GOfish4 by michael agzarian

GOfish4 revised front and back cover.pdf

2/02/12

11:01 PM

CMY

GOfish magazine - theme: love

ÂŠ 2012 www.gofish.org.au

GOFIsh 4. First published in February 2012 by Advision ABN 650 660 930 23 Printed by Chambers Whyte Wagga Wagga ISSN 1836-3636 Art Director and Editor: Michael Agzarian Graphic Designer and Assistant Editor: Missy Dempsey ÂŠ Advsion 2012 GOfish may not be reproduced in whole or part without written permission of the publishers. Office GOfish Magazine 4 Gurwood St Wagga Wagga NSW 2650 Australia +61 2 6921 8025 art@gofish.org.au www.gofish.org.au Number _______ 1000 Cover photography, illustration and artwork by Michael Agzarian and Missy Dempsey

Contributing ARTISTS Rebecca Tun

Rory Madigan

Jude Paradice

Peter Kemp

Jorge Chamorro

Binx 49

Madalina Andronic

Jason Spencer

Sarah-Jane Guthrie 50

Jack Radcliffe

Marcus Gyllander

Sophie Joyce

Benoit Paille

Rich Lam

28 - 29

Catrin Welz-Stein

Swetlana Gasetski

Sal Azad

30 - 31

Steven Ung

Oksana Grivina

Tilly Clifford

Jacob Raupach

Karina Eibatova

Carla Hackett

Raphael Perez

Jackie Zhu

Marian Bantjes 34 - 37

Willy Sheather

Neill Overton

Amy Sinclair

Jacque Cook

Sarah Miller

Soffia Gisladottir

Sally Mumford

Cameron Gray

David Gilbey

Jeff McCann &

Liz Aggett

Pip Barnes

Lisa Swerling

Oscar Colman

Missy Dempsey 59 GOfish Magazine is grateful for the Lina Reynolds continuing and 60 generous support from;

J.M. Beach

Colin Shafer

Nikki Smith

Ruben Ireland

Paul Nolte

Andy Barter

Michael Agzarian

Samantha Mullavey 22

Gabby McMillan

Contributor's Details 64

Robert Go

Hilary Sloane

Keelan Witton & Richard Trethewey

21 23

www.waggarsl.com.au

Our heartfelt thanks to all of the contributors for their amazing work and to our friends and family for their on-going support and encouragement. In particular, Dr Alan Rowlands for his editorial assistance, it is greatly appreciated. www.chamberswhyte.com.au

Love Is in the Air 'Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world,

On a cold day in December 1979, I was transported from the icy chill and the dull grey streets by the

I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport. General

aroma of freshly baked baguettes; lured into the congenial warmth of a quaint boulangerie off Rue

opinion started to make out that we live in a world of

Michel-Ange, central Paris. The hot baguettes, with their hearty bouquet so alluringly fresh from the

hatred and greed, but I don't see that. Seems to me that

oven, were being carefully assembled on the counter ready for the eager lunch-time crowd. This was

love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or

a welcoming and warm refuge for a traveller from the chill of the outside air.

newsworthy but it's always there. Fathers and sons, mothers

Inside, the shop was a golden palace, surrounded by the warm wood and the variety of displayed

and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends,

breads appearing like amber. As I joined the queue, a small radio (for staff entertainment) was

old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as

playing John Paul Young's "Love Is in the Air": a familiar song to Sydney-siders but possibly new for the

I know, none of the phone calls from people on board were

local Parisians. The repetitive catchy beat resonated with the those in the shop who may not have

messages of hate or revenge, they were all messages of love.

understood the sentiment but certainly responded to the rhythm. This tune hit the spot just like the

If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling, you'll find that love

warm crusty baguettes avec brie et jambon. On leaving the shop, many smiled and for a few moments at least, simply forgot the dismal weather.

actually is all around.'

I found myself humming the tune long after this experience. The idea that this song was written and performed by musicians from the land down under made me feel wonderful, yet also homesick, proud and happy. While the people in the boulangerie may not have known or even cared where the song was from, their response was instant and intuitive, energised by the lively beat on a cold and miserable day in Paris. I still remember the exact moment I heard "Love Is in the Air" playing through tiny speakers in a tiny shop, over thirty years ago. That's one aspect of love we all can relate to: reminiscing on happy times with love as the theme, the driver and the reason for being. As children we may not have seen the events at the time in these terms. However, with greater experience we are able to see and feel the love that inspires and engenders so many of our relations with people and our world. Love is the theme, yet it defies a simple definition to carry the raw, unrehearsed emotion we all feel when we express our love. GOfish 4 has Love as the theme. We have all experienced love first hand, given and returned. Yet, it remains difficult or even awkward to express either in words, deeds or actions. As the ancients realised, the truth is; there is no common denominator, no minimum standard, no rule of thumb. What works for one may not work for another. There are no certainties and it is this diversity that we have tried to reflect in this issue. Over fifty artists from at least sixteen different countries appearing together in one journal of human expression. This is a mosaic of amorous emotion, passion, desire and love. The love for another person, animal or even an object, the love of a place, unrequited love. Love … Is in the air. Enjoy. 2 Michael Agzarian

