Start afresh by getting your hands dirty

Tintin Rhaman ponders fortyfivedownstairs public art project One World on Weekend Notes
See the article in its original context here.

Do you remember the scene in The Princess Diaries where Mia vents her frustrations by throwing darts at paint-filled balloons with her artist mother, making the canvas run with bright, Play-Doh type colours? Wouldn’t you just love to do that, to not think and just make a mess?

“I want to make people play,” says Paul Blackman on the phone. Gifted, experienced but not vain (he has very few photos of himself available for publicity purposes), this Minyip-based artist has a penchant for making puppets, directing and writing plays and leading collaborative arts or ‘cultural development’ workshops and from 14th to 25th January 2013, he will be guiding participants on how to ‘play’ in the One World workshops at fortyfivedownstairs gallery in Melbourne CBD.

How much fun could you possibly have during the workshops? Based on the ‘anything goes’ material choices of Paul’s past projects and art pieces, you will have heaps of fun. You could be using laminated paper, tin cans, paint, rope or wire to co-create the final artwork for the One World exhibition, which will be on from 28th January to 2nd February 2013. Paul may even film you as you play and incorporate the footage into the final artwork. (Yes, he may live in regional Victoria but he is pretty tech-savvy. “I jokingly call my iPad God,” he says, when discussing some art pieces created on his iPad.)

You will share recognition with Paul for participating in the One World workshops. Participants’ names will be displayed during the final exhibition. The theme of the workshops is ‘cultural development’, which, according to Paul means ‘working creatively in and with the community to foster a living cultural that describes who we are, what we do and what we do’. But don’t let the seriousness of the underlying agenda confuse you. The One World workshops are about having fun without the booze or the hefty price tag. It may be a new year, but all work and no play makes the Jacks and Jills of Melbourne pretty dull. Go play.

The pricing of the workshops are as follows: Students, unemployed and retired people pay only $5 per session whilst employed people pay $25 per session. You can choose to go for either the morning or afternoon session (they go for two and a half hours each), for one day or for multiple days. There is a special discount for those who book five sessions.

The One World workshops will be conducted at fortyfivedownstairs 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne CBD.
To join the workshops or find out more information, click here or contact gallery manager Abby Storey [email protected] or 03 9662 9966.