Colours and Light | Created by Alex Wain

Since my last update, I’ve been and returned from Melbourne again. I know, it’s equally amusing to me, that a place I never go to, I end up visiting twice in the same month. Once for my holiday and then again for work. But at the very least, I certainly have a deeper understanding and appreciation for a new part of Australia.

This particular blog entry, however, is about the second part of my holiday in Melbourne (not my most recent trip) and if I don’t write it down now, I think it will fade from the annuals of my memory entirely (especially as the past few weeks have become nothing more than a frenetic blur.) So I’m going to just dive straight in (Alzheimer’s permitting), from where I left off last time.

So, day number two in Melbourne commence with a brisk and vigorous search for breakfast in the city. As I’m sure you’ve been told, Melbourne has a wealth of cafes dotted between various side streets and alleys, perfect for that mid morning brekkie urge, when you’ve woken up with the munchies and an intoxicating need for bacon.

After looking at the menu at Hairy Canary (I don’t know why you’d name a cafe that either, but there you go) it instantly got our seal of approval. Their menu laid out a utopian breakfast in such yummy and intricate detail, that it actually made you MORE hungry as you were reading it.

Perfect way to start, what would become a busy Sunday.

(Or so I thought.)

I sat there, partially drooling, my mind clouded with thoughts of the wondrous gourmet feast about to make love to my eyes, the sizzling bacon, the warm fluffy scrambled eggs & the crunchy sourdough toast.

And then, without warning,  I was suddenly hauled back to reality, with a stiff and firm clunk. My ‘breakfast’ had finally decided to emerge from its former home, the clattering & quarrelsome kitchen.

I’d chosen the “Big Brekkie”, which essentially is bacon, roasted tomato, sausages and eggs – a heart-attack on a plate I’m well aware, but so utterly amazing you’re willing to run the risk.

Well, usually.

However, the big brekkie that half-heartedly stared back at me, wasn’t ANYTHING like I’d imagined. Served in a mini frying pan, everything was literally fused together, in a sort of pan-fried vomit ensemble.

The eggs were poached (not scrambled) the bacon was mere strips of fat in disguise, the tomato looked like it had been microwaved to within an inch of it’s life and the sausages took the form of some strange phallic-shaped Spanish salami.

W.T.F indeed.

Apparently, at least for the chef’s at Hairy Canary, this is gourmet breakfast Melbourne style. But as I nervously poked and prodded at it, my stomach rumbled with the almost instant realization, that it was going to have to go on being hungry for a little while longer.

I left the Hairy Canary feeling almost as empty, as when I went in. Not the ideal start to the day I’m sure you’ll agree.

Along with it’s cafe culture and boutique fashion stores, Melbourne is also predominantly known for embracing of all things arty. If you’re an artist (in whatever form) in Melbourne, you will get numerous fuzzy hugs from the arts council and even more opportunities to display your wares.

There are galleries, live venues and stand-up clubs all scattered around the city – infinitely  more than there is in Sydney. In fact,  even graffiti is promoted as a tourist feature and in the case of Melbourne at least, with good reason.

There’s the famous ACDC Lane (named after the band) which showcases some of the cities upcoming graffiti artists, but there’s several other lane-ways and passages nearby which are home to hundreds of vastly more intricate and interesting characters. Each have been spray painted with care, ablaze in colour with many of them peaking from behind recently pasted band posters.

You can tell many of these wonderful and often mischievous characters are the result of a generation who’s youth was spent watching trippy 80’s cartoons, daily doses of  Seseme Street and endless hours spent playing Mario Brothers, Pac-Man, Sonic The Hedgehog, Alex Kidd and Donkey King.

You can see more images from the streets of Melbourne, in the slideshow at the bottom of this blog and here

Now we’ve covered ’static’ art in Melbourne, it seems only appropriate that I shed a bit of light on some ‘moving’ art we took in as well. Centrally located, the Australian Center For The Moving Image (more commonly know as ACMI) really was a highlight of the trip.

