Odyssey to suburbia

On the weekend we did another of our -mad- dashes to Perth, this time to hear Shaun Tan talk about his work and to view the animation of The Lost Thing. This was part of the opening event for his exhibition Suburban Odyssey showing at the Fremantle Arts Centre till 15 July 2012.

Part of the madness was due to a carload of five puppies - six weeks old now - and their mum, Miske. We left at 9am and the first half hour was mayhem, with five crying puppies wanting to be anywhere but in the car - despite the rib bones I'd given them as a distraction. Mark very wisely wore his earplugs while I sat in the back with them till they settled. From Mt Barker onwards things improved, one puppy settled at my feet on the floor of the passenger seat, the rest stayed in the back sleeping and occasionally complaining. Reaching suburbia and running late we quickly organised a car swap. My parents bravely took our car with puppies and we took their car arriving in Fremantle in good time for the talk. Unfortunately because of the huge crowd attending, the talk was moved from the Arts Centre to Notre Dame University so we didn't get to see his exhibition this time around. The day had been quite long enough ... We will see the exhibition next month I hope.

Shaun started by showing The Lost Thing, the trailer for it is above. Its a great little tale about amongst other things seeing the unusual and magic in your everyday life. Travelling up to Perth and into the city one really notices the busy-ness of everyone filling the city malls - endlessly dressed in business black - and the cars zooming along on an endless loop. Caught in the treadmill of our own making. People get so engrossed in what they are doing they miss the little things (or important things) - like the lost thing - until it trips them up. The story is peopled with bored unseeing office workers in a nightmarish bureaucracy but secret places to be found if you look. How many times do we see something strange but not investigate or wonder and simply forget about it?

'A moment of nostalgia on the way home from work'
from the end of The Lost Thing 

Some of the background imagery comes from Shaun's observations of scenes of suburbia. They are beautifully rendered, potent with feeling, angular building set against sketchy and mysterious greenery, peopled by crows, the streets one sees in the early hours of the morning. Empty streets that don't quite feel empty. The exhibition is largely about these suburban scenes by Tan. He describes his memories of growing up in Perth as 'long, hot afternoons, wide and empty suburban streets, the drawl of crows, ocean air, unfiltered light ... being somewhere and nowhere at the same time. Sound familiar? Especially the somewhere and nowhere - Perth is so far from anywhere else - you could almost be at the end of the world. And the suburban sprawl ...

Night Train, Mt Lawley

'Fighting crows'

Tan explained how he loved to play with the absurd, the what if of imagination - that along with close observation of that which was around him. He said he loves to play with that - images like the buffalo in the vacant grassy block, directing the little girl - arise from that. Too often we do forget to play with ideas and allow the absurd speak its mind and lead us to who knows where. It reminds me of the vacant blocks we used to play in as kids when visiting our grandparents - we'd imagine all sorts of things in there - apart from    weird finds of bits and pieces and spooky dilapidated buildings. 

Image from Tales from Outer Suburbia

Another what if - the giant groper in The Red Tree

He describes his work as a combination of reality, fantasy, childish play and adult reflection. This is evident in his illustrated books. They are often thought of as being for children because they are illustrated with little text. However the subject matter often gives pause for serious reflection, poses philosophical questions, plays games and reveals hidden references on closer scrutiny.

Tan spoke about The Rabbits which John Marsden wrote and he illustrated. Its an allegorical tale about colonisation, a subject which Tan says he finds fascinating from a political as well as 'an event of utter strangeness where two very different worlds collide'. The story has echoes throughout the world - the might of power and ignorance playing out with degrees of environmental and cultural destruction. Apparently this book was banned in some Queensland schools - it must have been a bit too close to the bone. I think the book is fantastic (in both senses of the word) even though the end is depressing/disturbing/too true.

'Houses' from The Rabbits

Just to finish - I so love this image from Tales from Outer Suburbia. Two brothers set out to find out if the road just ends where the street directory stops - like a missing page. This is what they find. Paved to the edge of the world. Its beautiful, sitting on the edge of the world ... the birds can fly out past the edge ... and the water draining to the ineffable somewhere else.

'How great it must have been long ago, when the world was still unknown' from Tales from Outer Suburbia

Link to Shaun Tan's website here.