I’m currently working for Hill Holiday as the Sr. Interactive Art Director. Clients include Liberty Mutual, Dunkin Donuts, Budweiser, CVS, Harvard Pilgram, Gather and more.
Previously I was designing the inerface for Bioshock for Irrational Game.
I’m heading off to Sydney soon with hopes that the journey home won’t be quite as “eventful” as the journey here. I’ve had a really fantastic time in Canberra and I hope to be back soon with my family. I can easily picture myself making a life here.
This trip was initially supposed to be for six months but I don’t know what I’d have done being away from my wife and son for that long. Luckily we cut that way back to just two weeks which has been an ideal amount of time. There’s been enough time to develop relationships with the people I’ll be working with remotely and I’ve had time to explore the surroundings on my own. I’m anxious to get home and I’m conveniently avoiding any thoughts about weather.
At my farewell lunch I talked more about Australia’s social issues with some friends from work. I found my assumptions about the Australian-British and Australian-Aboriginal relationships to not be entirely correct.
Before I go any further I should say that my impressions are based on the thoughts of a few people I spoke with and shouldn’t be considered facts. I encourage any interested to look into this further.
There is still some animosity below the surface towards the British, although it’s almost a rite of passage for Australians to go spend a few years working in the UK after getting out of college so it’s obviously not something that looms heavy in the hearts of Australians. The members of the penal colony are considered, by some, to be the first settlers and to have a direct link to them is a matter of pride.
As for the Aboriginal voice, it’s not quite as vocal as I perceived it to be. Many of the Aboriginals were just killed when the British settlers arrived, and most of the others resorted to living in the desert. Some here still posses a deep rooted disdain for the Aboriginals. There’s a perception that they can’t secure jobs, are drunks and get a free ride from the government. I can’t comment one way or the other as in my two weeks here I haven’t seen any Aboriginals myself. There are plenty of Aboriginal inspired items, especially of the souvenir variety. I say inspired and not created because none of it seems to actually be produced by them. Australians seem perfectly comfortable cashing in on the international perception of the situation without acknowledging the state of affairs.
It’s interesting to note that the settlers here never acknowledged the indigenous people in Australia. The Aboriginals were unorganized and unable to stand firm. The Maoris from New Zealand, on the other hand, were organized and did resist, at least to some extent. They’ve been acknowledged by the government and currently account for nearly 10% of New Zealand’s population compared to the 2% the Aboriginals can claim. The issue of acknowledgment still plagues the country. It’s largely ignored by most but some do feel ashamed of the history. Either this is just a small minority or the sentiment isn’t strong enough to actually provoke change in policy.
Hopefully I have not shone and unfair light on Australia. Worst things can be said about most countries. Taking an outsider’s perspective on the situation has made it easy for me confront the issues here and pass judgement. I can only hope that my recent experiences and thoughts will allow me to make similarly harsh observations about my life and surroundings. Complacency seems to allow any ghastly change tolerable, so long as it’s gradual.
Here’s 360 degree view of Canberra from the top (middle actually) of a communications tower. The top of the tower is more than a mile above sea level.
I’ll post a close-up of the tower itself soon but for now here’s the view:
Click the image for the large panoramic
This weekend I had a chance to get out a do a few more touristy things like walk the city, visit some museums and galleries and ride a bike around a lake. It’s all been great fun. It made me wish for less time at work or more weekends. I’m not picky, I’ll take either one. The strange thing about Canberra is that everything closes by 5 everyday, and most places close even earlier on Sunday so I had to rent a bike in order to get everywhere in time.
I visited was The National Museum of Australia. It’s a very impressive building set on the tip of a peninsula on Lake Burley Griffin and is ultra modern, inside and out. I wonder how Australians feel about it. Is this how they see themselves or is it something for the tourists. The museum is based on 3 themes: People, Land and Water.
