UPDATED
10.01.2006 19:26
© Brentley Frazer 2005 editor@retortmag.com http://www.brentley.com
"Disobedience,
in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original
virtue.
It is through disobedience that progress had been made, through
disobedience and through rebellion."
-- Oscar Wilde - (1854-1900)
Wednesday
November 30, 2005
THE DEATH OF DEGRAVES? [IMAGE
GALLERY] Recently I published a series of photographs
of Carlton
Street Art where I mused that considering Australia's new
sedition laws we may soon see the end of this form of creative
expression. At the time I was considering that perhaps the politically
motivated art was the one to disappear. For awhile there was a
fervent debate about Taggers
being singled out for destruction, this soon followed by outright
war being declared where the council provided business with
anti grafitti kits, saying things like - "The longer
the graffiti is up and seen by the public, the happier a graffiti
artist is. If it’s painted over or removed, it defeats the
purpose for the person doing the graffiti". Not long
after the option of legal walls and the buying of the more famous
artists to paint on them, publicity abound for the more prolific
with artists like http://www.phibs.com/
gaining full color print magazine exposure. Recently, despite
the findings of academic criminologists and ample public debate
the council outright rejected all proposals selecting instead
a zero tolerance position. Several newspapers (I cannot find articles
on line unfortunately) quoted politicians as saying that a clean
graffiti free city was in order for the coming Commonwealth
Games. Fools... I have extensively photographed Melbournes
Street Art and there is very rarely a time when I am alone in
the alleys. Multitudes of people from all over the world are there
taking photographs of the art. I believe that part of the reason
Melbourne was selected for the upcoming games was because of its
internationalist cosmopolitian atmosphere, its colurful street
art and alley cafes. Last week I was alerted by a friend that
he had seen guys painting over the art in Degraves Street. God
knows how many international intellectual copyright laws the council
are about to violate by defacing the artworks below. These works
adorn the northwest end of the famous Degraves
Street in inner city Melbourne. Tucked along this street are
many fantastic little cafes. Everyday thousands of people walk
through this alley, sit for coffee and admire the art. Do
the last 2 photographs show the beginning of the end? even
for this famous street gallery? The brown Dupont Antigraffiti
sludge begins to eat away the colour. Stupid suit wearing borgs
run the country. Period.
For
more Melbourne Art visit http://www.melbournegraffiti.com
A
recent article in The Melbourne Age celebrating street art
out.
Wednesday
November 16, 2005
In
my photography gallery a
new series I shot yesterday (15.11) of the
anti Industrial Reforms protest that took place nationally here
in Australia [MORE
SOURCES]. I shot about 300 photographs, but I think
the best ones are of when the mounted police spotted me lurking
about behind a pole right in the middle of the road. The photographs
here are only at 72dpi at 600 pixels wide so the detail is'nt
great. The cop on the left points me out, then they all look at
me, then they feign to ride past but suddenly turn their horses
straight at me all glaring and surly. I just kept shooting, they
pass and then I took a couple nice ones of the colourful crowd.
GALLERY
. The thing that stood out to me most was how much money some
people have to spend on protest banners, that and the insects,
there was a swarm of insects that came with the crowd. Was kind
of eerie even.
While
drinking Absinthe with the poet and singer Fakie
Wilde recently, we reflected upon the successes and the shortcomings
of our 2003-2004 project Brilliant Future. We originally landed
a 4 book deal with Impressed Publishing, who, shortly after the
release and initial worldwide release of Book One - The Butchers
Saga, in paperback, folded due to some sort of company restructure
or whatever... Fakie and I decided this was a great shame, and
we managed to agree, just before we passed out, that the project
shall continue. Next morning, when we came to, we agree also that
to celebrate this that we should release another chapter onto
the unsuspecting public. Here
is the first three chapters of Brilliant Future - Book One - The
Butcher's Saga (.pdf ebook 66kb) -enjoy.
out.
Monday November 14, 2005
"Bracks
splits with PM on sedition law - Mr Bracks said Victoria's Racial
and Religious Tolerance Act dealt with the use of violent language
and threats without limiting free speech." While it might
seem that Mr Bracks is on the side of Commonsense rather than
the Commonwealth, this is typical politician sleight of semantics
in action - have another look a The
Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005 Schedule 7 - Sedition - only section
D says anything about "promoting hostility between different
groups", and even that is in the context of threatening the
'good government of the commonwealth'. These laws will never be
used to protect us. They are more likely the precursor to the
introduction of Thought Crime laws. Hey wait! a threat is
thinking about committing an act...
I
have decided, with much thought, that this will be my final Editor's
Retort about the political situation on planet earth, for awhile.
I am beginning to feel as though it is pointless protesting. No
one is interested. The semantic terror in the daily newscast has
us transfixed. If we were living in a democracy I would believe
it worthwhile to voice my opinion, albeit it a solitary outcry.