Opening scene from Love Actually by Richard Curtis 2003

From Wikipedia "Love Is in the Air" is a 1977 disco song sung by John Paul Young. The song was written by George Young and Harry Vanda. It became his only worldwide hit during 1978, peaking at No. 2 on the Australian charts and No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, the song peaked at No. 7 on the pop chart and spent two weeks at No. 1 on the adult contemporary chart, his only US top 40 hit.[1] "Love Is in the Air" was the theme song to Baz Luhrmann's 1992 debut feature film Strictly Ballroom. 1 Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications)

Rebecca Tun â&#x20AC;˘ Cambridge, UK

Peter Kemp • Netherlands • Happy Loving Couple

Madalina Andronic â&#x20AC;˘ London, UK

Jack Radcliffe • Maryland, USA • Gunnar, Beppi and Stephen

Benoit Paille â&#x20AC;˘ Montreal, Canada

Swetlana Gasetski â&#x20AC;˘ Berlin, Germany

Oksana Grivina â&#x20AC;˘ Malta

Karina Eibatova • Russia • Imagine

Jackie Zhu • New York, USA • Romance

Sarah Miller â&#x20AC;˘ Wagga Wagga, Australia â&#x20AC;˘ That Which Destroyeth Kings

Cameron Gray • Launceston, Australia • And Though We Fade Away

Liz Aggett â&#x20AC;˘ Sydney, Australia

Lisa Swerling • London, UK • Evergreen

On Love The word “love is so deceptively simple and clear. And yet, it is also one of those big, vague value laden words, like justice or freedom. It often means everything and nothing all at once. Many times we use the word love to express a feeling that we cannot adequately express. So we fall back on this traditional sentiment to try to say what we cannot really say. We often utter this phrase as an automatic reflex. It is conditioned deep within our unconsciousness, like smiling or sighing. It is an unthinking biological response to that feeling we all think we know, but do not really know. The phrase I love you” is so sentimental, so clich, so overused, so habitual, as to me almost meaningless. But it is not. In fact, the opposite. Where would we be without this word? What would we say without this word? Who would we be without this word? Unlike other languages, English has no range of words to express different kinds or degrees of “love.”The Greeks have agape, or unconditional love. Eros, a passionate and sexual love. Philia, a friendly love. And storge, a tough form of affection, like that between family members. In English we just have “love. Even if we wanted to be more expressive, our language doesn’t really have any suitable synonym for this deep feeling. 20

Tenderness, passion, adoration, affection, enamored, or worst of all, the putrid sentiment, I like you.” And so we are left with the word love, almost out of desperation.When we feel this emotion well within we cannot remain silent, no this we cannot do.This ineffable feeling that boils, like a fever or a sickness, must be verbally expressed to our beloved because our wellbeing depends on the utterance of this simple word. We cannot live without it. As long as there is an“I”and there is a You”and there is a deep connection between us that we feel, together, in an almost mystical experience of transcendence - there will always be love. When it is first stumbled upon, love is wonderfully luminous, powerful, perplexing, sometimes paralyzing. If we are lucky it lasts for days or months or years or even decades, until through time that connection becomes like air, unseen yet felt, and utterly a part of our being. A great teacher once mused on the human virtues and decided that the greatest of these was love. Why? Because the human spirit strives for connection, for relation, for association, for union - to be whole only and fully in the deep felt bonds of that which creeps unknowingly from the corners of our consciousness to make this savage, suffering world a home. It cannot be known or adequately named, this feeling, so we call it love. J. M. Beach, Texas USA

Keelan Witton & Richard Trethewey • Wagga Wagga, Australia • Barbie

Samantha Mullavey • Wagga Wagga, Australia • Fingertips

Robert Go â&#x20AC;˘ Melbourne, Australia

Rory Madigan • Wagga Wagga, Australia • Lady Love

Jorge Chamorro • Madrid, Spain • Policías Manos

Jason Spencer â&#x20AC;˘ Saint Louis, USA

Marcus Gyllander â&#x20AC;˘ Malmo, Sweden

Rich Lam â&#x20AC;˘ Vancouver, Canada

Rich Lam â&#x20AC;˘ Riot Breaks Out After Game In Vancouver

Sal Azad • Indonesia • Wedding Papertoy

Tilly Clifford â&#x20AC;˘ Wollongong, Australia

Carla Hackett â&#x20AC;˘ Berlin, Germany

Marian Bantjes As many can attest, we are bombarded constantly by advertising, images and posters in media and the world around us. All you need do is look around the room you’re in now: How many things are directing your attention?

