Words by Christopher Kevin Au

Sydney photographer, artist and hypochondriac Dean Lever embarked on a journey of a lifetime when he traveled across nine countries in five weeks with pals Alex Cameron and Roy Molloy, touring alongside Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Mac DeMarco.

On the international excursion, Dean found some time to shoot film photographs of mundane moments in between the extensive madness – and the images now have been compiled into his first solo exhibition, the aptly titled ‘A Whole Lotta Nothing’. Taking place at Good Space gallery in Chippendale tomorrow night, we had a chat to Dean about what it’s like to hit the road with Mac DeMarco, international toilets and how to pick a good travel partner.

Head along to Good Space tomorrow night from 6:00pm, keep up with all of the details via the Facebook here and read through Dean’s quality banter below:

You’re about to present your exhibition ‘A Whole Lotta Nothing’ that captures ‘mundane moments in unfamiliar places’ – what joy do you get photographing moments that would otherwise just pass by?

These photographs in particular were taken during a really manic headspace. I was documenting Alex Cameron and his saxophonist/business partner Roy Molloy’s European tour alongside Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Mac DeMarco. Each day saw us driving for up to seven hours, arriving in a new country, fueling up on free booze and hummus and shooting these incredible live shows.

The trip itself went for 5 weeks and on one hand I was having the time of my life, on the other I felt like I was slowly going crazy. Any free time I had to myself was spent loading up on machine coffee, picking a direction and walking to the point of injury. After late nights at the shows and post-celebrations there was something quite meditative about just walking, every now and then on these walks I would be faced with these moments of incredible mediocrity and there was something so calming in that.

The exhibition has been described as ‘a selection of analogue photographs taken in between Wi-Fi hotspots, pay-per-use public toilets, blood sugar crashes.’ What are your experiences with pay-per-use toilets and how do they differ around the world?

Pay-per-use toilets were extremely problematic, they only take a specific set of change and a lot of the time we’d just crossed the border and didn’t yet have the currency. When you’ve been out all night and need to hit the road early you end up drinking a whole lotta service station coffees, couple that with sitting in a car for five hours and you’re faced with a real moral dilemma every time you come across one of those turnstiles at a rest stop. I felt like I was catching the train at 15 again and would just have to jump turnstile or tailgate someone in without trying to look like creeper.

What is the best Wi-Fi hotspot name you’ve ever come across?

‘Stop-stealing-wifi-you-dog’ – that was in Australia though.

You accompanied Mac DeMarco on a lot of your trip. Any stories or facts about the lad that would surprise his fans?

The day before we jumped on his leg of the tour, Mac posted a video on Instagram of himself on a train lighting his own fart on fire and I thought ‘shit, what the hell have I gotten myself into.’ I had this idea that he was going to be a totally loose unit, a real life Bart Simpson, but him and his band ended up being some of the most beautiful people I’ve ever had the opportunity of meeting. Each of the guys were incredibly interesting and brought such different outlooks to the tour, they whipped us, shared their backstage hummus and got us crowd surfing.

The exhibition is being displayed at Good Space gallery at The Lord Gladstone. What is the best item on their food menu?

Normally I would go their cheeseburger, there’s really something special in how simple it is, that being said I’ve been on a serious detox since coming back from this trip so I’ll be bringing my own hummus.

Take us through your range of emotions heading into your first solo show. What do you hope the audience will feel when looking at your work?

To be honest it’s daunting. It’s not only the first time I’ve had photographic works on display, but its also quite a personal collection of moments I’ve documented here – mostly because of how I was feeling at the time of taking each one. The selection process really was just sitting at the computer running through a range of emotions and picking the shots that countered them. Ideally I’d like someone to walk away from the show without feeling anything, I think it would be nice to give someone an hour of feeling nothing.

The exhibition follows you through nine countries in five weeks. Where exactly did you go and how does it compare to the Australian lifestyle?

I arrived in Berlin and from there traveled to Paris, London, Cambridge, Liverpool, Budapest, Zagreb, Kutna Hora, Vienna, Munich, Amsterdam, Luxembourg and Saint-Aubin-Sur-Mer and back to Paris, sometimes forgetting which city I was in and often Googling local bars or restaurants in the wrong country.

Each place was a completely new set of experiences, people, foods, moments and moods. Aside from the obvious cultural differences, the nightlife in most countries generally felt better, it seemed as though adults were given so much more responsibility – something that seems to be slowly sucked away from us in Australia – and in turn it felt like people were just out enjoying their cities.

Did you ever get homesick? If so, what exactly did you miss about Sydney City?

Two of the things I found myself really missing were vegetables and good conversation. There’s only so much free meat you can eat in a week, I ended up eating hummus and potatoes for three days as the only alternative. Being at loud venues during the night and on solo walks during the day didn’t provide much time for conversation, that being said the people I did meet had some incredible stories ranging from questionable criminal histories, battles with cancer, addiction, and a hitchhiking BDSM master in training.

What are some things about Australians that internationals just don’t understand?

Sometimes our sense of humour doesn’t quite translate and I think that can work both ways. There was a late night moment with some knifey looking locals that felt borderline dangerous, I’m still undecided as to whether they were having a joke or it was our humour that saved us.

Having completed such an extensive trip, what would be your advice to people with regards to picking travel partners?

You need variety in the people you travel with to balance things out, if each person brings a different set of snacks back from the truckstop you know you’re in good company.
That being said I don’t think there is such a thing as the ‘perfect person’ to travel with but that’s what makes things interesting.    I sure as hell consider myself a questionable asset on a trip but it depends on the place and occasion. Take long haul drives for example, get me behind the wheel and you’ll be in safe hands, sitting tight to the speed limit while I eye off passing trucks and calculate worst case scenarios. Put me in the passenger seat and you better be up for some hot conversation and have a coupla empty water bottles handy.

Any last words to people who are thinking about coming to see ‘A Whole Lotta Nothing’ on Wednesday?

You’ve got over 100 unread in your Gmail, your share house smells like pop tarts, your iMessage stream has been sitting on ‘read’ since last night and you’re still feeling the effects of some questionable life choices on the weekend. Block out your iCal, come to the show and get ready to feel a whole lotta nothing.