#youre telling me these things exist but Tasmanian tigers had to go extinct

[stormycandraw]

Least concern? LEAST CONCERN???

Mf I am very concerned about whatever the hell these things are.

[frangipanidownunder]

Returning the Past: Part 5

Mulder and Scully are honeymooning in Far North Queensland. Much to Scully’s chagrin, Mulder has delved headlong into a mysterious case of strange lights, Tasmanian tiger sightings and abductions. It’s not long, before they run into trouble…

Read part 1, part 2 part 3 and part 4.

The facility ‘Eddie Romero House’ was ensconced behind a security fence. She frowned at the recurrence of the name. Years of being an investigator made it impossible to think of coincidences and serendipitous happenstance. Years of being an investigator on The X-Files showed her that even the smallest of coincidences was likely to be anything bug.

Sunlight filtered through menacing clouds and pinged off the metal pickets. Mulder buzzed the intercom and itched at the skin on his arms. A security guard walked from the main building to stand outside the gate.

              “We’re looking to talk to somebody in charge,” Mulder said.

              “Do you have an appointment?”

              “It’s urgent we speak to somebody. It could be a matter of life and death.”

              Scully looked at the ground, impacted red dirt crumbling at her footfalls. Mulder’s flair for the dramatic, coupled with this dogged insistence often got them entry into secure facilities but the guard didn’t seem impressed. They had no badges to flash, they had American accents, they had no jurisdiction.

              “Professor Callow is in meetings. He won’t be available until tomorrow.”

              “Callow?” Scully said, looking at Mulder. He did the customary slow blink that told her he was on the same page as her. “We’re friends of his daughter’s. Please tell him it’s urgent that he speak with us.”

              The guard lifted the radio to his mouth and static crackled. She rubbed the back of her neck and Mulder paced. A pair of green and red parrots screeched past. A vehicle reversed from a steel shed to the left of the main facility, stirring up a plume of dust.

              “He says he’ll see you. Follow me.”

 Professor Callow was seated behind a wooden desk bearing all the hallmarks of an office that hadn’t seen a change in twenty years. A Rolodex next to a rotary dial phone, a blotter pad, a stationery holder filled with Biros, pencils, a plastic ruler, Tippex. There was a framed photo of two men, one a younger Callow, rifle propped against his shoulder, standing over the corpse of a large animal that Scully couldn’t make out. She peered at its familiarity, then recalled the crumpled version of the photo on Steph Callow’s living room floor. There were glass cabinets along each wall, containing skeletal remains and stuffed animals with blank eyes and dull fur. Faded posters on the wall depicted a variety of Australian marsupials, and directly behind the Professor’s chair was a map of Queensland.

              “You know my daughter somehow?” he said, his accent clear-cut English.

              “She took us on a walk through the Daintree.” Scully looked at a poster of endangered and extinct animals. Toolache wallaby – bearing similar markings to the kangaroos they’d seen that first morning, broad faced bandicoot, lesser bilby. She checked out the small signs propped up against the stuffed creatures, Eastern hare wallaby, brush-tailed bettong.

              “She was a promising zoologist, she had a knack for research. Stephanie studied hard. It’s a shame.”

There was something tight about the older man, Scully thought. Something closed off. She’d seen the same thing when Mulder was returned. An outward show of vagueness that really just covered up an inability to articulate the heart of the issue. He was scared.

“What’s a shame?” Mulder asked, picking up a jar from a shelf. He held the jar out as he continued to challenge the professor, rattling the brown seed pod inside it so that it drummed with each word he spoke. “That Steph became a tour guide and not a Professor, like you?”

“No, no. It’s…her mother…the family. It was difficult. For all of us, but for Stephanie, a teenager at the time, it was. Well, she struggled.” Callow took the jar from him and set it back on the desk. His hands trembled.

“Your wife, Steph’s mother, what happened to her?” Scully watched the way he sucked in a deep, long breath, chest puffing out. The seed inside the jar, labelled Idiospermum australiense was pale yellow on the outside and a ridged red inside, reminded her of a golden apricot and she kept her eyes on it while Callow sunk back into his chair.

“She disappeared. Just vanished.”  Callow’s voice was shallow, like he’d told the story so many times it was just a rote response.

She looked back at Mulder, pressing her teeth into her lower lip. She wondered if they would ever relate any of their own history like that, without the passion, without the fire needed to continually reach for justice.

“Miriam went out to buy milk and never came back. We…just carried on. You do, don’t you? But Stephanie was never the same. Went to university in Tasmania, as far away from here as she could get. She worked hard but the spark, the passion for it had gone. After she graduated she went on a gap year to South America and when she came back she couldn’t settle. She told me once that being a tour guide was a way of always looking for her mother. As though she might just find her out there in the bush somewhere all these years later,” he smiled sadly. “She likes being outdoors. Just like her mother.”

