Dr Caitlin Noakes

@cernoakes.bsky.social

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Creative Writing | Futures | History | Higher Ed Views are my own 🦘

Outside my window, a raging storm tosses the trees in my backyard about. Lightning flashes. Inside my window, the pages of my book are visible. I flip them closed to show the cover: I am re-reading Derrida’s Spectres of Marx. It’s not in the video, but if you want to imagine a Wilhelm scream here, I’ll allow it
A poem! He visits my town once a year, by Amir Khusro He visits my town once a year. He fills my mouth with kisses and nectar. I spend all my money on him. ‘Who, girl, your man?’ No, a mango.
An absolutely demolished mango on a white, ceramic plate on white countertop. The mango skin and seed are arranged like a smiley face with the seed as the nose, a strip of skin as the smile, and two big yellow cups of skin as the eyes.
von Bingen’s egg-shaped model of the universe. Inside layered frames (red, blue, and yellow, the second-most outer frame decorated with a pattern that looks like the serrated edge of a seashell), is a shape like an egg bisected. The shell of the egg is yellow, red-tipped fire. At the peak of the shell is a red flower, presumably the sun. The next layer is black, with clusters of white dots erupting into red tendrils. They look a bit like red sea anemones. The next layer is a blue sky with red and yellow stars, with a red crescent moon at the top. Then rolling, green hills; brown, streaky sand dunes; and rolling blue waves. Then egg’s centre has a blue tongue shape licking what looks like green scales, like a wave licking rows and rows of hills.
A woman sits in contemplation before a PowerPoint slide that reads, ‘Every step towards it is a continuation of a longer story’.
Sherman Cruz stands next to a PowerPoint slide that reads ‘Rivers of Tomorrow: A Dreams and Disruptions Game’. He holds up a red box, the aforementioned game, smiling. Seated in front of him, a player writes notes.
Three white cups on three white saucers are queued on a white surface. Behind them is a glass of water containing half a lemon, a glass of white cubes (perhaps ice or sugar), and a silver pitcher reflecting distorted light. Behind the glasses and pitcher there are two sets of black and white parallel lines, which meet at a right angle in the upper right corner, suggesting a window sill or the edge of a table. Sunlight shines from behind the crockery and each piece casts a defined, dark, circular shadow. The colours are desaturated, and the shadows sharp and deep, suggesting bright light and emphasising form.
A black cat and a white-and-ginger cat stare intensely through a fly screen. The camera pans up in the direction of their obsessed gaze to reveal, clinging to the brick wall directly adjacent to the fly screen, an eastern bearded dragon.
Against a backdrop of wooden slats, on rocky ground, a pair of bare feet transform at the arch into a pair of black ankle boots.
A tessellation of orange and blue crabs with interlocking legs. Each crab is created by the negative space of surrounding crabs.
Beings gather at a meeting of the United Gnosians (because everything on Earth has its own intelligence). Seated at a semi-circular table are a tree, a mountain, a bird, an amoeba, a human, and a worm. A speech bubble with indecipherable (to us) symbols in it indicates the amoeba is speaking. Each being at the table wears an earpiece to translate the speech (a question: how might Earth’s beings meaningfully communicate?). Below the table is a quote from William Blake’s The Book of Thel: ‘If thou art food for the worms, how great thy use! How great thy purpose! Everything lives not alone, nor for itself’.
On a black canvas, a pyramid with steps of scarlet, tangerine, golden yellow, dark blue, green, and purple ascends towards a black point with a golden circle. Behind the pyramid’s apex is a golden sun with yellow, blue, and orange rays, haloed with a forest green circle with a lavender outer ring.
Dr Ashford addresses the audience. She stands in front of a whiteboard full of colourful post-it notes from a brainstorm we did. Her PowerPoint slide has images of doughnuts and reads ‘Recipe for Success’. An audience member at the forefront of the photo listens attentively.
