NYE live google stream on the 2:12

jumped on the 2:12... azealia banks & i are like "that". although i appear to be on more amphetamines than her... punk monk propaganda represent. and yes, we love safe sex.


now that we're back in town the punk monk edit team [em, stevie, bunk & me] will actually finish our crowd sourced film, but this is the roughcut we managed to get out for NYE at peats ridge 2011.

monastery of 11 strings mapped

we're on the map! directly beneath the wonderland garden & bar adjacent to the main bellbird stage is our punk monk propaganda home at peats ridge for 2011. what will be the monastery of 11 strings... can you see us? more soon.


:)

bright here, bright now

i went solo to promote punk monk propaganda at the smARTarts festival and all i got was this lousy photo... actually the photo's not bad but i'm bummed because my invisible punk monk tribe who are the real liquid light stars didn't get a mention.

so now i'd like to do it posthumously. my ugly mutt may be gracing a few other papers this week as the city council's smARTarts PR machine picks up gears & momentum. we open this friday night, april 01 in conjunction with national youth week [april 01-10].

punk monk propaganda will be heavily embedded in the realised dreamspace injecting the scene with our usual vibe and ethos in juxtaposition with the award winning youth orchestra [soon with reverb]. with various wall projections to be spilt featuring the analogue courtesy of our now trademark painting with colour with organic elements the specialty of alchemists: kate taylor, alexander papasavvas and clare devlin-mahoney. we're also adding a liquid light station for those punters who want to get their hands wet and dirty.

mobile light experiments from alex papasavvas on vimeo.

cut to IR [infra red] graffiti ground zero bombing [that'll be ky-lee menzies & yours truly aided and abetted by wonder bridge nick radford & hipster-in-denial: sometime punk monk dermot mcguire from eight filters].


our IR stuff is experimental & interactive so if you want the opportunity to launch graffiti all over a basketball court, be part of video game reality slip stream without official recriminations, come down! we make our own IR pens. maybe you can help drive this organic entity as we evolve it together.

other stuff to expect is photographer darling of the film underground, our very own paparazzi [hello @vornstar], youthcentric art exhibition, sculptural installations [dreamcatchers, 3D animations, surreal glowing couldbe lamp entities, all made on site and random performers so you too can make a dream and follow it through to the end of this participatory hands-on fest, where we'll end with a kaleidescopic finale.

and it's all FREE! there may be some other random easter eggs... come treasure hunt us down:

pine street creative centre

64 pine street

chippendale

friday april 01 18:30 - 21:00

suburbs spawn existentialism

BTS with AWOL MONK: talking to heremaia rudkin about the "what if girl"

extract from #KSZ 02 [sydney kino zine]

ironically this month's behind the scenes featured filmmaker whose amazing almost bus stop romance originally captured my imagination at newtown flicks is featured in #KSZ02. the zine was released last night on the night of kino#37 where steven kastrissios who featured last month in BTS with AWOL MONK for issue 01 had an equally enigmatic almost bus stop romance short film screen as his first ever KINO film. stop the zeitgeist bus! the trick is whether there's a trifecta... tune in next month & see.

heremaia rudkin despite being disarmingly handsome is a quintessentially bashful kiwi boy made good. although he’d never admit it.  

we shared some locally brewed beers last wknd on an erskineville pavement under the sun & talked about the recent success of his no/lo-budget film WHAT IF GIRL which was awarded the panavision industry prize at the recent cool kid on the festival block, newtown flicks as well as playing in the shortlisted “audience bites back” finale night which featured the most popular film from each previous sesh. 

upon seeing the film i made a direct beeline. he oozes a polished yet casual KINO sensibility asking big questions in small format. his film is, dare i say, like him likeable. extremely identifiable. in a savvy understated eastern suburbs kinda way. despite being an inner west fest, the dilemma universal.

a graduate of NZ film school, heremaia dabbles in video production by day to pay bills but his passion for story telling takes him into the wonderful world of film at night. and yes his nan helped finance his short. hello australian film industry.

newtown flicks is the test fest for the film & it’s an undeniably great result & infinitely valuable springboard. newtown flicks provides a respected forum & veritable hotbed of talent lurking beneath the cinematic radar while gallantly competing this year with the competitive film calendar by going head to head with the 57th sydney film festival. a scheduling nightmare but still viable due to the scope of the programme. closing night was near full with all bums accounted for on seats.

encouraged heremaia now looks to his new town to provide the stimulus & setting for many more films with an avant garde music video in the works & a very different story. We talk 7D. canon has really hit the indie filmmaker sweet spot — there’s an observable trend. every other indie filmmaker is ditching their large format HDV cameras & downsizing/upgrading to the canon DSLR with HD video range.

his challenge [a problem common to many emerging financially-strapped filmmakers] however is to build a tribe to work with.

like the born-again pimp i am, i tell him about the new cine religion at fraser studios one monday a month & he promises to come. one thing there is no shortage of in sydney is a film subculture coupled with a community which supports & nurtures fresh talent. whether or not he does come, there is no “what if” about heremaia's promising screen future.