“Have you heard from her recently, Stephanie?” Scully stepped towards him. “She’s missing, Professor Callow.”

Callow shook his head, an absent expression clouding his eyes. “I’m afraid that Stephanie has often gone ‘walkabout’ as they say in these parts.”

“We were with her when a group of men dragged her into a four-wheel-drive and we haven’t seen her since. The police don’t seem interested. Her house…there was a disturbance there.”

The old man pushed himself up from his desk, knuckles turning white. “She kept some strange company too. Abductees, she called them. She was adamant she’d been abducted too. Told me fantastic tales of being on board UFOs and lights in the forest. Crazy stuff. Nobody believes that kind of thing, do they?” Callow looked at Mulder and Scully lowered her gaze, breathing through the awkward silence.

“What did you make of her company? TasTiger Tours,” Mulder said, not rising to the bait.

“Taking tourists to see thylacines in the Daintree? When she told me what she was doing I told her that people would either see her as a lunatic or a scam artist. But it seems I was wrong. There are plenty of fools…” He stopped and Mulder offered him a accepting grin. “Sorry. You are entitled to spend your dollars any way you see fit, but Tasmanian tigers have been extinct for decades and most certainly did not inhabit tropical rainforest.”

“And yet both Dr Scully and I have seen thylacines in recent days. One was inside your daughter’s home.”

Professor Callow blanched and held on to the edge of the desk. “In Stephanie’s house? That’s impossible.”

“It wasn’t so long ago that this facility was being funded to research thylacine DNA with a view to potentially reviving the species. It’s not much of a stretch to consider that the animals might have escaped and thrived in the wild.”

Callow sighed and shook his head. “You sound like Stephanie. She had a penchant for the arcane. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d faked her own abduction by this group of men, simply to get my attention. I’ve suggested she see someone, you know, a psychiatrist to help her with her troubles, but she wouldn’t be told. She seems to be a lost cause.”

Mulder continued to talk, despite the old man walking past him to the door. “There are precedents where animals have created their own enclaves in non-native regions. The fabled big cat stories around the world can be explained in this way.”

Callow opened the office door. “What you say is true, Mr Mulder. And I may agree, except for the fact that my project never created a single live specimen. The trials all failed.”

Mulder swigged from the water bottle as she drove. The light outside was weak and grey. “What do you think, Scully. Is he involved?”

              “He was frightened, Mulder.  I saw a man cowed not just by the weight of his wife and daughter being missing, but by fear.”

              “He certainly knows more than he was letting on, Scully.”

              She watched him lean his head against the window. “You need to rest, Mulder. You still look like you’re running a fever.”

              “I’m fine. I just need to clear my head to think. Callow’s experiments didn’t yield a live thylacine, according to him. Yet we know they exist. What would be the purpose of recreating extinct animal lines, Scully? Where does that fit in with the abductions, the lights? And why would the police dismiss the case? Even if Steph was well known in these parts as someone with a psychiatric history, why deny she even existed?”

              “I’ve been thinking about that too, Mulder. And did you notice the name of the guard at the front gate?”

              He turned to her, cheeks flaming. “No, what was it?”

              “Galea. Same as the police officer.”

 They drove to the police station. The car park was deserted. Grey clouds pushed low over their heads and Scully scratched at the back of her neck. Mulder was slow to get out of the car. A sheen of sweat sparkled across his brow. She walked up the steps and rapped at the door. No answer.

              “Do you get a weird feeling, Mulder?”

              He didn’t answer but mopped at his forehead with the back of his hand. His chest rose and fell laboriously. She twisted the handle and pushed at the door. It didn’t budge. “If this is a joke, I don’t like the Australian sense of humour. Mulder,” she said, stepping back down to where he was leaning against the car door. “Get back in the car, out of the heat. Drink the water. I’m going around the back.”

              She knew he was sick when he complied without complaint. There were garden beds either side of the building, leaf litter piled high. Tall palms swayed on the increasing breeze and a pair of bird of paradise plants pecked at the empty air with their resplendent bronze beaks. The windows of the house were covered in cobwebs and the side door was locked. How had they not noticed the state of the place when they spoke with Officer Galea? Who were the other people in the building? Were there other people? She peered through the dirty glass of the back door but saw nothing but the marks of a building that hadn’t been inhabited for a while.

A car engine caught her attention and she hurried back round. A small blue SUV swung into the gravelled space next to their hire car and a middle-aged couple got out.