In side there is a revolving theatre that turns to face one of three exhibits corresponding to the three themes of the museum. All three exhibits were very well done. They used a combination of synchronized video flat panel monitors, which could move up and down, projectors, colored lights, sound effects and sculptures to tell a story.
One of the things I was hoping to learn more about was the history of Australia as a penal colony but I notice any mention of it. I thought for sure this would have been the place to learn about it. There were however exhibits on the Aboriginals and their struggle to reclaim their land and their rights. I couldn’t help but think of the parallels between the struggles of the Native Americans in the United States, although the Aboriginal voice as a whole appears to be stronger and more respected here.
The most prominent example I saw of their dissatisfaction with their place in the country was on the steps to the Old Parliament house. The field in front of the building has several makeshift huts bearing messages such as “Stop Killing Our Kids” (I wish I knew what this was in response to) and “Australia Has a Black History”. There were also a few Aboriginal flags. I’ve never been to Washington D.C. but I don’t imagine there are flag burnings and signs of that nature on the steps of Congress. I know this is the Old Parliament house and not the current one but the two buildings are very close.
I’m not sure if the fact that we don’t have such public displays against the Government by the Native Americans or other groups is a knock against the government. As far as I know these types of protests are allowed (maybe not setting a bonfire or leaving a hut for long periods of time). I suppose it says more about the people… or maybe it says something about me. The truth is for all I know there are such protests and I’ve just never bothered to take part.
I decided to have lunch at the National Museum and an older couple from England joined me. They were looking for a shady spot to sit and I happen to be in the only one, so I invited them over. They were both very nice and told me about their travels around the world. Australia is their favorite place to be. The woman said to me: “We should have left the convicts in England and come live here ourselves”.
This made me think of a poem I had read at the Parliament. The gist of the poem was that both sides should come together and neither should stand in shame, neither the oppressed nor the oppressors. The poem was addressing the England-Australian relationship but it hinted at the Australian-Aboriginal relationship as well. It seems the Australians are both oppressors and oppressed at the same time and they’re trying to work things out.
Any way… the reason I thought of this was that the woman’s statement hints that what makes Australia her favorite place in the world is the land and weather, not the people and culture. I wonder if this view is popular amongst the English.
Although I won’t argue that the weather and the land here are wonderful I’ve also found Canberra to be a very culturally rich place. The museums are all very well designed and extremely informative. One of the best examples of this is The War Memorial. It’s incredibly rich in history and it’s all presented in such an aesthetically pleasing way that it really engages the visitor in the experience. All of the other museums and galleries have been equally interesting.
You get a sense of culture here by just walking through the city. There are pieces of public art everywhere from fountains to sculptures and graffiti. I’m eager to get to Sydney and experience another side of Australia. I’ve heard it’s quite stunning, although I’m told that Melbourne is the better city but either way I shouldn’t waste my time in the cities. Australia’s not know for amazing cities, it’s known for amazing beaches.
If and when I come back I plan on making that the focus of my trip.
View from Civic Center
Inside one of the galleries of the Canberra Museum and Gallery
I have a soft spot for old cars
Dorms at the University of Canberra
A generic brand scientifically engineered to make you feel as poor as possible
I think this is called a Paper Wood Tree. It’s what the Aboriginals use
An old food bus that’s been abandoned in a parking lot
Australia seems to have a love hate relationship with The States
These birds are everywhere
Graffiti in and around town
Lake Burley Griffin… the arch across the lake is the National Museum of Australia
Telstra Tower (I’m hoping to go there this week)
A sculpture of the logo for The National Museum
The arch you see from the opposite side of the lake
The Australian War Memorial
Mosaic at the grave of the Unknown Soldier
Another one up close
Capital Hill as seen from the War Memorial (the white building in front is the Old Parliament House, behind it is the new Parliament House)
“Authentic” boomerang in front of the Old Parliament House
The War Memorial is in the background, in the foreground is a hut with a sign reading “Stop Killing Our Kids” and an Aboriginal flag.
Another hut… there are several of these huts with similar messages, all right in front of the old Parliament house.