But, looking around me today it has become evident that we are
living under the rule of an organised gang of some kind. It is
hard to wrap my head around it, but John Howard is the most unlikely
mobster I can imagine - perfect for the role, right. Picture it,
a gang of Armani suit wearing, wine swilling, seafood shoveling
accountants running the country. Perfect. Everything is under
control. Or as Burroughs would say - Everything IS under
control. Retort is not about politics anyway, well not directly
- all artists betray their politics in their work, and as always
I have made my editorial descisions on the material I publish
in this magazine based on the innate independent/individual 'voice'
or point of view that comes across in the work that I favour.
I will continue to do this.
Anyway,
screw talking out against a gang that has an entire army at its
disposal, these arent reasonable people we are dealing with. They
think in spins, everything is a percentage of a ratio, life is
best negative geared etc etc...
Finally,
an afterthought, a note about my Sunday 06 November Editoral regarding
the NWO Commemorative Glock. It has been bought to my attention
that the page my article links to has been taken off the web.
Interesting... Google of course comes to the rescue - here are
some archived images of the Glock mentioned http://images.google.com.au/images?q=desert+storm+glock&hl=en
out,
for now.
Sunday November 13, 2005
All
Tyrants believe Poets to be their worst enemies - Yevgeny
Yevtushenko - Russian Poet
 I
have noticed a disturbing tendency for news reporters to quote
poetry when talking about terrorism attacks. Here is the most
glaring example - in this article the author quotes both Auden
and Wallace-Crabbe, it begins - As
Melburnians go about their business tomorrow, a panel of key emergency
response people will imagine bombs exploding and people dying
on our streets.. I suspect that the above quote All Tyrants
believe Poets to be their worst enemies is
relevant to John Howard - his new
sedition laws include the clause that seditious intention
is to urge dissatisfaction toward the Government of the Commonwealth
- this is communist China territory he is stepping in- remember
this back in 2000 - China
bans poets conference - "Dissident writers invited to the
meeting included a poet arrested during a crackdown on pro-democracy
demonstrations in 1989, sponsors of underground poetry reviews
and a writer who posted poems on the Internet expressing dissatisfaction
with modern Chinese society" Empahasis mine
- even though I didnt really need it, the comparison is not only
obvious, it is word for word.
out.
Saturday November 12, 2005
Did
you stumble in here, head reeling with all the ugly stuff that
is being reported elsewhere. Are you hoping for some comic relief,
or at worst a bit of a distraction? The phenomena of popular circulating
email attachments has come to save the day. Below are a some of
the amusing/distracting/outrageous things I have received lately.
Enjoy.
DID THEY
MEAN TO DO THAT? (.PPS)
GAS
PRICES - YOU PAY OTHERS PLAY (.PPS)
WHY
I WAS LATE FOR WORK - (.PPS)
MUST
BE HIS FIRST DAY? (.WMV)
AP
RACISM - NOT AMUSING, OUTRAGEOUS
out.
Sunday
06-Nov-2005
Just
as the Howard Government takes aim at creative artists with their
new Sedition laws the Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning
Herald published this article Why
Artists are Rebels
QUOTE " ... test(s) found creative people were also more
predisposed to mental illness" and in particular "
writers scored highest on most personality disorder scales
and were also more likely to be neurotic and disagreeable."
Topped off by the knockout punch " The healthy rebellion
aspect involves things like questioning social conventions and
being open to new or radical ideas," she said. And the psychosis
processes were "a driving force for creativity".
This
is the most ridiculous propaganda I have ever seen, you would
have to be deprived of all your senses not to see through it.
....
If,
lets say, you just cannot bring yourself to believe that we are
witnessing a global grab for power by the New World Order Emperors
then cast your eyes on this interesting bit of curiosa. You may
be familiar with a particular type of firearm favoured by the
police and military, the Glock pistol. On the Glock FAQ website
there is listed the
Desert Storm Glock - The New World Order Commemorative
Edition made especially for and presented to ... - well go
check out the list. Have a look at the barrel engravings.
out.
Saturday
November 5, 2005
Interesting independent news site out of New Zealand
SCOOP has
been referring to Howard's Anti terror laws as Anti Wolf laws
- "Wolf!
Wolf, I say! Not
that I'm at liberty to tell you where the wolf is, or what it's
doing. But I can assure you that it looks to be a very alarming
wolf indeed. My, what big teeth he has!"
Hilarious. They have also published a
copy of a letter that has been doing the rounds encouraging
Journalists and Artists to write to senators in protest. Well
it doesn't seem to have worked. The amendment laws were rushed
through on Thursday night and already the story has fallen off
the wires, no mention on the front page today of major
Australian news sites... not much we can do here anymore in
Oz, The Liberal PArty has control of the senate. The senate killed
Caligula remember, before he could gain control of it. Too late
this time, Caligula wore a suit and stayed away from his sister,
he probably avoided drinking diet soda as well, which is said
to be the lead of this modern civilsation. Also very clever coming
in unnoticed from the economic ridge, conforms to The Art of War
perfectly. The unexpected attack. Not to mention an unbridled
reliance on euphemantics,
spinning language at every opportunity into his liberal
tapestry of deceit. And the glasses, it's almost comic book!
out.