NB. images used are copyright the filmmaker [heremaia rudkin]. thanks to heremaia for use of pics]

BTS with AWOL MONK is a regular behind the scenes segment which can be found in every issue of kino sydney's zine produced by punk monks clare devlin-mahoney, alexander papasavvas & kate taylor with contributions from other kino lovers. [#ksz]

haiku: crowd sourced toilet art

this saturday june 05, 2010 fellow punk monks; clare, alex and i are creating a crowd sourced art experiment at ATVP [at the vanishing point] gallery. 


it is the first of multiple parts of our protest installation about transgressive toilet decoration in response to adolf loos, the puritanical aesthetist's theory that "one can measure the culture of a country by the degree its lavatory walls are daubed".  


this is a transmedia project with varied entry points arguing that high art need not conflict with form nor function but readily adapts to space and time. 


the work in progress will be revealed on opening night june 10. our success largely relies on participation. this experiment requires neither rocket scientists nor fine artists. please spread the word.


we'll be there at 2pm. come join the quiet fray!


email me @ propaganda[at]punk-monk.com with any questions.


decorating loos @ ATVP
at the vanishing point - contemporary art inc.
565 king street
newtown, australia

but where are all the pretty horses?

BTS with AWOL MONK: - talking to steven kastrissios about the horseman

extract from #KSZ 01 [first issue sold out may 2010]

steven kastrissios is a man of immense paradox. BEHIND THE SCENES he’s gentle, humble & wry. we’ve become great friends since we met in 2008 at a night of horror international film festival.

but his multiple award-winning accolade ripping feature film THE HORSEMAN which he’s just sold for international distribution reveals a guy ritchie on steroids meets early rolf de heer auteur. his characterisation brutal. bad boy bubby has left the building & moved into pest control. *sideways look*

the horseman story is one of fairytales. the kind with blood, sweat & tears. lots of blood. this is no holds barred action with gritty realism. steven envisaged it & succeeded. in the cinema i’ve seen people leave. in horror. i did some quiet gut wrenching of my own.

made on the wings of a short prayer based on his feature screenplay to garner interest, the brisbane exile then made this, his first feature in true blue indie fashion.

instead of a big fat greek wedding his parents invested their house against the now defunct 10BA cert [since replaced by the producer offset] to support his dream & his sisters eloped. well almost.

the gamble paid huge dividends since the end of 2006 when a small multi-tasking crew used one location in oh so many ways to stretch budget till the lycra was all spent & producer rebecca dakin could cook no more after a brilliantly choreographed 4 week shoot for what is technically a no-budget film. by australian standards.

as the awards rained down, steven returned to newly adopted sydney from a successful session at texas’s SXSW 2009 to wrap the marketing material for distributors & consider the calm before the prevailing storm.

we discuss the current climate for making films. “noone returned my calls before either” he says as we ruefully discuss my plans for his shiny new 5D mark II & share fantastical post-apocalyptic visions for future projects.

he leaves after drinking wine to catch a plane for his sister’s engagement party. like the prodigal son/brother he is, he has returned & she got her dowry back.

NB. "the horseman" images [including production shots] are copyright kastle films. thanks for letting me use them steven. the rest are copyleft/creative commons courtesy of yours truly.


for details re: the horseman australian theatrical release later this year please check kastle films.

BTS with AWOL MONK is a regular behind the scenes segment which can be found in every issue of kino sydney's zine produced by punk monks clare devlin-mahoney, alexander papasavvas & kate taylor with contributions from other kino lovers. [#ksz]

poor little matchstick girl

alex papasavvas & clare devlin mahoney - lost

no people...on the walls. or any other surface. despite numerous photos everywhere. yet the gallery was packed last night as peeps flocked through the doors to savour excellent photography with no face. yet still implied human value.


the digital consumerist age has placed photography in the hands of the masses, more so than ever. the incredible proliferation of trigger-happy portrait snaps with an inverted signal to noise ratio littering the interwebs is increasingly out of whack. still, there's nothing more subjective than art.

jason SG white - dreams

"no people" at the vanishing point shares stories of being with delicious fragmentation. freshly delivered bite-sized pieces whet the palate enabling those who interact with the pieces to conceive their own complete meal: whether it's mcdonalds for one or ancini balls for another.


take an abandoned box of empty matches on a city street. add imagination. spark & stir. desaturated in name but not in nature. thanks for the colorful ingredients punk monks' alex & clare. the only thing "lost" about your zine was it, buried under the delighted throes for the night. it was hard to get a clear shot in [with my happy-snap phone camera].

