Perth Voice Interactive

RUBBISH thrown out by West Perth businesses will be transformed into a public artwork in Stirling.

REmida is organising a “scavenger hunt” to see what junk can be diverted from landfill and upcycled.

Materials collected February 25 will be used to create a sculpture that will go on display next month at the Osborne Park library.

“On the day scavengers will head out in teams of two to pop into local businesses, talk a little trash and collect a sample of their typical production by-products, offcuts or discards,” REmida coordinator Josie McGushin says.

Since 2005 the not-for-profit organisation has been collecting thrown-out materials from factories and shops in Perth and storing them in a re-use centre in Leederville.

Artists can sift through piles of stuff, including frame off-cuts, wiring, brushes from sweeper carts, air conditioning pipes and fabrics—and take what they need.

REmida charges a membership fee to cover operating costs and allows unlimited collection of materials at its creative reuse centre. In 2011 it diverted around 320 cubic metres from landfill.

To volunteer, or to donate “rubbish” contact Josie on 0406 490 868.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

THE recent closures of live music venues is such a hot topic that organisers of a crisis forum have had to shift to a bigger venue.

The February 23 meeting of musicians, promoters, groupies and the general public has been moved from Jimmy’s Den to the Bakery.

Deville’s Pad in East Perth this week announced it’s shutting up shop. Ya-Ya’s has recently closed and the Bakery will shut mid-year.

That makes it harder to book gigs in the remaining venues, which have packed schedules.

Forum organiser Dave Cutbush, a promoter and RTR veteran, says ideas are welcome: is government help worth pursuing, are licence laws outdated, or does some other tack need to be pursued.

“It’s not just about opening up new venues, it’s also about helping to create an environment where people are more likely to go out and support events 12 months of the year, not just during Fringe and PIAF,” he says.

The Perth Venue Action Meeting is at February 23, 6pm at 233 James Street. All welcome.

by DAVID BELL

THE WA Blind Cricket Club is worried it will be unsafe to continue playing in Maylands if local dog walkers get their way.

For more than 20 years, the blind cricketers have been playing on Shearn Memorial Park, an active reserve beside the busy Central Avenue.

Local dog walkers want the park fenced off completely for their pooches’ safety, but BCA president Andrea Richardson says that would ruin matches.

“If the park is completely fenced off, it will encourage people to let their dogs off the leash all the time and it will make playing blind cricket unsafe,” she says.

“Dogs are meant to stay on the leash when there is sport at the reserve, but that rarely happens, even without a proper fence in place.

“The association is in favour of a fence along the Central Avenue side, but not completely enclosing the park.”

Local opinion is split, with community consultation resulting in 22 against a fence, 22 for one on the Central Avenue side and 25 for a perimeter fence.

One person complained to the council about “aggressive behaviour” from people wanting a woman and her daughter to complete the form, council staff noted in the report.

A wire-mesh fence around the park would cost around $35,000 while a Central Avenue fence would be under half that.

The off-leash park is also home to Bedford junior cricket club, Football West and personal trainer fitness sessions.

The item comes before council later this month.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

AROUND 25 people gathered outside Perth’s Japanese consulate to protest the killing of dolphins in Taiji.

The demonstration called for an end to the annual dolphin drive hunt in the coastal town, which Sea Shepherd says results in the death of several hundred dolphins and small whales.

“For a staggering six months of every year—September until March—a group of hunters herd wild dolphin and small whales from the ocean’s open waters into a hidden shallow bay, now infamously known around the world as the COVE,” says protestor Caroline Watt.

“Hunters capture entire families, or pods, of various species of dolphins and small whales at a time in order to satisfy the international demand for captive cetaceans in the entertainment industry.

“Remaining dolphins and small whales are killed by a hunting technique known as ‘pithing’ which leaves the still conscious animal paralysed and often drowning in the blood of their own family members.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

BAYSWATER library is set to be adorned with bunny rabbits and a doe-eyed child.

Local artist Namo Osaki wants to transform the tired-looking library wall overlooking the kids playground in Bert Wright Park with a manga-style mural. Osaki was awarded a grant last year to undertake a community art project that would “add vibrancy” to Bayswater.

As part of the project, Osaki will get kids to colour in characters that will appear on the mural at the library’s Evening in the park on March 6.

Cr Michelle Sutherland, who pushed for the council to set aside $80,000 for urban art, is all for bringing a slice of Japan to King William Street.

“I was on holiday in Queensland recently and I saw how they had successfully transformed tatty-looking buildings with murals and art,” she says.

WOOD STREET in Inglewood and Rosebury Street in Bedford have been singled out as “problem areas” by around 50 locals who attended a crime forum at the Bedford RSL.

Forum co-organiser David Lagan said drug dealers were “running product in and out of the area”. A spate of vehicle break-ins were also cited as a concern.

“A number of anti-social incidents were recounted which have been on the police radar and have been actioned by police,” the Stirling city councillor told the Voice. “Police did indicate that reporting all incidents of crime and or anti-social behaviour is important as it allows for policing teams to see areas of increased activity.”

Co-organiser Lisa Baker described the meeting as a “good start”: “I think it gave those who attended a better understanding of what they should expect from this new model of protection,” the Maylands Labor MP said.

“It will only work if residents are confident that the police will respond to their concerns and assure their safety when reporting crime.” Before the meeting, police officer Dave Whitnell and Ms Baker agreed a higher-than-usual concentration of public housing in the area was part of the problem.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

THE sculptors who brought us Beaufort Street’s nudie animals on a bike are in town for a new exhibition featuring the popular Dogman and Rabbitgirl characters.

Gillie and Marc use the strange creatures to try to spread a little love throughout the world.
“It’s a very unusual match but amazingly a match made in heaven: If people can embrace these freakish hybrids, why can’t we accept our differences?” Gillie asks.

The exhibition Kiss Me is about celebrating all sorts of kisses, not just highly airbrushed fashion shoot embraces.

Their dog and rabbit sculptures can be found in cities worldwide, but they’ve found Perth really open to their more unusual nude works. Recently when installing a rabbit and dog sculpture at a Sydney shopping centre, buyers were apparently shocked when Dogman showed up with full anatomical correctness down below.

“They rang us up immediately and said ‘there’s a penis!’ and we said ‘yes there is”. A local business council gathered to worry over what to do and, in a decision to make a mediaeval pope cry hallelujah, they “voted to chop off the penis,” Marc sighs.

Kiss Me is at Lynton & Kay Galleries until March 3, at 1/137 St Georges Terrace. Price of entry is a kiss.

by DAVID BELL

HERITAGE was the real winner in the council merger debacle, says Mount Lawley Society president Paul Hurst.

Mr Hurst says Bayswater city council, under the pressure from the society, mimicked Stirling’s heritage guidelines during the merger process, which should have ongoing benefits.

Paul Collins a “Stay in Stirling” campaigner and MLS member, says local heritage is no longer at risk. “Very pleasing news from the premier,” he says.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK