaps elders are <a href="https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/703688/">no longer revered</a> for their wisdom and experience. But it’s not inevitable. In Japan, age is seen as a spring or rebirth after a busy period of working and raising children. One study found older adults in Japan showed <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3183740/#R34">higher scores on personal growth</a> compared with midlife adults, whereas the opposite age pattern was found in the US.</p> <p>Surgeon and medical professor <a href="https://mh.bmj.com/content/41/2/145">Atul Gawande</a> argues that in western societies, medicine has created the ideal conditions for transforming ageing into a “long, slow fade”. He believes quality of life has been overlooked as we channel our resources towards biological survival. This is unprecedented in history. Tiredness of life may be evidence of the cost.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/tiredness-of-life-the-growing-phenomenon-in-western-society-203934" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Caring

Placeholder Content Image

Artist keeps craft alive with beautifully bound books

<p>In a world taken over by digitised forms of just about everything, book artist Liz Constable says her beautifully bound bohemian journals, handmade envelopes and painstakingly stitched self-help books still inspire the biggest shrieks of delight from total strangers.</p> <p>Journaling in cafés, Constable often feels eyes shrouding over her diary. "They say, oh that looks like a very old book," Constable says. "Oh yes, it's two weeks old," she laughs. </p> <p>Type 'book art' into online creative depository, Pinterest, and it will come up with 636 ways of turning old, clunky books into works of art. Likewise, Google images paints a pretty picture of the ways you can up-cycle unwanted novels.</p> <p>But unlike the art we relegate to a shelf or a picture hook, Constable's creations are usable. They're designed to be drawn on, hauled around in a tote and pulled out to illustrate ideas, and are made with any material she can get her hands on.  </p> <p>"It's that old worldy style," she says. "Everyone wants things to look old. You see people with laptops in bags that look like they're carrying old typewriters."</p> <p>What started off as a hobby 16 years ago turned into a full time business called Book Art Studios in 2007, when Constable, then a careers counsellor, says she counselled herself out of her former job and into where her heart truly lay- making books.</p> <p>It began with dying her journal papers with tea and coffee, then a friend introduced her to coloured dye. Now the "scavenger by nature" says her books are made with paper taken from the likes of old shipping maps, cloth and other recycled materials, before being stitched and bound in her own West Auckland studio.</p> <p>The UK migrant makes books for the likes of happy couples who need something special to keep track of wedding guests, to soda giant Coca Cola who commissioned Constable to make books for staff training, and Fonterra, whose Constable-made creations went all the way to a conference in China. </p> <p>Constable believes it's the nostalgia that inspires such gushing responses from people who frequently request to hug her when they see her creations. Not so long ago she hand delivered a job application written in a handmade book, nestled in a mail art envelope.</p> <p>She despairs walking into bookstores and seeing the rows and rows of identical book spines, prompting ever more thoughts about how she can make her work stand out.</p> <p>It's a thought at the forefront of her mind as Constable prepares to undertake something she's never done- producing her first book series en masse by enlisting the help of potential publishers at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October.  After years of ensuring each of her works is unique, Constable said the decision to take hand made to mass made came after reading a theory that it takes 10,000 hours to perfect a skill.</p> <p>Constable realised she'd clocked up more than enough over time, and enjoyed 'the simple life' long enough to begin relishing the fruits of her labour.</p> <p>She wants to produce a series of semi-autobiographical self-help books, whose roots can be traced back to the death of Constable's aunt many years ago. "Oh, I see a door," were her finals words on her death bed, prompting Constable to wonder just what exactly was behind that door. </p> <p>"I was so curious," Constable says. The words kept coming and before she knew it, nine books were conceived. The Martha series, she calls it. Stories for adults grappling with bigger issues.</p> <p>In March she published and began selling another self-help book, One Small Drop, in order to help fundraise for Frankfurt. Unlike the text heavy self help books of yester-year, you can hold One Small Drop in one hand. The pages are laser cut with small drops that turn into hearts with every page turn, the colours gradually turning from dark to light.</p> <p>More than 7,000 authors and book makers at the book fair will be vying for the attention of publishers who scout the exhibits for "innovate business models".</p> <p>After attending the fair some years ago Constable walked around searching for fellow book artists, disheartened to find they were "miles away from anywhere." Her exhibit, she promises, will be like walking into one of her storybooks. </p> <p>"I came back and I said I'm not going to stand in a queue trying to get someone to read it. I said I don't care how it happens, I'm going to get someone to pick up the Martha series."</p> <p><em>Written by Kelly Dennett. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>. </em></p> <p><em>Image credit: Getty</em></p>

Books

Our Partners

Over 60

© Copyright 2024 OverSixty.All Rights Reserved.