Heysen's portrait of Corporal Joan Beatrice Whipp, depicts her as an immovable tower of strength as she stands, arms folded, in her mess kitchen. Whipp was a cook from the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force. Whipp is preparing bully beef. (Description from the Australian War Memorial)
This painting depicts an earlier point in the tale of the Lady of Shalott than those depicted by Waterhouse in his previous two works of 1888 and 1894; the Lady is still confined in her tower, weaving a tapestry, viewing the world outside only through the reflection in the large mirror in the background. In the painting, the mirror reveals a bridge over a river leading to the walls and towers of Camelot; also visible nearby are a man and a woman, perhaps the "two young lovers lately wed" referred to in Tennyson's poem. The scene is set shortly before an image of Lancelot appears in the mirror, enticing the Lady out of her tower to her death. The painting shows the Lady of Shalott resting from her weaving. The lady wears a red dress, in a room with Romanesque columns holding up the arches of the window reflected in the mirror. The frame of the loom and the geometric tiles of the floor lead the viewer into the room, where reds, yellows and blues echo the more vivid colours outside. A single poppy can be seen reflected in the mirror. The shuttles of the loom resemble boats, foreshadowing the Lady's death. (Description from Wikipedia)
Yayoi Kusama first began to paint ‘Infinity nets’ after watching waves ripple below her while on a flight from Japan to the United States. Infinity nets evokes many fluid forms: foam on a wave, soap bubbles, or the ebb and flow of a river. The painting comprises tiny crescent shapes repeated in ever-expanding arches. Kusama’s gestures build up into a network of interlocking forms; at some points the paint is thick and sculptural, while at others it is fine and translucent. Like cells nested together, competing for space, the circles appear to vibrate and undulate across the canvas.​ (Description from QAGOMA)
This painting of Paul Gauguin's chair is a 'portrait' of Van Gogh's friend and fellow artist. The modern novels and burning candle on the green seat cushion symbolize the character of the absent painter. Using mainly red and green hues, Van Gogh tried to suggest the mood of night. He also painted a pendant of this work with a daytime atmosphere: his own simple peasant chair in bright yellow and blue. The two paintings represent the different personalities of the two artists, who quarrelled and went their separate ways soon afterwards. Van Gogh skilfully captured the bluish shadows and reflected light on the polished wood of the chair. These were created by the gas lighting (a gas lamp can be seen in the background). (Description from Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)
Wiradyuri Men’s Diamond Lore is at the centre of the piece, representing [the artist] in the present moment in Yindyamarra depicted by the diamonds themselves and by there being five [nested purple] diamonds representing each facet of … Wiradyuri Central Lore. [Wiradyuri] draw from 9 generations gone and punch forward 9 generations so that what [they] do today is informed by the wisdom and experience of the previous 9 generations and will land to benefit the 9 generations yet to come. The 9 generations gone are depicted by the lower 9 dark blue bands below the diamonds. The 9 generations yet to come are depicted by the 9 light blue bands above the diamonds. To the left and right of the diamonds are two [purple and yellow] parrying shields. The one on the left is for the cultural lives of those passed whose footsteps [Wiradyuri] walk in and on whose shoulders [they] are carried. The one on the right is the constant reminder that … cultural responsibilities and how [they] carry [themselves] will underpin and inform the quality of the lives of generations yet to come. (Description by Birrunga Wiradyuri, Birrunga Art Gallery, with changes/additions by me indicated by square brackets).
Bonnard uses distortion to create a humorous image of this cat arching its back. A strange animal, exaggeratedly arched on its paws, with its head drawn down into its shoulders, eyes like slits and a cunning expression. It seems both tame and wild … The decorative style of the painting – the prominence of the sinuous lines, the absence of any depth in the figure placed flat on the background – places this work from 1894 in the Nabi tradition. There is a Japanese inspiration in the bold, asymmetric composition as well as in the choice of subject. (Description from the Musée d'Orsay)
Caitlin stands in front of the university’s racing track (I’m not sure what this is called officially - I wasn’t a sport and exercise science student) on a bright, blue morning. She wears PhD regalia including a black gown and hood with red trim, and a black velvet Tudor bonnet with a red tassel.
David is portrayed as a youthful shepherd wearing a white loincloth hitched up by a leather belt, to which a bag made partly of sheepskin is attached at the rear. His sheepskin shepherd’s cap sits at a raffish angle, resembling a beret, while his cloak, also of sheepskin, but lined, passes over his left shoulder and billows in an imaginary wind behind him. He is in an attitude of contemplation, his right hand supporting his chin, and his elbow resting on the severed head of Goliath. The giant’s bearded head, positioned to show a profile, is supported by a flat piece of rock. David’s left forearm rests on the head, and his hand presents to the viewer a rounded stone, obviously the projectile that struck Goliath. A sling hangs down from David’s right thumb and rests against the giant’s face, filling the space between the head and the young man’s body. The staff is seen behind, propped up against David’s left arm. Both David and Goliath engage the viewer with their eyes. (Description from Michael Watson’s ‘Zoffany as punster and prankster: some comments on his David with the head of Goliath’ in the National Gallery of Victoria’s Art Journal, vol. 36, 2014).
A black cat with a white patch on her chest mid-yawn. Her eyes are squinted shut and her pink mouth gapes behind blurred fangs. It’s an action shot!! She looks like she is roaring!! And not at all snuggled up on my chest (which she is), adding to the weight of the 7kg grey weighted blanket I’m snuggled under.
