Art in Oceania
The visual art and architecture of native Oceania, includes media such as sculpture, pottery, rock art, painting, and personal decoration. In these cultures, art and architecture have often been closely connected, e.g. storehouses and meetinghouses have been decorated with detailed carvings, and so they are presented together in this discussion.
Until the 16th and 17th centuries when European cultures happened upon the scene, Oceanic cultures maintained various forms of Neolithic technology. One exception was in the northwest of New Guinea, where the people living around Geelvink Bay (Teluk Cenderawasih) traded very small quantities of metal from the Indonesians of the Moluccas (Maluku). The technique of forging was zealously guarded, like a cult secret; some tools were traded but only in amounts far too small to have made much impact on usual working conditions.
Throughout the rest of Melanesia and in Polynesia and Micronesia, the basic tool remained the stone blade, which was hewed as an adze or an axe, and at times interchangeably as both. Tridacna shell was sometimes used as blades in the parts of Oceania where stone was in short supply, including Micronesia and the Solomon Islands. When obsidian was available, it was chipped into blades for use as both weapons and tools. Other working materials included bamboo and bivalve shells, which allow extremely sharp edges. Some fine cutting and engraving was done with unhafted boar tusks or with hafted shark and rodent teeth. Animal bones served as gouges, awls, and needles. All these instruments were employed in working wood, which with very rare exceptions was the main medium used throughout Oceania.
Clay was also employed, in the main for sculptures, for some of the smaller musical instruments (whistles), and for pottery in Melanesia and New Guinea. The making of clay vessels was almost exclusively women’s work, except in only a few areas in New Guinea and the northern Solomons. A typical method involved spiral coiling of rolls of clay. The decorating of the pot was the work of men.
Some working of shell and turtle shell was done with simple drilling and abrading equipment. The carving of stone, although obviously providing far more arduous and time-consuming problems than wood, was employed remarkably often and occurred throughout the Pacific Islands; hammering, pecking, and polishing were the main methods. Even such a hard a material as jade was mastered by sanding with abrasives.
Paint and painting were thought to animate sculpture, sometimes literally, in religiosymbolic terms, as paint was considered to have magical, vivifying powers. Paints were generally ochres, with other vegetable-derived pigments. Water was the usual medium, on occasion added to with sap. Brushes were made from the fibrous ends of chewed or frayed sticks, small feather bundles, pieces of wood, and sometimes the most basic applicator of all, the finger. Apart from sculpture, the surfaces used for painting were rock faces, bark, and tapa (cloth made from worked bark). Rock painting was very common in Australia, where panels of bark were also used. In Melanesia, paintings were made mainly on sago-palm spathes and sheets of tapa cloth. In Polynesia the women manufactured great quantities of tapa, which they then decorated with traditional designs using vegetable dyes. Some of the techniques they employed included painting, stenciling with leaf templates, rubbing over relief-design tables, stamping, and printing with carved bamboo rollers.
The only areas where weaving was practiced were the Caroline Islands, the Polynesian outliers east of the Solomon Islands, a small number of the Santa Cruz Islands, parts of Vanuatu, the Saint Matthias Group (northwest of New Ireland), and a few places on the northern coast of Irian Jaya. Spinning was unknown; instead of yarn or thread, strips of banana fibre were used on a simple backstrap loom. Weaving was a woman’s craft in the Caroline and Saint Matthias islands but was practiced by men elsewhere. A form of “finger weaving,” as in net making, was used by Maori women in creating textiles from flax fibres.
The architecture of the Pacific Islands was varied and sometimes large in scale. Buildings reflected the structure and preoccupations of the cultures that constructed them, with considerable symbolic detail. Technically, most buildings in Oceania were no more than simple assemblages of poles held together with cane lashings; only in the Caroline Islands were complex methods of joining and pegging known.
Oceanic artists’ quest for media was completely opportunistic; they regarded almost anything from the lavish natural world that surrounded them as potentially usable. The sea yielded shells of all kinds, especially conus, cowrie, and nassa shells. Birds gave down, beaks, and plumes (those of the birds of paradise were particularly prized); animals provided teeth, tusks, and skins; insects supplied wonderfully brilliant wing cases. The vegetable world was drawn upon for flowers, leaves, and fibres. The assembly of such materials into single objects was rare in Polynesia and Micronesia, but the practice was typical of Australian and Melanesian styles, and contributed brilliantly to their more spectacular effects. The most basic medium of all was the human body, which received both removable and permanent decorations, including scarification, enhanced by treatment to raise keloid welts in New Guinea, and tattooing with needles and pigments elsewhere.
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How to get the most from your Grid-Connected Solar Power System
Ok, so you’ve just had your brand new grid-connected solar panels connected by your friendly accredited solar power installer.