sue storry - sixteen people

i just love the vibe at ATVP gallery. it's the iconic centre of a hub which shows the inner west has truly arrived. the wankers can keep the eastern suburbs. 


this dynamic vibe & humming space are testament to the entire buzz which is sweeping the gutter edge of the city. the artistic expression is free. there's an unpretentious honesty when a gallery asks for donations for the wine & the people pay. they really are there for the art. and it's worth it.


the group exhibition curated by alex wisser via contemporary art inc opened last night and is part of the ambitious HEAD ON photo festival involving 67 venues showcasing local and international photographers across all genres. no people runs till may 16.


no people
at the vanishing point
565 king street
newtown
[02] 9519 2340

environmental evangelism

after the prep was done we soak up the sights & sounds as the rest of us photograph/film us doing so. friday night. the red rattler theatre. the lurkers meets punk monk propaganda meets emma davis. shoot for the moon album launch.

the paper crane filled wishing tree lures dryads to its fold where clare & alex's hand-printed eucalyptus leaves are filled & tied with our collective dreams onto its waving silver boughs. our zines are used then stashed. the banjo guides a score of dancing toe-tapping pirates through a hedonistic chorus of "aaarrrrrr". 200 peeps get interactive in the sexy saturated pink of many hues.

perhaps environmental evangelism makes some friends after all.

[pix by punk monks: alex, clare & me].

in lurker love

eco-terrorism & guerrilla experimental filmmaking are a match made in heaven. this friday [23.10.2009] this collusionary force can be witnessed at the red rattler when punk monk propaganda put our hat into the ring to support activist art for the album launch [shoot to the moon] & copenhagen climate change send-off for lovely local band, the lurkers.

the subversive folk trio recently provided some award nominating banjo sounds for our 48 hour film project film "hybristo honeymooners", on friday we'll all win as they come together with vox, guitar, double bass & banjo in a fine bluegrass fusion of pure uplifting satire.

in support of their cause we've curated a collection of sustainable sumptuous cinema where beauty meets dream state meets reality. our handmade punk monk and kino friends cine zine [glue still drying] outlines the thirteen films which will play tonight [starting 19:00 sharp].

punk monk lurker love cine:

into the woods - dir: dermot mcguire 04:11

siren - dir: anna slowciazek & rosie catalano 01:13

one day, this kid - dir: matt ravier 04:24

the sleeper - dir: kate taylor 05:27

recycling… save the earth! - dir: jack feldstein 00:37

happiness - dir: marianne alla 03:46

3am mosquito - dir: victoria waghorn 12:57

the adventures of catz - dir: dan simmonds 04:18

ex oblivione - dir: jack feldstein 05:05

sakura no onna - dir: stevie dunstan 04:07

chick addict - dir: victoria waghorn 02:00

sadness breakfast tea - dir: angela bishop 03:43

i look through transparent things [and i feel OK] - dir: matt ravier 04:24

get the zine in your envelope at the door with other goodies we've created just for you including a magic printed eucalyptus leaf to write your aspirations for the conference to hang on our papier-mâché wishing tree installation which will hang for the night before accompanying the lurkers to the climate change conference as a mission statement of what sydney wants to happen.

look. listen. speak. act [in chillax mode]. FTW.

[apologies for weird formatting issues - blame blogger]

the honeymoon is over

so my nihilistic perspective on weddings, marriage & femme fatales hit a couple of sore spots in the last few days. it still hurts when i press them.

it all started with the awards night for the punk monk 48HR film project "hybristo honeymoon" i literally broke my back on & ended with the dissolution/disillusion of the marriage of two of my best friends after almost two decades together.

in the beginning of the end some punk monks rocked up to the awards screening at the paddington RSL on friday night with great anticipation having been advised that we'd been nominated for at least one award but not aware which category/ies. there was much nervous anticipation in the air which we quickly tempered with red wine en masse [as you/we do] & witty banter about farm machinery in the hopes of a nomination in the category "best use of a prop". we had a bunch of inappropriate suggestions for additions...

with a couple of nominations in categories [best music, best sound] we walked away with two awards in the end [best sound & most lame director = most extraordinary team]. huge congratulations to our small hardworking cast/crew on set [ky, mischa, felix, michael, andrew, davey & my much luscious muse cat] for the incredible effort, energy and shared vision, raen & kate behind the scenes & to dermot, michael, felix & mischa for sticking it out to the end in post production mode.

mike's super sound design got us over the line & mithra with the lurkers enigmatic banjo sounds fueled from my deliverance dueling banjo obsession/original story inspiration combined with dan's [from meatpig] captivating accordion got us a large percentage of the way there.

