Kept spelling my name wrong when I was signing books last night. Oh dear. (Taken with instagram)
What I Made During Inherent Vice - Sarah Howell
I started my Harold Holt project. Last year I promised Bernard Caleo and Jo Waite a comic to be performed in the tradition of Komishibai picture theatre. Due to overwork and illness I didn’t deliver the comic in time. The premise I had for the comic was really appealing, but I had struggled to determine a motivation for the characters and got stumped. The story idea was Harold Holt (the Australian prime minister who drowned/went missing in the late 60’s) is somehow still alive or a ghost and abducts Tony Abbott while Tony is swimming.
While in residence I researched Australian politics searching for the foundations of a faustian set-up for how and why Harold Holt wants to abduct Tony.
The result was a synopsis, thumbnail scripts, and character designs for four stories:
- one about Prime Minister Joseph Lyons and his wife Enid who was a political force in her own right;
- an overview of Harold Holt’s life before his disappearance;
- what happens after his disappearance; and
- Harold’s abduction of Tony Abbott
So what started as a flippant fun idea has turned into a big project about Australian Liberal politicians and their forerunners. WTF?
Having got a good running start at this thing I turned my attention to my next commitment for Bernard and Jo, an exhibition titled “I Heart Tintin” at the Edinburgh Castle Hotel (2-9 October) as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
So that’s what I got up to at the NGV Studio.
It was awesome times and awesome people. Thanks to everyone who dropped by.
What next for NGV Studio? A bunch of art student ratbag types! My friend Nic Tammens is one of them.
To follow my continuing efforts on the Harold Holt project, etc, visit my blog www.sarahhowellprojects.com