Now, remember the first meeting you had with the sales consultant at the kitchen table. Do you recall discussing your prior energy use in the home, and what habits you could change if you decided to get solar? If you answered yes, then you probably organised your solar quote through mysolarprice.com.au, as we only engage solar companies that we are certain will provide information to the consumer about their typical power use and give them a good understanding of what power output the system is capable of. Some ‘fly-by-night’ solar panel companies who have only recently arrived on the scene have misled the public in the performance capacity of their grid connected systems. This has led to some mistrust and confusion in the Solar arena. Mysolarprice.com.au is aware of these companies, and will not deal with the solar installers found to be giving misleading information or involved in any dishonest sales tactics.
Have you forgotten these power saving tips the solar consultant gave you? If so, don’t worry, as we have the TOP 15 tips for reducing your power consumption to get the most out of your tariff feed, whether that be Net Tariff feed or Gross Tariff feed. Some homes with larger systems from 2kw (2 kilowatts) or more may not have to change their electricity usage at all and will still be in positive territory, that is, able to get a surplus or credit for their power. This depends on the home, roof type, shade, number of people in the home, appliance usage, and most importantly the behaviour in the home or in other words how they interact with their home. Some people work during the day and turn their standby power off, whilst doing their washing and household chores at night time. Whereas some people have an air-conditioned home office and use a massive amount of power during the day and do little at night. Why does this matter you may ask? If you are in a state like Queensland that has a “Net Tariff Feed” this is extremely important. A Net tariff feed basically means you get the balance of the power you send to the grid from the amount of power youhave used during the day but not at night, as solar panels don’d generate power at night time. Therefore, if you are using a great deal of power during the day when your solar power system is working the hardest, you are competing or cancelling it out with the amount of power you are feeding back to the grid, or “Net” Feed. If however, you are away during the day and turn off all your appliances at the wall to eliminate inactive and active standby but only leave the essential items on like the fridge, you will be streets ahead of the rest and get more of a “net” balance which means one thing: more $$$$$$ in your pocket!
These top 15 energy saving tips range from modifying the building material of the house, to being more energy efficient, to minor behavioural modifications like turning off the lights when you leave the room. This list is in the order of the simplest minor behaviour modifications to bigger structural changes to the building material.
TOP 15 POWER-SAVING TIPS
1.Turn the lights off when you leave the room. This is very important if you have energy-guzzling old-fashioned incandescent lights or worse, halogen lights. I have seen people leave on 4 x tastic 500w heat lamps on in the bathroom all day. That’s an incredible 2KW or 2000 watts of power being consumed for no reason.
2.Let in natural light to the rooms. This will reduce the need for lights during the day.
3.Replace all incandescent light bulbs and halogens with CFL’s (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) or LED’s. They use only around a quarter or less power than the standard 75watt incandescent or 60watt halogen, and can last much longer than the standard incandescents or halogens.
4.Use Sensor CFL spotlights outside, instead of the old energy-inefficient spotlights of old.
5.Turn off all standby power. This is probably the best tip I can give you for reducing your daily electricity consumption. A typical dwelling usually operates at around 10-15% standby power, so if you have a quarterly bill of $400 that means $40-$60 of that bill is standby power -which does nothing! It may not sound like a great deal but that’s around $120-$240 a year just for not turning appliances off at the wall. A good way to control your standby is to buy a proper standby power board.
6.Choose energy-efficient appliances. This doesn’t necessarily mean throwing out your 5-year-old fridge because it only has 2 stars, and spending $2,500 on one that is 4 star. It means if you are presented with an option of buying a new appliance, then make sure it has the highest star rating available. So if you have the money and the choice is over a 2 star 50 inch plasma TV or a 5 star 50 inch Led TV you should get the LED.
7.Turn off any second or third fridges not being used. I have found in my energy audits that a lot of people have a spare chest freezer or 20-year-old rusting fridge with deteriorated seals in a hot basement. This will account for a large chunk of your electricity bill. Often I’ll open the door and there’s nothing even in there, so the fridge is running -and working overtime- for no reason.
8.Turn off your computer monitors and speakers when not in use. This is so easy, however most people I come across forget to do this. If you have a Sub-Woofer with a separate power supply be sure to turn that off also when not in use.
9.Draft Sealing in Winter. If you are using electric heating in winter, then be sure to cover any drafts, otherwise you are merely wasting money.
10.Use ceiling fans or pedestal fans instead of air-conditioning. Air-conditioning is one of the most expensive appliances to use in summer. If are going to use air-conditioning in summer, make sure that the room is properly sealed, the windows are covered and you have insulation in the ceiling.
11.Air-Conditioning Tips for Summer.
- Buy the optimum sized air-conditioner for your room -not house, unless it’s ducted. If buying ducted make sure it can be zoned.
- Buy an energy efficient inverter air-conditioner with a high star rating for cooling and heating.
