LAURA PANNACK

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Island Symmetries

Présentation

According to travel psychology, the appearance of similarity between any two places is directly proportional to the distance between them.
What is nearest seems absolutely dissimilar, totally foreign. Often the most striking similarities are ones we find – again according to travel psychology - on the other side of the world. Inspired by this notion I focused my attention on two communities on either side of the Earth to continue my constant exploration of youth. I positioned myself at key meeting places where young people would flock to socialize, The Cracker in Tipton, UK and Topside in Gagebrook, Tasmania.
The uncanny often-subtle parallels are a stark reminder that youth is universal and growing up in a tight-nit community brings often-predictable trends, relationships and behaviour. We begin in Tipton. Through a narrow alleyway you enter the Cracker; rolling grass lined with blackberries and stinging nettles. Mixed in with the trail bikes, quads and motorbikes bark loudly everyday and at all times.
On the adjacent side lies ‘The Lost City Estate’. Most of the boys meet at Jack Barrett’s bars (a metal fence that lies to the opening of the field). They perch and exchange stories, cigarettes and joints alight, referring to each other affectionately as ‘Mush’.
10873 miles away I found parallels with The Cracker, in a small island state at the farthest end of the globe.
Gagebrook—’Gagey’ to locals—is a small community in Tasmania. The kids are on the edge of adolescence. The tipping point. They’re bored, wild-eyed. They ride BMXs and watch as low-slung, red and metallic Holden Commodores growl and screech into ‘burnouts’. Dirt bikes roar through the playgrounds, their helmet-less riders pulling wheelies.
Just like on the Cracker, the kids swig back energy drinks. Dilated pupils and excited squeals follow. Small cross body pouches and the latest trainers are boasted. The fickle and intense friendships are identical on both sides of the world. The air is filled with tension, drama and aggression. Someone is threatened with a knife. A process of self-forming is in play, with a promotion of one’s strength and dominance. However, mostly these kids are still soft and polite. Sometimes they call me ‘miss’.