“If you’re looking for the police station, you need to head back that way, to Port Douglas. This one hasn’t been used for a few years now.”

“We were looking for Officer Galea,” Scully said, keeping an eye on Mulder, who was leaning his face against the window.

The woman shrugged. “The last copper here was Sergeant Blythman and she left to have a baby. That baby’s at primary school now. We just tidy up the yard. Len, give me that fertiliser. Those plants need a good feed.”

Scully opened the driver’s side door, but turned back to the couple. “Have you ever seen strange lights in this area? Blue lights?”

“You’re Americans.” Len joined his wife.

“We’re here on our honeymoon,” Scully said, as much to remind herself as to inform the couple. “We came here to report a crime here just the other day. Now it’s empty.”

The couple continued to remove gardening equipment from the back of the car.

“Who is Eddie Romero?” Scully asked. “It’s the name of a local research facility. It’s the name of one of the forest tracks. Our accommodation is Romero Sands.”

“He’s no-one special,” the woman said. “Enjoy your honeymoon. Go swimming. Do some bushwalking, but don’t stray off the tourist tracks. Have a nice time. Go home to your families.”

“Do you know Steph Callow?”

The woman exchanged looks with her husband. “Who are you?”

Mulder got out of the car, his body sagging. “What’s going on in this town? What are you afraid of?”

“We’re not scared,” the woman said, straightening up. “We’re just invisible. Nobody listens to us. They just want people to come here, spend their money. The tourist dollars rule. It’s like that film with the sharks, isn’t it, Len? You know the one, where the mayor of the island won’t shut the beaches down for the long weekend.”

“Jaws,” Scully said, looking over at Mulder. “Have people been hurt here? Killed?”

The woman looked at Len. “They’ve disappeared. But the government people say that they just lost their way, the forest is dangerous if you’re not careful.” She walked up to Scully and took her hand. “You two look like lovely young people. You don’t need anything like that happening to you. It’s the worst thing. People go missing and you never know what’s happened. You live every day like they might just come home and fling their coat across the hall and sit on their favourite chair and ask for a cup of tea, you know? It’s cruel, is what it is. Hope and dreams. It’s just cruel.” She rolled her lips together and took a long, slow breath. “You take care now. Come on, Len. It’s going to rain soon. Let’s spread this stuff and get home.”

 Mulder groaned in his sleep, deep guttural sounds that held fear. She often wondered how he processed all that happened to him. Besides the abject terror of the abduction, he had faced the death penalty. They had spent months on the run, looking over their shoulders, living out of cheap motels and even cheaper cars. He held it in, he held it together, mostly. She knew he thought he had to be strong for her, as she did for him. They both drove for days wearing their stoicism like armour. Back then, she knew the day would come where one of them would crack. She lay odds that it would be her first. That she would flip tables and throw away the hair dye and the Walmart underwear. That she would call her mother and write her brother. That she would tell Mulder she didn’t really love him and that she was leaving. That she would lie to save him. To save them both.

But in a long-forgotten town, in a long forgotten state, she returned with two bags of groceries and found him balled up in the corner of the darkened room, furniture broken around him, sobbing. The bags dropped to the floor and split open spilling the tins and packets in front of her. She let him cry against her chest until his tears soaked her vest. He didn’t talk, didn’t need to. She was grateful for that desolate place, grateful for the onerous skies and the stares of the townsfolk, grateful for the one store and flickering neon motel sign, grateful for the gritty coffee and the faulty ice machine. It drew out his sorrow and suffering and pushed hers down. She would never leave him. She would never lie to him.

 Now, she dabbed his brow with a cool washcloth, then pressed it around the back of her neck, easing the itch there. Wherever Steph Callow had gone, the dark forces in the forest were responsible. But with Mulder tossing fitfully by her side, there was no way they could go forward with any kind of investigation. She’d have to find a doctor’s surgery in the morning. He needed treatment.

“The light was so bright, Scully. It was so bright it felt like my eyes had been sliced open and silver was poured inside.” He pushed himself up and bunched the sheet across his lap. His voice was groggy, his skin tacky to touch. She gave him water. “I dreamt that Steph Callow was there with me, on that ship, Scully. She was trapped too, helpless and that bright light burned her and she burst into flames.”

While Scully made tea, he played with the remote, and a news anchor read out details of a mysterious death locally.

A member of the public called in the discovery of the body. At this stage, the police have not issued any details of the circumstances or the victim but there is a presence at Eddie Romero House.

“It’s Professor Callow,” Mulder said, calling her back to the bedroom. “He’s been killed.”

