Flestering for a saner world!

Have you ever heard of 'Flestering'?
I don't think I had until my wife thought to point it out to me recently. She knows I like doing stuff with junk and when she discovered the word and art of Flestering she had to tell me all about it!

I couldn't find the word in the dictionary so looked it up online and discovered only a few references to it but what I found, I liked!

Here is a definition of flestering according to this site: (Go and read some of their theory, I think it's pretty cool)
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09004/939328-109.stm

"Flester (fles-ter), n.,flesta, -am; v.,flesto, -are, avi, -um.

Attributed to Uncle Flester, presumed timeless and ubiquitous.

1. n. Defunct, discarded, things; immediately redeemable. In the post-industrial age, fragments of formerly functional contrivances.

2. n. Any "thing" in so far as one ascribes a presumptive integrity to it, often the result of a visual prejudice.

3. v. The act of flestering, i.e. making proliferative and promiscuous use of what is at hand, closely related to the practice of Bricolage (See French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss: "The Savage Mind.")"

If you've ever seen the film 'The Gleaners and I' you might remember seeing some of the fascinating people in the film who collected junk from the street and turned it into something... artfully transforming trash into objects of curiosity and sometimes beauty. The creators of the River Cube project call this kind of transformation of discarded material Artful Trash Management (ATM) and also use the term Flestering to describe the process. I like it.

There's a satisfying feeling you can get when salvaging stuff, junk, and turning it into something useful. Whether it is intended as art or not, many things transformed in this way appear to take on a magical new quality and an odd beauty! I remember the farm gates on properties back home were often made from recycled beds or other iron, which had been welded and cut to fit. The latches too were crafted from recycled iron.

Darwin has it's own examples of Flestering, some of it I have found to be absolutely inspiring! I can't help being drawn to anything created in this way, it just sucks me in!

Here's a couple of local examples of Flestering that I reckon are pretty cool.

Creative Image Gallery Tin Shed Gallery
I don't think they're showing anything at the moment but you can check out Pedro's handy work at Casuarina Square, you sit on it! (Erratum - the link is to Tin Shed Gallery but the place I'm referring to is actually the Creative Image Gallery... Oooops!)


Darwin Fridge Festival

The event came into being last year. It is produced by Darwin Community Arts. Last year it was a basic exhibition of art done on, in and with discarded fridges (from the tip I expect), In one year it has grown enormously and now includes poetry and performance art! I believe there's still time to get your entries in.

The opening of the 2011 Fridge Festival was held last night at the Darwin Aviation Institute. An awesome open air venue, that absolutely reeks of Old Darwin Town! If you weren't there you have seriously missed out on something special! No dress code, free mangoes and plenty of room for the kids to run around!

If you're into a seat of your pants Adventure Flester check out Monsoon Dervish! If you scroll down you can see the awesome recumbent bike that local adventurer (not sure he'd like to be called that) Kris Larsen has created and ridden where most people fear to drive! If you're curious about his yacht or bike and would like to know how they came into being, with a capital 'B' I recommend reading his books.

As for me I've only tinkered with small stuff, re-using things that have been discarded, and mostly things I find on the side of the road while riding to work. (you'd be surprised how much treasure falls through the cracks in a wealthy society!) There is one project I am following with keen interest though. I managed to rescue some old aircraft bits before they were tossed out for scrap metal and they are now being transformed by a wizard of recycling and his conspirator. I'll try to post a progress report soon.

Bye bye Festiva hello Xtracycle

The car has gone! Long live the bicycle!


(Long bike - short car)


Yesterday we finished up the paperwork needed to transfer ownership of our trusty Festiva to it's new owners. My friend who recently got her driving licence and has been joined in Australia by her two kids, really needed a car (I couldn't convince her that it's better to cycle!) so we gave her ours!

It's been a great little car and was getting good fuel economy, sometimes 550km from a 35 litre tank... (what's that in kms per litre or litres per 100km?) but needed some work and I'm flat out being Mr Dad with two young kids with .0 time for tinkering so the decision was easy. Get rid of the car and get fairdinkum about cycling!

Now I have committed to cycling as often as I possibly can! (I'll have to because the car is no longer an option!) Just in time for the national Ride To Work Day...