Aboriginal flag on the steps to the Old Parliament House… I don’t think this would fly in the US
Back of the Old Parliament house
The new and current Parliament House… There were some mixed feelings with the introduction of this building. Some people were expecting the building to make a grand statement but the new Parliament house is buried in a hill.
The Queen is ever present here
Looking out from the top of the Parliament House
At night
Circuitry - Fiona Hooton
This is based on the outline of a human and is meant to symbolize the people, transport and information flowing through the city
Cushion - Matthew Harding
A poem by Marion Halligan is “scattered” on the ground.
Illumicube - Kerry Simpson
Commemoration of 25 years of electric supply by ACT Electricity Authority
Lights inside used to respond to sound but as the population grew they disabled the feature to prevent people from sounding their car horns at all hours of the night
The Canberra Times Fountain - Robert Woodward
Marks the intersection of Ainslie Avenue with City Walk
Father and Son - John Dowie
From Alex Downer in the memory of his father Sir John Downer
Ainslie’s Sheep - Les Kossatz
There’s some joke about Canberra being a “A good sheep paddock spoiled”
Ethos - Tom Bass
The dish above her head has a relief map of the city. The statue is meant to celebrate the civic pride of Canberra
The Theatre District
I managed to get to Australia in one piece and with not too much jetlag. I was on Quantas, the big airline here in Australia, for part of the way and out of the three airlines I was on they were definitely the best. Although it may have had something to with the fact that it was only a 45-minute flight.
When I landed the first order of business was to get to the hotel and take a shower. I asked a man who looked like he was just getting off his shift how to go about getting into town. He told me the best way is to take a cab but it would cost me about $40. It turned out he was heading my way and offered to give me a ride. I paused for a second as hitchhiker horror stories flashed through my head, but in the end my frugality trumped my concerns and I took the ride.
The man was actually very nice, just like everyone else I’ve had the pleasure of meeting here has been. On the way to the hotel he gave me a quick rundown on what to do while in town. I tried to give him some money for his troubles but he just said “no worries” and looked genuinely happy to have helped.
Last night a friend from work offered to take me out to his old university campus to go look for kangaroos, as I had told him I needed to get a picture of one before going back. We spotted a group of them in the bush quite easily. Some of them even had “joeys” hanging out of their pouches; at least I think that’s what it was. You be the judge… the kangaroo on the left, what is that sticking out?
click the image for a bigger version
So far I have nothing but good things to report. I’ve been made to feel very welcome at the office and I’ve gotten a lot of good work in done in just two days. The weather’s been absolutely perfect and I’m enjoying just going for walks. I hope the rest of the trip is as enjoyable and productive as the past few days have been.
Day two of the trip has been very long but not at all frustrating like the first. I caught the plane to Honolulu this morning with no troubles and considering the length of the flight it wasn’t at all bad.
The middle aged woman sitting next to me who has worked for the past 25 years as a machine operator in a meat-packing plant in Nebraska made surprisingly interesting conversation. She told me all about her family reunions, grandchildren and frequent trips to Hawaii. And in exchange I told her about my family, discussed the war and shared what little information I have on the video game industry. I was all quite pleasant and helped a great deal in passing the time.
This morning when I noticed there was an 8-hour gap between my flights I was a bit let down considering I still had the longest leg of my trip ahead of me but I could think of no better place to wait for a plane than Hawaii.
I hopped on a bus to Waikiki, which was quite a ways off and gave me a great chance to tour the island. At Waikiki I did a little walking in hopes of finding some interesting local shops but I was disappointed to see so many familiar chain stores here. It was Home Depot after Starbucks after Banana Republic after Pier 1 and so on. As if seeing all the same stores wasn’t enough I spotted a few people from Boston (or at least I assumed they were, based on the Patriots and Red Sox hats shirts and even tattoos). The Pro Bowl is on Sunday so there are quite a few football fans in town.