Bantjes had an idea to make and send Valentine’s Day cards to a selection of her friends in 2005 and has been doing this annually ever since. On the opposing page are a few of the 150 hand-drawn cards she sent out in 2007 2.

As a graphic designer I find that I am surrounded by a cavalcade of colours, contours and consistencies constantly, most of which appear to me in shades of grey. But every so often something jumps, it sticks out at you like a cat parading around on its hind legs in a pin-striped jump-suit, and you think… “Wowser”. This is what happened to me when I first saw the graphic design work of Marian Bantjes. She is nothing like a cat, nor do I imagine she owns a pin-striped jump suit, however her work is so different, it stands out: It’s like a glass of water at the end of a desert safari, refreshing, cool and leaves you wanting more.

(Next page, left) This is one of her hand-written letters from 2009 3. The idea here was to create four separate love letters that did not connect, with no beginning or end as if discovering a disconnected middle page of a heartfelt expression. In this excerpt, the letters do not announce their intended recipient or who they are from. The subject matter was both personal and generalized at the same time, with no mention of people or places so the content could be relevant to any of the recipients.

It was in 2010 that I had downloaded a few different TED talks1 on my ‘phone with the word “design” in the subject title. I didn’t even know who Marian Bantjes was, but as I sat and watched on my 3.5inch screen I was in awe. Graphic design is still very much a male-dominated industry and here’s a woman, standing on an international stage not only speaking about graphic design but influencing the way we all create. In this edition of GOfish, with the luuurv theme, we are very excited to have some of Marian’s work featured in particular, her Valentine’s Day cards.

(Next page, right) Here are four of Bantjes designs from her 2011 cards4. Each heart is made from segments that were hand-drawn and then traced in Illustrator. The end result brings different segments together which overlap to create heart shapes. Each person received four cards with four different designs on them. Everyone received a card that says “Do you remember when we were young we sent valentines to all our friends” Marian strives to create worthwhile design, which she does with intelligence and accuracy. Her work shows thought and precision, so refreshing in a world of screaming, bickering design. - Missy Dempsey

see: www.bantjes.com http://www.ted.com/talks/marian_bantjes_intricate_beauty_by_design.html

Valentineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day 2007

Valentineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day 2009

Valentineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day 2011

Amy Sinclair â&#x20AC;˘ Forresters Beach, Australia

Soffia Gisladottir • Reykjavic, Iceland • Sierra

‘All theory is in the end a carefully dressed-up fragment of some autobiography.’ (Paul Valéry) It often begins this way: some niggling fragment, some phrase, insinuating itself beyond wordplay. What are you trying so hard not to write? Not simply appetite – last night’s mabo dofu with lamb mince, chilli, soy sauce and the impulsive substitute for brown sugar: a dessert spoon of orange marmalade – is enough for now. Nor the snows from the ancient pines at Yamadera or monkeys scampering across those other snows at Iwamatsu rotenburo. Nor even, though the minute TV screen pulls you close lovemaking in front of a mirror – yourself in double vision. But her email crying to him at the internet lounge in Taiwan airport twisting them both between worlds: ‘where are you?’ And then you have to teach Slessor’s ‘Five Bells’ – bright mackerel-backed moments all there is against the darkness. - David Gilbey 40

Pip Barnes • Sydney, Australia • Phills & Boony

Oscar Colman â&#x20AC;˘ Wagga Wagga, Australia

Colin Shafer • Subang Jaya, Malaysia • A Sister Called Trust

Ruben Ireland • London, UK • Hold On

Andy Barter • London, UK • from the Kiss series

Swamped in headiness, I can barely see past this feeling. Excitement swirls through me, lingering on my earlobes, tickling behind my kneecaps and nibbling on my big toes. I have welcomed a new protagonist into my life and he fits, slipping through and around me with ease. We chase each other through early morning and then, later, watch the moon peep out from a blackened sky. Drenched in coffee and leftovers, we are disturbed by nothing but a desk lamp watching from the corner. I order letters around the page, barking commands like a sergeant, so he can take form again. First, an outline of his face appears, then a look is captured and, finally, a presence that follows him between sentences. In paragraphs, I can almost feel his wiry arms close around me; warming, comforting me. Through chapters he becomes whole, and I pull him from the page and into the musty study.

He tucks a curl behind my ear, grazes my cheek with his lips and stays through the night while I type. When I sleep, he hovers in the crevices of my dreams, among forgotten promises and blurry memories of long-lost friends and foes. He waits for the blank page to be revisited in the morning because there â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and only there â&#x20AC;&#x201C; will he be loved once more. I reunite with him once morning comes with a flutter of fingertips on the keyboard. A sentence soon unravels into three pages bustling with him. He clings on to these moments, knuckles whitening, for he knows my interest will pass. But until then, I lure him out to play and soak myself in his perfect presence. We collapse on to a bed of jumbled words and unfinished sentences, draining out life before the darkness of the page closes in on us. Gabby McMillan is a Sydney-based features and creative writer. Visit www.gabbymcmillan.com for more information.