- Set the thermostat between 18-21 degrees. Every degree celsius higher that you set the a/c increases your usage by 10%
- Re-circulate cool air from the inside rather than drawing hot air from outside. If the compressor is outside make sure its not sitting exposed in the western sun.
- Make sure the windows have both internal and external shading.
12.Air-Conditioning Tips for Winter.
- Set the thermostat to 23-26 degrees
- Wear warm clothes to insulate your body so you need less mechanical heating
- Insulate your space as with Air-Conditioning in Summer Tips.
- Because hot air rises, a ceiling fan can be turned to the lowest setting -in reverse- as this actually pushes the warm air down towards the house’s occupants
- Avoid electric radiator heaters and electric fan heaters as they are massively expensive.
You are better using reverse cycle air conditioning as it’s a great deal cheaper (most people don’t know this).
13.Insulation. Reflective foil type insulation is best in sub-tropical climates such as Brisbane has, whereas thicker, bulky insulation such as wool/fibreglass or polyester is better suited to the more temperate climates such as Toowoomba.
14.Windows. There are a number of things you can do to insulate your windows to stop the heat entering the place during summer, and keep it in in winter. In summer it’s important to keep direct sun rays off the east and west windows by vertical screening, and keep it off north facing windows with big eaves or horizontal shading. This is so you can allow the sun in in winter when it’s lower in the sky. These are principles known as solar passive design.
15.Hot Water. If you have an electric hot water system and you have it on the wrong tariff this can be the bulk of your bill. Generally, your hot water should be on an off-peak tariff depending on your location and retail provider. Your hot water bill is normally a quarter of the electricity bill if the system is electric. If it is a newer heat pump it will be much less. The most effective water heating device is Solar Hot Water, with a natural gas boost.
These are just a few of the basic energy-saving tips I have come across while doing household energy audits which I find many people need help with. If you can reduce your daily consumption it’s going to make it a lot easier to:
1. Keep your bills down, and
2. Make it easier for the Solar Panels to work and provide you with a bonus or credit on your next bill.
One other thing I forgot to mention is panel care. Your panels should be kept free of dirt and grime, as even dust on the panels can significantly reduce the panel’s performance by up to 30% or more. I will look at the process of solar panel maintenance in my next article.
If you require any further energy saving tips or solar power saving tips, then Mysolarprice.com.au can help. We provide all the solar panel infomation necessary to make a well-informed solar purchasing decision.
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All About The New Red Laser Application For iPhones
The iPhone contains a number of applications available for use with it and more are being produced and applied to the application store every day. Just about anybody can invent an application for the iPhone and place it in the app store; all that anyone is required to do is present the app to Apple for screening and approval.
One useful application would be the red laser that comes available with the Apple iPhone. The red laser lets consumers to scan a product and instantly have access to the available prices of that specific item online. Along with the online comparison shopping that the barcode scanner provides, the red laser also has several other very useful features. For instance, you can scan a film noticed while walking around a shopping mall and the red laser will locate a copy of it online and will also allow you to have the whole film sent to your TiVo.
The red laser is also capable of adding items to your shopping list. For example, whenever anyone is going to discard their razor, they can scan the item and it will be added onto the shopping list so as to remind them to purchase it next grocery shopping trip.
One can use the red laser to scan just about anything and get information that is applicable to their interests. You can try using it on a book and the red laser will be able to locate a copy of it within a nearby library. It is capable of this because of its highly developed integration with the world’s biggest library catalogue -WorldCat. The red laser is also able to look for a copy of any book scanned and find any online retailers that hold it in stock.
In addition to finding prices and looking for products, the red laser will also allow you to scan food. If someone is allergic to any ingredient, one can scan a food item and then tap on the allergen info. Instead of having to go through the whole list of ingredients in the packaging, red laser will show you a list of all the ingredients within the item and present the most common allergens within it. In addition to that, red laser will also help you eat healthier by revealing the full nutritive contents within the food.
Red Laser contains several other useful features -you would be surprised at the number of items you can scan and find useful information on. This is definitely an application worth buying.
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Why you should turn to stone cladding when building your dream home
If you talk to anyone who’s knowledgeable about stone cladding, they’re likely to tell you one thing over anything else: it’s the bee’s knees. Really, a stack of rocks and stone never looked so good. If you’re planning at building your own dream home, you’ll want to consider including stone cladding in the final design of your house.
Far from appearing like your typical collection of rocks stacked on top of each other, most constructions that use stone cladding look very aesthetically pleasing, not to mention dependable and very easy to construct. Stacked stone examples exist far and wide and can be found in a range of places. Take for example a certain country retreat in the Daylesford Hills in Victoria, where they opted to go for it instead of the usual sandstone walling. The architect used Craft Stone European Castle Stone Golden Sand as the alternative.
