Kit's cats

A few years ago the Canberra School of Art used to have fabulous open days. Live bands, a market atmosphere, radio coverage, fun for all. Then the school was swallowed up by the university, and then the university open days were swallowed up by an amalgamated Canberra Institutions Open Day. That means that for one day of the year, all the institutions open to the public. Each place has enough activities to keep a visitor happy for an entire day. So the audience that used to spend a few days a year checking out what Canberra has to offer now has to dash between campuses, or choose one place to devote time to. Thus nobody gets the attendance numbers they used to and everyone questions the value of organising such events. Granted, it means that those coming from interstate don't have to make more than one trip, but I personally don't think that they make up the bulk of the visitors. I think local people like a chance to explore something local (sorry, sounding like the League of Gentleman here) on their own doorstep, and will happily spend their money on all the fun fundraising events. Now the focus is blurred, and everyone loses out.

And it would help if the Australian National University started appreciating that they have a world-class art school within their grounds and actually spent some time and money promoting it. Yesterday there was absolutely NO mention of the art school in any press coverage or ANU material. Shame, ANU, shame. Because that was where the action was.

As far as I could see from my attic window, grinding out artworks for my slave-mistress, it looked like a great Open Day, apart from the huge spaces between people. In the room across the corridor was an exhibition of student works, and I fell in love with these:

Kit's Cats, not to be reproduced please!

The artist's name is Kit, and I will update this when I find out her last name. Don't know the title of the piece, but I'm sure I can find out.


Detail, not to be reproduced please!

Plenty of people came through the Studio while I was working, a small proportion of them the maddies I usually get. It's always fun to talk to people about artist's books and printing.

One woman wanted to know the point of making artist's books, and how much people usually sold them for. I asked her (nicely) what was the point of getting out of bed in the morning and said that I've bought artist's books for as low as $3 and we're selling the studio's next production for $10,000. She walked away looking a bit stunned.

Then there was the woman dressed like someone's Easter-show-winning quilt who told me that she was more creative than anyone else she knew and that people didn't understand her. Hmmm, I said. You need a studio. I've got one, she said. I bought the building next to my husband's business. I bet he was glad to get her out of his hair, if only next door!

Gorgeous day, too. Pity about all the noisy jet planes circling overhead for the Australian Defence Force Academy's open day...