Maiwar (AKA the Brisbane River) is an olive green cushion between the trees on the bank of Kangaroo Point and the Eagle Street Pier. A City Cat churns away from the Riverside Ferry Terminal. The Kangaroo Point Bridge spans the river under a pale blue morning sky.
Dr Marcus Bussey presenting. Marcus wears a white t-shirt and jeans with glasses perched on his cropped grey hair. He points at a PowerPoint slide showing a bee hovering over a purple flower. The slide reads: Futures Feeling: Anticipation and the Futures Senses.
FIRST KNOWLEDGES Edited by MARGO NEALE SONGLINES The Power and Promise MARGO NEALE & LYNINE KELLY
I hold a copy of ‘The Chocolate Frog and The Old Familiar Juice: Two one-act plays by Jim McNeil’. The black-and-white photograph on the front cover shows one man holding back another as he reaches for a fallen man sprawled across the foreground.
Screenshot of an email that reads: Subject: Conferral of Doctor of Philosophy Dear Dr Caitlin Noakes We are pleased to inform you…
Australian politician Jacqui Lambie speaks on my TV. In the background, one supporter wears lamb ears, and next to him, another supporter wears bee antenna.
The ABC Election Day Bingo Card! ✅ Antony's gigantic touchscreen fails The result isn't called by midnight Bob Katter's hat 'Too close to call’ Someone misses their live cross cue Candidate dodges a question The role of content creators is mentioned Discussion about ABC Vote Compass ✅Donald Trump referenced Leader declares early victory A politician eats a democracy sausage the wrong way again 'Where do I vote’ trends on social media Obligatory long polling queue photo on the ABC News live blog ‘We expected this' The ABC soft launches the new Antony Candidate surrounded by furiously nodding supporters
The ABC Election Day Bingo Card! ✅ Antony's gigantic touchscreen fails The result isn't called by midnight Bob Katter's hat 'Too close to call’ Someone misses their live cross cue Candidate dodges a question The role of content creators is mentioned Discussion about ABC Vote Compass Donald Trump referenced Leader declares early victory A politician eats a democracy sausage the wrong way again 'Where do I vote’ trends on social media Obligatory long polling queue photo on the ABC News live blog ‘We expected this' The ABC soft launches the new Antony Candidate surrounded by furiously nodding supporters
A TV screen showing ABC election analyst Antony Green pointing at a big bar graph. In the foreground, a big, blurry slice of Domino’s Supreme balances precariously in my hand.
A box of Hoppa protein bars, which are made with cricket flour. There is a row of 11 bars and one empty packet on top. The empty packet reads: ‘No added sugar. Dairy free. Wheat free. 100% natural sustainable cricket protein. Hoppa cricket protein energy bar. Whole Lotta Chocca: Cocoa & Cashew Nuts. 11g protein, complete aminos & omegas, vitamin B12, iron. 50g.’
A white and orange cat extends his paws daintily on a brown couch. His rear end is enveloped in a voluminous white sheet. He gazes into the camera very politely. Orange stripes extend from his amber eyes like winged eyeliner.
Jurassic Park (1993, Ocean Software for MS DOS), my beloved! A tiny, pixelated Alan Grant holds a rifle and flees from a large, pixelated Tyrannosaurus Rex through a rocky, pixelated field.
Tram heritage enthusiasts gather around a brown and cream turn-of-the-century tram. A sign on the tram reads: ‘New Farm Fry’ (Ferry) and ‘Wharf St’.
A blue Dropcentre tram (1960s) with ‘Morooka’ on its destination blind pulls up alongside palm trees and a line of tram heritage enthusiasts. A sign on the side advertises Highfield Tea.
Parika Verma, speaking, stands by a PowerPoint that reads: ‘Futures Consciousness (Ahvenharju et al., 2018). Time perspective: the capability of long-term thinking. Concern for others: reflects values, morals, and ethical thinking. Agency beliefs: a sense of capacity for influencing the future. Systems perception: to the capacity for systemic and holistic thinking, rather than linear and hierarchical ways of thinking. Openness to alternatives: seeing the values of alternative ways, and questioning established truths.’
Three grey kangaroos lounge on the green grass between a building and a carpark. God I wish that was me
Dr Anne Kovachevich explaining Dr Kimberley Camrass’s eight principles for regenerative futures. On the PowerPoint slide is a flower labelled ‘Regenerative Futures’ with eight petals. The petals are labelled: 1. Story of place; 2. Underlying worldviews and metaphors; 3. Goals and success measures; 4. Shared future metaphor; 5. Deconstruction; 6. Backward mapping; 7. Co-evolution; 8. Internal regeneration.
