Life on the Edge

Such a beautiful beginning to the day yesterday. People came to Windgrove, chose a flag and wrote their messages of peace. The sun soft; the air a gentle push against the yellow fabric; the sound of bamboo clacking. For a moment it all seemed permissible to shut out the cries of war, the cries of the wounded, and exhale a slow breath of forgiveness. Late in the morning I received a phone call that my sister, Angie, had been in a serious car accident; was hit by a car that ran a stop sign; rolled twice then was hit again by another car. It took four hours to cut her free. Her heart stopped. May my sister, Angie, recover fully. May she yet again experience the fullness of life; of her life. May the world recover fully. May all its inhabitants live a full completeness. May peace drop over us all.

This morning about an hour ago Tim (in well) and I placed 50 yellow banners in the 50 holders that run between the Peace Garden and the Peace Fire. As the day progresses, local families and families from Hobart will come to write their individual prayers for peace on each of the banners. The other photo shows neighboring friends around the dinner table last night sewing up the prayer flags/banners in preparation for today. Just this simple act of friends and children coming together to share in food, conversation and the making of a small community event is enough to warm the heart and reignite the sense that the human family is capable of kindness, compassion and generosity of spirit. Tomorrow, will bring more photos of today's activities.

Up, up and away. Two weeks ago she came bringing sand angels, an athletic ability to jog through the landscape each morning, a mental ability to become Windgrove's Scrabble champion, a visual artist's keen eye and hand to put on paper what she experienced, and, a heartfelt desire to use her talents to bring peace to this troubled world. This morning, Windgrove's latest refugee-in-residence, Melanie Mowinski, began her long flight back to the east coast of America. May she have a safe journey.

May we all have a safe journey whenever we head off to new experiences.

May we all have the courage to walk on new lands and be brave enough to discard our notions of reality for a little while, at least.

May we all return home and love in a deeper way those with whom we live and work.

May we all return home.

For over nine months I have been slowly working on a sculptural bench, "Christ and his followers on the Sea of Galilee", for a church minister in America. Eighteen stones loosely embedded in the wood will represent us humans; a heart shaped stone (compassion) in the middle will represent Christ. The basis of the concept for this piece comes from the Biblical quote: "Let ye without sin cast the first stone." Every human has a shadow side. My consistent prayer is that all of us humans can learn to work together, using ourselves (our stones) to build a foundation of love and trust throughout the world instead of throwing ourselves at each other with hatred and fear. What follows is a three minute speech I gave at "pub debate" last night in Hobart over the use of questionable tax payers money to fund the arts. Presently, in Tasmania there is a lot of debate centered around a government corporate enterprise, Forestry Tasmania, being a major sponsor of the Ten Days on the Island arts festival. Because Forestry Tasmania continues to clear fell old growth, ancient rainforests for wood chips and replant with monoculture plantations, many artists oppose what they view as governmental exploitation of the arts to propagandize the destruction of these forests. Three minutes is not sufficient to fully develope any sort of argument, but I hope you, the reader, can glean something from this speech. Ratbags -- three minutes -- Arts funding It seems that the managers of the arts and festival boards favour money over ethics. Lately, they have been trying to excuse their acceptance of tainted money by saying: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”. By so doing they make superficial the great human quest to become a better person. I say: If you are going to quote the Bible, understand fully what you are quoting. Christ understood that all humans have a shadow side. And Christ would have understood that the paper to print the Bible comes from trees. But Christ would also say that paper made from clear felling old growth eco systems is a defilement of the divine creation. And Christ would have joined us artists to throw the money grubbers out of the sacred temple of tall trees. Jim Bacon, Robyn Archer and the 10 Day’s festival board might see the bagman as an indispensable part of the workings of the art world. But I say: "Not in Our Name.". The government wants to lure us in with a financial carrot. But we Tasmanians know that carrots, especially blue ones, are poison. Forestry sponsorship? Think twice. Here’s a biblical quote thal all should take to heart: "As ye sow so shall ye reap.". Why isn’t the foremost important aspect of 10 Days on the Island, not its funding, but its impact on the ethics and morality of the children and citizens of Tasmania? Playwight Henry Miller: “In any form of art, however trivial, there has to be a point of moral reference against which to gauge the action of our daily lives.” Tasmania shouldn’t be looking elsewhere for what constitutes world’s best practice. We should be the barometer by which the rest of the world judge their daily lives. Picasso said that art is not about decorating a wall. Art is war. It is not just entertainment. It is about changing the corrupt immorality of governments, corporations and society. It makes sense, therefore, that Tasmanian artists would become human shields protecting the forests from the actions of Forestry Tasmania. But, isn’t it all a stupid waste of time and talent on everyone’s part when artists have to be the human shields protecting the integrity of our arts festival from the actions of the festival board. Ten days on the Island should never have been a propaganda platform for the spin doctors to blind the public to the destructive excesses of their governments. In the end, it comes down to this for me. As a sculptor in wood, if I have to lose my source of material because of my outspoken stance against the mismanagement of our Tasmanian forests; if I fall foul of any arts grants board because of their alinement with government power brokers, then so be it. I will suffer the financial consequences because I would rather shoot off my mouth than shoot myself in the heart. If there is to be any “bottom line” to the festival, it has to be an ethical and moral one. Period. No debate.