這是一個讓人驚艷的小城，有著我從未見過的玻璃藝術。捕捉到了時間碎片，捕捉到了光與影！
Wagga Wagga 玻璃藝術之城
玻璃的各種形態，各種質地，各種溫度，在不同色彩不同創意、不同思想里，居然這么美，這么富有表達力！
Glass Art Gallery里，能夠看到在過去一些時期的玻璃藝術代表作品：精美、深邃！
“在熔爐與氣息里，熔化的瓊脂到來了！”
什么是玻璃藝術？藝術家們的回答印在墻上：
“制作也是一種制作形式，是我們在一個時間點上做下的標記，可能是一種創造，可能是一種哲思，或者是一個理論上的時間點，或一種組合 ： 一個內在的空間和緯度，一個可以觸摸的、看得見的現在。英文原文：Making is a form of marking. We mark a point in time. Whether a creative,a philosophic, a theoretical point in time, or a combination of - the interior dimension has a physical, viewable presence”
需要怎樣精湛的制作工藝，怎樣的創造力和色彩感，才能創作出這樣完美的、感人至深的作品呢？
Glass Art Gallery 不能拍照，所以就從買的畫冊里拍了一些局部照片，也從網上下載了一些照片。
Wagga Wagga，這是土著語，看到它的英文意思是Crow, 我在想，為什么土著人會把它叫做“皇冠，皇冠”呢？難道土著人也有對權力的崇拜嗎？再仔細一看，是crow （烏鴉），并不是crown (皇冠），叫兩遍就是復數了，“烏鴉，烏鴉”，這個小城名字的意思就是有很多小鳥的地方，看來，人群部落的認知總是與生活體驗聯系在一起的。
Wagga Wagga在墨爾本和悉尼之間的一個小城市，墨爾本開車過去5個小時左右。這里的文化氣息濃厚，風格上是現代與過去的一種結合，各種建筑也很有特色。兩層樓的社區圖書館很大很繁忙，既有現代的電腦觸屏管理系統，樓梯上又掛滿古樸溫暖的布藝品。
后來，從網上google 了玻璃藝術大師George Aslanis 的信息，遺憾的是，他已經在去年因癌癥而英年早逝了。“WAGGA Art Gallery is proud to present a retrospective survey of one of the most influential and innovative artists in contemporary Australian glass, George Aslanis (1960-2016). Aslanis inspired a generation of glass artists to develop their passion and their understanding of the artform. Experiments in Light reveals the great scope of his practice and his ideas.
George Aslanis began his artistic career in ceramics, but became drawn to the paradoxical qualities of glass, which he described in one interview as “dense and heavy and solid… it is the antithesis of light, yet it describes light in so many ways”.
As head of the Glass and Ceramic Studio at Monash University for many years, Aslanis was a tremendous influence on glass students and artists across Australia, and many of the works on display in Experiments in Light have been loaned from former students.
Aslanis’ practice involves a dialogue that describes “states of being”, and symbols and metaphors are important motifs in his work. Drawing from cultures past and present he combined various elements to create visually complex cast glass sculptures. These objects are read from two sides, a sculpted textured surface and an open view into the interior space of the glass. The question of what exists beneath the surface, the interior life often unseen is a constant aspect of George Aslanis’ work.
George Aslanis himself once described his work as “a discussion about glass, its inherent material properties; these include the sensual and the metaphorical. Glass is a material in a state of becoming, an endless multiplicity of potentials.” Experiments in Light is itself a tribute to Aslanis’ own multiplicity of potentials, and the home of the National Art Glass Collection is a fitting venue to reflect upon the life and career of such an influential artist.”
在Wagga Wagga，碰到了有趣又奇怪的事情：那里所有和我對話的女士，甚至在去洗手間路上碰到的女士，都在熱情又溫文爾雅地夸贊我的大衣很漂亮。我在想，是不是被藝術深度溫暖了內心的人們，她們更有了那種慷慨，欣賞，善良，溫暖和感恩之心呢？（謝謝Echo 凌云幫我挑選的大衣。）
Tamworth 澳大利亞鄉村音樂之都
Tamworth小城，人口約五萬八，位于悉尼西北約400公里，距離布里斯本約575公里。白人在1930年代在此定居，曾是羊的主要產地之一。
一年一度的澳洲鄉村音樂節每年一月份都在這里舉行。當然，每月也都有一些和音樂相關的活動！
從1940年代起，一些音樂家開始了鄉村音樂之路，之后一發不可收拾，到1969年，Tamworth正式被命名為鄉村音樂之都。
這次的環澳游，讓我感觸頗深，我看到了那么多熱愛藝術的人們！他們富有藝術的激情，豐富的感受，很強的表達力，也創作出那么多感人至深的作品！藝術真的是深深地植根于這個民族和這種文化中！