The people all seemed very kind and interesting. I listened in (unnoticed I imagine) on quite a few conversations throughout the day. One woman was on her way to meet a friend whom she had not seen in 28 years. She was the maid of honor at this woman’s wedding and that was the last time they spoke, she didn’t mention why and since it wasn’t my conversation I couldn’t really ask any questions.
I’d love to visit again with more time and with someone who can show me around. It seems that when you don’t know where to go you tend to fall into the tourist traps and don’t really get a chance to explore the city.
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I’ve been trying to stay awake the whole day so I can sleep on the flight tonight and arrive in Sydney tomorrow morning refreshed and jetlag free so that I can hunt down the luggage that decided to go on ahead without me. I have sufficient time between flights so I’m not too worried about it… Yet.
It’s all been much more eventful than I had expected but I prefer it this way. I feel like I would have missed out had things gone according to plan.
I knew I was going to have a long flight when going to Australia but so far it’s been much, much worse than expected.
I was supposed to go from Boston to San Francisco where I was to take a plane to Sydney and then finally catch a plane to Canberra.
I got to the airport around 3:30 on Thursday afternoon for a 5:50 flight. I was told the flight was delayed and as a result I’d miss my connection to Sydney in San Francisco. Luckily there was an alternative. I was booked on a 5:00 flight to Denver where I’d take another plane to L.A. and from L.A. I’d be off to Sydney… a bit of an inconvenience but all in all not too bad… or so I thought.
The flight to Denver took longer than expected due to strong head winds. When we landed I had 15 minutes to get to my next flight (on the other side of the airport). I ran off the plane throwing little old women and children to the ground as I went in a desperate attempt to stay on schedule.
I arrived completely out of breath with 5 minutes to spare only to find out the flight L.A. was an hour late. I was told that I’d still be able to make my connection to Sydney in L.A. so I wasn’t worried. I grabbed a sandwich, an apple and a water and stretched my legs. While waiting I had a nice conversation with an engineer for an energy company from L.A. All was well.
Then came the snow….
We boarded the plane but before taking off we had to wait while the wings of the plane were de-iced. Unfortunately the snow was falling too fast so they decided to de-ice again and put some anti-ice on the wings. The chances of me catching that flight were getting slimmer be the minute. While all this was going on we received news that a fog had rolled in at LAX, so now we had to get more fuel in case we’d have to land somewhere else. At this point we had been waiting on the plan for almost 2 hours, not to mention the hour we waited off the plane.
Then came the announcement…
The pilots had gone over the legal limit of hours they can fly so the flight was canceled. Unfortunately for the passengers it was late into the night and the next possible flight was at 8AM the next morning and there appear to be only 2 people working at the airport so getting rebooked was painfully slow.
At 2 in the morning local time (4AM my time) I finally got a new itinerary and a hotel voucher for a lousy hotel 15 miles from the airport. The best they could do was to send me to Honolulu, a 7 and a half hour flight, where I’m to catch a plane to Sydney, an 11 hour flight, wait 3 hours and get on the final leg of my trip to Canberra.
12 hours after leaving Logan airport I get to the hotel and to top it off… they’re out of non-smoking rooms at the hotel.
Hopefully I’ll have better luck tomorrow.
(in case you’re wondering who provides this great service…. it’s United)
Here are a couple of comps I did for SoftBank Capital on behalf of Hunt and Gather. My good friend, Ann Karash, was the art director on this project and she really helped push me along in the right direction.
I’m really happy with how it came out, especially considering it’s a website for a venture capital firm. Not exactly the most exciting or inspiring stuff… visually that is. I’m sure the world of venture capital is boats load of excitement and inspiration.
I’m particularly happy with the balance/asymmetry of it as well as the sense of depth these comps have.
Coming soon. I’ve been doing a lot of digging for some nice art to hang up at home and I’m sick of seeing the same shit everywhere.
So… I’ve decided to make a series of posters myself. I’m guessing I’ll make 3-4 posters based on the same theme.
Suggestions and collaborators wanted.