Russell petherbridge HIPPIE

Us post-war kids in the 1960s were growing up with the first sight of freedom. The counterculture was raising its head – we were seeing through everything that had come before.

Back then, it was expected you’d just fit in. Church was still a very big thing, and job-wise, you had to climb the ladder, shake the right hands, do the right thing. There was no dole, no dropouts. Everybody worked – except the wives, of course. It was just accepted. But we wanted to smash those values. My parents were so straitlaced, the only way I could have any support and break out was if I got married. So, my partner and I married when we were 20. The last thing I did for my parents was shave for my wedding day.

When I was in university studying civil engineering,

I got called up to fight in the Vietnam War. I was unable to accept the responsibility of fighting for a foreign country on foreign shores – it was appalling. I marched in those big anti-vietnam war protests, and it felt powerful. I got a medical discharge, much to my parents’ disbelief, because I was actually fit as a fiddle. But my wife was going to leave me if I joined the army. She was so anti-war and I took her threat seriously, so I got a discharge on psychological grounds.

After putting the army off, I went back to my degree, but they gave me such a hard time about not going off to fight that I burst into tears, walked out and never went back.

I was 21. University fell apart and making art took over. Art was the most alternative thing at the time. The only way through was to plunge into something undiscoverable and free.

We left the city for the country in 1971. The peace and tranquillity were amazing, and the spirit of the land grabbed me. Your diet changes; your awareness changes; everything changes. We wore some pretty outrageous outfits – really, they were costumes. Long hair was a big part of the fashion, and there were lots of hats, leather pants and handmade shirts and jackets. You could find lots of drugs if you went looking, but you could also exist without them. Though there were treasures like magic mushrooms, which we learnt to find and enjoyed the hell out of.

I didn’t share a lot of what I was doing with my parents, because they didn't understand. They finally came around once I had some success with my sculpture work, but I was well into my 30s by then. Most of my childhood friends fell by the wayside, too. They stayed ‘traditional’. Being a hippie meant believing in people being able to pursue their values. We’ve had years of suppression and evilness and taking the planet for granted. Now, it's almost impossible to find a politician far-left enough to embrace the values we hold. This planet’s right off the rails. It’s still the same: all we need is love. And a good level of intelligence laid over it.