Hilary Sloane â&#x20AC;˘ Melbourne, Australia

Jude Paradice â&#x20AC;˘ Wagga Wagga, Australia

Binx â&#x20AC;˘ Wagga Wagga, Australia

Sarah-Jane Guthrie â&#x20AC;˘ Wagga Wagga, Australia

Sophie Joyce â&#x20AC;˘ Wagga Wagga, Australia

Catrin Welz-Stein • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia • Give Me Your Love

Steven Ung â&#x20AC;˘ Sydney, Australia

Jacob Raupach • Wagga Wagga, Australia • Tension

Raphael Perez • Israel • Couple With Flower

Willy Sheather • Wagga Wagga, Australia • A View to Romance

domesticity the grocery bill sits on the kitchen bench itemised like the hours she keeps each moment tallied she checks the clock he is late in this weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s catalogues her soul on sale she considers making a purchase remembers she has all the necessary appliances

washing machine on spin cycle like the turning of their lives she stubs out a cigarette in the ashtray as he enters asks where heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been everywhere and no place he answers his cynical demeanour nebulous he kisses her hand with erotic intent she is not in the mood they air their dirty laundry as she hangs clothes on the hills hoist to dry - Jacque Cook

Sally Mumford â&#x20AC;˘ Wagga Wagga, Australia

Jeff McCann & Missy Dempsey • Wagga Wagga, Australia • Ambushed Tiger

Lina Reynolds • San Francisco, USA • She Became Puccinis Madam Butterfly

Nikki Smith • London, UK • Foetal

Paul Nolte • Wagga Wagga, Australia • The Pearl Earing

Michael Agzarian • Wagga Wagga, Australia • Love and War

Amy Sinclair www.elsieivy.tumblr.com Andy Barter www.andybarter.com Benoit Paille www.benoitp.com Binx search â&#x20AC;&#x153;Binx Designsâ&#x20AC;? on Facebook Cameron Gray www.parablevisions.com Carla Hackett www.carlahackett.com Catrin Welz-Stein www.redbubble.com/people/catrinarno Colin Shafer www.colinshafer.com David Gilbey dgilbey@csu.edu.au Gabby McMillan www.gabbymcmillan.com Hilary Sloane www.hilaryfaye.com Jack Radcliffe www.jackradcliffe.org Jackie Zhu www.jackiezhuart.com Jacob Raupach www.jacobraupach.com Jacque Cook email: artcrafts06@yahoo.com.au Jason Spencer www.iamkillernapkins.com Jeff McCann www.jeffmccann.com.au J.M. Beach http://www.jmbeach.com/ Jorge Chamorro www.lacascaraamarga.com Judy Paradice www.judeparadice.com.au Karina Eibatova www.behance.net/eika Keelan Witton email: keelanwitton@gmail.com Lina Reynolds www.linaji.com Lisa Swerling www.glasscathedrals.com Liz Aggett www.igetdesign.com.au Madalina Andronic www.madiandronic.com Marcus Gyllander www.behance.net/marcusgyllander

Marian Bantjes www.bantjes.com Michael Agzarian www.artforaction.tumblr.com Missy Dempsey www.missydempsey.com Nikki Smith www.redbubble.com/people/citizen Oksana Grivina www.grivina.ru Oscar Colman www.flickr.com/photos/oscarcolmanimages Paul Nolte email: mail@matesgully.com.au Peter Kemp www.peterkemp.nl Pip Barnes email: pippa@pippabarnes.com Raphael Perez www.gaypaintings.com Rebecca Tun www.redbubble.com/people/rebeccatun Rich Lam www.richardlampix.com Richard Trethewey flickr.com/people/richardtrethewey Robert Go www.robert-go.com Rory Madigan www.omigadesign.com Ruben Ireland www.rubenireland.co.uk Sal Azad www.salazad.com Sally Mumford http://web.me.com/sallymum/Artist/ Samantha Mullavey www.samanthamullavey.com Sarah Miller email: crackedpale@gmail.com Sarah-Jane Guthrie email: sarah-jane.guthrie@live.com.au Soffia Gisladottir www.soffia.net Sophie Joyce www.flickr.com/photos/sjoycephotography Steven Ung www.fungkit.com Swetlana Gasetski www.swetlanagasetski.com Tilly Clifford www.tillyclifford.tumblr.com Willy Sheather www.wsg.net.au

GOfish Magazine is grateful for the continuing and generous support from;