And I’m tired at the end of the day…
I managed to duck doing a ten minute presentation about my art for the second day running, but they kinda rumbled me this time so I’ll not get off the hook again. It’s strange that, considering I’m writing all these words every day, the idea of encapsulating whatever the fuck it is I’ve been doing for the last few decades makes me feel uneasy. I guess it’s the knowledge that much of the stuff I’m proudest of was by its very nature ephemeral so I can’t show an image about it, or encapsulate it in words. The stuff I value tends to break, moments after its observed. I like these shiny temporary things as much as I hate photographs of them. But essentially I just have to get over myself and do a presentation. I like these guys and they are doing interesting shit. Maybe I just need to find my own shit more interesting. Maybe that can be my takeaway from the week so far. Learn to like my own shit.
We went to Noirmont. Noirmont Point, on the south of the island, on this shocking bright day, and we were all running around in the gorse on the top of a cliff. First thing we had to do was just know the palate of the area we were in and stick it all onto a bit of card. Basically exploring the area, but with a task. I found a Jersey Lily in full bloom, bright pink on the side of the cliff.
The Jersey Lily throws beautiful short lived flowers without bothering to put out leaves. The flowers deliquesce so quickly in the sun, but for a shining moment there is nothing like them. They tend to grow in remote areas as well, plugged in with the gorse and bracken, incongruous and gorgeous.
I like to think that we were a little group of Jersey Lilies today, telling short and weird stories in all sorts of places. The groups and the stories shifted as we experimented with lovely things and unusual things and silly things and fun things. There was a lot of thinking about the difference between outdoor and indoor work, and I found myself wondering quite how that ratio would pan out if I looked at my own life trajectory. A decade of Sprite would certainly push the balance towards outdoor work, and hell I’ve always loved plugging directly in to nature and moving with the flow of itz much as I love a film set too… The seesaw. The wild / control.
Today though – lots of stimulation. Lots of laughter. Moments of joy and moments of surprise. This residency is a powerful call for us to plug back in to our craft through nature. It’s brilliant that I’ve landed on it here on the island of my birth. Seeing this place through the eyes of my fellow makers is a powerful thing.
I’m tired, and I’ve had wine, and the wind is blowing. Equinox tomorrow. What sparks of light shall we all take into the darkness with us? I’m in a good place for it. Tomorrow the day and the night are the same length, and then … then we start the journey into the underworld. It’ll be harder than sometimes to cling together for warmth, and to shoot forth beautiful shocks of light into the gathering darkness. But we can do it. Together we can do it. Even if, like the Jersey Lily, we have to dispense with some of the practicalities, like leaves.
AlBarclay 