[animalistauntamedblog]

“I can’t imagine not living with dogs. That would be really sad for me”, says Gregory Berns, author of ‘What It’s Like to Be a Dog’. A statement which will surely strike a chord with dog-lovers everywhere.

Gregory enjoying the company of Callie & Cato

Growing up as a kid in Southern California, Gregory was blessed with the companionship of Pretzel and Popcorn, two golden retrievers. “Kids and dogs go together” he says. (Don’t they just!) Later there were 3 pugs, Simon, Newton and Dexter and another golden retriever, Lyra. Now there are Cato, Callie and Argo, “a yellow dog of some kind of mix.” 

Gregory’s hope for his new book is that understanding how animals think will revolutionise the way we treat them.

It was the loss of his beloved Newton in 2013 that prompted Gregory – a neuroscientist at Emory – to switch from studying the human brain to exploring the way dogs’ – and other nonhuman animals’ – thought processes work. And you will be particularly pleased to know, as I was too, that his studies are entirely non-invasive – no captive lab animals with electrodes implanted in their heads here, thank goodness.

“We are trying to understand the basis of the dog-human bond and whether it’s mainly about food, or about the relationship itself,” said GB.

What does go on inside a dog’s head?

This is something we’d all love to know. GB decided to use the same method with the dogs as is used to examine human brain activity, fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging). Nothing if not ambitious. Because of course, for fMRI to give useable results, the subject needs to keep completely motionless and yet alert for considerable periods. GB and his assistants had to give his new subjects, the dogs, extensive training to be able to do this.

In what proved a ground-breaking achievement, he opened a window, figuratively speaking, straight into the doggy brain, and recorded what he saw happening in there in real time –  this had never been done before. He was looking for answers to questions like:

Do dogs prefer praise from their human, or food?

What happens in the doggy head when we make them sit and wait for food or a treat?

What’s happening in that doggy head when they smell the scent of their human?

How do dogs recognise faces?

And the answer to the first question is: they like the praise from their human as much, and often more than the food. The interesting thing is that when the dog is praised, the activity in the doggy brain is located in the caudate nucleus part of the brain –  the same area active in ours when we receive some praise.

The second? When we ask our dog to sit and wait for the command before he/she is allowed to eat, the mental activity occurs, Gregory says, in a part of the prefrontal cortex, again the same as in humans. Not that we have to sit and wait for the command to eat, but it’s the same part of our prefrontal cortex that’s active when we have to exercise self-control.

Number 3 (from the National Geographic) This takes us back to our friend, the caudate nucleus. That is the part of the brain associated in humans with reward and positive expectation. And the caudate nucleus was precisely the area GB and his team found activated in the dogs again, this time by the scent of the dog’s own human. And only by that scent. The smell of an unfamiliar human, another dog in the same household, an unfamiliar dog, and even their own scent got little response. Though we may not be too thrilled with theirs from time to time, our smell makes our doggies happy!

Lastly When the dogs were shown 50 photos of different people and 50 of everyday objects, recognition triggered activity in the same area of the dog’s brain, the temporal lobe, as with humans. “Dogs are the only members in the Canidae family that can recognize faces of people without training. Dogs can tell when we are smiling or not and are able to notice differences between two faces, something that even primates like Japanese monkeys aren’t able to do. Dogs also spend more time examining new faces compared to familiar faces.” Psychology Today

“So the next time you’re wondering if your dog can read what’s on your mind, the answer is probably yes.”

All I can say is, those dogs must have been getting some pretty dee-lish-us treats

(Admit it cat-lovers, as wonderful as cats are, can you imagine trying to get a cat to sit completely still while being shown 100 photos? I reckon after the first couple they’d give a bored yawn and start licking a paw.)

Now that Gregory has what he calls “a basic understanding of canine cognition”, he is interested in finding out what it’s like to be this dog, rather than that dog, what makes an individual tick. But the main take from his research is, how very very like our own are the processes inside the doggy brain. Hold that thought.

Moving on to even bigger things –  the Brain Ark

What could be more important than sussing out the canine mind, you ask. Well, Gregory is doing something else that’s truly amazing – creating the Brain Ark, which aims to be a digital archive of the three-dimensional brain structures of megafauna: big cats, great apes, elephants, bears, wolves and so on.

What does this involve? Using technology called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to map the neural pathways of long-dead animals held in museum collections, starting with dolphins. “Dolphins are incredibly intelligent social animals but they’ve remained relatively mysterious. We provided the first picture of the entire dolphin brain and all the white matter connections inside of it.”

And “This year, we reconstructed the brain architecture and neural networks of the extinct Tasmanian toger, also known as the thylacine, using two brain specimens from museums, both of which were about 100 years old.”

