A real blast from the past.

As we continue with our annual clean up, sort, and divestment of stuff, we came across this blast from the past.

Way back in 2006, I quite my senior executive role and went to CIT in Canberra (a technical college) to do my one and only art qualification - a six month Certificate III in Design Fundamentals, just before we moved to our shed in Maleny.  It was a hoot of a time - I scrambled out of work to attend the Introductory briefing in my suit and high heels with my mobile going off; all of my classmates had just left school.

I had a fabulous time hanging out with 18 year olds and learnt so much.  I was introduced to printmaking, drawing, theory, ceramics and sculpture.  I was hungry and lapped it all up.

Our final project was a sculptural piece with a brief: take two things that have movement; and re-work them to create a new thing with movement.

I chose a domestic tool - an egg beater; and a writing tool - a typewriter.

I took as my theme the women codebreakers of the Second World War. How they had been plucked from domesticity and transported to important jobs and roles, and then after the War, basically told to go home and pop their aprons on again.

Of course, I had the help of Barry even then, and whilst I came up with all the ideas and movement, when I got stuck he could suggest how to attach something to something, how to make the thing come to life as I envisaged.

I gutted the typewriter and used it as a base for the work.  I removed the roller and made it stand vertically.  I took apart the egg beater and created the silhouette forms of two women.

One was the before and after woman - the woman in a 40s frock and with an apron.

The second one was the in-between woman - in a service uniform and jaunty cap.

The idea was that as you applied pressure to the return handle of the typewriter; the women would move between the two worlds.  Starting in the domestic sphere, moving to the important professional sphere then being returned to the domestic world again.

Hopefully the video LINK HERE shows it in action. Blogger doesn't let me upload videos that work anymore, so I have made a youtube video which hopefully you can link to.

The work has been in a cupboard since we moved here (13.5 years ago) but now seemed the right time to take it out and pop it along the sculpture paths below, nestled in the bush to be a nice reminder for me  when I wander there. 

And here, with Barry's help, is the video in the bush (I hope)! Again this is a youtube video and I have all my fingers crossed that the link works...