Thursday
03-Nov-2005
Now, I ask you, and pray that you may be able to tell me. Why,
if our government receives information about a terrorist threat,
is it a bad idea to reveal the plan to the public? The answer,
and I quote - "Mr
Howard said he understood that people would be frustrated that
he could not reveal any details, including which city might be
targeted. But he said he was damned if he did and damned if he
didn't. - If you go into a lot of detail and you wreck the
operation, the Australian public will not forgive you, he
said." Note that the emphasis is mine. And I believe
that my emphasis points to the real answer. It is obvious that
Howard needs a reichstag, and in true Liberal fashion he will
try and use a heebie jeebie under the bed first. If that doesn't
work then he'll outsource the job pronto. Well, he said it, he
won't reveal the details to the public - so he is damned.
out.
Tuesday
01-Nov-2005
QUOTE
" "Last week I thought the problem with these laws was
that they trampled on people's rights"... John Howard
The
Police State gathers momentum. A few journalists are
beginning to realise the implications the
Sedition Laws bear upon Writers
and Artists. Just walk up to someone, anyone, on the street
and ask them what they think of the
new sedition laws and the implications to free speech and the
creative arts. They will just look at you as though you are
some left wing nut trying to sell them a badge. Police State is
coming, yeah sure, you are just paranoid Brentley. Well have a
look at that picture above. FAST TRACKED my friends. Expect storm
troopers everywhere. And what the hell are those things behind
the state hero sent to protect us? This picture was broadcast
on Channel Ten news in Melbourne as the backdrop symbolism for
Emperor John's new Anti Terrorism Bill to be passed in parliament
any day now. Those things in back look like the killing machines
from Star Wars or those skull crunching death stalkers from Terminator.
And look at the stormtroopers finger poised on the trigger, ready
at a moments notice to uzi down a crowd in the name of protecting
us all. I must say, in this climate of fear but don't be afraid
that the governments of the world are engineering, if a guy dressed
in robes gets on my bus with a big leaking bag, I check him out
and move close to the emergency exit. But, if that guy in the
photograph above got on my bus, I'd completely shit myself and
jump straight out the window.
out.
Thursday 27-Oct-2005 19:31
 Hope
you all like the redesign, I have been tinkering away with it
for months. This year has zoomed by and I have been so busy with
the day job and working on my own creative endeavors that the
site was getting a little dusty. I logged on this morning and
noticed that the menu bar was creaking, the title banner was almost
off its hinges, the forum was full of dirt and sales spins.. so
I oiled up the new designs, got out a rubber hammer and some liquid
nails and gave it a once over. A LOT of readers have scruffed
the welcome mat lately, but they are not a very interactive lot.
The forum is just a dead weight on the site these days. RETORT
receives hundreds of submissions a year, averages about 40,000
readers a month, yet there are only 6 members in the forum. And
I know that quite a number of RETORT's readers are also writers...
why no writing in the forum? That is what it's for dammit... anyway,
I have decided to shut it down and I will do so shortly. If by
some miracle this message causes a flurry of people to even notice
that we have a forum, I will leave it open, lets see...
out.
Wednesday
05-Oct-2005 22:18
Jack Kerouac, arguing with
a hippy on a talk show, said that he had made himself famous by
celebrating life, by writing songs and lyrics and poems about
the beauty (and the ugliness) of the people he knew and the things
he did; in turn he said that the hippy had made himself famous
by protest and protest alone. In reply to this, during the same
documentary which contains this footage, our literary grandfather
William Burroughs said that Jesus Christ stated that it is by
the fruits of their labour that you shall know them, not by their
disclaimers. Poets, writers, artists, we have inherited a very
messy canvas. RETORT is literally a hybrid of beat and hippy philosophies.
On one side of the coin we are nothing but a celebration of the
creative and experimental human spirit. Beau Beau the Magician
in the streets palms the coin and it becomes a canon with a thousand
literate and angry mouths shouting at the oppressors.
Nearly all the original beats are
in their grave, the hippys (my parents generation) have completely
ruined nearly everything and retired to sell crystals and dolphin
mementos in beachside tourist resorts. Contemporary literature
is dominated by corporate directives and opportunities given only
to those who can be exploited to join the party on the floor of
the boardrooms. Retort Magazine is a direct descendant of the
traditional writer published magazine. Retort exists primarily
to provide a formal publication opportunity with a large established
readership. I believe that despite the fact that this project
has cost me thousands of dollars and just as many hours with zero
financial return, that it has developed into a powerful and effective
tool of communication. Many thanks to everyone who has been involved
and intends to become involved. And long live RETORT.
out.
Brentley
Frazer
© Brentley Frazer 2005
Editor/Publisher
RETORT MAGAZINE
editor@retortmag.com
http://www.brentley.com
This
material is copyright © Retort Magazine/Individual Artists/Authors
2005 - no reproduction of this material is permitted without express
written permission from Retort Magazine and/or the Author/Artist.
RETORT magazine is independently published by Brentley
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herein. Retort Magazine is not affiliated with any social, political
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