And not just brains in museums, the brains of today too. But don’t worry – still entirely non-invasive. For the brains of species still hanging on to existence, like tigers, lions and other of the big beasts, he and his team hope to access creatures whose lives have ended in zoos. Gregory’s collaborators in this project include scientists from 8 other academic institutions across the globe, including the University of Oxford and the Smithsonian Institution.

The WWF has given the warning that 2/3 of animal species will be lost by 2020. To say that is a shocking possibility/probability, is a gross understatement. GB believes that since mapping brains of different species helps our understanding of their behaviour, the open-access store of information in the Brain Ark could prove not just a scientific treasure trove, but an invaluable aid to conservation. This awesome person is taking us on a new journey of exploration into the minds of the other animals who we share our world.

So, what drives Gregory Berns?

Not just the scientist’s mission to pursue knowledge simply for its own sake. Nor even the prospect of helping conserve the Earth’s wildlife, vital though that is. Something more radical, more important, more potentially world-changing. In his own words:

“In the grand scheme of things, I’d like to explore the commonalities we have with other animals. That has important ethical implications for how we treat them and their right to exist in the first place. Animal welfare laws cover things like abuse – pain and suffering.

“I think we should go beyond that and acknowledge that animals also have a right to lead a good life – whatever that means for that animal.”

Go Gregory!

Books by Gregory Berns:

What It’s Like to Be a Dog: And Other Adventures in Animal Neuroscience

How Dogs Love Us: a neuroscientist and his dog decode the canine brain

Sources

Neuroscientist explores ‘What It’s Like to Be a Dog’ – Phys.Org

A dog’s dilemma: Do canine’s prefer praise or food? – ScienceDaily

Related posts

Apes Much Cleverer than We’ve Been Told

So How Are We Different?

Thinking Pigs

Busting the Myths of Human Superiority

8 Things Everyone Needs to Know About Hens

  What Is It Like To Be a Dog? (Or a Dolphin)

[jeremystrele]

Bertie Blackman · Crepuscule

Bertie Blackman · Crepuscule

Creative People

by Elle Murrell

Artist Bertie Blackman  applies the final touches to her latest exhibition. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

The Sydney-based artist pictured in front of her artwork ‘Searching For Crepuscule‘ oil on board, 90 x 90cm. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

‘Crepuscule’ is currently showing at Lindberg Gallery in Melbourne. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Along with oil-on-board artworks, Bertie has created a series of dolls for the show. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

The exhibition is dominated by the colour indigo and inspired by the story of the last-known living Tasmanian tiger, Benjamin. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Bertie and her sketchbook. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Today we learnt a fascinating new word, thanks to artist Bertie Blackman, whose latest solo art exhibition, ‘Crepuscule’ is currently on exhibit at Lindberg Galleries in Melbourne.

Referring to the meeting of the day and night – i.e. twilight, in Bertie’s context ‘Crepuscule’ is also the alternative-dimension hangout of Benjamin, the last ever Tasmania tiger, and his merry band of wide-eyed friends. ‘Clever, cunning and mischievous, he evades captivity by leaping through the veils of dreams and reality… through the Crepuscule… bending time and space,’ the artist narrates.

Extending this concept, all of Bertie’s oil paintings for the exhibition are dominated by the colour indigo, built up in darkening layers. The hue really reverberates the feeling of twilight for the artist, and she also loves the way the word sounds: ‘a bit like you’re already bending and squinting the light with the letters; it’s an unusual word, so people are very curious about it!’

It’s no surprise that Bertie would make an audible link, given that many people know the ARIA award-wining singer, songwriter and guitarist for her music. Though busy building her multifarious BB empire, the candid creative took some time out to delve deeper into her current paintings, AND dolls!

Many readers would know you first and foremost as Bertie Blackman the musician, but can you tell us a little bit about your background as a visual artist?

I come from a family of artists, writers and creatives alike… so for me, visual art has always been a strong way of communicating. I have always drawn and painted but, because my parents are both painters, I ended up steering away from it as I really wanted to create my own path. A musician is as rebellious as I could get in my family!!

Throughout my musical career I’ve art directed my shoots and videos, created stage designs, and painted costumes. In 2009, I had an auction of drawings at Moss Green Gallery, but it wasn’t until 2012 with my fourth record ‘Pope Innocent X’, that I really started concentrating on my drawing. For that album, I released a book of illustrations with each song; I realised that art, music and writing really just all came from the same place for me. And I didn’t need to be one or the other.

Growing up with both parents as visual painters, I witnessed extraordinary discipline and sacrifice from them when it came to their art. I learnt about the reality of what being a practising artist is really like – the blood sweat and tears that go into your work, and the extraordinary work ethic needed.