As a special gift my friend gave me a really nice Batik shirt! It's funny how things work out because I've always wanted a really nice Batik shirt. I've owned some cheep ones but this one is much nicer and I would never have bought it for myself! (Partly because I'm stingy and partly because I have a no new clothes policy... Protest T-shirts excepted) What a great gift and a great lesson. Don't fear about letting things go. Sometimes you need to pass things on to those who need them. You never know what good things may come your way.


(Giving up the car for the trusty Xtracycle long bike)

Have a nice day.

Disability Awareness Week

Although I haven't been posting much lately, there has been plenty happening! I just haven't felt much inspiration to bang away on the keyboard about it. (Sometimes this whole blogging thing gets a bit tedious! What is the good in it? Who will even read it? etc... etc...) Oh well what else am I to do? It's 4:30 am, I have only had about 4 hours sleep and for some reason since we returned from Broome my skin has become so itchy that it keeps me up at night! I can't see any cause of the irritation but it gets worse at night and it's driving me crazy today!

Enough about my woes!

It's a big week in Darwin. The Darwin Festival is in full swing with a plethora of entertainment centered in the gardens precinct and branching out to various locations right across town. It also happens to be disability awareness week.
As part of the disability awareness week festivities Geoffrey Yunupingu performed to a select audience at a local university on Monday afternoon. I'd read about the performance in the Darwin festival events calender and decided to get down there to see him. It turned out that the concert was by invitation only! Buy the organizers were very understanding and permitted me to come along, so I gratefully accepted their invitation...
This guy has such a great musical style! His songs are full of emotion and a deep love for his people, his family. Although the lyrics are mostly in Yolngu no interpretation is needed to convey the beauty he expresses. This was the second time I've seen him in a month and I can't wait for the next performance.

Yesterday also as part of disability awareness week we went down to an open day at a special little garden in Leanyer called The Plot. It is an amazing gardening and craft space that has been set up in a disused council works depot. In a shady nook of the property a group of students, teachers and support workers have created an oasis of calm and purposeful toil. I was really impressed by what I saw there and hope to be able to give some of my time to their activities in creating what may turn out to be a much needed community space on the edge of town.
This could be exactly what our community needs! A people's space run by the people, for the people! The opportunities this project has already provided it's participants are proof of its future potential! After spending just an hour there I felt empowered and energized enough to see out the rest of the day with a smile on my face!

The winds of change and a Seabreeze

Gathering at the foreshore

The beginning of the dry season came with a bang this year! In the space of about two weeks the dry southerly winds have arrived and blown away the tropical humidity and afternoon showers. The grass is drying and Spring fever is all around.
The Seabreeze festival along Nightcliff foreshore was a great hit on the weekend and the atmosphere was amazing. There were bands all along the strip from the boat ramp to Rapid creek bridge! Jumping castles on the grass and sand castles on the beach, cultures, sculptures and and beanbag jugglers! There were artists, cyclists and competition finalists! So many folks in the street food to eat a chai tea tent where we all could meet. There were kids with dogs a man with a parrot scrap metal cows and recycled creatures that defied description! Bicycles, tricycles and even a one wheeled onecycle (you know a unicycle)Wobbling and swaying under the cheerful magic of a teenaged clown, face painted and laughing at the crowd he rolls by. Ecstatic anonymous joy. Delight happiness. Kids climbing trees, skinning knees laughing shouting free and and begging mum please let us stay till dark! They're running freely, wild through the park, the band pumps it up and the kids are jumping and rolling in the grass while parents let down their guard as they sit in the gentle afternoon seabreeze. The knock'em-downs will be around soon enough.
So we checked it all out sat for a while walked ate some cake and drank Chai and filtered coffee, banged along to the band with the lagerphone we made and enjoyed the ease of a welcome dry in the season of festivals and visitors, dry air and cool nights! It's great to be here!


Kid's bike extender


Chung Wah Lions in parade


Latin Rhythms


Bali Music and culture


Supreme Court Ruling on McArthur River Mine!
There is some justice in the NT after all but the fight is not over! The Supreme court has found in favor of the Traditional owners who disputed the mining approval. This is a great victory for Territorians whether we appreciate it or not. There is currently a lot of pressure to disregard environmental safeguards if they threaten to slow mining approvals in any way. The recent Supreme court decision should cause governments to seriously re-think their appraisal of environmental impacts. I hope they don't retaliate by diluting of these laws.
Check out the McArthur River blog for more info HERE.