The Extraordinary Tourist
Mad Max Four and Silverton.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Road Trip Day 5: 27th May 2007 (Afternoon)
The town of Silverton, just north of Broken Hill, is one of the most filmed towns in Australia. Most known for Mad Max 2 (just on the outskirts of town was the location of the film's fortress) other films shot here include, Dirty Deeds, Razorback, A Town Like Alice, The Craic and more.
In particular, the Silverton Hotel has not only been featured in many films but also appeared in many TV commercials. It's name has been changed so many times it must be hard for locals to keep track of when visitors arrive; "Can you tell me where the Mundi Mundi Hotel is?". If you ever visit the Silverton Hotel, there is a list on the wall telling you all the names and for which film or commercial the name was used for.
It's not just the exterior of the hotel that has been filmed either. The interior is 'classic' Aussie Pub too. Perhaps that's why it's been used in a number of beer commercials?
If you want to know exactly what Silverton's film history is just visit the Hotel and browse the film memorabilia on the walls. There's photos of Mel Gibson and the Mad Max crew actually in the Pub.
An interesting newspaper article pinned to one wall from 2002 talks about Mel Gibson's production company, Icon Pictures making Mad Max Four in Africa because they were unable to get studio space in Australia (at the time most of our major studios were booked out with the second Star Wars Trilogy). I don't know what became of Mad Max Four. Never heard of it going into production but I hope it does some day.
 I know the focus has been on Mad Max (what can I say I'm a fan of those films - especially number 2) but, just before I change topic, I can't not mention the replica of Max's car in film number 2 that is permanently parked out the front of the pub. The car looks like it has seen better days and one could almost believe it is the, some what beaten up, car from the film.
Silverton, whilst being a very empty town with a population between 62-82 people depending on which brochure you read, is home to a number of Australian artists including, John Dynon and Pete Browne. Rose and I visited both artists galleries.
 John paints bright Australian landscape images that are spectacular to say the least. He seems to have quite a sense of humor too, which is reflected in the exterior of his studio where a prominent, occupied, out door 'dunny' greets you at the gate.
Pete Browne has a wicked sense of humor too and appeals more to my taste. His work is cartoonish and illustrative but definitively 'Aussie'. He's developed a particular type of emu character that recurs throughout his cartoons, oil paintings and sculptures. Outside his studio you can see and old volkswagon decorated with the 'Pete Browne Emu' (see photo)
Whilst his paintings and sculptures are the centre of attention in his gallery there are the occasional panels with Pete Browne quotes that enhance his off beat humor. One such panel reports that he has lost his space ship and if found please return it so Pete can go home.
The rest of Silverton is equally interesting. There is the Old Gaol Museum, The Coin Carvery, Horizon Gallery and a very nice cafe where Rose and I stopped for a late lunch.
We finished our day by heading out to the Mundi Mundi Lookout (otherwise known as the Mad Max lookout). From this lookout you can see the site of the Mad Max fortress (though not much remains since they blew it up). What is more impressive is that you can see the horizon for such a wide expanse that you can actually notice the curvature of the earth.
Silverton is easily a day trip if you don't want to rush seeing everything. It's far from the 'ghost town' that the brochures describe but it's about as close to a ghost town as you can get with people still living there.
As a failed mining town, with many of its original buildings either falling down or having been transported to Broken Hill years ago, it feels isolated and forgotten. However, as a tourist attraction, the locals are working hard to keep the town alive.
It really is a town with something for everyone.Labels: art, artist, film, gallery, Hotel, John Dynon, Mad Max, Mel Gibson, Pete Browne, places, road trip 2007, Silverton, travel
What happened to the Video Art?
Thursday, April 26, 2007
 When you visit an exhibition touted as 'the only one of its kind' one expects the main attraction to make an appearance. Unfortunately this wasn't the case when I visited an exhibition by Arts North, based in the City of Playford, Adelaide, South Australia.
I read about this exhibition in two different local newspapers. Both articles talked up the exhibition, particularly the centre piece, a collection of short films created by children as well as 'video art'.
Quotes from one article implied a significantly more substantial display. For example Arts North President, Marissa Dunn, said of the exhibition, "I'm very happy, especially with showing the diversity of the artwork that comes from our society." Further to that the article goes on to say "a wide cross-section of people have been involved in the exhibition - children as young as five up to 85 year olds have all shared their creativity."
Not with standing that no actual figures, in terms of the number of artists exhibiting, were mentioned I was disappointed to find that the display filled only one wall and a small glass cabinet at the venue. All up I'd estimate twenty five to thirty artworks (not much more than can be seen in the photo displayed with this post). To make matters worse, many of the catalog numbers had either fallen off or been removed. There was no way of matching the artists to some of the works (save for trying to match signatures to names).
The biggest disappointment was the Video Art and Children's Short films. The screen (which can be seen in the photo) was still in place but there was no sign of a projector. Only the recess where it once stood, along with an empty power board gave clues as to its expected location. No explanation was given as to why it wasn't present nor who to ask to discover its where abouts. Given that I was specifically visiting this exhibition for the video component, its complete absence reflected badly on my enjoyment and appreciation of the art that remained.
One could perhaps surmise the exhibition was in the process of being taken down? The newspaper articles I read said the display would be on until the end of April. Though, it only being the 26th of April, the 'end of April' was still a few days away.
I tried my best to appreciate the art that remained but, to be honest, the majority of artworks reflected your typical cross section of local community art. Nothing you can't see in any 'art society' exhibition anywhere in Australia. That's not to say there weren't one or two stand outs but overall, not nearly as inspiring as it might have been with the video component operational.
Overall a disappointing experience that would make me think twice about viewing an Arts North exhibition in the future.Labels: art, community, exhibition, film, painting, video
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