fremantle arts centre

last weekend, my friend julie and i decided that we didn't just want to sit in a cafe to while away our sunday. no! we wanted to do something a bit different. so i checked out the "what's happening freo" page in the paper and we chose to make our way to the freo arts centre. interesting fact: the arts centre was a lunatic asylum. am i saying artists are lunatics? no, but don't tell me you didn't think it too.

i've been to the arts centre before, only twice, but i never went inside. sad, i know. they host such cool musical events that it never really crossed my mind. but this time we did. we went because i'd read about FotoFreo, a yearly (i think) photography event held in freo and surrounds. it was on for the entire month of april, but do you think john and i managed to go to any of the exhibits we wanted to see? nope. not one. julie and i decided to pick up the slack and check things out.

there were 5 different photographers on display at the arts centre (well, not them exactly, but their pics). each was unique and a bit strange, as all abstract photography is. one was particularly strange: the photographer took roadkill (yes, roadkill) and placed it along side still life. with titles such as "wombat and watermelon" or "parakeet and lemon on table" you can only imagine how the pics looked. truthfully, we didn't overly like this exhibit at first, but the more we looked, the more we liked. i am particularly a fan of the wombat and watermelon. something about the colour of the watermelon and well, wombats are just darned cute!

another exhibit was of the "process of getting a tattoo" (my title, not his). this was less then thrilling. there was one very cool, juxtaposed type picture  that was worthy of my eyes, otherwise i could do without. really, do i need to see a close-up of the blood and rag that a tattoo artist is using on a guy's back? i don't think so!

the 3rd exhibit was your typical "photography exhibit". random people looking sad. random couch. random door. blah blah blah. some were strangely attractive to look at. others were not.

the 4th exhibit was one photo. but it was massive. and it was a live-person copy of the infamous "terracotta amy" in china. it was a very cool photo. the guy added some of the colour by hand. neat!

the last exhibit, though the first one that we found, was something along the lines of a camera within a camera. essentially, you could stand inside this box with a tiny hole poked into it. once your eyes adjusted you could see the outside, but upside down. it was cool. the guy took this box around australia (possibly only WA) and took pictures in random locations with random people inside and/or outside of the box. the pics were quite spectacular. we had to look very closely at a few of them to determine which person was actually in the box and which wasn't.

that's not where the freo arts centre experience stopped, oh no! turns out, there's a museum there too. a history museum (blah. sorry marc) but a museum none the less. we paid the 2 dollar donation and checked things out. turned out to be more fun then i thought (sorry marc). it was all about the history of WA, and freo more specifically. from the first prisoners who came over to colonize, to the "10 pound Pom's" who came in the early 1900's, it was a pretty descriptive picture. they had a lot of quotes and interesting info from people who came over from europe before or after the war, what the expected, what they got, etc. some of the info that was on display clearly shocked my rather PC way of thinking about immigration. it's strange how racist a country who's entire history is based on immigration can be!

within the museum, there was also a "lights and sounds" hands-on area. needless to say, julie and i spent a good hour of our time in there. very cool things to do with light tricks, mirrors, music, etc. 

we finished our day as anyone should when's it sunny and just turning into autumn: sitting outside under a tree eating a snack. realizing all at once that leaves do fall from the trees here (and not just in summer when they are dry and scorched) but they are not nearly as beautiful as the leaves at home. 

overall, a "crazy" fun day at the lunatic asylum / arts centre.

xo