My art practice has really developed through just doing it, looking at books and persevering with the mediums. I have had no formal education, but I’ve got big dreams and big ideas! I’m forever shaking with adrenaline because I just find it all so exciting!

Your most recent album, ‘The Dash’, was released in late 2014, and since then you’ve also done some amazing collaborations. How do you balance your music with your art?

I do really struggle with balancing my music and art. I have learnt pretty quickly that I can only really do one thing at a time.

I tend to allocate big blocks of time for each. With my current art show, I put aside a solid block of three months. I’m finishing that body of work up, I’m already connecting the next thing. However, I’m also writing and illustrating my first children’s picture book, which will be published in 2018. I would say I spend about eight hours or so a day in my art studio five days a week and then I work nights on my writing.

In between all of this, I have been ducking into various studio sessions, though I’m looking forward to getting into the recording studio more later this year. I’m also an early morning riser. I wake up at about 5am and usually meditate or go for a run to prepare for the day.

Your solo show ‘Crepuscule’ is currently on exhibit in Melbourne. Can you tell us more about this exhibition?

I’m really excited about this body of work. I started working on it quite a few months ago – really working on my painting and developing my technique. For me, I have no lack of ideas or imagery, it’s just been ‘the technical doing’ that has been the challenge and also needing the time to make all the mistakes and learn what the paint can do.

I’ve only been working with oil paints for about nine months, so when I started, I thought it would be an interesting idea to just work with one colour, so I could concentrate on getting the texture and feeling in it without worrying about mixing paint. I love the indigo hue so much; it feels very otherworldly!

For this show, I’ve also made dolls, and bringing my imagery into a playful three-dimensional form has been exhilarating. They’ve become my little friends – I do take them out to dinner sometimes for a treat as well as long walks on the beach. I’m a big fan of Mirka Mora, she’s a great old friend of my father’s and I love her dolls, so this is a little nod to her wonderfulness!

Was there a particular story that inspired the concept for this body of work?

Benjamin the Tasmanian tiger has been a feature in my work for the last six months. He is inspired by the actual last living Tasmanian tiger who died in captivity in 1936. I love the constant conversation and debate as to whether this creature is actually extinct. Personally, I think he is still alive, and I’m hoping that through conjuring him in his ‘Crepuscule’ it might bring him back.

A lot of my work has been hinged in floating spaces or abstract dream worlds, this is the first series that I have brought the imagery into a landscape. I used to play in the rainforest a lot as a child, so I really think that Benjamin and his friends are totems of my childhood – me reliving those curious moments of abstract memory.

What’s it like being the daughter of a OBE bestowed, acclaimed painter, and creating your own art?

I think because my father is Charles Blackman, I definitely shied away from having a career in the visual arts as I really wanted to make my own way. I don’t want to live in his shadow, I mean, it’s a blessing and a curse. Because a lot of people know who my father is, doors have opened probably a little easier for me than others, but the criticism has been far greater because the expectations are much, much higher.

I have, however, worked really hard in the arts for over a decade and I think I’ve carved out a little space for myself to grow quite naturally. I’m incredibly passionate and dedicated to my art forms and people know this of me.

I most definitely get my singular thinking and focus from my Dad, as well as the wild untamed imagination and thirst for the abstract and curious. But I have also inherited other lovely things from my mother in terms of my art practise as well.

I think if the work’s good then it doesn’t matter how famous your parents are, it should be able to stand alone.

  Who are some other Australian creative people that are you loving at the moment?

Luke Storrier and I have had a great time recently bonding over having a famous artist father and also being artists ourselves, in our own right. His work is brilliant and exciting and I’m looking forward to collaborating with him.

Ian Strange is just one of the most interesting artists I have met. I love his vision, he pushes all boundaries.

McLean Edwards is a wonderful painter, and such a wonderful eccentric man. One of the family!

What are some of the resources you turn to when you’re in a need of creative inspiration?

The library. Books are just necessary and essential in my life.

Outside.  Going outside and sitting in the gutter and looking at peoples shuffling feet and framing birds and dogs and shadows.

My Mother. I call her daily for a chat about the work I’m making and she really helps make sense of my abstract thoughts sometimes.

Pinterest. I use it a lot to gather visual references.

What’s been your proudest creative achievement to date?

That is a very hard question! I think singing with Danny Elfman and a 100-piece orchestra at the Adelaide Festival, and also co-curating ‘Sonic Canvases’ at the Art Gallery of NSW have been a couple of major highlights and pleasures.

Also, just being able to exist as a practising artist my entire career without having to get a ‘proper’ job!

