Browse the images on flickr, or below.

So aside from the past four months of madness since the last post, I decided to share a moment of paradise and tranquility in Sicily. Bethany and I went to Palermo (map) and Stromboli (map) for a 10 day return to our previous homeland. Aside from the obvious things – coffee tasting like little moments of caffeinated heaven; meals causing tears of joy based solely on hearing their titles being expressed in Italian; And other very important things too… But seriously – after food and coffee, its hard to see through the cloud of seretonin induced euphoria.

The photos are going to make you jealous.

I havent posted anything since the Tuned Stairs kicked in at center pompidou last october. In fact I havent uploaded anything to flickr either! Not to mention the fact that I also haven’t updated my portfolio. (oi)

So: its been over six months, and I definitely am well beyond making up excuses for lack of updates. It begins here! The brief history: Left Italy in December. It was after 21 months of extraordinary time spent in the quaintest (though rather fascist) town named Treviso, while working for Fabrica. Perhaps I will write up a little about my 21 months there… but definitely not now! As for leaving – well it really was time to move on. Though I loved the place, the experience, and of course the food/friends/language etc – I needed to do something else.

As soon as I returned to South Africa I packed a smaller bag and rushed off to Botswana! I met up with one of the best collection of my old mates: Robert, Yuval, Shannon, and Aviv. We proceeded to have 10 days of fantastic fun driving around getting lost, tiger fishing, drinking, playing match stick riddles, eating fantastically well, etc etc. Wonderful. The day after our return from Bots, I was off to Cape Town to meet Family Hirschmann. Of course it was lovely to see the clan, get some sun and enjoy the beauties of the Cape. I stayed on in Cape Town to do some preparatory work for my Visa application and to do some ground work for a project I was doing with Collaborators Guide. More on that in a future post. (Though for now, you can read about it here.)

Once that project was completed and my lady Bethany had come and gone, I spent a week teaching physical computing at my old University. At that point, my grandfather managed to get himself an idiopathic condition which made him extremely ill. SO we all became intensely focused on the mortality of our loved ones and dealt with some rather hard emotions. Thankfully after 2 weeks, he started making progress and even now there is daily improvement! It truly boggles the mind when confronted with the possibilities of death, followed by the magic of the human body’s capacity to heal itself.

Anyway, so i was granted an artists visa for the UK. This allowed me to move to London, and get a job at Jason Bruges Studio. A marvelous studio made up of architects, designers, creative thinkers, and fantastic administrators. So far (2 months in) I’ve been having a great time! Updates on projects will come at some stage in the future too!

Thats it for now. Everyone is upto speed. Now all I have to do is post all the photos!

People are using them, enjoying them, playing with them – and generally resulting a positive reactions all around. We are like proud dads. More photos will be uploaded when the paris experience slows down to a walking pace.

If anyone reading this is going to be in Paris between now and the 11th, let me know!
Pictures will follow soon…

Bethany and I went off to Puglia for a little well deserved rest and relaxation. We truly had an incredible time. One week in the middle of one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to in Italy. The people are friendly, and real. The food is totally insane. You can’t imagine how well we ate. I don’t see how its possible to beat the tastes I experienced in the heal of the boot of italy. Click the pics for more delicious visuals

Here are the pics of my fam in europe. Good times were to be had by all. One day I might even have the time to post the description of the trip! The quick story: met them in Paris, hit the canals in the South of France; watched Italy win the world cup; Headed to Treviso; and enjoyed some time together in the place I’ve called home for the last 1.5 years.

The pics link to images collected in Paris, both of family and art (particularly pay attention to the gorgeous frames!) And of course the pics from the canals themselves. It was a total pleasure having the family in Europe. I finally had the opportunity to show off my Italian skills ;-)

Our installation is up and running at colette right now! And will be up until sunday. Very good experience and truly wonderful to get stuck into some serious production! Now back to the ‘trevisian grindstone’ …

- I officially have a lovely girlfriend named Bethany! She’s a beautiful young lady hailing from New York and working at Fabrica too! Daniel is in fact a very happy chappy as a result ;-)

- Bethany and I went to this fantastic old Villa near Udine. Villa Manin is a massive, gorgeous monument to the power of the area during the time it was built. It is now a contemporary art center… With an amazing sculpture park – combining super old plaster sculptures that have become embedded in the earth in the garden over time – with crazy colorful pieces of modern madness.

- There have been a number of interesting events here – one being the ALMOST PROTOTYPING of the next version of Glowbits. It was all on the cards – the research done, the proposals re-re-re-re-rewritten, the budgets scrutinized … and naturally – as with most things here at the Fab: The Plug Was Pulled. The only words that can express the feeling this gave me are: “rrrrrrr rrrRRRRRRrrRrRRRGGRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOWRRRRRR!!!!” hehehe … and so life goes!

- Had a fabulous easter “pasqua” experience in Bergamo Analisa and her family invited me and two other friends to their home where we feasted on magnificent easter foods… I’ve always heard talk from my italian friends about the magnificently full stomachs over the easter weekend…. Now I understand. It was wonderful! After the feast we spent some time in the old city of Bergamo – at the top of this hill. Quite gorgeous.

- Went to the Milano Salone di Mobile (Milan Furniture Fair) with Bethany and had a fantabulous time seeing really fascinating stuff… There is some magnificent intelligent design in the world… (And its not just a creationist theory ;-)

- Went to Amsterdam with Bethany where we met up with Taku and Vivian. It was sooooooo lekker to see them there. The Dutch are some of the friendliest Europeans I have ever come across. The number of random conversations we got into was phenomenal – and not because of the grass being smoked. ( most of them happened pre-grassy experiences!) I HEART Holland. Now to figure out how to go work there …. hmmmmm…

- Hans Steiner came to visit here in Treviso! (And so did Vivian for that matter) Last week we had so many guests! And this week, Eric and Judy have arrived for a short visit. When it rains, it pours, ya know?

And thats it for now. More soon…

Here it goes: Almost a month ago to the day, two friends of mine, Brett Goldin and Richard Bloom were murdered in Cape Town – South Africa… I knew Richard in primary school – he was one of the few kids that didn’t give me a hard time. I always appreciated that and knew it reflected a supremely gentle soul. Brett Goldin was a year ahead of me in high school. His acting talent was supreme and his boundless energy made it difficult to keep back smiles. I knew Brett better than Richard… And their murders simply did not fully register in my mind… A few friends of mine and I are putting time into creating brettgoldin.com – a place where people can share images / stories / generally celebrate the too-short life of Brett. Check back there in a little while and contribute if you want to.

Both of you will be missed…

So I have power and can multitask and be all worky on the train. But then it hit me: I CAN GET ONLINE WITH MY 3G ENABLED MOBILE PHONE!!! OH joy joy joy! I may not ever wake up from this easter happiness.

Can you believe that my grandparents, Rhona and Victor Gorvy have been married for 60 years as of today???
THATS FUCKING INCREDIBLE!!! This year is amazing. Sister Lara turns 30, Rho and Vic have their 60th Anniversary, Father Jacob turns 60, and Matriarch Granny Gertrudel turns 90!!! Wow. Anyway, the world should be in awe of Rhona and Victor’s relationship. 69 years later, they are the cutest couple that function in (almost) perfect harmony… The (almost) is a negligable issue -> simply understand that we should all aspire to this kind of lasting love. All my love to my whole family on this momentous celebration of two people we all care for.