Perth to Colorado Via Sydney Biennale, Stars and a Sunrise at 34,000ft.

Even though I'm glad to be back in Colorado, I'm more sad to have left Australia. I was really starting to enjoy my time in Perth, and especially my time at Symbiotica. Frankly, the last month has gone by so fast that I'm afraid I wont remember it. I know that I will though, because I have so much to digest.

After a nice dinner in Perth on Friday night I was taken to the airport to fly to Sydney. An overnight flight to Sydney left me exhausted but I was able to see a bit of the Sydney Biennale and really liked what I saw. I was back on the plane again towards San Francisco when I was treated to some fabulous stars over the pacific, and an incredible sunrise. No one else seemed to be looking out the window. What a shame. It's too easy to forget how amazing it is to watch the sunrise from 6 miles up. Home now, off to take a shower and get some sleep.

My New Haircut

Today I was asked to be a hair model. Not one to say no, I got a free haircut. As you can see from the first photo, I choose to "Change to a new style." What a day.

This is Where I Work

I thought that everyone might appreciate this panorama of the space that I have been working in here in Perth. There are a lot of lab spaces as well. The Symbiotica space has plenty of natural light and a lot of strange objects hanging around. Plenty to be distracted by. CLICK on the photo to scroll through the whole space.

No Surprises Here

It tasted as bad as you might expect, but I had to check for myself. Ingredients: Carbonated water, yogurt, salt, mint. I really can't describe how unpleasant this taste was.

My Little Bro

I had to post this picture of my brother and his girlfriend Margret from last weekend. What a dapper man. What a good looking couple. My mom took the photo, wish I had been there to see them.

Who Is That Man?

Is that "Captain Science" or is he just taking that lab coat to the golf club? Either way he's enjoying himself.

Diving

I'm proud to say that I am now a PADI certified "Open Water Diver." This means that I can dive as deep as 18 meters. I've been diving every weekend here in Perth. On Saturday I followed the Rockignham dive trail south of Perth. We explored two plane wrecks and a scuttled boat. Lots of life, but very creepy to see an airplane sitting on the bottom. On Sunday we dove in the Swan river (still salt water but toally different topography). The rive had visibility at best of 2 meters and at worst it was less than a foot (see photo). Very disorienting. As strange as it sounds it was easy to forget which direction was up. I'm heading off to Rottnest Island next weekend to do some reef diving and I can't wait.

Lab Work

Above: A bioreactor for tissue culture from the Symbiotica lab. I'm currently trying to figure out how to make this simpler and cheaper. I'm out of my element in the lab (which is great) but there are lots of cool pieces of equipment to play with (which is also great).

One Week in Western Australia

I have now settled in a bit to WA. Perth feels like the way I remember Denver feeling 15 years ago. The city is packed during business hours, dying quickly after 6:00 with the exception of a few hot spots. There is a good gallery scene here and I never feel overwhelmed by the city. It's clear that Perth's boom has been going for a while though as I've been told that house prizes are high and there are expensive cars and bike everywhere.

I ran through the "CBD" this morning (Sunday) and no one was out. Though the nightlife can't compete with London I enjoy how laid back it is here. For the middle of winter the weather is fantastic too. I spent all day yesterday scuba diving in a swimming pool. After getting comfortable in the gear, all of the hoses disappeared and I felt like I was breathing underwater. A surreal experience. I can't wait until next weekend when I go diving in the ocean.

Working at Symbiotica has been great. I am completely out of my element in the biology lab which is exactly what I was looking for. The people are great and the projects are interesting. I enjoy the precision and thoroughness required by standards of sterility and ethics. I'll post some photos of the lab soon. Above I've posted some photos of the University of Western Australia campus. Not a bad place to be.

More Info

I thought that I would pass on some more info about the projects that I will be working with while in Perth. I'm having a great time so far, plus I'm learning to Scuba dive. Check out the projects here:
http://www.tca.uwa.edu.au/previous.html
http://www.tca.uwa.edu.au/

Catching Up To The Present

I have to thank everyone who has been on my case about posting some new content. I appreciate knowing that someone is watching. As many of you know I finished my first year at the RCA and was happy with how it went. After our Japan trip the end of the year I focused on opening the second-year show and organizing groups for next year's work. After finishing school I spent a few days getting organized in London, and one day riding in Paris (video below). My one day Paris ride was a great way to de-stress after the year.

After leaving London, I spent a week in NYC working with a sculptor (www.akairways.com). I really enjoyed learning from him and as usual NYC was great. I would not be unhappy to find myself there in the next few years. My week in the unsleeping city was too short but I flew back to Colorado anyway. I rushed through Denver and Aspen, finding myself drawn to stay as usual. The quality of life in Colorado beats everything else and the family and friends aren't half bad either. It's tough to keep coming home and leaving again.

Finally, catching up to the present: I'm now in Perth, Australia working at a biology lab at the University of Western Australia. I don't have much to say yet, except that it's nice to finally stop moving for a month, but I'm sure I'll find a way to distract myself. Check out the project that I'll be working on here: http://www.fishandchips.uwa.edu.au