What resulted from this was a far more pleasant design and they avoided additional footings, by using timber frame & fibre cement as a substrate. This was done for use in an outdoor portion - a rock wall if you will - so it’s something that will easily catch the attention of people passing by .
But of course, usage is in no way limited to the outdoor sections of a house. Indoor use is also permitted, and when it comes to cases like these, its benefits can be experienced in a number of ways of ways, whether it ends up in the kitchen or in the living room.
A stacked stone fireplace is an architectural marvel, where a timber frame clad with fibre cement sheet can be used to construct a stone gas log fireplace. A 12mm Standard mortar joint can be used to fit the Craft Stone Stacked Ledgestone Merlot for the construction. The best part is the whole thing takes a day to construct which brings to light the incredible cost and labor saving incentives . It’s obvious - less construction time means less labour costs, and fewer expenses in general.
With clear benefits such as those mentioned above, it’s no wonder the stone cladding method is becoming more and more popular. Add the fact that resulting designs can go well with just about any design, and suddenly it’s not so hard to see why people say it’s the perfect design feature. Stone cladding is what dream homes are made of!
For more information about stone cladding, stacked stone and rock wall building options, please contact Craftstone Australia.
The Importance of Decorative Night Lights in Interior Design
Lighting is an important part of any room. It takes a lot of effort and research to choose the right night lights, as it can make or break a room. Decorative lights liven up a space, irrespective of how drab the furniture is. Lighting plays an essential in orchestrating the ambience in a room. Where you place these lights should also be planned well, as wrong placement can ruin the mood in a room.
Interior design has significantly changed throughout the years, as decorative pieces and furniture have come to represent a more contemporary look to them. With the advancement of interior design trends came the similar evolution of ambient lighting. Designer night lights have become one of the most important aspects of any interior design project. Choosing designer lights that create a statement fulfills both the aesthetic and as well as the functional side of the designing process. Whether you want more traditional designs or modern ones, there is definitely a lighting piece that will suit your needs and preferences.
The addition a lampshade or two in a bedroom can make a crucial difference. Drop lights are also pleasant additions to the living room and the dining room and string lights are increasingly becoming a necessity when decorating. There are so many different designs for night lights today that it can be quite overwhelming to choose. Decorative lights add an interesting touch to the room and depending on the kind of light you decide to use, it can set the overall theme of the room. More modern designs include LED colour change lights, large drop lights and metallic lighting fixtures. No matter what your desired theme is, you can find a lighting fixture that will be ideal. This even extends to the gardens and ponds with outdoor lighting.
A lot of the modern lights these days are also more cost-efficient as they don’t consume too much electricity as they used to. It is preffered to decide on one center light and add several accent lights so that you can dim the lighting in the room should you meed to. Warm lighting can greatly influence the ambience in the room, as it is a lot more comfortable than white lights.
Chandeliers have also greatly evolved through the years. From elaborate tear drop designs, they now come in different colours and designs. Dark wrought iron chandeliers offer more simplistic options for homes, as they are not as ornamental as traditional chandeliers but can be just as beautiful in design and effect. Decorative night lights are certainly a wonderful investment, as they can improve the aesthetic element of any home.
Plastic Packaging Facts
Because packaging helps to monitor the present environment of a food product, it is valuable in creating conditions that prolong the storage life of a food. Packaging materials that are normally used for foods are usually classed as flexible (paper, thin laminates, and plastic film), semi-rigid (aluminum foil, laminates, paperboard, and thermoformed plastic), and rigid (metal, glass, and thick plastic). Plastic materials are widely used in food packaging because they are relatively inexpensive, lightweight, and easy to contort into desired shapes.
The selective permeability of polymer-based materials to gases, for example carbon dioxide and oxygen, as well as light and moisture, has led to the creation of modified-atmosphere packaging. If the barrier properties are carefully chosen, a packaging material can continue a modified atmosphere inside the package and thus extend the shelf life of the food product.
Dehydrated foods must be protected from moisture during storage. Packaging materials such as polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, and polypropylene have low moisture permeability. Similarly, packaging materials with low gas permeability are utilized for fatty foods in order to minimize oxidation. Because fresh fruits and vegetables respire, they require packaging materials, such as polyethylene, that have high permeability to gases.
Smart packages offer properties that meet the special requirements of certain consumables. For example, packages made with oxygen-absorbing chemicals remove oxygen from the interior of the package, thus protecting oxygen-sensitive products from oxidation. Temperature-sensitive films display a sudden change in gas permeability when they are subjected to an environment above or below a set constant. These films change from a crystalline structure to an amorphous structure at a set temperature, causing the gas permeability to change substantially.
If you are looking for shrink packaging film and shrink wrap equipment, talk to Redblade. Redblade are the experts in plastic packaging and Cryrovac film.