Admittedly, it’s name is rather pretentious, but once you get inside the center itself, it all begins to make sense. Throughout the entire exhibit, the history of “the moving image” is showcased. From its initial incarnation of shadows and puppets, through to the arrival of TV, its expansion into movies, strobe lights, delay effects all of which which lead onto video games, personal computers, the birth of the Internet, wireless devices and motion capture technology.

And far from being one of those tedious galleries where there are simply pictures and information heavy wall mounted plaques everywhere, the ACMI has models you could touch, twist, turn, rotate, pull, press and interact with.

ACMI – Matrix Stop Motion

Alex | MySpace Video

We even shamelessly played a few rounds of Pong, danced in front of a screen as giant Godzilla shaped shadow (complete with sound effects) and jumped very briefly into a starring role in The Matrix movie.

It’s the type of place where as a kid, you’d be unable to contain yourself, destined to walk around with your eyes wide open and a huge smile swept across your face and in fact, even as an adult, you’d be hard pressed not be impressed by the sheer fun and trip down memory lane on offer.

Next door was an exhibition by NZ artist Len Lye. Now I freely admit I’d never heard of the chap, indeed when I walked into the first room featuring his work, I rashly came to that conclusion as to why that was.

Projected onto the walls, was a collection of video displays featuring various coloured slides and shapes, in random patterns. It was tedious, directionless and incredibly uninspiring all at that same time. “I could have done that.” I thought and judging by the disappointed and weary looks from everyone else in the room, they all collectively agreed.

But how silly I was judge Len Lye with such flippant disregard, because as I rounded the corner into the second room, I was greeted with a spectacle that really did make change my opinion of him a complete 180 degrees.

The room was covered in dark grey carpet surrounded by even darker walls, 6 or so high intensity spotlights projected downwards onto 6 metal sculptures, all of which moved with a calm kinetic energy entirely of their own accord.

Sheets of metal that waved violently as you walked past, tiny strands of steels the width of your hair that shimmed as the air flow changed direction – it was as if every object had a personality, a mood and energy of its own. Beautifully done, crafted to perfection and mesmerising at the same time. The inanimate, literally coming to life.

The final part of the day, was spent under the band of a blurry rainbow, as we traversed some small market stalls, saw a lifesized cardboard castle / art installation (sounds exciting but it wasn’t lol) and then headed back late afternoon for a seriously yummy Mexican dinner in South Yarra.

Later that night we went and saw the second Marilyn Manson show in Melbourne (we had seats this time) and I have to stay it was a marked improved from the night previously. The band seemed to put more effort in and the sound was noticeably better. ( Still not a patch on the Sydney shows though.)

After the show, we found ourselves back at the Crown Casino (the only thing centrally located that was open past 11.30pm on a Sunday) having the few drinks in the lobby, surrounded by the constant whirring of machines and squeals of delight as people hit numerous jackpots.

There was even a famous b-grade actor floating around, I have no idea what his name was, but his ADDIDAS tracksuit and Brooklyn accent lead me to believe he was probably in The Soprano’s or another mafia / gangster affair. But probably the funniest part of the evening, was reserved for the food court at the casino.

Imagine the type of people you’d get in there at 2am, ties all loose, bloodshot eyes, empty wallets, high heels in hand, ordering kebabs and a chips whilst wearing suits and sequins! If I tried to remember all the wonderful characters that were stumbling around at that hour, I would be here forever – but the stand outs in my mind, would have to be the guy in the baby blue, one piece suit with trainers on and SERIOUSLY a cougar version of the lovable Vicky Pollard from Little Britain. I can’t tell how upset I was, that I didn’t have my camera on me

And then, Monday, quick breakfast in the city (yes, it was MUCH better than Hairy Canary I’m please to report) before leaping on the SkyBus and heading back to the airport.

It had a been a quick holiday, but a much needed break. I think looking back on it all, Yummy Yasmin and I really crammed in a lot of things during such a short stay, I only really went down to see Marilyn Manson, so it was great that we got to do all that extra stuff in between.

Melbourne then….would I live there? Probably not. But do I think it’s a great place to visit? Absolutely

Alex

You can see more photos from the trip here, or by hitting play on the slideshow below