Rone- Empire

I was fortunate enough to spend my Easter afternoon in the Dandenong Ranges to check out the latest exhibition by Rone titled Empire. For this installation he and his collaborators spent a year transforming the deserted Art Deco mansion Burnham Beeches into an immersive multi-sensory experience across the ground floor and upper level rooms.

The rooms were themed around different seasons, with the dusty Art Deco furniture and dried plants making it feel like you were walking through a bygone era. Rone painted his trademark female portraits in each room, this time using actor Lily Sullivan as his muse. The whole exhibition was so inspiring as you wandered through and experienced the beautiful rooms. I hope that when the building is turned into a luxury hotel that it retains the majority of its Art Deco charm.

Here's the trailer for the exhibition:

RONE EMPIRE - 4K full edit from Common State on Vimeo.

Golden Gate Bridge

I have lived in Marin County for most of my life and the Golden Gate Bridge has always been my gateway into San Francisco.  There are lots of great places that provide a good vantage point of the bridge on both sides of the span, including the Marin Headlands and Fort Point which are two of my favorite spots.

Today, however, my cousin Leilani and I finally did something neither of us have done in all our years of living in the Bay Area: we walked across the Golden Gate Bridge!  Most tourists would have this as a must do item on their list of things to do when they visit San Francisco, but for locals I think we often don't get around to doing touristy things in our own backyards unless we have visitors from out of town. 

Being New Year's Day many of the observation areas were packed, so finding a place to park was a bit of a challenge.  However, we ended up finding a spot in the Presidio and walked to the south end of the bridge to start our journey.  The weather was a bit hazy but otherwise quite pleasant with sunshine, very little wind and no fog!  As we walked across to the north side of the bridge we both stopped frequently to take photos, especially at the two towers.  It was wonderful to be so close and see all the details in the construction of the bridge, especially its art deco lines and all the rivets holding things together.  We also had the beautiful afternoon sun providing some lovely lighting.

 

By the time we reached Vista Point the sun was starting to set.  The walk back was much faster and we got to watch a container ship come under the bridge as well as the sunset colors in the hazy sky.  As we approached the south end of the span we could see the lights in San Francisco as darkness descended on the City.  All in all we spent a couple hours walking around 4 miles on this beautiful landmark.  And for those interested in a souvenir, the Bridge Pavilion has some great merchandise for sale.

Steichen, Disarm and GAZI

Today is Tash's birthday so I met up with her this afternoon to celebrate her special day.  We started off at the NGV for the newly opened exhibition Edward Steichen and Art Deco Fashion.  Steichen was the chief photographer for Vogue and Vanity Fair from 1923-1938, and photographed models, Hollywood actors and other important people of the time.  The photos were pretty amazing, especially the portrait shots of Greta Garbo and Gloria Swanson.  The exhibition also includes Art Deco dresses, coats and shoes from the 1920s and 1930s.  The beading and sequins on these pieces is very intricate and beautiful.  It's great to be able to look at the clothes up close and see the detail of the work.  I highly recommend the exhibition, which is on until March 2014.  Check it out if you are in Melbourne.

When we exited the exhibition we were able to watch a live performance in the NGV's Federation Court of Mexican artist Pedro Reyes' Disarm, which is part of the Melbourne Festival.  Reyes' used parts of weapons confiscated by the Mexican Government to create 47 musical instruments.  The motto of this work is "Make Art Not War!"  The live performance this afternoon was improvised by avant-garde collective Make It Up Club, who played for a bit over an half hour.  It would have been interesting to see what previous performers have done with the instruments over the past few weeks.  Both Tash and I also thought of all the sampling one Wally De Backer (aka Gotye) could do- who knows what music he would come up with?  After the performance we had some afternoon tea in The Tea Room, including macarons and a coffee eclair.  Yummy!

We met up with Tash's friend Melissa for a drink at The Duke before heading to dinner at George Calombaris' Greek restaurant GAZI.   I have been meaning to try this place out for a while, and it did not disappoint.  We had excellent service throughout the evening, and were seated at the bar so we were able to watch the kitchen preparing all the dishes in front of us.  We started with a trio of dips and then shared the vegetable, cheese and eggplant entrees.  We each got our own little souvlakakia (I had the duck) and then sorbet and loukomathes for dessert.  I was so full at the end but it was such a delicious meal.  I look forward to coming back and trying more dishes on the menu.

Art Deco 1910–1939

Mel and I headed down to the National Gallery of Victoria after work to see the Art Deco 1910-1939 exhibition. It comprised over 300 works and covered all artistic media from painting to photography, fashion to film and architecture to jewelery. The historic and global influences on Art Deco were displayed, as well as how the style differed in various countries and throughout the time period. My favorite pieces were the gorgeous gowns and the crockery. It's a fantastic exhibition and if you are in Melbourne and into Art Deco, you should definitely check it out before it closes in a month.