What would be your dream creative project?

I would love to create an underground lair in Antarctica… make dolls, paint, sing, write, and turn all my dreams into imagery… a language that can be understood by the moon and stars!

Amazing! What’s a little closer on the horizon for Bertie Blackman?

I’m excited to be painting my next bodies of work, to be writing and illustrating my first children picture book for release in 2018, recording a new record, and making a series of dolls. I’ve got big dreams. Gotta start laying the blocks for empire BB!

  SYDNEY QUESTIONS

Your favourite Sydney neighbourhood?

Redfern… it’s my neighbourhood! I love it!

The best meal you recently had in Sydney?

Fratelli Paradiso in Potts Point. It’s always amazing and it’s my favourite Italian food in Sydney.

Where would we find you on a typical Saturday morning?

At my local Redfern coffee shop getting a take away coffee and reading in the park – that’s if I’m not painting in my studio!

Sydney’s best kept secret?

The beaches are all amazing. But that’s no secret…

  ‘Crepuscule’ by Bertie Blackman September 7th to 23rd Lindberg Galleries 77 Cambridge Street, Collingwood

[loveaghostking]

1-101 (:

thank you cutie loo💚 1. If you could be any mythical creature, what would you choose? a centaur would be dope
2. It’s summer time and you’re thirsty, sweet tea or lemonade? sweet tea
3. Who is your #1 all time crush? ash duh
4. What book would you like to see made into a movie? v for vendetta is already a movie but make it again and better 
5. Create a new ice cream flavor. uhhhh banana pancake
6. Top five favorite songs at the moment? i couldnt even tell you, i dont listen to music like i used to:/
7. You get to choose a superpower but it can’t be the ability to fly, what do you go with? turn into animals
8. Who’s your favorite Muppet? idk any muppets 
9. You get to have a lifetime supply of one kind of food, what is it? spaghetti 
10. What type of lunch meat do you typically choose when making a sandwich or sub? turkey all day every day
11. Water slides or roller coasters? roller coasters
12. What two musicians/bands would you like to see collaborate? brand new and tbs
13. Favorite Disney princess? mulan of rapunzel
14. Is there anyone on tumblr you wish you could meet in person? all my tumblr people are people i know irl 
15. You can only watch one tv show for the rest of your life, what one do you pick? avatar the last airbender 
16. Top five celebrity crushes? nina dobrev, kiara knightly, kendall jenner, rihanna, kristen stewart 
17. Any rules you try to live by? a clean house is a happy house
18. Have you had an serious medical injuries? my dad dropped me down the stairs when i was 3mo. thats bout it
19. Fruity pebbles or cocoa pebbles? fruity pebbles
20. Do you have any new years resolutions? no
21. What’s your birthstone and would you change it if you could? its garnet and no i think its pretty! 
22. What’s your element of choice? (earth, light, water, fire, etc.) id have to pick water 
23. Have you ever had to have stitches? If yes, what for? nope
24. What is a fictional creature you hope actually exists? mermaids dude 
25. Do you have a favorite Crime series? law and order svu and criminal minds
26. If you could go see a Broadway play/musical right now, which would you pick? hamilton 
27. What’s at the top of your holiday wish list this year? i wanna read game of thrones so i guess that
28. What are some things you would do if you were invisible? eavesdrop, go into places for free, travel for free, kill trump and pence
29. Describe your very first kiss. it was in a movie theater, very quick, very wet. 
30. Do you have any guilty pleasures? bitch i fucking love sour patch kids
31. Have you ever performed on a stage? middle school choir
32. If you could meet any one of the Muppets which would it be? idk!
33. Do you have a favorite mixed drink? cream vodka and orange soda 
34. Anything you miss about being a child? no money worries
35. Who is the hottest person that you know of on tumblr? embraceyourrissues is the hottest boy ive ever seen ugh so dreamy
36. Any good book recommendations? v for vendetta, lotr, hp, to kill a mockingbird, pride and prejudicd 
37. What’s your favorite pokemon type? the water ones are so cute
38. What’s the most hurtful thing anyone’s ever said to you? usually when someone tells me to stop talking or something along the lines of that. and the times when ive been called ugly lmao 
39. Is there a song that always makes you want to dance when you hear it? i dont wanna be in love by good charlotte and i wanna get better by bleachers 
40. What’s the best selfie you’ve ever taken and can we see it? i will post it after this! stay tuned 
41. If you could pick just one extinct animal to bring back to life what would it be? the tasmanian tiger 
42. What’s your least favorite name(s)? kimber 
43. If you could change your name to anything, what would you pick? i dont think id change if
44. What are three things on your holiday wish list this year? books, movies, mix cds 
