"If you think you know the city, think again!

Gary Deirmendjian is one of the most beloved and widely admired artists in Australia. He has a unique talent for seeing the everyday as few others do. His sharp, thought-provoking observations, inventions and imagery are now presented in this intelligent, witty book, COMMON GROUND, published by Bandicoot Publishing. COMMON GROUND is a book devoted to a rare form of artistic engagement through the medium of social media.

A committed flâneur, nearly every day Deirmendjian takes long walks in urban spaces, whether at home in inner Sydney, or overseas, always alert to gathering daily phenomena on his smart phone. Since 2016, he has been posting his urban observations and accompanying captions daily to Facebook and Instagram, gathering a growing fellowship of absurdist observers and commentators.

Now, nine years later, 302 of his finest captioned images and videos, and fifteen uncommissioned writings inspired by his posts, have been brought together to produce COMMON GROUND. The writings, like Deirmendjian’s posts, are delightfully intuitive, insightful and idiosyncratic. The book is joyful, funny and uplifting – a balm for our current times."

STEPHEN FENELEY + BRUCE ESPLIN + MICHAEL OWEN + BRIDIE LUNNEY + BIBI SOLEIMANI + KIM CAREY+ MARK MORDUE + AMY PRCEVICH + JANE NAYLOR + MUZZA DEANO + LIZZY MARSHALL + STEPHEN HALL + TERRY REID + CHRISTOPHER ALLEN + TRACEY CLEMENT+ KON GOURIOTIS + IMOGEN CHARGE

title: COMMON GROUND

author: GARY DEIRMENDJIAN

ISBN: 978 0 6451319 4 9

format: limp bound cover with flaps

pages: 390 pp; 105gsm

images: 302 [including 61 QR links to videos & posts with multiple elements]

dimensions: 180 x 148mm

publisher: BANDICOOT PUBLISHING

published/released in Australia: May 2025

editors: KON GOURIOTIS & IMOGEN CHARGE

cover & book design: BRENDAN O'DONNELL

sub editors: SHARON LAPKIN & GABRIELLE GWYTHER

printed: ASIA PACIFIC OFFSET, China [Hong Kong]

click BANDICOOT PUBLISHING for details and purchase path