A Huge Day.

At the end of the Summer holidays, the kids and I went to the Museum and, on a whim, followed through to the Gallery of Modern Art. There the kids came in contact with an artwork by Australian artist Ron Mueck. It was a gigantic sculpture of a woman in bed. The realism was amazing at it blew my kids away. So when we found out that he was having a display at the Gallery, well we had to go!

We went around the entire display and I asked each child to tell me their favourite piece. The kids were enthralled with each work and amazed with the depth of detail each one had.

Aidens favourite was the newborn baby "A Girl". It was gigantic and so realistic.

Big Head is another favourite of all three of my children. Each individial bristle had to be hand placed into microscopic pores. He even has his teeth in place and nostril hairs!

Another interesting fact about this piece is that it is a like a giant mask. There is not substance to it, it is literally a mask!

We all found this one to be quite disturbing, mainly for the fact that the subject seemed unaffected by the fact he had been stabbed and was bleeding. There was no emotion. This one affected Caitie quite a bit.

Now we all know boys love gruesome stuff but even this one was a bit gross for my boys. This dead chicken, called Still Life, is about the size of an elephant and hangs inelegantly from a butchers hook suspended from the ceiling.

It is gory and real yet strangely puppetlike. You expect the thing to suddenly start flapping! It was a magnet for alot of children.

If you went around the other side of the bird, you could see where its throat had been cut and all the innards exposed. Very clinical though, no blood.

This gentleman, in his big boat, seemed cold and grumpy to the kids. He held little interest as he was not on their eye level.

Caitlins favourite piece is "In Bed". She told me when she first saw it that she thought the lady was very sad and unhappy. She kept coming back to it though. It was interesting to watch how many people copied her hand position without realising they were doing it. I find her disturbing and heartbreakingly sad.

This is a very jolly lady, attuned to her work. Mind you, there is no way I would be picking these up in the nudy! The balance was excellent, symmetrical.

One of the more "controversial" pieces to show children. It is called Wild Man and Conor liked him immensely. (He secretly told me he liked that he was in the nude. Caitie said that she thought he had a small penis for his size LOL). I did tell my kids before going in that they would be seeing graphic nudity and they already knew what a willy looked like. After a few little sniggers, they settled down to look at the sculptures as a whole rather than just the rude bits.

Yes, I did blank out his bits for those who don't really want to see a gigantic big willy. This was another confronting piece. The title suggested someone who was used to being on his own and the subject seemed anxious and uncomfortable being thrust, naked, into the spotlight.

Caitie and Aiden assessing the gigantic baby. They found the blood and placenta traces to be both fascinating and appalling in equal measures.

While I appreciated the detail, I found this one to be the most unrealistic of all the pieces.

And finally, my favourite piece. Titled "Old Woman In Bed", it is an elderly woman who appears very ill, sleeping huddled under a blanket. It is beautiful in a very sad way. You want to walk up and gently brush the hair off her brow and whisper quietly that it will be alright. It captures a moment between life and death and the Gallery had it hidden away around a corner. Absolutely beautiful.

So, there we have it. The Ron Mueck exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane. Its a must see if you are in the area.

I will post more of my kids trip to the city at a later date. I am tired right now....

Cin.

Long Time...No Post...

Yes, it has been a while. Yes, alot has happened, yes we are busy and yes I think I keep forgetting to breathe!

Four weeks ago Aiden was swinging on one of the huge 20+kg benches we have in the kitchen and flicked it forward whence it fell and smushed his toe. Having three accident prone kids makes one slower to react, so we both sat there and looked at him with a "you're a twit" look on our faces...until he started bellowing that there was blood pouring out. After looking at it we both agreed it was my turn to go to the hospital (yes we take turns, that is saying something doncha think?) Result? Aiden ripped the nail OUT of the nail bed then pushed it back through the quick. He also split it right around the top but didn't manage to break it. After three weeks of constant trips to the doctor, antibiotics and him wearing only one shoe to school, the toenail finally fell off and it started to heal.

And this is it after three weeks of bandaging and after the nail fell off. A week or two later and he is actually wearing shoes and healing well!

Conor had a disagreement with his bed...this provided another fantastic photo opportunity cause hey, I don't have enough pictures of my injured kids! I should start a collection.....(hmmmm)

Mothers Day was spent going for a bushwalk with my three peeps who decided half way around that fighting like banshees was a preferable option to enjoying the fresh air and autumn sunshine. Isn't that what most Mothers had to put up with?

This, of course, was taken prior to WWIV breaking out. See, they can act like normal loving children occasionally.

Q is growing into a handsome young man who is loving life in all its glory. He is funny, silly and very cute as well!

And finally...if I hear one my child telling me...Its not fair, I'm not doing it, how come I have to...I will scream!

C