45. If you could get away with any crime what would it be? stealing lots of money 
46. How do you usually break the ice with strangers? im vey shy so idk! 
47. Are you crushing on anyone at the moment? What are they like? yeah omg hes so sweet and handsome and super good at cooking and is very dedicated and he loves animals and has the best sense of style and he is always so sleepy and he loves tacos just as much as i do so i think we might get married or something 
48. Anyone you’re dying to see in concert? YELLOWCARD PLS COME BACCCCKKK
49. Are there any bands/musicians you really dislike? igloo iguana can go back to whatever hell hole she came from 
50. What are you made up of? sugar, tacos, spaghetti, paint residue, suave lotion 
51. Biggest fictional crush? i can not think of any rn but i know i have at least a couple
52. Do you have a favorite bird? nah 
53. If you could completely erase one person or memory from your mind would you do it? i dont think so 
54. What are some thing’s you are always happy to receive as gifts? mix cds, turtles 
55. What do you like to do on rainy days? sleep
56. Chinese take out or pizza? chinese 
57. What do you usually wear to bed? just my undies
58. As a child, what are some of the things you wanted to grow up to be? marine biologist, author 
59. How many pillows do you prefer to sleep with? two
60. What’s your favorite type of weather? summed time weather 
61. What’s your Hogwart’s house? (even if you’re not a Harry Potter fan, 62. you’ve still thought about which house you’d been in, don’t lie.) im in gryffindor! 
62. Favorite month of the year and why? may is usually a good time but september is fire too
63. What is your board game of choice? i love clue and monopoly
64. Are there any commonly held beliefs that you don’t buy into? any beliefs of trump supporters can kiss my ass
65. Describe the best kiss of your life thus far. oh shit theres been so many!! i do have a favorite type of kiss from ash tho, sometimes he puts his forehead against mine and our faces are ridiculously close and it somehow makes the kiss better 
66. What is something you wish didn’t exist? hate
67. What’s the most painful thing you’ve endured? tattoo on my chest
68. Do you collect anything? turtles!!!
69. Is there anything in particular that you’re looking forward to this summer? warped tour, lots of beach trips, seeing my sister
70. If you had a pair of wings, what would they look like? oh they'd be white with a light blue tint and rose gold streaks, very big 
71. Dinner and a movie is so old, what are some other things you’d enjoy doing on a date? i love love love going to the river walk and getting ice cream after
72. What’s your favorite breed of dog? pit bull
73. How do you like your chicken wings? If you don’t like chicken wings, then wtf is wrong with you? honey bbq is always good and boneless 
74. Anyone been on your mind lately? i left eevee out of my room so shes crying and its been on my mind i guess 
75. Are there any things about yourself that you dislike that others seem to love? my face 
76. What’s your favorite part of the playground? swing set
77. Do you like to write? i used to 
78. What’s the best birthday gift you’ve ever received? i got a tattoo! 
79. What is something you never leave home without? my ring 
80. If you drink, what kind of drunk person are you? idk i dont drink often enough to know! 
81. Do you listen to music while you shower? i used to 
82. Are there any classics films you wish would be remade? none cone to mind
83. What’s your go to party song? whatever tony plays at the house
84. Have you got a favorite outfit? Can we see it? currently its my new skirt and top that ash bought me the other day! 
85. What’s the longest you’ve ever talked on the phone for? oh man idk jasmyne and i used to talk for hours on the phone 
86. What’s your favorite emoji? 🌈👻
87. Have you ever had raw fish? on sushi 
88. What accent do you find most attractive? french 
89. What’s one bad thing an ex might have to say about you? i honestly dont think my one ex could say anything bad about me, maybe that i always wanted sushi when we went out to eat 
90. Would you choose to be immortal if you could? no
91. What’s the most expensive thing you ever bought? an apartment lol
92. Have you ever had a black eye? nope
93. What are some questions you’d ask on a first date? music taste, political stance, do you like cats
94. What do you think happens when we die? i dont wanna know
95. Any pets you’d enjoy having? more cats, a pit bull 
96. What are some reasons you might end a relationship? cheating 
97. Is there anything in your room you wouldn’t want your parents stumbling upon? my weed haha wait actually i dont have anymore so i guess nothing. WAIT, theres some nakey polaroids of ash and i that they dont need to see 
98. Are you still friends with anyone from grade school? jasmyne!❤️
99. What is one song you will never, ever get sick of? i wanna get better by bleachers 
100. Waffles or pancake? And what do you put on top of them? pancake, bananas or blueberries 
101. One word you’d use to describe yourself? loving