Caitlin’s oil pastel scribble. Unsteady scrawls of blue, yellow, red, grey, and orange erupt from a band of yellow criss-crossed in pink and dark purple. I think it looks like the curve of the Earth beneath a glowing yellow sun ☀️
A flurry of papers tacked to the conference room wall! Some key themes: interconnection, holism, love, relationships, and technology.
Dr Hafsa Ahmed speaking in front of a PowerPoint slide that reads ‘Sankofa. San = return; ko = to; fa = take. Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenki. It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.’ The slide also contains an image of a bird looking back over its shoulder with a seed in its beak.
Dr Marcelle Holdaway holding a red onion. The PowerPoint behind her is titled ‘CLA Iceberg’. An image of an iceberg is labelled ‘problem’ (above water), ‘causes’, ‘worldview’, and ‘metaphors and myths’ (below water). Above the iceberg is text reading: ‘Causal Layered Analysis - Inayatullah’.
Monique, wearing a black shirt, brown pleated skirt, and her hair in a high ponytail, stands holding a microphone for Aunty Denise, who sits on a stool and speaks. Aunty Denise wears a black dress, round glasses, and a necklace with a lizard design. Her hair is braided in the style of General Leia Organa. Both Denise and Monique are bathed in the morning light coming through the window behind them. That’s the insight coming in!
A PowerPoint slide reads: Oceania Futures and Foresight Symposium. 3-4 April 2025. Meanjin, Australia.
Possum Magic, a black cat with a white tuft on her chest, looks very shiny under the living room light as she lounges on the varnished wood coffee table. Her ears are upright and her yellow-green eyes are bright and attentive.
A white cat with ginger spots sits on a brown couch all cosy under my red flannel shirt. He reaches toward the camera, placing his paw in front of the lens and on the beige side table. His dark eyes are squinty and serene and his nose and ears are a very cute pink.
Slavoj Zizek wearing a shirt that says: I would prefer not to.
A wood and bronze statue of a sitting ibis, a pair of bronze feet wearing suspiciously thong-like sandals, and the head and foot of an ibis in bronze. The text in the image reads: Hands and feet. Larger figures, like this sitting ibis, were often made of wood with details such as the head or feet cast individually in bronze and fixed in place. The bird head and foot were once attached to a statue of the god Thoth, who was often represented as an ibis. Similarly, the cast-bronze human feet probably formed part of a larger wooden statue. Sitting ibis, Late period, about 722-332 BCE, Egypt. Bronze, wood. Head and foot of an ibis, Late period, about 722-332 BCE, Egypt. Bronze. Human feet, Late period, about 722-332 BCE, Egypt. Bronze.
A torn, wrinkled piece of parchment with two columns of Coptic text. The text in the image says: A living language. The Coptic language represents the last stage of the written ancient Egyptian language and consists of 24 Greek letters and 7 Demotic Egyptian characters. It is still in use today as the liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church. In the Medieval period, sheets or scrolls were gradually replaced by book-like manuscripts with simple bindings known as codices (codex in the singular). Coptic codex fragment. Medieval period, about 900-1100 CE. Egypt. Parchment. This is a Coptic version of a text known as The Rule Of St Basil. St Basil was bishop of Caesarea (in modern-day Türkiye) and had visited Egypt in the 4th century CE. In the text, St Basil replies to questions posed by monks about the challenges of life and work in monasteries.’
An artefact from Rizeikat, Egypt, 1940-1760 BCE. A painting on limestone of two women, one with long hair and the other with a pixie cut. Amphora or vases or vessels of some kind line up by their feet. The woman with shorter hair points at images painted beside them, which might be illustrations or hieroglyphs. There is a bird like a crane or a heron, some circles, some lines, and something like a spotty fish. The style is much more expressive than the clean, straight lines one typically thinks of when they hear ‘Ancient Egyptian Art’! Noice. Different. Unusual
A tomb statue of Amenhotep-Huy, chief stonemason of Amenhotep III, 1390-1353 BCE, Saqarra, Egypt. The limestone statue depicts Amenhotep-Huy sitting with his knees drawn to his chest and his arms folded over his knees. He wear a wig, beard, and serene smile. His ankle-length kilt is chiselled with hieroglyphs. His feet poke out and they’re big!
An illustration of the pyramids and Sphinx at Giza by Dutch artist Cornelis de Bruyn, 1681. In that year, the sphinx was still mostly under the sand, which is why you can only see the head!
In a cathedral aglow with candle light, wizards in colourful robes gather to decide if my posts are good or not.
A black cat with a white patch on her chest like a priest’s collar, and with sleepy green eyes, pokes her head out of a reusable Aldi shopping bag.
Bjork’s ‘Debut’.
A bumper sticker on the rear of a black car has a picture of Seto Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh! and text that reads: ‘You’re a third-rate driver of a fourth-rate car!’