it was quite satisfying to feel partially responsible for the honorable minister's [virgina judge] lipsticked nose throughout the night after i went in for the stage pash following obligatory congratulatory handshake. KINO regular, aidan corrigan's crowd pleasing mockumentary "living with EES" won best film. big electrifying clap for his team.

we were a little disappointed with the structure of the awards & felt sorry that some of the other films apart from ours which displayed excellence in particular fields didn't even make the finalist nominations. it does demonstrate that there is no accounting for taste & film festival competition judging is an entirely subjective & political process. our film was always going to be borderline risqué, so we were ecstatic to get the recognition we did in a fairly conservative forum.

apparently "we're all winners", so now it's time for us to harvest the film & send it out to see if anyone else responds positively to our wicked weekend jaunt in the woods. with 50% of marriages ending in divorce, honeymooners often don't last forever. we just managed to dispense with ours a little quicker than most. now we need to see if we can prop it up posthumously long after the wedding cake has been happily consumed. if we can manage a seventeen year long festival life perhaps that's a significant #lovePASS not #FAIL after all.

[photos by punk monk dave cheng]

postering the town red

a big bird freshly escaped from sesame street and onto king told me to hit newtown after some punk monks launched a postering campaign this week.

with my completely whack NOKIA N95 in hand due to the absence of my beloved canon 40D [whilst it faces repairs in north ryde: groan], i decided to follow yet another trail for the week when i was almost birds versus humans'd out already... still our psycho eco peacock is much less malevolent than its other dinosauroid-like friends.

like the yellow brick road this taped trail does lead to oz but ours is "born in the doorway" at marrickville's the factory theatre where punk monk propaganda experiential installation artists headline with hailer in a trippy kinda gig spawned from our ALGAE RHYTHM intermedia series designed to blow your mind while you're probing one cerebral cortex, namely yours, with a gun barrel. we're going to change the way you experience live music. live art. live, live, LIVE. that's this saturday the 17th. mark your diary. now.

say hi if you see us poster running on a street near you. mostly we don't bite [unless you want us too], but we may take you home & make you play with us.

guerrillas in ad [hoc]whoredom

take one crate of #birdsvshumans meets #5seeds of apples & a mini pod of fruit lovin' punk monks & you get an awesome cheesy ad whoredom photo opp.

hybristophiles

a few fab punk monks braved the trek into the wilderness with me on the weekend to make a film in the international 48HR film project [28HRFP]. packed into two cars we disappeared bushward into the night after being assigned a genre, line of dialogue, a character & prop to integrate into a film to be entirely created from friday to sunday within an exact controlled time-frame.

genre = film de femme

object = torch

character = jemma gordon, a writer

line of dialogue = "one of these days you're going to realise i'm right".

kudos to ky, felix, michael, mischa, davey, andrew & cat for coping with the extreme elements which we endured, not least the inconstant weather compounded by dealing with an evil director/producer spiralling between crushed spine pain [a tree fell on me while we were location scouting] resulting in "...several wedge compression fractures with greater than 25% height loss anteriorly in the mid to lower thoracic spine. no definite repulsion of fragments is seen" and an opiate induced other worldly state. good times.

to try to make myself feel better & to ensure everyone suffered for the art, i made sure that everyone else shared the misery [but not the codeine] & tried as best i could to turn the project into another faux snuff movie. sadly it looks like both ky & davey will recover from their hypothermia. cat too didn't seem to mind enduring the tortuous conditions but then she didn't vomit all over herself. this begs the question will they all return for a third film...

the proof as they say is in the pudding. a kind of red-blooded guide to newly weds. a marriage manual of sorts. watch this space for screening news. 48HRFP films will screen at paddo RSL wednesday october 07. also the director's cut film inspired by the 48HRFP will screen at KINO this coming monday.

YES!

this weekend sat/sun/mon is a hellishly packed fun time for us punk monks. we're essentially in three places almost at once: with three different major events sucking us up in space & time.

with ALGAE RHYTHM 0:05 [portals curated by clare & alex] looming on the not so distant horizon, a small sexy psychedelic 70s fundraiser party starring kate, alex, davey & the something for porno DJ crew in conjunction with marshmallow productions at sydney film school for pending ALUMNI film production "kelly's blues", we have our hands full without throwing an international 48 hour film challenge into the mix. but we are.

the 48 hour film project kicks off this friday: with a plump handful of the remaining talented punk monk tribe [ky, dermot, felix, michael, davey, mischa, andrew & dan] i'll be writing, shooting, editing a film within that timeframe in the hope to vie off against the best hardened fast & furious filmmakers to represent sydney at the 48 hour film project's filmapalooza - the international screening & awards show in LA early 2010.

what else is there to do in a weekend we ask you?

[pic: punk monk michael prechtl, poster: felix pflieger]