When I was skating thru Perth the other day I ran into my friend Yok. A Yok is a gargoyle, and it is also a skateboarding, smiling, prolific Perth street artist who has just spent an extended stay in Bangkok. It was so good to see him back in the hood. Before we said our goodbyes (well I only actually said one) he telepathetically transmitted this flyer to my brain. Such Is Life appears next week in Melbourne, and there will be some kind of bushranger related artistic celebration featuring Yok and Reka. Full flyer appears at bottom of this post.

I was curious so I called Yok just now to see how this all came about...

MC: Why the bushranger theme?

YOK: We wanted something Australian and relevant to Victoria (which is where the exhibition is being shown).

MC: When did the bushranger idea spawn?

YOK: February, in Thailand, with Reka. I did half the work in Bangkok and half the work here.

MC: What can we expect to see there, anything spectacular?

YOK: I’m building wooden bushrangers right now. I’m not sure what they are going to look like, or how the hell I can get them to Melbourne.

MC: My board wouldn’t fit in my bag for my flight home, I was rushing, and it was thrashed, so I snapped it! Maybe you could break the bushrangers in half and put ‘em back together?

YOK: If I had a wooden bushranger sponsor I would!

MC: Bwaa ha ha. What else do you like about bushrangers?

YOK: Well, another reason I was inspired to do bushrangers was to give me an excuse paint lots of beards.

MC: What do you like about painting beards?

YOK: (Pauses)... They are anti-establishment.

MC: I thought you were going to say “coz they are fluffy”

YOK: I was, but I thought that might sound a bit, well… fluffy!

MC: Who is your favourite bushranger?

YOK: Moondyne Joe.

MC: Are you expecting any BRFC's (bushranger fan clubs) to attend.

YOK: I hope so! I want to see a reenactment.

From theyok.com, regarding the definition of the Yok: “Legend has it, that a fierce dragon named La Gargouille lived in a cave near the river Seine. The dragon caused much fear and destruction with its fiery breath. Each year, the residents of Rouen would placate Gargouille with an offering of a victim, usually a criminal, though it was said the dragon preferred maidens. Around 600, the village was saved by St. Romanis. La Gargouille was burned at the stake, it is said that his head and neck were so well tempered by the heat of his fiery breath, that they would not burn. These remnants were then mounted on the town wall and became the model for gargoyles for centuries to come.”