Rob Masters

(End credits, Excel Saga) Yes, today I have a very sad tale to share in my cyanography experiments. You remember last time, I shared this: Well, I have experimented further with inkjet photo paper, and made some very unpleasant discoveries along the way. The first is the streaking - without using a non-contact application method, I am not going to avoid it. The gel surface is just too fragile. So if I want to persist with this, it will be out with the air-brush. I somehow doubt I am going to find spray-cans of cyanotype sensitiser, after all.  The second is in washing. Because there is no cellulose for the Prussian Blue to bond with, the washing inevitably destroys the image, meaning that you cannot preserve the image long-term. This also means that you end up including the un-exposed chemicals in the scan, which adds considerable grain and loss of contrast - especially in the high-tones of the inverted image.  This second issue is essentially insoluble, which is a pity, as i...

Right then, so we meet some old friends again this week, this time with a wonderfully bizarre and surreal animation that still manages to be at least somewhat in-genre. We have spies galore (and a cat as well, but only the one - yes, I'll get my coat), televising pigeons, and people's heads being turned into TVs. Not to mention HUAC, and many many others. All of this and it still manages to form a narrative - albeit a downright strange one.  Be ready to bop along to "The Communists Have the Music" from the 2018 album "My Murdered Remains", by the incomparable They Might Be Giants. 

We usually head down to Scarborough Beach for the twilight markets that are held every Thursday during the warmer part of the year. There is a dizzying array of food trucks and various DJs and live performances to keep the crowds entertained.  "Wait. Crowds?" I hear you ask? Yes, crowds . Although the shots below don't really show it. Here in W.A, we've been making the most of our isolation from the rest of the country, and have managed to avoid any significant outbreaks after the initial surge. So far, anyway. We had one potential outbreak a couple of months back, and so we immediately went into a two-week lockdown, which everyone agreed was a great move if it meant that we could avoid a full outbreak. This is all a long way of saying that we are operating in an effectively pre-COVID state (contact tracking logs notwithstanding), aside from interstate/international travel. So things like public festivals are very much taking place as often as we can manage them. All ...

I continue to play with in-camera cyanotype imaging. My latest experiments have involved using inkjet photo paper as a substrate, and in particular in using it as a cyanotype film roll in a medium format TLR. The results have been rather pleasing.  GoSun Fusion. f2.8 90 minutes. SooC. GoSun Fusion. F2.8 90 minutes post-processed. This first one shows just how much detail you can get out of the process - and also the hazards of using a brush to apply the solution to a high-gloss paper. Nevertheless, I think the result is rather effective, and reinforces the juxtaposition of the very old technique with the ultra-modern subject. Garden, SooC f2.8 90 minutes Garden, post-processed. F2.8 90 minutes. In this case the brush streaks are even more obvious, as are a number of blemishes in the coating. When coating non-gelled surfaces, a bush is OK, and a glass spreading rod even better, but neither work particularly well with a high-gloss gel paper. That said, again, the result is intriguing...

This week's offering is one that I really have trouble explaining. What just happened? I'm keen to hear what others think, because I understand all the bits, but the whole eludes me. Meantime, there is a wonderful abandoned fun park, and look out for the old-school HP calculator! From a technical aspect, this is by the same production company that brought us the "Macher Institute of Bio-Aural Epidermal De-Speakering" from the Seasons track "Of Our Discontent" ( Week 9 ), Wasted Potential Productions (who are now mostly a concert production company).  It features singer Miya Folick , as 'Clara'. She the one with the camera, and who get woken up by 'Paisley' (Emily Whetstone) in the opening scene. Neither are in the band performing, though. So, from 2011, here are Thrushes with "Trees" from their album "Night Falls". And please do tell me what you think happened!

This week we've got another entry in the list of "Scientists messing with things they shouldn't, and without proper precautions".  On top of that, I suspect the Ethics Committee would not approve. So, here is 2012's "Dance" by Uppermost, from the album One.

 West Aussies - don't forget to vote tomorrow! (The AEC is supplying individual pencils rather than tethered ones this year, to assist in disease control)

Well, that was a fairly epic long weekend. The epic bit started on Sunday morning, when we dropped by the Stirling Farmers' Market to pick up our tomato order. 45kg of them. Plus capsicums, onions, apples, chillies, and some other vague veggies. Then it was back home, and dusting off our old Weber kettle BBQ, and pulling out the GoSun Fusion. Into each we tossed as many tomatoes as would fit (in trays in the Weber), and set them to roasting. Inside, we started chopping onions, more tomatoes, and capsicums - which then went straight onto the stove to become salsa.  Around the same time, we bolted the tomato mill to the kitchen island, and brought in the first batch of tomatoes. These went into the mill, and quickly became the first of many batches of passata. The squeezings joined still more tomatoes, onions and apples in another pot.  By the time we hit 11pm, we had produced and processed in the preserver 22 bottles of passata, and 10 jars of salsa, representing about 3/4 of t...

As one of the icons of the 80's it should come as no surprise that Thomas Dolby is showing up again. This time he's channelling his inner villain, and looking very suave doing it. So here is 1982's "Radio Silence" from the iconic album "The Golden Age of Wireless", by Thomas Dolby. As a bonus, I have previously featured "Europa and the Pirate Twins" back in Week 16.  Here we have Thomas' son, Harper with a very topical pastiche of that classic.