remembering Mambo

One year since he passed away. still missed.

one year

of this blog.

I started with a story about mess, or the lack of it and posted photos as a comparison during the clean up. 'Mess' has been a fairly consisted tag, appearing times 7 times, as many times as 'art' and 'ginger cats'.

On the day which was the one year from the day that I arrived in Japan, the anniversary of my first Fuji sighting, I was cleaning up my studio as I was going to have visitors. By the way I consider the photo above of one corner of my studio, while not 'clean' it's certainly 'ordered'- for me! by comparison!
Somehow that process of cleaning finally brought me home, or perhaps it was sense of the floating freedom of 2010 had finally come to an end. It could also have been because I was preparing the various channels of "Feeders" for viewing, I had a chance to reflect on all the work I had done recently and to see myself as a artist rather than PhD student. For whatever reason my old-self drew down my floating-self and I finally felt 'back'.

For the last 3months I have been avoiding being in my studio- and it had a lot to do with appalling mess I had created there while making many props and editing two multiple channel video works. But I think it was also about accepting that I am home and I need to get back onto working on driving my writing and studio forward.

As I took this photo to I wondered how I ever had room for my cat on this desk. The sign in the corner says "This is not the life my mother wanted for me" and comes from this work.

I haven't always posted as much as I wanted or intended to- there are plenty of half finished posts. I'm not even sure who I am writing for. Although I know Sarah and Caren are reading it because they often comments- your tops ladies!

Mambo’s Hydrangea

Is in bloom. They beautiful and they remind me of the blue of his cushion that used to be next to my computer.

It’s seven month since Mambo was laid to rest under the Hydrangeas. I still miss him. Below is Haico saying goodbye.

Conversations with cats - Gotokuji Shrine

I wrote this more than a month ago but had not had time to correct it or put in as many details as I had wanted- and then I just got super busy finishing the work for Aichi Triennale. But time has passed and is passing so fast and I am now back in Australia so it will have to go up as is in order to think new thoughts.

In 2007 my dear Ruben died. It was long and drawn out. Not long after a friend of Lucas(Ruben's co-owner) and I, Jo Law, had the Australia Council residency in Tokyo. You can read about her trip on her Season Almanac blog. As part of trip she went to Gotokuji Shrine and said prayers for Ruben and her cat Puzpuz. When I came home from Tokyo in April my dear Mambo died and I felt I needed to go to the shrine to visit Ruben and say good bye to Mambo.

Gotokuji Shrine is where the legend of the waving cat- Maneki Neko is said to have happened. The White cat - Tama- is buried in a shrine along side the main Buddhist (?) temple, and this is where I said my prayers.

It was a fantastic thing to do- the quiet ( there was only me and two other people there) and very green space was exactly what I need, and I lite insense and said prayers for all my friend's cats who are no longer around and for those who still keep us company.

Cats of freinds who have passed on: Tupelo, Jose, Blanche, Smilla, Puzpuz, Puspus, Gordon, Lucy, Claude, Gus and Carole. As well as those still living: Otik, Martha, Sushi, Drazic, Orlando, Dexter, Zooty, Minny, Baba, Brian.

I love the backs and the tails in the shot above, and I couldn't resist putting my miniture Yokoo Tandanori cat Buddha in for a picture too.

letting go

It’s been hard to think about writing this blog since Mambo died. Partly because it has been hard to think about putting some thing in front of him so that slowly, slowly he disappears from the top post, when I still feel his absence as a large hole. Sitting to work at my desk is not the same anymore.

But life goes on, and there are lots of cats in the world and one day another one will walk into my life as Mambo did. He was dumped by his previous owners, from a car, and found his way into our corner block-backyard to hide. My parents heard him meowing and my father dug into the germaniums and brought out a six month old non-desexed friendly, but nervous, ginger fella with very long sharp nails. I had been asking for a companion pet, as I needed lots of affection at that point in my life and it is much better from a soft animal who gives without demands- or at least the easily met demand of food- than confused art school boys and girls.

But the new posts are stacking up and the owed posts of my trip are still waiting to be written so best to get on with it.

conversations with cats #2

In the first week home I was cycling along one of my regular routes I came out of a cutting to see about 10 cats trotting towards me with their tails in the air- a pack of friendly strays. It was the oddest sight. I have only ever seen two cats do this at once. I of course missed the moment to photograph them doing this. I guess there is someone who feeds them you arrives on a bicycle? I have wanted to go back and visit them but have not had the time yet.

The sense of wonder and pleasure at these stray cats is a new response for me- a post-Tokyo curiosity. Usually I would be angry and cross that they where there and that someone was supporting them (a typical bird watcher response). I was still concerned that the pack is growing as one of the young females (the tabby grey in the top photo) was clearly pregnant.

Rest in Peace dear Mambo

He had a massive tumor in stomach area which was affecting his kidneys. There was no possible treatment, which we had suspected so pampered him for weeks till it looked like he was loosing the plot. Luckily he made it through ok till I came home. The demise was pretty fast in his last week, so Haico and I took the hard decision that it was best he took a one way trip to the vet. I didn't want him in hospital like Ruben, mostly because he was an anxious cat and wouldn't cope. The vet told us he probably only had days to live. He is now under the hydrangias in the front yard in the opposite flower bed to Ruben.

I instinctively look at the front door when I walk past expecting to see his shadow asking to come in. It will take a while I guess.

He was very restless his last two nights, getting up lots to drink, wee and lick at a vast array of food we presented him with. Poor thing, but he had a good and long life. He arrived to live with my parents and I (he was dumped over our fence) in my honours year at Art school. He appear in various of my performance to camera, which I am now keen to dig out the video documentation.

Conversations with cats

When I visited Taoko-san I came into the shrine courtyard and heard the incessant mewing of a cat. It was a small white cat with ginger patches sitting in front a watercolour painter begging for food. I made me distressed to hear a stray in an area I had gone to visit to see birds. Later I walked past the monk’s quarters to visit a cave shrine and saw some cat food bowls in a doorway, with a photo of the cat I had seen, lying on a royal blue silk cushion. So a scab, not a stray.

Walking around Yoyogi Park late one afternoon I saw an old street dweller man open a homemade cardboard cat box and let out a large white cat.

I have been missing my Mambo quiet a bit, and have often found myself thinking about Ruben who died a little over a year ago. I am pretty crazy for ginger cats so was very excited by this homeless man’s three well cared for cats. They had really soft fur and the two stripy ones where very friendly. The man was very well organsied, like many people living in cardboard, and was setting up his bed cabin for the night. There are a lot of people living in this area around Shinjuku. It doesn’t look like they have lived long on the streets and it makes me wonder about what kind of social security Japan has and whether the government is going to build more social housing for these people who lost out went the bubble burst.

Two domesticated strays on Endoshima getting lots of attention from visitors. Second one looks like Glenn's Darryl.

Isetan department store windows: The model dressed in a super expensive designer dress has a speech bubble that says: “Lets Work” and holds out a rattrap. The mice in the hole on the far left also say “Let work” while the cats just have blank looks. The designers had quiet a sense of humour, not sure how they got away with this one though.